Abstract
G. B. H. HAS, I am glad to see, criticised effectively the syllabus of Elementary Biology put forth by the Conjoint Board (NATURE, vol. xlvii. p. 530). A less fortunate course of study could hardly have been devised. The students who take the course include a number whose previous education, energy and ambition are not sufficient to encourage them to attempt a university course, and the average quality is therefore not very good. They work through a number of unicellular types, which give no training for the hands, though they are no doubt useful in other ways. Then come Hydra and the Leech. Hydra is of course a good subject. The Leech is not instructive to a student who has no knowledge of similar animals, and the untrained man cannot possibly dissect it for himself. The rest of the course consists of parasitic worms and certain generalities. The parasitic worms commonly have the nervous system, heart, and sometimes even the alimentary canal absent or poorly developed, while the reproductive organs are of extraordinary complexity. From these the student has mainly to derive his notions of the plans of structure which are found among animals. Such a course of study looks practical, but it is almost pure waste of time. It does not teach the student to dissect, nor does it introduce him to those problems of Nature which are most accessible to a beginner. In fact, the whole course may be expected to evaporate shortly, leaving behind nothing more valuable than a recollection of the outward appearance of certain parasitic worms.
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M., L. Medical Biology. Nature 48, 29 (1893). https://doi.org/10.1038/048029a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/048029a0
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