April 3, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



551 



is due to competitive athletics directly or in- athlete which we should know if we are to act 



directly, or to natural inability, or disinclina- intelligently. This does not postulate that if 



tion to learn : in short, is the game worth the we find intercollegiate competition the cause 



candle? of it we shall abolish it or even control it. 



The most impressive thing in the results Other things are to be considered. 



obtained is not that there is an average dif- Again, four per cent, means about one sixth 



16 



50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 



Z6 



^5 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 /OO 



Chaet III. Showing the percentage of varsity athletes who attain various scholastic grades 

 as compared with the percentage of other students who attain the same grades. 



ference of four per cent, between the two 

 classes, but that the athletes fall below so uni- 

 formly. When the three teams were traced 

 eeparately it was found that in the fourteen 

 years from '86 to '99 inclusive, out of forty- 

 two possibilities only one team equaled and 

 one exceled the general average of the non- 

 athletic students, really one case against forty. 

 This means that there is some underlying con- 

 stant factor depressing the grades of the 



of the variation in college marks, say from 65 

 to 90, a difference which means more than 

 even educators fancy. This particular four 

 per cent., say from 72 to 76, includes about 25 

 per cent, of all students, a drop of four per 

 cent, then puts a quarter of the class above 

 them. As an example of how soon a drop in 

 scholarship is appreciated and how much it 

 means to a college I would cite the consensus 

 of the faculty on various classes. A class is 



