Sept. 1 8, 1884] 



NA TURE 



491 



pire. And perhaps the statesmen who have steadily pur- 

 sued their policy in this respect when the cry for economy, 

 even at the expense of efficiency, was rising round them, 

 have their reward even now. A Minister of State 

 who recently visited Europe, talking to an English 

 friend of the future of his country, stated that in Japan 

 they trusted to their system of popular education acting 

 on the intelligence of their people to prevent the spread 

 of revolutionary doctrines ; the schoolmaster was abroad 

 in the land, and its rulers could rest safe from that danger 

 at least. 



The Education Department in Japan is one of the ten 

 principal offices of State, its head ranking as a first-class 

 Minister. It has the usual staff of Vice-Ministers and 

 Secretaries, who carry on the business, and from time to 

 time visit and inspect the various districts. All the local 

 governors are, in educational matters, directly under the 

 control of the Minister. The salaries of professors range 

 from about 1000/. per annum (foreigners probably) to 

 250/., and those of teachers from 100/. to 30/. The latter 

 are, we believe, considerably higher in proportion than 

 those of Board-school teachers in this country. School 

 text-books are chosen with great care, and by the Depart- 

 ment itself; indeed almost all the books are compiled and 

 published by the Government. In the capital two esta- 

 blishments have been organised in the interest of educa- 

 tion — one a library where works in all languages are 

 collected, and placed, under certain slight restrictions, at 

 the disposal of the public ; the other the educational 

 museum, in which objects necessary to general education 

 are collected for the benefit of those engaged in it. The 

 rules by which all schools are governed, whether they are 

 local, general, or private, appear ultimately to come under 

 the notice of the Minister of Education for his approval, 

 so that the administration is a highly centralised one. 

 An important feature of the work is the number of stu- 

 dents sent abroad by one or other of the Departments of 

 State. The Education Department has sent fifty in the 

 past seven years, and there are at present twenty-two 

 abroad, of whom seventeen are in Germany, one in Aus- 

 tria, two in England, one in France, and one in America. 

 All these are graduates of 'the Tokio University, who 

 were specially selected by the Minister of Education for 

 the purpose of being sent abroad. The great preponder- 

 ance of these in Germany is remarkable, and would 

 appear to show that the Japanese are inclined to discard 

 English and American educational institutions (which 

 have had their day in Japanese estimation) for those of 

 Germany. On the other hand, it may be that those are 

 mostly medical students, who have from the beginning 

 been sent to German Universities. Before coming to the 

 various classes of schools, the statistics had perhaps bet- 

 ter be given. The following are for 1882, the details for 

 1883 not being yet forthcoming : — 



Number 



Pupil 



Professors 

 and 'teachers 



Elementary schools... 28,908 ... 76,769 ... 2,616,879 



High schools 173 ... 934 ... 12,315 



Normal schools ... 71 ... 602 ... 5,275 



Universities 2 ... 135 ... 2,035 



Technical schools ... 98 ... 975 ... 8,829 



Other schools 1,026 ... 2,598 ... 72,260 



Of the 2,616,879 pupils at the elementary schools, only 

 733>69l are girls. Nearly the whole of these schools are 

 maintained by the various local Governments, i.e. out of 

 local, not Imperial, taxes. The whole system is adminis- 

 tered under a code first promulgated in 1S72, re-issued in 

 an improved shape in 1879, and again revised in 1881. 



The lowest schools of all are the Kindergarten, where 

 children under school age are taught for three years read- 

 ing, writing, ciphering, embroidery, paper-plaiting, drawing, 

 &c. The next grade is the elementary schools, where a 

 general education is given, and at which attendance is 

 compulsory. The district for such a school varies with 



the population and resources ; but theoretically, and as a 

 rule in practice, one exists in every ward and in every 

 village. The course of these schools is divided into 

 lower, intermediate, and higher grades. The lower grade 

 course comprises the elements of morals, reading, writing, 

 arithmetic, singing, and gymnastics ; the intermediate, 

 besides these, includes geography, history, drawing, 

 physics, and natural history ; while the higher grade adds 

 chemistry, geometry, physiology, and political economy. 

 Teachers receive certificates either for a certain class of 

 schools or for a special subject from the normal schools, 

 or from the local inspectorates. Committees or Boards, 

 similar apparently to our School-Boards, are formed in 

 each district, but their functions are limited to seeing to 

 the attendance of the children, and they seem to have no 

 power over the finances of the school. The next grade 

 of schools is the " middle school*," organised in each 

 district according to the local conditions and demands. 

 Their object is to give higher instruction in the ordinary 

 branches of study, so as to prepare students for liberal 

 pursuits or for the more advanced schools. In addition 

 to the subjects already specified, we find the middle- 

 school course including elementary mathematics, natural 

 science, geology, Japanese law, and one European lan- 

 guage. To provide a model for these schools, the 

 Minister of Education established a middle school at 

 Osaka, to which reference can be made. There is only 

 one University, that of Tokio, with four departments, 

 law, science, literature, and medicine. Nothing need be 

 said of this, as it is organised in the usual way. There 

 are two preparatory schools for it, and the department of 

 science appears to be well equipped with astronomical 

 and meteorological observatories, botanical gardens, and 

 museums. 



In addition to these, which may be called the ordinary 

 educational institutions, there are special colleges attached, 

 or under the control of certain Departments. Such are 

 the Military Academy, the Engineering College, the 

 Training Schools for the Navy and Army, the School of 

 Marine Engineering, of Forestry, Law, Telegraphy, &c. 

 The normal schools for the training of teachers should 

 also be noticed. They are established in almost every 

 district, and now number seventy-six. The Government 

 has provided two model normal schools in Tokio, one for 

 male teachers, the other for females, and it is worth 

 noticing that the latter was opened by the Empress her- 

 self. There are two schools of agriculture, one near Tokio, 

 the other at Sapporo in Yezo. In the former the students 

 are instructed in the science of agriculture, in veterinary 

 science and agricultural chemistry, while in the latter 

 stock-rearing and cultivation are taught. 



These appear to be the chief features of the Report, and 

 it is much to be wished that the compilers had given some 

 information regarding the part played by Europeans in 

 Japanese education. A comparative statement of the 

 number of Europeans employed in the Department or in 

 local schools eight or ten years ago, and now how far the 

 posts they occupied have been abolished, or occupied by 

 Japanese found suitable for the work, would have been 

 interesting. 



BRITISH BIRDS A T THE NA TURAL 



HISTORY MUSEUM 



\ VISITORS to the new Natural History Museum can 



* scarcely have failed to notice the many improve- 

 ments which have been made in the re-arrangement of the 

 zoological collections s ; nce their removal from Blooms- 

 bury to South Kensington. Not only is there greater 

 space now available for exhibiting the contents of each 

 gallery, but a large proportion of new specimens have 

 been introduced into ihe cases. 



It is of course not to be expected that stuffed animals, 

 however well preserved, will last for ever, and some of the 



