94 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 577. 



the standpoint of the man himself. If he 

 is an enthusiast, this method of obtaining 

 an experience will lead to harder work on 

 his part than either of the others. This 

 assumes that his college work is not neg- 

 lected, and that by doing the outside work 

 he is making his course at all times better 

 and more useful to the students. In this 

 connection something may be said about 

 the methods of teaching in engineering 

 schools. I believe that the one proper way 

 to teach an engineering subject is for the 

 professor at the head of a department to 

 get down to hard work with his students, 

 and to know each of them so well that he is 

 thoroughly acquainted with their personal 

 characteristics. Certain parts of his course 

 can be turned over to assistants, but the 

 moment he avails himself of the assistance 

 of others to such an extent that he is no 

 longer in close relationship with the stu- 

 dents, his efficiency in instruction will be 

 decreased. In other words, the professor 

 must exert himself to the titmost to secure 

 the best results with his students, and when 

 this is done, there is no harder way to gain 

 a practical expei'ience than by the under- 

 taking of outside work, and if the professor 

 is an enthusiast there is often much danger 

 of his breaking down under the strain. On 

 the other hand, if he manages to secure an 

 experience which will give him the reputa- 

 tion of being an authority in his field, he 

 usually will make the best sort of a teacher, 

 and be a credit to the college with which 

 he is connected. All this assumes that the 

 classes are not too large, and I am a thor- 

 ough believer in comparatively small 

 classes, and also that his teaching roster is 

 so arranged that he will have time available 

 for the outside work. It would certainly 

 be unfair to expect a professor to gain a 

 reputation in either research or commercial 

 work if his time is so fully occupied with 

 class work that, with the exception of his 

 summer vacation, th'6re would be little time 



except the evenings in which to do such 

 work. One must not be misled, however, 

 in thinking that if some definite time, say a 

 certain number of days each week, is set 

 aside for the purpose that this will make it 

 an easy matter for a professor to undertake 

 practical work. If he is an enthusiast he 

 will find that he must often stand up to his 

 task night after night, and unless he is 

 willing to do this it is folly for him to 

 undertake to gain an experience in the 

 way indicated. 



From the standpoint of the college, al- 

 lowing the professors to undertake any and 

 every sort of work to gain a practical ex- 

 perience is a most dangerous one. There 

 is a tendency in many eases to do work for 

 which the professor has not the proper 

 capacity, and in this way he may throw 

 discredit on his college. There is nothing 

 that will so greatly damage the repiitation 

 of a professor, and in turn of the college 

 Avith which he is connected, as the issuance 

 of a report which shows him to be incapable 

 of properly coping Avith the subject, or 

 Avhich is in the nature of an advertisement 

 for this or that machine or commodity. 

 The outside work undertaken by a pro- 

 fessor should be that of a scientific or 

 strictly engineering type. In much of the 

 work his reports simply recite facts deduced' 

 from various test data, whereas in others 

 it is necessary for him to render an opinion. 

 There is danger in arriving at false de- 

 ductions as well as in advancing false 

 opinions, and unless the professor can be 

 thoroughly trusted, it would be better to 

 cut out all such work. There is also a 

 great danger of a professor bringing disre- 

 pute to his college if he is careless in his 

 testimony as an expert. If his testimony 

 in this line is wilfully misleading, or if he 

 depart a hairsbreadth from truth, it were 

 well that he had never been given the 

 chance of lowering the dignity of his pro- 

 fessi^ln. On the other hand, a strictly 



