Perhaps nothing is so frequently remarked upon by the visitor at our university, and especially by students from other colleges, than the great number of note-books seen in the hands and on the shelves of undergraduates. They are not the small, insignificant scribbling books used to jot down the casual remarks of an instructor on some of the time-worn topics; but are in most cases noble quartos in which goes the very essence of the latest researches by our learned professors, who vie with each other to lay the "newest thing" before their attentive pupils.

Of all the arguments in favor of an elective system such as ours, this one of note-taking would seem to be most powerful. In the great majority of our courses text books are either wanting or are of only subordinate importance; and the student is made almost entirely dependent on his careful attention, quick perception and selective faculties to obtain in proper shape a digest of the instructor's lectures. These digests, together with the results of outside reading, give the student a collection of facts far superior to the best of the text books. This may be said advisedly for the first effect of the concentration of mind in taking notes is to make an impression on the brain, which when appealed to by the notes in review gives them almost the freshness of spoken words. Then, too, notes recall not only the words put down, but also many of the illustrations and answers of the professor, not important enough to be written out but necessary to a complete understanding of the subject.

This effect can never be obtained from the printed works of an author, familiarity with which often blunts our perception in their most important parts, in reviews for examination. The attention is more painful than pleasant in this kind of "grinding," - while our notes are not only reminders, as remarked above, but statements put in the best shape for our individual minds. For these reasons "printed notes," etc. never give the same results as those of the student himself, and are to be reprehended inasmuch as they offer a loop-hole for the man who is too lazy to take his own notes.

Discrimination ought to be used in taking notes as well as in other things. It is not necessary to write every syllable of a lecture, and in fact notes thus taken are well nigh useless in review, the kernel bearing too small a proportion to the husk; generally, however, a careful note-taker will sift out of an hour's lecture a supply of kernels sufficient to make a delightful repast.

Note-taking like every other great system beneficial to humanity gives rise to many evils. The note, however, is one of these and deserves little regard on the face of the earth. Another and perhaps the crying evil of the system is the "syllabi" published in pamphlet form by the Cambridge printers, and issued at prices which would put to blush the projectors of an average edition de luxe.