228 UNRrERSITIES : ACTUAL AND IDEAL viii 



ing, is a difficulty in the way of giving proper in- 

 struction in Physical Science in such Universities 

 as that of Aberdeen, which are devoid of endow- 

 ments; and, unlike the English Universities, have 

 no moral claim on the funds of richly endowed 

 bodies to su])ply their wants. 



Examination — thorough, searching examina- 

 tion — is an indispensable accompaniment of teach- 

 ing; but 1 am almost inclined to commit myself to 

 the very heterodox proposition that it is a neces- 

 sary evil. I am a very old Examiner, having, for 

 some twenty years past, been occupied with exami- 

 nations on a considerable scale, of all sorts and 

 conditions of men, and women too, — from the 

 boys and girls of elementary schools to the candi- 

 dates for Honours and Fellowships in the Univer- 

 sities. I will not say that, in this case as in so 

 many others, the adage, that familiarity breeds 

 contempt, holds good; but my admiration for the 

 existing system of examination and its products, 

 does not wax warmer as I see more of it. Exami- 

 nation, like fire, is a good servant, but a bad mas- 

 ter; and there seems to me to be some danger of 

 its becoming our master. I by no means stand 

 alone in this opinion. Experienced friends of 

 mine do not hesitate to say that students whose 

 career they watch, appear to them to become de- 

 teriorated by the constant effort to pass this or that 

 examination, just as we hear of men's brains becom- 

 incT affected bv the dailv neccssitv of catchinfr a 



