COURSES IN GEOLOGY AT HARVARD.

THE elective system, though far superior to the prescribed, has also its drawbacks. Perhaps the most frequent and greatest difficulty, even to the earnest student, is in deciding what to elect, and in learning who is to conduct the course; whether the professor named in the elective pamphlet, or some unknown alternate. At the end of his Freshman year, especially, is the student placed in a critical and doubtful position. Mistakes in electives are inevitably made, and the Junior regrets that he frittered away his Sophomore year on La Fontaine, when he might have taken a solid course in English, science, philosophy, or history. To the student, and even to the world, it is a serious loss thus to have thrown away a valuable year, for so much it amounts to, unless the negative good be deemed a fair compensation.

The evil, as we see, is owing partly to the indiscretion of the student, and partly to the meagre information given about the various courses. For the first there is no cure but experience; but for the latter there is a possibility of improvement. To do this it would not be necessary to expand the elective pamphlet into a cumbersome volume, nor do we wish it. In one branch, that of geology, the right step has been taken. A description of all courses given has been published, in which the desired information is to be found. In the first place, the importance of the study of geology is set forth in a clear and forcible manner, but none too much so. The intimate relation of geology to all the other sciences and the almost absolute necessity of grasping it first in order to comprehend them; its connection with the development of life, both organic and inorganic; and, above all, its practical utility, make it one of the most commendable of the sciences to study.

In the second place, there is a plan of the course, showing what course to elect, in what year to take it, by whom it is taught, and, most important of all, of what the course consists. For this students ought to feel thankful to Professors Shaler and Whitney, by whom this plan has been adopted. As to the quality of the instruction, or rather of the lectures, in geology, there is no need of a word of commendation.

It is not necessary, as every one knows, to have these descriptions given of the courses in all the branches. They are not needed in the classics nor in the modern languages, except in some French courses. But in history, philosophy, and the sciences, much benefit might be derived from these "syllabi." It is a great advantage to have a synoptic view of a course, as it enables one to study with method and regularity. Time, which brought the elective system, will, it is hoped, bring the "syllabi" also.