Chapter I: Introduction (1)

The first edition of this publication was mostly compiled during the leisure hours of the last half-year of a Senior's collegiate life, and was presented anonymously to the public with the following

"PREFACE.

"The Editor has an indistinct recollection of a sheet of foolscap paper, on one side of which was written, perhaps a year and a half ago, a list of twenty or thirty college phrases, followed by the euphonious titles of 'Yale Coll.,' 'Harvard Coll.' Next he calls to mind two blue-covered books, turned from their original use, as receptacles of Latin and Greek exercises, containing explanations of these and many other phrases. His friends heard that he was hunting up odd words and queer customs, and dubbed him 'Antiquarian,' but in a kindly manner, spared his feelings, and did not put the vinegar 'old' before it.

"Two and one half quires of paper were in time covered with a strange medley, an olla-podrida of student peculiarities. Thus did he amuse himself in his leisure hours, something like one who, as Dryden says, 'is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words.' By and by he heard a wish here and a wish there, whether real or otherwise he does not know, which said something about 'type,' 'press,' and used other cabalistic words, such as 'copy,' 'devil,' etc. Then there was a gathering of papers, a transcribing of passages from letters, an arranging in alphabetical order, a correcting of proofs, and the work was done,--poorly it may be, but with good intent.

"Some things will be found in the following pages which are neither words nor customs peculiar to colleges, and yet they have been inserted, because it was thought they would serve to explain the character of student life, and afford a little amusement to the student himself. Society histories have been omitted, with the exception of an account of the oldest affiliated literary society in the United States.

"To those who have aided in the compilation of this work, the Editor returns his warmest thanks. He has received the assistance of many, whose names he would here and in all places esteem it an honor openly to acknowlege, were he not forbidden so to do by the fact that he is himself anonymous. Aware that there is information still to be collected, in reference to the subjects here treated, he would deem it a favor if he could receive through the medium of his publisher such morsels as are yet ungathered.

"Should one pleasant thought arise within the breast of any Alumnus, as a long-forgotten but once familiar word stares him in the face, like an old and early friend; or should one who is still guarded by his Alma Mater be led to a more summer-like acquaintance with those who have in years past roved, as he now roves, through classic shades and honored halls, the labors of their friend, the Editor, will have been crowned with complete success.

"CAMBRIDGE, July 4th, 1851."

Fearing lest venerable brows should frown with displeasure at the recital of incidents which once made those brows bright and joyous; dreading also those stern voices which might condemn as boyish, trivial, or wrong an attempt to glean a few grains of philological lore from the hitherto unrecognized corners of the fields of college life, the Editor chose to regard the brows and hear the voices from an innominate position. Not knowing lest he should at some future time regret the publication of pages which might be deemed heterodox, he caused a small edition of the work to be published, hoping, should it be judged as evil, that the error would be circumscribed in its effects, and the medium of the error buried between the dusty shelves of the second-hand collection of some rusty old bibliopole. By reason of this extreme caution, the volume has been out of print for the last four years.

In the present edition, the contents of the work have been carefully revised, and new articles, filling about two hundred pages, have been interspersed throughout the volume, arranged under appropriate titles. Numerous additions have been made to the collection of technicalities peculiar to the English universities, and the best authorities have been consulted in the preparation of this department. An index has also been added, containing a list of the American colleges referred to in the text in connection with particular words or customs.

The Editor is aware that many of the words here inserted are wanting in that refinement of sound and derivation which their use in classical localities might seem to imply, and that some of the customs here noticed and described are "More honored in the breach than the observance." These facts are not, however, sufficient to outweigh his conviction that there is nothing in language or manners too insignificant for the attention of those who are desirous of studying the diversified developments of the character of man. For this reason, and for the gratification of his own taste and the tastes of many who were pleased at the inceptive step taken in the first edition, the present volume has been prepared and is now given to the public.

TROY, N.Y., February 2, 1856.

A COLLECTION OF COLLEGE WORDS AND CUSTOMS.

_A_.

A.B. An abbreviation for _Artium Baccalaureus_, Bachelor of Arts. The first degree taken by students at a college or university. It is usually written B.A., q.v.

ABSIT. Latin; literally, _let him be absent_; leave of absence from commons, given to a student in the English universities.--_Gradus ad Cantab._

ACADEMIAN. A member of an academy; a student in a university or college.

ACADEMIC. A student in a college or university.

A young _academic_ coming into the country immediately after this great competition, &c.--_Forby's Vocabulary_, under _Pin-basket_.

A young _academic_ shall dwell upon a journal that treats of trade, and be lavish in the praise of the author; while persons skilled in those subjects hear the tattle with contempt.--_Watts's Improvement of the Mind_.

ACADEMICALS. In the English universities, the dress peculiar to the students and officers.

I must insist on your going to your College and putting on your _academicals_.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. p. 382.

The Proctor makes a claim of 6s. 8d. on every undergraduate whom he finds _inermem_, or without his _academicals_.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 8.

If you say you are going for a walk, or if it appears likely, from the time and place, you are allowed to pass, otherwise you may be sent back to college to put on your _academicals_.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 177.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT. At Harvard College, every student admitted upon examination, after giving a bond for the payment of all college dues, according to the established laws and customs, is required to sign the following _acknowledgment_, as it is called:--"I acknowledge that, having been admitted to the University at Cambridge, I am subject to its laws." Thereupon he receives from the President a copy of the laws which he has promised to obey.--_Laws Univ. of Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 13.

ACT. In English universities, a thesis maintained in public by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.--_Webster_.

