General examinations of this character involve a marked departure from the prevalent American system of counting points and accumulating credits by examinations passed in separate courses. It will be observed that they are based upon the same principle as the new plan for entrance and the oral examinations in reading French and German already introduced in the College; and their possible application is by no means limited to the Medical School. Examinations are in all cases defective instruments. In a primitive golden age, if a college consisted of a log with the president on one end and the student on the other, examinations might perhaps be dispensed with altogether, but in an institution of any size they are a necessity, and where they exist their character and scope will inevitably determine in large measure the attitude of the student toward his studies. If he obtains his degree by passing examinations in separate courses, each course will be to a great extent an end in itself; whereas if he must look forward to a general examination in the future, the course becomes a means to an end, a part of a larger whole. The difference is even more marked where the course are elective than where they are required, because in scoring points toward graduation the indolent student is tempted to select courses which require little work, and is attracted therefore to those which cover ground already in part traversed; whereas, if he is preparing for a general examination, he is drawn to choose those which will give him the knowledge he will require. The value of any general examination must depend upon the skill with which it is administered; and that skill can be attained thoroughly only by experience. The art of conducting examinations is not less difficult and worthy of cultivation than the art of passing them; and in the Medical School the organization of committees for the purpose seems to promise good results. Among other things it makes abundant provision for a matter vital to a general examination upon a subject, as distinguished from an examination upon a course, to wit, that the majority of the examiners in any subject shall not be the persons who have given the student his instruction therein. In order, indeed, to avoid a narrow and technical aim, the rules go so far as to require that on each examining board for the oral examinations on a laboratory subject, there shall be a representative of the clinical subjects, and vice versa. No doubt time will be needed to perfect the system, but well administered it can hardly fail to promote a thorough mastery of the essentials in a medical education.

The Divinity School.

The adoption of the principles of a general examination upon subjects, instead of scoring credits in particular courses, is also under consideration in the Divinity School, both for the ordinary degree of Bachelor of Divinity and for an advanced degree of Master of Divinity. The students in that School are not numerous and their number is far less important than that the School should maintain for its degree a standard which shall be universally recognized as both high and rigorously enforced.

The Divinity School has been strengthened during the year by the accession of Professor James Richard Jewett to a chair of Arabic; and its equipment has been enriched by the joint Andover-Harvard Library built by Andover Theological Seminary. To this the theological books of both schools have been transferred. As the great collections of books at Harvard and in other libraries in this neighborhood become larger, the difficulty and the importance of avoiding needless duplication, and of making the collections readily accessible to all persons who can profit by them, increase year by year, and give scope for the energy and fact of the Director of the University Library.

Organization of Extension Work.

The organization of the extension work of the University under a Dean and Administrative Board, the co-operation therein, save for the Summer School, of the other institutions of higher learning in and about Boston, and the establishment of a special degree for students in these courses, were described in the last annual report. For the work done during the past year the reader is referred to the report of the Dean, but a few words may be said here about the general policy involved. The development of the great state universities in the West, and their success in meeting the needs of the communities by which they are maintained have thrown a new light upon the functions of a seat of learning. Too sharp a distinction is sometimes drawn between the endowed universities and those supported by the state. The fact that the former are neither directed by the public authorities, nor maintained by public funds, does not relieve them from the duty of serving the public. They are public institutions, the crown of the educational system, and although their first duty is to give the highest education possible to all men, rich and poor, who are capable of profiting by it, they can, and should, give aid to those who seek instruction but are unable to abandon their occupations to enter the regular curricula. This need not involve any lowering of the standard, for what the people should desire is not degrees cheaply obtained, but the best of instruction and a means of measuring their progresses by the regular college standards strictly maintained. Harvard has had an unfortunate reputation of being a rich man's college, and undeservedly, for a very large percentage of the students are obliged to earn money to pay their way, or to seek scholarships or aid from loan funds. It has had the reputation also of being exclusive, of holding aloof from the mass of men. This impression we must seek to remove until every man in the community in which we stand feels that he has a potential stake in the University, is proud of it, and takes an interest in its welfare.

No Funds Directly Applicable to Extension Work.

