SCIENCE -Supplement. 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1886. 



PROFESSOR LADD ON THE YALE CUR- 

 RICULUM. 



We presented in Science (vi. p. 499) a synopsis 

 of Professor Palmer's article on recent changes at 

 Harvard. We now give an abstract of an article 

 from the same journal, the Andover review, on 

 the question of electives, etc., at New Haven, by 

 Professor Ladd of Yale. 



The new education, as brought to our notice 

 afresh by Professor Palmer, claims to have dis- 

 covered that the methods of education in vogue 

 for centuries have been radically wrong : it has 

 organized a college on a wholly new basis. 



But the proposed scheme, though revolutionary, 

 and seeming to contradict experience, does not 

 the less merit consideration. Before placing our 

 faith in it, however, we ask, What experience can 

 it boast ? What trial has it had at Harvard ? We 

 answer, A trial for two years ; for only during 

 that short period have youths in the first half of 

 their university course been placed completely 

 under the elective system ; and it is to this exten- 

 sion of the system that opposition is chiefly made. 

 More than a generation is necessary to prove the 

 final outcome of such great changes. Is, then, 

 the experience of a single university, during but 

 a moiety of its course, to be considered as suffi- 

 cient ? 



But we shall be glad to examine the arguments 

 so well presented and so courteously urged by 

 Professor Palmer, and to compare the tabulated 

 results of the new with those of the older method. 

 Harvard has been chosen as the only thorough 

 representative of the new education ; and it is 

 fitting that Yale should be selected to compare 

 with it, partly because, as a teacher there, I am 

 best acquainted with it ; and partly because it is 

 the leading representative of more conservative 

 tendencies in education. 



But let me first state some points in which I 

 agree with Professor Palmer. I, too, hold that the 

 world of science and learning has greatly pro- 

 gressed of late, and that both the matter and 

 method of education must therefore also change. 

 Sciences and modern lauguages must be taught, 

 and the ancient classics take a relatively lower 

 place than formerly. But all the best institutions 

 recognize and act on these facts and truths. 

 Within twenty-five years, Yale has made such 



progress that much of its education may be styled 

 ' new.' Then, again, along with Professor Palmer, 

 I would measure the success of education by high 

 ethical standards. But do the statistics given 

 show that the new education uplifts character as 

 no other training can ? We think we can show 

 that they go rather to prove the contrary. We 

 shall, then, take up, in the order that commends 

 itself to us, the various points adduced by Pro- 

 fessor Palmer. 



It is urged, that, under the new education, the 

 student's ideal of a ' gentleman ' has been enlarged 

 and elevated. Hazing, and such practices, are no 

 longer ' good form ' at Harvard. We answer, that 

 it is even so at Yale, where a marked improve- 

 ment in these regards has been going on for the 

 past twenty-five years. Of other institutions also, 

 to a certain extent, the same is true. The causes 

 of this improvement are not owing to any peculiar 

 method of education, but to the gradual ameliora- 

 tion of customs due to a higher civilization ; to the 

 different attitude assumed by parents and teachers 

 towards the young ; to wiser dealings with stu- 

 dents on the part of college faculties ; and, lastly, 

 to the influence of well-regulated athletic sports 

 in giving an outlet for the surplus vitality of the 

 youth. 



But it is claimed that the new education is very 

 popular. The growth of Harvard under it has 

 been very great, both in numbers and resources. 

 But, we ask, has it received these generous gifts 

 as tokens of approval of the elective system"? 

 Have not other colleges also received very bounti- 

 ful gifts? During the last fourteen years, Yale 

 has received, either from gifts or by bequest, more 

 than two and a half millions, while its library 

 has increased by eighty-three thousand volumes. 

 Though this sum does not equal that received by 

 Harvard during the same time, yet it tends to 

 throw doubt on the prestige of the new education 

 with the long purses of the country. 



The increase of students certainly does show 

 popular favor. We admit that the new education 

 would be likely to be popular with youths of 

 eighteen. But Yale, too, shows remarkable 

 growth during the past twenty-five years. The 

 average number of undergraduates has been as 

 follows : 1861-65, 533 ; 1866-70, 610 ; 1871-75, 704 ; 

 1876-80, 745; 1880-84, 792. Besides, no other 

 college has rejected so large a per cent of candi- 

 dates for admission, or sent away so many for 

 failing to keep up to its standard of scholarship. 