The student proposes certain questions to the presiding officer of the schools, who then nominates other students to oppose him. The discussion is syllogistical and in Latin and terminates by the presiding officer questioning the respondent, or person who is said _to keep the act_, and his opponents, and dismissing them with some remarks upon their respective merits.--_Brande_.

The effect of practice in such matters may be illustrated by the habit of conversing in Latin, which German students do much more readily than English, simply because the former practise it, and hold public disputes in Latin, while the latter have long left off "_keeping Acts_," as the old public discussions required of candidates for a degree used to be called.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 184.

The word was formerly used in Harvard College. In the "Orders of the Overseers," May 6th, 1650, is the following: "Such that expect to proceed Masters of Arts [are ordered] to exhibit their synopsis of _acts_ required by the laws of the College."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 518.

Nine Bachelors commenced at Cambridge; they were young men of good hope, and performed their _acts_ so as to give good proof of their proficiency in the tongues and arts.--_Winthrop's Journal, by Mr. Savage_, Vol. I. p. 87.

The students of the first classis that have beene these foure years trained up in University learning (for their ripening in the knowledge of the tongues, and arts) and are approved for their manners, as they have _kept_ their publick _Acts_ in former yeares, ourselves being present at them; so have they lately _kept_ two solemn _Acts_ for their Commencement.--_New England's First Fruits_, in _Mass. Hist. Coll._, Vol. I. p. 245.

But in the succeeding _acts_ ... the Latin syllogism seemed to give the most content.--_Harvard Register_, 1827-28, p. 305.

2. The close of the session at Oxford, when Masters and Doctors complete their degrees, whence the _Act Term_, or that term in which the _act_ falls. It is always held with great solemnity. At Cambridge, and in American colleges, it is called _Commencement_. In this sense Mather uses it.

They that were to proceed Bachelors, held their _Act_ publickly in Cambridge.--_Mather's Magnalia_, B. 4, pp. 127, 128.

At some times in the universities of England they have no public _acts_, but give degrees privately and silently.--_Letter of Increase Mather, in App. to Pres. Woolsey's Hist. Disc._, p. 87.

AD EUNDEM GRADUM. Latin, _to the same degree_. In American colleges, a Bachelor or Master of one institution was formerly allowed to take _the same_ degree at another, on payment of a certain fee. By this he was admitted to all the privileges of a graduate of his adopted Alma Mater. _Ad eundem gradum_, to the same degree, were the important words in the formula of admission. A similar custom prevails at present in the English universities.

Persons who have received a degree in any other college or university may, upon proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_, upon payment of the customary fees to the President.--_Laws Union Coll._, 1807, p. 47.

Persons who have received a degree in any other university or college may, upon proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_, upon paying five dollars to the Steward for the President.--_Laws of the Univ. in Cam., Mass._, 1828.

Persons who have received a degree at any other college may, upon proper application, be admitted _ad eundem_, upon payment of the customary fee to the President.--_Laws Mid. Coll._, 1839, p. 24.

The House of Convocation consists both of regents and non-regents, that is, in brief, all masters of arts not honorary, or _ad eundems_ from Cambridge or Dublin, and of course graduates of a higher order.--_Oxford Guide_, 1847, p. xi.

Fortunately some one recollected that the American Minister was a D.C.L. of Trinity College, Dublin, members of which are admitted _ad eundem gradum_ at Cambridge.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 112.

ADJOURN. At Bowdoin College, _adjourns_ are the occasional holidays given when a Professor unexpectedly absents himself from recitation.

ADJOURN. At the University of Vermont, this word as a verb is used in the same sense as is the verb BOLT at Williams College; e.g. the students _adjourn_ a recitation, when they leave the recitation-room _en masse_, despite the Professor.

ADMISSION. The act of admitting a person as a member of a college or university. The requirements for admission are usually a good moral character on the part of the candidate, and that he shall be able to pass a satisfactory examination it certain studies. In some colleges, students are not allowed to enter until they are of a specified age.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 12. _Laws Tale Coll._, 1837, p. 8.

The requisitions for entrance at Harvard College in 1650 are given in the following extract. "When any scholar is able to read Tully, or such like classical Latin author, _extempore_, and make and speak true Latin in verse and prose _suo (ut aiunt) Marte_, and decline perfectly the paradigms of nouns and verbs in the Greek tongue, then may he be admitted into the College, nor shall any claim admission before such qualifications."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 515.

ADMITTATUR. Latin; literally, _let him be admitted_. In the older American colleges, the certificate of admission given to a student upon entering was called an _admittatur_, from the word with which it began. At Harvard no student was allowed to occupy a room in the College, to receive the instruction there given, or was considered a member thereof, until he had been admitted according to this form.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798.

Referring to Yale College, President Wholsey remarks on this point: "The earliest known laws of the College belong to the years 1720 and 1726, and are in manuscript; which is explained by the custom that every Freshman, on his admission, was required to write off a copy of them for himself, to which the _admittatur_ of the officers was subscribed."--_Hist. Disc, before Grad. Yale Coll._, 1850, p. 45.

He travels wearily over in visions the term he is to wait for his initiation into college ways and his _admittatur_.--_Harvard Register_, p. 377.

I received my _admittatur_ and returned home, to pass the vacation and procure the college uniform.--_New England Magazine_, Vol. III. p. 238.

It was not till six months of further trial, that we received our _admittatur_, so called, and became matriculated.--_A Tour through College_, 1832, p. 13.

ADMITTO TE AD GRADUM. _I admit you to a degree_; the first words in the formula used in conferring the honors of college.

