Dee. 30, 1869| 
NATURE. 
39 
——— 
or of the Confoco-ellipsoidal structure of the shells of the 
Foraminifera), which remained infructuous in the hands 
_of its distinguished author, has served to set in motion a 
train of thought and propagated an impulse which have 
_ led to a complete revolution in the whole aspect of modern 
analysis, and will continue to be felt until Mathematics 
are forgotten and British Associations meet no more. 
J. J. SYLVESTER 
TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
1) ACSI at all events is beginning to be alive 
to the present situation, and at a meeting on the 
18th inst., the following document, expressing the views 
of the Council of the Society of Arts, was read. 
1. The Council of the Society of Arts have received a com- 
munication from Owens College Extension Committee, Man- 
chester, asking their co-operation in the extension of technical 
education, or, more properly, Scientific Instruction; and it 
affords them much pleasure to do whatever lies in their power to 
advance this important national object. With this view, the 
Council have invited the members of the Society, and especially 
those resident in the locality, as well as the authorities of Owens 
College, to meet them in conference on the subject, to discuss 
the best means by which scientific instruction may be promoted, 
and to establish an organisation which will keep an influence at 
work to accomplish what is so urgently needed. 
2. The necessity and importance of improved scientific in- 
struction for the people of the United Kingdom, in order that 
they may be placed in a favourable position in the race of in- 
dustrial competition with other nations, has, for some time past, 
been forced upon the notice of the Society of Arts, whose char- 
tered objects are the Promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and 
Commerce. 
3. The great international displays of industry in 1851, 1855, 
~ 1862, and 1867, have shown unmistakeably that, if this. country 
is to maintain her position as a commercial and manufacturing 
power, the people (and in this term are comprehended not only 
artisans, but also persons of higher position in the social scale) 
must have at their command the means of education improved 
in its general character, and embracing, if not based upon, 
science to a far greater extent than has hitherto been the case. 
The official jury reports at all the exhibitions abound in declara- 
tions of this character, and the country can’no longer afford to 
ignore the fact, but must earnestly set to work to bring about a 
change. These reports, as well as those of the artisans who 
. were sent to the Paris Exhibition of 1867 by the Society, one 
and all point out the great educational facilities which are avail- 
able for all classes, and especially the artisan class, upon the 
Continent. 
4. The Council are of opinion that existing schools and col- 
leges, where science has hitherto been all but excluded, should 
adopt some means for its being taught ; and that where such 
teaching already exists, measures should be taken for extending 
the usefulness of the institutions, and rendering them more easy 
of access to the great body of the people; whilst in localities 
where no such facilities exist, means should be taken to secure 
their foundation. The localities must themselves stir in this 
reform, and their efforts should be aided by pecuniary assistance 
and countenance by the State. 
5. The nation must set itself earnestly to work to bring about 
the sought-for change in the education of the people. The evils 
have been so often pointed out, that it is unnecessary to enter 
into detail; our duty-is to supply the remedy. This the Council 
believe to be by the localities setting themselves heartily to 
work, and when they have shown themselves in earnest by rais- 
ing funds and organising establishments for the teaching of 
science, they should be entitled, as of right, to aid from the 
State. 
6. In order, however, that such establishments, colleges, or 
schools should be of value to the mass of the people, so that 
‘they can take advantage of the facilities which would then be 
offered to them, it is absolutely necessary that elementary educa- 
tion, commonly known as primary education, should be ex- 
tended far more widely than at present. To an ignorant popu- 
lation the establishment of colleges and schools for the teaching 
of science will be of little avail, and unless the blessings of an 
ordinary elementary education, 7.c., reading, writing, and arith- 
metic, at least, can be more diflused, so as. to place our people 
on a par with those of Switzerland, Prussia, Saxony, &c., the 
attempt to extend the teaching of science will be in vain. Again, 
not only must we have improved elementary education, but 
these elements must themselves be taught by improved methods 
and organisation, so that less time may be occupied in acquiring 
them, thus leaving free for the learning of elementary science 
some of those years which are now unnecessarily taken up in 
mastering the mere rudiments of knowledge. Abroad it is the 
custom of the State only to deal with this and many other 
matters of public concern, but such is not the case here. The 
Council do not recommend State interference as of choice, but of 
necessity. This work of education must be done, and will 
have to be done, wholly by Government, if not otherwise. Ex- 
perience proves that it can be done by a combination of volun- 
tary efforts with Government aid, as in the existing system of 
primary education, and in the instruction aided by the Science 
and Art Department. The Council think that the work is to be 
done in part nationally, in part voluntarily, but not upon a hap- 
hazard system. 
7. Adam Smith, the earliest, and, perhaps, the first English 
writer on political economy, as well as Mr. J. Stuart Mill, its 
present most able exponent, recommend scientific instruction as 
profitable to the nation. Her Majesty’s Government must not 
plead economy as an excuse, for the highest and wisest economy 
comes out of wise expenditure. 
8. The Council believe that this is the feeling of the country, 
which the Government will regard with respectful attention. 
Government must be urged to co-operate with Owens College 
and other bodies, either existing or to be established. — Parlia- 
mentary grants are now made to the old universities of England 
and Scotland, and to the Queen’s Colleges in Ireland, and there 
is no reason why the same principle should not be extended, 
and grants made to modern educational establishments in the 
great centres of industry. The Council are of opinion that a 
Government resulting from a wide representation of the whole 
people ought adequately to represent the highest intelligence 
and aspirations of that people for improvement, and not limit its 
responsibility and its labours to matters of police. There can 
be no more profitable investment of national capital drawn from 
taxes paid by the whole nation, than in promoting the best 
education among all classes of the people, and the widest exten- 
sion of sound knowledge, on which the Arts, Manufactures, and 
Commerce of a kingdom rest. 
At the meeting, the following resolution, proposed by 
Professor Jack, was carried unanimously :— 
‘* That the best interests of the country demand the establishment 
of a complete system of primary education, the extension of the 
system of science classes under a responsible department of the 
Government, and under adefinite plan, and especially the establish- 
ment of Science Colleges in the principal industrial centres of the 
United Kingdom: and such colleges ought to be established 
and maintained partly by local efforts, and partly by liberal 
assistance from the State; and existing institutions such as 
Owens College ought to be made available for the purpose.” 
For the present, we content ourselves with chronicling 
these facts, and calling upon other centres of industry, 
such as Birmingham, to help to bring the pressure of 
public opinion to bear upon the members of the Govern- 
ment, who, perhaps, more than anyone else, require to 
be taught the vital importance of technical education to 
the future national life. 
WHENCE COME METEORITES ? 
N examining a mass of meteoric iron found in the 
Cordillera of Deesa (Chili), M. Stanislas Meunier, of 
the Museum of Natural History in Paris, has discovered - 
evidences of an unexpected relationship between this iron 
and two meteorites fallen at a great distance from Chili; 
viz. a mass of iron found at Caille (Alpes Maritimes), 
and a stone which fell at Sétif (Algeria) June 9, 1867. 
The meteorite of Deesa is a mixture of these two rocks: 
it is composed of iron Which is identical with that of 
Caille, injected in a state of fusion into a stone which is 
identical with that of Sétif. The iron of Deesa is thus 
evidently an eruptive rock, and it is the first hitherto 
