Am.  Jour.  Pharm, ) 
September,  1913.  J 
A  Counsel  of  Perfection. 
417 
sion  lectures  carry  their  teachers  to  every  part  of  their  state,  and 
every  branch  of  education  is  fostered  under  intelligent  guidance, 
with  university  men  spreading  the  influence  for  higher  and  better 
education. 
•  A  constitutional  convention  is  soon  to  be  called  in  Pennsylvania. 
There  a  plan  should  be  formulated,  submitted  and  discussed  for  a 
reorganization  that  may  strengthen  institutions  of  higher  education 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  plan  and  method  of  securing  automatically 
a  portion  of  the  state  revenue  for  the  purpose  of  education  are  now 
in  force  in  twenty-one  states,  so  that  there  is  little  novelty  in  the 
idea,  for  it  has  been  in  practical  operation  in  all  of  them,  with  vari- 
ous differences,  and  yet  almost  uniformly  successful  results.  Only 
recently,  in  acknowledging  a  paper  on  German  Universities,  that 
Nestor  of  both  American  and  German  universities,  the  Hon.  Andrew 
D.  White,  of  Cornell,  wrote : 
"  It  is  doing-  a  duty  to  the  country  to  call  attention  to  the  evils  caused 
by  -the  scattering  of  resources  among  so  large  a  number  of  institutions  bear- 
ing the  name  of  '  University.' 
"  The  worst  affliction  of  our  whole  existing  system  is  the  fact  that  such 
a  multitude  of  institutions  which  ought  to  be  called  '  Colleges  '  are  pretending 
to  do  University  work,  while  they  are  in  no  condition  to'  do  the  duties  worthy 
of  that  name. 
"  What  the  country  needs  is  a  concentration  upon  a  smaller  number  of 
Universities,  with  a  large  number, — no  matter  how  large  indeed, — discharg- 
ing a  function  akin  to  that  of  the  '  Gymnasia '  in  Germany,  which  might  very 
honorably  be  called  '  Colleges.'  An  example  of  a  better  practice  may  be 
found  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  where  institutions,  some  of  which 
were  up  to  a  recent  time  called  '  Universities,'  have  become  frankly  '  Col- 
leges.' 
"  We  are  about  to  have  Universities  which  will  give  us  high  rank 
throughout  the  World,  and  among  them  especially  the  State  Universities  of 
the  West,  as  well  as  some  that  have  been  established  upon  large  foundations 
in  the  eastern  part  of  our  country. 
"  As  to  the  Western  State  Universities,  their  progress  is  simply  amaz- 
ing. There  has  been  developed  an  honorable  pride  in  them  by  their  respective 
states,  and  this  has  been  deepened  by  a  very  honorable  rivalry  between 
sundry  commonwealths,  as  for  example  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota, 
which  has  resulted  in  a  magnificent  fruitage. 
"  While  the  standard  of  scholarship  is  kept  deplorably  low  in  some  of 
the  smaller  Universities,  it  has  been  steadily  rising  in  many  of  the  better 
endowed  institutions.  The  increase  of  lectures  by  distinguished  foreign  pro- 
fessors at  various  American  Universities  of  the  better  sort,  will  be  productive 
of  great  good.  Cornell,  for  example,  is  about  to  have  an  extended  course 
of  lectures  on  American  History,  by  a  renowned  Oxford  Professor  upon 
