The first examination is the same as that required for the first examination in the case of Sc. B., and relates to the knowledge of the candidate of the following subjects:-1. Mathematics. 2. Chemistry. 3. Botany. 4. Geology. 5. Zoology. 6. Experimental physics.

This examination is compulsory on all candidates who do not possess the following qualifications:

A.-Masters of arts who have taken honors in the natural sciences.

Masters of arts who have not taken honors in the natural sciences are exempted from mathematics and experimental physics only.

B.-Bachelors and doctors of medicine who have taken honors in the natural sciences at their professional examinations, and who have passed in higher mathematics, natural philosophy, and logic, in their extra professional or preliminary examinations.

C.-Holders of certificates from the classes in science devoted to the foregoing subjects in the University of Edinburgh, showing that the candidate obtained 80 per cent. of the available marks during the session. Any of the subjects cleared by such a certificate will be omitted from the written examination.

The candidate who has passed successfully this examination may present himself at the next examination for his degree of bachelor of agriculture (Agr. B.)

For this examination the candidate must produce certificates of acquaintance with practical agriculture, and is required, with the view of specializing his studies, to profess one, and not more than one, of the following groups of subjects, with their practical relations to agriculture:

A-Natural Sciences.-Botany-Geology-Zoology.
B.-Experimental Science.-Chemistry—Physics.

C.-Mechanical Science.-Mechanics-Engineering.

The certificates of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Highland Society, and the Royal Agricultural College, will be accepted for practical agriculture.

Successful candidates who have thus acquired the degree of Agr. B. may, at the next period of examination, provided they have attained the age of 21, proceed to the examination for the degree of master of agriculture (Agr. M.) For this degree the candidate will be required to submit to a searching examination on one of the following subjects, in its special relation to agriculture. A.-Agricultural chemistry-organic and inorganic.

B.-Agricultural mechanics.

C.-Engineering (civil)-surveying, draining, &c.
D.-Natural history-botany, geology, &c.

E-Animal physiology-breeding, rearing, &c., of animals.

Should the candidate pass successfully this examination, he will receive the degree of master of agriculture (Agr. M.)

The examinations for degrees will be conducted by university examiners, and an examiner appointed by the Highland Society.

B.-Engineering-Civil and Mechanical.-1st. All candidates for a degree in engineering must have the qualifications required for matriculation before passing a science decree.

There will be two examinations in engineering for the degree of bachelor of engineering (Sc. Mach. B.), and a third for the degree of master of engineering (Sc. Mach. M.) The examinations will be both written and oral. The first examination is as to the general knowledge of the candidate on the following subjects:-1. Mathematics. 2. Natural Philosophy. 3. Chemistry.

This examination is called the first bachelor of engineering examination, and is compulsory on all who do not possess the following qualifications:—

A.-Masters of arts who have taken honors in the departments of math-
ematics or natural science.

B.-Bachelors in science in the University of Edinburgh or London.
C.-Graduates in science who have passed the first bachelor of science
examination in the University of Edinburgh.

The candidate who has successfully passed the first bachelor of engineering examination may proceed to the second examination, which is to be entitled the second bachelor of engineering examination.

The candidate will be examined in the following subjects:

(4.) Mathematics applied to mechanics.

(B.) Engineering:-Civil engineering, mechanical engineering, surveying and leveling.

(C.) Drawing.-Geometrical projection, mechanical drawing, plans and

surveys.

The candidate having passed successfully the first bachelor of engineering examination (or having the qualifications necessary to escape this examination), after passing with approval the second examination, shall be recommended to the Senatus for the degree of bachelor of engineering.

This degree will indicate that the student has received such a preparation as will qualify him to enter with advantage the office of a civil engineer or the workshop of a mechanical engineer as a pupil.

Should the candidate desire to become a master of engineering, he may present himself for a third examination. All candidates for this degree must prove that they have passed at least two years as a pupil under a civil engineer in practice, or in a mechanical workshop. He must then profess one, and not more than one, of the subdivisions in each of the two following groups of subjects:

1st. Practical Engineering.—(a.) The design of machinery, with complete drawings, specifications, and estimates. (b.) The preparation of designs, specifications, and estimates for some civil engineering work. 2d. Applied Science.-(a.) Applied mathematics. (b.) Chemistry. (c.) Geology. (d) One branch of experimental physics. (e.) Telegraphy. The class of machinery, or the nature of the engineering work in which the student is examined, will be chosen with reference to the special work in which he has been engaged during his pupilage.

This degree will indicate that the student is qualified to practice the profession of an engineer.

The examination for degrees will be conducted by University examiners, and an examiner appointed by the Institute of Civil Engineers.

For the degrees in sections A. and B. (agriculture and engineering), the same rates will be charged as for the degrees in science.

