582 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 462. 



fail to meet with anything beyond the mere 

 essentials for carrying on his scientific 

 work. 



The sealed pattern is practically in 

 abeyance, though it can be trotted out as a 

 bogey, and any properly equipped labora- 

 tory is recognized so long as it meets the 

 absolute necessities of instruction. 



The half-dozen chemical laboratories 

 which existed in 1877 have now expanded 

 to 349 physical and 774 chemical labora- 

 tories. These are spread over all parts of 

 England. I leave out Scotland and Ire- 

 land, as the science teaching is no longer 

 under the English board of education. 



It is only fair to say that many of this 

 large number of laboratories are at present 

 in secondary schools, regarding which I 

 shall have to speak more at length. But 

 the fact remains that in twenty-seven years 

 there has been such a growth of practical 

 science teaching that some 1120 labora- 

 tories have come into being. My predeces- 

 sor in the chair likes to call laboratories 

 'workshops.' I have no objection, but the 

 reverse; for the word 'laboratory,' like 

 'research,' sounds too magnificent for what 

 is really meant, and all education should 

 more or less be carried out in workshops. 



The increase is as satisfactory as it is 

 remarkable. It was only possible to in- 

 crease the numbers in early days by gentle 

 pressure and prophesying smooth things 

 which, happily, did eventually come to 

 pass. In latter days the increase has been 

 almost automatic. The Technical Instruc- 

 tion Act has called into being technical 

 instruction committees who in many cases 

 have taken up science instruction in their 

 districts in earnest. They, too, have had 

 public money to allocate, and not a little 

 has gone in the encouragement of practical 

 education. It may, however, be remarked 

 that had it not been for the preliminary 

 work that had been done by the Science 

 and Art Department it is more than prob- 



able that the Technical Instruction Act 

 of 1887 would never have seen the light. 



A reference must now be made to the 

 removal of what any one will see was a 

 great bar to the spread of sound instruction 

 in every class of school where science was 

 taught. So long as the student's success 

 in examination was the test which regu- 

 lated the amount of the grant paid by the 

 state, so long was it impossible to insist on 

 all-round practical instruction. It was 

 impracticable to hold practical examina- 

 tions for tens of thousands of students in 

 some twenty different subjects of science. 

 The practical examination in chemistry 

 told its tale of difficulties. It was only 

 when the Duke of Devonshire and Sir 

 John Gorst in 1898 substituted for the old 

 scheme of payments payment for attend- 

 ance, and in a large measure substituted 

 inspection for examination, that the de- 

 partment could stiU further press for prac- 

 tical instruction. For all elementary in- 

 struction the test of outside examination 

 does more harm than good, and any ex- 

 amination in the work done by element-ary 

 students should be carried out by the 

 teacher, and should be made on the abso- 

 lute course that has been given. It seems 

 to be useless or worse that an examination 

 should cover more than this. Instruction 

 in a set syllabus which for an outside ex- 

 amination has to be covered spoils the 

 teaching and takes away the liberty of 

 method which a good teacher should enjoy. 

 The literary work involved in answering 

 questions, for an outside examiner, is also 

 against the elementary student's success, 

 and can not be equal to that which may 

 properly be expected from him a couple of 

 years later. 



Advanced instruction appears to be on a 

 different footing. The student in advanced 

 science must have gradually obtained a 

 knowledge of the elementary portions of 

 the subject, and it is not too much to ask 



