TABLE FOR THE FIRST OR UPPER DIVISION, FOLLOWING THE SECOND YEAR’S COURSE OF STUDY.
NL No. of LecturesE Annual Examination
NL No. of Lectures
E Annual Examination
* Begins on the 10th Sept. and ends on the 10th Oct.
We have now brought the pupil nearly to the end of his career, but must previously say a few words about his examinations, the chief epochs which mark his progress, and the last of which fixes his position almost for life. For this purpose it is necessary to recapitulate briefly what has been said in different places of the wholeexaminatorial systemof the Polytechnic School.
1. All the professors require the students in their studying rooms, to answer questions in writing on the courses as they go through them: a different question is given to each student, and every third question is of such a nature as to involve a numerical example in the reply.
These questions are given in the proportion of one to about every four lectures, and the replies after being examined by the professor orrépétiteur, are indorsed with a credit, varying from 0 to 20, and the paper is then given back to the student, to be produced at the close of the year.
2. Credits are assigned to the students for their ordinary manipulations in chemistry and physics, during the first year; and at the close of each year, for their manipulations, in chemistry alone, before the examiners.
3. Therépétiteursexamine, (in theinterrogations particulières,) every ten or fourteen days, from six to eight students during a sitting of two hours, on the subject of study lectured on since the previous examination of the same kind. All these students must continue present, and at the close therépétiteurassigns to each aprevious examination of the same kind. All these students must continue present, and at the close therépétiteurassigns to each a credit entirely dependent on the manner in which each has replied. The professors and captains inspectors are occasionally present at these examinations, which are discontinued at certain periods according to the instructions of the director of studies.
4. At different intervals of time, from a fortnight to a month, as may happen, after the close of the course in each branch of study, general examinations (interrogations générales) are made by the professors andrépétiteurs. From four to six students are examined together for at least two hours, and at the conclusion the professor makes known to the director of studies the credit he has granted to each student for the manner in which he has passed his examination.
Such may be called the minor or ordinary examinations. But there is an annual closing examination at the end of each year, which we will now describe.The first year’s annual examinationcommences on the 1st and ends on the 25th September. It is carried on by special examiners, (a different set from those who conduct the entrance examinations,) and not by the professors. These give to every student a credit between 0 and 20 in each branch of study, according to the manner in which he replies.
The following table shows the co-efficients of influence allowed to the different studies of the first year, subdivided also among the particular classes of examination to which the student has been subjected. The component parts of the co-efficients as well as the co-efficients themselves, slightly vary from year to year, dependent on the number of examinations:—
TABLE I.—FIRST YEAR’S COURSE OF STUDIES: SECOND DIVISION.
TC Total Co-efficients. (repeated)WA Written Answers to Professors’ Questions.ER Examinations byRépétiteurs. (Int. Part.)GE General Examinations. (Int. Gen.)Man. Manipulations.O Ordinary.Ex At Examination.SN Sheets of notes on descriptive Geometry.GD Graphical Representations and Drawing.1st First Annual Examination.
TC Total Co-efficients. (repeated)
WA Written Answers to Professors’ Questions.
ER Examinations byRépétiteurs. (Int. Part.)
GE General Examinations. (Int. Gen.)
Man. Manipulations.
O Ordinary.
Ex At Examination.
SN Sheets of notes on descriptive Geometry.
GD Graphical Representations and Drawing.
1st First Annual Examination.
At the conclusion of this examination the director of studies preparesa statement for each student, exhibiting the credits he has obtained at each of the preceding examinations in each subject, multiplied by the co-efficient of influence, and the sum of the products represents the numerical account of the student’s credit in each branch of study.
As the process is somewhat intricate, we append the following example, to show the nature of the calculation performed, in order to ascertain the amount of credits due to each student:—
REPORT OF THE CREDITS GAINED IN THE FIRST YEAR’S COURSE OF STUDY BY M. N., STUDENT AT THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL.
CI Co-efficient of Influence (twice)Cr Credit obtained by the Student.SP Sum of Products.MC Mean Credit in each Subject of the Course.
CI Co-efficient of Influence (twice)
Cr Credit obtained by the Student.
SP Sum of Products.
MC Mean Credit in each Subject of the Course.
It is important to remark that any student whosemean credit, given in the eighth column of the preceding table, in any branch of study does not exceedthree, or whosegeneral mean creditfor the whole of the studies being the arithmetical mean of all the values recorded in the eighth column, and given at the bottom in the example, does not exceed six, isconsidered to possess an insufficient amount of instruction to warrant his being permitted to pass into the first division for the second year’s course. He is accordingly excluded from the school, unless he has been prevented from pursuing his studies by illness, in which case, when the facts are thoroughly established, he will be allowed a second year’s study in the second division, comprising the first year’s course of study.
We now pass to the second annualor great final examination for admission to the public services, remarking only that in theinterrogations généralesof the second year the principal subjects of both years are included.
