July 21, 1910] 



NATURE 



91 



or meial, or both. The course is, as a rule, intended to 

 last three vears for boys from twelve to fifteen years of age. 



As so many of the technical institutes throughout the 

 country arc oiily used at present in the evenings, and have 

 their rooms and equipment idle in the daytime, and the 

 staffs of the technical schools are particularly suitable for 

 the type of instruction required, these schools, which have 

 proved exceedingly successful where they have so far been 

 established, may be considerably increased in number in the 

 near future. 



Attention was directed to the very strong expressions of 

 approval by employers, the Chamber of Commerce, and 

 trades unions in the case of the trade preparatory school, 

 which is now in its third session at Halifax ; and as the 

 beys from these schools pass into employment as apprentices 

 or as improvers, the value of this kind of school is becoming 

 more and more appreciated. 



One speaker pointed out the great value of manual in- 

 struction to boys and girls rig-ht through their school 

 course, and remarked — his remark being applauded by the 

 meeting — that he hoped the board would do its best to 

 encourage this work in every kind of school. 



Another speaker said that there are a great many boys 

 to whom the literary subjects of the ordinary school course 

 do not appeal, and to whom the more technical subjects 

 introduced in the trade preparatory schools do appeal very 

 strongly. Thus it is educationally of real advantage to the 

 community that schools should be provided in which boys 

 with a turn for mechanical subjects, but no liking for 

 literary subjects, may have a chance to learn that they 

 have some ability, and may not leave school with the feeling 

 that they are inferior to their fellows because they are 

 unable to distinguish themselves at literary work. 



Other speakers referred to the very small grant it is 

 possible to obtain under the board's regulations for this type 

 of school, which is necessarily an expensive one to run 

 owing to the large amount of practical work in the time 

 table. It was felt that the grant should be at least as 

 great as that given by the board to an ordinary secondary 

 school. 



Quite distinct in aim from the Trade Preparatory School 

 is the Bay Trade School, only a few of which are at 

 present in existence. In London there are day trade 

 schools for girls which have proved most successful ; a 

 good account of these is included in the report referred to. 

 There are two special trade schools for bakery and con- 

 fectionery ; there are one or two part-time trade schools 

 for boys who are already employed in the trade, the boys 

 being allowed to attend two or three afternoons a week 

 by arrangement with the employers. The best example of 

 such a school is, perhaps, that for jewellers and silver- 

 smiths at Birmingham, which is already proving of real 

 value to the trade. 



Opinions were somewhat divided as to whether local 

 authorities could be e.xpected to establisti schools of this 

 kind, which take the burden of preparation of apprentices 

 off the employers, without substantial financial aid from 

 the employers themselves. It was pointed out that, although 

 none of these schools could decrease the unemployment, 

 they would give boys the chance of entering a useful 

 occupation, and would thereby tend to reduce the number 

 of those who take up so-called " blind-alley occupations." 



T//E POSITION OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION 

 IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



A Bl.L'E-BOOK has just been published (Cd. 5246, price 

 ■'"^ 2S. od.) containing the reports from the universities 

 and university colleges which participated, in the year 

 1908-9, in the annual grant, now amounting to 100,000/., 

 made by Parliament for " University Colleges in Great 

 Britain," and from the three colleges in Wales which 

 received a grant of 4000/. each. 



This is the sixteenth volume of the reports, and it is by 

 far the most useful on account of the analysis it contains 

 of the position of university education in Great Britain. 

 For several years we have' urged in these columns that the 

 Board of Education should bring together the statistical 

 and other information given in the separate reports of 

 universities and university colleges, so that a comparison 



NO. 2125, VOL. 84] 



could be made of the position and progress of the various 

 institutions, and of university education in Great Britain, 

 with that in other countries.' Merely to print the reports 

 without any attempt to sum up the particulars they contain, 

 as was done in all volumes previous to the present one, has 

 always seemed to us as unscientific as it would be to record 

 a long series of observations without endeavouring to arrive 

 at conclusions from them. This unpardonable omission 

 has now been remedied, and we have available, for the 

 first time, an instructive abstract of the financial resources 

 and students under instruction of institutions which partici- 

 pate in the Parliamentary grant for universities and uni- 

 versity colleges. We give below some extracts from the 

 introductory memorandum signed by Mr. W. Runciman, 

 President of the Board of Education, and abridgements of 

 the tables appended to it. 



In the last ten years no fewer than five new universities 

 have been founded in England, but the progress of institu- 

 tions of older date has been no less marked. In July, 

 1909, King Edward VII. laid the foundation stone of 

 important new laboratories for the Imperial College of 

 Science and Technology, a college for the highest studies in 

 pure and applied science, which was inaugurated by Royal 

 Charter in July, 1907, and was formed by the union under 

 a single governing body of the Royal College of Science, 

 the Roval School of Mines, and the City and Guilds' 

 Central'Technical College. In the following October the 

 new buildings of the University College of South Wales and 

 Monmouthshire were opened at Cardiff, and on that occa- 

 sion the present King, as Chancellor of the University of 

 Wales, wrote words which apply equally to all the uni- 

 versities of England and Wales when he said, " We must 

 look ahead and endeavour to be ready to meet all the 

 requirements of scientific and intellectual progress. The 

 imperative necessity for higher education and research is 

 becoming more and more recognised." 



This encouragement to further effort has been tangibly 

 supported by the Government. Acting upon the report of a 

 special committee of inquiry, under the chairmanship of Sir 

 Thomas Raleigh, K.C.S.I., the treasury, by a minute 

 dated December 18, 1909, made an increased annual grant 

 of i5,oooi. to the University of Wales and its constituent 

 colleges. Of this sum 1500/. has been specially allocated 

 to the Medical School of Cardiff, and another 1500/. a year 

 has been assigned to the university itself for the foundation 

 of research fellowships. 



The treasury has also made a caj)ital grant of 20,000/. 

 towards the cost of the new buildings for the University 

 College of North Wales, Bangor. 



State-aid to university teaching would, however, be of 

 doubtful advantage if it 'did not stimulate private effort and 

 induce benefactors to contribute in the present day as they 

 did in the olden times, to give of their wealth for the 

 support of that higher learning upon which now, more than 

 ever, " the prosperity, even the very safety and existence, of 

 our country depend." 



The Board is glad to find that there is no evidence of the 

 springs of private beneficence failing, but rather that the 

 growing national sense of the vital need of universities has 

 hnpressed many of those, whether individuals or corpora- 

 tions, who are' in the position to help. The following are 

 some of the more important gifts made during the last 

 twelve months : — >. . ■ 



Sir Alfred Jones, the well-known ship-owner, who died in 

 1909, and who during his life had founded the School of 

 Tropical Medicine in connection with the University of 

 Liverpool, left to his trustees the sum of more than 500,000/. 

 upon trust for such charitable purposes and objects in 

 England (or anv British possession on the west coast of 

 .Africa) as they may in their absolute discretion think fit. 

 For the guida'nce of his trustees, however, he made sug- 

 gestions as to the purposes to which the money might be 

 applied, and amongst them were— the advancement, benefit, 

 or support of education or science, and original research of 

 all kinds in the cause of disease on the west coast of Africa. 



Mr. Otto Beit, in December, iqog, gave 215.000/. for the 

 endowment of thirty medical re.search fellowships of 250/. 

 a year, each tenable for three years. The fund is to be 

 entirely devoted to the furthering' of medical research work, 

 which is to be conducted, with a few exceptions, in institu- 



