2. The mathematical courses have in some points been slightly curtailed, and the number of lectures in French literature and German have been diminished. By the modifications thus made in the programmes, it has been found possible to shorten the whole course of study and to increase the length of the vacations. 3. The subject of “Military Art,” which formerly entered into the final examination is no longer taken into consideration in determining the order of merit of the pupils. In this respect the course of instruction may be said to have even less of a military character than formerly. Topographical drawing is the single military subject which has any influence on the final classification of the pupils, and this only to a very slight extent. 4. History has been introduced as a subject of instruction. This change was made in 1862. The course comprises general history, both ancient and modern, but more especially the history of France in modern times. The introduction of this subject appears to have arisen partly from a feeling that an acquaintance with history was a necessary element of a liberal education, and partly from a wish to meet, to some extent, an objection often made to the Polytechnic course of instruction, that it was too deficient in studies of a literary character. History, however, like military art, is evidently still regarded as a subject of only secondary importance and has no influence on the final classification. 5. A diminution has been made in the number of examinations during the course, by the suppression of one of the half-yearly examinations by the professors (_interrogations générales_, as distinct from the _interrogations particulières_) in each year. Further reference will be made to this point when speaking of the examinations at the school. 6. The importance of written exercises in determining the respective merits of the pupils has been decreased, apparently from the difficulty of establishing a security that such compositions were the unaided work of the individual. The following table shows the present course of instruction during the two years, and the alterations which have been made in the number of lectures in each subject since 1856:-- _Subject._--_First Year’s Course._ _Lectures in_--1868. 1856.