The scholar-dress that once arrayed him,
The charm _Admitto te ad gradum_,
With touch of parchment can refine,
And make the veriest coxcomb shine,
Confer the gift of tongues at once,
And fill with sense the vacant dunce.
_Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, Ed. 1794, Exeter, p. 12.

ADMONISH. In collegiate affairs, to reprove a member of a college for a fault, either publicly or privately; the first step of college discipline. It is followed by _of_ or _against_; as, to admonish of a fault committed, or against committing a fault.

ADMONITION. Private or public reproof; the first step of college discipline. In Harvard College, both private and public admonition subject the offender to deductions from his rank, and the latter is accompanied in most cases with official notice to his parents or guardian.--See _Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 21. _Laws Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 23.

Mr. Flynt, for many years a tutor in Harvard College, thus records an instance of college punishment for stealing poultry:--"November 4th, 1717. Three scholars were publicly admonished for thievery, and one degraded below five in his class, because he had been before publicly admonished for card-playing. They were ordered by the President into the middle of the Hall (while two others, concealers of the theft, were ordered to stand up in their places, and spoken to there). The crime they were charged with was first declared, and then laid open as against the law of God and the House, and they were admonished to consider the nature and tendency of it, with its aggravations; and all, with them, were warned to take heed and regulate themselves, so that they might not be in danger of so doing for the future; and those who consented to the theft were admonished to beware, lest God tear them in pieces, according to the text. They were then fined, and ordered to make restitution twofold for each theft."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 443.

ADOPTED SON. Said of a student in reference to the college of which he is or was a member, the college being styled his _alma mater_.

There is something in the affection of our Alma Mater which changes the nature of her _adopted sons_; and let them come from wherever they may, she soon alters them and makes it evident that they belong to the same brood.--_Harvard Register_, p. 377.

ADVANCE. The lesson which a student prepares for the first time is called _the advance_, in contradistinction to _the review_.

Even to save him from perdition,
He cannot get "_the advance_," forgets "_the review_."
_Childe Harvard_, p. 13.

ÆGROTAL. Latin, _ægrotus_, sick. A certificate of illness. Used in the Univ. of Cam., Eng.

A lucky thought; he will get an "_ægrotal_," or medical certificate of illness.--_Household Words_, Vol. II. p. 162.

ÆGROTAT. Latin; literally, _he is sick_. In the English universities, a certificate from a doctor or surgeon, to the effect that a student has been prevented by illness from attending to his college duties, "though, commonly," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "the real complaint is much more serious; viz. indisposition of the mind! _ægrotat_ animo magis quam corpore." This state is technically called _ægritude_, and the person thus affected is said to be _æger_.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. pp. 386, 387.

To prove sickness nothing more is necessary than to send to some medical man for a pill and a draught, and a little bit of paper with _ægrotat_ on it, and the doctor's signature. Some men let themselves down off their horses, and send for an _ægrotat_ on the score of a fall.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. Ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 235.

During this term I attended another course of Aristotle lectures, --but not with any express view to the May examination, which I had no intention of going in to, if it could be helped, and which I eventually escaped by an _ægrotat_ from my physician.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 198.

Mr. John Trumbull well describes this state of indisposition in his Progress of Dullness:--

"Then every book, which ought to please,
Stirs up the seeds of dire disease;
Greek spoils his eyes, the print's so fine,
Grown dim with study, and with wine;
Of Tully's Latin much afraid,
Each page he calls the doctor's aid;
While geometry, with lines so crooked,
Sprains all his wits to overlook it.
His sickness puts on every name,
Its cause and uses still the same;
'Tis toothache, colic, gout, or stone,
With phases various as the moon,
But tho' thro' all the body spread,
Still makes its cap'tal seat, the head.
In all diseases, 'tis expected,
The weakest parts be most infected."
Ed. 1794, Part I. p. 8.

ÆGROTAT DEGREE. One who is sick or so indisposed that he cannot attend the Senate-House examination, nor consequently acquire any honor, takes what is termed an _Ægrotat degree_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. II. p. 105.

ALMA MATER, _pl._ ALMÆ MATRES. Fostering mother; a college or seminary where one is educated. The title was originally given to Oxford and Cambridge, by such as had received their education in either university.

It must give pleasure to the alumni of the College to hear of his good name, as he [Benjamin Woodbridge] was the eldest son of our _alma mater_.--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p. 57.

I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our _Almæ Matres_, assented to by sundry of their children.--_Terræ-Filius_, Oxford, p. 41.

ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF. An association composed of the graduates of a particular college. The object of societies of this nature is stated in the following extract from President Hopkins's Address before the Society of Alumni of Williams College, Aug. 16, 1843. "So far as I know, the Society of the Alumni of Williams College was the first association of the kind in this country, certainly the first which acted efficiently, and called forth literary addresses. It was formed September 5, 1821, and the preamble to the constitution then adopted was as follows: 'For the promotion of literature and good fellowship among ourselves, and the better to advance the reputation and interests of our Alma Mater, we the subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form ourselves into a Society.' The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank. The first orator elected was the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished Senator of the United States. That appointment was not fulfilled. The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge, now of Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion; and since that time the annual oration before the Alumni has seldom failed.... Since this Society was formed, the example has been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to extend to them all. Last year, for the first time, the voice of an Alumnus orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale; and one of these associations, I know, sprung directly from ours. It is but three years since a venerable man attended the meeting of our Alumni, one of those that have been so full of interest, and he said he should go directly home and have such an association formed at the Commencement of his Alma Mater, then about to occur. He did so. That association was formed, and the last year the voice of one of the first scholars and jurists in the nation was heard before them. The present year the Alumni of Dartmouth were addressed for the first time, and the doctrine of Progress was illustrated by the distinguished speaker in more senses than one.[01] Who can tell how great the influence of such associations may become in cherishing kind feeling, in fostering literature, in calling out talent, in leading men to act, not selfishly, but more efficiently for the general cause through particular institutions?"--_Pres. Hopkins's Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses_, pp. 275-277.

