physiology, while those wishing to enter the scientific or agricultural courses must stand the same examinations, and in addition must have analyzed at least 50 wild plants.

In the classical and philosophical courses no work in biology is required, the first scientific subject (physics) being taken up in the sophomore year. In the classical and agricultural courses biology continues through the freshman and sophomore years, the work being nearly the same in both courses. The freshman year is devoted to botany. During the first term advanced systematic botany is pursued, special attention being given in the agricultural course to the grasses and cereals. During the second term vegetable physiology and histology are considered, while the third is devoted to cryptogamic botany, with special reference to injurious fungi. The work of the sophomore year begins with a course in general biology, with special attention to invertebrate animal forms. During the second and third terms entomology is studied in its scientific as well as economic relations.

These courses are conducted by text-books mainly, three exercises weekly being given to each course. No special laboratory is provided, only a few rooms in one of the dormitories being temporarily fitted and supplied with microscopes. Laboratory work is only required of scientific students, who devote to it 5 hours weekly.

In connection with Illinois College is the Whipple Academy, which furnishes the instruction in science requisite for admission to the college classes. This is furnished also by all the academies of the State and about half of the high schools, but students are not admitted on certificates.

ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

BLOOMINGTON, ILL.

In the freshman class a course in physiology is offered, occupying 4 hours per week through one term. During the second term scientific students are required to attend a series of health lectures, and in the third term a course of structural botany. Zoology is required of all students during one term of the sophomore year, 4 hours weekly being given to it. As a preliminary to this work there are given in the preparatory department courses in elementary botany, zoölogy, and physiology. In connection with these, 2 hours weekly are spent in laboratory work. The course in physiology "has been put in the hands of a practicing physician and is intended to cover the subject of physiology and health in a manner in some degree proportionate to its importance as a part of sound and practical education." This work is placed early in the course in order to impress the practical points considered upon the minds of students at as early an age as possible. Students at this stage of their course have had no training in chemistry, this subject not being taken up until the junior year.

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The course in structural botany is mainly pursued in the laboratory, the preliminary training desirable being furnished by a course in systematic botany in the preparatory course. The work is largely individual, students being furnished with materials and appliances, and notes and drawings being required. The sophomore course in zoölogy is largely devoted to the study of comparative anatomy, and to the subjects of nutrition, growth, and reproduction. In this course 4 hours of laboratory work are required weekly of each student.

The laboratory facilities are fair but not equal to the demands made upon them. Two rooms are fitted up in the usual way with dissecting tables, etc., and contain in addition aquaria and other arrangements for preserving animals. There are but three compound microscopes in the laboratory equipment. The museum is of considerable size and contains many specimens of value. It consists of (1) the Vasey herbarium, containing about 2,500 species of the phanerogamia of Illinois; (2) a collection of plants from Colorado and Utah, collected by the Government surveyors; (3) miscellaneous collections, including algæ, mosses, and ferns; (4) the Holder collection of birds, numbering over 200 specimens; (5) a large collection of marine invertebrates; (6) a collection of insects; (7) a large collection of fresh-water shells; (8) miscellaneous collections, including mammals, reptiles, mounted skeletons, skulls, etc.

Most of the collegiate students enter the freshman class from the preparatory department. Certain of the schools of the State are accredited, and students are admitted from these on certificate from the principal.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY.

BLOOMINGTON, IND.

Great latitude is here allowed to students in the choice of courses leading to the degree of bachelor of arts. Certain studies are required of all, the minimum amount of scientific work being one year of daily recitations in some one scientific study. This may be either astronomy, botany, chemistry, geology, physics, zoölogy, or physiological psychology. No knowledge of any science is required for admission. Each student must in addition select some one department in which he will pursue all the required work, 3 or 4 years being occupied in this way. The departments of botany and zoölogy are under separate management, full courses being offered in each. These courses are not necessarily taken at any fixed time, but with certain restrictions are grouped together at the will of the student.

The work in botany begins with a course of daily recitations and practical exercises in elementary botany through two terms. To students who have completed this there is open a course in cryptogamic botany lasting through two terms, and a course in the morphology and development of phanerogams in the third. When this is completed

students may follow a course in advanced cryptogamic botany, consisting of daily laboratory work with prescribed reading through one year. A further course is offered in vegetable histology, consisting of daily practical work in the study of minute anatomy of the vegetative organs of higher plants, with collateral reading. This occupies two terms, and may be followed by a course in vegetable physiology in the third.

The study of zoölogy begins with a course in general zoölogy. In this a number of selected animal types are dissected. This course includes daily exercises through two terms, and must be taken before the student will be admitted to any of the other courses. He may then take a course in comparative anatomy, consisting of daily exercises through one year, and a course in human and comparative histology occupying the same time. To students who have had some training in histological methods a course in embryology is open, attention being given principally to the development of the chick and the batrachians. A course is given in human and comparative physiology during one term, consisting of three lectures and laboratory exercises per week. There is further provided a course in systematic zoology, consisting of daily laboratory exercises in the identification of birds and fishes. Lecture courses are given, dealing with the history of zoology, the theory of evolution, and other theoretical questions; also upon the general morphology of the animal kingdom.

