6 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



spondence in a P.S. to a letter to the tutor from his iormer 

 pupil abroad : " I have been looking into the Crossways again. 

 What does he mean when he says every one ought to do a 

 piece of first-hand work ? I am so ignorant that this puzzles 

 me. Have you ever done such a thing?" The ingenuous 

 simplicity of the question is delightful albeit truly typical of 

 the average young English University graduate. It is in- 

 conceivable that a young German graduate could ask such a 

 question. The tutor's reply, it may be added, is one to be 

 studied with care. Professor Gardner puts the case pretty 

 plainly in saying — " But taking matters as they stand, it can 

 scarcely be denied that the atmosphere produced by the present 

 type of classical study is one in which it is difficult for a spirit 

 of research to live." 



The course which has long been followed in the University 

 in Germany is very different and in striking contrast to that 

 we adopt — the period of didactic training is a brief one, the 

 student being encouraged to undertake work for himself at as 

 early a period as possible and to provide the material for a 

 thesis which will give him the right to present himself for 

 examination. At the examination, which is oral and personal, 

 the attempt is made to give credit for what the student knows 

 and can do ; our practice unfortunately is one which tends 

 always rather to condemn the examinee because he does not 

 knozv this and that fact, little opportunity being given to find 

 out what he does know and really can do. Passing in a creditable 

 manner is too often a mere toss up. 



The German system is one which tends to develop some 

 elasticity of mind in the student by giving him a forward 

 outlook and by encouraging him to take an interest in 

 extending the boundaries of knowledge — he becomes of use 

 to the employer : whatever its shortcomings may be, it has 

 brought German commerce and industry to their present 

 commanding position. Ours stands condemned by its failure to 

 give results in any way comparable with those achieved under 

 the German system. Here strangely enough the turned-up 

 trouser hem is become symbolic of the public school and of 

 the University — it may be taken as a clear indication of a 

 tendency to conform to a rigid type and is practically now the 

 registered trade mark of the " cultured " young Philistine. 



Lord Curzon's tendency is rather to apologise for and 



