Read Ebook: Contraband; Or A Losing Hazard by Whyte Melville G J George John

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After a winter of intense activity there came a period of repose, and no lectures were given the next season. After lying quiet for a year the school once more came into active operation. Mrs. Quincy A. Shaw and Mrs. Augustus Hemmenway showed their sympathy with the efforts on behalf of education by most generously assuming the whole expense of the lessons given that year. Immediate measures were taken to carry out the plan which had been arranged several years before, which consisted in giving a series of lessons which would be a good preparation for a course in physiography. Accordingly, Professor Cross, of the Institute of Technology, was engaged to give eight lessons in physics, Professor Hyatt following with eight on the physical relations of animals to the earth; Professor Goodale gave four treating of plants in the same way, and Mr. W. O. Crosby concluded the course with four lectures on the relations of geological agencies to physiography. The applications for tickets to these lectures so far exceeded the expectations of the committee that they were forced to duplicate them, each speaker repeating his lesson on the same day before a different audience.

After this the work of The Teachers' School of Science was taken under the protection of the Lowell Fund, Mr. Augustus Lowell sending word that he would make an annual donation of fifteen hundred dollars. Mr. Lowell allowed the Natural History Society to make engagements and announce lectures one year beforehand, and also gave the use of Huntington Hall. Eighteen lectures were given that winter, under the title of the Lowell Free Lectures in The Teachers' School of Science. Eight of these lectures were on physics, by Professor Cross; five on geology, by Mr. Crosby; five on physiology, by Dr. H. P. Bowditch, of the Harvard Medical School, and all were very successful and well attended by the teachers. The Teachers' School of Science had another branch in active operation, which was courses of laboratory lessons paid for by the teachers themselves.

Through the liberality and co-operation of the Woman's Education Association the Society of Natural History was able to announce that a seaside laboratory, under the direction of Professor Hyatt and capable of accommodating a limited number of students, would be open at Annisquam, Massachusetts, from June 5th to September 15th inclusive. The purpose of this laboratory was to afford opportunities for study and observation to the development, anatomy, and habits of common types of marine animals under suitable direction and advice. It was believed that such a laboratory would meet the wants of many teachers who had attended practical lessons in The Teachers' School of Science. Twenty-two persons--ten women and twelve men --availed themselves of the privileges offered. The summer work, which was very successful, was due to the ability and energy of Mr. B. H. Van Vleck, who had the whole charge of the instruction and work done in the laboratory. The seaside laboratory continued to be used successfully in the same way during seven consecutive summers, and the work of the laboratory materially influenced the future science teaching in several colleges and in many public schools of this country. In 1886 Professor Hyatt called the attention of the Woman's Education Association and the society to the fact that the laboratory had reached a stage when it could claim the support of patrons of science and learning, and be placed on an independent and permanent foundation. The two associations accordingly called a meeting, made up largely of the representative teachers of biology, who decided to make an effort to establish a permanent biological laboratory and raise at least fifteen hundred dollars to carry it on for five years. The result was the foundation of the Marine Biological Laboratory, at Woods Holl, which now attracts to its general courses teachers and other students from all over the land, and also maintains a department for special research work.

At the beginning of this season there was the usual large attendance, with teachers from thirty towns, but the number was slowly reduced. It was evident to the curator that the decline in attendance was not due to the subjects nor the mode in which they were treated, but from fatigue on the part of the teachers, and this state of affairs caused him to say in his annual report that "proper and wise forethought should long ago have given teachers a portion of every week besides the usual Saturday holiday for the pursuit of information needed for teaching new subjects." He believed that the efficiency of the individual teacher would be greatly increased by this expedient, and that the pupils would gain more than they lost by the shortening of the school hours.

At the request of the Superintendent of Schools the curator gave the following year ten lessons, which were directed mainly to the subjects put down in the course of study under the title of Elementary Science Lessons. In his course in Elementary Mineralogy, Professor Crosby followed the plan indicated by Mrs. E. H. Richards in one of the science guides--First Lessons in Minerals. The curator, for his course on Structure and Habits of Worms, Insects, and Vertebrates, used many specimens which had been tanned by a process which was then in use. Over twenty-eight thousand zo?logical specimens were given away in two years. Professor Crosby, with a class of sixty, continued the course of the previous year, giving lessons in the mineralogical laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the specimens there studied were retained by the teachers.

