The recurrence of examinations invites attention again to our system of marking at Harvard. During the interval between the mid-years and the annuals, we are gradually informed as to the results of the first examinations, while the annual rank-list gives the results for the year. Many men are studying with special objects in view, and in the conditions under which scholarships and honors are granted, we often find an entirely arbitrary standard of excellence. There are always men "on the line" who are exultant in case of success, but who suffer corresponding grief in case of failure; in both cases, by narrow margins, the marks are given out, and perhaps one finds another man has beaten him by one or one and one-half per cent. Thus it runs down in the rank of scholarship, and hardly any ambition satisfied except that of the man at the head. The honor is usually a very empty one, a mere question of marks and marks. Thus, in many cases, the principal outcome is an extreme regret and disappointment at not having done just a little better. Turning to the "popular side" of the rank list, the same sentiment will apply. The poor fellow who fails to pass, frequently does so by a very narrow margin, and his failure is all the more exasperating from this fact. Numberless instances might be given where the victim wildly blames himself and the instructor - usually the latter - when he thinks how near he came getting through.

The evil consists, we conceive, in the general practice of giving men their marks after each examination. The distinctions engendered are trivial in reality, but are usually the cause of much dissatisfaction, except to those happy-go-lucky creatures who do enough work to pass with certainty, and do not care for high rank. By certain general groupings - "very good," "good." "fair," etc., down to "not passed" - a sufficient distinction might easily be made in point of scholarship. If a man is working for honors, and deserves them, let him be informed of his success, and the man who fails may also be made acquainted with the result in his case. No particulars should be given to either to let a man know how he has succeeded or failed by a paltry percentage. That the required degree of general excellence was attained is enough; it should not be aggravatingly analyzed, and thus also with men who have not passed. They should not be embittered with such a keenlydrawn line so nearly approached, or with the knowledge that they have lost their degrees by one per cent. in one single study, as in a late notable instance. Harvard has gone far beyond the strictness of high school methods of marking, but there is yet room for a considerable advance toward a broad university system.