* * * * * EDUCATION IN GERMANY. The compulsory school laws of Prussia are frequently pointed to as models for similar laws, perhaps with the hope that by imitating her lower schools we can bring up our high schools to an equal rank with hers, and place our universities on a level with those which are producing the most finished scholars, the deepest thinkers, and the greatest investigators. We are likely to forget that the conditions are different, and especially that _nascitur, non fit_, is as true of a chemist as of a poet. The state of popular education in Germany is, however, a matter of interest, and is best illustrated by the following table, showing the percentage of unschooled men among the recruits from different German provinces: Per cent. Prussia 3.19 Bavaria 1.79 Saxony 0.23 Würtemberg 0.02 Baden 0.22 Hesse 0.35 Mecklenburg 1.09 Thuringia 1.42 Alsace 3.45 These figures seem to indicate a higher grade of intelligence and wider diffusion of knowledge among all classes, for recruits are from every class, than in Austria, although in the latter the figures are arranged so differently as to make any accurate comparison of Austria and Germany rather difficult and unsatisfactory. -----------------+----------+----------------+-----------------+---------- NAME OF DISTRICT.| Number of| Number of | Percentage of | Number of | Common | inhabitants to | school children | Normal | Schools. | each school. | who attend. | Schools. -----------------+----------+----------------+-----------------+---------- Bohemia | 4,190 | 1,254 | 77 | 12 Bukowina | 167 | 3,121 | 9 | 1 Dalmatia | 241 | 1,864 | 12 | 2 Galicia | 2,374 | 2,341 | 15 | 1 Carinthia | 318 | 1,060 | ? | 2 Carniola | 234 | 1,187 | 48 | 2 Custrin | 396 | 1,496 | 38 | 5 Moravia | 1,866 | 1,082 | 78 | 5 Lower Austria | 1,267 | 1,578 | 76 | 5 Upper Austria | 506 | 1,455 | 82 | 2 Salzburg | 155 | 982 | 85 | 1 Steiermark | 690 | 1,657 | 59 | 3 Schlesia | 433 | 1,208 | 77 | 4 Tyrol | 1,926 | 457 | ? | 6 |----------|----------------|-----------------|---------- Total | 14,763 | | | 51 -----------------+----------+----------------+-----------------+----------