Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 38.djvu/545

Rh Up to the present year, since 1833, the number of male students matriculated is about 7,300 in round numbers, of whom 988—more than one eighth—have taken their degree. Since 1864, the year when women entered the university, the number of women matriculated is 484, of whom 57—more than one ninth—have taken their degree. The women graduates are classified—

From the establishment of the university up to the present date; the whole body of graduates may be thus classified:

In addition to the examinations taken, each graduate prepares a thesis upon an assigned subject, and these publications are of no small worth. A study of the subjects convinces one that in this way the results of a vast amount of original investigation in science, literature, and philosophy have become common property. And there are also many other publications, not only from graduates, published after the final theses, but also from those who have taken partial courses—publications of considerable interest and importance. It is impossible to follow these young women through their after-lives and describe their various services to humanity. The one jurist, Mrs. Kempin, of Zurich, is perhaps the only woman in America now giving lectures in a college for woman students of law. Miss Helene Webster, a graduate of 1889, now holds the chair of Philology in Wellesley College. And so one might name others. But, from an investigation of their university life, one can judge whether the enlarged vision supposed to result from higher education probably followed in their cases, and whether the privileges were wisely bestowed.

In the first place, knowledge that the university doors stand open leads to the formation of earnest purpose and to a wise disposal of hours and energies in the early years of life, while character is forming a good foundation. The work of these young women in Zurich, after admission to the university, proves this. Professors testify that their conscientious fidelity to tasks imposed and their earnestness manifest an influence not only on the