Dec. 14, 1832] 
NATURE 
163 
been made in the transfer of the zoological collections. The 
osteological specimens, hitherto packed out of sight in an 
obscure vault in the basement of the old Museum, have been 
safely removed to the new building, and are now exhibited in a 
large and well lighted gallery. The collection of shells, which 
occupied the floor space of the long eastern gallery in Blooms- 
bury, is now suitably exhibited at South Kensington. Some of 
the corals have been removed, in order to clear the way for the 
removal of other specimens; and many of the stuffed quad- 
rupeds and mammalian skins which had been stowed away in 
the old Museum b sement are now in the new repository. 
The removal of the general collection of mammalia, of the 
birds, of the entomological specimens, and those of British 
zoology, will not be undertaken until after the coming winter. 
The fittings for the galleries prepared for them are not fully 
completed. The detached building designed for the specimens 
preserved in spirit cannot be made ready for their reception 
before the opening of next spring. It is, however, expected that 
the whole of the zoological collections will have been transferred 
to the new Museum by the end of June, 1883. 
The subject of Technical Education has continued to be pro- 
minently under the notice of the country during the past year. 
‘The appointment of a Royal Commission on Technical Instruction, 
to which I have previously referred, has done much towards 
awakening the interest of manufacturers, and exciting curiosity 
in regard to the efforis that are being made abroad to improve 
the education of artizans. The Commissioners issued in March 
last their first Report, which dealt exclusively with primary 
education and apprenticeship schools. The Commissioners 
expressed an opinion adverse to the establishment of apprentice- 
ship schools in this country ; and in this view they are supported 
by nearly all our large manufacturers, and by the action of the 
City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement cf 
Technical Education, At the request of the Executive Com- 
mittee, I myself gave evidence before the Commission, explaining 
generally the objects of the City Guilds and Institute and 
describing the progress already made towards their attainment. 
As a member of the Executive Committee of this Institute, I 
have watched its progress with interest, and have observed with 
satisfaction that its scheme of Technical Instruction is being 
gradually matured. The general Examinations in Technology 
undertaken by this Institute, were held in May last at 147 centres 
in 37 subjects. Of the 1,972 candidates who presented them- 
selves for examination, 235 passed in Honours, and 987 in the 
Ordinary Grade. In 1881, 895 candidates passed, showing an 
increase of 307. The Examinations were held this year for the 
first time under the revised Regulations, which appear to have 
worked very satisfactorily. Two points deserve notice with 
respect to these Examinations. In the first place, the Institute 
experiences very great difficulty in obtaining properly qualified 
teachers. The applicants are either practical men working in the 
factory, or at their trade with no scientific knowledge whatever, 
or men possessing a very elementary science knowledge, and 
little or no practical acquaintance with the details of the industry, 
the technology of which they profess to understand. In order 
to indicate the kind of qualifications required in an ordinary 
technical teacher, the Institute has inserted in its programme a 
paragraph to the effect that persons who are engaged in teaching 
science under the Science and Art Department, a:.d who at the 
same time have acquired a practical knowledge of their subject in 
the factory or workshop, may be registered as teachers of the 
Institute. The second point calling for consideration is the fact 
referred to in the Report of the Directors,—that of the 1,220 
candidates who, this year, passed the examinations, most of 
whom are workmen or foremen in various branches of industry, 
not more than 450 are qualified to receive the full Technological 
Certificate, by having previously passed the examinations of the 
Science and Art Department in certain science subjects. This 
fact clearly indicates that widely beneficial as has been the 
action of this Department of State, there is still a large field for 
its influence among the population who are engaged in manu- 
facturing processes, and desire to receive Technical Instruction. 
