Jttne 10, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



567 



school-keeper ' that belittles the school. The true, 

 high-minded, hard-working, untiring, conscien- 

 tious, progressive, enthusiastic, God-fearing 

 teacher never belittles the school, society, or him- 

 self, but raises the standard of each. 



Perhaps before closing we should explain one 

 ■of those adjectives, viz., 'enthusiastic' 



We certainly think the professional teacher 

 should be enthusiastic ; because those who ac- 

 complish the most good are those who have 

 •energy and enthusiasm, and show by their work 

 that they are in earnest, and believe what 

 they do to be worth doing well. There is a 

 ■difference, however, between a demonstrative 

 and an enthusiastic mauner. To be noisy, flighty, 

 or fussy is not to be aniniated. Animation or 

 enthusiasm is earnestness without undue excite- 

 ment. William M. Giffin. 



INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN THE PUBLIC 

 SCHOOLS OF GERMANY. 



My observations on the industrial training of 

 the public schools of Germany are chiefly con- 

 fined to the city of Darmstadt, the capital of the 

 grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. 



For many jears the court of this grand-duchy 

 ■of Hesse has drawn to the capital the representa- 

 tives of the best education and culture ; and its 

 school system is undoubtedly the fairest model in 

 central Germany. 



Besides it-s common public schools, the city 

 -contains a polytechnic school, a gymnasium, a 

 realschule, a school for the higher education of 

 .girls, several private schools, and a number of 

 kindergartens. 



To the noble efforts of the much-lamented 

 Princess Alice may be largely attributed the in- 

 terest that, since her death, has been taken 

 throughout Germany in industrial training for 

 girls. As soon as Princess Alice came to Darm- 

 stadt, she made her influence felt. The Alicen- 

 Verein was organized with the princess as presi- 

 dent, and Fraulein Louise Biichner as vice-presi- 

 dent. This Verein is an association of women, 

 whose object is to imj)art instruction in the various 

 ■duties of housekeeping to mothers and their 

 daughters, and to encourage them to better 

 morals and habits of life, and inspire them with 

 a higher ideal of w. Tomanhoodhis association 

 started an entirely new and popular interest in 

 girls' hand-work, — that kind of industrial train- 

 ing for girls which is now one of the regular 

 branches taught in all the public schools of Ger- 

 many. 



In a country like Germany, with a dense popu- 

 lation and with a sharp competition in all the de- 



partments of labor, with enfeebled natural re- 

 sources, the only temporal salvation for the masses 

 is work, — patient, continuous, and remunerative 

 manual labor. Now, when this work is performed 

 by an educated and skilful hand, it is plain that 

 its effectiveness is enormously increased. The 

 boy who has received industrial training is more 

 apt to learn a trade ; he is better prepared, as the 

 masses must be in all countries, to make a living 

 with his hands ; he will be a happier man, more 

 contented, and less willing to leave his fatherland 

 and emigrate to foreign lands. These are un- 

 doubtedly some of the strongest reasons why the 

 German government shows such a solicitude for 

 the industrial training of its youth. At Darm- 

 stadt, a few years ago, several private citizens 

 made an experiment in giving industrial instruc- 

 tion to boys after school-hours. The results of 

 the experiment were such convincing proofs of the 

 needs of such instruction in every city, that the 

 institution was incorporated, and became a branch 

 of the public-school system, although no special 

 provision had been made in the school law, such 

 as had been made for the industrial training of 

 girls. 



The manual-training schools are intended for 

 that class of boys — and a very large class it is in 

 every city — that idle away their time before and 

 after school on the street, where they learn more 

 readily the vices of the depraved than the virtues 

 of the good, and so counteract whatever of hon- 

 esty, patience, perseverance, kindness, and obedi- 

 ence the teacher at school may attempt to incul- 

 cate. This is the reason why the boys in our 

 country, as well as in Germany, who have to work 

 before and after school, make the best progress in 

 their studies, and are the most obedient, and give 

 least-trouble to the teacher at school. 



In Germany the schools close the daily session 

 at about 2.30. After this time, the bojs who, 

 either through poverty or the indifference of 

 parents, are not properly and healthfully em- 

 ployed, must attend the industrial school for the 

 rest of the day. In the industrial school at Darm- 

 stadt, in the summer-time, the boys are put to 

 work in the different gardens belonging to the in- 

 stitution. They are divided into classes or com- 

 panies, each under the supervision of a teacher. 

 One day I saw a company of boys, aboiit twenty 

 in number, between the ages of nine and ten, en- 

 gaged at transplanting cabbage-plants, and for the 

 first time in my life did I discover that there is an 

 intelligent way of doing work even as trifling as 

 this seems to be. In another part of the garden a 

 company of older boys was preparing the ground 

 for a new crop : the work was likewise systemati- 

 cally and even scientifically performed. In other 



