SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 681 



take to heart the advice of Sir William 

 Ramsay. 



For the making of the successful chem- 

 ical engineer, as for other professions, the 

 best material only is suitable, if the result 

 is to be more than mediocre. Unfortu- 

 nately, the human race is not bred to 

 points, either physically, mentally or for 

 special aptitudes, in the same way that is 

 practised with the race horse, with high- 

 grade cattle or dogs, to develop their most 

 desirable characteristics; the importance 

 of national eugenics has only recently been 

 brought to our attention by Galton and 

 Pearson. We have recourse, therefore, 

 only to what chance may produce. Never- 

 theless, chance has done much for us. 

 Professor H. B. Armstrong calls attention 

 to the fact that: 



Americans may be said to be a distinct if not 

 an improved breed. Certain proclivities have been, 

 undoubtedly, unconsciously selected out and there 

 has been much cross-breeding; hence a race has 

 developed difiFering in important respects in its 

 type of thought if in no other way, from those 

 represented in Europe. Moreover, success has 

 given them belief in themselves, and leads them 

 to trust themselves. 



We should make our choice of those 

 youths who have had the best of home dis- 

 cipline and restraint. Sir John E. Gorst 

 calls attention to the fact that; 



The chief causes which produce formation of 

 character are met with in the homes of the people. 



The individual who has been subjected 

 to the most favorable environment in his 

 early years and in the secondary schools 

 will be the most satisfactory, if he possesses 

 the proper aptitude to be a chemical en- 

 gineer. 



Aptitude, or what is sometimes denom- 

 inated a natural gift, is inborn and must 

 be sought out. It can not be developed, 

 but may be encouraged and directed. Pro- 

 fessor A. Lawrence Lowell, of Harvard, has 

 wisely said that the problem of the schools 

 is to discover and stimulate the right kind 



of men more than to directly instruct them. 

 There is too great a tendency to attempt 

 to make chemical engineers out of all who 

 have a fancy for dabbling in a laboratory. 

 For this reason, it seems to me, a great 

 responsibility rests upon our schools in 

 guiding the youth into proper channels and 

 restraining him from fields where he can 

 only meet with disappointment. 



Taking what chance may offer as regards 

 breeding, and chance at times offers very 

 good material if we exercise selection, we 

 must endeavor to impart direction from the 

 earliest years of the individual's training. 



It is for wise direction that the coming genera- 

 tions cry; and it is our business to see that they 

 get it, 



as the man of science remarks in "A Mod- 

 ern Symposium." 



In our secondary schools there is too little 

 consideration of the individual or of his 

 direction. There is too much routine, too 

 much system and uniformity. The bright 

 and the dull boys are advanced through the 

 various grades at the same rate. What we 

 need is, as stated by President Eliot, the 

 promotion or advancement of each pupil 

 by subject and not by mere time. By the 

 present system, much time is lost to the 

 bright boy. Individuality, and not uni- 

 formity, should be the rule in all branches 

 of education, and particularly in the case 

 of those who propose to become professional 

 men. Dr. Bottger appreciates the situa- 

 tion in our American high schools when 

 he says: 



In America one finds the object of the high 

 school instruction to be to enlarge the capacity 

 of the average man, while in Germany the main 

 object is well known to be the complete develop- 

 ment of the best student. 



While this object is a praiseworthy one 

 as applied to the average man in America, 

 it is not satisfactory in the case of those 

 who propose to follow a professional career. 

 President Remsen, however, in reviewing 



