442 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



entific and linguistic preparation for professional study before entrance 

 into the professional school and, as in law, for example, it is seldom 

 wise to attempt to incorporate such work in the curriculum of the 

 school. 



It is becoming more and more common to exact of the can- 

 didate for admission into professional study the preparatory work 

 which brings with it the diploma of a reputable college giving a liberal 

 A.B. course. In the professional school, it is sometimes sought to 

 arrange a system of electives for the A.B. course in the university or 

 the college, such as will best combine its work with the requirements 

 of the professional school, and will thus permit the accomplishment of 

 the two lines of work in a reduced period, as, for example, at Cornell, 

 in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and of Engineering, in six years. 



It is progress such as this which justifies the comment of Wendell 



Phillips regarding the value of modern education and that of Andrew 



Carnegie respecting the changes which have justified the words of that 



great orator, in our day as never before: 



' Education,' says the orator, ' is the only interest worthy the deep, con- 

 trolling anxiety of thoughtful men.' Says the business man and philanthropist: 

 " The changes and the advances made in education, in deference to modern ideas, 

 have almost transformed our universities. These now give degrees for scientific 

 instruction upon the same footing as for classics. . . . No imiversity could 

 stand to-day which had not changed its methods and realized, at last, that its 

 duty was to make our young men fit to be American citizens and not to waste 

 their time trying to make poor imitations of Greeks and Romans." 



Now, as never before, education is coming to represent the ideal of 

 John Milton, so often quoted and so rarely disputed, an ideal that can 

 not be too often or too impressively placed before the youth of our own 

 day : " I call a complete and generous education that which fits a man 

 to perform, justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both 

 public and private, of peace and war." This ideal was embodied in 

 the plan of Cowley for a 'Philosophic College' more perfectly than in 

 the curriculum of any modern institution until, in fact, that aspiration 

 began to find expression in the liberalized and enriched elective system 

 inaugurated by President Wayland, and until, in the last generation, 

 Ezra Cornell proclaimed his aspiration to 'found an institution in 

 which any man can find instruction in any study.' This modern, and 

 now almost universally accepted, Miltonian curriculum is based upon 

 principles well-stated by Forel : 



Education should promote comprehension and combination, but discharge 

 the vast work of memorizing as much as possible upon books, which should be 

 merely consulted, not learned. Make haste to forget useless trash. It obstructs 

 your own thoughts, paralyzes your artistic sense, and dries up your emotions. 

 Read only the choice books from among the thousands with which we are flooded. 



Man must seek to improve his brain ' by a sane, voluntary and rational 

 selection, rather negative than positive, by instructing both sexes, and by urging 



