412 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



TO OUBBEADEBS. 



WITH the present volume we bring to a conclusion the 

 course of instruction which we mapped out for ourselves 

 when commencing the first volume of the new and re- 

 vised edition of THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. How we 

 have carried out the task wo then undertook it is for our 

 readers to determine ; at the same time we feel that the 

 enormous and daily increasing circulation which the 

 work enjoys is a remarkable testimony to its accuracy 

 and value, and the estimation in which it is held by the 

 public. 



But the time has now arrived when it becomes neces- 

 sary to carry this educational course a step further, and 

 in a somewhat different direction. Hitherto we have been 

 engaged in imparting to our readers what may be termed 

 abstract or theoretical knowledge. We have, in fact, 

 endeavoured to give, in the six volumes of THE POPULAR 

 EDUCATOR which we have just brought to a close, a com- 

 plete circle of Theoretical Education the education of 

 the mental faculties, the instilling of the knowledge of the 

 laws and principles of things, the knowledge which is 

 useful, not as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. 

 There is another branch of education, which teaches us 

 the practical application of these laws and principles, and 

 the utilisation of this knowledge in the daily affairs of 

 life, to which public attention is at the present time 

 much directed that which is known as Technical Educa- 

 tion, the word " technical " having its derivation from the 

 Greek rexviK^s (tech'-ni-Jcos), " of or belonging to some 

 special Tfx vr i (tech'-ne) or art." To this department of 

 education it is our intention to devote four volumes, 

 bearing the title of THE POPULAR EDUCATOR, TECH- 

 NICAL SERIES, which under the name of THE TECH- 

 NICAL EDUCATOR will form an indispensable supplement 

 to this Work. In these our object will be to provide 

 such a course of practical instruction as may tend to 

 render the artisan or the workman in any branch of handi- 

 craft or manufacture more perfect in the practice of his 



calling, and to aid him to become a skilled workman, 

 thus enabling him, by bringing superior knowledge to 

 bear upon his work, to obtain the highest possible rate 

 of wages at home, and to compete favourably with the 

 skilled workmen of other countries, where Technical 

 Education has received a greater share of attention, 

 and has been further developed than amongst ourselves. 

 THE TECHNICAL EDUCATOR will be an amplification 

 and application, or carrying out into practice, of those 

 lessons which form the substance of the six volumes we 

 have now completed. Thus the reader who has mas- 

 tered the principles of Mechanics in this Work will find 

 in THE TECHNICAL EDUCATOR a description of the way 

 in which these principles are applied and exemplified in 

 the machinery witli which he is engaged. The lessons 

 we have already given in Chemistry will be found reduced 

 to practice in our technical papers on the Chemistry of 

 Agriculture and Trade ; our Drawing lessons will find a 

 practical application in a series of papers on Design, as 

 well as those which treat of the special Drawing useful 

 for various trades and handicrafts, and also for military 

 purposes. The papers on the Vegetable, Animal, and 

 Mineral Products used in Trade will form a natural and 

 practical complement to the papers we have given on 

 Botany, Natural History, and Mineralogy. The enormous 

 advance which has been made in the uses and applications 

 of Electricity for Motor, Lighting, and other purposes, 

 will render the series of papers on Electrical Engineering 

 of special interest and value. 



Our object is, in fact, to make these supplementary 

 volumes a complete Technical Educator ; the practical 

 utility of such a Work cannot be questioned, and we are 

 confident that the reputation which THE POPULAR EDU- 

 CATOR has achieved will serve as a guarantee for the 

 uniform excellence and accuracy of THE TECHNICAL 

 EDUCATOR. 



THE EDITOR. 



NOTE. The above announcement (with additions necessitated by the advance in Practical 

 Science) appeared when the New and Revised Edition of this Work was first issued. 

 The Editor only desires to explain that every re-issue of THE POPULAR EDUCATOR is im- 

 mediately followed by the re-issue of THE TECHNICAL EDUCATOR, in serial and volume form. 



Printed by CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.G. 



