Sunday, May 21, 2006
Who named New York?
I've got a game for you. Use Google Maps to peruse the New York State landscape of small towns and large cities (mostly the former) in a rectangle drawn between Rochester and Binghamton. Find as many places named after important religious/political figures, families, and places in classical history or scholars of that era as you can.
Here's what I was able to find:
Rome, Romulus, Ovid, Seneca, Hector, Lysander, Fabius, Galen,
Ithaca, Tyre, Cicero, Marathon, Ulysses, Virgil, Aurora, Greece,
Augustus, Cato, Hannibal, Smyrna, Scipio, Vestal, Solon, Marcellus,
Pompey, Manlius, Camillus, Caledonia, Sparta, Ossian, Junius, Macedon,
Sempronius, Aurelius, Minoa, Milo, Dundee, Dryden, Pharsalia, Arcadia,
Syracuse, Brutus, Salina, Odessa, Cincinnatus, Constantia, Utica,
Attica, Venice, Savona, Genoa, Florence, Italy
This doesn't appear to happen anywhere else in the state or anywhere in nearby states. It doesn't appear to be as prominent outside the box. Trust me, I was that bored.
I think it's safe to say, then, that the natives of Western New York were not Iroquois. They were Latin scholars.
Here's what I was able to find:
Rome, Romulus, Ovid, Seneca, Hector, Lysander, Fabius, Galen,
Ithaca, Tyre, Cicero, Marathon, Ulysses, Virgil, Aurora, Greece,
Augustus, Cato, Hannibal, Smyrna, Scipio, Vestal, Solon, Marcellus,
Pompey, Manlius, Camillus, Caledonia, Sparta, Ossian, Junius, Macedon,
Sempronius, Aurelius, Minoa, Milo, Dundee, Dryden, Pharsalia, Arcadia,
Syracuse, Brutus, Salina, Odessa, Cincinnatus, Constantia, Utica,
Attica, Venice, Savona, Genoa, Florence, Italy
This doesn't appear to happen anywhere else in the state or anywhere in nearby states. It doesn't appear to be as prominent outside the box. Trust me, I was that bored.
I think it's safe to say, then, that the natives of Western New York were not Iroquois. They were Latin scholars.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Your cheerful and uplifting Puritan
Some comparisons and metaphors from 17th century Puritan sermons and tracts:
"Indeed there is an ignorance that is no better than the dancing-room for the satyr." - Sydenham's Sermon, 1637
"Hell is paved with the skulls of children!" - Watson's Art of Contentment, 1653
"A covenant with them is like a loose collar around an ape's neck, which they can put on and off at will!" - Calamy's Sermon, 1645
"His house made a habitation for Jim and Zim, and every unclean thing!" - Godly Man's Portion, 1663
"That hand is unshapen and little better than monstrous, where all the fingers are the same length!" - Sydenham's Sermon, 1637
"When God wills, he takes up whom He will amongst the wicked and ties him up just so, quarters him, and hangs up his quarters. Then, he ties him up as a mark and shoots him clean through." - Lockyer's England Watched, 1646 (paraphrased for readability)
"Indeed there is an ignorance that is no better than the dancing-room for the satyr." - Sydenham's Sermon, 1637
"Hell is paved with the skulls of children!" - Watson's Art of Contentment, 1653
"A covenant with them is like a loose collar around an ape's neck, which they can put on and off at will!" - Calamy's Sermon, 1645
"His house made a habitation for Jim and Zim, and every unclean thing!" - Godly Man's Portion, 1663
"That hand is unshapen and little better than monstrous, where all the fingers are the same length!" - Sydenham's Sermon, 1637
"When God wills, he takes up whom He will amongst the wicked and ties him up just so, quarters him, and hangs up his quarters. Then, he ties him up as a mark and shoots him clean through." - Lockyer's England Watched, 1646 (paraphrased for readability)
No wonder they were always sick...
People of the 18th century had some strange beliefs, some of which have passed down to our generation with only limited modification. It is important to note that these beliefs were not the product of an esoteric group of monks or ignorant frontiersmen, but were considered on par with religious truth. To doubt them was only slightly less offensive than atheism.
A rusty sword standing by the bedside is a remedy against the cramp. A ring made out of the hinge of a coffin is said to prevent cramps from occurring. (I suspect these are menstrual cramps.)
A halter [noose] with which anybody has been hanged, if tied around the head, will cure headaches. Moss growing on a human skull, if powdered and snorted, apparently has the same effect.
Hands of dead men allegedly had the ability to dispel tumors, which, at the time, were believed to include everything from actual cancers to swollen glands. Apparently, the hand of a person dying a violent death was particularly efficacious. It was common for nurses to bring children to be stroked with the hands of recently executed criminals, even while they were still hanging on the gallows.
