THE Act of 1872, as an outstanding feature in the history of education, has been dealt with as the starting-point of our fourth school period from that date to the present time. The Act of 1858, as conspicuous for its influence on university, as that of 1872 on school life, has been chosen as the commencement of our fourth university period.

There are two great landmarks in the history of the Scottish universities, the remodelling which they underwent in 1858 and again in 1889. Before 1858 in all the universities, except Edinburgh, the administration was in the hands of the Senatus Academicus. In Edinburgh it was largely in the hands of the municipality. The commissioners of 1858 were instructed to have special regard to the several reports which followed the visits of the commissions between 1826 and 1857. These instructions were faithfully carried out, and resulted in the excellent Act of 1858, which may be said to have nationalised the Scottish universities. The ordinances passed under it practically regulated the action of them all for more than thirty years.

By the Act of 1858 larger powers were given to the Senatus, and the University Court and General Council were instituted. Henceforth in Glasgow and Aberdeen the Rector was as hitherto elected by the matriculated students divided into four 'nations,' but in Edinburgh and St Andrews in such manner as the commissioners might determine. The functions of the faculty were divided between the Senate and the University Court. To this Court, consisting of the Rector, Principal (and in Edinburgh the Lord Provost, in Glasgow the Dean of Faculties), and four assessors, was transferred the appointment of professors. It is more correct to say that the Crown's patronage was retained, and that the Town's went to the Curators. The Court had charge of the revenue and pecuniary concerns generally, the regulation of fees, and internal arrangements. The General Council consisted of the Chancellor, University Court, the professors, graduates and others who had attended four sessions [As graduation had (except in Aberdeen) gone much out of fashion, registration in the General Council was granted to all who had, prior to 1861, completed four sessions, at least two of them being in the Faculty of Arts.]. It met twice a year and made representations to the Court on any questions affecting the welfare of the university. By the Ordinance of 1858 bursaries were revised, new professorships were founded, and provision was made for assistants to professors and examiners for degrees. The order in which classes were to be taken was left to the student's choice, and the subjects of examination for degrees were arranged in three departments in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but in St Andrews and Aberdeen there were four departments, chemistry being compulsory in the former, natural history in the latter. The subjects might be taken in any order, the result of which was a large increase in graduation and in the number of students.

This concession to individual tastes and requirements, while necessary and in some respects desirable, was by many thought to be not an unmixed good, inasmuch as it affected injuriously the unbroken social intercourse that formerly existed among young men engaged in common pursuits and studies during their residence at the university [University of Glasgow Old and New, XXV - XXVI ]. The experience of thirty years and the investigation of the commission of 1876 brought to light a number of facts clearly suggesting the expediency of further legislation.

One of the aims of the Act of 1858 was increase of graduation, and giving to graduates, through their General Councils, an interest, and, to that extent, a share in university administration. Through the institution of University Courts, the somewhat close professorial atmosphere was freshened and vitalised by a wholesome current of ventilation from without. Other aims were increase of professors' emoluments and the appointment of assistants and additional professors. On this subject the municipal origin of the University of Edinburgh necessitated exceptional treatment. The appointment to professorships, which up to this time had been in the hands of the Town Council, was now to be transferred to the University Court. In this matter the Town Council had used their power on the whole well, and naturally objected to its being taken from them. But in view of the squabbling between the municipality and the Senatus which, with faults on both sides, had characterised a considerable part of the 18th and 19th centuries, and which sectarian feeling, aroused by the ecclesiastical disruption of 1843, would tend to foster while interfering with wholesome administration, a moderate check on the autocracy of the Town Council was thought desirable. A compromise was accordingly adopted which assigned the patronage of the university to seven curators, four of whom were to be nominated by the Town Council, and three by the University Court.

It was certainly better that the influence of the Town Council in making appointments to chairs should be exercised in this way than by compelling candidates to canvass thirty representatives of city wards. It was further ordained that the Rector was to be elected by the students, and the Chancellor by the graduates or General Council. In the House of Commons a permissive clause was proposed by Mr Gladstone that the four universities should take the form of `colleges' of a central university, which should conduct examinations for all Scotland in a way somewhat akin to the London University. Some approved of this as tending to secure uniformity of attainment and stimulate effort on the part of both professor and student. The House of Lords thought it an innovation undesirable on the ground of sentiment and tradition. As it was only permissive it was allowed to remain part of the act.

A powerful executive commission was appointed to carry out the purposes of the act. It was entrusted with large powers which, injudiciously used, might have worked ruin, but the interests of the universities were safe in the hands of such men as the Duke of Argyll, Earls Stanhope and Mansfield, Lord President McNeill, Stirling of Keir, Lord Moncrieff, and, most important of all, the sagacious and energetic Lord Justice Clerk Inglis as chairman [" They acted with the greatest wisdom and sagacity, and produced a system under which the universities, and especially the University of Edinburgh sprang into new life and development." Grant's .Story of Edinburgh University, II, p. 100.]. A proposal that principalships should not be confined to ministers of the Established Church was carried. Of this change Sir David Brewster as Principal of Edinburgh was the first fruit. In due course they proceeded to frame regulations for graduation in medicine and arts, arranging for three classes of medical degrees-Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.), Master in Surgery (C.M.), and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). For the two lower degrees compliance with Ordinance 5, which was merely supplementary to the arrangements adopted in 1833, was necessary. For M.D. the requirements were a lapse of two years after the lower pass, age not less than twenty-four, and proof of satisfactory attainments in the Faculty of Arts. The medical faculties in their jealousy of extra-mural teaching made a protest against Ordinance 8 which sanctioned it, but without effect, and both ordinances were confirmed in 186I. In 1866 the production of a thesis on some medical subject was added, as necessary for the degree of M.D. Under these regulations, the number of students and graduates in medicine rapidly increased till 1890, when it fell off for about ten years and again increased. In the Faculty of Arts the Commission of 1858 did not adopt the recommendation of the Royal Commission of 1826-30 as to an entrance examination, but they instituted a voluntary examination for a three years' course, and an examination testing fitness for promotion from a junior to a senior class. They abolished the system of B.A. and M.A. Of 1826, and also the B.A. instituted by the Senatus Academicus in 1842, which was simply M.A. with the omission of some subjects. Instead of this they established only one M.A. degree which could be taken in three stages.

This was adopted to encourage graduation and enlarge the General Council. It had this effect, and infused a general spirit of work into the various classes. The subjects covered by the Arts course were Latin, Greek, mathematics, natural philosophy, logic, moral philosophy and rhetoric. For the ordinary M.A. degree examination in these seven subjects was necessary.

Honours might be taken in each of the following departments: (1) classical literature; (2) mental philosophy, including logic, metaphysics, and moral philosophy; (3) mathematics, including pure mathematics and natural philosophy, and (4) natural science, including geology, zoology and chemistry. In each of the first three of these departments, there were two grades of honour, but in natural science only one [In St Andrews and Aberdeen Science was an eighth compulsory subject. ].

While attendance at the classes of these seven subjects was necessary for degree, it is scarcely doubtful that the pitch of the examination was not high, but considerably higher than that of Cambridge or Oxford even now. The scarcity, and comparatively isolated position of secondary schools in our educational system, in many parts of the country, was incompatible with a highly pitched graduation scheme. The aim of the commissioners to increase graduation was entirely laudable. They wished to promote general culture, and arouse academic ambition in the only way then possible. It was in the interest of general culture that the degree of M.A. conferring membership of the General Council and consequently a share in the business of the university, should be held out, as a possible result of four years' diligence and average ability, to a lad whose education in a rural school was of a comparatively humble type. That it was successful is beyond question. For a considerable time not more than half the students took part in the class examination. Not long after, eighty per cent. did. There was a gradual raising of test and a strict examination in all the subjects was rigidly enforced.

Between 1863 and the commissioners' report in 1878 no new professorships or lectureships had been founded in the University of Aberdeen. In St Andrews a professorship of the Theory, History, and Practice of Education was instituted in 1876 on an endowment provided for under the will of the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell of Egmore, founder of the Madras system of education. In Glasgow two professorships, one of clinical surgery and another of clinical medicine, were instituted by the Senatus Academicus, with the approval of the University Court. An endowment of £2500 was provided from private sources for each chair, and the patronage was vested in the University Court. The incumbents of these chairs were allowed to practise as a supplement to the endowment, which at 4 per cent. would produce only £100. The respective rights, with regard to graduation, of the two clinical professors on the one hand, and of their medical colleagues on the other, especially the professors of practice of medicine and systematic surgery, were subjects of keen controversy, for the settlement of which the commissioners thought they had no authority, and that it was more suitably left in the hands of the University Court.

