work during the four years. The principles of English composition governing punctuation, the use of words, sentences, and paragraphs should be thoroughly mastered; and practice in composition, oral as well as written, should extend throughout the secondary school period. Written exercises may well comprise letter-writing, narration, description, and easy exposition and argument. It is advisable that subjects for this work be taken from the student's personal experience, general knowledge and studies other than English, as well as from his reading in literature. Finally, special instruction in language and composition should be accompanied by concerted effort of teachers in all branches to cultivate in the student the habit of using good English in his recitations and various exercises, whether oral or written. LITERATURE. ONE AND ONE-HALF UNITS. The second object is sought by means of two lists of books headed, respectively, reading and study, from which may be framed a progressive course in literature cov ering four years. In connection with both lists, the student should be trained in reading aloud and be encouraged to commit to memory some of the more notable passages both in verse and in prose. As an aid to literary appreciation, he is further advised to acquaint himself with the most important facts in the lives of the authors whose works he reads and with their place in literary history. READING. The aim of this course is to foster in the student the habit of intelligent reading and to develop a taste for good literature, by giving him a first-hand knowledge of some of its best specimens. He should read the books carefully, but his attention should not be so fixed upon details that he fails to appreciate the main purpose and charm of what he reads. HISTORY. (a) Ancient history, with special reference to Greek and Roman history, and including also a short introductory study of the more ancient nations and the chief events of the early Middle Ages, down to the death of Charlemagne (814), one unit. (b) Medieval and modern history, from the death of Charlemagne to the present time, one unit. (c) Modern history, one unit. (d) English history, one unit. (American history and civil government, one unit. UNIT OF ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS. In order to facilitate the comparison of admission requirements with one another, the board has given its approval to the following statement, formulated by the National Conference Committee on Standards of Colleges and Secondary Schools, descriptive of a unit of admission requirements: A unit represents a year's study in any subject in a secondary school, constituting approximately a quarter of a full year's work. A four-year secondary school curriculum should be regarded as representing not more than 16 units of work. This statement is designed to afford a standard of measurement for the work done in secondary schools. It takes the four-year high school course as a basis, and assumes that the length of the school year is from 36 to 40 weeks, that a period is from 40 to 60 minutes in length, and that the study is pursued for four or five periods a week: but under ordinary circumstances, a satisfactory year's work in any subject can not be accomplished in less than 120 sixty-minute hours or their equivalent. Schools organized on any other than a four-year basis can, nevertheless, estimate their work in terms of this unit. (From Document No. 93, College Entrance Examination Board. Address for further information, 431 West One hundred and seventeenth Street, New York City.) Candidates from the United States at large, the honor schools, the Regular Army, and the National Guard may submit certificates, but such certificates will be considered only in case the authorized number of vacancies for that year is not filled by the regular examination. Certificates should be submitted not later than February 1. A certificate received between February 1 and the examination will receive consideration, but in view of the short time left to the academic board to investigate its value, no assurance will be given that such certificate can be acted on in time to exempt the candidate from the mental examination. Candidates who submit certificates on a date which does not allow the academic board sufficient time to investigate their value and notify them regarding the final action thereon prior to the day set for the examination should proceed with the regular examination. Candidates who are informed that their certificates have been accepted must present themselves at the regular time and place, as herein prescribed, for physical examination. A certificate which is accepted as satisfactory for one examination will be regarded as satisfactory for any other examination which may be set for entrance with the same class. Any certificate accepted for one class and presented for a succeeding class should be accompanied with a full statement of the candidate's educational work in the interim, and both certificate and statement will be subject to careful scrutiny by the academic board. (Par. 65, Regls., U. S. M. A.) All necessary papers, including a set of the blank certificate forms (except Form III, which is sent only upon application), are furnished to each duly nominated