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B. A. COURSES.
Two introductory courses are offered, each of which is intended to
serve as a means of rendering the student familiar with the method,
the aims, and the fundamental laws of Biology while he is engaged in
the one case with the study of plants, in the other with that of a large
and important group of animals. Each course consists of three
lectures a week throughout the session, the lectures being associated
in each case with laboratory exercises dealing with the organisms
under consideration. Graduation in either of these courses may be
offered as one of the electives for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
I. Botany.—The course begins with the study of the anatomy, both
gross and microscopic, of a series of representative plant forms, beginning
with the highest and passing to the lowest plants; this is followed
by a discussion of the elements of vegetable physiology. The
second portion of the course begins with the consideration of the principles
of classification, followed by the study of the characteristics
of the leading divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and particularly
of those which include non-vascular plants. The concluding portion
is devoted to the more specific study of the classification and distribution
of the higher plants and of the local flora.
To the student who seeks a knowledge of the principles of Biology
as a part of a general education, this course is particularly commended.
All the fundamental laws of Biology are well illustrated in the study
of the morphology and physiology of plants, and in most instances in
the beginner than is the case in the study of animals.
Text-Books.—The Bonn Text-Book of Botany (Porter tr.); Gray's Manual.
II. Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.—This course is devoted
to the study of Anatomy and Histology of Vertebrates, and to the
principles of Animal Physiology. During the first part of the session
several representative forms are dissected, the relations and functions
of their constituent organs being at the same time discussed in the
accompanying lectures. This is followed by a study of their histology,
particular attention being paid to mammalian histology as understood
by the aid of that of the lower vertebrates; the work is done in the laboratory,
the associated reading and lectures being accessory thereto.
This course is particularly recommended to students who contemplate
the study of medicine here or elsewhere. It is included in the
required work of the first year of the course in Medicine, and students
passing it with the required grade will there be credited with it.
Text-Books.—Martin's Human Body (briefer edition); Parker's Zoötomy;
The Professor's Elements of Histology.
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