August 23, 1901.] 



CIENCE 



289 



The practical application of this method 

 of controlling household insects and pests 

 generally is to be found in checking the ad- 

 vance of great numbers of some particular 

 insect, or in eradicating them where they 

 have become thoroughly established. This 

 method will be found very advantageous in 

 clearing old buildings and ships of cock- 

 roaches. 



W. R. Beattie. 

 Division of Botany, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN LONDON.* 

 Judged merely by the magnitude and 

 diversity of the work actually carried out 

 within its boundaries, London is by far the 

 most important center in the world for civil, 

 mechanical and electrical engineering. Its 

 vast population includes a larger number 

 of engineering employers and engineering 

 workmen of every grade and in almost every 

 branch of work than any other city can 

 show. The demand for engineering instruc- 

 tion of every type is large and steadily in- 

 creasing. Yet the provision now existing 

 for engineering instruction can only be de- 

 scribed — if we compare it with the needs of 

 London in this age of steel — as trivial. Out 

 of six millions of inhabitants the total num- 

 ber of engineering students above matricu- 

 lation standard is estimated at 600. What 

 provision there is seems good, as far as it 

 goes, but it is ludicrously below the require- 

 ments of London, alike in extent, compre- 

 hensiveness, and variety. 



The engineering instruction at present 

 available in London consists mainly of 

 three separate ' schools' — the Central Tech- 

 nical College of the City and Guilds of 

 London Institute, University College and 

 King's College — of a high standard of ex- 

 cellence in the somewhat limited work that 

 they undertake, with a small staff of first- 

 rate professors, and good, though not very 



*Froin the London Times. 



extensive, equipment. Their main draw- 

 back is their limited size and scope, the high 

 fees which they are compelled to charge, 

 and their limitation to day students. Their 

 work is, moreover, narrowly restricted by 

 lack of space, lack of staflTand lack of funds. 

 They contain, in the aggregate, only about 

 350 students in all branches of engineering. 

 Supplementing these three * schools' (which 

 are all situated in West Central London, 

 within an area of three square miles) there 

 are about a dozen less completely organized 

 centers of engineering instruction, each 

 with one or two professors and instructors 

 of university rank, aided by subordinates 

 dealing with the less advanced classes. 

 These include the Finsbury Technical Col- 

 lege of the City and Guilds of London In- 

 stitute, where first-rate professors deal with 

 junior students, and the several ' polytech- 

 nics,' dealing with all ages and classes of 

 engineering pupils. These centers are con- 

 veniently distributed in the difierent parts 

 of London ; they provide both day and 

 evening instruction, and their engineering 

 departments are rapidly increasing in size 

 and importance. Their equipment arid 

 workshop accommodation, so far as me- 

 chanical and electrical engineering is con- 

 cerned, is usually good, though somewhat 

 limited. Besides many hundreds of ele- 

 mentary students in various engineering 

 subjects, they contain in the aggregate 

 about 250 engineering students doing work 

 of university standard. This work could 

 easily be extended, by strengthening the 

 staff and inaproving the equipment of the 

 several institutions, to an almost indefinite 

 extent. 



If we turn now to different branches of 

 engineering, it may be noted that (apart 

 from the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, 

 which is not open to the public) absolutely 

 no provision exists in London for instruc- 

 tion in marine engineering and naval archi- 

 tecture. Though the Thames is still one of 



