Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-01-17
LEIPZIG STUDENTS.
METHODS OF WORK IN THE GREAT
UNIVERSITY THERE.
Conditions I'm which "a student ITO"
America Takes Up His Work-"
M Why N substitute for Under
graduate Trimming.
Chicago Chronlcle.)

cg,a tions and commandments. the fea-
,ures 90 prominent in the American col
leges. are wanting here. There are no
classes because there is no prescribed
course Of study. There are no athletics
unless the sword duels may be so-caiieu'
the young men are older than their
American counterparts. and have per-
baps outlived the spirit OF play which
largely dominates athletics. There are
no commencements, as there are no
classes to graduate. The periodical ex-
aminations I'm American colleges are here
represented only by one searching in
quiry at the end OF student life, when the
student applies for degree-a doctor
degree from Leipsig, that pleasing
dreadful thought"
The great majority Of native students
do not aspire to a degree at all; but take
lectures for two or three years; and then
20 their way But, on the contrary
the American student Is generally here
for a doctors degree. the only one con-
ferred by these universities.
Under these unfamiliar conditions the
| American student at Leipzig takes up MS
work. The university machinery did not
D
| LIST. From o'clock in the morning untli
II at night the lecture-rooms ring win
| the latest findings Of science and the
most advanced truths which the German
mind has discovered, uttered by the ~
professors of which the Leipzig faculty
/ is COMPOSED. The lectures are OF three
] kinds: Public lectures, which all students
NAV attend without charge; private rec
lures for which fee Is Charged anu
III.
I the subject matter. and, finally, prlVd'is-
/ sine lectures, to which admittance can
/ he gained only upon consent of the pro-
/ fessor and payment of fee. The AMER
can student is I'm hurry to matriculate'
| hut the Teuton is wiser; the latter ife-
ouents the lectures for two or three
weeks. selects his course at leisure anu
/ ingles his s. matriculation fee IN ms
/ nocke. a full month longer than does his
| basfv American brother. Ny passport
and college diploma were taken as sum,
| Gent credentials. and ] was matriculated
without question.
Three lectures a day VIII constitute re-
eular work for the average STUDENT
The lectures are each of forty-fNe MIN
utes' length. are cOuched in purely sci
/ entiic terms. and are delivered usually
with more enthusiasm than one woulu
/ think POSSIBLE. considering the SUBJECT
] of some OF iIElN. Vt NadiilIiNf Nf+' ~
/ turer upon statistics bewailed in half
/ hour discussion the impossibility OF taxi
| Ing an exact census, because some
one must die and some one must be
born during the enumeration. The Ger
| man professor Is a specialist Of the spe-
| cialists: his mind IS laid out on the
| Digeonhole plan; he delights IN refining
/ a subject until his most Jealous hearer
/ is lost in maze OF abstraction. lie De
gins his course by conining his subject
within a solid wall OF definition, care
/ fully excluding all Irrelevant matter; he
then sets to work classifying. refutins,
comparing. Illuminating all with the lisht
Of his own intellect, until the result Is
1 an array OF truth as orderly as a
checker-board. His life work is eXhaus-
lively TO treat one subject; his bust
ness is to know all that can be known
about IT, lie is the autocrat OF the lee
ture-room. and his utterances arc I'M
disputed truth to his hearers.
NO RULES.
From the strict regime of the Ameri-
can college il is a relief TO find that here
/ the university imposes no rules OF habit
! or conduct. the student is answerable TO
no one for the quantity or quality Of his
work. or for the disposal OF his time. 1t
il q freedom of which he had not before
dreamed. He can absent himself from
lectures for weeks a a time; can remain
as ignorant az he pleases OF the work he
came here 10 do; can drink and duel to
his hearts content. without rebuke. His
students card exempts him from arrest
by the civil authorities, and secures INN
admittance at half price to concert ana
theatre. In fact, he maintains little
sovereignty of his own. pleasing to the
soul OF the democratic American, as wen
as to that of the Teuton.
But for the student who has degree
in view there is a grand reckoning ahead
for the conditions OF degree are not
lenient. These conditions are, first,
thorough mastery of some department Of
knowledge within the range OF academic
instruction, then the writing OF thesh
which shall be contribution TO science
and the passing OF rigid oral eNamina
ton, and finally the payment OF 30. IL
the case of American students, the thesi
may. with the consent of the faculty Z
which II pertains. be In the English Ian
guage The fulfilling of these conditions
means to the average graduate or a
American college two years Of close work
WOMEN STUDENTS.
Until recently the stulent-bojy OF LeiI
ZIG. unlike the Ottoman's heaven. con
sisted entirely Of men; but now the r.
freshing sight of an American or Englis
Girl skaters the traditions OF 900 year
and even charms some Of the more sus
ceptible professors into recognizing the
presence. They are not allowed TO ma
circulate or TO receive degrees. III =
woman wishes 20 attend the lectures sh
! must call upon the professor and ask hi
! permission. He will probably say; y
: you should attend my lectures | woul
not see you'll shall rot know you az
there" Two young ladies who studio
here last year paid the usual "chaii
rent" az cents), and at the end of III
semester IL was solemnly returned [
? them, with the information that the un
? versty could not recognize the use G
. its chairs by women. The acceptanc
OF that u cents would have been fats
: step in the eyes of the German of
Gals, for II would have bought admi:
sion to German universities for wome
OF this and future generations. The pre-
lessor does not "see" the women In h
lecture-room. Whether they do not mai
e any impression upon his retina.
e whether his optic nerve refuses 10 carr
1 the intelligence to his brain. or wheth'
: his brain refuses TO receive the terrib
: truth. might puzzle one OF their o"
number TO determine. There are son
4 twenty young women doing time hei
. this semester having, OF course,
) status as members of the university.
e the professor sees fit he can sign stat
d ment to the effect that they have heal
a his lectures.
k Duelling is forbidden I'm Leipzig. al
:. the young men go 10 Halle. half hOl
e distant, to indulge this phase of studer
= life, returning with their left cheel
II scanned and latNced with court-plast
l. and cotton. The scars are proudly woi
Is as badges of intrepidity, although the