Between 1863 and 1876 four new professorships were founded in the University of Edinburgh by the Senatus Academicus, that of engineering in 1868, that of geology and mineralogy in 1871, that of commercial and political economy and mercantile law in 1871, that of theory, history, and practice of education in 1876 [Reort of Commissioners of 1876, pp. 51-3.].

The Senatus Academicus with these additions was in 1876 the following.

In St Andrews, 2 Principals and 13 Professors, in all 15.
In Glasgow, 1 Principal and 27 Professors, in all 28.
In Aberdeen, 1 Principal and 21 Professors, in all 22.
In Edinburgh, 1 Principal and 36 Professors, in all 37.

After discussing the general propriety and expediency of the establishment of new chairs, the commissioners urge caution in accepting offers of endowments for new professorships. "Some of these may be highly beneficial, while others may be of doubtful expediency ; and, to ensure that no chair shall be founded without a full and unprejudiced consideration of the probable consequences of its institution, and of the conditions under which its institution, if resolved on, should be sanctioned, we think that some check on the power of the universities to establish new chairs should be provided by legislation [Report of Commissioners of 1876, p. 67]." They add however that the same objections do not apply to lectureships, which are not necessarily of a permanent nature, and may be discontinued if found to be unnecessary or unsuccessful.

In the evidence given before the commissioners in 1876 there was great variety of opinion about the discontinuance of junior classes, in which the work done was more suitable for school than university. The preponderance of evidence was against the discontinuance, which was also the opinion of the commissioners themselves. They accordingly advised their continuance, on the ground that, in many parts of Scotland, the supply of such secondary education as would qualify for entrance into a senior class is not to be had, and that university education would be denied to many who might be able to turn it to good account. They thought that any rule which would shut the gates of the university against a student who failed to pass a certain examination would, in the circumstances of Scotland, be injurious to the education of the country ; that university attendance was unusually large in proportion to the population; that educational conditions were very various, and not less various the objects with which, and the ages at which, students came to the university; that many of the backward students were beyond school age, and could not be expected to return to school ; and, above all, that national life and character had been for centuries most beneficially influenced by the universities being accessible to all, even the poorest. With these views the commissioners of 1889 agreed, adding, however, that while it would be hard at present to discontinue junior classes in the interest of the backward students, they thought it undesirable that they should be permanent. They are now discontinued, but there are tutorial classes for students preparing to pass the preliminary examination.

On the kindred question as to enforcing a preliminary examination as a condition of entrance the commissioners in 1876 took the same sound view. In this they were followed by the commissioners of 1889 who held that the "first and indispensable condition for the erection of a barrier at the gates of the university is that candidates for admission should have sufficient means and opportunity for preparing themselves for the university at school [Report of Commissioners of 1889, p. x.]."

In 1892 in consequence of representations made to the commissioners a preliminary examination was for the first time instituted, in order (1) to maintain the distinction between school and university education, and (2) at the same time avoid possible injustice to candidates whose opportunities of getting advanced education were unsatisfactory. The subjects of examination were English, Latin or Greek, mathematics, and one of the following, French, German, Italian, dynamics. As many candidates come from elementary schools which could prepare students to pass in two, but not in the whole four subjects of the preliminary examination, the commissioners ordained that "any student, who had passed in Latin, Greek, or mathematics on the higher standard, may attend a qualifying class in such subject or subjects without having passed in the other subjects; but no candidate can present himself for examination in any subject qualifying for graduation, till he has passed the whole preliminary examination, nor can he be admitted to a degree in Arts, unless he has attended qualifying classes for three years after completing the preliminary examination [Ordinance 44, Section IV.]."

By this arrangement students were permitted to attend the classes for which they had proved their fitness. They could thereafter, either privately or in the summer vacation, prepare to pass in the other subjects, instead of giving up the university altogether. But for this modification of the original Ordinance students of possibly great ability, though weak in classics and mathematics, would, mainly owing to their distance from good schools, have been denied the opportunity of reaching, as many such have done, high academic distinction. A middle course between laxity and severity was chosen, a good deal being left to judicious action on the part of the University Court, the Senatus, and the examiners. Consideration was thus given to the unsatisfactory condition of secondary education in schools, while at the same time the standard of the preliminary examination was not lowered. It has been contended with considerable cogency, that the gates of the university should be open to all comers irrespective of attainments, provided, of course, that teaching is not lowered to suit the ill-prepared, who must be content to pick up whatever they can. Of the expediency of the policy of the open door, Scotland's educational history can furnish many notable examples.

The standard for a pass in the preliminary examination was prescribed by reference to the examination for the three years' curriculum established in 1858, and to the leaving certificate of the Scotch Education Department. To secure uniformity in all the universities, a board of examiners was instituted consisting of professors, lecturers on subjects qualifying for graduation, and additional examiners appointed by the University Courts.

After passing this examination, the curriculum extended over not less than three winter sessions, or two winter and three summer sessions, a winter session including not less than twenty, and a summer session not less than ten teaching weeks. While the traditional number of seven subjects was unchanged, it was felt that the course of study covered by them was wanting in pliancy and adaptation to individual taste or bent of mind, and a great variety of options was consequently introduced.

While the course was thus widened and liberalised, care was taken that the humanistic culture characteristic of an Arts degree was preserved, as will be seen below from the specification of imperative and optional subjects. This widening of the curriculum was thought to have a useful bearing on the relation of the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Medicine, inasmuch as some of these science subjects might be taken during the Arts course, and so shorten the medical course by a year, and that its tendency would be in the direction of enlarged liberal education for the medical student. In Aberdeen, where natural history was compulsory, a medical student saved a year by taking chemistry in his fourth year in Arts.

Candidates for the ordinary M.A. degree might follow the curriculum, and graduate in the subjects hitherto recognised for graduation according to the regulations laid down in Ordinances 12, 14, 18 and 69 of the Act of 1858, or they might vary the curriculum in the following way. They must attend full courses and pass in seven subjects four of which must be (a) Latin or Greek; (b) English or a Modern Language (French, German, Italian, Spanish) or History; (c) Logic and Metaphysics, or Moral Philosophy; (d) Mathematics or Natural Philosophy. The remaining three subjects might be chosen from the following departments, subject to the condition that the group of seven subjects must include either (a) both Latin and Greek, or (b) both Logic and Moral Philosophy, or (c) any two of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.

There were four departments.

1. Language and Literature.

Latin
Italian
Greek
Sanskrit
English
Hebrew
French
Arabic or Syriac
German
Celtic

2. Mental Philosophy.

Logic and Metaphysics.
Education (Theory, History and Art of).
Moral Philosophy.
Political Economy.
Philosophy of Law.

3. Science.

Mathematics.
Zoology.
Natural Philosophy.
Botany.
Astronomy.
Geology.
Chemistry.

4. History and Law.

History.
Constitutional Law and History.
Archaeology and Art (History of).
Roman Law.
Public Law.

A candidate for the M.A. degree was not required to submit himself to examination in groups of subjects. He might be examined in any subject, as soon as he had completed attendance on the corresponding class. For the honours degree in Arts it was, up to this time, necessary to pass in all the pass subjects, except in the department in which the honours examination was taken. By the new Ordinance exemption was allowed from some pass subjects in order that the candidate might be free to devote his energies to the subjects in the honours group in which he proposed to graduate.

The degree of M.A. might be taken with honours in any of the following groups, provided honours classes had been established in at least two subjects in that group:

(a) Classics.

(b) Mental Philosophy.

(c) Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.

(d) Semitic Languages.

(e) Indian Languages.

(f) English (Language, Literature, and British History).

(g) Modern Languages and Literature.

(h) History.

(i) Economic Science (i.e. Political Economy, with either (a) Moral Philosophy, or (b) History, as Supplementary Honours subjects).

In each group there were three grades of honours - first, second, and third class.

The candidate for honours must take up at least five subjects, two of which must be selected from his honours group. The five subjects must include one from each of the departments of Language and Literature, Mental Philosophy, and Science.

The commissioners framed Ordinances 31 and 45 instituting Faculties of Science (Report, p. xix). These faculties vary in each university because the chairs in each are not identical.

To enter in detail into the matter of these two ordinances would far exceed our limits. It is perhaps sufficient to say that "The Commissioners ordained that two degrees in science may be conferred by each of the Universities of Scotland, viz. Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and Doctor of Science (D.Sc.). These degrees may be given in Pure Science and in Applied Science. To obtain the degree of B.Sc. the ordinance prescribed the passing of a preliminary examination, attendance on at least seven courses of instruction during not less than three academical years and the passing of two science examinations."

In the University of Edinburgh the prescribed subjects are (1906-7):

I. Preliminary Examination:

(1) English.
(2) One of the following - Latin, Greek, French or German.
(3) Mathematics.
(4) One of the following - Latin, Greek, French or German (if not already taken); Italian, or such other language as the Senatus may approve, Dynamics.

