A board of examiners passes through France once every year, and examines all who present themselves, that have complied with the conditions, which are fully detailed in the decree given in the appendix. It commences at Paris.

A list of such of the candidates as are found eligible for admittance to the Polytechnic is drawn up from the proceedings of the board, and submitted to the minister at war; the number of places likely to be vacant has already been determined, and the minister fixes the number of admissions accordingly. The candidates admitted are invariably taken in the order of merit.

The annual charge for board and instruction is 407. (1,000 fr.,) payable in advance in four installments. In addition there is the cost of outfit, varying from 201. to 247. Exhibitions, however, for the discharge of the whole or of one-half of the expense (bourses and demi-bourses,) are awarded by the state in favor of all the successful candidates, whose parents can prove themselves to be too poor to maintain their children in the school. Outfits and half outfits (trousseaux) and demi-trousseaux) are also granted in these cases, on the entrance of the student into the school; and the number of these boursiers and demi-boursiers amounts at the present time to one-third of the whole.

The course of study is completed in two years. On its successful termination which is preceded by a final examination, the students are distributed into the different services, the choice being offered them in the order of their merit, and laid down in the classified list drawn up after the examination. If it so happen that the number of places or the services which can be offered is not sufficient for the number of qualified students, those at the bottom of the list are offered service in the infantry or cavalry, and those who do not enter the public service, are supplied with certificates of having passed successfully through the school. Students who have been admitted into the school from the army, are abliged to re-enter the army.

All others, as has been said, have the right of choosing, according to their position on the list, the service which they prefer, so far, that is, as the number of vacancies in that service will allow; or they may if they please decline to enter the public service at all.

Such is a general outline of the plan and object of the school. We may add that, besides its military staff, it employs no less than thirty-nine professors and teachers; that it has four boards of management, and that ten scientific men unconnected with the school, and amongst the most distinguished in France, conduct its examina

tions. The magnitude of this establishment for teaching may be estimated by the fact, that the number of pupils rarely exceeds three hundred and fifty, and is often much less.

A fuller enumeration of these bodies will complete our present sketch.

I. The military establishment consists of:

The Commandant, a General Officer, usually of the Artillery or the Engineers, at present a General of Artillery.

A Second in Command, a Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel, chosen from former pupils of school; at present a Colonel of Engineers.

Three Captains of Artillery and Three Captains of Engineers, as Inspectors of Studies, chosen also from former pupils of the school.

Six Adjutants (adjoints,) non-commissioned officers, usually such as have been recommended for promotion.

II. The civil establishment consists of:

1. A Director of Studies, who has generally been a civilian, but is at present a Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.

2. Fifteen Professors, viz. :-Two of Mathematical Analysis. Two of Mechanics and Machinery. One of Descriptive Geometry. Two of Physics. Two of Chemistry. One of Military Art and Fortification. One of Geodesy. One of Architecture. One of French Composition. One of German. One of Drawing. Of these one is an officer of the Staff, another of the Artillery, and a third of the Navy; two are Engineers in Chief of the Roads and Bridges; nine are civilians, of whom two are Members of the Academy of Sciences.

3. Three Drawing Masters for Landscape and Figure Drawing; one for Machine Drawing, and one for Topographical Drawing.

4. Nineteen Assistant and Extra Assistant Teachers, (répétiteurs and répétiteurs adjoints) whose name and functions are both peculiar.

5. Five Examiners for Admission, consisting at present of one Colonel of Artillery, as President, and four civilians.

6. Five Examiners of Students (civilians,) four of them belonging to the Academy of Sciences.

7. There is also a separate Department for the ordinary Management of Administration of the affairs of the school, the charge of the fabric and of the library and museums; and a Medical Staff.

III. The general control or supervision of the school is vested, under the war department, in four great boards of councils, viz. :— 1. A board of administration, composed of the commandant, the second in command, the director of studies, two professors, two captains, and two members of the administrative staff. This board has the superintendence of all the financial business and all the minutiæ of the internal administration of the school.

2. A board of discipline, consisting of the second in command, the director, two professors, three captains (of the school,) and two captains of the army, chosen from former pupils. The duty of this board is to decide upon cases of misconduct.

3. A board of instruction, whose members are, the commandant, the second in command, the director, the examiners of students, and the professors; and whose chief duty is to make recommendations relating to ameliorations in the studies, the programmes of admission and of instruction in the school, to

4. A board of improvement, charged with the general control of the studies, formed of—

The Commandant, as President.

The Second in Command.

The Director of Studies.

Two Delegates from the Department of Public Works.

One Delegate from the Naval Department.

