(e) For the committing to memory by the scholars of pieces of poetry of literary merit. This shall be a regularly recurring exercise provided for in the time-table, but no set number of lines is prescribed.

5. The scheme of instruction shall further and principally make provision for the instruction of the scholars in the three subjects of reading, writing and arithmetic, according to the degree of advancement suitable to the capacity of each scholar.

6. The scheme of instruction for the junior division shall in addition make provision for the following:

(a) Nature knowledge (object lessons)—the acquisition by the children, by means of observation and inquiry, of a knowledge of common objects, natural phenomena, and the surroundings of the school.

(b) Practice in speaking English, based upon the preceding and upon the lessons of the reading book.

(c) First notions of geography.

7. In the senior division, instruction in the foregoing subjects shall be continued and amplified as follows:

(

(a) Nature knowledge-direct experimental knowledge of the standards of measure and weight, practice in applying them, in representing them to scale, and in making simple calculations resulting therefrom; some acquaintance with the natural features, the plant life, the industries, and the productions of the district.

(6) English-practice in describing, orally and in writing, actual observations and experiences, and in reproducing the substance of a reading lesson studied beforehand; some knowledge of the structure of English sentences, of the functions of words, and of the related meaning of words from the same root.

(c) Geography-the elements of physical geography. An outline knowledge of the main divisions of the world, with a more detailed knowledge of Europe and a further study of the British Isles and of the colonies.

(d) There shall also be added some knowledge of British history, advancing from an outline knowledge of the main periods to a more detailed study year by year. One of the reading books in use in the senior division must be a manual of history, suitable for use as a reading book in that division of the school.

(b) HIGHER-GRADE SCHOOLS, CODE 1903, ARTICLES 138-140.

Where a special staff of duly qualified teachers is provided for the instruction of pupils at the rate of 1 for every 30 or fewer pupils on the roll, and where a welldefined course of instruction, approved by the department and extending over not less than three years, is given, such school or department may be recognized as a higher-grade school or department.

Such schools or departments may give an education which is either predominantly scientific and technical--higher-grade (science) schools, or predominantly commercial-higher-grade (commercial) schools, or they may give a course which is recognized by the department as specially suited to girls or to special classes of pupils.

In all cases the department must be satisfied that the school possesses the proper provision of class rooms, laboratories, and workshops necessary for the particular type of education to be given therein.

In circumstances approved by the department a higher-grade school may be recognized as giving alternative courses (two or more), provided that there is a supply of qualified teachers for each course; that the organization of the school is not unduly complicated, and that, as a rule, pupils follow out the course with which they begin. In all higher-grade schools of whatever kind, the curriculum must embrace the subjects of English, history, geography, higher arithmetic, and drawing, and the instruction in these subjects must follow prescribed lines.

Pupils following the higher-grade science course must take in addition the following subjects: Mathematics, experimental science, and as a rule some form of manual work.

Pupils following the higher-grade commercial course must as a rule take, in addition to the subjects named in the first paragraph above, one or more modern languages, bookkeeping, shorthand, and knowledge of commercial products. The study of arithmetic, of history, and of geography in this course should have a commercial application, and the teaching of a modern language should have for its object the attainment of ability to speak as well as to read and write the language.

a For this purpose simple balances and examples of the common standard weights and measures should be provided, and should be made available for the use of the children.

Special higher-grade courses for girls may be admitted, giving, in addition to the subjects named in the first paragraph of this article, a practical training in household economy.

The first year of the different courses in the same school may be identical, provided that it includes instruction both in experimental science and in a modern language.

In the second year of the higher-grade science course not less than eight, and in the third year not less than ten, hours a week must as a rule be allotted to science and at least half of this time must be spent by the pupils in individual experimental work. For the purpose of this article three hours of drawing or of manual instruction or of both conjointly will be reckoned as equivalent to two hours of science. In the third and following years manual instruction may be dropped, and the pupil should devote himself to the study of some special branch of science.

In the second year of the higher-grade commercial course at least eight hours, and in the third year ten hours, a week must as a rule be allotted to the study of a modern language or languages.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Higher education is provided in Great Britain and Ireland by universities and university colleges, and professional education by special schools of medicine attached to the principal hospitals and by schools of law and of theology.

