Geography, relating entirely to France and its colonies, both physical and statistical.
German: the candidates must be able to read fluently both the written and printed German character, and to reply in German to simple questions addressed to them in the same language.
The general system of instruction at St. Cyr is similar to that of the Polytechnic; the lectures are given by the professors, notes are taken and completed afterwards, and progress is tested in occasional interrogations by the répétiteurs. One distinction is the different size of the salles d’étude (containing two hundred instead of eight or ten;) but, above all, is the great and predominant attention paid to the practical part of military teaching and training. It is evident at the first sight that this is essentially a military school, and that especial importance is attached both by teachers and pupils to the drill, exercise, and manœuvers of the various arms of the service.
The course of study is completed in two years; that of the first year consists of:—
| 27 | lectures in | descriptive geometry. |
| 35 | “ | physical science. |
| 20 | “ | military literature. |
| 35 | “ | history. |
| 21 | “ | geography and military statistics. |
| 30 | “ | German. |
| Total, 174 |
In addition to the above, there is a course of drawing between the time when the students join the school early in November and the 15th of August.
The course of drawing consists in progressive studies of landscape drawing with the pencil and brush, having special application to military subjects, to the shading of some simple body or dress, and to enable the students to apply the knowledge which has been communicated to them on the subject of shadows and perspective. This course is followed by the second or junior division during the first year’s residence.
The course of lectures in descriptive geometry commences with certain preliminary notions on the subject; refers to the representation of lines on curved surfaces, cylindrical and conical, surfaces of revolutions, regular surfaces, inter of surfaces, shadows, perspective, vanishing points, &c., construction of geographical maps, and plan côté.
The lectures in physical science embrace nine lectures on the general properties of bodies; heat, climate, electricity, magnetism, galvanism, electro-magnetism, acoustics.
There are twelve lectures in chemistry; on water, atmospheric air, combustibles, gas, principal salts, saltpetre, metallurgy, organic chemistry.