1883.] A Plea for Pure Science. 665 
dispute it on general principles. All men are born equal : 
some men are captains, colonels, and professors, and there- 
fore all men are such. The logic is conclusive ; and the 
same kind of logic seems to have been applied to our schools, 
colleges, and universities. I have before me the report of 
the commissioner of education for 1880. According to that 
report, there were 389,* or say, in round numbers, 400 insti- 
tutions, calling themselves colleges or universities, in our 
country ! We may well exclaim that ours is a great country, 
having more than the whole world beside. The fadt is 
sufficient. The whole earth would hardly support such a 
number of first-class institutions. The curse of mediocrity 
must be upon them, to swarm in such numbers. They must 
be a cloud of mosquitoes, instead of eagles as they profess. 
And this becomes evident on further analysis. About one- 
third aspire to the name of university ; and I note one called 
by that name which has two professors and 18 students, and 
another having three teachers and 12 students ! And these 
instances are not unique, for the number of small institu- 
tions and schools which call themselves universities is very 
great. It is difficult to decide from the statistics alone the 
exadt standing of these institutions. The extremes are easy 
to manage. Who can doubt that an institution with over 
800 students, and a faculty of 70, is of a higher grade than 
those above cited having 10 or 20 students and two or three 
in the faculty ? Yet this is not always true ; for I note one 
institution with over 500 students which is known to me 
personally as of the grade of a high school. The statistics 
are more or less defedtive, and it would much weaken the 
force of my remarks if I went too much into detail. I 
append the following tables, however, of 330 so-called 
colleges and universities 
218 had from 
0 to IOO 
students. 
88 „ 
>> 
100 „ 200 
y> 
12 „ 
a 
200 ,, 300 
>> 
6 „ 
300 „ 500 
6 over 
500 
}> 
Of 322 so-called colleges and universities : — 
206 had o to 10 in the faculty. 
99 5 > tf 20 ,, ,, 
17 ,, 20 or over „ ,, 
* 364 reported on, and 25 not reported. 
VOL, V. (THIRD SERIES). 2 X 
