vegetation makes it difficult to check their progress, especially as their seeds are very abundant, and possess the double power of germinating in the ground or in the capsule. Some fields on the Continent have been pretty well freed from this enemy, by perpetually breaking and dividing their stalks with a rake; but this can scarcely be done without destroying or greatly injuring the crop. De Candolle recommends, as the only real effective method of getting rid of this troublesome weed, to mow such portions of the crop as are infested with it, before it has had time to perfect its seed; and if there is reason to fear that these have been already deposited in the soil, then to replace the infested crop by corn or grasses, which do not nourish the dodder. Thus when the seedlings came up, not finding any plant that could support them, they would all, according to their natural habit, die away. If the dodder appears in fields of flax, the plants must be cut down, or rooted up; and if it appears among vines, the branches must be cut before the seed is matured. Where the seed of the dodder has become

mixed with that of trefoil, lucerne, or other plants, it is a good plan to sift the whole in a fine sieve, when the dodder, being smaller than the rest, will pass through, and leave the other free. In this operation, it is necessary to shake the sieve violently, that the capsules of the dodder may be broken, and the seed pass through. Some years ago, the dodder was a very frequent inhabitant of the flax fields of Shropshire, and the neighbouring counties of Wales. It was also rather abundant in Somersetshire, in the shires of Argyle and Dumfries, and in the west of Ireland. In some parts of Somersetshire it goes by the name of "the mulberry," from a fancied resemblance of its cluster of pale pinkish flowers to that fruit in an unripe state. In the west of Ireland it is known simply as "the parasite plant." In 1836 some flax seed, received at the port of Mayo, from Odessa, was found grievously infested with this parasite, which came up with it, and generally effected the entire destruction of the crop. It is stated that the seed obtained from America, or from Riga, is wholly free from dodder, but that from Odessa is frequently infested

with it.

There is another species of dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), very similar in growth, appearance, and properties, to the former, but smaller in size. These two plants, together with the mistletoe, form the three real parasites mentioned at the commencement of this notice. It may appear to many persons that the number is much greater, for there are numerous lichens, and fungi, that exist on trees and vegetables; and there is also the curious orobanche, infesting the roots of the clover. But among botanists, lichens, &c., are banished from the list of true parasites, because they derive their nourishment, not from the essential juices of the tree, but from decaying portions of the bark, and more especially from the atmosphere. Where injury is inflicted by such plants, it is so small as to bear no comparison with that inflicted by the true parasites; but in the great majority of cases, the lichen, adhering to the bark of a majestic tree, has merely the effect of adding to its picturesque appearance, and cannot be considered in any degree detrimental to it. Again, with respect to the orobanche and other plants that appear to prey on the roots of vegetables, it is rather to secure shade and shelter, which their nature demands, that they come up in such situations, than from any necessity of seeking sustenance from other plants. This will be evident if we examine the scaly or bulbous roots, which are given for the nourishment of these so-called parasites.

We must reserve to another occasion an account of that most interesting of parasites, the mistletoe; but as the time draws on when the summer's glow will have passed away, and when trees, denuded of their brilliant attire, will begin to exhibit their parasitic guests more strikingly than when clothed with leaves, it will be well

to notice the beauty which these frequently impart, and the venerable appearance they often give to the aged inhabitants of the forest.

Is there, the naked wood who deems
A dead blank prospect? Yet meseems,
"Tis but a dull incurious eye,
Which on the vast variety
Can cast a casual glance, and sees
No interest in the wintry trees.
And 'tis an inconsiderate mind,
To nature's works and wonders blind,
Which scans the brethren of the glade,
Tho' of their vesture disarray'd,
And there discerns not sign on sign
Of heavenly wisdom, power divine!
MANT'S British Months.

As

ANCIENT AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND. UNDER a poor system of agriculture, only the good land was cultivated, and a large section of the country was of no use to man or beast, further than affording refuge to tribes of wild animals. In former times, live stock were either kept on such a limited scale as to render their amount of winter provender easily attainable, or they were half-starved for several months while the inclement season lasted. In some districts, where the culturable land was entirely and necessarily occupied with corn-crops, food for horses and cattle was even of difficult attainment during summer. mentioned that, as late as the year 1756, when a landan instance of this poverty in the general produce, it is proprietor in the Carse of Gowrie was showing a friend over his grounds, he pointed out a number of servants employed in pulling weeds from a field of corn, and at the same time expressed his gratitude to Providence for raising such a quantity of thistles, "as otherwise," he continued, "how could we, in this district, where we cannot allow our good corn-land to be in pasture, find summer food for our working horses?". The district here referred to is now one of the most beautiful and generally productive of any in the country.-JACKSON on Agriculture.

