giving the sum they asked that it be used for the establishment of a series of lectures on Oriental philosophy, and that a Japanese professor be secured to give these lectures. The governing board will act according to the wishes of the benefactors, and the lecturers will be appointed for terms of two years or more. An effort is to be made that Harvard may secure the great professors from the imperial universities in Japan while they are on leave of absence. It is also very probable that arrangements will be made with the great universities of the Orient whereby there can be an exchange of professors between them and Harvard, similar to the arrangement that now exists between Harvard and the more important universities of England, France and Germany.

A professor of Japanese birth will be most unusual, and Harvard will be the first great institution in the United States to recognize a scholar of Japan with a chair of instruction. There are now nearly 20 Japanese students at Harvard, and over 100 have been graduated from the university in the past.

relieve her county judges, who make no claim to expert knowledge of ruralschool supervision, of their duties as county superintendents of schools, and to select real superintendents, whose first claim to the position is professional training and ability.

Not only does Texas desire to have regular county superintendents in charge of all the schools in place of county judges, but she aims to make sure that the superintendents will not be political nominees. The proposed plan puts the selection of the county superintendent in the hands of the county board of education, to the end that this officer, like his city colleague, may be chosen for educational fitness rather than for political expediency. The whole idea is to make the county superintendent, as he is in many States and as he ought to be wherever the office exists, a professionally trained school expert.

There are probably few cases where the important work of school supervision is assigned to a county judge or a sheriff, but there are still very many localities where the Texas ideal of a professionally trained county superintendent, free from political ties, is not yet realized. yet realized. Educators everywhere believe that adequate supervision by expert county superintendents is so essential in the upbuilding of the rural school sthat the office of county superintendent should be wholly professional and not political.

The unusual increase in the number

the counties as ex-officio superintendent of schools, and in at least one State the sheriff used to hold the office. But Texas expects soon to have real county superintendents in all the counties that are still without them.

The new Texas plan is based on the urgent needs of the State's rural schools. Texas has three-quarters of a million rural-school children. Efficient county supervision is a prime requisite for efficient rural schools, and Texas proposes to maintain efficient rural schools. She is endeavoring to

Women in German Universities

ties, as shown by statistics recently published in the Imperial Gazette, is of particular interest, in view of the fact that women were only admitted as students in the summer of 1905. During the last year the number of feminine students has grown from 2,795 to 3,213, and the percentage of women now in the universities, as compared with the whole student body, is 5.4 per cent as against 2.7 per cent three years ago. Of the present body of women students

the great majority (2,900) come from Germany. Of the foreign women, Russia furnishes over a third, America about a fourth, and other European countries most of the others. Few women students come from Asia, Africa or Australia.

The University of Berlin also has over one-fourth of the total women students of the empire, the exact number of women in the large universities at present being: Berlin, 904; Bonn, 289; Munchen, 262; Gottingen, 237; Heidelberg, 219; Freiberg, 189; Munster, 172; Breslau, 150; Leipzig, 129; Marburg, 126; Konigsberg, 107; Greifswald, 83; Halle a. S., 81; Jena, 65; Strasburg, i. E., 52; Kiel, 40; Tubingen, 38; Giessen, 24; Erlangen, 21; Wurzburg, 16; Rostock, 6; all others, 3.

The departments of study to which the women students give most preference are about the same as in former years, the enrollment by courses being: Philology and history, 1,758; medicine, 702; mathematics and natural sciences, 579; economics and agriculture, 91; ethics, 17; dentistry, 17; theology, 11; pharmacy, 8.

Track Meet

A formal invitation has been sent to the track athletes of Cambridge and Oxford Universities International to visit the United College States next June and compete against the combined teams of Harvard and Yale in the Harvard Stadium. Negotiations have been in progress for some time and the athletes on both sides of the water are anxious for the international meeting. The proposed date for the international meeting has not been announced, but it will be late in June, and the meeting will take place in the Harvard Stadium. Questions as to scoring and other details will have to be settled by mutual agreement. In England only first places count in the scoring, while in America points are awarded for first, second, third and fourth places in the intercollegiates.

It is hoped by many interested in these international college track meets

that in the near future they can be placed on a regular basis, taking place alternately in England and the United States in fixed years, as the Olympic games are now scheduled every four years. It is suggested that they be held once in three years, which would give members of each college generation an opportunity to compete in an international event of importance.