To the same effect also, Mr. Chief Justice Story, who, in his Discourse before the Society of the Alumni of Harvard University, Aug. 23, 1842, says: "We meet to celebrate the first anniversary of the society of all the Alumni of Harvard. We meet without any distinction of sect or party, or of rank or profession, in church or in state, in literature or in science.... Our fellowship is designed to be--as it should be--of the most liberal and comprehensive character, conceived in the spirit of catholic benevolence, asking no creed but the love of letters, seeking no end but the encouragement of learning, and imposing no conditions, which say lead to jealousy or ambitious strife. In short, we meet for peace and for union; to devote one day in the year to academical intercourse and the amenities of scholars."--p. 4.

An Alumni society was formed at Columbia College in the year 1829, and at Rutgers College in 1837. There are also societies of this nature at the College of New Jersey, Princeton; University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and at Columbian College, Washington.

ALUMNUS, _pl._ ALUMNI. Latin, from _alo_, to nourish. A pupil; one educated at a seminary or college is called an _alumnus_ of that institution.

A.M. An abbreviation for _Artium Magister_, Master of Arts. The second degree given by universities and colleges. It is usually written M.A., q.v.

ANALYSIS. In the following passage, the word _analysis_ is used as a verb; the meaning being directly derived from that of the noun of the same orthography.

If any resident Bachelor, Senior, or Junior Sophister shall neglect to _analysis_ in his course, he shall be punished not exceeding ten shillings.--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p. 129.

ANNARUGIANS. At Centre College, Kentucky, is a society called the _Annarugians_, "composed," says a correspondent "of the wildest of the College boys, who, in the most fantastic disguises, are always on hand when a wedding is to take place, and join in a most tremendous Charivari, nor can they be forced to retreat until they have received a due proportion of the sumptuous feast prepared."

APOSTLES. At Cambridge, England, the last twelve on the list of Bachelors of Arts; a degree lower than the [Greek: oi polloi] "Scape-goats of literature, who have at length scrambled through the pales and discipline of the Senate-House, without being _plucked_, and miraculously obtained the title of A.B."--_Gradus ad Cantab._

At Columbian College, D.C., the members of the Faculty are called after the names of the _Apostles_.

APPLICANT. A diligent student. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "has been much used at our colleges. The English have the verb _to apply_, but the noun _applicant_, in this sense, does not appear to be in use among them. The only Dictionary in which I have found it with this meaning is Entick's, in which it is given under the word _applier_. Mr. Todd has the term _applicant_, but it is only in the sense of 'he who applies for anything.' An American reviewer, in his remarks on Mr. Webster's Dictionary, takes notice of the word, observing, that it 'is a mean word'; and then adds, that 'Mr. Webster has not explained it in the most common sense, a _hard student_.'--_Monthly Anthology_, Vol. VII. p. 263. A correspondent observes: 'The utmost that can be said of this word among the English is, that perhaps it is occasionally used in conversation; at least, to signify one who asks (or applies) for something.'" At present the word _applicant_ is never used in the sense of a diligent student, the common signification being that given by Mr. Webster, "One who applies; one who makes request; a petitioner."

APPOINTEE. One who receives an appointment at a college exhibition or commencement.

The _appointees_ are writing their pieces.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 193.

To the gratified _appointee_,--if his ambition for the honor has the intensity it has in some bosoms,--the day is the proudest he will ever see.--_Ibid._, p. 194.

I suspect that a man in the first class of the "Poll" has usually read mathematics to more profit than many of the "_appointees_," even of the "oration men" at Yale.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 382.

He hears it said all about him that the College _appointees_ are for the most part poor dull fellows.--_Ibid._, p. 389.

APPOINTMENT. In many American colleges, students to whom are assigned a part in the exercises of an exhibition or commencement, are said to receive an _appointment_. Appointments are given as a reward for superiority in scholarship.

As it regards college, the object of _appointments_ is to incite to study, and promote good scholarship.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 69.

If e'er ye would take an "_appointment_" young man,
Beware o' the "blade" and "fine fellow," young man!
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 210.

Some have crammed for _appointments_, and some for degrees.
_Presentation Day Songs_, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.

See JUNIOR APPOINTMENTS.

APPROBAMUS. Latin; _we approve_. A certificate, given to a student, testifying of his fitness for the performance of certain duties.

In an account of the exercises at Dartmouth College during the Commencement season in 1774, Dr. Belknap makes use of this word in the following connection: "I attended, with several others, the examination of Joseph Johnson, an Indian, educated in this school, who, with the rest of the New England Indians, are about moving up into the country of the Six Nations, where they have a tract of land fifteen miles square given them. He appeared to be an ingenious, sensible, serious young man; and we gave him an _approbamus_, of which there is a copy on the next page. After which, at three P.M., he preached in the college hall, and a collection of twenty-seven dollars and a half was made for him. The auditors were agreeably entertained.

"The _approbamus_ is as follows."--_Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D._, pp. 71, 72.

APPROBATE. To express approbation of; to manifest a liking, or degree of satisfaction.--_Webster_.

