1881.] 



President's Address. 



59 



In May last the foundation stone of the Finsbury College was laid 

 by H.R.H. Prince Leopold, and the new building, which will afford 

 accommodation for the teaching of applied Chemistry, Physics, and 

 Mechanics, will be finished early in next year. Notwithstanding the 

 inadequacy of the present temporary accommodation, large numbers 

 of students have availed themselves of the instruction afforded. The 

 principles of Electric Lighting and Transmission of Power, the making 

 of Electrical Instruments, Coal Tar, and Spirit Distilling have been 

 the subjects that have been chiefly studied during the past session. 



Since October the classes that were previously conducted by the 

 Artizans' Institute have been transferred to the Finsbury College. 



The Institute has under its consideration the establishment of a 

 School for Applied Art in connexion with the Finsbury College. 

 Acting on the general principle that every Technical School of this 

 kind ought to provide, in addition to the general course of instruction, 

 as applicable to different industries, special courses applicable to the 

 staple industry of the district, the Council of the Institute are con- 

 templating the establishment of classes in the Finsbury College 

 adapted to the educational requirements of those engaged in Cabinet- 

 making. With this object it will be necessary to attach a School of 

 Design to the College. 



The influx of pupils to the studios in Kennington have induced the 

 Council to vote a sum of money for the extension of the building in 

 which the Art School of this district is conducted. These new build- 

 ings are nearly completed, and will afford accommodation for classes 

 in Modelling, Design, and Wood Engraving. 



The building of the central institution, which is to be in the first 

 place a school for the training of technical teachers, has been com- 

 menced. The first stone was set in July last by H.K.H. the Prince of 

 Wales, who is now the President of the Institute. The plans of this 

 building show accommodation for the teaching of the different branches 

 of Physics in their application to various industries, of Chemistry as 

 applied to trade purposes, and of Mathematics and Mechanics in their 

 application to Engineering. A good engineering school, containing 

 workshops, well supplied with machinery and collections of mechanical 

 instruments and models, such as exist in numerous Continental cities, 

 seems likely to be obtained for London on the completion of this 

 bu ilding. 



This Institute has done much towards the encouragement of tech- 

 nical instruction in provincial towns, where it is most needed, by its 

 vsystem of annual examinations. In the examination held in May last 

 1,563 candidates presented themselves, in 28 subjects, from 115 centres, 

 and of these 895 passed. A close connexion is being established 

 between the several technical schools which are being now opened in 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the City and Guilds of London 