II. First Science Examination:

(1) Mathematics or Biology (i.e. Zoology and Botany).
(2) Natural Philosophy.
(3) Chemistry.

III. The Second Science Examination is on a higher standard in any three or more of the following subjects: Mathematics.

(1) Mathematics
(2) Natural Philosophy.
(3) Astronomy.
(4) Chemistry.
(5) Human Anatomy including Anthropology.
(6) Physiology including Histology and Physiological Chemistry.
(7) Geology including Mineralogy.
(8) Zoology including Comparative Anatomy.
(9) Botany including Vegetable Physiology.

Doctor of Science (D.Sc.).

Bachelors of Science of not less than five years' standing may offer themselves for the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) and must profess one of the branches of science prescribed for the second science examination, in which they " will be expected to show a thorough knowledge " as well as to present a thesis to be approved by the Senatus.

In applied science the degrees of B.Sc. and D.Sc. are conferred in the departments of engineering, public health and agriculture.

Of the 169 ordinances issued by the Commission Of 1889 41 are general and applicable to all the four universities. It will be convenient to deal first with the most important of these, and leave as far as possible those that have special reference to each university to be taken up separately.

New Constitution of University Courts.

The new constitution of the University Court marks a change of very great importance. In 1858 the number of members was in St Andrews and Aberdeen 6, in Glasgow 7, and in Edinburgh 8. In the new Courts the number in each was raised to 14, independently of possible additions of 4 in the event of new colleges being affiliated. This increased membership was brought about by introducing the Provosts of the four university towns, and giving additional assessors to the Senatus and General Council. It was only in Edinburgh that the Lord Provost and his assessor were formerly members, a very proper recognition of the strictly municipal origin of the university. By the introduction of the Provosts a popular element of great value in keeping with the temper of the time was contributed.

Increase in the membership had a very distinct motive, and was accompanied by a large transference of power and responsibility. Formerly, the Court was little more than a Court of Appeal from the Senatus Academicus, which had the administration of property and revenues, as well as discipline and education. In some of the universities this power was thought excessive and almost autocratic. By the new ordinance, responsibility for discipline and education was left with the Senatus, but the business management of property was vested in the University Court. There were also certain decisions of the Senatus which it was competent for the Court to supervise and review. This diminution of power had a partial compensation for the Senatus in increased representation in the Court, and a two-third share in the superintendence of libraries and museums.

Another new and valuable element was the Students' Representative Council which had come spontaneously into existence in 1884 and was now recognised by statute. It is elected annually, and consists of representatives from the different Faculties, and the recognised students' societies. Its functions are (1) To represent the students in matters affecting their interests. (2) To afford a recognised means of communication between the students and the university authorities. (3) To promote social life and academic unity among the students. Its constitution had to be approved by the University Court, and it was entitled to petition the Senatus or the University Court about any matter within their respective jurisdictions affecting the interests of the students.

Among the most important of the new features of the act was the provision for the extension of universities by the affiliation of new colleges, such as the University College of Dundee with the University of St Andrews.

Another feature was the institution of the Universities' Committee of the Privy Council. This committee was to consist of the Lord President of the Privy Council, the Secretary for Scotland, and, if they are Privy Councillors, the Lord Justice General, the Lord Justice Clerk, the Lord Advocate, the four Chancellors, the four Lord Rectors of the universities, one member of the judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and such other members of the Privy Council as the Sovereign may appoint. This committee may be appealed to by the Sovereign for advice, as to giving or withholding consent to any of the Ordinances of the commissioners. For the purpose of this Ordinance any three or more are sufficient, provided one is a member of the judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and one a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland. In the entire field of university administration the Universities' Committee was the supreme tribunal. Other changes of greater or less importance were introduced. Power was given to the General Council to have special meetings, in addition to the two statutory meetings, which formerly were alone permitted. In universities where the Rector was elected by `nations' the election was settled by the majority of votes and not, as formerly, by the casting vote of the Chancellor, when there was an equality of 'nations.' Where the election is not made by 'nations,' as in Edinburgh and St Andrews, it is settled by the majority of votes.

It is a noteworthy circumstance in connection with the Act of 1889, that while a period of two years (with power to extend if necessary) was mentioned as probably to be required for the work of the commissioners, it was not till after 251 meetings had been held that their task was completed in 1897, eight years after their first meeting in 1889. The very extensive powers with which they were invested sufficiently account for the greatly extended time. They had before them the whole university system to examine and, if necessary, to reconstruct. They were empowered to regulate the foundations, mortifications, gifts and endowments held by any of the universities ; to combine or divide bursaries and make rules for exercising the patronage of them; to transfer to the University Court the patronage of all professorships except those vested in the Curators of the University of Edinburgh. This extensive charge however was accompanied by judicious and necessary safeguards against hurried legislation. It is approximately correct to say that draft ordinances, by whomsoever proposed, had, according to definite arrangements as to times and seasons and order of procedure, to run the gauntlet of criticism by the commissioners, the Senatus Academicus, the General Council, the University Courts of the four universities, and indeed by any person affected by such Ordinances, before they could be submitted for approval by the Queen, who might further ask the advice of the Universities' Committee, as the supreme tribunal in university proceedings. The Ordinances having passed this ordeal, and having been laid before both Houses of Parliament, received the royal assent and became law. The publicity thus given to the Ordinances, and the keen scrutiny to which they were subjected by all who, from different points of view, were interested in them, might be expected to afford strong presumption of the general soundness of the conclusions at which the commissioners arrived.

Subsequent experience however has shown that this presumption was wrong. It was at any rate found after an experience of ten or twelve years that though the Act of 1889 authorised each University Court, after the expiry of the powers of the commissioners, to make ordinances affecting its own university, all such Ordinances required, before being submitted for royal approval, to be communicated to the Courts of the other three universities, any one of which had the power of making adverse representations to the Privy Council. The result was that no Ordinance could be passed without serious difficulty and delay unless all the universities were agreed. After much inter-academic negotiation, a simple method has in 1908 been devised of remedying this unsatisfactory state of affairs, and of securing 'autonomy' all round. An Ordinance is obtained by one university making general regulations on some particular subject affecting itself, and containing a clause authorising details to be enacted and altered from time to time by that university alone, without any power of scrutiny by the others or reference to the Privy Council. A striking instance of this is furnished by the new Arts Ordinance for Glasgow, which-to mention one point only-specifies 27 subjects from which a curriculum may be made up, leaving it to the Senatus, with the approval of the University Court, to make additions to or modifications in these, and to enact from time to time regulations regarding the definition and grouping of the subjects, their selection for the curriculum, their classification as cognate, and the order in which they are to be studied, as also regarding the standard of the degree examinations and the conditions of admission thereto. Such regulations require to be communicated to the General Council, but not to any outside body, either academic or governmental.

The course of medical study was extended from four to five years. It was impossible, in view of such a long course, to insist on medical students taking a full course in arts, but, as a security for the possession of a liberal education, a preliminary examination was instituted in the same subjects as for Arts students, French or German being allowed as alternative for Greek. The extent and standard of the examination were to be determined by the Joint Board of Examiners. It was provided that there must be four professional examinations:- the first in botany, zoology, physics, and chemistry; the second in anatomy, physiology, and materia medica ; the third in pathology, medical jurisprudence, and public health ; and the fourth in the various departments of medicine, surgery, and midwifery.

It was not thought desirable to establish an honours degree in medicine. In Arts a student can specialise with advantage because he has already got a liberal education, though he is possibly much stronger in classics than in mathematics, or in philosophy than in either. But in medical study the commissioners remark: "every candidate for this degree must have a competent knowledge of every branch, and it is therefore impossible to acquire so exceptional a mastery of any one as would justify a degree with honours [Report of Commissioners of 1889, p. xvii.]." Notwithstanding some most sensible contentions for an honours degree, it was thought " more important that the Universities should encourage prolonged study in medical science by men of riper age, than that they should recognise differences of degree in the attainments of undergraduates [Ibid., p. xviii.]." Each university however confers the degree of M.B. as a whole with honours, but without specification of honours in separate subjects.

Some of the regulations framed by the commissioners of 1858, in their endeavour to bring the practice of the universities into harmony with the system introduced by the Medical Act, were amended by the commissioners of 1889. They substituted the degree of Bachelor of Surgery for that of Master of Surgery, and made the latter a higher degree of the same rank as Doctor of Medicine. Both of these higher degrees were obtainable only by those who, being already bachelors, had spent an adequate time in additional study and practice of medicine or surgery, had passed an examination in certain special departments and submitted for approval of the Faculty of Medicine a thesis on one or other of certain specified branches [Report of Commissioners of 1889, p. xvi.].