C.-Veterinary Surgery.―The University of Edinburgh propose to institute a degree in veterinary surgery, open to qualified students of all the veterinary schools in Great Britain who comply with the regulations laid down for such degree.

All candidates for examination for such degree must be 21 years of age, and have obtained by examination a veterinary diploma or license from some recognized teaching or licensing body in Great Britain.

This diploma or license will be accepted as satisfactory evidence of the candidate's general education, and of his acquaintance with the groundwork of his profession, and will exempt him from the preliminary and the "bachelor's" examinations, required in the other sections of the department of applied science.

Candidates will be also required to produce certificates of attendance upon at least three out of the following list of classes in the University of Edinburgh: 1. Anatomy. 2. Institutes of medicine (physiology). 3. Surgery. 4. Natural history. 5. Botany. 6. Agriculture.

Candidates thus qualified will be admitted to examination for the degree of master of veterinary surgery (C. V. M.)

The examinations in all the above subjects, in their applications to veterinary surgery, will be both oral and written, and be held at the close of the winter session. They will be conducted by the University examiners on the respective subjects of examination, assisted by an examiner appointed by the Council of the Veterinary College of Edinburgh, and an examiner appointed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

For the degree of veterinary surgery, the fee will be 107. 10s.

But no University has been so serviceable in developing popular science or technical instruction as the Andersonian Institution at Glasgow, and the Watt Institute at Edinburgh.

NATURAL SCIENCE AND MODERN LANGUAGES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

Among the significant movements of the year (1870) are the following extracts from a communication, by the Chairman of the Endowed Schools Commission, to the chief authority in all the principal Universities in Great Britain:

That the course of study insisted on by the Universities must to a great extent govern the course adopted in the higher schools, is a proposition which will probably he accepted without argument. Though it may be the case that only a very few scholars are intended for the University, those few are the most prominent, stay the longest, and give a bias to the whole education of the place; and numbers of schools are thus forced or irresistibly attracted into a course which is not that best suited to the bulk of those for whom they are designed. The practical result is, that the study of the Greek and Latin Classics becomes the highest aim of all great schools; an end to which the whole system is adapted, and which has hitherto overshadowed and dwarfed all efforts in other directions.

We do not propose to discuss here the question whether the Greek and Latin languages are the finest and most efficient organs of mental training. We merely rest upon the fact that many competent judges say that they are not; and that very large numbers of the middle classes in England view with suspicion, if not with aversion, the predominance of these subjects in the ordinary school course. This suspicion or aversion may not always be very intelligent, or founded on clearly assignable reasons; but it is instinctive, it is widely spread, it tallies with the undoubtedly intelligent judgments above referred to, and the fact of its existence is a reason for endeavoring to establish other alternative and additional modes of training, more acceptable to at least a large number of people. The state of opinion is such as to leave no room for doubt that these newer methods will be followed by many, who, if they can not find sufficient aid in this country, will have recourse, as some are now doing, to Germany and other foreign countries.

We start, then, from the fact that there exists a strong demand for more training by other than classical studies, and that the subjects generally suggested are Mathematics, Modern Languages, and Natural Science.

Mathematics have a recognized footing in the country; they have long been the leading study at Cambridge, and are a fully-established study at Oxford; and we do not think it necessary to dwell upon them.

The advantage of Modern Languages for practical use is obvious enough. And there are many who think they may be made an excellent organ of mental training. On this head we refer to the Schools Inquiry Report, pp. 25-28.

The evidence in favor of Natural Science is stronger still. We would refer to the same Report, p. 34, and to a Report made in the year 1867 to the British Association, which will be found published by the Schools Inquiry Commission in vol. ii., p. 219. It is clear that amongst highly educated men who have studied the subject deeply, there are some who think that, both for the practical nature of the knowledge it conveys, and for its severe training of the whole range of mental faculties, Natural Science has a higher claim than any other subject to be the chief instrument of education.

It appears to us, as it appeared to the Schools Inquiry Commissioners (Report, p. 87), that a demand made by so many parents, and supported by strong proof of its reasonableness, ought to be ungrudgingly conceded. The question for us is not so much whether the demand should be met, as what measures are required to give it practical effect. It is not enough to establish schools with what may be called a modern curriculum, but intended only for those scholars who terminate their school career at fourteen or sixteen years of age; for the time does not allow of a fair trial of the new methods, nor would such schools meet the want of the more intelligent part of the parents who make the demand. Nor is it enough to add the modern studies to the ordinary classical curriculum in higher schools, for that involves the dangerous risk of distracting the minds of the pupils, and dismissing them with a smattering instead of a

solid hold of knowledge, and of encouraging habits of skimming over a variety of surfaces instead of grappling closely with difficulties. Nor can the ancient and modern studies be wisely put as rival objects of pursuit in the same school, with the almost inevitable result of the supremacy of the one and the decay of the other. For, as experience has shown, the one to decay is that which has not got on its side long usage, or established reputation, or the associations of old institutions, or the sympathies of the great body of teachers, or the substantial attractions of endowments.

