PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 421 



referred to: " Guide illustre de 1'etudiant etranger a Paris et en 

 France" and the " Bulletin officiel de la Federation del' Alliance 

 Francaise aux Etats-Unis et au Canada." 



Responsible and capable private teachers in French can always 

 be obtained on the recommendation of the various "Comites de 

 patronage," the official bureau of information, or through the 

 various students' clubs. 



If the American who has had a good grounding in French in our 

 schools, but has not acquired perfect facility in the use of it, will 

 go to France at the beginning of July, will settle down at a provin- 

 cial university where vacation courses are offered, and will not only 

 follow conscientiously these courses but also profit by the oppor- 

 tunities offered by life in a recommended private family, there is 

 is every likelihood that when the Universities open on the first of 

 November, he will be able not only to follow but also to partici- 

 pate actively in the courses offered. 



The Doctor's Degree (in Law, Medicine, Sciences, Letters 

 and Pharmacy) conferred by the Universities. The "Doctorats 

 de 1'universite" are of recent origin. Not until the Universities 

 were constituted as separate and autonomous bodies by the law of 

 July 10, 1896, were they delegated the power to establish and grant 

 degrees in their own name. Prior to 1896, the various Faculties 

 and Schools, now constituting the sixteen Universities, were inte- 

 gral parts of the "Universite nationale de France," a single uni- 

 versity system, administered by a " Grand Maitre," assisted by a 

 "Conseil de 1'Universite;" this university system was further sub- 

 divided into "Academies," each under the direction of a " Recteur," 

 assisted by a "Conseil Academique." All the degrees granted un- 

 der this old system were degrees conferred by the State, usually 

 carrying with them the right to practice some profession in France. 

 Not only was the work prescribed for these degrees organized 

 almost exclusively with reference to the exigencies of professional 

 work in France; but the crowding of the professions and the conse- 

 quent intense competition for positions made it necessary to hedge 

 about these degrees with many restrictions. The substitution of 

 school or university work successfully completed in another coun- 

 try in the fulfillment of the requirements for these degrees was sel- 

 dom permitted. The result was that few Americans sought these 

 degrees; for they could not afford to spend the time and the money 

 to go to France to finish their secondary school education and so 