The final examinations for admission into the public service commence about the 10th September, and last about one month. They are conducted by the same examiners who examined at the close of the first year. These are five in number, and appointed by the minister of war. One of these takes analysis; a second, mechanics; a third, descriptive geometry and geodesy; the fourth, physics; and the fifth, chemistry.
The examination in military art and topography is conducted by a captain of engineers specially appointed for the purpose; and in the same manner the examination in German is carried on by a professor, usually a civilian, specially but not permanently appointed.
The questions are oral, and extend over the whole course of study pursued during the two years. Each student is taken separately for one hour and a quarter on different days by each of the five examiners; each examiner examines about eight students daily.
A table, very similar to that already given, is prepared under the superintendence of the Director of studies for every student, to ascertain the numerical amount of his credits in each branch of study, the co-efficients of influences for the particular subject of study and nature of examination being extracted from a table similar to that in page 80, and when these tables have all been completed, a general list of all the students is made out, arranged in the order of their merits.
Formerly, conduct was permitted to exercise some slight influence on their position, but that is no longer the case.
The same regulations exist, as regards the minimum amount ofcredit that will entitle the students to enter into the public service, as have already been stated above in reference to the passage from the first to the second year’s course of study.
TABLE II. SECOND YEAR’S COURSE OF STUDY: FIRST DIVISION.
RP Result of previous Year’s Examination.WA Written Answers to Professors’ Questions.ER Examinations byRépétiteurs. (Int. Part.)GE General Examinations. (Int. Gen.)Man. Manipulations.O Ordinary.Ex At Examination.SN Sketches and Notes in ArchitectureGD Graphical Representations and DrawingEA Examination in Architecture2d 2d Annual or Final Examination.TC Total Co-Efficients.
RP Result of previous Year’s Examination.
WA Written Answers to Professors’ Questions.
ER Examinations byRépétiteurs. (Int. Part.)
GE General Examinations. (Int. Gen.)
Man. Manipulations.
O Ordinary.
Ex At Examination.
SN Sketches and Notes in Architecture
GD Graphical Representations and Drawing
EA Examination in Architecture
2d 2d Annual or Final Examination.
TC Total Co-Efficients.
From the preceding tables and explanations, it will be apparent that, as the whole of the students for each year are compelled to follow precisely the same course of study, the system of professorial instruction, combined with the constant tutelage and supervision exercised by therépétiteurs, and the examinations (interrogations particulières) of therépétiteurs, at short intervals of time, have for their principal object the keeping alive in the minds of the students the information which has been communicated to them. As a stimulus to continuous and unceasing exertion, it will be seen by an inspection of the tables of the co-efficients of influence, that the manner in which the students acquit themselves from day to day, and from week to week, is made an element, and a very important one, in determining their final position in the list arranged according to merit, exceeding as it does in most instances the influence exerted on their classification by their final examination at the close of each year. This principle thus recognizes not only their knowledge at the end of each year, but also the manner in which they have proved it to the professors andrépétiteursin the course of the year; and with reference to the second year’s study, the final result of the first year’s classification exercises an influence amounting toabout one-third of the whole, in the final classification at the end of the second year.
It follows also, that as the examinations at the end of each year are made by examiners, otherwise unconnected with the school, and not by the professors belonging to it, the positions of the students in the classified list is partly dependent on the judgment of the professors with whom they are constantly in communication, and partly on the public examiners, whom they meet only in the examination rooms.10
The examiners of the students are not frequently changed, and practically the same may be said of the examiners for admission.
PR By Professors andRépétiteurs.Ex By Examiners.Y1 By the results of the first Year’s Examination.CL In the Classified List at the end of 2nd year.
PR By Professors andRépétiteurs.
Ex By Examiners.
Y1 By the results of the first Year’s Examination.
CL In the Classified List at the end of 2nd year.
* When taught in the 2nd year
The students at the head of the list have generally since the wars of the first Empire entered into the civil rather than into the military services, the former being much better remunerated.
The servicesare usually selected by preference, nearly in the following order:—
The Roads and Bridges (Ponts et chaussées)and Mines (Mines,)
The Artillery (Artillerie de terre.)and the Staff Corps (Etat Major,)
Such, at least, is the result of a comparison of the selections made by the students during eight different years.
This preference of the civil to the military services has been the subject of frequent complaints on the part of the military authorities to the minister of war.
No steps have, however, been taken by the French government to prevent thefreechoice of a profession being granted to the most successful students.
We have now followed the student at the Polytechnic to the end of his school career. He is then to pass to his particular School of Application, in which (as the name implies) he is taught to apply his science to practice. It is difficult to state precisely the amount of such science which the highest pupils may be thought to possess on leaving; the best idea of it will be gained by reference to the programmes of the most important of the lectures. It is also needless to dwell again on the main features of the school—the emulation called forth, the minute method, the great prizes offered for sustained labor. We must, however, make some remarks on these points before concluding our account, so far as they bear on the subject of military education.
