[29] Gringo is a nickname applied to Europeans. It is probably derived from Griego (Greek). The Germans say of anything incomprehensible, "That sounds like Spanish,"—and in like manner the Spaniards say of anything they do not understand, "That is Greek."
[30] Paisanito is the diminutive of Paisano (Compatriot.)
CHAPTER VI.
Primary Schools—Colleges—The University—Monks—Saints—Santo Toribio and Santa Rosa—Religious Processions—Raising the Host—The Noche Buena—The Carnival—Paseos, or Public Promenades—Ice—Riding and Driving—Horses—Their Equipments and Training—Mules—Lottery in Lima—Cookery—Breakfasts, Dinners, &c.—Coffee-houses and Restaurants—Markets—The Plazo Firme del Acho—Bull Fights.
Schools for primary instruction are numerous in Lima, and upon the whole they are tolerably well conducted. There are thirty-six of these primary schools, public and private; twenty for boys, and sixteen for girls; and altogether about 2000 pupils[31] receive in these establishments the first elements of juvenile instruction. The principal public institutions of this class are the Normal School of Santo Tomas (in which the Lancasterian system is adopted), and the Central School of San Lazaro. Each contains from 320 to 350 pupils. Of the private schools, some are very well conducted by Europeans. The College of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was founded a few years ago by two Spanish merchants. In this establishment the sons of the wealthier class of people may receive a better education than they can obtain in the public schools. There are three Latin schools, and the number of pupils attending them amounts to about two hundred.
The College of Santo Toribio is exclusively appropriated to students of theology, who are likewise received into the College of San Carlos, though the latter is chiefly destined for the study of jurisprudence. San Carlos was founded in the year 1770 by the Viceroy Amat, who incorporated with it the previously existing Colleges of San Martin and San Felipe. In the year 1822 the Colegio de Esquilache was likewise united to San Carlos, which now contains about a hundred students. The building is large and commodious, containing spacious halls, a fine refectory, and a well-stored library. There are five professors of law and two of theology. French, English, geography, natural philosophy, mathematics, drawing, and music are likewise taught in this college. The annual revenue of the establishment, exclusively of the fees paid by the students, amounts to 19,000 dollars. During the war of emancipation, this establishment for a time bore the name of Colegio de San Martin, in honor of General San Martin, the liberator of Chile; but its original title was soon restored.
The Colegio de San Fernando was founded in 1810 by the Marques de la Concordia, for students of medicine. In the year 1826 this Institution received the name of Colegio de la Medecina de la Independencia, a title which it justly merits, for certainly medicine is taught there with a singular independence of all rules and systems. The Professors, who themselves have never received any regular instruction, communicate their scanty share of knowledge in a very imperfect manner to the students. The number of the students is between twelve and fifteen, and there are two Professors. The clinical lectures are delivered in the Hospital of San Andres, to which an anatomical amphitheatre was attached in 1792. The heat of the climate renders it necessary that burials should take place within twenty-four hours after death, a circumstance which naturally operates as an impediment to the fundamental study of anatomy. It cannot therefore be matter of surprise that the native surgeons should have but a superficial knowledge of that important branch of science.
In the University of San Marcos no lectures are delivered, and the twenty-five Professors' chairs are merely nominal. Honors and degrees are however conferred in San Marcos, and the same rules and ceremonies are observed as in the Spanish Universities. In the departments of medicine and jurisprudence there are three degrees; those of Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctor. In former times the dignity of Doctor was conferred with great pomp and solemnity, and the public were admitted in large numbers to witness the ceremony. The acquisition of the degree of Doctor was then attended by an expense of about two thousand dollars, chiefly expended in presents. The new Doctor was required to send to every member of the University, from the Bachelors to the Rector, a new dollar, a goblet full of ice, and a dish of pastry.