October 8, 1891] 



NATURE 



547. 



processes, though it is applied only to that of Lorentz) 

 " dieganze Rechnung doch nur bis auf Grossen der ersten 

 Ordnung (wie bli') genau ist " throws very grave doubt 

 on the whole investigation. For in the most interesting 

 part of the critical isothermal of CO., the fraction blv 

 cannot be looked upon as a small quantity of the first 

 order. In fact, without raising the question, either of 

 Van der Waals's mode of interpreting the term ^2(;«V-) 

 or of the paucity of constants in his equation, the above 

 consideration would of itself render the results untrust- 

 worthy. \'an der Waals has most opportunely and effect- 

 ively called attention to an exceedingly promising mode 

 of attacking a very difficult problem, and his methods 

 are both ingenious and suggestive ; but 1 do not think 

 that his results can be regarded, even from the most 

 favourable point of view, as more than " Guesses at 

 Truth." 



For, if we take the experimental test, there can be no 

 doubt that (as I have stated in § 65 of my paper) " Van 

 der Waals's curves cannot be made to coincide with those 

 of Andrews." And I think I have given reasons for 

 believing that " the term of Van der Waals's equation, 

 which he took to represent Laplace's K, is not the statical 

 pressure due to molecular forces but (approximately) 

 its excess over the repulsion due to the speed of the 

 particles." Of course 1 mean by this that, when Van der 

 Waals, comparing his equation with experiment, assigns 

 a numerical value to his term alv", he is not justified in 

 regarding it as the value of Laplace's K ; though that 

 quantity was, he tells us, the main object of his inquiry. 

 Believe me yours very truly, 



P. G. Tait. 



St. Andrews, September 28. 



THE EXISTING SCHOOLS OF SCIENCE 

 AND ART. 



A T a meeting of influential science and art teachers 

 '^*- held at the Charterhouse School of Science and 

 Art, Goswell Road, on the 3rd instant, the position of 

 existing schools, with regard to the fierce opposition 

 offered by highly endowed Polytechnics, was calmly and 

 broadly discussed. 



For many years, under the system not only recognized 

 but encouraged by the Science and Art Department, 

 schools have been established in London and the pro- 

 vinces. The aid afforded by the Department has mainly 

 been (i) to contribute largely to the building fund of 

 schools intended for the exclusive teaching of science and 

 art subjects, and (2) to remunerate by Government grant 

 the services of the teachers engaged. The regulations of 

 the Department provide that such aid is given to any 

 centre where the need of it is apparent. It is, however, 

 perfectly well known that the teacher, in the majority of I 

 cases, was the person upon whom the duty fell to organ- ' 

 ize the classes and set the ball rolling, and it would be j 

 difficult to mention any school or institute in which the 

 motive spirit was not a teacher. 



By recent Acts of Parlian>ent a great impetus has been 

 given to that side of science and art instruction known as 

 technical education. Funds which in past times could 

 only have been raised by persistent beggin^^ are now 

 forthcoming almost as a matter of routine. In the pro- 

 vinces there is every sign that the authorities' having the 

 administration of the grant of public moneys intend to 

 recognize existing schools. In London it is not so 

 Schemes for the erection of new buildings are pushed 

 forward without due regard to those institutions already 

 doing a good work. At the meeting of teachers already 

 referred to several instances were cited. The People's 

 Palace, erected almost in the very shadow of the Bow and 

 Bromley Institute, has, by reason of its endowment, 

 greatly hampered and harassed the older institution. 



NO. I 145, VOL. 44] 



The West London School of Art succumbed two years 

 ago to the attack of the Regent Street Polytechnic ; anti 

 now the St. Martin's School of Art, one of the best known 

 centres of instruction in the metropolis, has closed it? 

 doors. Without endowment it could not compete wjth 

 its more favoured rivals. The closing of this school is 

 the more to be regretted because of the high tone of the 

 work carried on within its walls. 



Unfortunately, it cannot be denied that many so-called 

 schools of science and art are simply carried on as " grant- 

 earning" establishments, and the country would lose little 

 or nothing if they were closed at once. But there are 

 others affording excellent science and art instruction ; and 

 though these may not be affected by the present Poly- 

 technics, it is evident that the schemes yet in embryo for 

 the erection of other buildings will, if not properly checked,, 

 raise an undignified competition with the older schools. 

 It is therefore a matter of great public importance that 

 the established institutions should not be overlooked by 

 the London County Council. If new buildings are deemed 

 to be necessary, the old school of science and art should 

 be treated as the nucleus of the enlarged scheme. 



Two points of error seetn to be apparent in the plan of 

 campaign of the supporters of Polytechnics — (i) that 

 educational work must be associated with recreation ; and 

 (2) that technical education has a very limited area, ard 

 that science and art education in its fullest sense .is 

 unnecessary. 



" Schools of art," said a gentleman to me recently, "are 

 dead." Surely nothing could be more absurd. As 1 

 understand technical education, it is the application of 

 general principles to a specific purpose. Schools of 

 science and art— />. schools for the study of science as 

 science, and art as art— should be encouraged as much as. 

 before. This can be done without interfering with the 

 specific application of such study to a particular purpose. 

 With regard to the question of recreation, I think it 

 would be found that, although those institutes which make 

 much of athleticism and such matters attract the largest 

 proportion of students, the attendance ;Jr^ ratd in the class- 

 rooms, and the results obtained there, would not favourably 

 compare with an institute carrying out a purely educational 

 programme. At the meeting referred to, one teacher 

 stated that, although at a Polytechnic with which he had 

 been connected only seven students entered the class, 

 scores of young men could be found in the billiard-room 

 and gymnasium. At the Science and Art Institute, 

 Wolverton, one of the best and most practical schools 

 in the country, it was decided to close the billiard-room 

 in consequence of the serious effect it had upon the 

 attendance of students at the classes. I am personally 

 acquainted with the science and art work carried on at 

 the Regent Street Polytechnic. Excellent as it is, it would 

 be still belter if it could be relieved of the recreative 

 element. 



The London County Council has shelved for a time- 

 the appropriation of the funds provided by the Excise- 

 Act, 1890, for the promotion of technical education. But 

 the matter must soon come up again. Healthy coriipeti- 

 tion is excellent, but in this matter it is clearly not to the 

 interest of the public that its money should be used for 

 pushing on a new venture as a competitor to, and \ni 

 antagonism with, an existing institution. The best 

 butcher's shop in London would stand a poor chance if a 

 rival establishment run with money raised by taxation, and 

 not of necessity expected to pay its way, opened its doors 

 on the opposite side of the road ; and this is practically 

 the state of affairs. The teacher.-, moreover, have a per- 

 fect right to be heard on this question. Devoting their 

 best years to the training necessary for science and art 

 teaching, it may be urged that they have a moral, if not 

 a legal, claim to.be considered. 



In concluding, I would point out that the exponents of 

 technical instruction are loo keen on "centralization." 