1. Keeping out of sight for the moment some defects both in the principles and details of the education of this school, the method of teaching adopted seems to us excellent, and worthy of careful study. In this remark we allude principally to the skillful combination of two methods which have been generally thought incompatible; for it unites the well-prepared lecture of a German professor, with the close personal questioning of a first-rate English school or college lecture. But besides this, its whole system is admirably adapted for the class of pupils it educates.These pupils are generally not of the wealthy classes; they are able, and struggling for a position in life. On all these grounds their own assistance in the work may be calculated upon. Yet they are not left to themselves to make the most of their professors’ lectures. The aid ofrépétiteurs, even more valuable in its constant “prudent interrogations,” than in the explanations afforded, is joined to the stimulus given by marking every step of proficiency, and by making all tell on the last general account. But though the routine and method of the school are so elaborate, play is given to the individual freedom of the pupils in their private work, and this is managed so skillfully that the private work is made immediately to precede the final examination, on which mainly depends the pupil’s place for life. Thus from first to last they are carried on by their system without being cramped by it; every circumstance favorable to study is made the most of; rigorous habit, mental readiness,the power of working with others, and the power of working for themselves, the ambition for immediate and permanent success, all the objects and all the methods which students ever have in view, support and stimulate those of the Polytechnic in their two years’ career.2. The mainspring, however, of the school’s energy is the competition amongst the pupils themselves, and this could hardly exist without the great prizes offered to the successful. This advantage, added to the general impulse of the early days of the Empire, has no doubt powerfully contributed to the great position of the school. It has made it a kind of university of theélitemathematicians, and as in England young men look to the prizes of the universities, and the professions to which they lead, as their best opening in life, so in France, ever since the first revolution, the corresponding class has inclined to the active and chiefly military career which is offered by the great competitive school of the country.3. A preparatory school of this remarkable character can not but exercise a very powerful influence over those three-fourths of its pupils who leave it to enter the army. The obvious question is whether the attempt is not made to teach more than is either necessary or desirable for military purposes, and to this suspicion may be added the fact that the civil prizes being more in request than the military, many of those who enter the army do so in the first instance reluctantly, and that the pupils at the bottom of the list appear to be often such marked failures as to imply either great superficiality or premature exhaustion.4. In studying the Polytechnic School we have had these points constantly brought before us, and feeling the difficulty of discussing them fully, we beg to invite attention to the evidence sent us in reply to some questions which we addressed on the subject to some distinguished scientific officers and civilians connected with the school. We will give briefly the result of our own inquiries.5. The complaint of General Paixhans has been quoted. He urges that a considerable proportion of the army pupils are merequeues de promotion, and quite insufficient to formle corps et surtout la têteof troopsd’élite.Other not inconsistent complaints we heard ourselves, of the mental exhaustion and the excessively abstract tendencies of many of the military pupils of the school.6. Such are the complaints. There is certainly reason to think that, with regard to the twenty or thirty lowest pupils on the list, those of General Paixhans are well founded. These are thebreaks down, and we are at first surprised that, entering as they must do,11with high attainments,they should fall so low as the marks in the tables (with which we are most liberally supplied) prove to be the case.At the same time, we believe that no teaching ever has provided or will provide against many failures out of one hundred and seventy pupils, even among those who promised well at first: and if the standard of the majority of pupils is high at the Polytechnique, and the point reached by the first fewveryhigh, it is no reproach that the descent amongst the last few should be very rapid.With regard to the assertion, that the teaching is excessive and leads too much to abstract pursuits for soldiers, it may be partially true. Perhaps the general passion for science has led to an overstrained teaching for the army, even for its scientific corps; and yet would it be allowed by officers of the highest scientific ability, either in the French or the English army, that less science is required for the greatest emergencies of military than for those of civil engineering, or for the theory of projectiles than for working the department of saltpetre?It may, however, be true that an attempt is made at the Polytechnic to exactfrom allattainments which can only be reached bya few.7. With this deduction, we must express our opinion strongly in favor of the influence of the Polytechnic on the French army. We admit that in some instances pupils who have failed in their attempt at civil prizes enter the army unwillingly, but they are generally soon penetrated with itsesprit de corps, and they carry into it talent which it would not otherwise have obtained. Cases of overwork no doubt occur, as in the early training for every profession, but (following the evidence we have received) we have no reason to think them so numerous as to balance the advantage of vigorous, thoughtful study directed early towards a profession which, however practical, is eminently benefited by it. “It can not be said,” was the verdict of one well fitted to express an opinion, “that there is too much science in the French army.”8. Assuming, however, the value of the scientific results produced in the French army by the Polytechnic, it by no means follows that a similar institution would be desirable in another country. Without much discussion it may be safely said that the whole history and nature of the institution—the offspring of a national passion for system and of revolutionary excitement—make it thoroughly peculiar to France.9. Some obvious defects must be noticed. The curious rule of forbidding the use ofallbooks whatever is a very exaggerated attempt to make the pupil to rely entirely on the professors andrépétiteurs. The exclusive practice oforalexamination also seems to us a defect. Certainly every examination should give a pupil an opportunity of showing suchvaluable qualities