December 16, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



851 



education must end with the secondary school, 

 it is the opinion of this committee (1) that 

 this science should be taught in high schools 

 for the benefit of pupils who will have no 

 other opportunity of acquiring general knowl- 

 edge of animals; and (2) that zoology thus 

 taught from the point of view of general sec- 

 ondary education should have recognition as 

 a college-entrance option, in order that pu- 

 pils who can not decide to go to college before 

 the close of high-school work may not be held 

 deficient in credits because zoology was 

 elected. But, although thus recognizing zool- 

 ogy from the standpoint of secondary educa- 

 tion, this committee wishes to emphasize the 

 opinion that zoology is not one of the most 

 desirable subjects as preparation for college; 

 and that the physical sciences should first of 

 all be recommended to pupils who expect to 

 go to college. 



In reaching these conclusions the commit- 

 tee has not failed to consider the value of 

 general acquaintance with common animals 

 and with the essential principles of the ele- 

 mentary physiology and hygiene of the human 

 body, but these are commonly taught in the 

 years below the second of high school, and 

 work in these lower years does not in the case 

 of other subjects closely concern the question 

 of college-entrance options. 



These preliminary statements will make it 

 clear that the following suggestions for a 

 scheme of college-entrance credits in zoology 

 are intended by this committee simply to pro- 

 vide for crediting the zoology which should 

 be elective in every good general high school, 

 but not to advocate the subject as one which 

 from the college standpoint is desirable in 

 preparation for college. In other words, this 

 committee is simply recommending that zool- 

 ogy studied as part of a liberal secondary 

 education intended primarily to prepare for 

 life should be recognized as preparing for en- 

 trance to college (the minor question of prep- 

 aration for entrance to college courses in 

 zoology being here laid aside). 



General Statement of Options. — (a) One- 

 point option. To count as one unit or point 

 in thirteen to fifteen required for entrance to 

 college. This should consist of one year of at 



least five hours per week devoted to study 

 of zoology, as indicated in outline of course 

 given below. 



(6) Half-point option (one point in biol- 

 ogy). To count as one half unit in thirteen 

 to fifteen required, only when a half unit of 

 botany taken in the same continuous course 

 is offered to complete a full unit in biological 

 science. A half year of zoology independent 

 of botany should not be accepted. 



A two-point option is not recommended, 

 because more than one full year in zoology is 

 extreme specialization which no secondary 

 school can properly undertake. 



Outline for the One-Point Option in Zoology. 

 — The following outline includes the principles 

 of zoology which are indispensable to a gen- 

 eral survey of the science. It is not intended 

 to indicate order of study of the topics — this 

 must be left to the teacher and the text-book. 

 With little modification the courses presented 

 in general books such as Needham's, Kings- 

 ley's, Kellogg's and Colton's (revised) cover 

 the ground outlined below. 



1. The general natural history — including 

 general external structure in relation to adap- 

 tations, life histories, geographical range, re- 

 lations to other plants and animals, and eco- 

 nomic relations — of at least one animal of 

 each prominent order of vertebrates and one 

 of each prominent class of invertebrates so far 

 as representatives of these groups are obtain- 

 able in the locality where the course is given. 

 In the case of arthropods, piipils should become 

 familiar with common crustaceans, spiders, 

 myriapods, and insects representing at least 

 five orders. Actual examination of common 

 animals with reference to the above points 

 should be supplemented by reading giving 

 natural-history information equivalent to that 

 in recent books by Davenport, Jordan & 

 Heath, or Kingsley.* 



2. The classification of animals into phyla 

 and leading classes (except the modern subdi- 

 visions of the worms) and the great charac- 

 teristics of these groups. In the case of in- 



* A large part of this natural-history informa- 

 tion will be gained from the nature-study of the 

 elementary school and from the course often given 

 in the first year of high school. 



