910 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 522> 



at twenty of the leading universities 

 throughout the country. One new institu- 

 tion, the University of Virginia, has heen 

 added to the list. It may not be amiss to 

 repeat that the higher institutions of learn- 

 ing here represented are not the twenty 

 largest or the twenty leading universities of 

 the country. It might he advisable to in- 

 crease the list so as to include the twenty- 

 five or thirty largest American institutions, 

 but it seejns scarcely practicable at this 

 time. The figures have in every case been 

 obtained from the proper officials of the 

 universities conceimed. The changes in en- 

 rolment that take place in the course of the 

 year can not of course be considered here, 

 and they are not important enough to in- 

 fluence the general result. In order that 

 a better idea may be conveyed of the regis- 

 tration at these universities during the fall 

 term, two totals are given for the first time 

 this year, one exclusive of the summer ses- 

 sion and another, a grand total, including 

 the enrolment of the summer school. An 

 attempt has been made to secure proper 

 uniformity in the statistics, although it is 

 of course impossible to arrive at an abso- 

 lutely uniform interpretation. 



According to the figures of last year the 

 twenty universities enu.merated ranked as 

 follows: Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, 

 Michigan, California, Illinois, Minnesota, 

 Cornell, Wisconsin, Yale, Northwestern, 

 Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Syracuse, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Missouri, Princeton, Leland Stan- 

 ford and Johns Hopkins. Comparing this 

 with the present order, we shall find that 

 there has been no change in the relative 

 positions of the three largest universities. 

 Harvard, Columbia and Chicago. Mich- 

 igan is fourth, followed by Minnesota, Cor- 

 nell, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, 

 Yale, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska, 

 Syracuse, Ohio, Missouri, Leland Stanford, 

 Princeton, Indiana, Johns Hopkins and 

 Virginia, in the order named. Illinois 



passed from the eighth to the sixth position 

 in 1903 on account of the incorporation of 

 the Chicago College of Dental Surgery with 

 the School of Dentistry of the University of 

 Illinois. Later, as the result of a suit 

 brought by a stockholder of the College of 

 Dental Surgery, it was held that the officers- 

 of the college had not been duly authorized 

 by the directors of the stockholders to ar- 

 range for the consolidation. The contract 

 was consequently declared void, and the 

 figures of last year, which were given in> 

 good faith, with no thought that the con- 

 solidation contract would be declared void, 

 should be changed from 3,661 to 3,239. 

 Taking this into consideration, Illinois 

 really occupies its old position. Both 

 Minnesota and Cornell have passed Cali- 

 fornia, and Pennsylvania has passed Yale,. 

 Wisconsin and Northwestern. Indiana 

 shows a considerable loss and has been 

 preceded by Missouri, Leland Stanford and 

 Princeton, the latter two having changed 

 positions. Cornell and Pennsylvania show 

 the largest gains in the east, while Min- 

 nesota and Nebraska have the largest in- 

 crease in the west. Omitting the summer 

 session, the order would be as follows : Har- 

 vard, Columbia, Minnesota, Michigan, Cor- 

 nell, Illinois, California, Yale, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Syracuse, 

 Nebraska, Chicago, Ohio, Missouri, Leland 

 Stanford, Princeton, Indiana, Johns Hop- 

 kins and Virginia. 



As far as the changes in the enrolment 

 of the different universities are concerned, 

 Harvard shows a falling off from 6,013 in 

 1903 to 5,392 in 1904. The large increase 

 in 1903 was due almost entirely to the ex- 

 pansion of the summer session from 945 

 in 1902 to 1,392 in 1903, an increase due 

 chiefly to the meeting of the National Edu- 

 cation Association held at Boston in July, 

 1903. The 1904 summer session naturally 

 showed a decrease (from 1,392 to 1,007), 

 and this partly explains the falling off in 