In 1858 it was decided to give an academic character to degrees in law which had till that time been purely honorary. With this in view the commissioners of that year ordained that the degree of Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) should be conferred only on graduates in arts, who must give three sessions to legal study in six departments. The commissioners of 1889, while agreeing with this proposal, thought it desirable to give the degree more elasticity and a wider scope, so as to adapt it to the wants of other than practising lawyers,-to men whose aim was a public or administrative career. The ordinance was accordingly amended to the extent of giving options and adding to the number of subjects as under:

1. General or Comparative Jurisprudence.
2. The Law of Nations or Public International Law.
3. Civil Law.
4. The Law of Scotland or the Law of England.
5. Constitutional Law and History.
6. Conveyancing or Political Economy or Mercantile Law.
7. Two of the following: International Private Law, Political Economy, Administrative Law, and Forensic Medicine.

In Edinburgh and Glasgow a lower degree (B. L.), not confined to graduates in arts, had been established, the requisites for which were passing the preliminary examination in arts, three arts subjects, and four legal subjects-Civil Law, Law of Scotland, Conveyancing and Forensic Medicine, two years of academic study, one of which must have been spent in the university granting the degree. St Andrews having no Faculty of Law could not give the degree. In Aberdeen for some time only B. L. could be conferred, but in that university, as also in Glasgow, an incomplete Faculty of Law was supplemented by lecturers and now Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen can confer both degrees [Ibid., p. xxii.].

Previous to 1889 classes for women in Arts and Medicine, on a university standard, had been conducted in Edinburgh and Glasgow outside the university. In St Andrews women were examined and obtained the title of L.L.A., but there were no classes [L.L.A, means Lady Literate in Arts.]. This remains unchanged. The title is obtained by passing in seven subjects, of which at least one must be a language. All honours passes count as two ordinary passes. The subjects of examination are arranged in four departments: (1) language, (2) philosophy, (3) science, (q.) education, Biblical history and literature. One subject out of each of the first three departments must be chosen, the remaining subject or subjects may be taken from any department. The examination may be taken at any age, may spread over any length of time, and the subjects may be taken in any order. In none of the universities had women been admitted to graduation, but an Ordinance in 1892 admitted women to any degree on the same terms as men. Where in arts, science, or medicine no provision was made within the university for the education of women the teaching of any teacher or institution in the university town might be recognised by the Court as qualifying for graduation.

Graduation in Divinity.

The commissioners regret that they can do nothing to remodel the Faculty of Divinity. In all the universities the equipment is inadequate, the number of professors and lecturers too few, and the salaries too small. They could not found new chairs, as no portion of the parliamentary grant of £42,000 made in 1892 could be given to theological chairs beyond the sum, if any, which "had been, within twelve months before the commencement of the act, appropriated to such chairs out of public moneys." They dissented from the opinion of the Edinburgh Faculty of Divinity, who held that the restriction was not applicable to the parliamentary grant [Report of Commissioners of 1889, p. xxiii.].

The admission to the degree of Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) of students other than members of the Established Church was regarded by the commissioners of 1858 as a delicate question, but as the universities favoured the proposal, no serious objection was taken to it. Meanwhile in all the universities the practice had been well established as by prescriptive right. All candidates were examined, no vital principle was involved, and the commissioners of 1889 thought the "system was advantageous and ought to be confirmed." The examination was accordingly opened to graduates of Scottish universities who had gone through a due course of theological training whether in these universities or' in any other theological school in Scotland or England.

It was suggested to the commissioners that the degree of LL.D. might be made attainable by examination, just as the higher degrees in science and medicine were conferred, but as LL.D. had always been given simply as a mark of honour, it was feared that confusion might arise from making it represent high legal attainments also, which the degree of LL.B. sufficiently attested. This was the conclusion to which the commissioners of 1875 also came. The degrees of D.D. and LL.D. continue to be given honoris causa, the commissioners merely remarking that they should be conferred with "due deliberation, and not in deference to applications from without."

Additional Assistants.

There is no respect in which the commissioners of 1889 have contributed so much to the improvement of the university, as in the means they took to make provision for a steadily increasing growth of students and new subjects of instruction, by adding to the number of assistants and lecturers. Many of the classes were too large to be managed by professors however accomplished and energetic. The number of Latin students in 1889 in Glasgow was 453, and the number of anatomy students in 1889 in Edinburgh was for winter 300 at lectures, and in practical anatomy 534 for winter and 167 for summer. It was proposed to meet this evil by extending to all the faculties the same recognition of extra-mural teaching as had been given to the Faculty of Medicine. This question was carefully considered by the commissioners of 1876, who thought it would be injurious. With this opinion the commissioners of 1889 heartily agreed.

The grounds were various. One, but not the most important, was the diminution of the already too small income of the universities. A much more important one was the almost inevitable lowering of the instruction. The excellent results of extra-mural teaching in medicine were no guide to the expediency of adopting the same system in the Faculty of Arts. They pointed out that the aim of medical teaching is the acquisition of definite and exact information, on which the student is to be examined and pronounced qualified for a profession, and that it is of comparatively little importance where or how his information has been acquired, while the aim of a teacher in the Faculty of Arts is to supply the broadening influence which forms the basis of a liberal education, and that of the student is, or ought to be, primarily mental culture, not ability to pass an examination [Report of Commissioners, p. xxv.]. It is not insinuated that instruction in medical subjects may not be, and in many well-known instances is, eminently scientific and stimulative, nor that all students in the Faculty of Arts work under the inspiring motive of mental culture, but it will be generally granted that the aim of each class of students is different, and fairly represented by the account thus given of them. If the extra-mural teachers are to live they must have large classes, and large classes can be got only by the teachers earning a reputation for success in enabling their pupils to pass the required examination. It is inevitable that competition of this kind would take the direction of examination success, to the detriment of the higher aim of mental culture, which, from an academic point of view, would be a great evil. To meet the case of subjects taking a wider range than formerly, or the introduction of new subjects, or of classes unmanageably large, the commissioners preferred to appoint assistants and lecturers, whose teaching would be on the same lines as that of the professors, under the superintendence and regulations of the University Court and Senatus, and, in this way, to avoid the danger of cram, and the tendency to subordinate the true principle of sound university education to examination aims. They accordingly ordained that the University Court, after consultation with the Senatus, should determine the number, duties, remuneration and tenure of office of assistants and lecturers; that they should be recognised as officers of the university but not members of the Senatus; that their lectures should, as a rule, qualify for graduation, and that their appointment, dismissal, and arrangements for teaching should all be under the superintendence of the University Court and the Senatus. The commissioners saw that, by the institution of this class of university officers, encouragement would be given to post-graduate study and research by students of promise, from whom there would be furnished for vacancies in professorships a supply of candidates of successful experience, an anticipation in many cases realised. It was the natural completion of university promotion--bursaries to enable students of ability to follow a course of study, scholarships and fellowships to reward excellence attained, and professorships to crown the career.

Bursary Regulations.

The commissioners were empowered to "frame regulations under which the patronage of existing bursaries vested in private individuals or bodies corporate should be exercised," but not to abolish the rights so vested. They had neither the power nor the wish to throw them all open to competition. They knew the unfavourable position of many candidates who, owing to the deficient character of the schools in which they had been taught, were in this way unfairly handicapped in competition with students who may have had better preparation at school, but not necessarily greater ability. It is probable that the donors intended their endowments for students of this class, and their intention was entitled to respect. By Ordinance 57 the commissioners made an excellent use of their limited power in this matter. Candidates for bursaries not open to competition must pass the preliminary examination. Candidates who failed to produce class certificates could be deprived of their bursaries. Presentation bursaries could be thrown open to competition, if the patrons did not fill up vacancies in due time. Bursaries of less than £10 could be combined to make one of larger value, the restrictions being removed wherever possible. Bursaries of doubtful usefulness were combined to form scholarships and fellowships for the promotion of study and research, a respect in which the universities were poorly provided. For a comparison of the educational efficacy of competition versus presentation bursaries in Aberdeen, see pp. 280-2.

Among the changes made by Ordinance 57 there was one which was favourably received by all the universities except by certain members of the University of Aberdeen. This regulation was that "the examination subjects for open bursaries in arts for the first year should be those prescribed for the preliminary examination in arts, but under this condition, that in determining the marks to be assigned in the competition, English, Latin, Greek and mathematics shall each have assigned to them double the marks assigned to any other subject [Report of Commissioners, p. xxix.]."

