BREVITIES.

THE Nine is in daily practice at the Gymnasium.

THE Yale Seniors have chosen Pach for their photographer.

THE Arion Quartette gave a concert at Lowell last Tuesday.

THE mid-year examinations will begin this year on the 3d of February.

CHRISTMAS books and music can be found in abundance at 3 Stoughton.

Two Harvard graduates are holders of fellowships at John Hopkins University.

THERE will be an examination in Junior Logic on January 25, 1879, at 11 A. M.

THERE will be an examination in Sophomore Required History for the second half-year on January 4, at 11 A. M.

PROFESSOR GOODALE gave last Saturday, in Boston, the first of a series of six lessons to a Normal class in Botany. The class consists chiefly of teachers, and numbers over five hundred.

THE subjects for Commencement Parts are to be handed in on Wednesday, January 8.

THE next number of the Advocate will be ready on the Monday after the recess, January 6.

THOUGH the Freshmen are not tied to any apron-strings, they are much attached to the Pinafore.

THE attendance at the present Art Club Exhibition has been more satisfactory than at the former one.

THE delay in the arrival of the text-books in Phil. 5 is severely testing the moral endurance of the section.

OXFORD has a Rifle Corps which is on the eve of dissolution. The H. R. C. should have a fellow-feeling for it.

THE Medical School are in great lack of subjects for dissection. Neither paupers nor Stewarts can be secured for this purpose.

ALL the mathematical talent of the Faculty is employed at present upon the difficult problem of arranging the mid-year examinations.

THE next meeting of the Philosophical Club will be held on Thursday, January 9. The subject for discussion will be announced later.

SIXTEEN men have been chosen at Yale to try for the University Crew, and they will begin training immediately after the Christmas vacation.

GREAT astonishment on the part of the honest postmaster of Wellesley at the number of Advocates which appeared there last Saturday.

THE subject for the fourth Junior Theme, A Division, is "A Christmas Story" (for a child under fourteen). The theme is due January 28.

THE only copy of "The Wreck of the Grosvenor" at the Library is a paper-covered one, which some admirer of the story has kindly presented.

THE first seven elected into the Signet from the class of '80 are as follows: W. S. Andrews, Carruth, Hanscom, Pennypacker, A. Perry, Ranlett, Weimer.

LAST week the petitions were granted of 47 Seniors, 41 Juniors, 83 Sophomores, and 48 Freshmen. How many petitions of the Sophomores were not granted?

STUDENTS are directed to inform the Registrar this week, in writing, whether they intend to drop any of their extra hours of elective study before the mid-year examinations; and, if so, name the study thus to be dropped.

THE mid-year examinations will be crowded into about sixteen days, and the examination in two-hour courses will be held in the afternoon. Three-hour courses will have three-hour examinations as formerly. This will not apply to the Annuals.

A SOPHOMORE is taking German 2 preparatory to the study of "Hopenschauer."

THE Scientific Lectures in Sanders Theatre will not take place until next March. The programme will be ready soon after the Christmas recess.

OFFICERS elected at the last meeting of the K. N.: President, J. W. Babcock; Vice-President, F. E. Fuller; Secretary, H. Gage; Treasurer, E. L. Underwood.

JUDGING from the number of examinations held during the present week, the instructors wish to begin the new year by turning over the leaves of blue-books.

AT the meeting of the Philosophical Club last Thursday evening, Mr. Wells, '79, was elected President, and Mr. E. Robinson, '79, Secretary of the Society.

AN ingenious student in Chemistry 1, when the filter which he was using would not drain fast enough to suit him, remedied the defect by punching a hole in the filter.

STUDENTS must return all books to the Library before leaving for the vacation. Special permission, however, will be given, on application, to keep out any needed works.

GREEK Authors to be read for second - year Honors: Homer, Odyssey, XIII.-XVIII.; Demosthenes, Olynthiacs; Euripides, Hippolytus, omitting Choruses; Sophocles, Ajax.

ENTRANCE CONDITIONS. - Examinations in French, German, Modern and Physical Geography, and Physical Science (Old Method) will be held at the close of the Christmas Recess.

THE second ten of the K. N. are as follows: A. M. Allen, F. R. Burton, W. G. Chase, J. McG. Foster, A. F. Lane, J. P. Lyons, C. F. Mason, C. H. Mahon, W. T. McKone, O. A. Olmsted.

MR. Cushing, the compiler of the Index to the "North American," is now at work upon a general index of authors, designed in part for aid to libraries in cataloguing. It will contain over thirty thousand names.

THE following shows the small boy's idea of Harvard:

PATRONIZING OLD GENTLEMAN (to a doting mamma). So I suppose this little fellow is going to Harvard one of these days?

