Chapter XI: Part II: is divided into two Branches, viz (1)

(1) Philosophy.
(2) Mathematics.

The nature of the examination may be indicated by the following
requirements in Branch (I):--

Written
(i.) An essay in French on a philosophical subject.
(ii.) An examination in physical and natural science.

Oral
(i.) Interrogation on philosophy and philosophical writers.
(ii.) Interrogation on contemporary history.
(iii.) Interrogation on physical science.
(iv.) Interrogation on natural science.

V. Co-ordination with Teaching.

The syllabus of the examination is that prescribed for the higher
classes in the Government secondary schools.

The candidate may submit his _livret scolaire_, or school record,
which will be taken into account.

VI. Examiners.

The Board of Examiners (or "jury") consists of (i.) University
examiners being members of a faculty of letters or faculty of
sciences; (ii.) secondary teachers, active or retired, selected by
the minister of public instruction. The Board consists of from four
to six examiners, of whom, when the number is even, half are chosen
from either category.

VII. Nature of Examination and General Remarks.

The written portion of Part I. extends over from 9 to 10 hours in
all (not on a single day), in periods of 3 or 4 hours each; the
written portion of Part II. extends over from 6 to 9 hours. The oral
examination for each part lasts 3/4 hour on the average, and is
public.

TABLE III.--SCOTLAND: SCHOOL-LEAVING EXAMINATION

I. Name of Examination.

Scottish school-leaving examination (established 1888). (See
pamphlet on the "Leaving Certificate Examination" issued by the
Scottish Education Department, 1908.)

II. Minimum Age for Entry.

17 on 1st of January following the year in which the candidate
passes the last of the written examinations.

III. Length of Course of Study.

4 years.

IV. Subjects.

Candidates must pass in four subjects on the higher grade standard,
or in three subjects on the higher grade standard and two on the
lower. A pass in drawing is accepted in lieu of one of the two lower
grade passes. A pass in Gaelic is reckoned as a pass on lower grade.
All candidates must have passed in higher English and in either
higher or lower grade mathematics. The remaining subjects may be
either science with one or more languages (Latin Greek, French,
German, Spanish, or Italian), or languages only. But where two or
more languages other than English are taken, the candidate's group
must include either higher or lower grade Latin. A pass in Spanish,
Italian, or science (in which subjects there is only one
examination) is reckoned as a pass on the higher grade standard.

V. Co-ordination with Teaching.

Schools are inspected, and the course of instruction must be
approved by the Scottish Education Department, but the examinations
are conducted by external examiners with whom teachers are not
associated.

VI. Examiners.

The examiners are appointed by the Scottish Education Department.

VII. Nature of Examination and General Remarks.

The examination consists of a written examination and an oral
examination, on which stress is laid. The length of the examination
varies with the subjects selected. The periods of examination vary
from 1 to 2-1/2 hours. If the candidate selects on the higher grade,
English, Latin, mathematics, and French, the examination extends
over 19-1/2 hours.

TABLE IV.--UNIVERSITY OF LONDON SCHOOL EXAMINATION, MATRICULATION STANDARD

I. Name of Examination.

School examination, matriculation standard (established in 1902).

_Note_--A higher school-leaving certificate is awarded to pupils who
(i.) have pursued an approved course of study for a period of years
at a school or schools under inspection approved by the University;
and (ii.) being matriculated students, have passed the "higher
school examination" in at least three subjects at one and the same
examination.

II. Minimum Age For Entry.

The minimum age of entry is 15, but if the candidate is under 16 he
must remain at school until he is 16 years of age in order to be
qualified for the school-leaving certificate, and cannot be
registered as a student of the University until he has reached that
age.

III. Length of Course of Study.

The curriculum of each school is considered on its own merits.

IV. Subjects.

Pupils must satisfy the examiners in not less than five subjects, as
follows:--

(1) English.

(2) Elementary mathematics.

(3) Latin, or elementary mechanics, or elementary physics--heat,
light and sound, or elementary chemistry, or elementary botany, or
general elementary science.

(4) and (5) Two of the following subjects, neither of which has
already been taken under section (3). If Latin be not taken, one of
the other subjects selected must be another language, either ancient
or modern, from the list, and languages other than those included in
the list may be taken if approved by the University, provided that
the language is included in the regular curriculum:--Latin, Greek,
French, German, ancient history, modern history, history and
geography, physical and general geography, logic, geometrical and
mechanical drawing, mathematics (more advanced), elementary
mechanics, elementary chemistry, elementary physics--heat, light and
sound, elementary physics--electricity and magnetism, elementary
biology--botany, elementary biology--zoology, general elementary
science (chemistry and physics).

V. Co-ordination with Teaching.

Schools under approved inspection, and course of instruction
approved by the University.

The papers are ordinarily set on the matriculation syllabus, but
papers may be specially set more closely in accordance with the
school curriculum provided that the syllabus proposed is approved by
the University as at least equivalent to that for which it is
substituted.

VI. Examiners.

The examiners are ordinarily those appointed by the University for
the ordinary matriculation examination.

VII. Nature of Examination and General Remarks.

The examination extends over at least 18 hours, and includes an oral
examination in modern languages.

Practical.

The laboratory examination may be used in subjects like physics, chemistry, geology, zoology, botany, anatomy, physiology, to test powers of manipulation and knowledge of experimental methods. In some cases (e.g. in certain honours examinations) the examination may be prolonged over one or more days, and may test higher powers of investigation. But such powers can only be fully tested by the performance of original work, under conditions difficult to fulfil in the examination room or laboratory. At the French examinations for the _prix de Rome_ the candidates are required to execute a painting in a given number of days, under strict supervision (_en loge_).

