12 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Germany and elsewhere. There the great aim is to prepare 

 the intellect to receive and master the scientific basis of all 

 construction or other process of manufacture. Under such a 

 course a very large proportion of the students, who depend on 

 the workshops for their skill and expertness with their hands, 

 rapidly learn to become more than mere human automata. I 

 know that I am treading on much-debated ground, but I feel 

 sure that a little observation of the results of this dual train- 

 ing will support my conclusions, which are in accordance with 

 those of the Chief Justice and a host of eminent men who are 

 devoting much time to the study of ways and means towards 

 the elevation of the masses. 



The late Sir Joseph Whitworth left a very large endow- 

 ment for the establishment of technical scholar-ships. The 

 conditions of entry therein were very clearly outlined by him 

 and formulated by the trustees, and are in principle very 

 simple. An intending student who has acquired an ele- 

 mentary knowledge of any of the sciences — say, of chemistry, 

 geometry, or other branches of mathematics — may be a work- 

 man in any of the trades allied to engineering ; or he may be 

 a scientific or mathematical student who has acquired a cer- 

 tain well-defined but not severe degree of expertness in the 

 use of hand-tools. I am speaking from memory of the first 

 regulations for the scholarships. There may be alterations in 

 some respects since, but in any case the degree of "Wh.Sc. 

 carries great weight in the scientific and technical world. I 

 have mentioned this foundation particularly because it was 

 the creation of one of the small minority I speak of — one who, 

 not content with being unsurpassed as a workman, used his 

 great abilities towards the perfection of tool and machine 

 design and manufacture, having a clear intuition of the possi- 

 bilities of the advancement of the British workman with the 

 necessary educational facilities at his command. But in ad- 

 dition to the Whitworth endowment and schools — such as the 

 Owens College, at Manchester — there is in Great Britain the 

 Department of Science and Art, under the Board of Educa- 

 tion, with a disbursement of nearly £600,000 per annum. 

 The scope of this department is very large, and embraces 

 schools of science and art, museums, training and technical 

 schools scattered throughout the three kingdoms, with ex- 

 amining functions in thousands of provincial and colonial 

 places, including New Zealand. 



I have alluded to the parliamentary definition of technical 

 education. It is defined by "The Technical Instruction Act, 

 1889," to mean the principles of science and art applicable to 

 industries ; the application of special branches of science to 

 specific industries ; and a further and rather elastic definition 

 embracing any other forms of instruction, including modern 



