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518 ical material treated in the class. The best entertainments will be those that treat one subject under various aspects.

In the philosophical course the contests consist in the disputations. The disputations of the students of philosophy in most Jesuit colleges are conducted in the same fashion as those described in a previous chapter.

In the last place we must mention an exercise which has been styled a "better kind of rivalry," namely the so-called academies. These are voluntary associations of the students, literary societies in the middle classes, and scientific societies in Philosophy. In Philosophy, according to the rules for the academy, essays are read by the students on some scientific topic, preferably on subjects which are in some way connected with the matter studied in class, but which could not be treated there at length. At times these subjects may be given in the form of free lectures. After the essay has been read all the members of the academy are free to enter on a discussion and attack the assertion of the essayist. It is clear that academies conducted in this manner afford the greatest advantages. In the essayist, the spirit of research is stimulated, and in all those who take part in the discussion, in fact, in all those present, scientific criticism is developed.

The subjects treated in the academy of the pupils of Rhetoric and Humanities are, naturally, of a literary character: criticism of rhetorical and poetical topics