GREEK FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS. 17 
My conclusion is that Greek ought to be required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
[he degree of Bachelor of Science is sufficient for the student that does not make his 
‘oundation broad. 
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Yours sincerely, 
James D. Dana, 
Professor of. Geology and Mineralogy in Fale University. 
_.. 1 cannot, therefore, write at length, although I am ready enough to say that I 
ym in favor of the requirement of Greek in the A.B. course. 
My reasons are partly traditional and partly based upon the intrinsic value of the 
ireek language and literature. 
The A.B. course is either for men intending to enter the learned professions, in which 
.ase there can be no question of the need of Greek, or for those who intend to enter upon 
ousiness, ete. In the latter case the value of a literary culture seems to me equally 
seat, and if the foundations for it are not laid in college they never will be. 
After all, the great argument in my mind for both Greek and Latin is the value of 
the literary tradition and the great importance of its continuity. If we gradually cut off 
the Greek and Roman world we shall suffer in all sorts of ways, and shall fail to hand on 
to successive generations the sum of the culture behind them. 
Yours sincerely, 
T. F. CRANE, 
Professor of Romance Languages in Cornell University. 
I am most decidedly in favor of requiring both Greek and Latin for the degree of 
A.B. Whatever the aim in life, we all agree that a sound preparatory education is the 
rest means to the end, The first demand we make of such an education is that it give 
sommand of our mother tongue and the power to enrich it in the line of our special 
studies. Tt is not only facility, accuracy, and elegance in the use of English as it stands 
.0-day, but also ability to enlarge and improve our stock of words that must be consid- 
sred. This ability to create presupposes a knowledge of the sources, and the sources for 
‘he scientist are limited to Greek and Latin. 
In the biological sciences these languages are in everyday use, as our whole termin- 
ology is borrowed directly from them, and every addition comes from the same sources. 
This is, in brief, the ground for my opinion. Of course there are many others which I 
Jo not forget, but which I need not here refer to. 
Sincerely yours, 
C. O. WHITMAN, 
Professor of Biology in the University of Chicago. 
The degree of A.B. seems to me to mark a man as possessing a certain kind of. 
sducation, which may not be the best education for the ordinary bright boy who has 
‘he best chances in life, but which is at least definite in its method, and has been held 
so for centuries. 
Circumstances have changed greatly in the last century. The study of the classics is 
no longer of paramount importance. Other sciences must and should be pursued. For 
many men the study of the modern languages is more important than that of the 
ancient. But even if the culture afforded by the study of the modern classics is better 
than that afforded by the ancients, it is not the same. 1 believe, then, that students 
who have not studied Greek should not receive the degree of A.B. The advocates of 
;he modern culture, if that is superior to the old, should not seek the degree of A.B. 
{or their followers, but should rather prefer another degree, that the two classes might 
10t be confused. but that the holders of the new degree might receive the higher honor.