PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTES  OF  TRAVEL. 
109 
tainly  a  great  desideratum  to  teach  experimental  chemistry  by 
a  more  popular  and  economical  way  than  that  ordinarily  pur- 
sued in  laboratories,  and  I  was  anxious  to  find  in  this  an  improve- 
ment on  other  methods.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  separate  the 
lecture  from  the  manipulation,  devoting  a  certain  time  to  each, 
adopting  the  same  plan  of  grouping  the  students  into  classes, 
but  teaching  the  manipulations  to  each  group  separately  ? 
It  would  not  be  just  to  the  course  of  instruction  upon  which 
I  have  thus  ventured  to  comment,  to  dismiss  it  without  acknow- 
ledging the  general  familiarity  of  the  class  with  the  subject  of 
the  examination,  the  apparent  efficiency  of  the  instruction  so 
far  as  the  plan  admits  of  it,  and  the  great  advantages  furnished 
to  those  who  availed  themselves  of  the  privileges  of  the  practical 
laboratory.  I  shall  always  regret  that  for  want  of  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  Prof.  Anderson,  and  an  attendance  at  a  more 
favorable  period  of  the  course,  I  missed  of  a  better  acquaintance 
with  this  method,  aiming,  as  it  does,  at  the  simplifying  and  econ- 
omising the  now  expensive  and  tedious  instruction  in  Practical 
Chemistry. 
The  Andersonian  University  is  another  Glasgow  school,  hav- 
ing a  good  building,  a  tolerable  museum,  open  to  the  public, 
(fee  one  penny,)  and  a  practical  laboratory.  Dr.  Penny,  the 
professor  of  Chemistry  was  absent,  and  no  course  of  lectures 
was  in  progress.  This  laboratory  was  furnished  in  a  much 
cheaper  style  than  that  of  the  University ;  the  fees  being  only 
one  guinea  ($5  25,)  a  month,  exclusive  of  the  apparatus  which 
the  student  is  obliged  to  purchase  for  himself,  and  may  keep  in 
a  separate  closet,  together  with  the  products  of  his  manipula- 
tions. Here,  as  in  the  University  laboratory,  gas  is  the  chief 
fuel  used, though  instead  of  cylinders  covered  with  wire  gauze,such 
as  we  use,  they  employ  cylinders  open  at  both  ends,  tapering  to. 
ward  the  top,  and  standing  on  wire  feet.  The  tripods  for  hold- 
ing capsules  and  crucibles  were  made  by  taking  three  pieces  of 
wire  of  equal  length,  bending  them  twice  at  right  angles,  and 
binding  them  together  with  fine  wire.  This  Institution  is  of  a 
popular  character,  having  scientific  courses  of  six  months'  dura- 
tion, adapted  to  apprentices  as  well  as  students  qualifying  them- 
selves for  the  professions.  During  a  short  stay  in  Glasgow,  I 
met  with  one  illustration  of  its  advantages,  not  only  in  inspiring 