Speaking of bodies, touching dead bodies prevents dreaming of them. Dreaming of a dead body, of course, bodes misfortune and should be avoided at all costs.
To cure warts, steal (?) a piece of beef from a butcher's shop, and rub your warts with it. Then, throw it down the necessary-house [toilet], or bury it. As the beef rots, your warts will decay.
Chips or slices of wood from a gallows, on which several people have been recently executed, if worn next to the skin, or around the neck in a bag, will cure or prevent fevers.
A stone with a hole in it, called a hag-stone, will prevent nightmares if hung over the bed's head. The name is derived from the belief that a hag or witch sits on the stomach of a person afflicted by sleep paralysis. Apparently, these stones also prevent witches from riding horses, so they are often tied to stable keys.
Is your child weak, rickety, or ruptured? If so, you're in luck. All you need to do is cut a large hole in the trunk of a tree, pull the two sides apart, and pass the child through the middle. Then, sew the tree up tight and, as the wood heals, your child's infirmity will pass. Certain trees were kept with permanent large holes, through with people regularly crawled for healing.
Need protection from a witch? Plant an elder or rowan tree in your backyard. These trees are said to ward off witches and wizards.
It is customary for women to sit cross-legged to procure luck at cards for their friends. Sitting cross-legged, with the fingers interlaced, was anciently considered a magical posture.
A couple of familiar ones: Breaking a mirror is unlucky. The man who breaks a mirror will lose his best friend. Walking under a ladder is similarly unlucky, although the consequences are dire only for grooms-to-be. This wretched behavior might prevent a person from marrying in the next year.
If, in a family, the youngest daughter should be married before her elder sisters, they must all dance at her wedding without shoes. This will counteract their ill luck and procure them husbands.
To make your hand a healing hand, hold a mole (the critter) until it dies.
If you miss your mouth while eating, and the food falls to the ground, you will soon be sick.
It is lucky to put on your socks inside out. Changing them around reverses any luck you may have acquired.
If your husband goes out on important business, his venture will be more successful if you throw a shoe after him as he goes. Don't hit his car.
It is unlucky to present a knife, scissors, razor, or any sharp or cutting instrument to one's mistress or friend, as they are apt to cut love and friendship. To avoid the ill effects of this, a pin, a farthing (a small amount of money), or some small compensation must be taken. To find a knife or razor denotes ill luck to the finder.
Whistling at sea is supposed to cause an increase of wind, if not a storm, and therefore is much disliked by seamen. Sometimes, though, they try this method when the wind is calm and sailing ships cannot move. But they'd never kill a cat at sea - that's extremely unlucky! If all else fails, the wind will change favorably if your passenger of honor shaves himself.
Whistling after dark, though, is a horrible crime. Those who catch themselves whistling after sundown or during a dark storm must walk around their home three times in penance.
Toads have stones in their heads, which are very effective in curing numerous diseases. However, this stone must be removed while the animal is still alive.
Age sixty-three is dreaded by most people, being composed of the mystical nine and the godly seven. This age is alleged to be fatal to most who experience it. Those who survive the year feel like a modern person who survived a horrific car accident might feel.
Most people break the shells of eggs after consuming the meat. This was originally done to prevent them from being used as boats by witches.
When a candle sparks, the person opposite it will soon receive a letter. If the fire sparks, and the coal happens to look like a purse, the person nearest whom it lands will acquire massive wealth.
It is impossible for a person to die, no matter how much they suffer, while resting on a pillow stuffed with dove feathers. Therefore, it is good to take away the pillow of a dying man when he appears to be suffering the throes of death.
If a fire in a glass factory or any other building is left to burn for seven years without being extinguished, a salamander (of the fire dragon variety) will be produced.
Between the British towns of Aten and Newton, there is a well dedicated to St. Oswald. The people there believe that a shirt or cloak, taken off a sick person, and thrown into the well, will show whether that person will live or die. If the shirt floats, the person will inevitably recover; if not, he will die. To reward Oswald for his intelligent judgment, seekers of truth would leave a scrap of the sick man's shirt hanging on the briars around the well.
The Hand of Glory, a device allegedly used by thieves to paralyze their victims, was a common fear in those days. Produced with a complicated magical ritual from the hand of a hanged man, a Hand of Glory can render its victims immobile while its owner ransacks their possessions. Those who use such devices have said that there is only one defense against their power. The door of the house, and other openings through which a thief might enter, should be anointed with a certain potion. This mixture could be produced using the gall of a black cat, the fat of a white hen, and the blood of a screech owl. Obviously, the mixture must be produced during the dog days (mid-summer).
