Robert W. Greenleaf.Robert W. Greenleaf.
The introductory lesson dealt with the relation of botany to its various subdivisions and to other studies. The meaning of morphology was illustrated by comparing the four plant members—root, stem, leaf, and plant hair—with the different plant organs, and a practical exercise, with specimens whose parts were sketched and labeled, was given to show that the position and mode of development of a part determine its rank as a member or structural division, while its function may give it quite a different rank as an organ.
A preliminary view of vegetable histology, considering the shape, wall, markings in the wall, and contents of cells, was next given. This was followed by lessons on vegetable physiology, in which the absorption of liquids and gases for the making of food, assimilation, transfer and storage of food, the growth of cells and tissues, the excretion of waste products, special kinds of work, as climbing, catching of insects, etc., reproduction, and the process of metabolism as illustrated in cells, were treated of first in a general way and then elaborated upon in the succeeding lessons. Much time was devoted to the anatomy, histology, and germination of seeds and to the structure and function of root, stem, and leaf. The morphology of fruits and their anatomical classification (profusely illustrated from the fruits of the market and neighboring fields), with a discussion of the contrivances for dissemination of fruits and seeds, furnished subject-matter for both a profitable and interesting lesson.
The last lessons of this set were devoted to the study of the flower and its parts, particularly stamens and pistils, and ended with an explanation of the processes of pollination and fertilization. The work of making vertical and horizontal plans of the flower served as an introduction for the second year's course on Systematic Botany, wherein the relations between the common families of flowering plants were shown. This course was illustrated by numeroushothouse flowers and also by dried specimens, of which one hundred kinds were given to each teacher. This course was given to teachers, many of whom could by means of a key analyze any common flower, but who knew nothing of the principles of plant relationship. The theories of special creation and of evolution were explained, and the theory of descent with variation was taken as a hypothesis.
Starting with this theory of evolution as a basis, the structure of certain families was studied and they were taken as types with which other related families were compared. After a classification of all known flowering plants into gymnosperms and angiosperms, and subdividing the latter into monocotyledons and dicotyledons, the lily family was considered as typical of monocotyledons. It and its related families afforded a simple means of demonstrating the problems under consideration. Members of this family were found to be characterized by having an endogenous stem, usually parallel veined leaves, six-parted perianth free from a three-celled superior ovary, and six stamens. The allied families were shown to agree with the type in the internal or fundamental characters, such as the number of carpels and cells of the ovary, but were found to differ in the more external or environmental characters, such as the arrangement of the parts of the perianth.
After studying the relations between the various groups of endogens, the trees and weeds of the apetalous division of exogens were next considered, and throughRanunculaceæconnected with polypetalous dicotyledons. These latter were classified according to whether the parts of the flower were hypogenous, perigynous, or epigynous. These terms signify, respectively, under the pistil, around the pistil, and on the pistil. In this group the rose family presented several modifications of the pistil, according to which it was divided into tribes.
When the group ofGamopetalæwas studied,Solanaceæ, the nightshade family, with its regular flower, andLabiatæ, or mint family, with irregular flower, were taken as types with superior ovaries. Various modifications from these types were found in several families.
Ericaceæ, the heath family, presented, in its suborders ofEricineæ,Pyroleæ, andMonotropeæ, which had superior ovaries, andVacciniæ, which had inferior ovaries, an intermediate order between the precedingsuperæand followinginferæ, of which latter groupCampanulaceæwas considered a type.
The relations between many families were traced, and theCompositæwere lastly considered, this family showing the greatest differentiation with its coalescence of circles, adnation of different circles, reduction in parts, and number of individuals brought together.The greatest deviation from a simple flower and a complexity of structure were here presented. Through the co-operation of parts these flowers were of high physiological efficiency.
Throughout the course, families of medicinal or other economic value, or such as presented evidences of adaptation for cross-fertilization, dissemination of seed, life in desert regions, or contained examples of parasiticism or many poisonous genera, were incidentally considered.
Carefully made illustrated notebooks, collections of dried specimens, and other evidences of interest in the course were shown by the teachers, who gained great facility in placing an unknown flower in its proper family without the use of a key or botany.
The next set of lessons in the botanical series consisted of the usual number (fifteen) on cryptogamic botany. This was perhaps the course which was the most difficult of presentation; but, notwithstanding, much dried and fresh material, representing chiefly the higher cryptogams, was distributed among the pupils and examined by them.
The fourth and last year of the series was spent on paleobotany. This was a somewhat novel and valuable course, which was particularly appreciated by those who had studied geology and paleontology in other classes of the school. A large amount of laboratory material was provided from the museum. The duplicate fossil specimens of the society were used by the class, and ninety determined species were figured by many members. Since the close of these lessons persons who have shown throughout the four years a satisfactory knowledge of botany and have passed the examinations, in the most exhaustive course ever given in the subject for teachers, have received certificates stating their qualifications.
