(b) New York City -continued. then the specimens may be pushed aside and the attention of the class directed to recitation. The seven teachers of biology use, in common, the apparatus and supplies belonging to the Department, a partial list of which follows: thirty-six compound microscopes, each provided with rack and pinion, fine adjustment, double nose-piece, iris diaphragm, two eyepieces, and a two-thirds inch and a one-sixth inch objectives; magnifiers and dissecting microscopes; steam sterilizer, hot air sterilizer, and Petri dishes for bacteriological work; fourteen specially prepared wall charts, twenty-five prints of photomicrographs from each of forty-five negatives, skeletons and dissected preparations, glass ware, chemicals, reference books. The pupil begins the study of each topic with laboratory work, considering when possible the organs and tissues of his own body. In studying the mouth cavity, for example, he writes in his note book the answers to questions found in the Laboratory Manual used by the classes. Some of the laboratory work is done at home, the written reports being discussed at the following recitation. Text-book lessons in Martin's "Human Body" supplement the facts gained by laboratory work. In the study of the different organs, continual reference is made to the structure and functions of other animals; for example, after the consideration of the bones and teeth of man and of the animals in the school museum, the classes are taken to the American Museum of Natural History to study other mammalian skeletons. Groups of eight to ten pupils gather round the different specimens, each pupil answering in his note book the questions, of which a specimen is given below. The facts gained from this observation are discussed at the museum, and the boys and girls hand in at the next recitation a written account of some of the animals studied. Comparative study of the Mammalian Skeleton. 1. How many vertebræ are found in the neck (cervical) region? 3. How many vertebræ in the lumbar regions? 4. Can you determine how many vertebræ have united to form the sacrum? 5. How many vertebræ in the tail (caudal vertebræ)? 6. In what region of the spinal column are curves noticeable? How do they differ from the curves in the human skeleton? 7. Are spinous processes specially developed in any region? Can you suggest any reason for this? 'Repeated demonstrations from the wall charts by the pupils help to fix in their minds the relative position in the human body of the various organs of digestion, circulation and excretion which they are studying. Considerable microscopic work is done during the laboratory periods. Some of the photomicrographs are then distributed and the discussion of the pictures serves to make clearer to the students the structures they have been examining.” The outline of the course opens with some introductory lessons on the chemistry of air, of the human body, and a study of acid and alkaline reactions; the study of living substances () New (protoplasm) follows, then that of foods and of digestion. То York City - continued. this succeeds lessons on the blood, skeleton, muscles, heart and circulation, respiration, excretion and the nervous system (from which the special senses are omitted), while a few concluding hours are given to a study of yeasts and bacteria. A general idea of the method of study may be gained from the following specimen extract from the syllabus: "Study of respiration. (1) Laboratory work. (a) Drawing of lungs, wind-pipe, and larynx of calf. (a) Structure and function of (a) lungs, (b) diaphragm, (3) Applications. (a) Principles underlying ventilation. Laboratory work first; the consultation of text-books next; hygienic applications to daily habits and the details of community life in conclusion: these are the main lines for work and guidance, and this is the method of which the sound value is testified to equally in Detroit as in this New York City High School by the visible interest of the girls and lads, the results on conduct, the evidence afforded of mental discipline, and by the manual dexterity acquired. Among the most practical parts of the whole course are the eight lessons devoted to the study of bacteria. Culture dishes of nutrient gelatine are exposed to the air, others are exposed to the city water, while a certain number of the dishes are kept closed. After several days the dishes are distributed among the pupils, and the colonies of mould and bacteria are studied and figures made. Home work on the growth of bacteria in milk is one of the applications of the subject to everyday life. After experiments in methods of sterilization, the boys and girls are asked such questions as the following : 1. From all your experiments, state (a) what conditions seem to favour the growth of bacteria; (b) what conditions seem to hinder the growth of bacteria ? 2. Why should fruits be cooked before canning? 3. Why are foods kept in the refrigerator in summer time? 4. Why should the prohibition against spitting in public places be rigidly enforced? 5. Why should sweeping be done as far as possible without raising a dust? 6. Why should the teeth be brushed often? 7. Why should the refuse be removed from the streets every morning early, especially in summer time? 8. Why should wounds be carefully cleansed and dressed at once? 9. In what ways do bacteria prove to be of benefit to man? 10. In what ways do bacteria prove to be "man's invisible foe?" 6490. G 2 History and ment. A course in general biology is to be put into operation next year, which will combine much of the work now done in the separate courses in botany, zoology, and physiology. Five periods a week are to be devoted to this subject, the main outlines of which are planned as follows: "Introductory experiments in chemistry and physics will give the pupils some first hand knowledge of chemical elements and compounds, the process of oxidation, and the principles of capillary attraction and evaporation. The remainder of the first half year will be devoted to the study of botany, emphasis being laid on the physiological functions carried on in seeds, seedlings, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. In the second half year the basis of the work is to be the physiology of