TEXT BOOKS AND JELLY

In the column, which appears in a well-known Boston newspaper, the "Bright Sayings of Children" are often printed for the amusement of their elders. Any parent may earn a dollar by submitting to the editor of this column a "cute" remark which his, or her, off-spring has perpetrated. One infantile query is the following: "Mother, if there are seven hundred jars of jam in the house, why can't I have one of them"? A pertinent question. The undergraduate, in search of the sweets of knowledge, might ask the same: "If there are a million and a half books in the Widener Library, why can't I have the one I want?"

The reply to this query would run somewhat in this fashion: "My son, the Widener Library has one of the largest collections of books in the world. It has rare, historical books of great interest. It has documents and pamphlets, old tomes and handsome bindings, books in - Aramaic and Chinese, books of science, archaeology, and philology. It has choice books, and it has common books. Can you not find the book you want? You must indeed be particular."

"But", objects the undergraduate, "I want Appleton's 'Greek Philosophy'. I am not interested in books in Chinese or Aramaic. I have an examination day after tomorrow, and there is only one copy of the text book in the whole library. There are eight applications in ahead of mine, and if I wait eight hours I will only have the use of the book for one hour. Why does the Library have only one copy of some of the most common books?"

The answer states that the University has not funds enough to buy so many books. The Library, judging by the present, is stocked to suit the angler in research: Those who wish for the ordinary text books in the more popular courses must buy them, or read for an hour at a time the single copy provided by the University's appropriation and reserved in the Main Reading Room. In most courses, it is true, there are other copies, but their number depends entirely on the generosity of individuals. None of the money set aside by the University for the use of the Library may be expended in the purchase of duplicate copies of any text book.

The jam which the undergraduate wants is inexpensive and easily procured. It has not the rare qualities attributed to the Chinese "bird's nest song", but to the average mortal as a steady diet it is infinitely more attractive.