SCIENCE TEACHING. 157 



remain in their own immediate localities or migrate to other parts of the 

 country, or emigrate to our colonies or to foreign countries, such instruction 

 leading up to their apprenticeship as skilled labourers, instead of their fulfilling, 

 as is now too much the case, the part of mere hewers of wood and drawers of 

 water, would be of the greatest value to them. We are happy to find that the 

 authorities of the National Board of Education in Ireland appreciate the impor- 

 tance of introducing instruction in manual work into their schools. They have 

 already begun to give instruction of this kind to some few of their teachers, 

 with a view to qualify them for imparting it to the children in the schools ; but, 

 in order that this instruction may be satisfactory, it is important that the 

 training of the teachers themselves should be systematic and thorough ; and, 

 obvious as this might appear to be, we do not hesitate to impress it upon the 

 minds of the authorities of the National Board. Until the teachers are able 

 themselves to give the instruction, it might be given by skilled and intelligent 

 artisans. We have reason to believe that, whenever efficient teachers can be 

 found, the National Board will be prepared to pay for the results of manual 

 teaching in the primary schools. It is scarcely necessary to say that our 

 statement with regard to drawing, in reference to schools generally, applies 

 with equal force to the Irish schools. We may remark that the progress of 

 children in learning home trades will be much more satisfactory if they have 

 been trained at school in the use of the ordinary tools for working in wood 

 and iron, and in drawing.'' 



Some account of the history of the Royal College of Science for Ireland 

 (which has now passed under the control of the Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland) may be fittingly introduced here. 



As is the case with so many other public institutions in Dublin, the origui 



The Royal College °^ ^^Z -^T^ ^?-F ?!, ^T'''^ "^^^t P'c^^*'^^ ^^ 



of Science for sought m the activity of the Royal Dublin Society, as 



far back as the eighteenth century. A chemical 



Ireland. « elaboratory " was then established for practical work 



in the Society's premises, and students of mineralogy were recommended to 



resort to it for assistance in their enquiries. Prizes of the value of £"50 were 



oftered to such students ; and subsequently the Society organised systematic 



courses of lectures on Chemistry, Physics, Mineralogy, Geology, Zoology, 



and Botany. 



On the establishment of the Department of Science and Art in connec- 

 tion with the Board of Trade, in March, 1853, the Museum of Irish Industry 

 in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, passed under its control. This practical 

 institution had been founded nine years before, under the office of Woods 

 and Forests, and contained a chemical department, which conducted enqui- 

 ries for the Geological Survey, and other researches " of public industrial 

 interest" (ijt/ Rep. Dep. Science and Art, 1854, p. Ixvi). The staff was also 

 " engaged on investigations of the nature of agricultural soils, and in pre- 

 paring a series of maps of the agricultural surface of the Irish counties 

 according to the chemical nature and financial values." The Department of 

 Science and Art proceeded to carry out, in addition, an educational scheme 

 which had been contemplated for some years, by the appointment of pro- 

 fessors " in connection with the Museum, for the most important sciences 

 belonging to the Industrial Arts." The subjects selected were Geology, 

 Chemistry, Mechanics, and Botany. The lectures were of a popular nature 

 and admission was free ; being given in the evenings, the average nightly 

 attendance was at first about 400 {Report of Sir R. Kane, Director of the 



