VOLUME V NUMBER 38University RecordFRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1900THE FOURTEENTH EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE.The Fourteenth Educational Conference ofthe academies and high schools affiliating andcooperating with the University of Chicago, washeld this year on Friday and Saturday, November16 and 17.The conference opened with a pleasant socialoccasion — a lunch given by the president tovisiting principals and the student candidates forthe contest in declamation. The formal sessionof the conference began with the executive meeting of deans and principals with the Board ofof University Affiliations. . There was an unusually large attendance, the following schools beingrepresented :The Manual Training School, Chicago; Elgin HighSchool, 111.; Princeton Township High School, 111.; ChicagoInstitute High School ; Lyons Township High School, 111.;Lake View High School, Chicago ; Rock Island HighSchool, 111.; Culver Military Academy, Ind.; The HarvardSchool, Chicago; Mattoon High School, 111.; CharlestonHigh School, 111.; Keokuk High School, la.; Hinsdale HighSchool, 111.; Elgin Academy, 111.; Clyde High School, 111.;Sterling High School, 111.; Bloomington High School, 111.;Frances Shimer Academy, 111.; Chicago English High andManual Training School; Bradley Polytechnic Institute,Peoria, 111.; Blue Island High School, 111.; South DivisionHigh School, Chicago; Freeport High School, 111.; Milwaukee-Downer College, Wis.; Morgan Park Academy, 111.;Joliet High School, 111.; North Division High School, Chicago ; West Aurora High School, 111.; Hyde Park HighSchool, Chicago ; Lewis Institute, Chicago ; Calumet HighSchool, Chicago ; Englewood High School, Chicago ;. Manual Training High School, Kansas City, Mo.; Springfield High School, 111.; Ottawa High School, 111.; TheRugby School, Kenilworth; New Trier Township HighSchool, Wilmette, 111.; East Aurora High School, 111.;Thornton Township High School, Harvey, 111.; PeoriaHigh School, 111.; Clinton High School, la.; Austin HighSchool ; Oak Park High School ; lohn Marshall HighSchool ; John B. Stetson University (Florida) ; EvanstonHigh School.After the reading of the minutes of the previousannual meeting, the president called attention tothe fact that since the last session Mr. J. H.Norton, Principal of the Lake View High School,had been removed by death. The assembly aroseand stood in silence in memory of Mr. Norton.The following resolution was then adopted :Whereas, Since the last meeting of this body, Mr.James H. Norton, Principal of the Lake View High School,one of our most enthusiastic and helpful members, whoalways aided our assemblies with his personal and mostactive participation, has been taken from us :Resolved, That this body formally express its sense ofloss, which each one of its members must personally feel.The formal programme which had been prepared for the occasion was then taken up. DeanChase, of Morgan Park Academy, presented thefollowing paper upon the topic: The Advisability of Separating Pupils into Sections upon theBasis of Scholarship.Systems of education have as their aim the effecting thebest results for the largest number. The reasons for theclass system of education are to save expense in both moneyand teaching effort, to promote by emulation and otherstimuli of association better effort from the individual pupil325326 UNIVERSITY RECORDthan is obtainable otherwise, and to produce by the processof mental attrition mental vigor, alertness, and self-dependence. It is generally conceded that uniformity in level ofattainment and of intellectual power ^should be the principle behind the divisions of the class system, but thisuniformity can be at best only approximate rather thanabsolute, and, making against the desired evenness ofattainment and power is the common practice, born of considerations of economy, of putting into one class-group aslarge numbers as discipline will permit. To reduce thesenumbers by subdividing threatens defeat of the economyfeature of the class system, unless at the same time thatclasses are multiplied and more teachers thus made necessary, the years in the school course are proportionatelyreduced. By the friends of the new plan it is contendedthat the separation of pupils in a class into sections on thebasis of scholarship, resulting in more rapid progress for thebetter pupils, would materially shorten their school course,and thus balance economically the increase of class divisions, the total number of teachers required being not muchdifferent under this system than under the more commonone. Even though the apparently difficult problems ofschool organization which this plan would present weresolved, there would remain the question as to whether thethe best good for the largest number would be obtained,association of the best pupils with the good and the poorhaving unquestionably a good effect upon the mass of theclass.To the school principal whose classes rarely number morethan 30 or 40 this question does not have the significance ithas in schools where classes number from 200 to 300. Inthe latter case division being imperative the inquiry whethersections shall be homogeneous as to scholarship or heterogeneous presses itself on the attention. Let us suppose acase : We have a first year class of about 200 for which wehave six teachers. We can form six divisions of about 30each, by the old plan, usually according to the alphabeticalorder of pupils' names. In the long run it falls out thateach division will have practically the same elements ofscholarship in the same proportion ; or, forming the divisions by the other plan, we may group the 30 best by themselves, the 30 poorest by themselves, and have four otherdivisions made up of the moderately clever, grouped according to grade.By which system will the greatest good for the greatestnumber be obtained ?In the first plan the class teacher must sacrifice the verydull and the very clever in each class-division for the sakeof the commonplace majority, but compensation can bemade to the very clever out of class by assignment of extrawork. In this connection, too, it should be noted that thereare very few subjects which do not permit and invite on thepart of the best pupils extra intensive work, the performance of which is practicable and to a large and perhaps full extent compensatory for the retardation of progress due to thepoor pupils in the class. To the poorest pupils compensation for class-room neglect is to be found in the stimuluswhich association with the better pupils undoubtedly givesand this is to; be supplemented by the individual attentiongiven by the teacher out of class. In this way the interestsof the clever and the dull are guarded and those of the commonplace majority better served because of the presence ofthe others. School organization as to teaching force, moreover, is simple and constant.Under the other plan of grading according to scholarshipthe divisions containing the best pupils would make muchmore rapid progress than any of the class groups of the firstplan, very likely finishing the year's stint before the schoolyear was past and, being advanced to the next work, woulddoubtless complete the four years' course in three years orless. In the report for 1899 of the addresses and proceedings of the National Educational Association there is astatement by the superintendent of schools of Seattle, Washington, of the results of eight years' trial of this plan andfrom it I quote a few statistics :The records of 7090 pupils were studied, of whom 6576were below the high school. Of this latter number aboutone half required additional time to do the work, about 12per cent, did the work in the regular time and 38 per cent.did the work in less time than was allotted. Of the 514 inthe high school for these eight years 266 or 51 percent.gained time, 140 or 27 per cent, did the work in the requiredtime, and 108 or 22 per cent, lost time.From this it appears as would be expected that for manythere would be a saving of time and for many others a lossof time. Did that considerable number who lost time notlose more of it because of this system than they would havelost if properly treated under the other system and also didthey not lose something of more value than time ? Thisdead level of mediocrity which would prevail by this systemin many of the class-divisions would mean, because of theabsence of the stimulus of association with the brighterpupils, class-inertia, lack of class-movement. Moreover,will not a lack of alertness, initiative and vigor be the individual product of these slower grades through the absenceof the internal, self-stimulating influences supplied by thepresence of the better pupils? Are the atmosphere and environment of. such classes likely to be healthful? Again,who will teach the divisions made up of the poorer pupils?They are not likely to be contended for and despite theoriesof what ought to be, it is very probable that they will berelegated to the newer and less experienced teachers. Herethen is the danger, that while the progress of the brightestpupils is accelerated, all the best interests of the others willnot be served. This dividing of classes into sections according to scholarship has been hailed by some as a movementUNIVERSITY RECORD 327in the direction of individualizing. It is questionable, however, whether in the mere grouping together of pupils because of equality any considerable progress in that directionhas been made. The meeting of teacher and pupil as individuals face to face to the end that the mental methods andneeds of that pupil shall stand forth clear to the teacher isthe thing to be sought. This is not only no more easy tobring about but is even less likely to occur in this method ofgrouping where the very evenness of scholarship may insensibly make against the necessary singling out process.Summing up these conclusions, I should say that theearnest teacher can individualize with his pupils undereither plan, the plan of grouping by scholarship offering noadvantages in this direction : that by the new plan the bestpupils will be enabled to finish the school requirement in thesubject in a shorter time ; yet on the other hand, in the ordinary plan of class division the best pupils are enabled underthe earnest teacher to gain in extent of knowledge of thesubject ; that the poorer pupils will have the needed timefor slower progress and will doubtless miss many of the discouragements which come from their displays of incapacity;but though they accomplish the subject they will fail to getimportant elements of training that should be their possession from an approved system of education. These doubts,seem, therefore, to justify apprehension that from this systemof division the largest good for the largest number will notbe obtained.The paper was discussed by Messrs. Leslie,Capps, Barto and Armstrong. The discussionwas closed with the adoption of the followingmotion: "That it be the sense of this body thatsuch separation upon the basis of scholarship isadvisable.,, Mr. Nightingale, in the course ofremarks upon the question, raised the point ofthe practical difficulty involved. A committeewas on motion appointed to make suggestionsfor the practical carrying out of the plan ofseparation. The president appointed the following committee: J. O. Leslie, I. B. Burgess, D. O. Barto, A. F. Nightingale, C. R.Barnes.An informal report was received from some ofthe departmental examiners of the university uponthe deficiencies of entering students. The following examiners presented reports : Mr. Slaughtfor mathematics, Mr. Thatcher for history, Mr.Miller for Latin, Mr. Cutting for German, Mr.Herrick for English. Mr. Nightingale then offered the followingresolution :That it is the sense of this conference that general history,so-called, should not have a place in our secondary schools ;but that even when one year only is devoted to history itshould be given to some important division of the subject.The resolution was adopted.On motion, the following committee was appointed by the president to consider the practicalapplication of the resolution and report to thenext meeting of this body: Messrs. C. W. French,Henry Boltwood, A. A. Reed, A. W. Small, B.N. Buck.Mr. C. W. French read the following paper onthe relation of school and college athletics inwhich many of the vital problems connected withthis subject were brought out :I. The relations which should exist between athletics andother departments of school work.Under this head three possible relationships may be predicated :I. Athletics maybe made subordinate to the scholasticwork of an institution. In this case they will be pursued asa recreation, without regularity and system, and generally,if not necessarily, without faculty supervision. This maybe called the amateur or anti-professional stage of athletics,and has been their status in all educational institutions untilwithin recent years.2. Athletics may be made coordinate with the scholasticwork. This implies regular and systematic training on thepart of all the students of an institution under the directionand control of the faculty. In this case the aim is not tomake athletes or to bring glory and renown to the institution as a sporting center, but to develop the physical as wellas the mental and moral powers of the student and to makehis education symmetrical.3. Athletics may be made paramount to the scholasticwork of an institution. This results practically in athleticprofessionalism, and seems to be the status of out-of-doorathletics in the most of our educational institutions today.Thus in the opening months of the year football is the supreme issue, and those who are so fortunate as to excel inthis important branch of scholastic work are eagerly soughtafter and secured at almost any cost, and, if it is possible tojudge from appearances, their collegiate standing is largelydetermined by their success on the gridiron.II. From these considerations three questions may properly arise :1. Should athletics be prohibited as a sport?2. " Should they be encouraged under proper restrictionsand with systematic faculty supervision?328 UNIVERSITY BE COED3. Should they be allowed to dominate college and schoollife?III. If the second question is answered affirmatively andthe others negatively the principles which should control insuch faculty supervision must be determined.I. Should credit be given for athletic work as well as forscholastic work?2. Shall any student be allowed to participate in athleticspbrts, if his other work suffers thereby?3. Is it wise to allow these sports to assume a professionalcast by arranging interscholastic contests which will requireextended trips and long absences from the home institution?4. Should a student be expected to maintain a passingaverage in all his studies while he is undergoing the exhaustive labor which is required of the average school orcollege athlete of the present day.IV. Some general questions which are suggested by present conditions :I. Are there any changes that can be made in footballwhich will remove the elements of danger to life and limb?2. Is there any danger of moral deterioration in schooland college circles arising from the increase of profanity,betting on games, and other kindred evils, which seem toaccompany the development of college sports?3. Does hot the frantic struggle after championships andbanners have a demoralizing tendency?4. Is there not danger that the average boy will come tofeel that schools and colleges exist mainly for the purposeof developing successful athletic teams, and that intellectualvictories are of far less importance than athletic championships?5. Has hot the time come to inaugurate a substantialreform in school and college athletics which shall reducethem to their proper status and function in the educationalsystem?There was a discusssion by Messrs. Boyer,Morrison, Westcott, Trowbridge, and Thatcher.Upon motion a committee was appointed by thepresident to consider the suggestions made bythe paper, and present resolutions to this body atits next meeting : Messrs. J. E. Armstrong, W. C.Hazzard, A. V, Greenman, S. R. Smith, E. Capps.In connection with this same subject after con-sMeraMe discussion, the following resolutionswere carried:Resolved, That athletics in high schools should be controlled and directed by the faculties of those schools;Resolved, That it be the sense of this conference that wefavor the gahie of football in secondary schools whenregulated by the school faculty. The subject of a double standard for graduationand for admission to college was presented by thepaper of Principal Hanna of Oak Park, and informally discussed by Principal Armstrong ofEnglewood High School. Mr. Hanna's paperwas as follows :Any college or university will admit an applicant whopasses satisfactorily its entrance examinations, whether hehas a high-school diploma or not, whether he has everbeen to any school or not, whether he carries a certificatesigned by somebody or not.This means that if all colleges and universities conformed to the practice of Harvard and Yale, there would beno question before this conference for discussion. It is onlybecause some colleges have consented to surrender theirright to examine all applicants, and to take instead of theirown judgment based on such examination, the judgment ofthe authorities of certain approved secondary schools as tothe quality and quantity of actual work done.The question before us today, I understand, is no one ofthe following:I. Have the colleges and universities done wisely inallowing the establishment and maintenance of the certificate system ?2. Is the judgment of the authorities of these carefullyselected and rigidly inspected secondary schools, based onlong and intimate personal knowledge, as likely to beWisely and fairly formed and honestly expressed as thejudgment of the entrance examiners based almost wholly onthe results shown in the preparation of papers on set topicswithin strict limits ?3. Does experience show that the qualifications offreshmen entering college or university on certificate arelower than those of freshmen entering On examination ?If any one of these three questions is to be answered in amanner unfavorable to the certificate plan, then the certificate plan is not a success and must be thrown aside, and inthat case we can have no question for discussion today.Assuming then that the colleges and universities stillfavor the certificate plan the question resolves itself intothis:Ought principals and the authorities of secondary schoolsto allow pupils to receive a diploma officially certifying totheir satisfactory completion of the prescribed courses ofstudy wheh, as a matter of fact, the work done is hot up tothe college requirement ?Let us consider this question and this only. There aretwo cases : A. When the work of the school in general,either in the amount of the work done, or in the quality ofwork done, is not up to the just standard of admission set bythe college or university.UNIVERSITY RECORD 329In this case the college or university ought to withdrawthe certificate right. This is so obvious that it seems to callfor no argument. The only possible objection I will takeup and dispose of now. What about a student who individually, through exceptional industry or capacity, orthrough exceptional aid or instruction on the part of theinstructor has gone beyond the usual attainments of theschool, and in the opinion of his instructor has met thecollege requirements ? My answer would be, in such a case,let one of two courses be pursued : ( i ) either let thecandidate stand his examination or, ( ii ) if the university sodesire, let it accept the personal recommendation of theindividual instructors, each case to* be considered by itselfand on its merits, and without reference to the school or itsdiploma. This is just, for the reason that the school did notfit him for the college, but he himself and his instructors didfit him and without reference to the courses, the quality ofwork, or the equipment of the school.B. The second case is when the work of the school, ingeneral both in the amount of work done and in the qualityof the work done is up to the just standardof admission setby the college or university. The question here is not out forthe college or university at all, whose requirements aresatisfied upon inspection of the school and its work and thevalue of its certificate. But it is a question for the secondaryschool authorities and for them only.Let us see what this question placed before secondaryschool authorities really and practically means. It canmean one or the other only of two things, (i) Shall we, forexample, allow a pupil to have a diploma who has completed the college requirements in plane geometry, but whohas no solid geometry ? Or shall we allow a pupil to havea diploma who has had no modern language training, butwho has satisfied the college requirements in Latin ? Orshall we allow a pupil to have a diploma who has had butone year of laboratory