Miscellanies. 1 5 1 



MISCELLANIES. 



(bomestic and foreign.) 



1. Travelling term of Rensselaer School, for 1830, loith a notice 

 of the nature of the Institution. 



Communicated by Prof. Eaton. 



The Rensselaer School at Troy, in the State of New York, has 

 now been in operation six years. It was established by the Hon. Ste- 

 phen Van Rensselaer, in the year 1824, and placed under the im- 

 mediate care of Professors Amos Eaton, and Lewis C, Beck. A 

 board of Trustees, with a President, were invested with the guardi- 

 anship of the School. The next year after its establishment, the 

 Legislature of the State of New York gave it a charter of incorpo- 

 ration with very ample powers. 



Three distinctive characteristics of the school given by its patron. 

 Three years, and unlimited funds were allovjed to JWessrs. Eaton and 

 Beck, to make the experiment, 



1. The most distinctive character in the plan of the School, con- 

 sists in giving the pupil the place of teacher, in all his exercises. 

 From schools or colleges, where the highest branches are taught, to 

 the common village schools, the teacher always improves himself 

 more than he does his pupils. Being under the necessity of relying 

 upon his own resources, and of making every subject his own, he 

 becomes an adept as a matter of necessity. Taking advantage of 

 this principle, students of Rensselaer School learn by giving experi- 

 mental and demonstrative lectures. 



2. In every branch of learning, the pupil begins with its practical 

 application ; and is introduced to a knowledge of elementary princi- 

 ples, from time to time, as his progress requires. After visiting a 

 bleaching factory, he returns to the laboratory, and produces the 

 chlorine gas and experiments upon it, until he is familiar with all the 

 elementary principles appertaining to that curious substance. After 

 seeing the process of tanning, he enters the laboratory with mtost ar- 

 dent zeal for a knowledge of the principles upon which the tanner's 

 operations depend. He can now apply the experiment for making 

 an insoluble precipitate of tannin and animal gelatin, also the soapy 

 compound of animal oil and an alkaline earth, &ic. After seeing buhr 

 jnillstones consolidated by a gypsum, cement, he is anxious to try the 



