868 
Kansas, which may be taken as an average 
type of the Western universities, five years’ 
study of foreign language must be had, and 
nothing whatever of any biological science. 
Is that department of human knowledge 
which, more than all others, has been the 
foundation of the civilization of the present 
century ; which has done more to lengthen 
life, to ameliorate its burdens, to improve, 
purify and advance the world; which has 
furnished one of the great underlying 
principles of modern education, of which 
even the philologist boasts—laboratory 
methods; which has established the great 
underlying principle of all progress—evo- 
lution; is this department of knowldge, I 
say, of so little importance that it is 
practically ignored in the requirements of a 
modern liberal education? Twenty-five 
years ago the classical course was the 
almost invariable one in our colleges; but 
even in those times I was required to learn 
the rudiments at least of physics, chemis- 
try, botany, zoology and geology. Now 
modern education has liberalized the course 
by making the larger part of the language 
studies compulsory, and all, or nearly all, 
the natural sciences optional ! 
But the writing on the walls is so legible 
that he who runs may read. Yale College, 
the great exponent of the classical course, 
has been almost the only prominent college 
in the United States that has not gained 
materially in attendance during the past 
two years. Harvard, more liberal, does 
not insist upon so extended a study of the 
ancient languages, and will permit a con- 
siderable amount of science to be offered in 
their stead. Columbia College, which, un- 
til recently, has had requirements almost 
like those of Yale, has so modified its course 
that Greek is no longer demanded. To 
quote from its recent catalogue: ‘‘ No one 
can obtain the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
who does not know something of at least 
one ancient language, and who has not 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. VI. No. 154. 
therefore looked out through this window 
upon the world of antiquity. He must 
know also something of history, something 
of philosophy, something of political econ- 
omy, a good deal of English, something of 
mathematics, and something of a least one 
natural science. He must also have aread- 
ing knowlege of French and German.” It 
is refreshing to learn of one college that 
does require the student to leave that win- 
dow of antiquity long enough to learn 
something of one natural science, of the 
laws that control the world and its inhab- 
itants. We may be profoundly thankful 
that all the universities do not insist that 
we shall look out through two windows 
upon the high morality and civilization of 
the old Romans and Greeks. 
In thus claiming some recognition for 
natural sciences in the course of liberal 
arts I shall doubtless be accused of nar- 
rowness. I trust, however, if I am, that it 
will not be imputed to ignorance of the 
classical course. I studied, when a youth, 
Latin and Greek for the prescribed time of 
six years each, and have since learned to 
speak or read three or four of the modern 
languages. 
But I do more than claim recognition for 
the sciences. JI claim broadly and em- 
phatically that the natural sciences, any 
or all of them, are as valuable and as neces- 
sary as pure cultural studies as are the 
languages ; that intelligent and successful 
study of them will do as much, if not more, 
in making the student a broad man, a suc- 
cessful man, as will the study of Latin or 
Greek. And they will do more in making 
him an honest man. Nowhere in all the 
broad field of knowledge will he learn bet- 
ter to think exactly than in the natural 
sciences. Nowhere will he be more im- 
pressed wih the importance of truth for 
truth’s sake. 
Among the graduates of the University 
of Kansas, with whom I am best ac- 
