November 17, 1S9SJ 



NA TURE 



65 



flowers which were easily visited by thousands of insects of al' 



: kinds. 



; There is quite a little group of shrubs which occur on the 



! banks of rivers (and often in beds of streamlets) that overflow. 

 These shrubs are submerged often and are not hurt. These 



; fltivialilc shrubs have a certain facies, very difficult to describe. 

 There must be thirty or forty species of them in the Yunnan 

 river valleys. These shrubs do not occur elsewhere than on 

 banks or in the beds of streams. The last one I have found is 

 a very fine species of Ficus. This class of shrub] would be la 

 nice enough problem for some one to work out. 



I hope you will try and get a young Cambridge or Oxford 

 botanist to come to this part of the world, do some naturalist 



I work, and collect seeds and live plants for cultivation. China 

 is a very easy country to travel in, and expenses of travelling 

 are not heavy. The mountainous regions of Yunnan and 

 Szechwan are very healthy besides. 



1 TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS IN ENGLAND. 

 t'T'HE current number of the Kecordoi Technical and Secondary 

 r ■'■ Education contains some encouraging statistics with re- 

 fgard to the establishment, e.xtension, and adaptation of per- 

 Lmanent technical schools and institutions in England since the 

 .passing of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889. The primary 

 object of the inquiry (the results of which are now published) 

 ' was to ascertain the amount of money .sunk in buildings for 

 itechnical education by local authorities, but some valuable in- 

 1 formation regarding certain details of organisation was obtained 

 ,'at the same time, and has been incorporated in the article. The 

 'statistics do not take into consideration either higher grade 

 schools or schools governed by schemes under the Endowed 

 ' Schools Acts and other secondary schools ; but they refer to all 

 jthe various types of permanent technical institutions, and, con- 

 . sequently, there are included domestic economy schools, agri- 

 cultural and horticultural schools and colleges, farm schools, and 

 I dairy schools. It was intended to take in university colleges 

 so far as they included technical or agricultural departments, 

 ' but it is stated that as these institutions are largely non-local in 

 character, supplying certain educational requirements in large 

 j areas by reason of the financial assistance of local authorities, 

 I they have been e.\cluded. The following summary, given by 

 the Record, shows the developments which have taken place, 

 j but, as has been mentioned, it only partly represents the 

 progress made since 1889, as it does not take into consideration 

 ' secondary schools serving the purpose of technical institutes. 

 I The figures which appear under the head of "counties" 

 refer to tho.se institutions which have been directly established, 

 and are being exclusively maintained, by County Councils, 

 (i) Number ok Municii'.^l Schools Existing or in 

 COURSE OF Establishment: — 



Schools. 

 (rt) In 47 county boroughs ... ... ... ... 71 



{.b) In i30non-county boroughs and urban districts 132 

 (1) In 30 counties ... ... ... 36 



Total number of municipal schools in England 239 

 This number does not include — (i) those voluntary technical 

 schools which will probably become municipal institutions in 

 the near future, viz. the schools in three county boroughs and 

 three non-county boroughs and urban districts ; (2) the 

 municipal classes, held in rented premises, in 29 non-county 

 boroughs and urban districts. 



(2) Increase in Annual Local Contributions froiM 

 THE Rates :— 



Amount voted in 



1895-6 



('0 In 15 county boroughs 7,488 

 {h) In 70 non- CO u n t y 

 boroughs and urban 

 districts 6,791 



17.429 



15.960 



9,941 



9,169 



In 85 localities .^14,279 j^33-389 ^'9, no 

 These figures are exclusive of— (i) those relating to Sheffield, 

 where an additional sum of 1000/. will be raised by rate during 

 the current year ; (2) a total sum of 29,777/., which has been 

 voted from the general rate funds of urban authorities, and 

 applied entirely to capital purposes. 



NO. 1516, VOL. 59] 



(3) Technical Schools Established, Extended, 



Adai'ted, &c., since 1889: — 



Boroughs. 

 Number of schools established... 42 

 ,, ,, in course of 



establishment 12 

 ,, ,, extended or 



adapted ... 14 

 ,, ,, transferred, 



purchased, or 

 presented... 29 



(4) Provision of Sites for Tech 



County 

 Boroughs. 

 (a) %\\.t% pui-chasciih'j the 



local authority ... 20 

 {b) Sites ^(W« by the local 



authority ... ... 8 



((•) Sites presented by 

 private individuals 

 or Trustees ... 7 



(d) Sums involved^ in 23 county boroughs 

 in the acquisi- \ in 66 non-county boroughs 

 tion of sites J and urban districts ... 55.214 



Total for 89 localities .^177.742 



(5) Capital Expenditure upon Technical Schools 



since 1889 : — 



Total sum No. of No. of 



involved. localities, buildings 



(a) County boroughs ... 1,351,193 ... 50 ... 69 

 (i) Non-county boroughs 



and urban districts 826,376 ... 166 ... 172 



(1) Counties 112,853 ••■ 22 ... 26 



Totals 2,290,422 238 267 



To this sum an amount of 50,229/. should be added as 

 representing the value of sites for technical schools presented 

 by local authorities. Trustees, and private individuals in 18 

 localities, and included under section (4) of this summary ; an 

 aggregate amount of 2,340,651/. is thus shown as having been 

 absorbed by the establishment of technical institutions in 

 England from the year 1S89. It should, however, be pointed 

 out that the figures under (c) do not include the sums spent by 

 the County Councils of Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, Warwick- 

 shire, and the East, North, and West Ridings of Yorkshire 

 upon their municipal institutions. 



Of the funds dealt with above, it is only possible to give the 

 derivation of a .sum of 1,854,036/., which is apportioned among 

 the different authorities as follows : — 



/1,163,67s 577,505 112,853 1,854.036 



In order the more easily to grasp the significance of these 

 figures and to facilitate comparison, it may be well to present 

 the following table of percentages : — 



Loans 



Donations and subscrip- 

 tions and Trust funds ... 



Residue grant 



Science and Art Depart- 

 ment's grants and lump 

 sums from rate fund ... 



Percent 



County Boroughs. 

 Per cent. 



56i 



26S 

 >4i 



Nun-County 

 Boroughs, &c. 



63? 



