242 



NA TURE 



{July 



V 14. i< 



Corporation of the place, is to be held as corporate 

 property, and will be sustainedmainly out of the corporate 

 runds. With a total cost of 70,000/. (or, taking into 

 account the value of the land, 100,000/.) the only endow- 

 ments at present are the 10,000/. presented by an 

 anonymous donor, and 300/. from Lady Ossington (for a 

 scholarship). It is expected that the trustees of the late 

 i\Ir. F. C. Cooper will, in accordance with his will, apply 

 some part of his estate towards the endowment of classes 

 in the College, but it is not at present known how much. 

 Thus the expense of maintenance will, at least in the out- 

 set, mainly fall on the town itself. The experiment will 

 doubtless be watched with interest. 



The general internal arrangement of the new building 

 may be here briefly noticed. The library-rooms are in 

 the eastern wing, to the left of the principal front, and 

 the natural history museum is housed in the other wing. 

 The former include two reading-rooms on the ground and 

 first floors. Behind the principal entrance are placed the 

 three theatres for chemical, physical, and general lectures, 

 the two former having laboratories, work-rooms, and 

 professors' rooms attached. The largest theatre accom- 

 modates 600 persons, the chemical 220, and the physical 

 100. These rooms are well provided with modern appli- 

 ances. In addition may be noted a balance-room, and 

 an optical gallery 125 feet long for experiments in light. 



It is stated in the report of the Organisation Committee 

 that all persons will be admitted students who give evi- 

 dence of their desire to improve their education and 

 make advances in the acquisition of knowledge. More 

 particularly the object of the founders of the institution 

 seems to have been of a threefold character. First of 

 all the College will absorb, as already indicated, the 

 University Extension Lectures and Classes and the 

 Government Science Classes, developing and systema- 

 tising the courses of instruction in which these have been 

 engaged. Next a technological school will be provided, 

 and classes formed for teaching, in a more direct manner, 

 the theoretical parts of certain trades. Once more, the 

 preparation of students for residence at the older univer- 

 sities seems to have been contemplated ; but this feature 

 will probably, at least for some time, have Uttle pro- 

 minence. 



For the purpose of systematic education the course of 

 instruction has been arranged under four heads: (i) 

 ancient and modern languages, literature, history, poli- 

 tical philosophy and economy, logic, and philosophy ; 

 (2) mathematics, theoretical and applied mechanics, and 

 physics; (3) inorganic and organic chemistry, pure and 

 applied ; (4) biological science, botany, zoology, and 

 physiology ; also geology and allied subjects. In the 

 Government Science Classes (distinct from the College 

 curriculum) instruction will be given in several of the 

 subjects in which aid is given by the department at South 

 Kensington. The Technological School will deal with 

 the following among other subjects : — Cloth, cotton, silk, 

 lace, and hosiery manufactures, weaving, metallurgy, gas 

 manufacture, telegraphy, pottery and porcelain, bleaching, 

 dyeing, and printing, tanning, mechanical engineering, oils, 

 colours, and varnishes. It is to be distinctly understood, 

 however, "that these classes are not so much for teaching 

 trades as for teaching those subjects which underlie work 

 and bear upon trade, and help to develop the intellect of 

 the workmen." 



The scheme of education provided will thus be seen to 

 be of a comprehensive nature. All who are solicitous 

 that England should take a good place among the nations 

 in industrial competition will b^ glad to sec a new techni- 

 cal school added to the few we already possess. The 

 number of these schools will have to be greatly multiplied 

 before we have anything like the advantages of Germany 

 in this respect. In this connection we may direct atten- 

 tion to an interesting little volume recently written by Mr. 

 Felkin (a native of Nottingham, by the way) who has 



carried on the manufacture of hosiery in Chemnitz, 

 Saxony, since 1S61, and describes what is being there 

 done in the way of technical instruction, and its results. 

 (Mr. Samuelson criticises the system in the Fortnightly 

 this month.) The aspects of such technical education 

 are various, and not the least in importance is that the 

 workman, who is thereby enabled to feel an intelligent 

 interest in his work, to comprehend the scientific principles 

 on which it is based and the conditions of excelling in it, 

 and to seek to do it as well as he possibly can, becomes 

 conscious of mental growth and expansion. He even 

 thus acquires new vistas (to use Prince Leopold's expres- 

 sion), and finds the drudgery of routine materially light- 

 ened. For those again who seek culture in different 

 directions (scientific or literary) from that bearing on 

 their daily work, a wide range of subjects is presented 

 for choice. The cultivators of science for its own sake 

 will doubtless not be wanting, and some excellent solid 

 work, we trust, will be done. The youth seeking to be 

 trained for a scientific career, and the working lad 

 aidently pursuing some favourite study in his scanty hours 

 of leisure, may alike resort to the College for stimulus 

 and direction. 



In the strong reaction which has become evident in 

 recent years from that neglect of science which was so 

 long prevalent among us, it has appeared to some that 

 there is now an objectionable tendency to onesidedness 

 in education. However this may be, the founders of the 

 new College have determined, and we think wisely, that 

 it should be more than merely a college of science and 

 technical institute, and the purely literary elements of 

 culture are included. 



The requirements of the industrial population will be 

 respected by the holding of classes in the evening, and 

 the adoption of lighter fees than those for the day- 

 students. The teaching will be conducted by resident 

 professors, non-resident lecturers, and local teachers ; and 

 the student, after passing through th; regular course of 

 instruction and training, will, on passing an examination, 

 receive a certificate. 



The four professors required for the curriculum have 

 been appointed as follows : — Professor of Language and 

 Literature, Rev. J. E. Symes, M.A. ; Professor of Mathe- 

 matics and Mechanics, Dr. J. A. Fleming, B.A. ; Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry, Dr. F. Clowes, F.C.S. ; Professor of 

 the Biological Sciences, Rev. J. F. Blake, M.A. One of 

 the professors will act as Principal or Dean, with some 

 extra emolument. 



The University College of Nottingham, in fine, be- 

 gins its career with good promise of usefulness, and it 

 is to be hoped that wealthy and liberal friends of educa- 

 tion will respond in a practical way to the appeal of the 

 College Committee, who " desire it to be known that they 

 are prepared to receive endowments in aid of the funds of 

 the College." We hope soon to hear that the burden ol 

 maintenance for the townspeople has been thus happily 

 diminished. 



ANTHROPOLOGY^ 



TO those readers whose knowledge of ethnology or 

 anthropology has been derived from a perusal of 

 Prichard's " Natural History of Man," or the compilations 

 of Wood, Brow-n, Peschel, or Brace, the present work will 

 present a surprising amount of freshness and originality. 

 They will in fact find themselves introduced to a new and 

 \ery captivating science. Instead of the disconnected, 

 and often confusing accounts of the numerous races, 

 families, and tribes into which mankind have been 

 divided, with separate details of the appearance, manners, 

 customs, houses, .implements, weapons, and ornaments of 

 each, the reader of the present work will be shown how 



' '"Anthropology: an Introduction to the Study of Man and CI'. ;!isa*ion, 

 by Edward B. Tylur, D.C.L., F.R.S. With Illustrations. (London: iMac- 

 millan and Co., i88i.) 



