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The "best possible" is, of course, rarely attained; but one hundred is given in arithmetic if the best process is used, the right answer reached, and the work neatly done and properly pointed. The slightest deviation from the strictest accuracy in any particular, as well as any lack of fullness or neatness, reduces the marking to ninety-five, (almost perfect,) even though the correct answer be reached. If the work is properly indicated, but not performed, and the correct answer is reached, ninety (correct) is awarded, while the simple setting down of the correct result receives but eighty. The mark is made low in the last case, partly as a penalty for the failure to comply with the express directions at the head of the sheet, partly because no judgment can be formed as to the excellence of the process used, and partly because it is barely possible that the answer may have been copied from that of a neighboring candidate. Ninety is the standard of correctness, and each error reduces the standing five below that point, unless it is gross, in which case a larger deduction is made, proportioned to its magnitude. This course is pursued, as a penalty for carelessness. It was at first intended to take carelessness into consideration, in marking general aptitude, but as that has been given no weight in the scale, the only course is to affix the penalty where the error occurs.

If the answer is wrong, and the process is omitted, a low mark is given, varying according to the remoteness of the result from the correct one. If the answer is right as to figures, but the decimal point is misplaced, but sixty is given, as that is considered a gross error. An endeavor is made to give the candidate credit for all the knowledge displayed by him, and to this end the papers are carefully scrutinized, when the answer is incorrect, to learn whether the error is the result of ignorance of the principle, or arises from mistakes in the computation. Sometimes a small error in the beginning of the work, and carried all through it, will materially change the result, although the process

and the remainder of the work are correct. Such an error, of course, detracts less from the standing than the use of an incorrect process, or numerous blunders throughout the work, although the result may be further from correctness in the former case than in the latter; but if the result is so wide of the mark that a moment's reflection should have enabled the candidate to see that it is incorrect, the mark is cut down for carelessness.

Addition is marked one hundred when the footings are correct and the result properly pointed. A deduction of five is made for each error, unless the mistake is gross and palpable, in which case a larger deduction is made.

Orthography is marked one hundred when there are no errors in any of the papers. Where good authorities differ as to the spelling, it is not considered an error if any one of them is followed. As in addition, a deduction of five is made for each error, unless the word misspelt is a very simple or common one, when a severer penalty is affixed.

The exercises in syntax are considered deserving of a full mark only when absolutely perfect in all particulars. If the exercise contains two errors and but one is corrected the answer is marked fifty. If an incorrect sentence is passed as correct, or a correct one is made incorrect, the mark is ten, the same as if no answer had been given.

There are so many shades of difference in the performance of the exercises in accounts and in the answers to questions in history, geography, and government, that no fixed rules can be given for the marking. It may be said, however, that accounts are not passed as perfect, unless the computations are correct, the items entered in the best form, the heading full and correct, the balance properly brought down, and the work properly ruled. In history, geography, and government, a mark of one hundred is not given, except when the answers seem the best that can possibly be made in the space left for the purpose. The marking of answers in these and similar subjects, calls for the exercise by the examiner of the utmost patience, impartiality, and discrimination as to fine shades of superiority. It has been the constant aim to do exact justice to every candidate. If it be said that the microscope has been used to discover errors, it may be replied properly that it is only by the exercise of microscopic care that justice can be done to the relative merits of a large number of candidates. Frequently in the examinations for admission, a change of a few hundredths in the general average of a candidate would alter his position on the list. It is important, therefore, that candidates should receive credit for even the slightest shades of superiority, since the receipt of an appointment might in some case depend upon the award of the proper credit.

