812 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 491. 



permanent significance and the profes- 

 sional degree of doctor of philosophy should 

 find its cognate in doctor of medicine, and 

 the professional degree of law. Scientific 

 degrees should be called by the same name 

 as any corresponding degrees in scholar- 

 ship. We should not attempt to split up 

 our courses, separating scientific men from 

 the other men. I think any distinction 

 by way of degrees and badges is rather 

 unfortunate, but that we should grant to 

 all persons with high scholarship the same 

 names and titles so far as these have any 

 value at all. At present professional de- 

 grees have very different values. Some 

 are univeraity degrees, representing the 

 professional training of an educated man, 

 and some are trade degrees, showing that 

 a man with or without education has at- 

 tended lectures and learned something of 

 the trade. The professional schools of 

 some of our universities say: "There are 

 so many men going to be doctors, or law- 

 yers, willing to enter the study of medi- 

 cine or law at such and such a time for 

 such and such a period. We will take 

 them for what they are and do the best 

 we can for them." The university of 

 higher aims seeks for the best way to train 

 a good physician or lawyer and requires 

 its students to take that kind of training. 

 So long as we have professional schools 

 fitted for such different classes of stu- 

 dents, and still lower for persons who can 

 not be called students at all, we shall have 

 a great difference in the value of profes- 

 sional degrees. 



I may repeat that I believe that the 

 policy of Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Cornell, 

 and many other institutions, the policy of 

 unifying degrees, by getting rid of su- 

 perfluous ones, is a movement in the right 

 direction. We do not need more than two 

 non-professional degrees, A.B. and A.M., 

 and the Ph.D. should go along with the 

 other doctors as a professional degree. 



The Chairman: 



I have several letters on the table, and 

 before calling on the next speaker, I think 

 that in view of what President Jordan has 

 said, this letter from President Eliot of 

 Harvard will be very interesting to you. 



In reply to your inquiry of November 18, I beg 

 to state that in my opinion, the best degi-ees to 

 confer for scientific work, as for all other work, 

 are the degree of bachelor of arts, the degree of 

 master of arts and the degree of doctor of phi- 

 losophy. In a temporary and provisional way 

 the inferior degrees of bachelor of science, master 

 of science and doctor of science have been used — 

 with some variations of name and corresponding 

 letters — in our country, because the preparatory 

 work at school required of candidates for these 

 degrees has been smaller in amount and inferior 

 in quality than the work required of candidates 

 for the traditional degree of bachelor of arts. 

 This relative inferiority of the scientific degrees 

 now begins to be overcome. When it is over- 

 come there will be no reason for persisting in the 

 special degrees which have the word ' science ' 

 in their title. More and more the equal dignity 

 and value of the scientific subjects in comparison 

 with the humanities is recognized. ^Vlien that 

 recognition is complete and universal, there will 

 be no need of giving one degree for excellence 

 in languages, history or philosophy, and a differ- 

 ent degree for excellence in economics, architec- 

 ture, chemistry or zoology. All good work, in 

 whatever field, ought to be rewarded by the 

 same academic distinctions. 



For these reasons I consider separate degrees 

 for scientific work to be undesirable, although 

 provisionally necessary. They have heretofore 

 been degrees of lower standing or repute, and they 

 are likely to continue to be so regarded. I hope 

 that they tend to be abolished. Will you kindly 

 accept this statement as my contribution to the 

 forthcoming discussion before the American So- 

 ciety of Naturalists? 



The next of the gentlemen who have 

 agreed to speak this afternoon is President 

 Van Hise of the University of Wisconsin. 



President Van Hise : 



In considering the subject of degrees, I 

 have thought rather of the trend of de- 

 velopment than of what might seem de- 

 sirable. As all are aware, the A.B. degree 



