THE REFORM OF THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM 553 



one of the Professors to give us a short special course of 

 anatomical demonstrations — on Sunday mornings, as he had 

 no other spare time ! Now there seems to be no honesty of 

 purpose in us — every subject is forced on by an examination ; 

 each specialist in turn is allowed to come forward and insist 

 that salvation is only possible if his subject be included in the 

 compulsory curriculum. The correspondence early in December 

 in the Times on the omission of Geography from the Higher 

 Civil Service examinations is of this complexion — the under- 

 lying assumption seems to be that, unless it be examined on, 

 the subject must necessarily fall out. If the art of reading 

 were taught and proper books were written — not the pemmican 

 type of manual now provided— Geography should be a subject 

 for armchair study and quiet inquiry. 



Let us admit what we know to be the case : that for all 

 practical purposes the present type of matriculation examination 

 is entirely unsatisfactory — not one which influences the schools 

 in practical directions but simply a literary, Chinese form of 

 examination ; and that this is true of most other examinations. 

 Having purged our consciences in this manner, we can begin 

 afresh. "Fifty years ago," President Roosevelt reminds us in 

 the message he has just delivered, "Japan's development was 

 that of the middle ages. During that fifty years the progress 

 of the country in every walk of life has been a marvel to 

 mankind, and she now stands one of the greatest of civilised 

 nations." Our educational system is still that of the middle 

 ages — cannot we follow the example of Japan and reform it 

 within the fifteen years that remain to make it fifty since 

 Huxley made his appeal? 



Some day perhaps people will awaken to the perception 

 of the fact that most examinations serve the interests of those 

 who prepare for and conduct them rather than the interests of 

 the examined : they will grasp the simple fact that most examina- 

 tions are highly remunerative, purely commercial undertakings, 

 valued by teachers as giving bold advertisement. The present 

 resistance to change is largely traceable to this circumstance. 

 In those far off happy times, it will be possible, let us hope, 

 to contract young people out of examinations by a money 

 payment and so to save their souls. In the meantime, it is 

 worth while to remember that Germany has achieved her 