The number of students in the universities and university colleges for the successive years of the decade 1889-1900 is shown in the following table:

a The statistics are taken from the Statesman's Yearbook for the dates specified.

Attendance at universities of Great Britain, 1889-1900—Continued.

a The unusually high attendance this year seems due to excess of evening students. bOf some 18 colleges formerly comprised under the head of university colleges all but 4 are comprised in the statistics of the following university organizations: London, Victoria, and Birmingham. c Included in London University.

UNIVERSITY NOTES.

The extension of the sphere of university influence and activity is one of the most significant facts in the recent educational history of Great Britain. Oxford and Cambridge, as already stated, have come into closer relation with the great body of secondary schools in the country by the system of local and of school examinations. The work technically known as university extension is maintained by Oxford and Cambridge and by London University and has developed under their auspices many features of peculiar interest.

An important meeting of Congregation of Oxford University was held November 11 (current year) to consider the following resolution, proposed on behalf of the Hebdomadal Council: "That candidates shall not be required to offer both Greek and Latin in the examination in stated subjects in responsions." After prolonged discussion the resolution was rejected by a vote of 189 to 168.

The year was made memorable at this university by the celebration (October 9) of the tercentenary of the Bodleian Library. An extended account of this venerable institution is given in chapter 24 of this Report.

The University of London has been reorganized in accordance with the statutes and regulations drawn up by the royal commission appointed under the "University of London acts,” 1898. Under these statutes, which received the royal assent June 29, 1900, the university undertakes teaching functions in addition to the examination work which was formerly its exclusive function.

The schools of the university as named in the statutes are as follows:

(1) University College and King's College (admitting women in all the faculties), (2) the 10 medical schools, (3) the 6 theological colleges, (4) the Royal College of Science and the Southeastern Agricultural College (in agriculture only), (5) the City and Guilds Institute (in engineering), (6) the London College of Economics, (7) the

Royal Holloway College and Bedford College. To this list the senate may add at its discretion any public educational institution within the prescribed limits. All schools will be open to visitation, and are liable to be removed from the list.

At the presentation day of the University of London, on May 14, Lord Roseberry was welcomed as the new chancellor. In his report upon the work of the university during the past year Principal Rücker referred in particular to the following points:

The organization of the university has been completed by the addition of a new department for university extension and the inspection of schools. Regulations have been passed for the admission of post-graduate students from other universities to study for the doctorate in London, and it is satisfactory to be able to record that a considerable number of such students are, or are about to be, placed upon the books of the university. Two chairs of chemistry are to be established at University College-one for general chemistry, which will be filled by Professor Ramsay, the other for organic chemistry. In no subject has the difference between the completeness of English and foreign educational equipment been more marked than in chemistry. Only two or three educational institutions in this country have more than one professor of chemistry, while in Germany even a university of the second class usually has several professors in that department. It is hoped that the chairs now founded in University College will be the beginning of a great chemical department worthy of London. A very large scheme, which will have an important bearing on the future organization of the university, has been set on foot in consequence of the munificent offer of the Drapers' Company to give £30,000 in aid of the incorporation of University College in the university. The authorities, both of the university and of the college, have agreed in principle to the main outlines of a plan for incorporation, provided that an initial sum of £110,000 can be raised. There is every reason to hope that this condition will before long be fulfilled. While the university has been engaged in entering into closer relations with the various schools, and in negotiations for the complete absorption of one of them, it has also been undertaking teaching on its own account. All the leading physiologists in London have banded themselves together to give courses of lectures on that subject for advanced and postgraduate students, and Mr. Walter Palmer has generously given a sum of £2,000 to enable the experiment to be tried as to whether such lectures would attract an adequate number of students; the university has contributed another £400, and has also placed a suite of rooms in the university buildings at the disposal of the teachers as laboratories and lecture rooms. To obtain an idea of the research work being done in London, recognized teachers of the university were asked to supply a short statement as to the publications of themselves, their assistants, and students during the past twelve months. Nearly 600 memoirs, papers, and minor communications to scientific and literary journals have been reported. As might have been expected from the large number of its members, the medical faculty takes the lead in the number of its publications, somewhat less than half the above total being communications to professional medical societies and journals. Teachers of the university, their assistants, and students have made about 220 additions to general scientific literature. They have been the authors, or joint authors, of 11 papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society, or of about 80 papers which have appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, and in the journals of the Chemical, Linnean, Physiological, and other kindred societies. University College heads the list with a total of about 100 memoirs and papers, while the polytechnics have contributed about a

score.

