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MILLER SCHOOL OF BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE.
Professor Tuttle.
Mr. Davis.
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 who seek such acquaintance with the
facts and laws of Biology as will prepare them for an intelligent study of the
relations of Biology to Agriculture.
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
accompanied in each case with associated laboratory exercises. 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 lowest
and passing to the highest plants; with this is associated a discussion of the principles
of classification and the consideration of the characteristics of the leading
divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and particularly of those which include the
non-vascular plants. The second portion of the course is devoted to the study of
the histology and physiological anatomy of the vascular plants, and of the elements
of vegetable physiology. The concluding portion is given to the more specific
study of the classification and distribution of higher plants, and to the local flora.
Text-Books.—Bessey's Essentials of Botany; MacDougal's Plant Physiology;
Gray's Manual of Botany.
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 such a manner as to cause them to be more
readily apprehended by the beginner than is the case in the study of animals.
II. Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.—This course is devoted to the
study of the Anatomy, Histology and Embryology 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. The
work of the session is concluded by a course of lectures upon vertebrate embryology,
accompanied by laboratory work upon the development of the frog, the
chick, and such other forms as may be available. This course is 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 Notes on Histology; Marshall's Embryology; Foster and Balfour's Practical
Embryology.
GRADUATE COURSES.
M. A.
In addition to the introductory or B. A. courses above described, the following
advanced courses are offered to students prepared to undertake them. In each
the work will be chiefly done in the laboratory, the student being in large measure
independent of his associates; such lectures will be given from time to time
and such reading indicated as will aid the student in an independent investigation
of the subject in hand. The relation of these courses to degrees is indicated
below.
III. Vertebrate Morphology.—An advanced course based on Course II, the
completion of which, or its equivalent, is required as preliminary. The work will
consist of more detailed comparative study of vertebrate structure and development,
and of the forms which may be regarded as phylogenetically related to the
vertebrate stock.
The subjects for the work of the session of 1898-99 will be the Nervous Axis;
the Vascular System; the Renal Apparatus; and the Tunicata.
Text-Books will be indicated as needed. The library of the department contains
a large amount of standard and periodical literature bearing on the subject matter
of this course.
IV. Zoölogy.—This course, open to graduate students only, includes the study
of Animal Morphology, as illustrated by the anatomy, histology and, as far as
possible, the embryology of a series of representative species chosen from the
principal divisions of the animal kingdom, the principles of classification, and the
by their structural affinities.
Text-Book.—Parker and Haswell's Text-Book of Zoology. For reference: Lang's
Text-Book of Comparative Anatomy; Korschelt and Heider's Embryology of Invertebrates.
The completion of Courses I and II and either III or IV will be required of
candidates for a diploma of graduation in the School of Biology, and of those
offering Biology as one of their electives for the degree of Master of Arts. Courses
III and IV will not both be given the same year at present.
PH. D.
The more advanced work in Biology will be devoted chiefly to Vertebrate
Anatomy 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 III. 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. A knowledge of the subject-matter of Course IV.
will also be required of students who take this work as their major subject for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
In addition to the Courses in Biology above described provision is made in this
School for discussion, when called for, of one of the most important of the
practical applications of Biological Science. In this connection the following
course is offered:
V. Practical Biology and Agriculture.—The relations of Biology to Agriculture
are so manifold, and the subdivisions of the latter subject so numerous, that it
would be impossible to exhaust the discussion of either in the work of any one
year. A course consisting in part of lectures and in part of an equivalent
amount of practical work and collateral reading will be offered yearly. It will
include the discussion of selected topics pertaining to Economic Botany (such
as the diseases or the parasites of plants, the natural history of cultivated varieties,
and the like); to Economic Zoölogy (such as the life-history and treatment
of iujurious or beneficial insects, external or internal parasites, the special
anatomy and physiology of the domestic animals, etc.); and to questions connected
with the Principles of Agriculture (such as the laws of growth and
nutrition of crops, the drainage and tillage of soils, systems of rotation and allied
topics). The topics discussed in such a course will be, to some extent, selected in
accordance with the objects in view of those electing it in any year. The following
suggested course will indicate a possible arrangement of subjects.
Text-Books for 1898-99.—Sorauer's Physiology of Plants (Weiss tr.); Tubeuf's
Diseases of Plants induced by Cryptogamic Parasites (Smith tr.); Chauveau's Anatomy
of the Domestic Animals.
Candidates for a diploma of graduation in Biology and Agriculture are required
to complete Courses I, II, and V.
Substitution of work fully equivalent in amount and character may be made
for the subjects published as requirements for either of the graduations in this
school from year to year in the case of any students whose previous training or
special aptitudes give good reason therefor.
The Biological Laboratory, newly domiciled in a convenient suite of rooms in
the middle of the new Academic building, is well provided with instruments for
the gross and minute dissection of animals and plants; microscopes, microtomes,
reagents, and materials for the staining and mounting of preparations; apparatus
for photography and microphotography, and other necessary appliances, not only
for student work, but for investigation and research as well. In addition to the
large and valuable collections of the Brooks Museum, an abundant supply of
other necessary specimens and material is furnished. A library of reference is
attached to the Laboratory, and students have access to a number of leading
biological and agricultural journals, thus acquiring practice in the intelligent use
of current literature.
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