608 REPORT — 1893. 



5. MISCELLANEOUS. 



Constrnction for the curve of steam pressure under various condi- 

 tions. 



Problems in connection with heat and electricity. 



Division III. — The Teaching of Graphical Methods. 



The examination into the treatises and systems of dealing with 

 graphical methods which has been necessary in the preparation of this 

 report has i-evealed the great divergence in the nature of the teaching 

 of graphic methods in engineering colleges and schools throughout the 

 world. The writer therefore felt that some practical results might ensue 

 if information was collected from various sources as to the nature of the 

 teaching in different countries, such as the number of hours devoted to 

 the subject and the kind of teaching given. 



Sir E. Grey, Under-Secretary to the Foreign Office, was good enough to 

 obtain the prospectuses of the colleges in several countries. Mr. J. Smith, 

 H.M.'s Consul at Munich, most kindly obtained the programmes of the 

 German schools. Professor Cremona, of Rome, and Professor Dwels- 

 hauvers-Dery, of Liege, sent also most valuable information. The pro- 

 spectuses of all the American technical institutes and colleges were 

 obtaiued through the kindness of Professor Ira 0. Baker, of Illinois 

 University. 



From the materials so obtained an abstract has been made by the 

 writer of the details of time-tables and other information regarding 

 graphic statics and graphical methods in the engineering schools of 

 Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Norway and Sweden, 

 and Switzerland, and also of most of the American colleges and technical 

 schools. A translation has also been made of the courses of instruction 

 in graphic statics at Braunschweig, Hanover, Liege, St. Petersburg, 

 Milan, Brunn, Madrid, and elsewhere. The printing of all this would 

 have extended the present report beyond the limit which could be allotted 

 to it, and the MSS., together with the printed matter above mentioned, 

 and numerous other documents bearing on the subject, which have been 

 collected in the course of the preparation of the report, are therefore 

 deposited in the office of the British Association for reference. 



As a discussion of a report is not usual at meetings of the British 

 Association, the writer, taking advantage of an invitation to read a 

 paper at the recent International Engineering Congress in connection 

 with the World's Fair at Chicago, brought forward the subject on that 

 occasion. He was fortunate enough to obtain the opinions of some of 

 the most eminent professors in engineering, including Professor W. 

 Ritter, of Zurich. A verbatim report of the discussion, in which not 

 only a large number of professors of engineering but also some well- 

 known engineers took part, is deposited, with the matter already men- 

 tioned, for reference in the office of the British Association. The following 

 is an abstract of the paper itself: — 



It was shown that graphic methods might be classified in two divi- 

 sions — (1) the plotting of results, and (2) the solution of problems. The 

 former of these is rarely considered worthy of any special training, as a 

 knowledge of it is apparently regarded as capable of being acquired 



