140 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Aug. I St, iS 



Dublin and of the Museums. In 1859, when the system of 

 making subventions for instruction in science and art was 

 first introduced, the subjects of scientific instruction were 

 only six. The subjects of science, towards instruction in 

 which subventions are now given, are twenty-five, viz : — 



Practical Plane and Solid Geometry. 



Machine Construction and Drawing. 



Building Construction. 



Naval Architecture and Drawing. 



Pure Mathematics. 



Theoretical Mechanics. 



Applied Mechanics. 



Sound, Light, and Heat. 



Magnetism and Electricitj'. 



Inorganic Chemistry. 



Organic Chemistry. 



Geology. 



Mineralogy. 



Animal Physiology. 



Botany. 



Biology (including Animal and Vegetable Morpho- 

 logy and Physiology). 



Principles of Mining. 



Metallurgy. 



Navigation. 



Nautical Astronomy. 



Steam. 



Physiography. 



Principles of Agriculture. 



Hygiene. 

 The "Directory" of the Department contains a programme of 

 the course of instruction in each of these subjects, showing 

 the order in which the subjects should be studied, the 

 general character of the experiments to be performed, and 

 the methods of instruction to be adopted by the teachers. 



The greater part of the schools for technical instruction 

 which now exist in all the large towns, were formerly 

 known as " Mechanics' Institutes," and were used more for 

 recreation than instruction. In fact, they were clubs for 

 working men, in which occasional popular lectures on 

 literature and science were given. Gradually, however, 

 under the influence of South Kensington, systematic courses 

 of instruction in different branches of science were begun, 

 and as these were found to supply a definite want, the 

 number of such courses increased. As time went on, 

 laboratories were fitted in these institutions for practical 

 instruction in chemistry, and suitable apparatus and models 

 were obtained for the teaching of physics and of mechanics. 

 Every improvement that was introduced into the scheme of 

 examination at South Kensington produced a corresponding 

 improvement in the method of teaching in the provincial 

 centres, and in the character of the work examined. From 

 early times reading-rooms were attached to mechanics' 

 institutes, and gradually books on science and on its applica- 

 tions were added to the works on history, travel, and fiction, 

 which at first were the only books found on the shelves of 

 these libraries. As the number of students increased and 

 their requirements outgrew the capabilities of these insti- 

 tutes, efforts were made to erect and equip schools for the 

 teaching of science. To the establishment of such schools 

 the Department contributed not more than ;^5oo, the 

 greater part of the funds being supplied from local sources. 

 In some cases the school was built by the benevolence of 

 one philanthropic person ; in other cases the money was 

 laboriously collected by subscriptions ; and very often help 

 was afforded by the guilds of the City of London. 



The addition of courses on technology to those in science, 

 and the strong demand for technical education, which has 

 everywhere been evinced during the last six years, hastened 



the conversion of these mechanics' institutes into technical 

 schools. Side by side with these schools of science and 

 technology have arisen schools of art, which possibly have 

 had a still greater effect than the schools of science in im- 

 proving the manufactures of England. Such schools have 

 been established in all our great centres of industry, some- 

 times in the same building as the science school and the 

 local museum or library. 



Of schools, under the State, in which science or art is 

 taught, there are now 1,984, and the number of students 

 during last session in the schools of science alone was 

 94,838. In these schools there are now 208 laboratories 

 for instruction in chemistry, with places for 14,587 students. 

 In all these schools the session lasts from October till May. 

 The committee of the school select such of the twenty-five 

 subjects of instruction as have reference to the industries of 

 the town, or for which a demand exists, and they appoint 

 teachers. Each teacher must be registered by the Depart- 

 ment. The qualifications for a teacher's certificate are easily 

 obtained : and as a consequence the instruction, in many 

 cases, is not of a very high character. Indeed, it is only in 

 the case of teachers of public elementary schools that any- 

 thing like a systematic training is required. In all other 

 cases " free trade " may be said to exist in education. Each 

 teacher is obliged to give at least twenty-eight lessons dur- 

 ing the session. Inspectors are appointed by the Depart- 

 ment, who visit the classes and see that the rooms are 

 furnished with the necessary models and apparatus for 

 teaching. Under certain circumstances the State, through 

 the agency of the Department, contributes one half the cost 

 of apparatus and models, catalogues and specimens of which 

 are kept at the Central Office at South Kensington. These 

 catalogues contain a description and prices of apparatus, 

 diagrams, etc., to illustrate the teaching of (i), geometry, 

 machine, and building construction; (2), physics; (3), 

 chemistry and metallurgy ; (4), geology, biology, and agri- 

 culture. 



At the close of the session an examination is held simul- 

 taneously in all parts of the kingdom in each of the twenty- 

 five subjects. The examination occupies little more than 

 twenty-one days, from about the 4th till the 28th of May. 

 The examination papers are prepared in London at the 

 Central Office, and they are forwarded to the different 

 towns so as to arrive on the morning of the examination. 

 At each town a secretary is appointed to receive the ex- 

 amination papers, and the examination is conducted under 

 his superintendence. The candidates being all seated, the 

 superintendent reads out the regulations, and at seven 

 o'clock the questions are distributed. Three hours are 

 allowed for the examination, and at ten o'clock precisely the 

 answers are collected, packed, and forwarded to London. 

 The'' Directory" contains mostminuteregulationsforthecon- 

 duct of these examinations, on the results of which depend 

 the amount of subvention which each school receives from 

 the State. In several subjects, in chemistry, in metallurgy, 

 in botany, in physiology, and in naval architecture, practical 

 examinations are held in the school laboratories. Some idea 

 may be obtained of the expansion of this system from the 

 fact that in the session 1884-85 the number of students who 

 received evening instruction in the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment was 78,810, of whom 48,497 were examined. Many 

 of these were examined in more than one subject, and thus 

 the number of sets of answers examined was 114,348. The 

 subvention of the State on the results of this examination 

 was ;^63,365, being about 16s. id. for each student who 

 received instruction. It must, however, be understood that 

 this sum does not represent the entire cost of the instruc- 

 tion, but only the amount contributed to it by the State. 

 (^To be contimied.) 