DARWIN remarks, that we are less dazzled by the light at waking, if we have been dreaming of visible objects. Happy are those who have here dreamed of a higher vision! they will the sooner be able to endure the glories of the world to come.-NOVALIS.

WHALES MISTAKEN FOR ROCKS.

CAPTAIN KING, of His Majesty's ship "Adventure," says: "On the 1st of January, 1828, (in latitude 43° 17′, and longitude 61° 9',) I was informed that we were close to a rock. Upon going on deck I saw the object; but in a very short time I perceived it was a dead whale, upon whose halfputrid body large flocks of birds were feeding. Many on board were, however, sceptical, until, on passing to leeward, the strong odour testified the fact. Its appearance certainly was very like the summit of a dark brown rock, covered with weeds and barnacles, and the myriads of birds, which surrounded it, added to the deception. It could, however, be distinguished by its buoyancy; for the water did not break over it, as of course it would have done had it been a fixed body. Such is probably the origin of half the vigias' that are formed on the charts. Whales, when struck by the fishers, frequently escape, and perish; the carcase then floats on the surface of the sea, until decomposed, or eaten by birds and fishes. A small vessel striking against such a mass would probably be severely injured; and at night, the body, from its buoyancy, and the sea not breaking against

it, would not be readily seen."

Captain Fitz-Roy, of the "Beagle," writes: "14th January, 1830. We were at this time running free, under treble-reefed topsails, with top-gallant yards and masts on deck; the wind being strong from west-north-west, but the weather tolerably clear. Suddenly the boatswain hailed, Hard-a-port-a rock under the bows!' Round the little vessel turned, almost as fast as the order was given; but the thrill that shot through us was happily not the precursor of our destruction; for the supposed rock proved to be a huge whale which had risen close to the bows, and was mistaken for the top of a rock by the boatswain, who was looking out on the forecastle, while I was at the mast-head, and the 'hands' were upon deck.”—Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle.

THE ART OF READING.

VI. INTRODUCTION OF THE PHONIC METHOD INTO THIS COUNTRY.

THE results of the improved methods of imparting instruction, described in former articles, became at length so honourably conspicuous in many of the best schools of the Protestant states of Europe, that they could not fail to attract the notice of enlightened men in this country. The advantages which might be derived from the application of some of these methods to English education, appeared unquestionable; and in the Minutes published by order of the Committee of Council on Education in 1840, we find a distinct recognition of their value, and an announcement of an intention on the part of Government to make them known in this country. We have extracted a portion of this announcement, which relates to a better method of teaching reading.

The Committee of Council having recognised the general prevalence of the synthetic or constructive methods of instruction in elementary schools in Protestant Europe, have deemed it desirable to furnish the schoolmasters and promoters of schools in this country, with examples of the application of such methods to three departments of instruction, viz.-reading, writing, and vocal music.

The difficulty of teaching to read the English language by any clearly constructive process has frequently engaged the attention of persons who have written on this subject, and has been the object of many very ingenious methods, which, however, from their imperfection, have been only partially adopted.

Consequently, the masters of elementary schools have generally persevered in a purely dogmatic method of instruction in reading, exercising no faculty but that of memory, and requiring, from that faculty, exertions greater than are demanded at any subsequent period of instruction.

The difficulties experienced by all who have attempted to introduce more rational methods of teaching to read have arisen from the great variety of the sounds which are represented by the same signs in the English language, and the variety of the signs which are frequently used to denote the same sound. This complexity has appeared too great to be surmounted by any attempt to arrange the signs of sounds in a rational order, ascending from the simple to the complex. A proposal made by Mr. Edgeworth contained in it the principle which has been adopted with greater or less success in those countries in which elementary education has received the most skilful development, and it happily describes the common errors*.

