3(1 



\ND AllT, DEPARTMENT OP. 



\ - CE AND ART, DEPARTMENT OF. 



353 



and (MUUuU of person* engaged in tnde, and to artisans. Exami- 

 nations take place at the end of every course, when prizes are awarded 

 to the more successful studenU, and a geneTal competitive examination 

 is held at the end of every year. In addition to this, lecturers on 

 cieooa are sent to the provincial towns, and local examinations take 

 place at stated periods in connection with their instruction. 



The institutions which were united to form the Department of 

 Science and Art, it will have been noticed, all belonged to England and 

 Ireland. But in 1854 the necessary steps were taken for the formation 

 of an Industrial Museum for Scotland, similar to those of London and 

 l>ul liu. A site was purchased by the government near the University 

 iinburgh for the building; and the museum belonging to the 

 town-council, and the valuable collection of models, minerals, 4c., of 

 the Highland Society wore transferred to the Crown, and thus an excel- 

 lent basis was obtained for the proposed museum. The museum was 

 placed under the dinv> M of Dr. George Wilson, through whose 

 zealous exertions singularly rapid progress was made in forming the 

 collections, which at his death, in November, 1859, already numbered 

 upwards of 10,800 specimens. A Museum of Natural History, Edin 

 Imrgh, has also been formed in connection with the Department of 

 Science and Art. A building is now in course of erection which U 

 intended to contain both these museums. 



Originally the Department of Science and Art was constituted a 

 section of the Board of Trade, but in February, 1856, it was, by an 

 order in council, transferred to the Committee of Privy Council on 

 Education. Of that committee it now forms a distinct division : its 

 functions having reference to the secondary instruction of all classed of 

 the community in those principles of art and science which conduce to 

 the industrial interest* of the country, while the functions of the other 

 tlivinion of the Committee of Education refer to the primary instruction 

 of the young ; the two divisions being kept entirely unconnected. 

 The Department itself consists of two sections a School of Science, 

 with its connected museums and affiliated institutions, having its head- 

 quarters at Jermyn Street ; and a School of Art, with its various col- 

 lections and associated schools, having its head-quarters at South 

 Kensington, where also are the offices of the Department. The sum 

 voted for the Department of Science and Art in 1860 was 94,9511., 

 being an increase of 11,7097. over the previous year, and more than 

 double the sum voted for the several institutions prior to their con- 



It remains to notice shortly the present position of the two sections 

 of the Department. The Metropolitan School of Science, applied to 

 mining and the arts, has, in the words of the official prospectus, " for 

 its chief object and distinctive character (to which everything else is 

 subsidiary), to give a practical direction to the course of scientific 

 study." And the course of instruction which is imparted to the 

 HtuuVnt, while it does not profess to qualify him to undertake the 

 .direction of mining or other technical operations, is intended in com- 

 bination with future training, to " render him in the highest degree 

 competent, not only to engage in any special branch of industry, but 

 to promote its further development." The institution is under the 

 general supervision of a director, Sir R. I. Murchison, the eminent 

 geologist, who succeeded the late Sir H. T. de la Beche, and the instruc- 

 tion is given by professors of chemistry, natural history, applied to 

 geology, physical science, applied to mechanics and mechanical drawing, 

 metallurgy, geology, and mining and mineralogy, each men of the 

 highest standing in their respective departments. The mode of 

 instruction is by lectures, by written and oral examinations, by practical 

 teaching in the laboratories and drawing office, and by field surveying 

 and geological and natural history excursions. The field of study is 

 separated into a general division, for those who desire a general 

 knowledge of science ; a mining and metallurgical division ; a technical 

 division, for those who propose to engage in arts or manufactures 

 depending chiefly either on chemical or on mechanical principles. For 

 each of these divisions the course of study extends over two years, of 

 three terms in each. Students must be at least 16 years of age on 

 admission. Several exhibitions have been founded, to be competed for 

 by matriculated students. The lectures are open to occasional or non- 

 matriculated students, on payment of a somewhat higher fee ; and 

 special short courses of evening lectures, at an extremely low fee, are 

 given every session to working men only, and are attended always by 

 a* huge a number (600) of diligent students of that class as the theatre 

 wfll accommodate. 



The Metropolitan School of Science enjoys rare advantages from the 

 ready aeeew which the student* have to the treasures accumulated in 

 the museum at Jermyn Street These consist of the extensive and 

 admirably arranged collections formed during the progress of the 

 geological survey of the United Kingdom, " illustrative of the structure 

 of the British islands, and of the applications of geology to the useful 

 purposes of life," under the able directors and indefatigable staff of the 

 survey. To these have been added a numerous selection of models of 

 mines, mining tools, and working models of mining machinery; of 

 tools, and models, and specimens of machinery for general purposes ; 

 of historical specimen* of manufactures in glass, earthenware, and the 

 metals ; and of foreign and colonial mineral productions. Many of the 

 specimen* are of great rarity and beauty, but their main interest lies 

 in their technical or scientific value, and the whole are carefully 

 classified and conveniently arranged. The museum is open gratuitously 



to the public during five days of the week. In 18S9 it was visited by 

 25,309 persons. 



