528 
The  Writing  of  a  Thesis. 
\  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
"l   November,  1902. 
from  the  Greek  646ls,  a  proposition  or  statement  derived  in  turn  from 
the  Greek  verb  TiQevcu,  to  put  or  set,  meaning  hence  something  put 
or  set  up  for  others  to  knock  down  if  they  can.  While  many  of  our 
theses  of  to-day  are  statements,  that  is  about  all  they  are,  and,  unfor- 
tunately, mostly  such  statements,  that  while  they  have  been  set  up 
neatly  on  vellum  or  high-grade  bond  paper  do  not  always  have  a 
good  bottom  and  are  easily  knocked  down.  When  our  friend 
Martin  Luther  did  set  up  a  proposition,  this,  like  himself,  had  a  good 
broad  sturdy  basis,  and  seldom  received  a  knockout  block  or  was 
removed  from  its  everlasting  seat.  The  reputation  of  the  author  of 
these  theses  was  at  stake  when  it  was  put,  and  if  he  failed  to  defend 
it  against  all  comers,  he  was  no  longer  in  demand  as  a  corporation 
lawyer  or  probable  member  of  the  cabinet,  but  was  relegated  to  the 
rear,  among  the  lesser  lights.  This  strenuous  view  of  the  thesis  has 
been  in  vogue  in  Germany  to  a  more  or  less  extent  ever  since  the 
day  when  the  celebrated  inkstand  sped  on  its  course  against  the 
wall  of  the  Wartburg  in  the  vain  effort  to  knock  out  the  individual 
who  was  preventing  the  then  thesis  from  obtaining  a  firm  stand  on 
its  pins,  which  individual,  we  have  been  led  to  believe  by  tradition, 
was  no  less  than  his  Satanic  Majesty  himself.  When  the  celebrated 
Woehler  maintained  his  thesis  before  the  philosophical  faculty  of 
the  University  of  Heidelberg,  he  appeared  on  the  scene  with  sword 
and  buckler,  and  was  prepared  to  defend  the  truth  of  the  same 
before  the  entire  faculty  and  any  one  else  who  happened  in  to  ques- 
tion it.  Even  to-day  it  is  customary  in  many  German  universities 
for  the  prospective  graduate  in  philosophy  to  appear  on  the  scene 
with  a  sword,  even  if  he  never  had  one  in  his  hand  before  in  his  life, 
and  defend  with  his  tongue  the  proposition  which  he  had  laid  down 
in  the  thesis,  hoping  presumably  to  call  on  the  sword  in  case  his 
tongue  failed  him  or  some  one  else  had  a  better  tongue.  The  main 
point  to  be  brought  out  in  this  connection  is  that  the  proposition  or 
thesis  propounded  had  to  be  an  original  idea — something  new. 
Unfortunately,  most  theses  submitted  to  faculties  of  pharmacy  now- 
adays do  not  live  up  to  the  old  German  ideal — they  do  not  contain 
anything  new.  To  the  credit  of  the  students  be  it  said,  however, 
that  their  theses  do  not  contain  new  ideas  or  new  facts  because  their 
teachers  do  not  make  it  an  essential  part  of  their  thesis  :  and  they 
don't  make  it  an  essential  part  of  their  thesis  because  they  don't 
take  or  have  the  time  to  teach  the  student  how  to  get  out  some- 
