American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

The CRIMSON has received a copy of the fifth and sixth annual reports of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. The report is very encouraging, and proves that the members of the managing committee and board of directors are the right men in the right place. The following extract from the report will show the scheme of work for the year 1886-87:-

"The general work of the school during the year, under the guidance of the director, was as follows: Twice each week during October and November the students visited and discussed ruins in and about Athens. During the first three months of the year there was a weekly reading of parts of Pausanias, which led to many discussions, and suggested themes for further study. This exercise was followed for about two months by the reading and interpretation of inscriptions contained in Hicks's Manual of Greek Historical Inscriptions. Evening readings were held once each week during three months, at which members of the school read and expounded a set portion of the Acharnians and of the Oedipus at Colonus. From the beginning of the year until March the school held a weekly session, at which reports were made. These reports included items of archaeological news, reviews of new books, the discussion of topics suggested by reading, and the presentation of brief papers on set themes. A great variety of topics was presented for discussion at the weekly sessions of the school. Besides these private sessions, three public sessions were held during the year, at which carefully prepared papers were read on 'The Site of the Pnyx,' 'The Theatre at Thoricus,' and 'The Appreciation of Nature exhibited in the Tragedies of Euripides.' At the last session accounts also were given of the excavations at Croton by Mr. Joseph Thacher Clark and Dr. A. Emerson, and of those at Sicyon by the director.

"In the spring the members of the school made tours in different parts of Greece. In March a large party went into Peloponnesus under the guidance of the director and Mr. Dorpfield. The hospitalities of the school were extended to Dr. T. D. Goodell, of Hartford, Mr. M. C. Gile, of Phillips Academy at Andover, and Mr. H. T. Hildredth, who returned to Athens to continue his investigation of the demes of Northern Attica. The use of the library was freely granted to the members of the British School, whose library did not reach Athens until the end of the year. Access to the library was given also to many Americans who came to Athens merely as tourists. They were aided by the director also in forming plans for study and travel, and were thus made practically acquainted with the advantages which the school offers."

In speaking of an expedition to ancient Sicyon, the site of the modern village of Vasilikon, the report says:

"Work was begun on March 23, under the immediate charge of Mr. McMurtry, and was continued, with occasional interruptions, to the end of the year. An interesting but complicated stage structure was discovered, showing clearly that the original arrangement of the stage had at some time been altered. Several rows of seats and a water-course encircling the orchestra, apparently of the same construction as that surrounding the orchestra of the theatre of Dionysus at Athens, were brought to light, as well as pieces of statues, a fragment of an inscription and bits of architectural members of what appears to have been the stage building."

After speaking of the various subscriptions received from private sources and from college organizations and making a statement of the financial condition of the school, the report is closed with the following:

"The school has been in existence for five years. Its success has equalled the most sanguine expectations of its founders. It has furnished guidance and instruction to twenty-one students. It has had the sympathetic support of twenty colleges. It has won confidence at home and recognition abroad. It has a suitable house, with accommodations both for the director and for students. It has at its command the services of a distinguished scholar. Under these circumstances its friends make their appeal for its permanent endowment with hope and confidence."