Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/438

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430 EDUCATION fessors and Privatdocenten who deliver courses of lectures. In Great Britain and the United States the course of study averages three years, and the number of professors is generally about four. The degrees conferred in European countries are those of bachelor, licentiate, and doctor in theology. In Great Britain and the United States only the bachelor's degree (B. D.) is conferred, except that the degree of doctor (D. D. or S. T. D.) is conferred honorarily. Very few of the American semi- naries confer any degree in course. The educational system of Europe embraces special schools devoted to almost every branch of science, art, and industry, viz. : science and art, arts and trades, chemistry, agriculture, forestry, veterinary surgery, mines, engineering, archi- tecture, commerce and navigation, science and art of war, painting, sculpture, drawing, music, &c. In each of these departments special schools are organized with regular courses of study and well defined requisites as to admis- sion and graduation. The extent and variety of schools devoted to special education in Ger- many are shown by the statement that in 1873 there were in the German empire 140 schools of agriculture, horticulture, &c., 34 of com- merce, 27 of navigation, 18 of mining, 17 of forestry, 9 of veterinary surgery, 5 of surgery, 31 of architecture, 17 of music, 6 normal schools of gymnastics, 35 military schools, and 114 technical schools. In the United States many of these schools either do not exist at all, or have a very imperfect organization. In Great Britain and some continental countries schools are maintained for instruction and practical training in some branch of art, trade, or manufacture. The schools of chemistry usually have a two years' course and from six to twelve professors. In the United States there is no distinctive school of this class, but extended courses of instruction in chemistry are given in numerous schools connected with col- leges and universities. Schools specially de- signed to give instruction in the applications of science to agriculture were founded in Prus- sia, Switzerland, and Austria as early as 1799, and they have since become general through- out Europe. The royal agricultural school of Hungary at Altenburg has nine professors and a two years' course. The applicant for admis- sion must have completed the course of study embraced in the first seven classes of a gym- nasium or the first five of a realschule. The Russian agricultural schools rank among the best in Europe. The Petrovskoi agricultural and forestry academy near Moscow, estab- lished in 1865, has a faculty of agriculture and one of forestry, with 18 professors, and a farm of 1,200 acres. The course of study occupies three years in each faculty, and embraces the following general departments: agriculture, zootechny, veterinary science and art, rural constructions, civil engineering, sylviculture, agriculture and forest technology, and rural and political economy. The academv con- fers the degrees of bachelor and master, which are obtained only on examination. As early as 1837 the importance of creating state colleges' of agriculture in the United States was urged by prominent agriculturists ; but no institution of this kind was established till 1857, when the state agricultural college of Michigan was opened with seven professors and a farm of 676 acres. Similar institutions were soon organized by other states, and in 1862 congress passed an act providing for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts in all of the states and terri- tories, endowing them with about 8,000,000 acres of the public lands. Nearly all of the states have taken steps to organize institutions pursuant to this act, and in several of the states the institutions are in successful operation. Numerous schools of mines of a high order are maintained in France, Saxony, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Russia, and other European countries. The course of instruction is from three to four years, although in the imperial school of mines in St. Petersburg, which has 36 professors, it extends through eight years. In the United States schools of mining are of recent origin, and are connected with other institutions, as for example that connected with the Massachusetts institute of technology, the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard uni- versity, the Sheffield scientific school of Yale college, the mining school of Columbia college in New York, &c. The term of study varies from two to three and four years, on the com- pletion of which the degree of mining engineer is conferred. Schools of commerce of a high grade are maintained in most European coun- tries, both separate and in connection with other institutions. Owing to the high charac- ter of this branch of education in France, commerce might be almost regarded as a pro- fession. In the United States commercial training is afforded only by the business col- leges established and maintained by private enterprise. Perhaps the most extensive and magnificent institutions in Europe devoted to special education are the polytechnic schools, which are found in most of the continental countries. In the front rank of this class is the polytechnic school at Carlsruhe, Baden, which has upward of 50 instructors and more than 500 students. The main object of the institution is to educate engineers, machin- ists, architects, chemists, foresters, and agricul- turists. It is divided into : 1, the mathematical school, with a course of two years; 2, the school for engineers, course two years and a half; 3, the school for machine builders, course three years; 4, the school of architecture, course four years ; 5, the school of'chemistry ; 6, the school of forestry, with three different courses ; 7, the school of agriculture, with a course of two and a half years. The standard of admis- sion is very high, and the instruction is thor- ough. The system of polytechnic schools has been less developed in Great Britain than on