as readiness and power of expression; but an examination solely oral appears to us an uncertain test of depth or accuracy of knowledge; and however impartial or practiced an examiner may be, it is impossible that questions put orally can present exactly the same amount of difficulty, and so be equally fair, to the several competitors.At the same time, although in all great competing examinations the chief part of the work (in our opinion) should bewritten, the constant oral cross-questioning of the minor examinations at the Polytechnic, appeared to be one of the most stimulating and effective parts of their system,10. A more serious objection than any we have named lies against the exclusive use of mathematical and scientific training, to the neglect of all other, as almost the only instrument of education. The spirit of the school, as shown especially by its entrance examinations, is opposed to any literary study. This is a peculiar evil in forming characters for a liberal profession like the army. Such a plan may indeed produce striking results, if the sole object is to create distinguished mathematicians, though even then the acuteness in one direction is often accompanied by an unbalanced and extravagant judgment in another. But a great school should form the whole and not merely a part of the man; and as doing this, as strengthening the whole mind, instead of forcing on one or two of its faculties—as giving, in a word, what is justly called aliberaleducation—we are persuaded that the system of cultivating the taste for historical and other similar studies, as well as for mere science, is based on a sounder principle than that which has produced the brilliant results of the Polytechnic.11. It may be added, in connection with the above remark, that as the entrance examination at the Polytechnic influences extensively the teaching of the great French schools, and is itself almost solely mathematical, it tends to diffuse a narrow and exclusive pursuit of science, which is very alien from the spirit of English teaching.12. We may sum up our remarks on the Polytechnic School thus:—Regarded simply as a great Mathematical and Scientific School, its results in producing eminent men of science have been extraordinary. It has been the great (and a truly great) Mathematical University of France.Regarded again as a Preparatory School for the public works, it has given a very high scientific education to civil engineers, whose scientific education in other countries (and amongst ourselves) is believed to be much slighter and more accidental.Regarded as a school for the scientific corps of the army, its peculiar mode of uniting in one course of competition candidates for civil and military services, has probably raised scientific thought to a higher point in the French than in any other army.Regarded as a system of teaching, the method it pursues in developing the talents of its pupils appears to us the best we have ever studied.It is in its studies and some of its main principles that the example of the Polytechnic School may be of most value. In forming or improving any military school, we can not shut our eyes to the successful working at the Polytechnic of the principle, which it was the first of all schools to initiate, the making great public prizes the reward and stimulus of the pupil’s exertions. We may observe how the state has here encouraged talent by bestowing so largely assistance upon all successful, but poor pupils, during their school career. We may derive some lessons from its method of teaching, though the attempt to imitate it might be unwise. Meanwhile, without emulating the long established scientific prestige of the Polytechnic, we have probably amongst ourselves abundant materials for a military scientific education, at least as sound as that given at this great School.
1. Keeping out of sight for the moment some defects both in the principles and details of the education of this school, the method of teaching adopted seems to us excellent, and worthy of careful study. In this remark we allude principally to the skillful combination of two methods which have been generally thought incompatible; for it unites the well-prepared lecture of a German professor, with the close personal questioning of a first-rate English school or college lecture. But besides this, its whole system is admirably adapted for the class of pupils it educates.
These pupils are generally not of the wealthy classes; they are able, and struggling for a position in life. On all these grounds their own assistance in the work may be calculated upon. Yet they are not left to themselves to make the most of their professors’ lectures. The aid ofrépétiteurs, even more valuable in its constant “prudent interrogations,” than in the explanations afforded, is joined to the stimulus given by marking every step of proficiency, and by making all tell on the last general account. But though the routine and method of the school are so elaborate, play is given to the individual freedom of the pupils in their private work, and this is managed so skillfully that the private work is made immediately to precede the final examination, on which mainly depends the pupil’s place for life. Thus from first to last they are carried on by their system without being cramped by it; every circumstance favorable to study is made the most of; rigorous habit, mental readiness,the power of working with others, and the power of working for themselves, the ambition for immediate and permanent success, all the objects and all the methods which students ever have in view, support and stimulate those of the Polytechnic in their two years’ career.
2. The mainspring, however, of the school’s energy is the competition amongst the pupils themselves, and this could hardly exist without the great prizes offered to the successful. This advantage, added to the general impulse of the early days of the Empire, has no doubt powerfully contributed to the great position of the school. It has made it a kind of university of theélitemathematicians, and as in England young men look to the prizes of the universities, and the professions to which they lead, as their best opening in life, so in France, ever since the first revolution, the corresponding class has inclined to the active and chiefly military career which is offered by the great competitive school of the country.
3. A preparatory school of this remarkable character can not but exercise a very powerful influence over those three-fourths of its pupils who leave it to enter the army. The obvious question is whether the attempt is not made to teach more than is either necessary or desirable for military purposes, and to this suspicion may be added the fact that the civil prizes being more in request than the military, many of those who enter the army do so in the first instance reluctantly, and that the pupils at the bottom of the list appear to be often such marked failures as to imply either great superficiality or premature exhaustion.
