2i8 Alexander Petninkevitch, Ph.D., 



Philosophy as in Germany or America, but Doctor of the special 

 science which he has chosen. The degree of Doctor of Philos- 

 ophy in the American sense of the term does not exist in Russia, 

 and whenever a professor is in possession of a Russian degree 

 of Doctor of Philosophy, that means that he is a specialist in 

 philosophy. 



It will be seen that it is utterly impossible for a Russian to 

 possess more than one degree of Doctor, unless it be an honorary 

 degree which is scarcely ever given. The only exception is the 

 degree of Doctor of Medicine, which strange to relate, does not 

 need to be preceded by a Magister degree, is often given for 

 some quite unimportant and small piece of work and comes near- 

 est to the German M.D., especially since it has to follow upon 

 an examination without which practice is not allowed. But the 

 training of the medical student in Russia is also vastly broader 

 than in the United States and the scope of knowledge possessed 

 by the average Russian practicing physician has often been a 

 subject of admiration to foreigners. 



But the amount of work required of those who prepare for 

 an academic career has also its negative side. IMemory is easily 

 overburdened with unnecessary details, much valuable time is 

 lost in gathering the knowledge required for the examinations, 

 and perhaps still more in reading and reviewing the work done 

 by others, which in the majority of cases has long ago lost all 

 scientific value and in many cases might have been better for- 

 gotten altogether. What with the academic duties of lecturing, 

 laboratory work, committees, etc., the creative ability is easily 

 stunted and unfortunately it is not an uncommon occurrence that 

 the dissertation for the Doctor's degree is the last original work 

 of the overburdened professor. Only the more talented and 

 more pertinacious hold out under the strain and continue as inves- 

 tigators. 



And all the time the outside life invades the peaceful premises 

 of the university and asserts itself in the most uncompromising 

 manner. Neither the Russian student, nor the Russian professor 

 can avoid its influence. Censorship and espionage are more 

 developed and stricter in the university than elsewhere and it 

 seems that in this respect the renowned Bolshevik reformers and 

 heralds of educational freedom for the poorest citizen, have far 

 outddue llic old Tsarist advocates of llic muzzle and whiji. Rut 



