January 13, 1898] 



NATURE 



259 



employed, Neolithic man showed no material advance over the 

 Palneolithic cave dweller. 



The association of the bones of domestic mammals, which 

 were not present in Palceolithic strata, along with the remains 

 of Neolithic man, proves that additional species had been intro- 

 duced into Western Europe at a particular period, probably by 

 another race which had migrated northward and westward ; but 

 it by no means follows that Pakieolithic man had of necessity 

 disappeared prior to this migration, and that when Neolithic 

 man reached Western Europe he found it, as regards his own 

 species, a desolate solitude. How then did Neolithic man with 

 his associated animals find his way into Britain ? 



Was it whilst the land remained, which connected Britain 

 with the continent in interglacial times, and along which 

 Paleolithic man had travelled, or was it at some subsequent 

 period after the formation of intermediate arms of the sea ? If 

 the latter, then the further question arises, How was the transit 

 effected ? Neolithic man, so far as is known, had no other means 

 of conveyance by water than was afforded by a canoe dug out 

 of the stem of a tree. Although such rude boats might in calm 

 weather serve as the means of transporting a few individuals 

 at one time across a river or narrow strait from one shore to the 

 other, they can scarcely be regarded as fitted for an extensive 

 migration of people ; still less as a means of conveying their 

 pigs, dogs, goats and oxen. Hence one is led to the hypothesis 

 that, after the sea had submerged the intermediate land of 

 interglacial times, there had been a subsequent elevation so 

 that Britain again became a part of the continent of Europe. 

 If one may use the expression, a " Neolithic land bridge " 

 was produced, continental relations and climate were for a time 

 re-established, and a free immigration of Neolithic man with 

 his domestic animals became possible. This may have been at 

 the period when an abundant forest growth in Scotland suc- 

 ceeded the elevation of what is now called the lOO-foot terrace. 

 There is no evidence of the presence of Neolithic man in 

 Scotland until about that period. Before this island with its 

 surrounding and protecting •■ ' silver streak " settled down to the 

 present distribution of land and water, there are ample data, as 

 is shown by the three sea beaches at different levels seen so 

 distinctly on the coast of Scotland, that frequent oscillations 

 changed the relative positions of land and sea to each other. 



From the consideration of what may be called the biological 

 data, the conclusion seems not to be justified, that because 

 climatic changes had led to a disappearance of certain character- 

 istic Paleolithic mammals, but by no means of all, therefore 

 Palaeolithic man had vanished along with them. When Neo- 

 lithic man reached Western Europe, he in all likelihood found 

 his Palaeolithic predecessor settled there, and a greater or less 

 degree of fusion took place between them. Hence, as the 

 present inhabitants of Britain may claim the men both of the 

 Neolithic and Bronze Ages as their ancestors, it is possible that 

 as Neolithic man migrated northward into Scotland he may 

 have carried with him a strain of Palaeolithic blood. W. T. 



PROGRESS OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 



A REVIEW of the progress of technical education in the 

 ■^~*- United Kingdom during the year 1896-97 is given in the 

 tenth annual report of the National Association for the Pro- 

 motion of Technical and Secondary Education. A general idea 

 of the present position of the technical education movement 

 may be obtained from the subjoined extracts from the report 

 just issued. 



Technical Education in England. 



It is pleasing to be able to record that, in the year 1896-97, 

 the total amount of money available under the Local Taxation 

 (Customs and Excise) Act, 1890, and distributed to the local 

 authorities, was larger than in any previous year, and that a 

 further advance has been made as regards its utilisation for edu- 

 cational purposes. 



Of the 49 County Councils in England 41 are now giving all 

 and eight are giving part of their grants to educational purposes, 

 while of the 61 County Borough Councils 55 are devoting all 

 and six are devoting part of the fund in a like manner. In the 

 county borough of Preston a noteworthy advance has been 

 made. In this locality a new technical institute, erected by 

 the Harris Trustees at a cost of about 20,000/., has recently 

 been opened, and the County Borough Council, by voting a 



sum of 500/. in aid of technical education in the borough, have 

 now retired from that position of isolation which they had 

 hitherto occupied. At the present time, therefore, all the 

 County and County Borough Councils in England are utilising 

 the provisions of the Technical Instruction Acts. 