The screech owl will flap against a sick man's window to announce his impending death. (This might be a good time to capture it to make that Hand of Glory defense!)
On Midsummer eve, a person fasting and sitting on a church porch will see at midnight the spirits of the parishioners who are to die that year. They will come and knock on the church door in the order in which they will perish. While the spirits are travelling, the people to whom they belong fall into a deep sleep from which they cannot be wakened until the spirit returns.
Witches are most apt to confess on Fridays. Witches always weigh less than the church Bible.
One woman named Sarah Williams contained the following evil spirits, who named themselves upon questioning by an exorcist: Killico, Hob, Coronell Portorichio, Frateretto, Fliberdiggibbet, Horberdidance, Tocobatto, Lusty Jolly Jenkin, Pusse, Purre, Lustie Dickie Cornered Cappe, Nurre, Molken, Wilken, Helemodion, Kellicocum. The higher-ranking demon captains Pippen, Philpot, Maho, and Soforce were also present.
Another woman was possessed by seven demons. The seven were Pluck, Hardname, Catch, Blew, and three cousins called Smack. The demons, particularly the three Smacks, used to converse regularly with the woman's children.
A rusty sword standing by the bedside is a remedy against the cramp. A ring made out of the hinge of a coffin is said to prevent cramps from occurring. (I suspect these are menstrual cramps.)
A halter [noose] with which anybody has been hanged, if tied around the head, will cure headaches. Moss growing on a human skull, if powdered and snorted, apparently has the same effect.
Hands of dead men allegedly had the ability to dispel tumors, which, at the time, were believed to include everything from actual cancers to swollen glands. Apparently, the hand of a person dying a violent death was particularly efficacious. It was common for nurses to bring children to be stroked with the hands of recently executed criminals, even while they were still hanging on the gallows.
Speaking of bodies, touching dead bodies prevents dreaming of them. Dreaming of a dead body, of course, bodes misfortune and should be avoided at all costs.
To cure warts, steal (?) a piece of beef from a butcher's shop, and rub your warts with it. Then, throw it down the necessary-house [toilet], or bury it. As the beef rots, your warts will decay.
Chips or slices of wood from a gallows, on which several people have been recently executed, if worn next to the skin, or around the neck in a bag, will cure or prevent fevers.
A stone with a hole in it, called a hag-stone, will prevent nightmares if hung over the bed's head. The name is derived from the belief that a hag or witch sits on the stomach of a person afflicted by sleep paralysis. Apparently, these stones also prevent witches from riding horses, so they are often tied to stable keys.
Is your child weak, rickety, or ruptured? If so, you're in luck. All you need to do is cut a large hole in the trunk of a tree, pull the two sides apart, and pass the child through the middle. Then, sew the tree up tight and, as the wood heals, your child's infirmity will pass. Certain trees were kept with permanent large holes, through with people regularly crawled for healing.
Need protection from a witch? Plant an elder or rowan tree in your backyard. These trees are said to ward off witches and wizards.
It is customary for women to sit cross-legged to procure luck at cards for their friends. Sitting cross-legged, with the fingers interlaced, was anciently considered a magical posture.
A couple of familiar ones: Breaking a mirror is unlucky. The man who breaks a mirror will lose his best friend. Walking under a ladder is similarly unlucky, although the consequences are dire only for grooms-to-be. This wretched behavior might prevent a person from marrying in the next year.
If, in a family, the youngest daughter should be married before her elder sisters, they must all dance at her wedding without shoes. This will counteract their ill luck and procure them husbands.
To make your hand a healing hand, hold a mole (the critter) until it dies.
If you miss your mouth while eating, and the food falls to the ground, you will soon be sick.
It is lucky to put on your socks inside out. Changing them around reverses any luck you may have acquired.
If your husband goes out on important business, his venture will be more successful if you throw a shoe after him as he goes. Don't hit his car.
It is unlucky to present a knife, scissors, razor, or any sharp or cutting instrument to one's mistress or friend, as they are apt to cut love and friendship. To avoid the ill effects of this, a pin, a farthing (a small amount of money), or some small compensation must be taken. To find a knife or razor denotes ill luck to the finder.
Whistling at sea is supposed to cause an increase of wind, if not a storm, and therefore is much disliked by seamen. Sometimes, though, they try this method when the wind is calm and sailing ships cannot move. But they'd never kill a cat at sea - that's extremely unlucky! If all else fails, the wind will change favorably if your passenger of honor shaves himself.
Whistling after dark, though, is a horrible crime. Those who catch themselves whistling after sundown or during a dark storm must walk around their home three times in penance.
Toads have stones in their heads, which are very effective in curing numerous diseases. However, this stone must be removed while the animal is still alive.
