SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIX. No. 485 



counting the number of cases below these points. By this process 

 we find the following results : — 



We find, therefore, the following series of values corresponding 

 best to the series of observations : — 



ilf=74.0; U-= 1457.1; 



cM 



7^ 



_ 0.057. 



It is clear that this method gives the more satisfactory results 

 the greater the number of observations. If the number of obser- 

 vations is small, a slight change in the value of M may change 

 any single value so much, that the regularity of the series S A '^ is 

 so much affected that the point vfhere this sum becomes a mini- 

 naum cannot be determined very accurately, although it may be 

 possible to find it very nearly by assuming a sufficiently long 

 series of M on both sides of the probable value and applying 

 graphical methods for finding the minimum. The differences be- 

 tween the average of all statures and the stature of the average' 

 ■child of a certain age is quite considerable. I have computed 

 these values for the ages of 11, 12, and 13 years, of girls. 

 iGirls : 11 years. Stature, Average: 1370.0 C7= 1386,9 a = + 16.9 

 " 12 " " " 1446.6 1457.1 +10.5 



-" 13 '• '• " 1494.2 1506.5 f 12.3 



A-S might have been expected, the statures during a period when 

 fhe rate of growth is decreasing, are higher than the averages of 

 all statures. This difference will continue until the adult stage 

 is reached. It becomes also probable that the average individual 

 does not grow as long as the tables of averages seem to indicate. 



Fkanz Boas. 



Clark University, Worcester, Mass., April 25. 



THE BEOOKLYN INSTITUTE AND POLITICAL 



SCIENCE. 

 The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences is an institu- 

 tion that has earned a national reputation for its unique and 

 successful educational work. Founded in 1824, it began five 

 or six years ago, under the direction of Professor Franklin 

 W. Hooper, a career of greatly increased usefulness and in- 

 fluence. To-day it has nineteen hundred subscribing mem- 

 bers, organized in twenty- 6 ve departments of work, a prop- 

 erty valued at $250,000, and an annual income from member- 

 ship fees of upward of $11,000. 



The membership of the institute, while it includes a con- 

 siderable number of distinguished specialists in the various 



departments, is largely made up of people of general culture, 

 and of young men and women who, without being able to 

 continue their studies in college, are intelligent and thought- 

 ful, and interested in one or more departments of study. 

 The largest and, considering the standing of its members in 

 the community, the most influential of all the departments of 

 the institute is that of political and economic science, organ- 

 ized in December, 1889, with Professor Richmond Mayo- 

 Smith, the specialist in statistical science of Columbia Col- 

 lege, as its first president. 



This department has already done a most excellent work 

 in Brooklyn, in its department meetings, its courses of lec- 

 tures upon subjects in political science, and in the addresses 

 of distinguished speakers, given under its auspices, upon 

 occasions of wide popular interest. It is largely to the stim- 

 ulating influence of this work during the last three years, 

 that the proposition, recently made to the department, to 

 establish a school of political science, is due. Excellent as 

 the lectures and anniversary meetings of the department have 

 been, the members now demand something more systematic 

 and specialized. 



The plan proposed contemplates the ultimate establishment 

 of a fully equipped school of political science with elementary 

 and advanced courses in civil government, political economy, 

 social science, and history, at nominal rates for tuition. The 

 proposition to establish such a school was enthusiastically 

 received at the recent annual meeting of the department; the 

 only question now is as to the proper ways and means for 

 putting the plan into practice. 



It is evident that there are grave difl&culties in the way of 

 the successful carrying out of such a project. The lack of 

 uniformity in the acquirements of the membership of the in- 

 stitute, and the influences tending to interfere with a faith- 

 ful attendance upon courses once begun are not so great 

 obstacles as the difficulty of finding instructors with the 

 qualifications requisite for this particular work. The execu- 

 tive committee of the department, to whom the whole matter 

 was entrusted with power to act according to their judgment 

 in the matter, will not be likely to move hastily. Should 

 sufficient encouragement be offered in the way of a moderate 

 endowment, the school may be opened in the fall, and 

 courses in some of the above mentioned subjects offered for 

 1892-93. 



PREPARATION FOR THE STUDY OF MEDICINE,' 



Incomplete is a discussion of this subject that does not 

 include a consideration of the great value of an elementary 

 knowledge of Latin and Greek. 



I here most seriously disclaim any attempt to prove that 

 devotion to Latin and Greek for the purpose of reading the 

 literature of these languages is either requisite or even de- 

 sirable as a preparation for the study of medicine. The field 

 of modern literature and of modern science has become so 

 vast and important that the average student will find neither 

 time nor relative profit in the attempt to master the ancient 

 classics. 



I do, however, earnestly advocate the study of the rudi- 

 ments — I mean simply the rudiments — of Latin and Greek, 

 as most valuable labor-saving instruments in acquiring an 

 English, a scientific and a medical education. 



I ask indulgence, if I dwell somewhat at length on this 

 portion of my subject, for I think we are in danger of losing 

 sight of the many and great benefits, which every true stu- 

 dent will receive from a judicious study of some things in 



1 Address ol President E. L. Holmes Eusk, Medical College, Chicago. 



