A considerable, proportion of the students who come to Harvard have but a vague conception of the institution they are entering. Particularly is this true of boys whose geographical residence or family antecedents have not brought them into contact, with Harvard man and Harvard laden. Arrived in Cambridge they may feel slightly bewildered, sometimes lost. In an atmosphere essentially strange to their past experlonee. Acclimatization to Harvard life will inevitably come of itself, especially since Harvard demands no conformity to specific standards, but it is safe to say that numerous students go through their entire four years of college without penetrating beneath the surface of that great store of past, achievements, personalities, incidents, and ideas which make up the body of what may be called Harvard tradition.

"It is in order that the Freshman may receive a reliable initiation into the boundless wealth of this tradition that the CRIMSON has prepared the publication of the booklet on Harvard traditions and institutions described elsewhere in this morning's issue.

This group of articles written by men who are eminently well qualified to speak on Harvard, either past or present, contains many entertaining stories, much solid history, and certain intangible traditions which have become the most lasting part of what the name Harvard signifies. All of this varied material--tales of the nefarious activities of the Med. Fac. society and the great Commons rebellions as well as Dean Briggs' interpretation of the part of the individual in Harvard life--is just as essential to a full understanding of the Harvard of today as of the Harvard of a century past.