756 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLH. No. 1091 



relative proportion is about the same as far as 

 the number of hours per course is concerned; 

 but the attendance per class in the general his- 

 tory of science figures is decidedly in the ad- 

 vance. The " specific " class enrollment of 8 

 students shows that the coiu-se is limited, that 

 it is for those prepared to take it; whereas the 

 " general " class eniollment is 39 students. 

 This is, of course, the average of 8 schools; it 

 was not possible to get figures for the balance, 

 and therefore it would be unfair to assume that 

 this was the average for 20 schools. It is 

 probable, however, that this average could not 

 alter very greatly were the entire list of figures 

 to be had. It shows, too, that the value of the 

 subject appeals to a large nmnber of students, 

 providing the question arises, " Does the size 

 of the class indicate the general approval of 

 such a course ? " 



Taking also the average hours per course 

 from the first 8 — or the largest schools — we 

 have 3 hours, which is approximately the 

 proper number of hours for a course of this 

 type. Of course, all of these courses repre- 

 sented are not full history of science courses, 

 as later discussion will show; but they ap- 

 proach the type of course advocated, namely 

 the Harvard plan. And as far as it is possi- 

 ble to show by this study, the Harvard type 

 fulfils the ideal requirements, both in treat- 

 ment, number of hours for lectures, size of 

 class, and requirements. With an advanced 

 course in the natvu-e of a seminar, the study 

 would be practically complete, for those who 

 wished to follow the subject further. 



Having mentioned the subject of continuity 

 of courses, the following table, containing 

 schools, courses and hours of lectures, is given 

 for further discussion. 



In Table HI. are listed those schools having 

 three or more subjects bearing upon a number 

 of particular historical courses in science. 

 The reason for selecting these is that it takes 

 at least that nmnber to constitute a well- 

 balanced continuous course in the history of 

 the physical sciences — those three to be, prefer- 

 ably, mathematics, physics and chemistry. 

 The grouping given in. the table is composed 



of all possible arrangements of subject-matter, 

 including the biological sciences. 



TABLE ni 



(Group Studies, Good Sulstitutes for a General 



Course: Mathematics, Physics, Biology — 



Zoology and Botany — Included.) 



Assimiing that continuity and system were 

 established in these courses, we should have no 

 further argument as to their worth. But as a 

 matter of fact, as far as it was possible to 

 ascertain, no such condition existed in any 

 case. 



The class attendance in every case was not 

 obtained, so that this phase of the problem is 

 omitted. However, from the point of view of 

 hours of instruction, the average was found to 

 be little more than two hoin-s (2.7). In all 

 cases we are referring to the regular periods 

 of instruction, namely, weekly recitations, etc. 

 It is evident that the figure given does not 

 satisfy the average requirement for standard 

 (3 hours a week, general course) and can not 

 in this sense be substituted as equal. 



Probably better results would have been ob- 

 tained had the investigation gone further into 

 the question regarding the percentage of stu- 

 dents in the scientific department of each 

 school who took the historical course, and 

 those who did not take the course. It was 

 planned to work this problem along such lines. 