George H. Barton.George H. Barton.
In the spring of 1887, owing to a suggestion made by Professor W. O. Crosby and to assistance furnished by him, a private course of instruction was arranged by Prof. G. H. Barton, of the Institute of Technology, for a series of lessons in field geology. Twenty-one persons, nearly all of whom had attended Professor Crosby's course in The Teachers' School of Science, took these lessons with great enthusiasm. The series of lessons was continued in the autumn, with the addition of twelve new members to the class. From this beginning has grown the systematic course of field instruction in geology now carried on as one of the regular courses. As at present conducted, it consists of a series of lessons in the autumn and spring of each year, so arranged as to give detailed instruction in methods of observation covering a range through all portions of the subject, embracing mineralogy, lithology, structural geology, historical geology, and physiography.
Teachers' School of Science. Field Class in Geology. Prof. George H. Barton, Instructor.Teachers' School of Science. Field Class in Geology. Prof. George H. Barton, Instructor.
The method pursued is as follows: The class is taken to a typical place for illustrating the subject in hand. The area to be studied is pointed out, and then for a half hour or so the class is asked to make observations unassisted by the instructor and with as little communication among themselves as possible. Then they are called together and questions are asked to draw out the results of their observations, free discussion being invited at this time, and questions from the class answered by the instructor. Then the instructor explains the phenomena studied, and finally gives a general lecture upon the particular subject involved. Notes, taken in the field, are carried home and rewritten and then handed in at the next lesson, to be corrected and returned later. A printed synopsis is furnished each member of the class at every lesson, for which payment is made sufficient to cover the cost of the printing. Each member is also required to be provided with a hammer, chisel, and compass.
The course of instruction begins with a discussion of the general principles of erosion, and one lesson each is given at places illustrating an excess of chemical and mechanical action. At Medford a very broad dike of coarsely crystalline diabase, penetrated by numerous cracks, furnishes an exceptionally good opportunity for the observation of rapid chemical decomposition, an almost complete gradual transition being shown from the fresh unaltered rock through all degrees of decomposition to the formation of soil. The cause of the decomposition is explained, with the resulting products, and the history of the latter is traced till they form parts or the whole of a new rock. A drumlin is seen, at Great Head, Winthrop, being undermined and worn away by the waves. By comparison with other drumlins in the neighborhood, the original form of Great Head can be easily restored mentally and the effect of waves and currents upon a coast can be readily appreciated. In an excursion to North Adams and rides over the Hoosac Mountains and to the summit of Greylock, rivers are seen in their various stagesof action, the cutting backward by the cascade action, the cutting downward of torrent action, and the more quiet transportation and final deposition of the streams passing through the lower levels and approaching the sea. From the sides of Hoosac and Greylock the surface of the Massachusetts plateau is seen, with its dissection by the Berkshire and Deerfield Valleys, illustrating the broad effects of erosion over the surface of the continent.
Passing next to a discussion of the disposition of the material that is derived by erosion from the land, a lecture upon the sorting action of water is given, and the resultant beds of gravel, sand, and clay are studied in a section cut by the Fitchburg Railroad through the sand plateau at Lake Walden, in Concord.
The next step is to study these products of deposition in their consolidated forms. At Parker Hill, Roxbury, a large quarry furnishes opportunity for the study of conglomerate, special attention being paid to the means of determination of stratification in a nearly homogeneous, coarse material. Here also is a large section in a drumlin left in a nearly vertical face by excavation about twenty years ago, and now illustrating finely the action of rain during the years. This forms an instructive contrast with the marine erosion of Great Head, Winthrop. Any one of the numerous slate quarries at Somerville serves the purpose of studying stratification in a fine, homogeneous material. In each of these three last-named places the various phenomena of stratified rocks are studied, such as unconformity, cross-bedding, ripple-marks, strike, and dip, but attention is confined more especially to the original structures, subsequent structures being left for later lessons.
Eruptive rocks are then taken up and studied in respect to their origin and original structures. The quarries near Winter Hill, in Somerville, furnish an admirable opportunity to study dikes. Here a small hill of slate is intersected by three series of dikes of different character and intersecting each other at various angles, enabling a determination of their relative ages. An intrusive bed, now separated from its parent dike by erosion, affords the means of comparing the characteristics of the two forms and of tracing out the relation between them. The inclined positions of the dike and bed and the numerous quarries furnish several sections in varying relations to the two. The various dikes and the inclined position of the inclosing slate give an excellent chance for the first instruction in the making of geological maps and sections. Notes are taken for this purpose, and both maps and sections are constructed and handed in at a later date.