The cause of this battle every man did allow and _approbate_.--_Hall, Henry VII., Richardson's Dict._

"This word," says Mr. Pickering, "was formerly much used at our colleges instead of the old English verb _approve_. The students used to speak of having their performances _approbated_ by the instructors. It is also now in common use with our clergy as a sort of technical term, to denote a person who is licensed to preach; they would say, such a one is _approbated_, that is, licensed to preach. It is also common in New England to say of a person who is licensed by the county courts to sell spirituous liquors, or to keep a public house, that he is approbated; and the term is adopted in the law of Massachusetts on this subject." The word is obsolete in England, is obsolescent at our colleges, and is very seldom heard in the other senses given above.

By the twelfth statute, a student incurs ... no penalty by declaiming or attempting to declaim without having his piece previously _approbated_.--_MS. Note to Laws of Harvard College_, 1798.

Observe their faces as they enter, and you will perceive some shades there, which, if they are _approbated_ and admitted, will be gone when they come out.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 18.

How often does the professor whose duty it is to criticise and _approbate_ the pieces for this exhibition wish they were better! --_Ibid._, p. 195.

I was _approbated_ by the Boston Association, I suspect, as a person well known, but known as an anomaly, and admitted in charity.--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, p. lxxxv.

ASSES' BRIDGE. The fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid is called the _Asses' Bridge_, or rather "Pons Asinorum," from the difficulty with which many get over it.

The _Asses' Bridge_ in Euclid is not more difficult to be got over, nor the logarithms of Napier so hard to be unravelled, as many of Hoyle's Cases and Propositions.--_The Connoisseur_, No. LX.

After Mr. Brown had passed us over the "_Asses' Bridge_," without any serious accident, and conducted us a few steps further into the first book, he dismissed us with many compliments.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 126.

I don't believe he passed the _Pons Asinorum_ without many a halt and a stumble.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 146.

ASSESSOR. In the English universities, an officer specially appointed to assist the Vice-Chancellor in his court.--_Cam. Cal._

AUCTION. At Harvard College, it was until within a few years customary for the members of the Senior Class, previously to leaving college, to bring together in some convenient room all the books, furniture, and movables of any kind which they wished to dispose of, and put them up at public auction. Everything offered was either sold, or, if no bidders could be obtained, given away.

AUDIT. In the University of Cambridge, England, a meeting of the Master and Fellows to examine or _audit_ the college accounts. This is succeeded by a feast, on which occasion is broached the very best ale, for which reason ale of this character is called "audit ale."--_Grad. ad Cantab._

This use of the word thirst made me drink an extra bumper of "_Audit_" that very day at dinner.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 3.

After a few draughts of the _Audit_, the company disperse.--_Ibid._ Vol. I. p. 161.

AUTHORITY. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "is used in some of the States, in speaking collectively of the Professors, &c. of our colleges, to whom the _government_ of these institutions is intrusted."

Every Freshman shall be obliged to do any proper errand or message for the _Authority_ of the College.--_Laws Middlebury Coll._, 1804, p. 6.

AUTOGRAPH BOOK. It is customary at Yale College for each member of the Senior Class, before the close of his collegiate life, to obtain, in a book prepared for that purpose, the signatures of the President, Professors, Tutors, and of all his classmates, with anything else which they may choose to insert. Opposite the autographs of the college officers are placed engravings of them, so far as they are obtainable; and the whole, bound according to the fancy of each, forms a most valuable collection of agreeable mementos.

When news of his death reached me. I turned to my _book of classmate autographs_, to see what he had written there, and to read a name unusually dear.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, p. 201.

AVERAGE BOOK. At Harvard College, a book in which the marks received by each student, for the proper performance of his college duties, are entered; also the deductions from his rank resulting from misconduct. These unequal data are then arranged in a mean proportion, and the result signifies the standing which the student has held for a given period.

In vain the Prex's grave rebuke,
Deductions from the _average book_.
_MS. Poem_, W.F. Allen, 1848.

_B_.

B.A. An abbreviation of _Baccalaureus Artium_, Bachelor of Arts. The first degree taken by a student at a college or university. Sometimes written A.B., which is in accordance with the proper Latin arrangement. In American colleges this degree is conferred in course on each member of the Senior Class in good standing. In the English universities, it is given to the candidate who has been resident at least half of each of ten terms, i.e. during a certain portion of a period extending over three and a third years, and who has passed the University examinations.

The method of conferring the degree of B.A. at Trinity College, Hartford, is peculiar. The President takes the hands of each candidate in his own as he confers the degree. He also passes to the candidate a book containing the College Statutes, which the candidate holds in his right hand during the performance of a part of the ceremony.

The initials of English academical titles always correspond to the _English_, not to the Latin of the titles, _B.A._, M.A., D.D., D.C.L., &c.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 13.

See BACHELOR.

