1883.] 
On Technical Education. 
97 
teaching: one teacher taught, according to the Report, in 
no less than nine distinct schools ; another taught in eight 
schools under the Department, and in one at least under the 
City and Guilds of London Institute ; and several, as shown 
by the Report, in six, jive, and four different schools. 
A gentleman told me a few years ago that in order to gain 
a living he had, in addition to teaching in a day school, to 
teach evening classes, and some of the places where these 
were held were so far removed from where he lived that he 
did not reach home sometimes until 2 o’clock in the morning ; 
he added, it was killing work. Another gentleman has stated 
to me — “ I certainly am not contented with the work I have 
to do ; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. three days a week, 10 to 5 two days, 
10 to 1 Saturdays ; these are my hours, and I teach no less 
than eight Science subjects. From all this, if the results are 
good, I make about £250 a year ; chance of promotion none. 
I really feel that I am throwing the best years of my life 
away in useless drudgery, for I do not like ( or know much 
about) the large majority of the Sciences I teach. 
I think our Commissions need not go far from home to learn 
why we are so far behind other countries in scientific and 
technical education. A true instructor adapts his methods 
and processes of instruction to the mental capacity of each 
of his students; but how can a teacher who has either many 
subjects or many classes to teach do this ? it is both a phy- 
sical and mental impossibility. Prof. Fleeming Jenkin con- 
siders that, even under the most favourable circumstances, it 
is very difficult to obtain Science teachers capable of rendering 
Science as a good and mental discipline, as the teachers of 
the dead languages made their subjects : “ for this reason 
Latin and Greek were dead languages, and did not change ; 
they were taught now as they were fifty years ago ; but 
Science changed with inconceivable rapidity, almost from 
day to day. What were the first-fruits of Science last year 
was already antiquated, and the difficulty was how to get a 
body of teachers who could follow all these constant changes 
at the same time they were imparting instruction in second- 
ary schools. He did not say it was impossible, but there was 
a great difficulty.” 
(To be continued.) 
