November 4, 1897 J 



NA TURE 



When the periods consist of similar groups, as 



222, 222 ; 

 123, 123 ; 

 333. 777. 444; 

 333555' 333555 5 

 5174, 1399. 1399, 5174; 

 divisibility by the formula S - S, may be determined by in- 

 spection, and this conclusion will not be modified by like per- 

 mutations of each group. Thus 123123, 312312, 132132 cSiC. 

 are each divisible by 7, 11, 13, 91. I43 &c. 



Lastly, since r,. changes with every value of 8, no general 

 formula for the determination of primes can exist. 



Henry T. Burgess. 

 Tarporley, West Norwood, October 16. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON 

 TECHNICAL EDUCATION} 



IT is difficult to know how best to review a volume 

 consisting of such varied matter as the Report of 

 the Proceedings of an Educational Congress. Even 

 when restricted to technical education, the subjects that 

 may be legitimately discussed are very numerous ; and 

 with the constant widening of the definition, it is not 

 easy to exclude any branch of knowledge, as outside the 

 field of inquiry. After reading very carefully the closely- 

 printed volume of nearly 300 pages, which includes the 

 papers in ex/enso, and a summary of the discussions, we 

 must own to some feeling of disappointment at the 

 poverty of the results. Several of the writers and speakers 

 are men of knowledge and experience, who write and 

 speak with authority on their respective subjects ; but, 

 nevertheless, the volume before us adds little to what 

 was previously known, and we look in vain through its 

 pages for any new light to guide us in solving problems 

 that are still imperfectly understood. The papers are, 

 of course, of unequal merit, and we propose briefly to 

 call attention to a few only, selecting rather those the 

 authors of which show themselves abreast of the diffi- 

 culties to be overcome. 



The Congress was the fourth of its kind, the two pre- 

 vious meetings having been held m Bordeaux, in the 

 years 1886 and 1895, and the first in Brussels in 1880. 

 The latest Congress, held in London, was organised by 

 the Society of Arts — a society which has always shown a 

 deep and very active interest in technical education. It 

 occupied four days from June 15, when M. Leo Saignat 

 and the Duke of Devonshne delivered short introductory 

 addresses, till Friday, June 18, when it was brought to 

 a close by a few words of thanks from the chairman, 

 Sir Owen Tudor Burne, to those who had assisted. 



It is not easy to correctly group the contributions 

 under separate headings. Several papers were descrip- 

 tive of the methods and conditions of education in the 

 countries and districts with which the authors were 

 familiar. Some few treated of educational problems, 

 and these were perhaps of widest interest. The vexed 

 question of the organisation of instruction and of examin- 

 ations was very fully discussed ; a whole morning was 

 devoted to papers bearing upon the teaching of domestic 

 science ; and a special feature of the Congress was the 

 prominence given to the subject of commercial education. 



Among the papers dealing with educational method, 

 those on the teaching of chemistry were certainly the 

 most informing. The character of the chemical teaching 

 best adapted to the requirements of persons actually 

 engaged in industrial pursuits, and also to school children 

 preparing for such pursuits, had recently been the subject 

 of a thoughtful report, prepared by a Committee speci- 

 ally appointed by the Technical Education Board of the 

 London County Council. This report had been widely 



1 Report of Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting, held in London, June 

 1897. 



NO. 1462, \OL. 57] 



circulated, and both Dr. Witt, of Berlin, and Dr. Lunge, 

 of Zurich, referred to it in their communications to the 

 Congress. It is doubtful, however, whether either of these 

 professors fully appreciated the problem, as it presents 

 itself to organisers of evening classes in this country. 

 Neither in Germany nor in Switzerland is there anythmg 

 approaching to the teaching of technological chemistry, 

 by means of evening lectures, to artisans. When Dr. Witt 

 states, in his paper on the " Relation existing between 

 the teaching of pure chemistry and applied chemistry," 

 that he "cannot admit any fundamental difference in the 

 methods of research," every one will agree with him ; 

 but when he says, " we want no schools for producmg 

 specialists," it may be reasonably thought that his 

 generalisation is too far-reaching. There are suc- 

 cessful dyeing schools in all parts of Europe, and he, 

 himself, admits that " Dyeing, calico-printing, and paper- 

 making are . . . industries which may rightly claim the 

 necessity of some special instruction in the methods of 

 manipulation," even if no other industries have like 

 claims. Although Dr. Lunge, who is essentially a 

 technologist, puts in a plea for the study of applied 

 chemistry, his views do not differ essentially from those 

 of Dr. Witt. He is at one with other chemical teachers 

 in recognising the importance of training in the methods 

 of research for all students. He says very truly : 

 " Nothing in these times of ours is likely to turn out a 

 first-class chemist, worthy of being later on put in charge 

 of a large factory, who has not tried his hand at original 

 research." Dr. Lunge insists, however, on the advantages 

 of specialised training, and refers to the demand of Dr. 

 Bottinger, head of a chemical factory, having under him 

 a staff of more than one hundred chemists, for the 

 establishment of more professorships of technological 

 chemistry. It is, nevertheless, clear that the difference 

 between the training in pure and applied chemistry 

 which Dr. Lunge has in mind, consists mainly in the 

 addition to the curriculum of technological students of 

 a course of instruction in engineering, in order that 

 they may advance beyond the position, to use his own 

 words, of " testing slaves," to understand something of 

 the processes of manufacture on a commercial scale. Dr. 

 Lunge shares with most German chemists the opinion, 

 that the knowledge of chemistry and technology that can 

 be imparted to adults in night classes is useless from the 

 manufacturer's point of view. He says : " I do not even 

 think that apart from isolated exceptions, such knowledge 

 is of much good to the foreman, whose duty it is to carry 

 out instructions, and to see that the men do their work 

 as prescribed by the staff." And, more defiiiitely, he 

 tells us, that " in Germany, even in those factories where 

 the work is carried on with the greatest chemical refine- 

 ment, the foreman and ordinary workmen are neither 

 required nor even desired to know anything of chemistry. ' 

 Dr. Lunge, in this statement, is, of course, referring to 

 large chemical works in which there is a complete system 

 of division of labour and sectional work, and where every 

 difficulty, as it occurs, is at once submitted to some 

 member of the large staff of chemists employed. But it 

 is now generally admitted that there are many small 

 trades in which a knowledge of chemistry is useful to the 

 ordinary workman, and that the training, even when 

 it proceeds from the process to the principle, may be 

 made educationally valuable in supplementing the still 

 imperfect, and too brief discipline of the elementary 

 school. Prof Armstrong's characteristic paper, indirectly 

 bearing upon this subject, entitled " Heuristic instruction 

 in physical science," was intended to show that the aim 

 of sound science teaching should be to put learners in the 

 attitude of discoverers ; and there is no doubt that if such 

 teaching were more general, the necessity for specialised 

 instruction would be lessened, and a great part of the 

 technical teaching of evenihg students might be re- 

 modelled. Dr. Armstrong scarcely did justice, however, 



