May 



24, 1894] 



NATURE 



I and students alike, but a student can get his membership— that 

 I IS, his social and recreative privileges— at a cheaper rate throuiih 

 being a student. At the same lime, people are not excluded 

 1 from the social side o( the Insiiiuie, even if they are not students. 

 To put the matter briefly : at the Regent Street Polytechnic 

 studentship is of less account than meuibership. At Battersea, 

 the People's Palace, and, 10 some extent. Borough Road there 

 is no membership without studentship, while at the Goldsmiths' 

 Institute studentship is the main thing, but tho^e who are not 

 students are not excluded from member.-hip— they are only 

 made to pay a little more for their privileges because they arc 

 drones. 



It must not be supposed that the social or recreative side of 

 Polytechnic Institutes consists entirely of play, for some 

 extremely useful societies belong to it. The mechanical 



89 



ciency than thai shown by examinational honours. If the mere 



obtaining of erithcales is inculcated into students as the end 

 ar^d aim .f the.r work, the useful resulu expected from technical 

 educatton will never arrive. The test, in.leed, of^the work 

 done ,„ Polytechnic, must not be rated according to the lirtof 

 examinational successes, but by the number and quality of 

 papers published, and inventions made, by its alurnni So far 

 as we kriow, no London Polytechnic Institute is yei aWe to 

 produce this evidence of the development of originality, though 

 u s unpossible to say what may be done in the future. We 

 would suggest however, that such institutes should begin to 

 publish "h "r';"""^ "> knowledge made by their s"udemf and 

 publish the lists year by jear in iheir prospectuses There 



ha°r',t;,!:rth';^,r, ?!;[f-"^ - '^-^-'--s ^hichof them'^^i 



;int(.rin£ Wyr^^si.up o( the GuItUuiuh*' lo^uiute. 



^Dgneering and the chemical societies of the Goldsmiths' 

 institute are really doing ..plen-lid work. At their meetings 

 ,.udents read papers of .eally scientific merit, and important 

 P Oblems in mechanics and chemistry are discus ed. Too much 

 •l fi^"T"" '^"'^" '" societies of this kind, and we are glad 

 iO nnd that mu,t institutes recognise their usefulness. They 

 ■.»W .K '""' ''"'■ ^'■"'"'^'e research ; they help students to 

 lifi.!,, ■ "i'^"'""^ attainments must not be gauged by cer- 

 I ncates, but by contributions to knowledge. Many institutes 

 .ut lorward as an advenisement of their efficiency the fact that 

 rin^^^.l' '"T"'' '"J" °^ "'"■' students passed certain examina- 

 arrf.i'*!^ °f °' ,*">' """" ''"'ytechnic ; that their students 

 arried off such and such medak, and so on. This is all very 

 ^ ell, but we look to Polytechnics for further evidence of effi- 

 NO. T2S2 VOT, co] 



The engineering department of the Goldsmiths' Institute is 

 one of the best in London. Through the kindness of Mr \V 

 J. Lineham, ihe head of this section of work, we are able to 

 give an illustration of the engineering workshop. It will be 

 seen tnat the woikshop is extremely well-fiited with useful 

 machines-far belter, indeed, than many of the shops in manu. 

 factories. Students who pass through workshop courses ar< 



are 

 h 

 can 



■ , .,. "o^..v^ pass mrougn worKsnop courses ar 



made familiar with almost all ihe tools and appliances met wit 

 in ordinary practice. As (or ihe courses themselves, we ca 

 suggest nothing to improve them. Each student is given 

 a rough ca;jiing, and is expected to turn out from it a finished 

 product Ihehrst bit of work consists in g.inding a cold chisel, 

 lioth flat and cio.s cut. and in learning how to do simple mark- 

 ing oflT. for practice in chipping, tiling, and scraping, a cast iron 



