Chemistry, the Elements; French; German; Drawing, and (optionally) Latin.
This examination is partly written and partly oral. It is not public, but conducted in the following manner:—
Five examiners are appointed by the minister of war to examine the candidates at Paris, and at the several towns named for the purpose throughout France.
Two of these examiners conduct what may be called a preliminary examination (du premier degré,) and the other three a second examination (du second degré.) The preliminary examiners precede by a few days in their journey through France those who conduct the second examination. The written compositions come before either.
[The preliminary examination] (du premier degré) is made solely for the purpose of ascertaining whether the candidates possess sufficient knowledge to warrant their being admitted to the second examination; and the second examination serves, in conjunction with the written compositions, for their classification in the order of merit.
Prior to the examination, each candidate is called upon to give in certain written sheets containing calculations, sketches, plans and drawings, executed by him at school during the year, certified and dated by the professor under whom he has studied. Care is taken to ascertain whether these are the pupils’ own work, and any deception in this matter, if discovered, excludes at once from the competition of the school.
[This done], the candidates are required to reply in writing to written or printed questions, and to write out French and German exercises; great care being taken to prevent copying. This written examination occupies about twenty-four hours during three and a half separate days, as shown in the following table. It usually takes place in the presence of certain official authorities, the examiners not being present.
First Sitting. | |
| Hours. | |
| Arithmetic, | 1 |
| Geometry, | 1 |
| Latin, | 1 |
| 3 | |
Second Sitting. | |
| Algebra, | 1 |
| History, geography, and French, | 3 |
| 4 | |
Third Sitting. | |
| Descriptive geometry, and diagram, or sketch, | 4 |
Fourth Sitting. | |
| Mechanics, | 1 |
| Physics, chemistry, and cosmography, | 2 |
| 3 | |
| Applied analysis, | 1½ |
| German exercise, | 1½ |
| 3 | |
Sixth Sitting. | |
| Solution of a triangle by logarithms | 3 |
Seventh Sitting. | |
| Drawing | 4 |
| Total | 24 |
[Next] each candidate is examined orally for three-quarters of an hour, on two successive days, by each of the two examiners separately, and each examiner makes a note of the admissibility or non-admissibility of the candidate.
At the close of this oral examination, the notes relating to the various candidates are compared, and if the examiners differ as to the admissibility of any candidate, he is recalled, further orally examined, and his written exercises carefully referred to, both examiners being present. A final decision is then made.