GESMAN STUDENTS. 



ssa 



could not fly over the lake, which, 

 it is said, is an absurdity. But no 

 bird settles there without dying in 

 consequence, on account of the 

 quantity of carbonic acid which is 

 exhaled by the earth and the lake ; 

 dogs, too, are not safe there, but 

 men may pass without any danger. 

 (Niebuhr.) 



GERMAN STUDENTS. 



The characteristic marks of the 

 genuine German student, such as 

 the laced velvet coat, the little 

 coloured cap, the long and float- 

 ing hair, and bare neck, scarcely 

 exist in Berlin; and altogether 

 there is less esprit de corps than is 

 found in the smaller universities 

 of Germany. In the latter the 

 students always address each other 

 in the second person singular, thee 

 and thou; and the neglect of this 

 mode of expression would be con- 

 sidered an insult, sufficient to cause 

 a duel. In Berlin there is more 

 formal ceremony, and the terms 

 Mein Ilerr and you are generally 

 adopted. Secret societies, the 

 names of which recal to mind the 

 famous Burchenshaften of former 

 days, still exist in Berlin ; but in- 

 stead of having for their object 

 political discussion, they seem to 

 have degenerated into smoking, 

 beer- drinking, and fencing clubs. 

 The Revolution, however, has not 

 been without considerable influ- 

 ence on these societies ; and al- 

 though the Berlin students have 

 not played so conspicuous a part 

 in the political affairs of their 

 country as their fellows of Vienna, 

 nevertheless, towards the end of 

 last year, they formed themselves 

 into a volunteer body, distinguished 

 by its zeal and the good order that 

 reigned among its members. Stu- 

 dents generally live two together, 

 in furnished rooms, which an- 

 cheaper, more convenient, and 

 cleaner than those of Paris. A 

 room, on an average, costs from 



five to six dollars per month, in- 

 clusive of the servant, a good din- 

 ner the same, and supper three 

 dollars a-month. A young man 

 with .50 to 60 a-year may live 

 most comfortably in Berlin, and 

 pursue his studies, while a much 

 greater allowance than this would 

 be injurious to him. The most dili- 

 gent students are unquestionably 

 the philologists; the poorest, the 

 theologians ; the richest, and at the 

 same time the idlest, are the jurists. 

 Those who study medicine have 

 the most work, at least if they fol- 

 low up the course of study pre- 

 scribed to them at their matricu- 

 lation. The lectures are either 

 private or public, and the former 

 cost from one to two dollars half- 

 yearly ; while poor students are 

 admitted to attend their professors 

 gratis, on a promise to pay their 

 fees when, in after life, they find 

 themselves in a condition to do so. 

 This custom, however, does not 

 prevail so much in the medical as 

 in the other faculties. Every stu- 

 dent must attend, at least, one 

 private teacher in the half-year 

 or rather, to tell the truth, to pay 

 the fees to one; and the medical 

 student must prove before exami- 

 nation that he has attended the 

 prescribed number. The first me- 

 dical examination takes place in the 

 second year's study; it is called 

 the cjcamen philosophicum, and 

 comprises logic and natural his- 

 tory. At the end of the fourth 

 ; iudy, a student is allov.vil 

 to become a candidate for the doc- 

 tor's degree, having previously de- 

 posited about !' i. "The 

 examination to have passed which 

 docs not permit a man t<> i 

 his profession is \.T\ slight, the 

 only matter rigi'i-i-n.-ly . a 

 being, that it is comlurtr.l in thu 

 Latin language. Then com 

 grand and public ceremony in the 

 ;;Toat aula of the university, at 

 which a dissertation and theses are 