One of the most satisfactory results of the Examinations of 
the City and Guilds of London Institute is the impulse they have 
given to the establishment, in different parts of the country, of 
properly equipped technical schools. At Manchester, Preston, 
Dewsbury, Hawick, Sheffield, Leicester, and other places, efforts 
have been made during this year towards organising schools for 
the technical instruction of artizans and others in the application 
of science and art to specific industr.es. At Nottingham, a 
grant of 500/. has been made by the Institute, to be followed by 
an annual contribution for a limited period of 300/., towards the 
establishment of technical classes in connection with the 
University College ; and at Manchester a subscription of 200/. a 
year has been promised to assist the funds now being raised for 
the conversion of the Mechanics’ Institution into a Technical 
Sch ol. The attention of the Couucil has been greatly occupied 
of late with arrangements for the opening of the Finsbury 
College. Classes in Electrical Engineering and in Technical 
Chemistry, have been carried on for nearly three years in 
temporary rooms belonging to the Cowper Street Schools. The 
attendance at these classes has been eminently satisfactory, much 
more so than could have been anticipated. During the past 
session 960 class tickets were sold at fees varying from 5s. to 12s. 
The staff of the College has recently been doubled by the 
appointment cf a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and a 
Head Master to the new Department of Applied Art, the 
establishment of which, as I stated last year, was then under 
the consideration of the Committee. In January next, it is 
anticipated that the new building in Tabernacle Row, which is 
already nearly completed, will be opened for the reception of 
students. The programme of instruction, prepared by the 
Director and the Professors of the College. has been for some 
ume under the consideration of the Committee, and it is hoped 
that in the instruction given in this College will be found the 
realization of a very important part of the Institute’s Scheme of 
Technical Education. 
Grants to the Technical Science Clas es at University College 
and King’s College, London, to the Horological Institute, to the 
School of Art Wood Carving, and other institutions, have been 
continued during the past year. 
The Technical Art School in Kennington Park Road, estab- 
lished and maintained by the Institute, has been satisfactorily 
attended ; and a proposition is to be brought before the Com- 
mittee for supplementing the teaching of this school by technical 
science classes, with a view of establishing in the south of 
London a Technical College for Artizans, simiiar to the one 
about to be opened in Finsbury. 
The building of the Central Institution or Technical High 
School in Exhibition Road, the foundation stone of which was 
laid by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, President of the Institnte, 
in July, 1882, is rapidly advancing and promises to be completed 
within a year. It is not expected, however, that this school will 
be ready for the reception of the students before the commence- 
ment of the session 1884-5. Meanwhile, the Council and 
Cominittee are fully occupied with the development of other 
parts of their scheme. 
In forwarding the Report of the Meteorological Council to 
the Treasury in December last, the President and Council took 
occasion to remind their Lordships that the arrangement for the 
organisation of the Meteorological Office generally, in May, 1877, 
would terminate with the then financial year, The Treasury, in 
revly, asked the advice of the Royal Society. After consultation 
with the Meteorological Council on various points connected 
with the subject, the President and Council reported fully to 
the Treasury, and concluded with the following general recom- 
mendation: ‘* The President and Council beg leave to express a 
hope that the constitution of the Meteorological Council may 
remain unchanged, and that the same gentlemen who have 
hitherto performed its duties and administered is funds with 
such intelligence and judgment may be disposed to continue 
their labours.” To this recommendation the Treasury cordially 
assented ; deciding at the same time that no period should be 
fixed to the Meteorological Council for their tenure of office, 
but that it might be terminated by either party at any time on 
twelve months’ notice. 
The Meteorological Office has completed during the past year 
a series of charts of sea-surface temperature, for the three great 
oceans of the globe, and for the representative months of 
February, May, August and November. The work, which is 
now in the course of publication, will consist of twelve large 
charts, for the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans respectively; 
and of four ona reduced scale, showing, for the four months, 
the isothermal lines of sea-surface temperature over the entire 
globe. In the preparation of these charts, all the observations 
existing in the Log Books of the Meteorological Office, and in 
the Remark Books of the ships of Her Majesty’s Navy, have 
been employed, as well as the information which has been 
already rendered accessible in scientific memoirs, and in the 
narratives of the great scientific voyages. The isotherms agree 
