40 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 



them come next, and the French are the 

 greatest sinners in the matter of vei'biage. 



The eifect of the work of the naturalist 

 upon his own character is especially shown 

 in his optimism. Literary men seem much 

 inclined to grow pessimistic. This point is 

 well illustrated by a comparison of the re- 

 cently published letters of Asa Gray and of 

 James Eussell Lowell. Lowell's letters 

 show increasing pessimistic views toward 

 the end of his life, while those of Gray re- 

 main uniformly optimistic. Something of 

 this was iindoubtedlj^ due to the different 

 temperaments of the two men, but much 

 was also due to the different nature of their 

 work. Gray could always see new things 

 unfolding before him. 



One drawback in the naturalist's life is 

 his comparative loneliness and isolation. 

 Seldom has he in his own neighborhood an- 

 other interested in the same particular line 

 as himself. Eeunions of natui'alist societies, 

 such as those at the time meeting in Balti- 

 more, counteract this to a considerable ex- 

 tent, but there is need of even greater affili- 

 ation. 



The influence of the naturalist upon man- 

 kind in the way of teaching them compe- 

 tence had not been considered sufiiciently. 

 In political questions competencj'^ comes in, 

 and the solution of much of our present 

 ti'ouble lies not so much in restricting the 

 right to vote as it does in restricting the 

 right to become a candidate. We, as na- 

 turalists and as citizens, should uphold com- 

 petence. Our schools, even the best of 

 them, judging by their results, do not edu- 

 cate properly. The naturalist should see 

 to it that our schools educate, with science 

 in its proper place. It is the duty of the 

 naturalist to advance the development of 

 the university. The schools use elementary 

 knowledge to advance the mind in acquisi- 

 tiveness, and the college uses advanced 

 knowledge in the same way, but the uni- 

 versitj' attempts to advance the mind in 



independent work, to develop and discipline 

 origiualitj'. 



To carrj' on its proper work the univer- 

 sity needs a lai'ge endowment, at least $10,- 

 000,000. It is not possible to teach zoology 

 unless the proper instruments and books 

 are provided. The university, above all, 

 needs proper professors. The qualifications 

 of a professor in a iiniversity should be : (1) 

 the ability to carry on original researches 

 himself, and (2) to train others to carry 

 out original work. 



The annual discussion on ' Laboratory 

 Teaching of Large Classes ' followed Pro- 

 fessor Minot's address. Professor Alpheus 

 Hyatt, of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History, introduced the subject somewhat 

 as follows : 



Teaching has two objects in view : (1) to 

 train the faculties of individuals, and (2) to 

 increase the store of information. The im- 

 portance in laboratory teaching of bringing 

 the pupil into contact with the organisms 

 themselves is absolutely necessary. The 

 term, ' large classes,' is relative. It may 

 mean twenty, thirty, forty, up to several 

 hundred. In teaching large classes, there 

 must be taken into account the matter of 

 division into sections, rooms, assistants, ap- 

 paratus, etc. The first point to be insisted 

 upon is the matter of personal contact be- 

 tween the pupils and the instructors. In 

 experience with Boston teachers, the classes 

 numbered five hundred. Tables were pro- 

 vided for the whole number, and on these 

 tables were placed the trays of specimens^ 

 on which the exercise was to be given. The 

 specimens were thus arranged l^efore the 

 exercises by assistants. The lecturer then 

 proceeded to demonstrate the various points 

 upon his own specimens, and the j)upils fol- 

 lowed him bj^ working out the same points 

 on the specimens in the tray. The speci- 

 mens kept the lecturer down to his subject 

 and also kept the pupils at work. Of course 

 the field was necessarily limited. 



