special emphasis on mathematics and
physics and became the world's prototype of strong technical
institutions.

The influence of _L'Ecole Polytechnique_ was greatly augmented by the
publication of a regular periodical entitled _Journal de l'Ecole
Polytechnique_, which was started in 1795 and is still being
published. A number of the courses of lectures delivered at _L'Ecole
Polytechnique_ and at _L'Ecole Normale_ appeared in the early volumes
of this journal. The fact that some of these courses were given by
such eminent mathematicians as J. L. Lagrange, G. Monge, and P. S.
Laplace is sufficient guarantee of their great value and of their good
influence on the later textbooks along similar lines. In particular,
it may be noted that G. Monge gave the first course in descriptive
geometry at _L'Ecole Normale_ in 1795, and he was also for a number of
years one of the most influential teachers at _L'Ecole Polytechnique_.

A most fundamental element in the history of college mathematics is
the broadening of the scope of the college work. As long as college
students were composed almost entirely of prospective preachers,
lawyers, and physicians, there was comparatively little interest taken
in mathematics. It is true that the mental disciplinary value of
mathematics was emphasized by many, but this supposed value did not
put any real life into mathematical work. The dead abstract reasonings
of Euclid's _Elements_, or even the number speculations of the ancient
Pythagoreans, were enough to satisfy most of those who were looking to
mathematics as a subject suitable for mental gymnastics.

On the other hand, when the colleges began to train men for other
lines of work, when the applications of steam led to big enterprises,
like the building of railroads and large ocean steamers, mathematics
became a living subject whose great direct usefulness in practical
affairs began to be commonly recognized. Moreover, it became apparent
that there was great need of mathematical growth, since mathematics
was no longer to be used merely as mental Indian clubs or dumb-bells,
where a limited assortment would answer all practical needs, but as an
implement of mental penetration into the infinitude of barriers which
have checked progress along various lines and seem to require an
infinite variety of methods of penetration.

The American colleges were naturally somewhat slower than some of
those of Europe in adapting themselves to the changed