The course of study pursued by very many boys in secondary schools who take an advanced course after matriculation is governed by the syllabus of the intermediate examination of a degree in a university other than those of Oxford and Cambridge. In London those boys who intend to specialise in mathematics generally take physics and chemistry as well. It is clear that physics is a valuable complementary study for the mathematical specialist, but it is not so clear that chemistry is. It is a pity that the intermediate qualification cannot be obtained on a syllabus in mathematics a good deal more advanced than the present one, coupled with the present syllabus in physics.