SMALL BOY (who has had a big brother in that institution). Going to Harvard! Pooh! I can kick foot-ball now.

AT the last regular meeting of the Natural History Society, Mr. S. H. Scudder read a paper on the "Origin of Early Types of Insects in Palaeozoic Times," and Professor Whitney one on the "Eozoon Canadense."

AT the last meeting of the Faculty the proposition was made that all students be required to register on their return from the Christmas vacation, just as at the beginning of the year. The measure was not adopted, but perhaps will be next year.

AT a meeting of the Freshman class on Tuesday evening it was voted to send a letter to the Yale Freshmen looking to a race next summer. In case an unfavorable answer is received from New Haven, a challenge will be sent to Columbia.

THREE theatrical performances of the burlesque "Fair Rosamond" will be given by Harvard graduates at the Union League Theatre, in New York City, in aid of the H. U. B. C., on the evenings of January 2, 3, and 4. Tickets may be had at 41 Beck.

THE examination in Freshman Classical Lectures will be held on Saturday, December 21, at 9 A. M., and not at 9.30, as previously announced: Allen-Hartshorn, in Mass. 1; Haupt-Kane, in Mass. 2; Keep-Rushmore, in Mass. 3; Russel-Young, U. E. R.

AT the meeting of the Finance Club on Monday evening a paper on "Population" was read, and the subject was discussed. The paper on "The Provisions of the Resumption Act" was postponed until the next meeting, which will be held on January 13. It was voted that members of the Faculty should be admitted to membership on the same terms as undergraduates. A committee was appointed to confer with the Philosophical Society and the Art Club in relation to joining with them in giving a course of lectures.

A SPECIAL meeting of the Overseers of Harvard College was held Tuesday, December 10, Hon. E. R. Hoar, President, in the chair. The following appointments were confirmed: George Russell Briggs, A. B., as tutor in mathematics for three years from September 1, 1878; Sumner Burritt Stiles, A. B., 1876, as Procter. As Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts for one year, from January 1, 1879, William Gray, Henry J. Bigelow, and Thomas G. Appleton. The election of Reginald Heber Fitz as professor of pathological history was referred under the rules to Hon. Messrs. Codman, Wyman, and Green. The Visiting Committee were increased as follows: To visit the observatory, Randolph Coolidge, Charles F. Choate, Alexander Agassiz; to visit the College, George B. Chase; to visit the Library, George Dexter; to visit the Medical and Dental Schools, John T. Codman. The Committee on Reports and Resolutions presented a partial report by Hon. W. G. Russell.

A SOPHOMORE is preparing a key to the hieroglyphics which explain Sophomore themes.

INSTRUCTOR. - Your rendering of the Greek is good, Mr. X., but it sounds too much like the translation.

MR. X. - I never use translations, sir.

INSTRUCTOR. - What, never?

MR. X. - No, never.

INSTRUCTOR. - What, never?

MR. X. - Well, hardly ever. (Fact.)

THE critic in the Saturday Review little thought what distress he would cause among our "very English" students when he wrote the following about Professor Hill's Rhetoric: "Into the higher arts, whether of oratorical or literary expression, the author scarcely pretends to guide his pupils; and it is needless to say that American tastes in both departments differ so widely from those of the best English speakers and writers, that no aspirant to success in this country would look for instruction to a professor even of Harvard College."

POSITIVISM AND EVOLUTIONISM.

Instructor. What does Condillac say about brutes in the scale of being?

Student. He says a brute is an imperfect man.

Instructor. And what is man?

Student. Man is a perfect brute.

AT the last regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Dining Association the following votes were passed:-

The Hall will be kept open during the Christmas recess. Those members who remain will pay the regular price for board. Those members who are absent will receive full allowance, provided they give notice of such absence an or before December 20. At the close of the recess the Auditor shall ascertain the amount of the deficit, if any, due to the Christmas recess, and shall assess the same equally upon all the members of the Association.

Those members who have applied for regular Sunday absence allowance shall sign slips for sixty cents on any Sunday when they take their meals at the Hall. In case of failure to comply with this rule, the Auditor is authorized, if he deem it necessary, to withdraw the Sunday allowance.

Sunday absence allowance can be given for an academic term, but for no shorter period.

No meals shall be sent outside the Hall except in case of sickness. An extra charge of 25 cents shall be made on all such meals, and none shall be sent out except on a written order to the Steward.

THE FAMOUS ENGLISH MUTTON-CHOPS continue a specialty at Whitney's Equitable Building. They are served without extra charge to the students of the University in the handsomely furnished "Harvard Room," which is reserved exclusively for their use.

W. L. TITUS, 3 Stoughton Hall, is the agent in Cambridge for Tiffany's American Pedometer.