Endows School

for Industrial
Research

Entirely independent of the resources required for the general maintenance of the University of Pittsburgh, a fund of $450,000 is now provided, through the generosity of the bankers, Andrew W. and Richard B. Mellon, for the establishment at the university of an institute of industrial research and school of specific industries. This is not strictly the beginning of such a department since already a laboratory devoted to the purposes indicated is being conducted under the direction of the noted research expert, Dr. Robert Kennedy Duncan. The present establishment, however, is small and sustained only by payments made for specific researches. With the endowment now provided an institution without a parallel of its kind in the country is rendered possible.

Would Abolish the Freshman Year

President Harry Pratt Judson, of the University of Chicago, in his new annual report says with reference to shortening school and college curricula: "The average student is by no means deficient in intellectual acumen. He generally forms a fairly accurate judgment as to what is worth while and what is not worth while, and I strongly suspect that the dissipation of energy which marks the early years of the college course is not something which results primarily from the innate pernicious qualities of freshmen, but that it comes more likely from an irrational requirement by college authorities. In other words, on enter

ing college the student should find that he is studying advanced subjects in a new way, treated seriously, and yielding results which he at once realizes to be of importance to himself. . . . The best thing to do with the freshman year is to abolish it."

In discussing the question of degrees, President Judson says: "The question arises whether it is not better to differentiate in some way between the doctorate of philosophy as a degree for those who are especially interested in research and who are likely to make original investigation a large function, on the one hand, and on the other hand a suitable degree for those who are studying to become primarily teachers, who have particular qualifications for research, and who are not likely to engage in such investigations. This would inIcrease the value of the doctorate as a research degree pure and simple, and would at the same time make it possible to provide a teaching degree which might perhaps be of more value to those who are seeking the teaching profession only."

no

A college of business administration, in which students may, after a four years' course take Boston University Establishes School the degree of bachof Business elor of business administration, will be opened next fall by Boston University. This will be the sixth department of the university, which already has colleges of medicine, law, theology and liberal arts, and a graduate department. The new school will have its headquarters at the classrooms and other facilities of the College of Liberal Arts, which has no evening sessions.

An important feature of the new department is its close connection with active business interests of Boston. A board of guarantors of representative business men shares with the trustees of the university in the responsibility for the direction and financial support of the school. The purpose of the College of Business Administration is to

provide a broad, practical training for young men and women who are employed during the hours when colleges are usually in session, but who wish to carry on studies which will fit them for higher business positions. The course covers four years and leads to the degree of bachelor of business administration-B. B. A. The courses

to be offered include a wide range of technical and collegiate subjects in six general departments - accounting, business organization, economics, law, English and modern foreign languages. Like the other departments of the university, the College of Business Administration will have its own dean and faculty.

The injury done to the eyes of school-children by the books that they study has been investigated by a committee of the British Association for the

Investigation on School-Books and Eyesight

Advancement of Science, whose report has recently appeared in pamphlet form. The conclusion of the committee is that there is a serious amount of visual defect among school-children and that some of it is due to their books. It recommends the establishment of a standard of book-production and the prohibition or boycotting of books that are below standard, so that sight-destroying print shall no longer be used. To quote parts of the report:

"At the age when school life begins the visual apparatus is still immature. The orbits, the eyes themselves, and the muscles and nerves which move them, have still to increase considerably in size. The various brain-structures concerned in vision have not only to grow, but to become more complex. The intricate co-ordinating mechanism which later will enable the eyes, brain and hand to work together with minute precision is awaiting development by training. The acuteness of vision is still below the standard proper to the finished eye. The refraction of the eyes is not yet fixed. . . . In short, the whole visual apparatus is still unfin

ished, and is therefore more liable than at a later age to injury by overuse. "Overuse of the eyes is chiefly to be feared in such occupations as reading, writing and sewing, not in viewing distant objects. During near work the head is usually bent forward and the blood vessels of the eyes tend to become fuller; the focus of the eyes is shortened by a muscular effort which alters the form of the crystalline lens; the visual axes, which in distant vision are nearly parallel, are held in a position of convergence, and if the work be reading, they are also moved continuously from side to side. It is near work, therefore, that makes the greatest demand upon the eyes, and the nearer the work the greater the strain. Moreover, it is chiefly in near work that continuous mental effort is required. . . . The subject has many sides the lighting of school-rooms, the arrangement of the desks, the design and proportion of individual desks, the attitudes of the scholars, the amount of work required, are all factors of importance; but they can not be considered here. Our present effort is directed to the standardizing of schoolbooks, a very important step in the desired direction.

"Small print leads the young scholar to look too closely at his book. He is not yet familiar with the forms of the words, and his eyesight has not yet reached its full acuteness. For easy vision he must have retinal images larger than those which satisfy the trained reader. To obtain these larger images he brings the book too near to his eyes, or his eyes too near the book, and this, for the reasons already given, is apt to be injurious. Hence the importance of establishing certain standards of legibility for schoolbooks, having regard to the ages of the scholars who are required to use them, and of employing only such books as reach these standards. . . .

