During the present term an application of what may be called the laboratory method is being made to the first-year English of the first term. An hour of the time hitherto given to preparation has been added to a recitation period, to make a period of two hours. This is used for the writing of a fairly long theme in class, under the general supervision of the Instructor, the work being required within a given time. This method trains the student in readiness and promptness, and is in the end a time-saving device in that it makes impossible all dawdling, doubting, and indecision. It is too soon to speak with finality of the value of this laboratory method; but the results thus far are most promising.

In the matter of entrance examinations the English Department has taken a new step by breaking away definitely from enforced compliance with the list of the Commission of Colleges in New England. The enthusiastic approval of this move, as expressed in letters received from the heads of fitting-schools, shows that it is at least a step in the direction in which the best thought is moving.

ARLO BATES.

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY.

There has been no marked change in the work in History required of all regular first-year and second-year students, and of fourth-year students in Architecture. The discontinuance of the Course in General Studies was naturally accompanied by the discontinuance of instruction in the subjects given in that Course only; but the introduction of Options in General Studies in the third year has offered an opportunity to establish new courses in History and Government. These are somewhat briefer and more general in scope than those formerly given in Course IX., but reach a considerably larger number of students.

CHARLES F. A. CURRIER.

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, STATISTICS, AND
POLITICAL SCIENCE.

As a result of the changes in the allotment of time in the third year, the required instruction in Political Economy is now compressed into the first term, the class meeting three times a week instead of twice as in former years. It is believed that this arrangement will be advantageous, as it secures concentration of attention and interest.

The instructors in this Department are developing the practice of individual conferences with students, and it is hoped to emphasize still further this part of the course.

DAVIS R. DEWEY.

DEPARTMENT OF MODERN LANGUAGES.

The work of the Department of Modern Languages has been carried on substantially on the lines indicated in the last annual Report. Attention has been directed chiefly to the proper proportioning of oral and written work, and to giving students a symmetrical training in the directions of pronunciation and conversation on one side and of reading and translation on the other. The number of text-books has been diminished, and the vocal use of the languages encouraged.

Students admitted to the courses in Modern Languages have generally had little or no training in pronunciation. With a view to repairing this deficiency, the recitation rooms of all the French sections have been equipped with charts giving exercises for practising pronunciation. Students are marked separately on pronunciation and on other work, and given the mean of the two as a general or record mark. A thorough inquiry has been made into the various graphophones or talking machines that are offered for sale as aids in imparting and acquiring pronunciation, and the purchase of a number of such machines

of a particular pattern for the use of the Department is likely to be recommended.

In addition to pronunciation charts and talking machines, the section rooms should, if practicable, be provided with simple pictures to which the teacher might point to designate objects which he wishes to bring to the minds of the students without making use of English; such pictures as are especially designed for class-room use, as the German "Anschauungsbilder." These and such other objects as foreign calendars, posters, and photographs might help materially to make the courses in Modern Languages more instructive. Mechanical and other technical drawings are especially needed. The text-books in common use in scientific reading are very defective in respect to illustration.

The number of students who failed to meet the entrance requirements in Languages made it expedient to provide instruction for them in French I. and German I. It is expected that the same condition will obtain next year.

At the beginning of this school year a section was formed in Italian, but had to be abolished, as the only available Instructor, Mr. Erhardt, had to give his whole time to other languages. In view of this fact, the increasing demand for Spanish, and the present size of the sections, it appears that the Department has, or soon will have, employment for an additional Instructor.

The work devolving upon the several Instructors has been performed with zeal and efficiency. Professor Vogel edited and published through Heath and Company a German reader entitled "Geschichten aus der Tonne," by Theodor Storm.

JOHN BIGELOW, Jr.

Reports of Administrative Officers.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE FACULTY.

The Faculty business of the year has consisted largely in the conclusion of certain curriculum changes to which reference has been made in previous Reports, and in the preparation of a report to the Corporation on the Proposed Agreement with Harvard University.

The changes of the curriculum, now in operation for all classes except that of 1906, have comprised the substitution for two hundred and seventy hours' work in French or German of one hundred and twenty hours in elective work in Economics, English, Modern Languages, or History (including History of Science), and of the remaining one hundred and fifty hours in professional subjects. This has fortunately not meant.as a rule an increase in the number or variety of professional subjects, but rather the allotment of more time to those already included. The changes have affected primarily the third year and to a less extent the second and fourth.

The distribution of third-year students among the several General Electives for the present term is as follows: Economic History, 37; Advanced English Composition, 9; English Literature of the Eighteenth Century, 35; French III, 7; German III, 17; French Sight Reading, 15; German Sight Reading, 15; Spanish, 75; Comparative National Government, 14, International Law, 62; History of Science, 53

One of the principal difficulties in the whole arrangement consisted in the reservation of hours for the electives which would admit of the participation of students from all Departments. It was found practicable to reserve a single hour in

the Tabular View for this purpose, subjects requiring more than one hour being then relegated to the 4-5 P.M. period for the remainder.

Among other departmental changes may be mentioned the further development of the Geological Option (3) in Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, in which there are this year nine candidates for graduation; the announcement of the discontinuance of Landscape Architecture as an undergraduate Option; important changes in the Courses in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; and the remodelling of Course XII (Geology) into a Course in Geology and Geodesy. Fuller details in regard to these changes may be found under the respective departmental reports.

A change in connection with requirements for graduation, particularly affecting candidates who fall short of completing the Course in four years, is embodied in the following rule adopted by the Faculty:

"The degree of the Institute represents not only the formal completion of the subjects in the selected Course of study, but also the attainment of a satisfactory standard of general efficiency. Any student who does not show in the fourth-year work of his Course that he has attained such a standard may be required. before receiving the degree to take such additional work as shall test his ability to reach that standard. This additional work shall consist in the preparation of a thesis during the last term of residence, unless otherwise provided by a special vote of the Faculty, and in the pursuance of such new studies and the repetition of such of those previously taken as may be required by the Faculty; and, in general, an amount of work per term substantially equivalent to that involved in the regular Courses of study will be required during any subsequent period of residence."

The entrance requirement in Physics announced last year has become operative for the present first-year class. The examinations of the present year were made relatively simple, and the proportion of failures was not unexpectedly great. It