It is not clear why there should have been in Aberdeen any objection to the doubling of the marks for English, Latin, Greek, and mathematics, these being subjects in which Aberdeen had the reputation of being strong, while it had no such reputation for French or German. The Professor of Latin was opposed to the Ordinance, but he objected not to the principle of differentiating values as between classics and modern languages, but only to the method in which it was applied [Ibid. pp. xxx and xxxi.]. In their report the commissioners thought it necessary to make a reasoned statement in support of the Ordinance. Their defence of the proposal is based on an assumption, the accuracy of which is hotly disputed in quarters entitled to respect, viz. that "the time required to bring a classical pupil up to the standard of a higher grade certificate of the Scotch Education Department in Latin or Greek is twice or even thrice the time required to prepare him for the higher certificate in French or German." On this assumption, right or wrong, the commissioners maintain that the proposal of double marks for the subjects named is fair and equitable; and that, by placing French or German on the same level as Latin or Greek, a powerful inducement would be given to candidates of small means, to whom a bursary is indispensable, to give up Latin or Greek, and serious harm would be done to classical education, as bursary examinations exert a powerful influence on the curriculum of secondary schools. It is highly probable, in view of the late successful efforts made by each university to secure autonomy all round, and the framing of ordinances for the introduction of 'soft' options from which a curriculum may be constructed, that French and German will at no distant date be put on the same footing as Latin and Greek.

As women were now admitted to graduation, it was necessary that bursaries should be provided for them. The commissioners accordingly empowered the University Courts to establish for competition either without restriction as to sex, or for women only, as many bursaries as they might think necessary.

The commissioners of 1889 were empowered to establish bursary funds in all the universities. Under the Act of 1858 a bursary fund was established in Aberdeen into which the surplus income of some foundations, and the income of vacant bursaries were paid. Out of it the cost of examination and the augmentation of bursaries were met. Its accumulations now amounted to £10,500. The commissioners of 1889 thought that it was not advantageous to continue the Aberdeen bursary fund; that it was better to capitalise the accumulated sum, and that "the surplus income of any foundation should in future be added to the capital fund of the foundation, and be applied to increasing the payments to the beneficiaries [Report of Commissioners, p. xxxiii.]," the University Court having power to increase or reduce the value of bursaries or scholarships as they might think desirable.

Patronage and Pensions.

In dealing with the patronage of professorships the commissioners had no difficulty with the provision in section 14 for the transference to the University Court of the patronage vested in private individuals or corporations other than the Curators of the Edinburgh University. The only chairs to which it applied were those of Humanity, Civil and Natural History, and Chemistry in St Andrews. The patrons were the Duke of Portland, the Marquis of Ailsa, and the Earl of Leven and Melville, who offered no objection. An ordinance was accordingly issued and received the Queen's approval.

The power conveyed in subsection 14 (e) was a matter of much greater difficulty, viz. "to prepare a scheme by which a detailed and reasoned report on the qualifications of candidates for chairs may be submitted to the patrons, including the Crown, so as to assist them in the discharge of their patronage."

Success in framing a scheme, accompanied by a detailed and reasoned report on a subject bristling with difficulties from so many points of view, was not to be expected. The commissioners, however, undaunted by the magnitude of the task, after very careful consideration, issued a draft ordinance, to which objections were made by all the universities, and by every corporation who had a share in patronage, and the draft ordinance was withdrawn.

Additional funds were required, and, in answer to an appeal to the Treasury, it was enacted that an annual sum of £42,000, already referred to, was to be provided by parliament for the purposes of the universities, which the commissioners were to apportion in such shares as they might think just. This grant was subject to two conditions: (1) That no university should receive less than the average amount of public moneys which it had received during the five years preceding the commencement of the Act of 1889, and that Glasgow should receive £500 for the maintenance of the buildings, and Aberdeen £320 for the purchase of books, in addition to the average amounts already mentioned. (2) That no part of this increased grant should be appropriated to any theological chairs except those of Hebrew or Oriental languages. It was also enacted that, in future, pensions to principals and professors were to be paid by the universities, and that the grant was a full discharge of all claims on public moneys. A Treasury minute was however issued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the effect that he would recommend a moderate increase in case of pecuniary difficulties in connection with pensions and compensations. The commissioners were in the meantime, till the ordinances were approved, empowered to make provisional payments out of the surplus revenue from the grant, if they thought proper. On this understanding, grants for the four years and a quarter from 1890 to 1893 were paid, to Glasgow nearly £35,000, to Aberdeen nearly £28,000, to Edinburgh nearly £43,000, and to St Andrews for the eight years and a quarter from 1890 to 1897 upwards of £46,000 [Report of Commissioners, p. xxxiv.].

It turned out that pecuniary difficulties did arise from the indefinite amount of possible claims for pensions and compensations and, on the advice of eminent lawyers, the commissioners expressed to the Government the opinion that further aid was required "to enable the Act of Parliament to be carried into effect." The result of this was that, under the Act of 1892, an additional grant of £30,000 was made, which was a useful increase to the resources of the universities, but the fluctuating charge for pensions was still a source of embarrassment.

As a remedy for this, the commissioners advised each university to establish a pension fund, by setting aside annually, from the general revenues, a certain amount to meet claims for possible pensions. This advice was taken.

The annual charge for St Andrews was £750
The annual charge for Glasgow £4000
The annual charge for Aberdeen was £1500
The annual charge for Edinburgh was £5000

By Ordinance 32, section iv, the annual emoluments of a Principal or Professor on retirement will be the average of the preceding five years, provided that in calculating his pension no account will be taken of the excess in any one year above £900, which shall be held to be the maximum emoluments of a Principal or Professor.

The maximum pension is £600 for professors of the following two classes, (a) professors appointed by the Crown subsequently to 1882, (b) all professors by whomsoever appointed subsequently to 1889. But professors may have a pension exceeding £600 if (a) they were appointed by the Crown or any other body before 1882, or if (b) they were appointed by any other body than the Crown between 1882 and 1889.

The patronage of chairs varies considerably in the four universities, but a very large proportion of it is in the hands of the Crown and of the University Courts.

In dealing with financial arrangements the commissioners wished to leave to the universities, as far as possible, a free hand, but the question of fees was too important to be left untouched. It was necessary to consider how fees should be treated, forming as they did part and, till now, a main part of the professors' emoluments. The introduction of optional subjects for graduation in arts made some change desirable. That the professor should have a direct interest in fees led inevitably to unwholesome rivalry, and to a lowering of the academic ideal, which ought not to have for its highest aim the preparation of students for examination. Enlargement of class and consequent increase of fees might, and probably would, tempt some professors to be content with a lowered standard. But further, the consideration, among others, that the higher and more advanced the subjects, the smaller would be both class and fees, led the commissioners to ordain that class fees should be paid into the University Court as the earnings of the university; that each professor should receive a salary (called a normal salary) which might be diminished proportionally, if the aggregate amount of fees in any year was unable to meet the claims on the fee fund; but in order that the emoluments should not fall below a certain amount, a minimum salary was fixed, which should be a charge on the general revenue of the university [Report of Commissioners, p. xxxviii.]. This arrangement involved a very serious reduction of the income of a number of chairs, but even this, a very thorny subject, was settled to the general satisfaction of those whose vested interests were very largely interfered with.

New Chairs instituted.

Meanwhile fresh burdens were laid on each University Court by the appointment of lecturers, the institution of new degrees, and alterations in the course of study.

New chairs were instituted - "in Glasgow, History and Pathology; in Edinburgh, History; in St Andrews, Pathology, Material Medica, Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery. By special endowment there were instituted in St Andrews, the Berry Chair of English Literature; in Glasgow, Political Economy; in Aberdeen, English Literature; and in Edinburgh, Public Health [Report of Commissioners, p, xxxix.]." In 1901 the Chair of Ancient History was founded in Edinburgh, and in 1903 the Chair of History and Archaeology was founded in Aberdeen.

Graduation in music is, as yet, possible only in Edinburgh, a result of the Reid Bequest already referred to. Two degrees may be conferred, Bachelor of Music (Mus. Bac.) and Doctor of Music (Mus. Doc.), the latter being open only to Edinburgh Bachelors of Music of not less than three years' standing.

The commissioners would have liked to institute a separate faculty for every subject worthy of academic study, and fitted to develop intelligence and refinement, but funds were not available for the efficient maintenance of the faculties already existing. The commissioners, like those of 1876, had not sufficient funds for the establishment of new chairs, and they thought it undesirable to establish chairs for which sufficient endowments were not provided. Lecturers on specially important subjects might be appointed by the University Courts, but permanent burdens which might prove too heavy should be avoided.

The moneys paid to the universities on account of accumulations of revenue from the grants of 1889 and 1892 were to Glasgow £29,273, to Aberdeen £16,149, to Edinburgh £36,876. The ordinances allowed the Courts of these three universities to make of these moneys whatever use they might think fit. St Andrews, in the meantime, could not be dealt with in the same way, owing to the litigation between it and the University College of Dundee.

