THE NEW LAW DEGREE.

In order to keep in advance of the constantly increasing demands of the law, the University Law School has added to its curriculum an optional fourth year, the successful completion of which will entitle the student to the degree of "Juris Doctor." The growth of industry and commerce in recent years has so added to the complexity of the law that there is no time in the three-year course for the study of special branches of jurisprudence.

There are a great many special lines of professional work for which law school training is invaluable, and the fourth year will afford the needed opportunity for the instruction in these subjects. It will further enable those who so desire, to acquire an exhaustive knowledge of fine points in the more technical branches of study, and will give an unequalled training to men who intend to teach law. Another advantage of this fourth year is the opportunity that it offers for men who have received the LL.B. elsewhere to obtain a degree from the Harvard Law School without repetition of work. These immediate advantages will undoubtedly be effected by this additional year.

A question which arises in regard to the fourth year is whether or not it will become for most men a necessary part of the curriculum. In the light of the Law School's history, this would be a natural outcome. Since 1839 the requirement for the bachelor's degree has increased from eighteen months to three years by the addition of optional periods, which soon became a part of the requirement. In this case, however, the additional year is for a supplementary degree, and its popularity will depend largely upon its value to practicing lawyers. This innovation will, at all events, make it possible to offer to students advantages found at no other law school in the country.