May 30, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



849 



eclectic, physiomedical, etc.* If the pro- 

 portion of answers received be taken as a 

 ratio, then ten per cent, of these colleges 

 give a laboratory course of physics. Prob- 

 ably five or six per cent, is a more correct 

 estimate. 



Among those that do not give the course 

 are the following: 



Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Tulane, Rush 

 Medical College (University of Chicago), Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, and Yale. 



The object of this paper is to show that a 

 laboratory course of physics is important 

 in the study of medicine, and also to point 

 out that a course of much value can be 

 completed in a comparatively short time, 

 provided the experiments are properly 

 selected and certain methods of instruc- 

 tion are carried out. 



THE IMPORTANCE OP LABORATORY WORK. 



The laboratory method of instruction has 

 been recognized as essentially important in 

 scientific, technical and engineering schools, 

 and has grown in favor continually dur- 

 ing the last twenty years. It has been 

 adopted in medical colleges in many sub- 

 jects, including anatomy, chemistry, phys- 

 iology, and others, where it is also ac- 

 knowledged to be essential. 



Dr. C. S. Minot, of Harvard, in his ad- 

 dress at the Yale University Medical Com- 

 mencement in 1899, spoke thus of the labo- 

 ratory:! 'Knowledge lives in the labo- 

 ratory,' and again, 'Our greatest discovery 

 in scientific teaching is the discovery of the 

 value of the laboratory and its immeasur- 

 able superiority to the book in itself.' 



"A lecture is a spoken book, and must, 

 therefore, also yield to the superior claims 

 of first-hand knowledge." 



.In physics, laboratory work should be 

 an organic part of a systematic course, and 



* ' Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education,' 

 Vol. 2, 1898-99. 



f ' Knowledge and Practice,' C. S. Minot, 

 Science, July 7, 1809. 



the course should consist of lectures, of ex- 

 perimental demonstrations by the lecturer, 

 and of qualitative and quantitative experi- 

 ments performed by the students them- 

 selves. Such a systematic course has 

 been given to the first-year students of 

 the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 

 Columbia University, since 1893, when it 

 was organized by the Department of Phys- 

 ics at the request and with the cooperation 

 of the Faculty of Medicine. The laboratory 

 part of this course is in charge of the 

 writer and is described below: 



THE LABORATORY COURSE OF PHYSICS FOE 



MEDICAL STUDENTS AT COLUMBIA 



UNIVERSITY. 



The course consists at present of twelve 

 periods of laboratory work of three hours 

 each, followed by a final written examina- 

 tion on the salient points of the experi- 

 ments performed in the laboratory. At 

 the beginning of the course an introductory 

 lecture is given, in which the object of the 

 course, the methods to be followed, the 

 rules for note-keeping, etc., are fully ex- 

 plained. At the same time, each student 

 is provided with a suitable notebook and a 

 printed form called the 'course-list,' con- 

 taining a list of selected experiments. The 

 course-list also contains a blank column in 

 which is entered the date when each experi- 

 ment is performed. The course-list is 

 pasted in the front of the notebook and is 

 of service as an index of the notes in the 

 book. Another printed form, the 'time 

 schedule, ' is pasted in the back of the note- 

 book, and in this the student is required 

 to keep a record of each attendance. The 

 time schedule is a help to the student in 

 apportioning his time to the experiments 

 in the course. The attendance is also en- 

 tered on a general time sheet posted in the 

 laboratory for purposes of laboratory 

 record. 



