August 28, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



261 



engineering study has not been an absolute 

 factor in determining their actual lines of 

 engineering work. It is found that gradu- 

 ates in civil engineering are engaged in 

 mining, in machinery and in electricity, 

 and that graduates in other courses are 

 employed upon work in which they received 

 no especial technical instruction. Thus it 

 appears also that the particular course of 

 engineering study is not so important a 

 matter as students and the public generally 

 suppose. In fact, a young man thoroughly 

 grounded in fundamental principles and 

 well trained how to appl}^ them has almost 

 an equal chance for success in all branches 

 of engineering practice. 



Looking now over the field of tendencj^ 

 thus brietiy outlined it is seen that there 

 has been ever present a powerful impulse 

 towards specialization, to which, indeed, 

 nearly all others have been subordinated. 

 This has demanded a higher standard of 

 admission, great thoroughness in all funda- 

 mental subjects, and a rigid adherence to 

 scientific methods. Engineering education 

 has had an active part and healthy growth; 

 it now enjoys the respect and confidence of 

 the public, and its future is sure to be more 

 influential than its past. It is not speciali- 

 zation that has caused its success, but 

 rather the methods which specialization 

 has demanded. Those methods have re- 

 sulted in imparting to students zeal and 

 fidelity, a love of hard work, a veneration 

 for the truths of science, and a conscious- 

 ness of being able to attack and overcome 

 difl&culties; these elements of character are, 

 indeed, the foundation of success in life. 



Looking now forward into the future it is 

 seen that in our efforts for the promotion 

 of engineering education a wide field for 

 work still lies open. The student should 

 enter the engineering college with a broader 

 training and a more mature judgment. 

 The present methods of instruction are to 

 be rendered more thorough and more scien- 



tific. In particular the fundamental sub- 

 jects of mathematics, physics and mechanics 

 are to be given a wider scope, while the 

 languages and the humanities are to be so 

 taught as to furnish that broad, general 

 culture needed by every educated man. In 

 general let it be kept in mind that educa- 

 tion is more important than engineering, 

 for the number of men who can follow the 

 active practice of the profession will always 

 be limited. Hence let it be the object of 

 engineering education to influence the world 

 in those elements of character that the true 

 engineer possesses, so that every graduate 

 may enter upon the duties of life with a 

 spirit of zeal and integrity, with a firm re- 

 liance upon scientific laws and methods, 

 and with a courage to do his work so as 

 best to conduce to the highest welfare of 

 his race and his country. 



Mansfield Mbreiman". 

 Lehigh Univeesity. 



AN OZABK SOIL. 

 Centrally located on the Ozark Plateau, 

 in the southwestern portion of the State of 

 Missouri, there is a tract of very hilly coun- 

 try, underlain by Lower Carboniferous 

 limestones and noted for its exceedingly 

 stony soil. It comprises a portion of the 

 counties of Stone and Barry, and is 

 bounded on the north and west by the 

 gently undulating plateau country com- 

 monly known as the ' crest of the Ozarks ; ' 

 on the south and southeast by the escarp- 

 ment of the Lower Carboniferous strata 

 which bounds the broad basin-like valley 

 of White river, and on the northeast by 

 the outcrop of the Ozark Series. This 

 small geographic district is characterized 

 by ridges which are from 200 to 300 feet in 

 height, yet so narrow that often two ridges 

 and two valleys are required to make a 

 mile. It is to the soil which covers these 

 steep narrow ridges that I wish to call at- 

 tention. 



