STUDIES IN ANIMAL LIFE. 137 



Pupils were admitted at the age of nine, and com- 

 menced their studies with the classic languages. 

 Thence they passed to the philosophical class, and 

 from that they went to one of the four faculties 

 Law, Medicine, Administration, and Military Sci- 

 ence. Each faculty, of course, was kept distinct ; 

 and as Pfaff was studying philosophy at the time 

 Cuvier was occupied with the administrative sci- 

 ences, they never met, the more so as the dormito- 

 ries and hours of recreation were different. The 

 academy was organized on military principles. The 

 three hundred students were divided into six classes, 

 two of which comprised the nobles, and the other 

 four the bourgeoisie. Each of these classes had its 

 own dormitory, and was placed under the charge 

 of a captain, a lieutenant, and two inferior officers. 

 These six classes, in which the students were enter- 

 ed according to their age, size, and time of admis- 

 sion, were kept separate in their recreations as in 

 their studies. But those of the students who par- 

 ticularly distinguished themselves in the public ex- 

 aminations were raised to the rank* of knights, and 

 had a dormitory to themselves, besides dining at 

 the same table with the young princes who were 

 then studying at the university. Pfaff and Cuvier 

 were raised to this dignity at the same time, and 

 here commenced their friendship. 



What a charm there is in school friendships, 

 when youth is not less eager to communicate its 

 plans and hopes than to believe in the plans and 



