446 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mous waste of energy and the life-long unhappiness ■which, arise 

 from mistakes in one's calling, is certainly a highly important 

 function of an institution which professes to prepare a lad for the 

 problems of daily living. The absence of pronounced taste in the 

 boy is not the only obstacle to be overcome. There are few boys 

 totally devoid of some interest which may be made available for 

 future work, but it needs something to bring it out. The ordi- 

 nary school training does not do it. In the outcry which is peri- 

 odically made against what is mistakenly called " over-education/' 

 there is discernible the bitter tone of men who feel in a blind way 

 that somehow the schools have cheated them in so ill-preparing 

 them for life. There is much reason in their complaint. It is not 

 true that such questions are outside the business of the school. 

 What a boy is to do after he leaves school is very much the busi- 

 ness of the school, and its neglect is scarcely less than criminal. 

 If what is done before graduation bears no relation to what is to 

 be done after graduation, then the school — and it is said in all 

 soberness — had better give place to the gymnasium, for that at 

 least would give health and beauty in place of narrow chests 

 and pseudo-culture. But the faculty of a manual training school 

 do not so believe. They believe that the development of a 

 useful, judiciously chosen purpose in life is a very important 

 element in education, and it receives in such schools an amount 

 of attention commensurate with its importance. A boy can not 

 judge rightly for what sort of work he is best fitted unless 

 his experience be so enlarged by those who guide his course that 

 he shall at least come in contact with the different departments 

 of human activity, and taste them, if we may so phrase it, for 

 himself. Even with these advantages, the choice is a difficult 

 one. The first boyish impulse is not always to be trusted ; but, 

 by giving these impulses as free play as practicable during the 

 three years of the course, the chances of mistake are at least 

 greatly reduced. In a well - equipped manual training school 

 there are few boys who are not able to become interested and 

 proficient in some one of its several departments. In the hope of 

 making the school still more useful in helping boys to select a 

 suitable life-work, and in helping to prepare them to carry it out 

 with efficiency, the plan of post-graduate study has been intro- 

 duced. By permitting a boy to work a year in that particular 

 department where his undergraduate performances have shown 

 the greatest promise, he can be still more effectively prepared for 

 the work of the world. This is a special and experimental feat- 

 ure of the school at Philadelphia. The results indicate that it is 

 worthy of further extension. 



It is significant of the spirit of its teaching that so large a 

 proportion of manual-training graduates continue their studies in 



