EDITOR'S TABLE. 



117 



happy, and thrifty, as that enjoyed by the 

 most fortunate of the nurslings of our do- 

 mestic animals or household pets. 



If in order, I would also venture to cite 

 a case of gastric cramps similar to that 

 mentioned by Dr. Black, but more " natural- 

 ly " cured. I was called one day during the 

 past summer to the bedside of an old lady 

 friend, who is sixty-six years of age, and 

 very frail. She was suffering intensely 

 from acute dyspepsia. " Well, doctor," she 

 moaned, between the spasms, "you — will 

 have — to — give — me — some — medicinethis- 

 time ! " " Very good," I replied, " here it 

 is." (Having obtained a hint from the 

 nurse as to the state of affairs, I had or- 

 dered up a pitcher each of hot and cold 

 water.) " Just drink this cupful of warm 

 water. Take it right down, please, as if it 

 were a delicious draught, and you were feel- 

 ing very thirsty." This she did, and then 

 another and another, and so on until she 



had, within twenty minutes, taken eight full 

 cups. Then I asked her to make a slight 

 exploration to see if she could touch that 

 warm water with her forefinger ! She made 

 the attempt and succeeded — the water meet- 

 ing her more than half-way. Along with 

 the water came the cause of the cramps, in 

 the shape of undigested food. Directly 

 after this she swallowed, though under pro- 

 test, seven cupf uls more of the same safe 

 remedy, which had just the effect I antici- 

 pated. She soon became entirely at ease, 

 rested quietly for the balance of the after- 

 noon, slept soundly that night, and awoke 

 next morning to laugh over the experience 

 of the day before. There was no poison 

 taken to tax the organism. The water did 

 its perfect work — washing the stomach, di- 

 luting the blood, and aiding in the elimina- 

 tion of impurities, instead of adding to them 

 in the least degree. C. E. Page. 



New Yoek, September 17, 1S88. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



THE CURBENT STUDY OF CLASSICS A 

 FAILURE. 



PRESIDENT PORTER has replied 

 to Mr. Adams oa the Greek ques- 

 tion. The President of Yale College, 

 we need not say, is a very strong man 

 — an eminent scholar, an experienced 

 educator, a keen controversialist, and 

 thoroughly familiar with this subject; 

 and so in the "Princeton Review" 

 for September, in the opening article, 

 entitled "A College Fetich," he has 

 given what must be virtually accepted 

 as the oflBcial answer to Mr. Adams's 

 argument. Assuming, then, that Presi- 

 dent Porter has made out the best case 

 possible, let us see whether Mr. Adams's 

 main position has been successfully as- 

 sailed or remains undisturbed. 



It will be remembered that in his 

 Phi Beta Kappa address Mr. Adams 

 arraigned the system of classical study 

 in Harvard CoUege, and more emphat- 

 ically that of Greek, as a failure; and he 

 appealed to his own experience, and to 

 that of three generations of his ances- 

 tors, in proof of the charge. He alleged 

 that the time spent upon classical lan- 

 guages was wasted, first, because he did 



not master them, and, second, because 

 the time spent upon them ought to 

 have been given to more valuable ac- 

 quisitions in preparation for the duties 

 and responsibilities of modern hfe. 



President Porter takes issue with 

 Mr. Adams on the main points of his 

 argument. He holds to " the perfec- 

 tion of the Greek language as an instru- 

 ment for the perpetual training of the 

 mind of the later generations " ; and 

 maintains that " the ancient languages, 

 in their structure, their thoughts, also 

 in the imagery which their literature 

 embodies, are better fitted than any 

 modern languages can be for the single 

 oflBce of training the intellect, and the 

 feelings, and the taste ; and in every 

 one of these advantages the Greek is 

 pre-eminently superior to the Latin." 

 As a consequence, he maintains that 

 " the old classical training " is the best 

 preparation for the intellectual work of 

 modern hfe, the best corrective of its 

 injurious influences, and therefore not 

 an educational failure. 



But Mr. Adams had condemned the 

 system after trial of it. He had dili- 

 gently pursued the classics as prescribed 



