358 APPENDIX I 



the seat of the French Academy and of the faculties of Letters, 

 Science, and Theology. The large amphitheater in the interior of 

 the building, where public functions take place, will hold three 

 thousand five hundred persons. This hall contains statues of 

 Sorbon, Richelieu, and Rollin, who so identified themselves with 

 the university, and of the eminent French scientists, Descartes, 

 Pascal, and Lavoisier. At the end of the hall is the celebrated 

 painting The Sacred Grove, by Puvis de Chavannes. Other por- 

 tions of the interior of the Sorbonne are beautifully decorated by 

 celebrated artists. 



At the five faculties constituting the University of Paris, law, 

 letters, science, medicine, and pharmacy, the total number of stu- 

 dents registered and in attendance at the courses during the year 

 1906-1907 was 15,789. The lectures are free to the public. In 

 some cases in which the subject itself or the lecturer is popular, the 

 halls are apt to be crowded, and to obtain a seat it is necessary to 

 be on hand early. The courses in literature are much frequented 

 by ladies. This fact has been made the subject of much good- 

 humored pleasantry by French writers. In Edouard Pailleron's 

 comedy, Le Monde ou Von s'ennuie (which was very successful and 

 now belongs to the repertoire of the Comedie Francaise) the author 

 has amusingly set before the public the kind of fetich worship offered 

 to a popular professor by his fair constituency. There are, besides 

 the free lectures, courses called ' ' cours f ermes, ' ' where the personnel is 

 restricted to the competency of those desiring to pursue them. 



As regards impartiality in granting equal advantages to men 

 and women, as well as liberality in offering educational opportuni- 

 ties that are almost absolutely free of expense to all, France is un- 

 surpassed by any other nation. The function of offering exam- 

 inations and giving degrees is kept rigidly distinct from that of 

 offering instruction. The student pays for the former, but the 

 latter is, save in rare instances, absolutely free. 



Inasmuch as the department of science is strictly separated 

 from that of letters, the courses given at the Faculty of Letters will 

 be found to be much along the lines laid down in the catalogs of 

 American universities and applicable to the courses given in the 

 college proper, omitting those devoted to the sciences and mathe- 

 matics. In brief, they consist of culture studies, and largely of 

 those so highly esteemed of old, and which, coming dow r n through 

 the ages, still hold their own amid the multitudinous subjects that 

 are claiming recognition because of rapid changes in civilization. 