This litigation, which commenced in 1890, and ended in 1897, being political or personal rather than educational, seems hardly within the scope of our enquiry. To describe in detail the legal difficulties and cross-purposes on both sides, which punctuate the question before an agreement was come to, would be both tedious and unprofitable.

Queen Margaret College, Glasgow, had its origin in 1868 as the result of a movement for the higher education of women by Mrs Campbell of Tulliehewan. For several years short courses of lectures were delivered by professors of the university. The next step was the formation in 1877 of the Glasgow association for the same purpose, with H.R.H. the Princess Louise for its president, and Mrs Campbell for its vice-president. Lectures on university subjects were, by permission of the Senate, given by university professors in the university class-rooms, the association meanwhile renting an office and reading-room. The next step was taken in 1883 by the incorporation of the association as a college with the name Queen Margaret, the earliest patroness of Scottish literature and art. That it might not be merely a name, Mrs Elder, a lady of great generosity and public spirit, presented the association with the building now known as Queen Margaret College. The condition attached to this gift, viz., that an endowment fund sufficient to provide for the effective carrying on of the work should be raised, was in a short time amply satisfied.

The contributions from various sources amounted to nearly £25,000. Step by step, additions and alterations, including laboratories for teaching in science and medicine, were provided, and in 1890 such a curriculum in both Arts and Medicine, on the level of university degrees, was arranged for, that in 1892 when women were first admitted to graduation, the council of the college decided that the purpose they had in view would be better served by making over their work to the University of Glasgow. It was accordingly proposed, with the concurrence of Mrs Elder, to offer a transfer of the buildings and grounds of the Queen Margaret College to the university, on condition that they should be employed for the maintenance of university classes exclusively for women. The University Court accepted the offer, and Queen Margaret College became part of the university, had its teachers appointed by the University Court, and its students admitted as matriculated students. In 1907-8 the number of matriculated women-students was 631.

For the promotion of post-graduate study and the encouragement of research, an ordinance was framed, under which the Senatus in each university might, with the approval of the University Court, admit graduates of any university, or others whose education fitted them to engage in some special study, to continue their investigations, and possibly earn the title of Research Fellow on their showing special distinction. The revenue of £20,000 furnished by the Earl of Moray was placed in the hands of the University of Edinburgh for the payment of the expenses of original research and the publishing of noteworthy results.

Aberdeen has made a most successful use of this ordinance and, under the able editorship of Mr P. J. Anderson, has issued a series of publications for the supervision of which a committee of the Senatus has been appointed, and the cooperation of the New Spalding Club secured. No fewer than forty volumes have already appeared.

The subjects dealt with cover a wide field, including, among others, Classical Archaeology, Scottish History, Bibliography, Philosophy, Comparative Religion, Anatomy, Pathology, Zoology and Chemistry. The object of the movement is to stimulate research within the university by the teaching staff and others connected with the university, and to unite by a bond of common interest and intellectual fellowship alumni who, after leaving the university, too often lose sight of each other. This has been followed by an interchange of volumes with American, continental, colonial and the newer English universities. So far Oxford and Cambridge have not organised an interchange.

The Carnegie Trust.

From yet another quarter hearty encouragement in the same direction was received. In 1901 Mr Andrew Carnegie, the well-known American millionaire, gave to Scotland-his native country-the sum of ten million dollars (£2,000,000), the interest on which-amounting to about £102,000 a year-was to be expended by a committee of nine members to promote the following objects:

A. One-half of the net annual income was to be applied to the improvement and expansion of the universities of Scotland in the Faculties of Science and Medicine, and to increasing the facilities for acquiring a knowledge of such subjects of a technical and commercial education as can be included in a university curriculum, by erecting buildings, providing apparatus, endowing professorships, post-graduate lectureships, and research scholarships ; and by other means approved by the committee.

B. The other half, or as much of it as might be needed yearly, was to be devoted to the payment of the ordinary class fees exigible by the universities or by extra-mural schools providing an equivalent education, for students of Scottish birth or extraction, subject to certain restrictions as to age, scholastic qualifications, diligence and conduct.

It was provided also that any surplus remaining in any year after the payment of fees under section B, was to be applied to the purposes specified in section A, and any surplus remaining after the requirements of both clauses were fulfilled was to be devoted to the establishment of courses of lectures at convenient centres, or to the benefit of students at evening classes, or to such other objects as the committee might think proper.

Under section A the committee distributed no less than £178,000 up to the 31st Dec. 1906, at which date they carried forward a balance of £125,000. The aid thus given greatly improved the efficiency of the universities and other institutions, whilst the stimulus given to higher study and original investigation by the research scholarships has proved of the utmost value. In session 1906-7 the Trust awarded 20 fellowships, 26 scholarships, and gave 57 grants for promotion of postgraduate study in the four Scottish universities.

In the four universities considerable disparity is shown in the number of students for whom fees have been paid. In the six academic years up to and including session 1906-7, 69 per cent. of the students matriculating at Aberdeen became beneficiaries of the Trust. St Andrews came next with 67 per cent. whilst Glasgow and Edinburgh had only 49 and 38 per cent. respectively. The abnormally low percentage at Edinburgh may be accounted for partly by the large number of other-than-Scottish students matriculated there, and by the number of law students who attend classes, but are excluded from the benefits of the Trust through not having passed the preliminary examination.

It is impossible to speak too highly of the beneficent operation of section A, but appreciation of section B has not been so hearty and unanimous. Doubts have been pretty freely expressed as to the expediency of practically making a pass in the preliminary examination the only condition of obtaining a free university education. It is beyond question that many, of whose ability to pay their own fees there could be no doubt, have taken advantage of this, and the result has been, as some think, a lowering of self-respect and a slackening of effort in university pursuits. It has not increased the number of students, which was perhaps not desirable. Administration was difficult even for the eminent men whose selection as trustees was heartily approved. There were many points to be considered requiring a more intimate acquaintance with the character of Scottish education than the trustees as a body possessed. Hence there has been a want of consistency. The first set of rules were found to be unworkable, and had to be exchanged for another set, the former by their wide scope suggesting that the Trust was an educational endowment, the latter, by refusing (among other claims) payment of fees for optional advanced classes, that it was a charity, securing for the comparatively poor student a minimum of university training. It is however only fair to say that the trustees were dealing tentatively with a movement the issues of which it was difficult to foresee ; and that consistency was limited by the amount of funds available. Students who have availed themselves of the offer of free fees are expected to repay, when they can, what they have obtained by exemption from the payment of fees. It is much too soon to expect a large return from this source.

Higher Degrees.

An important ordinance was framed for regulating the higher degrees of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) and Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.), which, under certain conditions, might be conferred after the expiry of five years from the date of graduation in arts. All candidates for these higher degrees must either have taken honours in the subjects of the degree for which they are candidates, or have passed an examination of value equivalent to an honours examination. Each candidate must submit a thesis or memoir cognate to the degree aimed at, accompanied by a declaration that it was composed by himself. To secure that the work for which these degrees may be conferred is an original contribution, it is provided that an expert in the subject of the thesis must be associated with the university examiner, and that the thesis must be published.

The most important of the general ordinances have now been dealt with. The varying conditions of individual universities in respect of management, equipment, revenues, faculties, &c. made separate ordinances requisite. To enter into these in minute detail is not possible, nor for our purpose necessary. It has been in some cases difficult to keep the general and special entirely separate.

Medical Study in St Andrews and Dundee.

Lectureships on fifteen university subjects have been instituted in St Andrews within the last fifteen years, only a few of which have been endowed. Between St Andrews and Dundee there is now a complete medical faculty. In fact there is a complete faculty in Dundee alone, as all the St Andrews' chairs have been duplicated there. A medical student may begin and end his course in Dundee. If he begins in St Andrews he must finish in Dundee, because St Andrews has not sufficient hospital facilities.

In St Andrews special ordinances were required in connection with graduation in medicine; the abolition of the Professorship of Medicine and the substitution of a Chair of Botany in its place; the abolition of the Professorships of English, and of Classics, and Ancient History, in University College, Dundee, and the substitution of lectureships in these subjects qualifying for graduation if required by the council of the college; St Andrews' share in the parliamentary grant; the composition of the faculties; regulations for bursaries and prizes; the foundation of the Berry Chair of English Literature [The Berry Bequest was a sum of £100,000 bequeathed to the university in 1889 by Mr David Berry of Coolangatta, New South Wales, whose brother Dr Alexander Berry had been a student at the university. It has been used for the foundation of the Chair of English Literature, for the better endowment of other chairs, for the establishment of scholarships and other purposes.], the institution of boards of studies in medicine, and the appointment of a lecturer on forensic medicine and public health in University College, Dundee. For all these separate ordinances were framed.

