Show TE PERANGE TEACHING Scientist Denounces en V V Method of Instruction OBJECTS TO TEXTBOOKS Declares That Scientific Instruction Regarding Temperance Has Grown to Such Power as to Dominate Almost Al-most All Instruction ill Elementary Physiology and Hygiene in America Ameri-ca Teachers He Says Go Too Tar He Would Have No State Begii lation of School Books Chicago Jan 1 Scientific temperance tem-perance instruction taught In tho public schools from the textbooks now In use together with antivivisection antivaccination and Christian Science was denounced by Prof William T Sedgwlck president of the American Association of Naturalists at a banquet i tonight given by members the scientific i sci-entific societies now In session at the i University of Chlcaco It Is a notorious and disgraceful factsald Prof Sedgwlck that with a view of pleasing a s selfconsitltuted oligarchy some writers have even made alcoholic Instruction from < the beginning begin-ning the middle and the end of their textbooks Of such books it may be truly said that they have no permanency perma-nency of their own and with difficulty would be preserved in schools TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION President Sedgwlcks address was upon The Modern Subjeotdon of Science Sci-ence and Education to Propaganda Scientific temperance Instruction he said has grown to such proportions and has gained such power as to dominate dom-inate almost all instruction elementary element-ary physiology l hygiene in America It Is right of course that pupils should be taught the danger of alcohol and narcotics but teachers often go tqo far and It even showa thalall Instruction Instruc-tion in physiology and hygiene In public pub-lic schools has passed to a great and unjustifiable extent into the hands and underthe subjection of the temperance propaganda V AS TO TEXTBOOKS f President Sedgwlck believes that there should be little or no State regulation regu-lation of what shall appear in textbooks text-books Scarcely had science and education edu-cation herald freed themselves from V the church when they began to be threatened by subjection theRtate White It isri htthat the youth should be taught the dangerBfOf alcohol r be lleye that it Is odious unreasonable thatthe exact amount of such teaching should be prescribed by law Ul tthc method of teaching by textbooks and the space devoted to it in the textbook text-book should be legally 1 regulated by law but especially that the kind l of textbooks used should be largely determIned deter-mined by o selfconstituted and unofficial unoffi-cial oligarchy leaders of a propaganda which Is neither educational nor scientific sci-entific PEOULIAR CLASS OF BOOKS The effect of these peculiar laws he said had been to create a peculiar class of textbooks some of which were prepared pre-pared by competent writers but most were inferior and some were distinctly badNo No wise educator he continued who has given any attention to the subject can deny thait the Influence of this powerful propaganda has been inmost in-most respects injurious > to the proper teaching of physiology and hygiene in the lower schools V V HIS CONCLUSIONS Teachers principals and superintendents superin-tendents and even school commissioners commission-ers are seldom able to speak with perfect per-fect frankness on the subject from the fear of Influence In my opinion It IB time for a body of scientific men like the American Society of san s-an the American Association for the Advancement of Science to put on record rec-ord their opinion that the subjugation under which science and education are today suffering frQm the temperance propaganda has become Intolerable OFFICERS ELECTED The election of officers of the Arnqrl can Association of Naturalists resulted < as follows President J McK Catrell of Columbia vicepresidents L 0 Howard of Washington and DP Pen hallow of McGlll university secretary R G Harrison of Johns Hopkins treasurer M M Metcalf of the Wo mens college Baltimore A resolution was adopted bythe as ooclatlon favoring the bill pending In Congress providing for the preservation of the cliff dwellings In Colorado by forming there a national park |