At Marblehead Neck various other eruptive structures, such as flow structure, ancient ash-beds, etc., are seen in the felsite, of whichmany varieties occur there. Attention is especially called to the liability of mistaking flow structure for stratification, the similarities and differences being explained. At Marblehead Neck, also, a careful study is made of the formation of pebbles, all stages being shown from the dislodging of fragments from the cliffs by frost action, the dropping into reach of the waves, the first rounding of the sharp angles to the subangular outline, and finally the rounding of the fragment into a complete pebble form.
At Newton Centre a study of contemporaneous beds is made, including their relations to the inclosing rocks and a comparison of their characteristics with those of intrusive beds.
Eruptive masses, metamorphic rocks, and vein phenomena are all well shown at Fitchburg, where Rollstone Hill is an eruptive mass of granite cutting through the metamorphic mica schists and gneisses, and the granite in turn is cut by very numerous veins of pegmatite, abundantly rich in tourmaline crystals and occasionally having beryl.
Glacial structures are next taken up. At Newtonville is studied the esker and sand plateau, rendered famous by the work of Prof. W. M. Davis and others; at Clinton an exceptionally fine set of terraces, and the best example ofroches moutonnéesnear Boston, where a class can be taught in a very few minutes to recognize that the movement of the ice sheet must have been from the north toward the south; and at Stow and Haverhill are studied drumlins.
After this, special attention is devoted to the subsequent structures of rocks, such as folds, faults, cleavage, joints, etc. Typical places, as before, are selected for each, and the work carried on in the same manner. When this course has been entirely accomplished, then places of greater complexity and where the problems are not quite so plain are visited, and opportunity is given to exercise the skill or knowledge already gained.
Following this, a series of lessons is devoted to the study of typical places illustrating the various historical strata occurring in Massachusetts; among others, Nahant and Braintree for the Cambrian, Attleboro for the Carboniferous, Mount Holyoke for the Triassic, Gay Head for the Cretaceous and Tertiary, Rockport, Martha's Vineyard, and claypits of Cambridge for the Glacial Champlain.
The work in this course has been marked by enthusiasm, and the attendance has been very large, reaching a maximum of two hundred and ten, with an average attendance of seventy-one in the autumn of 1896. As a direct outcome of this work, and connected with it, several excursions to distant points have been made by parties under the charge of Professor Barton during the summer vacations. Themost important of these were the following: A five-days' trip through western Massachusetts; a seven-weeks' trip to the Pacific coast, including visits to the Lake Superior copper regions, the Yellowstone Park, Butte, Montana, Great Shoshone Falls in Idaho, Columbia River, Mount Hood, Frazer Cañon in British Columbia, the Great Glacier of the Selkirks, and the Hot Springs at Banff; and two trips through Nova Scotia, one in 1894 and another in 1898. In each of the latter trips special attention has been paid to the various kinds of mining coal, iron, and gold, to the famous mineral localities like Cape Blomidon, and to the general geology.
Also, connected with this work, a special course of lessons has been given by Professor Barton each spring to a class from the Boston Normal School, and many occasional lectures and field lessons to the classes of the State Normal School at Framingham, and at other schools, teachers' clubs, etc. During the Boston exhibition of the cyclorama of the volcano of Kilauea, Hawaii, over three hundred teachers and a large number of schools visited that exhibition and listened to personal lectures by Professor Barton in direct connection with the work of The Teachers' School of Science.
Owing to the request of members of the field class, a private class was organized in the winter for a course of twelve lessons in mineralogy. This proving successful, and a demand for laboratory work being shown, this work was incorporated as a distinct course in the school. It was during the early part of this work that Professor Barton introduced for the first time in The Teachers' School of Science the system of daily and final examinations—a systemsince followed as the general practice of the school and now considered as one of its most fundamental features.
This course, after various experiments, has finally developed into a definite four-years' course of instruction, at the end of which those members who have met all the requirements receive the diploma of the school. The full four-years' course is designed to give a thorough training in the fundamental principles of geological science. Each year is given a series of fifteen lessons of two hours each, partly laboratory, partly lecture, and fully illustrated with specimens and diagrams. The first year's work is devoted to mineralogy. One introductory lecture is given on the principles of chemistry as the basis of understanding the composition of minerals, and the four following lessons are devoted to a study of the physical properties, mainly crystallography. During the remaining lessons, about one hundred and fifty of the commonest mineral species are studied, the class being required to learn to recognize each species and be able to tell its composition.