4. In studying the Polytechnic School we have had these points constantly brought before us, and feeling the difficulty of discussing them fully, we beg to invite attention to the evidence sent us in reply to some questions which we addressed on the subject to some distinguished scientific officers and civilians connected with the school. We will give briefly the result of our own inquiries.
5. The complaint of General Paixhans has been quoted. He urges that a considerable proportion of the army pupils are merequeues de promotion, and quite insufficient to formle corps et surtout la têteof troopsd’élite.
Other not inconsistent complaints we heard ourselves, of the mental exhaustion and the excessively abstract tendencies of many of the military pupils of the school.
6. Such are the complaints. There is certainly reason to think that, with regard to the twenty or thirty lowest pupils on the list, those of General Paixhans are well founded. These are thebreaks down, and we are at first surprised that, entering as they must do,11with high attainments,they should fall so low as the marks in the tables (with which we are most liberally supplied) prove to be the case.
At the same time, we believe that no teaching ever has provided or will provide against many failures out of one hundred and seventy pupils, even among those who promised well at first: and if the standard of the majority of pupils is high at the Polytechnique, and the point reached by the first fewveryhigh, it is no reproach that the descent amongst the last few should be very rapid.
With regard to the assertion, that the teaching is excessive and leads too much to abstract pursuits for soldiers, it may be partially true. Perhaps the general passion for science has led to an overstrained teaching for the army, even for its scientific corps; and yet would it be allowed by officers of the highest scientific ability, either in the French or the English army, that less science is required for the greatest emergencies of military than for those of civil engineering, or for the theory of projectiles than for working the department of saltpetre?
It may, however, be true that an attempt is made at the Polytechnic to exactfrom allattainments which can only be reached bya few.
7. With this deduction, we must express our opinion strongly in favor of the influence of the Polytechnic on the French army. We admit that in some instances pupils who have failed in their attempt at civil prizes enter the army unwillingly, but they are generally soon penetrated with itsesprit de corps, and they carry into it talent which it would not otherwise have obtained. Cases of overwork no doubt occur, as in the early training for every profession, but (following the evidence we have received) we have no reason to think them so numerous as to balance the advantage of vigorous, thoughtful study directed early towards a profession which, however practical, is eminently benefited by it. “It can not be said,” was the verdict of one well fitted to express an opinion, “that there is too much science in the French army.”
8. Assuming, however, the value of the scientific results produced in the French army by the Polytechnic, it by no means follows that a similar institution would be desirable in another country. Without much discussion it may be safely said that the whole history and nature of the institution—the offspring of a national passion for system and of revolutionary excitement—make it thoroughly peculiar to France.
9. Some obvious defects must be noticed. The curious rule of forbidding the use ofallbooks whatever is a very exaggerated attempt to make the pupil to rely entirely on the professors andrépétiteurs. The exclusive practice oforalexamination also seems to us a defect. Certainly every examination should give a pupil an opportunity of showing suchvaluable qualities as readiness and power of expression; but an examination solely oral appears to us an uncertain test of depth or accuracy of knowledge; and however impartial or practiced an examiner may be, it is impossible that questions put orally can present exactly the same amount of difficulty, and so be equally fair, to the several competitors.
At the same time, although in all great competing examinations the chief part of the work (in our opinion) should bewritten, the constant oral cross-questioning of the minor examinations at the Polytechnic, appeared to be one of the most stimulating and effective parts of their system,
10. A more serious objection than any we have named lies against the exclusive use of mathematical and scientific training, to the neglect of all other, as almost the only instrument of education. The spirit of the school, as shown especially by its entrance examinations, is opposed to any literary study. This is a peculiar evil in forming characters for a liberal profession like the army. Such a plan may indeed produce striking results, if the sole object is to create distinguished mathematicians, though even then the acuteness in one direction is often accompanied by an unbalanced and extravagant judgment in another. But a great school should form the whole and not merely a part of the man; and as doing this, as strengthening the whole mind, instead of forcing on one or two of its faculties—as giving, in a word, what is justly called aliberaleducation—we are persuaded that the system of cultivating the taste for historical and other similar studies, as well as for mere science, is based on a sounder principle than that which has produced the brilliant results of the Polytechnic.
11. It may be added, in connection with the above remark, that as the entrance examination at the Polytechnic influences extensively the teaching of the great French schools, and is itself almost solely mathematical, it tends to diffuse a narrow and exclusive pursuit of science, which is very alien from the spirit of English teaching.
12. We may sum up our remarks on the Polytechnic School thus:—
Regarded simply as a great Mathematical and Scientific School, its results in producing eminent men of science have been extraordinary. It has been the great (and a truly great) Mathematical University of France.
Regarded again as a Preparatory School for the public works, it has given a very high scientific education to civil engineers, whose scientific education in other countries (and amongst ourselves) is believed to be much slighter and more accidental.
