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NA TURE 



[April -J, 1887 



minently charge of the initiation and diffusion of technical 

 education in this country, have thus far most liberally 

 furnished the means required, and have thus earned the 

 gratitude of the country ; but as the development of the 

 scheme progresses an even and commensurate flow of 

 further contributions is required, which, being voted in 

 many cases but annually, at once demonstrates the some- 

 what precarious conditions on which this important 

 enterprise is dependent. 



It is to be hoped that a more general recognition of the 

 absolute need of an education of a higher scientific 

 character both for masters and men will before long have 

 its proper effe:t ; and that the ways and mjans will be 

 forthcoming to carry out a work which promises so well, 

 and that the Central Institution may then stand a fair 

 comparison with numerous institutions of a similar kind 

 in other countries which have already helped in so marked 

 a degree to advance the industries of those countries. 



The mistaken notion is still too prevalent that technical 

 education has to confine itself to the theoretical con- 

 siderations of known technical processes, and that a 

 more extended acquisition of scientific knowledge is not 

 required. It is obvious that a pupil educated on these 

 lines may find by the time he is able to enter on his 

 practical career that the processes with which he has 

 been made acquainted have in the meanwhile become 

 obsolete, and unless his education has been sufficiently 

 comprehensive to enable him to strike out new lines for 

 himself he will be ill fitted to compete with those who 

 have been educated on a wider basis. 



Essential as it is to impart to the future manager 

 scientific knowledge, it is above all necessary to train 

 him by practical work and research in the laboratory how 

 to investigate a subject which may present itself in his 

 daily occupation, whether it be some unexpected develop- 

 ment in a new direction, or whether it be some new 

 difficulty which confronts him in carrying out the pro- 

 cesses under his direction. 



It is self-evident that such knowledge and such practical 

 experience in carrying out investigations is not to be 

 attained by merely attending one or two courses in the 

 lecture-room or in the laboratory. Those who mean to 

 effectually qualify themselves for such functions can only 

 accomplish this object by devoting years of patient and 

 intelligent work under the guidance of the professor in 

 properly appointed laboratories. 



THE INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS 

 HTHE spring meetings of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects this year were, to a considerable extent, 

 adversely affected by the recent death of Mr. William 

 Denny, of Dumbarton, the eminent shipbuilder, who was 

 for many years one of the most active members of the 

 Council, and who was foremost amongst the mercantile 

 shipbuilders of this country in the application of scientific 

 methods to naval architecture. Mr. Denny, as is well 

 known, set up at Dumbarton a large experimental tank 

 similar to that contrived by the Admiralty at Torquay 

 for the late Mr. W. Froude, F.R.S., and in which most 

 of his famous experiments on the resistances of the hulls 

 of ships were carried out. It is not often that manufac- 

 turers can be induced to spare time and money for the 

 purposes of scientific investigation, even when such in- 

 vestigation is directly conducive to the success of their 

 business. But Mr. Denny was an exceptional man. He 

 firmly believed in the mercantile value of exact scientific 

 knowledge, and he possessed the courage and the ability 

 to act up to his beliefs. It is satisfactory to know that 

 he considered himself fully repaid for the risks he ran, in 

 the results which he attained. 



The opening address of the President dealt, as might 

 have been expected in this Jubilee year, with the remark- 



able progress in steam navigation achieved during the 

 fifty years of Her Majesty's reign ; a progress which 

 must certainly be acknowledged to be extraordinary 

 when we remember that, at the commencement of the 

 reign, the late Dr. Lardner publicly offered to eat the 

 first steamship which should cross the Atlantic, whereas 

 nowadays we have vessels which make the passage in a 

 few hours over six days, and a fuel consumption at sea of 

 li pounds of coal per indicated horse-power per hour is 

 not uncommon. The speaker alluded to the various 

 improvements, such as the use of steel in the construction 

 of both hulls, engines, and boilers, the adoption of high- 

 pressure steam and triple compounding, &c., which 

 have principally contributed to the remarkable results 

 attained. 



The first paper read was by the late Director of Naval 

 Construction at the Admiralty, Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, 

 and dealt with the important subject of the connexion 

 between the Royal Navy and the merchant service. This 

 paper was rather political than technical in its character. 

 The author's main object was to support the Admiralty in 

 their recently announced policy of so organising the 

 mercantile marine as to increase the power of national 

 defence. He pointed out that a fast and properly con- 

 structed mail steamer may be as efficient a factor in naval 

 war as an ordinary cruiser costing a quarter of a million 

 sterling ; and that there are even certain services which 

 the mail-steamer, by reason of her greater size and 

 travelling power, can perform better than the cruiser. On 

 the other hand, the great mass of our mercantile marine 

 is now relatively weaker than it has ever been before 

 against the attacks of an enemy ; for in the wars of the 

 last century such ships as the armed East Indiamen 

 possessed a well-recognised fighting value, but nowadays 

 warships are so specialised that the majority of merchant 

 vessels possess no powers of resistance whatever. 

 Sir Nathaniel Barnaby also called attention to the fact 

 that the State makes provision annually for a reserve of 

 seamen, who are drilled periodically and paid by it, and 

 who are liable to be called out to serve in case of war ; 

 and he then proceeded to show how, by good organisation, 

 the superior merchant-ships, if manned mainly by naval 

 reserve men, could in case of war be immediately avail- 

 able for service in whatever part of the world they might 

 chance to find themselves. At the present moment the 

 Royal and mercantile navies are under the control of 

 two different Departments of State, and by some strange 

 perversity the First Lord of the Admiralty is almost the 

 only great political officer of State whose name is not to 

 be found on the long list of members of the Board of 

 Trade. As a natural consequence there is no com- 

 munity of action between the two Departments, and 

 no organisation at present exists by which the 

 services of the better class of fast merchant steamers 

 could be rendered instantly available in case of war. 

 The author's cure for this condition of affairs is the 

 creation of a Secretaryship of State for the Navy, so that 

 the interests of the merchant shipping and the Royal 

 Navy might be united, and a truly national marine 

 formed. There is no doubt but that Sir Nathaniel 

 Barnaby in reading this paper has called attention to a 

 very serious set of evils, which may all be remedied by a 

 little organisation and by co-operation between two of 

 the Departments of State. Even if the Board of Trade 

 did not see its way to help in the work, what is to pre- 

 vent the Post Office authorities from backing up the 

 Admiralty by declaring that they would in future give the 

 preference for mail-carrying purposes to steamers which 

 fulfilled the Admiralty requirements of speed, subdivision, 

 and structural strength, and what is to prevent the Ad- 

 miralty from assisting the Post Office to obtain a cheap 

 and efficient mail service by granting moderate retaining 

 fees or subsidies to such steamers, provided they were 

 always manned with a due proportion of naval reserve 



