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THE STUDENTS JOURNAL.
Kate Anderson, of Independence; Miss Edith Clark, of Lawrence; Miss Margaret Menet, of Lawrence; Miss Matilde Hendricks, of Humbolt; Miss Florence Parrot, of Lawrence; Mr. B M. Dickinson, of Everet; Mr. Ralph W. Cone, of Seneca.
A REPRESENTATIVE of the JOURNAL was taken around at the Chemistry building yesterday and furnished with some additional information regarding the pressing needs of that important department of University work. The overcrowded condition of the laboratories and the limited lecture room facilities of this building, which houses the two departments of Chemistry and pharmacy have already been set forth in the columns of the JOURNAL. One lecture room, besides being wholly inadequate for the accommodation of the yearly Freshman class must also serve during the year for nine other classes in Chemistry. The pharmacy department has no lecture room facilities whatever; the instructors in this school being forced to carry on their lectures and recitation work in the laboratories. But this is not the worst. Although necessitating much extra work on the part of instructors in fitting up and dismounting apparatuses, and Seniors inconvenience in the arrangement of hours—still good work might be done even under such conditions. A much more serious state of affairs confronts the students in the laboratory. Elementary classes must be cut off with from one half to one quarter the time which should be spent at laboratory work, because of lack of desk room and necessary apparatus. In some important branches of Chemistry
—to mention especially one, a class of forty in organic chemistry—no laboratory work whatever can be done under existing circumstances. The JOURNAL scarcely needs to remind its readers that results even partially satisfactory cannot be obtained unless the student is given opportunity to manipulate and observe for himself. It is a question among educators whether scientific courses without accompanying laboratory work are not worse than useless If the work in the important science of chemistry which together with its sister science physics forms the basis for the intelligent prosecution of all other natural sciences to hold its place with the other departments of the University it is imperative with the present legislature to provide means for the erection of a suitable building for carrying on instruction according to modern methods.
Even at the risk of becoming tedious the JOURNAL submits the following figures to show some of the difficulties under which work is now carried on in this department. During the past year three hundred and fifty students in sixteen classes were enrolled in the department; from present indications the number for the present school year will considerably exceed four hundred. These students must do all the laboratory work required of them in two laboratories, capable of accommodating at one time fifty seven workers. During the first half year beginning chemistry, students in Quantitative analysis must be crowded together in one laboratory. As a consequence the work in all suffers and especially that of the beginner whose work is curtailed in favor of the more advanced workers. These beginners are cut off with three hours per week for ten weeks when they should have at least ten hours per week for twenty weeks. Fully as unsatisfactory state of affairs exists in the other laboratories in the building. The University of Chicago has a Chemical laboratory erected at a cost of $250,000, Pennsylvania has one which cost $125 000 The state Universities of Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska are all supplied with commodious laboratories built at costs from $40 000 to 100.000 dollars. Kansas should and can teach Chemistry as well as can any of her sister states. If the department is allowed to limit the number of students to fifty, a half dozen of whom are allowed to take advanced work good results can be attained with present facilities. If 400 students are to work with accommodations provided for fffty, the results of such instruction must be obvious
F. B. Dains, instructor in Chemistry in '93-'94, writes from the Chicago University of his special work in Chemistry at that Institution. He and J. R. Rothrock of'94 have recently published in the "American Chemical Journal," two valuable articles which contribute largely to our knowledge of Organic Chemistry.