1870.] The French Imperial School of Forestry. 61 



Candidates for these appointments were to undergo a prelimi- 

 nary examination in London in Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonome- 

 try, English Dictation and Composition, the Natural Sciences, and 

 Drawing. A knowledge of French or German was also required, 

 and all the candidates had to pass a strict medical examination. 

 Those who were successful were then sent either to France or 

 Germany to study the science of Forestry, as taught in the old 

 established schools there. It is to the course of instruction in the 

 Ecole Imperiale Forestiere, established at Nancy, in the depart- 

 ment of the Meurthe, that the present article will be devoted. 



This establishment is an offspring of the German schools, having 

 been founded in 1824, when M. Lorentz, who had studied Forestry 

 in Germany, was made Director. It is not to be supposed, how- 

 ever, that the French and German systems are identical. Any 

 one, reflecting on the characters of the two nations, would be pre- 

 pared to find that the German system was more artificial, and 

 entered much more into minutiae than that pursued in France. 

 At all events such is the fact. 



Before the establishment of the Forest School in France the 

 administration of the forests was carried on by officers of the army, 

 detached for the purpose, but who had received no special training 

 for the service. This is pretty much the state of things that has 

 obtained in India up to the present time, such officers, however, 

 being selected as were specially fitted for the service by their 

 botanical or scientific knowledge. 



Those candidates who were sent to France had to spend eight 

 months at Haguenau, near Strasbourg, before entering the school 

 at Nancy, partly to ensure such a knowledge of French as would 

 enable them to follow, with facility, the lectures of the French 

 professors, and to take copious notes of them ; and partly to give 

 them a practical knowledge of the operations which are carried 

 on in a large forest, such as that of Haguenau. In November — 

 the commencement of the scholastic year — they proceeded to the 

 Ecole Imperiale Forestiere at Nancy, where, with the single ex- 

 ception of lodging in the town instead of at the school, they were 

 submitted to the same regulations as the pupils of the French 

 Government. 



We shall now proceed to give a brief account of the course of 

 study during the two years over which it extends. In each, the 

 winter season is devoted entirely to lectures and study connected 

 with them: a portion of each day is also devoted to drawing, 

 either for the purposes of surveying, or the construction of bridges, 

 saw-mills, &c. After Easter commences what may be called the 

 practical or out -door part of the course, when the whole School 

 goes out to see the forests, and generally to apply what has been 

 taught in the lectures. During this time, in order to prevent 



