1887.] on the Work of the Imperial Institute. 119 



prosperity of tlie Empire, who, before all others, must realise the 

 vital necessity for ceaseless exertions, even for much self-sacrifice in 

 the immediate present, to recover our lost ground in the Dominions of 

 Industry. 



It has been already demonstrated by the rapid increase which has 

 taken place in the number of young men who, qualified by their pre- 

 liminary education for admission as matriculated students, go through 

 the complete curriculum of the Central Institute, that the combina- 

 tion of advanced scientific instruction with practical training which 

 that course of study involves, will be much sought after by young 

 men whose preliminary education has qualified them for admission, 

 and whose probable future career will be interwoven with the advance- 

 ment of one or other of the great industries of our country. But, one 

 of the most important functions of the Central Technical College 

 shou'd consist in the thorough training of teachers of aj^plied science. 

 The statistics furnished by the technological examinations show that, 

 while their successful organisation has led to the establishment of 

 classes of instruction, supplementary to the general science teaching 

 in every large manufacturing centre, the increase in the number of 

 candidates examined has been accompanied by an increase in the per- 

 centage of failures to pass the examinations, and that the supply of 

 a serious deficiency in competent teachers was essential to a radical 

 improvement in technical education. The work of the City and 

 Guilds' Institute in this direction has already been well begun, and it 

 is in the furtherance of this, by the organisation of arrangements 

 for facilitating the attendance of science teachers for sufScient periods 

 at the Central Institute, or at more accessible provincial technical 

 colleges, that the Imperial Institute may hope to do good work. 



Without taking any direct part in the duty of education, it is 

 contemplated that the Imperial Institute will actively assist in the 

 thorough organisation of technical instruction, and its maintenance 

 on a footing, at least of equality, with that provided in other 

 countries, by the system of intercommunication which it will 

 establish and maintain between technical and science schools ; by 

 the distribution of information relating to the progress of technical 

 education abroad, to the progressive development of industries, and 

 the requirements of those who intend to pursue them ; by the pro- 

 vision of resources in the way of material for experimental work, and 

 illustrations of new industrial achievements, and by a variety of other 

 means. 



The provisicm of facilities to teachers in elementary schools to 

 improve their knowledge of science and their power of imparting 

 information of an elementary character to the young, with the aid 

 of simple practical demonstrations of scientific principles involved 

 in the proceedings of daily life, constitutes another direction in which 

 important progress may be made towards establishing that continuity 

 between elementary and advanced education which is so well 

 developed on the Continent. The organisation of facilities, combined 