In medicine the clinical examination of a patient is a test carried out under conditions more nearly approaching those of actual work than any other; and distinction in medical examinations is probably more often followed by distinction in after life than is the case in other examinations.

Thesis.

For the doctor's degree (where this is not an honorary distinction) a thesis or dissertation is generally, though not invariably, required in England. Of recent years the thesis has been introduced into lower examinations; it is required for the master's degree at London in the case of internal students, in subjects other than mathematics (1910); both at Oxford and London, the B.Sc. degree, and at Cambridge the B.A. degree, may be given for research, although the number of students proceeding to a degree in this way is at present relatively small. In certain of the honours B.A. and B.Sc. examinations at Manchester and Liverpool, candidates may take the written portion of the examination at the end of the second year's course of study and submit a dissertation at the end of the third year. Theses are generally examined by two or more specialists.

5. _Competitive Examinations._--The arrangement of students in order of merit led naturally to the use of examinations not only as a qualifying but also as a selective test, and to the offering of money prizes (including exhibitions, scholarships and fellowships) on the results. In 1854 selection by examination as a method of appointment to posts in the English public service was first substituted for the patronage system, which had caused grave dissatisfaction (see Macaulay's speech on the subject, _The Times_ of the 25th of June 1853). The first public competitive examination for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, took place in 1855, and in 1870 the principle of open competition for the civil service was adopted as a general rule. (For further details see CIVIL SERVICE.)

In the Wurttemberg civil service candidates are admitted to a year's probation after passing a theoretical examination, at the conclusion of which they must pass an examination of a more practical character (A. Herbert, _Sacrifice of Education_ ..., 1889, p. 111).

In the award of scholarships, &c., it should be definitely decided whether the scholarship is to be awarded (1) for attainment, in which case the examination-test pure and simple may suffice, or (2) for promise, in which case personal information and a _curriculum vitae_ are necessary. To take a simple instance: a candidate partly educated in Germany may obtain more marks in German at a scholarship examination than another who is more gifted, but whose opportunities have been less; the question at once arises, are the examiners to take the circumstances of the candidate into account or not? It is understood that at the colleges of the older universities such circumstances are considered. It must again be decided whether the financial circumstances of candidates are to be taken into account; are scholarships intended as prizes, or as a means of enabling poor students to obtain a university education? In some cases wealthy students have been known to return the emoluments of scholarships. In many universities of the United States there is a definite understanding that emoluments shall only be accepted by those needing them. It would not be difficult to ask candidates to make a confidential declaration on this subject on entrance and to establish in Great Britain a tradition similar to that of the United States, and steps in this direction have been taken both at Oxford and Cambridge (Lord Curzon of Kedleston, _University Reform_, p. 86).

A special allowance may be made for age. In certain scholarship examinations held formerly by the London County Council a percentage was added to the marks of each candidate proportionate to the number of months by which his age fell short of the maximum age for entry. The whole subject of entrance scholarships at English schools and universities, and especially their tendency to produce premature specialization, has recently been much discussed.

6. _The Organization and Conduct of Examinations._--The organization and conduct of examinations, in such a way that each candidate shall be treated in precisely the same way as every other candidate, is a complex matter, especially where several thousand candidates are concerned. The greatest precautions must be taken to ensure the secrecy of the examination papers before the examination, and the effective isolation of individual candidates during the examination. The supervision should be adequate to remove all temptation to copying. The hygienic conditions should be such as to reduce the strain to a minimum. The question of the mental fatigue produced by examinations has been studied by certain German observers, but has not yet been fully investigated.

7. _Marking, Classification and Errors of Detail._--In applying a single test in a qualifying examination it would be sufficient to mark candidates as passing or failing. But examinations consist as a rule of a number of tests, each one of which is complex; and a mark is recorded in respect of each test or portion of a test in order to enable the examining body to estimate the performance, considered as a whole, of the candidate. At Oxford the marks are not numerical, but the papers are judged as of this or that supposed "class," and various degrees of merit are indicated by the symbols [alpha], [beta], [gamma], [delta], to which the signs + or -may be prefixed, according as they are above or below a certain standard within each class. At Cambridge, numerical marks are used. The advantage of numerical marks is that they are more easily manipulated than symbols; the disadvantage, that they produce the false impression that merit can be estimated with mathematical accuracy. Professor F.Y. Edgeworth, in two papers on "The Statistics of Examinations" and the "Element of Chance in Competitive Examinations" (_Journal of the Royal Statistical Society_, 1888 and 1890), has dealt with the subject, although on somewhat limited lines. His investigations show clearly that with candidates near the border-line of failure, which must necessarily be fixed at a given point (subject to certain allowances, where more than one subject is considered), the element of chance necessarily enters largely into the question of pass and failure. The fact may be stated in this way:--the general efficiency of the test being granted, it is true to say that the large majority of those who pass an examination will be superior in efficiency to those who fail; but a few of those who fail may be superior to a few of those who pass. These errors are not peculiar to the examination system, they are inherent in all human judgments. It is necessary to allow for them in considering the failure of an individual candidate as an index of inefficiency.

