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scienc:e. 



LVoL. IX., No. 207 



manners of discovering scientific truths. The 

 second lecture is on the laws of motion, including 

 a popular exposition of Newton's three laws. The 

 third lecture is devoted to the examination of 

 work, energy, and gravitation. In the fourth 

 lecture certain simple machines are described, — 

 the pendulum, the different kinds of lever, and 

 the water-wheel. The next lecture deals with the 

 nature of heat, and the sixth with the more 

 elaborate theories of Mayer and Joule. The 

 seventh lecture deals with light and sound, the 

 eighth with chemical energy, the ninth and tenth 

 with electricity and magnetism. The eleventh 

 lecture is devoted to the conservation of energy 

 and the manner in which it is transformed from 

 one shape into another. The last lecture treats of 

 the dispersion of energy, and concludes with an 

 account of the sun. 



It may be thought that this course is somewhat 

 too extensive and ambitious, and its practical suc- 

 cess remains to be proved by the examination ; 

 but no one can deny that it forms a brilliant at- 

 tempt to deal in a single view with the main 

 truths of physics. 



The second course is of an entirely different 

 character : it treats of the origin and early history 

 ©f the English colonies in North America. Like 

 the former, it consists of twelve lectures. The 

 first lecture is devoted to ancient and modern 

 systems of colonization, the Greek, the Roman, 

 and the systems of modern states. The second 

 lecture treats of the early voyages and settlements 

 in America from Christopher Columbus down to 

 the foundation of Quebec. Then follows the 

 colonization and early history of Virginia, the 

 colonization of New England, of Maryland, of 

 the two Carolinas and Georgia ; next come the 

 Quaker colonies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and 

 Delaware. In the eighth lecture we have reached 

 the subject of the early colonial wars of France 

 and England, from King William's war in 1689- 

 97 down to the conspiracy of Pontiac in 1763. 

 The condition of America in 1763 is then dealt 

 with, with a sketch of each colony from the be- 

 ginning of the eighteenth century up to that 

 time. The tenth lecture treats of the war of in- 

 dependence ; the eleventh, of the American con- 

 stitution ; and the twelfth and last, of the history 

 of modern Canada down to the present day. 



These syllabuses are printed in little pamphlets, 

 and the chief criticism to be made upon them is 

 that they are often somewhat too long and elabo- 

 rate. Where so much is printed for a course, 

 there is less room for detailed exposition. This, 

 however, is a fault on the right side, which ex- 

 perience will prevent. 



The lectures are given once a week, and last 



an hour. The hour which precedes or follows 

 the lecture is taken up with what is known as 

 ' the class.' In this the formal method of the 

 lecture is abandoned, discussion of difficult points 

 is invited, questions are put to the lecturer on any 

 thing that appears obscure, or the lecturer gives 

 additional details and illustrations. The class is 

 open to all who attend the lectures, but in a series 

 of years this is generally found not to exceed one- 

 half. At the end of each lecture in the syllabus 

 will be found three or four questions which are to 

 be answered by the students at home ; and help is 

 freely given in the little pamphlet, as to the line 

 to be taken in answering the questions, and the 

 books to be used. These exercises are purely 

 voluntary : the answers are sent to the lecturer, 

 who returns them with corrections before the 

 following lecture. The number of those doing 

 papers is not more than one-third of those who 

 attend the class, or one-sixth of those who attend 

 the lectures. Finally, at the end of each term, 

 an examination is held, conducted, not by the 

 lecturer, but by independent examiners appoint- 

 ed by the university. The numbers examined 

 form about one-fourth of the class, or one-eighth 

 of the whole attendance at lectures. In connec- 

 tion with each course of three months, certificates 

 are granted on the double basis of the lecturer's 

 report of the weekly exercises and the examiner's 

 report of the final examination. In this way is 

 tested not only the capacity of getting up a sub- 

 ject and passing an examination, but the con- 

 tinuous effort of steady work throughout the term. 

 It is very interesting to consider what classes of 

 people are reached by the university extension 

 lectures. Although the movement was first de- 

 vised for adults, yet the lectures have been gener- 

 ally frequented by schools, and especially by girls' 

 schools. They are useful in cases where a compe- 

 tent visiting lecturer cannot be obtained. Much 

 more accessible to these influences are young peo- 

 ple who have left school, and have not yet settled 

 in life. This is the golden age for education, cor- 

 responding to the time spent at college by those 

 who can afford it. From these classes, if from 

 any, must be drawn the affiliated students whom 

 the extension movement will link with the uni- 

 versity. If the lectures are delivered at night, 

 they are usually attended by clerks and shop peo- 

 ple, who are at work in the day. 



However, the most interesting field of work 

 which the movement has yet found has been the 

 artisans, and among these are pre-eminent the 

 miners of Northumberland. Mr. Roberts, the 

 organizing secretary, writes, after a fortnight's 

 visitation to Northumberland, " I wish I could 

 adequately describe the impression this fortnight's 



