Zoology. In the classes of the preparatory year the professor of zoology should choose for subjects of his conversations the natural history of animals which the pupils have constantly under their eyes, such as the horse, the dog, the cat, the mole, &c. He should at first merely touch upon isolated facts calculated to rouse youthful curiosity, and to give the pupils the habit of accounting sensibly for that which they observe; then he should proceed to a comparative examination of two or more animals which are like each other in some things, but which differ from each other on other points. He should explain, while indicating the relative importance of each point of resemblance and of dissemblance, how one may, by means of classification, summarize the knowledge one has acquired, and group the individual facts, so as to relieve the memory to put order into one's ideas, and to rise gradually to correct generalizations.

era.

Thus with the study of the horse its character and the services which it renders to man should be combined; details as to the habits of wild horses, and as to the means of taming them, as also comparative remarks on the horse, the ass, and the zebra, in order to awaken the idea of families of animals, or genWhen the master has sketched the history of the dog, pointed out the acuteness of its sense of smell, its uncommon intelligence, and the effect of education on the development of its faculties, he should dwell on the qualities which the bull dog, the shepherd's dog, the spaniel, the terrier, the greyhound, and the poodle have in common, and whence it will be easy to draw an exact notion of the species. The cat should be compared with the tiger and the lion. The mole, the appearance and the habits of which should be described; the swallows and the charming history of their periodical migrations; the frogs and their metamorphoses; the cockchafer and its ravages; the silkworm and its useful cocoon; the bee and its honey; the inhabitants of the poultry-yard, the birds of passage, &c., will form most interesting subjects of conversation.

Botany. The lessons in botany should be given in the same order, and in the same spirit. The professor should choose a few plants known to every one; he should induce the pupils to gather these for themselves, and during his lesson they should have constantly before their eyes either the plants or colored plates of them, giving the ensemble as well as the details. It seems natural first to fix the attention of young pupils on an active phenomenon, such as the germ, which is susceptible of being reproduced and examined in all its principle circumstances, in the bean, in eorn, in Indian corn, the horse-chesnut, &c. The special history of certain plants, selected according to locality and season, and studied in their entirety and in their applications, will afford the master an opportunity of making known the general part played by the root, the stem, the flower, and the fruit, as also their essential modifications. He should commence with the study of plants bearing large flowers, such as almond, peach, apple, pear, and cherry-trees, the strawberry plant, the rose bush, the comparison of which will awaken in the mind of the pupil the idea of natural families of plants, peas, beans, and other common leguminous plants, colza, mustard, and a few other cruciferæ, the peony and poppy, mint, rosemary, thyme, sage, and some labiated plants, the potato and tobacco plant, the artichoke, nettle and daisy, beetroot, hemp, the lily, garlic, and the tulip, &e., and finally some common plants, the analysis of which is more difficult, such as wheat, oats, barley, Indian corn, all these may serve as tests for useful remarks relative to their struc

ture, their duration, the uses they are put to, and the particulars regarding those parts of them which are made available by man. Among trees the oak, the walnut, the maple, the pine, the fir, &c., furnish equally interesting examples.

Geology. The same method should be followed in geology. The examination of existing phenomena will help to make the pupil understand how many parts of the earth have been formed. Thus, after a violent shower of rain, the master may point out that the loose earth carried away by the currents form alluvion on the banks, or in the beds of rivulets, and rivers, and particularly at the mouths (deltas of the Rhone and of the Nile); that these deposits overlie each other and are constantly rising in height (stratification), and that animals which live in the water or have their habitations near the sea, must frequently be buried in the alluvion; hence the origin of fossils. The water spread over the earth is always undergoing evaporation, forms clouds, and falls again as rain or snow, which is imbibed by the soil. Formation of springs, of rivulets, rivers, &c. The rain-water dissolves certain substances which it encounters in the earth. Incrustations.-On high mountains the snow remains perpetually: glaciers; artesian wells, the water in these is tepid; thermal springs; central heat; volcanoes; metallic mines, &c.

CALIGRAPHY.

Commerce and industry demand, with right, a good handwriting of the persons they employ. In the schools for special instruction, the handwriting of the pupils will be the object of particular care; there will be four writing lessons in the week. As the art of symbolizing words by the use of conventional characters is a purely initiative art, in order to hasten the progress of the children, those whose writing is defective should be mixed with those who write better. During the first years the length of the tasks given should be limited, so that the master may exact a very careful execution, and so that every task should be an exercise in caligraphy.