science — for example, biology only,or physics only, when the college requirement calls forboth?.Certainly the answer to all these and similar questions,within reasonable limits, ought to be "Yes," provided thework actually done in the school is an equivalent — in theordinary acceptation of that term to the work required bythe college. To be more specific in our illustration. Let usassume that the Grand Trunk University requires for entrancefifteen year-units, of which the following are prescribed :English two, mathematics two, science two, history one anda foreign language two, nine in all, and the other six areelective within certain prescribed limits. The question thenwould be, shall the school allow a diploma to a pupil whohas completed fifteen units, including only eight of thoseprescribed above and seven others, omitting one of scienceand adding one in its place of language, history, or mathematics ? This question is one of small and local importance and in so far as it has general application ought withoutquestion, it seems to me, to be answered "Yes."Now we have it narrowed down to what I take it is thereal point at issue. The last question to be asked is (2) Shallwe for college certification call one thing a completionof four books of Caesar and for diploma certification callanother thing a completion of four books of Caesar ? Shallwe allow a less thorough training in elementary algebra andaccept this inferior quality for our school records upon whichthe diploma is to be ibased and demand from pupils who aregoing to college a higher quality of work than from thosewho are not going to college ? Shall we maintain twostandards as to quality of work in the same class when allpupils are supposed to be covering the same ground — sixbooks of plane geometry in eight months ? Shall our teachers,in making reports on scholarship, report " Accepted," let ussay, on three fourths of the class in Caesar meaning therebythat they are not required to give further time and effort tothat work, but may go on unquestioned with Cicero the nextyear, intending, however, to cut out some of them from goingto college by refusing to recommend or certificate them inCaesar, because their work was inferior ?My answer to this question and every such question is" No." The reasons are these :1. It serves no good purpose. It either leads the pupil tobelieve he is satisfying the requirement of the school and theteacher, when, in fact, he is not accomplishing what hisrecord indicates, or it excludes from college some who havethe right to go. College training ought to be open to thosefitted for it and not to those unfitted for it. Very true, but itis folly to set the standard of admission so high that most,or even very many, are excluded who have the ambition togo and the willingness to work to that end.It is not fair nor wise to confine college opportunities^ asthese are in America, to those who are exceptionally brilliant.I am no believer in the notion that the college honor menare generally failures in life, and that college dummies areusually the ones who reflect honor in after years on theiralma mater. But the other extreme is just as bad. It is easyto be mistaken in prophesying the future of young people.The teacher or principal, even the college professor or president, who claims to set a perfect estimate for the future onevery student under his instruction makes a claim which istoo hasty, too boastful and will not be justified by thefacts.You and I may mourn over the blunders or grumble overthe lack of zeal in a student under our care and the time maycome after many days when our bread cast upon the watersshall justify the hope we have in spite of our despair. Colleges and universities, as these are constituted in America,are not alone for the training of specialists. The standardset by our bachelor's degree is too low to make any suchclaim.330 UNIVERSITY RECORDBy no means all of those who are worthy of an opportunityfor college training are ready, when they complete the secondary course, to go directly into any specializing. " But,"says one, " some pupils may be able to complete the secondary school course, who at that point have reached the limitof their capacity and who, though they have been able toconquer successfully the high-school course, will prove to bewholly beyond their depth in the college work. Should wenot then prevent them from entering the college ? "My answer is this. For the very limited number of thosewho really can complete the high-school course and whoreally have a desire to go on to college, and who really aredestined to prove themselves unable to cope with collegework, for this very limited number, I say, let us leave thedoor open and allow them to go in and so prove themselvesunable. If the incapacity for this advanced work is there,even though there was a capacity, during the previous fouryears, for high-school work, the fact will appear and thenatural result will follow ; the student will withdraw. Students fall by the wayside at every grade because they havereached the limit of their capacity. Such a discovery maybe made at any point of development. There is no reasonwhy it should be set for this particular point. Let us nottake upon ourselves to prophesy that George WashingtonJones will fail if he goes on. Let us rather give George thebenefit of our fallibility of judgment, provided, up to thistime, he has not failed, and let him go and fail, or perchancesucceed !. But what is the good of a boy's going to a college at all,if he is going to drop out sometime and never take adegree. Much every way. Something is better than nothing. Would the sum of power for light and reason andintelligent responsibility in this country be as great as it isif no one of the many thousands of non-graduates had neverbeen to college at all ? I very seriously doubt it.2. There is one other phase of this matter. It may beput in the form of a supposititious case. Shall I allow theson or the daughter of the. Hon. Pat O'Leary, influentialpolitician in the borough of Manhattan, to receive a diploma from my school with my signature when, as a matterof fact, the work has not been satisfactorily completed?Well, now, that comes pretty close to the bone. I willlay down no principles of honesty. The principles ofhonesty are tolerably simple and easy of access to anyonewho may really be interested in them. I will not evenmake any declarations of independence in this paper. Ishould prefer to be judged by actions rather than by assertions.After discussion the following motion wascarried: "That it is the sense of this conferencethat there shall not be a separate standard forgraduation and for recommendation to college." Upon motion the following committee wasappointed by the president upon programme forthe next meeting: Messrs. A. S. Hall, G. N.Carman, G. H. Rockwood, J. J. Schobinger, F. J.Miller, G. B. Morrison, E. L. Boyer. Uponmotion, adjournment.In the evening was held the third annualdeclamation contest between students sent up bythe schools represented in the conference. Contestants had presented themselves from the following schools :Burlington Institute, Michigan Military Academy, Thornton Township High School, Princeton High School, Springfield High School, Rockford High School, Joliet HighSchool, Waukegan High School, Evanston High School,Morgan Park Academy, Bradley Polytechnic Institute,Kansas City Central High School, Kansas City ManualTraining School, Elgin High School, West Aurora HighSchool, East Aurora High School, and from Chicago, theNorth Division, Austin, Calumet, South Chicago, South Division, John Marshall and Lake High Schools.Out of these, by a preliminary contest in theafternoon, the Department of Public Speaking ofthe University had selected the following contestants for the final contest of the evening :Sidney M. Neil, North Division High School ; ClarenceDiver, Waukegan High School ; Ray G. Shaeffer, MorganPark Academy; Joseph Roy Ellis, Kansas City CentralHigh School ; James N. Russell, Kansas City ManualTraining School ; Myrtle E. Wilkins, Joliet High School ;Ellen M. Falk, West Division High School ; MargueriteBowen, Elgin High School ; Emma McCredie, Lake HighSchool ; Elizabeth W. Robertson, John Marshall HighSchool.The prizes were awarded to Joseph Roy Ellisand Marguerite Bowen, one scholarship each,equivalent in value to one hundred and twentydollars.The General Conference on Saturday morningwas called to order by President Harper at 10:30o'clock. After words of welcome the presidentannounced the topic for discussion : " The Elective System in Secondary School Work."Superintendent A. F. Nightingale was the firstspeaker upon the programme. CommentingUNIVERSITY RECORD 331upon the subtopic " Free Electives," as printed,he explained that he had understood his topicto be " electives " not qualified as " free." Following is an abstract of Dr. Nightingale'spaper.*You have asked me to discuss a question respecting which, at the present moment, there is awide difference of opinion. I do not arrogate tomyself a wiser judgment than" that of my peers,and I bow graciously before the conclusionswhich a deeper knowledge and a richer researchhave forced upon my superiors.In the economy of the divine architecture, asexhibited in the marvelous divergence of mentaltraits, there has always been a conservative contingent that has prevented the inauguration ofany new movement in its entirety, that hasblocked the wheels of reform and progress for atime, that has insisted on the ways that werebeing better than the ways that are.I respect that conservatism because I believeits chief elements are caution, a religious desireto be self-centered and well poised, and a commendable zeal to make haste slowly when changedconditions seem to threaten established traditions. Conservatism is necessary as a checkupon such a sudden inauguration of radical reforms as to shock an apathetic and unthinkingcommunity.But conservatism unopposed, left to its stagnant conditions, means debilitation, decrepitude, decay. There are many people professedlylearned, who are so environed, so biased, and,shall I say it, so selfish, that they will with stubborn energy decry a theory until its truth hasbeen absolutely demonstrated in practice, andwill throw every possible obstacle in the way ofits demonstration, because they are opposed tothe theory.For such I have no sympathy ; with such Ihave no patience. They hold the same relationto reform in an opposite direction as the anarchist holds to government. The one brooks nochanges, the other brooks no stability. The oneworships tradition, the other tramples upon it.Neither is justified, both are a plague.I have no warfare to make upon the privateschools or academies. They are unique institutions. They were designed to be tributary to thecolleges. The stream flows direct to the ocean.* The full paper is printed in the School Review. There is not the slightest change in the current,and the banks are always the same. To changethe figure, the college is the master, the privateschools the serfs ; the one dictates, the otherobeys. It is purely a case of demand and supply.Were the Morgan Park Academy for instance,able to accommodate all the boys (heaven helpthe girls), who purposed to enter the Universityof Chicago, it would be necessary for the university only to publish its requirements, and theacademy, if given time, could easily see themfulfilled. There would then be no need of conferences for cooperation and interchange ofopinions. There never has been and there nevercan be any vital connection between the collegeand the high school, based upon such an arrangerment.The high schools are not and cannot be college preparatory schools in any such sense. Letus suppose, however, this to be their special mission, and that they awaited the promulgation ofa curriculum that would express the views of everymember of the faculty of this or any other university, as to the subjects to be pursued and theamount of work to be accomplished in each, dowe not all know that the programme would beone that could not be completed in ten years ?I do not mean to be farcical ; I mean to belogical, and I challenge proof to the contrary ofmy statement that there are not three men inthis institution or any other, representing different departments of human knowledge, who couldagree upon a curriculum of studies for all thepupils of our public high schools, and if theycould, the public high schools would not accepttheir conclusions.What then is to be done ? Will the collegeand the high school each pursue its own wayregardless of the other ? Perhaps so, but thehigh school will not suffer thereby.What is this institution called the highschool ? Whence came it and whither is itbound ? What are its obligations and its limitations ? Who own it and who have a right to control it ? Time will not permit an answer to allthese questions, but surely there are some thingsthat it is not. Although all our educational institutions have developed from the top down, thehigh school will not acknowledge itself to be theoffspring of the college, but rather the child ofthe people, legitimately born in the order ofProvidence.332 UNIVERSITY RECORDIts function primarily and specifically is tosupplement and amplify the work of the elementary school.In the evolution of civilization, during thelast fifty years, more than one third has been addedto the sum total of human knowledge, and, therefore, four years of study beyond the elementaryschool will not give the children of today anybroader horizon than their fathers had a half century ago.The high school is not for the purpose ofgratifying the whims and fancies of the teacherswhether of the school or college. Too long haveprejudice and selfish egotism prevailed in themaking of programmes. Neither psychology norcommon sense (I use them as synonyms), hasbeen allowed to come in to abate the bias andcalm the passions of men who have fought fortheir favorite study like half-backs on a foot-ballfield. It is about time for us to awaken to therealization of the truth that all schools are or oughtto be for the welfare of the child, for the development of those talents, the protoplasm of whichhas been implanted bv the Divine Architect, andthat, however magnetic or eloquent, or profoundwe may be, it is impossible for us to build in thechild or to make out of the child that of which theCreator has not first planted the germ. It is thestudy of the child, then, that demands our thought,investigation, and research. We must know something of his tastes, his talents, his needs, his limitations, his possibilities, that we may economizehis time, secure his confidence and aid in bringing the best that is in him to its highest perfection.Humanity, individualism is to be the paramount issue in education. The professor, whobelieves that there is no substitute for his specific,that the decoction which he brews in the innercell of his cloister is essential to all real intellectual growth, no longer dictates the curriculum.The student himself makes his choice, and notwithstanding the jeers and jibes of those whoscoff at the plan, and claim that he seeks for"snaps" in his studies, the proofs and the truthsare all to the contrary. What is true of the college is measurably true of the high school. Thesecolleges of the people, supported by the people,for the education of the people, must in a largemeasure meet their demands, accede to. theirwishes, respect their opinions, on the ground thattaxation and representation in republican institu tions are inseparable. We are familiar with thereasons urged against the principle of election inhigh schools, the immaturity of the pupil ; thedormant condition of talents ; the absence ofvocational plans ; the danger of selection alongthe lines of least resistance ; the claim that power,power to think and do, the end of educationcomes through the mastery of the distasteful andthe difficult. The principle of election, a veryunfortunate term, does not ignore these things.It is not intended in its application to give thepupil a complete choice of subjects, leaving outof consideration the aid and counsel of parentand teacher. The principal and teachers willalways be the most potent factors in the arrangement of every child's curriculum. The parent hasa right, however, to intervene and give his views,and often, very often, the child is the wisest judgeof all. Neither do I quarrel with those whowould have some constants in secondary education, provided there shall be no hard and fastrule to which there can be no exceptions.The high school is to be an institution wherethe dominant interests of the individual child areto be served ; where general culture through avariety of studies responsive to the aptitudes ofthe pupil is to be secured ; where the hand andeye as well as the heart and head are to be trainedto their best uses ; where the physical and themoral are to receive due attention with the mental ; where indeed the pupil by different methodsadapted to different needs, is to be put in possession of those means by which he may secure auseful, contented and happy livelihood. TheProcrustean system of education is a thing of thepast ; no fixed curriculum for a large class ofpupils will longer be tolerated. There must bewide scope and large flexibility in school programmes. Studies should be selected for or bypupils, not to please the whims or satisfy prejudices, not to deplete one class nor to fill another,not to make an easy working programme, nor tolighten any one's labors, but to give to the pupilthat which it is within his power to appropriate,assimilate and utilize ; that which will make theyears that ought to be devoted to school life enjoyable and profitable, those studies that shall so enrich the nature, develop the character and inspirethe soul, that he may feel that to him there is noplace like the school. This can be done onlywhen teachers are so cultured, so trained, so filledwith the altruistic spirit, that any study will beUNIVERSITY RECORD 33gmeasurably attractive under their instruction, andwhen the pupils themselves shall be in possessionof a natural rather than an acquired aptitude\fortheir studies. Instruction must be excellent andthe attitude of the pupils subjectively pleasing.The law of adaptation is everywhere prevalentin nature and it has equal jurisdiction in education. Study is of little worth when the interest isnot awakened. No one can set down in indisputable category the educational value of anystudy. Tomes have been written, history hasbeen searched, lives of great men made sublime,have been appealed to to prove that the study ofGreek is the greatest instrument that God everplaced in human hands for the development ofmental power, but it is all an opinion. Equallyincontestable is the proof which the advocates ofany other study bring forward to sustain theirtheory, and the world begins to think and to actupon the thought that the value of a study depends on the nature of the student, and thecharacter of his instruction. I cannot betterclose this appeal for a rational election in highschool programmes than to use the words ofComenius, whose burning thoughts smotheredfor two hundred years, are bursting into a conflagration that shall reduce to ashes the medievalism and charlatanism of our modern education." The attempt to compel nature into a courseinto which she is not inclined, is to quarrel withnature and is fruitless striving. Since the teacheris the servant not the master or the reconstructorof nature, let him not drive forcibly when he seesthe child attempting that for which he has noskill. Let every one unhindered, proceed withthat to which in accordance with the will ofHeaven, his natural inclination attracts him, andhe will later be enabled to serve God andhumanity."To Superintendent Cooley had been assignedthe subtopic " Limited Election." In the absenceof Mr. Cooley his paper was read by PrincipalCole, Superintendent Cooley's successor in theLa Grange High' School. The paper was asfollows :The following programme* of studies wasframed with these principles in mind : First, Thatthe future school will pay great attention to thedevelopment of the individuality of the child. WeSee programme at end of this paper. shall cease to believe it wise to attempt to„moldall children to one pattern and to base their instruction upon the same limited assortment ofuseful knowledge. We shall cease to believe thatthere are any divinely ordained whetstones orsharpeners of the mind, but will consider not somuch what one studies as how he studies it. Weshall cease to believe in the doctrine of formaldiscipline.Second, The student should form his owncourse of study, choosing what branches hepleases, as many or as few of them as he pleases,,and continuing them as long as he pleases. Thisdoes not preclude the consideration of the adviceof parents and teachers and friends, but will leavethe responsibility for his work upon the pupil,where it belongs.Third, If a pupil chooses his own work hewill work under a