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THE SCIENCES AT YALE.
Silliman Taught Alone in 1804—Now
Sixty-Six Specialists are in the
Department—The Work and
the Men Who Do It.
While Yale College has been in the
past, and still is, conspicuous for train-
ing young men in the old knowledge
and wisdom of the fathers, she has also
been foremost in the sciences which
have made such prodigious advances
during the present century. In 1804,
Benjamin Silliman was appointed “Pro-
fessor of Chimistry and Mineralogy.”
Educated as a lawyer, it was necessary
for him to go to Scotland, England
and France to find instruction to fit
him for his professorship, and to take
the few minerals Yale College then
possessed to Dr. Seybert of Philadel-
phia, the only American to be found
who was versed in such subjects, for
identification. For the first quarter
century, Professor Silliman led the way
among Americans in teaching science.
In the year 1838, the science-teaching
at Yale was done by three men, viz.,
Silliman the Professor of Chemistry,
Pharmacy, Mineralogy and Geology;
Olmsted, the Professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy, and C. U.
Shepard, assistant to the Professor of
Chemistry. The Sophomores then
studied surveying and Olmsted’s Nat-
ural Philosophy and Mechanics; the
Juniors listened to experimental _ lec-
tures on Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geol-
ogy, and select subjects of Natural
Philosophy and Astronomy, given by
Silliman. In the following sixty years
the force engaged in teaching. science
has grown, from two professors and an
assistant, to twenty full professors, six
assistant professors and directors, and
forty instructors and assistants,—a force
of sixty-six men, without mentioning
those engaged in teaching pure mathe-.
matics, or those teaching the medical
applications of science in the: Medical
School.
In no department is the characteristic
thoroughness of the Yale training bet-
ter exhibited than by the quality of the
men selected to lead in teaching these
sciences. Eleven of the full professors
are members of the National Academy
of Science, and all of them are con-
spicuous in their special departments
for their contributions to the advance-
ment of science. |
This group of related sciences is
naturally divided into four departments,
viz.: I, Mineralogy, Geology and
Paleontology; II, Physics; III, Chem-
istry; LV, Biology, all of which were
taught by Professor Benjamin Silliman
alone, less than a century ago, but by
sixty-six specialists to-day. A _ brief
statement of the scientific work and
standing of a few of the chief of them
will best exhibit Yale’s present equip-
ment for teaching the natural and physi-
cal sciences.
MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY.
Following Silliman, the late Profes-
sor J. D. Dana did more than any one
else in America to reduce the innumera-
ble facts of Geology to a science, to
show the system in the history of the
American continent, and also to sys-
tematize the science of Mineralogy.
His “Manual of Geology,’ and ‘“Sys-
tem of Mineralogy” are both classics;
and the former, in its fourth edition, is
still the standard exponent of Ameri-
can Geology the world over.
As the Scientific School developed,
the active investigation in Mineralogy
was shifted to that Department, and in
1864 Professor Brush was appointed
Professor of Mineralogy. In the next
twenty years he described many new
minerals, cooperated with Prof. Dana
in issuing the successive supplements
and. new editions of his “System of
Mineralogy,” in 1874, published his
“Manual of Determinative Mineral-
ogy’; accumulated one of the finest
study-collections of Minerals -to be
found in the Jand,. and his laboratory
became the training-place of many of
the present experts in the science, in-
cluding’ his successors, Profs. E. S.
Dana and Penfield. As Director of the
Sheffield Scientific School, Professor
Brush’s services, not only to Mineral-
ogy, but to all the sciences, have been
more important than they could have
been had he restricted his attention to
his favorite science alone.
In the field of Chemical Mineralogy
and Crystallography, Professor Pen-
field maintains the high rank for in-
vestigation and training for which the
laboratory was famous under Professor
Brush. His numerous investigations
and descriptions of new minerals are
known far and wide. His accuracy and
painstaking assistance for special stu-
dents, together with the beautiful Brush
collection of crystals, models and in-
struments and library, make the labora-
tory a favorite place for the enthusiastic
students of Mineralogy.
Professor E. S. Dana, in his “New
System of Mineralogy,’ has taken the
same place of preéminence in Physical
Mineralogy, held by his father half a
century ago in the general subject, and
collections of minerals everywhere are
labelled and catalogued according to:
this system, and definitions in Webster’s
dictionary, in the Century dictionary,
and similar places, rest upon his au-
thority for their accuracy. His “Text
Book of Mineralogy,’ and “Minerals
and How to Study Them,” bring the
science within the grasp of the general
student.
Professor Pirsson, of the Sheffield
Scientific School, gives the courses in
Petrology.« This branch of Geology is
in its infancy, but has already shown
that its chemical and microscopic
methods are adapted to exploring new
fields otherwise closed. Professor Pirs-
son has written a number of papers
dealing with the theoretical side of the
science, but his best known work has
been on the U. S. Geological Survey
in Montana, the results of which are
embodied in the four bulletins on
“Castle Mountain,” “Highwood Moun-
tain,’ ‘Bear. Paw Mountain,’ and
“Judith Mountain.” Students in this
branch are given active work in deter-
mining and classifying rocks, and study-
ing their history and origin by optical
and chemical methods.
Professor H. S. Williams is chiefly
distinguished for his studies of the re-
lations of organisms to geology. His
course, “Geological Biology,” and his
book with the same title, treat of fos-
sils as determining geological forma-
tions and their relation to environment
and past evolution. As a member of
the U. S. Geological Survey he is
known for his work and numerous
papers on the Devonian, and on the
principles of correlation in stratigraphi-
cal geology. As the American member
of the Committee of Classification and
Nomenclature of the International
Geological Congress, Professor Wil-
liams holds a place of honor and influ-
ence abroad. An outgrowth of his-
paleontological and zoological studies
is the course on the “Philosophy of Life
and Organisms,” in which life is dis-
cussed in relation to other natural
forces, and evolution is reduced to a
systematic science.
Professor Marsh offers courses to
advanced students in Vertebrate Paleon-
tology. The great advances and mar-
velous discoveries in paleontology of
the last half century are closely con-
nected with Professor Marsh’s work.
His discovery and study of the fossil
fauna of our Western States is a well-
known story, and forms an important
part of geological history. Out of.282
pamphlets and volumes written by Pro-
fessor Marsh, it is difficult to select the
most important, but to students the
most striking of. his works are: The
Discovery and Explanation of Birds
with Teeth, The Discovery and Study
of the Great Saurians of Mesozoic
Time, and the tracing of the succes-
sive genera of the horse-type from the
Orohippus of the Eocene to the modern
horse. That his standing is recognized
at home and abroad is shown by his
continuous reélection to the Presidency
of the National Academy, and as fre-
cipient of the Cuvier medal.
The Professorship of Historical Geol-
ogy in the Sheffield Scientific School is
held by Charles E. Beecher, who offers
courses in Invertebrate Paleontology.
The extensive collections of the Pea-
body Museum furnished abundant ma-
terial for illustration. Professor Beecher
is particularly known for his works on
the structure, development and affinities
of Brachiopods and Trilobites, investi-
gations which were begun while con-
nected with the New York State
Museum. He is one of the editors of
the American Geologist.
The Peabody Museum is stored with
material for comparison and_ study.
Students of Paleontology at Yale are
fortunate in having at hand such ex-
tensive and typical collections for study.
The Vertebrate fossils donated by Pro-
