Marcu 29, 1912] 
ment. Thus in large measure the student is 
examined not by the man who gave the course. 
A single question may involve knowledge ac- 
quired in the work of several departments, 
and all questions are to be answered from this 
broader viewpoint and not from the viewpoint 
of any particular course. The grade so given 
on the written part of a general examination 
will make up 40 per cent. of the final mark 
for the general examination. 
The oral part of each general examination 
will be conducted by boards of five members 
appointed by the committee on examinations, 
on each of which for the first general exami- 
nation there must be at least one representa- 
tive of the clinical branches, and for the sec- 
ond general examination at least one repre- 
sentative of the laboratory subjects. The 
board will determine by conference and vote 
the grade of the student, and the grade given 
on the oral part of a general examination will 
make up 20 per cent. of the final mark of the 
general examination. 
This, then, is the plan for examination 
which we have voted to adopt. It is, as you 
see, a very considerable departure from the 
type of examination generally in vogue in 
medical schools. Practical examinations are 
given at present in most of the medical courses 
at Harvard. These will continue to be given. 
The present large number of written examina- 
tions will be reduced to two, to which are 
added two oral examinations, both planned to 
determine the student’s comprehension, judg- 
ment and power rather than his detailed in- 
formation. I will not oceupy your time with 
any more minute description of the plan, and 
I will not enlarge upon what I consider to be 
its very great merits. We believe it to be a 
great improvement on our present system, 
but I will not engage in prophecy as to what 
it will accomplish; some years hence it can be 
reported again, and the reporter then will give 
you a criticism of its practical application 
with a statement of what modifications actual 
practise has required in it. 
Henry A. Curistian 
Boston 
SCIENCE 
487 
DR. A. R. WALLACE AND THE UNIVERSITY 
OF COLORADO 
In the general biology class at the Univer- 
sity of Colorado it is customary to give a 
good deal of attention to the theory of evolu- 
tion, and to the history of biological science. 
The class (about 185 students) of this year 
became much interested in the character and 
work of Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, and took 
the liberty of sending him the following 
greeting on the occasion of his eighty-ninth 
birthday: 
We, the students in the general biology class at 
the University of Colorado, ardent admirers of 
your work on evolution, send you respectful greet- 
ings on the occasion of your eighty-ninth birthday, 
wishing you health and happiness. 
To this, Dr. Wallace replied in a letter 
dated January 12, 1912: 
My dear Young Friends: 
Thank you much for your very kind greetings. 
I am much pleased that so many of you are readers 
of my books. The wonders of nature have been 
the delight and solace of my life. From the day 
when I first saw a bee-orchis (Ophrys apifera) 
in ignorant astonishment, to my first view of the 
grand forests of the Amazon; thence to the Malay 
Archipelago, where every fresh island with its 
marvellous novelties and beauties was an additional 
delight—nature has afforded me an ever-increasing 
rapture, and the attempt to solve some of her 
myriad problems an ever-growing sense of mystery 
and awe. And now, in my wild garden and green- 
house, the endless diversities of plant life renew 
my enjoyments; and the ever-changing pageants 
of the seasons impress me more than ever in my 
earlier days. 
I sincerely wish you all some of the delight in 
the mere contemplation of nature’s mysteries and 
beauties which I have enjoyed, and still enjoy. 
Yours very truly, 
ALFRED R. WALLACE 
HENRY WILSON SPANGLER* 
In recording the death, on March 17th, of 
their friend and associate, Henry Wilson 
Spangler, Whitney Professor of Dynamical 
Engineering, the members of the University 
Faculties feel moved to give expression, how- 
1 Minute adopted by the faculties of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania. 
