OCTOBEE 2, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



431 



the faculty. The honor of an appointment, 

 coming technically from the reigning sov- 

 ereign, is usually reserved for the full pro- 

 fessor. 



The professor, when appointed, is re- 

 quired to announce one public or free lec- 

 ture course of one hour each week. He 

 must also announce one private or fee lec- 

 ture course, which may be from two to six 

 hours weekly. These are the only obliga- 

 tions resting upon him. Other fee lecture 

 courses he can announce at will. The pro- 

 fessor has entire freedom in arranging his 

 courses and choosing his own lecture sub- 

 jects. He naturally confines himself to 

 subjects germane to the chair which he 

 occupies and to whose study he has devoted 

 his life, but there is usually nothing in the 

 university regulations which would prevent 

 him from lecturing on any subject he might 

 desire. 



The preliminary step necessary to render 

 a scholar eligible for a professorship is for 

 him to secure from a faculty "habilita- 

 tion, " or admission to the privileges of a 

 privat-docent (venialegendi). Theprivat- 

 docent is not an oiScer of the government, 

 as are the professors, nor does he receive 

 any salary from the university. His ' ' ha- 

 bilitation" means that he is permitted to 

 give lectures in the university to such stu- 

 dents as are willing to pay fees therefor, 

 and that the universities will give to stu- 

 dents taking such courses the same credit 

 as if the courses were those of a professor. 



In Prussia the "habilitation" of the 

 privat-docent rests entirely with the fac- 

 ulty, the ministry of instruction simply 

 signifying through the curator that the 

 royal government has no objection to the 

 candidate. The privat-docent is not re- 

 quired to lecture unless he sees fit, but his 

 name will be dropped from the announce- 

 ment of lectures if for two successive sem- 

 esters he fails to give courses. In Bavaria, 



the King, through the ministry of instruc- 

 tion, grants to a privat-docent the venia 

 legendi and he may be removed at will by 

 the royal command. He must conduct 

 each year one course. In Saxony, Wiirt- 

 temberg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin the 

 consent of the ministry is necessary for an 

 "habilitation"; in Hesse the rector of the 

 university grants the privilege with the 

 consent of the university senate; and at 

 the University of Jena it is necessary, be- 

 fore a docentship is conferred, to obtain 

 the consent of the Grand Duke of Saxe- 

 Weimar and the reigning Dukes of Saxe- 

 Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe- 

 Coburg-Gotha. In the Roman Catholic 

 theological faculties an "habilitation" 

 must receive the sanction of the bishop of 

 the diocese. 



The requirements for an "habilitation" 

 have been constantly rising in recent years, 

 and the average age at which a scholar 

 acquires this privilege is well above thirty. 

 Although instances of large fees by privat- 

 docents have existed, the largest practical 

 possibility is from four to five hundred 

 dollars a year. The average income is 

 certainly not much above two hundred dol- 

 lars. Students have a strong tendency to 

 pay their fees for the lectures of the better 

 known professors, and the situation to-day 

 of the privat-docent who does not possess a 

 private income or is without the backing 

 of wealthy relatives remains the same as 

 when Herr Teufelsdrockh climbed his 

 many flights of stairs at the University 

 of Weissnichtwo. Nor is there any sure 

 hope of a professorship to solace their 

 years of financial barrenness. A chair in 

 the faculty may never come at all; even if 

 it is attained, the period of waiting is 

 beyond calculation. Probably the situation 

 is more difficult than it was when Kant 

 remained a privat-docent at the University 

 of Jena until he was forty-six. 