Regarded as a school for the scientific corps of the army, its peculiar mode of uniting in one course of competition candidates for civil and military services, has probably raised scientific thought to a higher point in the French than in any other army.
Regarded as a system of teaching, the method it pursues in developing the talents of its pupils appears to us the best we have ever studied.
It is in its studies and some of its main principles that the example of the Polytechnic School may be of most value. In forming or improving any military school, we can not shut our eyes to the successful working at the Polytechnic of the principle, which it was the first of all schools to initiate, the making great public prizes the reward and stimulus of the pupil’s exertions. We may observe how the state has here encouraged talent by bestowing so largely assistance upon all successful, but poor pupils, during their school career. We may derive some lessons from its method of teaching, though the attempt to imitate it might be unwise. Meanwhile, without emulating the long established scientific prestige of the Polytechnic, we have probably amongst ourselves abundant materials for a military scientific education, at least as sound as that given at this great School.
In addition to the Schools of Application for Artillery andEngineersat Metz, and of Infantry and Cavalry at St. Cyr, of which a pretty full account will be given, the following Public Services are supplied by the Polytechnic School.
Gunpowder and Saltpetre.—(Poudres et Salpêtres.)In France the manufacture of gunpowder is solely in the hands of the Government. The pupils of the Polytechnic who enter the gunpowder and saltpetre service, are sent in succession to different powder-mills and saltpetre refineries, so as to gain a thorough acquaintance with all the details of the manufacture.On first entering the service they are namedélèves des poudres. They afterwards rise successively to the rank of assistant-commissary, commissary of the third, of the second, and of the first class.Navy.—(Marine.)A small number of the pupils of the Polytechnic enter the Navy. They receive the rank ofélève de première classe, from the date of their admission.They are sent to the ports to serve afloat. After two years’ service they may be promoted to the rank ofenseigne de vaisseau, on passing the necessary examinations, on the same terms precisely as theélèves de premiere classeof the Naval School.Marine Artillery.—(Artillerie de la Marine.)The French marine artillery differs from the English corps of the same name, in not serving afloat. Its duties are confined to the ports and to the colonies. It is governed by the same rules and ordinances as the artillery of the army.The foundries of La Villeneuve, Rochefort, Ruelle, Névers, and Saint Gervais are under its direction.The officers of the marine artillery are liable to be sent on board ship to study naval gunnery, so as to be in a position to report upon alterations or improvements in this science.Naval Architects.—(Génie Maritime.)The naval architects are charged with the construction and repair of vessels of war, and with the manufacture of all the machinery required in the ports and dockyards. The factories of Indret and La Chaussade are under their direction.The pupils of the Polytechnic enter the corps of naval architects with the rank ofélève du Génie Maritime. They are sent to the School of Application of Naval Architects at L’Orient. After two years’ instruction they undergo an examination, and, if successful, they are promoted to the rank of sub-architect of the third class, so far as vacancies admit. They may be advanced to the second class after a service of two years.Hydrographers.—(Ingénieurs Hydrographes.)The hydrographers are stationed at Paris. They are sent to the coast to make surveys, and the time so spent reckons as a campaign in determining their pension. On their return to Paris they are employed in the construction of maps and charts.The hydrographers have the same rank and advantage as the naval architects.On leaving the Polytechnic, the pupils enter the corps of hydrographers with the rank ofélève hydrographe. After two years’ service, and one season employed on the coast, they become sub-hydrographers without further examination.Roads and Bridges.—Government Civil Engineers.—(Fonts et Chaussées.)The Polytechnic furnishes exclusively the pupils for the Government Civil Engineer Corps. On leaving the Polytechnic, the pupils enter the School of Application in Paris. The course of instruction here extends over a period of three years. It commences each year on the first of November, and lasts till the 1st of April. After the final examination, the pupils are arranged according to the results of the examination and the amount of work performed.The pupils enter the college with the rank ofélève de troisième classe. They rise successively to the second and to the first class, on making the requisite progress in their studies.From the 1st of May to the 1st of November theélèvesof the second and the third class are sent on duty into the provinces. Theélèvesof the first class who have completed their three years’ course of instruction, are employed in the duties of ordinary engineers, or are detached on special missions. In about three years after quitting the college, they may be appointed ordinary engineers of the second class.The engineers of thePonts et Chausséesprepare the projects and plans, and direct the execution of the works for the construction, preservation, and repair of high roads, and of the bridges and other structures connected with these roads, with navigable rivers, canals, seaports, lighthouses, &c. They are charged with the superintendence of railways, of works for draining marshes, and operations affecting water-courses; they report upon applications to erect factories driven by water. Under certain circumstances, they share with the Mining Engineers the duty of inspecting steam-engines.Permission is not unfrequently granted to the engineers of thePonts et Chausséesto accept private employment. They receive leave of absence for a certain time, retaining their rank and place in their corps, but without pay.Mining Engineers.