SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, li 



We have the greatest sympathy with those educators who 

 are endeavoring to secure the introduction of science-teaching into 

 the public schools. We would advocate this addition to the present 

 curriculum, not only because of the interest and value of scientific 

 knowledge as such, but because of its value as general information. 

 A great deal of that which is incorporated under the head of ele- 

 mentary science is really general information, and as such should 

 be in the possession of every child in the grammar-schools of the 

 country. We regard the little book entitled ' Introductory Steps in 

 Science,' by the late Paul Bert, as invaluable in this connection, and 

 the English translation should be in every school. Nowhere else 

 are the facts stated as simply, as clearly, and as comprehensively 

 as in this little book. That this subject is beginning to attract the 

 attention which it deserves, is evident. At a recent meeting of the 

 American Society of Naturalists at New Haven it was elaborately 

 and enthusiastically discussed, and now a valuable impetus is to be 

 given to this movement among the teachers themselves by the prop- 

 osition of the ^ira^(?7;{)',which is one of the best journals of secondary 

 education published in this or any other country, to give a prize of 

 fifty dollars for the best essay on ' Science in Secondary Schools.' 

 The effect of this offer will be to stimulate the teachers of the 

 country to investigate the subject in its practical bearing. It is an- 

 nounced that the committee of awards will give no weight to essays 

 that are merely arguments in favor of science-teaching. This is as 

 it should be, for, unless this condition was made, the majority of 

 the essays would be given over to the threshing of old straw. Con- 

 testants are requested to confine themselves simply to the practical 

 exposition of the results arrived at in the schoolroom, and to the 

 best means of obtaining these results. The competition is open to 

 all persons, without regard, as the announcement puts it, " to age, 

 sex, color, or previous condition of servitude," and no paper is to 

 exceed five thousand words in length. All essays must be received 

 at the office of the Academy, Syracuse, N.Y., on or before March 

 15, 1888. We cordially recommend this competition to all persons 

 interested in science-teaching. It gives them an excellent oppor- 

 tunity to be of practical service to the public-school system of the 

 country. 



The meeting of the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, Dec. 17, 

 was another instance of the advantage of providing something to 

 eat and smoke at scientific meetings. The secretary, in his re- 

 port, states that he is glad to be able to announce that both mem- 

 bers and guests seem to have been much pleased with their little 

 entertainment. Whereas the usual attendance at the meetings may 

 have varied from a dozen to twenty, the attendance at this meeting 

 amounted to something like three hundred and forty-two. It was 

 not possible to determine exactly. In this case there was no 

 speech-making, or any attempt to introduce any feature which 

 might have deprived the affair of an entirely informal and purely 

 sociable character ; but it is believed that the entertainment will be 

 of permanent and substantial benefit to the club. The decline of 

 the old scientific meetings is well illustrated in those held, or at- 

 tempted to be held, by one of the oldest scientific associations of the 

 country. This association, although it has maintained its existence 

 for more than a hundred years, and has accumulated a library of 

 scientific periodicals and Transactions of societies which is excelled 

 by but one or two in this country, has found it impossible, since 

 the opening of the present season last October, to bring together a 



sufficient number to form a quorum for the transaction of any busi- 

 ness : in other words, no new members have been elected, because 

 fifteen out of the two hundred members of this society had never been 

 sufficiently of one mind to attend its meetings, which are held in a 

 building easily accessible to a very large proportion of them. This 

 society has, as well, tried the social experiment once or twice, and 

 with promising success ; but it certainly seems, that, with the differ- 

 entiation of the interest and work of scientific men, many of the older 

 general scientific societies must develop some new field in which 

 they may be of service. In large degree they are now publication 

 societies, but, as is well known, there is a great disadvantage in the 

 publication in one volume of a vast mass of heterogeneous material. 

 It frequently amounts to a mere burying of the results. 



MODERN-LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION. 

 The fifth annual convention of the Modern-Language Associa- 

 tion was held under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania 

 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Dec. 28-30. The large at- 

 tendance of delegates, chiefly from the East and South, but some 

 also from the West, was gratifying as indicative of the steady 

 growth of the organization. But all who came were amply repaid, 

 for the proceedings were both interesting and instructive. The 

 sessions were opened on Wednesday evening with an address of 

 welcome by Provost Pepper of the university, who was followed 

 by Prof. James MacAUister, superintendent of the public schools of 

 Philadelphia. Professor MacAUister spoke on the place of modern 

 literature in the education of our time. It was a discussion of the 

 topic which at present is engaging the attention of pedagogues all 

 over the world, whether the classics should continue to remain the 

 basis of a liberal education or not. Professor MacAUister ranged 

 himself clearly and openly on the side of those who favored the 

 substitution of modern literatures as such a basis in place of the 

 study of Latin and Greek. After tracing the origin of the system 

 of education which was still in vogue in aU parts of the universe 

 fifty years ago, to the revival of classical learning in the days of the 

 Renaissance, he argued, that while it was natural for the men of the 

 fifteenth century to go to the classics for satisfying their sense of 

 beauty and their desire for knowledge, for it was the Latin and 

 Greek authors who had set these aspirations and desires in mo- 

 tion, there is no sufficient reason why we, in our days, should go to 

 the same fountain for quenching our thirst. With the achieve- 

 ments of modern nations in the realms of philosophy, poetry, 

 science, and literature, it is strange that we should continue to 

 train the intellect and to stimulate the heart almost exclusively 

 upon works access to which is possible only after prolonged and 

 laborious study of the languages in which they are treasured up. 

 It is true that much has been done during the past decades to- 

 wards dethroning the classics from the supreme rulership which 

 they formerly exercised. After a good deal of fighting, science 

 has found a place in our system of education, and it is conceded 

 that any scheme of instruction is incomplete that does not provide 

 for the teaching of modern languages ; but the controversy is by no 

 means ended. Professor MacAUister claimed that the modern 

 literatures of the world contained all the elements necessary for 

 attaining the aim of culture, which is to " know ourselves and the 

 world," and that sooner or later they must be given the first place 

 in the intellectual culture of our time, and be made the chief 

 instruments of literary training in the schools. 



On Thursday morning, after the transaction of routine business, 

 the reading and discussion of papers began, and continued, with an 

 intermission of one hour at noon, until late in the afternoon. The 

 papers on this and the following day were of two kinds, — some of 

 a technical character, giving the results of detailed investigations 

 of some special subject ; and others of a more general character. 



