SCIENCE, 



[Vol. XXI. No. 532 



$5. The cost per year of cbemicals and o£ apparatus to provide 

 for breakage should not exceed $6. A class of twenty-five stu- 

 dents can be accommodated in a room 20' by 37', and the expense 

 of a complete equipment should not exceed $700. For smaller 

 classes the cost should be proportionally less. These estimates 

 are based on the results of extended experience in the construc- 

 tion and arrangement of several laboratories, which it has been 

 my fortune to superintend. 



The second obstacle mentioned above has reference to the 

 large teaching force which would apparently be required in such 

 instruction, but it would seem that it is rather a result of a want 

 of knowledge of the best methods of teaching physical science, 

 both on the part of executive boards and of many teachers 

 themselves. From the results of mj own experience in similar 

 grades, as well as in more advanced instruction, I am convinced 

 that this difficulty is only apparent. In a high-school course 

 of three or four years, physics should be taught during the junior 

 year and chemistry in the senior year. 



In chemistry, two hours a week should be devoted to lecture 

 demonstration, with two afternoons, of two hours each, to labor- 

 atory work, and one hour to a recitation on the subjects of the 

 lectures and laboratory practice. The same method should be 

 adopted in the physics of the third year, although from the nature 

 of this subject perhaps a text-book may be used more freely. 



The same laboratory %vill serve for both physics and chemis ry, 

 and in physics the same apparatus will serve for different 

 students. Hitherto the chief diflaculty in teaching experiment- 

 al physics has been the high cost of the apparatus; but sugges- 

 tions concerning inexpensive forms of apparatus have recently 

 been given for the benefit of the secondary schools by professors 

 of physios, especially by the professors at the Jefferson Physical 

 Laboratory of Harvard University, and such apparatus is for sale 

 by the dealers at a small cost. The same instructor may have 

 charge of physics and chemistry, and the success of such teach- 

 ing would depend upon his particular qualifications. He should 

 be allowed at least eight hours a week to prepare for class-room 

 and laboratory exercises, with some aid from the janitor or 

 other servant. He should still have considerable time which 

 could be devoted to such other teaching as might seem expedi- 

 ent, perhaps in some other branches of science. In the high 

 schools outside of the larger cities the annual salary of an in- 

 structor should be between $600 and $1,500, depending upon the 

 size of the school. One instructor can easily teach a class of 

 thirty members; in the larger schools, laboratory assistants would 

 be necessary; lady teachers with suitable preparation are very 

 successful in laboratory teaching, and this service could be com- 

 bined with other duties. 



I am aware that excellent training in elementary physical 

 science is given in some of the high schools in the larger cities; 

 but, notably throughout the West, such teaching, when it is 

 given at all, is usually confined to routine text-book methods, 

 with little, if any, experimental illustration, at least by the 

 students themselves. Such a system as the one herein described 

 requires certain small expenditures, but the efficiency of the 

 high-school instruction would thereby be greatly improved, and 

 the public would soon appreciate the importance of sustaining 

 efforts leading to broader and more practical training.' 



If at first the governing boards of high schools should feel the 

 need of suggestions in the preparation of plans and estimates for 

 equipment of laboratory rooms, I am sure that professors in 

 charge of laboratories would gladly render such assistance. The 

 success of this system requires a knowledge of special methods, 

 which many teachersdonot possess, but they are enabled to acquiie 

 it in laboratories which are open during a part of the summer va- 

 cation. The chemical laboratory of Harvard University was first 

 opened during the summer of 1873 for the benefit of teachers, 

 and many now have charge of responsible teaching through the 

 knowledge acquired by continuous attendance during successive 

 vacations. 



' Every citizen la directly Interested in the welfare ol the public schools, 

 and all parents will heartily support any endeavor looking towards the 

 attainment of the greatest amount of useful knowledge, as well as the best 

 mental development for their children. 



What has been said about physical science in the secondary 

 schools may apply in a different sense and on a higher plain to 

 the condition of scientific training in many colleges. The in- 

 creasing demand for the admission of college graduates to ad- 

 vanced standing in schools of science should be encouraged, 

 since the discipline of a collegiate course is an excellent founda- 

 tion for advanced scientific study, provided it includes thorough 

 instruction in the elementary branches of science. A college 

 course should offer, as a part of its required work, comprehen- 

 sive training in general and descriptive chemistry and descriptive 

 physics with extensive laboratory practice in both subjects. Most 

 colleges can also give elective instruction in qualitative chemical 

 analysis, with some additional study in quantitative analysis. 

 Graduates from such courses, which should also include French 

 and German, are well qualified to enter the junior year in the 

 best scientific schools. Unfortunately, at present, not all colleges 

 give a sufficiently thorough drill in elementary physical science, 

 in consequence of which many graduates who desire to enter 

 schools of science labor under a serious disadvantage from a 

 want of the more elementary knowledge. Most colleges, doubt- 

 less, feel that they devote as much attention to scientific subjects 

 as is consistent with the thorough general training that is expected 

 in a college course. While this may be true in part, it must be 

 admitted that thorough training in physical science should now 

 have as important a place in a college course as mathematics or 

 the ancient languages. It is not to be expected that the college 

 can provide the expensive equipment for the study of science that 

 is the foundation of the school of science. But every college 

 can afford the small expenditure that will thoroughly equip and 

 maintain working rooms for the use of elementary physics 

 and chemistry, with sufBcient instruction to render this study 

 interesting and profitable. The feeling of mutual interest and 

 dependence between the secondary schools and the scientific 

 schools, and perhaps in a less degree between the college and the 

 scientific school as a professional school, should he promoted and 

 encouraged; and whatever aid it is possible to render in either 

 direction should be cheerfully granted. 



OUR VACANT PUBLIC LANDS. 



BY F. H. NEWELL, WASHINGTON, D.C. 



The total area of the public lands vacant in 1892 has been es- 

 timated by the Commissioner of the General Land Office at, in 

 round numbers, less that 568,000.000 acres, these being located 

 in 25 states and territories. Of this total by far the greater 

 part, as is generally known, is in the western half of the United 

 States and mainly west of the lOOlh meridian. Taking there- 

 fore the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kanfas and Texas, and the states 

 and territories to the west of these, numbering in all 16, these 

 contained nearly 542,000,OCO acres, or about 95 percent of the 

 vacant public lands. The remaining 26,000,000 acres in the 

 nine political divisions to the east of the states named may be 

 considered as of little value, at least for homesteads. A great 

 part of this is in the swamps of Florida and Louisiana or in what 

 are generally considered non-agricultural regions of Arkansas, 

 Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The very fact that these 

 lands have not been taken up, although open to settlement for 

 many years, testifies as to the doubts or failures of would-be 

 settlers. 



The rate at which the public lands are being sold is also shown 

 in the reports of the officer above mentioned, from which the 

 following figures have been culled: 



Disposal of Public Lands. 



1890 13,798,837 acres 



1891 10.477,700 



1893 13,664,019 " 



During the year 1893, the disposal of lands has been abnormal 

 in quantity, owing doubtless to several causes, but mainly from 

 the legislative or official side rather than from increase of settle- 

 ment. As a rule it may be said that the sales of public lands 

 have been steadily decreasing year by year until 1892, when 