The element of chance, which prevails in the region on either side of the border between pass and failure, obviously prevails equally on either side of the border between "classes," where candidates are classified; it has been suggested by Dr Schuster that numerical order should accompany classification so as to avoid the creation of an artificial gap between the last candidate in one class and the highest in the next. Edgeworth's objection to such an argument is that the number of uncertainties is far less when candidates are classed than when they are placed in ostensible order of merit.

The difficulties of comparison of marks are further complicated when students take different subjects and it is necessary to compare their merit by means of marks allotted by different examiners and added together. In a pass examination the question has to be considered how far, if at all, excellence in one subject shall compensate for deficiency in another, a question which is indeterminate until the precise object of the whole examination is formulated. In the competitive examination for the Indian civil service, places are allotted on the aggregate of marks obtained in a number of subjects selected by the candidate from a list of thirty-two. The successful candidates are compared a year later on the results of another examination in which there is again a choice, though a much more limited one. The order of merit in the two examinations is, as a rule, very different.

Two further points may be noted. An examiner may have underestimated the time required to answer the questions which he has set; this will be obvious if with a large number of candidates (say 300 or 400) none approaches the maximum mark. In this case the maximum should be reduced. Again, it is generally recognized to be undesirable to give marks for a smattering. In order to avoid this various devices are adopted. The simplest is to award a proportion of marks (say 10 to 15, or even 20%) for "general impression." In some examinations, unless say 20% or more marks are obtained for a particular subject, no credit is given for the paper in that subject. Latham (_The Action of Examinations_, 1877, p. 490) describes other numerical adjustments used to meet this difficulty, especially that used in English civil service examinations. The numerical results of the civil service examinations are reduced so as to conform to a certain symmetrical "frequency-curve," of which the abscissae represent percentages of marks between definite limits and the ordinates the number of candidates obtaining marks between those limits. C.E. Fawsitt (_The Education of the Examiner_, Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, 1905) shows that frequency-curves deduced from actual investigation of class-marks are not symmetrical, but have two maxima corresponding to the performance of "non-workers" and of "workers." In pass examinations of a well-known character there is a maximum just beyond the pass mark, this being the point of efficiency at which many students aim.

8. _The Object and Efficiency of Examinations, and their Indirect Effects._--In order to estimate the efficiency of an examination as a test, the precise question should be asked in each case--what is it intended to test? Much of the evil attributed to, and resulting from, examinations is due to the fact that this question has not been definitely put, and that a test legitimate for certain purposes has been used for others to which it is unsuited. Examinations are suited in the first instance for the purpose for which they were originally designed in medieval universities--the test of technical and professional capacity; it has never been proposed to abolish qualifying examinations for doctors, pharmaceutical chemists, &c.; the tests applied are (or should be) direct tests of capacity carried out under conditions as nearly as possible like those of actual practice. If a student can auscultate correctly, or make up a prescription, at an examination, he will in all probability be able to do so in other circumstances.

Examinations as tests of the knowledge of isolated facts are necessarily of relatively small value, because the memory of such facts is transient; and memorization of a large number of facts for examination purposes is generally admitted to be specially transient; the "knowledge-test," considered apart from a test of capacity, is in fact not a test of permanent knowledge, but of the power of retaining facts for a length of time which it is impossible to estimate and which with some candidates extends over a few weeks only. When used as tests of "general culture," examinations, in the view of Paulsen, based on a study of German education, not only fail in their purpose, but tend to destroy the faculties which it is desired to develop (_Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts_, ii. 684 et seq.); to prepare ready answers to the numberless questions which an examiner may ask on a large variety of subjects is to paralyse the natural and free activity of the mind (cf. A.C. Benson on the results of English secondary classical education, _From a College Window_, 3rd ed., 1906, pp. 154-177). If pushed to its logical conclusion the view of Paulsen must, it is submitted, lead to the complete abandonment at examinations of tests of "knowledge" as distinguished from direct tests of capacity. Thus isolated questions on details of grammar would disappear from papers on the mother-tongue and on foreign languages, in which the test would consist mainly or entirely of composition and translation. Erudition would be tested by the power of writing, at leisure, a dissertation on some subject selected by the examiners or the candidate or, in the case of a teacher, by the delivery of a lecture on the subject. At the French _agregation_ candidates are given twenty-four hours for the preparation of a lecture of this kind. Such examinations would test the "skill in the manipulation of facts which is the true sign of a trained intelligence" (cf. K. Pearson, "The Function of Science in the Modern State," _Ency. Brit._ 10th ed. xxxii. Prefatory essay). They might possibly be supplemented by easy oral examinations to test both range of knowledge and readiness of mind. But in the case of a pupil who had passed through a good secondary school it would be as safe to rely for supplementary information under this head on the testimony of his teachers, as it is to rely on their evidence with regard to the fundamental and all-important element on which no examination supplies direct information--personal character.