The second year's work with lithology is carried on largely in the same way as with mineralogy. At first a brief review is made of the most important rock-forming minerals. Then all the commoner species of rocks are taken up and studied, so as to learn to recognize each species at sight and to tell its composition. Besides this, lectures are given upon the origin of the rocks and the derivation of their component materials, involving a large amount of dynamical geology.
During the third and fourth years are taken up, respectively, structural and historical geology. Both these subjects are taught largely by lectures, illustrated by charts and diagrams, a select set of specimens for the table, and a few such specimens as can be passed around the room. In the historical geology special care is taken to furnish for class use as many specimens as possible of the typical rocks and fossils of the various ages. It is nearly impossible to provide so abundantly, however, as for mineralogy and lithology. As regards examinations, the methods used are as follows: The first half hour of each exercise is taken up with answering questions or identifying specimens, the examinations in all cases being written. The ground covered by each examination includes all that has been gone over during that year previous to the examination. After the examination is finished, the instructor briefly answers and explains the questions. The papers so handed in are marked by the instructor and returned the following week. All of this serves to enable the class to keep a comprehensive grasp of the subject constantly in hand. At the end of each year's work a final examination of three hours in length is given, covering the complete subject. The finalrank given each member is made up equally from an average of the term's work and the final examination. This course has proved decidedly popular. The instruction was originally given in the Geological Department of the Institute of Technology, in a room adapted to seating thirty-six persons. This was gradually crowded to accommodate fifty-six persons. At the beginning of the last four-years' course the number of the applications was so large that each applicant was required to sign a printed statement promising to be present at all exercises for the four years, except for good and sufficient reasons. One hundred and seventeen persons gave the required promise. In order to meet this demand, two divisions were formed, and on each Saturday afternoon the same lesson was repeated. In order to defray the additional expense of the second division the members of the class voluntarily contributed three dollars each. The labor of repeating the lessons on the same afternoon proving too great, provision was made the second year to transfer the instruction to the large lecture hall of the Natural History building, where accommodations were made for one hundred and twelve students. The work has since been carried on there, and a complete new set of specimens, diagrams, etc., is gradually being obtained.
The membership of the class is, of course, principally made up from Boston and the towns immediately surrounding, but a few come from places as far distant as towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island, from Bridgewater, Scituate, Framingham, Fitchburg, Lowell, Lawrence, and Beverly.
One member of the class has made an exhaustive study of the granites of eastern Massachusetts, and others are teaching geology in secondary schools outside of Boston.
An important and influential outcome of the first lessons of Mr. Barton was the formation, in the fall of 1888, of the Barton Chapter of the Agassiz Association, by seven ladies who had been fellow-students in mineralogy. Later, men and other ladies who had attended Mr. Barton's field lessons were invited to join. For ten years this club has flourished, and held weekly evening meetings for nine months of the year, at which the members have done much systematic work in the study of geology, mineralogy, chemistry, botany, entomology, and zoölogy. At some of the sessions the individual members have taken their share of the work by the preparing of exhaustive papers which have been read to and discussed by the class, and sometimes a series of lessons has been given by specialists in the several departments. Many of the first scientists of Boston have aided this association by the giving of lectures and advice regarding courses of lessons and opportunities for study,while the club has in return been a great benefactor to many who sought its instruction and the association of those with like tastes. In arranging regular Saturday outings for the study of field geology and botany, this club was the pioneer in this vicinity of the kind of study which happily now seems to be fast becoming popular. A number of persons who were members of this association in their younger years are now holding positions in the United States Geological Survey or other departments of the Government, or in the capacity of curator or instructor are connected with large museums, colleges, or schools in different parts of the country, thereby having opportunities to continue their favorite lines of work, to spread a knowledge of the things about them, and to induce in others tastes such as were fostered in them while connected with the Barton Chapter of the Agassiz Association.
Field Class in Zoölogy. Looking for Shore Life among the Bowlders at Woods Hole.Field Class in Zoölogy. Looking for Shore Life among the Bowlders at Woods Hole.
Since closing the four-years' course in botany Dr. Greenleaf has repeated the lessons on vegetable morphology and physiology and those on systematic botany. Finding the class not so well prepared as in former years, instead of continuing the third course of the series, he has given a set of fifteen lessons on the elementary structure and function of flowering plants, as he believedthat course to be a necessary foundation for further botanical study.
Another feature of The Teachers' School of Science should not remain unnoticed. It consists of effective work in zoölogy and geology by Mr. A. W. Grabau, the official guide in the museum and a graduate student of geology. A course of lessons on The Shore Animals of New England was begun by him in April, 1897. Directly connected with these field lessons was held a class in laboratory work, which was attended by about twenty persons.
