548 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 692 



Professor Foster concludes : 



The facts were gathered by twenty men of 

 varied opinions on the question, who were not 

 endeavoring to make the figures from any theory 

 or support any opinion. So far as the facts go 

 they are authentic. 



Method. — ^In 1898 the v^riter commenced an 

 investigation into the relative scholarship 

 standing of athletes and non-athletes in Am- 

 herst College. This investigation embraced at 

 first the classes from 1886 to 1897, inclusive, 

 later those from 1898 to 1903 were added. The 

 athletic class vcas restricted to the players and 



tion is largely averaged out. If anything the 

 figures will favor the athlete, for surely the 

 majority of instructors are in favor of 

 athletics. 



No account has been taken of delinquencies, 

 as those of past years could not be ascer- 

 tained. The mark given in the subject when 

 it, or its substitute, was made up, was alone 

 used. This method is favorable to the lower 

 rank men. It especially favors them in the 

 comparison between their rank in playing and 

 non-playing periods. 



In the cases of those students who did not 



Chaet I. Showing the scholastic standing of students at Amherst College on the 

 varsity teams as compared with those not on teams, 1886-1903. 



■substitutes on varsity baseball, football and 

 track teams. In each case the books of the 

 registrar were the sources of information and 

 in every case the grade of a student at gradua- 

 tion, or for the entire time he was in college, 

 was taken as his rank throughout. Where a 

 comparison was made of athlete's grades in 

 terms when he was playing and when he was 

 not playing, as in the second part of the in- 

 vestigation, the term averages are of course 

 used. 



The registrar's books seem to us a fair in- 

 dex of the men's educational attainments. 

 They represent the consensus of many dif- 

 ferent instructors wherein the personal equa- 



last out the fall term and who had delin- 

 quencies on the books no record was made of 

 them or a passing grade given. This too is 

 favorable to the low-grade men. 



The wi'iter undertook this investigation in 

 the expectation, partly because of his own par- 

 ticipation in competitive athletics and his re- 

 membrance of individual cases of high scholar- 

 ship among the athletes of his day, that the 

 athlete would make a good showing. There 

 certainly was no prejudice on his part against 

 the athlete. 



It is to be remembered that at present we 

 are not discussing the athlete's intellectual 

 ahility. All will agree that college marks are 