The main arguments of those opposed to the examination system may be summarized as follows: (i.) Examinations tend to destroy natural interests and exclude from the attention of the pupil all matters outside the purview of the examination (they would not do so if examinations were so limited in character that preparation therefor could absorb only a fraction of the pupil's time); (ii.) they tend to cultivate a personal judgment where no personal basis of judgment is possible (this argument, directed mainly against the Oxford essay system, applies not to examinations in general, but to the character of the subjects set for essays); (iii.) competitive examinations on the home and Indian civil services scheme tend to diffuse mental energy over too many subjects (but see (xviii.) below); (iv.) examinations, especially competitive examinations, tend to become more and more difficult, difficulty being confused with efficiency--this has shown itself with the Cambridge mathematical tripos, in which for years questions of increasing difficulty were set on relatively unimportant subjects, until the examination was reformed (reply: all examinations should be overhauled periodically); (v.) they tend to paralyse the powers of exposition, all statements of knowledge being thrown into a form suitable, not for an uninstructed person, but for one who already possesses it, the examiner (this tendency should be counteracted by definite training in composition); (vi.) the sample of knowledge and capacity yielded at an examination is frequently not a fair sample; it is liable to extreme variations in a favourable sense, if the candidate happens to have prepared the precise questions asked; in an unfavourable sense, if the candidate is suffering from misfortune or from accidental ill-health, the latter, owing to the periodic function, occurring much more frequently in the case of women than of men--[the reform of examination methods may remove to a great extent the element of chance in questions set; in a competitive examination it is impossible to allow for ill-health; in a qualifying examination it is difficult to make any allowance unless the examination is definitely conducted in whole or in part by the teachers, and the past record of the candidate is taken into account (cf. Paulsen, _The German Universities_, pp. 344-345)]; (vii.) examinations of several hundred candidates at a time cannot be rationally conducted so as to be equally fair to the individuality of all candidates; the individual test is the only complete one (it is admitted that examinations on a large scale necessarily involve a margin of error; but this error may be reduced to a minimum, especially by a combination of oral and practical with written work); (viii.) the multiplicity of school examinations required for different reasons produces confusion in our secondary education (there is a growing tendency to admit equivalence of "school-leaving" and entrance examinations; thus entrance examinations of Oxford, Cambridge and London, and the Northern Universities Joint Board are interchangeable under certain conditions); (ix.) the multiplicity of examinations tends to "underselling" (the success of the London examinations in medicine proves that a high standard attracts candidates as well as a low one; possibly intermediate standards may be killed in the competition; it is by no means obvious that a uniform system of examinations would conduce to efficiency); (x.) examinations produce physical damage to health, especially in the case of women-students (on this point more statistical evidence is needed; see, however, Engelmann quoted by G. Stanley Hall, _Adolescence_, 1905, ii. 588 et seq.); (xi.) examinations have in England mechanically cast the education of women into the same mould as that of men, without reference to the different social functions of the two sexes (the remedy is obvious); (xii.) it is unjustifiable to give a man a university position on the results of his performance in the examination room, a practice common in England though almost unknown on the continent; a just estimate of a man's powers in research or for teaching can only be properly based on his performance. The present system merely leads to the transmission of the sterile art of passing examinations. (At Oxford and Cambridge many fellowships are now awarded on the results of examination; it is sometimes stated, in defence of this system, that young men cannot be expected to carry out research in classics or philosophy.)

On the other hand, the defenders of examinations reply that (xiii.) examinations are necessary in order to test the efficiency of schools to which grants of public money are given (this argument has become somewhat out of date owing to the recent substitution of "inspection" for examination as a test of the efficiency of schools; a combination of inspection and examination is also sometimes used); (xiv.) they serve as a necessary incentive to steady and concentrated work[4] (the reply made to this is that the incentive is a bad one, and that with efficient teachers it is unnecessary); (xv.) they show both student and teacher where they have failed (unnecessary for efficient teachers); (xvi.) though possibly harmful to the highest class of men, they are good for the mass (reply: no system which damages the highest class of men is tolerable); (xvii.) they are indispensable as an impartial means of selecting men for the civil service; (xviii.) in a difficult examination like the first class civil service examination the qualities of quickness of comprehension, industry, concentration, power of rapidly passing from one subject to another, good health, are necessary for success, though not tested directly, and these qualities are valuable in any kind of work (this appears to be incontrovertible); (xix.) examination records show that success in examinations is generally followed by success in after-life, and the test is therefore efficient (it does not follow that certain rejected candidates may not be extremely efficient); (xx.) as a plea for purely "external examinations," teachers cannot be trusted to be impartial and it is better for a boy to "cram" than to curry favour with his teacher (Latham).

