182 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 370. 



work vary of course Avith the age and 

 standing of the pupils, and doubtless as 

 well with the individuality of the teacher. 

 The teachers with whom I have talked 

 are unanimous in saying that the pupils 

 enjoy study at the Museum, not having to 

 be urged to it as to book study, partly, of 

 course, because of the change it affords 

 from the routine of school Avork, but largely 

 because the objects of study are so tangible 

 and interesting of themselves. Many of 

 the scholars spend considerable time in 

 voluntary study at the Museum outside of 

 school hours. The teachers also say, how- 

 ever, that as might be expected, no im- 

 mediate results are realized from such 

 work unless the pupils knoAv that some re- 

 port of their studies will be called for. 

 Such report may be made orally or as a 

 written report on some department of 

 study, or on topics previously assigned. I 

 have sometimes examined such written re- 

 ports and have found their perusal of con- 

 siderable interest and value. They furnish 

 as accurate a test as could be devised, prob- 

 ably, of the amount and kind of instruction 

 Avhich pupils are likely to obtain from 

 study of objects in a museum and as well 

 also of that likely to be obtained by those 

 ' children of a larger groAvth ' AA^ho visit the 

 Museum with a less definite desire for in- 

 struction, but Avho imbibe it nevertheless. 

 The particular lot of reports now lying on 

 my desk is one of about tAventy made by 

 pupils in a class in physiography in the 

 first year in high school, ages say 13 to 15 

 years. The reports or essays as they might 

 also be called, are descriptive of a visit to 

 the geological department of the Museum 

 for the purpose of finding and noting illus- 

 trations of the text-book study of physiog- 

 raphy. The pupils were expected to make 

 drawings as well as notes of the objects 

 Avhich they deemed important and such 

 drawings accompany the essays. Some 

 suggestions had previously been given the 



pupils by the teacher as to topics for study, 

 such as the description of fossils from 

 each of the great geological periods; the 

 study of crystals, meteorites, some special 

 relief maps, etc. 



Some points noted in the perusal of 

 the essays may be worthy of com- 

 ment. The ideas gained by the pupils 

 from the study of the collection of fossils 

 Avere isolated and fragmentary. Single 

 forms A?ere draAA^n and described with con- 

 siderable accuracy, but there seemed to be 

 little conception gained of the march and 

 development of life as a whole, although 

 the collection is sufficiently large and com- 

 plete to make this manifest. Still, several 

 noted the introduction of fishes in the 

 Devonian age and the excess of vegetation 

 in the Carboniferous. None of the pupils 

 mentioned the animals of larger size, al- 

 though many skeletons and restorations of 

 these are exhibited. It is curious that 

 while the average Adsitor of maturer age 

 devotes his attention almost exclusively to 

 these, I have never noticed young people 

 take much interest in them. They take 

 more interest in small objects, such as 

 shells, impressions of ferns, etc. The 

 color of the fossils or matrix Avas often 

 noted and tlu-oughout the essays observa- 

 tion of color is the one thing prominent. 

 The remarks on crystals contained feAv 

 observations calculated to encourage the 

 modern erystallographer. Almost any- 

 thing in the mineral collection was re- 

 garded as a crystal and the observations 

 made were chiefly on differences of color. 

 From a collection of crystals arranged ac- 

 cording to the six systems, one scholar drew 

 the SAveeping conclusion that ' isometric 

 crystals are green, yelloAV-green or cream 

 color; those of the tetragonal system gen- 

 erally red, those of the hexagonal system 

 vermilion,' etc. Tliis AA^as a conclusion 

 from scanty data, but the scoffer may be 

 reminded that the whole world did not do 