livelier sense of responsibilityand with a fixed purpose in view. Nothing willdo so much for the student as working with adefinite motive behind and a fixed goal before.The earlier this sense of responsibility for themanagement of his own affairs is awakened in thestudent the better the results will be in the end.Under this arrangement the old subjects —Latin, Greek and mathematics--will still bestudied and studied more effectively than theyare now. The student who pursues these subjectswith a fixed purpose and with some feeling ofability to carry them on successfully will do moreand better work than he will when they are presented by the powers that be. If the studentaims at preparing himself for a definite course ina definite college he will be able to select thosethings that will advance him most rapidly andmost surely toward his goal. He will be able tocast aside, either temporarily or permanently,many things that he is now compelled to takemerely because some one thinks they ought to bein every well regulated course of study.Under an elective scheme some provision willbe made for the class of students who are notattracted by the Greek, Latin, and mathematics,.The student will take so much or so little of theold studies as will assist him in his work in drawing, science, business or mechanical courses ; and,studying them with a fixed purpose, will do thembetter, The boy with an executive turn of mind,who is aiming at work in the business world, willbe able to find employment in our schools andwill do good work as well as his more receptive334 UNIVERSITY RECORDneighbor who is able to get nutriment out of theclassics and mathematics. Our schools will thenbe common schools, schools for the people, andnot schools for the class who are fitted for the professions by nature or by circumstances.Under the elective scheme the pupil will beinterested in a subject as a subject and not merelyas a subject taken because others take it. Eachstudent will take as much work or as little as hishealth, mental ability, and opportunities wiU permit him to do well, and he will in a measure ceaseto worry because he is not doing the same thingat the same time one of his neighbors is doing it.This will allow a leeway for the extremely brightboy as well as for the dull one. Under thisscheme the dull boy will not be marked out sodefinitely for criticism because he is not in thesame class with some neighbor who started at thesame time he did. The dull boy's self respectwill thus be preserved longer and he is likely *tostay in school until he accomplishes somethingworth while.Under the elective scheme our students will staylonger in the high school. They will not feelthat there is any vital necessity of getting throughat a fixed time and graduating with certain specified individuals. There is enough work in any ofour modern high-school programmes to employ astudent six years. The student whose circumstances will not permit his entering college canobtain an education that will fit him thoroughlyfor the work in any ordinary profession.. Ibelieve a programme should include work enoughto carry a student in the high school up throughthe sophomore year in an ordinary college course.The elective scheme will enable us to accomplishthis without any violent wrench of the opinionsor prejudices of the public. We shall have secondary schools that will fit the student for a trueuniversity without anybody's knowing anythingabout it.The work is outlined under ten groups labeledLatin, Greek, German, French, mathematics, science, English, history, business, and manual training. We offer four years' work in Latin, twoyears' work in Greek, two years' work in German,two years' work in French, four years' work inmathematics, four years' work in science, threeyears' work in English, four years' work in history, two years' work in business, and two years'work in manual training.As, owing to the size of the school, we were unable to duplicate the course in French and German, we deemed it best to prescribe two years'work in Latin as a prerequisite for the work inGreek, German and French. In the sciencegroup the work in physiology is prescribed by lawso that no election is possible. Our course inphysics was of such a nature that we deemed itadvisable to prescribe two years' work in mathematics and one year in science as a prerequisite* to it.In the work in Civics we believed it would beadvisable for students to take the work in Englishand American history before entering the class incivics and economics.There is no philosophical reason for confiningthe work in English to three years, but it was ourexpectation that later we would add to the coursein English another year. It was impossible atthe present time to make a working programmefor students who were preparing for college, if werequired four years' work in English. I believehowever that four years' work should be prescribed in every American high school.The course in the business and manual training groups has not been thoroughly worked out.We lacked some of the apparatus necessary tocarrying on a good course in commercial studiesand work in iron. It was expected that later boththese groups, 9 and 10, would be remodeled andextended.Below is found an outline of the work of theLyons Township High School, laid out in the tengroups before mentioned :COURSES OF STUDY BY GROUPS.Group 1. Latin — Must be taken in order. 1) elementary work ; 2) Caesar and prose; 3) Cicero and prose; 4)Virgil.Crroup II. Greek — Prerequisites, courses I and 2, groupI. 1) beginning Greek ; 2) advanced Greek.Group III. German — Prerequisites, courses 1 and 2,group I. 1) beginning German ; 2) advanced German.Group IV. French — Prerequisites, courses 1 and 2rgroup I. 1) beginning French ; 2) advanced French.Group V. Mathematics — Must be taken in order. 1)beginning algebra ; 2) plane geometry ; 3) solid geometryand algebra completed ; 4) plane trigonometry and higheralgebra.Group VI. Science — 1) physiology and physiography,required ; 2) chemistry ; 3) biology — (a) botany, ( b )zoology. Courses I and 2 of this group required ; 4)UNIVERSITY RECORD 335physics. Courses I and 2 of group V, and course I ofgroup VI are prerequisites to physics.Group VII. English — to be taken by everyone; i)composition and rhetoric ; 2) English; 3) English.Group VIII. History : — 1 ) Greek and Roman ; 2)medieval and modern; prerequisite (1) of this group; 3)English and American ; 4) civics and economics ; prerequisite (3) of this group.Group IX. Business — 1) bookkeeping and commercialarithmetic ; 2) to be filled in later.Group X. Manual Training — 1 ) bench work andmechanical drawing ; 2) to be filled in later.Dean John J. Schobinger of the HarvardSchool presented the third paper of the morning upon the subtopic "A Prescribed Curriculum." Plis paper was as follows :Election of studies by the young man preparing for his life work at some time has long beenan established fact, the necessity and propriety ofwhich is undisputed. The question under discussion at present, as I understand it, is the time.It seems plain that at a conference in thisplace we are mainly concerned with the preparation of the young men who will enter college. Ishould not speak of the other class at all, were itnot for the circumstance that the high school,through conditions which I cannot considerfortunate must furnish at the same time the finalschooling for the large number who do not entercollege and the preparation for those who do.Unless the former can find what they want, theywill leave the high school prematurely, and thuslose its benefits. And so the logic of thingsnecessitates the laying out of different courses ofstudies for the two classes. Unfortunately theline of division can at no time be sharply drawn.Hence arises a great difficulty, very perplexingindeed ; namely, how to do the best possible forthose who had decided early to go to college butare finally unable to do so, and those who at firsthad no such intention, but in their later years became more ambitions and joined the body ofthose bent for college. It is true, compared tothe sum total of the high-school population theyare not so very many ; but it would not do totreat them* as a negligible quantity, for they areapt to include a large proportion of the mostserious-minded, worthy of all sympathy and encouragement. How to get over this difficulty,and how successfully to combine in one institu tion the double character of a " people's college,"as the high school has been called, and of a" college preparatory school " has long been oneof the most serious subjects of study for thoughtful educators.Now there is one educational theory of whichwe have heard much of late, that seems to wipethis whole difficulty out with one stroke. It is thetheory of the equivalence of studies. Stating itbriefly, means that a year's work at one study willdo the same thing and as much for the student as ayear spent at any other study. It is true, thisseems a somewhat startling proposition. We donot hold it to be true in any other relation of life.While we may consider all men that conscientiouslyfollow the different vocations of life equallyestimable, we place by no means the same valuations upon the occupations themselves. Nor dowe consider the intellectual and moral resultswhich incidentally follow, as equal by any means,whatever the pecuniary rewards may be. Nordoes any man consider the different kinds of hisown activities as on a level intellectually ormorally, however unavoidable or indispensable hemay think them all. And so this equivalence, thisprinciple of equal value for equal quantity appliedto this field does seem surprising and out of thecommon. But if it is true, nevertheless, what willit do for us ? The largest freedom of electionamong studies ceases to be dangerous. Thestudent cannot make a mistake whatever he maychoose, as long as he does not try to begin thestudy of mathematics with trigonometry. Anystudent who has not idled his time away, will findhimself at the age of eighteen fitted to pursuestudies of college grade. And why, if thistheory is true, any college should insist uponmaking any study obligatory, and why it shouldlimit freedom of choice in any way becomes incomprehensible. Given a high school with unlimited freedom of election, and a ^college builton the same principle, there is no longer anydifficulty of articulation at the point of contact.Even people with what others would call eccentric notions might realize their ideals and need nolonger, as now, revile the high school for notbeing practical, in short, the power to please alland to be everything to everyone would find itsonly limitation in the financial means at hand.It is not wonderful that a theory so fruitful inresults, if true, should have found many advocates,and should have found them precisely among336 UNIVERSITY RECORDthose who had felt the difficulties above recitedwith special keenness. But like all reforms thatmake large promises, this one needs to be carefully examined. But I cannot enter upon such acritical study here ; the time at my and your disposal forbids. Fortunately, I need not. We areall teachers. We all have our own experience tofall back upon. What I can state as my experience must be the experience of many. Whatreasons I can briefly allude to, must suggest andrecall to you others of allied nature. I say, then,that I do not believe in the equivalence of studies.I have found at a given point in students who hadfollowed certain courses a noticeable gain ofpower over those who had followed other courses.I believe that a study which lends itself to longcourses, a study that is suitable to be presentedto the young and at the same time contains mental pabulum for the full grown yields richer results than one which cannot well be extendedover more than one year. A study of a subjectwhich is of interest to mankind at large has alarger culture value than one which aims at practical information for business purposes. And tomy mind the difficulty above explained, and whichwill remain as long as the high school, must servea double purpose, must be met by quite differentmeans, namely by making the college preparatorycourse essentially a course for power, and so fulland valuable as to contents, as to embrace thefundamental categories of human thought.Of course, mastery of the mother tongue, andan acquaintance with some of its leading masterpieces must always be the first and foremost subject. I remember reading an essay of PresidentEliot's a good many years ago, one thought ofwhich has remained with me ever since : that amastery of the English language, a realization ofits powers to express the nicest shades of thought,constituted in itself a liberal education. Fewpossess it ; whenever you have the good fortuneto meet the man or woman who does have it, youare fascinated, and you feel no doubt whatever ofPresident Eliot's dictum.The subject which has for centuries occupiedthe largest place among the college requirementsis the study of languages, and among these, Latinpreeminently. Now I consider this position ofLatin among other studies as by no means due tofortuitous circumstances. Its value as a disciplinary study is of the very highest. It has beenpedagogically worked out into the nicest details by generations of teachers of the first rank. As alllanguages, it makes strong demands upon thememory, and can, therefore, be begun with youngpupils whose mnemonic powers are fresh andstrong ; it furnishes a long course of progressivedifficulty, and in its highest stages, at a preparatory school and at college, it furnishes, in itscontents, material of the highest literary valuerintellectually and esthetically.No one can have completed successfully acourse of Latin ending with Cicero's nicely balanced periods, Virgil's refined verse, Livy's statelyrecital of the growth of his nation's power, or theserene philosophy and playful banter of Horace'sodes and satires without carrying away an un-equaled education in nicest discrimination of thepowers of language, and keenest literary appreciation.This alone would constitute a claim of highorder for a foremost position among preparatorystudies. But this is not all. What do we meanwhen we speak of the civilized world ? What whenwe speak of the Western civilization as opposedto orientalism, or to savagery? We mean thenations upon whom the mighty Roman Empireonce imposed its civilization, or its language, orboth, together with the colonies since sprung fromthese, and no others. Our "civilized world," our"Western civilization" means the descendants ofthe Roman Empire, and nothing else. Thesenations are an intellectual and moral unit. Tothe Chinese, the Japanese, the Red Indian, theMalay, the Zulu, and the Turk, all Europeans(and for my purpose I must count Americans asEuropeans) look and act alike under given circumstances. They cannot tell us apart. Thereis a great gulf fixed, on one side of which westand, on the other, they. Do you know ofanother historical phenomenon as remarkable,and as far-reaching in its effects as this ? Andthe common bond of all these Western nationswas for a thousand years the Latin language;under it they were welded into a new, large, compound unit, of great homogeneity in variety,until from their community of ideas grew ourmodern civilizations, more various and richer thanthe original one, and even more aggressive. Theseare facts that cannot be pushed aside. These arefacts no less than terrestrial magnetism, they are,now, today ; they largely shape our course of action, literary, political, and educational. We cannot cut loose from our history, even if we would.UNIVERSITY RECORD 337I might have brought forward a third consideration, which occurs first and most generallyto people, the purely utilitarian one. But youare all familiar with that. You know the natureof the vocabulary of the English language ; youhave often felt the great advantage of him whothrough first-hand acquaintance with its sourcesis able to use it with wise discrimination; youhave also met with Mrs. Malaprop. So I will notenlarge upon this topic.I consider Latin as one of the most powerfulculture studies. Add to the mastery of themother tongue the successful pursuit of a longand thorough course of Latin, and a careful studyof history, and your student has acquired the keyto the world of the mind that we live in, how itcame to be and why it is as it is. The best understanding of the things that are has always beenthe understanding of their genesis. I shouldindeed be sorry to see the day (though I have nofear that I shall see it, nor my sons either) whenthis mighty tool of Latin shall be thrown in tothe scrap pile of worn out appliances, or whenany large part of the candidates for college training shall be deprived of its benefits.The . modern languages are sometimes urgedas effective substitutes. There is, of course, oneessential difference, furnishing a good reason whynone of the modern languages can do the samefor the student that Latin does. None of themstand to modern civilization in the same relationas Latin. In studying Latin we deal with thefoundations of things modern. In studying amodern language we simply pass into an adjacentapartment. But otherwise I have the utmostrespect for the potential disciplinary power ofthe study of modern language. The reason whyso little of it is realized as they are usually studiedfor college preparation, is that the object of thecollege requirements seems too often to be, notthe realization of these powers, but merely theacquisition of dexterity in their use as tools.Each is, therefore, studied as a one-year course,under high pressure- — not a condition favorablefor valuable results.But the possibility of discipline of a highorder through their study exists. For it is nottrue that ancient languages are hard, and modernones easy. The intricacies of English syntax aresuch as to perplex at times the acutest analyst.French sentence structure is as clear and harmonious as the Latin, and its syntactical niceties as refined as Cicero's to one who has ever paid attention to French style. I need not dilate on thedifficulties of the German language with its antiquesentence structure. A great deal might be gottenout of all of them if we only treated them withanything like the care and accuracy that we applyto the Latin. But it is rarely done, nor can it bedone at their present rating in the scheme of requirements at most colleges. Their practicalvalue is so great that even the colleges aim atthat preeminently ; to get at the meaning moreor less approximately, but as quickly as possible,is the object in view; to secure that result we usecrude tools, just as we use blasting-powder to getout quickly many chunks of rocks, no matter howmuch we stun the bystanders or shatter the adjacent material. I hope to see the day when theextremely valuable report of the Committee ofthe Modern Language Association to the NationalEducational Association will find the consideration it deserves ; when the quantitative standardwill not be so prominent as now, and when it willbe recognized that to secure valuable results, valuable time must be consumed. At present theresults secured are often not valuable.I say nothing about mathematics ; there is nodivision of opinion on this subject, nor of Greek,which I consider as a fair subject for election.Nor have I much to add about history, to what Isaid incidentally above. I am not so sure of thevalue of history as a study for power for studentsof that age as I am of some other subjects; butit certainly easily ranks first as an informationstudy. To the comparative neglect of this studyI attribute much of the crass ignorance of European conditions and European politics whichoccasionally breaks forth in the most unexpectedquarters.Much might be said about the study of naturalsciences. It is a comparatively new study; thereis, unfortunately, as yet but little agreementamong its exponents about purpose, extent andmethod in any one of them, or about the bestorder of their presentation. This latter circumstance is especially unfortunate, because there isnot, among the examination papers at the university, a clearly graded standard, as we pass fromone to the other, as there is in other subjects occupying several years. This makes them distinctly less desirable subjects for presentationduring the early years of the preparatory schoolcourse.338 UNIVERSITY RECORDShall I resume? I find a number of studieswhich, as I see it, no candidate for college canafford not to pursue: English, Latin, mathematics,at least one modern language, history, at least onescience, or more if possible — these constitute abody of doctrine that allows of but little roomfor options. They constitute a system affordingso vigorous mental discipline, and so full of contents that I think I should rather choose it thanany other for the youth that does not go to college. So much for the subject-matter of thecollege preparatory studies. How about the student himself?'Freedom of election presupposes in the student knowledge