November 6, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



581 



do, that crauuuiug is entirely pernicious. 

 A good deal of what used to be taught at 

 public schools in my days was cram. It 

 served its purpose at the time in sharpen- 

 ing the memory, and was a useful exercise, 

 and it did not much matter if in after 

 years nuich of it was forgotten. If the 

 cramui'ing is in science, a few facts called 

 back to mind in after life are better than 

 never having had the chance at all. In 

 fact, as the faded beauty replied to the 

 born plain friend, it is better to be one of 

 the 'have beens' than a 'never wasn't' 



It was determined to make a vigorous 

 onslaught against teaching that was un- 

 illustrated by experiment and to encourage 

 practical teaching as far as could be done. 

 Proper apparatus for illustrating lectures 

 was insisted upon, and, with aid from the 

 department, was eventually provided, 

 though in some instances several years' 

 pressure had to be exercised before it was 

 obtained. I am bound to say that in many 

 instances after it had been procured a sur- 

 prise visit by the inspector during the 

 hours of instruction often found that the 

 lecture table was free from all encum- 

 brance, and that the dust of weeks was 

 upon the apparatus that should have been 

 in use. This was sometimes due to the 

 inability of the teacher to use the apparatus 

 rather than to a wish to disregard the rules 

 laid down by the department; but usually 

 it was due to the fact that the teacher 

 found cram paid best. I should like to 

 say here that this state of things does not 

 exist at the present time, and that the 

 training of science teachers by the Royal 

 College of Science and by other institutions 

 has completely broken down the excuses 

 that were often offered at that time. 



The first grants for practical teaching 

 were paid for chemistry. The practical 

 work had to be carried out in properly fit- 

 ted laboratories. There were not half-a- 

 dozen at the time which really answered 



our purpose, and one of the earliest pieces 

 of work on which I was engaged was in 

 assisting to get out plans for laboratory 

 fittings. These were very similar to those 

 which I had designed for the School of 

 ^Military Engineering several years before. 

 Thanks to the Education Act of 1870 (I 

 speak thankfullj' of the work that some 

 of the important school boards have done 

 in the past in taking an enlightened view 

 of science instruction), there were some 

 localities w-here the idea of fitting up labo- 

 ratories was received with favor, and it 

 was not long before several old ones w'ere 

 refitted, in which instruction to adults was 

 given, and new- ones established in board 

 schools for the benefit of the sixth standard 

 children. At that time an inspector's, like 

 the policeman's, lot was not a happy one. 

 ^Ye had to refuse to pass laboratories which 

 did not fulfil conditions, though we left 

 very few ' hard cases. ' 



Until after the passing of the Technical 

 Instruction Act in 1887 the department 

 aided schools in the purchase of the fittings 

 of laboratories (both chemical and others), 

 and year after year this help, which stimu- 

 lated local effort, caused large numbers of 

 new laboratories to be added to the recog- 

 nized list. After six or seven years we 

 had a hundred or more laboratories at 

 work of what I may call 'sealed-pattern 

 efficiency.' I am not very partial to sealed 

 patterns, but they are useful at times, for 

 they tell people what is the least that is ex- 

 pected from them. The pattern was not 

 without its defects; but laboratories, like 

 other matters, follow the law of evolution, 

 and the more recently fitted ones show that 

 the experience gained whilst teaching or 

 being taught in a sealed-pattern type has 

 led to marked improvements. Personally 

 I am of opinion that only necessaries 

 should be required, and I rebel against 

 luxuries; for a student trained by means 

 of the latter will, as a rule, in after life 



