PRIVATE TEACHERS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY. Geo. H. Bode, Assessor to the Faculty, and Assistant Librarian. -(Encyclopædia of philology, history of Greek and Roman literature, Greek and Roman classics; two courses per semester.) Cha. Beutler, Assessor to the Faculty.-(Greek, history, and Roman antiquities.) Ern. Lud. Von Leutsch, Assessor to the Faculty.-(History of Greek and Roman literature, Greek and Roman classics.) Geo. W. Boehmer, Librarian.-(General politics, philosophy of the criminal and ecclesiastical law.) Fr. W. Schrader.-(Civil architecture, practical geometry.) Alb. Lion.-(Greek and Roman authors.) F. A. G. Heinroth.-(Theory of Music.) H. G. Koehler. (Pure mathematics, mathematical jurisprudence, civil architecture.) Theod. Benfey.-(Latin grammar and the Sanscrit language.) Aug. Will. Bohtz.-(Esthetics or philosophy of belles-lettres and the fine arts, philosophy of religion, psychology; one or two courses per semester.) M. Stern.―(Higher mathematics, popular astronomy, practical mathematics; one course per semester.) Andr. Thospan. (Modern history and statistics.) Henry F. Wüstenfeld.-(Exegesis of the Old Testament, Hebrew and Arabic grammar; two courses per semester.) B. Goldschmidt.-(Pure mathematics and stereometry, analytical geometry, astronomy, optics.) Aug. Bernh. Krische.-(History of ancient philosophy, Greek and Roman authors.) Robert Bunsen.-(Chemistry applied to the arts, toxicological chemistry, stachiometry.) The professor of poetry and eloquence in every German university is required to officiate as Latin orator at all the great festivals of the university, as, the jubilee of professors, &c., and in Göttingen (since 1785), on the 4th of June every year, at the proclamation of the prizes given by government for the best essay on a certain scientific subject proposed by each of the four faculties, and for the best sermon on a given text. Besides, this professor writes the Latin prefaces to the semiannual prospectus of the university, and announces the new prorector every six months by a program or short treatise on some difficult point of antiquity; he also composes Latin poems on any great event in the royal family, or on any other extraordinary occasion. The professor of eloquence is the head of the philological seminary, founded in 1737 by J. W. Gesner, improved by Heyne since 1763, and now since 1812 conducted by the present professor of eloquence. This useful institution acquired some celebrity, under Heyne's superintendence, from the many able teachers formed in it; and it is the model on which the philological seminaries of other German universities have been founded. Its plan has now been so far extended as to require two assistant professors (at present Dissen and Cha. Otfr. Müller), to guide the studies of the young philologians, who consist of ten ordinary members (receiving a stipend from government), and as many extraordinary members as the director thinks proper to admit after a previous examination by all the three professors. All the members have the same duties to perform, viz., to interpret difficult Greek and Latin authors, and to write and defend Latin essays under the direction of one of the three professors. Without institutions of this kind a system of education must be very deficient: the ability of teaching depends as much upon a thorough training as proficiency in any other professional study. To become a teacher in any gymnasium or school of Hanover, it is necessary to pass an examination, at Göttingen, before a board of examiners consisting of four professors of philology, history, mathematics, and German literature; and all the schools of the kingdom are superintended by a board of royal commissioners at Hanover, which appoints all the teachers. The department of history was first taught by Gatterer, Spittler, Pütter, Schloezer, &c., and now principally by Heeren, whose works have been translated into most of the continental languages, and introduced to the English public by the Oxford translation. They are also well known in North America through Mr. Bancroft, who has translated the Reflections on the Politics, &c., of ancient Greece, the Manual of Ancient History, and the System of European States. Astronomy and the higher branches of mathematics, which have formerly had distinguished teachers at Göttingen, are now taught by Gauss, to whom we owe many important solutions, and who ranks among the first mathematicians of Europe. An observatory was erected in 1751, and superintended by Segner, who was succeeded by Tob. Mayer (1755—1762), Lowitz, and Kaestner. The local advantages of this original establishment (which was a watch-tower in the southern town-wall) were indeed not very superior; but all the important discoveries of Tob. Mayer, whose memory the British parliament has honoured by granting to his heirs a considerable reward for his excellent tables of the moon, were made in this watch-tower. The new observatory, conducted by Gauss and Harding (who died a few months ago), was commenced in 1802, and after many interruptions, caused by war and the frequent changes of the government, was finished in 1816. This truly magnificent edifice is erected at a short distance from the south-east corner of the town, on an open spot, commanding an horizon of fifteen miles. The main building is a rectangle, a hundred and twenty feet in length, forty in breadth, and thirty-two in height; its roof is flat and covered with copper, and in the centre there is a moveable cupola of copper, fourteen feet high. The two wings on the north and south-side are designed for the residences of the two professors. The astronomical apparatus consists of all those highly improved instruments, by means of which the study of astronomy has made so rapid and important advances in our age. The study of natural history and of the natural sciences in general is greatly promoted by the well-arranged academic museum founded in 1773. It originally consisted of a private collection of Professor Büttner, which was bought by the university and intrusted to Blumenbach's care. In 1793 an edifice of large dimensions, adjoining the public library, was appropriated for its reception. Here