In the winter of 1888-'89 Professor Crosby, using for his auditorium Huntington Hall, gave a course of ten lessons on the geology of Boston and vicinity. "The object of the lessons was to acquaint the teachers of Boston and vicinity with natural opportunities by which they are surrounded, and specially to show them how to use these opportunities for their own culture and the benefit of their pupils. The subject was treated in accordance with the following scheme: A general study of the physical features of the Boston basin and of the geological changes now in progress in this region; a systematic study of the various minerals and rocks found in the Boston basin, together with the more characteristic kinds of structure which they exhibit; a summary of the geological history of the district so far as that is plainly recorded in the rocks. The course was freely illustrated by maps and diagrams, also to a large extent by specimens, more than ten thousand of which were distributed. Special pains were taken at every step of the work to indicate the localities where phenomena such as were described in the lessons might be most advantageously studied. This comprehensive course formed suitable preparation for a second series of lessons, the principal object of which was to apply the principles taught by the first series to a thorough and detailed study of the physical history of the Boston basin. Each important locality in the section under consideration formed the subject of a separate lesson, in which its structural features and the more important events of its history were presented. Special attention was given to tracing the relations of the existing surface features of each district to its geological structure, thus connecting the physical geography and geology of the region. These lectures were based on a large amount of original investigation and results reached by Professor Crosby in his studies of the Boston basin."

Persons interested in the improvement of the teaching of geography in the public schools suggested to the trustee of the Lowell Institute the advisability of hearing again from Professor Davis, and the curator was requested to invite him to give a course of eight lectures on geography in the autumn and winter of 1897-'98. The subjects treated of in these lessons were selected from among those presented by Professor Davis in his course on geography in the Harvard Summer School, as they afforded material most directly applicable to the work of grammar-school teachers. At the end of each meeting opportunity was given for individual conference on questions suggested by the lectures. This course excited more interest among teachers than any which had been given since the beginning of the school, and it was consequently a serious disappointment to many teachers when it became known that Mr. Lowell did not feel able to re-engage Professor Davis and continue this kind of instruction.

The same winter that Professor Davis gave his first course on physical geography Prof. F. W. Putnam, of Harvard University, Curator of Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge, and now President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, gave lessons on American archaeology. The topics selected covered the whole range of the remains of prehistoric man and his life on this continent so far as these subjects could be presented in ten lessons. The original methods of research elaborated by Professor Putnam, which have placed his name among the first in his department of archaeological work, rendered this course remarkably interesting and instructive. Specimens were studied and given away in sufficient numbers to illustrate the modes of making stone implements and some of the different kinds of pottery. Professor Putnam invited the teachers to visit the Peabody Museum, and there gave them an opportunity to inspect the larger objects which it had not been possible to bring into the city. The audience became so interested in the famous serpent mound in Ohio, which was then threatened with destruction, that a subscription was started which finally made it possible to purchase and preserve this ancient monument.

The winter succeeding the lessons on archaeology, Mr. B. H. Van Vleck, who had spent a considerable portion of the previous summer in preparing specimens for this work, gave fifteen lessons on zo?logy. The study of the general morphology of animals was made under advantages such as had never before been offered in this school, and enabled teachers to see and study structures not usually within their reach. The work was mainly directed to the observation and study of a limited number of types, but general points in physiology and anatomy were also taken up in a comparative way. The microscope was also used in this work. This special course was continued during the next two terms.

Dr. J. Walter Fewkes gave a series of ten lessons, during the winter of 1890-'91, on Common Marine Animals from Massachusetts Bay. Special attention was given to the mode of life, differences in external forms, local distribution, habitats, methods and proper times to collect the eggs, young, and adults. The anatomy, embryology, and morphology of the species considered were dealt with incidentally.

"The relative abundance of species and individuals, local causes which influenced distribution, the rocky or sandy nature of the shores and their characteristic faunae, and the influence of depth of water tides and temperature, were also considered."

