1546, and at the beginning of the 19th century it consisted of a
master, 60 fellows and 72 scholars. Each college was provided
with residence halls, a dining hall, and a chapel. Each college
had its own staff of instructors called tutors or lecturers, and
the function of the University apart from the colleges was
mainly to examine for degrees. Examinations for degrees con-
sisted of a pass examination and an honors examination, the
latter called a tripos. Thus, the mathematical tripos meant
the examinations of candidates for the degree of Bachelor of
Arts who had made a special study of mathematics. The
examination was spread over a week, and those who obtained
honors were divided into three classes, the highest class being
called wranglers, and the highest man among the wranglers,
senior wrangler. In more recent times this examination de-
veloped into what De Morgan called a "great writing race;"
the questions being of the nature of short problems. A candidate
put himself under the training of a coach, that is, a mathema-
tician who made it a business to study the kind of problems
likely to be set, and to train men to solve and write out the
solution of as many as possible per hour. As a consequence
the lectures of the University professors and the instruction of
the college tutors were neglected, and nothing was studied ex-
cept what would pay in the tripos examination. Modifications
have been introduced to counteract these evils, and the con-
ditions have been so changed that there are now no senior
wranglers. The tripos examination used to be followed almost
immediately by another examination in higher mathematics to
determine the award of two prizes named the Smith's prizes.
"Senior wrangler" was considered the greatest academic dis-
tinction in England.

In 1812 Peacock took the rank of second wrangler, and the
second Smith's prize, the senior wrangler being John Herschel.
Two years later he became a candidate for a fellowship in his
college and won it immediately, partly by means of his exten-
sive and accurate knowledge of the classics. A fellowship then
meant about $200 a year, tenable for seven years provided
the Fellow did not marry meanwhile, and capable of being

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