92 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No 497 



materia mediea must be followed in order to educate a good 

 therapist, and the sooner our medical institutions make a 

 requisite of this branch, the better it will be for patients 

 treated by their graduates. 



ON THE PRESENT TENDENCY TOWARDS HIGHER 

 STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION. 



One cannot but observe with pleasure, in the present 

 general advance and spread of higher education, that this 

 advance is afFecting not only the institutions of higher 

 learning themselves and the general population, but also 

 the strictly professional or technical schools. And whilst 

 I wish in this short paper to refer more especially to law 

 and medicine, my remarks will apply also to other — -per- 

 haps to all other — professions. 



The medical education of this country has, deservedly 

 enough, for many years been looked upon with little favor, 

 and has ill stood the test of competition with the methods of 

 other countries; but now we are observing a great change 

 in this respect, and there isTio doubt that before many years 

 the degree of M.D. from an American university will be as 

 valuable a certificate on its face as can anywhere be ob- 

 tained. Medical courses of four years' duration are now 

 being adopted, or have already been adopted, by the leading 

 medical schools in the country. The requirements in pre- 

 liminary education have also greatly increased, and one may 

 hope that before long such subjects as botany and zoology 

 may be added to the requirements of a good English and 

 general education from the intending student of medicine. 

 State legislation itself has not been idle, and we find in the 

 State of New York, for example, that no person can practise 

 medicine without undergoing an examination conducted by 

 the State Board of Examiners. A requirement of prelimi- 

 nary education has also been added, and though as yet no 

 more than an elementary education is required, we may 

 hope for better things in future. 



As regards the profession of law, the advance is perhaps 

 even more marked; more marked, that is, as regards legal 

 education, for we no not find that the advance in the require- 

 ments for admission to the bar has been so considerable as 

 might be desired, though they have been by no means 

 neglected. Three year law-school courses, which not so long 

 since were unheard of, have "^qow become the rule rather 

 than the exception; and even in those schools which still 

 see fit to maintain a two-years' course for the degree of bache- 

 lor of laws, a graduate course has been commonly added. 

 Towards the general extension of the study of law so as to 

 include the Roman or Civil Law, the tendency is by no 

 means general, caused no doubt by the non-requirement of 

 this branch for admission to the legal profession. Some 

 universities, indeed, in their college courses, offer instruc- 

 tion in this subject; but it must be remembered that the 

 majority of law-students are not college graduates, and so 

 the breadth of their legal knowledge will be measured by the 

 instruction given in the law school, however the depth and 

 extent of what subjects they do touch vipon may be increased 

 afterwards. Yale is, I believe, alone among the universities 

 in this country which gives extended courses in the civil 

 law, and encourages their study by the bestowal of a degree 

 (that of D.C.L.); but even then the course is one taken by 

 but few students, and, as the catalogue says, is intended for 

 those who intend to be something more than practising law- 

 yers. This is not as it should be, and we must look to the 

 future for more general study of this subject, for without it 



law can hardly be taught as a science, for law is — and 

 should be known as — a science. 



Education preliminary to the study of law has also risen 

 greatly. Latin is now a usual requirement, and we may 

 doubtless soon see it a universal one. 



The day is not far distant then, let us hope, when the 

 title Doctor or Lawyer will in itself mean an educated man. 

 N. H. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



#** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The xoriler's name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



On request in advance^ one hundred copies of the number containing his 

 communication will he furnished free to any correspondent. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



The Elm-Leaf Beetle. Galeruca xanthomelaena Schr. 



In Science, No. 492, for July 8, 1893, Dr. 0. V. Riley records 

 the facts, that at Washington, D.C., the iraagos from the first 

 brood of larvEe of the above insect had already appeared, and that 

 eggs from beetles of this summer brood had been obtained June 

 28. In a letter dated July 27, Dr. Riley informs me that from 

 these eggs larv» had been obtained and that these larvse were 

 then pupating. Dr. Riley's observations are positive, and prove 



that there are two broods at least of this insect at Washington, 

 D.C. They prove also that the beetles will mate and oviposit 

 readily in confinement, and that there is only a brief interval be- 

 tween the appearance of the beetles and oviposition for the second 

 brood of larvse. This means that the beetles of both sexes are 

 sexually mature when they emerge from the pupae, or that they 

 mature very rapidly and copulate within a very brief period after 

 assuming tlie imaginal form. The accuracy of these observations 

 I do not question; but neither do I admit that I am in error in 

 claiming that in New Jersey, north of New Brunswick, there is 

 only a single brood of this insect. 



My acquaintance with the beetle at New Brunswick began in 

 1889, in which year I protected the large number of elms in and 

 near the college campus and about the Experiment Station by 

 spraying with a London purple mixture. In the Report of the 

 College Experiment Station for 1888, Dr. George D. Hulst, my 

 predecessor in office, had stated that there were two broods of 

 tlie insect annually; and on the appearance of the summer brood 

 of beetles, I made ready to spray again as soon as the second 

 brood of larvse should begin to appear on the protected trees. 

 They never did make their appearance, and I was unable to find 

 a second brood on any other trees in the city. Dr. Hulst, in re- 

 sponse to questions, informed me that he had noticed only one 

 brood of larvse in 1888; but there had been a cyclonic storm 

 about the time they became mature, which freed the trees and 

 covered the ground beneath them with tliousands of the slugs, 

 only a few of which ever found their way back to their food. 



