12 



COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



[Jan. 



REPORT ON THE INSTRUCTION IN GENERAL GEOLOGY AND 

 PALEONTOLOGY. 



By Prof. N. S. Shaler. 



During the year 1876, instruction in general geology has 

 been given in the laboratory to two classes ; during the first 

 half of the year to a class of forty-eight persons, and in the 

 second half of the year to a class of sixty-two persons. In 

 this course, the instruction has consisted of lectures, — one 

 hundred in number, — following the general course of LyelPs 

 Principles of Geology ; of field work in the district adjoin- 

 ing Cambridge, and of laboratory work during that part of 

 the year when field work has been impossible. 



A course of lectures on Palaeontology, one hundred in 

 number, has been given, during the first half of the year to 

 a class of eight persons, and during the second half of the 

 year to a class of ten persons. In this department a certain 

 amount of laboratory work has also been required. 



The summer course of Field Geology and Palaeontology, 

 designed to supplement the winter instruction and also to aid 

 teachers in acquiring proper methods of teaching these 

 sciences, was taught in connection with the work of the 

 Kentucky Geological Survey, and by a journey through parts 

 of the States of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. This 

 course was attended by a class of sixteen persons. As will 

 be seen by comparing these numbers with those given in 

 previous reports, there is a steady increase in the number of 

 students in these departments. A corresponding increase has 

 been made in the amount of the required work and the thor- 

 oughness of the examinations thereon. The field instruction, 

 both in the neighborhood of Cambridge, during term time, 

 and in the wider field of the summer course, has been more 

 fully organized. By the aid of my assistant, Mr. W. M. 



