332 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 308 



and has taken its place among the chemical journals of the world 

 as the chief repository of what is accomplished in this country for 

 the advancement of the science. 



The geological work in progress at the university is in part petro- 

 graphical, in part structural, and in part paleontological, in its na- 

 ture. 



The study of interesting chemical and microscopical problems 

 relating to the alterations which certain minerals undergo in the 

 earth's crust, commenced by Dr. Williams five years ago (in the 

 black gabbros occurring west of Baltimore), and published as Bul- 

 letin No. 28 of the Geological Survey, has since that time been pur- 

 sued in widely separated regions. One series of articles on analo- 

 gous rocks occurring near Peekskill, N.Y., has already appeared, 

 while an extended memoir on similar phenomena observed in the 

 Lake Superior region is now passing through the press in Wash- 

 ington. 



At the present time all the varied and complicated crystalline 

 rocks of Maryland, occupying an areaof two thousand square miles, 

 are being mapped upon a scale of two inches to the mile. This 

 work has been undertaken in connection with the United States 

 Geological Survey, and is under the direction of Dr. Williams. 

 Chemical and microscopical studies of the rocks are carried on in 

 connection with the field-work. 



Dr. W. B. Clark, who has been connected with the university 

 during the past year, is engaged in original research in paleontol- 

 ogy- 



In response to a request from the university, Major J. W. Powell, 

 director of the United States Geological Survey, has caused to be 

 made a survey of Baltimore and its environs, in general conformity 

 with the scheme which is in progress for making a topographical 

 map of the entire country. The survey of the Baltimore region 

 was intrusted to Mr. Sumner H. Bodfish, topographer of the sur- 

 vey, assisted by Mr. J. H. Jennings, assistant topographer of the 

 survey, and Mr. E. G. I-Cennedy, and the work is now nearly ready 

 for publication. 



The past year has seen improved organization in the department 

 of psychophysics, and likewise the unexpected interruption of its 

 activity. Suitable rooms for experimental work were provided in 

 the physical laboratory, instruments and apparatus were bought, 

 and the services of an associate well trained in the methods of 

 physiological inquiry were enlisted. Arrangements were perfected 

 for clinical observations and for the examination of pathological 

 conditions of the nervous system. Nor were the wider aspects of 

 psychology neglected ; the history of philosophy and the principles 

 of pedagogics were taught. The publication of the A?ne)-zcaii 

 Jotcrnal of Psychology was begun, with the financial encourage- 

 ment of a liberal friend. An increasing number of well-qualified 

 students were attracted by the learning, the enthusiasm, and the 

 sympathy of Professor Hall. Near the close of the academic year, 

 he received an invitation to become the head of Clark University. 

 No successor has as yet been nominated. 



Since the foundation of this university, the biological sciences 

 have received special encouragement, partly because of the rapid 

 advances that they have been making, and partly because of their 

 relation to the progress of modern medicine. Prolonged courses 

 of training are arranged for those who propose to devote their lives 

 to investigation or to teaching in these branches, as vi-ell as for 

 those who intend at a later period to study for the profession of 

 physicians and surgeons. As in physics and chemistry, abundant 

 facilities for laboratory-work are called for ; instruments, mate- 

 rials, and assistants have been and must be liberally provided. 



The science of biology includes the study of the forms and func- 

 tions of living beings in their normal conditions, or, in other words, 

 physiology and morphology ; and in both these departments ani- 

 mal and vegetable life must be studied. Professor Martin, director 

 of the biological laboratory, gives his chief attention to physiology ; 

 and Dr. Brooks, director of the marine laboratory, to morphology. 

 Dr. Howell, now associate professor, is the chief assistant in biol- 

 ogy ; and during the past year aid has also been received from Dr. 

 Andrews, Dr. Barton (in botany), and others. 



