EDUCATION" 417 week. The highest secondary institution is the gymnasium, which is intended to prepare students for the university. The general plan of instruction is fixed by the state, and great prominence is given to classical studies. The course covers nine years, students being usu- ally received at 9 or 10 and graduated at 18 or 19. The number of recitations varies each year, and ranges from 25 to 32 a week, exclu- sive of singing and turning. The realgymna- sium has a classical and a realistic course com- bined. On the completion of the course in the gymnasium, a thorough examination (Abi- turienten-Exameri) is held, which the stu- dent must pass satisfactorily before obtaining the certificate (Haturitdtszeugniss) by which alone admission to the university is secured. A marked feature of the Prussian system is the governmental supervision of university education. The universities, of which Prus- sia has ten, were in most cases founded by the sovereign, who endowed them with lands and money. The government retains supreme authority over these institutions, and even ap- points the professors ; it also provides for de- ficiencies in their incomes. Special officials (Curatores) form the connecting link between the government and the universities. The German university comprises four schools called faculties : theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. The last named comprises lan- guage and literature, the mathematical, physi- cal, and natural sciences ; in short, the whole range of knowledge as considered independent of the professions. The course of study is commonly four years. Most thorough instruc- tion is given by means of lectures, and exami- nations are held for degrees. The extent of the instruction provided may be inferred from the fact that nearly 400 distinct courses of lec- tures, covering the entire realm of science, let- ters, philosophy, and religion, are given during the year at the Frederick William university in Berlin. To be qualified for a learned pro- fession, or for employment as a teacher in the higher schools and universities, it is necessary to have completed the university course and to have graduated. In the German empire in 1873 there were 21 universities, with 1,734 professors and 18,858 students. The clas- sification of schools in Austria is similar to that in Prussia. The school law of 1869 pro- vides that in every common elementary school (allgemeine Volkssctiule) at least the following subjects shall be taught : religion, language, arithmetic, the most necessary elements of natural philosophy, geography and history, with particular regard to the country and its constitution, writing, geometrical forms, sing- ing, and gymnastics. Girls shall also be in- structed in needlework and housekeeping. The plan of instruction is determined by the minister of education, on the recommendation of the provincial school boards. Eeligious in- struction is cared for and superintended by the respective church boards. The time required to complete the course in these schools is eight years. The obligation to attend begins with the 7th year and lasts until the 14th is completed. Parents or their substitutes, as well as the own- ers of factories and industrial establishments, are responsible for the attendance of children, which may be enforced. The law provides that " the obligation to establish schools shall be regulated by the provincial legislature, on the principle that a school under any circum- stances must be established* in every locality, where, in a circuit of one hour's walk, on an average of five years, more than 40 children can be found who have now to attend a school more distant than one hour's walk. For chil- dren in manufacturing establishments who may be prevented from attending the common school, the proprietors of such factory, &c., shall establish, either by themselves or in con- nection with other manufactories, separate schools of the same grade as the public schools." All schools and educational institutions founded or supported wholly or entirely by the state, by a province, or by municipalities, are accessible to all citizens of the state, without regard to creed. A well organized system of inspection extends to every grade of instruction. The institutions for secondary and superior instruction are simi- lar to those in Prussia. Austria has 4 univer- sities, with (1873) 443 professors and 5,382 students. The institutions devoted to educa- tion in special branches comprise theological seminaries, schools of surgery, higher com- mercial colleges, polytechnic schools, nautical schools, schools of midwifery, of mining, of forestry, of agriculture and horticulture, mili- tary schools, conservatories of music, acade- mies of fine arts, and a school of industrial art. The rigid supervision exercised by the gov- ernment over education in Germany is perhaps most marked in the measures adopted to secure efficient teachers. The teacher, being trained, examined, appointed, and paid by the govern- ment, is regarded as an officer of the government. He is virtually exempt from military service, and is entitled to a pension when no longer able to teach. No person is appointed as teacher who is not in good standing in the church, Lutheran, Catholic, or Jewish. The teachers' seminaries or normal schools are of two grades, designed for the training of teachers for the lower primary schools of the rural districts, and the burgher and other higher schools of the cities. There are separate schools for males and for females. Each one consists of the professional or normal school proper and a primary model school, or school of practice. The number of pupils in each school is limited to about 70, who are ad- mitted by competitive examination, which is open to all over 17 (in some states 18) years of age, who possess certificates as to character, health, natural aptitude, &c. Before being admitted, the candidate must sign an agree- ment to teach for three years after completing the course in the seminary, or to pay the whole cost of his education therein. The course of
