The following table gives the principal statistics relative to the schools classified as ordinary public elementary.

ORDINARY PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

TABLE III.-Summary (departments, teachers, scholars, fees).

The number of pupils on the registers at the end of the year 1904-5, in the ordinary public elementary schools, viz, 6,044,394, was equivalent to 17.8 per cent of the population (1904). The average number of scholars on the registers during the year was 6,045,380, of whom 3,087,456 were in council schools and 2,957,924 in voluntary schools. On the average enrollment an average attendance was maintained of 87.35 per cent in council schools and of 86.29 per cent in voluntary schools. Expenditures. The expenditures for public elementary schools for the financial year April 1, 1905, to March 31, 1906, were met as follows:

Of the total 52.4 per cent was met by the grant and 45.98 per cent by local taxes. There was included in the total the sum of £2,210,964 ($11,054,820), payment on loans for land and buildings.

UNIVERSITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Attendance at universities of Great Britain and Ireland at specified dates.

a Three colleges.

London University, reorganized as a teaching institution in 1900, includes University and King's colleges, 2 colleges for women (Bedford and Royal Holloway), 6 theological colleges or schools, Westfield College, the Royal Agricultural College, 12 medical schools, the City and Guilds Central Technical College, the Royal College of Science, and the London School of Economics. The number of students is incomplete as regards medical schools and evening classes.

The greater part of the colleges formerly comprised under the head of university colleges have been gradually included under the following university organizations: London, Victoria, Durham, and Birmingham.

d Included in London University since 1900.

e Affiliated with St. Andrews in 1897, and since 1900 statistics included with those of St. Andrews. 1 Not including 4,490 evening students.

UNIVERSITY NOTES.

Oxford. Since the establishment of the Rhodes scholarships at Oxford so many inquiries have been received at the Bureau in regard to that university that it is deemed advisable to publish information upon the matter which is usually made the subject of inquiry.

The University of Oxford numbers upward of 13,000 members. Of these about 3,500 are in residence in Oxford; the remainder, with a few exceptions, have finished their academical course, taken a degree, and are scattered over the country, following various professions. The resident members of the university consist of undergraduates going through a course of instruction and study and of graduates giving instruction or engaged in research. The resident graduates are 400 or 500 in number, and the undergraduates in residence are about 3,000.

The government of the university is in the hands of three bodies: (1) Convocation, which consists of all masters of arts and doctors of civil law, medicine, or divinity, who remain members of the university, whether resident or nonresident; (2) congregation of the university, which consists of resident members of convocation; (3) the hebdomadal council, which consists of certain officers and 18 members elected by congregation. The hebdomadal council alone has the power of initiation; congregation

can amend, confirm, or reject its proposals; convocation can only confirm or reject them; it may, however, amend certain proposals relating to money. The election of the university representatives in Parliament is vested in the members of convocation. In order to "matriculate," or become a member of the university, it is necessary to be admitted into one of the colleges or halls or into the body called noncollegiate students. A candidate may be admitted into a college as a scholar, as an exhibitioner, or as a commoner. To be admitted into a college as a commoner or to become a member of a hall or a noncollegiate student it is necessary to pass an examination held by the college or hall or by the delegates of noncollegiate students or to have passed some test accepted in lieu of this examination. The degree of bachelor of arts, the ordinary university degree, can not be obtained in less than two years and eight months from matriculation, nor without residing in Oxford for 12 terms, which need not be continuous. There are 4 terms in each year. Members of the university who wish to proceed to a degree must first pass responsions or one of the examinations accepted as equivalent. The path of undergraduates then divides. Those aiming at honors in natural science take the science preliminary and then the final schools. To the rest three courses are open, (a) to read pass moderations and pass finals; (b) to read pass moderations (or, what is reckoned as the equivalent for the schools of law and modern history, the law prelim.), and one of the final honor schools of Litt. Hum., mathematics, natural science, law, modern history, theology, oriental studies, and English literature; (c) to read honor moderations in classics or mathematics, and any one of the above-mentioned honor schools or the pass final school. After passing these examinations the undergraduate is entitled to take the degree of bachelor of arts. For a musical degree a special course is prescribed. For the higher degrees of bachelor or doctor in civil law, medicine, and divinity no more residence is necessary, but for the baccalaureate in civil law and medicine there is an examination prescribed. For the degree of B. Litt. or B. Sc., there is a course of special study or research of a high standard selected by the candidate with the approval of the board of the faculty to which the subject belongs. For the baccalaureate in divinity a thesis is required. For the M. A. degree the only requirement is that the candidate should have taken the B. A. degree and had his name on the books for 26 terms since his matriculation. The new degrees of D. Litt. and D. Sc. are open to bachelors of letters and bachelors of science of 26 terms standing, and to M. A.s of 39 terms standing. Candidates must submit to the board of the faculty to which their subject belongs published books or papers containing an original contribution to the advancement of learning or science. The bulk of the instruction at Oxford is given by the college tutors and lecturers under a system which allows members of one college to attend lectures given in any other. The remainder of the instruction is given by the university professors and readers. The chief university institutions are the Bodleian Library, the second library in the Kingdom, and the museum, which is furnished with all that is necessary for teaching natural science and medicine.

