University of Virginia :: March, 1907 :: University of Virginia Library

The work of this school is designed to meet the wants of students
who desire such knowledge of the principles of Biology and of the methods
of biological research as should properly form part of a liberal education,
or who desire such training as will fit them for independent work as
students or as teachers in that department of knowledge; and of those

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who seek such acquaintance with the facts and laws of Biology as will
prepare them for an intelligent study of the relations of the biological
sciences to the art of Agriculture as described in another portion of this
catalogue (p. 204).

Each student who enters upon the work of either of the courses
described below is required to provide himself with a section razor, a
good pocket magnifier, a small case of dissecting instruments, and a note
book of approved pattern. All other necessary apparatus, reagents, etc.,
are furnished by the laboratory. There is a laboratory fee for materials
consumed in connection with the work of all but the first three courses.

Primarily for Undergraduates.

Course 1: General Biology.—In view of the fact that no elementary
instruction in either of the biological sciences is now given in the majority
of the schools tributary to the University, and that by far the greater
number of its students have therefore had no preliminary training in the
methods of experiment and observation necessary for their pursuit, provision
is for the present made for an introductory course in Biology. This
is intended primarily to make the student familiar with the laboratory
method of study, and at the same time to impart to him some direct
knowledge of the most readily discernible facts of structure and laws of
functions concerning a series of representative plants and animals. In it
he is taught to observe, to record the results of his observations, and to
make deductions therefrom; is made familiar with the microscope and
with the simpler and more frequently used processes of biological technique.
A brief survey is made of both the vegetable and the animal
kingdom, preparing the student for the systematic study of either of the
great divisions of the organic world.

Course 2: Botany: Course 1 prerequisite.—The course in structural
and Systematic Botany is largely given to the study of anatomy and
histology of representatives of the principal divisions of the Vegetable
Kingdom, beginning with the lowest and passing to the highest plants; as
far as possible, representative life-histories are also studied and discussed.
The concluding portion of the course is devoted to the specific study of the
classification and distribution of the higher plants, and of the local flora.

Course 3: Zoölogy: Course 1 prerequisite.—In this course a study
is made of a series of forms representative of the principal divisions of
the animal kingdom. The practical work of the laboratory is supplemented
by lectures upon the organization and life-history of the forms
examined, and that of allied forms, and upon their relations as indicated
thereby. The course is devoted chiefly but not wholly to the study of the
invertebrates, and one or more of the leading groups will be discussed and
studied somewhat in detail in such a manner as to illustrate the principles
and the meaning of zoölogical classification as based upon structure and
development.

Courses 2 and 3 are not both given the same year at present.

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For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course 4: Histology and Cytology: Course 1 prerequisite.—The
course comprises a comparative study of the elements of structure in the
lower and the higher animals, and of their embryological development, in
such manner as to elucidate the evolution of the tissues and tissue
elements; together with a study of the phenomena of cell organization
and cell life in both plants and animals. It includes practice in the more
advanced methods of technique, and a critical discussion of the microscope
and its intelligent use, as means of attaining the end in view.

Course 5: Plant Morphology: Courses 1 and 2 prerequisite.—An
advanced course based on Course 2, the completion of which, or its equivalent,
is necessary as a preliminary. In it the student is required to make
special study of at least one group of Algæ and one of Fungi; of one
division of the Archegoniatæ, and of one family of Seed Plants. Careful
examination will be made in each case of the structure and life-history
of as many species of the group as possible. Assignment of work among
the members of the class will be so made as to avoid as far as possible
the duplication of work by students of the same class, each member
working altogether independently.

Course 6: Invertebrate Morphology: Courses 1 and 3 prerequisite.—In
this course the student will be required to make detailed and
critical study of at least one class of the Protozoa; of one order of the
Cœlenterata; and of the anatomy, histology, and as far as possible the
embryology of representative members of one phylum of the cœlomatous
Metazoa. As in the preceding course, work will be assigned independently
to the different members of the class.

Courses 4 and 5 are not both given the same year at present.

For Graduates Only.

Course 7: Vertebrate Morphology: Courses 1, 3 and 4 prerequisite.
—The work of the course begins with a study of Vertebrate Embryology:
this is followed by the detailed comparative study of the structure and
development of one or more systems of organs as existing in the vertebrates
and in those forms which may be regarded as phylogenetically related
to the vertebrate stock. The library of the department contains a
large amount of standard and periodical literature bearing on the subject
matter of this course, and the reading of the student will be directed as
far as possible in accordance with his individual needs.

The more advanced work in Biology will be devoted chiefly to Vertebrate
Histology and Morphology, each of the systems of organs being in
turn critically studied; it will in substance be an extension of the work
of Course 6. Such lectures will be given and such reading assigned as
may be deemed advisable, but the larger part of the work will be done
in the laboratory of the University and at such seaside or other laboratories
elsewhere as may be designated, the principal object of the course
being to train the student in methods of original investigation while he is
becoming acquainted with the present state of our knowledge of the vertebrates
and their allies.