In concluding his report the principal remarked: "It is time that London should realize that it is not the want of men, or a dearth of intellectual effort, which has hindered the University of London from taking its place as a great center of teaching and research. Our needs are organization, which shall make the results of the work of the teachers, their assistants, and students more fruitful and better known, as results of which London may be proud, and funds to supply them with the materials for their work." (Nature, May 22, 1902.)

The university colleges recently established in the great centers of industry are rapidly extending their resources and influence. These colleges are characterized by their liberal provision for science instruction and for technical training, and also by the admission of women on the same terms as men. Private and public resources have combined in their support, and the last and most striking phase of their development is their ascent into university organization. Owens College, Manchester (dating from 1851), Yorkshire College, Leeds (1874), and University College, Liver

pool (1881), are comprised in Victoria University, incorporated in 1880. The three colleges of Wales-Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Cardiff-pertain to the University of Wales, incorporated in 1893, and Mason College, Birmingham, is the nucleus of Birmingham University, incorporated 1900. The development has been stimulated also by a Parliamentary grant which has been appropriated annually since 1889 to be shared by the university colleges of England on the condition that they submit reports to the education department.

The grant, which began at £15,000, was raised to £25,000 in 1897. Upon similar terms the three university colleges of Wales receive each annually £4,000 from the treasury.

Owens College, the oldest of these modern foundations, celebrated its jubilee with imposing ceremonies March 12 and 13 of the current year.

The question of chief moment during the year in respect to the Scotch universities has been that of the reorganization of their curricula to meet modern demands. For this purpose additional resources are greatly needed. To Glascow University belongs the credit for initiating the first concerted steps toward a new reform. The report of a conference of the Glasgow faculty on extra summer term was forwarded to the arts faculty in Edinburgh. The latter concluded that it would be best to discuss the whole question of the arts curriculum and not merely the single issue-the extension of the academic year. At the request of the senate, Professor Chrystal, dean of the faculty of arts, undertook the task of preparing a public report of the proceedings and of the conclusions arrived at.

The report, which is regarded as a most important document, is thus summarized in the School World, October, 1902.

DEFECTS OF THE PRESENT CURRICULUM.

(1) One of the main defects is that the work of the students is compressed into too short a period of the year. The student sits day by day in the lecture room, and a series of pictures are thrown on his mind, like lantern views on a screen, each vanishing before it has had time to fix the attention. Lectures to be effective must be broken and assisted by exercises, by recitations, by reading, by reflection, by revisal, all done by the student himself, and also supplemented in varying degrees according to the subject by tutorial instruction.

(2) The great variety of the subjects of the ordinary degree, their want of corelation, and the possibility of taking each of them separately, encourage the student to skim over each as rapidly as possible, and to dismiss each successively from his mind. (3) The strain of the high-pressure work of the winter session tests to breaking point in many instances the health of both students and professors.

PROPOSED ALTERATIONS IN THE ARTS CURRICULUM.

(1) It should be made possible to extend the courses that qualify for the degree of M. A. over a longer portion of the year, say from October 1 to June 30.

(2) In the interest of students who are willing and able to do sustained work on particular subjects, some concentration should be allowed with a corresponding degree of relief from the compulsions of the present curriculum for the ordinary degree of M. A.

(3) A greater variety of honors groups should be recognized, and graduation in honors in more than one group fostered by greater exemption from subjects taken on the ordinary standard.

(4) To economize the energy of the students and give a higher tone to their class work, the example of the American universities and of the new Birmingham University should be followed of allowing class work to count in part for graduation under such limitations as may be thought desirable to prevent possible abuse.

(5) To provide for the greater length of the courses, and to indemnify the university for the loss of fees caused by the abolition of the present summer classes, an increased fee might justifiably be charged.