Among recent measures indicating the gradual development of the two older universities of England along modern lines, the following are specially noteworthy: a

The organization of military instruction at Oxford, in view of the new departure whereby commissions are to be assigned annually to university students, is engaging the steady attention of the recently appointed delegacy. Courses of instruction are already arranged in military history and strategy, in military engineering, in military topography, and in tactics, military law, and administration. The candidates must be over 20 and under 25 when they present themselves for nomination; they must have qualified for a degree, with special qualification in mathematics for those who aim at the royal artillery; must have been "attached to a regular unit" for twelve weeks, and obtained a certificate; and must have passed an examination (held twice a year) in military subjects. The adaptation of the special arrangements for the military course to the condition of the ordinary studies has been carefully prepared; e. g.,

a See Journal of Education (London), 1905, pp. 201, 202, 556-7.

artillery candidates are advised to read for mathematical moderations; the "Military history" special period is now included in the history school subjects; and military law, history, strategy, etc., can be offered in the final pass school, so that 3 out of 5 of the subjects required in the military examination can be taken for the pass degree. The establishment of special studies leading up, not to a degree but to a diploma, has been an interesting growth of recent years at Oxford. Two more such diplomas have been established, namely, in anthropology and in forestry. The great advantage of this arrangement is that it meets the case (1) of those studies which are too special or restricted in range to be satisfactory avenues to a degree; (2) of those students who have completed their general education (at Oxford or elsewhere), but wish to reside for a time, for the sake of some special study, and yet naturally wish to obtain some recognition or evidence that they have pursued that study with profit. It is obvious that this class of students has largely increased in the older universities of late years. The research degrees, the Rhodes scholarships, the greatly increased communication between seats of learning in England, Europe, and America—all alike suggest and illustrate the new needs, which this is one among many attempts to meet.

A new illustration has been supplied this term from quite a different quarter, which may be briefly reported. The university has been interested to hear that the new policy of the Indian secretary to transfer the education of the Indian forestry students (hitherto taught with the students at Coopers Hill) to the older universities will be carried into effect at Oxford next October. About a dozen have been selected, and accepted by various colleges; and their studies will include besides mathematics, surveying, geometrical drawing, and German, also chemistry, geology, forest plants and insects, and the theory and practice of forestry generally. Many of the students will in future doubtless be able to take a degree; but meanwhile the university has agreed to establish a diploma in forestry, under a statute substantially of the same form as those adopted for public health, education, economics, geography, and anthropology.

The first batch of students are already part of the way through their course, but in future a new avenue will be open (through forestry) for Oxford science students and others, to a branch of the civil service, with all its advantages.

Cambridge. A new diploma in mining engineering, open to candidates who have kept 9 terms and have pursued a course of study and examinations in the cognate subjects, is to be established, in pursuance of an act of Parliament (1903) for the regulation of mines. The act empowers the home secretary to issue certificates qualifying for the position of colliery manager, after a shortened period of service in a mine, to university graduates who possess certain scientific and technical qualifications.

Two commissions in the Indian army will be added each year to those already allotted to the university, bringing the number of commissions in all the forces up to 14. Aberdeen University.—The most interesting event of the year in university circles of Great Britain was the celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of Aberdeen, September, 1907. The brilliancy of the ceremony was emphasized by the presence of King Edward and Queen Alexandra. The King dedicated Marischal College, the new building belonging to the university, which had been erected at an expense of $1,100,000.