The relations and boundaries of the marine fauna of New England were treated of under the following heads: Comparison of the Fauna of Massachusetts Bay with that of Narragansett Bay and the Bay of Fundy, and Causes of the Differences Observed; Pelagic Animals; Littoral and Shallow-Water Genera; Introduced and Indigenous Marine Animals; and Marine Animals which inhabit both Brackish and Fresh Water.

It having been found that for several years the audiences at the general courses had been decreasing, it became evident that the giving of general information had accomplished a mission, but that there was a demand for more specialized courses of study and that a change of policy was warranted. It was therefore determined to abandon the general courses and continue the special prolonged laboratory courses.

Since 1891 all lessons have been given either in the form of laboratory lessons or field work, and the school was organized and conducted upon a new and more effective basis. The teachers have been required to keep notebooks and attend examinations in order to be candidates for the certificates which have been, and will continue to be, granted to those who have completed a series of lessons.

In the fall of 1890 was begun a course of lessons on paleontology which had been planned for some time but had not been previously undertaken because the teachers lacked the knowledge of the elements of zo?logy and geology which was a necessary preparation for those taking up the study of the history of animals as found in the earth's crust. The members of this class, which now began to make systematic observations upon fossils, were found to be sufficiently prepared to study certain groups which illustrated the laws of evolution. The class was limited in number and was under the instruction of Professor Hyatt, who for five years conducted the most advanced course of lessons ever given in The Teachers' School of Science, and such as have not elsewhere been offered to teachers nor to many classes of college students.

The many specimens used in this study were carefully figured in the notebooks, and the teachers became so familiar with them that they were able to pass at the end of the term a severe examination. The final test of the season's work consisted of three parts: The passing in of lecture notebooks, the naming and classifying of a dozen fossils selected by the professor, and the answering of a set of difficult questions.

On account of the amount of time required for this course, and because the lessons were such as were not directly applicable to work in the public schools, the attendance decreased. The number who continued, however, were those who felt that a broad scientific education is necessary to the best teaching of even elementary science.

After working on fishes, batrachians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, in which the structural development of some animals--man, for example--was found to be retrogressive and the physiological development progressive, the lessons closed with the study of man's structure as compared with the anthropoid apes and the few remains of prehistoric man, and finally with a discussion of the works of paleolithic man.

The teachers who had attended this course throughout the five years and had passed satisfactory examinations have been presented with diplomas testifying to their proficiency.

PROPER OBJECTS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

BY EDWARD ORTON,

PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY; PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

The objects of the American Association for the Advancement of Science are clearly expressed in the opening paragraph of its constitution, which was adopted at its first meeting, held September 20, 1848, in Philadelphia. From that day to this the paragraph referred to has not been modified except by the replacement of three words, viz., "the United States" by a single and more comprehensive word--"America."

As here defined, the objects of the association are "to promote intercourse between those who are cultivating science in different parts of America, to give a stronger and more general impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific research in our country, and to procure for the labors of scientific men increased facilities and a wider usefulness."

There is nothing in the original paragraph to indicate whether the elements of this threefold division were counted of equal value, or whether they were arranged in either an ascending or descending scale of importance, but from the fact that in the development and expansion of the association during the last fifty years nothing has been added to and nothing subtracted from this general statement, while in many other divisions of the constitution large and sometimes radical changes have been adopted, it seems safe to conclude that the present members of the association see its work and office in very much the same light as its founders did.

But, while sailing under the old colors and apparently by the old charts, it is quite possible that the association is, insensibly to itself, undergoing modification more or less important. Such an experience is unavoidable in all human institutions, at least in those that retain their vitality in state, society, or church.

It might well be, therefore, in view of the amazing changes that have taken place in the entire field covered by the association, that it should have outgrown the aims and ambitions of its early days. The fact that it continues to use the identical statement of its objects with which it began its work, while it does not definitely settle the question, affords at least presumptive evidence that no such change has taken place.

Such a gathering tends to an increase of mutual respect and confidence on the part of all engaged in scientific work. It tends to discourage the narrow conceit of the specialist, who, if left entirely to his own tastes, comes to think that his own facet is the only one that deserves to be regarded, and practically to ignore its relation to the sphere of which it constitutes an essential though a minor part.