In teaching a child to read, it is necessary first to teach him to recognise the simplest elements of sounds, and to show how they are combined to form the words with which he is familiar. In selecting words for this purpose the teacher is careful that they shall contain elementary sounds of the simplest kind, and in their simplest combinations, first-and then to proceed to those which present somewhat more difficulty.

The child is accustomed by frequent repetition to this reconstruction of words, thus analysed by the teacher. It acquires by degrees a knowledge of the simple sounds, and is enabled to recognise them in the words which it hears. It is thus prepared to understand that letters represent the sounds of which words are composed, and with many of which it has become familiar. The remaining difficulties would soon be surmounted if the sounds were all simple, and if they were invariably represented by the same letter, or if the same letter did not often represent more than one sound. Some of the radical sounds of the English language are, however, compounded of two simple sounds.

This complexity renders any Phonict analysis of the language exceedingly difficult. The preface to WALKER'S Pronouncing Dictionary enumerates the chief varieties of sound which occur, and the various modes of representing them by letters; and at first sight it would appear rather to cause an increase than a diminution of the difficulties of teaching children to read, if all these varieties are to be distinguished in teaching. This would be true if the labour of the analysis had to be encountered by every schoolmaster, or if it were impossible to furnish him with a Practical Education, chap. ii., on Tasks, Vol. I.

+ Analysis according to the sounds of which the spoken language is composed.

manual making him acquainted with the principles on which the analysis is conducted, and on which the instruction is to be communicated; and also (which is of preeminent importance) present him with lesson-books in which in each successive lesson the children advance from one combination or class of combinations to another, without having their reasoning powers distracted by the occurrence of varieties not referable to the same law, or with which they have not previously been made acquainted. By such means the schoolmaster may obtain, in a compendious and simple form, a clear view of the principles on which the Phonic combinations of the language depend. He may receive concise directions as to the extent to which it is necessary or desirable to make children acquainted with these principles, and as far as such instruction is desirable, with the method of conveying it. He is spared all the labour of analysis and arrangement, and he is only required to exercise persevering care and attention in communicating from day to day the lessons which succeed each other in the primers provided for that purpose.

Such a method recognises in the child a being whose reasoning powers are immature, yet a rational creature, whose memory may be most successfully cultivated when employed in subordination to the reasoning faculty. It depends to a large extent for its success on the truth that it is more difficult to remember contradictory facts (or those which seem so), than classes of consistent facts which express a rule or law satisfactory to the reason. In the former case, each fact has to be separately remembered, and the memory is therefore vexed with numerous independent efforts. In the latter, the pupil remembers classes of facts associated by some law more readily than he remembers the individual facts when presented to his mind without any attempt at arrangement. In the former case, the facts appear to be not merely separate, but contradictory; and in proportion as they are irreconcilable with any effort of the reason will they be difficult to remember. On the contrary to show to a rational creature the mutual relations and dependence of facts presented to its intelligence, is to afford the greatest assistance to the memory, by enabling it to associate these facts in consistent groups, under a comparatively small number of laws.

As an exercise, therefore, both of the memory and of the reasoning faculty, the constructive method of learning the phonic varieties of the English language is a means of cultivating the intelligence exceedingly superior to that which depends on the power of the memory to charge itself with the burden of facts, not only separate, but apparently contradictory.

For a child to commit to memory that which it cannot understand is a difficult and by no means a salutary exercise of the intelligence; but to conduct the instruction of a child not only without any attempt to cultivate its understanding, but to require it to charge its memory with facts which, because contradictory, must be repulsive to its reasoning powers, is worse than useless. By such means a child at an early period separates all ideas of pleasure from instruction. The tyranny of schools commences when any unreasonable effort is required. In this way, likewise, is repressed that earnestness which characterizes the early efforts of childhood. Its generous spirit can only be cherished by leading it from one truth to another, and not from one contradiction to another. The moral sense can only be successfully cultivated by inspiring the child in every process of education with a love of truth. The first step to this result is to satisfy the intelligence on every point which can be rendered clear. The means to this end are the arrangement of the facts presented to the mind of the child in such order that each new truth may naturally succeed, and be supported by those which have preceded it, so that the child may require neither any great effort of the intelligence to comprehend, or believe, or remember, that which it is the object of the master to teach.

