793 
i 879 *J England , France , Germany . 
That the school turns out excellent workers may be judged 
from the fadt that the average age of the pupils who left 
the school in 1877 was z 7 i years, and their average earnings 
in the places they had obtained was 3s. 1 ^d. per day, one 
boy of 17 getting as much as 5s. 4 ^d. per day as a smith. 
The instruction is entirely gratuitous, and the whole of the 
necessary tools, machines, books, &c., are supplied by 
the Municipality. The system pursued in this school 
appears to be of the very highest order, and should 
serve as a model for all future schools of the kind. The 
Besan9on School of Horology is managed on similar prin- 
ciples, and is a striking success. The school is managed 
and supported entirely by the Besangon Municipality. In 
addition to instruction in every branch of horology, the ap- 
prentices receive lessons in their own language, arithmetic, 
algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry, mechanics, and 
drawing, in so far as they relate to horology. 
The only system remaining for consideration is that of 
half-time schools ; the system has, however, been almost 
discarded in this country, and has only been partially tried 
in France. One radical defeCt in it is, that there is no 
correlation between the work done in the factory and the 
information imparted by the schoolmaster ; the whole of the 
pupils, whether they are intended to be mechanics, dyers, or 
printers, all receive the same kind and quantity of instruction. 
So much for the good work that is being done in France, 
which of all European nations is certainly in the van with 
regard to lower technical education. 
In September last Prof. Thompson visited Germany in 
compliance with the advice of Mr. Mundella, who, in criti- 
cising his paper at the British Association, placed the 
German technical schools above the French. Prof. Thomp- 
son paid visits to the Polytechnicum and Weaving Schools 
at Chemnitz, these being the special establishments pointed 
out by Mr. Mundella, and found, as he expected, that al- 
though the higher technical training schools in Germany 
were superior to those elsewhere, they could show nothing 
in any way equal to the Paris Municipal Apprentice School 
described above. 
Prof. Thompson’s investigations have been so thorough, 
and lead to such practical conclusions, that they should 
receive the serious consideration of those whose business it 
will be to organise either national or local systems of technical 
education. 
The movement of the City Companies has resulted in the 
setting aside annually of £15,000 for the promotion of tech- 
3 e 3 
