972 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. i 



the pupils to better economize their labo- 

 ratory time. Too many are allowed to 

 placidly watch a crucible heat, or a solution 

 boil, when other experiments might be in 

 progress at the same time, and these habits 

 are difficult to overcome. I should like to 

 suggest, too, that some of the most prom- 

 ising pupils are often seriously harmed by 

 allowing them to work too much by them- 

 selves, or by encouraging them to go be- 

 yond their depth in a particular line in 

 which they appear to be specially inter- 

 ested, to the detriment of their funda- 

 mental work. Such pupils usually come 

 to college with an exaggerated sense of 

 their own attainments and it frequently 

 requires long and tactful persuasion on the 

 part of the college instructor before they 

 can be reduced to reasonable humility. 



On the other hand, I venture to plead 

 that all proper encouragement be given to 

 pupils to take advantage of such special 

 privileges as the colleges offer. It is not 

 an infrequent occurrence to find a pupil 

 who tells us that he has been advised by 

 his teacher to take the elementary course 

 for beginners as one in which he will incur 

 less risk of failure. Were the examination 

 the goal of the course, there obviously 

 would be little to criticize in this sugges- 

 tion; its effect upon the student as an 

 embryo scientist is seldom happy. 



In conclusion let us ask, how can we 

 make the work in chemistry in the various 

 institutions more mutually helpful? 



1. By a more extensive cooperation 

 on the part of the colleges and technical 

 schools in the way of separate courses 

 for those who have taken chemistry before 

 entrance, a closer study of the problem on 

 the part of all, and a readiness to recognize 

 improved conditions. 



2. By an intelligent delimitation of the 

 secondary-school course, so that it will only 

 offer what the pupil can best assimilate at 



the age and in the environment in which 

 he works. This is too large a topic for 

 discussion in this connection, and it is sadly 

 complicated by the necessity for furnishing 

 a course which shall be alike useful for the 

 pupil who expects to enjoy college oppor- 

 tunities and his less fortunate associate. 

 I plead, as I have often done, for a course 

 which is fundamentally descriptive in its 

 character. I do not mean a mere cata- 

 logue of facts, but a course in which se- 

 lected facts are taught for some specific 

 reason, which is invariably explained to the 

 pupil, and in which these facts are inter- 

 preted for him in terms of the simplest of 

 the fundamental principles and concepts, 

 so often repeated and constantly utilized 

 that they may ultimately mean more than 

 memorized paragraphs from what he may 

 later remember only as "a book with a 

 green cover." I think there can be no 

 greater mistake than to suppose that such 

 a course is a less worthy one than such as 

 is often pointed to with pride as a "the- 

 oretical course," and no teacher should 

 consider that it will demand less than his 

 best efforts, supplemented by all his knowl- 

 edge, to utilize the opportunities for help- 

 ful and thorough instruction which such a 

 course affords. It is, of course, difficult 

 to determine whether or by how much the 

 instruction of the boy or girl destined for 

 college should be differentiated from that 

 of their fellow-students, but I venture to 

 hope that a decision may yet be reached, 

 through cooperation, which may permit us 

 to select a limited field which shall be so 

 well covered as not to necessitate repetition 

 in college, and that this may be done with- 

 out prejudice to the candidate or non-can- 

 didate for college credits. How soon this 

 will come, or how large this field may be, 

 I do not venture to predict. 



3. By increasing the time alloted to 

 chemistry in the secondary schools until it 



