Note and Comment.

In the Washington University a novel but exceedingly interesting and successful method is pursued in the study of the English language and literature. The professor rarely delivers a lecture on the subject, but occupies a position similar to that of the "Autocrat" or "Professor" in Holmes' charming "Breakfast Table" series. Easy discussions are carried on between the professor and the members of the class and among the members themselves, the professor simply retaining the right of exercising the functions of leader and critic. In studying an author or a period, the professor assigns to each student some special feature of the subject, upon which he is required to prepare a short essay. A number of these essays are read the next day in the class, and then the professor calls on any member to criticise the writer's statements. He himself following the method of Socrates, seeks rather to educate than to instruct his students. The system is reported to arouse great enthusiasm in the students, and to produce such a development and cultivation of literary taste as are not attained by the usual methods