692 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 279. 



the marks which distinguish the paths 

 which have been trodden successfully from 

 those which have turned out to be ' No 

 Thoroughfare.' Even better opportunities 

 for mental training than those which the 

 lecture room presents, are afforded by the 

 recitation, for here the minds of the teacher 

 and the pupil are brought most closely into 

 contact, the pupil's difficulties are appre- 

 ciated by the instructor, and the point of 

 view of the teacher can be learned by the 

 pupil. It has always seemed to me that 

 no higher enjoyment falls to the lot of the 

 teacher than that which he experiences 

 when, by a series of carefully considered 

 questions, he leads his pupil onward from 

 the known to the unknown, and notes the 

 gleam of intelligence which illumines his 

 countenance as a subject, previously ob- 

 scure, becomes clear, as a result of his own 

 mental operations, guided by his teacher's 

 skilful questions. It thus appears that 

 no monopoly of opportunities for mental 

 training can be claimed for the laboratory 

 method of instruction. 



We must next inquire : what are the 

 relative advantages of the laboratory and 

 didactic methods as means of imparting 

 information ? Here we at once perceive 

 that a great deal will depend upon the kind 

 of information to be imparted. Certain 

 subjects are much better adapted than 

 others to be taught in the laboratory. The 

 student of anatomy, for instance, can se- 

 cure the greater part of the information 

 which he needs by laboratory methods, 

 i. e., in the dissecting room, though a short 

 course of lectures on descriptive anatomy 

 in which an experienced teacher emphasizes 

 the salient features of the subject will 

 probably always be indispensable. Phy- 

 siology and pathology (including physio- 

 logical chemistry, pharmacology and bac- 

 teriology) are subjects in which laboratory 

 instruction may be unquestionably much 

 more freely used than is customary at the 



present time. The recent experience of 

 the Harvard Medical School, in which the 

 laboratory courses in these subjects have 

 been greatly extended, has furnished con- 

 clusive evidence of the value of this method 

 of instruction as a means both of impart- 

 ing information and of stimulating the 

 mind of the student. It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that, as Dr. Welch* has 

 said, "laboratory methods are extremely 

 time-taking and are not adapted to teach 

 the whole contents of any of the medical 

 sciences. It is, of course, hopeless to at- 

 tempt to demonstrate practically all of 

 even the more important facts that the 

 student should learn." 



Moreover, observed facts are often ap- 

 parently inconsistent with each other. 

 Equally competent observers differ in their 

 interpretation of them. Yet, because the 

 last word of science has not been spoken on 

 these subjects, it would be a mistake to ex- 

 clude them fi'om the medical curriculum. 

 The student should rather be carefully in- 

 structed as to researches which have not 

 yet yielded definite results. The most 

 profitable way of reconciling conflicting ob- 

 servations should be pointed out, and he 

 should be shown in what direction the 

 search for truth can be prosecuted with the 

 best prospect of success. He will then be 

 able to appreciate the value of new obser- 

 vations and to assign to their true position 

 the reported discoveries in medical science. 



Instruction of this sort can, of course, be 

 given only by an experienced lecturer who 

 has mastered the subject of which he treats. 

 It is in this kind of teaching and in the ex- 

 position of those facts and principles which 

 cannot properly be made the subject of 

 laboratory instruction to students that the 

 didactic lecture of the future will probably 

 find its principal field of usefulness. In 

 the latter direction, however, the field is 



* Higher Medical Education and the Need of its 

 Endowment. The Medical News, July 28, 1894. 



