98 REPORT— 1841. 



No ecclesiastical control is exercised over the students in the school, and no di- 

 stinctions are made on account of religious opinions ; persons of any denomination 

 are admitted into the school, and in fact, the pupils are left entirely to themselves 

 with respect to religion. The pupils are divided into four companies, to each of 

 which are attached several sub-officers, out of their own body. Tlrey hold their rank 

 only for one year, subject to re-appointment, and their promotion is considered as a 

 mark of honourable distinction. 



All orders of the superior officers are conveyed to the pupils of each company 

 through these sub-officers, who are further responsible for the good conduct of their 

 comrades, and are liable to be punished for them ; the sub-officers of the school also 

 wear the same gold chevrons on their uniform, which distinguish the sub-officers of 

 the same grade in the army. 



Those pupils who do not pass the examinations with credit at the end of the first 

 year, cannot go up into the second year ; and a similar failure at the end of another 

 year, or even neglect during the daily examinations of the lectures, would cause them 

 to be immediately dismissed from the school. 



The place which they occupy at the end of the second year in the examinations, de- 

 termines their order of admission into the public service ; and as only very few are an- 

 nually rejected, it may be said, that in general, the success of a candidate in the final 

 examinations is always followed by a commission in the artillery, the engineers, the 

 bridges and highways, the navy, or in some other department of the public service. 



On the 1st of April 1 840, there were 271 pupils in the Polytechnic School, of whom 

 139 were in the first year, and 132 in the second year : of the first-year men, four 

 only had been recommended to pass a second )'ear in the junior division of the school, 

 as they were not yet sufficiently advanced to enter on the second year's course of study; 

 and in the second year, eight had been authorized to remain an additional year in the 

 division, for various reasons. 



Of the total number of 27 1 pupils, 56 were from the department of the Seine, in 

 which Paris is situated, 208 from other French departments, 2 from French colonies, 

 2 of British parents, 1 from Switzerland, 1 from Saxony, 1 from Trebizond. 



Besides these regular pupils, authorizations had been granted by the minister of 

 war to tiventy-six young men, who were not pupils of the school, to attend the lec- 

 tures, viz. sixteen in the division of the first year, and ten in the division of the se- 

 cond j^ear. These voluntary students were of various nations : — 8 French, 1 English, 

 1 American, 2 Swiss, 3 Italian, 2 Greek, 1 Spanish, 2 Russian, 1 Norwegian, 1 Hes- 

 sian, 1 Wurtemberger, 2 Portuguese, and 1 Brazilian. 



The body of professors is always recruited by young men of the greatest promise, 

 selected either from the school itself, or from the most distinguished scientific insti- 

 tutions of the country ; the general course of the studies is superintended by a council 

 of instruction, and the whole system is subject to the constant supervision of a council 

 of improvement .- these two councils are formed from the principal officers of the 

 school, and other men of science, and to their vigilance and able direction the Poly- 

 technic School is largely indebted for its efficiency. 



A council of discipline watches over the internal regulations of the school, and the 

 whole establishment is underthe special j urisdiction and authorit}' of the minister of war. 



Results of some Experiments on a System of stnall Allotments and Spade 

 Husbandry. By Mrs. Da vies Gilbert. 



It Avas stated that by this practice the number of paupers in the workhouse had 

 been reduced from 220, July 1840, to 130, July 1841 ; and that the people evinced 

 such a desire to obtain work that they walked three miles up Beachy Head for it. 

 Mrs. Gilbert entered into minute details of the system of husbandly pursued in the 

 district, particularly dwelling on the benefit of forming tanks in chalk soils, and the 

 importance of keeping milch cows under cover. 



Account of the establishment of a Central Statistical Coinmission in Brussels 

 by the Belgian Government. By 31. Quetelet. 



He adverted to the great importance of statistical science, and dwelt on the diffi- 

 culties which impede the collection, comparison and verification of statistics. He 



