September 2, 1887.] 



SCIENCE 



III 



systems. Such a course we must regard as the most promising one 

 for the future. 



Doulnless we shall always meet with undergraduate students 

 who are engaged in original research, perhaps in the future more 

 frequently than at present ; for there are certainly instances where 

 such a method of instruction is best. It may be in the case of a 

 student whose habits of carelessness require some measure for cor- 

 rection, or whose utter dependence upon teacher or text-book re- 

 quires vigorous offset. It may be the student whose general 

 ability is manifest, but whose interest in study has never been 

 awakened : to him a problem of research may prove a lifelong 

 blessing in rousing his slumbering energies. It may be the student 

 who has determined to pursue some special line of scientific work, 

 requiring no general learning, as that of an analytical chemist, or 

 that of some of the government scientific staff : about all that can 

 be said in this case is, the quicker one begins his work, the better. 

 It may be the student whose general faithfulness elsewhere makes 

 it evident that he may take up special work in his own chosen line 

 without detriment to his general education ; or it may be in other 

 cases, where there seems to be a particular reason for it. But at 

 most these instances will be few in number, and such work cannot 

 apply to the bulk of students who take science courses in our col- 

 leges. For this larger class some sort of routine class-work is 

 necessary ; and the question arises whether it is not possible to so 

 arrange it as to avoid the evils which have been and still are too 

 largely attendant thereto. That this is possible is proved by the 

 fact that it is already done in many places. 



The methods of conducting the ordinary routine science courses 

 in our colleges at the present time are extremely varied, ranging all 

 the way from simple text-book recitations to plans which involve a 

 large amount of independent work on the part of each student. 

 Experience seems to warrant the statement that the nearer such 

 work approaches the nature of original investigation for each stu- 

 dent, the more successful it is in arousing his interest and stimu- 

 lating his thought. But how is it possible to combine both plans ? 

 In many places in this country we find the adoption of plans 

 adapted for this purpose, and implying the minimum amount of 

 what we have called routine work. In the first place, text-books 

 are cast aside, except as books of reference or as serving to give de- 

 tails. The student is thus made to look directly to his instructor 

 for information. This system of lecturing or talking has been bor- 

 rowed from Germany, where it is the only method of instruction, 

 and is capable of yielding the most excellent or the most evil results, 

 according to the faculty of the lecturer. Where it is simply repeat- 

 ing verbally to the class the substance of some text-book, as is 

 sometimes done, it is much worse than giving the text-book to the 

 student to learn. But where the lecturer's wide knowledge of his 

 subject enables him to collect material from numerous sources, and 

 he is able skilfully to arrange it in such a way as to lead the student 

 from one principle to another, it will give more true knowledge 

 than any text-book. The chief reason is its flexibility; but an 

 equally important consideration is that it enables the lecturer to in- 

 troduce inferences and conclusions, in the midst of the course, 

 where they belong as drawn from the facts. He can pass from 

 fact to inference, from inference to theory, at will ; and he is not 

 obliged to crowd all the principles of his science into an introduc- 

 tion to the course, where they will not be understood, or at the end 

 of the course, when they have lost their interest, one of which un- 

 fortunate plans is considered necessary in all text-books. To be 

 sure, we find good students not uncommonly objecting to lectures. 

 This is largely because they are anxious for something- to learn ; 

 for such work they have been taught to do. They find it difficult, 

 however, to comprehend the meaning of a course which uses details 

 only for their significance, and aims at principles of science rather 

 than detailed information. They know how to learn a lesson, for 

 this they have been taught ; but they do not know how to think. 

 In a large class in physiology, scarcely one failed to give the names 

 of the microscopic layers of the retina, though not asked for them 

 and distinctly told that they were of little importance to remember. 

