SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1887. 



In our issue of Oct. 28 we called attention to the fact that a 

 committee had been appointed by the New York Academy of 

 Sciences to raise funds to erect a monument over the remains of 

 Audubon, who now lies buried in the south-western portion of 

 Trinity Cemetery, near 153d Street and North River. Two or 

 three years ago some gentlemen who visited the cemetery noticed 

 the name of Audubon on a vault which was then in much need of 

 repair, and finding, on inquiry, that this was the burial-place of the 

 great ornithologist, suggested the plan of having his remains re- 

 moved to a more conspicuous position. On making proper repre- 

 sentations to the authorities of the cemetery, they were met with 

 great courtesy ; and after some months, with the consent of the 

 Audubon family, it was decided to change the position of the plot 

 to a place which will be opposite the extension of Audubon Avenue 

 when it is continued to 155th Street, as it probably will be. This 

 plan was accepted by the Audubon family during the last summer, 

 and it was then proposed to erect in the new plot, by national sub- 

 scription, a monument worthy of the greatness of the man. After 

 these arrangements had been completed, the plan was laid before 

 the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science in this city, but no action was taken. At the first meeting 

 of the New York Academy of Sciences this fall, a committee was 

 appointed to raise funds for the monument. Since the date of its 

 appointment, this committee has been quietly at work. After or- 

 ganizing, it communicated with different scientific societies all over 

 the country, from which the most enthusiastic replies have been 

 received. It was decided by the committee, that, on account of the 

 near advent of the election, it was unwise to do much active work 

 at that time ; but now that the election is over, the committee are 

 actively at work, are preparing the designs for the monument, and 

 wish to solicit subscriptions from all parts of the United States. 

 The whole country has for years been justly proud of Audubon's 

 work, which was received both at home and abroad with the great- 

 est enthusiasm. It is considered one of the greatest treasures of 

 any public or private library. Some of the copper-plates of this 

 great work now hang in our museums, and are framed and hung 

 like valuable pictures in the houses of patrons of the arts in this 

 city. It is the founder of American ornithology that it is sought to 

 honor, to whom natural history in this country is almost as much 

 indebted as England is to White of Selborne. It is hoped that 

 every one that loves nature will subscribe, and ask others to sub- 

 scribe, to this fund. It is intended by the committee, as soon as 

 the monument is ready, to have some public ceremonial worthy of 

 the occasion at its unveiling in Trinity Cemetery, and in this way 

 bring into further prominence the great services which Audubon has 

 rendered to the scientific study of natural history in this country. 

 Contributions, however small, may be sent to the treasurer, Dr. N. 

 L. Britton, of the School of Mines of Columbia College. 



It is curious to watch the different approaches made to the 

 same question by various countries. There is now, as is well 

 known, a very general movement throughout this country in favor 

 of what is known as manual training in education. After much 

 misapprehension and tedious explanation the leaders of this move- 

 ment have finally managed to make the educational public under- 

 stand that they advocate manual training mainly for its educational 

 value, and only incidentally for the economic benefits which will 



undoubtedly flow from it. In England, however, where a similar 

 movement is gaining force, the point of view is almost exclusively 

 the economic, and but little is heard of the educational value of man- 

 ual training. The Englishman desires manual training to take the 

 form of technical or trade instruction, in order that England's 

 waning commercial supremacy may be restored and retained. It 

 is very necessary, therefore, in following the English movement in 

 favor of manual training, to understand that its arguments and its 

 point of view are wholly at variance with those of the American 

 movement to introduce manual training into the public schools. 

 Indeed, Mr. William Mather, one of the best authorities in Eng- 

 land on the subject, as well as one of the few Englishmen who 

 thoroughly comprehend the American movement, has said that the 

 English mind has not yet sufficiently advanced educationally to 

 adopt the American view, and that the only sort of manual train- 

 ing which can be successfully advocated in England at present is 

 that which will come under the head of technical education. The 

 inaugural address delivered at University College, Liverpool, by 

 Prof. Hele Shaw, and reported in a recent number of Nature, 

 illustrates excellently what is said above. Professor Shaw began 

 his address by calling attention to the vast and almost incredible 

 change which the present century has witnessed in the industries of 

 the world, and he emphasized the fact that a few years ago circum- 

 stances combined to make Great Britain the principal commercial 

 and manufacturing country of the world. The artificial conditions 

 which brought about this state of things could not and did not last. 

 Foreign nations began to establish mills and work-shops of their 

 own, and, what was of even greater importance, they recognized 

 the necessity of spreading technical knowledge by all possible 

 means. To accomplish this, technical schools instituted and sup- 

 ported by the state, at which instruction could be obtained free or at 

 a merely nominal expense, were established by the more progres- 

 sive countries. The result has been that during the past twenty 

 years numbers of highly educated men have been sent out who 

 were prepared, on becoming foremen, managers, or employers of 

 labor, to take advantage of the latest discoveries and improvements 

 in the various branches of industry, in other words, to use their brains 

 with their hands. The eventual effect of this on England's indus- 

 trial status could be safely predicted, and that it was disastrous the 

 reports of the recent royal commissions on trade depression and on 

 technical education conclusively prove. It must not be thought, 

 however, that the English themselves are not alive to what is going 

 on about them, and the importance of late assigned to the subject 

 of technical education proves that they are looking in the right di- 

 rection for the remedy. The National Association for the Promo- 

 tion of Technical Education has on its roll of membership some of 

 the foremost men of science, men of business, and men of literature 

 in Great Britain. The special government bill which was intro- 

 duced on this subject at the last session of Parliament is proof that 

 ofiScial circles are alive to what is needed. Professor Shaw then 

 asks what the term ' technical education ' really means, and with 

 a touch of humor says that one very general answer to the ques- 

 tion is, " Something to meet the German competition." " This," he 

 adds, " grotesque as it may seem, is much nearer the truth than 

 most of the other definitions of technical education." Of these he 

 quotes a number, and then proceeds to discuss the results attained 

 by the Science and Art department during the past ten years. The 

 other central agency, which has been at work for several years in 

 promoting technical instruction, is the City and Guilds Institute of 

 London, and he points out the very interesting and valuable results 