The commissioners of 1889 wished to establish uniformity of system in medical graduation in all the universities, but St Andrews presented considerable difficulties. Reference is made to a special report in 1861 by the commissioners of 1858, in which it was stated that "at that date St Andrews, with no medical students, conferred a greater number of medical degrees than any other University in the United Kingdom. Of the candidates for these degrees, 68 per cent. came from London schools, and 77 per cent. from these and the provincial schools of England together [Report of Commissioners, p. Iv.]." This had a very suspicious look, suggesting great possibilities of abuse, and some restriction was obviously necessary. The commissioners of 1858 accordingly ordained that degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Master in Surgery should be conferred only after a specified course of study, and that two out of the four years of study should have been spent in a university, and that, in exceptional cases, the degree of M.D. might be conferred, but not to a greater extent than ten cases in any one year. Complaint was made that St Andrews was being deprived of its ancient privilege of conferring degrees without residence. The commissioners of 1876 took the same view as to the necessity of restriction as the commissioners of 1858 and recommended that it should not be removed.

The commissioners of 1889 agreed with this for the very satisfactory reason, that to confer degrees on licentiates, who might not have obtained any part of their education in a university, was not only a violation of academic usage, and a probable injury to other universities, but a certain lowering of the reputation of Scottish medical degrees. The commissioners accordingly continued the restriction and even increased the limitation by ordaining that "the power of St Andrews to confer the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Master in Surgery on the students of other universities should be discontinued [Report of Commissioners, p. lvi.]." They also refused in the meantime to establish medical professorships in St Andrews [Ibid. p. ivii.], but they could not prevent the University Court from instituting lectureships by which the subjects in question could be taught. The objections to these ordinances were discussed by counsel before the Universities' Committee, and the ordinances were approved by the Queen in council.

With reference to extra-mural teaching in science the commissioners ordained that it was permissible on the same grounds as extra-mural teaching in medicine. The ordinance prescribes that, out of seven courses in science, three might be taken outside the university conferring the degree.

Special ordinances were needed for separate universities. Thus the following degrees in applied science were granted.

In Glasgow.

Bachelor and Doctor of Science in Engineering.
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

In Aberdeen.

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

In Edinburgh.

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.
Bachelor and Doctor of Science in Public Health.
Bachelor and Doctor of Science in Engineering [Ibid. p. xx.].

The absence of a properly equipped laboratory caused a degree of science in public health to be at first refused to Glasgow, but it was subsequently granted for all the four universities. The regulations for conferring the diploma in public health approved in 1892 and revised in 1897, 1901 and 1902 are very stringent. The examination is written, oral, and practical. It is divided into two parts, and seems to cover the whole field of public health. Every candidate must have graduated in medicine, and have attended a hospital for infectious diseases, and had opportunity for studying methods of administration. The subjects embraced in the first part of the examination are physics, engineering, meteorology, chemistry, microscopy, and bacteriology. The subjects taken up in the second part are general hygiene, sanitary law, and vital statistics.

Section 15 of the Act of 1889 deals with the extension of universities by affiliation of new colleges. For this the commissioners might make ordinances, and when their powers ceased the University Court might do so, under regulations to be laid down by the commissioners, or on the expiry of their powers, by the Universities' Committee. The conditions to be satisfied are :

(1) That the University Court and the college are consenting parties.

(2) That the approval of the commissioners or of the Universities' Committee has been obtained.

(3) That affiliation may be terminated, and the ordinance by which the college was affiliated rescinded by the University Court, subject to the approval of the Universities' Committee.

(4) That arrangements must be made for due representation of the University Court on the governing bodies of affiliated colleges, and of the governing bodies of affiliated colleges in the University Court.

The University College of Dundee having satisfied these conditions was affiliated with the University of St Andrews.

ST MUNGO'S COLLEGE, GLASGOW.

The Glasgow Royal Infirmary was founded by Royal Charter in 1791 and was opened in 1794. It was enlarged from time to time until it became one of the largest hospitals in the empire. At present it is undergoing a process of complete reconstruction. In 1875 the managers, desirous of utilising the opportunities which such an institution could offer to medical students, organised a medical school, which in 1899 was incorporated as St Mungo's College. The accommodation provided for 300 students, includes a large dissecting-room, well-filled anatomical and pathological museums, and fully equipped laboratories for the study of Chemistry, Physiology, Zoology, Pathology, Bacteriology and Hygiene. In addition to the subjects usually included in a medical curriculum lectures are given in Gynaecology, Bacteriology, Ophthalmology, Psychological Medicine, &c. The teaching staff has fourteen professors, nine lecturers and ten assistants. The hospital in which the students receive clinical instruction contains nearly 600 beds, and special wards are set apart for burns and for throat, gynaecological and venereal cases.

During the course of a year some 7000 patients are treated in the wards and 50,000 in the dispensary. As a result of deliberations and negotiations between the University Court and the managers, it is highly probable that the professors of clinical medicine and clinical surgery in St Mungo's College will also be professors of the University of Glasgow, and that by this means the immense clinical material available for teaching purposes will be of direct service to students aiming at university degrees in medicine and surgery.

By the deed of constitution of St Mungo's College the management is vested in a body of governors consisting of president, vice-president, eight ex officio governors and seventeen elected governors.

HERIOT-WATT COLLEGE.

Among the changes effected by the scheme which was obtained by the Governors of George Heriot's Trust in 1885 was the taking over by them of the Watt Institution and School of Arts, and its transformation into what has since been known as the Heriot-Watt College.

To deal in detail with the very wide field covered by the Heriot-Watt Calendar would quite exceed our limits. Further reference to the scope and character of the subjects taught will be found in the Appendix Iv on Technical Education, p. 411. It has therefore been necessary to restrict our remarks to a subject which is one of the most interesting, and, from its intimate connexion with the university, most important of the many taught in the Institution over which Principal Laurie so worthily and efficiently presides. That subject is Engineering.

A vacancy was created in the Chair of Engineering at Edinburgh University by the death of Professor Armstrong in the autumn of 1900. The patronage of this chair is in the gift of the Crown.

There had been a desire for some years to co-ordinate the means of instruction in engineering given in the university and in the Heriot-Watt College, and advantage was taken of the opportunity which had now arisen to formulate a scheme for co-ordination, and in the meantime no appointment was made to the vacant chair.

A Minute of Agreement was entered into between the Court of the University of Edinburgh and the Governors of George Heriot's Trust, which was finally adjusted and signed by both contracting parties in June 1901.

Under this Minute of Agreement, for the purpose of arranging a joint curriculum of study for a Degree in Engineering Science, and for co-ordinating the means of instruction in Engineering in the university and in the Heriot-Watt College, with a view to such a degree under the provisions of Ordinance No. 21 of the Scottish Universities Commissioners, the two governing bodies agreed :

(1) That an Advisory Committee should be appointed, consisting of the following members : As representing the university, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, and four Professors of the university, to be appointed by the University Court; as representing George Heriot's Trust, four Governors, one of whom shall be the convener of the Heriot-Watt College Committee, and the Principal of the Heriot-Watt College. The convener of the Committee was to be the Dean of the Faculty of Science of the university. The members elected by the Governors of George Heriot's Trust hold office for one year, and are eligible for re-election.

(2) The duty of the Advisory Committee shall be to draw up each year a programme for a joint curriculum of study and examination for a degree in Engineering. This programme of study and examination to be submitted each year to the University Court and to the Governors of George Heriot's Trust for their approval.

(3) The Examiners for Degrees in Engineering to be, as provided by Ordinance No. 13, the Professors in the university whose subjects qualify for graduation, together with such lecturers in the university as the University Court may from time to time deem necessary, and, in order to keep the teaching in the Heriot-Watt College in touch with the range and standard of examinations, the University Court shall appoint additional Examiners from the Professors and Lecturers of the Heriot-Watt College whose courses have been duly recognised as qualifying for a degree in Engineering.

(4) The Agreement shall not involve any financial responsibility of either contracting party towards the other.

(5) The Agreement may be amended from time to time with the accordance of both contracting parties, or it may be dissolved at the instance of either contracting party, due regard being had to the interests of students in Engineering who shall have begun their course under the Agreement.

In accordance with this Minute of Agreement certain classes in the Heriot-Watt College, including Mathematics, Mechanics, Physics, and Chemistry, have been recognised as qualifying for admission to the First Science Examination in Engineering, and certain of the technical classes in Engineering have been similarly recognised as qualifying for the Final Science Examination.

The Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and the Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Heriot-Watt College have, in accordance with clause (3), been appointed Examiners in Engineering and in Electrical Engineering respectively.