Age sixty-three is dreaded by most people, being composed of the mystical nine and the godly seven. This age is alleged to be fatal to most who experience it. Those who survive the year feel like a modern person who survived a horrific car accident might feel.
Most people break the shells of eggs after consuming the meat. This was originally done to prevent them from being used as boats by witches.
When a candle sparks, the person opposite it will soon receive a letter. If the fire sparks, and the coal happens to look like a purse, the person nearest whom it lands will acquire massive wealth.
It is impossible for a person to die, no matter how much they suffer, while resting on a pillow stuffed with dove feathers. Therefore, it is good to take away the pillow of a dying man when he appears to be suffering the throes of death.
If a fire in a glass factory or any other building is left to burn for seven years without being extinguished, a salamander (of the fire dragon variety) will be produced.
Between the British towns of Aten and Newton, there is a well dedicated to St. Oswald. The people there believe that a shirt or cloak, taken off a sick person, and thrown into the well, will show whether that person will live or die. If the shirt floats, the person will inevitably recover; if not, he will die. To reward Oswald for his intelligent judgment, seekers of truth would leave a scrap of the sick man's shirt hanging on the briars around the well.
The Hand of Glory, a device allegedly used by thieves to paralyze their victims, was a common fear in those days. Produced with a complicated magical ritual from the hand of a hanged man, a Hand of Glory can render its victims immobile while its owner ransacks their possessions. Those who use such devices have said that there is only one defense against their power. The door of the house, and other openings through which a thief might enter, should be anointed with a certain potion. This mixture could be produced using the gall of a black cat, the fat of a white hen, and the blood of a screech owl. Obviously, the mixture must be produced during the dog days (mid-summer).
The screech owl will flap against a sick man's window to announce his impending death. (This might be a good time to capture it to make that Hand of Glory defense!)
On Midsummer eve, a person fasting and sitting on a church porch will see at midnight the spirits of the parishioners who are to die that year. They will come and knock on the church door in the order in which they will perish. While the spirits are travelling, the people to whom they belong fall into a deep sleep from which they cannot be wakened until the spirit returns.
Witches are most apt to confess on Fridays. Witches always weigh less than the church Bible.
One woman named Sarah Williams contained the following evil spirits, who named themselves upon questioning by an exorcist: Killico, Hob, Coronell Portorichio, Frateretto, Fliberdiggibbet, Horberdidance, Tocobatto, Lusty Jolly Jenkin, Pusse, Purre, Lustie Dickie Cornered Cappe, Nurre, Molken, Wilken, Helemodion, Kellicocum. The higher-ranking demon captains Pippen, Philpot, Maho, and Soforce were also present.
Another woman was possessed by seven demons. The seven were Pluck, Hardname, Catch, Blew, and three cousins called Smack. The demons, particularly the three Smacks, used to converse regularly with the woman's children.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
1882: College Entrance Exam
How well would you do on this college entrance exam, compiled from the exams of two relatively average universities in 1882 and 1883? The Latin and Greek portions were required at many colleges even for enrollment in science, engineering, and mathematics programs. I suspect you don't know Latin. The math and science questions are below the language questions. Comments in [brackets] are mine. Most of the test is copied verbatim from the source.
Latin Exam
State what portions of Latin authors you have read, and how long you have studied the language.
Section I
1. Translate:
3. Give the principal parts of each verb.
4. Inflect the present subjunctive active of censuerit, the future active of aguntur, and the imperfect subjunctive passive of liberata sit.
5. Explain the mood and tense of censuerit, and the mood of usus essem and fuissent.
6. Construction of periculus, opera, merito, and coujurationis.
7. What is the difference between gratias agere and gratium habere?
8. Who is meant by collegae meo? State briefly the duties of a praetor.
Section II
[This section included more translation of prose passages from original Latin. If you could translate the above, you're probably set here, too.]
Section III
Translate:
Translate:
Section IV
Translate into Latin:
Greek Exam
Translate:
Πoλν δέ μάλλov δ Κλξαρχoς ĕσπενδεν and all including through sentence ending, λαμβάνειν τά έπιτήδεια. Anab. book 2, chap. 3, sec. 13, 7 lines
1. Decline, writing the accent, πορίαν τάφρονς, νδωρ, πλήρεις, πολλά. What are the characteristic stem-endings of the three declensions?
2. Synopsis of έσπεδεν, είναι, άφεικέναι. Name the tenses of each Greek verb, with the meaning of each. Separate φαίνοιτο, εδειξαν, into their elements. Which modes have special mode-signs? Name the signs. How is the passive voice formed?
[At this point, I gave up typing this section. I do not have a Greek keyboard and using the character map was too cumbersome to transcribe the Greek text. I'll add these questions when I feel motivated.]
