AUGUST I, I9I2] 
NATURE 
Sa 
1913, in respect of a scheme for the development of 
the fisheries of England and Wales :— 
(1) A sum not exceeding 6o0l. for work in connec- 
tion with lobster fisheries; 
(2) A sum not exceeding 350ol. in aid of the Board’s 
general research work ; 
(3) A sum not exceeding 1590l. for the purpose of 
making the following grants or such portions thereof 
as might be required before March 31, 1913, to the 
institutions named, viz. :— 
(a) 1240l. to the Lancashire and Western Local 
Fisheries Committee. 
(b) 300l. to the Marine Biological Association in aid 
of their research work. 
(c) sol. to the Eastern Local Fisheries Committee 
in aid of their experiments in connection with the 
marking of crabs and lobsters. 
British Beekeepers’ Association. 
The Treasury, on the recommendation of the 
Development Commissioners, has sanctioned a grant 
to the British Beekeepers’ Association of a sum not 
exceeding 8501. as follows :— 
(1) A sum of 3501. for an experimental apiary in 
some central situation, to be fitted with all modern 
appliances and to be used for demonstration purposes 
and in connection with the training and examination 
of lecturers. 
(2) A sum equal to the income of the association 
for the current year, but in no case to exceed sool., for 
general organisation—including the training and 
examination of lecturers, the promotion of county 
associations, and the organisation of pioneer lectures 
and demonstrations. 
THE STATE UNIVERSITIES OF FRANCE.1 
AMONG the signs of progress to be noted is the 
increase in the number of students. As shown 
by the table, this increase has been marked during 
the decade 1go1-10, excepting in the case of one or 
two of the universities. At these smaller centres a 
process of scholastic specialisation has been going on 
which promises to give them distinctive place in the 
general system. 
Distribution of Students in the State Universities of 
France. 
Number of students. 
Universities. 
1901 1910 
Paris F 12,289 17,602 
Aix- Marseille 950 1,236 
Besancon... 252 242 
Bordeaux .. 2,119 2,552 
Caen 646 826 
Clermont... 299 275 
Dijon... 699 992 
Grenoble... 566 1,156 
Lille 1,110 1,779 
Lyons... 2,428 2,922 
Montpellier 1,610 1,965 
Nancy 1,627 1,899 
Poitiers 821 1,299 
Rennes 1,139 2,029 
Toulouse ... ms wi cos g 23040 2,828 
Schools of medicine and phar- 
macy not included in the uni- 
versities 7% sh meg -., (7) 
Algiers (university schools) item. * 1,442 
29,901 41,044 
In the decade covered by the table the total number 
of students rose from 29,901 to 41,044, an increase of 
1 Abridged from a chapter on Educational Movements in Western Europe, 
by Anna T. Smith, in the report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education for 
the year ended June 39, rgrr. 
2 Included in the universities in 1910. 
NO. 2231, VoL. 89] 
37 per cent. For the University of Paris alone the 
increase was above the average, amounting to 43 per 
cent.; for the provincial universities, taken together, 
the increase was 33 per cent. The contingent of 
foreign students has contributed in a marked degree 
to this advance; in 1900 they numbered 1770; in 1910 
5241, a gain of 1966 per cent. during the decade. 
These numbers pertain to the winter sessions; in the 
summer sessions the number of foreigners is always 
greater; for instance, in 1910, it was 5800, or 559 
more than in the winter session of the same year. 
The numbers quoted relate solely to regularly inscribed 
students. No account is taken of students attending 
public lectures at the Collége de France, the Muséum, 
or the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. This proof 
of the extending reputation of the universities affords 
just gratification to the French authorities, who dwell 
also upon the evidence that it affects nearly every 
country. Russia has the largest representation in the 
student body, and the German Empire, exclusive of 
Alsace-Lorraine, stands second in this respect. 
The universities of France, like those of Germany, 
are highly specialised institutions in which students are 
prepared for professional or official careers. General 
education is the province of the lycées and colleges 
which prepare students for the bachelor’s degree, a 
prerequisite for matriculation at the universities. 
Hence the distribution of students by faculties serves 
as an index to the changing currents of intellectual 
life and of university demands in France. 
Distribution of Students among the Different Faculties 
of the State Universities of France. 
Number of students in 
Faculties State universities. 
Jan. 15, Jan. 15, 
Igor Tg10 
Law 5 10,152 16,915 
Medicine... 8,627 9,721 
Sciences ... 3,910 6,287 
Letters ae 33723 6,363 
Pharmacy ee 33347 1,758 
Protestant theology 142 _ 
29,901 41,044 
From the distribution of the students among the 
different faculties, as shown in the table, it is seen 
that law attracts nearly 40 per cent. of the entire 
number, and, further, that the faculty of letters has 
gained upon the faculty of sciences, which at the 
beginning of the decade had the larger registration. 
This increasing attendance upon the faculty of letters 
is due in great measure to the changing requirements 
of the teaching force of the secondary schools, which 
| is recruited chiefly from the two faculties considered. 
Among other causes for the gain in letters is the 
preference of foreign students. The number of 
foreigners in the faculties of science rose in the decade 
from 278 to 1208, an increase of 334 per cent.; in 
letters from 215 to 1708, an increase of 694 per cent. 
The increased attendance upon the faculties of 
letters and science is due in part to the system of 
bourses (scholarship funds) adopted by the Govern- 
ment in the early days of the Republic, with the pur- 
pose of assuring a sufficient number of candidates for 
the teaching service of secondary schools. At that 
time the faculties were purely examining juries 
and few candidates were forthcoming for the licence 
(diploma required for regular scholarships) or for 
the agrégation (examination for special professors). 
In order to induce young men of promise, but of 
limited means, to enter the service, Government 
bourses were created to be awarded upon competitive 
examination. The number of candidates admitted to 
this provision each year is, however, strictly limited, 
and at present the boursiers form a very small propor- 
