MEMORIAL OF C. W. HAYES 85 



emphasis was laid on the classic rather than on the scientific courses'. 

 Mathematics was the onh^ science taught in the freshman class, while the 

 sophomores Avere forced to content themselves with physics and botany. 

 It should be said, however, that as a whole the scientific course was broad, 

 including, besides the sciences mentioned above, astronomy, chemistry, 

 zoology, mineralogy, and geology. It would have been advantageous to 

 a student of science if some of the Latin and Greek courses might have 

 given way to modern languages. Hayes was later somewhat hampered 

 in his professional work by the fact that he did not read either French 

 or German fluently, though sufficiently well to use the text-books pub- 

 lished in those languages. As a result, his geologic researches were less 

 influenced by European thought than were those of many other American 

 geologists. . , 



Hayes managed to increase his scientific curriculum at Oberlin, both 

 by taking extra work and by obtaining permission to make certain sub- 

 stitutions in the prescribed course. ' In his junior year, with two fellow- 

 students, he petitioned for permission to substitute chemistry for Butler's 

 Analogy. Of this incident he writes home : 



"There was a great ado in the faculty that we should presume to want an- 

 other term of chemistry, and that, too, in preference to their precious old 

 Butler. They discussed it and postponed it and discussed it some more, and 

 then, miralnle dictu, said we might have it in place of English literature." 



Ha3'es's attitude toward science, as well as that of some of his in- 

 structors, is illusti-ated by a later paragraph in the same letter : 



"In talking with Professor after this decision, he maintained that all 



the ideas involved in chemistry were exhausted in one term's study ; that the 

 second term was little else than washing bottles and bending tubes. I could 

 not refrain from telling him what I thought of his conception of science." 



He adds, boylike : 



"It made me indignant and gave me a good text for an oration, which I 

 propose to use at the earliest opportunity." 



There were, however, other teachers at Oberlin who did not take so 

 narrow a view. Prof. F. F. Jewitt inspired Hayes with an interest in 

 chemistry, and he not only took the full course, but also acted as labo- 

 ratory assistant. By a curious chance one of his first tasks in the labo- 

 ratory was the testing of a specimen of phosphate rock; for, as will be 

 shown, he was destined to make phosphate deposits a field of special 

 inquiry. 



There can be no doubt that a part of Hayes's interest in the chemical 



