The examination began at eight o'clock in the morning. At nine the papers had to be given up, and half-an-hour was allowed for breakfast. At half-past nine the candidates came back, and were examined in the way described above till eleven, when the senate-house was again cleared. An interval of two hours then took place. At one o'clock all returned to be again examined. At three the senate-house was cleared for half-an-hour, and, on the return of the candidates, the examination was continued till five. At seven in the evening the first four classes went to the senior moderator's rooms to solve problems. They were finally dismissed for the day at nine, after eight hours of examination. The work of Tuesday was similar to that of Monday: Wednesday was partly devoted to logic and moral philosophy. At eight o'clock on Thursday morning a first list was published with all candidates of about equal merits bracketed. Until nine o'clock a candidate had the right to challenge anyone above him to an examination to see which was the better. At nine a second list came out, and a candidate's right of challenge was then confined to the bracket immediately above his own. If he proved himself the equal of or better than the man so challenged his name was transferred to the upper bracket. To challenge and then to fail to substantiate the claim to removal to a higher bracket was considered rather ridiculous. Revised lists were published at eleven, three, and five, according to the results of the examination during that day. At five the whole examination ended. The proctors, moderators, and examiners then retired to a room under the public library to prepare the list of honours, which was sometimes settled in a few hours, but sometimes not before two or three the next morning. The name of the senior wrangler was generally announced at midnight, and the rest of the list the next morning. In 1802 there were eighty-six candidates for honours, and they were divided into fifteen brackets, the first and second brackets containing each one name only, and the third bracket four names. It is clear from the above account that the competition fostered by the examination had developed so much as to threaten to impair its usefulness as guiding the studies of the men. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the carefully devised arrangements for obtaining an accurate order of merit stimulated the best men to throw all their energies into the work for the examination. It is easy to point out the double-edged result of a strict order of merit. The problem before the University was to retain its advantages while checking any abuses to which it might lead.