candidate by The Adjutant General of the Army. Any candidate who contemplates submitting a certificate shall, immediately upon receiving his appointment, forward to the Adjutant, United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y., the names and addresses of all educational institutions from which he expects to obtain certificates, in order that information as to the status of those institutions may be procured before the arrival of the certificates. Date of admission. Candidates who fully conform to the requirements set forth in the preceding paragraphs, and who report in person to the superintendent on the first week day in July, before 12 o'clock, noon, shall be admitted as cadets of the United States Military Academy, and shall receive their warrants as soon as practicable. Engagement to serve.-Immediately after reporting to the superintendent for admission, and before receiving their warrants of appointment, candidates are required to sign, in the presence of the superintendent, or of some officer deputed by him, engagements for service in the following form: -, of the State (or Territory) of aged years. I, months, do hereby engage (with consent of my parent or guardian) that from the date of my admission as a cadet of the United States Military Academy I will serve in the Army of the United States for eight years unless sooner discharged by competent authority. In the presence of In the case of the Filipino cadets the engagement shall be made to serve in the Philippine Scouts. (See sec. 1321, R. S.) Oath of allegiance. Each cadet shall, previous to his admission to the academy, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation in the following form: I. do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and bear true allegiance to the National Government; that I will maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States paramount to any and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty I may owe to any State, county, or country whatsoever, and that I will at all times obey the legal orders of my superior officers and the rules and articles governing the Armies of the United States. (Sec. 1320, R. S.) Sworn to and subscribed at and —, before me. this day of nineteen hundred Qualifications.-No candidate shall be admitted who is under 17 or over 22 years of age, or less than 5 feet 4 inches in height, or who is deformed or afflicted with any disease or infirmity which would render him unfit for the military service, or who has, at the time of presenting himself, any disorder of an infectious or immoral character. Candidates must be unmarried. A recent act of Congress provides that "during the calendar years 1919, 1920, and 1921, any appointee to the Military Academy who has served honorably and faithfully not less than one year in the armed forces of the United States or allied armies in the late war with Germany, and who possesses the other qualifications required by law. may be admitted between the ages of 17 and 24 years.' NOTE. Candidates are eligible for admission from the day they are 17 (or 19 if from the Regular Army or the National Guard) until the day they become 22 years of age. on which latter day they are not eligible, unless they fall under the recent act of Congress just referred to. Each candidate must on reporting at West Point present a certificate showing suecessful vaccination within one year; or a certificate of two vaccinations, made at least a month apart, within three months. PRELIMINARY PHYSICAL EXAMINATION. Each candidate designated as principal or alternate for appointment as a cadet of the Military Academy should ascertain as soon as practicable whether or not he has any physical defect that would disqualify him for admission or any that should be corrected by treatment before presenting himself for examination. For this purpose he should immediately cause himself to be examined by his family physician, and. if he desires, also by an Army surgeon at the nearest military post. Such an examination should enable the candidate to decide whether to devote the time and possible expense which may be necessary for preparation for the entrance examination or to relinquish his appointment. The presentation by an appointee of his letter of conditional appointment, with a request for physical examination or the presentation by a prospective appointee of a letter signed by a Member of Congress stating that the bearer is a candidate for cadet appointment and requesting that he be physically examined, will be sufficient authority for an Army surgeon at any military post to make the desired physical examination. Upon completion of this examination, the Army surgeon will inform the candidate of the result, and, in case a disability be found, whether such disability is believed to be permanent and disqualifying for military service, or whether it is believed to be of a temporary or curable nature. The examination is to be regarded as preliminary only and in no manner to affect the decision of the regular medical examining board. CHARACTER OF ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS. The physical examination is conducted under the following instructions prepared by the Surgeon General of the Army: Candidates who, upon reporting, present evidence