Dec. 2, 1886] 



NA TURE 



105 



one o'clock all returned again and were examined. At 

 three o'clock the Senate House was again cleared for half 

 an hour, and on the return of the candidates the examina- 

 tion was continued till five o'clock. This ended the Senate 

 House examination for the day, but at seven in the evening 

 the first four classes went to the senior Moderator's rooms 

 to solve problems. They were finally dismissed for the 

 day at nine, after eight hours of examination.' The work 

 on the next day (Tuesday) was similar to that of the 

 Monday ; Wednesday was devoted to logic, moral philo- 

 sophy, &c. " On Thursday the examinations are resumed, 

 and continued nearly as usual, as on the Monday and 

 Tuesday. At eight o'clock the new classifications, or 

 brackets, which are arranged according to the order of 

 merit, each containing the names of the candidates 

 placed alphabetically, are hung upon the pillars." Fresh 

 editions and revisions of the brackets were published at 

 9 and 1 1 a.m. and at 3 and 5 p.m., according to the course 

 of the examination, liberty being given to any man to 

 challenge the bracket immediately above his own. At 

 five the whole examination ended. The Proctors, Modera- 

 tors, and examiners then retired to a room under the public 

 library to prepare the list of Honours, which was some- 

 times settled without much difficulty in a few hours, but 

 sometimes not before two or three the next morning. The 

 name of the senior wrangler was generally published at 

 midnight. In 1802 there were eighty-six candidates for 

 honours, and they were divided into fifteen brackets, the 

 first and second brackets containing each one name only, 

 and the third bracket four names. 



The examination seems to have been a time of great 

 excitement, and the list was most anxiously awaited. 

 This was the case also before 1779, as appears from the 

 account of the contest between Paley and Frere for 

 the senior wranglership in 1763 and Jebb's account of the 

 examination in 1772.- 



Various changes took place in the examination in 1808, 

 1828, 1S33, and 1839. In 1808 another day was added: 

 three days were devoted to mathematics, exclusive of the 

 day of examination of the brackets. Each candidate 

 was employed eighteen hours in the course of the three 

 days, of which eleven were devoted to book-work and the 

 remaining seven to problems. By regulations which were 

 confirmed by the Senate on November 13, 1827, and came 

 into operation in January 182S, another day was added, 

 so that the e.\amination extended over four days, exclusive 

 of the day of examining the brackets ; the number of 

 hours of examination was twenty-three, the time assigned 

 to problems being the same as in 180S. On the first two 

 days all the candidates had the same questions proposed 

 to them, inclusive of the evening problems, and the ex- 

 amination on those days excluded the higher and more 

 difficult parts of mathematics, in order, in the words of 

 the report, "that the candidates for Honours may not be 

 induced to pursue the more abstruse and profound mathe- 

 matics to the neglect of more elementary knowledge." 

 Accordingly, only such questions as could be solved with- 

 out the aid of the differential calculus were set on the 

 first day, and those set on the second day involved only 

 its elementary applications. The classes were reduced 

 to four, determined as before by the exercises in the 

 schools. The regulations of 18^7 are specially import- 

 ant, because they first prescribed that all the papers 

 should be printed.^ They are also noticeable as being the 



' In 1S18 ihe hours for the evening problem paper were 6-10, so that 

 the candidates had ten hours' examination in the day. Originally, as men- 

 tioned above, tne problems were only set to the first two classes ; in 1S02 they 

 were open tj four classes, and in 1818 to all six classes, i.e. to all the candi- 

 dates for Honours. 



^ Wordsworth (pp. 47 ct seg.). See also the letters of Gooch, who was 

 second wrangler in 177 1 (p. 322). 



