394 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 15. 



years and centuries even, if we broaden our 

 view sufficiently to include those of Europe. 

 Such indeed are the customs, the traditions 

 and the general policy of a great university 

 with decades or centuries of historj' behind 

 it. Every ancient seat of learning has a 

 character peculiarly its own. There is an 

 indescribable charm attaching to crumbling, 

 ivy-cumbered walls; to time-stained libra- 

 ries, that point with motionless fingers back 

 toward their more silent authors; a subtle 

 influence in the steady gaze of the famous 

 sons of the college, as they look down on 

 the younger generation from the deepening 

 canvas in the memorial portrait hall. Who 

 that has a fibre of his soul tuned to vibrate 

 in unison with melodies of the past can fail 

 to feel an energetic thrill as he stands among 

 the distinguished sons of the Harvard of 

 former years ranged around the walls of 

 ' Memorial Hall,' or as he walks softly 

 through the portrait gallery of Christ Church 

 College in Oxford ? These influences are not 

 to be despised. They are an inheritance fi-om 

 the long past and are still potent. Addison 

 still walks under the arching trees by the 

 quiet stream at the back of Magdalen Col- 

 lege; Wolsey and Wesley and Gladstone 

 still linger in the noble hall of Christ Church ; 

 and Newton's rooms remain near the im- 

 posing gateway of Trinity College in Cam- 

 bridge. I love to step within the charmed 

 circle of such subtle influences, to yield to 

 the magic spell, and to count mj^self a part 

 of all this glorious past. 



But the modern spirit prevades the oldest 

 institutions, and great seats of learning are 

 rising on new foundations. In both old 

 and new the most marked characteristic of 

 the teaching of the present is the scientific 

 method. It has pervaded every depart- 

 ment and has proved the leaven that, being 

 taken and hid in the ancient curriculum, as 

 inert as the three measures of meal, has 

 leavened the whole. Till the introduction 

 of serious scientific study with laboratory 



facilities, the educational methods which 

 had prevailed for centuries were still cur- 

 rent. As late as twenty-five years ago in a 

 respectable New England college it was not 

 possible for a student to learn his science 

 by means of laboratory study. All this 

 has now changed, and no less impoi'tant a 

 change has taken place in the teaching of 

 language and literature. It is significant 

 that this advance in pedagogical practice, 

 the introduction of the method bj' investi- 

 gation as compared with mere memoriter 

 acquisition, has been coincident with the 

 introduction of the serious studj' of science 

 into our American colleges and universi- 

 ties. Twentj'-five years ago the Massachu- 

 setts Institute of Technology led the way by 

 introducing the physical laboratory into the 

 study of phj'sics. Some progress had al- 

 ready been made in the teaching of chem- 

 istry bj^ direct contact with chemical re- 

 actions at the work table. It is only fifty 

 years since Liebig inaugurated the system 

 of studying chemistry hj the laboratory 

 method, and it is highly probable that the 

 physical laboratory established bj^ William 

 B. Eogers in Boston marked the introduc- 

 tion into the regular curriculum of insti'uc- 

 tion in physics by experiment.* I venture 

 to say that no greater success has followed 

 any new departure in education. The 

 physical laboratory is now a necessary part 

 of every institution devoted to higher learn- 

 ing ; its growth has been phenomenal. En- 

 ormous sums of money have been expended 

 for physical laboratories and their equip- 

 ment. The example set bj^ this oldest 

 branch of science has had a most beneficent 

 influence in several directions. It has im- 

 proved the quahty of the work in the 

 secondary schools . The ph j'sical laboratory 

 is now a necessary part of everj' first-class 

 high school equipment. It has also stimu- 

 lated and advanced original work. Every 



* Professor Mendeuhall in The Quarterly Calendar 

 of tlie University of Cbicago, August, 1894. 



