ERRATA. Page 75, last line of "Secondary Instruction," 6,662 should be 7,276. Page 88, "Other Secondary Schools," second paragraph, first line, 2,707 should be 2,913. Page 154, "Preparatory Departments of Colleges," first line, 294 should be 156. Page 248, "Preparatory Departments of Colleges," first line, 1,956 should be 1,999. Page 322, last line, 183 should be 426. Page 448, fourth line, for 9,668, read 8,668. III, IV CONTENTS. 3086 Page. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION Work and needs of the Office, vii-xi; records of education, xi, xii; records improved by the Centennial celebration, xii-xiii; learning the lesson of our own educational experience, xiii-xix; condition of education at the time of the Declaration of Independence, xix-xxiv; remarks on tables of statistics, xxvi-cxxvi; condition of education in other countries, cxxv-cxliii; education at the International Exhi- bition, cxliv-cliii; educational exhibit at Vienna in 1873, cliii, cliv; health and education, cliv-clxiii; typhoid fever in schools, clxiii, clxiv; unpublished information, clxiv; medical jurisprudence, clxv- XV. Degrees conferred in 1875 by universities, colleges, scientific and other professional schools, and by schools for the supe- T REPORT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C., November, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to submit my sixth annual report. The appropriation for the Bureau for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1875, was $35,570; the same amount was appropriated for the year ending June 30, 1876. This is entirely inadequate to the demands of the country upon the Office. No private business firm carries on the correspondence and accomplishes the tasks imposed upon this Office with so small an expenditure; yet, in spite of the lack of adequate means, the increased skill of my assistants, the improvement in methods of business, and, above all, the hearty and universal coöperation of the educators of the country, have enabled the Office to accomplish more during the year now drawing to a close than in any previous year of its history. WORK AND NEEDS OF THE OFFICE. Attention is invited to its special needs, and in order to render the statement more effective, I beg to recall and submit a few illustrative facts. This Office was established on the petition and at the request of the educators of the country, a few years since, "for the purpose," as detailed in the law, "of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country." As a means of executing this purpose, the Commissioner is required 1st. To collect statistics and information in regard to education; 2d. To prepare annual and special reports; 3d. To publish circulars of information. It was hardly possible at that time to anticipate in detail the work that would be required in the administration of the law. A Commissioner and three clerks were provided, and the experiment set on foot. Subsequently, by law, the clerks were reduced to two, and for the year ending June 30, 1870, only $6,000 were appropriated for salaries and other expenses of the Office. At first the fear was expressed that the officers of State and city educational systems, and those charged with the care of institutions of education, might naturally be suspicious of such an office, fearing that some governmental control or supervision was contemplated. Indeed, it is not an uncommon declaration that all Americans are educated, and know enough most certainly to direct anything in regard to education. "Why," the question is asked, "should a national office be created or sustained to consider a subject on which additional information is altogether superfluous?" The reply to this might have been found in the fact that the Office had been created at the request of those most familiar with educational needs. No opposition from State or other educational officers has been experienced; on the contrary, the Office has been largely indebted for its usefulness and efficiency to their cordial and constant cooperation. These officers, engaged in the various grades and phases of instruction, from that of VII |