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
Common
Schools.

Number of
inhabitants
to each school.

Percentage of
school children
who attend.

Number of
Normal
Schools.

Bohemia

4,190

1,254

Bukowina

167

3,121

Dalmatia

241

1,864

Galicia

2,374

2,341

Carinthia

318

1,060

Carniola

234

1,187

Custrin

396

1,496

Moravia

1,866

1,082

Lower Austria

1,267

1,578

Upper Austria

506

1,455

Salzburg

155

982

Steiermark

690

1,657

Schlesia

433

1,208

Tyrol

1,926

457

Total

14,763

Over 3,000 teachers' positions are said to be vacant at the present time.