The next year Mr. Grabau endeavored to give his audience a comprehensive view of the action of cold and heat, of winds and waves, rain and rivers, and of the chemical effect of the atmosphere in the production of the natural features of the earth's surface, by giving eight lectures on The Surface of the Earth, its Rocks, Soils, and Scenery. Special attention was given to the scenery of New England, and this awakened an interest in local scenery, which interest led to Mr. Grabau giving several lectures in surrounding towns, under local auspices. One of these lectures called the attention of the people of Arlington, Massachusetts, to the fact that they had in their midst a valuable geological monument, and led them to start a movement for the preservation of a terminal bowlder moraine on Arlington Heights, which is the only good accessible example of such moraine near Boston.
Under the same instruction ten lessons were given on the use of the microscope and the preparation of specimens of hydroids.
The work begun at the winter lectures was continued during the spring by excursions to the seashore. The beaches of Revere, Swampscott, Marblehead; the cliffs and tide pools of Nahant, Marblehead Neck, and Nantasket, and the mud flats and piles of Beverly, were explored. One excursion was made to the outer shore of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. The party spent four days on this excursion.
During the early part of the summer an outing was made to Bayville, Maine, where a laboratory was furnished, with microscopes and other accessories, and fourteen persons (mostly teachers) devoted ten days to the study of marine fauna, special attention being given to hydroids. Some geology was studied during this excursion, and a small island mapped. Those who attended this expedition were delighted with an experience new to most of them, as many of them had not before studied zoölogy and knew not what a field could be opened by the study of natural history. One of the party afterward remarked, "I feel as if I had been born into a new world, so different are these things in their homes from their representations in books."
In the autumn and following spring field lessons were given on marine zoölogy, the object being to study animals in their natural habitats. Another excursion was made to Woods Hole, Buzzards Bay, and a summer laboratory established for ten days at Goldsborough, Maine, where work similar to that done the previous summer was here carried out. Among the field lessons of the spring of 1899 was an excursion of four days' duration to Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Islands, where there was an opportunity to study a marine fauna southern in character and different from that found on the Maine coast. On the afternoon of Agassiz's birthday a sail was taken to another of this group of islands—Penikese, the site of the famous summer school. In the evening the class of seventeen persons listened to the reading of selections from the life of Agassiz, poems regarding him, and magazine articles describing events connected with the great meeting in the summer of 1873. The next day an excursion was made to Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, where the afternoon was spent in studying the wonderfully colored clay cliffs and in searching for fossils. As an outcome of Mr. Grabau's field lessons the Hale House Natural History Club was formed. This club consists of teachers and other persons who have banded together for the study of natural history. Meetings are held twice a month, and similar classes have been formed for children of the neighborhood.
The Teachers' School of Science has been of great assistance to the Boston Normal School by furnishing certain of its pupils with instruction in geology and zoölogy.
In 1893 The Teachers' School of Science took part in the exhibition of elementary science teaching made by certain teachers of the schools of the eastern part of Massachusetts. The school was enabled to take part in this public exhibit through the generosity of Mr. T. A. Watson, a pupil in the school, who paid the necessary expenses.
A collection of articles obtained by the Baron de Baye in a scientific expedition last year to Siberia and the Russian Caucasus contains specimens from very ancient times down. Among them are mammoth bones and chipped flints, like those of the Mousterian period in France, from the Yenisei; arrowheads, like the European and American, from the same region; bronze weapons from the Caucasus; iron arrowheads like those of the Congo; skulls, weapons and ornaments, necklaces of hard, polished, pierced stones, from the Kurgans of the steppes, dating from antiquity down to the beginning of the middle ages; Caucasian jewels, and ceramic ware ancient and modern. A very curious object is one of the statues, called Kamenaia Baba, of a kind supposed to have been set up by the Scythians and always held in veneration, of which the present specimen is the only one yet allowed to go out of Russia.
A collection of articles obtained by the Baron de Baye in a scientific expedition last year to Siberia and the Russian Caucasus contains specimens from very ancient times down. Among them are mammoth bones and chipped flints, like those of the Mousterian period in France, from the Yenisei; arrowheads, like the European and American, from the same region; bronze weapons from the Caucasus; iron arrowheads like those of the Congo; skulls, weapons and ornaments, necklaces of hard, polished, pierced stones, from the Kurgans of the steppes, dating from antiquity down to the beginning of the middle ages; Caucasian jewels, and ceramic ware ancient and modern. A very curious object is one of the statues, called Kamenaia Baba, of a kind supposed to have been set up by the Scythians and always held in veneration, of which the present specimen is the only one yet allowed to go out of Russia.
By EDWIN G. DEXTER.