that they have been excused from the mental examination under the provisions of the certificate privilege, or as the result of having qualified mentally at a previous examination, are usually examined physically as soon as possible after reporting and are not required to wait until the schedule of mental examinations has been completed. The physical examination of all candidates taking the mental examination begins in the afternoon of the third day and is continued daily until completed. Hearing must be normal in both ears. Chronic or recurrent suppuration in either middle ear or the condition known as "residual ear," resulting in perforation of the ear drum or permanent crippling of the function of the ear, is disqualifying. Vision as determined by the official test types must not fall below 20/40 in either eye. If below 20/20, it must be correctable to 20/20 by proper glasses. In the record of all examinations the acuity of vision without glasses, and also with glasses when the acuity is less than 20/20, will be given for each eye separately; in the latter case the correction will also be noted. Hyperopia with vision less than 20/20 and myopia or astigmatism, either hyperopic or myopic, with vision less than 20/40, are causes for rejection. Squint uncorrectable by glasses (not prisms) is a cause for rejection. Color blindness, red, green, or violet, is cause for rejection. The foregoing requirements apply to eyes free from disease, either acute or chronic. All lesions of the fundus, except those due to simple myopia, whether old or of recent origin, are causes for rejection. Progressive lesions due to myopia or other causes are disqualifying. A certificate from a competent oculist may be accepted, at the option of the examining board, as evidence of freedom from lesions of the fundus. Teeth. A candidate must have at least 12 of the 20 double teeth in serviceable condition, so placed that 6 of them are "opposed" by 6 others. Where not all of the third molars have erupted and there are none opposed, 8 serviceable double teeth must be present, so placed that 4 are opposed by 4 others. Where there are two opposed third molars, the requirements will be at least 6 double teeth opposed by 6 others. Well crowned teeth are considered as good teeth. The wearing of a dental plate of any description is disqualifying. Teeth containing large cavities or exposed nerves are considered as cause for rejection, but a candidate with unsound teeth may be accepted subject to the condition of having cavities filled and teeth put in satisfactory shape before the date set for his entrance to West Point. The following are causes of disqualification if found to exist to such a degree as would immediately or at no very distant period impair the efficiency of the candidate: 1. Feeble constitution; unsound health from whatever cause; indications of former disease, glandular swellings, or other symptoms of tuberculosis. 2. Chronic cutaneous affections, especially of the scalp. 3. Severe injuries of the bones of the head; convulsions. 4. Impaired vision, from whatever cause; inflammatory affections of the eyelids; immobility or irregularity of the iris; fistula lachrymalis, etc. 5. Deafness; discharge from the ears. 6. Impediment of speech. 7. Want of due capacity of the chest, and any other indication of a liability to a pulmonic disease. 8. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or both of the superior extremities on account of fractures, especially of the clavicle, contraction of a joint, deformity, etc. 9. An unusual excurvature or incurvature of the spine. 10. Hernia. 11. A varicose state of the veins of the scrotum or spermatic cord (when large), hydrocele, hemorrhoids, fistulas. 12. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or both of the inferior extremities on account of varicose veins, fractures, malformation (flat feet, etc.), lameness, contraction, unequal length, bunions, overlying or supernumerary toes, etc. 13. Ulcers or unsound cicatrices of ulcers likely to break out afresh. The requirements of the following tables of physical proportions are minimum for growing youths and are for the guidance of medical officers in connection with the other data of the examination, a consideration of all of which should determine the candidate's physical eligibility. Mere fulfillment of the requirements of the standard tables does not determine eligibility, while, on the other hand, no departure below the standard should be allowed unless upon the unanimous recommendation of the medical examining board for excellent reasons, clearly stated in each case. The physical requirements should be those of the age at the birthday nearest the time of the examination. Fractions greater than one-half inch will be considered as an additional inch of height, but candidates must be at least 64 inches in height. See the following table of physical proportions. 11769° -202 Table for physical proportions for height, weight, and chest measurement. Following is a list of the Army posts at which the examination is held: The examination takes place as follows, viz: First day. History, 9 a. m. to 1 p. m., 4 hours. Second day.-Algebra, 9 a. m. to 1 p m., 4 hours. English grammar, composition and literature, 1.30 to 5.30 p. m., 4 hours. |