The University has no funds directly applicable to extension work. The Summer School is now self-supporting, but the public courses in term time must be carried on at a loss. The Boston Chamber of Commerce has given some help, while the Lowell Institute, of which the writer happens to be the trustee, defrays the greater part of the expenses not covered by students' fees. The founder directed that a part of his lectures should be popular and others "more erudite and particular." In fact, he seems to have had in mind what we now call university extension, but he did not realize how difficult it would be in this country to give effect to his project save by a close connection with a college. This portion of his design is now carried out by means of a co-operation with institutions of college rank in this neighborhood, partly through the extension work organized under the joint committee described in the last annual report, and partly in other ways. Unfortunately, perhaps, John Lowell, Jr., limited the fee in his courses to the price of two bushels of wheat per term, but if this limits the resources of the extension teaching, it provides the public with instruction of high grade at a very low cost to the student.

Exchange of Professors.

Under the arrangement for an exchange of professors with Germany we had the benefit during the first half-year of Professors Max Friedlander of Berlin, whose courses and public lectures on music will be long remembered. At the request of the Prussian Government, Professor Hugo Muensterberg was sent in return to Berlin.

For a number of years Mr. James Hazen Hyde maintained at his own expense an exchange with France whereby an American professor lectured at the French universities for half a year, and a Freshman delivered a course of public lectures at Harvard. Last year President John H. Finley, of the College of the City of New York, was sent to France, and Professor Emile Boutroux, the eminent head of the Fondation Thiers, lectured here. The interchange has been highly profitable, but it was felt that it would be better still if we could obtain a French professor who would give regular instruction in the University for a half-year. The French Government accepted the proposal cordially, and an agreement was made for a biennial exchange of professors. Such an exchange will be of great value in bringing our students into close contact with the rich scholarship of contemporary France.

Affiliation with Western Colleges.

An affiliation has been made also with a number of the best colleges in the West, and it has been made on their initiative. They are academic descendants of the old New England colleges, and do not attempt to maintain professional or graduate departments, but have a firm faith in the merits of a four-year college education. They find themselves pressed by the competition of the western state universities, which have far larger resources, and offer the attractions of the so-called "combined degree" whereby one or two years of study in the professional school of the university is treated as equivalent to college work, and is credited toward the degree of Bachelor of Arts as well as toward the professional degree. By that process a student obtains both degrees in a shorter period than if he completed his college work before entering upon the study of his profession. This is not the place to discuss the merits and defects of such a telescoping of curricula. It is a distinct advance over admission to the professional schools without any college work; but, on the other hand, the education it furnishes is unquestionably less than that of a full college course followed by a full professional course. No doubt it will appeal strongly to the greater part of American young men; but there are many who prefer to obtain the more complete education. Nevertheless, it places these western colleges at a disadvantage, because the man who takes their full course must spend a year or two longer before he can practice his profession; and they turned their thoughts to Harvard as almost the only university which does not permit the taking of a combined degree. The colleges included at present are Knox in Illinois, Beloit in Wisconsin. Grinnell in Lowa, and Colorado College. Harvard is annually to send one of its professors for a half-year, who will spend a month at each of the colleges, giving regular instruction to the students; and each college may send to Cambridge for half a year one of its instructors, who will give a third of his time to teaching in the University, and spend the rest of it in study or research. The colleges are to provide the maintenance and traveling expenses of the visiting professor, and Harvard is to pay each of her visitors the salary of an assistant in a course. The direct advantages of the affiliation are only a part of its object; the indirect benefits are greater still, for the alliance enlarges the influence and usefulness of both institutions.

Gifts and Legacies.

The friends of the University have as usual been generous, the total amount received in gifts and legacies during the fiscal year ending July 1, 1911, having been $1,745,438.72. Among the largest separate sums received are: from the estate of Gordon McKay, an additional payment of $382,377.86; from the estate of Alexander Agassiz, $201,507.50, partly for the cost of the publications of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and partly for its general expenses; $141,000 for the construction and maintenance of the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital from subscriptions received through Dr. J. Collins Warren; $100,000 from the Class of 1886 for its Twenty-fifth Anniversary Fund; $100,000 from Mr. Adolphus Busch, to be added to his gift for the construction and maintenance of the Germanic Museum; $902,568.75 to be added to the Anonymous Fund; from the estate of Mrs. Mary Hemenway, $45,000, for the Mary Hemenway Fund for Archaeology in the Peabody, Museum; from the estate of John Harvey Treat, $40,797.11, for the purchase of books for the Library.