210 THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC., OF 



alter that opinion. England must for a long time retain the first 

 position for massive and cheap production, whereas we shall 

 probably find that our neighbours excel in the aptitude they 

 evidently possess for adapting new materials to particular pur- 

 poses, of which the present Exhibition furnishes us with so many 

 striking examples. Again, whilst the English, to realise a novel 

 proposition, make bold attempts (not always carefully matured 

 beforehand), the French systematically study a question in all its 

 aspects, and fortify their views by careful inquiry into the experi- 

 ence obtained elsewhere, before they commence operations, which 

 are then carried out with all the economical and other advantages 

 resulting from such an exhaustive preliminary inquiry. If we 

 seek a cause for the remarkable aptitude of adapting means to 

 special ends, to which I have referred, we shall probably find it in 

 the advantages France and other Continental countries have 

 enjoyed for at least a generation of a more extended technical 

 education than we could boast of, and of the personal influence 

 which has been exercised by a line of scientific writers and 

 experimentalists, of whom I shall only mention here the honoured 

 names of Reaumur, Ebelmen, Regnault, Pouillet, Peclet, Thomas, 

 and Le Chatelier, as belonging to the past, and of Deville, Griiner, 

 Lan, Laureus, Jordan, Fremy, and Dumas, who are fortunately 

 still among us. It is chiefly to such men as these that France 

 owes her admirable system of technical education, which enables 

 her to place her metallurgical establishments under the guidance 

 of men who are scientifically qualified for the discharge of their 

 respective duties, and for the attainment of practical results which 

 may well excite our admiration. 



Public education in France is divided into five faculties, those 

 of literature, law, medicine, theology, and science ; it is the latter 

 only with which we are principally concerned, and in reference to 

 which I propose to offer a few remarks. Foremost amongst the 

 schools for technical education stands the Ecole Polytechnique 

 with its branches, the Ecole des Mines, and the Ecole des Ponts 

 et Chaussees, destined exclusively for the education of govern- 

 ment, railway, and mining engineers, not to speak of the military 

 and naval branch of the school, nor of the comparatively small 

 number who join the Regie de Tabac, Salpetre, &c., and the naval 

 construction. The admission to the Ecole Polytechnique is by 