Such an association tends toward making specialists intelligible to each other. In other words, it puts a premium on the art of popularizing science, for when the specialist makes himself intelligible to his brethren in their widely separated fields he makes himself intelligible to all educated men, whether especially trained in science or not.

The specialist is under a strong temptation to limit himself to a language of his own, which is an unknown tongue even to the rest of the scientific world. Technical terms, carried out to minute subdivisions, are indispensable in every branch of modern science, but the student of any science is in an evil state who can not present his results to the world without appealing to the technical jargon of the branch which he cultivates.

There even seems a reluctance on the part of some to use plain language in stating scientific conclusions, as if the cheapening of science were feared by its being made intelligible. Such a fear is certainly unworthy. The masters have never felt it. In lucidity and directness of speech and in general intelligibility Tyndall, Huxley, and Darwin were not surpassed by any men of their generation. To whom are we as much indebted for the great advance of science in their day as to these very men?

If the scientist neglects this popularizing of science, the sciolist is sure to take it up, and his work in this field always makes the judicious grieve. Is there not possible danger that this phase of scientific work and the function of the association corresponding thereto are losing consideration to some extent?

But instead of its being true that the scientific work of the country has outgrown the need of the association, is it not rather true that we are in far more urgent need of its unifying agency than even the founders were fifty years ago? We have all the divisions of science that were then recognized, and half as many more. Physics and chemistry could then be classed in one section without offense, and zo?logy and botany were assigned without protest to a single heading. Now, not only does every science demand recognition by and of itself, but all are represented by separate societies as well--as the Mathematical Society, the Chemical Society, the Geological Society, etc. These societies hold meetings, publish bulletins, reports, and sometimes monthly journals, and, in short, aim to cover the entire field for the branches which they represent. They are generally affiliated with the association, and it is becoming usual for them to hold joint summer meetings of society and section. Their annual meetings are held in the winter, and, as their membership is more select than that of the association, standing as it does in all cases for published or recognized work already in evidence, these winter meetings are coming to be preferred for the presentation of technical papers. Those who read them feel sure of "fit audience, though few."

These societies are all vigorous and successful. They obviously meet a "felt want" on the part of American science, but just what their effect will be upon the association remains to be determined. Certainly, with these centrifugal tendencies in growing activity, this is not the time for the attraction of our one centripetal force to be relaxed. More than ever do we need such a unifying agency as the association was designed to supply.

It would be well if the association meetings of whatever character could be made memorable by the announcement of important discoveries made during the preceding year. The custom of holding back such announcements is said to obtain in the transatlantic national associations, and notably in the British Association, which is the mother of all the rest. Those who were present at the Boston meeting of the American Association will remember the enthusiasm created there by the announcement of the discovery of a new element--etherion. If later discussions have thrown doubt upon the discovery of a new element, the alternative explanation suggested of the facts proves scarcely less interesting or important than the original claim.

Whether our eager American workers would be willing to hazard their claims to priority by holding back the announcements of their discoveries for months after they have been made is a question, but the foreign practice in this regard has certainly much to commend it.

The foremost men in all the societies, our leaders in the branches represented there, owe it to themselves, owe it much more to the great name of American science, to maintain and magnify their connection with, their service to, the American Association.

Two other objects which were deemed worthy of being incorporated into the organic law of the association remain to be considered. To the treatment of each a few words will be devoted. Neither of them commands as high regard from us as they seem to have had at the beginning.

It is not easy for those who were born after the middle point of the century to think themselves back into the conditions under which the words above quoted were written. At that time there were but two or three schools of science in the United States, and not one west of the seaboard. The degrees of bachelor, master, and doctor of science were unknown. There was but one journal of science published in the country, and foreign scientific journals and reviews, comparatively weak and few at the best, seldom found their way to the New World. The men who cultivated science were widely separated, and for the most part rarely met their peers. As a natural consequence, there must have been more or less misdirected effort. Many a worker must have attacked problems already solved, or have attacked them by inadequate or obsolete methods.