and maturity of judgment ;knowledge of himself, his purposes, his aptitudes,some knowledge of the studies to be selectedfrom, their contents and their sequence ; a certain maturity of judgment to see things in theirtrue proportions ; to assign right values to aimsand purposes ; to distinguish between motives temporary, futile and small, and motives lasting,serious and large. What are the high-schoolchildren's qualifications under these heads?You know what the answer must be. Yourexperience must be mine. And my experience ofmany years makes me disinclined to trust thestudent at that age with any large freedom of election. When he enters the high school he is achild, and his leading motives are childish. Heknows nothing whatever of the subjects. Whatopinions he has, are extremely crude and alwayssecond-hand. He has nothing to enable him todistinguish between the value of the opinions onthis or that subject which he absorbs from his surroundings. He is guided in his selections of themost important things — what studies, what course,what college — almost entirely by what he absorbsfrom those about him, and where left to decidehimself, he is easily influenced by the most triflingand, to the more experienced person, often trulylaughable considerations. College is to him avision of delights ; he is as apt as not to select thecourse that will lead him there the soonest, oftenat the sacrifice of everything else. He will hesitate between two institutions of collegiate rankthat stand as far apart in their ideals as is wellpossible and decide for the one or the other forno other reason than because Jack and Jill go therewith whom he has been in the habit of associating.Of course, considerations beyond his ken cannotinfluence him, while those within acting distance exert an exaggerated influence. So I have againand again seen a student make, in spite of all advice to the contrary, a decision which committedhim to a certain course ; two years later, when hehad grown and his horizon had widened, he cameagain, with the confession : " I have made a verygreat mistake! " and with the anxious inquiry howit could be remedied. There is probably no periodin a student's life when the growth in intellectualpower and in maturity of judgment is as rapidwithin so many years, as in the four years comprising the high-school age. If the student possessed during all his four years, the power toweigh reasons and motives as well as he does at theclose, the case would be much more favorable,though even then the burden would, for verymany, be too heavy.But cannot the parents be relied upon to assistthe student in this choice? In some cases, yes ;in very many, alas, no. It would be interestingto know how many parents, who themselvesstopped at the grammar school, send their children to the high school, and how many parents ofcollege students are not college graduates. Theresults would, I am sure, be extremely creditableto the eagerness for education which prevailsamong our- people; but it would explain, at thesame time, why so many students are entirelythrown upon themselves in the choice of studies,or, what is worse, have imposed upon them theblind advice of ignorance, often conceited ignorance. I ought not to have to mention the parentswho seem not to care, who unload their responsibility upon the teacher, who are too much absorbedby business cares to attend to such matters, whosend their sons and daughters to school so thatthey themselves need not bother about such matters. I say I ought not to have to mention suchparents ; but they exist ; naturally their son's decisions in such important matters are none thewiser for being free of all trammels at home.Of course the advocates of the unlimited freedom of election make much of the necessity forthe consent of the teacher acting as advisor. Asa matter of fact, in most cases this does notamount to much. Within the limit of election asit now exists, it is clear that the decision on thelarger question of college or no college, academicor scientific or technical school, and which, mustrest with the student (under the supposed adviceand consent of his parents), while the advice ofthe teacher more properly refers to the rightUNIVERSITY RECORD 339sequence within those limits. He is even now toooften impotent to prevent palpable mischief; withthe power of unlimited choice once' recognized,this restraining influence cannot possibly be increased, and would certainly be weakened.It is commonly supposed that the example ofsome of our leading colleges, especially Harvard,distinctly makes for an extension of this presentsystem of election to the high school. I read adifferent tendency in the recent developments.Harvard has, in its new requirements, admitted afew studies not hitherto recognized as college preparatory subjects ; but it has laid down as indis-pen sables, or obligatory subjects three fourths ofthe total requirements; three years' Latin orGreek is among these obligatory studies. In theLawrence Scientific School the direction of thetendency is plainer still. The requirements upto two or three years ago differed from those ofthe college simply by omitting some of the studiesthere required, notably the ancient languages.Experience has plainly shown that these requirements brought in a body of students weaker thanthat entering the college, because it tempted thehigh- school student at a time when he was not fitto choose, to choose the easier but weaker course.Now, with the avowed intention of rendering postponement of selection to a late stage possible, theancient languages are accepted as entrance subjectsto that department of the university also ; andevery one who knows the conditions as they are,knows also that this amounts to putting a premiumupon this side of the college preparatory work. So,instead of a movement on the part of the colleges,tending to further unlimited freedom of choice inthe high school, I see on the contrary a gradualcrystallization of opinion in favor of a body ofobligatory subjects which must occupy at leastthree fourths of the whole sum of the requirements, and leave but little chance for the disintegration and the mischief which this so-calledprogress would be sure to work if it could be realized.In the matter of entrance requirements thisUniversity stands well abreast of the best opinion,as revealed by comparison with those of otherleading institutions. It has hitherto resisted thetemptation to throw its doors wide open to thecrowd, and in the name of progress and expansionto allow itself to be lifted from the solid foundations on which it now rests. Let us hope that itwill continue to do so! The discussion of the papers was led by Professor John Dewey.Professor Dewey thought there was little difference between the standpoint of Superintendent Cooley's and Superintendent Nightingale'spapers. He believed that with a wise teachingforce there would be no serious mistakes made inelection of studies by either method. Flexiblegroups mean free choice. Freedom of electionmeans increased responsibility for pupils andteachers. Teachers need to consult parents andformer teachers, as well as to consider the natureof the child, in order to advise wisely. Moraland personal reasons make election more profitable than the old scheme, even if it were truethat better training is to be obtained under theold plan ; and, finally, that if high schools areimproved upon the idea that they are to be the" people's colleges," they will also be the bettercollege preparatory schools.Professor W. G. Hale thought the election ofstudies an experiment and that unlimited experimenting was dangerous. He claimed that thereis a kind of training that comes from mathematics that cannot be supplied if this subject isomitted. We give too much consideration topersonal difficulties. He thinks there are manyproblems in life that, from their nature, cannotbe settled by experimentation. In the study oflanguage, we discuss probabilities and motives.Latin and Greek give better training in thesethan science and mathematics. Knowledge ofthe facts of nature is not more necessary thanknowledge of the facts of Roman history. Thepopular views of the problems of life as setforth in the daily papers are of little valuecompared with those of classic history. Moderneducation has its roots not in medievalism, butin revived scholasticism. The study of man himself is the greatest study, and should be requiredof all. He believes that students are not capableof choosing their course wisely before they reachthe middle of the college course.340 UNIVERSITY RECORDProfessor T. C. Chamberlin called attention tothe fact that those who opposed election of studies could not agree as to the studies that shouldbe prescribed. Those who advocate election consider the needs of the child, and those who opposeconsider what would be an ideal course for idealminds. This would leave a majority of the schoolto struggle with work not suited to their needs.He believed the individual to be trained shouldbe uppermost in our mind. Training in onecourse sometimes injures the mind for training inanother. He declared that no school has theright to determine that a child should pursue astudy in opposition to the wishes of the parent, orthat a child should be required to receive instruction from a teacher not. acceptable to the parent.Little advance has been made in the languagescompared with science, history, economics, etc. 'Superintendent Steele, of Galesburg, was calledfor and said he heartily approved of the electivesystem. His experience did not show any tendency to choose the easy studies.Principal French, of the Hyde Park HighSchool, found some difficulties in carrying outthe elective programme and believed it should belimited somewhat.Director Sisson, of the Bradley Institute, believes in elective groups which include studiesthat all should have. He believed pupils omitstudies that seem difficult to them. The likenessof minds is greater than their differences.After an interval for lunch and social intercourse in Haskell Oriental Museum, the generalconference split into the various department conferences, which have almost from the first beenmost practical and helpful.Following are the reports of the proceedingsof these conferences.The Biological Conference upon the topic Ci How to makefield work profitable" was the most encouraging one that hasyet been held at the University. Three years ago, very fewteachers who had large classes believed that field work, however desirable, could be made practicable ; in this confer ence there seemed to be no question as to whether fieldwork should be done, but every one seemed to be able totell something which could be ddne and how to do it.Nearly eighty teachers were present, and about twenty tookpart in the discussion. Abstracts of the two papers presented and also a few remarks by Dr. Child, of the Departmentof Zoology, and Dr. Cowles, of the Department of Botany,are given b&low.H. S. Pepoon, of the North Division High School (Chicago) :All who are here today doubtless agree that the study of theliving forms in their environment is as important as morphology or physiology and certainly ought to go hand inhand with these branches of the subject.Speaking at present, more particularly from the standpoint of the conditions as found in the Chicago high schools,I am certain that there never has been a time in the historyof our schools more favorable for field study than the present.The botanical and zoological sciences have been accordedtime more proportionate to their general and specific valueas educational elements and the whole school year is nowgiven to each. This allows time to study phases and detailsof work which had to be omitted when the periods wereshorter.A whole year devoted to botany is a great advance, butthere are many difficulties in the way of field work that canbe appreciated only by one conversant with high-schoolmethods and conditions. I propose to take up these difficulties somewhat in detail in the order of their real orseeming importance. To many of you these difficulties arenot new, and my only excuse for presenting them again toyour attention is that I may offer some sort of solution orplan by which in large measure the difficulties may be overcome.In considering any such subject, there are, I believe, threedifferent and perhaps somewhat antagonistic points of viewto be remembered ; that of the scholar, of the teacher andof the school in general, and it is only as we can correlatethese that we arrive at less or greater success.The great obstacle in the way of systematic field work inbotany is the inflexible daily programme of the high school.A pupil takes four studies that come so many times a weekon certain days and at certain hours. It is next to impossible for him to absent himself from Caesar, geometry orEnglish without seriously affecting his standing in thosesubjects. And yet it is often impracticable to have field studyunder the teacher's direction without some such infringementon the time of other studies. I am speaking here, of course,of time taken from school hours. The matter is not presented in a much more favorable aspect if the systematic fieldwork is attempted after school, for then the complaint ismade that botany takes the time that ought to be devoted toother studies.As a remedy for this condition the speaker has trieddouble laboratory periods in the afternoon. With a programme arranged in this manner, your classes may leave atnoon for trips to the surrounding country, not occupyingmore than half a day, and no violence be done to otherstudies on the daily list. Such an arrangement is stronglyadvised, not that frequent use may be made of it, but thatuse can be made, when necessary.A second difficulty is the large size of the average high-school botany class. If the teacher be allowed to do fieldwork at all, under his personal supervision, he cannot do itUNIVERSITY RECORD 341frequently with small classes, for this plan would beget t^edifficulty mentioned before. On the contrary, he must makeinfrequent trips with classes say of one hundred. Any teacherwho undertakes to guide one hundred enthusiastic youngbotanists in field work and see that each one ihiproves theopportunities presented as fully as possible will have a largeand difficult problem to solve.This difficulty may be practically met by making afternoon trips with sections of the class. There is no remedy,however, if the entire class goes on the trip, and if the subject be properly presented, there will be ho relief from limitednumbers taking the subject for both boys and girls willbe earnest and eager workers in the botanical field and thereought to be no method invented to discourage them.Again, I have found by practical experience, that theexpense to the individual pupil (if field study on a largescale is attempted), is often a serious matter. If the teacherwishes his pupils to learn the peculiar characteristics of, andthe effect of environment on, the dune, bluff, ravine, valley,prairie, wood Or marsh vegetation, trips to such localities arenecessary and Will often be found beyond the riieans ofmany pupils. This is a subject demanding the serious attention of all educators, and the hope is expressed that the dayis not far distant when steam and surface railways generallywill make such rates for parties of pupils under the chargeof instructors that the expense will be largely diminishedand that this sort of country outing will be established on apermanent basis.These are the chief obstacles to be encountered, but thereare other minor ones that will cause more or less trouble.The regulations governing such field trips by our ChicagoSchools is a difficulty of possibly prohibitive effect, but it isto be hoped that time and a fuller appreciation of the valueof such work may largely or entirely do away with suchrestrictions..The disinclination on the part of the instructor is, I amaware, a delicate matter, for you may say that the properlytrained and enthusiastic botany teacher ought to delight insuch labors, and indeed be it said to his credit, he generallydoes. You are prone to forget, however, that there are verymany items of drudgery and clerical work inseparably connected with the teaching of science, botany being no exception.Lastly, you will find that a minority of the class do nottake kindly to field work, as representing too much physicallabor, perchance.You will observe that these several difficulties are largelygathered about the person of the instructor in a Way thatrenders it very hard for him personally to conduct this fieldwork. Doubtless the best results are to be obtained only inthis mariner, but I am sure this is not the only manner inwhich good results are to be reached. I do not intend tominimize in any degree the influence the teacher ought towield in all field work, but that such work is impossiblewithout his presence is a grave fallacy.Original and helpful field work may be accomplishedwhile the instructor remains within his laboratory, exerting,however, a controlling and directing influence over all thestudies undertaken.There are two distinct lines of field work that may betaken up by the botany class. The first has to do with themore or less exhaustive study of single types of plants, withall their surroundings of physical environment and competition and regulation by other* organisms, plant and animal.It is desirable to obtain as thorough a comprehension oftheir life phenomena as possible, and all the elements that enter into their existence as living beings, capable of actingand reacting.The second line of inquiry has to do with plants, in theaggregate ; what are the reasons that influence the formation of similar structures in diverse plants when occupyinglike positions of growth ; the determination of the rules andregulations that govern the great plant societies ; which giveto the natural landscape such marked and characteristicfeatures ; the study of vacant lots and of circumscribed areas,working out in a small way the great problems of plant distribution.In both these undertakings the fundamental idea is thatthe plant is not a mere inert specimen, merely to be pulledto pieces or cut up, but that it is a living organism, fullycapable of working out for itself its own salvation, if surrounded by favorable environment, and capable also ofmaterially affecting the careers of f other organisms withwhich it comes into contact.To carry out these two lines of work in a definite manner,so that definite results may be obtained, I know of no betterplan than to furnish each student with outlines which willdirect his studies in the field without the presence of theinstructor. The questions should be definite and shouldcompel the pupil to observe and to think. Questionsanswered by " yes " and " ho " ought to be few in number,but those in which reasons and conclusions are called for, inaddition to correct observation, should abound.It does not detract in the least from the value of the resulting answers that some of them may be erroneous, or thatwrong judgments are formed, or illogical or faulty conclusions drawn.The following are outlines which have been used andfound to be successful :A FIELD STUDY OF LICHENS.I. General directions as to localities to be visited may properly head the outline.2. Special questions and observations. Take notes andmake sketches of important features.(a) Upon what do you find lichens growing ?(b) How do they differ in different situations ?(c) If growing on trees, what parts of the trees are occupied ? Why do they grow on such parts ?(d) Do they prefer live or dead trees ?(e) Do you think lichens injure trees ? Give reasons.(/) What colors do you observe ?(g) Is chlorophyll found in all Specimens ?(h) Does the color remain constantly the same ? Observe carefully and explain.(/) What is the food of lichens ?(/) What protection have lichens from cold ?\k) Lichens may be found on buildings and fences. Ifso, what is the character of these structures ?(/) Examine carefully for animals.(m) Lichens generally contain Pleurococcus. Why arethey not as common as that plant ?(n) Why are lichens hot common on street trees ?(<?) What kinds of trees (if any special ones) do theyprefer ?(p) What conditions favor the presence and growth oflichens ?(r) Examine carefully for fruiting "cups." Are theycommon or hot ?(s) Why do so many lichens form " rosettes ? "(t) If possiblej compare rock and tree lichens.342 UNIVERSITY RECORD(v) Of what advantage to many lichens is their closecontact with the objects they grow on ?{w) What effect has water on lichens ? Why?(x) Note any other interesting facts you may observe.A STUDY OF A WEED COMMMUNITY.I. Carefully observe the different varieties found in a givenarea.2. Take a census of each kind and make a table to showcomparative numbers.3. Examine each variety for peculiarities as to size andnumber of leaves ; hairiness, general dryness, or succulence.4. Examine the roots to determine character and , the lifeduration.5. If in season — examine fruits or seeds.6. Answer if possible the following questions :(a) If one kind is more abundant, find reasons, if possible.