THE YEAR'S WORK. INSTRUCTION. The instruction of classes in accordance with the official curriculum of the University has proceeded with undiminished efficiency. This work has been attended with more than usual difficulty owing to the large increase in enrollment, particularly in the lower classes. This increase has necessitated a larger number of sections in each class and more hours of teaching for the instructors. The number of the latter has also, necessarily, been increased. As evidence of the actual amount of instruction given, it may be stated that during any given week of the year not less than one thousand hours of class instruction were given, being an average of upwards of twenty hours' work for each full time instructor. This does not include the time given to students of the short course in agriculture, which is estimated to amount to not less than one hundred hours per week during three months. Neither does it include much of the instruction given to graduate students and candidates for degrees, whose work is largely individual and special in its character. Particularly to be mentioned are the following special phases of instruction given during the year: 1. The course in mathematics for certain sections of the junior classes in engineering, consisting of a half-year's practice in the applications of the higher mathematics to the solution of engineering problems. This course as developed by the instructors in the department has proved exceptionally valuable not only in rounding out the preceding work in pure mathematics but as a preparation for advanced study in engineering. 2. The series of lectures on technical subjects given by persons prominent in various branches of science, engineering and agriculture. The names of these lecturers are given on a preceding page. Besides frequent visits by single classes to places of interest in the immediate vicinity of the University, two official inspection trips of a general character were made under University auspices. The larger and more important of these was made by members of the junior and senior classes in engineering and chemistry to the number of seventy-six, who spent four days in Chicago and vicinity, from March 26 to March 29, inclusive, in visiting various works, laboratories and structures of technical interest. The seeond trip was made by the students of the school of agriculture from March 5 to March 9, who to the number of fifty-five visited the estates and herds of well-known farmers and stock breeders. All enterprises of this kind are conducted by members of the faculty in accordance with careful regulations and at a minimum expense to the students, whose participation is, however, entirely voluntary. Experience demonstrates that these trips are of great value in bringing students into contact with practical affairs in line with their studies, as well as in enlarging their views as to technical methods and practice. In the School of Agriculture, the most popular lines of instruction continue to be special courses in important branches of agricultural practice, as for instance-dairying, live stock husbandry, horticulture, and the care and diseases of animals. This has also been the experience in other States, and in some instances far reaching and extremely beneficial results have been exerted upon agricultural conditions through the training given in such courses. Whatever criticism may be made from an educational standpoint of such courses, it is nevertheless true that they seem to be far better adapted to the present conditions in agriculture than more pretentious and elaborate courses of study, and there can be little doubt but that the cause of agricultural education is well served in this way at this time. In no other way can the young men and women who expect to make their careers in agricultural lines receive so much benefit in so short a time. DEGREES GRANTED. During the academic year one hundred and fifty degrees were conferred as follows: Baccalaureate Degrees Bachelor of Science.. Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. 20 9 3 Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. 34 Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.. Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.. 22 Several certificates were also granted to students who had completed courses in the Winter School of Agriculture. No better evidence as to the character of the work performed by the candidates for these degrees can be given than a list of the titles of the theses prepared by them as a condition for graduation. These theses in all cases represent a piece of individual study, research or investigation, the key to which was given in a problem assigned by the department in which the work was performed. It will be observed that the subjects studied touch upon a wide range of topics, many being of great importance to the public welfare. The inevitable inference is that men and women trained in so many diverse lines can hardly fail to render a large measure of intelligent and helpful service toward the progress of their respective communities. TITLES OF THESES. Absorption of Hydrochloric Acid by Paper. The Composition of Salad Oils. The Glacial Drift of Indiana. The Analysis of Some Brick and Drain Tile Clays. Some Crystals Found in Blood Stains. The Cross-Pollination of Flowers by Insects. The Charities and Corrections of LaFayette. A Chemical Analysis of Wheat. Plants of Indiana furnishing Food for Birds. The Principles of Art as set forth in Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture. Estimation of Poisonous Metals in Sugar House Products. A Microscopical and Chemical Examination of Steel and Iron. The Composition of Breakfast Foods. The Structure of the Human Teeth. A Comparison of Some of the Tests for Formaldehyde in Milk. The Humor of Addison and Irving. Working Formulas for Elixirs. The Manufacture of Glycerophosphates. Improvement in the Working Formulas for Certain Galenical Preparations. A Study of Unproductive Soils in Hendricks and Fountain Counties, Indiana. Uterine Changes in the Domestic Animals during Gestation. A Study of Unproductive Soils of Delaware County, Indiana. Comparative Tests of a Metropolitan and a Simplex Locomotive Injector. An Investigation of the Effect of Compression and Clearance (Volume and Surface) on the Performance of a Corliss Engine. A Study of the Action of the Air in the Air Brake Drain Pipe under Various Service Conditions. Tests of a High Speed Automatic Cut-off Steam Engine to determine the Effect on the Steam Consumption of Different Rates of Expansion. Tests of Brake Shoes for the Master Car Builders' Committee. Design of a Dynamometer Car. A Study of Draft and Temperature Conditions in relation to the Boiler Performance of a Locomotive. A Study of Some Phases of Combustion in a Locomotive Boiler. The Master Car Builders' Code for Testing Air Brakes. An Experimental Study of the Elasticity of Nickel Steel. Tests of a 12 Horse Power Otto Gas Engine to determine the Effect of Changes of Speed, Load, Gas Mixtures, Jacket Temperatures and Ignition. An Investigation of the Effect of Compression and Clearance (Volume and Surface) on the Performance of a Corliss Engine. Design and Construction of a Pressure Regulator. A Study of the Resistance of Cast Iron and Cast Steel under Impact at Different Temperatures. |