144 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



pose that all great men, standing upon a pedestal above the common 

 herd, are serenely conscious of their perfection ; whereas the fact is that 

 these, of all others, are at war, day and night, with their own short- 

 comings. Just so far as their judgment of good and evil is developed, 

 to that extent must they suffer from a sense of failure. This is true 

 not merely of men, but also of communities; it has been pointed out 

 that the most civilized societies are those which recognize most crime. 

 Acts which our ancestors would have regarded with cheerful tolerance, 

 stir us to spasms of indignation, accompanied by a growing sense of 

 responsibility. 



Are we, then, becoming more and more uncomfortable, and is edu- 

 cation merely fanning the flame of our discontent? There are, of 

 course, various kinds of so-called education, comparable to the various 

 diseases in their powers of infection. For the purpose of discussion we 

 may assume the view, which I have known to be entertained by children, 

 that genuine superiority depends upon the number of diseases one has 

 had. Develop this idea a little, and suppose universities established for 

 the purpose of giving young people smallpox, scarlet fever, measles 

 and the like. It would be held, of course, that one who had had small- 

 pox was much more educated than one who had merely acquired 

 measles; the latter undoubtedly would be offered in the freshman year. 

 Ostensibly, every one would be anxious to acquire these diseases; but 

 still, it would be privately recognized that they were a lot of trouble, 

 and even sometimes positively dangerous. Hence there would be a 

 strong temptation, when the infection did not take, to sham sickness, 

 and no doubt there would arise agencies selling substances which, placed 

 upon the skin, would produce rashes simulating those of scarlet fever 

 or measles. 



Within the university itself, these influences would have their silent 

 potency. Some would come forward with attenuated virus, which 

 though producing scarcely any — or perhaps no — effect, would be de- 

 clared to be in reality just as good educationally. If one did not believe 

 it, there was proof in the fact that the recipient was subsequently quite 

 immune to the genuine thing. Others would urge, with much show of 

 reason, that the more violent diseases, heretofore offered to seniors, 

 should really only be taken by a small minority of exceptionally talented 

 persons; and anyhow it was not the proper thing to send men out to 

 serve as centers of infection in communities where these particular 

 affections, though undoubtedly of great merit in the abstract, were not 

 at all desired. 



All this is absurd, of course; but after all, is there not a similarity 

 between such an educational institution and those which at present 

 grace the land ? Is there no tendency to evade the things which " take," 

 no temptation to simulate an attack while yet in perfect health ? I am 



