2i6 Alexander Pctrunkevitch, Ph.D., 



coincide with the obligatory ones. A course in theolog)', i. e., 

 in the dogma of the Russian orthodox church, was compulsory 

 for every student in the first year of his studies. Compared 

 with the American colleges the work at the Russian universities 

 is much heavier, the number of hours is considerably greater 

 and the number of subjects required cover a much wider range. 

 It was customary to work Saturday afternoon and some classes 

 were given even on Sunday mornings, as for example entomology 

 at the University of Moscow at the time that I was studying 

 there. To give an idea of the scope of studies required at a 

 Russian university from a student in natural sciences preparing 

 for an academic degree, I shall simply enumerate the subjects 

 which I myself had to study in Moscow: Physics (four hours 

 per week during two years) ; inorganic chemistry (first year) ; 

 qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis (second year) ; or- 

 ganic chemistry (third year) ; physical geography (one year) ; 

 geology and paleontology (one year) ; mineralogy and crystal- 

 lography (one year) ; meteorology (one year) ; human anatomy 

 (one year) ; physiology (one year) ; histology and embryology 

 (one year) ; introduction to zoology (one year) ; invertebrate 

 zoology (one year) ; vertebrate zoology (one year) ; entomology 

 (one year) ; botany (three years) (including general morphol- 

 ogy, anatomy, physiology and systematics) and theology (one 

 year). In the first and second year the spare hours were given to 

 economics and principles of law. During the last term of the 

 fourth year a thesis has to be written on a subject assigned by the 

 professor, consisting of a review of work done by other workers 

 and some original investigation. After a six-hour written 

 examination on some subject in the department of study chosen 

 by the student and after oral examinations in all subjects studied 

 during the third and fourth year, those studied during the first 

 and second year having been disposed of previously, the student 

 receives a university diploma conferring on him the degree of 

 Candidat rerum naturalium. which as may readily be seen is a 

 much higher degree than either the corresponding degree of the 

 German universities, or the B.A. of American colleges. It will 

 be also seen from the foregoing that the training of a Russian 

 student at the end of his studies is in every respect broader and 

 covers a much wider range of subjects than either that of an 

 American or a German student. 