The brief comments in brackets, appended above to the arguments, merely indicate what has been said or can be said on the other side. It can scarcely be doubted that in spite of the powerful objections that have been advanced against examinations, they are, in the view of the majority of English people, an indispensable element in the social organization of a highly specialized democratic state, which prefers to trust nearly all decisions to committees rather than to individuals. But in view of the extreme importance of the matter, and especially of the evidence that, for some cause or other (which may or may not be the examination system), intellectual interest and initiative seem to diminish in many cases very markedly during school and college life in England, the whole subject seems to call for a searching and impartial inquiry.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION.--The works mentioned above, and T.D. Acland,
_Some Account of the Origin and Objects of the New Oxford Examinations
for the Title of Associate in Arts_ (London, 1858); Matthew Arnold,
_Higher Schools and Universities in Germany_ (1874); Graham Balfour,
_The Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland_ (2nd ed.,
Oxford, 1903); W.W. Rouse Ball, _Origin and History of the
Mathematical Tripos_ (Cambridge, 1880); Adolf Beier, _Die hoheren
Schulen in Preussen und ihre Lehrer_ (1902-1906) (in progress);
Cloudesley Brereton, "A New Method of awarding Scholarships," _School
World_, 1907, p. 409; G.C. Brodrick, _A History of the University of
Oxford_ (London, 1886); F. Buisson, _Dictionnaire de pedagogie_
(1880-1887); Lord Curzon of Kedleston, _Principles and Methods of
University Reform_ (1909); J. Demogeot and H. Montucci, _De
l'enseignement superieur en Angleterre et en Ecosse_ (1870); H.
Denifle, _Die Universitaten des Mittelalters bis 1400_ (Berlin, 1885);
F.Y. Edgeworth, "The Statistics of Examinations," and "The Element of
Chance in Competitive Examinations," _Journal of the Statistical
Society_, 1888 and 1890 respectively; H.W. Eve, Lecture "On Marking,"
in _The Practice of Education_ (Cambridge, 1883); Charles E. Fawsitt,
_The Education of the Examiner_ (Royal Philosophical Society of
Glasgow) (Glasgow, 1905); J.G. Fitch, "The Proposed Admission of Girls
to the University Local Examination," _Education Miscellanies_ (1865),
vol. x.; W. Garnett, "The Representation of certain Examination
Results," _Journ. Statist. Soc._ (Jan. 1910); G. Stanley Hall,
_Adolescence_ (London, 1905); Sir W. Hamilton, _Discussions on
Philosophy_ (London, 1853); P.J. Hartog, "Universities, Schools and
Examinations" in the _University Review_ (July 1905); P.J. Hartog and
Mrs A.H. Langdon, _The Writing of English_ (1907); Auberon Herbert
(edited by), _The Sacrifice of Education to Examination_, Letters from
"All Sorts and Conditions of Men" (1889); _Influence of Examinations_,
Report by a Committee, British Association Reports for 1903, p. 434.
and for 1904, p. 360; John Jebb, _Remarks upon the Present Mode of
Education in the University of Cambridge_ (4th ed., 1774); Henry
Latham, _On the Action of Examinations_ (Cambridge, 1877); H.C.
Maxwell Lyte, _A History of the University of Oxford to the Year 1530_
(London, 1886); W.A.P. Martin, _The Lore of Cathay_ (Edinburgh and
London, 1901); J.B. Mullinger, _The University of Cambridge_
(Cambridge, 1873); _How to pass Examinations successfully_, by an
Oxford Coach; Mark Pattison, _Suggestions on Academical Organization_
(Edinburgh, 1868); Friedrich Paulsen, _The German Universities and
University Study_ (London, 1906) and _Geschichte des gelehrten
Unterrichts_ (Leipzig, 1896); George Peacock, _Observations on the
Statutes of the University of Cambridge_ (1841); _Programme des
examens du nouveau baccalaureat de l'enseignement secondaire_,
Delalain freres, Paris; Hastings Rashdall, _The Universities of Europe
in the Middle Ages_ (Oxford, 1895); Rein's _Encyklopadisches Handbuch
der Padagogik_ (2nd ed., 1902, &c.), articles "Prufungen" (by F.
Paulsen), &c.; Third Report of the Royal Commissioners on Scientific
Instructions, 1873; J.E. Thorold Rogers, _Education in Oxford_ (1861);
M.E. Sadler, "Memorandum on the Leaving Examinations ... in the
Secondary Schools of Prussia," in Report of Royal Commission on
Secondary Education, vol. v. p. 27 (1895); C.A. Schmid, _Geschichte
der Erziehung_ (Stuttgart, 1884, &c.), and _Encyklopadie des gesammten
Erziehungs- und Unterrichtswesens_ (2nd ed., 1876-87), articles
"Prufung," "Schulprufungen," "Versetzungsprufungen," &c.;
Scholarships, various papers on, by H.B. Baker, A.A. David, H.A.
Miers, M.E. Sadler and H. Bompas Smith, and others, British
Association Report, 1907, pp. 707-718; Arthur Schuster, article on
"Universities and Examinations" in the University Review (May 1905);
W.H. Sharp, _The Educational System of Japan_ (Office of the
Director-General of Education in India) (Bombay, 1906); Special
Educational Reports, issued by the Board of Education, _passim_;
A.M.M. Stedman, _Oxford: its Life and Schools_ (London, 1887); I.
Todhunter, _Conflict of Studies_ (1873); William Whewell, _Of a
Liberal Education_ (London, 1845); Christopher Wordsworth, _Scholae
academicae_ (Cambridge, 1877); Etienne Zi (or Siu or Seu), _Pratique
des examens litteraires en Chine_ (Shanghai, 1894). Private
information from Professor M.E. Sadler and Mr A.E. Twentyman.
(P. J. H.; A. Wn.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] W.W. Rouse Ball in his _History of the Study of Mathematics at
Cambridge_ (1889), p. 193, states that he can find no record of any
European examinations by means of written papers earlier than those
introduced by R. Bentley at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1702.

[2] It should be mentioned that the professors of chemistry of a
number of German, Austrian and Swiss universities, have, by
agreement, instituted an intermediate examination in that subject
which students are required to pass before beginning work on the
doctoral thesis. The examination of the students is conducted by the
teachers concerned.

[3] See E.E. Brown in _Monographs on Education in the United States_
(ed. by N.M. Butler, 1900, i. 164), and T. Gregory Foster and H.R.
Reichel, _Report of Mosely Educational Commission_ (1904), pp.
117-119 and 288-289.

[4] The Oxford commissioners of 1852 reported that "the examinations
have become the chief instruments not only for testing the
proficiency of the students but also for stimulating and directing
the studies of the place" (_Report_, p. 61).

