December 18, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



891 



Ibusiness and business administration at the 

 Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 

 are announced. The donors are Frederick 

 W. Vanderhilt, of the class of 1876, S., and a 

 graduate of the class of 1887, S., whose name 

 is not made public. The new course will be 

 for one year, and, if possible, two years. It is 

 expected that it will be open to students at 

 the beginning of the next academic year. 



A GIFT of $10,000 to Smith College has been 

 made by Mr. and Mrs. A. J. White, of Brook- 

 lyn. Half of the money is to be applied toward 

 payment for recent improvements on the 

 Lyman Plant House. The remainder will 

 constitute a permanent endowment fund for 

 repairs to the house, purchase of new mater- 

 ials, and encouragement of botanical study. 



A BEQUEST of $10,000 to St. Lawrence Uni- 

 versity at Canton, !N". T., is made under the 

 will of Mrs. Kate A. L. Chapin, of Meriden, 

 Conn. 



At its last session, the council of the Uni- 

 versite de Paris unanimously resolved that 

 Belgian students who before the war had been 

 matriculated in one of the universities of 

 their own country might become matriculated 

 in the schools of the Universite de Paris with- 

 out having to pay the matriculation, inscrip- 

 tion and library fees. Young Belgians from 

 the Belgian establishments of secondary edu- 

 cation will likewise be received if they fulfill 

 the conditions exacted by the Belgian univer- 

 sities. In default of diplomas and certifi- 

 cates, the young people may prove their quali- 

 fications by such means as are possible, for 

 instance, certificates of French or Belgian 

 diplomatic or consular agents. 



Professor and Mrs. Frederic S. Lee have 

 given to Columbia University the sum of 

 $20,000 to establish a fund for the use of the 

 department of physiology. It is intended 

 that for the present the income shall be used 

 for the maintenance of the library of the de- 

 partment. The university is about to acquire 

 the valuable collection of books belonging to 

 the late Professor John G. Curtis and con- 

 sisting of ancient and medieval works on the 

 Mstory of physiology. 



Dr. Egbert Bennett Bean, of the depart- 

 ment of anatomy in Tulane University, has 

 been advanced from the rank of associate 

 professor of anatomy to that of professor of 

 gross anatomy in the department of anatomy, 

 and Dr. Sidney S. Schochet and Mr. Charles 

 W. Barrier have been appointed instructors 

 in anatomy. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE 



TEACHmo AND RESEARCH 



The suggestive article by Professor CatteU 

 in Science of October 30, p. 628, leads me to 

 offer a few observations growing out of my 

 own experience. One who is wholly a 

 teacher tends to organize his work on a more 

 or less permanent basis, with definite limita- 

 tions. If he possesses good natural ability, 

 he becomes very efficient, teaching clearly and 

 logically what appear to him to be the more 

 important things. He tends more and more 

 to fixed opinions, and to arbitrary divisions 

 between the things which should be known 

 and those which need not be known. Such a 

 man will be tremendously indignant because 

 X does not know a^ but feel no shame on ac- 

 count of his own ignorance of the analogous 

 facts h, c, etc. 



One who is primarily interested in re- 

 search finds his mind much occupied with 

 various trains of thought, and his interest 

 tends to center about uncertainties rather 

 than certainties. Even as he teaches, things 

 assume new aspects to his mind. Much has 

 been made of the saying that Kelvin made 

 discoveries while lecturing, but (in a small 

 way) this is probably a common experience. 



The teacher who does no research tends to 

 become increasingly confident of his own 

 knowledge, and conveys this feeling to his 

 class. One who is primarily an investigator, 

 unless he works in a very small field which he 

 has thoroughly in hand, is continually re- 

 minded of his own limitations and of the 

 vastness of the unknown. He is humbled by 

 the mistakes he can not help making, and feels 

 and appears more ignorant. 