By the opposite method schools are rendered repulsive to children. Their own efforts do not second those of the teachers, because they are required to do what is unreasonable. Then what cannot be secured by persuasion and gentleness is too often sought by ruder means. The fear of punishment and the hope of reward take the place of the love of truth and the sense of duty; and the school degenerates from its resemblance to a well-ordered family, in which the most powerful agents are the conscience and mutual affections, into a little society where offences are repressed and obedience is encouraged-where the stimulus of emulation and the fear of correction are the chief agents

in securing that intellectual progress which becomes the main object of the school, though it is sought by means less efficient than those which are more consistent with the cultivation of the moral sense.

From the same source we learn, that the Committee instituted inquiries in Holland, Germany, and Switzerland, respecting the forms which the Phonic method assumed in those countries. These inquiries led to the selection of an individual, well qualified, for the important task of arranging the words of our language according to their phonic character. Mr. Senf, who has long been engaged in teaching on improved methods at an important scholastic establishment in Dresden, and who is also well and critically acquainted with the English language, was induced to visit this country; and with the sanction of the Committee, and under the superintendence of their Secretary, this gentleman devoted himself to the required task, with much assiduity during a period of three months. He then returned to Dresden, leaving the materials thus prepared, as the elements from which a series of lessons might be composed for the use of English schools. A source of difficulty in the preparation of these lessons is thus alluded to in the Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education.

In Germany, artificial combinations of letters are admitted into the lesson-books on the Phonic method, as the representatives of the combined sounds of the language, or parts of words are employed for this purpose. It was necessary in the preparation of the English Reading Book, to discard this means of representing these sounds, because, in our language, the same series of letters have frequently so different a value in different words. The difficulties of the analysis were greatly increased by the necessity of discarding this mode of representing combined sounds. The importance attached by Mr. Wood, of Edinburgh, to the use of words, instead of arbitrary combinations of letters (because he was thus enabled at the earliest stages to accustom the child to seek a meaning in everything that he read), formed another ground for refusing the aid of arbitrary combinations of letters, or using syllabic sounds separately from the words in which they occur. By using real words to represent the combined sounds, in their simplest as well as in their more complex forms, the examples given in the Reading Book are all consistent with the usages of the language, and the examples have a meaning which renders it easy to employ them, in lessons conducted on the interrogative plan of the Edinburgh Sessional School, as simple intellectual exercises. The examples of sound are therefore from the first, used in the exercises on reading which follow each group of words.

When the words used in successive lessons are thus confined to those which can be arranged in some Phonic variety, the accompanying lessons must be less free than if they had been, as is ordinarily the case, written without reference to these restrictions. The effort to reconcile the strictest adherence to the Phonic method with the intellectual method of Mr. Wood (shown in the Lesson-books of the Edinburgh Sessional Schools, and afterwards in those of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland), greatly enhanced the difficulties of the work.

The relinquishment of either of these advantages appeared, however, to involve so great a loss, that it was deemed expedient to make a persevering effort to overcome these grave difficulties. The Phonic Reading Books, though small volumes, are the result of much labour, which, it is hoped, will be spared both to the teacher and the child.

If the analytical labour and the task of arrangement primarily confided to Mr. Senf, (under the superintendence above noticed,) were difficult, the subsequent steps in the preparation of the Phonic Reading Books were also attended with much labour; especially those which respected the formation of reading exercises to accompany each lesson. This task has been confided to Mr. Tomlinson, and is now completed, so far as it respects the First and Second Phonic Reading Books, lately published by Mr. Parker, under the sanction of the Committee of Council on Education. The remaining portions of the work are in progress, and will also shortly be published.

ABSENCE.

WHAT shall I do with all the days and hours
That must be counted ere I see thy face?
How shall I charm the interval that lowers
Between this time and that sweet time of grace ?
Shall I, in slumber steep each weary sense,

Weary with longing?-shall I flee away
Into past days, and with some fond pretence
Cheat myself to forget the present day}
Shall love for thee lay on my soul the sin

Of casting from me God's great gift of time; Shall I these mists of memory locked within, Leave, and forget, life's purposes sublime? Oh! how, or by what means, may I contrive To bring the hour that brings thee back more near? How may I teach my drooping hope to live

Until that blessed time, and thou art here? I'll tell thee; for thy sake, I will lay hold

Of all good aims, and consecrate to thee, In worthy deeds, each moment that is told While thou, beloved one! art far from me. For thee I will arouse my thoughts to try

All heavenward flights, all high and holy strains; For thy dear sake I will walk patiently

Through these long hours, nor call their minutes pains. I will this dreary blank of absence make A noble task-time, and will therein strive To follow excellence, and to o'ertake More good than I have won, since yet I live. So may this doomed time build up in me A thousand graces which shall thus be thine; So may my love and longing hallowed be,

And thy dear thought an influence divine.

