147 



The director of the school is the president, and the professors and assistants 

 are the members of a council of instruction, which assembles at the school from 

 time to time to consider any matter which may be brought before it by the 

 director. 



A ceuncil sits at Paris at least once a year for the consideration of such 

 general questions as may be brought before it, relative both to the instruction 

 given at the forest schools at Nancy and Barres, and the conditions of admission 

 to, and the regulations in force at, those institutions. President ; the minister of 

 agriculture : members ; a senator, a member of the conseil d'etat, the director of 

 the forest department, the director of agriculture, the agricultural hydraulics, and 

 inspector-general of forests, the directors of the forest schools at Nancy and 

 Barres, a conservator of forests, a retired forest officer, the director of the agro- 

 nomic institute, a member of the national agricultural society, an inspector- 

 general of mines, a chief engineer of naval construction, the professor of surveying 

 from the military school, and an officer of the army. 



Admission to the school is obtained by public competition. Candidates must 

 be between the ages of eighteen and twenty -two years ; they must be in sound 

 health, and hold a certificate showing that they have completed their course of 

 general studies at the lycee (high school). The subjects in which they are 

 required to pass the entrance examination are as follows, viz. : 



Arithmetic, elementary geometry, algebra, trigonometry, analytical geometry, 

 descriptive geometry, natural philosophy, organic and inorganic chemistry, cos- 

 mpgraphy, mechanics, the German language, history, physical and political 

 geography, and plan-drawing. Two passed students from the agronomic institute 

 and two from the polytechnic school, can if otherwise qualified be admitted every 

 year without further examination. The number of candidates admitted annually 

 is, as a general rule, from fifteen to eighteen, and the course of study extends 

 over two years, so that there are from about thirty to thirty-six regular students 

 at the school at one time. The young men while at Nancy are housed in the 

 school building, but take their meals in the town. Their parents deposit 60 a year 

 for their maintenance including the purchase of books and instruments, but they 

 do not pay anything for their instruction, or toward the annual expenses of the 

 school, which may be estimated as follows, viz.: 



Salaries, scholarships, tours and examinations 4,170 



Maintenance of the buildings, library, museum, etc 742 



Total annual payments by government 4,912 



If the number of students passed annually through the school be taken as 

 sixteen and a-half, the actual expenditure per head, for the entire period of two 

 years' residence is 298 ; but if interest at four per cent, on the estimated capital 

 value of the buildings and collections (22,000) be added, the annual expenditure 

 becomes 5,702, and the amount spent by the State on each student during the 

 period of his training is raised to about 350. 



Each year of study at the school comprises six and a-half months of theo- 

 retical and two and a-half months of practical instruction ; one month being 

 devoted to examinations, and there being two months of vacation. During the 

 period devoted to theoretical instruction, the following subjects are taught, viz. : 

 First year, sylviculture in all its branches ; botany, including vegetable anatomy 

 and physiology, as well as the classification of plants and their geographical 

 distribution, special attention being paid to forest trees and shrubs ; political 

 economy with special reference to forests ; forest statistics ; law, including forest 

 laws and rules ; together with such general knowledge of the common law of the 



