THE large number of men who have applied for honors, this year, shows that more of us are beginning to feel an interest in sound scholarship. There has been a steady increase, for the past few years, in the number of those who go into these examinations; and it is by no means impossible that a time will soon come when to graduate without honors will be as much a sign of a loafer as to take them now is the sign of having done hard work. Many a man graduates at present without honors who has made excellent use of his time during the four years of his course. There can be no doubt that the standard of the University would be raised decidedly, if more men cared for academical distinction. The reason that they do not is to be found in the requirements which are imposed on those who wish to be considered candidates for honors. They are obliged to take so many hours of electives in one particular branch that they must choose between giving up the study of many other things and renouncing their ambition. The only remedy for this, that we see, is to accept proficiency in final examinations as an equivalent for so many hours in the tabular view. We cannot see why such a substitution would not be perfectly fair. If one man has sufficient ability to learn as much Greek in one elective as another man does in two, why should he not be allowed the advantage which his natural capacity gives him? The test by which honors should be awarded is the amount of knowledge a man has of his subject, not the number of hours he has studied it. When we come to a realizing sense of this, we may hope to see as many men, in proportion, graduate here with honors as come out with distinction from the English universities.