August 11, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



175 



examinations conducted by examiners at a 

 distance fails and must necessarily fail to 

 discriminate between two effects super- 

 ficially and temporarily similar, but really 

 and permanently different." 



He adds : ' The natural antithesis to writ- 

 ten examinations is. a system of inspection.' 

 He weighs the difficulties of inspection in a 

 national provision for secondary education, 

 and would find a formula for some form of 

 consultative committee with the state — 

 'neither to have too much state nor too 

 little state.' "Laissez-faire is impossible 

 in this period of rapid transition." 



This last is true in America. What we 

 do we must do quickly. A national system, 

 meaning thereby governmental coordina- 

 tion and possible inspection in harmony 

 with the voluntary cooperation of private 

 institutions, like the accrediting systems 

 now prevailing in many western states, con- 

 catenating secondary schools, colleges and 

 universities, will give modern interstate 

 educational privileges, long needed to keep 

 up with interstate commerce and life and 

 heightening national ideals and power. 



The line of evolution is clear. The oral 

 examination of the individual pupil by the 

 separate college, the written examination 

 in the same fashion, the combination of col- 

 leges for written examinations, the slight 

 recognition of the preparatory teacher in 

 the combination, the great recognition of 

 the preparatory teacher and his examina- 

 tions by the certificate plan, and the highest 

 point of evolution, the examination by the 

 combined colleges of the secondary school 

 as a whole, and the accrediting of it or- 

 ganically, trusting it all in all or not at all. 



The disappointed hearer who looked for 

 a formal disputation in this paper may be 

 still demanding a categorical answer to the 

 question of our topic 'Which is better, etc. 1 ' 



Let him draw his own conclusions from 



the testimony marshalled from the best 

 representatives of the different systems. 



As an evolutionist I see every system has 

 a part to perform, and perceive certain 

 principles at work which promise us not 

 only a better system, but a national and 

 best. George E. MacLean. 



University of Iowa. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 



Text-hook of General Physics for High 

 Schools and Colleges. By Joseph S. Ames, 

 Ph.D., professor of physics and director of 

 the physical laboratory in the Johns Hop- 

 kins University. New York, American 

 Book Company. 1904. Pp. 768. 

 About eight years ago Professor Ames pub- 

 lished his ' Theory of Physics ' and estab- 

 lished his reputation as a skillful writer of 

 text-books. The present volume was initially 

 undertaken as a revision of the former one, 

 but the author soon found that it was more 

 convenient to prepare a new book independ- 

 ently, with occasional inclusion of matter 

 that had been previously put into such good 

 form as to require but little modification. He- 

 believes now, as then, that to present the sub- 

 ject of physics to a class of students three 

 things are necessary: a good text-book; ex- 

 perimental demonstrations and lectures, ac- 

 companied by recitations; and a series of 

 laboratory exercises. This book is intended 

 to state ' the theory of the subject in a clear 

 and logical manner so that recitations can be 

 held on it.' 



The class-room presentation of any subject 

 that requires frequent experimental illustra- 

 tion necessitates the abandonment of the text- 

 book by the teacher vs^hile engaged in the 

 work of exposition. The text-book becomes, 

 the basis for parallel study on the part of the 

 auditor, and recitation days are most con- 

 veniently differentiated from exposition days.. 

 Presumably the present volume is the writing- 

 out of at least the greater part of the lectures 

 given at Johns Hopkins University to the 

 students of general physics, who are assumed 

 not to possess at the outset any knowledge of 

 advanced mathematics. It was probably for- 