Ancient geography - The size and shape of Greece; the principal mountains and rivers; the natural divisions; the political divisions in their order from north to south
Mathematics Exam [no calculators allowed]
Arithmetic
1. Find the difference between 0.0000005 and 0.00005.
2. Change 0.03125 into a common fraction in its lowest terms.
3. If the year is considered 365.25 days instead of 364.242264, how great will the error be in 1880 years?
4. The dividend is 7,423.973, the quotient is 12.130, and the remainder is 0.413. What is the divisor?
5. What is the cost of 60.5 tons of coal when 0.9 tons cost $6.66?
6. Find the square root of 6.7081. Find the square root of 0.004 to the nearest ten-thousandth. Find the square root of 49/529.
7. Reduce 6,423 meters to kilometers. 4.15 meters to centimeters. 6.45 liters to milliliters. How many decigrams does a dekaliter of pure water weight?
8. Find the greatest common divisor of 256, 480, and 1296.
9. Divide two thousand five hundred one and four tenths by four thousand one hundred twenty-five ten-millionths. Divide 1.29136109 by 184.3 and write the answer in words.
10. A gentleman bought a yacht for $3,500 and sold it at a loss of 20%. The buyer sold it at a gain of 25%. What did the latter receive for the craft?
11. What sum of money, at 10% compound interest, will amount to $8,561.50 in three years?
12. The longitude of St. Petersburg is 39°47' east; of New York 74°41' west. When it is 1:00 in the afternoon in St. Petersburg, what time is it in New York? [Note: Time zones had not yet been standardized; local time was calculated based on local solar noon. This made railroad travel interesting.]
13. A cistern is 4 meters long, 24 decimeters wide, and 80 centimeters deep. How much water will it hold in cubic meters? In liters?
14. Extract the square root of 4.932841.
15. Find the exact value of
.
Algebra
1. Divide x4 + x3 + 5x - 4x2 - 3 by x2 - 2x - 3. Divide a6 - b6 by a3 + 2a2b + 2ab2 + b3.
2. Resolve x16 - y16 into five factors.
3. Find the least common multiple of (x + 2a)3, (x - 2a)3, and (x2 - 4a2).
4. From
, subtract 
.
5. Multiply together
and 
and 
.
6.
. Find x.
7.
and 
. Find x and y.
8. Find the square root of
.
9.
Reduce this to a fraction with a rational denominator.
10. Find the 5th power of 2a². Find the fourth root of
.
11. Square
. Cube 
.
12. A and B engage to mow a field [a difficult undertaking in 1882]. A alone can mow it in b days and B can mow it alone in c days. What time will it take them to mow it together?
13. Solve for x and y: x3 - y3 = 215, x2 + xy + y3 = 43
14. Find four values for x.
Geometry
1. What is an isoceles triangle? An equilateral triangle? A right-angled triangle? A rhombus? A rectangle? A segment of a circle? Draw a figure of each.
2. Prove that the angles at the base of an isoceles triangle are equal to one another.
3. Prove that straight lines which are parallel to the same straight lines are parallel to each other.
4. Prove that the diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other.
5. Inscribe a trapezium ABCD in a circle, and prove that the sum of angles A and C is equal to the sum of angles B and D.
6. Define similar polygons; a circle; an angle.
7. How will the height of a triangle be found if its base and area are known?
8. Prove that when two angles of a triangle are unequal, the sides opposite those angles are unequal. Also prove that the side opposite the larger angle is larger.
9. Two tangents drawn from the same point to the edge of a circle include a right angle. What length of arc is enclosed by these lines?
United States History Exam
1. How did the policy which the early English settlers in North America pursued toward the Indians differ from that of the French?
2. What was the point at issue in the French and Indian War?
3. When was the Constitution of the United States adopted? Explain the difference between the Confederation, the Union, and the Southern Confederacy.
4. When was negro slavery introduced into North America? When was it abolished in the United States? [Hey, it was 1882. Do you really expect political correctness?]
5. Why do those who believe in the Monroe doctrine look with disfavor on Monsieur de Lesseps' proposed canal at the Isthmus of Panama?
6. What are the three branches of our general government?
7. How is the President's cabinet appointed?
8. Explain the process by which a bill becomes a law.
English Grammar Exam
[Note: Many linguistic constructs considered poor grammar in 1882 are now accepted thanks to the failure of most people in that era to pass tests like this one.]
1. Correct the errors you see in the following sentences and justify the criticisms you make:
3. Analyze the following sentence:
Rhetoric Exam
1. Write the following correctly:
3. Illustrate by short sentences the correct usage of these words: transpire, couple (noun), aggravate, will in the first person, demean, balance (noun).
