Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/510

494 has interfered with the quantity of work and the publication of the results.

A number of exceedingly interesting and valuable papers, however, have appeared in the "Bussey Bulletin," the titles of which give some indication of the character of the work. I give a few of the more important: "Hybridization of Lilies," by Professor Parkman; "Diseases caused by Fungi—"Professor Farlow; "Examinations of Fodders," "Trials of Fertilizers," Prominence of Carbonate of Lime in Soil Water," "Importance as Plant-Food of the Nitrogen in Vegetable Mold"—Professor F. H. Storer; "The Potato-Rot," and "The Black Knot" (of plum- and cherry-trees)—Professor Farlow.

The Bussey Institution ends my outline of the original work that has been carried on among Harvard professors mainly during the last year. Purely literary work I have endeavored to avoid, but I may say, in passing, that Dr. O. W. Holmes has recently finished an elaborate examination of the life and writings of Jonathan Edwards. Another feature worthy of special attention is the growing tendency with instructors to develop original research among the students. This is particularly noticeable in the departments of political economy, physics, history, and in some of the electives in mathematics. The case-system in the Law School is the purest example of an effort to cultivate independent thought. Mere memorizing is becoming by degrees a matter of secondary importance, and instructors are aiming to train their pupils to think for themselves, and to pursue lines of investigation outside of the beaten routine-path. Necessarily, the attainment of this result must prove in the highest degree beneficial. The cultivation of the powers of perception and insight becomes of inestimable value in fitting the student for the successful accomplishment of the duties of real life. As yet only a beginning has been made in training students to independent habits of thought, but this may fairly be considered the forerunner of a promising future. With the development of a thorough system of physical culture and the growth and prevalence of original investigation rather than memorizing for examinations, the Harvard student may perhaps obtain the ideal liberal education, when "his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of; his intellect is a clear, cold, logic-engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order—ready, like a steam-engine, to be turned to any kind of work."

The original work of the instructors, hastily sketched in this article, speaks for itself, and needs no word of explanation or commentary. That so much should be accomplished, however, outside of routine-work is indeed surprising and creditable, when we consider that the primary duty of these professors is an advanced teaching which absorbs both time and energy. It becomes evident that a life of scholastic seclusion is neither a life of monotonous drill-work nor