The relation between general climatic conditions and the prevalence of suicide has been somewhat exhaustively studied by students of criminology, the result being a considerable accumulation of data and the formulation of a number of more or less tenable theories. From these studies we may safely conclude that the homicidal tendency, as shown by self-destruction (suicide) and the destruction of others (murder), is stronger in the temperate climatic zones than in the torrid or frigid, and that in the late spring and early summer months more of these offenses have been recorded than for any other period of the year. To these few facts the seeming effects of cosmical forces upon such tendencies has apparently been limited.
In fact, it was the oft-repeated statement that nothing was known of the exact relations of the more definite meteorological conditions with the prevalence of suicide—a statement to be found in most treatises upon the subject—that has given rise to this paper. Realizing that the science of climatology must include, and in fact be based upon, a study of the meteorological conditions prevalent, and that the study of these definite conditions for the exact times when suicides or murders occurred might throw some light upon the question, this problem was undertaken.
In the preparation of the accompanying charts, from the study of which the conclusions herein stated were deduced, the record of crime for Denver, Colorado, for the fourteen years ending with June, 1897, was made use of. Superintendent Howe, chief of the city detective service, has kept such a record with the greatest care, and we wish here to acknowledge the many courtesies of his office.
No attempt has been made in this paper to compare the conditions for Denver, either meteorological or social—and each is somewhat unique—with such conditions elsewhere. In fact, such a comparative study is at present impossible since data are wanting.
In the actual preparation of the charts each murder, suicide, or attempt at suicide—which, for our purpose, is equally important—was set down chronologically in the left-hand columns of large sheets of paper ruled for the purpose. These sheets were then taken to the office of the United States Weather Bureau, F. H. Brandenburg, director, where were recorded in the proper columns the maximum and minimum barometer readings, maximum and minimum temperature, maximum and minimum humidity, maximum velocity of the wind, precipitation, and character of the day foreach day during the fourteen years on which a crime of either class occurred. When several took place upon the same day the fact was taken into consideration. From the sheets thus filled out, the curves on the accompanying charts were plotted by computing the per cent of crimes of each class committed under the definite meteorological condition indicated.
The curves marked "normal" were constructed by tabulating in a similar manner the conditions for every day in a sufficient number of days to secure a fair average. Five years were so tabulated for Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the records for nineteen years used in Figs. 1 and 6.
The whole number of suicides recorded is two hundred and sixty;murders, one hundred and eighty. It may be noted that this number of suicides, for a city averaging hardly one hundred thousand inhabitants for the fourteen years, is largely in excess of the rate recorded for American cities, but it must be remembered that some of these were unsuccessful attempts, and also that the social conditions of Denver tend to swell the number—containing, as it does, so many disappointed in the last struggle for health.
Fig. 1.Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 shows the occurrence, in per cent, of crimes of both the classes considered for each month of the year, together with the monthly meteorological means, computed from the records for nineteen years. The expectancy curve in the occurrence table is based upon the supposition that the months of the year are all of the same length, and that the numerical expectancy would be one twelfth, or eight and a third per cent for each. It will be seen that the crime curves are for the most part below the expectancy for the winter months, and above it for the summer (except for April, and suicides for June), showing the maximum for the latter class in May and for murders in March. Morselli shows[C]that for most European countries suicides are at the maximum in June, though a considerable number show that condition for the later spring months. A study of the general meteorological means, shown upon the same plate as the occurrence table, fails to indicate any good reason for irregularity of the crime curves. The "month" columns read from the top to the bottom of the chart, and by following that for May, for instance, which month shows the maximum for suicide, we find that the meteorological condition for each class of data is about halfway between the extremes for that class for the year, while for January (minimum suicides) each class is by far more divergent. Yet a mean, like those considered in this table, is but the average of the extremes, and those months which show great per cents of crime also present great extremes of condition, which fact, interpreted in the light of those disclosed by the charts yet to be considered, make the occurrence curve more explicable.
Fig. 2.Fig. 2.
Wind.—An explanation of the various curves in Fig. 2 may serve for the series following, so I give it somewhat in detail. The vertical distances from the base line indicate per cents, and the distances from left to right, divided into columns, the maximum velocity of the wind per hour for the days tabulated. In the "normal" curve every day for five years was considered, and it was found that seven per cent of the days for that period showed a maximum velocity of between one and ten miles (first column), forty-eight per cent a maximum velocity of between ten and twenty miles (second column), nineteen per cent a maximum velocity of between twentyand thirty miles, and so on, as indicated by the curve. Now, it can readily be seen that this normal curve may also be considered the expectancy curve—if the wind has no effect. That is, if forty-eight per cent of the days of the year show a maximum velocity of the wind, between ten and twenty miles an hour, the law of probability would give us the same per cent of the crime for the year on such days if this meteorological condition were not effective.