 But quite a number utterly failed to comprehend the significance of 

 the eye as an optical instrument. The former was something to 

 learn ; the latter, something to think out. Of course, all students 

 cannot be made to think ; but, while it is impossible always to cor- 



rect this error of learning simply by rote, it is certain that the 

 lecture system, when wisely conducted, tends to correct it, while 

 text-books tend to foster it. It is very seldom that an instructor 

 who has once tried the lecture system gives it up, except formatters 

 of detail. It helps to avoid old ruts, and insures the instructor that 

 for a time, at least, the students are thinking vigorously, a fact of 

 which he can never be sure with the use of text-books. It is one 

 of the important means of bringing the student in contact with 

 science itself rather than with second-hand learning. 



Our science courses are now almost universally accompanied by 

 a certain amount of practical laboratory-work, and here it is possi- 

 ble to enforce a great amount of independent observation and 

 thought. Text-books, except in the form of a library of reference, 

 can, if desired, be completely eliminated. A series of experiments 

 following a course laid down in a text-book is of about the same 

 value as experiments performed before the class, and not very 

 much more ; for, with the details and results given him, the student 

 usually is concerned only in performing the experiment successfully, 

 and not in thinking of its significance. But under the direct super- 

 vision of a wise instructor, each person's laboratory-work can be 

 so planned as to force him to draw conclusions, and make his own 

 discoveries. He may be told little or much, as the case may re- 

 quire, but always just enough to set him on the track of seeing more 

 for himself. His experiments may be modified to suit emergencies. 

 Numerous minor problems may be set for his solution, for which he 

 has no answer, nor can find one except by studying the experiments, 

 or as his instructor may be inclined to assist him. 



An illustration or two may serve to make this more intelligible. 

 A student studying biology is given a fish's skull to examine, with 

 the aid of the instructor's directions, or some book of reference. 

 After thoroughly mastering this, he is given in succession the skull 

 of a frog, an alligator, a turtle, a bird, and a series of mammals' 

 skulls, beginning with the opossum and ending with man. These 

 he compares, in turn, with the fish's skull and with each other, 

 using no books, but simply studying the skulls, with here and there 

 a hint from the instructor, as it may seem desirable. Such a com- 

 parison can be completed with sufficient accuracy in a few days, 

 and proves invariably of interest to the student. By the time it is 

 completed, not only has he gained a good idea of the vertebrate 

 skull in such a way as to remember it, but he has discovered for 

 himself the spirit of comparative morphology in such a way that it 

 can never escape him. Or, again, he may be given a book or a 

 lecture describing a lobster, and given for dissection, not a lobster, 

 but a crab ; or he may be given a few simple animals, and asked to 

 arrange them in what he would regard as natural groups. These 

 illustrations I have taken from the department with which I am 

 most familiar, but there is no difficulty in applying the same plan 

 anywhere. There is an endless variety of such work, which shall 

 compel the student to combine thought with the mechanical work 

 of the laboratory. Nor does this plan prove as slow as it would at 

 first sight appear. Perhaps it is slow at first, but the rapidity in- 

 creases with every advance. Work can be constantly varied from 

 one subject to another so as to conduct the student over the whole 

 ground desired. It can be varied with the individual ; and, if there 

 be occasional lectures accompanying the practical work, there is no 

 difficulty in covering all the ground necessary. 



Such a course is simply the ' object method ' adapted to a larger 

 scale, and it has many advantages. It trains the observation, de- 

 velops carefulness, stimulates original thought. It gives the student 

 the elements of science, but in such a way that they mean more to 

 him than when obtained by any easier plan. It gives him the satis- 

 faction of feeling that he is accomplishing something on his own 

 part, but does not so distract his attention as to injure his work 

 elsewhere. It fits in with the requirements of a general course, and 

 at the same time offers some of the advantages of the German sys- 

 tem of independence on the part of the student. It is the best sort 

 of science for the general student, for it gives him not only facts 

 and principles, but some understanding of scientific methods of 

 thought and observation, which is more valuable than the facts. It 

 is the best method for the student who is to make the science his 

 specialty ; for, while introducing him to the elements, it familiarizes 

 him with the spirit of scientific investigation, and shows him that 

 nature is the text-book from which he is to learn. 