A failure to answer is considered "extremely bad," but not the "worst possible," and is, therefore, marked ten. It is quite possible that an answer should betray a degree of ignorance which could not be inferred from a mere failure to answer. For instance, to suppose an extremely simple case, inability to give the product of and would not evince so high a degree of ignorance as the answer that it is one millionth or one hundred thousand; nor, to draw from experience, could a failure to give the names of "the two distinguished Polish generals who served in the American army during the Revolutionary war" be considered quite so bad as the answer that they were Cromwell and Layfayett!" It is quite possible that a wellinformed person might be unable to recall on the instant the names of Pulaski and Kosciusko, but the expression of the belief that Cromwell was a Polish general in the Revolutionary war betrayed almost hopeless ignorance. In one examination a candidate gave an answer to every question in arithmetic and received on this scale of marking an average of a little more than seven in that branch of the examination, the replies being so absurd as to indicate denser ignorance than could be inferred from mere inability to perform the operation. If a failure to answer were marked zero there would be no way of debiting a candidate with ignorance so gross as that betrayed in these cases, except the inconvenient one of minus marks.

Penmanship is marked on the last sheet, after a careful review of the writing throughout the examination, and particularly of the figures. A firm, legible, well-controlled handwriting receives higher credit than a more showy one which breaks down after a few pages have been written. There are so many shades of excellence in handwriting that the Board refrains from giving it a high mark except in cases of superior excellence, uniform throughout the work. A mark of ninety has been given but once, and of eighty-five but twice or thrice. The marking usually ranges from fifty to eighty. In marking penmanship, and other branches of the examination to which fixed rules cannot be applied, it is kept in mind that sixty is the minimum standard for admission, and the examiner mentally asks himself, in doubtful cases, "Were this answer to be the sole test of the candidate's fitness ought he to be admitted to the Department?" If the answer is favorable, sixty or more is given; if unfavorable, less than sixty.

The papers are kept in sets according to their numbers until the marking of all the subjects, except penmanship, is completed. The advantage of this is, that the examiner completes each subject beforeproceeding to the next, and is thus enabled to mark with greater uni

formity, and perhaps to guard more effectually against the influence of any involuntary prejudice for or against a candidate, than he could should he mark all the papers of the same candidate consecutively.

The marking completed, each candidate's papers are placed together in proper order, and the average for each subject is computed by simply dividing the aggregate of the marks to the answers in the subject by the number of questions. This average is noted at the foot of each sheet, or, when there are more sheets than one pertaining to a subject, at the foot of the last of such sheets. The result is computed on the form provided for the purpose, (see Appendix, Civil Service, Form VI,) by multiplying the average by the number indicating the relative weight of the subject, and by dividing the sum of the products by the sum of the relative weights. The quotient is the standing on a scale of 100. (See the ninth of the regulations governing admission to the Departments.) Of this form, which, like all the other blanks used by the Board, is printed in copyable ink, a press-copy is taken, and the original is attached to the examination-papers of the candidate and placed on file in the Appointment Bureau. The following tables, copied from the forms giving the results of the examinations of two candidates—the first for admission and the second for promotion— illustrate more clearly than could any description the method of ascertaining a candidate's standing in the whole examination:

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The great and manifest advantage of the system of relative weightsfor which, as for many other valuable suggestions, credit is due to Mr. Elliott of the Advisory Board-as compared with the system of maximum marks for each subject, lies in the fact that all the marking is done on a uniform scale of one hundred-a scale which conveys to the mind, at once, a clear notion of the candidate's approach to perfection. Under the system of maximum marks, the scale changes for each subject, and the examiner must, so to speak, readjust his mental focus at each change. The result, too, is much more clearly conveyed, at least to an American mind, accustomed to the decimal system, when expressed on a scale of 100, than if computed on a scale of 2,500 or 4,000. For instance, the statement that a candidate had received 2,150 marks out of a maximum of 2,500 would convey a much less clear idea of his excellence than if it were said that his standing was 86 on a scale of 100; and yet, the two statements are precisely the same in effect.

TIME-LIMIT.

In the earlier examinations, the Board adopted the practice of limiting the time for each sheet used in the examination, making the total time consumed six hours, or one official day. It was found that this

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