Instead of giving as copies insignificant and disconnected phrases, a series of moral maxims should be composed, and expressed in a way easily retained in the memory, or very short fragments relating to industry, to history, or to the natural sciences. The pupils should collect these copies into books, which they will perhaps, at future periods, consult with pleasure.

DRAWING.

The pupils of the special schools should learn to handle the pencil as well as the pen. Only on this condition will they acquire that firmness of hand and correctness of eye which will be of so much importance to them in their future

careers.

As among the pupils who frequent these schools there will be future foremen, to whom a knowledge of the use of the rule and compass is indispensable, the lessons in free-hand drawing should alternate with exercises in linear drawing.

These exercises should be made on the board with wooden instruments, foot-rule, square, &c. The subjects of study will only admit of two dimensions, and should be chosen so as to enable them to be constructed with the help of a few, simple data. To join two straight lines, to develop a broken line; to trace perpendiculars and parallels with the compass; the division of straight

lines; proportional lines; construction of a scale of proportion; division of arcs and angles, &c., horizontal and vertical lines; the diagonal of the square, octagons, starred polygons, &c., &c.

Free-hand drawing, which should occupy the greater part of the time, should comprise parallel straight lines, and curved lines parallel to each other, the division of lines into equal parts, measured by the eye only; the first outlines of the face, the veins in leaves, very simple architectural roses (rosaces), the stems of plants, some animals, &c., &c. A series of well graduated ornaments litho graphed in alto relievo.

But it is not sufficient to train the eye to see correctly, and the hand to execute well, the taste for the beautiful which is to direct their future artistic creations, must also be instilled into the pupils. Care should therefore be taken that the lithographs, engravings, and plaster models, given to them to copy, should always be excellent of their kind, and of simple execution, and the forms should never be concealed under unnecessary shadings (crayonnage.) This choice of models is of the greatest importance.

GYMNASTICS.

Gymnastics are to the body what study is to the mind. The intellect is fortified by exercise, and the body develops itself more normally if, at fixed hours, it be made to go through regular movements. Now the mind itself is the gainer if the body perform its functions regularly. Gymnastics are therefore a duty as well as a hygienic recreation. Every special college should have a gymnasium, and, as nothing connected with the important matter of education, whether mental or physical, should be left to chance, the programme of the lessons in gymnastics has been elaborated with the same care as that of the other branches of instruction. If, indeed, a certain amount of gymnastics is favorable to the development of nature, there is reason to fear that an excess of these exercises may injure this development, just as the mind is injured by excess of study. The pupils in the preparatory division should only be put through gentle and easy exercises, and these should be accompanied with singing. The rhythmic cadence which regulates these common movements, has even an effect on the moral nature of the children, and the efforts which they make to emit the tones in singing, exercise a progressive and salutary influence on the respiration, by causing a periódical expansion of the chest. Placing themselves in a row, with or without intervals; marching, with accompaniment of songs; rhythmical running, but never long enough to cause fatigue; movements of the arms and legs, accompanied by singing; series of exercises preparatory to swimming; principles of jumping on the spot, or leaps, preceded by a run; series of exercises with dumb-bells, of a weight proportionate to the age and strength of the children, &c., &c.

SINGING.

All the special colleges will

Singing is a powerful means of education. therefore comprise singing-classes. Each lesson should commence with singing in unison, in order to steady the voice; the pupils should be grouped according to the capacity of their voices, and each group should, in its turn, go through the exercises prepared. The lesson should conclude with the practice of easy and melodious choruses. During the preparatory year there should be taught

a few principles, and many tunes of a simple and agreeable character, set to good words, but very little musical grammar. As for the method to be employed, it must, provisionally, be the one that the master knows best how to apply.

FIRST YEAR.

SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION.

French-continuation....
Modern languages...

History-The great epochs of ancient Greek, Roman, and mediæval
history...

Geography-The five divisions of the globe. Detailed study of the

geography of Europe.....

Mathematics-Arithmetic and plane geometry-continuation..
Preliminary notions of physics and chemistry.

Natural history, zoology (vertebrate, the principal mammals),
botany, geology.

