Sbptembeb 5, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



383 



wholly solved, but which must and will be 

 solved before the American university will 

 become what it can become. Of course, this 

 absence of inner freedom of action is often due 

 to the primitive condition of many of our uni- 

 versities or to the fact that many of them are 

 in the transition stage from college to univer- 

 sity, and will disappear as these institutions 

 more closely approach the university ideal. 

 But whatever may be the causes and excuses 

 for these conditions, the truth is there is more 

 ' paternalism ' in the universities of this 

 ' free ' country than in those of military Ger- 

 many. There are dangers connected with 

 freedom, very true, but these dangers cannot 

 be avoided and are the price we must pay for 

 the blessings of liberty. 



Another element of strength of the German 

 university, one that could not develop without 

 the factor just mentioned, and without which 

 the university could never have reached its 

 present status, is the spirit of investigation 

 among its members. The German professor is, 

 above everything else, a scientific investigator. 

 This phase of development also has its shadow 

 sides and dangers, as Professor Paulsen shows. 

 But it is true, nevertheless, as he says, that the 

 position which the German people at present 

 holds in the scientific world, it owes in the 

 main to its universities, and these owe what 

 they are and what they accomplish to the 

 principle on which they are based: they are 

 scientific institutions and their teachers are 

 scientific investigators. And that is just ex- 

 actly the goal at which our own best universi- 

 ties are aiming — in spite of the protests of 

 small colleges that do not see that the function 

 of the university is not identical with that of 

 the college — and why they are beginning to 

 inspire respect in foreign lands. 



It would, of course, be impossible to touch 

 upon all the interesting topics taken up by 

 Professor Paulsen, within the narrow compass 

 of this review. The most vital questions of 

 university education are discussed by the 

 author in his usual sensible, quiet and sane 

 manner. He tries to see the things as they 

 are, their good and bad sides, and he speaks 

 as one who knows. His remarks on the lecture 

 •system, which, when supplemented by 



seminars and practical exercises, he regards 

 as the best, on the whole, and his views on the 

 elective system {Lernfreiheit) , will prove 

 helpful to many of us, at the present stage of 

 our development. His defense of the German 

 system of appointing professors, which is fre- 

 quently attacked in Germany, is also interest- 

 ing. The German plan is not perfect, of 

 course; no system can be perfect that is 

 applied by imperfect human beings, and 

 illegitimate infiuences will always play their 

 part in the selection of professors as long as 

 human nature remains what it is. At the same 

 time, it seems to me, the Germans are much 

 more careful and impartial in their choice and 

 maintain a higher standard than we do. 

 Local, personal, political and sectarian in- 

 fluences are stronger with us than with them. 

 It is true also that we are making great im- 

 provement along this line, and that the results 

 are seen in the greater efficiency of our facul- 

 ties, but appointments are frequently made in 

 the United States, even in good universities, 

 which ' outsiders ' do not understand and the 

 initiated understand only too well. We shall 

 outgrow all that too, but we have not out- 

 grown it yet. 



This book of Professor Paulsen's is, in my 

 opinion, the most satisfactory exposition of 

 university problems and the most helpful prac- 

 tical guide in solving them that has been pub- 

 lished in recent years, and cannot fail to find 

 an appreciative circle of readers. It will bear 

 good fruit in our country and increase the 

 debt of gratitude which we owe to the Ger- 

 man universities for what they have done for 

 our higher education. 



Frank Thilly. 

 Uni^'ersitt of Missouri. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



' SO-CALLED SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES.' 



The article in the issue of Science for 

 August 8 (N. 8., Vol. XVI., pp. 229-231), 

 under the above caption, is opportune, even if 

 the author falls somewhat short of hitting the 

 mark. He appropriately takes as his text Mr. 

 Oberholser's recent ' Review of the Larks of the 

 Genus Otocoris,' and presents the layman's 

 view of the deplorable addition of a number 



