UNIVEBSITIES, AMERICAN 128 UNIVERSITIES, AMERICAN groups of idealists, however, contend that there should be a language which, if it does not quite become the native tongue of all peoples, should at least be univer- sally taught and so widely known that intercourse between peoples would be- come practically as free as in any single country. To supply this want artificial languages have been created, one of the first of which was Volapiik. More re- cently a more perfected system was created, known as Esperanto, whose vo- cabulary is made up of a mixture of the Latin languages, English and German. This language may be learned with greater ease than any of the national forms of speech and is now more or less fluently spoken by millions of people in all parts of the world. In 1920 it was adopted as the ofl!icial international lan- guage of the Russian Soviet Government, which has made it one of the studies in the schools of Russia. UNIVERSITIES, AMERICAN. There is no accepted definition of the term "uni- versity" in America. Our earliest colo- nial institutions were founded as schools or colleges. The Constitution of Massa- chusetts of 1780 uses this language: "Harvard College, in which University many persons" have been educated. This identification of the terms college and university is not yet obsolete. The name of Yale College was changed to Yale University in 1886, The College of New Jersey became Princeton University in 1896. The state institutions in earliest days beginning with North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina generally used the^ title university without any real discrimination in work. Within the past fifly years the Ameri- can University has assumed £ more defi- nite form and type. This type differs essentially from that of the historic Eng- lish Universities and equally so from those of Germany. The American Uni- versity has in general been developed out of the American College, and it still in- cludes the college as a part of its organi- zation. So Harvard College is a branch or department of Harvard University, Adelbert College is a part of Western Reserve University. A university is therefore a college plus something more. This something more includes: (1) pro- vision for graduate work leading to the Ph. D. degree; (2) extended facilities for research; (3) additional schools co-ordi- nate with the college or built upon the same for professional work of high char- acter. Medicine, Law, and Engineering in its most varied forms are the profes- sions most frequently provided for, though others are sometimes added, Tt is the development of these three charac- teristics that has made the American University. Gradimte Work. — The first announce- ment of courses leading to the degree of Ph. D. was made by Yale College in 1860. Harvard followed in 1872. The opening of Johns Hopkins University in 1876 marks an epoch in this field. In that year there were only 269 graduate students in all American institutions. Ten years later the number had increased to 1,237 and in ten years more to 5,000, The influence of this movement affected richer and older institutions so that gen- erous provisions for graduate work were made in many of them. The degree of Ph. D. is now regularly conferred on a considerable number of candidates by twenty or twenty-five institutions which by this token may be called universities. Of course there are others doing a credit- able amount of graduate work, especially for the Master's degree, but they do not compete in number and variety of courses offered with the first group. The requirements for the Doctor's de- gree are fairly uniform. To the ordi- nary college course at least three years of work is added. This work is highly specialized, and culminates in a disserta- tion, which is generally printed and must give evidence of ability to do independent investigation. Preliminary acquaintance with French and German is demanded, also a familiarity with the literature of the subject under investigation. An ex- amination, oral or written, covers the whole field of study. Facilities for Research. — These must necessarily accompany all graduate work. A university must therefore have well equipped laboratories and extensive libraries. Of course such facilities are demanded even for undergraduate work, but the true university provides them on a scale and to an extent that cannot be demanded even of the best college. Teachers of university students must also be left free for independent investiga- tions. Under the influence of the Na- tional Research Council an effort is now being made to stimulate research in all American institutions of high grade, but the universities must lead the way. Connected with research work provision must also be made for publication of results. It was not accidental that Johns Hop- kins University became the center from which issued important publications in so many fields. Professional . Training. — Universities are not only well equipped institutions for specialized graduate study, but they are generally big institutions, with oppor-
