It is generally felt that the failure of the Harvard Register was a detriment to the university. That enterprise started out with perhaps too broad a scope and with hopes too brilliant. But then it can be answered that only a magazine of so high a character could be worthy of the support of the entire university and its friends. Still, the failure of the Register will be likely to prevent any future schemes of such a sort for a long time to come. Nevertheless, the Register was called into being to supply an actual need of the college at the time; its fault was, that it more than supplied that want. Now that that paper has died, the same want again exists, after having been once partially satisfied. That want is not now, we believe, by any means adequately supplied by the University Bulletin. An official publication must necessarily be of too narrow and technical a scope to serve as an organ and exponent of Harvard before the public. For it is probably too much to ask that it assume anything like a literary character so as to appeal to general interests as the Register did to a certain extent.

The official circulars of Oxford and Cambridge Universities were, we believe, taken as models for the Bulletin; and of all dreary reading, they afford the dreariest. Aside from the minor consideration of precedence, we do not, after all, see why it is not possible to enlarge the Bulletin so that it may become a suitable organ of the university. The official circulars of the Johns Hopkins University, containing extensive synopses and reports of work and results reached by their investigators, as well as legal announcements, is certainly an interesting and successful publication; and Harvard should not longer remain in need of some such a publication. Hardly any more useful application for a moderate endowment could be suggested than one towards defraying the expenses of such a publication. The Bulletin, at present, is only quarterly; its notes are meagre and unsatisfactory; and as a whole it is not a fair representative of Harvard. Although an unofficial and private publication, if countenanced by the authorities, has many advantages over a strictly official publication, still as a substitute for the former, the latter is to be desired. We hope it will soon be possible to enlarge the Bulletin and broaden its aims.