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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1091 



course on the history of biology given by 

 Dr. L. L. Woodruff as a graduate course. 

 From 1908 to 1915 it has been offered five 

 times, with an average of 6 graduate stu- 

 dents, out of a department list of approxi- 

 mately 12 graduate students. Advanced stu- 

 dents in biology from the college are admitted 

 by the consent of the instructor. Bryn Mawr 

 College offers an interesting course entitled his- 

 torical biology. It is partly lecture and labo- 

 ratory work, including a critical analysis of 

 the theory of evolution. 



The courses in evolution by itself, its his- 

 tory, theory and relation to other fields of 

 thought through the historical development, 

 will not be discussed here. Their importance 

 to this field of the history of thought has a 

 larger bearing than is at first inferred, and 

 therefore these courses were included in this 

 study as possessing merit. 



The study of the history of botany is offered 

 in four schools — University of Chicago (a 

 5-hours' quarterly coiu:se). Johns Hopkins 

 University (3 hours), Mt. Holyoke (3), and 

 Smith College (2). In the University of Chi- 

 cago, the course is given as a seminar by Dr. 

 John Coulter. He sounds the keynote of all 

 historical courses, in desiring to give the stu- 

 dents a historical background in their field of 

 study. Johns Hopkins has a course of a type 

 distinct from others in that it takes up special 

 topics and discusses their historical sequence. 

 At Smith College Dr. W. F. Ganong has 

 offered a course for five years, which was not 

 actually given because not enough students 

 elected it. However, he is convinced that the 

 historical basis of science is very desirable, and 

 in view of such, he writes that one of his 

 teachers was assigned to study the history of 

 botany as a specialty, and at the same time 

 was to collect the botanical classics. 



Concerning the remaining two topics — geol- 

 ogy and psychology — nothing of any great 

 value was found, except in the case of geology. 

 Two courses were offered and not given — not 

 from lack of teaching interest, but from lack 

 of students. University of Chicago's plan is a 

 seminar. At Princeton University, though no 

 formal lectures are offered, the graduate stu- 



dent is required to read before graduation a 

 selected number of books, of which two are his- 

 torical.^* In the University of Michigan, the 

 course is a small seminar for advanced stu- 

 dents, given only once (to 3 students), but 

 offered again this coming year — 1915-16. 

 Professor W. H. Hobbs writes, however, in a 

 very optimistic tone; he says that the subject 

 is susceptible of presentation to large classes 

 along broad lines, with great profit. 



Some geologists believe that the historical 

 phase of their subject is better taken up as out- 

 side, independent reading — that teaching of 

 the technic is of greater value (as regards the 

 instructor's time) than lecturing upon history. 

 The author is inclined to differ from this opin- 

 ion. The average student would rather listen 

 to lectures and spend the spare outside time 

 upon the non-essentials of life. 



In this investigation, psychology was in- 

 cluded too late to send out questionnaires and 

 make such further study as was necessary. 

 The history of psychology is comparatively a 

 new study; in fact, the subject itself has only 

 recently been established as a science. Here- 

 tofore its destiny has been controlled by the 

 philosophy department, and to a great extent 

 it is even yet. But the importance of the sub- 

 ject is gradually attaining the dignity of an 

 independent science, in the same degree as 

 mathematics, physics, etc. Therefore, al- 

 though the research in the records of this sub- 

 ject is not as wide as in some of the others, a 

 brief survey of a few courses will be given. 



Six schools of group I., and one school of 

 group H., offer this subject with its historical 

 significance — Harvard, Chicago, Clark, Mt. 

 Holyoke, Hlinois and Michigan. The course 

 offered at Harvard is practically an advanced 

 one, and open only to students who have taken 

 four other courses in the department. It lays 

 special emphasis on those portions of the his- 

 tory which are of great importance to the 

 understanding of psychology's concepts and 

 problems. Chicago apparently places great 

 stress upon this subject; in the annual cata- 

 logue for 1913-14 are listed three separate 



1-4 Geikie, ' ' Founders of Geology, ' ' Merrill, 

 "History of American Geology." 