EXARCH ([Greek: exarchos], a chief person or leader), a title that has been conferred at different periods on certain chief officers or governors, both in secular and ecclesiastical matters. Of these, the most important were the exarchs of Ravenna (q.v.). In the ecclesiastical organization the exarch of a _diocese_ (the word being here used of the political division) was in the 4th and 5th centuries the same as primate. This dignity was intermediate between the patriarchal and the metropolitan, the name patriarch being restricted after A.D. 451 to the chief bishops of the most important cities (see PATRIARCH). The title of Exarch was also formerly given in the Eastern Church to a general or superior over several monasteries, and to certain ecclesiastics deputed by the patriarch of Constantinople to collect the tribute payable by the Church to the Turkish government. In the modern Greek Church an exarch is a deputy, or legate _a latere_, of the patriarch, whose office it is to visit the clergy and churches in the provinces allotted to him. The title of exarch has been borne by the head of the Bulgarian Church (see BULGARIA), since in 1872 it repudiated the jurisdiction of the Greek patriarch of Constantinople. Hence the names of the politico-religious parties in the recent history of the Near East: "Exarchists" and "Patriarchists."

EXCAMBION (a word connected with a large class of Low Latin and Romance forms, such as _cambium_, _concambium_, _scambium_, from Lat. _cambire_, Gr. [Greek: kambein] or [Greek: kamptein], to bend, turn or fold), in Scots law, the exchange (q.v.) of one heritable subject for another. The modern Scottish excambion may consist in the exchange of any heritable subjects whatever, e.g. a patronage or, what often occurs, a portion of a glebe for servitude. Writing is not, by the law of Scotland, essential to an excambion. Chiefly in favour of the class of cottars and small feuars, and for convenience in straightening marches, the law will consider the most informal memoranda, and even a verbal agreement, if supported by the subsequent possession. The power to excamb was gradually conferred on entailed proprietors. The Montgomery Act, which was passed in 1770, to facilitate agricultural improvements, permitted 50 acres arable and 100 acres not fit for the plough to be excambed. This was enlarged by the Rosebery Act in 1836, under which one-fourth of an entailed estate, not including the mansion-house, home farm and policies, might be excambed, provided the heirs took no higher grassum (O.E. _gersum_, fine) than L200. The power was applied to the whole estate by the Rutherford Act of 1848, and the necessary consents of substitute heirs are now regulated by the Entail (Scotland) Act 1882.

EXCELLENCY (Lat. _excellentia_, excellence), a title or predicate of honour. The earliest records of its use are associated with the Frank and Lombard kings; e.g. Anastasius Bibliothecarius (d. c. 886) in his life of Pope Honorius refers to Charlemagne as "his excellency" (_ejus excellentia_); and during the middle ages it was freely applied to or assumed by emperors, kings and sovereign princes generally, though rather as a rhetorical flourish than as a part of their formal style. Its use is well illustrated in the various charters in the Red Book of the exchequer, where the addresses to the king vary between "your excellency," "your dignity" (_vestra dignitas_), "your sublimity" (_vestra sublimitas_) and the like, according to the taste and inventiveness of the writers. Du Cange also gives examples of the style _excellentia_ being applied to the pope and even to a bishop (in a charter of 1182). With the gradual stereotyping of titles of honour that of "excellency" was definitively superseded in the case of sovereigns of the highest rank, about the beginning of the 15th century, by those of "highness" and "grace," and later by "majesty," first assumed in England by King Henry VIII. Dukes and counts of the Empire and the Italian reigning princes continued, however, to be "excellencies" for a while longer. In 1593 the bestowal of the title of _excellence_ by Henry IV. of France on the duc de Nevers, his ambassador at Rome, set a precedent that was universally followed from the time of the treaty of Westphalia (1648). This, together with the reservation in 1640 of the title "eminence" (q.v.) to the cardinals, led the Italian princes to adopt the style of "highness" (_altezza_) instead of "excellency." In France, from 1654 onwards, the title of _excellence_ was given to all high civil and military officials, and this example was followed in Germany in the 18th century.

The subsequent fate of the title varies very greatly in different countries. In Great Britain it is borne by the viceroy of India, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, all governors of colonies and ambassadors. In the United States it is part of the official style of the governors of states, but not of that of the president; though diplomatic usage varies in this respect, some states (e.g. France) conceding to him the style of "excellency," others (e.g. Belgium) refusing it. The custom of other republics differs: in France the president is addressed as _excellence_ by courtesy; in Switzerland the title is omitted; in the South American republics it is part of the official style (Pradier-Fodere, _Cours de droit diplom._ i. 89). In Spain the title of _excelencia_ properly belonged to the grandees and to those who had the right to be covered in the royal presence, but it was extended also to high officials, viceroys, ministers, captains-general, lieutenants-general, ambassadors and knights of the Golden Fleece. In Austria the title _Exzellenz_ belongs properly to privy councillors. It has, however, gradually been extended by custom to all the higher military commands from lieutenant-field-marshal upwards. Ministers, even when not privy councillors, are styled _Exzellenz_. In Germany the title is borne by the imperial chancellor, the principal secretaries of state, ministers and _Oberprasidenten_ in Prussia, by generals from the rank of lieutenant-general upwards, by the chief court officials, and it is also sometimes bestowed as a title of honour in cases where it is not attached to the office held by its recipient. In Russia the title is very common, being borne by all officers from major-general upwards and by all officials above the rank of acting privy councillor. Officers and officials of the highest rank have the title of "high excellency." Finally, in Italy, the title _eccelenza_, which had come to be used in the republics of Venice and Genoa as the usual form of address to nobles, has become as meaningless as the English title of "esquire" or the address of "sir," being, especially in the south, the usual form of address to any stranger.

