124 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 187. 



Tjeing from thirty-five to forty, whicli was 

 to be expected, since there were conferences 

 upon twelve other lines of study in other 

 places of meeting in the city at the same 

 time. 



Professor C. S. Palmer, of the University 

 of Colorado, spoke on the teaching of chem- 

 istry. He limited the scope of his remarks 

 to the high and preparatory schools, and 

 noted that only one-fourth of the time is 

 asked for natural science, the other three- 

 fourths involving mathematics, language, 

 (English and Latin), literature and his- 

 tory. He noted that there are two kinds 

 of chemistry to be considered : one, that 

 suited to the one-year course of the aver- 

 age school ; and the other a much more con- 

 centrated and specialized sort, suited to 

 the newer standards now coming to recog- 

 nition. He gave the chief arguments for 

 natural science specialization in the high 

 school, defending it against the accusation 

 of narrowness, and emphasizing its discip- 

 linary value. 



In view of this he emphasized the value 

 of the qualitative proof in chemistrj^, leav- 

 the quantitative proof for the college course 

 in. the main. 



(His remarks will be found in the fuller 

 form in a forthcoming article in the School 

 Eevieiv, with special reference to a discus- 

 sion and defence of specialization in natural 

 science in secondary schools.) 



Instructor H. V. Kepner, of the Denver 

 Manual Training High School, led this dis- 

 cussion, emphasizing the contention of 

 Professor Palmer. 



In the physics conference a paper on 

 ' Graphical Algebra for High Schools ' was 

 presented by Professor F. E. Nipher, of St. 

 Louis. This paper was distributed in 

 printed form. It was really an elementary 

 test giving the author's idea of what should 

 be undertaken in connection with instruc- 

 tion in algebra as now taught 



Equations based on simple physical con- 



ditions were written, and the physical sig- 

 nificance of each equation was pointed out. 

 The equations were each represented graph- 

 ically by curves, lines or surfaces. The 

 geometrical meaning of making equations 

 simultaneous and determining the values of 

 the ' unknown quantities ' by elimination 

 was fully shown. The paper will be pub- 

 lished as a test-book bj^ Henry Holt & Co. 



In the discussion by President C. L. 

 Mees, of the Rose Polytechnic Institute; 

 Professor H. T. Eddy, of the University of 

 Minnesota, and Professor B. E. Moore, of 

 the University of Nebraska, the importance 

 of graphical methods of representing results 

 in Physics was emphasized, and the high 

 schools were urged to give more attention 

 to training their pupils in graphical concep- 

 tions. 



Professor H. A. Howe, of the University 

 of Denver, presented a paper on 'Astron- 

 omy,' in which he said that instruction in 

 astronomy may well be a part of nature 

 study in the four grammar grades. The 

 moon's phases and motion, the seasonal 

 change of the sun's place in the heavens, 

 the motion of bright planets among the 

 stars, and the appearance and changes of 

 position of a few constellations, may be 

 familiarized by observation. 



In the high school elementary descrip- 

 tive astronomy may best be taught in the 

 fourth year ; accurate observation of the 

 diurnal revolution of the heavens, and the 

 learning of several constellations, may well 

 precede any work with the text-book. Ob- 

 servation of the heavens and the develop- 

 ment of principles and facts by judicious 

 questions should be strongly pushed ; me- 

 moriter work should be reduced to the 

 lowest limit consistent with a fair general 

 knowledge of the subject. 



Collegiate descriptive astronomy is sim- 

 ply more thorough than high school work, 

 and may involve more mathematics. Col- 

 legiate mathematical astronomy is most 