3 The words of the cport are: — "It is further recommended that the 

 questions from books, which have hitherto been proposed to the classes vizui 

 voce, should, for the future, be printed. And it is hoped that, as by this 

 means the questions proposed in each year will be more generally known, the 

 students may thus be better directed in their reading than they now are. and 

 the mathematical studies of the University become more fixed and definite. 



last which gave the examiners power to ask vivd voce 

 questions : after recommending that there be not con- 

 tained in any paper more questions than well-prepared 

 students have been generally found able to answer within 

 the time allowed for the paper, the Report proceeds : 

 "But if any candidate shall, Isefore the end of the time, 

 have answered all the questions in the paper, the ex- 

 aminers may at their discretion propo e additional 

 questions vivd voce." 



New regulations were confirmed by the Senate on 

 April 6, 1832, and took effect in 1833. The commence- 

 ment of the examination was placed a day earlier, the 

 duration was five days, and the hours of examination on 

 each day were five and a half Thus four and a half hours 

 were added to the whole time of examination, four of 

 which were assigned to book-work and the remaining half- 

 hour to problems. The examination on the first day was 

 confined to subjects that did not require the dift'erential 

 calculus, and on the second and third days only the simple 

 applications of the calculus were included. During the 

 first four days of the examination the papers were set 

 to all the candidates alike, but on the fifth day the exam- 

 ination was conducted according to classes. No reference 

 is made to "vivd voce questions, and the examination 

 of the brackets only survives in the permissive form : 

 " That the result of the examination be published in 

 the Senate House on the morning of the Friday succeed- 

 ing the first Monday in Lent term, at nine o'clock ; but 

 if it should happen that the relative merits of any of the 

 candidates are not then determined to the satisfaction of 

 the Moderators and Examiners, that such candidates be 

 re-examined on that day." 



Only six years later these regulations were superseded 

 by a new system, which passed the Senate on June 2, 

 1838, and came into operation in January 1839. By these 

 new regulations another day was added to the examina- 

 tion, which thus lasted six days. The total number of 

 hours of examination was thirty-three, of which eight and 

 a half were given to problems. Throughout the whole 

 examination the same papers were set to all the candi- 

 dates. The regulations contain no mention of classes, and 

 accordingly the exercises in the schools were discontinued 

 by the Moderators. The permissive rule relating to the 

 re-examination of the candidates (the survival from the 

 brackets) was retained in these regulations in the same 

 form as in those of 1832. 



It is very interesting to notice, in the successive regu- 

 lations, how the zni'd voce examination gradually merged 

 into an examination by printed papers, and how, as the 

 examination became more elaborate and exacting, it 

 rendered unnecessary, not only the preliminary exercises 

 in the schools, but also the final examination of the 

 brackets. 



Besides the development of the Senate House examina- 

 tion itself, other changes had taken place in the University 

 system during this period of renewed activity. In 1824 

 the first Classical Tripos examination took place ; only 

 those who had already passed the mathematical ex- 

 amination being admissible as candidates. The name 

 " Mathematical Tripos " ' dates from after this year. 



An opportunity will also be afforded of ascertaining by an inspection of these 

 papers that the examination embracesa due proportion of each of the ordinary 

 subjects of mathematical study . c- j- 



" As, however, in proposing this alteration, the intention of the Syndicate 

 is to avoid making any change in the subsiance of the examination, it is 

 recommended that the examiners be strictly enj.lned to insert in these 

 papers such questions only as are at present proposed vivavacf. namely, 

 propo itions contained in the mathematical w rks commonly in use inthe 

 University, or simple examples and expianati.ms of such propositions. 



• 'there are few matters in the history of the University more curious and 

 interesting than the maimer in which the word Trijias came to be applied to 

 the Senate House examination, and consequently also to the other final Honour 

 examinations. It is natural to suppose that it is connected with the three 

 classes into which the Honour list was divided, but there is no connection 

 whatever. '1 he history of the name may be given briefly as follows ;— In the 

 ceremonies which were performed on .\sh Wednesday in the middle of the 

 sixteenth century, at the admission of quesiionists to be Bachelors of Arts, 

 an important function was executed by a certain " ould bachilour," who was 

 appointed as champicn on the side of the University. He had to " sit upon 



