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THE SOCIETY OF ABTS EXAMINATIONS. 329
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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„_ N» Whiie The Opening's For Women's Ad...
can boast of a more illustrious list of examiners , which includes such names as Professor AireyDr . Sterndale Bennett , Dr . Playfair ,
the Dean of Hereford , the , Rev . Canon Moseley , Mr . Glaisher _, F . R . S . Professor Henfrey ( Botany ) Professor _ISTeate ( Political
Economy ) , , the Rev . B . Price ( Sedleian , Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Oxford ) , Dr . Bernays and M . Mariette , of King ' s
College , London ( French and German ) , Professors Robert Hunt , HuxleySolly"WilsonHoppus , Tyndall , and many others of equal
reputation , . The , value , to a friendless young person of a certificate from any one of these gentlemen , in their various departments of
learning or science , must be obvious . The first examination took place at the Society ' s rooms in June ,
1856 . The subjects were Mathematics , Book-keeping , Mechanics , ChemistryPhysiologyBotanyAgriculture . Geography , English
, , , History and Literature , Roman History , Latin , French , German , and Drawing . There were 52 candidates . Two were rejected , on
a preliminary examination , in writing and spelling . The certificates granted were of three grades , viz .: for Excellence , Proficiency , and
Competency . In many of the departments , as might have been expectednone -were found deserving of a certificate of the highest ,
and in some , not even of the second class ; but the results were , on the whole satisfactory ; several were recommended for prizes . A
manifest inconvenience , however , was felt in the fact that some of the competitors had been compelled to come from distant places to London .
To many , such a step would no doubt be impossible ; while to otherswho were nearer or had more leisure , it gave an unfair
advantage , . It was , therefore , determined that the next yearly examinations should be conducted , by way of experiment , at
Huddersfield , as well as at London . The result , in 1857 , was that , in addition to 80 competitors in London , as many as 140 presented
themselves at Huddersfield . The examiners granted many certificates and prizesand reported a marked improvement in the character of the
who knowled had , ge obtained displayed certificates , as contrasted of a lower with the grade previous at the year first . examina Several
tion , had in the meantime pursued their objects so well as to obtain this year hiher certificates .
a sufficient Great difiicult number g y , however of centres , was of examination still felt in the . impossibility If twentsuch of centres having y ,
instead of two , could have been established , great inequalities would still have existed in the conditions under which the various institutes
would compete . The greater number of their members were p - ersons occupied in the day time , and unable to attend at the a distance most successful ; while
many , whose merit might not have been inferior to candidate , were probably unable to afford the sum necessary for travelling On the country institutions this unfairness would press
in a expenses ratio increasing . in every direction , from the centre of the district to the line of circumference . The local board of Professors was
extremely costly : to extend the system therefore adequately wasim-
The Society Of Abts Examinations. 329
THE SOCIETY OF ABTS EXAMINATIONS . 329
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), July 1, 1858, page 329, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01071858/page/41/
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