170 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 244 



The whole system of higher education in Norway is based upon 

 the intermediate school. It is the preparatory school of the Gym- 

 nasium, -^ the Latin as well as the Real Gymnasium, — and has a 

 six-years' course. The requirements for entrance are essentially 

 the same as in the Prussian hohere Burgcrschule. The normal age 

 at entrance is nine years. For the first three years the course is in 

 common : with the fourth year it is divided. The pupil preparing 

 for the Latin Gymnasium receives instruction in Latin seven hours 

 per week, which continues through the remainder of the course. 

 All others have instead the so-called ' Real' course; in the fourth 

 year, English and drawing ; in the fifth and sixth years, English, 

 drawing, and an hour more of German. Otherwise the courses are 

 identical. In the fifth and sixth years two hours of French are 

 elective. A certificate of proficiency from the intermediate school 

 is required for admission to a Gymnasium ; it also entitles its pos- 

 sessor to enter a technical school, and is required of a dentist. A 

 certificate in the Real course only, admits to the naval academy 

 and to the telegraph service ; in the latter case the pupil must also 

 have been proficient in French. The future apothecary must pos- 

 sess the certificate of the Latin course. 



The Gymnasium — the Latin Gymnasium as well as the Real 

 Gymnasium — is the preparatory school of the university and of the 

 higher technical schools. It has a three-years' course, arranged as 

 follows : — 



Latin Gymnasium. 



Real Gymnasium. 



Normal age at entrance 



1. Religion 



2. Norwegian and Old Norwegian, 



3. English 



4. French 



5. German 



6. History 



7. Physical geography 



8. Natural sciences 



9. Mathematics 



ID. Drawing 



Total number of hours 



The certificate of proficiency from the Latin Gymnasium entitles 

 its possessor to enter upon any course of study. If, however, the 

 pupil desires to enter the military academy, he must pass an exam- 

 ination in mathematics, the natural sciences, and drawing, the re- 

 quirements in these branches being the same as at the final exam- 

 ination of the Real Gymnasium. 



The certificate of the Real Gymnasium entitles its possessor to enter 

 the advanced technical courses, to pursue the study of jurisprudence, 

 and admits to the military academy. If a graduate of the Real Gym- 

 nasium desires to study medicine, he must pass an oral examination 



in Latin ; the requirement, however, being the same as at the final 

 examination of the intermediate school, not of the Real Gymnasium. 

 The candidate must show that he has read three books of ' Csesar's 

 Commentaries,' twenty-four chapters of ' Cicero's Orations,' and 

 five hundred verses of ' Phasdrus.' In addition, there is a short 

 written translation from Norwegian into Latin, in which the use of 

 a dictionary is permitted. Most of the graduates of the Real Gym- 

 nasium who are to study jurisprudence also take this examination ; 

 on the one hand, because Roman law is an important factor in the 

 State examination, and because those who have passed this exam- 

 ination have especial prerogatives in the examen philosophiciim 

 which precedes the state examination. In order to study theology 

 and philology, the graduate of the Real Gymnasium must pass an 

 oral examination in Latin and Greek, the requirements being the 

 same as at the final examination of the Latin Gymnasium. 



The system of preparatory instruction here described has existed 

 in Norway now for some twenty years, so that it is possible to 

 judge, to some extent, of its efficiency. Statistics show that the 

 great majority of those who discontinue their studies after the com- 

 pletion of the course of the intermediate school take the Real 

 course. Of those who take a higher course in the university and 

 the technical schools, two thirds have been graduated from the 

 Latin Gymnasium, one third from the Real Gymnasium. This re- 

 sult, however, is to be explained by the fact that the transformation 

 of the former Latin schools into Latin Gymnasiums necessitated 

 comparatively few changes. Where circumstances, accordingly, 

 allowed but one higher school, the Latin Gymnasium was chosen, 

 which offers, besides, certain tangible, if not materially important 

 prerogatives. Real Gymnasiums and Latin Gymnasiums exist side 

 by side only in the larger cities, the number of which in Norway is 

 very small. Eight cities have both a Real and a Latin Gymnasium, 

 and twelve a Latin Gymnasium alone. W. H. C. 



ACCLIMATIZATION IN NEW ZEALAND. 



In a former article {Science, viii. No. 197) reference was made to 

 the various species of animals which had been purposely introduced 

 into these islands. In all cases it is difficult to foretell what effect 

 will be produced upon any species by bringing about a change in its 

 environment, and this truth has been well exemplified in the case 

 of many animals, now, alas ! too well established in the colony. 

 Unfortunately the age of experiments in this direction has only 

 begun. Rabbits, having no natural enemies to keep them in check, 

 have become such a pest and source of loss to the colony, that the 

 latest move — taken up both by interested sheep-farmers and by 

 the government — has been to liberate sloats, ferrets, and weasels 

 in many parts. Slowly as these animals increase, they have al- 

 ready made their presence felt ; not, however, in the diminution of 

 the rabbit-pest, but by their destruction of hen-roosts, and attacks 

 upon children. Following in the wake of settlement, but not intro- 

 duced purposely by man, are many other species, mo.stly small and 

 noxious. When settlers first penetrate into the untrodden parts, 

 especially of the South Island, they are attacked by hordes of blood- 

 thirsty sandflies and mosquitoes ; while the greatest care has 

 to be taken to ward off an abundant blowfly, which lays its eggs, 

 or ready-hatched maggots, upon every thing exposed. Blankets, 

 flour-bags, and clothing are just as readily ' blown ' as meat or 

 offal. But as cultivation proceeds, and the ground is cleared, these 

 insects disappear, while common European blue and house flies 

 take their place. The latter, like the human being they follow after, 

 even bring their diseases with them ; so that every autumn their 

 distended bodies are found attached to window-panes by the 

 mycelium of Empusa niuscce. 



As settlement progresses, and new trees and plants begin to 

 take the place of the old vegetation, the familiar pests of the 

 mother-country begin to appear. Aphides, Coccida, various beetles, 

 moths, and flies, together with parasites which infest man and 

 beast, become all too familiar. In many cases it would seem at 

 first as if these were going to have it all their own way. Some 

 twenty years ago it was considered nearly impossible to grow 

 Swede turnips in this part of the colony, so enormously abundant 

 was the Aphis upon them ; but within these two decades a small 

 bird almost certainly of recent introduction from Australia, called 

 green-eye, wax-eye, or blight bird (Zoster ops lateralis), has increased 



