114 



NATURE 



\PCC. 2, 1880 



poainj that the works were in the market. But many of them 

 are out of print and have become scarce ; and a large grant of 

 public money would perhaps raise the market price almost in 

 propDrtion to its magnitude. This being so, it has been thought 

 best, on the whole, by the Government to make an annual grant 

 to be expended from time to time as favourable opportunities 

 for purchase may offer. If it should prove possible, and on 

 other grounds desirable, to allow the Banks' Library to follow 

 the collections with which it has always been practically con- 

 nected, the wants of the Natural History Departments would 

 (so far as books up to the date of its bequeathment are con- 

 cerned) be in a great measure supplied. 



Another of tlie duties which falls officially on your President 

 is to take part in the organisation of technical education as pro- 

 moted by the City and Guilds of London Institute, which is now 

 incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1862-S0, as a registered 

 association, and of which the Presidents of the Royal Society, 

 the Chemical Society, the Institute of Civil Engineers, and tlie 

 Chairman of the Council of the Society of Arts, are members. 

 In the Memorandum and Articles'of Association of the Institute, 

 its objects are fully set forth. They may be summarised under 

 the following heads : — 



1. The establishment of a central technical institution for 

 instruction in the application of science and art to productive 

 industry. 



2. The establishment of trade and technical schools in London 

 and in the country. 



3. The development of technical education by means of 

 examinations held at the Central Institution, or at other places. 



4. To a sist by means of grants existing institutions in which 

 technical education is being promoted. 



5. To accept gifts, bequests, and endowments for the purposes 

 of the Institute. 



The Institute is supported by subscriptions from sixteen of the 

 City Companies, of which the largest contributors are the 

 Tvlercers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, and Clothworkers. 



The Institute has been in active operation not much more than 

 a year, and during the last six months the work of the Institute 

 has developed considerably in each of its several departments. 

 These may be considered under the following heads : — 



1. Technical Instruction. 



2. Examinations in Technology. 



3. Asssistance to other Institutions. 



I. Since November last courses of lectures and laboratory 

 instruction have been given in the temporary class-rooms of the 

 Institute, at the Cowper Street Schools, under the direction of 

 Prof. Armstrong, F.R. S., and of Prof. Ayrton. The subjects of 

 instruction have included Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, with 

 special reference to their industrial applications ; Fuel, Electro- 

 depositions of Metals, and Photographic Chemistry ; General 

 Physics, Steam, Electrical Eni^ineering, Electrical Instrument 

 Making, Electric Lighting, Weighing Appliances, and Motor 

 Machinery. 



During the term ending July last the number of tickets issued 

 to students, most of whom belonged to the artisan class, exceeded 

 three hundred. A considerable accession of students is expected 

 as soon as the building in Tabernacle Row, the plans of which 

 are already settled, shall be erected. This building, which is 

 estimated to cost 1 20,000/., will provide accommodation for 

 schools of Technical Physics, Technical Chemistry and Applied 

 Mechanics. Many of the day students at these classes are pupils 

 of the Cowper Street Schools, and i is expected that, by adapting 

 the course of technical instruction to be given in the College to 

 the wants of these boys, a very complete technical school for the 

 children of artisans will have been established. 



The evening lectures and laboratory instruction, which are 

 more advanced and more special, are attended very largely by 

 external students, for whom the present temporary accmmoodation 

 is already too limited. 



At Kensington, schools have been established in which 

 practical instruction is given tin various art subjects, such as 

 Painting and Drawing, Modelling, Designing, and Wood 

 Engraving. These schools are attended by both sexes, and are 

 under the immediate direction of Mr. Sparkes. The numbers in 

 attendance last term were as follows : — 



Wood Engraving ... 8 Students, 3 Men, 5 Women. 



Modelling 28 ,, 26 ,, 2 ,, 



Drawing and Painting 



from Life .... 42 ,, J9 ,, 23 ,, 



Designing 33 ,, 3 „ 30 „ 



The Central Institution for instruction in the application of the 

 higher branches of science to industrial pursuits is about to be 

 erected on a plot of ground in Exhibition Road, granted by the 

 Commissioners of 1851. The construction of this building, 

 which, when completed, will cost 50,000/., has been entrusted 

 to Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, who is now engaged in the preparation 

 of plans. 



