582 



NATURE 



[October 15, 1903 



persons of influence during the autumnal recess, and it led 

 to a sort of educational panic, the cry for technical educa- 

 tion becoming quite the absorbing topic among all circles 

 and forming a considerable portion of the contents of all 

 periodicals. Meetings were convened and addresses de- 

 livered all over the country, and the question was so much 

 ventilated that important changes were anticipated in the 

 educational arrangements of the country during the coming 

 Session of Parliament, which unfortunately were put off on 

 account of the debates on the Reform Bill of 1868. 



" The agitation necessarily brought forward the work of 

 the Science Division of the Science and Art Department, 

 and it is not a little remarkable how completely the system 

 which had been growing up since i860 seemed to meet 

 all the requirements of the case, and at the same time how 

 few persons had any idea of its provisions in spite of all 

 that had been done to spread a knowledge of the scheme. 



" There can be no doubt, however, but that this six 

 years' work had silently, though materially, effected a 

 change in the general tone of feeling on the subject of 

 scientific education, and had been the means of preparing 

 th-:; country for the 1867 agitation. The different feeling 

 among the working-classes on the subject is forcibly shown 

 in the Annual Report of the Science and Art Department. 

 From this it appears that in i860 a pupil in one of the 

 science classes in Manchester, a town usually looked upon 

 as in advance of others, could hardly continue his attend- 

 ance at the class owing to the taunts of, and ill-treatment 

 by. his companions. Nevertheless, in the autumn of this 

 year, 1867, hardly enough could be said or done to satisfy 

 the desire for science classes being formed for those very 

 persons who, but six years before, had considered attend- 

 ance at a Government science school as almost against the 

 rules of their trade." 



Such was the account of 1867 given by Mr. G. C. T. 

 Bartley (now Sir G. Bartley, M.P.). The plan adopted by 

 the Science and Art Department for encouraging instruction 

 in science was perhaps the best that could be devised at the 

 time, though we now know that it was capable of improve- 

 ment. It may be mentioned that an improvement in it was 

 made the next year by the introduction of a very large 

 system of scholarships, scholarships which have enabled the 

 possessors in some instances to continue their studies at 

 universities, and several distinguished men owe their posi- 

 tions to this aid. It was in this same year that Mr. Whit- 

 worth established his scholarships, as before described. 



I have endeavoured to give a brief risumi. of what was 

 done during the first fifteen years of the existence of the 

 Science and Art Department, and it continued to expand 

 its operations after 1868 on the same lines for another ten 

 years. In 1876 your President became connected with the 

 Department as a Science Inspector. I am sure the Section 

 will forgive me if I am somewhat personal for a few 

 moments. During the previous eight years I had had the 

 honour of being a teacher of some branches of physical 

 science at the School of Military Engineering, and my own 

 training was such that I had formed a very definite opinion 

 as to how science instruction should be imparted, both to 

 those who had a good general education and also to those 

 who had not. The method was the same in both cases : it 

 should be taught practically. I may say that though I had 

 not myself had the advantage of being taught it at school, 

 I had learned all the science I knew practically, and I 

 entered the Department fully impressed with this view. 

 Whenever possible I have until the present time endeavoured 

 to impress this view on all who were interested in the work 

 of the Department. Much of the science that was taught 

 in State-supported classes was largely book work and cram, 

 and the theoretical instruction as a rule was unillustrated 

 by experiment. This was undoubtedly due to the system 

 of payments being based on success at the examinations. 

 I must here say that there were honourable exceptions to 

 this procedure. There were teachers, then as now, who 

 knew the subjects they taught, and who were inspired by 

 a genuine love of their calling. I can in my mind's eye 

 recall many such, some of whom have Joined the majority 

 and others who are still at work and as successful now as 

 then in rousing the enthusiasm of their students. 