In considering the amount of money devoted one way and 

 another, it may be stated that, of the total of 807,000/. now 

 available in England alone, no less a sum than 740,000/. is 

 being spent upon education. It is worthy of note that London's 

 share of the fund now reaches 185,000/., of which a sum of 

 1 50,000/. is being utilised for educational purposes, a growth of 

 30,000/. as compared with last years vote. Therefore, looking 

 at the position as a whole, it is clear that education continues to 

 receive financial support of an extending character. 



In last year's report particulars were given respecting local 

 authorities contributing funds to education in the form of rate 

 aid. The information then published went to show that there 

 were at least 137 localities providing a total sum of 34,000/. in 

 this manner. To these figures must now be added a further 23 

 authorities raising 5000/. , thus making an aggregate number of 

 160 local authorities levying rates, or voting lump sums from 

 the rate-fund, to the extent of 39,000/. 



The extent to which local authorities and responsible com- 

 mittees in England have built, or are building, or are about to 

 build, technical schools is shown by the fact that the number of 

 such schools thus inidated now reaches 161, of which 146 

 involve a capital expenditure of 1,730,000/. This sum is 

 exclusive oi about 500,000/. absorbed by the establishment of 

 polytechnic institutions in London. It is worthy of notice that 

 in Burslem, Chesterfield, Dewsbury, Keighley, Plymouth, 

 Rochdale, Southport and Walsall the necessary funds for build- 

 ing purposes were provided entirely by voluntary contributions, 

 and that in Lancaster, Northwich, St. Helens, Sandbach and 

 Winsford sites and technical schools have been presented to the 

 local authorities by private individuals ; it may be estimated 

 that, with the exception of Lancaster and Sandbach, concerning 

 which complete information is not available, the financial pro- 

 vision which has thus been made in eleven localities represents 

 a total of 137,000/. Of the aggregate number of technical 

 schools mentioned above, 100 are already at work, 26 new 

 schools, situate in 13 different counties, having been opened 

 during the past year ; the localities in which the largest of these 

 new schools are to be found and the amounts spent upon the 

 buildings are — Leicester (40,000/.), Preston (20,000/.), Darling- 

 ton (16,000/.), Oldham and West Hartlepool (15,000/. each), 

 Darwen (14,000/.), Swindon (13,000/.), and Handsworth and 

 Northwich (10,000/. each). There remain, therefore, 61 tech- 

 nical schools which, according to the latest information, are 

 still incomplete ; but it must be understood that this number 

 includes localities where technical schools have been transferred 

 to the local authorities and where new schools are also being 

 built. 



In Bradford the technical college, upon which has been spent 

 no less than 155,000/. (50,000/. for buildings and 105,000/. for 

 maintenance), mainly provided by private munificence, now 

 receives an annual grant of 2875/. from the Corporation ; in 

 Huddersfield, the Governing Body of the technical college have 

 recently decided to proceed with considerable extensions to the 

 present buildings at an expenditure, including the cost of fur- 

 nishing, of 12,000/. ; in Keighley, the mechanics' institution was 

 founded in 1825, a new building, costing nearly 20,000/., was 

 erected by public subscription in 1870, and an additional wing 

 was built, at an outlay of 11,000/, in 1887. Hitherto there has 

 been but one instance of a local authority divesting themselves 

 of their powers of direct control, namely that of Burnley, where 

 the County Borough Council, having established a technical 

 school at a cost of 4000/., transferred the management of the 

 same to the Committee of the local mechanics' institution, the 

 Committee receiving an annual grant of 1000/. from the 

 Council. 



During the year ended March 31, 1896, the expenditure, ex- 

 cluding capital outlay, upon agricultural education by thirty-six 

 County Councils in England reached a total sum of 58,349/. 



According to the latest annual report of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, the amount of money applied to this branch of technical 

 education by the County Councils of England (including Mon- 

 mouthshire, but excluding Derbyshire, the Soke of Peterborough 

 and the Southern Division of Buckinghamshire) during the year 

 1896-97 was estimated to be 78,000/., which sum includes capital 

 expenditure. 



NO. 1472, VOL. 57] 



