November 26, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



493 



province, of the same character as that of the 

 science and art department in South Kensington. 

 Dr. S. Passmore May, the superintendent of 

 mechanics' institutes, who takes the gx'eatest in- 

 terest in this movement, informs me that no less 

 than sixty branch schools have been established 

 within the last four years, in connection with 

 these institutes. Its headquarters is in the Edu- 

 cational museum in Toronto. Here also is located 

 the famous magnetical and meteorological ob- 

 servatory, established in 1841. The Canadian in- 

 stitute in Toronto, and various societies, more or 

 less scientific in their aim, do good work in en- 

 couraging a taste for such studies. 



Province of Quebec (including the city of Mon- 

 ti'eal). — Here the Council of public instruction 

 contains two committees, a Catholic and a Protes- 

 tant. The educational as well as other organiza- 

 tions are necessarily very often duplicated ; but 

 M. Ouimet, the superintendent of the department 

 of public instruction, to whose courtesy I am in- 

 debted for much valuable information, informs 

 me that the system has worked well, and without 

 the least friction. 



In the primary schools the instruction is almost 

 entirely literary, with the exception of a little 

 geography. Object-lessons, in the English sense 

 of the term, appear to be conspicuous by their ab- 

 sence. A small inanual of agriculture is used as 

 a reading-book, but the subject itself is not taught : 

 the idea is to show how to preserve the fertility of 

 the soil. The secondary schools correspond to the 

 French lycees, and in their courses cheinistry and 

 one or two other branches of science find a place. 

 In the normal schools, also, scientific subjects 

 form part of the training. Perhaps the most 

 important recognition of the proper position of 

 science in an educational course is to be found in 

 the fact, that for the entrance examination to 

 all the professions, without any exception, some 

 knowledge of certain branches of science is com- 

 pulsory. The Laval university at Quebec, for 

 Catholics, and tlie McGill university of Montreal 

 (of which Sir William Dawson, president-elect of 

 the British association, is principal), both grant 

 degrees in science ; and in the latter there is a 

 separate faculty of applied science, which provides 

 a three or four j^eai's' professional training in civil, 

 mechanical, and mining engineering, assaying, 

 and practical chemistry, and grants degrees in 

 these subjects. Au excellent medical school and 

 faculty of medicine is attached to the university 

 also. The Catholic commercial academy of Mon- 

 treal, conducted by the Christian Brothers, has a 

 scientific and industrial course similar to that in 

 McGill university ; and the Quebec commercial 

 academy, also conducted by the same body, has 



fairly equipped laboratories, and gives regular 

 courses in science. The normal schools of the 

 province are in each case affiliated to their re- 

 spective universities. In connection with McGill 

 university, we come across, for the first time, the 

 progi-essive system of scholarships, reaching down 

 from it to the primary schools ; and here should 

 be mentioned the RediDath museum in the uni- 

 versity grounds, which is purely scientific in its 

 aims. Except in connection with McGill univer- 

 sity, there appear to be no scientific societies. The 

 newly established Royal society of Canada, which 

 draws its members from all parts of the colony, is 

 formed somewhat on the same lines as the French 

 academie des sciences. 



New Brunswick, — It is somewhat remarkable 

 that a small colony, mainly agricultural, should 

 possess one of the most perfect systems of instruc- 

 tion in primary schools with which I am acquaint- 

 ed. As early as 1802, the provincial government 

 and legislature recognized the fact that to make 

 provision for the people's education was one of 

 the duties of the state. " From the small begin- 

 ning then made, there has been developed, by slow 

 degrees, the present public-school system of New 

 Brunswick, one of the most perfect, in principle 

 at least, to be found in any state or countrj\" 

 There is a progressive course of instruction for all 

 schools, in which the subjects appear to have been 

 selected, arranged, and apportioned with a due 

 regard for sound educational principles. It is 

 arranged in two equal divisions, literature and 

 science. Between the bottom of the primary and 

 the top of the high schools there are eleven stand- 

 ards ; and yet, even in standard I., in primary 

 schools, plant and animal life, minerals, and 

 geography are among the subjects dealt with, as 

 well as familiar lessons on the conditions of health. 

 Elementary physics makes its first appearance at 

 standard V. Out of a total population, including 

 adults, of 321,000, one-eighth, or 40,000 children^ 

 had lessons m hygiene, one-sixth in geography,, 

 and one-sixth in useful knowledge of plants, 

 animals, and minerals, in the public schools in 

 1885. The province spends annually nearly one- 

 third of its total revenue upon education. If 

 local rates be taken into account, the expenditure 

 on the common-school system alone is about £100,- 

 000, and this with a total population less than that 

 of Birmingham. The normal school for training 

 teachers was begun in 1847, and tlie spirit which 

 now animates it may be judged from the follow- 

 ing maxim enforced there : " The development 

 of the faculties is of more importance than the 

 acquisition of knowledge." It is in connection 

 with the university at Fredericton, the degrees of 

 which are universally recognized. There is a large 