In considering the work of the session, mention will be first made 

 of the courses that are planned for beginners. The director be- 

 lieves that such students have never been more efficiently taught 



than during the past year, and the result is indicated by an increase 

 in the number enrolled for the session of 1888-89. When it be- 

 comes understood that a medical education should always be based 

 upon an intimate acquaintance with the laws of life and the activi- 

 ties of normal and healthy beings, young men will not fail to avail 

 themselves of such preliminary training as is here afforded ; but, 

 as most of the medical schools of this country prescribe no condi- 

 tions of scholarship as essential for beginners, it is no wonder that 

 the number of future physicians who are willing to take preparatory 

 instruction in biology is small. It is a great satisfaction, however, 

 to observe that those who have this thorough foundation rise surely 

 and quickly to professional excellence. 



The results of many of the original researches in the department 

 have already been published in abstract in the University Circu- 

 lars, the Zoologischer Aiizeiger, and elsewhere ; some of the re- 

 mainder have been published in full in the Studies from the Bio- 

 logical Laboratory and in other journals. 



Three numbers of the fourth volume of Biological Studies were 

 printed during the year ; and a volume containing Dr. Bruce's ob- 

 servations on the embryology of insects and arachnids was issued 

 with the co-operation of his friends in Princeton. 



The unusual opportunities which have here been provided for 

 students to become acquainted with the most recent methods of 

 pathological investigation are but little known, partly because of 

 their novelty, and partly because pathology has been usually re- 

 garded as a branch of a distinctly professional education. Looking 

 forward to the time when a medical school will be organized, — in 

 close relations to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, on the one hand, and 

 to the philosophical faculty of the university, on the other, — the 

 trustees in 1883 determined to supplement the physiological work 

 already directed by Dr. Martin, with a new department of pathol- 

 ogy, in which the most recent and approved methods of research 

 should be introduced. Dr. William H. Welch of New York was 

 appointed professor of this science, and, after a year's residence in 

 Europe, he began the organization of a laboratory in a building 

 (that had been constructed for autopsies) on the grounds of the 

 Johns Hopkins Hospital. All the apparatus required for such in- 

 vestigations has been provided by the trustees. Cultures of a large 

 number of pathogenic micro-organisms have been collected, and 

 likewise a great deal of material illustrative of human and compar- 

 ative pathology. The laboratory is open and teachers are present 

 during the entire day. 



Instruction is given in general pathology and in the special path- 

 ological histology of all the organs of the body, in experimental 

 pathology, and in the method of making autopsies. Bacteriology 

 receives a great deal of attention. Students are taught to study 

 the forms, growth, and functions of bacteria and fungi, particularly 

 those which are related to disease. They have also an opportunity 

 to become acquainted with the methods of biological examinations 

 of air, water, etc. There i,s hardly any branch of human knowl- 

 edge which is growing so rapidly, and which gives promise of such 

 good fruit, as that which includes the laws of life in health and 

 disease. Education for the medical profession of this country must 

 soon be re-organized in accordance with modern developments. 

 In this re-organization laboratory methods are to play a most im- 

 portant part ; and young men who have been trained in physics, 

 chemistry, and general biology are coming up to the school of 

 medicine ready for further scientific studies, especially in the lab- 

 oratory of pathology. Here, among other subjects, they must be 

 taught the relations of bacteria to disease, and the changes in 

 structure and in function produced by disease in the various organs 

 and tissues of the body. They must be able to understand the 

 discoveries now in progress, to weigh their significance, to see their 

 bearing upon diagnosis and the treatment of disease. Hence it is 

 that at so large a cost this university has given such vigorous sup- 

 port to its school of pathology, and has aimed to equip the labora- 

 tory so completely with the requisite apparatus and with the mate- 

 rial needed for study. 



Dr. H. Carrington Bolton is about to undertake a journey 

 to Egypt. From January i to May i, 1889, letters may be 

 addressed to him, care of Brown, Shipley, & Co., London, Eng- 

 land. 