What we do find, however, is indicated by the other curves, and any increase of crime over expectancy may in this case be ascribed to the wind. We notice that for slight velocities (one to twenty miles an hour) the crime curves are below that of expectancy, but we can see that if the sum of all the per cents for any one curve is one hundred, and one is forced above the other at any part, there must be a corresponding deficiency at some other part. So we may, perhaps, with justice suppose that these mild velocities do not exert a positively quieting effect emotionally, but simply a less stimulating effect than the higher ones. For velocities of between twenty and thirty miles a marked effect is noticeable, and under those conditions the proportion of suicides to that expected is 37:29; velocities of from thirty to forty miles, 14:11; of forty to fifty miles, 7:2; of fifty to sixty miles, 0.4:2.6; of fifty to sixty miles, 0.2:2. The curve for murders shows the increase to be slightly less than for suicides, but the same general relation is preserved throughout. The value of such curves is, of course, somewhat proportional to the number of observations made and recorded, and we must confess that two hundred and sixty (suicides) and one hundred and eighty (murders) is a hardly sufficient number from which to deduce a definite law, but we can hardly doubt, even considering this somewhat limited number, that the wind is, in our problem, a factor of no mean importance.
Fig. 3.Fig. 3.
Temperature.—Fig. 3 is intended to show, in a similar manner, the relation between expectancy curves, based upon conditions of temperature, and the actual occurrence of the crimes in question. With this class of data, as well as that for the barometricreadings and humidity (Figs. 4 and 5), both the maximum and minimum readings are considered. This was done instead of taking the mean of both for the day, since in many cases the latter might be quite normal, while one or possibly both the former might exhibit marked peculiarities. All the curves were constructed precisely as in the chart just considered, and those marked "normal" are again the expectancy curves. An inspection of the chart shows no marked discrepancies till we reach the higher temperatures. For the lower the coincidence for all the maximum and all the minimum curves is not exact, but somewhat similar. When, however, we reach for the minimum curves, temperatures of from 40° to 50° and from 50° to 60°, which means that for the per cent of days indicated, the temperature did not go below those points, the per cent of crime exceeds that expected under the conditions in the proportions of 22:16.5 and 24:18 (suicides), and 21:16.5 and 29:18 (murders).
The same general relation exists between the maximum curves, where it is shown that for temperatures between 80° and 100° the actual crime is about thirty-three per cent in excess of the expected.
These facts have their bearing upon the already noted statement that the summer months show a preponderance of homicide.
Fig. 4.Fig. 4.
Barometer.—Fig. 4, disassociated from the others, shows but little. Naturally we should not look for very marked effects from variations of an inch or less in the barometric readings, when in the course of a journey from the sea level to Denver a change of six inches is brought about, and in going from the same point to the summit of Pike's Peak one of nearly twelve inches without producing any marked emotional abnormities, but we must take into consideration the fact that sudden barometric variations generally accompany or more frequently precede other important meteorological changes. In the latter case, though they might be theprimary cause of factors considered in this study, they themselves would fail to show upon the tables.
Fig. 5.Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.Fig. 6.
Humidity.—This figure (Fig. 5) indicates in a very decisive manner that states of low relative humidity, as shown by both maximum and minimum readings, are conducive to excesses in both the classes of crimes studied. For instance, for maximum humidities between ten and twenty the proportion of actual crime to that expected is 1:0.1; between twenty and thirty (suicide), 11:1; between thirty and forty, 9.5:4.5; between forty and fifty, 15:8. The maximum curves show somewhat the same general relation though not with quite so marked divergences. To one who has experienced the general low humidities of our Colorado altitudes (Denver is one mile above the sea level) this result is not surprising. There is no doubt that a nervous tension much in excess of that common in the lower altitudes exists, due in part, perhaps, to the deficiency in barometric pressure and a consequent effect upon therespiratory processes, but probably, as shown by these curves, more largely to the dryness of the atmosphere, as indicated by low humidity. I hope at some future time to verify or disprove this supposition by a comparative study made at some lower altitude.
Character of the Day.[D]—Fig. 6 shows the relation between the expectancy of crime, based upon the actual per cents of cloudy, partly cloudy, and clear days (records of nineteen years), and its actual occurrence. The disagreements are very slight, although a slight excess of murders is shown for cloudy days.
Summary.—Fig. 1 shows at a glance no generally prevailing meteorological conditions to which can be ascribed, with any degree of certainty, the monthly variations of crime.
Fig. 2 shows that high velocities of wind seem to increase to a marked extent the tendency to crime. For the highest velocities increasing the probability twenty times (two thousand per cent).
