166 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 449. 



■ular way, the newspaper, the journal and 

 the magazine bring daily, weekly and 

 monthly instalments of this best learning 

 to him who can read it aright. Intercom- 

 munication by post and by telegraph, and 

 quick transportation over land and sea are 

 rapidly dissipating class prejudices and 

 supplanting them by friendly rivalries in 

 the common educational advance. The 

 illusions which some eastern institutions 

 have long held with respect to their supe- 

 riority over institutions in other localities, 

 are rapidly vanishing before the tests of 

 merit and achievement. Indeed, if one 

 may judge from the picked men who pursue 

 work for the higher degrees in our gradu- 

 ate schools, it would appear that the center 

 of education, like the center of population, 

 is no longer east of the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains. 



So far then as opportunities go, the col- 

 lege student of to-day has great advantages 

 over his predecessor of thirty or forty 

 years ago. Verily, no one need thirst in 

 vain for knowledge, for the fountains 

 thereof are to be found flowing on every 

 hand. But, to paraphrase an old saying, 

 while we may point out the fountains of 

 learning we may not be certain that men 

 will drink deeply or effectively therefrom. 

 It seems proper, therefore, to enquire to 

 what extent these available advantages are 

 appreciated and utilized by the average 

 student of to-day. 



It would be quite unreasonable, of 

 course, to suppose that the student of the 

 present day is very different from or much 

 abler than the student of a generation or 

 two ago. The capacity of the human mind, 

 like astronomical phenomena, is subject 

 mainly to secular variations. There is no 

 doubt, however, that the great increase in 

 knowledge and the enlarged means for its 

 diffusion, in recent times, have led to a 

 perceptible quickening as well as to a per- 



ceptible broadening of the intellectual fac- 

 ulties of men. What may be called the 

 experience of life, and this is, in general, 

 the most important part of education, is 

 begun earlier and is realized in larger 

 measure than ever before. Coming thus 

 to the college or university better ac- 

 quainted with men and things and pur- 

 suing a broader and a more laborious 

 course of study, the graduate of to-day is, 

 as a rule, a better equipped and a more 

 efScient man for the work of the world 

 than any of his forerunners. More is ex- 

 pected of him, more is required of him and 

 more is accomplished by him than in any 

 preceding age. 



But while this is the character we may - 

 justly attribute to the majority of our 

 college men, there is a noisy minority of 

 them who have succeeded, apparently, in 

 convincing the public, and to a large extent 

 college authorities, that one of the prin- 

 cipal functions of an educational institu- 

 tion is the cultivation of muscle and the 

 conduct of athletic sports. Along with the 

 growth of this minority there has sprung 

 up, also, a class of less strenuous men, who, 

 taking advantage of the elective system, 

 are pursuing courses of aimless disconti- 

 nuity involving a minimum of work and a 

 maximum of play. They toil not, except 

 to avoid hard labor; neither do they spin, 

 except yarns of small talk over their pijDes 

 and their bowls. I need not explain to 

 you that these types of men are well 

 known in natural history. From time 

 immemorial the gladiator and the Miss 

 Nancy have received much of that fleeting 

 attention -which the careless crowd bestows 

 on the gaudily attired tumblers of the cir- 

 cus and on the transparent masks of pre- 

 ■ tenders. It is not so well known, however, 

 that these types of men— prospective bache- 

 lors of athletics and degree-hunting dudes 

 — are now wielding an influence distinctly 



