Apeil 2, 1897.] 



SGIENGE. 



539 



Professor George F. Atkinson, of Cornell, 

 thought that the outline for the study of 

 zoology as presented in the Regents' Bulle- 

 tin offered encouragement for the presenta- 

 tion of a much better course of study in this 

 subject than was the case with botany. 



"With a few exceptions the study of bot- 

 any in the high school is merely the study 

 of the various members of the higher plants 

 with the sole view of using this knowledge 

 in 'running down' the plant to its name. 

 This method of study has brought the 

 science of botany into disrepute in many 

 quarters. If we should study zoology in a 

 similar way we might confine ourselves 

 to the birds and study the various kinds of 

 feathers, the modifications of the beak, toes, 

 etc., with the sole purpose of using the 

 knowledge of these things to trace, with the 

 aid of a key, the bird to its name. No one 

 would call such work zoology. No more is 

 the similar method employed by many in 

 dealing with plants botany, and yet in many 

 places the word botany suggests that kind 

 of study alone. It has sometimes seemed 

 to the speaker that if it were possible to 

 drop the word botany we might at the 

 same time do away with certain prejudices 

 against the study of plants ; and if we 

 should instead use the word phytology the 

 study of plants would thus be placed among 

 ' ologies,' and would at once, from the very 

 name, be recognized as a science ! 



Regarding the study of types it was sug- 

 gested that no plant is a type of a branch 

 or class of plants, and that the study of sev- 

 eral plants in a class would give a better 

 knowledge of the characteristics of the class 

 than the study of a single one. The study 

 of a single plant or animal to represent a 

 large group may be carried too far in the 

 case of beginning students. By going 

 deeply into the minute structure of a single 

 plant or animal a mass of facts is obtained, 

 which may be very interesting and wonder- 

 ful, but which do not in themselves teach 



any great principle. It would be better for 

 the young student to study the plant or 

 animal less thoroughly and to study others 

 of the same class in comparison. 



Emphasis was laid on the importance of 

 so conducting elementary science study as 

 to bring frequent deductions of some funda- 

 mental law or principle from the few facts 

 observed. Training in such methods of 

 study, the comprehension of fundamental 

 principles, and the tying together of the 

 facts observed into a living whole, gives far 

 greater power than the mere observation of 

 many wonderful details of a few organisms. 



Principal S. G. Harris, of Baldwinsville, 

 seconded the ideas of the preceding speaker 

 on the inductive method in biology. In 

 the grades this method may be used to ad- 

 vantage in order to foster a love of nature 

 and prepare the pupil for the work of the 

 high school. By skillful questions and sug- 

 gestions the teacher leads her pupils to see 

 the facts of one form and another in nature 

 about them. Frequent repetition of this 

 operation fixes the habit ; so that when the 

 pupils reach the high school they have not 

 only a habit of observation and a love for 

 the study, but also the pegs on which they 

 may hang subsequent knowledge — apper- 

 ceptive centers about which new facts may 

 be grouped. Then, and not till then, are 

 they prepared intensively to study any liv- 

 ing form, singly or comparatively. 



No wonder some pupils do not take to 

 the study of science in high school or col- 

 lege, if they must begin by mastering 

 classification, technical terms and a sea of 

 facts, without either a desire for the facts, 

 a habit of seeing for themselves or a single 

 fact by which to fasten their knowledge. 

 Too often teachers seem to think than one 

 must have the knowledge of a specialist to 

 rightly teach pupils in these studies, so 

 great is the field. Here is the danger, not 

 that the teacher may know too much, but 

 that she may tell too much. The idea is to 



