IV EXAMINATIONS 177 



tions can therefore be admitted which does not re- 

 cognise this distinction ; the question, for instance, of 

 the utility of qualifying examinations must be kept 

 apart from that of the utility of competitive examina- 

 tions. 



Moreover, it hardly admits of dispute that, whilst 

 some subjects of study or accomplishment can readily 

 be made the matter of examination, and will yield the 

 most conclusive evidence as to the acquirements of 

 an examinee when they are thus used, other subjects 

 are extremely difficult to examine in. Thus elemen- 

 tary mathematics form perhaps the ideal subject of 

 examination, whilst philosophy and other speculative 

 matter are troublesome and illusive from an examiner's 

 point of view. More than this, whilst it is possible 

 to test by examination the memory of the examinee 

 as to the contents of a book, and even his real know- 

 ledge of a subject, it is very much more difficult to 

 test by examination his possession of a variety of 

 mental qualities, such as administrative capacity, tact, 

 intellectual honesty, and other moral attributes ; at 

 any rate no such testing, even could it be devised, has 

 hitherto been practised. 



Hence it seems that the whole question of exam- 

 ination must be limited by a consideration of the 

 subject-matter to which examination can be applied. 



A third element of very great importance in any 

 estimate of the influence of examinations is that of 

 the persons who examine and the persons who are 

 examined. It is maintained by many thoughtful 

 observers that there is no harm in examinations so 



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