954 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 835 



a reform which means progress toward me- 

 chanical standardization of methods and 

 values is sure to receive so universal a wel- 

 come that its success is assured from the start. 

 While, therefore, the merits of a proposal to 

 standardize our universities, abolish life ten- 

 ure of professorships, and regulate research, 

 speak for themselves, it is somewhat interest- 

 ing, perhaps, to speculate on the probable 

 origin of the idea. And here we venture a 

 conjecture which we think must commend 

 itself to the judicious. It is not so much to 

 the defects of our own universities, we imag- 

 ine, that the scheme owes its inception, but 

 rather to the notorious failure of the univer- 

 sities of Germany, in which these defects have 

 been far more pronounced. There they have 

 never even had such a thing as a college presi- 

 dent; and the professors have not only had an 

 absolute life tenure, but have been allowed a 

 degree of liberty in teaching that is simply 

 scandalous. This has been going on for gen- 

 eration after generation, and everybody knows 

 the result. German students have been slip- 

 shod and inaccurate, and no foreigner has 

 gone to a German book for enlightenment or 

 to a German university for training. As for 

 research, these Germans have simply run 

 riot; a German professor will spend years of 

 his own time and that of his students in some 

 obscure research, without asking anybody's 

 advice or consent. And the consequence has 

 been not only that deplorable intellectual 

 sterility to which we have already referred, 

 but a backwardness in the arts and industries 

 depending on the applications of science— the 

 chemical industries, for example— which has 

 made modern Germany a laughing stock to 

 her European neighbors. If we wish to avoid 

 a like fate, we must hasten to standardize our 

 universities, set time-clocks on the professors, 

 and guard with scrupulous care against the 

 spending of either time or money on any re- 

 search that has not secured the formal ap- 

 proval of the president of the university, the 

 board of trustees, and the Consolidated Audit 

 Company.— iVetw York Evening Post. 



There is no question of the amount of time 

 wasted by professors, lecturers and instructors 



who speak slowly. A table prepared from my 

 own notes gives the average word production 

 of six " eminent " men in the lecture hall : 



Words a 



Professor Subjects Minute 



Binks Mathematics 931 



Jones English 142 



Smith Physics 236^ 



Brown History 191 



Black Chemistry 201 



Squib Greek 84 



It is evident that the amount of work done 

 by Smith is much in excess of that done by 

 any of the others whose word production is set 

 forth here. The distressing showing made by 

 Binks and Squib needs no comment. It is 

 plain that they are not giving full value 

 for their money, as is Smith. It is true that 

 Binks is an old man and has achieved some- 

 thing of a reputation among astronomers and 

 that his lectures are largely attended, and that 

 Squib has written several books which I have 

 not had time to read, but these are matters of 

 minor importance. The case of Brown is of 

 peculiar interest, because I have been in- 

 formed that his usual word-production does 

 not exceed 120-4- a minute. I caught him as 

 he was addressing his class on the subject of 

 the abstraction of his spectacles from their 

 accustomed place. In his excitement his word 

 production increased, and thus his capacity 

 for more rapid speech was proved beyond 

 question. I recommend that a satisfactory 

 standard of word production be adopted, and 

 that all professors, lecturers and instructors 

 attain this average or suffer appropriate re- 

 duction in their pay. 



This brings us naturally to the considera- 

 tion of the time card in relation to education. 

 It is already in use as affecting the students, 

 but their instructors do not submit themselves 

 to it. They should be obliged to do so. A 

 system of time checks and cards would bring 

 these men to their senses and teach them to 

 be punctual. 



Finally, I desire to direct attention to the 

 fact that not one of my suggestions for the 

 improvement of the administration of insti- 



' Cleared throat four times. 



^ Did not clear throat once. 



