Jan. i, 1885] 



NA TURE 



205 



The town of Bharao, in Upper Burma, the destruction of 

 which by the Kakhyen tribes is reported from Rangoon, 

 i- .me well known in the exploration of South-Western 

 China in recent years. The route so often traversed from 

 Shanghai to Rangoon by the Vangtsze, Talifu, and the 

 Irrawaddy passes through Bhamo. It is mainly a trading 

 town, from which the caravans start into Yunnan, as here 

 the navigation of the Irrawaddy ceases. The first modern 

 explorer to visit it was Mr. Cooper, the traveller " in pigtail 

 and petticoats," who journeyed so courageously throughout South- 

 West China during the Mohammedan rebellion. The Indian 

 Government was disposed at that time to pay more attention to 

 a trade route into Yunnan than they appear to have been recently, 

 and the importance of Bhamo on the route from British Burmah 

 was recognised by the appointment of an agent to reside there, 

 and gather information useful for commerce in these regions. 

 Mr. Cooper, the most competent man for the post, was selected, 

 but the good work which he was doing was cut short by his 

 death one night in his tent near Bhamo, at the hands of one of 

 his Burmese guards. At Manwyne, not far on the Chinese side 

 of Bhamo, Mr. Margary was murdered in 1S76, when on his way 

 from the Yangtsze and Talifu, to meet Col. Browne's expedition, 

 which advanced from Rangoon along the Irrawaddy, through 

 Bhamo. A year later it was visited by the Commission of 

 English officials under Mr. Grosvenor, which went to in- 

 quire into Margary 's death ; and, on account of the place 

 being within easy reach of Rangoon and Mandalay by 

 the river, it has been frequently visited by officials of 

 the Indian Government, such as Cols. Browne and Fytche 

 and Major Sladen. The latter's journey had for its ob- 

 ject the removal of dangers to traders on the route from 

 the Kakhyens, and he succeeded in coming to an understanding 

 with the chiefs to keep the route open. Within the last few- 

 years McCarthy, on his way from Shanghai by the Japanese 

 route, and Colquhoun from the capital of Yunnan, passed 

 through the town. It was a small stockaded settlement of 

 Chinese and Shan traders, with a lower order of Burmese, and 

 there is a French missionary station at the place, while some 

 Americans are also engaged in missionary work there and at 

 Manwyne. The Kakhyens inhabit the greater part of North- 

 ! rn Burmah, between the Irrawaddy and Salween, and live 

 mainly on the 'trade between China and Burmah, either as 

 brigands and robbers or as carriers on the river and roads. In 

 addition, they appear to trade a little on their own account. The 

 grounds of their destruction of the town are unknown, but it is 

 probably due to their predatory habits, the comparative wealth 

 of the town as a central trading station in the region, and the 

 weakness and incompetence of the native government of Upper 

 Burmah, especially in a wild and remote border-land, such as 

 that in which Bhamo is situated, and of which it is the capital. 



An interesting expedition has been undertaken by Mr. Shaw, 

 a naturalist and artist of Sydney, New South Wales. He pro- 

 to make a canoe voyage down the Lachlan, Murrum- 

 bidgee, and Murray rivers, his object being to enlarge our 

 knowledge of the interior river-systems of Australia, and of 

 natural history. The cost of the expedition is borne by the 

 Town and Country Journal of Sydney, in which the artist's 



.', ill do doubt appear. 

 We learn from the Australian papers that Mr. E. M. Curr of 

 Yictoria has been engaged on a work on the customs, language, 

 and origin of the aborigines of Australia. Portions of the manu- 

 scripts were, early last year, sent to England to be submitted to 

 the Council of the Anthropological Society. The Society has 



I the opinion that the Government of Victoria should 

 publish the vocabularies and a record of the customs of the 

 aborigines, as, otherwise, valuable information migl 

 ever. It is expected that arrangements will be made for the 



m of the work at the public expense. 



REPORT OF THE LONDON SCHOOL 



WITTEE ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

 XX/E are glad to publish the following Report on Technical 

 Education which has been presented ti 1 the 1 .1 >ndon School 

 Board. The recommendations contained in it were 

 December 18, 18S4, with a small modification in No. 5. The 

 only one which received any serious opposition was No. 6, which 



1 1 lie Swedish Slojd system, but 1 hi -. ultimateli 

 by a majority of two to one. 



