The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-02-26

ssosf acfica 0gpvessise, n dangerous e'ssstg;
and that the federation Of the empire means
more trouble for us than for snyother power
on tho globe.
Female Education In France.
In the last number Of the Revue des De,r
Mondes tho present state Of female education
In France ts carefully examined from the by
eisnic point Of view by DR.. JULES RooHARD.
an eminent member Of the Paris Acad-
envy Of Medicine. The system Of instruction
for girls In the French public schools Is I'm
pugned upon the ground that the mental
work imposed upon them is too hard and too
uninterrupted, and that sufficient heed fs
not paid to physical culture. DR.. RoCHARD
considers tho playground and tho gym
nasium quito ss indispensable festures OF o
girls school as tho recitation room. Many
measures calculated TO promote the health
Of pupils are suggested, and among those
which, 1t IN urged, should be carried out at
homo or tn boarding schools and converts, Is
the daily practice Of bathing the whole person
IN cold water. We learn from Dr.. RocHAnD
that this mode Of bathing sti1 meets with
very little favor even In the families OF the
French sristoorscy, Notwithstanding their
inclination to adopt many Englhsh ways.
Aside, however. from the effect Of tho new
school system on the health Of thu pupils-a
question which y Just now exciting psrtic-
ular attention In Rris-the article IN the
Revue contains some interesting statistics.
showing the progress made under the third
republic In the education Of girls, . branch
Of public duty which, under previous re-
eimes, had been much neglected. Thus It
Appears that at the date Of the last csnsus,
published In 1s04 there were in France 81, 400
schools for girls and l7.72s schools to which
very young children Of both sexes were ad-
mitted. The aggregate number Of female
pupils was 2,kS1, o24. and this. It is estimated,
has by this time increased by about 10000.
The system Of organization and instruction
Is tho outcome Of laws passed In October,
1885, and January, 1887. Tho schools where
girls receive gratuitous instruction are, first
maternal schools; secondly, infant schools;
thirdly, primary schools, and finally, the
normal schools orthose who moan to become
teachers. The so-called maternal schools
were intended to replace tho former
asylum halls. The latter were hardly moro
thar nurseries. In which Woodworking fami-
lies placed their children to get rid Of taking
rare of them during the day. In them edu-
cation amounted to nothing. On tho other
hand. their substitutes we're designed to be
q kind Of kindergartens. where . child's
faculties might be awakened by attractive
exercises and object lessons. But as yet the
purpose has not been fully carried out, w
ing to the difficulty Of obtaining qualified
&H~nkA~o IT. %hAaN ~otAruoI nnhr~yo nhn-
dren Of both sexes arc admitted between the
ages Of two and SIX. The scheme Of instruo-
ton is supposed to include games and grad
uated movements. accompanied by singing
no doubt French counterparts Of The
farmer sows his seed" performance-man-
ual exercises, the first principles Of moral
education, tho rudiments Of useful knowl-
edge, training in tho use Of language en-
livened with the recital Of tales, tho elements
OF drawing, reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The infant schools represent an tnterme-
diate degree between the maternal schools
and the primary schools proper. Children Of
both sexes ars admitted from the ages Of
four to seven. The scope Of instruction
here comprehends that Of the maternal
schools together with the elementary course
Of tho primary schools. Tho latter receive
little girls from tho age Of six, II they come
from q maternal school. and OF seven, II they
come from an infant school. The pupils re-
main until they arc fourteen. The studies
are distributed in three courses: the Gle
mentary course for children from eve to
nine, the middle oourse for those from nine
to eleven, the upper course for those from
eleven to thirteen.
Inthe primary echools proper the sexes, as
we have said, ale separated. Tho tuition
given to the girls includes, FIRST instruction
In morals and civic duties; secondly, read
ing and writing; thirdly, the French Ian
Ruage; fourthly, arithmetic and tho metric
systsm: filthy, history and geography, es-
pecially with relation to France; sixthly, OBJ
ject lessons and primary scientific notions;
seventhly, the elements Of drawing, paint
ing, and needlework. After having received
this instruction female pupils of the primary
schools may complete 1t by passing two
years In the two lower classes Of the normal
schools. There they learn applied arithme-
tic; the elements OF algebra and Of geome-
try; the methods Of ordinary accounting
and bookkeeping; the rudiments of physical
science and natural history; geometricl
drawing. decorative drawing, and modelling;
lessons in everyday law and political COON
omy; lessons in French history and htera-
ture; the principal epochs Of general history,
with especial reference to modern times; In
dustrial and commercial geography; living
language; needlework and dressmaking.
On the upper classes Of the normal schools
We do not touch, because they arc exclusive
ly devoted to the preparation OF professional
school teachers. But we have reproduced the
foregoing facts because We know that thou
sands Of the readers of THE SUN win be In
terested in comparing the mode Of educating
young women followed in the French re-
public with the system adopted In our own.
An Impossible Dress Reform.
OF all the many reforms In tho dress Of
women proposed In our day, the most hope
less are those recently advocated by M. DE
LAvALEYE and M. BAUDR1LLART, the n q
Belgian and the other 4 Freneh writer