80 EEPORT— 1888. 



XXXI. ' The difficulty is f o make all pupils take a real interest in tke 

 work. In tke short time which is allowed to the subject it is apt to be- 

 come a mere collection of facts in the boy's mind. It is a curious fact 

 that a double labour is expected from the teacher of science, namely, a 

 general development and quickening of the reasoning faculties, and the 

 teaching of examination-chemistry at the same time ; and all this has to 

 be done in two hours a week ! Parents at any rate tacitly pay a veiy 

 high compliment to the resources of science when they expect this. As 

 a matter of fact, the unfortunate science master very naturally leaves the 

 great work of development to the master who monopolises the remaining 

 26 hours of the week's work.' 



XXXII. ' The time allowed to the 65 boys who learn the subject is 

 one period a week of 45 minutes.' 



XXXIII. 'AH the pupils who are taught chemistry — 491 — devote two 

 hours per week to the subject, and 110 of these have in addition a weekly 

 lesson in laboratory practice, lasting one hour and a half.' 



(iv) A consideration of these replies has fully established the im- 

 portant fact that the chemical instruction which is given in schools is 

 very largely influenced and guided by the rsquirements of the various 

 Examining Boards, such as those of Oxford and Cambridge and of the 

 Science and Art Department. Abundant testimony has been received ou 

 this point, and it is fi'equently declared to be a great, though apparently 

 an inevitable, evil. The quotations cited below are selected as represent- 

 ing schools of very different grades. 



XXXIV. 'The influence exerted by external examiners on the cha- 

 racter of the teaching. This has always been to me the most subversive of 

 good teaching and most damaging to the character of the work. I have 

 had a large experience in the working of the various public examinations, 

 and I unhesitatingly say that they cripple the work of teachers, afl'ord no 

 safe index as to the quality of the work, and lead to a system of book- 

 work cram which militates against anything like menial discipline and 

 against subsequent instruction in the higher branches of the subject.' 



XXXV. ' But all difficulties are nothing compared with those that 

 arise from the personal peculiarities of examiners. Unless with special 

 pupils who, having spent most of their time on chemistry, have been able 

 to acquire some knowledge of all its branches, a teacher is never sure that 

 he will be able to prove to an examiner that he has taught any chemistry 

 at all.' 



XXXVI. ' It will be seen that the examinations for which our pupils are 

 prepared are those of the Cambridge Local, the College of Preceptors, and 

 the Science and Art Department, and the preparation for each is so varied 

 that it has a very bad influence.' 



XXXVII. ' The influence of external examiners, in my opinion, is too 

 often to encourage mere cramming to meet out-of-the-way questions.' 



XXXVIII. ' A class was formed from the pick of the school in con- 

 nection with the Science and Art Department. My salary to a certain 

 extent depended on the results of the May examinations. Since the 

 number in the class had to be limited, I naturally chose only those boys 

 who I thought would have the best chances of getting through. For a 

 great part of the year chemistry would be treated as a by-subject, it was 

 only for a month or so that it had its due share in the curriculum of the 

 school, and I must conscientiously admit that during the short period 

 before the examination I simply crammed the minds of my pupils with 