{b) Why are most weeds annuals ?(c) How do perennial weeds differ from the^annuals ?(d) Why are weeds usually hairy ?(e) Why are most weeds of a dry nature ?(/) What character of flowers do weeds have ?(g) What becomes of all the seeds produced on a givenarea.(h) Why do weeds produce so many seeds ? Estimatethe seeds in different varieties.(i) What are the characters of weed seeds ?(/).. What determines which weeds survive ?(k) Why is it so difficult to eradicate weeds?(/) What effect has drouth on weeds? How do theycompare in this respect with garden plants?(m) Do animals usually eat weeds? What reasons canyou find to explain the conditions in this respect.(n) Do weeds serve any useful purposes? Explain.{0) What are the qualifications of a successful weed?(p) Why are weed areas not covered with the sameweeds each year ?\r) How are weeds distributed?(s) Why do not all weed areas have the same weeds?The pupils with these outlines work on the subject whenthey choose and as a rule are not accompanied by theteacher. When their reports are handed in there is a general discussion by the class, that each may obtain the benefits to be derived from the observations of all.At the same time the pupil derives four distinct and veryimportant benefits from this kind of work : First, he learnshow to do independent work without the presence of others ;secondly, he learns correct methods of observation and howto record his observations; third, he becomes acquainted withplants as living beings ; and finally, he receives needed andhealthful physical exercise accompanied by delightful mental stimulus.H. E. Walter, of the North Division High School :We probably all agree that a certain amount of outdoorwork in zoology is desirable, especially for city pupils whoare not blessed with the priceless legacy of being born andbred in the country. In answering the question " How tomake field work profitable? " we should resist the temptationto spin beautiful theories and address ourselves directly to apractical consideration of the conditions we have to meet.With this in mind the solution offered by the presentspeaker is as follows :Make all field work voluntary and not compulsory. The following are some of the objections to compulsoryfield work, by which is meant field-work that is required ofall the pupils.First. The numbers of pupils composing the zoologyclasses in our city schools are usually so large and since itis very often necessary to combine two or more classesin a single excursion, individual attention in the field fromthe teacher is practically out of the question.Second. The distance of most city schools from localitiesfavorable to the wholesale study of animal life renders theproblem of transportation a serious one. Even the " vacantlots " made famous by Dr. Cowles as happy hunting groundsfor the biologist, are scarce in the neighborhood of many ofour Chicago high schools. Consequently whenever an excursion is organized over half of the time is often necessarilyconsumed in travel.Third. The time when all pupils may go is difficult toarrange. On Saturdays many of the pupils have other engagements and those of lewish parentage have the same objections to the use of this day as children of Puritan parentagewould have to that of Sunday. The time remaining afterschool very often is too short for undertaking the excursionand if the attempt is made to cut out time from regularschool hours, the programme is upset. Pupils miss somethingwhich they have to make up and the teacher robs Peter topay Paul with respect to his own classes.Fourth. As if these were not obstacles enough, here is acopy of a rule regarding excursions sent out by the Boardof Education in Chicago to all the % principals October 31,1900 : " That the superintendent of schools be instructed toallow this permission whenever in his judgment he thinksbest, but that no pupil be allowed to go unless he has theconsent in writing of his parents or guardians." If this ruleis regarded seriously it means an amount of red tape sufficient to kill any attempt at compulsory field work.Moreover, supposing that such difficulties as the four justenumerated could be successfully met, as in many cases byvarious ingenious devices on the part of enthusiastic andself-sacrificing teachers they are being met — does the compulsory field excursion bring about the result we are after?I think not. There is something bull-headed in advancingupon the mysteries of nature in platoons of one hundred. Ionce saw a class of schoolboys in Germany out on a"natural history excursion." They were walking in steptwo by two straight across a field with one teacher marchingon in front to lead the way and another bringing up therear to prevent any escapes from the ranks. Too often fieldexcursions degenerate into trolley parties or picnics. Theseare good enough in their place. I know of nothing betterfor breeding good fellowship between teacher and pupil andmaking harmonious work in the future easy, but it is a mistaketo call this " field work." Can you imagine Thoreau, forinstance, conducting an excursion of fifty pupils aroundWalden Pond to study animal life and getting back in timefor dinner?Again the association of field work with the idea of aschool task to be accomplished like other lessons — eventhough the task may prove to be enjoyable — is distinctlyharmful. If we can leave the pupil at the close of a schoolcourse in zoology with a natural spontaneous love for outdoor life that will develop and bear fruit in after years wehave been faithful to our mission as teachers, but if fieldwork is made part and parcel of the tasks of the laboratory and the class room it is very liable to sink into the sameoblivion that these worthy but temporary instruments ofeducation do at the close of the pupil's school days.UNIVERSITY RECORD 343How then can we make this field work profitable so that itmay be as good seed cast in good ground? Only, it seemsto me, through spontaneous volunteer work.In the North Division High School we have for four yearsapplied this volunteer plan to the study of migrating birdsand good results have followed. The biology pupils are invited to look for migrating birds in Lincoln Park in themorning before and after school. Those who wish for theinformation are given pointers on how to identify birds bythe instructor outside of school hours. They receive nocredit at school for their work and are not urged to do it.They are sure to find the teacher in the park every morningduring the spring migration to answer questions on the spotand they are not encouraged to go in larger groups thanthree or four. Birds cannot be successfully observed by awholesale number of pupils. Last spring 30 per cent, ofour biology pupils identified lists of birds, 10 per cent.identified over fifty birds each. Several pupils visited thepark over fifty different mornings and the best list of birdsidentified numbered eighty-six. These volunteers quicklybecome enthusiasts and act as a leaven among all the otherpupils, consequently the impulse to do field work comes tothe average pupil from some classmate rather than from theteacher who, unfortunately, always savors somewhat of theclass room. Such work is spontaneous and natural, extendinginto the summer vacation and will be apt to endure aftergraduation day.Insects as well as birds lend themselves easily to thismethod of volunteer field work. Of course many animals,in particular the lower forms, may be studied, practically intheir natural surroundings, in the laboratory. It is hardlyto the point of this discussion, however, to suggest how themountain may be brought to Mahomet by pointing outmethods of doing field work indoors.To summarize : Since the objections to engineering fieldexcursions in which all the pupils are expected to take partare of such a positive nature, and since the results of suchexcursions when they are finally engineered are of suchdoubtful educational value, it seems that the best way tomake field work truly profitable is to resort to the volunteermethod wherein the pupil is given individual encouragementto study outdoor animal life without the artificial stimulus ofmaking it part of the regular school work. The result attained is a sane development of the natural inclinations of acertain per cent, of the pupils who become the leaders andby their contagious example raise the standard of all theirclassmates so that finally a higher average is reached thanwhen procrustean sameness is forced on all alike.Dr. Henry C. Cowles, of the University, remarked thatthe most striking feature of the biological conferences, takenas a whole, had been the growth of an optimistic spirit. Atfirst the teachers wefe appalled at the thought of field work.much as they believed in it. Difficulties in regard to time,place, and number of students were all considered insuperable, but now the teachers are applying themselves to thesolution of these problems and are reaching a high degreeof success.Dr. Child said :It is, perhaps, not fully realized that a large and valuablepart of field work in zoology may be accomplished in thelaboratory. With a little care very rich and varied groupsof animal forms may be made accessible for study under natural conditions in the laboratory. Indeed, in thoroughwork, laboratory study must always supplement observationin the field. This is especially true as regards the study ofinvertebrates. Of course, this kind of work is carried on to,some extent in many schools, but there are, I believe, veryfew where more work along this line might not be donewith profit.The limitation of actual work in the field to volunteershas been mentioned as one practical solution of the problemunder discussion. Although this is perhaps not the idealsolution, I believe that it is a most important suggestion.Where, for any reason, it is impossible or impracticable totake the whole class into the field, the actual collecting ofmaterial may be done by volunteer students, with the assistance and supervision of the teacher. The results of thiswork may be made available for the whole class with littledifficulty, by the establishment and stocking of small aquariaand terraria in battery jars or boxes covered with wire netting, and thus the attention of all be drawn to this work,with the result that the number of volunteers will increaserapidly.The large size of classes constitutes a most difficult problem in this connection, and one for which at present thereseems to be no complete solution. In no line of zoologicalwork is small size of class so essential to thoroughness. Butmuch , can be done with the aid of outlines and simplesynoptic keys. Very often these can be taken into the fieldand will supply in some degree the place of the direct per- ¦sonal supervision of the instructor.The prime requisite for success in field work is that theteacher be interested, and possess some degree of trainingalong that line. If this condition is realized the other problems and difficulties connected with this work will becomeof minor importance.The Conference in Chemistry this year was quite informal.No special topics for discussion had been set, and no formaltime of meeting announced. One of the rooms in theChemical Department was open to visiting teachers, andwas visited by a large number of them in the course ofthe day. A high-school library was exhibited, and a listof the books was distributed. Some experiments were alsoshown in connection with (1) the reduction of oxides ofmetals by means of aluminium, and (2) some phenomena ofelectrolysis.An informal meeting having been constituted, the arrangements for next year were discussed, and it was voted that acommittee be appointed to prepare a suitable programme.Among the topics suggested for discussion next year were :1. A minimum outline of chemistry, representing the portions which could not, under any circumstances, be omittedfrom a high-school course, no matter how brief the timeallowed.2. A list of the features in chemical thought or instructionwhich may be regarded as essential constituents, and shouldform an integral part of any high-school course, whatevermight be omitted.3. What should form the subject of the first lesson or ofthe first week in chemistry ?344 UNIVERSITY RECORDThe English Conference.— The paper read before the English section of the conference by Miss Grace Darling, of theSouth Chicago High School had for its aim the presentation of what the writer thought ought to be included in thestudy of the history of literature in secondary schools. Inorder to have something definite as a basis of discussion,Miss Darling gave in detail an outline for literary history,modifying this plan to meet the requirements of the Chicagohigh schools. Her outline embraced the study of the characteristics of the great literary periods, the influences thataffected the leading men of these ages, the authors uponwhom she would lay stress, and in some cases the factsabout these authors that she would emphasize. Miss Darlingwould begin this study in the third year of the high school'and carry this year's work through the Puritan age, using asa basis for reading some such anthology as George's FromChaucer to Arnold.Assistant Professor Herrick, Mrs. Starrett, Mr. Sisson,and Mrs. Dennison were among those who took part in thediscussion that followed the paper.The Conference in French — There were thirty representatives present from the cooperating and affiliated schools.The following programme was discussed :General topic : The requirements for admission in French.i. French I (first year of preparatory work, equivalent to the first doublemajor in the University) .a) Are pupils handicapped in the study of a foreign language by theirlack of preparation in English grammar ?b) Should not greater emphasis be laid on grammar drill, and lessupon the attaining of a certain facility, often careless and inaccurate,in reading ?2. French II (second year of preparatory work) .a) What proportion of time and attention should be given to composition and grammar ? Is not the time given to reading alone, atpresent, disproportionate ?b) Character of required reading :(i) Change of list from year to year.(2) Proportion of history, fiction, and poetry.Those leading in the discussions were : Professor Baillot,of the Northwestern University; Mr. John Schobinger, ofthe Harvard School; and Mr. H. P. Williamson, of theUniversity. Those taking part in the discussions were :Mr. Sicard, Misses Bouvet, Favard, Philips, Bronk, Corselis,and others.The conclusions reached by the conference may be expressed by the following statements.1. Teachers of modern foreign languages deplore the lackof preparation in technical grammar and the lack of accurategrammatical information on the part of pupils beginningthe study of a foreign language.2. That the subject-matter laid out for French i, 2, and 3,considered as an equivalent for Greek I, 2, 3, and 4, is farheavier than the three years' work contemplated for the corresponding Greek courses, so much so, in fact, that it is quiteimpossible to cover the ground there laid out in a way that would entitle the French to be considered as even approaching the Greek in its value as mental and literary training.3. That the amount of reading assigned to French 1 and2 is disproportionate. Any teacher who should arrange hiswork so as actually to read with his class as much as laidout, would do so only at the almost entire sacrifice of grammar and composition. The results would show, perhaps,some fluency in reading, but a striking lack of accuracy inthe ' use of the language even in its simple modes of expression, and a very limited and hazy khowlege of the elementary principles of grammar and construction.4. That the report of the committee of the Modern Language Association to the National Educational Association,lays down the fundamental principles, the aims and purposes of modern language study so simply, and is so practical and sane in its conclusions and recommendations as totime and extent of such study, that the colleges could renderno better service to sound scholarship and themselves thanby considering these recommendations most earnestly, andby bringing their own requirements into harmony with them.The Departmental Conference in German met in CobbHall B 10. About fifty persons were present, of whom alarge number took part in the discussion of the followingthemes :1. To what extent should drill in pronunciation be included in elementary and intermediate instruction ? Discussion opened by ProfessorCutting. fc2. Should beginners and pupils in intermediate classes in Germanmemorize chiefly selections of poetry or colloquial sentences ? Discussion opened by Miss Jessie L. Jones, of the Lewis Institute.3. The value of translation from English into German compared withthat oifreie Reproduktion in elementary and intermediate classes. Discussion opened by Assistant Professor von Klenze, of the University,and Mr. Seeligmann, of the Harvard School.In his remarks upon the first of these questions Mr. Cutting emphasized the following points : (a) Some pronunciation of all visible speech-signs is inevitable. Vicious habitsof pronunciation are hard to eradicate. Hence the needof strenuous preventive Work in season, (b) The acquisitionof a good pronunciation results in an increased sense ofpower over a living means of communicating ideas. (c) Aneffective grasp of inflection and elementary syntax is greatlyfacilitated by an accurate command of the foreign soundvalues. The ear is a powerful auxiliary of the eye in matters of memory and^judgment. (d) Appreciation of nicetiesof style and of the musical quality of lyric and epic poetryis impossible for a student untrained, or but crudely trained,in pronunciation, (e) While suggestions by the instructor,based upon a sound knowledge of phonetics, are of greatvalue to pupils, the main reliance of the latter must be uponconscious and unconscious imitation of the teacher's ownpronunciation., Hence the need of the instructor for anexemplary pronunciation and for adequate training in phonetics. (/) The pupil's success in appropriating the foreign:UNIVERSITY RECORD 345sounds is always largely determined by the extent of hisopportunity to read aloud under searching criticism, to reply in German to the daily quiz of the instructor, and toattempt under the Iatter's guidance oral varations of a partof the weekly reading matter.Miss Jones urged, in connection with the second topic,that it is difficult for beginners to understand and memorizepoetry in the foreign language, and that the exercise isalways disliked by a part of the class. Accuracy cannot besecured when the principles of inflection and word-order arenot understood. Written tests reveal the imperfect comprehension of words and sentences. Valuable time is consumedin applying these necessary checks. Poetical forms of•expression are fixed in the mind before natural expressionsare learned.In memorizing colloquial expressions, better practice inpronunciation and in the uttering of complete sentences isinvolved. Simple idiomatic sentences may be introduced atthe very outset. They are easy and interesting and make agreater impression upon the mind than do poetical expressions. The desire to acquire a conversational knowledge ofthe language is always especially strong in the beginning.Excellent drill in inflection and word-order is afforded bythe frequent repetition of such sentences.Mr. von Klenze agreed, in his discussion of the thirdtopic, with the recommendation of the national committeeof twelve, that in the early stages of the work the pupil berequired to translate into German easy variations of a givenGerman text. This work should continue long enough toinsure mastery of elementary inflection and syntax. Heregarded translation, however, as a poor substitute, in theupper grades, for real essay writing, based upon model proseselections, not too difficult in form and sufficiently suggestive in subject-matter. Such exercises are conducive tomental alertness and to a better appreciation of the subtil-ties of the foreign language, than can be obtained by anyamount of mere translation.Mr. Seeligmann recognized in his continuation of this discussion the great value of off-hand reproduction (freie Reproduktion). It is based upon the principle that translationis an evil, as much to be avoided as possible, and that thestudent should learn to connect the foreign idiom directlywith his thought, without the intermediation of his mothertongue. In classes where this fundamental principle hasbeen recognized and German has been used from the outset,as the medium of instruction, English serving only toexplain some difficult point in grammar, or to make surethat a certain passage in the reading is understood, exercises in off-hand reproduction will come natural to the student and may begin at a comparatively early stage of thecourse.The task is infinitely more difficult with classes in whichthe main