Septembee 27, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



395 



Unwilling work forms bad mental habits, 

 degrades learning and paralyzes instruc- 

 tion. In these matters the student can 

 be trusted to choose. Whatever his choice, 

 he can not go far wrong, and the greater 

 the responsibility thrown on him, the more 

 certain he is to rise to it. 



The examination does not play such an 

 all-compelling part in Sydney as in Ox- 

 ford and Cambridge. And yet I think too 

 great stress is laid upon it. What we want 

 is that the student should do his work 

 honestly, thoroughly, and when it is due. 

 That he should pass an elaborate examina- 

 tion is another matter. The power to pass 

 examinations well is often a matter of 

 quick memory rather than of sound 

 understanding. Examinations are passed 

 through mastery of text-books; to compre- 

 hend the subject is quite another matter. 



To have examinations set by outside per- 

 sons is to degrade the teacher to a mere 

 coach. To make examination a chief func- 

 tion of a university is to substitute an 

 incidental function of questionable value 

 for the real purpose of the university. 

 The standards set by the University of 

 London, which is primarily an examining 

 board, are very high, but it is an open 

 question whether this university, as an 

 examining university granting degrees, 

 does now anything worth while for Eng- 

 lish scholarship. The real university is a 

 teaching university. All forms of knowl- 

 edge which can broaden the mental horizon, 

 add to the rational pleasures of life, better 

 human conduct or be wrought into rational 

 and helpful action are within its province. 



To meet this demand in full, the range 

 of studies in the University of Sydney will 

 need to be greatly widened and intensified 

 as time goes on. The number of pro- 

 fessors should be doubled, the chairs should 

 be subdivided, the work should be carried 

 farther, and "the hunger and thirst which 



only the student knows ' ' should be satisfied 

 in every possible way. This again means 

 larger equipment, a larger library and a 

 vastly increased range of scientific ap- 

 pliances. 



To this end the state must have a higher 

 appreciation of the university. It must 

 treat it more liberally— not to be generous, 

 but to be just, toward its own interest. The 

 rich men of Australia should regard the 

 university as their natural heirs, for in no 

 way can money do more good than in in- 

 creasing the energy, the intelligence, the 

 self-devotion, the efficiency of the genera- 

 tions which follow. That the state will 

 demand a larger share in the control of the 

 university is another reason why the uni- 

 versity should educate the state. 



Another need of the University of 

 Sydney, one which can not be so easily 

 met, is that of generous competition. The 

 friendly rivalry between neighboring uni- 

 versities strengthens both, the more so if 

 they differ in organization and method. It 

 leads the youth of promise to feel that his 

 choice lies between university and uni- 

 versity, not to the mere choice between 

 the local university and none at all. 



Since California came to have two uni- 

 versities close together, the number of 

 college students in the state has risen from' 

 450 to over 4,500. The pressure of higher 

 education to the square inch is said to be 

 higher in California than anywhere else in 

 the world. 



On each recurrent day of athletic 

 rivalry, the whole population of the state 

 is divided between the blue and gold of 

 California and the cardinal red of Stan- 

 ford. In a recent address in San Fran- 

 cisco, Professor Bacon, of the University 

 of California, said that if the whole endow- 

 ment of Stanford had been given to the 

 older institution, it would have helped it 



