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were used ns part of the funds of a State university; in either case they 
were set aside directly for instruction in such branches of learning as are 
related to agriculture and the mechanic arts. This movement, which was at 
w.uk in the organization of the new land-grant college, was also taking hold 
of the older colleges, and the courses of study offered to the youth who matricu- 
lated in one of these institutions in the last quarter of the nineteenth century 
greatly astonished the father's mind who was a student in the middle of the 
century, by reason of the fullness and richness from which his son could elect 
such studies as afforded the best preparation for his after life. The sciences 
and their application to the various professions of life had found a place in 
the curricula, and it was soon found impossible for anyone to get more than 
a smattering of elementary principles if he should attempt to take them all. 
There was great diversity of conception of the functions of a college, and 
especially did the land-grant colleges differ in their organization and prac- 
tice. However, they honestly set about their work and had demonstrated their 
usefulness in such an emphatic way as to deserve further aid in the new 
Morrill bill of 1890. Many of them established courses shorter than the four 
years' course which had been handed down to them from the older colleges, 
and they sought degrees that were of lower significance than the old degrees. 
Often they required less preparation of those entering into the more practical 
lines of work than was asked of candidates for the severer courses, which were 
still kept to give proper dignity to the institution. Their aim was to turn out 
men who could actually do something ; who could apply their knowledge to 
some useful purpose, even at the sacrifice of that mental culture which comes 
from the mastering of the principles of a science. 
There was a complete shaking up of the older courses of study and a recast- 
ing of the forms of education offered to the youth seeking training in the col- 
lege. The time-honored classical course was rendered more useful by giving 
enlarged attention to the English language, by the introduction of rational 
methods of study to history and science, and by the addition of one or more 
modern languages. 
A scientific course, with or without Latin, was organized parallel with the 
older classical course ; but at first the requirements for entrance upon the newer 
course were often less than were demanded from a candidate seeking admis- 
sion to the older training. By reason of the poorer preparation for their 
duties, students in the latter course performed their work in an inferior man- 
ner, and, of course, received an inferior training. Even after entering college 
upon a lower plane than the classical students, often the course was completed 
in three years, thus making the degree given to be regarded as much inferior 
to the old-time bachelor of arts. 
The degree of bachelor of science, or sometimes the degree of bachelor of 
philosophy, was introduced for such students as had completed the so-called 
" scientific " courses of study. This degree had very unfortunate treatment in 
its early history, but it soon recovered its standing when the colleges asked of 
the candidates for graduation preparation as severe and as extended as was 
demanded of the older course of study, and now it is held in the highest esteem. 
Candidates for degrees in the various scientific courses have as difficult work 
as the classical students, and while they do not pursue the same studies they 
receive the same degree of mental training from the severe exactness of their 
work and the broad liberality of their course. Even if something is sacrificed 
in not requiring so much specific attainment as is required of the classical 
students for admission, it can be more than made up by asking of the appli- 
cant greater maturity of mind and fixity of purpose. 
If college courses are to be judged by the careers of the men who have taken 
them, we feel justly proud of the training that we have given in the courses 
of science, agriculture, and engineering. These men have measured up with 
the classical men in every duty and have stood shoulder to shoulder with their 
fellows in this preparation for life. They have not fallen behind the men who 
have studied the classics in culture, for that indefinable something that comes 
after years of association with great minds comes not less surely to the student 
of science than to the devotee of the classical literature of the world. 
The new education, however, did not stop with the addition of one degree 
to denote the accomplishment of undergraduate training. It makes the head 
swim to contemplate the number and significance of the degrees given by 
American colleges. In the Standard Dictionary an attempt to give the degrees 
offered by the " leading universities and other educational institutions " occu- 