MRS, BUTLER.

THE following occurrence shows the character of some, at least, of the inhabitants of the Chinese Seas in the brightest colours. A transport called the Indian Oak had been sent from Chusan with the letters of the expedition against China, and was unfortunately wrecked on the coast of the Great Loo-Choo, which island Captain Basil Hall describes in one of his books. Luckily for the wrecked mariners they fell into the hands of good Samaritans, for the kindness of the natives exceeded all that has hitherto been known. They stood on the beach ready to receive them with open arms, changed their dripping clothes for their own, brought them into their houses and fed them, and, not contented with this, wandered along the coast, endeavouring to pick up the articles washed from the vessel, returning them to the right owners, who all declare that they do not believe that a single nail of the vessel that was driven on shore was appropriated by a native without permission. Their greatest anxiety was to send home the remains to Queen Victoria, and at length they decided upon building a junk out of her relics to send to England, as they said to her Majesty. She came into Chusan, and seemed rather a pretty vessel, although the sailors had painted upon the stern the "Folly,”—Campaign in China.

SONNET.-OCTOBER.

Ay thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath!
When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf,
And suns grow weak, and the weak suns grow brief,
And the year smiles as it draws near its death.
Wind of the sunny South! oh, still delay

In the gay woods, and in the golden air,
Like to a good old age released from care,
Journeying, in long serenity, away.

In such a bright, late quiet, would that I

Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks, And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh. And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass,

BRYANT.

JOHN W. PARKER, PUBLISHER, WEST STRAND, LONDON,

concourse of people from the neighbourhood is said to be immense. The Ayuntamiento causes the whole of the pavement of this vast area to be removed, and takes possession of all the surrounding balconies, which are let out to the public, the proprietors being deprived of them, unless they hire them themselves. If an individual refuse to give up his balcony, it is either taken possession of by the alcalde, or it is forcibly blocked up so as to obstruct the view of the spectacle.

Mr. Roscoe noticed in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, among the numerous herds which were feeding in the fields, those champions of the ring which supply the arena of the great towns and cities for leagues around. "Many who have seen them goaded into terrific fury by their cruel assailants would suppose these fine animals were naturally vindictive and ferocious, and are surprised to behold them quiet and gentle as the sheep themselves. They would seem only fierce and desperate in self-defence, and what animal is not? Men, it has been justly remarked, do not always wait for these powerful motives ere they delight in seeing the agonies of an irritated bull, or the fury of the tiger."

In visiting a town for the first time, the traveller has no better method of gaining a correct idea of it than by ascending some eminence, which commands a view of it and its vicinity. From the summit of the tower of the cathedral a magnificent view is obtained, commanding a radius of ten miles, and towards the east of more than thirty. "As far as the eye could distinguish, from Alva -where still stands the castle of the renowned duke of that name-till lost in the remote west, the Tormes sought its winding way, through fields of every various tint, though the bright green of the young wheat, prevailing almost everywhere, gave evidence of the favourite production of the most noted corn region of Spain. Discovering itself again in a succession of lake-like sheets, the river was either darkened by the ripple of a passing breeze, or shone a bright and unruffled mirror under the influence of a blazing sun. Not a cloud was anywhere to be seen, and the most distant objects, however minute-flocks of sheep, and herds of swine, wagons, trains of mules, and sweeping caravans-seemed distinct and near, as brought with telescopic clearness to the eye through the medium of this transparent atmosphere. In a few directions were seen clumps of trees, the absence of which is so universal a defect of Spanish scenery, but in general the plain spread itself in interminable and unbroken monotony. The banks of the Tormes near the city, devoted to the production of vegetables, offered the richest and most varied hues; indeed, throughout the whole course of the stream, its immediate banks, submitted to irrigation and skirted occasionally with trees, decked out the landscape

with its fairest attractions.

