THESES.

"No man has a thorough command of his subject unless in addition to knowing and thinking about it he can express himself; and for this reason the theses now extensively used are among the most valuable part of our undergraduate education; but it is not improbable that they would be more effective if their use was more systematic. Theses are now so numerous, and come in all the courses so nearly at the same time, that they are often hurriedly and carelessly written...."

The above quotation from the report of the committee on tests for rank shows that the Faculty has come to appreciate what has long been a source of exasperation to the undergraduates. The situation is recognized, then, but no visible diminution of theses has resulted, nor are we aware that their use has in any way been made more systematic.

The theses in most courses which now require them become due at the end or shortly before the end of each half-year. If a student takes several such courses, he suddenly finds himself swamped with a quantity of written work which it is next to impossible for him to handle. Even if the subjects for these theses were given out at the beginning of the half-year, it would be expecting too much foresight from the undergraduate to presume that he would distribute the work so as to get it all done thoroughly by the time it came due.

In order to remedy this dilemma, we would suggest that the theses in each group of courses such as are to be applied to the electives next year be so classified that no theses in the same group will come due at the same time. The report of the committee also suggests that theses for the degree with distinction be arranged to cover the subject matter of more than one course and the work of more than one instructor, whenever the subject lends itself to literary treatment. If these two suggestions could be put into effect, we believe that the congestion of written work could be in a large measure avoided.