In all of the courses, in both botany and zoölogy, laboratory work is kept very prominent. The facilities for this work are very complete. A special building, Owen Hall, 71 by 65 feet, and containing two stories and a basement, is devoted to the biological laboratory and museum. The equipment of this building for work in general zoölogy and botany is all that could be desired. Most of the work done in this laboratory is in connection with the regular courses of instruction, but a considerable amount of original research is also made. Students who elect botany or zoology as a special study are required to devote a considerable portion of the senior year to the preparation of a thesis which shall embody the result of their own experiments or observations. These may be based upon the solution of some morphological or physiological problem, but are now frequently (in zoölogy) based upon the study of some special group of vertebrates.

The work of teaching as well as investigation is much facilitated by a valuable reference library kept easily accessible, containing many of the current journals and standard reference books, and a museum of considerable size. This collection consists of three divisions; one is arranged in the order of classification so as to present a synoptical outline of the animal and vegetable kingdoms by means of selected speciA second division illustrates as completely as possible the flora and fauna of the State, while a third contains material to be used in original investigations by professors and students. The museum contains about 6,000 specimens of insects, and about 3,000 specimens of

mens.

marine invertebrates. The vertebrates are illustrated by about 1,900 mounted specimens and skins of mammals and birds, and about 27,000 specimens of fishes.

IOWA COLLEGE.

GRINNELL, IOWA,

For admission to the freshman class elementary physiology is required. In the freshman class each student is required to take a course in freehand drawing as a preparation for the sketching required in the labora tory work. A course in botany is also given during this year, largely physiological in nature.

The general biology course begins in the junior year and consists of laboratory work with occasional lectures. In this course many animal and vegetable forms are examined, and as far as practicable, students are required to collect their own specimens.

The headquarters of the department are in Blair Hall, a large building recently erected, and three rooms are devoted to it. One of these is fitted up as a storeroom and library; the second is used as a lecture room and laboratory, and connected with this is a smaller laboratory, the two rooms giving accommodations for about sixty students.

The equipment of these rooms consists of twelve microscopes and a number of camera lficidas, micrometers, etc. It is also provided with a complete outfit for microphotography.

IOWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS.

AMES, IOWA.

Biological work begins in the freshman class, during the first half of which a course of lectures and field exercises in economic entomology is given. This course is intended to perform the double function of introducing the student to the study of living things, giving the necessary training in exact observations, etc., and giving him a practical knowledge of the life history of injurious insects and the means employed for combating them. Each student makes a collection of insects and prepares a descriptive paper based upon his own studies of some selected insect.

In the second half of the freshman year botany is taken up, the course running over through the first half of the sophomore year. The student at first becomes familiar with the general morphology of flowering plants by frequent exercises in drawing and making written descriptions of the forms studied. During the sophomore year the student is required to make a collection of seventy-five species of phænogams, and in addition one afternoon each week is spent in laboratory work in structural botany.

During the second half of the sophomore year cryptogamic botany is taken up. Special attention is given to parasitic fungi, notably those affecting cultivated crops, but all the types are treated from the lowest forms up to the vascular cryptogams. Special work on bacteria may be elected, this being mainly laboratory work devoted to the acquirement of the methods of cultivation and the study of the germs of various diseases.

Zoology is begun in the second half of the sophomore year, the course being largely laboratory work and dealing with the general morphology of animals. Typical forms from the leading classes are dissected. This work is continued into the junior year, attention being then given largely to systematic zoology and the classification of animals. In the second half of the junior year a course is given in comparative anatomy and physiology, including comparative embryology. In this the structures of the various organisms are described in detail for the adult forms, after which the evolution of the various systems are traced from their earliest beginnings to their most differentiated forms.

The foregoing comprise all the general courses required of all students. Certain other courses may be elected and special courses may be required of students in special lines. A course in pharmaceutical botany is required of students in the veterinary course. This consists of a series of lectures and laboratory exercises on the principal medicinal plants. A special course is provided for engineering students, in which attention is given to the microscopic structure of various woods, also the fungi that are specially injurious in causing rot in railroad ties, bridge timbers, etc. Separate laboratories are provided for zoology and botany. Each possesses twenty-five microscopes of ordinary powers, and in addition numerous objectives of high powers. There is a good outfit of microtomes and all other appliances needed in undergraduate work. The museum is one of the best working collections to be found in the West. It is arranged primarily with reference to students' use. It contains many typical examples of all the principal groups of animals, its most striking feature being a very complete collection of the birds and insects of Iowa.

A new building is in course of erection for the department of zoölogy and entomology. This building will contain two large laboratory rooms, one for general the other for special work, a lecture room, several storerooms, a room for rearing insects, and several rooms in which the museum is displayed.

In the arrangement of the laboratory, provisions are made for advanced as well as elementary work, and opportunities for original work in both botany and zoölogy are freely offered to all students qualified to undertake it. The facilities for advanced work in bacteriology are especially good.