434 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 978 



selves. In eighteen colleges two Lours a week 

 are spent in lectures and two hours a week in. 

 the laboratory; in three colleges three hours 

 are devoted to lectures and the same time to 

 laboratory. This is a regrettable survival of 

 the so-called German university system. 



In four colleges no recitation or quiz is 

 given at all. In thirteen only an occasional 

 recitation is held; in three colleges not more 

 than a half hour, either each week or at vari- 

 ous intervals, but not extending beyond this 

 time. 



The following table supplements the above 

 and brings out in sharp relief the over- 

 emphasis of the lecture and the very inade- 

 quate attention to the recitation. 



The ' following table gives an idea of the 

 frequency that certain topics are considered 

 in the course, either in the laboratory lecture, 

 essays or assigned readings. 



32 colleges, the theory of evolution. 



31 colleges, heredity. 



29 colleges, comparative anatomy of invertebrates. 



24 colleges, comparative anatomy of vertebrates. 



22 colleges, histology. 



21 colleges, bacteriology and sanitation. 



19 colleges, botany. 



15 colleges, experimental zoology. 



15 colleges, experimental embryology. 



13 colleges, paleontology. 



There are twenty-five colleges that treat of 

 the economic or applied biology, eighteen of 

 which treat this phase of the course in lec- 

 tures only, four in lectures and laboratory, 

 three in lectures, laboratory and practical or 

 field work. Four colleges do not include eco- 

 nomic aspects of the science in the course. 



I had hoped to obtain information with 

 reference to the manner and the extent to 

 which this aspect of the problem was consid- 

 ered. But the returns did not lend them- 

 selves to tabulation. 



ARTICULATION WITH SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY 



In the College of the City of New York the 

 students in the introductory course include 

 those who have not had a high-school course 

 in biology and those who have had such a 

 course. It has been our experience that the 

 one group is not appreciably better informed 

 or better equipped to attack the subject, nor 

 do they appear to do any better than the other 

 group of students. It is not my purpose to 

 make any reflection upon the excellent work 

 done by exceedingly able and conscientous 

 teachers in the high schools. I merely wish 

 to state that, so far as our experience goes, it 

 is altogether probable that the college course 

 may safely ignore any training or equipment 

 based upon the high-school course in biology. 

 Furthermore, since every tendency indicates a 

 continued independence of the high-school 

 courses from the domination or educational 

 policies of colleges and universities, it seems 

 safe to conclude that any articulation with 

 the high schools is inadvisable. 



BIOLOGY TEACHING IN COLLEGES 



It is now generally agreed that every col- 

 lege man or woman should have had at least 

 one year's college biology. This plan is now 

 adopted in nearly all colleges. It is also 

 agreed that in order to reach the larger body 

 of students and to make possible later special- 