The maps and sections of the geological survey, and a large collection 

 of plans and sections of mines, fcc., belonging to the Mining Record 

 Office, are deposited in the building in Jermyn Street. The chemical 

 laboratories are those of the Royal College of Chemistry in Oxford 

 Street, which, as already mentioned, became in 1854 the property of 

 the Government. 



In connection with the Metropolitan School of Science, special 

 schools of science, or classes for instruction in science, have been 

 established since 1853 in several of the large manufacturing, mining, 

 and pottery towns. These schools, in accordance with tin- principle 

 laid down by the government on the formation of the Department of 

 Science and Art, are in a great measure self-supporting, the Depart- 

 ment exercising a certain amount of control, and, in return. :i 

 a limited pecuniary aid to certified masters of the schools. Certificates 

 are also granted by the Science Inspectors to any teachers who pass a 

 satisfactory examination in 1, practical and descriptive geometry, witli 

 mechanical and machine drawing ; 2, physics, mechanical and experi- 

 mental; 8, chemistry; 4, geology; 5, natural history : and tho-. who 

 are successful "receive certificate allowances of 20/., IS/., or In/., in 

 each, while engaged in teaching." 



Navigation Schools have also been established in connection with the 

 DcjKirtment. They are intended to afford instruction to officers of tin- 

 mercantile marine on the subjects of their examination for certificates 

 of the Board of Trade, and similar instruction to youth about to enter 

 on a seafaring life. Besides three in London, Navigation Scho< ! 

 been opened in nine of the principal outports, and they seem on the 

 whole to have met with a fair amount of success. In 1859 the? 

 2490 students in the Navigation Schools. 



The Art Schools are of older date thau the Schools of Science, ami, 

 appealing to a wider circle, have almost necessarily made greater 

 numerical progress. The Art branch of the Department has, as we 

 have already said, its head-quarters at South Kensington, on the estate 

 purchased by the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, ami is a 

 development or reorganisation of the old Schools of Design, 

 present organised, the special objects of the Art section of the 1 >r|..i: i 

 ment are in the words of the official programme " 1. To train male 

 and female teachers to give instruction in Art, to certify them when 

 qualified, and to make them annual fixed payments, varying ac 

 to their acquirements. 2. To aid and assist committees in the pro- 

 vinces desirous of establishing Schools of Art. 3. To hold public 

 inspections and examinations, and to award medals and pi-i/rs to tin- 

 most deserving candidates. 4. To collect together works of art, 

 pictures, &c., in the central Museum, and books and engravings in the 

 central Library. 5. To circulate among the Schools of Art objects from 

 the Museum, and books and engravings from the Library." 



The buildings at South Kensington include the offices of the Depart- 

 ment, the Training School for Masters and Mistresses, the Normal 

 Central School of Art, the Art Library, and the Museum. 



" The Training School has for its special object the education of 

 Art-teachers, male and female, but it also aids in supplying certificated 

 Art-masters or mistresses to teach drawing to schools in connection 

 with the Committee of Council on Education. The course of > 

 embraces, besides all the ordinary branches of Art-Education, instruc- 

 tion in various direct applications of Art-power to mechanical and 

 manufacturing industry. It comprehends the following subjects : 

 Free-hand, architectural, and mechanical drawing ; practical geometry 

 and perspective; painting in oil, tempera, aud water-colours; and 

 modelling, moulding, and casting. These classes include architectural 

 and other ornaments, flowers, landscape, objects of still-life, &c., the 

 figure from the 'antique and the life, aud the study of anatomy as 

 applicable to Art ; and some technical studies, such as enamel paint- 

 ing, and drawing and engraving on wood. The students have full 

 access to the Museum and Library, either for consultation or Co] 

 as well as to all the public lectures of the Department. Special classes 

 arc arranged in order to qualify schoolmasters and schoolmistresses of 

 parochial and other schools to teach elementary drawing as a part of 

 general education." 



In connection with the Central School of Art there arc nine Metropo- 

 litan District Schools, and one school for female students only. The 

 provincial Schools of Art have increased greatly in 1 number since the 

 formation of the Department. These schools are, like the Schools of 

 Science, in the main self-supporting, but the Department assists in 

 paying the certified teachers, and in various ways aids in providing the 

 school materials, and in rendering assistance to the institution. They 

 are now in all eighty-six in number ; and at the last return they were 

 the means of affording instruction in drawing and {minting to above 

 84,000 students but this number includes, besides students in the 

 art schools, pupils in training colleges, and children in various classes of 

 primary schools " under instruction in drawing," who can hardly in 

 fairness be ranked as Art-students. The Department, in fact, now, 

 besides the training which it affords in its central and metropolitan 

 schools, and the special Provincial Schools of Art in connection with 

 it, proffers the services of a certified teacher in drawing to any school 

 or schools, furnishing an aggregate of 500 children for instruction in 

 drawing ; and it further offers the aid to such schools of examinations 

 and prizes, at stated periods. 



