UNIVERSITY ENROLLMENT.

Any mere statement of figures such as is published this morning makes dry reading, and perhaps still drier matter for analysis. Comparative statistics of enrollment are also liable to be misleading unless administrative differences, as well as the resultant changes, are taken into account.

The professional schools collectively show a satisfactory increase over last year, which argues for efficient administration and maintenance of prestige. The College, including the recently abolished Lawrence Scientific School, shows a decrease of 61, whereas last year there was an increase of 1 student.

It may be that Harvard has attained a maximum as far as the number of undergraduates is concerned. In the same way that the growth of New England must henceforth be gradual, it may happen that the University must be content to develope its undergraduate department more slowly than in the past. Great educational centres are developing in the middle and far west, which seem to provide suitable opportunity for higher education in the regions where population is increasing most rapidly. On the other hand, the experience and prestige of the Harvard graduate schools leaves them almost preeminent, and as more and more men each year demand professional training it is only natural that the graduate departments should show a constant and steady increase.