ECOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS. 632 ECOLOGY. the same year the Acadi'mie de France at Rome was established by Colbert, with the practical assistance of Charles Errard (q.v. ). its first director. By the study of the antique the stu- dent perfects himself in form and line, and attains that skill in drawing and composition for which the Eeole has always stood, even to the detriment of color, and which, more than any other factor, has influenced French art. The site of the Academy since 1.S03 has been the Villa Medici, on the Pincian Hill. The courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, modeling, and genicut- ting at the Kcole des Ueaux-Arts are free to both men and women between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Foreigners, not being eligible for the Prix de Rome, are not subject to the age regulation. The student who passes the exam- inations in any one of the courses must already have had experience in some special branch of art. The whole system of teaching at the Ecole is by means of competitions, and the grade ob- tained in these marks the student's relative ad- vancement. The outside ateliers are in charge of the professors or 'i)atrons,' and in order to enter these the student pays a small fee. Some of his work is required to be done en loge, but nuich may be worked up in the ateliers. The regular course is nominally from eight to ten years, but a student may remain as long or short a time as he pleases, provided he visit the school twice a year, in order to keep his name on the rolls. The whole number of students in the school is approximately 1300, most of whom are French. The number of .Americans who enter is larger than that of any other foreign nation, and the influence of the Ecole on American art and artists has been very great. The teachers, of whom there are 28 in the Ecole proper and 11 in the ateliers, are selected from among the mo.st celebrated French artists. But they are paid a |)urely nominal fee. the equivalent of .$240 in our money, for work which takes them two half-days each week of the school year. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, the home of the Ecole, on the Quai Malacjuais. was begun by De- bret in 1820 and finished by Duban in 180.3. It contains a noted collection of copies of famous paintings made by the winners of the Prix de iome; casts of statues and models of ancient buildings; drawings by old masters; the HOmi- eycle of Delaroche (q.v.). Consult: Dela- borde. L'Acaddmie des Beaux-Arts (Paris, 1891) ; Landan, Annates dti niusfy- et de I'I'eole Moderne des Ueaux-Arts (Paris, 1802 et seq,) ; Stranahan, Ilistory of French Painting (New York, 1898) ; Lenoir, Uistoire des arts en Fraiiee (Paris, 1811); Penarun, Roux, and De- laire, Les arcliitectes (pieces de I'Eeote des Beaux- Arts {Paris, Sd5) ; Architeeturall'eeord (Beaux- Arts No., .Jipuary, 1901): Flagg, "Ecole des Beaux-Arts," Archifeetnral Record, vol. iii. ECOLE DES FEMMES, i'k6l' d, fam, L' I I'"r.. the scIkioI of wives). A five-act comedy by Jloliere, produced at the Palais Royal, December 20, 1002. The principal character in it, Ar- nolphe, distrusting the eon.stancy of all women of the world, rears a peasant's daughter, Agnes, in a convent, as his future wife, but no sooner withdraws her from seclusion than she falls in love with the youthful Horace. The piece was Moli^re's greatest success, but brought upon him nuich criticism, against which he defended him- self in the Critique de I'dcole des fcmnies, and later in the Impmniptu de Versuillts. ECOLE DES MARIS, da mare'. V (Fr., the school of husbands ) . A three-act comedy in verse by iIolii"'re. ])roduced at the Palais Uoyal, in 1001. Tlie principal character is Sganarelle, a drunken, lirutal, self-seeking iK^asant. who is the guardian of a beautiful young girl. The role was created by iIoli^re himself. The gen- eral idea of the piece is borrowed from the Adet- phi, of Terence, and details are taken from Boccaccio, and probably from Lope de Vega's Dis- crela rna invradfi. ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, pO'le'ti'knek' ( Fr., polytechnic school ) . See iliLiTABY Educa- tion. ECOL'OGY, or CECOL'OGY of Pi.a.t.s (from Gk. ofxos, oil.ds, house -j- -oyla, -loiiiti. discourse, from yav, lefjein, to say). That division of bot- any which has to do with the mutual relations between plant organisms and their environment. Until recently the subject-matter of ecology' has not been systematically treated, although cer- tain phases of the subject, such as pollimition, seed-dispersal, protection, symbiosis, have been for some time grouped together and denomi- nated 'biology,' especially by Gernian authors, as Kerner (188?). Wiesner "(1880), and Ludwig (189o). The first to treat eeologj' systematic- ally was Warming, of Copenhagen, who. in 1895, gave a resume of the ecological factors and their influence, and discvissed the ecological plant geog- raphy of the wcu'ld. dividing plants into four groups — viz. hydro])hytes. mesophytes. xero- phyles, and halophytes (qq.v.). In 1898 Schimper gave a nuich more extended treatment of the world's vegetation, but from a slightly dilTerent jioint of view, basing his main subdivisiims on tem])erature. and discussing in each subdivision the ecological relations of the three tj-pes of cli- matic formations (forest, grassland, desert), and also, but very briefly, of the edaphic formations or plant societies. Ecology is as yet but incompletely organized, and the subdivisions here projiosed are necessa- rily tentative. There are three more or less dis- tinct lines of ecology', as the subject is now stud- ied : (1 ) The ecologj" of the various plants, their tissues and organs — i.e. the study of the re- lation of plants, ti.ssues. and organs to their environment — may be called physiological ecol- ogy, since this division of the subject is related to physiology, or may even be classed as a part of it. Physiological ecolog' has two further subdivisions: Anatomical ecology', which con- cerns itself with the origin, development, and meaning of plant tissues, and organograjihic ecology' (or simply organography), which con- cerns itself with the origin, development, and meaning of plant forms and organs. (2) The ecolog;s' of edaphic plant societies — i.e. the study of their origin, development, and life relations — may be called physiographic ecology, since this subject is related to physiography, or may even be classed as a part of it. (3) The ecology of climatic plant formations — i.e. the study of the great forest, grass, and desert formations of the globe in relation to climatic factors — may he called geographic ecology, or ecological pliyto- geography. since this subject is essentially a part of geography. It is more convenient to