"At what age should children begin to read from books? From the hygienic point of view the later the better, and there is reason to believe that

little, if anything, is lost educationally by postponing the use of books in school until the age of seven at earliest. Beginners may learn to read from wall-charts; and in the general instruction of young children, teaching by word of mouth, with the help of blackboards, large - printed wall-sheets, pictures and other objects which are easily seen at a distance, is preferable from the medical standpoint, for it has the great advantage of involving no strain on the eyes."

Among the specific recommendations of the committee are that paper should be unglazed, but hard, smooth and opaque, and preferably white or cream-colored; that elaborate or complex pictures be avoided; that the ink should be black; that the type should be hand-set, and never in double columns, and that the type-face should be clean-cut and well defined, with little contrast between the finer and heavier strokes. The form of the letters, the length of lines, the spacing, etc., all receive careful, detailed treatment. We quote the following on the form of type:

"In an ideal type the whites and blacks are well balanced in each letter, and it is easy to discriminate between e, c and o, between i and 1, and between h and k; and to recognize m, nn, nu, nv, w, in. The general form of the letters should be broad and square rather than elongated vertically; thus the letter o should approach the circular shape. Legibility is not increased by adding to the height of a letter without adding to its width. There should be a lateral shoulder on every type so that each letter is distinct. Long serifs should be avoided, and any extension sideways which forms or suggests a continuous line along the top or bottom is detrimental.

"The upper half of a word or letter is usually more important for perception than is the lower half, because the upper half of most letters has a more distinctive shape than the lower. In some recent type-faces the designers have accordingly shortened the letters

below the line, and lengthened those above-thus the p is shortened and the h lengthened, at the same time the upper parts of the r have been raised. It is too early to pass judgment on the results, and more experiment is desirable. It is possible that legibility would be increased by giving more distinctive character to the lower half of a larger proportion of letters. . . . "The size of the type-face is the most important factor in the influence of books upon vision. Legibility depends mainly on the height and breadth of the short letters, for the larger the type the further from the eyes can it be read with ease, and it is of the first importance to induce the young reader to keep a sufficient distance between eyes and book. Children under seven years old should be able to lean back in their seats and read from the book propped up on the far side of the desk. (As a rule, books should not be too large or heavy to be held in the hand.)"

The conduct of affairs at Bristol University, particularly the habit of the council of granting Bristol University degrees in accordin England Under Fire ance with the famous doctrine, "What's the Constitution between friends?" is to be made the subject of inquiry in the House of Commons, and the Government will be asked to investigate and take the necessary steps to remedy present conditions. It is not only the question of granting honorary degrees that is to be inquired into, but also the alleged intimidation of professors and teachers, who, it is claimed, are threatened with dismissal if they venture to oppose the ideas of the men powerful in the council of the university, who are entirely without academic distinction and frequently without even a vestige of an academic education.

Affairs in Bristol University, says a cable despatch to the New York Tribune, have come to such a pass that the professors and teachers now abstain in a majority of cases from voting on questions that come before them,

for fear of offending the council. One teacher, against whom no other charge could be brought, was threatened with eviction because "he looked a disappointed man, and it had been said he held cynical views on life." Two professors also have been threatened with eviction on equally curious grounds. The teachers now hold their positions at the whim of the council on a three months' tenure of office, and an attempt will be made to have the charter of the university amended by Parliament, so as to make the staff more secure in their positions as well as to reduce the autocratic powers of the council in other directions.

Methods of Truant Schools for Boys

The Public Education Association of Philadelphia, co-operating with Henry J. Gideon, chief of the Bureau of Compulsory Education, is furthering a movement toward the establishment of a parental school for truant boys. A national questionnaire is being conducted in which educators in all parts of the country where parental schools now exist are asked to provide Philadelphia with information concerning the purposes, system of administration and pedagogical methods employed in the special institutions. The cost of maintenance and other necessary facts are being collected. It is proposed to learn whether or not the establishment of parental schools in Philadelphia would be practicable and to guide those who will plan the foundation of the school, if such a step is authorized by the Board of Education. The present system of caring for unusual cases of truancy is declared by social workers and educators to be entirely unsatisfactory.

In a recent address before the Home and School League Mr. Gideon explained how difficult it is to prevent truancy when the child is mentally or morally abnormal. The boy who "bags" school occasionally and who is subsequently punished in the schools or at home seldom constitutes a serious problem. In