April 15, 1920] 



NATURE 



205 



Ph.D. is primarily a master of arts, the degree 

 being properly Magister Artium et Doctor Philo- 

 )phiae, and is given for research, just as the 

 ^ ambridge research M.A. is to-day. Whether the 

 Cambridge research student who has already taken 

 !iis M.A. will be qualified before long to add Ph.D. 

 to his name remains, however, to be seen. 

 Rashdall, in his " Europe in the Middle 

 Ages," ridicules the practice now becoming 

 prevalent in England of giving the master's and 

 doctor's degrees in the same faculty ; as, for 

 instance, the LL.M. and LL.D. at Cambridge. 

 Just as a doctor may have been learned in his 

 own faculty, so was the master supposed to be 

 supreme in his. In fact, the terms masterj pro- 

 fessor, and doctor were in the Middle Ages almost 

 identical ; and until Cambridge introduced the 

 anachronism of the LL.M. in the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, the master had always been regarded as 

 equivalent to the doctor in his own special faculty. 

 But the fusion of the two in Germany in the Ph.D. 

 was in strict accordance with tradition, and per- 

 fectly correct. 



It may be recalled that in England in the 

 Middle Ages, as in Paris, teachers of law were 

 styled doctors, and those of theology masters. 

 The doctor of divinity, on the other hand, was 

 a characteristic of Bologna, and the jealousy exist- 

 ing between the universities tended for some time 

 to keep these features distinct. 



In recent times, however, the doctorate has 

 assumed a higher rank than the masterate. The 

 University of Yale in i860 first conferred the 

 degree of Ph.D. after the German style, and this 

 was followed by other universities in the United 

 States. The commercial aspect of the question 

 being of importance, there has been a strong 

 tendency in recent years to recognise the disad- 

 vantages imposed upon students of research in 

 this country, as compared with their rivals from 

 Germany and the United States. For some time 

 past — in fact, since 1895 — Cambridge has given 

 a Certificate for Research with the B.A. and 

 M.A. — a distinction which is understood to rank 

 with a first class in Part II. of the Tripos. This 

 certificate testifies the candidate's dissertation to 

 be " a work of importance and distinction as a 

 record of original research." It is about the 

 same standard as the German Ph.D. But the 

 general public, being little acquainted with these 

 innovations, continued to regard the Ph.D. as 

 the hall-mark of respectability for all research 

 workers, even in this country. 



During the last year or two, "however, Oxford, 

 perceiving the need, has instituted the degree of 

 I D.Phil, for the benefit of those (a) who have 

 attained the status of advanced student in the 

 university, by having been placed in the first or 

 second class in the Final Honours School, or in the 

 first class in an Honours School of the First Public 

 Examination, and passed all necessary exam- 

 inations for the degree of B.A. ; (b) students from 

 other universities who have attained a similar 

 standard, and can produce evidence of fitness to 

 NO. 2633, VOL. 105"! 



engage in research, having pursued a course of 

 study at one or more universities extending over 

 four years at least. After two years at Oxford, 

 such students may, as a rule, apply for the 

 D.Phil, by presenting a dissertation, which 

 must constitute an original contribution to know- 

 ledge, set forth in such a manner as to be fit 

 for publication in extenso, being, in the opinion 

 of the examiners, of sufficient merit to qualify for 

 the degree. 



The example of Oxford has been followed by 

 Cambridge. A new statute authorising the 

 degree of doctor of philosophy for research has 

 been approved by the Privy Council, and the 

 regulations will be put before the Senate at the 

 first Congregation in the Easter term. The statute 

 will rescind the old regulations relating to research 

 students. As in the case of Oxford, the status 

 of an advanced student, known now at Cam- 

 bridge as research student, must be attained, 

 whether by graduates of Cambridge or by students 

 from other universities, (a) A student, being a 

 graduate of Cambridge, who has from the time of 

 his admission as a research student pursued in 

 the university, or in some other recognised place 

 of study, a course of research for not less than 

 three years, one year of which has been spent at 

 Cambridge, and two either at Cambridge or at 

 some other recognised place of study, may, not 

 earlier than the ninth, and not later than the 

 twelfth, term from his admission as a research 

 student, submit a dissertation embodying the re- 

 sults of his research, (b) A student who, not being 

 a graduate of the university, has kept by residence 

 not less than six terms in a course of research, 

 and pursued research for not less than three 

 years, two of which have been at Cambridge, and 

 one either at Cambridge or elsewhere recognised 

 by the authorities, may, not earlier than his ninth, 

 and not later than his twelfth, term as a research 

 student, submit a dissertation embodying the 

 results of his research. It is not quite clear 

 whether, and if so what, provisions are made for 

 those research students who have already taken 

 the research M.A. having worked for the pre- 

 scribed period at Cambridge or elsewhere. 



At present a master of arts of five years' stand- 

 ing — -that is, twelve years from matriculation — 

 may apply for the Sc.D. The fee varies from 

 twenty-five guineas to nearly 50Z., according to 

 the college. But very few ever proceed to this, 

 since by the time the necessary status is reached 

 most men consider that they have had sufficient 

 patronage and paid enough for their education to 

 trouble about it. They are usually by that time 

 tired of examinations and of submitting themselves 

 to the criticism of examiners, some of whom, 

 having remained at the university, holding small 

 teaching appointments, may not have attained 

 quite the same status in the outer world. 



It is a matter of importance that examiners 

 for such degrees should have the confidence of the 

 candidates, as well as of the university authori- 

 ties, as being at least their equals, if not superiors, 