One Delegate from the Home Department.

Three Delegates from the War Department.

Two Delegates from the Academy of Sciences.
Two Examiners of Students.

Three Professors of the School.

III. CONDITIONS AND EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

The entrance examination is held yearly in August; the most important conditions for admission to it are always inserted in the Moniteur early in the year, and are-

1st. All candidates must be bachelors of science.

2nd. All candidates (unless they have served in the army) must have been as much as sixteen and not more than twenty years old on the 1st of January preceding.

3rd. Privates and non-commissioned officers of the army must be above twenty and under twenty-five years of age; must have served two years, and have certificates of good conduct.

4th. Candidates who propose to claim pecuniary assistance (a bourse or demi-bourse) must present formal proofs of their need of it.

The subjects of the entrance examination are the following:

Arithmetic, including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions, Weights and Measures, Involution and Evolution; Simple Interest.

Geometry of Planes and Solids; application of Geometry to Surveying; Properties of Spherical Triangles.

Algebra, including Quadratic Equations with one unknown quantity, Series and Progressions in general; Binomial Theorem and its applications; Logarithms and their use; on Derived Functions; on the Theory of Equations; on Differences; application of the Theory of Differences to the Numerical Solution of Equations.

Plane and Spherical Trigonometry; Solution of Triangles; application of Trigonometry to Surveying.

Analytical Geometry, including Geometry of two dimensions; Co-ordinates; Equations of the first and second degree, with two variables; Tangents and Asymptotes; on the Ellipse, Hyperbola, and Parabola; Polar Co-ordinates; Curved Lines in general.

Geometry of three dimensions, including the Theory of Projections; Co-ordinates; the Right Line and Plane; Surfaces of the second degree; Conical and Cylindrical Surfaces.

Descriptive Geometry; Problems relative to a Point, Right Line and Plane; Tangent Planes; Intersection of Surfaces.

Mechanics; on the Movement of a Point considered geometrically; on the Effect of Forces applied to points and bodies at rest and moving; on the Mechanical Powers.

Natural Philosophy, including the Equilibrium of Liquids and Gasses; Heat;

Electricity; Magnetism; Galvanism; Electro-magnetism and Light; Cosmography.

Chemistry, the Elements; French; German; Drawing, and (optionally) Latin. This examination is partly written and partly oral. It is not public, but conducted in the following manner:—

Five examiners are appointed by the minister of war to examine the candidates at Paris, and at the several towns named for the purpose throughout France.

Two of these examiners conduct what may be called a preliminary examination (du premier degré,) and the other three a second examination (du second degré.) The preliminary examiners precede by a few days in their journey through France those who conduct the second examination. The written compositions come before either.

The preliminary examination (du premier degré) is made solely for the purpose of ascertaining whether the candidates possess sufficient knowledge to warrant their being admitted to the second examination; and the second examination serves, in conjunction with the written compositions, for their classification in the order of merit.

Prior to the examination, each candidate is called upon to give in certain written sheets containing calculations, sketches, plans and drawings, executed by him at school during the year, certified and dated by the professor under whom he has studied. Care is taken to ascertain whether these are the pupils' own work, and any deception in this matter, if discovered, excludes at once from the competition of the school.

This done, the candidates are required to reply in writing to written or printed questions, and to write out French and German exercises; great care being taken to prevent copying. This written examination occupies about twenty-four hours during three and a half separate days, as shown in the following table. It usually takes place in the presence of certain official authorities, the examiners not being present.

Next, each candidate is examined orally for three-quarters of an hour, on two successive days, by each of the two examiners separately, and each examiner makes a note of the admissibility or nonadmissibility of the candidate.

At the close of this oral examination, the notes relating to the various candidates are compared, and if the examiners differ as to the admissibility of any candidate, he is recalled, further orally examined, and his written exercises carefully referred to, both examiners being present. A final decision is then made.

The preliminary examiners then supply the others with a list of the candidates who are entitled to be admitted to the second oral examination. On this occasion each candidate is separately examined for one hour and a half by each examiner, but care is taken that in all the principal subjects of study the candidate is examined by at least two out of the three examiners.

Each examiner records his opinion of the merits of every candidate in replying, orally and in writing, by awarding him a credit varying between 0 and 20, the highest number indicating a very superior result.

This scale of merit is employed to express the value of the oral replies, written answers, or drawings. It has the following signification, and appears to be generally in use in the French military schools:denotes perfect.

20

8

Considerable latitude is granted to the examiner engaged in deciding upon the amount of credit to be allowed to the student, for the manner in which he replies to the various questions. He is ex