"Having completed the survey of remoter objects, I contracted my delighted gaze to the nearer and more palpable object of the outspread city at my feet. More than half its surface was covered with public buildings-the colleges, convents, and churches of this great nursery of Spanish learning, and stronghold of the national faith; the singular magnificence of its edifices, when thus contemplated together, is indeed astounding, and it is with no vain or unfounded boast that the Salamanguinos claim for their fair city the appellation of Roma la Chica [Little Rome].

"From this point one could properly estimate the vastness of the Gothic cathedral that lay below; next to it in conspicuousness was the Jesuits' college, which covers an immense space, having at its front a grand temple, adorned by two lofty towers, while in the rear is a double row of edifices, surrounded by covered ways to serve as promenades, the roofs being sustained upon long series of arches, as in the Roman aqueducts. Hence, too, could be estimated the extent of the lamentable destruction occasioned by the resistance of the French during the siege, impressing the mind with a fearfully vivid picture of the terribleness of man's energy to destroy and cast down the proudest monuments of his power; the shattered walls of convents, built with the solidity of fortresses, yawning sections of unsupported naves, with the columns and arches of halfdemolished cloisters, battered by cannon-shot, or blackened by sulphureous explosions, lay exposed to view with the freshness of recent demolition, impressing the mind with a combination of the gloomiest images."

The cathedral was commenced in 1513, and not

finished till 1734. Opinions, as usual, differ respecting its architectural merits: one writer describes it as a stupendous specimen of modern Gothic; while Mr. Roscoe says, "Though erected in the Augustan age of the arts of Italy, it would be pronounced a huge, ill-assorted, and unmeaning pile, instead of exciting the mistaken admiration of travellers, were it not for the boldness of its nave; the splendour and elaborate ornament of its decorations, assisted by gorgeous show and the pomp of its public wor ship. But the effect of the interior view, the broad-spreading aisles, the profuse and exquisitely finished ornaments, the deep sombre light, the loud thrilling music of its admirable choir, especially during the Holy Week, leave you little wish to criticize its exterior beauty, or the want of exact symmetry in its parts. It is still a magnificent structure, not unworthy this ancient seat of learning and the

arts."

In addition to these there are twenty-five parish ries of both sexes, now shut up. The convent of St. churches in Salamanca: there are also thirty monasteDominick is a beautiful and magnificent building. "Here was debated the grand question-a curious one for the sages and doctors of Salamanca-as to the existence of another world, at least in the western hemisphere, when the great Columbus was referred by the royal court to the wisdom of St. Dominick for the reception of his new theory; which accordingly pronounced that it was all moonshine-that the great discoverer had lapsed into a dangerous and egregious

error.

Perhaps the most interesting institution in this city is its University, which, during the middle ages, was celebrated as one of the first in Europe. At one time not fewer than twelve thousand students congregated within its halls, and its opinion was sought by councils, popes, and sovereigns. It was founded in 1200, by Alfonso the Ninth, of Leon, and extended in 1239, by his successor Alfonso the Tenth, surnamed El Sabio, (the Learned,) under whose auspices the science of astronomy made considerable advances. The university continued in high repute till the reign of Philip the Third, attracting_numerous students from Spain and Portugal, from France, Italy, England, and even from Spanish America. It possessed sixty-one professorships, and a college for the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages. The Aristotelian philosophy held a high rank in the branches of ancient learning. During the seventeenth century the bright rays of the Baconian philosophy, which to other nations illumined the paths of science, shed no lustre in the university of Salamanca; consequently the number of its students rapidly decreased with its declining reputation, and at present the number does not exceed one thousand five hundred. The following particulars respecting the present state and condition of this celebrated seminary are chiefly on the authority of the author of A Year in Spain, and Spain Revisited.

and write, and are for the most part acquainted with The students who resort to this university can read Latin; but this is the usual limit of their acquirements. In order to obtain the degree of Bachelor, the student is obliged to follow, during three years, the course of philosophy, which includes ethics and mathematics: he may also, if he pleases, attend the lectures on physics, astronomy, and other useful branches of knowledge, of which there are chairs in the university; but skill in science is not necessary to take out the degree. It follows that very few students attend these courses, and in many instances the lecturer has only to acquit himself of his daily duty by going to the amphitheatre, taking his station in the pulpit, and waiting the stipulated time to see if any accident should send him listeners.