We have received a somewhat acrid reply from Mr. Sidgwick
to Dr. Appleton's letter of last week in relation to the " Asso- ciation for the Organisation of Academical Study" at the Uni- versities, to which, —as it would tend to prolong and embitter a not very important controversy,—we do not think it needful to give insertion. We may state briefly, however, the exact positions of the opposite parties to this controversy:—Dr. Appleton was appointed Secretary by the Association at its first meeting, and holds himself still its Secretary. He is not the Secretary of the Committee, and does not affect to be. It is not denied that by a small majority at a meeting of the Association which at the time was very thin, the Report of the Committee, which altered, as Dr. Appleton thinks, the basis of the Association, was accepted ; but he holds that as a majority of 32 to 16, polled by circular, still adhere to the old basis, there would probably be a majority at any full meeting, against altering the basis of the Association. He says that whereas 111 were neutral and either were not present or did not vote in favour of the Report at the meeting, only 82 were neutral and did not vote when he consulted them a second time in writing whether or not they wished the report to stand. Of course, Dr. Appleton is formally out of order in not accepting the vote of 10 to 9, as representing the wish of the Association, nor is this denied on his part. In the meantime, it is not doubtful that a few of the most eminent • of the original members do disapprove of the change of basis. We 'say this perfectly impartially, as, for our own parts, we see in the change of basis a change from an unpractical and rather impracticable to a more feasible scheme.
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