We are convinced that, in order to give a fair trial and full play to the study of Modern Languages and Natural Science, it is necessary to establish some schools of the first grade (i. e. schools retaining their scholars to the age of eighteen or nineteen), in which these subjects should be the staple of the course, and to that end the time and importance assigned to Classics be much diminished. Nor can we doubt which part of the ordinary curriculum should be sacrificed for this purpose. Something not inconsiderable may, no doubt, be done by dropping some of the elegancies of Latin scholarship, and teaching that language more with a view to a knowledge of its structure and the capacity of understanding its literature than with a view to composition. But that Latin should in the main be retained, we do not question. If Modern Languages are to be studied, Latin lies at the base of Italian, Spanish, and French, and enters largely into English. Its practical use in life is appreciable; until within the last four centuries, Latin was the language in which the largest part of the business of Western Europe was recorded, and almost the whole of its literature was written. No ecclesiastic, lawyer, antiquarian, or physician can dispense with all knowledge of it. Greek has none of these uses, while yet it takes more time to learn, is forgotten sooner, and is the object of greater suspicion and dislike to parents. It belongs to the classical region, and to that alone; and from its difficulty, and also its attractiveness, must be expected to receive a large share of the student's time and attention, if it is to answer any sufficient purpose. No school can be other than a classical school in which Greek is effectively studied.

Influenced by these considerations, we have determined to venture on the experiment of employing some of the Educational Endowments best adapted for the purpose, in establishing, among other schools of the first grade, some which may by way of distinction be called Modern; that is, schools in which Greek shall be excluded in order to provide adequate test and encouragement for the study of Modern Languages and Natural Science.

When, however, we propose to establish such schools, we are met by the objection that the Universities will be closed to the pupils, however competent, unless they will spend money and time in acquiring that quantum of Greek which is exacted from all who go there. The quantum itself is not great, and might doubtless be acquired perfunctorily, and, according to the common phrase, by 'cram'; but in that case it would be of little value for the purpose of mental training, and the exertion spent in acquiring it would be almost pure waste in a life which may have little to spare.

The broad result is that, as long as Greek is made a sine quâ non at the Universities, those schools of the new type which it is proposed to establish will labor under the serious disadvantage of being cut off from direct connection with the Universities, through a want of agreement in their course of studies with University requirements, while, if the schools flourish, the Universities will in some degree lose their control over the higher culture of the nation.

We trust that we shall not be misunderstood as desiring to intrude speculations of our own concerning the internal arrangements of the Universities. But we are confident in the belief that, for our own work, we are bound to attempt to establish such schools as we have indicated; and it is with reference to them that we venture to suggest to the Universities to modify those arrangements; so that, for instance, a first-rate man of science, who knows no Greek, shall not (at least in theory and intent) be at any greater disadvantage than a firstrate Greek scholar who knows no science. How this is to be done, we do not pretend to suggest; but if once the object be considered desirable, we presume that no great practical difficulty will be felt in giving effect to it by those who are familiar with the details of University organization.

MILITARY AND NAVAL SCHOOLS.

NAUTICAL EDUCATION.

THE ROYAL NAVAL ACADEMY,* for educating cadets for the English naval service, was instituted in the Portsmouth Dock-yard in 1729. In 1816 a Central School of Mathematics and Naval Architecture was added to the establishment. In 1839 the institution was reorganized, and Professorships of Steam-machinery and Chemistry were established, and special courses were instituted for officers and mates, and facilities for observation and practice in the construction of engines and uses of steam were provided in the Woolwich Dock-yards. In 1844 the School of Naval Architecture was reorganized with a view of conforming the course of instruction to that of the French Ecole d'Application du Génie Maritime at Paris.

The course at Portsmouth embraced algebra, geometry by projections, and the construction of solid bodies and their sections from these projections, plane coördinate geometry, differential and integral calculus, mechanics with strength of materials and their application to the steam-engine and naval constructions. The fatal defects were, first, the want of suitable preparation on the part of the applicants, and second, the uncertainty of government employment, and regular distinction and promotion in the service as engineers, on the completion of the course. Practically the English school fell far behind the French model. But there were broad differences in the preparatory knowledge brought by the students of the two schools to the special work required by the naval service, and in their relations to the service afterwards. In the French School, the students had already gone through with honors, the severe mathematical training of the Polytechnic School, and were prepared to enter at once on the application of these sciences to naval architecture, and the construction and uses of steam machinery in vessels of war, and were sure of future employment and promotion. In

* For account of Naval and Navigation Schools in England, see American Journal of Educa tion, vol. xiv. 627–640; xv. 65–80. The subject will be treated more in detail in Military and NAVAL SCHOOLS-England.