0"T' LAERT> "! - USP

ENGLAND.—NORTH AMERICA.
this may be taken as the maximum of knowledge demanded
from the examinees* The subjects taken up are as follows
:—i. Latin. 2. One of the following languages at the
candidate's choice: Greek, French, German, Arabic, or
Sanscrit. 3. The English language, history, and modern
geography. 4. Mathematics. 5. Natural philosophy
(physics). 6. Chemistry of the non-metals and botany. In
the Latin examination passages of C^SAR de bello Gallico,
of SALLUST, of CICERO'S easier orations, of LIVY, OVID,
VIRGIL, and HORACE have to be translated into English ;
in Greek, XENOPHON, HOMER, and EURIPIDES are the
authors set, and questions are added upon the grammar and
upon ancient history. The authors and the particular parts
of their writings destined to form the subjects of each
examination are, however, published a year and a half in
advance, so that the candidates may be in a better position
to get "coached" in them. Similar arrangements are
made with regard to examinations in other languages.
The mathematical examination includes decimal fractions,
extraction of square roots, and simple equations, and in
geometry the earlier books of EUCLID. The knowledge of
physics required is of an altogether elementary character,
being confined to the simple laws and facts of mechanics,'
hydrostatics, pneumatics, heat, and optics, with the apparatus
and instruments necessary to display them. In the
chemical examination it is required that the candidate shall
be acquainted with the most important elements and their
properties, the commoner chemical processes, and the composition
of water, air, and of certain bodies of frequent
occurrence.
This is essentially the amount of knowledge which in
England forms the foundation of professional study. Even
this is, however, encroached upon in many places by the
examination in some subjects—languages, for instance (excepting
Latin and English), and also physics and chemistry
—not being compulsory, but at the will and pleasure of the
* Calendar of the University of London 188.-5, P- 53 et seq.