908 THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND THE 



^lad to have the opportunity of saying from so good a standing- 

 point or vantage-ground. Accordingly, I wish to say a few wordg 

 upon one subject, amongst others, to which I have of late devoted 

 a very considerable amount of my very fully occupied time — to 

 wit, the Examination System and the pre-requisites of candi- 

 dature. The system of requiring certificates of attendance at 

 lectures and upon other courses of instruction, and the examination 

 system, are two very distinct means intended to co-operate towards 

 one end — that, namely, of securing to the public that its future 

 physicians and surgeons shall, firstly, have had certain opportuni- 

 ties, and, secondly, have made certain use of them. I must not fail 

 to add, what will disabuse any, either old or young, of the idea that 

 I have anytbing very revolutionary to propose — namely, that these 

 two systems are necessary as much in the interests of the future 

 doctor as in those of his future patients, and that without some 

 such apparatus and machinery as that which they represent, 

 many a man would lose chances of forming in himself habits of 

 attention, indispensable for any success, or indeed any virtue, which 

 chances may never recur. Indeed, it is a matter of common obser- 

 vation, at least of possible common observation, and I would it were 

 matter of more common remark, that it is necessary not only for 

 the acquirement of habits which belong only in part to our intel- 

 lectual nature, but even for the acquirement of purely intellectual 

 accomplishments, that certain kinds of work should be done at 

 certain times and fixed periods in a boy's, in a young, or in an older 

 man^s life. Languages can be gained with greater facility before 

 the age of twenty-five than they can ever afterwards ; and the same 

 may, I am inclined to believe, be said of the power of recognising 

 and recollecting specific differences in zoology and botany. It is 

 well that the same natural restriction does not invariably exist as 

 to the power of mastering that of which, however, it is of more 

 importance that early mastery should be gained than of almost 

 any other subject — to wit, mathematics. These are the words of a 

 man whose experience and success as an educator has been great, 

 not intended, it is true, for the particular case we deal with, and 

 applying only in the way of analogy, but forcible in that way and 

 appropriate : — 



' There is but a certain time allotted for each thing to be done 

 that we have to do, whether it belongs to this world or the other, 



