Lil ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
It is upon this substantial preliminary training that the work 
of the German university proper is based. Up to this point the 
young man has been a “learner;” on entering the university he 
becomes a “student.” This distinction, expressed by the German 
words “lernen” and “studieren,” marks the difference between gym- 
nasium and university—the acquisition of knowledge under the 
teacher in one, the independent research under the guidance of the 
professor in the other. 
The typical German university possesses the four faculties of 
theology, law, medicine and philosophy. The scope of the first 
three is evident from their designation, and with them we are not 
at present immediately concerned. The faculty of philosophy em- 
braces the subjects which we include as university studies, under the 
head of arts and science. It is the most important of the four, the 
professors in it sometimes outnumbering those of all other faculties 
combined. The ultimate object of both professors and students is 
the advancement of knowledge, and the independence with which 
research is conducted is well expressed by the two words “ Lehrfrei- 
heit ” and “ Lernfreiheit ”— the freedom of the professor as to what 
he teaches and the freedom of the student to select his special line 
of research. Some idea of the extent of this work may be formed 
from the number of universities in Germany, 21 in all, and from the 
fact that the aggregate number of- matriculated students exceeds 
12,000, in addition to non-matriculated students, who are also num- 
bered by thousands, while the philosophical faculty at Berlin and 
Leipzig in 1901-2 numbered respectively 207 and 120. To the 21 
universities mentioned should be added the nine technische Hoch- 
schulen which have now the right to confer the doctor’s degree in 
the applied sciences. 
It is impossible to exaggerate the enthusiasm which prevails 
among both professors and students in their common object, and this 
enthusiasm is increased by legitimate emulation. The reputation 
of a university depends upon the progress made by its professors, 
the reputation of a professor upon the progress made in his depart- 
ment. Hence, a student may be attracted from one university to 
another — which is allowable under the system — may choose to fol- 
low the lectures of the professor, ordinary or extraordinary, or even 
those of the privat-docent in his own particular line of work. Under 
such a system and under such stimulating conditions it is evident that 
both professors and students must take their work seriously, with 
the result that the combined effort of a vast number of the best 
minds in the country is concentrated on the advancement of all the 
principal branches of knowledge. With regard to the research work 
