The law was at once interpreted to include engineering, since it calls for College and Professional work, and was used immediately to establish such high grade engineering schools as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University. * ***** This received the approbation of the author of the law, Senator Justin S. Morrill, who in 1891, just after the passage of the Morrill Act of 1890, granting additional funds for the same purpose, wrote to Professor E. W. Stanton, of Iowa, as follows: "It is a joy to me to know that the land grant colleges in nearly every state are fully meeting the original purpose, as well as public expectations, and are offering an American system of liberal education to the great masses of our people formerly limited mainly to the instruction offered by Common Schools and Academies. * * * *** these colleges were not limited to one or two pursuits or professions of life but included many. Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts should be the foremost to be provided with the best instruction of all the ages, but, having this lead, all other branches of liberal learning should not be arrogantly ignored or excluded, and whatever is included should be taught with absolute thoroughness. The Cornell University, with its abundant endowments, is able to cover a very broad field, and to a long procession of learned pursuits and professions of life it offers the highest instruction to numerous and diverse classes. * * "* "** * The use of the grants for engineering instruction was also approved by Congress, as was demonstrated by the granting of additional appropriations for the same purpose in the Morrill Act of 1890. The best educational opinion of the times interpreted the law to include engineering. Scientific schools not classical colleges are established by the act. The terms of the law, the explanations of its author, the intent of its supporters, unite in showing this beyond a doubt. Mathematical, physical and natural science, the investigation of the laws of nature are to be the predominant study." (North American Review, October, 1867.) Besides engineering, for the "professions," the Land Grant Act calls for the "practical” education of the "industrial classes" in the several "pursuits" of life. However, experience in technical education has universally demonstrated that the trade school is necessarily local in character, and that attempts to establish a central trade school to serve a state always fail. Very recently, however, the Land Grant Colleges are successfully meeting this part of their obligation to the state and nation through the development of engineering and trade school extension work. The Land Grant Colleges are now meeting the obligation laid upon them in Section 5 of the Land Grant Act to conduct and report technical investigations helpful to the industrial classes and the State by the development and formal organization of engineering experiment stations. Present day practice interpreting the meaning of mechanic arts education is strongly in favor of a very broad and liberal meaning. "How much the phrase mechanic arts can be said to include is a matter which would be very difficult of determination. Perhaps the readiest way would be by an integration of all the subjects taught in departments of mechanic arts in the various universities. It seems to us that perhaps applied science comes reasonably near in its scope to the phrase in question,* whether certain subjects are wrongfully placed in the department of mechanic arts, we should say that present day usage sanctions the inclusion of almost anything in the nature of science or handi * * If it is a question of craft in such a department. *" Letter from G. & C. Merriam Company, publishers of Webster's Dictionary since 1843. October 20, 1913. The United States Commissioner of Education has ruled officially that the following subjects may be included under the head of mechanic arts in the reports of the treasurers of the Land Grant Colleges. (Federal Laws, Regulations, and Rulings affecting the Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, 1911.) Schedule B. Instruction in mechanic arts. 1. Mechanical engineering. 10. Architecture. In addition to the above subjects a large number of others are listed in the government regulations (in four other schedules) which are also taught to Mechanic Arts students. Manifestly the exact subjects which should be taught under the head of Mechanic Arts must vary with progress in such arts. The term Mechanic Arts is not derived from the word "Mechanics" as used to mean artisans, but goes back to its use in connection with the laws of mechanical science, as distinguished from the laws of grammar, logic, philosophy, etc., which the ancients thought higher; an opinion not admitted by the moderns. A correct, concise definition of Mechanic Arts as arts is: The Mechanic Arts are those arts which are characterized by applications of the science of mechanics. The use of the term Mechanic Arts in standard literature dates back to Francis Bacon, 1561-1626. The term was first applied to machine devices. (Letter from the Lexicographer, Literary Digest, 1913.) "The Mechanick Art is a Science which contemplates about the quantities of moving Forces, and the times in which the motion is made." Mechanick-Powers. Venturus Mandey and James Moxon, London, 1696. "Most of what are usually called the Mechanic Arts are partly mechanical and partly chemical." Webster's Dictionary, 1848. (Copyright date, 1847-on title page, 1848.) "Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, for the promotion of the Mechanic Arts, devoted to Mechanical and Physical Science, Civil Engineering, the Arts and Manufactures, and the Recording of American and other Patent Inventions." Title of the Journal for 1857. Philadelphia. "Mechanics, Applicate or Applied, is a term which, strictly speaking, includes all applications of the principles of abstract mechanics to human art, *." Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1857, American Reprint. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. * * "The mechanic arts are those which comprehend the means of promoting and facilitating the necessities of existence." The American Encyclopedia, 1859-63. "Mechanical Art is most easily distinguished from fine art by the character of its products: those of fine art represent ideas, those of mechanical art answer purposes; the former result in a gratifica * * tion of the aesthetical sense, the latter are made for practical use. *." Johnson's New Universal Cyclopedia, 1877. Edited by F. A. P. Barnard, President of Columbia, and Arnold Guyot, Professor of Geology and Physical Geography, College of New Jersey. Examples of Mechanic Arts include manufactures, mining, the processes of working metals, woods, the ceramic materials, and the other materials of construction, and the design, construction and operation of roads, pavements, railways, bridges, water supply and sewer systems, power and lighting and heating plants, telephone and telegraph systems, buildings, harbors, canals and other public works, besides numerous trades. The Mechanic Arts are to be contrasted with the Liberal Arts and the Fine Arts. The Fine Arts include poetry, music, painting and sculpture. The Liberal Arts include the general sciences, history, philosophy, etc.; in the Middle Ages they included grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Architecture is partly a Fine Art, in so far as it involves artistic design, ornamentation and decoration; and partly a Mechanic Art, in so far as it involves structural design, the strength of materials and the art of building. "In certain fields-as for instance in architecture-the fine and mechanical arts are mixed so closely together that the dominion has been disputed. Here, too, however, the abovegiven distinction will suffice. A building, whether a court house, bank, or church, is a work of mere mechanical art if it is made only to answer its practical purposes, but if it is also made to represent in its forms the ideas of worship, government, or enterprise which underlie these purposes, it is also a work of art." Johnson's New Encyclopedia, 1877. Engineering is the science and art of utilizing the materials and forces of nature for the service of man. PRESIDENT MARSTON. - The report of the committee is now before us. What action shall be taken? PROFESSOR NORRIS.-The thought occurs to me whether the second phase mentioned-I did not get the full wording of it-trade school and some other phase as the extension phase of the work, was sufficiently broad to include extension work as it is given. Trade school and short course work is mentioned as the extension phase, whereas, as a matter of fact, extension may cover more, and should cover more, than merely trade school and short course work. It may also, and does, include engineering education as well as trade school and short course work. PRESIDENT MARSTON. - That matter was considered. The words "collateral" and "short course" make the definition general enough to include various activities which are not absolutely defined at the present time. What shall be done with this report. DEAN TURNEAURE. -I move the adoption of the report. (Professor Tyler in the chair, by request of the President.) CHAIRMAN TYLER. I will call, first, for a discussion of the two topics presented yesterday morning: "Engineering Extension Work," and "Courses and Methods of Instruction in Engineering Extension Work." PROFESSOR NORRIS.-In listening to the discussion on these two topics yesterday morning, it seemed to me that perhaps the correspondence phase of extension work was somewhat neglected, and that I might add a few words on that topic. Most of the institutions represented in the discussion yesterday are not doing a great amount of correspondence education. I would like to present, however, some of the particularly valuable features of correspondence work as an extension method. It so happens that the class of students we are dealing with in extension work are men whose educational interests are necessarily almost their last interests. Their family affairs and their daily employments must come first, and as a result, the educational work which they are carrying must naturally come at odd times. On occasions they will have no time, for considerable intervals, and then again they may have considerable time. We have found in class work that where the men are all equally well situated and have about the same time at their disposal, class work does very well. But for the majority of students more flexibility is needed. The correspondence feature enables them to adapt their progress to the time which they have available, and a man is not required to go faster than he can conveniently do. If he is unable, by reason of other circumstances, to spend the proper amount of time on a lesson