EXHIBITION, BRITISH INDUSTRIAL. 



437 



of the earth in such a way as to prevent or re- 

 . move the usual crude ideas of young persons 

 on the point. Of the many good globes which 

 were exhibited, that of Macintosh, made of 

 India rubber, seemed to be the most conven- 

 ient ; when not inflated it occupies very little 

 space. 



The Austrian Educational Collection was at- 

 tractive; the Government priding itself on 

 having directed education, in a special manner, 

 to practical purposes, the country being well 

 provided with schools of every kind and for 

 every class. Among the requisites for teaching 

 shown by Austria was means of instruction in 

 shorthand, a branch not often considered as 

 belonging to ordinary education. We found 

 maps printed, not on paper, but on woven 

 fabrics, and hence more convenient and durable 

 than the ordinary kind ; also aids in the way 

 of rendering formal lessons unnecessary; Pic- 

 tures and other objects for the instructive oc- 

 cupation of youth; Models of Schools, &c. A 

 variety of Mechanical and other Toys was 

 shown.* The models and apparatus connected 

 with realistic schools, or those affording, in 

 addition to ordinary instruction, facilities for 

 acquiring special branches of knowledge relat- 

 ing to manufacturing and trading pursuits, 

 w ere very interesting. Philosophical apparatus 

 used in the higher grades of instruction was 

 also shown ; and illustrations to anatomy and 

 comparative anatomy. 



Belgium had objects devoted to the school 

 of industry, besides ordinary apparatus, such 

 as books, models of school desks, &c. ; a collec- 

 tion of substances used for domestic purposes ; 

 historical and mechanical diagrams ; designs 

 for shawls, &c., some of them extremely beau- 

 tiful ; and specimens of the work done by the 

 pupils. In a Belgian school museum were 

 diagrams and other illustrations of natural 

 history ; collections of minerals and philosoph- 

 ical instruments ; specimens of the works of 

 the blind, and of deaf mutes, &c. 



France had arranged her educational contri- 

 butions in a very pleasing and convenient way, 

 in two compartments : the first devoted to the 

 means and appliances for instruction ; the se- 

 cond, to the results obtained from them in the 

 shape of works executed by the pupils. In the 

 former, besides an excellent collection of books 

 connected with pedagogy, globes, maps, <fcc., 

 was an Orrery, placed within a sphere of glass, 

 having the fixed stars depicted upon it. there 

 were also models of solids and curves, photo- 

 graphic copies from antique busts, anatomical 

 and mechanical diagrams, natural history and 

 botanical collections, &c. In the compartment 

 which contained the works of the pupils, was 

 a painting on porcelain, by a young workman 

 only eighteen years old ; and some beautiful 

 specimens of flower painting, sent by the 

 School of Design of. the city of Paris. The 



* The trade in toys in Austria Is very <rreat The Groden 

 Valley, in the Tyrol, exports annually three hundred tons 

 of -wooden toys, that reach every quarter of the globe. 



work executed by the blind, and by deaf 

 mutes, was very striking. 



The Educational Collection of Italy included 

 some good diagrams; models of crystals and 

 solids ; a collection of chemical substances ; a 

 small museum of economic botany, containing 

 the various agricultural products of the country, 

 mineralogical and natural history specimens, 

 &c. 



Prussia, long distinguished for her exertions 

 in the cause of education, among her education- 

 al apparatus exhibited some good Maps and 

 Globes, both plain and in relief; apparatus for 

 teaching the rudiments of geometry by super- 

 position of the surfaces, or parts of surfaces, 

 which are to be proved equal ; some very ex- 

 cellent elementary collections of minerals, &c. 



The Educational contributions of Russia in- 

 cluded models of animals and fruits, and rep- 

 resentations of the different varieties of the 

 human race. Switzerland had done little to 

 show the progress which she has really made 

 in education. Her contribution was nearly 

 confined to a few neat mechanical diagrams, 

 collections of common substances, objects re- 

 lating to natural history, and herbaria. 



Furniture and Vphohttry. There was a 

 large show of excellent furniture, which not 

 only impressed one with its sumptuousness and 

 magnificence, but also with its bold and elabo- 

 rate beauty of design, its art-workmanship and 

 high finish. And in no class of the Exhibition 

 were there better proofs of the advancement 

 of the national taste since 1851 than in the 

 furniture display. Some of the fine forms re- 

 minded one of the furniture artists of last cen- 

 tury, when the cabinetmaker was an artist as 

 well as an artisan. Our success in this branch 

 assures us that we need no longer ransack old 

 mansions, or curiosity shops, for furniture of 

 beautiful design as well as craft, when it is so 

 readily produced by the workers of our own 

 day. 



All our great firms competed here, and the 

 result of their combined efforts was an exhibi- 

 tion which defied comparison with that put 

 forward by any other country. The Sideboard 

 Bookcase, inlaid with Wedgwood plaques, and 

 the Robinson Crusoe Sideboard the former for 

 exquisite and most harmonious decoration, and 

 the latter for its spirited carved work, were 

 among the most successful specimens in this 

 court. 



There were shown here some clever illustra- 

 tions of how far machinery can be employed 

 instead of hand work in carving ; in this sub- 

 division of labor, the mechanical stage is likely 

 to be carried so far as to reduce to the mini- 

 mum the life, feeling, and finish of hand labor. 



Ip.oy MANUFACTURES. Yield of Cast Iron. 

 Great progress has of late been made in this 

 respect. In the Great Exhibition of 1851 there 

 was a model of a blast furnace from the Cwm 

 Celyn Works. Monmouthshire, which yielded 

 a weekly average of 209 tons of white pig iron 

 during twelve consecutive months. This was 