the human body. Each function will, however, be considered from the comparative standpoint. For example, in studying the subject of respiration the following topics will be considered in addition to those now included: "1. Study of (a) skin of earthworm ; (b) gills of fishes; (c) lungs of frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. "2. Comparison of respiration in animals living (a) in water, (b) in moist places; (c) in the air.” This proposal meets with my entire approval, for it is by thus placing man in his relation to less highly developed forms of life that a most desirable admiration for the marvellous beauty of the human body is aroused, and the equally essential senses of self-respect and personal dignity are developed. The value of such High school courses as these at Detroit and New York, followed by lads and girls of 15 to 17 years of age, appears to me to be incalculable in its future influence for good on the homes of a great city and a great nation, and no visitor to the class-rooms could fail to be impressed with the unaffected and practical interest of the young people. Placed, as the subject is, in its natural setting as a part of the great study of life in its many manifestations, and turned to account as it also is as a field for the application of the laws of natural and moral science (physics chemistry, psychology, economics, civics), no opening is afforded for morbid introspective employment of the physiological facts acquired in the laboratory. A thoroughly wholesome tone pervades the class-rooms, and the most noticeable influence on the personality of the students is stated to be a more intelligent recognition of the needs of the body, and a greater disposition to give the necessary attention to its right performance of vital functions. How "time" can be legitimately found for this invaluable study by both sexes, during high school life is apparent from the particulars of the five alternative courses at the Peter Cooper High School.* C.-COLLEGES. Before entering upon a review of the College Courses in Household Science and Hygiene, it seems advisable to refer somewhat fully to the history and aims of these institutions. In his exhaustive paper on the "American College" (No. 5 Monographs on Education in the United States, edited by Dr. N. Murray Butler), Professor Andrew Fleming West opens his subject by telling his readers that the American College has no exact counterpart in the educational system of any other *. See Table XV. TABLE XV. COURSES OF STUDY FOR THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX, NEW YORK CITY. Physical training, two Mathematics THIRD YEAR. English French or German or Greek Latin Mathematics FOURTH YEAR. English French or German Physics Latin Mathematics THIRD YEAR. THIRD YEAR. English English French or German or French German Physics Mathematics Physics Civics and Economics Mathematics Electives: Chemistry Astronomy Mathematics Astronomy Chemistry History Mathematics Physiography Physiography ment History and country. "The elements which compose it are derived, it is true, Develop- from European systems, and in particular from Great Britain; continued. but the form under which these elements have been finally compounded is a form suggested, and almost compelled, by the needs of our national life... notably different from the old world schools." He then traces the history and progress of this important factor in the national system of free education, concluding this portion of his paper as follows: "Still, in order to understand the precise nature and unique influence of the college in American education, it is not necessary here to trace step by step the story of its development, for in its various forms of present organisation it reveals not only the normal type which has been evolved, but also survivals of past stages of development, instances of variation and even of degeneration from the type, and interesting present experiments, which may to some extent foreshadow the future." ... On a later page Professor West draws attention to the fact that "the American College, as contrasted with European schools, is a composite thing-partly secondary and partly higher in its organisation. It consists regularly of a four-year course of study leading to the Bachelor's degree. Up to the close of the Civil War (1861-1865), it was mainly an institution of secondary education, with some anticipations of university studies toward the end of the course. But even these embryonic university studies were usually taught as rounding out the course of disciplinary education, rather than as subjects of free investigation. Boys entered college when they were 15 or 16 years of age. The average age of graduation did not exceed 20 years .. With but few and unimportant exceptions, the four-year course consisted of prescribed studies. They were English literature and rhetoric, Latin, Greek, mathematics, natural philosophy, and political economy, and often a little psychology and metaphysics. Perhaps some ancient or general history was added. French and German were sometimes taught, but not to an important degree. At graduation the student received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and then entered on the study of law, medicine, or theology at some professional school, or went into business or into teaching in the primary or secondary schools. Such was, in barest outline, the scheme of college education a generation ago. At the present time things are very different. With the vast growth of the country in wealth and population since the Civil War there has come a manifold development. The old four-year course, consisting entirely of a single set of prescribed studies leading to the one degree of Bachelor of Arts, has grown and branched in many ways. It has been modified from below, from above and from within. The better preparation now given in thousands of schools has enabled colleges to ask for somewhat higher entrance requirements, and, what is more important, to exact them with greater firmness. The age of entrance has increased, until at the older and stronger colleges the average is now about 18 years. A four-year course leading to a Bachelor's degree remains, although in some quarters the increasing age of the |