weeks each year for seven years, or to receive instruction elsewhere which is equivalent to the amount required. In the more populous places higher schools also are provided for those who desire to take advantage of the opportunities afforded in them. II. DIFFERENTIATION OF SCHOOLS. It was early recognized by the Norwegians that through the means of education, better than any other way, they could develop a people qualified to pursue the arts, to cultivate the sciences, to appreciate and enjoy the highest culture, and to maintain and develop their noblest ideals of citizenship and richest conceptions of statehood. Having these objects in mind they endeavored to establish schools of instruction and training along every legitimate line. Beginning with the most essential they worked unceasingly, providing additional worthy kinds of instruction as rapidly as possible, until their efforts resulted in their present school system. Perhaps the most important feature of their work was the establishment of primary schools, which furnish general education. These schools provide seven years of elementary instruction for children between the ages of seven and fourteen years, and are literally the people's schools (_Folkeskoler_). The law requires that pupils must be regular in attendance, and that parents, who fail to have their children in school in harmony with the provisions of the law, be fined according to the seriousness and extent of the offense. It is further provided that these schools shall be in operation for at least twelve weeks in the year, and that this time may be extended according to local demands or needs. As a matter of fact, nearly all of them in the cities and many of them in the country operate forty weeks per year. As a consequence of liberal provisions and enforced regulations, Norway has achieved an eminent place educationally among the nations of the world.