it has continually been enriched by considerable donations of the royal family and patriotic scholars, but particularly by the indefatigable exertions and extensive literary correspondence of Blumenbach, who has, besides, a very valuable collection of his own, which he exhibits in the course of his lectures. The academical museum consists of fourteen rooms, seven of which are appropriated to the zoological department, five to mineralogy, and two to ethnography, or the study of the customs and modes of life of the various branches of the human race. The mineralogical and geological department, since 1815, has been under the particular superintendence of Hausmann, who has, besides, a large collection of his own. There is also a gallery of paintings connected with the museum. It consists principally of a private collection (of originals by some of the best Dutch and German masters) presented to the university in 1795, and at first kept in the private house of the professor of the fine arts, Fiorillo (who died in 1822); but since 1805 it has been arranged in four rooms of the museum. The museum contains also a curious collection of models. Instruction in natural philosophy was first given by Hollmann, then by Kaester and Lichtenberg, and lastly by John Tob. Mayer, the younger, whom the present professor of natural philosophy succeeded in 1831. Weber, like his predecessor, has an extensive philosophical apparatus at his disposal, which was originally collected by Lichtenberg, and sold to the university in 1789. There is also a magnetic establishment connected with the rooms of the philosophical apparatus in the museum, which communicates, by means of a double wire extended through the air from north-west to south-east across the steeples of the town, with a magnetic edifice built near the observatory. The experiments which Gauss and Weber are now making may lead to very important results. ROYAL SOCIETY OF SCIENCES. This society, to the exertions of which Göttingen is greatly indebted for its fame abroad, was established by George II. in 1751, according to Haller's plan. The principal object of this society, as well as of all similar institutions, is to improve and extend the field of knowledge by independent research and discovery. The Transactions are published in Latin, and may be considered as a repository of all the original views in science and literature, started in Göttingen by the professors of the medical and philosophical faculties, for divinity and law are excluded. The members of this society are appointed by the curators at Hanover, and divided into three classes, that of mathematics, of the natural sciences, and of history and antiquities. The ordinary members are all resident at Göttingen, and hold their meetings every month, when they read their essays. The honorary or foreign members are appointed by the ordinary members, and confirmed by the curators. The ordinary members likewise choose the correspondents. One prize-question is proposed every year, for which persons of any country may become candidates. The reward for the best essay is 50 ducats, or 247. Besides, there are two other questions annually proposed on subjects of agriculture or political economy. The president of the royal society is the duke of Cambridge, viceroy of Hanover, first in 1802, and again since 1813: Blumenbach has been perpetual secretary since 1814. The immediate superintendence is annually committed to one of the older members of the society. GÖTTINGEN LITERARY REVIEW. This journal commenced in 1739, and was first entitled Göttingische Zeitungen. It continued under the superintendence of several editors, till Haller, in 1747, took the management of it upon himself: in 1753 it was intrusted to the care of the Royal Society, under which it continues to JULY-OCTOBER, 1835. R the present day. Its original title was then changed into Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen. After Haller's departure in 1753, Michaelis edited this journal till 1770, when Heyne entered upon the duties of this office with uncommon zeal and great success. The title was changed, for the third time, in 1802, when the review began to be called Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen. After Heyne's death in 1812 it was superintended by Eichhorn, and since 1826 by Heeren. Of all the periodicals now published in Germany, the Literary Review of Göttingen is the oldest and the only one which has outlived all the important political changes of the country. A tone of moderation, and strict adherence to truth, have at all times distinguished this paper from the ever-multiplying literature of the day, and must be considered as the principal causes of its long duration and undiminished success for nearly a whole century. More than fifty other periodicals, in the course of this long period, have been published in Göttingen for the various branches of science and literature as well as for general purposes; but they have all been discontinued after a longer or shorter existence. The reviews and short notices contained in the Gelehrte Anzeigen embrace all the branches of human knowledge. The most important scientific works of foreign countries, which are but seldom noticed in other journals, form the principal objects of its attention. The works reviewed in it are generally purchased by the Royal Library, or transmitted to the Royal Society. It contains also the annals of the Royal Society as well as of the whole University, and constitutes, consequently, the only medium by which the transactions and important events of the whole academic establishment are communicated to the public at large. Two sheets and a half in octavo, or forty pages of this journal, are printed and circulated every week. The whole forms two large volumes of about two thousand and eighty pages every year. ON PARSING. THE exercise, on which we propose to make a few remarks, is so familiar to all teachers, that it may seem unnecessary to offer any more precise rules for practice, or any hints for improvement. But we are inclined to believe that the methods generally adopted are not quite so perfect as they might be. There is no occasion here to describe them particularly; our |