The instruction in the Science of Engineering has been divided to a considerable extent in such a manner between the two institutions as to prevent overlapping of teaching. Purely Civil Engineering subjects are taught exclusively in the university, purely Electrical Engineering subjects are taught exclusively in the Heriot-Watt College, and the Mechanical Engineering is divided between the two institutions. Higher instruction in Engineering Science has thus been rendered possible. It is obviously impossible for any one man to attempt to deal in his lectures with all the modern development of Engineering, except in the most elementary fashion, but, by this division of work, each of the three Professors is enabled to devote a considerable portion of his lecture-courses to the more advanced branches of Engineering Science.

Since this Agreement was entered into in 1901, the university has built and equipped a large new block of buildings for its Engineering School, and the Governors of George Heriot's Trust have built large new Engineering Laboratories. In both cases the equipment in machinery and appliances in these laboratories has been so arranged that there has been no useless expenditure of money in duplicating equipment in the two institutions. The new University Laboratories have been almost entirely devoted to machinery and appliances in connexion with the testing of materials of construction, and the design and testing of hydraulic machinery and appliances, while the new Heriot-Watt College Laboratories have been largely devoted to a complete equipment in prime movers of all types--steam, gas, oil, petrol, &c., with the necessary boilers, producers, &c.

No difficulty has been experienced up to the present in working in a thoroughly satisfactory fashion this scheme of co-ordination of the means of instruction in the two institutions, and undoubtedly the Engineering students have benefited greatly by the Agreement which was entered into between the two institutions in 1901.

It may be added, that there is in the College an extensive system of university bursaries suited to the requirements of both day and evening students.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

The Highland and Agricultural Society by its charter, granted in 1850, obtained power to further agricultural education, to conduct examinations, grant diplomas and certificates, and to carry on experiments.

It contributed for many years £150 a year to the Chair of Agriculture in Edinburgh University, in addition to awarding 30 bursaries of values ranging from £10 to £20, and other prizes. In later years when a lectureship was established in agriculture in Glasgow Technical College, an additional annual grant of £150 was made to assist it.

As this work was, later on, taken up by the Government and County Councils, the society withdrew its assistance, the bursaries ceasing in 1892.

The society took a prominent part in raising funds to found the Lectureship in Forestry in Edinburgh University. It still assists this lectureship with an annual grant of £50 a year, and conducts examinations and grants certificates in forestry.

For many years the society conducted examinations and granted qualifications in veterinary science, until the Royal College of Veterinary Science was established as a licensing body. It still gives silver medals for the best students in the various classes of the Scottish veterinary colleges.

The society assisted in the establishment of the Kilmarnock Dairy School, and continues to give an annual grant of £100 towards its maintenance. Within the last few years it has contributed £800 towards the building and equipment of the agricultural colleges in the East and West of Scotland.

For many years the society's diplomas and certificates were the only recognised qualifications in agricultural science in Scotland, but the institution of university degrees and college diplomas has modified the position, and in 1898 the Fellowship of the Highland and Agricultural Society (F. H. A. S.) was merged in the National Diploma in Agriculture (N.D.A.), the examinations for which are conducted in England by a joint board consisting of representatives of the society and the Royal Agricultural Society of England. The joint board also conducts examinations in both countries in daring and grants the National Diploma in Dairying (N. D. D.).

For many years experimental stations for the improvement of agriculture were maintained at considerable expense at Harelaw and Pumpherston, but were abandoned some years ago, and experiments conducted on farms throughout the country will probably be left more and more to the agricultural colleges established in recent years, on the governing boards of which the society is represented.

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES, EDINBURGH
AND EAST OF SCOTLAND.

In 1894 a joint board of representatives of the Highland and Agricultural Society and the University Court of Edinburgh was constituted to provide for further instruction in agriculture in Edinburgh, and on a grant of £600 being voted by Edinburgh Town Council, representatives were added from that body, and from contributing County Councils. This board obtained grants from the Board of Agriculture and established the Edinburgh School of Rural Economy, which carried on its classes in existing institutions and made a beginning with extension work in the counties.

The control of agricultural education in Scotland was handed over by the Board of Agriculture to the Scotch Education Department. That department summoned in 1901 a conference of representatives from the various County Councils in the South and East of Scotland. This led to the establishment in that year of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture which took over the work of the School of Rural Economy. This college has an income of over £4000 a year, and in a few years it purchased premises in George Square, which were reconstructed, extended and equipped at a cost of over £9000, half the cost being contributed by the Scotch Education Department, and the other half by the associated counties (12 in number), the Carnegie Trust, the Highland and Agricultural Society, landed proprietors and others interested in agriculture.

In these premises, in addition to class-rooms, there are fully equipped chemical, biological and bacteriological laboratories.

In addition also to central day and evening classes in the sciences associated with agriculture, the college carries on, by means of a special staff, systematic courses and lectures in agriculture, horticulture, veterinary science, forestry, and poultry-keeping. Two travelling dairy schools are maintained. Experiments in manuring, sheep and cattle feeding, varieties of swedes and potatoes, and dairying, are carried on at various centres through out the area. Fruit demonstration plots have been laid down at convenient centres. Classes have also been conducted for teachers in nature knowledge and school gardening.

An advisory department has been established to which farmers may apply for advice in any points of difficulty that may arise in agricultural practice.

In 1905 arrangements were made for granting a College Diploma (C. D. A.) to students who undergo a three years' course, and pass the necessary examinations. This diploma is endorsed by the Scotch Education Department.

WEST OF SCOTLAND.

The West of Scotland Agricultural College was established in Blythswood Square, Glasgow, in 1899, and its constitution is similar to that of the College in Edinburgh. To it was transferred the Lectureship in Agriculture formerly conducted in the Technical College.

This college has under its management the Dairy School for Scotland, situated at Kilmarnock, which is fully equipped with the most modern equipment for instruction in dairying and poultry-keeping.

The West of Scotland College grants a diploma under conditions similar to those of the Edinburgh College, and is making arrangements for the granting of a special diploma in dairying for a course of two winter sessions at an agricultural college and four months at Kilmarnock Dairy School.

ABERDEEN AND NORTH OF SCOTLAND.

The Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture was established in 1904 with a constitution similar to those of the other two Scottish colleges.

The central classes of this college are conducted in the buildings of Marischal College, where special accommodation has been provided. The Fordyce Lectureship in Agriculture (endowed) is included in the course.

The university grants a diploma on a two years' course.

The extension work carried on is on similar lines to that already detailed in connection with the Edinburgh College.

Several of the classes in all the colleges are recognised as qualifying for the Degree of B.Sc. in Agriculture granted by the university at each centre.

The annual expenditure of the three colleges now amounts to about £14,000, of which half is provided by the Scotch Education Department.

The end of our task is now in view.

In dealing with a subject so wide as that of the four universities the omission of some interesting topics is inevitable. An effort has been made to take up more or less fully those of prime importance in connexion with the Acts of 1858 and 1889. We have seen the Senatus invested with greater powers, University Courts remodelled, and General Councils instituted, new professorships and lectureships founded, preliminary examinations established, regulations for graduation improved in the Faculties of Arts, Science, Medicine and Law and to a slight degree in Divinity, post-graduate study encouraged by the

founding of Research Scholarships and Fellowships, bursaries, prizes and scholarships rearranged and rendered educationally more effective. We have seen women graduating in all the Faculties except Law and Divinity, the salaries and pensions of professors put upon a more satisfactory basis, greater facilities provided by the operation of the Carnegie Trust for the teaching of Science, Medicine, Commercial and Technical subjects, and a beginning made in the affiliation of extra-mural colleges to the universities.

More might be added, but enough has perhaps been said to testify to the excellent work of the Commissioners of 1858 and 1889, and of the Scottish universities for the past fifty years.

In the preceding chapter attention was directed to the almost astounding increase of difficulty in the Leaving Certificate examination papers in recent years. Not less astonishing is the increase of difficulty in the examinations for Entrance, especially in the Faculties of Arts, Science and Medicine. It will be generally admitted that the standard of the Arts and Science Preliminary Examination at the present day is at least as high as the standard of the degree examination of fifty years ago.

It will be seen from the following statistics that in St Andrews between 1893 and 1906 there is a very gratifying increase in the number of both men and women students. In the other three universities the number of matriculated students of both sexes between the same 13 years is considerably smaller, though there is an increase in Glasgow of 364, in Aberdeen of 180, and in Edinburgh of 325 women students. While this decrease in the number of men students-due largely to the establishment of the new universities in England and the Colonies-is to be regretted, it is matter for congratulation that, notwithstanding the higher pitch of examination, the number of graduates has greatly increased.

Subjoined are statements as to the number of students, bursaries, establishment of chairs and lectureships, and expenditure on additional buildings in the four universities since 1889.