314 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVIII. No. 46r 



SCIENCE: 



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TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT ST. ETIENNE. 



For the past twenty years the French Goverument has 

 devoted a great deal of attention to tlie education of the peo- 

 ple. National schools, says the United States consul at St. 

 Etienne, have been opened in almost every village, and the 

 instruction given is of a very useful order. Besides the pri- 

 mary schools, there are superior schools where diplomas for 

 "great merit" may be obtained. These latter, however, are 

 only attained by pupils belonging for the most part to the 

 middle classes, who Intend to becOme teachers or governesses 

 in public or private institutions, or by those who have no 

 other purpose in view than of being considered fairly well 

 educated. As the working classes, on the other hand, cannot 

 afford for their children the expenditure of time and money 

 which a course of these higher schools involves, they are 

 obliged to withdraw them when they have received the cer- 

 tificate of elementary education which is generally given to 

 children between the ages of twelve and 'thirteen. It is for 

 this poorer class that towns of importance throughout France 

 have established well-equipped schools where various trades 

 are taught gratuitously, both practically and theoretically. 

 St. Etienne being one of these important cities, with 113, OCO 

 inhabitants, possesses a model, well organized, and successful 

 technical school. 



The technical institution of SI. Etienne was built in 1885 

 at a cost of $115,000. The school has three hundred students, 

 and the trades taught are weaving, dyeing, sculpture, iron 

 founding, cabinet making, etc. The apprenticeship is four 

 years in duration, and the institution is free. At the end of 

 four years, a certificate of aptitude is given, which enables 

 the pupil to obtain a situation in the line of industrial labor 

 which he had chosen. The work of the school begins each 

 day at seven in the morning, and ends at seven in the even- 

 ing. The school is composed of two buildings. The first is 

 reserved for general education, and the second contains the 

 diflferent workshops, occupying 1,400 square metres of surface. 

 The fitting up of these workshops is very complete, and com- 

 prises vices, lathes, boring, planing, and other machines, 



forges, anvils, steam-hammers, carpenters' benches, circular 

 saws, weaving machines of every variety, and all the acces- . 

 sories of the dyeing industry, as well as important collections 

 of chemical and physical apparatus. The whole building is 

 lighted by electricity. 



The lectures are of two kinds. The first are common tff 

 all students of the same year, and embrace general subjects, 

 while the second are exclusively technical, and are special to 

 each section. In the first year, the students pass through all 

 the workshops to be initiated into the proper handling of the: 

 different tools, whether of iron or wood. After this period,, 

 the boys are classed according to their tastes, desires, and 

 aptitudes. They work at manual labor three hours daily- 

 during the second year, four hours in the third, and five in 

 the fourth and last year for the first six months, and severt 

 hours during the last six months, in order to accustom them 

 to the burden of a day's work. During this period, also, 

 great attention is paid to the teaching of the theory of th& 

 different trades, that is to say, the fitters are taught to trace 

 and cut out cog-wheels, and the carpenters to design and 

 execute a certain number of apparatus, such as stairs of 

 different variety, shutters, balconies, etc., on a reduced scale_ 

 The weavers, besides being taught thoroughly all the details 

 of the loom and its working, receive special lessons in book- 

 keeping, legislation, commercial geography, and are taught 

 one of the modern languages. Very careful attention is paid 

 to design. The apprentices at all the trades are obliged tO) 

 follow the instruction given on this subject, which is rightly 

 considered of the greatest importance in the school. Designs 

 of various kinds are executed by the more advanced sections-, 

 and every year an exhibition of the work of the boys is 

 held. 



Consul Loomis says that the results of this school have 

 been most excellent, and he has been informed that, as a- 

 rule, its graduates become self-supporting members of society 

 in a very short time. 



THE PEODUCTION OF BUTTER. 



Bulletin No. 17 of the Pennsylvania State College Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, by Professor Thomas F. Hunt, 

 details some carefully conducted experiments with twelve- 

 milch cows to determine the value of cotton-seed-meal as- 

 compared with bran for the production of butter. The main 

 inquiry was with reference to the relative effect of cotton- 

 seed meal and bran upon the quality of the butter. The 

 quantity of food required to produce a given quantity of 

 butter, the effect of the food upon the health of the animals, 

 and the effect of the food upon the completeness with which 

 the butter fat was recovered from the milk were also subjects, 

 of research. 



There were three feeding periods of four, four, and twa 

 weeks, respectively. The cows were divided into two lots of 

 six cows each, care being taken to have the two lots as nearly 

 comparable as may be. 



Beginning with a small quantity of cotton-seed-meal, six 

 cows were fed an increasing quantity of cotton-seed-meal 

 until six pounds were given daily per animal. This heavy 

 feeding of cotton-seed-meal, fed during April and May, did 

 not affect the health of cows averaging 900 pounds each. 

 Calves were fed one pound of cotton seed-meal dailj', in skim 

 milk, with apparently disastrous results. 



The six check cows were fed bran in place of cotton-seed- 

 meal, while all the other food offered was the same in eacb 

 lot. The yield of milk was increased about one-fifth when 