when it would be due in the class, he does not miss that work and become discouraged by being hurried on without sufficient foundation, but he can go as fast or as slow as he finds necessary. We have found that the combination of class work and correspondence works exceedingly well, where we have regular class instruction going through a course, but leave the matter of making the recitation reports to the convenience of the student. The instructor and the class carry on discussions of the text matter as they go along in the class; but the student who falls a little behind may delay his recitation reports. Quite frequently we find in carrying such classes that perhaps one-fourth of the students will be able to make the recitation reports on time and finish with the class, and that the other part fall behind so that when the class ends probably the majority of them have not made more than one-half of the recitation reports; but they continue to come in, so that in the course of a few weeks, or two or three months after the class is ended, the greater number of the students will have done the required work of the course. In that way we are assured that the students have obtained the benefit of the course, having seen their recitation reports and having been able to know just what they have acquired and to set them straight on anything that they may have got a little confused. The matter of payments for courses by the employers was mentioned in two or three cases yesterday. We have worked out in the last year or two some plans along that line that are working very successfully, and if the matter is presented to a company in a proper light, they are usually quite glad to do this. If you can make the firm realize that the extension organization offers them what many of them are attempting to organize themselves, an educational system of their own, but gives them something already established, with well worked out courses, with experienced instructors, and if you can assure them that the instruction will be especially adapted to the needs of their own men, they can see an immediate saving for them and immediate results, if they tie up with the extension work; just as much as, or more so, than if they had their own educational system. In that way you will find them very ready to pay for the courses. However, it does not seem to us desirable to really have outright payment for the courses. In that way you will get a large number of men who will come in because they are getting something for nothing, that have not the proper ambition and enthusiasm for the work, and you will get a large number of deadheads. The best plans seems to be to have the men themselves pay for the courses, and have the company agree to refund them all or a part of the expenses of the course on its completion in a way satisfactory to the extension department. One scheme which has been working out very well is one in which the firms pay for all or a part of the course, depending on the quality of the student's work. Two or three large corporations in Milwaukee have been doing this, and recently we have started it with a large concern in Madison. If the grade of the student exceeds, say, ninety per cent, they refund the full cost of the course, and the refund is graded down according to the student's standings so that at the point of failure they receive none of the cost of the course. In that way a student who neglects his work and does not take the full benefit of it, does not become entitled to receive payment for his course. He has some interest at stake, which is more apt to hold him to a good performance. The question of co-operation in text books was mentioned Wednesday morning, and I think there is no doubt that it would be of great value to all of us to try to co-operate in that direction. We found, when we started the work at Wisconsin, that it was absolutely necessary to develop our own texts. The published texts that are ordinarily used for residence courses leave too much to be supplied by the instructor. The extension text must be full, must be written by one who has had experience directly in the practical side of the subject, so that he can deal especially with the applications to the daily work of the men. We have been fortunate in being able to de vote considerable time to the preparation of texts, and we have made arrangements with a well known and responsible book company to publish our texts as fast as we feel satisfied that they are in shape to put in permanent form. However, we do not print anything until it has been tried out at least a year or two, and in most cases four or five years, and has gone through considerable modification and rearrangement. We have only so far been able to publish ten engineering texts, I think, and we have a large number of others under way. We have, however, a great many calls for courses that we do not feel justified, from the size of the demand, in taking up and preparing ourselves. For example, we have a very small mining interest in Wisconsin, which would not warrant us in taking up mining work. On the other hand, there are other states in which there are much larger mining interests, that might better develop the mining texts, which we could acquire and use. The same is true of railroading. In architecture we have been able to do practically nothing, although we have a great demand. We do not have courses in architecture in the university, and we really do |