How great the changes that fifty years have wrought in this country, in the world indeed, in all these respects! Now there is not a State in the Union that has not at least one fairly equipped school of science, and in some of the older States such schools can be counted by the dozen or the score. These schools are manned by teachers trained at the foremost centers of science in this country and Europe, familiar with all the great problems and with all the most improved methods of research. Moreover, on the library table of every one of these schools are the latest periodicals and special reports of the two continents in which science is cultivated. The untrained and isolated investigator can no longer justify his existence. There is no occasion for the survival of such qualities as these terms imply.

This wonderful transformation in educational scope and methods effects to a great degree just what the founders hoped to accomplish through the agency of the association. The ground has thus been cut from under the second of the objects of the association as avowed in its constitution. In other words, while the result aimed at deserved the prominence given to it fifty years ago, it no longer depends on the association for its accomplishment.

In this direction, also, such immense progress has been made in the country at large that the need of special effort in this line no longer exists. Munificent gifts to science from private fortunes are now the order of the day. It is a poor year for science in America when such contributions do not exceed a million dollars. This work was begun in the large way under the elder Agassiz, and the Museum of Comparative Zo?logy at Cambridge is its first important monument. It has gone forward in the addition of scientific departments worthy of the name to the older institutions of learning, and in the establishment of new institutions wholly devoted to science.

Such beneficent use of private wealth, the unparalleled increase of which during the last fifty years has become a matter of grave concern to the whole body politic, does more than anything else can do to reconcile the public to the conditions which make such accumulations possible. Still more significant is the policy which the General Government entered upon, forty years ago, of establishing, in conjunction with the several States, schools of general and applied science. The State colleges and universities thus founded have already become potent factors in American education, and science lies at the heart of them all. It would be hard to overrate their influence on the development of science for time to come.

When the American Association was established, fifty years ago, a new day was breaking on the world. The men who were cultivating science then saw something of the conquests over Nature that the new method--the method of science--rendered possible. They were wise in demanding that all who use this method should recognize the common bond. The association was the outcome of that demand.

At the end of the century we who have shared in the mighty advance and who have been taught by our experience to discard limitations in the possibilities of the future, feel the same and an even more urgent need of some unifying and interpreting agency for the ever-widening fields to which the method of science is now applied.

RACE QUESTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

BY FERDINAND BLUMENTRITTE.

Very different are the conditions in the Philippine Islands; and, in view of the importance which the "skin question" plays in the conflict raged by the Americans, I think it proper to deal further with this fundamental question of Philippine politics, especially since the journals and the politicians, at least those of America, have given very little attention to the matter.

The small number of creoles, of whom, besides, the principal part live in the city of Manila, which the Americans have in their power, would not alone explain why the war of independence and the formation of the Philippine republic must be spoken of as pre-eminently the work of Christian, civilized Malays and mestizos. For there are in America countries, like Paraguay, where the number of whites is even smaller than in the Philippine Islands, and yet the separatist movement and the foundation of the state were the exclusive work of the creoles.

Why has it been thus? Because the Indians and the negroes do not possess that inclination toward civilization and that capacity for assimilation that are evident in the colored populations of the Philippine Islands. It is supposed that the Philippine Malays have Japanese blood in their veins; but, all the same, whether the supposition is founded or unfounded, it is certain that not only do they resemble the Japanese more or less in features, but that also many mental traits are common to them with these wide-awake Orientals, and they even excel them in a moral respect. The school statistics show them superior to their Spanish lords. The Filipinos have no larger percentage of illiterates than Spain of those who can not read and write. And, as a bishop exclaimed with astonishment, there are in those islands villages where it would be hard to find a person unable to read. The pressure of the colored people to the higher studies and the special schools far exceeds the percentage which one would anticipate from their proportion to the whole population. And if we add to these those who seek their education in Spain and other foreign countries we shall find Malays and mestizos in the first line, and the creoles in the last. It should be remarked on this point that many more natives would have gone to Europe for education if the Spaniards, and especially the monks, had not perceived conspirators in all Filipinos who studied away from home. The fear of persecution deterred many fathers from sending their sons over the sea.

There is no need of mentioning any other names, for those we have given are enough to show that these Malays and mestizos are susceptible of cultivation, and, as Bismarck used to say, "carry a rocket-charge in their bodies."

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