April 2, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



537 



that the method of life is from the simple 

 to the complex, which is the greatest lesson 

 to be learned from this study, since it is also 

 the method of growth of all social phenom- 

 ena. 



Professor A. D. Morrill, of Hamilton Col- 

 lege, thought that if the colleges and uni- 

 versities knew more of the objects toward 

 which the Regents are striving, and the dif- 

 ficulties with which they are contending, it 

 would enable the colleges and universities 

 to be of the greatest help in the advance- 

 ment of science in the secondary schools. 



The chief requisite for the instructor is to 

 be able to arouse mental activity, to care 

 more for the soul of the pupils than for the 

 amount of knowledge that he can impart to 

 them. Thorough scientific ti'aining can of- 

 ten awaken pupils who have been wholly 

 uninfluenced by language teaching. It is 

 not so important what the science is as how 

 it is taught. When pupils are taught to 

 use books and not to worship them they are 

 in a position to begin to learn. But the 

 laboratory is of no value except as a means 

 to an end — the awakening of the pupil. 



Professor E.. E. Dodge, of New York, was 

 glad to notice the emphatic disapproval of 

 systematic botany and zoology. In the 

 study of biology interest can be at once 

 elicited by showing that all living things 

 are attempting the same tasks of life in dif- 

 ferent and yet similar ways. Function as 

 producing form, comparative morphology 

 and forms as the result of function, should 

 be studied in the early years of education. 

 Thus a basis for interest and better love for 

 nature can be aroused through the sym- 

 pathy that comes from understanding. 



Professor Warren Mann, of Potsdam Nor- 

 mal, was sure that if the same quantity and 

 quality of work were given to science that 

 are now given to languages the results 

 would be equal to or even better than those 

 in language courses. He would not cry 

 down the languages, but he would cry up 



the sciences until they have an equal 

 footing in all respects with the languages. 

 The next ten years will witness great strides 

 in science study. This Association should 

 be one of the means to that end. 



Professor B. G. Wilder, of Cornell, ad- 

 mitted that after thirty years of teaching 

 he still found it dificult to determine the 

 proper sequence of biological subjects and 

 the manner in which they should be pre- 

 sented. He warmly commended the ad- 

 dress of Professor Wm. North Rice, ' Science 

 Teaching in the Schools.'* He heartily 

 agreed with Professor Rice as to the intro- 

 duction of elementary physiology into the 

 lowest grade of schools, but urged that, in- 

 stead of beginning in the fifth grade, the 

 nervous sj^stem should have a place in the 

 first. The very difficulty of the subject de- 

 manded that its rudiments be acquired 

 early. Paradoxical as it sounds, the brain, 

 as a gross object, is easier to study than 

 the heart. He would have the sheep's 

 brain put into the hands of the youngest 

 scholars to draw and observe. At later 

 stages comparison should be made with the 

 brains of cats and dogs, and, still later, the 

 general plan of the vertebrate brain should 

 be elucidated upon that of the green turtle. 

 In every high school should be at least one 

 well-preserved human brain and a series 

 illustrating the development of the organ. 

 From scholars thus early and gradually 

 familiarized with fundamental facts and 

 ideas much might be expected in univer- 

 sities and medical schools. 



Mrs. S. H. Gage, of Ithaca, spoke of the 

 desirability of keeping the minds of the 

 children pure by telling them the truth 

 about their own origin and development. 



Professor John F. WoodhuU, of New 

 York, in view of some of the criticisms of 



* Delivered at the meeting of the American Society 

 of Naturalists, December, 1887 ; printed in the Ameri- 

 can Naturalist, September and October, 1888. Pub- 

 lished by D. C. Heath & Co. 