4. Name the figures illustrated by the short sentences below. [I have no idea what this means.] If any are faulty, point out and correct the fault:
Geography Exam
1. Name all the oceans and seas, and the principal gulfs and bays, which border on the coast of North America, describing also their respective positions on the shoreline.
2. Enumerate, in regular order, beginning to the north of the Straits of Gibraltar, all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea.
3. Locate the following cities, stating in what country, and on what river, bay, lake, or sea, they are situated: Paris; Nankin; San Fransisco; Lisbon; Cairo; Sevastopol; Bombay; Cincinnati; Chicago.
4. Where are the following islands: Sicily, Ceylon, Roanoke, Jamaica, Borneo, Falkland, Hebrides?
This is the educational background you must have to pass the Harvard entrance requirements:
Greek - First one hundred and eleven pages of Goodwin's Greek Reader, or first four books of Anabasis; First fifty-five lessons of White's First Lessons in Greek; Greek prose
Latin - Caesar, Gallic War, books I-IV (or books I-III and Sallust, Catiline); Virgil, Aeneid, I-VI (or Eclogues and Aeneid I-V); easy Latin at sight; Latin prose; questions on grammar, history, and antiquities suggests by passages
Ancient History and Geography - Greek history to death of Alexander; Roman history to death of Commodus [Gladiator!]. Smith's Greek and Leighton's Roman histories are recommended.
Mathematics - Simple Arithmetic [which includes doing square roots and logarithms on paper]; compound numbers and the metric system; Algebra, through quadratic equations [which includes what you see above]; Plane geometry (first thirteen chapters of Pierce's Geometry);
Physics - Rolfe's and Gillet's Natural Philosophy for High Schools and Academics (without the Appendix), or Avery's Elements of Natural Philosophy
English - A short English composition required [probably about 300 words]
French or German - Translation at sight.
These are only the required sections. There are several dozen more "optional" books, knowledge of which probably increased your chances of acceptance. These included more advanced mathematics (up through trigonometry), more science (botany or chemistry), and higher skills in other languages.
The examinations also included sections on French and German language which I did not include here for the sake of space. The source of this material is a college prep book published in 1884 in the United States. The two colleges in question were Bowdoin (Maine) and Vassar (New York) universities. The book states that these exams are among the easiest.
Latin Exam
State what portions of Latin authors you have read, and how long you have studied the language.
Section I
1. Translate:
Et quoniam nondum est perscriptum senatus consultam, ex memoria vobis, Quirites, quid senatus censuerit exponam. Primum mihi gratiae verbis amplissimis aguntur, quod virtute, consilio, providentia mea res publica maximis periculis sit liberata; deinde L. Flaccus et C. Pomptinus practores, quod corum opera forti fidelique usus essem, merito ac jure laudantur; atque etiam viro forti, collegae meo, laus impertitur quod eos, qui hujus coujurationis participes fuissent, a suis et rei publicae consiliis removisset.2. Decline senatus, eos, and rei publicae.
3. Give the principal parts of each verb.
4. Inflect the present subjunctive active of censuerit, the future active of aguntur, and the imperfect subjunctive passive of liberata sit.
5. Explain the mood and tense of censuerit, and the mood of usus essem and fuissent.
6. Construction of periculus, opera, merito, and coujurationis.
7. What is the difference between gratias agere and gratium habere?
8. Who is meant by collegae meo? State briefly the duties of a praetor.
Section II
[This section included more translation of prose passages from original Latin. If you could translate the above, you're probably set here, too.]
Section III
Translate:
Ipse inter primos correpta dura bipenniDivide the first two verses into feet, marking the caesura. Account for the quantity of a in correpta and dura, of i in excisa, and e in trabe.
Limina perrumpit, postisque a cardine vellit
Aeratos; jamque excisa trabe firma cavavit
Robora, et ingentem lato dedit ore fenestram.
Adaparet domus intus, et atria longa patescunt;
Adaparent Priami et veterum penetralia regum,
Armatosque vident stantis in limine primo.
Translate:
Talia fatus erat, coepit cum talia votes:Explain Stygias and Eumenidum.
Unde haec, O Palinure, tibi tam dira cupido?
Tu Stygias inhumanatus aquas amnemque severum
Eumenidum aspicies, ripamve injussus adibis?
Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.
Section IV
Translate into Latin:
- In the middle of summer, Cicero went from Rome to Athens.
- They are ashamed of their deeds.
- This man, worthy of the highest honor, was slain by the sword.
- If he had not defended the city, it would have been taken by the enemy.
- It is said that the senate thanked Cicero in the strongest terms, because he had freed the state from the greatest perils, and had not feared the enmity (invidia) of abandoned citizens.
