Admission requirements. Candidates for admission must present a certificate of maturity from a Russian gymnasium or other secondary school of gymnasium grade. When the number of applicants exceeds the number of vacancies, a competitive examination is resorted to as a means of selection of the best-prepared candidates. Since, however, the number of applicants is usually very high (about 2,000) and there are only 300 vacancies provided, the competitive examination is a chronic occurrence. The examination takes place in the middle of August and consists of mathematics, physics, and the Russian language. It is very rigorous, but in spite of this the number of candidates who have passed it successfully is always greater than the number of available places.

The tuition fee is 50 rubles per annum. There is a provision for free scholarships for 100 students.

Instruction and degree. The course of instruction covers five years. The first two years are common, and during the last three years the instruction follows two specialized courses, mechanical and chemical. Practical instruction accompanies the theoretical throughout the first four years, and the fifth year is devoted entirely to practical occupations.

After the completion of the full course of studies the final examination is taken, which leads directly to the degree of engineertechnologist, entitling to the conduct of constructional work in the Empire. According to the ratings in the leaving examination, the graduates are divided into two classes; graduates of the first class receive the civil rank of the tenth degree and those of the second class the rank of the twelfth degree.

Curriculum. The program of studies, both theoretical and practical, is as follows:

1 For mechanicians only. 2 For mechanicians only, and during one semester only. 3 For chemists only.

The time given to practical occupations during the fourth year is considerably increased. The practical work consists of machine design, laboratory exercises, etc. The mechanicians must design a boiler, a steam engine, and a hydraulic motor. The chemists design a boiler, a factory of chemical products relating to mineral industry. The mechanicians may select for examinations: Electrotechnics, locomotives, or technology of textile machinery.

The fifth year is devoted to the execution of designs, work at material testing in the mechanical laboratory, etc. Students spend during this year at least one month in a factory studying the branch of industry in which they are interested.

Equipment of the institute.-The library of the institute contains 12,400 works in 35,000 volumes, among them 4,579 works in the Russian language, and 837 periodical publications, among them 396 in Russian. The value of the library is estimated at 126,060 rubles. The museum of machines, apparatus, models, commercial and other products, and scientific collections. Total of 1,640 exhibits. Value about 78,650 rubles. Physical laboratory.

Chemical laboratory.

Technical laboratories.-For chemistry of food products, inorganic chemistry, industries based on fermentation, tannin industries, and manufacture of dyes.

Bacteriological laboratory.
Laboratory for metallurgy.
Electrotechnical laboratory.

Mechanical laboratory, with two divisions: (1) Steam engines, and (2) internal-combustion motors.

Laboratory for testing materials.

Shops, foundries, forges, pattern-making shop, metal-working shop, etc.

Publication. The institute publishes "Technological Institute News (Izwiestja Technologićeskago Instituta).

JAPAN.

Technical education in Japan is of recent development. Its existence dates from 1871-1875, when three schools were established, representing the three main divisions of technical education, respectively: Engineering, agriculture, and commerce. The movement, however, did not attain real importance until 1894, following the issue of an ordinance regarding the Government subsidies to technical schools. Two epochal events of Japanese national life, the Chinese war in 189495 and the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-5, produced two consecutive waves of national uplift which gave rise to enthusiastic educational activities. In the measures that were carried out in this movement technical education was given special attention. In 1899 the Government issued an ordinance fixing the types and determining the standards of technical education. In 1903 another ordinance was issued, by which all technical and professional schools of higher grade were given a common organization.

PREPARATORY EDUCATION.

The education that must precede the higher technical studies may be of general or technical character. It begins with the elementary school having a six-year course that covers the period 6 to 12 years of age. The elementary school may be followed by a two-year higher-elementary school or a middle school having a course of five years' duration. The latter school is generally taken by those intending later to enter a higher institution. The completion of the first two years of a middle school, or of the full course of a higherelementary school, admits to middle technical schools, where special courses are provided in several branches enabling the pupil to begin his specialization as early as 14 years of age, with the view of following the same branch in the higher technical school, or of obtaining the necessary skill and knowledge for a skilled worker, an artisan, a foreman, etc. There are technical schools of even lower grade than the above, to which boys are admitted after finishing the elementary school.

The completion of the ordinary middle school, or of the technical school of middle grade, closes the secondary education. The graduate may then proceed to one of the imperial universities or one of the higher technical schools.

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