Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 59.djvu/186

176 That teaching is important, goes without saying. A successful teacher is to be respected; but if he does not lead his scholars to that which is highest, is he not blameworthy? We are, then, to look to the colleges and universities of the land for most of the work in pure science which is done. Let us, therefore, examine these latter and see what the prospect is.

One, whom perhaps we may here style a practical follower of Ruskin, has stated that while in this country he was variously designated by the title of captain, colonel and professor. The story may or may not be true, but we all know enough of the customs of our countrymen not to dispute it on general principles. All men are born equal: some men are captains, colonels and professors, and, therefore, all men are such. The logic is conclusive; and the same kind of logic seems to have been applied to our schools, colleges and universities. I have before me the report of the Commissioner of Education for 1880. According to that report, there were 389, or say, in round numbers, 400 institutions, calling themselves colleges or universities, in our country! We may well exclaim that ours is a great country, having more than the whole world beside. The fact is sufficient. The whole earth would hardly support such a number of first-class institutions. The curse of mediocrity must be upon them, to swarm in such numbers. They must be a cloud of mosquitoes, instead of eagles as they profess. And this becomes evident on further analysis. About one-third aspire to the name of university; and I note one called by that name which has two professors and eighteen students, and another having three teachers and twelve students! And these instances are not unique, for the number of small institutions and schools which call themselves universities is very great. It is difficult to decide from the statistics alone the exact standing of these institutions. The extremes are easy to manage. Who can doubt that an institution with over 800 students, and a faculty of seventy, is of a higher grade than those above cited having ten or twenty students and two or three in the faculty? Yet this is not always true; for I note one institution with over 500 students which is known to me personally as of the grade of a high school. The statistics are more or less defective, and it would much weaken the force of my remarks if I went too much into detail. I append the following tables, however, of 330 so-called colleges and universities: