406 TECHNICAL EDUCATION xvi 



for what in good vernacular English would be 

 called '' the teaching of liandicrafts." And prol)- 

 ably, at this stage of our progress, it may occur to 

 many of you to think of the story of the cohhlcr 

 and his last, and to say to yourselves, though you 

 will be too polite to put the question openly to me, 

 AVhat does the speaker know practically about this 

 matter? What is his handicraft? I think the 

 question is a very proper one, and unless I were 

 prepared to answer it, I hope satisfactorily, I 

 should have chosen some other theme. 



The fact is, I am, and have been, any time 

 these thirty years, a man who works with his hands 

 — a liandicraftsman. I do not say this in tlie 

 broadly metaphorical sense inwhich finegentlemen, 

 witli all the delicacy of Agag about them, trip to 

 the hustings about election time, and protest that 

 they too are working men. I really mean my words 

 to be taken in their direct, literal, and straightfor- 

 ward sense. In fact, if the most nimble-fingered 

 watchmaker among you will come to my worksho]), 

 he may set me to put a watch together, and I will 

 set him to dissect, say, a blackbcctle's nerves. I do 

 not wish to vaunt, but I am inclined to think that 

 I shall manage my job to his satisfaction sooner 

 than he will do his piece of work to mine. 



In truth, anatomy, which is my handicraft, is 

 one of the most difficult kinds of meclianical la- 

 bour, involving, as it does, not only lightness and 

 dexterity of hand, but sharp eyes and endless pa- 



