330 
NATURE 
[Aug. 24,1871 


on those adopted at King’s College, London. A large 
workshop fitted up with carpenters’ benches, vices, and 
lathes has been opened this term, and is exceedingly 
popular. There is also a physiological laboratory, in 
which a few of the elder boys receive instruction in 
Practical Zoology and Physiology. 
Marks are given for work done in all the above-men- 
tioned classes, except in the workshop, These marks 
affect a boy’s position in his form from week to week, 
and thus afford a strong incentive to careful work. 
Five masters are at present engag :d in teaching science. 

dition annually in July to some place of interest in the 
neighbourhood. 
A conversazione was given last month to celebrate the 
opening of the Museum and Botanic Garden. The former 
shares with the library the new room recently added to 
the school buildings by the head-master. Space being, of 
course, limited, it has been decided to make the collections 
essentially British ; the local series to be as faras possible 
complete, and the general collections typical. Through 
the liberality of friends, considerable progress has been 
made already. Thus the museum already contains a fine 
series of British plants, another fine series of typical 

The taste for natural history is developed by means of the 
Natural History Society, the School Museum, and the 
Botanic Garden. The society consists of about seventy 
members. Its meetings are held once a fortnight, they 
are fully attended, and there is never any lack of papers 
to be read. The society is subdivided into sections, which 
hold special meetings and make excursions for the study 
of different branches of science. The first number of the 
Transactions has just been published. The sections are 
engaged in preparing lists of the fauna, flora, and mine- 
| ralogy of the district. The whole society makes an expe- 

British fossils, nearly 1,000 specimens of minerals, the 
same number of British Lepidoptera, many British birds 
and their eggs, and a good typical collection of shells, 
The completion of the local series is left in the hands of 
the different sections. 
The Botanic Garden is large, and is laid out in long 
narrow beds with grass walks between. Over 1,000 hardy 
herbaceous plants are here arranged according to the 
natural system ; and new additions are being constantly 
made, There are also specimens of all the ornamental 
trees and shrubs commonly cultivated in England ; anda 
rockery has been built for Alpine plants. 