Dublin University.-On account of the decision to grant degrees of Dublin to women students on the same terms as to men, a large company of candidates from Girton, Newnham, and other colleges in relation with English universities that do not admit women to degrees, made application during the year for the Dublin degrees. After 1907, however, the Dublin degree will only be conferred upon women students who have been in residence at the university, and it is believed that this restriction will increase the prestige and elevate the standard of the degree.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGES OF RECENT FOUNDATION.

The university colleges established in recent years in the great manufacturing centers of Great Britain are modern in character, their courses of study having been planned to meet the demands of the times. It is impracticable to reproduce these courses here in full, and it suffices to say that they all have one common characteristic, in that while preserving a respectable proportion of classical studies most of the curriculum is devoted to modern languages and sciences and to the various branches of engineering and technology and agriculture in order to supply capable experts for the

great modern industries. At these university colleges, as at continental institutions of a similar character, attention is paid to preparing students for local industries or business vocations. Special subjects of this character given in the programmes of studies range from banking to naval construction, brewing, coal mining, lace making, hosiery, etc., or agriculture, according to locality.

A large number of young women attend these colleges, most of whom prepare themselves for teaching, the colleges offering courses of instruction for that profession. Another noticeable feature in the work of the colleges is the liberal provision made by them for evening classes.

It should be added that the university colleges participate in the annual grant made by Parliament, amounting for the year ending March 31, 1905, to £54,000 ($270,000). The three colleges in Wales belonging to the same class receive a grant of £4,000 ($20,000) each. A number of the colleges have been incorporated as local universities. The list of these colleges with a few details intended to show their origin and present attendance is as follows:

The University of Birmingham was incorporated by royal charter on the 24th of March, 1900; and, by the Birmingham University act, 1900, Mason University College was merged in the university as from the 1st of October, 1900.

Faculties of science, arts, and commerce: The staff consists of the principal, the vice-principal, 21 professors, 9 special lecturers, 14 lecturers, and 10 demonstrators. Subjects of instruction: Mathematics (pure and applied); physics, chemistry, metallurgy, mining, zoology and comparative anatomy, botany and vegetable physiology, physiology, geology and physiography, geography; civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering: malting and brewing; commerce, accounting, Greek, Latin, English language, literature, and composition, French language and literature, German language and literature, mental and moral philosophy and political economy, history, education, music, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, commercial law.

In 1904 the number of students was 653 (394 men, 259 women).

The University of Leeds comprises (1) The Leeds School of Medicine, founded in 1831, and the Yorkshire College, established (first as a college of science) in 1874, which became united in 1884. From 1887 to 1903 the Yorkshire College formed part of the Victoria University; from October, 1903, until April, 1904, it was associated with the Owens College in the Victoria University of Manchester; and in 1904 it became an independent university, with the name of "The University of Leeds," the Yorkshire College being merged in the university by act of Parliament passed in the same year. The teaching staff in the department of arts and science in 1904 numbered 87 professors, lecturers, and assistants, and in the department of medicine, 28. The number of students registered in the day classes in 1904 was 685 (505 men, 180 women).

The University of Liverpool was founded in 1903 and began its work with a staff of 30 professors, lecturers, etc., and during the session 1903-4 registered in the departments of arts, science, law, and engineering 542 students (358 men, 184 women), and in the medical school 158. It is interesting to observe that upon a total registration in studies which, including duplicates, gives a roll of 9,305 students, 162 students pursued Greek, 878 Latin; mathematics and the sciences predominated, with 2,970 students; technical courses (architecture, electrotechnics, engineering), 2,413 students. The zoological laboratories of the university, nearly completed, will afford ample accommodation for the research work carried on under the auspices of the Liverpool marine biology committee and the Lancashire sea fisheries committee.

Victoria University.-Owens College, Manchester, founded in 1846, and the Manchester Royal School of Medicine, which was united with the college in 1872, are constituent parts of the Victoria University of Manchester, chartered in 1880.

Two colleges, Liverpool and Leeds, subsequently admitted to this foundation, have recently been incorporated with the universities of their own cities.