"This book…deals with the development of secondary education in the state of Iowa…The history of the rise, growth, and decline of the Academy in Iowa…

Kruse, Paul J.

English

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170 Book ReviewsThe abuse of the emergency clause by the legislature has to someextent threatened the effectiveness of the referendum. "Five candi-dates for the office of governor in 1914 promised in case of electionto use the veto power to prevent the abuse of the emergency clause."And yet nearly one-fifth of the acts passed in 1915 were emergencylaws.In the opinion of Professor Barnett, the effect of direct legislationupon the legislature has been, generally speaking, beneficial. It haslessened the amount of corruption in that body; has increased ratherthan diminished the legislator's sense of responsibility, and has fur-nished protection against the ever present danger that the legislaturewill mistake the clamor of special interests for public opinion.Professor Barnett's account of the "Oregon system" in operationis a valuable addition to the literature of this subject.J. ALLEN SMITH.HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN IOWA, VOLUME III. By Clarence RayAurner. (Iowa City, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1915. Pp.xii+464. $2.)\This book-the third volume in a proposed six-volume work-deals with the development of secondary education in the state ofIowa, the first two volumes having treated the beginnings of element-rary education. The student of the history of education will find thesections on the Academy particularly interesting. The history of therise, growth and decline of the Academy in Iowa, is especially sug-gestive as typical of this interesting phase of the development of sec-ondary education in the United States. The establishment of privatenormal schools and institutions for training for business pursuits isvery properly treated in this connection, representing as they do anearly movement toward vocational training as distinguished from thecollege preparatory function of the academy. The 'public high schoolmovement is carefully traced from the beginnings in the middle ofthe past century to the present day, a most difficult task in view ofthe lack of legislative direction. In the printing and binding, as wellas in content, the book maintains the uniformly high standard of thepublications of the State Historical Society of Iowa.The students of education in Iowa are fortunate in having an ac-count of education in the state as comprehensive and reliable as thiswork promises to be when completed. Furthermore, this history ofeducation will no doubt serve as an example and stimulus for histo-Spencer Fullerton Baird 171rians in other states. It is to be hoped that Washington will beamong the first to follow in making a reliable record of the beginningsand development of this most important feature in our civilization.Here is a great opportunity for a student of history and educationin the state of Washington. PAUL J. KRUSE.SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD: A BIOGRAPHY. By William Hea-ley Dall. (Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1915. Pp. 462. $3.50.)"The two men who have exerted the strongest influence uponnatural history studies in this country are Louis Agassiz and ProfessorBaird." This judgment of the late Dr. J. S. Billings indicates theimportance of the present and first adequate biography of SpencerFullerton Baird.The subject of this notable biography was for thirty-seven yearsin the scientific service of the United States Government. During hisentire career he was directly or indirectly concerned in the organiza-tion and administration of the scientific work of the numerous sur-veys and explorations sent out by the Government. He was in Wash-ington City as a youth of nineteen when the collections from the nowfamous Wilkes Exploring Expedition were being received by the Mu-seum of the Patent Office. So interested did he become in the scientificmaterial which he there saw that he at once applied for a positionas curator. He failed to secure the position but in 1850 became As-sistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and later Secretary ofthis Organization which position he held through life. Under his di-rection, the natural history reports of many of the surveys of theWest were prepared and he personally wrote the two volumes of thePacific Railroad Survey devoted to mammals and birds.The volume contains many selections from Professor Baird's cor-respondence with Audubon, Agassiz, Dana and other scientists ofnote and is so full of human interest that anyone, regardless of pro-fession, will find it a delightful book to read. The author, Dr. W. H.Dall, has written many books and monographs on Alaska and theNorthwest and has been a curator of the United States National Mu-seum since 1880.COLLECTIONS OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL, SOCIETY. VOL-UME 13, 1913-1914. Edited by William E. Connelley. (Topeka,State Printer, 1915. Pp.602.)This volume will prove of value in the Pacific Northwest by rea-

History of Education in Iowa, Volume III. By Clarence Ray Aurner

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History of Education in Iowa, Volume III. By Clarence Ray Aurner

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