Greek Exam
Translate:
Πoλν δέ μάλλov δ Κλξαρχoς ĕσπενδεν and all including through sentence ending, λαμβάνειν τά έπιτήδεια. Anab. book 2, chap. 3, sec. 13, 7 lines
1. Decline, writing the accent, πορίαν τάφρονς, νδωρ, πλήρεις, πολλά. What are the characteristic stem-endings of the three declensions?
2. Synopsis of έσπεδεν, είναι, άφεικέναι. Name the tenses of each Greek verb, with the meaning of each. Separate φαίνοιτο, εδειξαν, into their elements. Which modes have special mode-signs? Name the signs. How is the passive voice formed?
[At this point, I gave up typing this section. I do not have a Greek keyboard and using the character map was too cumbersome to transcribe the Greek text. I'll add these questions when I feel motivated.]
Ancient geography - The size and shape of Greece; the principal mountains and rivers; the natural divisions; the political divisions in their order from north to south
Mathematics Exam [no calculators allowed]
Arithmetic
1. Find the difference between 0.0000005 and 0.00005.
2. Change 0.03125 into a common fraction in its lowest terms.
3. If the year is considered 365.25 days instead of 364.242264, how great will the error be in 1880 years?
4. The dividend is 7,423.973, the quotient is 12.130, and the remainder is 0.413. What is the divisor?
5. What is the cost of 60.5 tons of coal when 0.9 tons cost $6.66?
6. Find the square root of 6.7081. Find the square root of 0.004 to the nearest ten-thousandth. Find the square root of 49/529.
7. Reduce 6,423 meters to kilometers. 4.15 meters to centimeters. 6.45 liters to milliliters. How many decigrams does a dekaliter of pure water weight?
8. Find the greatest common divisor of 256, 480, and 1296.
9. Divide two thousand five hundred one and four tenths by four thousand one hundred twenty-five ten-millionths. Divide 1.29136109 by 184.3 and write the answer in words.
10. A gentleman bought a yacht for $3,500 and sold it at a loss of 20%. The buyer sold it at a gain of 25%. What did the latter receive for the craft?
11. What sum of money, at 10% compound interest, will amount to $8,561.50 in three years?
12. The longitude of St. Petersburg is 39°47' east; of New York 74°41' west. When it is 1:00 in the afternoon in St. Petersburg, what time is it in New York? [Note: Time zones had not yet been standardized; local time was calculated based on local solar noon. This made railroad travel interesting.]
13. A cistern is 4 meters long, 24 decimeters wide, and 80 centimeters deep. How much water will it hold in cubic meters? In liters?
14. Extract the square root of 4.932841.
15. Find the exact value of
.Algebra
1. Divide x4 + x3 + 5x - 4x2 - 3 by x2 - 2x - 3. Divide a6 - b6 by a3 + 2a2b + 2ab2 + b3.
2. Resolve x16 - y16 into five factors.
3. Find the least common multiple of (x + 2a)3, (x - 2a)3, and (x2 - 4a2).
4. From
, subtract .5. Multiply together
and and .6.
. Find x.7.
and . Find x and y.8. Find the square root of
.9.
Reduce this to a fraction with a rational denominator.10. Find the 5th power of 2a². Find the fourth root of
.11. Square
. Cube .12. A and B engage to mow a field [a difficult undertaking in 1882]. A alone can mow it in b days and B can mow it alone in c days. What time will it take them to mow it together?
13. Solve for x and y: x3 - y3 = 215, x2 + xy + y3 = 43
14. Find four values for x.
Geometry
1. What is an isoceles triangle? An equilateral triangle? A right-angled triangle? A rhombus? A rectangle? A segment of a circle? Draw a figure of each.
2. Prove that the angles at the base of an isoceles triangle are equal to one another.
3. Prove that straight lines which are parallel to the same straight lines are parallel to each other.
4. Prove that the diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other.
5. Inscribe a trapezium ABCD in a circle, and prove that the sum of angles A and C is equal to the sum of angles B and D.
6. Define similar polygons; a circle; an angle.
7. How will the height of a triangle be found if its base and area are known?
8. Prove that when two angles of a triangle are unequal, the sides opposite those angles are unequal. Also prove that the side opposite the larger angle is larger.
9. Two tangents drawn from the same point to the edge of a circle include a right angle. What length of arc is enclosed by these lines?
United States History Exam
1. How did the policy which the early English settlers in North America pursued toward the Indians differ from that of the French?
2. What was the point at issue in the French and Indian War?
3. When was the Constitution of the United States adopted? Explain the difference between the Confederation, the Union, and the Southern Confederacy.
4. When was negro slavery introduced into North America? When was it abolished in the United States? [Hey, it was 1882. Do you really expect political correctness?]
