814 



SCIENCE. 



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



to me, this training is best represented by the 

 degrees of A.B. Ji, on the other hand, it is 

 desired that the nature of the undergraduate 

 studies shall be • specifically shown by the name 

 of the degree, I should think that the nomen- 

 clature, B.S., were as satisfactory as any for 

 work in science. 



Graduate work, however, is primarily special- 

 ization, and, as such, might very well be repre- 

 sented by degrees significant in themselves of the 

 nature of the field covered, although here at 

 Cornell the only advanced degrees now granted 

 by the college of arts and sciences are A.M. and 

 Ph.D. In that case, M.S. and D.Sc. seem to be 

 very appropriate for work in science. 



In other words, the line of argument 

 that President Van Hise has presented 

 seems to have been followed by Dr. Schur- 

 man. 



As the next speaker, I shall call on Pro- 

 fessor Cattell. 



Professor Cattell: 



President Jordan has told us that aca- 

 demic degrees belong to the babyhood of 

 culture, and President Butler has elsewhere 

 called them the tinsel of education. These 

 university presidents, however, continue to 

 confer degrees. They doubtless realize 

 that our civilization is semi-barbarous, 

 crude personal adornment being an impor- 

 tant factor. It is, perhaps, a sign of prog- 

 ress to put rings through the ears rather 

 than through the nose; if stays must be 

 worn, those should be chosen that interfere 

 as little as may be with the digestive proc- 

 esses. I should like to see academic degrees 

 abolished altogether, or as a second choice 

 to see the B.A. degree interpreted as mean- 

 ing either bachelor of arts or bachelor of 

 athletics, as the case may be, and then con- 

 ferred on each college student when he at- 

 tains his twenty-first birthday. But no in- 

 dividual and no body of individuals can 

 create a new world; we may try to im- 

 prove existing conditions, but must at 

 the same time adjust ourselves to them. 

 The question before us is not whether de- 

 grees should be abolished, but what kinds 



of degrees should be conferred for scien- 

 tific work. 



There are four kinds of degrees to be 

 considered— those conferred at the close of 

 the college course, those conferred for grad- 

 uate studies, those conferred for profes- 

 sional work— all of which are more or less 

 confluent, and lastly the degrees conferred 

 as honors. The American college has per- 

 formed an important service for the coun- 

 try and deserves the esteem and affection in 

 which it is held. But its functions were 

 local and temporary. We can scarcely 

 imagine its introduction into Germany or 

 France; or its survival here to the end of 

 the twentieth century. The high school 

 will give, and in fact now gives, the gen- 

 eral training of the first year or two of the 

 old college course, and after this comes the 

 special training of the university and pro- 

 fessional school. A kind of country club 

 for young gentlemen of wealth and leisure 

 is scarcely appropriate to a democratic 

 community. We shall probably give the 

 baccalaureate degree at the close of the 

 school course as in France or abandon it as 

 in Germany. 



In the meanwhile what kind of a degree 

 should be given for non-professional sci- 

 entific work? The choice is apparently be- 

 tween the bachelor of arts and the bachelor 

 of science. If there were exactly two kinds 

 of secondary school and college courses, one 

 based on the classical languages and one on 

 the sciences, it Avould be proper to give to 

 each its appropriate degree. But such 

 clear-cut courses do not exist. According 

 to the last report at hand, there were at 

 Harvard College 249 elections in Greek and 

 303 in Latin. Those who elected Greek 

 nearly aU elected Latin, and there were 

 not in the twenty-four courses in the clas- 

 sical languages as many different students 

 as in a single course in history, economics 

 or geology. One course in Latin given by 

 three professoi'S, one adjunct professor and 



