September 28, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



485 



Education in the United States A Series of Mon- 

 ographs prepared for the United States ex- 

 hibit at the Paris Exposition, 1900. Edited 

 by Nicholas Murray Butler, Professor of 

 Philosophy and Education in Columbia Uni- 

 versity. Two volumes. Albany, N. Y., J. 

 B. Lyon Co. 1900. 



This publication was contributed to the edu- 

 cational exhibit of the United States at the 

 Paris Exposition by the State of New York. 

 Besides a characteristically vigorous, although 

 rather brief ' Introduction ' by the editor, the 

 work consists of nineteen monographs as fol- 

 lows : Volume I. : ' Educational Organization 

 and Administration, by President Draper of the 

 University of Illinois ; ' Kindergarten Educa- 

 tion,' by Miss Susan E. Blow of Cazenovia, New 

 York ; ' Elementary Education,' by Hon. Wm. 

 T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Edu- 

 cation ; 'Secondary Education,' by Professor 

 E. E. Brown of the University of California ; 

 'The American College,' by Professor A. F. 

 West of Princeton University ; ' The American 

 University,' by Professor E. D. Perry of Colum- 

 bia University; 'Education of Women,' by 

 President Thomas of Bryn Mawr College ; 

 'Training of Teachers', by Professor B. A. 

 Hinsdale of the University of Michigan; ' School 

 Architecture and Hygiene,' by Principal Gil- 

 bert B. Morrison of Kansas City, Mo.; Volume 

 II.: 'Professional Education,' by James Rus- 

 sell Parsons of the University of the State of 

 New York, Albany, N. Y. ; ' Scientific Techni- 

 cal, and Engineering Education,' by President 

 Mendenhall of the Technological Institute, 

 Worcester, Mass.; 'Agricultural Education,' 

 by President Dabney of the University of Ten- 

 nessee ; ' Commercial Education,' by Professor 

 E. J. James of the University of Chicago ; 'Art 

 and Industrial Education,' by Mr. I. E. Clarke 

 of the United States Bureau of Education ; ' Edu- 

 cation of Defectives,' by Principal E. E. Allen 

 of Overbrook, Pa. ; ' Summer Schools and Uni- 

 versity Extension, ' by Professor H. B. Adams 

 of Johns Hopkins University ; ' Scientific Socie- 

 ties and Associations,' by Professor J. McK. 

 Cattell of Columbia University ; ' Education of 

 the Negro,' by Principal Booker T. Washing- 

 ton of Tuskegee, Ala. ; ' Education of the In- 

 dian,' by Superintendent W. N. Hailman of 



Dayton, Ohio. There is no summary of the 

 contents or chief propositions of each mono- 

 graph, as there might well be ; but there is a 

 good general index in each of the two volumes. 

 Paper and tjrpe are excellent. 



Any detailed discussion of such a comprehen- 

 sive treatise is, of course, out of the question in 

 a brief review like this. One can only touch 

 on some of its most important features, and, in- 

 cidentally, give a general estimate of the work 

 as a whole. 



This collection of monographs is a timely 

 contribution to our educational literature of un- 

 common interest and value. Our contemporary 

 educational resources and problems have never 

 before been dealt with, in a single treatise, so 

 comprehensively, clearly and tersely. The 

 two volumes, together, comprise less than 1000 

 pages (973), and yet nearly every phase of our 

 varied provision for education receives attention. 



Professor Butler's excellent judgment as an 

 editor is shown both in the general plan of the 

 work and in the selection of the writers of the 

 several monographs. He naturally intended 

 that the work should be a worthy exposition of 

 our whole educational endeavor by persons 

 whose statements of fact could be trusted, and 

 whose conceptions of our educational needs 

 would command respect. In the introduction 

 he tells us " that the present work * * * de- 

 scribes the organization and influence of each 

 type of formal school ; it takes note of the more 

 informal and popular organizations for popular 

 education and instruction ; it discusses the edu- 

 cational problems raised by the existence of 

 special classes and of special needs, and sets 

 forth how the United States has set about solv- 

 ing these problems. It may truly be said to be 

 a cross-section view of education in the United 

 States in the j^ear 1900." 



This description of the scope and purpose of 

 the completed work is, on the whole, just. 

 Such divergences from this description as the 

 work actually presents may be appropriately 

 described, for the most part, as sins of omission. 

 Some important details of the topics considered 

 have received rather scant treatment, and some 

 decidedly important phases of our educational 

 resources and the corresponding problems have 

 not been treated at all. 