—(Mines.)The Mining School of Application is organized almost exactly on the same plan as that of thePonts et Chaussées: like the latter, it is in Paris.The course of instruction, which lasts three years, consists of lectures, drawing, chemical manipulation and analysis, visits to manufactories, geological excursions, and the preparation of projects for mines and machines. Journeys are made by the pupils, during the second half of the last two years of the course, into the mineral districts of France or foreign countries for the purpose of studying the practical details of mining. These journeys last one hundred days at least. The pupils are required to examine carefully the railroads and the geological features of the countries they pass through, and to keep a journal of facts and observations. In the final examination, marks are given for every part of their work.The mining engineers, when stationed in the departments, are charged to see that the laws and ordinances relating to mines, quarries, and factories are properly observed, and to encourage, either directly or by their advice, the extension of all branches of industry connected with the extraction and treatment of minerals.One of their principal duties is the superintendence of mines and quarries, in the three-fold regard of safety of the workmen, preservation of the soil, and economical extraction of the minerals.They exercise a special control over all machines designed for the production of steam, and over railways, as far as regards the metal and fuel.The instructors in the School of Application in Paris, and in the School of Mines at St. Etienne, are exclusively taken from the members of the corps.Like the engineers of thePonts et Chaussées, the mining engineers obtain permission to undertake private employment.Tobacco Department.—(Administration des Tabacs.)The pupils who enter the tobacco service, commence, on quitting the Polytechnic, with the rank ofélève de 2eclasse. They study, in the manufactory atParis, chemistry, physics, and mechanics, as applied to the preparation of tobacco. They make themselves acquainted at the same time with the details of the manufacture and with the accounts and correspondence.They are generally promoted to the rank ofélevè de 1reclassein two years. They rise afterwards successively to the rank of sub-inspector, inspector, and director.After completing their instruction at the manufactory of Paris, theélevèsare sent to tobacco manufactories in other parts of France.Promotion in the tobacco service does not follow altogether by seniority. Knowledge of the manufacture and attention to their duties are much considered, as the interests of the treasury are involved in the good management of the service.Telegraphs.—(Lignes Telégraphiques.)On entering the telegraphic service the pupils of the Polytechnic receive the rank ofélevè inspecteur.They pass the first year at the central office. During the six winter months they study, under two professors, the composition of signals, and the regulations which insure their correctness and dispatch, the working of telegraphs and the manner of repairing them, the theory of the mode of tracing lines and of determining the height of the towers, electro-magnetism and its application to the electric telegraph. During the summer months they make tours of inspection. They assist in the execution of works, and practice leveling and the laying down of lines.At the end of the year theélevès inspecteursundergo an examination, and, if there are vacancies, are appointed provisional inspectors. After a year in this rank they may be appointed inspectors either in France or Algeria.Each inspector has charge of a district containing from twelve to fifteen stations. He is obliged to make a tour of inspection once a month of at least ten days’ duration.After a certain number of years’ service the inspector rises to the rank of director. Besides their other duties, the directors exercise a general superintendence over the inspectors.
Gunpowder and Saltpetre.—(Poudres et Salpêtres.)
In France the manufacture of gunpowder is solely in the hands of the Government. The pupils of the Polytechnic who enter the gunpowder and saltpetre service, are sent in succession to different powder-mills and saltpetre refineries, so as to gain a thorough acquaintance with all the details of the manufacture.
On first entering the service they are namedélèves des poudres. They afterwards rise successively to the rank of assistant-commissary, commissary of the third, of the second, and of the first class.
Navy.—(Marine.)
A small number of the pupils of the Polytechnic enter the Navy. They receive the rank ofélève de première classe, from the date of their admission.
They are sent to the ports to serve afloat. After two years’ service they may be promoted to the rank ofenseigne de vaisseau, on passing the necessary examinations, on the same terms precisely as theélèves de premiere classeof the Naval School.
Marine Artillery.—(Artillerie de la Marine.)
The French marine artillery differs from the English corps of the same name, in not serving afloat. Its duties are confined to the ports and to the colonies. It is governed by the same rules and ordinances as the artillery of the army.
The foundries of La Villeneuve, Rochefort, Ruelle, Névers, and Saint Gervais are under its direction.
The officers of the marine artillery are liable to be sent on board ship to study naval gunnery, so as to be in a position to report upon alterations or improvements in this science.
Naval Architects.—(Génie Maritime.)
The naval architects are charged with the construction and repair of vessels of war, and with the manufacture of all the machinery required in the ports and dockyards. The factories of Indret and La Chaussade are under their direction.
The pupils of the Polytechnic enter the corps of naval architects with the rank ofélève du Génie Maritime. They are sent to the School of Application of Naval Architects at L’Orient. After two years’ instruction they undergo an examination, and, if successful, they are promoted to the rank of sub-architect of the third class, so far as vacancies admit. They may be advanced to the second class after a service of two years.
Hydrographers.—(Ingénieurs Hydrographes.)
