NATURE 



[October 20, iS< 



abroad — i.e. from Germany, or the richer English had to 

 go abroad themselves. 



At this time we had, fortunately for us, in England, in 

 very high place, a German fully educated by all that 

 could be learned at one of the best equipped modern 

 German Universities, where he studied both science and 

 the fine arts. I refer to the Prince Consort. From that 

 year to his death he was the fountain of our English 

 educational renaissance, drawing to himself men like 

 Playfair, Clark and De la Beche; knowing what we lacked, 

 he threw himself into the breach. This College is one of 

 the many things the nation owes to him. His service to 

 his adopted country, and the value of the institutions he 

 helped to inaugurate, are by no means even yet fully 

 recognised, because those from whom national recognition 

 full and ample should have come, were, and to a great 

 extent still are, the products of the old system of middle 

 age scholasticism which his clear vision recognised was in- 

 capable by itself of coping with the conditions of modern 

 civilised communities. 



It was in the year 1845 that the influence of the Prince 

 Consort began to be felt. Those who know most of the 

 conditions of Science and Art then and now, know best 

 how beneficial that influence was in both directions ; my 

 present purpose, however, has only reference to Science. 



The College of Chemistry was founded in 1845, first 

 as a private institution ; the School of Mines was 

 established by the Government in 185 1. 



In the next year, in the speech from the Throne at the 

 opening of Parliament, Her Majesty spoke as follows : — 

 ■"The advancement of the Fine Arts and of practical 

 Science will be readily recognised by you as worthy the 

 attention of a great and enlightened nation^ I have 

 •directed that a comprehensive scheme shall be laid before 

 you having in view the promotion of these objects, to- 

 wards which I invite your aid and co-operation." 



Strange words these from the lips of an English 

 sovereign 1 



The Government of this country was made at last to 

 recognise the great factors of a peaceful nation's prosperity, 

 and to reverse a policy which has been as disastrous to 

 us as if they had insisted upon our naval needs being 

 supplied by local effort as they were in Queen Elizabeth's 

 time. 



England has practically lost a century ; one need not 

 be a prophet to foresee that in another century's time our 

 education and our scientific establishments will be as 

 strongly organised by the British Government as the 

 navy itself. 



As a part of the comprehensive scheme referred to by 

 Her Majesty, the Department of Science and Art was 

 •organised in 1853, and in the amalgamation of the College 

 of Chemistry and the School of Mines we have the germ 

 of our present institution. 



But this was not the only science school founded by 

 the Government. The Royal School of Naval Archi- 

 tecture and Marine Engineering was established by the 

 Department at the request of the Lords Commissioners 

 •of the Admiralty " with a view of providing especially 

 for the education of shipbuilding officers for Her 

 Majesty's Service, and promoting the general study of 

 the Science of Ship Building and Naval Engineering." It 

 ■was not limited to persons in the Queen's Service, and it 

 was opened on November i, 1864. The present Royal 

 'College of Science was built for it and the College of 

 Chemistry. In 1873 the School was transferred to the 

 Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and this accident 

 enabled the teaching from Jermyn Street to be transferred 

 and proper practical instruction to be given at South 

 Kensington. The Lords of the Admiralty expressed 

 •their entire satisfaction with the manner in which the 

 instruction had been carried on at South Kensington ; and 

 ■well they might, for in a memorandum submitted to the 

 Lord President in 1887, the President and Council of the 

 NO. 15 12, VOL. 58] 



Institute of Naval Architects state :— "When the Depart- 

 ment dealt with the highest class of education in Naval 

 Architecture by assisting in founding and by carrying on 

 the School of Naval Architecture at South Kensington, 

 the success which attended their efforts was phenomenal, 

 the great majority of the rising men in the profession 

 having been educated at that Institution." 



Here I again point out, both with regard to the School 

 of Mines, the School of Naval Architecture, and the 

 later Normal School, that it was stern need that was in 

 question, as in Egypt in old times. 



Of the early history of the College I need say nothing 

 after the addresses of my colleagues, Profs. Judd and 

 Roberts- Austen; but I am anxious to refer to some parts 

 of its present organisation and their effect on our 

 national educational growth in some directions. 



It was after 1870 that our institution gradually began 

 to take its place as a Normal School— that is, that the 

 teaching of teachers formed an important part of its 

 organisation, because in that year the newly-established 

 Departments having found that the great national want 

 then was teachers of Science, began to take steps to 

 secure them. Examinations had been inaugurated in 1859, 

 but they were for outsiders, conferring certificates and 

 a money reward on the most competent teachers tested 

 in this way. These examinations were really controlled 

 by our School, for Tyndall, Hofmann, Ramsay, Huxley, 

 and Warington Smyth, the first professors, were also the 

 first examiners. 



Very interesting is it to look back at that first year's 

 work, the first cast of the new educational net. After 

 what I have said about the condition of Chemistry and 

 the establishment of the College of Chemistry in 1845, 

 you will not be surprised to hear that Dr. Hofmann was 

 the most favoured — he had forty-four students. 



Prof. Huxley found one student to tackle his ques- 

 tions, and he failed. 



Profs. Ramsay and Warington Smyth had three 

 each, but the two threes only made five ; for both lists 

 were headed by the name of 



Judd, John W., 



Wesleyan Training College, 



Westminster. 



Our present Dean was caught in the first haul. 



These examinations were continued till 1866, and 

 upwards of 600 teachers obtained certificates, some of 

 them in several subjects. 



Having secured the teachers, the next thing the Depart- 

 ment did was to utilise them. This was done in 1859 by 

 the establishment of the Science Classes throughout the 

 country which are, I think, the only part of our educa- 

 tional system which even the Germans envy us. The 

 teaching might go on in schools, attics or cellars, there 

 was neither age-limit nor distinction of sex or creed. 



Let me insist upon the fact that from the outset 

 practical work was encouraged by payments for apparatus, 

 and that latterly the examinations themselves, in some of 

 the subjects, have been practical. 



The number of students under instruction in Science 

 Classes under the department in the first year in which 

 these classes were held, was 442 ; the number in 1897 

 was 202,496. The number of candidates examined in 

 the first year in which local examinations were held, was 

 650, who worked 1000 papers ; in 1897 the number was 

 106,185, who worked 159,724 papers, chemistry alone 

 sending in 28,891 papers, mathematics 24,764, and 

 physiography 16,879. 



The total number of individual students under instruc- 

 tion in Science Classes under the Department from 1859 

 to 1897 inclusive has been, approximately, 2,000,000. Of 

 these about 900,000 came forward for examination, the 

 total number of papers worked by them being 3,195,170. 



