December 8, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



761 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE ARRANGEMENT OF MEETING ROOMS. 



As the season of winter meetings approaches 

 it may be permissible to make a few sugges- 

 tions regarding the transformation of college 

 lecture rooms into meeting rooms for scientific 

 societies. 



The ordinary college lecture room is ar- 

 ranged, properly enough, in a two-party 

 fashion. The lecturer is on one side of the 

 desk and the students are on the other. But 

 a society meeting" room should be arranged in 

 a three-party or triangular fashion, so that the 

 president and the secretary can see and can 

 be seen by the two other parties, namely, the 

 speaker and the members. If this principle 

 is neglected, as is too often the case, and the 

 president and the secretary are placed at the 

 same desk with the speaker, various awkward 

 results are likely to follow. The speaker is 

 very apt to turn his back on the officers and to 

 talk only to the members — if indeed he does 

 not also turn his back on the members and 

 taU^ only to the blackboard. The president, 

 sitting with his back to the diagrams that are 

 referred to by the speaker, is tempted to per- 

 form various twists in trying to see what is 

 behind him. The members, finding two per- 

 sons in line with the diagrams, do not always 

 see clearly what it is intended that they should 

 see. 



These various difficulties disappear if the 

 three-party arrangement is adopted. The 

 speaker is then given sole possession of the 

 lecture platform and desk, with the black- 

 board and racks behind them. The president 

 and the secretary are given a table (with a 

 platform also, if necessary) on the floor at 

 one end and somewhat in front of the lecture 

 desk, far enough forward for them to see the 

 speaker and the blackboard when they look a 

 little to one side, and high enoiigh for them 

 to see the members when they look to the 

 other side. The members, from the ordinary 

 seats, can then see both the speaker and the 

 officers; the officers can see both the speaker 

 and the members ; and the speaker can observe 

 the proprieties all through his remarks by 

 looking at the officers and the members in 



turn. The only chance of awkwardness comes 

 if the speaker takes his place at the end of the 

 desk near the officers' table, for he may then 

 turn his back on them, while pointing to his 

 diagrams. To prevent this involuntary dis- 

 courtesy the space behind the desk at the end 

 near the officers' table should be blocked up, 

 so that it can not be entered or occupied. The 

 speaker will then necessarily enter from the 

 other end and stand with his face turned 

 toward the other two parties in the triangle; 

 unless, as said before, he insists on facing 

 only the blackboard. Inasmuch as speakers 

 ordinarily use their right hand for chalk work 

 it seems most generally satisfactory to place 

 the officers near the left end of the lecture 

 desk, as seen from the audience, and to keep 

 the speaker near the right end. 



Several other items may be briefly indicated. 

 Some form of racks for diagrams should be 

 provided beforehand, with simple means of 

 attaching the diagrams and of raising the 

 racks; spring clothes pins are of quieter action 

 than tacks that have to be hammered: if the 

 racks are hoisted by a cord over pulleys, the 

 pulleys should have all squeaks reduced by 

 oiling. The duty of darkening the room 

 when the lantern is used should be assigned 

 beforehand to a responsible and well-practised 

 person of regular habits. Attention should 

 be given to the windows, especially to the 

 upper sashes, to see if they can be opened 

 easily for ventilation, without over-much 

 squeaking or slanmiing, and without conspicu- 

 ous gymnastics on the part of the secretary; 

 examples might be cited in which the antics 

 performed in favor of ventilation have com- 

 pletely distracted the attention of the mem- 

 bers from the matter presented by the speaker, 

 which after all is usually the more important 

 of the two forms of entertainment. If there 

 are windows near the lecture desk, they should 

 be darkened, so that the speaker and the offi- 

 cers shall not be recalled chiefly as blackened 

 characters silhouetted against the light of out- 

 doors in the eyes of the audience. If the 

 entrance is at the back of the room an usher 

 will be of value in urging members into the 

 forward seats ' at the request of the presi- 



