EDUCATION 431 the continent, but ample instruction of this kind is afforded in the former country by numerous schools of the arts and academies of design, mechanics' institutes and museums with courses of lectures on various branches of applied science, and universities for the working classes, such as the Andersonian university in Glasgow, in which working men and others have the advantage of regular courses of lectures on the sciences. In the United States, the chief polytechnic schools, at least those distinctively so called, are the Massachusetts school of technology in Boston, the Eensselaer polytechnic institute in Troy, N. Y., the polytechnic college of Pennsylva- nia, in Philadelphia, and the Stevens institute of technology, in Hoboken, N". J. The first named institution, founded in 1862, comprises: 1, a school of industrial science ; 2, a mu- seum of arts ; 3, a society of arts. The course of study is four years. Candidates for admission must have attained the age of 16 years and pass an examination in the branch- es ordinarily taught in a high school or acade- my. The objects of the institute are: 1, to provide a full course of scientific studies and practical exercises for students seeking to qualify themselves for the professions of the mechanical engineer, civil engineer, practical chemist, engineer of mines, and builder and architect ; 2, to furnish a general education founded upon the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences, English and other modern languages, and mental and political science ; 3, to provide courses of evening instruction in the main branches of knowledge above refer- red to for persons of either sex. Instruction of this kind is provided for in other institu- tions, and will constitute a feature in the colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts endowed by the national grant. Prominent among the excellent special schools of various kinds maintained in Europe, which are either not found in the United States or exist only in a very imperfect state, are the schools of for- estry, which have contributed largely toward the preservation and better cultivation of for- ests. Among the best are those of Austria, which possesses vast public and private forests. The aim of these schools is to give a thorough theoretical and practical instruction in wood- craft, so as to prepare competent foresters and hunters. Instruction is classified into lower, middle, and superior ; the course is from one to three years. The imperial academy of for- estry at Mariabrunn is under the immediate administration of the minister of agriculture ; it has one director and four professors, and a course of three years. Until recently there have been in the United States either no opportuni- ties for public instruction in veterinary science, or they have been exceedingly limited. The Massachusetts agricultural college and Cornell university have each a professor of veterinary science ; and since 1857 there has been a vete- rinary college in New York which claims to 284 VOL. vi. 28 be the only regular institution of this kind in the country. The United States commissioner of education, John Eaton, estimating the value of all the horses in the United States at $800,000,000, concludes " that the proportion of this amount annually lost for want of skilful medical treatment is not less than $15,000,000." In Europe there are more than 25 well organ- ized veterinary colleges, the best of which are found in Germany. The aim of the imperial school of veterinary surgery in Vienna, which may be taken as an example, is to educate vet- erinary surgeons for the army and the civil service, to advance the science of veterinary surgery, and to treat sick animals of every kind in its large and well appointed hospital. In- struction is theoretical and practical, the course lasting three years for students and two years for doctors of medicine and surgery who have taken a university degree. Besides annual ex- aminations a rigorous examination is held at the end of the course, when certificates are given which entitle the graduate to become a veterinary surgeon in the army or in the civil service. A special two years' course of horse- shoeing, for private cavalry and artillery sol- diers, is connected with the schools. When this is successfully completed, a certificate of "privileged horseshoer" is given. In some other veterinary schools the course of instruc- tion is four years. Schools of navigation are found in most of the maritime countries of Eu- rope, the object of which is to train mariners and masters of merchant vessels. The school of navigation at Stettin, Prussia, has a direc- tor, two professors, and an assistant who teaches drawing. Lessons are given 32 hours a week for three years, the first being a course for pilots, while during the last two the art of navigating the high seas is taught. Schools for nurses (mid wives) are common in Europe, and in some countries no woman is allowed to practise as midwife unless she is provided with their certificate. Austria has eight of these schools, and instruction of the same kind is also given to women at the faculties of medi- cine in the universities and at the schools of surgery. The course of instruction occupies four, five, or six months. It is both theoreti- cal and practical, and is given by a professor of obstetrics, aided by a midwife and a nurse. A thorough examination is held at the end of the course. In the Austrian schools for midwives more than 1,200 are instructed every year. The United States are very deficient in means for such education, though a few of the medical col- leges have courses of lectures for nurses, and the number of female medical schools is increasing. Special schools of architecture, although of comparatively recent origin, now form a part of the educational system of various continen- tal countries. In the royal architectural acad- emy of Berlin instruction is given by more than 20 professors besides numerous assistants, and extends through from five to seven years. A certificate of builder is given after a two years'
