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has been founded in connection with the College of Literature of the University, and one of Natural Science in connection with the Science College of the University. Besides these there are the following: The First Higher School (a school of physics and chemistry), the Second Higher School (a school of mathematics), the Third Higher School (school of English language and literature), and the Foreign Language School (a school of English language and literature). The scholars in these training schools are recruited from among the graduates of middle schools and ordinary normal schools. Some people are inclined to doubt whether such training schools are able to turn out good teachers—at least, as far as it is a question of proficiency in certain branches of study. As the courses in all of them are only for two years, it could hardly be expected that the scholars should be well fitted for teachers, inasmuch as some subjects are confessedly ill-taught in the middle and ordinary normal schools.

The foreign languages taken in the middle school course may be one of three—English, French, or German. The time allotted to English is seven hours a week during the first four years, and six hours a week during the fifth year. In none of the schools is French taught, and in only one or two German; in the vast majority the foreign language taught is English. It must be confessed that, although much time is spent in the study of English, the result does not seem to be commensurate with the labour spent. Ordinary graduates would probably find it difficult to write intelligible business letters, or to read easily the daily newspapers, while it is rare to meet one of them able to speak English. A radical reform in this respect is pressingly necessary.

The number of boys admitted into the middle schools last April is reported to be over 26,000, and the total number of scholars is a little over 102,000. In a few years the number of graduates should rise at the lowest calculation to 10,000 annually. Judging from the ratio that the total number of the graduates of the middle schools (in last April, 9,003) bears to the number of candidates for admission into the higher schools (in last July, 4,459), the number of candidates for admission into the higher schools would rise to be not far from 5,000, while the higher schools can accommodate only about 1,600 annually. As a result, not a few unfortunate young men, who have been unsuccessful in the competitive examination, disappointed and disheartened, drift into leading lives of dissipation, and lose for ever the chance of becoming useful members of society. Failure in an examination is not necessarily equivalent to lack of talent, and thus sometimes higher schools, and consequently Universities, lose many young men who might prove themselves men