BACCALAUREATE. The degree of Bachelor of Arts; the first or lowest degree. In American colleges, this degree is conferred in course on each member of the Senior Class in good standing. In Oxford and Cambridge it is attainable in two different ways;--1. By examination, to which those students alone are admissible who have pursued the prescribed course of study for the space of three years. 2. By extraordinary diploma, granted to individuals wholly unconnected with the University. The former class are styled Baccalaurei Formati, the latter Baccalaurei Currentes. In France the degree of Baccalaureat (Baccalaureus Literarum) is conferred indiscriminately upon such natives or foreigners and after a strict examination in the classics, mathematics, and philosophy, are declared to be qualified. In the German universities, the title "Doctor Philosophiæ" has long been substituted for Baccalaureus Artium or Literarum. In the Middle Ages, the term Baccalaureus was applied to an inferior order of knights, who came into the field unattended by vassals; from them it was transferred to the lowest class of ecclesiastics; and thence again, by Pope Gregory the Ninth to the universities. In reference to the derivation of this word, the military classes maintain that it is either derived from the _baculus_ or staff with which knights were usually invested, or from _bas chevalier_, an inferior kind of knight; the literary classes, with more plausibility, perhaps, trace its origin to the custom which prevailed universally among the Greeks and Romans, and which was followed even in Italy till the thirteenth century, of crowning distinguished individuals with laurel; hence the recipient of this honor was style Baccalaureus, quasi _baccis laureis_ donatus.--_Brande's Dictionary_.

The subjoined passage, although it may not place the subject in any clearer light, will show the difference of opinion which exists in reference to the derivation of this work. Speaking of the exercises of Commencement at Cambridge Mass., in the early days of Harvard College, the writer says "But the main exercises were disputations upon questions wherein the respondents first made their Theses: For according to Vossius, the very essence of the Baccalaureat seems to lye in the thing: Baccalaureus being but a name corrupted of Batualius, which Batualius (as well as the French Bataile [Bataille]) comes à Batuendo, a business that carries beating in it: So that, Batualii fuerunt vocati, quia jam quasi _batuissent_ cum adversario, ac manus conseruissent; hoc est, publice disputassent, atque ita peritiæ suæ specimen dedissent."--_Mather's Magnalia_, B. IV. p. 128.

The Seniors will be examined for the _Baccalaureate_, four weeks before Commencement, by a committee, in connection with the Faculty.--_Cal. Wesleyan Univ._, 1849, p. 22.

BACHELOR. A person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, at a college or university. This degree, or honor, is called the _Baccalaureate_. This title is given also to such as take the first degree in divinity, law, or physic, in certain European universities. The word appears in various forms in different languages. The following are taken from _Webster's Unabridged Dictionary_. "French, _bachelier_; Spanish, _bachiller_, a bachelor of arts and a babbler; Portuguese, _bacharel_, id., and _bacello_, a shoot or twig of the vine; Italian, _baccelliere_, a bachelor of arts; _bacchio_, a staff; _bachetta_, a rod; Latin, _bacillus_, a stick, that is, a shoot; French, _bachelette_, a damsel, or young woman; Scotch, _baich_, a child; Welsh, _bacgen_, a boy, a child; _bacgenes_, a young girl, from _bac_, small. This word has its origin in the name of a child, or young person of either sex, whence the sense of _babbling_ in the Spanish. Or both senses are rather from shooting, protruding."

Of the various etymologies ascribed to the term _Bachelor_, "the true one, and the most flattering," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "seems to be _bacca laurus_. Those who either are, or expect to be, honored with the title of _Bachelor of Arts_, will hear with exultation, that they are then 'considered as the budding flowers of the University; as the small _pillula_, or _bacca_, of the _laurel_ indicates the flowering of that tree, which is so generally used in the crowns of those who have deserved well, both of the military states, and of the republic of learning.'--_Carter's History of Cambridge, [Eng.]_, 1753."

BACHELOR FELLOW. A Bachelor of Arts who is maintained on a fellowship.

BACHELOR SCHOLAR. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a B.A. who remains in residence after taking his degree, for the purpose of reading for a fellowship or acting as private tutor. He is always noted for superiority in scholarship.

Bristed refers to the bachelor scholars in the annexed extract. "Along the wall you see two tables, which, though less carefully provided than the Fellows', are still served with tolerable decency and go through a regular second course instead of the 'sizings.' The occupants of the upper or inner table are men apparently from twenty-two to twenty-six years of age, and wear black gowns with two strings hanging loose in front. If this table has less state than the adjoining one of the Fellows, it has more mirth and brilliancy; many a good joke seems to be going the rounds. These are the Bachelors, most of them Scholars reading for Fellowships, and nearly all of them private tutors. Although Bachelors in Arts, they are considered, both as respects the College and the University, to be _in statu pupillari_ until they become M.A.'s. They pay a small sum in fees nominally for tuition, and are liable to the authority of that mighty man, the Proctor." --_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 20.

BACHELORSHIP. The state of one who has taken his first degree in a university or college.--_Webster_.

BACK-LESSON. A lesson which has not been learned or recited; a lesson which has been omitted.

In a moment you may see the yard covered with hurrying groups, some just released from metaphysics or the blackboard, and some just arisen from their beds where they have indulged in the luxury of sleeping over,--a luxury, however, which is sadly diminished by the anticipated necessity of making up _back-lessons_.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 202.

BALBUS. At Yale College, this term is applied to Arnold's Latin Prose Composition, from the fact of its so frequent occurrence in that work. If a student wishes to inform his fellow-student that he is engaged on Latin Prose Composition, he says he is studying _Balbus_. In the first example of this book, the first sentence reads, "I and Balbus lifted up our hands," and the name Balbus appears in almost every exercise.

BALL UP. At Middlebury College, to fail at recitation or examination.

BANDS. Linen ornaments, worn by professors and clergymen when officiating; also by judges, barristers, &c., in court. They form a distinguishing mark in the costume of the proctors of the English universities, and at Cambridge, the questionists, on admission to their degrees, are by the statutes obliged to appear in them.--_Grad. ad Cantab._

BANGER. A club-like cane or stick; a bludgeon. This word is one of the Yale vocables.

