36 



NATURE 



[November ic, 1892 



close examination. None but teachers of public ele- 

 mentary schools are eligible, and these must have regu- 

 larly attended a course of practical lessons in a registered 

 class under a teacher approved by the Institute. Not- 

 withstanding these restrictions, 615 candidates presented 

 themselves at the first examination held by the Institute, 

 and of these 350 passed, 195 obtaining the Teacher's 

 Certificate. 



The report contains full statistics of the results of the 

 examinations in each of the 6[ subjects included in the 

 programme, and it also shows the results in each of the 210 

 towns where the examinations were held. Of the centres 

 outside London, Manchester sent up the largest number 

 of successful candidates, whilst Glasgow, Dundee, and 

 Leeds come next in order. The report calls attention to 

 the fact that the proportion of candidates to the popula- 

 tion is far less in London than in Manchester, whilst 

 the hope is expressed that the larger facilities for technical 

 instruction which will be available within the next few 

 years will lead to an increase in the number of students 

 and of candidates for examination. This increase will no 

 doubt take place with the opening of new polytechnic 

 institutions ; but we venture to think that the real im- 

 provement in technical education cannot be correctly 

 measured by any mere increase in the number of candi- 

 dates for examination. It depends much more upon the 

 character and quality of the instruction which the candi- 

 dates receive. The great defect of our present organiza- 

 tion is the poverty in knowledge and practical experience 

 of the teachers of our science and technical classes. 

 Some improvement in the qualifications of teachers, and 

 in the conditions of their training, is needed before 

 progress can be measured by the increase in the 

 number of students in attendance, or of candidates for 

 examination. 



We notice that in future the Institute proposes to 

 award two kinds of certificates— the one kind to students 

 who have regularly attended a course of instruction 

 under an approved teacher, and the other to candidates 

 who may present themselves for examination without 

 giving any evidence as to their training. In this way 

 the Institute proposes to combine the functions of a teach- 

 ing and an examining body. The certificate indicating 

 that the candidate has received some training at a school 

 of recognized position will doubtless acquire a distinct 

 value ; but much will depend upon the ability and the 

 reputation of the teacher under whom the candidate 

 may have studied. 



Of the many alterations in the new programme the 

 most important is the addition of a practical part to the 

 examination in mechanical engineering. This exam- 

 ination of the Institute has never seemed to us wholly 

 satisfactory, as overlapping, to too great an extent, the 

 examinations of the Science and Art Department in 

 applied mechanics, machine construction, and steam. 

 But in future the examination will consist of two parts, one 

 of which will be distinctly specialized with a view to the 

 candidate's occupation. Moreover, in the honours grade, 

 candidates will be required to undergo a practical 

 examination in either machine designing or workshop 

 practice. At the last examination in this subject 

 966 candidates presented themselves, of whom 536 

 passed. It is satisfactory to note the continuous in- 

 crease in the number of candidates in plumbers' work, 

 a trade in the successful practice of which every house- 

 holder is interested. In this subject a high standard 

 for passing is wisely maintained. Of the 816 candidates 

 who presented themselves, 235 came up for the practical 

 part of the examination, and of these only 85 succeeded 

 in passing in both parts of the examination, and are 

 qualified for certificates. 



There is little doubt that the statistics furnished in 

 this report go far to show that a high value is attached 

 by artizans and their employers to the Institute's certifi- 



NO. 1202, VOL. 47] 



cates, and that the progress of technical education has 

 been advanced by the cautious and judicious manner in 

 which the Institute has conducted this department of its 

 operations. 



ROBERT GRANT. 



IN Robert Grant, who at the ripe age of seventy-eight 

 died at the place of his birth, Grantown-on-Spey, on 

 October 24, 1892, science loses one of her ablest his- 

 torians. His education was interrupted by a serious ill- 

 ness, which confined him to his bed from his fourteenth 

 to his twentieth year. With surprising energy, however, 

 on his recovery he set about the study of mathematics 

 and the acquisition of ancient and modern languages. 

 After studying for a time at King's College, Aberdeen, he 

 went to London to collect materials for a history of 

 physical astronomy. Thence he proceeded to Paris in 

 1845, where for two years he attended the lectures of 

 Arago at the Observatory, and those of Leverrier and 

 others at the Sorbonne. Returning to London, he lost 

 little time in beginning the great work with which his 

 name will always be associated. It was published in 

 numbers, the first of which appeared in September, 1 848, 

 but it was not until March, 1852, that the whole work was 

 issued. It bears the title " History of Physical Astronomy 

 from the Earliest Ages to the Middle of the Nineteenth 

 Century, comprehending a detailed account of the estab- 

 lishment of the Theory of Gravitation by Newton, and its 

 development by his successors ; with an exposition of 

 the progress of research in all the other subjects of 

 Celestial Physics." Most completely do the contents of 

 the volume fulfil every expectation raised by this compre- 

 hensive programme. The fame of its author was at once 

 established. Four years later he received from the hands 

 of the late Mr. Manuel J. Johnson, President of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society, the gold medal, then for the first 

 time awarded for literary service to astronomical science 

 One paragraph of the address delivered on that occasion 

 may here be quoted as characterizing most justly th^ 

 work as well as its author : " Throughout the book no 

 one can fail to be struck with the rare skill, integrity, and 

 discernment the author has displayed in tracing the suc- 

 cessive stages of progress ; or with the scrupulous care 

 he has taken to assign to each of the great men whom 

 he reviews their proper share in the common labour. 

 Nowhere is this more conspicuous than in the discussion 

 relative to the discovery of the planet Neptune. By a 

 simple narration of facts he has placed the history ot 

 that great event in so clear and so true a light, that I 

 believe I am not wrong in saying he has gained an 

 author's highest praise under such circumstances — the 

 approval of both the eminent persons concerned.'' Even 

 now, forty years after its publication, the " History " has 

 lost none of its value as a mine of information, and as a 

 delightful guide to those who desire to make a closer 

 acquaintance with the astronomers of the past, as well as 

 their works. 



For some time Mr. Grant edited the " Monthly Notices " 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society, and was a member of 

 their Council. In conjunction with the late Admiral 

 Smyth, he translated and edited Arago's " Popular As- 

 tronomy " (2 vols. 1855 and 1858). Meanwhile his health 

 had so far improved that in 1858 he was able to go 

 through a course of observational astronomy at Green- 

 wich Observatory. In the following year, on the death 

 of Prof. J. Pringle Nichol, he was appointed Professor 

 of Astronomy, and director of the Observatory in the 

 University of Glasgow. 



As a member of the party that went to Spain in the 

 troop-ship Hhnalaya, to observe the total solar eclipse 

 of July 18, i860. Prof. Grant, from his station near 

 Vittoria, had the satisfaction of seeing a portion of the 

 chromosphere, the existence of which as a thin layer en- 



