ools, 40
infant schools for children of 3 to 6 years of age were attended by 2707
pupils. In 1888 only 327,766 persons, or 11% of the population, were
literate; in 1893 the proportion rose to 19.88%; in 1901 to 23.9%.

In the system of secondary education the distinction between the classical
and "real" or special course of study is maintained as in most European
countries; in 1904 there were 175 secondary schools and 18 gymnasia (10 for
boys and 8 for girls). In addition to these there are 6 technical and 3
agricultural schools; 5 of pedagogy, 1 theological, 1 commercial, 1 of
forestry, 1 of design, 1 for surgeons' assistants, and a large military
school at Sofia. Government aid is given to students of limited means, both
for secondary education and the completion of their studies abroad. The
university of Sofia, formerly known as the "high school," was reorganized
in 1904; it comprises 3 faculties (philology, mathematics and law), and
possesses a staff of 17 professors and 25 lecturers. The number of students
in 1905 was 943.

POLITICAL HISTORY

The ancient Thraco-Illyrian race which inhabited the district between the
Danube and the Aegean was expelled, or more probably absorbed, by the great
Slavonic immigration which took place at various intervals between the end
of the 3rd century after Christ and the beginning of the 6th. The numerous
tumuli which are found in all parts of the country (see Herodotus v. 8) and
some stone tablets with bas-reliefs remain as monuments of the aboriginal
population; and certain structural peculiarities, which are common to the
Bulgarian and Rumanian languages, may conceivably be traced to the
influence of the primitive Illyrian speech, now probably represented by the
Albanian. The Slavs, an agricultural people, were governed, even in those
remote times, by the democratic local institutions to which they are still
attached; they possessed no national leaders or central organization, and
their only political unit was the _pleme_, or tribe. They were considerably
influenced by contact with Roman civilization. It was reserved for a
foreign race, altogether distinct in origin, religion and customs, to give
unity and coherence to the scattered Slavonic groups, and to weld them into
a compact and powerful state which for some centuries played an important
part in the history of eastern Europe and threatened the existence of the
Byzantine empire.

_The Bulgars._--The Bulgars, a Turanian rac