46 Prussia and the German System of Education. 



should, be taught to the pupils, but realities, explanations 

 being made to them from nature, from models and plans, 

 and from subjects calculated to be useful in after-life." 

 Hence the school was called a " real school," and preserves 

 this name, indicative of the great educational reform which 

 it was intended to promote, and the success of which has 

 been, though slow, most certain. 



In the Royal Real School the branches of instruction 

 are — religion, Latin, French, English, German, physics, 

 natural history, chemistry, history, geography, drawing, 

 writing, and vocal music. The Latin is retained as practi- 

 cally useful in some branches of trade, as in pharmacy, as 

 aiding in the nomenclature of natural history, and as pre- 

 venting a separation in the classes of this school and that 

 of the gymnasium, which would debar the pupils from 

 passing from the former to the latter in the upper classes. 

 It must be admitted that, for all purposes but the last, it 

 occupies an unnecessary degree of attention, especially in 

 the middle classes. 



The following table shows the distribution of time 

 among the courses. There are seven classes in numerical 

 order, but ten, in fact, the third, fourth, and fifth being 

 divided into two ; the lower fourth is again, on account 

 of its numbers, subdivided into two parallel sectious. Of 

 these the seventh, sixth, and fifth are elementary classes, 

 the pupils entering the seventh at between five and 

 seven years of age. In the annexed table the number, 

 of hours of recitation per week of each class in the several 

 subjects is stated, and the vertical column separating the 

 elementary classes from the others, contains the sum of the 

 hours devoted to each branch in the higher clases, exclud- 

 ing the lower section of the fourth class, which has not- a 

 distinct course from that of the other division. 



