1 86 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 



of a horse pond by an imitation torpedo. Now if in that college 

 the elementary practical class of physics had been called a class 

 for measurement, this so-called experiment would not have been 

 shown, and the young man would not have been wholly misled 

 as to what physical science meant. The teacher would not have 

 thought of blowing up the pond until his pupils were capable of 

 measuring the resistance of the leads, their insulation, the elec- 

 tromotive force of the battery, and other magnitudes. 



The use of the word ' measurement ' in naming a class would 

 be in itself a safeguard against the peepshow style of teaching 

 which at one time was far more common than is now the case. 

 Moreover, it would allow examinations to be held of a practical 

 kind, in which students in the same or different colleges might 

 ascertain their relative skill. It is possible definitely to group 

 students in the order of their merit by comparing the measure- 

 ments which they make. The range and accuracy of their know- 

 ledge as to what instruments they should employ can also be 

 tested by examination, and although an abuse of competitive ex- 

 aminations is certainly an evil, nevertheless one test of what can 

 and what cannot be taught is to be found in the consideration 

 whether an examination paper can or cannot be set. In quanti- 

 tative analysis this mode of examination is universally adopted, 

 but practical examinations in electrical and thermal measure- 

 ments are not so common in our universities as they might be, 

 and practical examinations in the measurement of velocity, force, 

 or work are even rarer. 1 Is it expecting too much to ask that, 

 wherever physical science is taught, the students should have an 

 opportunity of systematically learning how to measure every 

 magnitude which can be expressed in numbers ? The distinct 

 recognition of measurement as a thing to be taught would serve 

 as a guide in the purchase of apparatus it would serve to 

 distinguish the toy from the scientific instrument. 



Let me not be misunderstood. There are innumerable ex- 

 periments of the highest interest to the trained physicist which 

 are mere magic-lantern slides to the student, and even the 

 magic-lantern slide has its place. A lecturer may with propriety 

 use a mere spectacle to give his audience a more concrete view 



1 Examinations precisely such as are here recommended are held in the 

 Cavendish and many other laboratories. 



