Part II was abolished — a change on which all parties were

agreed. There was introduced an examination, called Part I, confined to elementary mathematics, which could be taken as early as the second term of residence, and for which in certain cases of failure a student could present himself again, but this, although an examination for honours, did not qualify for a degree. In the new Part II, taken normally at the end of the third year of residence and qualifying for a degree, candidates were given some option in the subjects of their examination, and order of merit was abolished. The first examination under this scheme was held in 1908.
The curious origin of the term tripos has been repeatedly told, and an account of it may fitly close this chapter. Formerly there were three principal occasions on which questionists were admitted to the title or degree of bachelor. The first of these was the comitia priora, held on Ash-Wednesday, for the best men in the year. The next was the comitia posteriora, which was held a few weeks later, and at which any student who had distinguished himself in the quadragesimal exercises subsequent
* See Reports dated November 7, 1S09, and January 20, 1900.
t See the Reports of the Special Board, Cavibridye UniverRity Reporter, May 29 and November 20, 1906, and the Graces of Feb. 2, 1907. The voting on the first Grace was 770 Placet and 641 Non-Placet.
282 THE MATHEMATICAL TlllPOS [CH. XI
to Ash-Wednesday had his seniority reserved to him. Lastly, there was the comitia minora, for students who had in no special way distinguished themselves. In the fifteenth century an im- portant part in the ceremony on each of these occasions was taken by a certain "ould bachilour," who sat upon a three-legged stool or tripos before the proctors and tested the abilities of the would-be graduates by arguing some question with the " eldest son," who was selected from them as their representative. To assist the latter in what was often an unequal contest his " father," that is, the officer of his college who was to present him for his degree, was allowed to come to his assistance.
Originally the ceremony was a serious one, and had a certain religious character. It took place in Great St Mary's Church, and marked the admission of the student to a position with new responsibilities, while the season of Lent was chosen with a view to bring this into prominence. The Puritan party objected to the observance of such ecclesiastical ceremonies, and in the course of the sixteenth century they introduced much license and buffoonery into the proceedings. The part played by the questionist became purely formal. A serious debate still some- times took place between the father of the senior questionist and a regent master who represented the University ; but the discussion was prefaced by a speech by the bachelor, who came to be called Mr Tripos just as we speak of a judge as the bench, or of a rower as an oar. Ultimately public opinion permitted Mr Tripos to say pretty much whafc he pleased, so long as it was not dull and was scandalous. The speeches he delivered or the verses he recited were generally preserved by the Registrary, and were known as the tripos verses: originally they referred to the subjects of the disputations then propounded. The earliest copies now extant are those for 1575.
The University officials, to v/hom the personal criticisms in which the tripos indulged were by no means pleasing, repeatedly exhorted him to remember " while exercising his privilege of humour, to be modest withal." In 1740, says Mr Mullinger*,
* J. B. Mullinger, The University of Cambridge^ Cambridge, vol. i, 1873, pp. 175—170.
CH. Xl] THE MATHEMATICAL TRIPOS 283
"the authorities after condemning the excessive license of the tripos announced that the comitia at Lent would in future be conducted in the Senate-House ; and all members of the Uni- versity, of whatever order or degree, were forbidden to assail or mock the disputants with scurrilous jokes or unseemly witticisms. About the year 1747-8, the moderators initiated the practice of printing the honour lists on the back of the sheets containing the tripos verses, and after the year 1755 this became the invariable practice. By virtue of this purely arbitrary con- nection these lists themselves became known as the tripos; and eventually the examination itself, of which they represented the results, also became known by the same designation."
The tripos ceased to deliver his speech about 1750, but the issue of tripos verses continued for nearly 150 years longer. During the latter part of this time they consisted of four sets of verses, usually in Latin, but occasionally in Greek, in which current topics in the University were treated lightly or seriously as the writer thought fit. They were written for the proctors and moderators by undergraduates or commencing bachelors, w^ho were supposed each to receive a pair of white kid gloves in recognition of their labours. Thus gradually the word tripos changed its meaning " from a thing of w^ood to a man, from a man to a speech, from a speech to sets of verses, from verses to a sheet of coarse foolscap paper, from a paper to a list of names, and from a list of names to a system of examination *."
In 1895 the proctors and moderators, without consulting the Senate, sent in no verses, and thus, in spite of widespread regret, an interesting custom of many centuries standing was destroyed. No doubt it may be argued that the custom had never been embodied in statute or ordinance, and thus w^as not obligatory. Also it may be said that its continuance was not of material benefit to anybody. I do not think that such arguments are conclusive, and personally I regret the dis- appearance of historic ties unless it can be shown that they cause inconvenience, which of course in this case could not be asserted.
* "Wordsworth, Scholae Academicae, Cambridge, 1877, p. 21.
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