2. In the year 1879, the examinations in Technology, which 

 had been initiated by the Society of Arts, were transferred to 

 this Institute. Various charges where introdnced into the regu- 

 Iation=. New subjects were added, and in order to stimulate 

 the teaching of Technolog)' throughout the country, the principle 

 of payment to teachers on the results of the examinations was 

 adopted. The encouragement thus afforded to teachers gave a 

 great impetus to the formation of classes throughout the country 

 in technological subjects. I.a't year the number of candidates for 

 examination was 202,while"at the recent examination, held in May, 

 S16 candidates presented themselves, of whom 515 satisfied the 

 Examiners. During the last few months the number of classes 

 throughout the counti-y, in which technical instruction is being 

 given, has considerably increased, and, judging from the returns 

 already received, there is reason to believe that the number of 

 candidates, who will present themselves for examination next 

 May will be much greater than in either of the preceding years. 

 The new programme, which is just issued, contains a syllabus of 

 each subject of examination, and every effort has been made, 

 short of testing the candidates' practical skill, to make the 

 examinations as efficient as possible. To obtain the Institute's 

 full certificate, each candidate is required to give evidence of 

 having obtained some preliminary scientific knowledge. 



3. In order to take advantage of efforts that are already 

 being made to advance technical education, the. Institute has 

 given sums of money for specific objects to several institutions in 

 which technical instruction is provided. The schools, colleges, 

 and other bodies which have received grants from this Institute, 

 are University College and King's College, London, the School 

 of Art, Wood Carving, and Mining Association of Devon and 

 Cornwall, the Nottingham Trade and Science Schools, the 

 .\rtisans' Institute, the Birkbeck Institute, the Lancashire and 

 Cheshire Union, and the Horological Institute. 



The Artisans' Institute gives practical instniction in several of 

 the humbler crafts in which artisans are engaged, such as car- 

 pentry, zinc work, and plumbers' work ; and corresponds, 

 therefore, to some slight extent with the apprenticeship schools 

 of the Continent, from which, however, it differs in many im- 

 portant particulars. A similar experiment is being tried at the 

 Horological Institute, where, at the expense of the Guilds, 

 classes have been organised, in which apprentices receive prac- 

 tical instniction in the various branches of the watch-making 

 trade. 



It is found that the demand for teclmical instruction in London 

 and throughout the provinces is very great, and the efforts that 

 have been so far made by the City and Guilds of London Institute 

 have been received with considerable satisfaction by artisans and 

 others engaged in industrial pursuits, and promise, when further 

 extended, to be of the utmost service in the development of techni- 

 cal education in this country. Turning now more particularly 

 to the progress and the applications of science, I venture 

 to make mention of a few topics which have come under my 

 own observation. 



( To be coniimicd. ) 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Lunar Eclipses, 1880-84. — The total eclipse of the moon is 

 only partly visible in this country, the middle occurring at 3h. 

 39m. Greenwich time, and the moon not rising until seven 

 minutes later ; the end of the total phase takes place at 4h. 

 24m., and the last contact with the earth's shadow at Sh. 33m. 

 In Australia the whole eclipse may be witnessed to advantage. 

 On December 5, iSSi, there will occur an almo.-t total eclipse 

 (magnitude O'gy), again only partly visible here ; the first contact 

 with the shadow at 3h. 28m., and the moon rising at 3h. 50m. : 

 greatest phase at 511. 8in. In 1882 there will be no lunar 

 eclipse. On October 16, 1S83, a partial eclipse is barely visible 

 here ; first contact w.th the shadow at 5h. 5gm. a.m., the moon 

 setting at 6h. 25m. The next favourably-circumstanced lunar 

 eclipse, as regards observation in this country, will take place on 

 the evening of October 4, 1S84 ; first contict with shadow at 8b. 

 iSm., beginning of total phase at gh, l6m., middle of the eclipse 