part of the work has consisted of translation. As the students in such classes have riot been led to think inGerman, their first, as well as many succeeding attempts atoff-hand reproduction will be efforts of the memory to recallthe original text, rather than attempts to express thought inGerman form.To obviate this difficulty, practice in off-hand reproduction must be postponed until the second year of the course,and then start with exercises which, while carefully avoiding translation as antagonistic to real progress, give suchhelp to the student as will enable him to clothe his thought inGerman form.A motion was passed that the chairman (Mr. Cutting) appoint a committee of five, representing the University andthe affiliated schools, to agree upon a list of prescribedbooks for second-year reading.The Classical Conference. — This conference was opened bya presentation and description by Principal Boltwdod, ofEvanston High School, of the great bronze key recentlyfound in the excavations of the Roman Forum.The main topic was then introduced : " How can the workof the first and second years in the study of Greek andLatin be made most effective ? " Mr. Frank Dignan, instructor in Greek in the South Side Academy, read the following paper :It has seemed to me for some time that the subject ofGreek, as we present it to beginners, is lacking in attractive^ness — in vital interest. It appears strange that this shouldbe so, considering the nature of the field. The ancientGreeks themselves are a most fascinating object of study;their history is teeming with interest and importance. Theirlanguage, literature, philosophy, art, are not only significanthistorically, but extremely attractive in themselves. Theyhave an altogether unique charm, which grows upon one themore one studies them; so that with the kadvanced studentthe danger is, not that his zeal will flag, but that he willlose interest in everything else.And yet we must admit that the beginner often feels butlittle of this charm. Too many of our students enter collegewith a feeling of indifference or of positive distaste forGreek. They look upon it as one of the requirements — athing to be gotten through with as quickly as possible andstraightway forgotten. Under such circumstances it is not tobe wondered at that many educators at the present day gravelydoubt whether Greek is worth the trouble, while others arein open hostility to it. For myself, I must confess that asmatters stand I am sometimes tempted to go over to theenemy. It is too often true that the first years of the studyof Greek are nothing but a drudgery and a bore, and unlesswe can manage to present to beginners more of the inherentinterest of the subject, the day is probably not far distantwhen Greek will cease to be regarded as essential to a well-rounded education.The problem is, not to surround Greek with fictitiousallurements, but to bring out and to make distinct the valueand the charm that all scholars feel to be there. How isthis to be done ? The teacher who tries to make the workattractive is continually hampered by the difficulty of thelanguage. However clear and interesting the method ofpresentation, a great amount of effort is still necessary on346 UNIVERSITY RECORDthe part of the pupil, and unless his taste for language-studyis unusual, he soon becomes weary. His work thereafter ispurely mechanical, and when the required amount is completed, he leaves it with a sense of relief. Of late years anattempt has been made to get around the difficulty of thelanguage by abandoning almost entirely the study of systematic grammar. At the earliest possible moment the pupilis plunged into reading, in the hope that sooner or later hewill gain a footing and 'make his own rules. This planmight work with a genius, but with an ordinary studentthe result is chaos. So far from remedying the lack of interest, it only aggravates another evil which is characteristicof education in this country — the neglect of a solid basis ofdefinite knowledge.I wish to describe briefly a very simple plan which wastried with the beginning Greek class at the South SideAcademy last year. The effect was so very marked, theinterest aroused among the pupils so strong, the resultingscholarship so satisfactory, that the experiment seems worthyof being recorded.The theory involved was simply this : that if, in a recitation hour of fifty minutes, forty-five minutes be devoted tosevere, minute, and systematic language-study, the remaining five minutes a day may without detriment be given tothe humanities. The amount of inspiration that can be putinto five minutes a day by an enthusiastic teacher is simplyincalculable.The general plan of this supplementary work, is to presentin the most attractive manner possible a broad view of Greeklife, art, and thought. The material is to be systematicallyarranged in a three years' course. To 'economize the timeand labor of the instructor, the same part of the work canbe given to all three classes in the same year. Thus, in oneyear all three classes may take up Greek art ; in another, ageneral survey of Greek literature ; in the third, mythology,the life of the people, and modern Greece. In this wayevery student will have had all the subjects, though snotalways in the same order. As the plan has been in operation but one year, I can speak from experience only as toone part of it, namely, the presentation of Greek art ; butthe success here was so pronounced that it is only fairto assume that the other work planned would be equallyeffective. And here let me lay down a principle in regardto this supplementary work which seems to me of fundamental importance. No outside preparation on the part ofthe pupil should be required or even recommended. If thisrule is disregarded, the charge that we are allowing extraneous matters to interfere with the real work of the coursemay have some justification. If the scholar's time outsideof the class is devoted wholly to language-study, no suchcharge can be made.One exception, and one only, may profitably be made tothis rule. It seems highly desirable that at the very beginning of his study of Greek, the pupil should have put into hishands a book which would give him in a few clear, eloquentpages the unique beauty and value which everything Greekpossesses. So far as I know, there is no book that exactlyanswers the requirements. It ought to be brief, direct, suitedto the comprehension of young people, but above all, eloquent and enthusiastic. The work which comes nearest tosupplying the need is Stoddard's Lecture on Athens. Thiscan be read in an hour. It is not a scholarly work, but it isfull of the witchery of Greece. We had but one copy in theclass last year, but each pupil took it home over night toread. Their delight in it was unbounded. From that mo ment the word " Greek" had for them a new, a deliciouslyromantic meaning.In taking up Greek art, we did not at first attempt tostudy the original works. The uninstructed eye sees littleto enjoy in most of the ancient remains. The first step accordingly was to present to the class a work by a modernartist who had caught the Greek spirit. Any one of AlmaTadema's pictures would be suitable for this, or any similarwork. The picture selected for our class was the oneknown as the " Education of the Athenian Youth." Alarge bromide copy of this painting was suitably framed andhung at the front of the room. A few short talks broughtout the meaning and the chief beauties of the work, and itwas allowed to remain on the wall. Not long after, thestudy of the Greek originals was begun. The plan was asfollows : once or twice a week a photograph of a buildingor statue, framed in passepartout, was brought to the class ;a short, familiar talk was given on the history of the workand its chief merits ; the picture was passed round the class,and finally hung on the wall. The order followed waschronological ; and thus a line of pictures gradually extended itself round the room, showing step by step the crudebeginnings, the gradual development, the climax and decay,of the most wonderful art-age in history. Architecture andsculpture were taken up separately, and in each caseEgyptian art was made the point of departure, in order togive the Greek art its historical setting and emphasize itsessential originality. So also the ancient architecture wascontrasted with the Gothic (represented by a photograph ofthe Cologne Cathedral). The works of sculpture selectedincluded some of the earliest and crudest specimens, that thewonderful advances made in the art might be appreciated.The pictures were in part photogravures and in part bromideenlargements of photographs made from the casts at the- ArtInstitute. There were about forty in all.The architecture was further illustrated by blackboarddrawings, prepared with great care out of school hours. Asa rule a new one was made each Saturday. They weredrawn on as large a scale as the width of the board wouldpermit. Some of these were allowed to remain permanently,so that finally half the board was filled with them. They included facades of temples, capitals, ornamental patterns,etc.Lastly, we had plaster casts — the Hermes bust and capitals of columns. Accurate casts of capitals are difficult toprocure, but for this purpose, essential fidelity to the Greekmodels is all that is required.Thus in the course of the year the schoolroom graduallydeveloped from a bare, uninviting place to a veritablemuseum. Whenever the pupil's eyes were lifted from thepage, they rested on the noble forms of Greek art. It maybe objected that the connection between language andart is rather remote, but experience shows that one is awonderful interpreter of the other. The same spirit pervades them both. When they are presented simultaneously,the student feels that what he is really studying is neitherthe language nor the art, but the marvelous Greek mind, ofwhich both are products. It will readily be seen that insuch an atmosphere and looked at from such a point ofview, it is absolutely impossible that the study of the language should be mechanical and dull. However thoroughand exact the work may be made, the student feels thatthere is something back of it all that makes it worth hiswhile. The beauties of the language — the liquid smoothness of the words, the nameless graces of phrasing, theUNIVERSITY RECORD 347noble directness of the thought, are seen in their true lightas natural outgrowths of the clear Hellenic intellect. In asingle word, the study has now become vital.If it be objected that all this is too subtle to appeal toboys and girls, I can only instance the class of last year.Their enthusiastic interest and sympathy were quite themost delightful experience I have ever had. " Greek is myfavorite study," said several. " I like Greek better than anything else," said a brilliant boy who had distinguished himself in twenty different lines. Another, a young man oftwenty who had planned to be an English teacher, changedhis mind and decided to specialize in Greek. And this enthusiasm had its natural effect upon their work. No lessons were too long, no rules too hard, no details too minute,if only they might be led a step nearer to this fascinatingworld.So much for our art-year and its results. The otherbranches of the subject have not yet had the test of experience, but the prospect is inviting and the possibilitiesboundless. In literature, for example, what endless material for arousing interest ! Short, pointed talks on authors,readings from the best translations, photographs of paintings illustrating the stories, bits of the original Greek wherenot too difficult (stanzas from Sappho, for instance, or thefrog chorus from Aristophanes) — all this will give endlessvariety and freshness to the course. The Anabasis in sucha setting is a very different thing from the Anabasis as" required Greek." And all this can be done in five minutes a day.What the mature scholar enjoys in the ancient literatureis perhaps not so much the works themselves as the atmosphere that surrounds them ; and it is difficult for him torealize that this atmosphere is made up of endless associationswhich it has taken him years to acquire. The young studentreading his first Greek is blind not only to much of itsessential beauty, but still more to the magic atmosphere ofsuggestion which is due to associations more or less remote.This atmosphere it is the peculiar province of the teacher tosupply, and he can do it most effectively by deliberate planning and systematic arrangement of material.There is another aspect of the matter which deserves theserious consideration of all classical teachers. If you turnyour schoolroom into a museum of antiquities, your ownpupils will not be the only ones affected. The rest of theschool will resolve itself into a committee of the whole tovisit and inspect that room. Sooner or later every scholarin the building will get a sight of it and be interested andattracted. Children love the beautiful, and still more thetangible. Here, they think, is a tempting opportunity tovary the constant working at books. Perhaps, after all,there is something in Greek besides hard work. The resultis not difficult to predict. With such advertising Greekclasses will grow from year to year, a consideration whichno Greek teacher can afford to despise. In the Academy,for instance, although the total enrollment of the school isnearly the same as last year, the Beginning Greek class is50 per cent, larger.If we believe that the revival of interest in all thingsGreek, which seems to have just begun, is not a fad, but therecognition of a deep-lying affinity between the Greek ageand our own ; if we believe with Professor Jebb that eachgeneration must learn from the Greeks that which theyalone can teach, we ought to neglect no means to swell theranks of Greek students. And when the pupils have beenattracted to our classes, we ought to make every effort to render the study as inspiring, as vitally interesting to thebeginner, as it is to the clear eye of the finished scholar.At the conclusion of Mr. Dignan's paper the topic waspresented for general discussion. Principal J. O. Leslie, ofthe Ottawa Township High School, was the first to speak.Mr. Leslie stated that in his own practice he made it a pointwhen dealing with prospective students in Latin always toacquaint them with the difficulties inherent in the languagefrom its very nature, and frankly to advise them not to takeit up unless they were sure they really wanted it. For thosewho still had the necessary courage to undertake Latin, hesought to relieve its difficulties by an intelligent assignmentof the lesson, and by a few well-directed remarks callingattention to new words and new constructions.Mr. Leslie was followed by Mr. Gould, of the ChicagoInstitute. Mr. Gould informed those present that his ownmethod in taking up Greek with a class was to start withthe life of the people. For example, he exhibited a pictureof the Acropolis of Athens, and with this as a center for hisremarks, talked to the class upon some of the most salientfeatures of Athenian life, at the same time giving the corresponding Greek words, e. g., "Athens," " The Athenian,"" The Athenian is free," etc. In this way it was thought apupil might learn Greek without much of the drudgeryusually involved.Mr. Conant, of the Jefferson High School, was the thirdto offer suggestions bearing upon the question. He warmlyadvocated trying to impress upon pupils that in studyingLatin they are dealing with a living language. This was tobe done by directing attention to English derivatives.Mr. Barto, of Princeton High School, avowed his beliefin the old saying, " There is no royal road to learning," butheld that the sternness of this truth was largely offset inpractice by another, namely, " that a sense of progress givespleasure." Accordingly, so soon as the pupil can be broughtto feel that he is making progress, he will be in a largemeasure indifferent to the difficulties of the road up whichhe has to climb.Miss Smith, of the South Division High School, indorsedthe view of the preceding speaker. Her remarks were bothpertinent and suggestive. In substance she advised : ( 1 )That during the first year in Latin or Greek the teachershould each day devote a few moments toward the close ofthe period to going over with his pupils the lesson to be prepared for the following day, explaining its most difficultpoints and calling attention to its special features ; (2) thatthis practice should be kept up for a time during the secondyear ; (3) that in looking ahead with pupils, teachers shouldshow them how to use a grammar by consulting it with themin a class room. Miss Smith gave as her opinion that pupilsafter their long summer's vacation are rarely in condition toattack Caesar at once, and suggested, therefore, that whereverpossible, it would be Well for teachers to simplify sentences348 UNIVERSITY RECORDfrom Caesar, strike them off on a mimeograph, place themin the hands of their pupils, and so bridge over the ratherabrupt transition from a beginner's book to the Gallic Waritself.Mr. Wightman of Morgan Park offered two further suggestions : (i) That one of the several reading courses inCaesar as outlined by some recent editors be followed instead of beginning at the beginning of a book and pushingthrough. (2) That in order to test the pupils' grasp of thesubject as well as for the sake of mental discipline, frequentshort written tests be set the class. These tests should bebased upon the immediate review, should occupy abouteight minutes, and the papers should be returned the following day corrected and graded, and the correct form brieflydiscussed.Professor Hale expressed himself in favor of the old-timemethod of unremitting drill in the teaching of Latin. " Thereare grindstones," he remarked, " and there are noses, and Isee no reason why the noses should not be held to the grindstones." He looked upon Mr. Gould's experiment asdangerous, and by way of distinguishing it from methods,notably the Inductive, facetiously, but very appositely,dubbed it the " Seductive " method.The chairman of the conference, Assistant Professor F. J.Miller, then offered a few remarks summing up the pointsbrought out in discussion, holding that after all is said as tomethod, the personality of the teacher himself, and his interestin his work are the chief factors in the problem of how tointerest the class. In concluding he expressed the sum andsubstance in an epigrammatic form when he said, " If theteacher begins his recitation with a yawn, the pupils willend it by falling asleep."Professor Hale then talked upon the subject of "Quantitative Reading," and illustrated his method by some readingsfrom the Latin poets.The Conference in History. — Mr. McKee, of FrancesShimer Academy, submitted the report of the committeeappointed at the conference of last year to consider thereport of the Committee of Seven on the study of history inschools. The compittee recommended the adoption bysecondary schools of the course proposed by the Committee of Seven as the model toward which to work andin view of which all changes and adjustments of coursesshould be made.The course is as follows :1. One year of ancient history closing about the year 800 A. D.2. One year of medieval and modern European history, from the closeof the first period to the present time.3. One year of English history.4. One year of American history and civil government.On two points the committee were not agreed :1. As to whether American history should come in thefirst year or in the fourth. 