PRESIDENT'S REPORT.

To the Corporation of the Institute :

Your attention is respectfully asked to the report of the Secretary, and accompanying documents.

The aggregate attendance for the year was 310, a decrease of 65 from the previous year. This decrease was probably due in great part to three obvious causes: (1), the financial crisis which came upon us so suddenly at the beginning of our year, and almost entirely cut off the usual accession of special and advanced students, who join the school after the opening; (2), the increase of the fees from $150 to $200 per annum, which now first took effect; and (3), the increase in the requisites for admission, the elements of French and solid geometry having been added to the requirements of the preceding year. And while these additional requirements, especially the French, were poorly met, and not rigorously enforced in the admission, it is still certain that they influenced the result. The second cause named is known to have changed the intention of some; but it is very probable that the first cause, and which is still operating, was the most potent of all.

It is well known that the success of the previous year was marred by the crowded state of our building. The size of the lower classes made a division into four sections neces

sary for the proper instruction in some subjects, which made an additional number of lecture and recitation rooms desirable; and in these respects but little relief has been experienced during the past year. Some relief has been afforded by professors using their private rooms more freely for small classes in their own departments; but I am obliged to again ask your earnest attention to our want of room for the proper development of several departments of the school. Nothing more can be done in our present building for perfecting and expanding the work already entered upon; and particularly in the higher departments of instruction upon which, finally, the real rank of our school must rest. No matter how good the instruction involved in our courses may be, nor how perfect the appliances, we shall bar the way to all high aims and results, if we do not in all possible ways encourage a spirit of investigation, and furnish the amplest opportunities for the most advanced instruction, and particularly for scientific research, the most powerful stimulant for both teacher and taught. It is evident that the proper buildings and equipments cannot be had without a large expenditure, and after they are obtained, cannot be maintained without a large current expense; still, if we would attract the highest grade of students, and especially if we would do all in our power to give the proper rank to industrial education, and thus aid, through research in connection with the higher instruction, and through the thorough training of our graduates, in properly developing the wonderful resources of our country, these expenditures must be met. I hope to be pardoned, if I seem too earnest in again pressing this subject upon your attention; but it cannot be, if the facts in the case were fully known by the public, that there would not be a hearty and generous response. The erection of our proposed Chemical Laboratory building, for which the State has already generously given us a site, would give the needed relief, and would probably be all we should require in the way of buildings for some years

to come.

Professor Charles H. Wing, who has charge of the department of Analytical and Organic Chemistry, during the temporary absence of Professor Crafts, says that "the room at the disposal of the department is not sufficient for instruction in Analytical Chemistry, many processes must be omitted for want of suitable arrangements for conducting them with safety, and the Professor has viewed with considerable apprehension certain operations, too important to be omitted, involving, for want of a proper room, some danger to the student and also to the building. But Analysis is the mechanical portion of Chemistry and were instruction to cease there, the student would, on graduating, have neither a knowledge of applied chemistry, nor any idea even of the scientific methods of modern chemists, would only be qualified to do the drudgery, to be the 'hewer of wood and the drawer of water' to the chemist proper. The instruction should go farther than this; and the time now allotted in the revised course for laboratory work and the zeal displayed by the students now in this department will, in the opinion of the writer, render it possible to complete the necessary analytical work during the Third Year, leaving the remaining year to be devoted to the study of practical and scientific chemistry. Omitting any discussion of the wants of the department of applied chemistry, if the erection of the new Chemical Laboratory is to be delayed, there is an almost imperative demand for a building of one story, practically fire-proof, affording to the department of analytical and organic chemistry additional room say 30 x 50 feet, more if practicable, less if needs be, but at all events some room properly fitted for chemical research (and for such operations in analytical chemistry as should not be done in the present laboratories) ready to be occupied at the commencement of the next Collegiate year.

I also ask your attention to the able and interesting statement of Professor Ordway, as an important part of this pre

sentation.

The Courses of Instruction. During the early part of the
year much time was devoted to a revision of the courses of in-
struction. It had become apparent not only that too much was
asked of the students in all the courses, but that the amount
required in the different ones was quite unequal, as was also
the work of the different years in the same course. These dif-
ficulties had grown gradually by the addition of new subjects,
and also by the desire of each Professor to make his own in-
struction as complete as possible. A new course in Metallurgy
was established for those who found the mathematics of the

Course in Mining too difficult, and preferred to devote more

time to the chemical side of their profession. To meet the

wants of the increasing number of students who do not wish

to take any of the strictly professional courses, two new ones,

one in Physics, and one in Philosophy, were added, and all

of them were made distinct from the beginning of the second

year, instead of the third, as heretofore. This extension of the

strictly professional studies over three full

prove of

great advantage in all the courses. These revised courses

went into operation, with few exceptions, at the middle of the

year; and although a few more changes will from time to time

be found desirable, yet I think that they have substantially

solved the difficulties.

years will

Graduation. The question is sometimes asked why so small

a proportion of each class graduates, and whether it is not

mainly owing to the fact that the courses are too difficult for

the average student?

To answer this question properly we should, in the first place, deduct all special students, as is done in the above table. In the second place, we should also deduct those who take all the studies of the first year without the intention of graduating, which is probably not less than twenty-five per cent. of each entering class; but this allowance has not been made in computing the percentages.

It is undoubtedly true that in the past, inadequate preparation, and an over crowding of the courses, have been efficient causes; but they are no longer controling with the majority of students. It quite frequently happens that a good student takes a strong dislike to a particular subject, and prefers to give up his degree rather than to continue it; and another supposes that by dropping some subject, which he regards as not vital, he will be able to do better in the remaining studies, a supposition which is seldom realized. There is, however, a growing desire on the part of students to graduate, and this, with better preparation for admission, and a better adjustment of our work, will from year to year increase the percentage of graduates in each class.

Theses. This is the first year in which the graduates have presented their theses before the final examination, a change which has been found feasible by the relief afforded in the revised courses during the second half of the fourth year. The general excellence of these theses, and the marked ability of several of them, certainly justify the change. Your attention is called to the abstracts on page 81 of this report.

Preparation for Admission. The High Schools and Academies of the country are, in general, becoming from year to year, more distinctly schools of science and the modern languages, and whatever tends to improve them for the education of the large numbers whose school days end with graduation from them, will the better adapt these schools to fit students for admission to the Institute.