06 



SCIENCE 



[X. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 829 



and send in some contributions for the college 

 journals. 



I have no criticism to make of the elective 

 system, except I favor concentration on fewer 

 courses, with more hours a week in each course. 

 For the student who is in earnest, it is certainly 

 the best that can be devised. If the student does 

 not know what he wants, or does not care what 

 lie gets, no system will ever solve his problem 

 ■satisfactorily. 



It is evident that this man followed just 

 such a plan of studies as a Darwin, or a 

 Huxley or an Edison would have chosen 

 with delight, but a plan entirely unsuited 

 to the genius of the weaklings in any col- 

 lege. 



The results of this investigation are in 

 accord with previous studies, though not 

 in accord with popular opinions. A Har- 

 vard committee found, from the programs 

 of a thousand recent graduates, that 



The high scholars, the men who were studying 

 earnestly, almost invariably concentrated enough 

 to come into the plan we are speaking of, but 

 they were very likely to concentrate too much. 

 Tfiey were apt to leave some one of these groups 

 wholly untouched, or with only one course, where 

 they ought to take two. In other words, we found 

 that their courses, though profound, were com- 

 paratively narrow. When we came to the men 

 whose idea of the development of the brain con- 

 sisted of developing it more through the muscles, 

 we found that they were less apt to concentrate, 

 and that the system would interfere with them 

 because they did not concentrate enough. They 

 were apt to diffuse, lo distribute their courses. 



In two other respects, the record of the 

 class of 1894 supports the conclusions of 

 President Lowell in the studies he has just 

 made of the honor men and pass men in the 

 Harvard law and medical schools. In the 

 first place, contrary to the popular notion, 

 success in college as indicated by marks 

 attained in college eotirses does give promise 

 of success in later life. Only one man in 

 the Harvard Law School in twelve years 

 has found his way to the cum laude rank, 

 who in college attained no better average 

 than ' ' the gentleman 's grade. ' ' The paral- 



lelism between success in college and suc- 

 cess in professional school is striking for 



TABLE III 



Relative Rank in all Courses of the Two Groups 

 Group A Group B 



" Successful " Men Random Selection 



A 196 56 



B 180 183 



C 156 247 



D 33 75 



E 11 16 



Absent 8 8 



No returns 1 



584 586 



TABLE IV 



Numlier of Elections in Each Subject 



Group A Group B 



" Successful " Men Random Selection 



2 Botany 8 9 



1 Comparative Lit. ..1 



2 Chemistry 26 35 



Philology 2 



Engineering 4 8 



1 English 116 99 



1 Fine Arts 19 23 



1 French 40 53 



2 Geology 22 26 



1 German 44 40 



3 Government 15 17 



1 Greek 43 18 



3 History 59 84 



1 Italian 9 5 



1 Latin 49 30 



4 Mathematics 29 31 



1 Music 8 2 



4 Philosophy 19 24 



3 Economics 45 45 



2 Physics 4 11 



1 Sanskrit 1 



1 Semitic 11 10 



1 Spanish 3 10 



2 Zoology 7 4 



every group of students in every class, for 

 the past twelve years, in both the law 

 school and the medical school. The same 

 result is shown in this study of the class of 

 1894. The men in this class who have at- 

 tained success were awarded as under- 

 graduates nearly four times as many high- 



