230 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. IV., No. 84. 



a speaker to be so felicitions in the choice and 

 treatment of his theme. We trust that our 

 readers will pardon us for saying, that by the 

 kindness of the lecturer we were able, at the 

 close of his discourse, to distribute the number 

 of Science in which it was printed. 



We are inclined to think that the custom 

 which puts the president's address in the even- 

 ing is unwise. It is usually an elaborate essay, 

 depending for its interest more on its matter 

 than on its style; though, in this, style and mat- 

 ter were both excellent. Sometimes, as at the 

 present session, very close attention must be 

 given by ordinary listeners if they would seize 

 the points of the discourse. Wiry should this 

 lecture be given in the evening, when every- 

 body is tired, when the gas augments the solar 

 heat, and when many are impatient for the 

 social entertainment which is to follow ? Why 

 should it not be delivered at a morning session ? 



So far as the daily newspapers came under 

 our e}-e, there seems to be a great falling-off 

 in their abstracts of the papers. The report- 

 ers seem to be in despair as to what to select 

 from the superabundance of material, and in 

 many cases their choice is nap-hazard. In- 

 deed, it is very difficult for airy one to deter- 

 mine from the programme what will be of most 

 interest, or exactly when particular papers will 

 be read. Some ' sifting ' or ' grinding ' com- 

 mittee seems indispensable to eliminate such 

 papers as are for any reason inappropriate to 

 these gatherings. There should be a survival 

 of the fittest, and the rest should disappear. 



We trust the day will come when it will be 

 considered the mark of a bad education to read 

 or speak indistinctly in public, — when bad ut- 

 terance will be as great an offence against the 

 usages of good society as bad grammar or 

 bad spelling. More than one speaker in Phila- 

 delphia has thwarted his own purposes by his 

 low, inarticulate, or suppressed vocalization. 

 Instead of awaking an interest, he has smoth- 

 ered it. Why should college professors speak 

 so poorly as inairy of them do ? 



So far as our observations go, the most use- 

 ful meetings of the sections appear to be those 

 in which a discussion is provoked upon some 

 interesting question, not necessarily on a new 

 point. For example, such debate as took 

 place in the mechanical section, on instruction 

 in mechanics ; or that in the physical section, 

 on thunderstorms ; or as that proposed in the 

 chemical section, on the best methods of teach- 

 ing chemistry, — are valued by all who are pres- 

 ent, more, even, than elaborate papers which 

 can hardly be appreciated until the} T are 

 printed. 



The ' special committees ' of the association 

 did not appear in a very efficient aspect, when 

 the long list of them (eleven in number) was 

 called Monday morning, with but one written 

 and two oral responses. We may also add, 

 that better modes of promoting the work of 

 the association can be devised than these ' gen- 

 eral sessions,' which consume the best hour of 

 the morning, and really accomplish very little 

 good. 



The number of members enrolled as present, 

 up to Tuesday morning, was 1,157 ; and many 

 more have since arrived. The members of the 

 British association have been received with ■ 

 great cordiality ; and every proposal to con- 

 tinue the friendly relations which have been 

 fostered this summer, and all proposals looking 

 toward an international scientific congress, are 

 received with great favor. 



As a whole, we are sure that the Philadel- 

 phia meeting is one of the best, if not the very 

 best, which has ever been held. 



COLLEGE MATHEMATICS. 1 



Professor Eddy announced as the subject of his- 

 address, the present state of mathematical training in 

 our colleges; its aims, its needs, and its relations to 

 education and to scientific research. It is an article 

 of faith firmly held and oft expressed by the under- 

 graduate, that higher mathematics is a study which 

 can be thoroughly mastered only by exceptional gen- 

 iuses. One very bad feature in this state of things 

 is, that this sentiment respecting mathematical study 

 is not confined to undergraduates, but is largely 

 shared, not only by the faculties in general, but by 

 the instructors and professors of mathematics as 

 well. 



There are various reasons which have led mathe- 

 matical teachers to this opinion, besides the ill success 

 that has attended their efforts with their pupils. It 

 must be admitted that, too often, the instructors, 

 themselves have not become engrossed in their stud- 

 ies, perhaps not even interested in them. That we 

 have in this country no large body of men whose 

 life-work has been, day by day, directed in the line 

 of mathematical investigation, is evident to all. The 

 paucity of important mathematical investigations- 

 emanating from this side of the Atlantic is proof of 

 it. But even where the professorial chair is filled by 

 an eager and brilliant mathematician, he often feels 

 the hopelessness of initiating his pupils into this all- 

 absorbing realm of thought in the few brief months 

 at his disposal. Thus it has come to pass, that the 

 study has been used simply as a form of mental disci- 

 pline or intellectual gymnastics: the object sought 



1 Abstract of an address to the section of mathematics and 

 astronomy of the American association for the advancement of 

 science, at Philadelphia, Sept. 4, by Prof. H. T. Eddy of the 

 University of Cincinnati, vice-president of the section. 