Caligraphy

Drawing

Written Test of Preparation.-The weakness of pupils admitted into a class reacts throughout all the ensuing year, and insensibly lowers the level of the studies. In consequence, every pupil who presents himself for admission to the first year's course, shall write a composition from which it may be judged whether he will be able to follow the lessons with advantage. The composi tion should bear upon the French language and upon arithmetic; the subjects should be given by the professors of the first year's course, whose opinion is mentioned in the procès verbal sent to the rector.

Recapitulary Lessons.-The professors should commence their course with a few recapitulary lessons. This return to the matters taught the preceding year is, it is true, more useful when the master follows his class, and every year advances one step forward with them. This system which, for diverse reasons, the university has abandoned, has, nevertheless, its advantages, for it enables the master to acquire a more thorough knowledge of the character, the nature, and the intellectual capacities of his pupils; it gives time for the development of sentiments of good will and affection, which render the task of instruction easier. Living during several years with their pupils, the masters become attached to them, take an interest in their progress and in their future prospects, as matters specially concerning themselves. The success of the pupil becomes thus a matter of honor to the master. This old system which has been preserved, and with some success, in the Polytechnic School, and also in classical schools which are not connected with the University, might, to a certain extent, be adopted in the special schools.

FRENCH.

French (continuation).—The lessons given during the course of the preceding year should be continued according to the same method, and in the same spirit. The first part of the lesson should consist in dictation. The pupils should correct each other's copies, the master should examine the corrections, and the next day return the copies with his remarks upon them. The second part of the lesson should consist in reading, whence a few grammatical rules should be deducted, more especially such as will admit of the whole terminating with a practical maxim. The pieces selected for dictation, and for reading, should be longer and more difficult than those of the preceding year.

The task given should be repeating by heart the fragment read in the class.

MODERN LANGUAGES.

The same general direction should be followed as previously indicated for

these languages.

The pupils of this class should each in turn write on the blackboard a translation of a sentence dictated in French.

The task should be to learn by heart a fragment to be recited during the next lesson.

HISTORY.

The great epochs in ancient Greek, Roman, and Mediæval History.—It is generally recognized that literary studies exercise a most powerful influence on the development of the mind and the heart; therefore in the combination of the divers parts of the programmes of the special schools, as a general rule almost equal parts have been assigned to literature and to science. Besides, the pupils of the special classes ought not to remain entirely ignorant of the important events that have marked the course of centuries, or to leave school without having heard of the great men who have influenced the destiny of empires. But, as such a plan embraces the entire world, the master should limit himself to a few short narratives calculated to make a strong and vivid impression on young minds, and to constitute a course of practical morality.

Thus after having devoted a few lessons to the recapitulation of sacred history, which has been carefully studied in the primary classes, the teacher should point out Egypt, and its most remarkable monuments; Assyria, with the farfamed names of Semiramis and Sardanapalus; the Persians under Cyrus and Darius; Greece, which in Lycurgus, Solon, Miltiades, Aristide, Themistocles, and Pericles, will furnish him with fine examples to cite. He should mention the battles of Leuctra and Mantinea, of Granica and Arbelles, and move on rapidly to Roman history, which he should sketch in broad outlines; the foundation of Rome, Cincinnatus, Fabricius, the Decii, &c., the Punic Wars, the Gracchi, Cicero, Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine. Then the barbarians, Attila, Genseric, and Clovis; finally, Justinian, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon, Saint Louis, the capture of Constantinople, &c.

The effect of this course will be to make known to the pupils of the specials schools, certain names and certain facts which are constantly recurring in books, in museums, in works of art, even in every-day conversation, and of which no one ought to be ignorant.

GEOGRAPHY.

The five divisions of the Globe; detailed study of the Map of Europe.-France having been studied the previous year, the general Map of Europe should now be traced on the blackboard, then successively the map of Asia, Africa, America, Australia, and lastly the map of the world, or the planisphere; but the only details given should be the great mountain chains, the most commonlyknown rivers, and the capitals of the principal states.

After the pupils have acquired this general knowledge of the great continents and seas, the master should lead them back to a more detailed study of Europe, and particularly of the regions surrounding France, with which her relations are most frequent. He should continue to mark on the blackboard, or later on small maps, the great physical features, and then the principal cities dwelling on their industrial or commercial importance.