2. As to where the dividing line between the first and.second year's work should be.The discussion which followed showed practical unanimity on the part of the conference in favor of the fourthyear as the time best suited to American history.The difference of opinion on the question of carrying the-first year's work to 800 A. D. showed the difficulty experienced in covering the ground. A majority favored the-fourth century as the best dividing point.The committee report was adopted with approval ofAmerican history in the fourth year and the fourth century-as the limit of the first year's work.It was also voted that the departmental examiner beasked to appoint a committee consisting of fwo membersfrom the University, one from the affiliated and one fromthe cooperating schools whose duty should be to rearrangethe requirements for admission in Ancient, in English and inAmerican history in such a way as to adapt them to thecourses prescribed by the Committee of Seven and also sofar as possible to the courses recently adopted by the bestAmerican universities and colleges.The following topics were chosen for discussion at thenext conference :1. "The Correlation of History to Civics."2. "-The Correlation of History to Geography."The Conference in Mathe?natics was attended by fifty-representatives of thirty-four schools in addition to members-of the University, students and faculty.The general topic for discussion, "The teaching ofAlgebra" was introduced by Mr. N. J. Lennes, of JohnMarshall High School, Chicago, whose paper on " Graphic-Methods " was an exposition of a method used by him in.class to make clear the meaning of the roots of equationsand of the usually hazy terms, "simultaneous values,'^" equal roots," " imaginary roots" etc. The paper was fullyillustrated by use of the blackboard and showed in detailhow thoroughly interested the students become. Considerable discussion was aroused and strong testimony was.given to the practical value of such work and the ease andquickness with which students especially in the secondcourse in algebra, in the third year, take hold of this-method.Following is the paper :The purpose of plotting equations in the study of algebra.is as follows : To assist the student in gaining a clear ideaof simultaneous and independent equations and of thenature and meaning of the values of unknown quantitiesobtained when solving simultaneous equations, and furtherto assist in discussing the roots of the quadratic.In his work in solving linear equations containing oneunknown quantity the student has learned to think of " the ,r"value of the unknown quantity. The idea of a variableUNIVERSITY RECORD 349which may assume any one of an infinite number of valuesis yet to be developed. If now an equation such asx + 4=ybe proposed for consideration the first point to be noted isthat this equation states a relation between x and y whichmay be satisfied by any one of an infinite number of pairs ofvalues for x and y. Then plot the equation, using the customary rectangular coordinates and fully explaining the useof the plus %nd minus signs to indicate different directions.Make it perfectly clear that the distances of any point whatever on this line from the axes of reference are in the relationx+4=y.It is of the highest importance that this point should fullybe grasped by the student since all subsequent work depends upon it, and if this' point is once clearly understoodbut little further trouble will be experienced.In the same manner plot the equation6x-\- I == yattending carefully, as before, to the meaning of the graphicrepresentation of the equation. As every point in this linehas distances from the axes such that the relation6x-\- 1 = yalways holds and every point in the former line such thatx + 4-yholds, the point common to the two lines (their point of intersection) must satisfy both of these conditions, viz.,6 x + I = y and x -f- 4 = y .The location of this point in terms of its coordinates can beapproximated by inspection pf the diagram. If the givenequations be now solved simultaneously it will be found thatthe values of x and y obtained by inspecting the plot willvery nearly, agree with those obtained by solving. The location of the intersection is, of course, absolutely determinedby the solution of the equation.If a pair of independent equations such asx-\-6 = 2y and 2x-)~4 = qybe now plotted it is at once obvious the lines are paralleland hence have no point in common. If it be attempted tosolve these equations simultaneously it is at once found tobe impossible. That is the equations are not simultaneous.This will be most impressive to the student if he is givenseveral pairs of simultaneous equations and a pair of non-simultaneous equations to be plotted and solved at home.When the subject of simultaneous equations of the seconddegree is reached a pair of equations such asx* -f-j/2 = 25 and x -j- 4 = ymay be selected to begin with. The plot shows that thestraight line cuts the circle in two points. Here, again, weare to have it clearly in mind that the coordinates of everypoint in the circle satisfy the relationand the coordinates of every point in the straight line satisfythe relationx + 4=y.Hence the coordinates of each of the two points commonto the circle and the straight line must satisfy both of theseconditions. Locate these points on the plot as in the caseof the two straight lines. Solve the equations simultane ously, thus determining the exact location of these points.If nowx* -fjj/8 = 25 and y = 5be plotted we see at once that the liney = 5is a tangent to the circle. Solving simultaneously we gety = S and x = ± 0 ,that is, the line and the circle have only one point in common. If we plot the equationy = 6we have a straight line which does not touch the circle*Solvingx* + y* = 25 and y = 6we get imaginary values for x, that is, the two curves haveno point in common. Here, then, we get a meaning for animaginary value in the result. It simply means that impossible conditions have been stated.Plotting the equationx*-\-3x + 2—ywe get a curve which cuts the axis pf x in two points to theleft of the axis of y. If y is put equal to zero these points-are determined from the equationx* + 3* + 2 = 0.Now plot the equationx* 4~ 3X ~\~ 2- = y •4The curve will be found to just touch the axis of x. Solvingwe getx=— - d=o .2Hence we have two equal roots. If we use a number everso little smaller than 2% we get two distinct values for xwhen y = 0, that is, the curve cuts the axis in two distinctpoints. If the number is now increased to 2% the rootsbecome equal, that is, the points at which the curve cuts theaxis of x approach each other until they coincide. If thenumber is made ever so little larger than 2% the curve doesnot touch the axis, and upon solving for x when y is putequal to zero we get imaginary values. Here we havepassed from distinct real roots through equal roots to theimaginary roots under the very eyes of the student.This work may be continued profitably with such pairs ofequations as— + — =1 and x2 + y2= 16,25 9which give curves with four common points.xs 1/2 |-^- = i and x*-\-y* = 2$ ,25 9which give two common points, andx2 1/2 f- — = 1 and x*-\-ya = $6 ,25 9which have no points in common and which give imaginaryvalues when solved simultaneously for x and y.Care should be taken not to frighten the student at thebeginning of this work with allusions to analytic geometry..He will find the work of plotting simple enough if he is notmade to think that he is engaged upon an advanced subrject. There is no need to tell him that he is plotting an350 UNIVERSITY RECORDellipse or to name any curve. He is simply plotting a curve torepresent a given relation between two unknown quantities.When he has mastered his work, however, it may be wellto point out that there is a distinct branch of mathematicswhich deals with the application of algebra to geometricalfigures. The certainty with which the solution of simultaneous equations determines the point of intersection of thetwo curves represented by these equations will not fail toimpress him with the possibility of such a method. He willbe made to feel that ahead of him there is a field which it ishis privilege, rather than his duty, to explore.The paper by Assistant Professor L. E. Dickson, of theUniversity of Chicago, on " Elementary Mathematical Instruction in France," brought out many interesting andvaluable facts, two of which may be mentioned. First, theabsolute requirement that all teachers in the public schoolsof France shall have the higher training. Second, the wayin which arithmetic, algebra and geometry are taught in interrelation throughout the course, and especially that elementary geometry is taught before formal algebra. In thisconnection attention was called in the discussion to thepractice of some of our schools in attempting to completealgebra in the first year of the high school, or of continuingthe algebra into the second year instead of beginning geometry in the second year, and leaving the later course inalgebra for the third year. The position of the University ofChicago on this point is stated explicitly on page 54 of theAnnual Register, or on page 13 of the Circular of Information.Assistant Professor Dickson's paper follows."From the days of Napoleon the First the elementaryschools, the colleges and the universities of France haveformed integral parts of one great system. At its head isthe minister of public instruction, who fills all vacanciesin the lycees and colleges and, with the cooperation of acouncil of education, prescribes the courses of instruction inthe lyce*es of France and Algiers. Candidates for graduation from the secondary schools must pass rigid examinations, not held at the lycee itself and not conducted by itsprofessors, but held at the university in the district to whichthe particular lyce*e belongs and conducted by the universityprofessors. The teachers in the lycees have, almost withoutexception, studied at a university and taken a state degreeentitling the holder to teach in the French schools. Specialcourses are given at the university to prepare candidates forthe two state examinations for the licence and the higheraggregation. The former entitles the holder to teach in thelower classes, the latter in the higher classes of the lycees.For the licence, it is necessary to pass oral and writtenexaminations upon three subjects ; for example, advancedcalculus, mechanics and astronomy, presented with aboutthe same thoroughness as the first-year's graduate courses inthe large American universities. For the aggregation acompetitive examination is held, the number of candidatesto be received having been fixed in advance by the ministerof public instruction in view of the needs of the secondaryschools, so that but a small percentage of the applicantsusually succeed. After two years spent in obtaining thecertificates in four higher branches, the candidate spends ayear upon the elementary subjects to be taught in the lycees. After passing all the examinations testing hisscholarship, the candidate must appear before the examinersand give a lecture upon a subject chosen by lot just as if itwere before a class in the lycee. Those fully successfulhave a right to demand a place as professor in a lycde ;those partially successful are chosen for inferior positions.With this imperfect view of the preparation and manner ofselection of the teachers in the secondary schools, we maynow consider the schools in detail.Pupils enter the lyce*es at an early age and continue to theage of 17 or 18, when the successful candidates receive thebaccalaureat degree. Until about the age of 1 1 the instruction is the same for all pupils. Then occurs a choicebetween the classical and the modern courses, the latterwithout Latin and Greek.In the classical course 20 hours of class-room work, inaddition to 1 ^ hours of drawing, is distributed as follows :9 hours of Latin and Greek, 3 of French, 3 of German andEnglish, 2 of history, 1 of geography, an average of 2 hoursof mathematics, while 1 hour in natural science is given inthe two lower classes, and 5 hours in physics and chemistryis given in the last year in the philosophical division.In the modern course, the 20-22 hours a week, in additionto 3 hours in drawing, is distributed as follows, if we takean average over the six years : 5 hours in French, 6 hoursin German and English, 2 hours in history, 1 hour in geography, 3 hours in science, an average of 3 hours in mathematics, with philosophy and elementary law in the two lastyears.It should be remarked that about *8o per cent, of thepupils pursue the classical course, Ithe number of careersopen to those with Latin and Greek being much greater.In regard to mathematics, geometry is begun quite early,a year previous to the commencement of algebra, and iscontinued for four years, running parallel with algebra andarithmetic, and in the modern course with trigonometry.This method seems to effect a considerable saving of time.The higher courses in physics and chemistry are taken afterthe student has had work in geometry and algebra. In thefollowing schedule of the number of hours per week devotedto mathematical studies in the lycees, the sixth class signifies the lowest and the first class the highest, the pupils ofthe latter being usually about 16 or 17 years old.6th 5th 4th 3d 2d 1st130 Arithmetic .Geometry .Algebra . . * I3 {» ]•0 Arithmetic .Geometry .Algebra . .Trigonometry 22) 1 0 in letters(3 ) 14 M )} }- 6 in scienceIn the modern course there is a choice in the 1st class between the course in letters and the course in science.At the completion of one of the above courses, the pupil,now about 17 years of age, attempts the examination held atthe university upon the first part of the baccalaureat. Lessthan half of the applicants succeed. A final year is usedto prepare *those successful in the first examination for thesecond part of the baccalaureat, there being a choice between the philosophic and mathematical courses. The latteris chosen by those preparing to enter one of the great technical schools, itcole St. Cyr and Ecole Navale (for careers inUNIVERSITY RECORD 351the army or navy), Ecole Polytechnique (for t civil andmining engineers, ordnance officers, etc.), and Ecole Nor-male. In view of the severe mathematical requirements ofthese government schools, it is not surprising that out oftwenty- three hours a week of class-room work ten are devoted to mathematics, while Latin and Greek have disappeared. In addition to a review in arithmetic, algebra,geometry, and trigonometry, the mathematical studies embrace mechanics and descriptive geometry.After receiving the baccalaureat, a young man who wishesto enter one of the technical schools, whose graduates areassured a successful career, either returns to his old lycee orenters a large Paris lycee which fits for the competitive examinations for entrance to the government schools. Here12 hours of mathematics (the same subjects as before but inmore extensive text-books), 4 hours of physics, 2 of chemistry, 4 of literature, 2 of German, 4 of drawing, and 4 in architecture make up this elaborate preparatory course. Atthe end of a year, the youth presents himself at one ormore schools, but rarely succeeds at the first triaL Repeating the course at the lycee, he stands one chance in fourof succeeding at his second trial. Out of 1050 candidates in 1897 at the Ecole Polytechnique only 224 wereadmitted.A distinguishing feature of the French system of educationis the continual preparation for examination after examination. The rigidity of the system forces the pupil into adefinite plan of study prescribed by the authorities. Theprogramme is laid out in such detail by the officers of publicinstruction that a spirit of initiative on the part of the teacher is greatly hindered if not destroyed. An unfortunatefeature of the French examination system is the great taxupon the time of the most, noted scholars, who must devoteweek after week to the examination of the thousands ofcandidates for the baccalaureat.A peculiarity of the instruction in elementary mathematicsis the tendency to replace the former system of employingtext-books by the lecture method. After his thirteenthyear, the student learns his subject from his notebook ratherthan from a text. M. Laisant, a professor in the Ecole Polytechnique, thinks the ideal plan to consist in having studentstake notes from the teacher to form the basis of his work,and to supplement the notes by reference to a standard text,but believes that in practice the method often sinks to amere dictation of a formal course of lectures, which is contrary to the spirit of teaching.The rigid form, often so repulsive to beginners, in whichgeometry was formerly presented, for example, from booksof the Legendre type, has been modified in late years inFrance by using books of the Comberousse type. The earlyintroduction of drawing gives the student suitable conceptions of the circle, cube, rectangle, etc., without formal definition, as well as the ability to draw in proper perspective apicture of the simpler solids. In this respect the studentwho begins geometry in. a French lyce*e has a great advantage over similar students in the usual American school.It has been well said that the problem in elementary instruction, from arithmetic to the calculus, is always to interest the pupil, to incite him to research, to give him thesentiment, the illusion, if you please, that he himself discovers what is taught to him.•There have appeared recently several articles which maybe profitably consulted by those interested in the subject ofthis paper. In the Bulletin of the American MathematicalSociety, March 1900, Professor Pierpont, of Yale University, discusses "Mathematical Instruction in France." In theSchool Review, November 1899 and January 1900, Mr.Hardy of California considers "The Lyce*es of France."The paper on "Routine Work," by Assistant Professor H.E. Slaught, of the University of Chicago, was prepared inresponse to the wish of the conference of 1899 to have thistopic discussed in 1900. As the time for this paper and itsdiscussion was very limited, correspondence with theleader of the conference will be welcome on this or, indeed,any other topic connected with the department of mathematics of mutual interest to the school and the university,and especially concerning topics desired for discussion atthe next conference in 190 1.The following is Assistant Professor Slaught's paper :The subject of routine work is one which vitally concernsboth the teacher and the student of algebra, though fromquite different standpoints. The teacher is his own arbiteras to his methods of carrying on his work, while the pupilgets his habits of studying and reciting almost wholly fromthe teacher.Since the teacher is responsible not only for the gross accumulation of facts and the mechanical skill gained by hispupils, but also for their net attainment of mental power, forthe habits acquired in their mental processes, and for theirgeneral attitude of interest or indifference or dislike for thesubject, it becomes of the utmost importance that the teachershould consider his ways and found his methods on a soundbasis.From the standpoint of the teacher, routine work may bedefined as " ways or methods adhered to from habit.'1'' Oneform of such routine consists in a monotonous repetitionof the same methods of conducting the recitation. Forinstance, (1) to have all members of the class or as manyas possible continually working at the board; (2) to invariably pick out some bright pupil to solve and explain a difficult problem before the class while the others listen ; (3) forthe teacher always to explain all difficult points, assuming,a priori, that his methods are better than any otherwhich might be suggested ; (4) to have all examples andproblems solved at the board and the explanations given byletting pupils read their work from the board and quote therules upon which they have proceeded.The thoughtful teacher will recognize points of merit inall these methods and in many others which might be mentioned, and will not deprive himself of the very great advantage in frequently varying his programme and thus securingthe benefits available from all. Moreover, in thus arousinghimself from the continuance of any one plan from merehabit, he will at the same time be conferring a great benefitupon the pupils in saving them from routine methods ofwork which often lead to indifference, dislike, and failure.Plan (1) above, if constantly followed, leaves little chancefor general instructions by the teacher in "methods of attack"and desirable "forms of solution," so essential for all to have.Plan (2) discourages the slower pupils and lays the teacheropen to the charge of favoritism. It is a good scheme for achange, but it should be used to bring out every pupil in theclass at least once or twice during the term. It is an important training to learn to^ think and work before the classwhile carrying on the explanation in their hearing, and notonly the bright pupils, with the difficult problem, but also352 UNIVERSITY RECORDthe slower pupils, with any problem within their reach,should be given a chance to gain power in this manner.Plan (3) leads to inaction and irresponsibility on the partof the class if the teacher assumes more than his fair shareof the responsibility, and, moreover what alert teacher hasfailed to find pupils in every class whose " method of attack "on some problem or theorem was worthy of special consideration on account of its keenness and originality,* and howoften have the pupils of a class gained an inspiration and azeal from the presentation of half a dozen different methodsof handling the same problem, given by alert and interestedmembers of the class, which could not have been gotten froma single solution given by the teacher, even though his wasshort, profound and elegant compared with any of the others.There may be three stages in the development of the bestsolution of a problem by a pupil. First, his own method,for which no other can initially be substituted ; secondly, thecomparison of his solution with those of others in his class,brought to his attention by the tactful management of histeacher through the vigorous " give and take " of the healthful class-room spirit : and, thirdly, the exercise of his judgment in comparing the various methods presented, including,now, that of the teacher, who has impartially brought together all the solutions, and