The hydrographers are stationed at Paris. They are sent to the coast to make surveys, and the time so spent reckons as a campaign in determining their pension. On their return to Paris they are employed in the construction of maps and charts.
The hydrographers have the same rank and advantage as the naval architects.
On leaving the Polytechnic, the pupils enter the corps of hydrographers with the rank ofélève hydrographe. After two years’ service, and one season employed on the coast, they become sub-hydrographers without further examination.
Roads and Bridges.—Government Civil Engineers.—(Fonts et Chaussées.)
The Polytechnic furnishes exclusively the pupils for the Government Civil Engineer Corps. On leaving the Polytechnic, the pupils enter the School of Application in Paris. The course of instruction here extends over a period of three years. It commences each year on the first of November, and lasts till the 1st of April. After the final examination, the pupils are arranged according to the results of the examination and the amount of work performed.
The pupils enter the college with the rank ofélève de troisième classe. They rise successively to the second and to the first class, on making the requisite progress in their studies.
From the 1st of May to the 1st of November theélèvesof the second and the third class are sent on duty into the provinces. Theélèvesof the first class who have completed their three years’ course of instruction, are employed in the duties of ordinary engineers, or are detached on special missions. In about three years after quitting the college, they may be appointed ordinary engineers of the second class.
The engineers of thePonts et Chausséesprepare the projects and plans, and direct the execution of the works for the construction, preservation, and repair of high roads, and of the bridges and other structures connected with these roads, with navigable rivers, canals, seaports, lighthouses, &c. They are charged with the superintendence of railways, of works for draining marshes, and operations affecting water-courses; they report upon applications to erect factories driven by water. Under certain circumstances, they share with the Mining Engineers the duty of inspecting steam-engines.
Permission is not unfrequently granted to the engineers of thePonts et Chausséesto accept private employment. They receive leave of absence for a certain time, retaining their rank and place in their corps, but without pay.
Mining Engineers.—(Mines.)
The Mining School of Application is organized almost exactly on the same plan as that of thePonts et Chaussées: like the latter, it is in Paris.
The course of instruction, which lasts three years, consists of lectures, drawing, chemical manipulation and analysis, visits to manufactories, geological excursions, and the preparation of projects for mines and machines. Journeys are made by the pupils, during the second half of the last two years of the course, into the mineral districts of France or foreign countries for the purpose of studying the practical details of mining. These journeys last one hundred days at least. The pupils are required to examine carefully the railroads and the geological features of the countries they pass through, and to keep a journal of facts and observations. In the final examination, marks are given for every part of their work.
The mining engineers, when stationed in the departments, are charged to see that the laws and ordinances relating to mines, quarries, and factories are properly observed, and to encourage, either directly or by their advice, the extension of all branches of industry connected with the extraction and treatment of minerals.
One of their principal duties is the superintendence of mines and quarries, in the three-fold regard of safety of the workmen, preservation of the soil, and economical extraction of the minerals.
They exercise a special control over all machines designed for the production of steam, and over railways, as far as regards the metal and fuel.
The instructors in the School of Application in Paris, and in the School of Mines at St. Etienne, are exclusively taken from the members of the corps.
Like the engineers of thePonts et Chaussées, the mining engineers obtain permission to undertake private employment.
Tobacco Department.—(Administration des Tabacs.)
The pupils who enter the tobacco service, commence, on quitting the Polytechnic, with the rank ofélève de 2eclasse. They study, in the manufactory atParis, chemistry, physics, and mechanics, as applied to the preparation of tobacco. They make themselves acquainted at the same time with the details of the manufacture and with the accounts and correspondence.
They are generally promoted to the rank ofélevè de 1reclassein two years. They rise afterwards successively to the rank of sub-inspector, inspector, and director.
After completing their instruction at the manufactory of Paris, theélevèsare sent to tobacco manufactories in other parts of France.
Promotion in the tobacco service does not follow altogether by seniority. Knowledge of the manufacture and attention to their duties are much considered, as the interests of the treasury are involved in the good management of the service.
Telegraphs.—(Lignes Telégraphiques.)
On entering the telegraphic service the pupils of the Polytechnic receive the rank ofélevè inspecteur.
They pass the first year at the central office. During the six winter months they study, under two professors, the composition of signals, and the regulations which insure their correctness and dispatch, the working of telegraphs and the manner of repairing them, the theory of the mode of tracing lines and of determining the height of the towers, electro-magnetism and its application to the electric telegraph. During the summer months they make tours of inspection. They assist in the execution of works, and practice leveling and the laying down of lines.
At the end of the year theélevès inspecteursundergo an examination, and, if there are vacancies, are appointed provisional inspectors. After a year in this rank they may be appointed inspectors either in France or Algeria.
Each inspector has charge of a district containing from twelve to fifteen stations. He is obliged to make a tour of inspection once a month of at least ten days’ duration.
After a certain number of years’ service the inspector rises to the rank of director. Besides their other duties, the directors exercise a general superintendence over the inspectors.