The Freshman reluctantly turned the key,
Expecting a Sophomore gang to see,
Who, with faces masked and _bangers_ stout,
Had come resolved to smoke him out.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 75.

BARBER. In the English universities, the college barber is often employed by the students to write out or translate the impositions incurred by them. Those who by this means get rid of their impositions are said to _barberize_ them.

So bad was the hand which poor Jenkinson wrote, that the many impositions which he incurred would have kept him hard at work all day long; so he _barberized_ them, that is, handed them over to the college barber, who had always some poor scholars in his pay. This practice of barberizing is not uncommon among a certain class of men.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 155.

BARNEY. At Harvard College, about the year 1810, this word was used to designate a bad recitation. To _barney_ was to recite badly.

BARNWELL. At Cambridge, Eng., a place of resort for characters of bad report.

One of the most "civilized" undertook to banter me on my non-appearance in the classic regions of _Barnwell_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 31.

BARRING-OUT SPREE. At Princeton College, when the students find the North College clear of Tutors, which is about once a year, they bar up the entrance, get access to the bell, and ring it.

In the "Life of Edward Baines, late M.P. for the Borough of Leeds," is an account of a _barring-out_, as managed at the grammar school at Preston, England. It is related in Dickens's Household Words to this effect. "His master was pompous and ignorant, and smote his pupils liberally with cane and tongue. It is not surprising that the lads learnt as much from the spirit of their master as from his preceptions and that one of those juvenile rebellions, better known as old than at present as a '_barring-out_,' was attempted. The doors of the school, the biographer narrates, were fastened with huge nails, and one of the younger lads was let out to obtain supplies of food for the garrison. The rebellion having lasted two or three days, the mayor, town-clerk, and officers were sent for to intimidate the offenders. Young Baines, on the part of the besieged, answered the magisterial summons to surrender, by declaring that they would never give in, unless assured of full pardon and a certain length of holidays. With much good sense, the mayor gave them till the evening to consider; and on his second visit the doors were found open, the garrison having fled to the woods of Penwortham. They regained their respective homes under the cover of night, and some humane interposition averted the punishment they had deserved."-- Am. Ed. Vol. III. p. 415.

BATTEL. To stand indebted on the college books at Oxford for provisions and drink from the buttery.

Eat my commons with a good stomach, and _battled_ with discretion. --_Puritan_, Malone's Suppl. 2, p. 543.

Many men "_battel_" at the rate of a guinea a week. Wealthier men, more expensive men, and more careless men, often "_battelled_" much higher.--_De Quincey's Life and Manners_, p. 274.

Cotgrave says, "To _battle_ (as scholars do in Oxford) être debteur an collège pour ses vivres." He adds, "Mot usé seulement des jeunes écoliers de l'université d'Oxford."

2. To reside at the university; to keep terms.--_Webster_.

BATTEL. Derived from the old monkish word _patella_, or _batella_, a plate. At Oxford, "whatsoever is furnished for dinner and for supper, including malt liquor, but not wine, as well as the materials for breakfast, or for any casual refreshment to country visitors, excepting only groceries," is expressed by the word _battels_.--_De Quincey_.

I on the nail my _Battels_ paid,
The monster turn'd away dismay'd.
_The Student_, Vol. I. p. 115, 1750.

BATTELER, BATTLER. A student at Oxford who stands indebted, in the college books, for provisions and drink at the buttery.--_Webster_.

Halliwell, in his Dict. Arch. and Prov. Words, says, "The term is used in contradistinction to gentleman commoner." In _Gent. Mag._, 1787, p. 1146, is the following:--"There was formerly at Oxford an order similar to the sizars of Cambridge, called _battelers_ (_batteling_ having the same signification as sizing). The _sizar_ and _batteler_ were as independent as any other members of the college, though of an inferior order, and were under no obligation to wait upon anybody."

2. One who keeps terms, or resides at the University.--_Webster_.

BATTELING. At Oxford, the act of taking provisions from the buttery. Batteling has the same signification as SIZING at the University of Cambridge.--_Gent. Mag._, 1787, p. 1146.

_Batteling in a friend's name_, implies eating and drinking at his expense. When a person's name is _crossed in the buttery_, i.e. when he is not allowed to take any articles thence, he usually comes into the hall and battels for buttery supplies in a friend's name, "for," says the Collegian's Guide, "every man can 'take out' an extra commons, and some colleges two, at each meal, for a visitor: and thus, under the name of a guest, though at your own table, you escape part of the punishment of being crossed."--p. 158.

2. Spending money.

The business of the latter was to call us of a morning, to distribute among us our _battlings_, or pocket money, &c.--_Dicken's Household Words_, Vol. I. p. 188.

BAUM. At Hamilton College, to fawn upon; to flatter; to court the favor of any one.

B.C.L. Abbreviated for _Baccalaureus Civilis Legis_, Bachelor in Civil Law. In the University of Oxford, a Bachelor in Civil Law must be an M.A. and a regent of three years' standing. The exercises necessary to the degree are disputations upon two distinct days before the Professors of the Faculty of Law.

In the University of Cambridge, the candidate for this degree must have resided nine terms (equal to three years), and been on the boards of some College for six years, have passed the "previous examination," attended the lectures of the Professor of Civil Law for three terms, and passed a _series_ of examinations in the subject of them; that is to say in General Jurisprudence, as illustrated by Roman and English law. The names of those who pass creditably are arranged in three classes according to merit.--_Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 284.

This degree is not conferred in the United States.

