Now that the semis are so near at hand, the men who have done a fair amount of work during the term, are to be envied. It is a common fault at Harvard for men to neglect the preparation of their daily work, and to depend almost entirely upon an unnatural amount of very hard and concentrated work just before examination. The bad effects of this manner of studying are so obvious, that they scarcely need mention, but to bring freshly before the mind of the student the great mistake made by so many in this direction, we will call attention to one or two of the most prominent evils of this form of procrastination.

In the first place, the preparation of almost a whole term's work in a week or ten days, when the receptive faculties of the mind have been in a nearly torpid state for several months, is a terrible strain, which will show its effects upon any one, no matter how strong he may be, both mentally and physically; it is like severe physical labor, after a long period of rest and idleness.

Again, what worse habit can a student form than that of procrastination, - of "putting off till tomorrow, what can be done today?" Its disagreeable features are surely plain to us all, when, before the final, or mid-year examinations, we contemplate the immense amount of work that has accumulated, and vainly regret so many wasted hours.

Let us hope that by degrees, the students will learn the importance of regular, conscientious work, of having an earnest purpose in college life, until Harvard rises to the rank of a university, employing the system used in the universities of Germany and England.