, and according to this it tends to contract itself. But, on the
other hand, it must consider the relative dependence of one specialty to
other specialties and to general culture. It must leave the transition
free, and in this it tends to expand itself. The difficulty is here so
to assign the limits that the special task of the school shall not be
sacrificed and deprived of the means of performance which it (since it
is also always only a part of the whole culture) receives by means of
its reciprocal action with other departments. The programme must assign
the exact amount of time which can be appropriated to every study. It
must prescribe the order in which they shall follow each other; it must,
as far as possible, unite kindred subjects, so as to avoid the useless
repetition which dulls the charm of study; it must, in determining the
order, bear in mind at the same time the necessity imposed by the
subject itself and the psychological progression of intelligence from
perception, through conception, to the thinking activity which grasps
all. It must periodically be submitted to revision, so that all matter
which has, through the changed state of general culture, become out of
date, may be rejected, and that that which has proved itself inimitable
may be appropriated; in general, so that it may be kept up to the
requirements of the times. And, finally, the school must, by
examinations and reports, aid the pupil in the acquirement of a
knowledge of his real standing. The examination lets him know what he
has really learned, and what he is able to do: the report gives him an
account of his culture, exhibits to him in what he has made improvement
and in what he has fallen behind, what defects he has shown, what
talents he has displayed, what errors committed, and in what relation
stands his theoretical development to his ethical status.

--The opposition of the _Gymnasia_ to the demands of the agricultural
communities is a very interesting phase of educational history. They
were asked to widen their course so as to embrace Mathematics, Physics,
Natural History, Geography, and the modern languages. At first they
stoutly resisted; then they made some concessions; finally, the more
they made the more they found themselves in contradiction with their
true work, and so they produced as an independent correlate the
_Realschule_. After this was founded, the gymnasium returned to its old
plan, and is now again able to place in the