B.D. An abbreviation for _Baccalaureus Divinitatis_, Bachelor in Divinity. In both the English Universities a B.D. must be an M.A. of seven years' standing, and at Oxford, a regent of the same length of time. The exercises necessary to the degree are at Cambridge one act after the fourth year, two opponencies, a clerum, and an English sermon. At Oxford, disputations are enjoined upon two distinct days before the Professors of the Faculty of Divinity, and a Latin sermon is preached before the Vice-Chancellor. The degree of Theologiæ Baccalaureus was conferred at Harvard College on Mr. Leverett, afterwards President of that institution, in 1692, and on Mr. William Brattle in the same year, the only instances, it is believed, in which this degree has been given in America.

BEADLE, BEDEL, BEDELL. An officer in a university, whose chief business is to walk with a mace, before the masters, in a public procession; or, as in America, before the president, trustees, faculty, and students of a college, in a procession, at public commencements.--_Webster_.

In the English universities there are two classes of Bedels, called the _Esquire_ and the _Yeoman Bedel_.

Of this officer as connected with Yale College, President Woolsey speaks as follows:--"The beadle or his substitute, the vice-beadle (for the sheriff of the county came to be invested with the office), was the master of processions, and a sort of gentleman-usher to execute the commands of the President. He was a younger graduate settled at or near the College. There is on record a diploma of President Clap's, investing with this office a graduate of three years' standing, and conceding to him 'omnia jura privilegia et auctoritates ad Bedelli officium, secundum collegiorum aut universitatum leges et consuetudines usitatas; spectantia.' The office, as is well known, still exists in the English institutions of learning, whence it was transferred first to Harvard and thence to this institution."--_Hist. Disc._, Aug., 1850, p. 43.

In an account of a Commencement at Williams College, Sept. 8, 1795, the order in which the procession was formed was as follows: "First, the scholars of the academy; second, students of college; third, the sheriff of the county acting as _Bedellus_," &c.--_Federal Orrery_, Sept. 28, 1795.

The _Beadle_, by order, made the following declaration.--_Clap's Hist. Yale Coll._, 1766, p. 56.

It shall be the duty of the Faculty to appoint a _College Beadle_, who shall direct the procession on Commencement day, and preserve order during the exhibitions.--_Laws Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 43.

BED-MAKER. One whose occupation is to make beds, and, as in colleges and universities, to take care of the students' rooms. Used both in the United States and England.

T' other day I caught my _bed-maker_, a grave old matron, poring very seriously over a folio that lay open upon my table. I asked her what she was reading? "Lord bless you, master," says she, "who I reading? I never could read in my life, blessed be God; and yet I loves to look into a book too."--_The Student_, Vol. I. p. 55, 1750.

I asked a _bed-maker_ where Mr. ----'s chambers were.--_Gent. Mag._, 1795, p. 118.

While the grim _bed-maker_ provokes the dust,
And soot-born atoms, which his tomes encrust.
_The College.--A sketch in verse_, in _Blackwood's Mag._, May,
1849.

The _bed-makers_ are the women who take care of the rooms: there is about one to each staircase, that is to say, to every eight rooms. For obvious reasons they are selected from such of the fair sex as have long passed the age at which they might have had any personal attractions. The first intimation which your bed-maker gives you is that she is bound to report you to the tutor if ever you stay out of your rooms all night.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 15.

BEER-COMMENT. In the German universities, the student's drinking code.

The _beer-comment_ of Heidelberg, which gives the student's code of drinking, is about twice the length of our University book of statutes.--_Lond. Quar. Rev._, Am. Ed., Vol. LXXIII. p. 56.

BEMOSSED HEAD. In the German universities, a student during the sixth and last term, or _semester_, is called a _Bemossed Head_, "the highest state of honor to which man can attain."--_Howitt_.

See MOSS-COVERED HEAD.

BENE. Latin, _well_. A word sometimes attached to a written college exercise, by the instructor, as a mark of approbation.

When I look back upon my college life,
And think that I one starveling _bene_ got.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 402.

BENE DISCESSIT. Latin; literally, _he has departed honorably_. This phrase is used in the English universities to signify that the student leaves his college to enter another by the express consent and approbation of the Master and Fellows.--_Gradus ad Cantab._

Mr. Pope being about to remove from Trinity to Emmanuel, by _Bene-Discessit_, was desirous of taking my rooms.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 167.

BENEFICIARY. One who receives anything as a gift, or is maintained by charity.--_Blackstone_.

In American colleges, students who are supported on established foundations are called _beneficiaries_. Those who receive maintenance from the American Education Society are especially designated in this manner.

No student who is a college _beneficiary_ shall remain such any longer than he shall continue exemplary for sobriety, diligence, and orderly conduct.--_Laws of Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 19.

BEVER. From the Italian _bevere_, to drink. An intermediate refreshment between breakfast and dinner.--_Morison_.

At Harvard College, dinner was formerly the only meal which was regularly taken in the hall. Instead of breakfast and supper, the students were allowed to receive a bowl of milk or chocolate, with a piece of bread, from the buttery hatch, at morning and evening; this they could eat in the yard, or take to their rooms and eat there. At the appointed hour for _bevers_, there was a general rush for the buttery, and if the walking happened to be bad, or if it was winter, many ludicrous accidents usually occurred. One perhaps would slip, his bowl would fly this way and his bread that, while he, prostrate, afforded an excellent stumbling-block to those immediately behind him; these, falling in their turn, spattering with the milk themselves and all near them, holding perhaps their spoons aloft, the only thing saved from the destruction, would, after disentangling themselves from the mass of legs, arms, etc., return to the buttery, and order a new bowl, to be charged with the extras at the close of the term.