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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 786 



were followed during the next twenty years 

 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 

 ogy in 1865 and other institutions. Since 

 that time, the number of schools and stu- 

 dents has greatly increased, as shown by 

 the following statistics relating to profes- 

 sional schools in 1905 : 



Number of in- 

 stitutions ... 



Teacliers 



Students 



156 

 1,094 

 7,580 



96 



1,190 



14,714 



148 

 5,465 

 25,835 



Schools of 

 Technology 

 Conferring 

 only B.S. 

 Degrees 



44 

 1,865 

 16,110 



The engineering societies do not in any 

 ease require a technical training as a prep- 

 aration for membership. The American 

 Society of Civil Engineers requires for full 

 membership that the candidate shall be at 

 least thirty years of age, shall have been in 

 the practise of his profession for ten years 

 and shall have had responsible charge of 

 work for at least five years. Graduation 

 from a technical school is considered equiv- 

 alent to two years of practical work. 



A good illustration of the development 

 of the engineering profession is found in 

 the history of the noted French corps of 

 government engineers known as the Corps 

 des Fonts et Chaussees. It was in the time 

 of Charles V. that professional engineers 

 were first employed by the king to super- 

 vise public works, particularly roads, 

 which were known as the king's highways. 

 The corps experienced many vicissitudes, 

 some rulers appreciating their work while 

 others did not. In the time of Louis XIV., 

 the engineers were pushed into the back- 

 ground, the king reserving his favor for 

 the court architects. The architect. Man- 

 sard, was entrusted with the building of a 

 bridge across the AUier at Moulins, but he 

 was unacquainted with the principles of 

 hydraulics and could not calculate the vol- 



ume and force of the water, and did not 

 know how to protect his bridge against 

 floods, so that it collapsed a few years 

 later. This disaster was favorable to the 

 engineers, who pointed out that while it 

 was the duty of architects to build fine pal- 

 aces, engineers should be entrusted with 

 the construction of public works where 

 convenience and stability were of more im- 

 portance than elegance. The Corps des 

 Fonts et Chaussees was definitely and 

 permanently organized between 1712 and 

 1716; and under Louis XV. the noted 

 Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees was consti- 

 tuted by royal decree dated February 14, 

 1747. It was placed under the direction of 

 the engineer Ferronet, who besides other 

 great works had built the beautiful Pont 

 de la Concorde at Paris. At the beginning 

 of the French Revolution, it was proposed 

 to abolish the corps, but this move was 

 defeated by Mirabeau, and, instead, the 

 corps was reorganized by several decrees. 

 The corps is now under the department of 

 public works. Five sixths of its engineers 

 come from the Ecole des Fonts et 

 Chaussees, while one sixth come from fore- 

 men, who, after ten years' experience, are 

 entitled to enter a competitive examina- 

 tion and if successful may be appointed 

 engineers. 



Ferronet remained director of the school 

 for forty-seven years after it was founded 

 in 1747. He died February 27, 1794. The 

 following year the Ecole Folytechnique was 

 founded, giving a general scientific train- 

 ing preparatory to the engineering school. 

 The course in the engineering school ex- 

 tends over three years, offering free tuition 

 in all courses, and state pupils are chosen 

 exclusively from those leaving the Ecole 

 Folytechnique and receive a salary of $360 

 a year plus $10 monthly during their stay 

 in Paris. During each vacation they are 

 required to spend three and one half 



