July 10, ii 



NA TURE 



: 45 



same remark applies to that of the city of Antwerp. In 

 the gallery of the Albert Hall (No. 1374) is an admirable 

 exhibit, in which all Frobel's occupations are grouped 

 round a given object in nature, illustrating the Pesta- 

 lozzian system of Kindergarten teaching, as carried out in 

 Berlin. 



The subject of domestic economy, and other forms of 

 technical and industrial occupation for girls, is illustrated 

 in a very thorough manner by the Minister of Public In- 

 struction in Belgium, and to a less extent by the corre- 

 sponding official in France. A notice appended to the 

 Belgian Illustrative Museum states that mere oral lessons 

 have been found to produce no good results, and hence 

 that this subject is taught in a "decided, intuitive, and 

 demonstrative " manner, which has necessitated the 

 formation of illustrative collections in each school. These 

 will be found to be most complete, every stage in the 

 manufacture of clothing and food, from the raw material 

 to the finished product, being illustrated, as well as the 

 more important points in house sanitation. No similar 

 exhibit is to be found in the English section. The em- 

 broidery and other work of the " Ecole professionelle de 

 jeunes filles " will repay careful inspection. With regard 

 to needlework generally, we are informed that some lady 

 experts in this matter have a very high opinion of what 

 is shown in the Belgian and French Courts, as well as of 

 that sent by the Birmingham School Board, which appears 

 to be the best English needlework. In this connection 

 also a word may be said in support of the efforts now 

 being made by the Scientific Dress-cutting Association, 

 who show interesting demonstrations of their methods. 



Turning nowto the more general question of scientific and 

 technical instruction as illustrated at the Health Exhibition, 

 it will be remembered that oneof the resultsof acomparison 

 of English and foreign primary school methods was stated 

 to be, that elementary scientific instruction formed a much 

 more prominent feature in French and Belgian primary 

 schools than in English. We notice with great pleasure 

 that, in opening a higher-grade school at Manchester on 

 Monday last, Mr. Mundella pointed out that one objec- 

 tion to English education was its too exclusively literary 

 character. The practice of the Liverpool and Birmingham 

 School Boards, and to a less extent of the London School 

 Board (which in its exhibit endeavours to illustrate its 

 whole system, and not merely certain features of it, as is 

 done by the Birmingham authorities), is however a pleasing 

 exception to this general statement. It cannot be denied, 

 however, that a very much better foundation is laid in 

 primary schools abroad than at home for that technical 

 education the importance of which is now becoming so 

 generally recognised, as evidenced by the extraordinary 

 demand for copies of the recently published Report of 

 the Royal Commission on the subject, and by the noble 

 building in which the chief educational exhibits are tem- 

 porarily housed. 



It may be convenient, as in the former case, to notice 

 first the foreign appliances for, and results of, technical 

 education, the collection of which in point of interest and 

 size is not so large, when compared with the correspond- 

 ing English exhibits, as is the case with the primary 

 schools. In the Belgian Court the collections of the 

 Ministry of Public Instruction and of the Carlsbourg 

 School are specially noticeable ; the technological collec- 

 tions to illustrate the various industries are most com- 

 plete, and are arranged under such heads as vegetable 

 fibre, minerals, the animal kingdom, &c, while under the 

 head of botany is an admirable series of specimens 

 illustrative not merely of agriculture but of arboriculture, 

 the various methods of grafting, for example, being clearly 

 shown. There is also an interesting collective exhibit " des 

 e'coles industrielles et professionelles," and there are no 

 less than three societies whose sole object is the technical 

 and professional training of women in various trades, 

 such as artificial flower-making, dress-making, embroidery, 



&c. This appears to be a new departure, which might 

 be advantageously followed in our own country. 



In reviewing the recent progress of educational legisla- 

 tion in France, we find that in March 1882 laws were 

 passed which rendered obligatory (1) the teaching of the 

 elementary physical sciences in primary schools, and (2) 

 the performance therein of a certain amount of manual 

 work. Accordingly, under the first of these heads we 

 find exhibited by the Minister of Public Instruction the 

 authorised collections of objects and apparatus used in 

 this teaching, as well as models of simple and cheap 

 instruments such as could be fabricated by the pupils 

 themselves. The_ second law alluded to has called into 

 existence the " Ecole normale de travail manuel," a 

 school probably unique of its kind, whose whole course of 

 instruction is well illustrated by a series of photographs 

 and specimens, and by a detailed programme. It comprises 

 the systematic teaching of carpentry, the use of the lathe, 

 the chemical and physical laboratory, the smith's forge, 

 and the "fitting" shop. The whole instruction is 

 gratuitous, and admission is obtained after a competitive 

 examination in the lower grade schools. Fuller details 

 about this school, as well as about the present system of 

 education in France as a whole, will be found in the ten 

 pages of the special educational catalogue devoted to an 

 introduction to the French exhibits. Closely associated 

 with this is a capital collection of work from the Ecole des 

 Arts et Miftiers of Aix (Bouches-du-Rhone), which, to- 

 gether with the results of various apprenticeship and art 

 schools, is exhibited by the Ministry of Commerce, Paris. 

 The handicraft work of the primary schools of Vierzon and of 

 Voiron (Isere), as well as of the technical schools at Evreux 

 and Nantes, deserves careful examination, while in the de- 

 partment of agricultural industry, the work of a school at 

 Lille is much to be commended and worthy of imitation. 

 Among the private exhibits in the French section the 

 most noticeable features are : — the admirable collection 

 of objects of natural history and, of science diagrams, all 

 for school use, shown by M. Emile Deyrolle, and the 

 wonderful collection of botanical and physiological models 

 shown by Mme. Yeuve Auzoux and M. Montaudon. 

 Part of this is a series of anatomical models (probably the 

 best of their kind) composed of solid pieces, which can 

 be easily adjusted or separated, and removed piece by- 

 piece as in actual dissection. Somewhat similar models 

 are shown by Mme. Lemercier. It is greatly to be 

 regretted that the very high price of these excellent 

 models is an effectual bar to anything beyond a very 

 limited use of them. 



The collection of educational appliances as used in 

 Norway, and shown by Mr. Mailings in the gallery of the 

 Albert Hall, deserves warm commendation. It is charac- 

 terised by the same importance as attached to objective and 

 practical teaching (as distinguished from book-information) 

 which we noticed in the French and Belgian schools. 

 This publishing house is one of the sights of Christiania. 



Prominent among the illustrations of technical educa- 

 tion in England, the preparations for which, as we have 

 before stated, have not yet reached down to our primary 

 schools to any appreciable extent, are the three rooms 

 devoted to illustrations of the work at the Finsbury Tech- 

 nical School. These are specially remarkable as show- 

 ing the admirable methods which characterise the whole 

 of the work there, and which, we venture to think, 

 deserve careful study. A room is devoted to the mecha- 

 nical laboratory and appliances, and a large amount of 

 space to the department of electrical engineering, while a 

 special feature in the display is the printed explanatory- 

 paper of notes attached to each piece of apparatus. 

 Another good example of English technical education is 

 the collection of drawings and models relating to coach 

 and carriage building, to which three organisations con- 

 tribute, illustrating the alterations that occur in the 

 conditions of locomotion. There is a very good collec- 