I am not one of those who think, as some do, that 

 cramming is entirely pernicious. A good deal of what used 

 to be taught at public schools in my days was cram. It 



NO. 1772, VOL. 68] 



served its purpose at the time in sharpening the memory, 

 and was a useful exercise, and it did not much matter if in 

 after years much of it was forgotten. If the cramming is 

 in science, a few facts called back to mind in after life are 

 better than never having had the chance at all. In fact, 

 as the faded beauty replied to the born plain friend, it is 

 better to be one of the " have beens " than a " never 

 wasn't." 



It was determined to make a vigorous onslaught against 

 teaching that was unillustrated by experiment and to 

 encourage practical teaching as far as could be done. 

 Proper apparatus for illustrating lectures was insisted upon, 

 and, with aid from the Department, was eventually pro- 

 vided, though in some instances several years' pressure had 

 to be exercised before it was obtained. I am bound to say 

 that in many instances after it had been procured a surprise 

 visit by the inspector during the hours of instruction often 

 found that the lecture table was free from all encumbrance, 

 and that the dust of weeks was upon the apparatus that 

 should have been in use. This was sometimes due to the 

 inability of the teacher to use the apparatus rather than to 

 a wish to disregard the rules laid down by the Department ; 

 but usually it was due to the fact that the teacher found 

 cram paid best. I should like to say here that this state 

 of things does not exist at the present time, and that the 

 training of science teachers by the Royal College of Science 

 and by other institutions has completely broken down the 

 excuses that were often offered at that time. 



The first grants for practical teaching were paid for 

 chemistry. The practical work had to be carried out in 

 properly fitted laboratories. There were not half-a-dozen 

 at the time which really answered our purpose, and one of 

 the earliest pieces of work on which I was engaged was in 

 assisting to get out plans for laboratory fittings. These 

 were very similar to those which I had designed for the 

 School of Military Engineering several years before. 

 Thanks to the Education Act of 1870 (I speak thankfully 

 of the work that some of the important School Boards have 

 done in the past in taking an enlightened view of science 

 instruction) there were some localities where the idea of 

 fitting up laboratories was received with favour, and it was 

 not long before several old ones were refitted, in which 

 instruction to adults was given, and new ones established 

 in Board Schools for the benefit of the Sixth Standard 

 children. At that time an inspector's, like the policeman's, 

 lot was not a happy one. We had to refuse to pass labor- 

 atories which did not fulfil conditions, though we left very 

 few " hard cases." 



Until after the passing of the Technical Instruction Act 

 in 1887 the Department aided schools in the purchase of 

 the fittings of laboratories (both chemical and others), and 

 year after year this help, which stimulated local effort, 

 caused large numbers of new laboratories to be added to the 

 recognised list. After six or seven years we had a hundred 

 or more laboratories at work of what I may call " sealed- 

 pattern efficiency." I am not very partial to sealed patterns, 

 but they are useful at times, for they tell people what is 

 the least that is expected from them. The pattern was not 

 without its defects ; but laboratories, like other matters, 

 follow the law of evolution, and the more recently fitted 

 ones show that the experience gained whilst teaching or 

 being taught in a sealed-pattern type has led to marked 

 improvements. Personally I am of opinion that only neces- 

 saries should be required, and I rebel against luxuries ; for 

 a student trained by means of the latter will, as a rule, in 

 after life fail to meet with anything beyond the mere 

 essentials for carrying on his scientific work. 



The sealed pattern is practically in abeyance, though it 

 can be trotted out as a bogey, and any properly equipped 

 laboratory is recognised so long as it meets the absolute 

 necessities of instruction. 



The half-dozen chemical laboratories which existed in 

 1877 have now expanded to 349 physical and 774 chemical 

 laboratories. These are spread over all parts of England. 

 I leave out Scotland and Ireland, as the science teaching 

 is no longer under the English Board of Education. 



It is only fair to say that many of this large number of 

 laboratories are at present in secondary schools, regarding 

 which I shall have to speak more at length. But the fact 

 remains that in twenty-seven years there has been such a 

 growth of practical science teaching that some 1120 



