COLLEGE ANNUALS.

The time is now rapidly drawing near when we may expect the appearance of the Harvard Index, when the freshman underlines his name in the list of the Bicycle Club or Total Abstinence League and proudly sends it hime to his admiring parents, and so it may be interesting to note the differences between the annuals of our various sister colleges and compare them with our own less pretentions, but very useful representative. Yale's principal annual is the well known Banner which will shortly appear for the forty-second time, having been started in 1842. By the Harvard man, who is accustomed to the plain simplicity of the Index, the artistic part of the Banner is not likely to be appreciated. Almost all of the various eating clubs have a place in its pages, and claims a cut, while many of the societies and athletic organizations head their lists with symbolic head pieces. To be sure many of these are in very good taste, butstill there is much that is rude and inartistic that finds its way among its pages. In reading matter the Banner probably excels the Index, containing besides the regular annual statistics, long lists of past occupants of the various college offices, editorships, etc. as well as of the holders of honors. The Princeton representative is the Bric-a-Brac, which is published every fall by the junior class. The last number is by far the best of any of the college annuals for 1882-83, abounding as it does in artistic and appropriate cuts nad containing a great stock of information of every discription concerning college and students. Its apperarance is slightly marred by a very few unsightly illustrations, but on the whole great taste has been shown throughout its pages. Its athletic interests are well looked after, while the usual assortment of eating clubs tail the list. An interesting feature of this publucation is its Memorabilia or review of the college year.

Form Columbia appears in the spring of each year the Columbiad, most appropriately named of its fraternity of annuals, and one can generally count upon something interesting. Last year's number was no exception to the rule, though in many respects not up to our ideas of such a publication. It unfortunately possessed in some degree the fault common to most of its kind, weakness in illustration, but its general appearance is prepossessing. The heavy bound covers are a novel but sensible departure, while the outside design is very unique and artistic. In our opinion it makes a great mistake in publishing the usual string of personal squibs on the various members of the junior class, which must always be somewhat vulgar. A special feature of this numbers is a comedy on the subject of co-education.

The Trinity Ivy is a very interesting publication. It bears on its cover the ivy from which it is named, and contains all that can be desired in the way of statistics and general information, while most of its illustrations show good taste. It is the only anual from any of the New England colleges that contains the photograph of the editors and as such displays individuality. This year's number will be the twelfth, the publication being started in 1873 by the junior class. It is interesting to note that the Ivy displays originality by presenting among its other information the "Requirements for Admission," the "Course of Instruction," and a list of college "Lecture Courses."

From Williams comes the unpronouncably entitled Gulielmensian, more familiarly known as the "Girl,"which is published in December, and as most of its species, by the junior class. It is on the whole disappointing, not so much in its iliustrations, which are however pretly bad, but in its letterpress. Every class has its editorial, presumably funny, while there are the usual painful witticisms perpetrated upon the unfortunate class-mates of the editors, or such as have rendered themselves open to their attacks.

Last in the list comes the Amherst Olio with a long string of unsightly illustrations and would-be funny poetry and prose by the yard. Of course there is much that is interesting in the way of statistical and other information, but as a whole the Olio is disappointing in the extreme.

On the whole we may reasonably congratulate ourselves that the inderx is what it is, for it seems impossible, to judge by these publications of sister colleges, to introduce any artistic features without including much that is unsightly, while any attempts at wit seem to verge on the vulgar. To be sure we have no doubt but that the Index might be improved in one way and another by an increase of statistics and the introduction of lists of former office-holders as in the Banner, but we are not inclined to grumble.