In the diplomatic service the title of excellency is technically reserved to ambassadors, but in addressing envoys also this form is commonly used by courtesy. (W. A. P.)

EXCHANGE, in general, the action of mutual giving and receiving objects, interests, benefits, rights, &c. The word comes through the French from the Late Lat. _excambium_ (see EXCAMBION). The present article deals with the theory and practice of exchange in monetary transactions, but this may conveniently be prefaced by a brief statement as to the law relating to the exchange of property and other matters. In English law exchange is defined as the mutual grant of equal interests, the one in consideration of the other. The ancient common law conveyance had certain restrictions, e.g. identity in quantity of interest, fee-simple for fee-simple, &c., entry to perfect the conveyance, and an implied warranty of title and right of entry by either party in case of eviction. Such exchanges are now effected by mutual conveyances with the usual covenants for title. Exchanges are also frequently made by order of the Board of Agriculture under the Inclosure Acts, and there are also statutes enabling ecclesiastical corporations to exchange benefices with the approval of the ecclesiastical commissioners. The international exchange of territories is effected by treaties. The exchange of prisoners of war is regulated by documents called "cartels" (Med. Lat. _cartellus_, diminutive of _carta_, paper, bill), which specify a certain agreed-on value for each rank of prisoners. The practice superseded the older one of ransom at the end of a war. By the Regimental Exchanges Act 1875 the sovereign may by regulation authorize exchanges by officers from one regiment to another. (For "labour exchanges" see UNEMPLOYMENT.)

Exchange in relation to money affairs denotes a species of barter not of goods but of the value of goods, a payment in one place being exchanged for a payment in another place. The popular statement of the theory of exchange represents four principals involved in two transactions. A and B are two persons residing in one place different from the domicile of C and D; A sells goods to C; B buys goods from D; A sells his claim on C to B, who remits it to D in satisfaction of his debt, and D receives the cash from C, so that, assuming the two transactions to be of equal value, one piece of paper satisfies the four parties to these two transactions, and the trouble, expense and risk of sending money from both places are avoided. The piece of paper which performs the service may be a telegraphic order, cheque or bill of exchange. In this elementary proposition there would be no difficulty of exchange, as the full value of A's claim on C would be paid for by B, who is under the necessity of sending in exactly similar amount of money to D; but it can be seen that in actual practice the claims of one place on another place would not be exactly balanced by the necessities of the one place to meet obligations in the other place; thus arises the complication of exchange, which may best be described as the price of monetary claims on distant debtors.

Supposing, for example, that A in London had a claim on C in Edinburgh amounting to L100, and that B in London did not require to remit more than L90 to D in Edinburgh, it is evident that B in London must be offered some inducement to take over the whole of A's claim. B might give A L99:19:0, and could then, after satisfying his debt to D, have L10 to his credit in Edinburgh, which he could retain there at interest until he had incurred further liability to D, or he could have the balance of L10 returned him in coin at an expense, say, of sixpence; this would leave B with a profit of sixpence on the transaction, and, assuming that these figures are reasonable, exchange on Edinburgh in London would be one shilling discount per L100. Supposing the necessities of B induced him to offer A only L99:14:0 for his L100 claim, A would then prefer that C remitted him L100 in coin, which, on the above scale of expenses would cost 5s. and A would receive L99:15:0 net. On these premises, exchange on Edinburgh in London cannot fall below 1/4% discount, and the same circumstances prevent it from rising above 1/4% premium, for B, in no case, would pay more for A's claim than L100 plus the cost of sending coin to Scotland. If this basis is appreciated, all exchange problems between different countries can be mastered, and the quotations in the daily papers of cable payments, sight drafts (cheques) and long bills are then understood and supply an interesting indication of the state of international financial relations. As shown above, the balance of indebtedness must eventually be remitted by coin, and consequently when exchange in any city is quoted at one or other of the limit points given in our example as 1/4% discount or 1/4% premium, this exchange immediately acquires a very serious importance, because with the development of modern monetary systems under which enormous trade is carried on with a most moderate foundation of actual coin the weakening or strengthening of that foundation is a very vital matter.

While the understanding of the theory is essential for any facile interpretation of an exchange, there are of course innumerable details of practice which require to be known to identify the limit points of exchange in any particular city. The limit points can only be taken advantage of by banking experts, and, although we assume a trader remitting his indebtedness in coin when he is asked to pay too high a price for his bill of exchange, in actual affairs the banker will supply the cheque or bill and himself will do the professional business of sending away bullion. Similarly, we have represented one trader drawing on another trader and selling his draft to a third trader who remits the draft to a fourth. In actual practice, however, No. 1 draws on No. 2 and disposes of his draft to a banker; No. 4 draws on No. 3 and sells his draft to a banker; because, speaking generally, whenever goods are shipped, the shipper immediately requires his money; he draws a bill against the goods, and it is the function of a banker to help, as a sort of debt-collecting agency, by buying these drafts; and the bank, being a mart for all forms of remittance, gets an immense variety of demand for cable payments, cheques and bills on all centres. This does not affect the theory, for it must be remembered that the banker is a necessary link between the buyer and seller of exchange, because the seller can only sell what he has and the buyer must have exactly what he wants.

