458 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 116. 



holiday conference of the Academic Princi- 

 pals of New York State. 



Tuesday evening, December 29th, Presi- 

 dent J. G. Schurman, of Cornell University, 

 addressed a joint meeting of the three edu- 

 cational bodies convened in Syracuse ; his 

 subject was ' College entrance requirements 

 and the High School curriculum.' Presi- 

 dent Schurman expressed a strong disposi- 

 tion to encourage more thorough science 

 work in our high schools by accepting 

 sciences in preparation for college, and out- 

 lined several preparatory courses in which 

 science should form an important part. 



The meeting of the Association opened 

 on Wednesday afternoon with the follow- 

 ing paper by the President, Professor Simon 

 H. Gage, of Cornell University : 



The Purpose of the New York State Science 



Teachers' Association and the Work it Hopes 



to Accomplish. 



It is a source of congratulation that the 

 Science Teachers of the Empire State are 

 no longer to remain scattered and unor- 

 ganized, but by association are to gain the 

 encouragement and enthusiasm which 

 united effort brings. That enthusiasm and 

 efficiency are promoted by such organiza- 

 tions of science teachers is abundantly at- 

 tested by the results gained through the 

 efforts of the American Society of liatural- 

 ists, and the teachers of Illinois, Colorado, 

 California, and of other sections. 



An association like this makes it easier 

 for the college and for the secondary school 

 teacher to come together and talk over mat- 

 ters of mutual interest and concern. In 

 these friendly consultations and discussions 

 there will be a chance of finding out some- 

 thing of what is most desirable and what 

 is practicable and possible in the schools 

 each represents. And in these discussions 

 it will not be possible to forget the children 

 in the elementary schools, the great ma- 

 jority of whom come neither under the 



training of the high school nor of the col- 

 lege, but must be content to get the best 

 they can from the elementary schools to 

 equip them for the struggle of life which 

 stands so near them. What help have 

 these a right to ask from the high school 

 and the college? And then the great world 

 of thought and action whose mighty stream, 

 sooner or later, draws all into it, what does 

 it demand? It is, after all, the final court 

 which tries all alike, and puts each to the 

 test whether he be a college graduate, 

 high school graduate, pupil of an elemen- 

 tary school or one who has only his heredi- 

 tary endowment of mother wit. 



The signs of the times all indicate that 

 the high school teacher is to be at least a col- 

 lege graduate, and the elementary school 

 teacher a high-school graduate. If this is 

 true, while the college has but few under 

 its immediate instruction it determines the 

 character of the high school, and in turn 

 the high school determines the character 

 of the elementary school. The college is 

 then the intellectual guide of the land. Is 

 it and has it always been a wise and sym- 

 pathetic guide ? 



If we compare our times with those of 

 500 or even 100 years ago there will be 

 found an immense difference, and science 

 is largely responsible for this difference. 

 Whether we approve or not, things are not 

 as they once were ; whether we designate 

 the change as one of progress or decline, 

 there has been change, the world is not 

 what it once was. The modern citizen must 

 adapt himself to these changes or be ground 

 to powder in the struggle for existence or for 

 preeminence. The professional man, if he 

 is a physician, is a criminal if he does not 

 know and apply the science bearing upon 

 his profession ; and the lawyer who has only 

 the knowledge that the Middle Ages might 

 have given him is soon eliminated from the 

 race. It is with hesitation that I speak of 

 the clergyman, but if he misrepresents na- 



