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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 930 



logically as well from one part of the sub- 

 ject as another. 



The principle of requiring a sufficient 

 attendance to give us knowledge of the 

 student is insisted on. No student from 

 an inferior college is received into the 

 senior year. 



To the furtherance of our knowledge of 

 the student's ability as a laboratory 

 worker, we always require at least one com- 

 plete laboratory course, even if the student 

 is admitted to the junior year. 



On the other hand, we are not particular 

 that every course which the student has 

 had shall be of the same length, character 

 and strength as our own. If he has had a 

 fair course in bacteriology, but not so good 

 as ours, I am willing to give him credit 

 and let him take instead an intensive course 

 in, let us say, pharmacology. Our idea is 

 equivalent discipline, not parallelism of 

 curricula. 



That the students from poor schools 

 have usually succeeded is shown by our 

 experience during the past five years. The 

 leader in our present senior class is a stu- 

 dent who came into our junior class last 

 year from a school which would be unrec- 

 ognized by many members of this associa- 

 tion. Of course, some have fallen by the 

 way, and either voluntarily withdrawn or 

 been dropped by the council. 



There are a few more self-evident prop- 

 ositions to be considered. For example, 

 the school from which the student comes 

 should be conferred with. Not only should 

 the grades of the student be asked for, but 

 all facts concerning him which will assist 

 in properly disposing of his case. That all 

 obligations to the first institution, includ- 

 ing the payment of fees, should be satis- 

 fied, is a clear demand on the student as an 

 honorable man, seeking to enter a gentle- 

 man's profession. We should refiise him 

 unless he meets such obligations. 



There are certain institutions, on the 

 other hand, which refuse to respond to re- 

 quests for grades or information regard- 

 ing students who wish to enter another 

 school. I hold that such students may 

 properly be received on their class grades 

 or attendance certificates only. 



In the enjoyable correspondence which 

 I have had with Dr. Means in regard to 

 this paper, he has raised several specific 

 questions of interest. "For instance," he 

 says, "a student applied for admission to 

 the Starling-Ohio last fall with credentials 

 of having completed his sophomore year 

 and wanted junior standing. The card 

 showed six or seven conditions on regular 

 examinations, and that they had been re- 

 moved by subsequent examinations — three 

 or four subjects requiring two efforts. I 

 could not have given him," continues Dr. 

 Means 's letter, "more than sophomore 

 standing, which he refused to accept and 

 returned to his old college. ' ' 



This is one of my heart-failure cases. I 

 believe the best way would be to refuse the 

 student altogether. But we have never 

 reached that stage yet. Our council would 

 probably have allowed the student two 

 years' time credit, but we would have 

 loaded him up with conditions and sum- 

 mer-school work enough to test him pretty 

 thoroughly. Dr. Means 's even more drastic 

 action is commendable. One thing is cer- 

 tain; if you grant these students full 

 junior standing, you will suffer for it. 

 You can not catch these migratory birds 

 in the junior and senior years. The cages 

 are too full of holes. 



This case brings up another topic, that 

 of giving students passing grades on con- 

 dition that they go to some other school. 

 This is a despicable practise. Some schools 

 not only pass on their lemons to other in- 

 stitutions, but give them certificates as 

 oranges. We ought to swear by the shade 