5. Why do those who believe in the Monroe doctrine look with disfavor on Monsieur de Lesseps' proposed canal at the Isthmus of Panama?
6. What are the three branches of our general government?
7. How is the President's cabinet appointed?
8. Explain the process by which a bill becomes a law.
English Grammar Exam
[Note: Many linguistic constructs considered poor grammar in 1882 are now accepted thanks to the failure of most people in that era to pass tests like this one.]
1. Correct the errors you see in the following sentences and justify the criticisms you make:
a. Nor want nor cold his course delay.2. Give the future tense of the verb to be.
b. I cannot say that I admire this construction, though it be much used.
c. Whom they had sat at defiance.
d. As soon as he was landed, the multitude thronged about him.
e. If I was a Greek, I should resist Turkish despotism.
f. Had I commanded you to have done this, you would thought hard of it.
g. All debts are cleared between you and I.
3. Analyze the following sentence:
And when its yellow lustre smiled4. Give your reasons for justifying or condemning the use of should or would in the following sentences:
O'er mountains yet untrod,
Each mother held aloft her child
To bless the bow of God.
a. I would think you ought to be more attentive to your studies.5. Discuss the modifying effect of the adverbial elements in the following sentence:
b. It should seem that John has incurred at the displeasure of his teacher.
Earth keeps me here awhile; yet I shall leave it and rise on fairer wings than thine, to skies more clear.
Rhetoric Exam
1. Write the following correctly:
33 w 56th. st new york apr 26, 1882 my dear, little sister ... i am, affectionately yours, Mary R. Bradely To Miss Lucy A. Bradley. 1001 main st. buffalo n y2. Define the following terms: barbarism, tautology, onomatopoeia, anticlimax, rhyme, epigram.
Married at bethel vt jan 24 by rev Harrison gray pastor of the m.e. church A H Gaitlin of this city and Mary M daughter of John Kellogg jr.
3. Illustrate by short sentences the correct usage of these words: transpire, couple (noun), aggravate, will in the first person, demean, balance (noun).
4. Name the figures illustrated by the short sentences below. [I have no idea what this means.] If any are faulty, point out and correct the fault:
1. "Truth, like the angel in Jacob's vision, bids me up and on."
2. He was swamped in the meshes of his argument.
3. The house has been spoiled by improvements.
4. "We were ever from the cradle bred together."
5. "It is well to die, if there be gods; and it is sad to live, if there be none."
6. Life flows on like a river, ever the same, never the same.
7. "Words are the counters of wise men, and the money of fools."
8. I do not live to eat, but take food in order to sustain life.
9. You are a nice girl to treat me in that way.
Geography Exam
1. Name all the oceans and seas, and the principal gulfs and bays, which border on the coast of North America, describing also their respective positions on the shoreline.
2. Enumerate, in regular order, beginning to the north of the Straits of Gibraltar, all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea.
3. Locate the following cities, stating in what country, and on what river, bay, lake, or sea, they are situated: Paris; Nankin; San Fransisco; Lisbon; Cairo; Sevastopol; Bombay; Cincinnati; Chicago.
4. Where are the following islands: Sicily, Ceylon, Roanoke, Jamaica, Borneo, Falkland, Hebrides?
This is the educational background you must have to pass the Harvard entrance requirements:
Greek - First one hundred and eleven pages of Goodwin's Greek Reader, or first four books of Anabasis; First fifty-five lessons of White's First Lessons in Greek; Greek prose
Latin - Caesar, Gallic War, books I-IV (or books I-III and Sallust, Catiline); Virgil, Aeneid, I-VI (or Eclogues and Aeneid I-V); easy Latin at sight; Latin prose; questions on grammar, history, and antiquities suggests by passages
Ancient History and Geography - Greek history to death of Alexander; Roman history to death of Commodus [Gladiator!]. Smith's Greek and Leighton's Roman histories are recommended.
Mathematics - Simple Arithmetic [which includes doing square roots and logarithms on paper]; compound numbers and the metric system; Algebra, through quadratic equations [which includes what you see above]; Plane geometry (first thirteen chapters of Pierce's Geometry);
Physics - Rolfe's and Gillet's Natural Philosophy for High Schools and Academics (without the Appendix), or Avery's Elements of Natural Philosophy
English - A short English composition required [probably about 300 words]
French or German - Translation at sight.
These are only the required sections. There are several dozen more "optional" books, knowledge of which probably increased your chances of acceptance. These included more advanced mathematics (up through trigonometry), more science (botany or chemistry), and higher skills in other languages.
The examinations also included sections on French and German language which I did not include here for the sake of space. The source of this material is a college prep book published in 1884 in the United States. The two colleges in question were Bowdoin (Maine) and Vassar (New York) universities. The book states that these exams are among the easiest.
