Maech 27, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



517 



It will be obvious tbat this criticism is 

 based upon a niisapprebensioii. The new 

 method is not an extension of the old. It is 

 a fundamentally different process. The old 

 method is chiefly didactic. The new is a sys- 

 tematic course of experiment and observation 

 by the student himself. In the old the stu- 

 dent rests upon the dictum of the professor 

 and the text-book. In the new he relies 

 upon the fundamental experiments done with 

 his ovm hands. In the old his experi- 

 ments follow the lecture and attempt to 

 verify its statements. In .the new the lec- 

 ture follows his experiments and discusses 

 them in relation to the work of other ob- 

 servers. In the old the stress is upon the 

 didactic teaching. In the new the stress is 

 upon observation. Under the old method, 

 students in the Harvard Medical School used 

 to ask, ' Who is the authority for that state- 

 ment ? ' Under the new, they ask, ' What is 

 the experimental evidence ? ' The old method 

 insensibly teaches men to depend upon au- 

 thority, but the new directs them to nature. 



In the old method the experiments per- 

 formed by the students are almost exclusively 

 such as are quickly and easily done; for ex- 

 ample, the simpler experiments in the physi- 

 ology of muscle and of the circulation of the 

 blood. They are intended to illustrate physi- 

 ological experimentation rather than to dis- 

 close step by step the groundwork of the 

 science of physiology. 



In the new method, on the contrary, the 

 fundamental experiments and observations 

 which form the solid ground in every field of 

 physiology are divided into sufficiently small 

 groups and arranged in the most instructive 

 sequence. With the fundamental experiment 

 of each group are placed the accessory data. 

 The meaning of this term will be clear from 

 the following example. Consider the func- 

 tion of the roots of spinal nerves. The funda- 

 mental experiment here is Johannes Miiller's 

 well-known section and stimulation of the 

 nerve-roots. The accessory data are such of 

 the observations and opinions of his successors 

 as are necessary to give a clear picture of the 

 present state of knowledge of this subject. 

 The student ihakes for himseK the funda- 



mental observation, and immediately after- 

 ward considers the accessory data provided in 

 text-book and lecture. He proceeds system- 

 atically from the fundamental experiment and 

 accessory data of one group to those of the 

 next, in an ordered and logical series. 



The fundamental experiment and the acces- 

 sory data are taken as directly as possible 

 from the original sources, and the reference 

 is given in each case. 



It should be observed that this new method 

 serves for the instruction of all students, from 

 beginners to those engaged in research. The 

 beginner performs the fundamental experi- 

 ment in each group and studies the accessory 

 data. The advanced student performs the 

 fundamental experiments and as many of 

 the accessory experiments as may give him 

 the special training he desires. The research 

 student has before him the classical observa- 

 tions and the original sources of the problem 

 he has chosen. 



It should be noticed also that the new need 

 not violently push aside the old method of 

 instruction, but may replace it chapter by 

 chapter as the means and the energy of the 

 instructors shall permit. 



It has been urged against the new method 

 that there are fundamental experiments which 

 require more time than the student can pos- 

 sibly give, or which are too complicated to be 

 successfully performed by him. The number 

 of these has certainly been much exaggerated, 

 and is daily lessened by inventions that se- 

 cure simplicity without loss of accuracy. 

 Pending such labor-saving inventions, the 

 experiments which consume much time may 

 well be done by committees of students, and 

 the results reported to the entire class, who 

 will compare them with the account given by 

 the original discoverers. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The council of the British Association for 

 the Advancement of Science has nominated 

 the Eight Hon. Arthur James Balfour to the 

 office of president for the Cambridge meeting 

 in 1904. They further agreed to recommend 

 to the association the acceptance of the in- 

 vitation to South Africa for the year 1905. 