To return to the question of limit points: if a universal currency system existed, with the same monetary standard that is used in England, and the coinage kept in a proper condition of weight and fineness, and the coin readily supplied to meet every reasonable claim--if, in fact, the pound sterling were the prevalent coin and the English banking system obtained everywhere, then we should find all exchange quotations as simple as our case of London and Edinburgh, that is to say, all exchanges would be quoted at par or a premium or a discount. The limit points in any place of the exchange on London would represent simply and obviously the cost of the transmission of the coin. These limit points would vary at each place according to the distance from London, the cost of freight, the risk involved in the transmission and the local rate of interest. On the continent of Europe some advance has been made in the direction of a universal coinage. Countries subscribing to the Latin Union have agreed on the franc as a common unit, and Belgium, Switzerland, France and Italy quote exchange between themselves at a premium or discount. Greece, Spain and other countries are also parties to the arrangement, but their currencies are in a bad state, and the exchange quotations involve a considerable element of speculation. We have, however, to deal with another factor in international finance, namely, the enormous variety of currency systems; and we have then to discover, in each case, the exchange which represents par and corresponds to our L100 for L100 in the London-Edinburgh example. The United States furnishes perhaps the easiest problem, and we must find out how many dollars in gold contain exactly the same amount of the precious metal as is contained in one hundred sovereigns. The answer is 486-5/8, and the arithmetic is a question of the mint laws of the two countries. Gold coin in the United States contains one-tenth alloy and in England one-twelfth alloy. Ten dollars contain 258 grains of gold, nine-tenths fine. One pound contains 123.274 grains of gold, eleven-twelfths fine, consequently L100 is worth $486-5/8, or, to be exact, $486-2/3, and when cable payments between London and New York are quoted at 4.86-5/8 for the L1 sterling, exchange is about par. As a cable payment is an immediate transfer from one city to another, no question of interest or other charge is involved. Owing to the cost of sending gold as detailed above, the New York cable exchange varies from about 4.84 to 4.89-1/2; at the former point gold leaves London for New York, and at the latter point gold comes to England. Besides insurance, freight, packing, commission and interest, there must also be considered the circumstance that coin taken in bulk is always a little worn and under full weight, and in the process of turning sovereigns into dollars, the result would not bear out the calculation based on the mint regulations: consequently, when taking gold from London, the demand would first fall on the raw metal as received from South Africa or Australia to be minted in the United States, then on any stock of American coin the Bank of England might have and be willing to sell by weight (which would be accounted by tale in New York), and lastly the demand would be satisfied by sovereigns taken by tale from the Bank of England and converted by weight in America.

The instance of the American quotation may be further taken to explain some of the numerous points which the study of the exchange involves. In the first place, it will be noted that we have quoted the price in dollars. In London, business in bills, &c., on New York is quoted either in pence or in dollars, that is to say, payments are negotiated for so many dollars either at 49-3/16 pence per dollar, or at the equivalent rate $4.88 for the pound. In practice it is much more convenient to quote in London in the money of the foreign country, as it makes comparison with the foreign rate on London very simple. Some foreign countries quote exchange on London in pence, and then, of course, in relation to those countries the same practice will obtain in England, but the majority of the exchange quotations on London are in francs, marks, gulden, lire, kronen or other foreign money. Another point which must be explained is the reason why exchange varies between what we have called the limit points; why there is sometimes so much demand for bills on London and why at other times so many bills are being offered. Similar causes operate on other exchanges, and if we develop the New York case we shall provide explanations for exchange movements in other countries.

At one time the financial relations between England and America were as follows. England was the principal creditor of the United States, and the latter country had to remit continually very large amounts in payment of interest on English money and profits on English investments, in payment for shipping freights, for banking commissions, insurance premiums and an immense variety of services, besides paying for the large imports which crossed the Atlantic from English ports. In the fall of the year these payments would be more than offset by the enormous exports of food-stuffs, cotton, tobacco, &c., so that during the first half of the year exchange would be at or about the limit of 4.89-1/2 and gold would have to be sent from New York to supplement the deficient quantity of bills. In the autumn the produce bills would flood the exchange market and gold would be sent from London as exchange got to the other limit point of 4.84. These conditions are still very potent, but latterly another element has entered into the position, and the new development is so powerful as to reverse sometimes what we may call the natural and legitimate movement in the exchange. This new element is the more intimate banking and financial relationship which has been established between the two countries. As American conditions have become more stable, with better security for capital and an assured feeling about the currency of the United States, bankers in London have gladly allowed their banking friends in New York and other large cities to draw bills on London whenever there was a good demand for sterling remittances. We have, therefore, to consider a fresh type of bill of which the drawer has no claim on the drawee, but, on the other hand, incurs a debt to the drawee. To take a very usual method, a banker in Wall Street, New York, will advance money to stockbrokers, investors and speculators against bonds and shares with a 20% margin. He deposits this security with a trust company in New York which acts both for the American and English banker. The Wall Street banker then draws a bill at 60 days' sight or 90 days' sight on the banker in Lombard Street and sells this draft to supply the money he lends the stockbroker. Two or three months hence the New York banker must send money to London with which to meet the bill, so that, whereas, in the case of a commercial bill, the produce is despatched and in due course the consignee must find the money for the bill, in the case of a finance bill, as it is called, the bill is drawn and in due course the drawer must send the value with which it is to be honoured. In any event the acceptor, the London banker, has to pay the bill, so that it will be easily understood that relations of the greatest confidence are necessary between the drawer and drawee before finance bills of this class can be created.