SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, JUNE i, li 



Last week we called attention in a few words to the 

 struggle which is going on in the New York City Board of Educa- 

 tion over the election of a superintendent of schools. It is a cause 

 ■of gratification to observe that the question has been lifted above 

 and beyond mere petty detail, and made to rest on broad educa- 

 tional principles. Commissioner Sprague, who has conducted the 

 inquiry into the fitness of the present incumbent for re-election, has 

 shown great ability and a thorough grasp of the real issue. In his 

 examination of Mr. Jasper he brought out the fact that the latter 

 did not attend educational meetings, did not write or speak on 

 ■education, and for four years had made no attempt to visit and in- 

 spect the schools systematically. On being pressed for an explana- 

 tion, Mr. Jasper said that he had no time for any of these things ! 

 In other words, he is so busy marking examination-papers, com- 

 puting percentages, and doing other trivial clerical work, that he 

 could not be in any sense of the word a superintendent of schools. 

 This admission should be a source of shame, both to the Board of 

 Education that permitted such a state of affairs, and to the super- 

 intendent who did not protest against it. It proves exactly what 

 has been charged ; namely, that neither the majority of the Board 

 of Education nor the city superintendent are fit for the positions they 

 hold. In a series of interviews with four or five of the most prom- 

 inent and respected educators in New York City, which a daily 

 paper has published, substantially the same criticism that we made 

 in these columns last week occurs. One said, " Our system does 

 not properly educate, and is conducted too much on the principle 

 that the teacher's work is to cram the pupil with hard facts." An- 

 other added, " The theories of the Board of Education are on trial. 

 . . . The school system in this city is nothing more nor less than a 

 magnificent piece of machinery, crushing out, whether designedly 

 or not, all individuality, and tending to repress all the natural 

 activities of the pupil. Uniformity is the thing aimed at, and the 

 uniformity achieved is that of mediocrity." These expressions 

 come from men who have made education a lifelong study, and 

 who know what they are talking about. The force of such 

 damaging testimony cannot be easily broken. 



has devoted a long and well-filled life. The successor of Professor 

 Lovering is Prof. B. O. Peirce, who has given much promise in 

 mathematical physics. 



The resignation of Professor Lovering of the chair at 

 Harvard which he has held for fifty years calls for more than pass- 

 ing mention. Professor Lovering first entered the service of the 

 college as a tutor in 1836, and in 1838 was elected HoUis professor 

 of mathematics and natural philosophy. During this period much 

 of the development of physical science has taken place, Professor 

 Lovering's contributions winning for him first the presidency of 

 the American Association, and later that of the American Academy, 

 over which latter society he still presides, following in the line of 

 the very distinguished men who have held the office. In accepting 

 the resignation, which takes effect next fall, the president and fel- 

 lows expressed their belief that " as a teacher, an administrative 

 officer, and a member of the faculty. Professor Lovering has served 

 Harvard College with perfect fidelity and loyalty, and with sound 

 discretion. As a public lecturer and man of science, he has done 

 honor to the university, and to the department of instruction which 

 he represented." They also felicitate Professor Lovering and 

 themselves upon the condition of assured prosperity in which he 

 leaves the department of physics, — the department to which he 



THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



The present number of Science is accompanied by a map of the 

 Yellowstone National Park, reduced from the surveys of the United 

 States Geological Survey. The four-sheet map of the latter, which 

 is based on explorations during the years 1884 and 1885. gives for 

 the first time accurate information regarding the configuration of 

 mountains and valleys. We do not deem it necessary to dwell 

 upon the wonders of the park, which have for years and years 

 proved so attractive to Americans as well as to foreigners, but it 

 may be of interest to learn what measures have been taken of late 

 to improve it and to preserve its natural beauties. 



As in 1886 Congress failed to make any provision for the pay of 

 the superintendent of the park, a detail of cavalry was sent to do 

 duty in the park. One of the principal dangers the protectors of 

 the park have to contend with are forest-fires, many of which 

 originate through the carelessness of camping-parties. In August, 

 1886, many square miles of woods near Gardiner River were thus 

 destroyed before it was possible to check the progress of the fire. 

 Some of these forest-fires are attributed to unscrupulous hunters, 

 who, being prevented from hunting in the park, resort to this 

 method of driving the game beyond the park limits. It is stated 

 that the park is surrounded by a class of old frontiersmen, hunters 

 and trappers, who, as the game diminishes outside the park, in- 

 crease their efforts, and resort to all sorts of expedients to get pos- 

 session of that which receives the protection of law. Some fires 

 seem also to have been started by Bannock Indians from the Lemhi 

 Reservation. 



Another source of danger to the beauties of the park lies in the 

 vandalism of the visitors, which cannot be condemned too severely. 

 The acting superintendent, Capt. Moses Harris, says in his report 

 to the secretary of the interior, 1886, regarding this subject : — 



" It is apparent from the most casual observation that the means 

 heretofore employed for the preservation of the natural objects of 

 wonder and beauty in the park have been entirely inadequate. It 

 may be said without exaggeration that not one of the notable gey- 

 ser formations in the park has escaped mutilation or defacement in 

 some form. Those that have been most fortunate are covered with 

 lead-pencil inscriptions recording the names of those shallow- 

 minded visitors to whom such a distinction is a pleasure. A lead- 

 pencil mark seems to be a very harmless defacement, but names 

 bearing date of 1880 are still discoverable through the thin deposit 

 of silica ; and, if this marking should go on unchecked, in a very 

 few years these once beautiful formations will have become un- 

 sightly and unattractive objects. At the Upper Geyser Basin 

 names with date of June, 1886, have been chiselled into the solid 

 geyserite so deep, that, in the slow process of nature, many years 

 must elapse before this mutilation will be obliterated. Not con- 

 tent with the defacement of the formations, efforts are constantly 

 being made to destroy the geysers themselves by throwing into 

 them sticks, logs of wood, and all sorts of obstructions. The erup- 

 tive force of several of the geysers has been totally destroyed by 

 vandalism of this character. The footsteps of the throngs of vis- 

 itors are wearing away the delicate and lace-like tracery of the 

 silicious deposits, and in a few years the formations surrounding 

 the geysers will present the appearance of the worn pavements of 

 a city street. The wilful defacement of these beautiful objects can 

 only be prevented by watchful supervision, supported by the rigid 

 enforcement of lawful penalties. A certain amount of wear and 

 deterioration, incident to the multitude of visitors, is probably un- 

 avoidable." 



