818 



SCIENCE. 



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



opening remarks, in whicli he and I were 

 concerned, had chiefly to do with the po- 

 sition that in the splitting of courses of 

 study the splitting of the bachelor 's degree 

 became an absurdity. The compromise 

 pi-oposition suggested by President Van 

 Hise is exactly the same that was used at 

 that time in reference to what was called 

 the bachelor of sciences. There is the same 

 difficulty in determining what is culture. 

 I have come to wince at the use of that 

 term in discussions concerning education. 

 The attempt to differentiate cultural and 

 non-cultural studies has always ended in 

 confusion. It is not so much a distinction 

 between subjects as between teachers, and 

 this distinction can not be formulated. 

 Any subject or any set of subjects leading 

 to any definite useful end in the hands of a 

 real teacher will result in that stage of ad- 

 vancement, that intellectual status, Avhich 

 the bachelor's degree marks. My claim is 

 that if work in engineering, for example, 

 does not result in such intellectual growth 

 as deserves the bachelor's degree it should 

 be stimulated in that direction. In other 

 words, I can not see how any definite dis- 

 tinctions can be made in the undergraduate 

 period of intellectual development. It is 

 our habit to abolish all distinctions later, 

 and the logic of the situation seems to 

 show that we are not describing kinds of 

 training, but are marking distinct steps 

 in progress. 



The only other reason I should have for 

 abandoning the distinctive term 'science' 

 in connection with the bachelor's degree is 

 out of respect for science itself. The 

 amount of science to be obtained in any 

 undergraduate course is so insignificant 

 that to make it distinctive of a degree is 

 somewhat absurd, especially if it be im- 

 plied that the holders of the degree are 

 in any sense trained in science. No such 

 objection can be urged against such use 

 of the word 'art,' as its significance in 



this connection has long since become con- 

 ventional. As investigators we know what 

 undergraduate work means, and it is hardly 

 worth differentiating when it comes to de- 

 grees. It is only a certain amount of ac- 

 tivity during a certain time; and the 

 bachelor's degree came to be agreed upon 

 as a convenient and well-understood state- 

 ment of a certain stage in intellectual prog- 

 ress. Therefore, I have long been in favor 

 of what has been called a ' blanket degree. ' 



I believe that the master's degree, that 

 comes next in the order of succession, is 

 to-day probably the worst abused degree. 

 I have had a notion that it might be made, 

 at leasts in scientific circles, a most useful 

 degree, and I have been so using it. I 

 have called it a 'side-track' degree. There 

 are certain well-intentioned students who 

 do graduate work, but who have not the 

 slightest initiative in the way of investi- 

 gation. They can acquire and they can 

 retail any amount of second hand informa- 

 tion, but they can not do original thinking. 

 For them this degree is useful. In other 

 words, I look at it as a teaching degree, 

 given for what might be called teaching 

 ability as distinguished from the ability to 

 investigate. Many a student who is seek- 

 ing a doctor's degree may be comfortably 

 side-tracked by the master's degree. Thus, 

 if distinctions are to be made, the master's 

 degree might well be retained as a teach- 

 ing degree, a degree of position also, but 

 not recognized as a distinct scientific de- 

 gree involving investigative ability. 



The doctor's degree has been mentioned 

 by all the speakers and with unanimity of 

 opinion. The only thing needing emphasis 

 is the great importance of granting it care- 

 fully, and only to those who are really in- 

 vestigators. Great violence has been done 

 to this degree, and great discredit brought 

 upon it, simply because there has been no 

 way of side-tracking those who do not de- 

 serve it. The definite time requirement 



