A new system of computation has been adopted by the English department. Those juniors who had elected English composition courses were yesterday surprised by the announcement that they would be, not compelled, but, from force of circumstances, constrained to substitute half of their elective composition work for the required work in junior themes. No notice was taken of the extremely ragged condition which this would occasion in the electives of those whose work it affected. An equal amount of frankness was displayed in wholly ignoring the announcements of the elective pamphlet concerning the composition courses. The cause which was given for this action is the same as that which has been assigned for many other slight idiosyncrasies of our famous university. It is the cause of the signal failure of the library to enlighten our minds after sunset; the cause which has occasioned those ever recurring topics of conversation, the pumps, the state of the yard, the onslaught of barbaric muckerism and their like. It is simply the lack of means coupled with the accessory idea of lack of instructors. The English department has attempted by a new system of reckoning to bridge the difficulty. It is now determined that those juniors who have elected composition courses instead of writing the junior themes, shall write a thesis which shall equal in length the combined six themes. Of course it is very plain that it is easier to read and correct one long theme than it is to correct several short ones, aggregating the same length. Thus the affair is settled, and will, of course, prove highly successful.