250 REPORT — 1889. 



leavening and ronsing influence which is always more or less felt by 

 those whose office it is to follow the march of scientific progress. 



It shonld also here be pointed out that the great majority of the 

 experiments and exercises described may be carried out with very simple 

 apparatus and with slight provision in the way of special laboratory 

 accommodation. In but very few cases is there any production of 

 unpleasant smells or noxious fumes. It is, in fact, a mistake to suppose 

 that an elaborately fitted laboratory is in every case essential for success- 

 ful teaching : much might be done in an ordinary schoolroom provided 

 with a demonstration bench for the use of the teacher, a draught closet 

 over the fire-place, a sink, a raised table for balances (raised so that the 

 teacher might see what was going on), a cupboard for apparatus, and 

 a long narrow bench provided with gas burners at which, say, twenty 

 pnpils might stand ten a side. At present the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment will not recognise ' practical chemistry ' unless it be taught in a 

 laboratory fitted up in a certain specified manner, and their regulations 

 are such as to enforce the provision of expensive laboratories in all cases 

 where it is desired to obtain the grant. If gi-eater latitude in fittings 

 were allowed, more attention being paid to the character of the work 

 done and less to the tools with which it is accomplished, probably much 

 less money would be wasted by inexperienced school authorities in pro- 

 viding special laboratories, and there would be much greater readiness 

 displayed to enter on the teaching of experimental science. The course 

 which has been sketched out is one which doubtless might well be modified 

 in a variety of ways according to circumstances. Thus many simple 

 exercises in mechanics, in addition to those directly mentioned, might 

 be introduced into Stage II., and the mechanical properties of common 

 materials might be somewhat fully studied at this stage in disti-icts where 

 engineering trades are largely established, and where such knowledge 

 would be specially valuable. In like manner the physical effects of heat on 

 substances might be studied in Stage III. instead of Stage VI. And there 

 are other chemical problems and simple exercises besides those described 

 which might be substituted for some of them, or included in the course. 



Probably, however, it would be found undesirable, if not impossible, 

 as a rule, to continue the teaching of chemistry proper much, if at all, 

 beyond the stage indicated in this scheme. Other subjects will have a 

 prior claim should it ever be deemed essential to include in a compre- 

 hensive scheme of school education the elements of the chief physical and 

 biological sciences ; it certainly is of primary importance to introduce 

 at as early a period as possible the conception of energy, and to explain 

 the mechanical theory of heat, so that later on it may be possible to dis- 

 cuss the efficiency of heat and other engines ; and, until the laws of the 

 electric current are understood, the subject of chemical change can never 

 be properly considered. 



In many cases, where it is convenient or desirable to continue the 

 chemical studies, it probably will be advantageous as a rule that they 

 have reference to specific (local) requirements — e.g., to agriculture in 

 schools in agricultural districts ; to food materials and physiology in the 

 case of girls especially, &c. But in any case more consideration must 

 be paid in the future in schools where chemistry is taught to educational 

 requirements — the teaching must have reference to the requirements of 

 the general public ; and it must be remembered that the college, not the 

 school, is the place for the complete study of a subject. 