Fig. 3 shows that high temperatures seem to have the same effect, that of between 90° and 100° increasing the probability one hundred per cent.
Fig. 4 fails to show that barometric changes are accompanied by any marked excesses in crime.
Fig. 5 shows that low conditions of relative humidity are attended with very marked excesses, those below thirty increasing the probability of suicides eleven times (eleven hundred per cent).
Fig. 6 fails to show that the character of the day has any considerable effect.
Considering briefly, in conclusion, the results of the foregoing study, and comparing them with a somewhat similar one for children,[E]we may safely conclude that the tendency to homicide varies with those meteorological conditions which bring about an emotional state necessitating a considerable discharge of motor stimulus. The same conditions which bring about irritability and unruliness on the part of the child accompany suicidal tendencies.
This supposition is upheld by the fact that suicide is less common in the colder climates, where the metabolic processes are slow, andin the torrid zone, where the heat produces a general depletion of energy for motor discharge, than in the temperate regions, where the climate is exhilarating. The study, from the social standpoint, too, leads us to the same conclusion. The excess of crime in the social whirlpools of our great cities is convincing, and especially the careful study made by Morselli of the prevalence of suicide in the different countries of Europe, interpreted in the light of what we know of their social conditions.
Yet, in considering the facts disclosed by the present paper, we must not dogmatically assert that each is of the importance that the figures indicate. In fact, it seems evident from a careful study of the sheets, which show all the conditions together for the same day—a thing impossible with the charts illustrating this paper—that the various conditions for the day mutually react and interact upon one another, certain combinations seemingly resulting in a re-enforcement of the tendency to crime, while certain others inhibit it. Space forbids any full discussion of this phase of the problem in the present paper, but it very probably will be made the subject of some future study.
Author's Note.—The above paper was written more than a year ago. Since that time the work of comparing the prevalence of crime with the meteorological conditions has been carried on upon a much larger scale in the city of New York. An immensely greater number of data have served to corroborate the earlier conclusions arrived at in this Denver study, only in minor points—and those directly traceable to the very different climates—proving at all in opposition to them.—New York,July, 1899.
Author's Note.—The above paper was written more than a year ago. Since that time the work of comparing the prevalence of crime with the meteorological conditions has been carried on upon a much larger scale in the city of New York. An immensely greater number of data have served to corroborate the earlier conclusions arrived at in this Denver study, only in minor points—and those directly traceable to the very different climates—proving at all in opposition to them.—New York,July, 1899.
By JEANNETTE ROBINSON MURPHY.
Fifty years from now, when every vestige of slavery has disappeared, and even its existence has become a fading memory, America, and probably Europe, will suddenly awake to the sad fact that we have irrevocably lost a veritable mine of wealth through our failure to appreciate and study from a musician's standpoint the beautiful African music, whose rich stores will then have gone forever from our grasp.
During my childhood my observations were centered upon a few very old negroes who came directly from Africa, and upon many others whose parents were African born, and I early came to the conclusion, based upon negro authority, that the greater part of their music, their methods, their scale, their type of thought, their dancing, their patting of feet, their clapping of hands, theirgrimaces and pantomime, and their gross superstitions came straight from Africa.
Some of their later songs, it is true, we must technically call "modified African," but how far the original African song elements have been altered (and usually not for the better) by contact with American life is a question of fact, and can only be settled by a careful comparison of the songs as sung among the natives of Africa and the changed forms in which their modified ones are found today in the South. It must be determined in each case, and can not be settled by any general theory or formula.
This question of the classification of African music has given rise to more or less discussion. It seems hardly just to call the genuine negro songs "the folk songs of America." We are a conglomerate people, and no one race can claim a monopoly in this matter. English, Scotch, German, French, Italians, and others have brought their own music and their own folklore, and in each case it must be considered distinctly belonging to the nationality that imported it. Why should not the same be true of the genuine negro music? The stock is African, the ideas are African, the patting and dancing are all African. The veneer of civilization and religious fervor and Bible truth is entirely superficial. The African is under it all, and those who study him and his weird music at short range have no difficulty in recalling the savage conditions that gave it birth.
Were I to begin now the study of all the intonations and tortuous quavers of this beautiful music, I fear I should be able to do little toward imitating it; for it was only possible to catch the spirit of it and the reason of it all while my voice had the flexibility of childhood, and the influences of slavery were still potent factors in the daily life of the negroes. I followed these old ex-slaves, who have passed away, in their tasks, listened to their crooning in their cabins, in the fields, and especially in their meeting houses, and again and again they assured me the tunes they sang came from Africa.
Possibly I have an unusual predilection for this imported African music, but to me some of the strange, weird, untamable, barbaric melodies have a rude beauty and a charm beside which, as Cowper says—