asks the class to choose thebest on the grounds of brevity, clearness and elegance. Bythis process the pupil's mind has passed through a definitestage of development and his interest and desire to excelhave been stimulated to a healthful degree.Plan (4) is all too common. It is a habit easily acquired.It seems to be accomplishing results. The work movesalong. The examples are solved. Those who came toclass prepared have shown the results of their work, andthose who were not prepared may see the results and copythem from the board. And yet the class may be acquiringa formal knowledge without the real development of thinking-power. This danger may be avoided by a proper placingof the emphasis in the explanations required by the teacher.For instance, in first taking up simultaneous equations withtwo or more unknown quantities every step of the solutionshould be given and the reason assigned ; but when lateruse is made of such equations in solving problems, thengreat stress should be laid upon setting up the equationsand knowing that they properly represent the problem quiteindependent of the solution of the equations. This is allimportant now, for what matters it how perfectly the solution of the equations is explained if, after all, the properequations have not been set up. The emphasis in the onecase is on the process of solving equations, in the other case,on knowing that the correct equations are proposed for solution. ,.The proper placing of the emphasis in an explanationrelieves the recitation of its humdrum character, brings outclearly the distinction between the real thought involved inthe solution and the mere mechanical operations, and savesthe time of the class for more important business than merelylistening to the monotonous reading of long equations fromthe board. This question of emphasis should be a matter ofconstant study on the part of every teacher in reference tothe special needs of each class at every change of topic orsubject or course. For instance, a broad distinction shouldbe made between the character of the work done in the firstyear algebra course, and that done in the third year algebracourse. In the former case, the pupils are young and unused* A noteworthy example is a demonstration by a pupil in one of the Chicago high schools of a theorem which has puzzled teachers far and wide,viz., " If the bisectors of the base angles of a triangle are equal, the triangle is isosceles." The proof was submitted to me by the teacher. to working with algebraic symbols, and so the emphasisshould be upon the mechanical manipulation, that this maybecome rapid, accurate and in good form ; not, however,neglecting a reasonable attention to the principles involvedand to an understanding of the nature of the work. In thelatter case, the students are older and have gained somepower in thinking for themselves and in assimilating theformulated thoughts of others, and now the emphasis shouldbe upon the statement and demonstration of principles, to theend that algebra may begin to appear to them as a factor inthe development of thought-power as well as an instrumentfor the solution of problems; here, again, not neglectingappropriate attention to the mechanical work involved.Other . forms of routine habits into which a teacher mayfall will readily suggest themselves. For instance, themethod of assignment of lessons, the use with successiveclasses of the same problems and for many years of the sametext-book, etc. Of course, there are good reasons why textbooks should not be changed too frequently, but one goodreason why they should be changed occasionally is that theteachers may not stagnate. The best teacher will alwaysfind something new in each successive presentation of a subject, whether from the same or a different text-book, but allare bound to have new lines of thought stirred up by usingfor the first time a different text-book. In this connectiona remarkable bit of history recently came to my knowledge,throwing light upon routine methods from the standpoint ofthe teacher. A certain well-known text-book on algebra,of which the first edition was printed many years ago, hasin recent years been revised and very much improved inevery way, including many new and up-to-date exercisesand problems. The publishers would gladly substitute thisnew book for the old one wherever it is in use and. discontinue publishing the old book, but, notwithstanding thecrudities of the old book and the excellence of the new one,they still find an annual demand for about forty thousandcopies of the old book.Turning now to the consideration of routine work asrelated to the student, it may be defined as the " repetition of words and sounds as a means of learning them,with slight attention to their meaning or to the principlesinvolved." Such a description is applicable to all learningof rules by rote, which, of course, no good teacher will allow ;and yet even in. the classes of good teachers the averagepupil will quote a rule rather than give the reason, evenwhen the reason is as short as the rule. For instance, inexplaining addition of algebraic numbers the statement ofthe reason for the result is shorter than the rule for findingit. This may not be true in subtraction, but even there thereason is more easily understood than the rule. In the solution of equations the rule for transposition is too often a mereform of words, though the process which lies back of it isperfectly clear and easy to understand. In place of the ruleas usually given for finding the lowest common multiple,the process should be built up by the pupil in each explanation and based simply upon the meaning of the words,"multiple," "common," "lowest." The statement of thisprocess is as short as the rule and has the advantage ofcompelling the student to understand what he is talkingabout.A like statement is true of most rules in elementary mathematics. The student should be made to understand that quoting a rule is not explaining a process and that he is castinga reflection upon the intelligence of the class when, in givingan explanation, he merely reads off the successive equationsUNIVERSITY RECORD 353on the board and now and then quotes a rule. What theclass wishes to know is not that in multiplying 432^ by 3 heobtained 1 296 y, but why he should multiply by 3 rather thanby something else, or why he should multiply rather thandivide by 3 or some other number. In other words, thenon-routine explanation consists in giving the reasons fortaking the successive steps and not in reading the results ofthe successive steps. And this should be insisted upon notonly in oral but in written recitation and in all the pupil'smathematical thinking until it shall become his fixed habit.In concluding, allow me to make three suggestions foravoiding routine work. 1. Present algebra as a language.The pupil is at once interested when he sees that an equation isa sentence in a new language, in fact, a kind of short-handwriting. Ask him to translate his problem into algebraicsentences and show him how this new language may interpret to him the nature of the results which he is seeking.On the other hand, insist upon his translating every algebraicformula into English. For instanceis a formula which may be repeated in symbols by the merejingle of the sounds, but not until it is translated into Englishwill the pupil realize that the same words are applicable tofinding the quotient#6 _|_ -j/6By this constant translation from one language to the otherhe comes to recognize certain forms of expression whichhave a peculiar usefulness and value, and so his interest isaroused and his activities quickened. Let one illustrationsuffice. The student learns that every equation of the seconddegree may be reduced to the forma xs -f- bx -f- c = 0 .He should always add to such a statement the explanatoryclause in which the meaning of each symbol in the formshould be explained. When this is done the form is fullydefined and whatever use is made of it is based upon a clearunderstanding of what it means.2. Use every new process at the time of its discoveryas an instrument for accomplishing some definite andpractical results., Take two illustrations which are notable for their omission from most text-books, (a) It isshown in fractions that numerator and denominatormay be multiplied by the same number without destroyingthe value of the fraction. Now this should be used atonce and always to simplify a complex fraction, whichmay usually be done by the student mentally. Thusthe complex fraction becomes a useful means of whettingthe pupil's interest, as soon as he sees how easily it may besimplified, in comparison with the method commonly given.(b) The subject of factoring is usually dwelt upon till thestudent is fairly expert in dealing with the abstract exercises.And yet, in solving quadratic equations, he is taught to complete the square in every case and spends hours onexampleswhere minutes would suffice if his attention had, at the start,been called to the solution by factoring instead of leavingthis valuable and concrete application of his factoring skillto be suggested in a footnote at the end of the chapter.Factoring should be used at once to solve any quadraticequation whose left-hand member is a trinomial capable offactoring by inspection. And, on the other hand, the solution of quadratic equations by completing the square should be used at once to factor any quadratic trinomial which couldnot be factored by inspection. Thus each new process findspractical and interesting application and the zeal of thestudent is proportionally stimulated.3. Lastly, the teacher should use every legitimate opportunity to impress the fact that algebra is a great instrumentfor solving problems, more powerful than arithmetic ; thatits work is accomplished through the equation and that alarge part of the text-book work simply leads up to a comprehension and understanding of the equation and its solution ; but that in reaching this preparation and masteringthis preliminary work there is a development of thoughtexpressed in the new language which the student is learningto speak while he is gaining facility in the work. Thispoint of view is sure to stimulate interest on the part of thepupil and this, after all, is the key to successful teaching inany subject.The Conference in Physics. — The Physics Conference wasaddressed by Messrs. Stratton, Millikan, and Mann upon theplan and scope of the work done in Ryerson Physical Laboratory after which the members of the conference were conducted through the research rooms of the laboratory wherethe following researches were explained and illustrated.1. Experiments with a New Sound InterferometerMr. B. O. Hutchison2. Experiments upon the Spectra of Gases Dr. H . G. Gale3. Experiments upon the Surface Tension of LiquidsMiss Fannie Frisbie4. Experiments upon the Index of Refraction of GasesMessrs. Smith and Leffingwell5. A New Method of Determining Vapor Densities .. Mr. F. B. Jewett6. A New Form of Storage Battery Dr. H. D. Hart7. Condensers with Thin Air Films Mr. Fritz Reichmann8. Absolute Determination of Resistance Mr. R. A. Rice9. The Internal Energy of a Gas Dr. R. A. Millikan10. The Making of Optical Surface Mr. Petitdidierti. A New Ruling Engine Associate Professor S. W. Stratton12. The Echelon Spectroscope Professor A. A. MichelsonREPORT OF ACTIONS OF UNIVERSITY RULING BODIESFOR NOVEMBER 1900.1. The Board of Physical Culture and Athletics :Meeting of November 3 . — 1) After considerationof a protest from the authorities of University ofIowa, Mr. Atwood was declared eligible to play-on the football team and this action together withreasons therefor ordered sent to tfee protestinginstitution.2. The Board of University Affiliations :(See this number of the University Record.)3. The Board of Libraries, Laboratories, and Museums :Meeting of November 24. — 1) The followingrecommendation was approved, viz : that it isundesirable to require departmental libraries to354 UNIVERSITY RECORDemploy identical systems of subject catalogues.2) The following recommendations concerningreports from museums were approved :1. Annual reports covering the period from October 1 toSeptember 30 inclusive shall be made in October by thecurators of the several museums to the Director of Museumsand shall be by him laid before the Board of Libraries, Laboratories, and Museums.2. Special reports shall be made whenever any notableaccessions are secured, and shall be dealt with in the sameway.3. The methods of record recommended by the Directorof Museums shall be adopted, so far as practicable.4. In order to preserve the illustrative material belongingto certain departments, and to prepare and acquire additionalmaterial, it is desirable that some member of each department having or requiring such illustrative material beappointed curator.4. The Faculty of the Junior Colleges :Meeting of November 10. — 1) The followingpersons accepted with advanced standing : E. V. L.Brown, G. H. Campbell, Grace M. Crockett, M.J.Davies, Anna E. Fulton, W. C. Gross, M. H.Haertel, Julia E. Kennedy, T. J. Merrill, R. M.Mitchell, Mary Patten, Sarah L. Patterson, Florence M. Ricketts, Edna L. Stevens, G. R. Wallace,H. D. Warner, H. B. Williams, Helen E. Williamson, G. A. Wilson, Elizabeth Cleaveland. 2)The Faculty of the Senior Colleges invited tomeet with this Faculty to consider the followingrecommendations of its Curriculum Committee :1. As to the proposal to confer one degree, the A. B., inplace of the three Bachelor degrees now granted by theUniversity the committee deems such a change in policyunnecessary and inexpedient.2. In view of the demoralization caused by uncertainty asto pending action of the faculty, the committee would suggestthe advisability of adopting a general rule that no legislationshall be retroactive.3) The following recommendation of the Curriculum Committee was approved :As to the proposal to offer in the University courses inBeginning Latin and Beginning Greek, the committee doesnot recommend the introduction of Beginning Latin, butreports favorably upon the plan to offer courses in BeginningGreek. 5. The Faculty of the Senior Colleges :Meeting of November 10. — 1) The followingpersons accepted with advanced standing : H. C.E. David, Alice DeLagneau, Adelheid Doepke,Hilda M. French, Charles Goettsch, P. S. Harvey,O. E. Hotle, E. W. Johnson, Lucy E. Keith, E.B. Killips, Euphan W. Macrae, E. G. McKibben,J. E. McKown, Annabella Ross, Eva M. Russell,L. W. Sawtelle, H. M. Solenberger, T. C. Stephens,Lena Vaughan, Myrtle A. Hunt, A. S. Oliver,Ella M. Parette. 2) The Faculty accepted theinvitation of the Faculty of the Junior Collegesfor a joint meeting to consider the question of asingle degree and voted to consider at that meeting the following recommendations of the Curriculum Committee :1. That the University confer only one degree, that ofBachelor of Arts, on those who have satisfactorily completedthe work of the undergraduate course.2. That the adoption of the above recommendation be notinterpreted as implying a departure from our required curricula. These with the addition perhaps of one or two othercurricula, would be converted into the required curricula forfour to six "groups," one of which every student would berequired to adopt on entrance and complete as at present.These would be, for instance, a Classical Group (A.B.), aModern Literary Group (Ph.B.), a Physico-Chemical Group(S.B.), a Biological-Chemical Group (S.B. for pre-medicalstudents) etc.3) A recommendation of the Committee onScholarships that it is advisable for departmentsto present alternates in making recommendationsfor scholarships was approved. 4) The followingrecommendation of the Curriculum Committeewas approved :That in the judgment of the Faculty of the Senior Colleges courses in the History and Theory of Music are suitable to be counted toward a Bachelor's' degree.6. The Faculties of the Junior and Senior Colleges(in joint session) :Meeting of November 21. — The following recommendations as expressing the sentiment of thejoint meeting were approved:1. That the University confer only one degree, that ofBachelor of Arts, on those who have satisfactorily completedthe work of the undergraduate course.UNIVERSITY RECORD 3552. That the adoption of the above recommendation benot interpreted as implying a departure from our requiredcurricula. These, with the addition perhaps of one or twoother curricula, would be converted into the required curric_ula for four to six " groups," one of which every studentwould be required to adopt on entrance and complete asat present. These would be, for instance, a Classical Group(A.B.), a Modern Literary Group (Ph.B.), a Physico-ChemicalGroup (S.B.), a Biological-Chemical Group (S.B. for pre-medical students), etc.7. The Faculties of the Graduate Schools (in jointsession) :Meeting of November 24. — 1 ) The followingrecommendations to candidacy were approved:For the degree of A.M.: Dora Wilbur Whitcomb(English); for the degree of S.M.: Arthur WhippleSmith (mathematics); for the degree of Ph.D.:Harriet Eva Penfield (philosophy and pedagogy.)8. The University Council :Meeting of November 10. — 1) The followingresolution was adopted:That there be substituted for the regulations concerningexaminations at the close of correspondence courses in theUniversity Extension Department found in the UniversityRegister, page 95, column 1, 2), b) the following: "He shallpass an examination on the course at such time as is mostconvenient to himself and his instructor either at the University or, if elsewhere, under supervision which has beenapproved by the student's Dean."2) The following report of a Committee onHolidays was approved:I. That University exercises be suspended and holidaysdeclared on January 1, New Year's Day; February 12, Lincoln's Birthday; February 22, Washington's Birthday; May30, Memorial Day, July 4, Independence Day, Labor Day,Thanksgiving Day.2. The committee recommends that exercises be not suspended on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day.3) A request of the Senior College Council thatstudents going to their homes to vote at the recentpresidential election be excused for absence fromcertain University exercises was granted.9. The University Senate :Meeting of November 3 . — 1) Plans respecting aseries of volumes to be issued in connection with the proposed Decennial of the University considered and in part approved. 2) A letter ofsympathy and appreciation to Mr. von Hoistvoted.OFFICIAL NOTICES.Reports for the Autumn Quarter. — Allinstructors are requested to observe that all reports for courses given during the Autumn Quarter are due at the Recorder's Office (or the FacultyExchange) not later than 12: 00 m., Wednesday,December 26. It is of the utntost importance thatevery course be recorded fully and promptly. Blankswill be furnished through the Faculty Exchangenot later than Wednesday, December 19.The University Recorder.Notice is hereby given that the twenty-thirdmeeting of the University Congregation of theUniversity of Chicago will be held on Wednesday,January 2, 1901, at 4 : 00 p.m., in the Congregation Hall, Haskell Oriental Museum. The members of the Congregation will assemble in HaskellOriental Museum, second floor, at 3 : 45 p.m., forthe procession to the Congregation Hall.The Congregation will consider :I. The report of a committee appointed at the twenty-secondmeeting to make definite recom7?iendations in regard to thequestion of offering prizes for the encouragement of scholarship. Committee : Messrs. Shepardson, Coulter, andF. J. Miller.2. The following proposition selected for discussion :That it would be to the best interests of the Universityto substitute for the present system of separate Boards andFaculties one Faculty with special committees. Committee :Messrs. Abbott and Hendrickson.3. Such other business as may properly come before themeeting.Members of the Congregation are invited tosend to the Recorder at once questions for consideration at future meetings.The Congregation Dinner will be held at theQuadrangle Club, Wednesday evening, January 2,at 7 : 00 ; tickets $1.00. Places may be reservedby addressing Dr. J. H. Boyd, treasurer, at theUniversity of Chicago, to whom cheques shouldbe made payable.Attention is called to the regulation prescribingthat at all meetings of the Congregation the fullscholastic dress be worn.- George S. Goodspeed,University Recorder.AS BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT, SIMPLICITY IS THE SOUL OF INVENTIONSTANDING PEERLESS AS SUCHTHE BULLARDFolding Magazine CamerasCOMMAND THE ADMIRATION OF ALL WHO SEE THEMPERFECT IN ACTION U FAULTLESS IN FINISHNONE BUT HIGH GRADE LENSEScapable oi the finest results in picture-making are fitted to these cameras, whilethe Shutters and all other parts are correspondingly first-class and up-to-dateCAMERAS FROM $10.00 TO $40.00. YOU CAN SEE THEM AT THE BOOK SHOP. SEND FOR CATALOGUETHE BULLARD CAMERA CO.SPRINGFIELD, MASS., U. S. A.Otir Enlarged and Superb Line for lQOl will Be Incomparable