(1) Constitution of Committee 



On February 1, 1SS3, the Board passed the following reso- 

 lution : — " That a Special Committee be formed to consider and 

 advise how far the Board may facilitate Technical Education, or 

 co-operate with those bodies that are carrying it on." 



On February 8, 1SS3, the Board resolved : — "That the Special 

 Committee on Technical Education agreed to by the Board on 

 February 1, 1S83, consist of the following Members: — Mr. 

 Roston Bourke, Mr. Bousfield, Mr. Bruce, Sir Edmund Currie, 

 Miss Davenport Hill, Prof. Gladstone, Mr. Heller, Sir Arthur 

 Hobhouse, Mr. Lucraft, Miss Muller, Rev. Henry Pearson, 

 Mr. Lee Roberts, Mr. Whiteley, Mr. Mark Wilks, and ex officio 

 the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Board." 



At the first meeting Prof. Gladstone was appointed Chairman 

 of the Special Committee. Nine meetings of the Committee 

 have been held. 



(2) Information from Gentlemen 

 The Committee commenced their deliberations by endeavour- 

 ing to obtain information from gentlemen who were interested 

 in, and had studied, the - 



The following gentlemen accordingly attended the Committee 

 by invitation, and gave their views on the subject : — Dr. Sil- 

 vanus I". Thompson, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Uni- 

 versity College, Bristol; Mr. H. Trueman Wood, Secretary of 

 the Society of Arts ; Mr. Philip Magnus, B.Sc, B.A., Director 

 and Secretary of the City and Guilds of London I;, titute for 

 the Advancement of Techi 11 on, and of the 



i of the Royal Commission 011 Technical Instruction. 

 The statements of these gentlemen are set out in detail in the 

 Appendix to this Report. 



(3) Information from School Hoard* 

 Thi Committee also obtained information from the clerks of 

 the Glasgow, Manchester, and Sheffield School Boards respecting 

 the steps taken by these Bom 1 ly for the instruction 



of children in technical education. 



Ulan Glen's Institution.— At the request of the 

 clerk of the Glasgow School Board, Mr. A. Crum Maclae, 

 Secretary of Allan Glen's Institution, Glasgow, replied, furnish- 

 ing information respecting the technical instruction in that 

 institution, and inclosing — (1) a prospectus of the school foi 

 18S3-84 ; (2) a report of the proceedings at (he distribution ol 

 prizes and certificates in December, ieN> ; (3) a copy of a paper 

 on the "Relation of the School to the Workshop," read before 

 the Philosophical Society of Glasgow in December, 1S82, by 

 David San':. man, Chairman of the Weaving Branch of the 

 Technical College, and E. M. Dixon, B.Sc, Head Master of 

 the Institution. 



Manchester School Board. — The Clerk of the Board, in reply 

 to the inquiry of the Committee, furnished information to the 

 effect that the Board have no present intention of starting a 

 technical school ; that this work had been taken up by the 

 trustees of the Manchester Mechanics' Institute, who have con- 

 verted that institution into a technical school ; that the Board 

 have introduced a lathe and a group of joiners' benches into 

 class-rooms of two of their schools, and each scholar in the 

 higher standards of the school takes hi- turn at the manual ex- 

 ercises, receiving one or two lessons a-week, a joiner being 

 present to give the instruction. No extra charge is made for the 

 instruction. One of the schools is the lowest under the Board, 

 where two-thirds of the children are admitted free, the other 

 being attended by children of artisans and -mall shopkeepers. 

 S/ur- • ./.--The Clerk of the Board gave- parlicu- 



: > the admission, the examination, the tees, the 

 subjects of instruction, and the results of the Central Pligher 

 School 1 iblisl to«n. In the workshop attached to 



the school the practical work contemplated will include— (1) the 

 production of simple bul perfect geometrical forms to teach 

 accuracy and skill 111 the use of tools; (2) the construction of 

 models in wood for use as examples in model drawing ; (3) the 

 construction of simple apparatus to illustrate, by actual experi- 

 ment, the principles of levers, pulleys, wheel and axle, the 

 crane and strain on beams with different positions of load ; (4) 

 the mechanics of the roof, arch, and bridge ; (5) for more ad- 

 vanced pupils the construction of apparatus illustrating lessons 

 in machine construction, applied mechanics, building construc- 

 tion, and mechanical engineering. It is added that there is a 

 system of scholarships by means of which from fifteen to twenty 

 specially clever boys and girls will be enabled to pass from the 



