August 6, 1903] 



NATURE 



'325 



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universities. The idea of full and complete universities^ 

 which had been the underlying conception of the Bill 

 of 1890, was abandoned, and wherever an academy 

 existed, even if it had but two faculties, its place wa^ 

 taken by a university. As M. Liard well says, " it was 

 a choice between having too many universities or of 

 having none." To provide funds, the tuition fees, 

 which had hitherto gone to the Treasury, were handed 

 over to the new bodies. The examination fees, how- 

 ever, were still retained by the Treasury. The law con- 

 tained but four clauses. The first decided that the 



roups of faculties should take the name of universities. 



he second decided that the Conseil General should re- 

 ceive the title of university council. The third en- 

 larged the disciplinary powers of the new council. The 

 fourth dealt with the financial arrangement men- 

 tioned above, the new funds provided being 

 *' earmarked " for certain definite purposes, such 

 as expenditure on laboratories, &c. Certain other 

 financial rearrangements were made, with the 

 result that the extra cost tO the State came to 

 about 15,000/. a year. The existing " personnel " was 

 paid, as before, by the State, and the regular grant, 

 variableyear by year, for buildings and equipment was 

 likewise continued. By the law of 1899 the univer- 

 sities were allowed to establish '" degrees of a purely 

 scientific kind," This was largely done to encourage 

 the attendance of foreigners, while the proviso that they 

 conferred no rights or privileges safeguarded the 

 State from incurring any responsibilities vis a vis their 

 recipients. 



The preamble of the Bill of 1890, quoted above, gives 

 an adequate summary of the progress made from 1870 

 up to the university year 1888-1889. More detailed in- 

 formation of the progress since that date is to be found 

 in the " Statistique de I'Enseignement Superieur," 

 which brings up the record to the university year 

 1897-98 (the last year available). The following 

 are some of the principal items of interest. 

 Though the French universities have not, with very 

 rare exceptions, found any benefactors on the 

 scale of the Rockefellers and Carnegies, the list 

 of benefactions published in full shows that the 

 power of the new universities revived in 1875 to re- 

 ceive donations and legacies has not remained un- 

 appreciated. The University of Paris has received such 

 lump sums as 210,000/., Montpellier such as 60,000/., 

 while several have received donations of 4,000/. or less. 

 In 1889 the annual grant from the State amounted 

 to about 456,284/. In 1898 it was more than 523,640/:, 

 showing an increase of 67,000/. odd over the grant of 

 ten years before, which itself was more than double the 

 grant under the Empire. Though the universities re- 

 ceived the above sums in hard cash, the actual cost to 

 the State was less, as one must deduct from it the 

 fees for degrees, which, as has been already stated, go 

 into the coffers of the State. These amounted to 

 5,135,162 francs in 1898, or, roughly, 205,406/. The 

 net expenditure, therefore, of the State was about 

 318,000/. 



The departments and municipalities make contribu- 

 tions to nearly all the universities, their contributions 

 being " earmarked," as a rule, for specific purposes. 

 They practically support all the medical schools, 

 whether situate at the seat of the university itself or 

 within its area of control, the only exceptions being 

 Paris and Bordeaux, which also receive a State sub- 

 vention. The contributions of the departments and 

 municipalities to the budgets of the university and 

 faculties amount to about 68,000 francs and 132,000 

 francs respectively; their contributions to the medical 

 schools unsupported by the Government, and to the so- 

 called preparatory classes in letters and science amount' 

 NO. 1762, VOL. 68] 



to about 135,500 francs and 882,060 francs respectively. 

 The total income of the universities, including these 

 medical schools, but excluding the College de France, 

 the Museum, and the various special schools, amolints 

 to about 14,142,000 francs for the universities, and 

 1,582,858 for.the medical and preparatory schools, in all 

 a grand total of about 15,725,000 francs. Towards this 

 total the State contributes 13,096,664 francs, the depart- 

 ments about 203,000 francs, and the municipalities about 

 1,014,000 francs; the rest is made up of students' fees, 

 legacies, and contributions by societies and private per- 

 sons. As, however, the towns receive from university 

 sources the sum of 421,837 francs, their net contribution 

 is only about 593,000 francs, or roughly about 23,720/. 



Since 1888-89 ^he number of students has risen in a 

 remarkable fashion, though no doubt this increase is 

 due in part to the law which grants two years' exemp- 

 tion from military service to those who have passed 

 certain examinations. In 1888-89, the number of 

 students was about 16,000, in 1898 the total had risen 

 to 28,782, of whom 871 were women, and no less than 

 1784 of foreign nationality. All the faculties show 

 an increase in the number of students during the same 

 period, but those in science (a school which did not 

 exist before the Republic) show the greatest increase. 

 Their numbers have risen in the last ten years from 

 1 187 to 3424. 



The Baccalaur^at shows the same remarkable itt- 

 crease. Certain changes 'in the examination do not 

 permit of a comparison being drawn with any year 

 earlier than 1892-93. In that year there were 25,612 

 candidates for the different sections of the examination, 

 of whom 11,518 passed. In 1897-98 there were 36,922 

 candidates, of whom 16,688 passed. The other estab- 

 lishments of university rank, the Coll^ge^de France, the 

 Museum of Natural History, the Ecole Normale 

 Sup^rieure, the ficole pratique des hautes fitudes, &c., 

 all received an increased grant in 1898 in comparison 

 with the last decennial account. The College de France, 

 which is entirely devoted to research work, contains 

 no less than forty-two chairs, and receives from the 

 State nearly 21,000/. a year. The Museum of Natural 

 History, equally devoted to research, has a budget of 

 more than 38,000/. The school of Oriental languages, 

 which has no counterpart in England, though we have 

 a far greater need of one, receives more than 6000/. a 

 year. The ficole des Chartes receives more than 3000/. 

 The ficole pratique des hautes Etudes receives more 

 than 12,500/., as well as more than 1500/. a year from 

 the City of Paris. The majority of these institutions 

 have enormously developed, if they have not been 

 actually created, under the Republican rigime. 



One word must be said in conclusion for the free 

 universities founded in 1875, when the university mono- 

 poly in higher education was abolished. -At first per- 

 mitted to grant degrees similar in name to those of the 

 official world, they have since lost the right. In spite 

 of this they have none the less continued to increase. 

 In 1888-89 their students numbered 726, in 1897-8 they 

 had increased to 1407. It is difficult to say what will 

 be their fate under the present campaign to re-establish 

 the monopoly of the State in education. The higher 

 schools of art and technology being under more or less 

 separate authorities do not figure here in the list of 

 higher education.^ The present rdgime has been 

 equally liberal and equally successful in dealing with 

 these important branches of national education. What- 

 ever may be the final verdict of history on the Republic, 

 its bitterest critics will never be able to contest the fact 

 that only Prussia after Jena can compare in any way 



1 The schools o( «rt are under a separate department in the Ministry of 

 Publiclnsiruc'irinand Art. The higher schools of commerce and technology 

 are uijder the Ministry of Commerce. - , , 



