country. A building somewhat resembling in style those this section of the French portion of the Universal Exthat have been raised of late years in England and else-hibition but such as have been previously received into where for industrial exhibitions, and capable of containing the preliminary exhibition, but objects which, on account about 26,000 persons, had been constructed, on purpose for of their weight, size, or other circumstances, are difficult the occasion, on the right bank of the Elbe, about a mile to transport, will be examined by the committee, or its from the town. Being intended for a music hall, it was delegates, at the producer's house. built of wood, and the interior was decorated with paintings and transparencies illustrative of German history and art. Nearly one-half of the ground-floor was occupied by the orchestra, calculated to contain 12,000 singers, besides the instrumental performers, the remainder of the space being left to the audience, for the upper classes of which were also galleries, which ran round the greater part of the builting. The exits and entrances, as well as the ventilation, were admirably managed, so that, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, little inconvenience was felt from it, as any spectator who wished to go into the open air could easily do so from any part of the building. The singers, who were to take a part in this great national festival had been invited from every clime and region where Germans are to be found. Each of these choral bands was preceded in the great procession by a silk banner, showing whence they caine; and on these might be read, not only countries like Hungary, Schleswig-Holstein, and others bordering on Germany, but Australia, New York, Cincinnati, and even China. All these choral societies had been supplied with the music and parts which they were expected to sing, and thus, as they came prepared, it was not so impracticable as might have been expected for the conductor to direct the vocalization of this mouster chorus. On Monday, which was the great day of the Festival, the singers assembled under their respective banners in a central place in the town, near the residence of the Minister, M. de Beust, and thence they walked eight abreast in procession through the principal streets and over the bridge to the great Music Hall. The streets were admirably kept, no carriage being allowed in those through which the procession passed, and some idea of their numbers may be formed from the fact that, although marching quick step, and with little incidental interruption, the procession occupied four hours and a half in filing past. Notwithstanding the cheers and the flowers with which they were greeted from almost every window under which they passed, and the more substantial solace of beer offered them from many an open door, the greater part of them must have been greatly oppressed with heat, dust, and fatigue before they reached the Music Hall. Nevertheless they sang lustily through the evening, and the effect of some of the National German ballads, sung by eleven or twelve thousand voices in chorus will not easily be forgotten by any one present who had any feeling for music. PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION OF 1867. The Imperial Commission has issued a series of regulations concerning the important section of the Exhibition which is devoted to objects specially connected with the amelioration of the physical and moral condition of the population-such as, the means and methods of infant education: books, and other means, for adult and family education; economic furniture, clothing, and articles of food; popular and working costumes; cheap habitations: implements, tools, processes, &c. These regulations only apply to French exhibitors, but they furnish hints for all the world. -Seven committees have been formed for the admission objects in this section; and five of these committees are charged, moreover, with the task of arranging a preparatory exhibition, which is to take place in the Palais de l'Industrie, in the Champs Elysées, but will not be open to the public. The whole of the expenses of arrangement will, in the case of this preparatory exhibition, be borne by the Imperial Commission. No articles will be admitted to Measures of this character tend greatly to produce that completeness for which the French exhibitions are already remarkable; and it is certainly the duty of every nation to consider how the most complete collection may be made in each of its sections and classes. From the very nature of some articles such preliminary exhibitions would be next to impossible, and comparatively useless, if practicable, while in others, the position of this country, amongst exhibiting nations, will depend in a great measure on the soundness of the preliminary steps that may be taken. There have been many almirable local exhibitions of late in England, and it is worth consideration whether the intervening time might not be well occupied by preliminary exhibitions of various kinds, for it is not the country that sends the largest amount of contributions, but that which sends the choicest and best arranged collection, which will make the best figure. A superabundance of objects diverts the attention from the most important amongst them; while a well-conceived and well executed plan sets everything off to the best possible advantage. England has a year before her for preparation; her resources are immense, and she ought to make the most of the opportunity, and show the world in 1867 that her skill, science, and art have been advancing with her trade and commerce. The Imperial Commission has adopted a different system for its working than that which has hitherto been employed on such occasions in France; the central administration only employs at present between twenty and thirty persons, and much, of the preliminary work at least, will be done by local and special committees. Ninety-five committees, or juries of admission, corresponding with the number of classes in the arrangement adopted, have been appointed to receive and consider the applications for space. These committees consist principally of men of science, artists and manufacturers, with whom a few officials and men of letters are associated, and they form together a body of four hundred persons well and honourably known to the public. In each department of the empire also a committee has been formed to aid the Imperial Commission with its local influence. These arrangements, together with the guarantee fund, give to the coming Exhibition more of a national character than its predecessors, and there is no doubt that the effect will be salutary. There is another project spoken of which also indicates a tendency towards decentralization. It is said that it is not proposed to establish a general system of supplying motive power, but to make the motors themselves, with their appurtenances, a portion of the Exhibition. This has already been done, partially, at previous exhibitions; but the Imperial Commission contemplates its general application. The plan spoken of is to divide the machinery gallery into sixteen sections, and to entrust the supply of the necessary power to those who offer the most advantageous terms. The Champ de Mars, where the building for the Exhibition is to be erected, is now being tenced in, and the drainage commenced. The outline plan of the building and its arrangements has appeared, and seems to meet with general approval. The building itself is to be of an obtuse ovoid form, the centre being occupied by a garden, and the various groups and sections of the Exhibition being ranged round in zones, the fine arts occupying the place next the central garden and the machinery the outer zone. Each country will occupy a space enclosed by radii of the oval, the distance between which will of course be regulated by the amount of contributions. The building will occupy only the central portion of the Champ de Mars; the rest of the ground is to be planted as a park, enclosing the buildings for the exhibition of cattle, model cottages, and other things requiring much space. But the building itself will be brought into direct communication with the main roads which pass near it, and also with the river, by means of broad covered ways on the line of the main axis of the building, so that in case of bad weather the public will be under shelter from the extreme limits of the Exhibition. This will be a great convenience, especially to ladies, children, and invalids. ON THE COMMERCIAL USE OF FLOWERS. BY EUGENE RIMMEL. (Author of the "Book of Perfumes," &c.) The following lecture, illustrated with practical experiments, was delivered before the Royal Horticultural Society on the 27th of July : Flowers are a source of pleasure and gratification to all, be they learned or ignorant; to many they offer particular attractions as an object of cultivation and study; for a few only they possess considerable importance as an article of commerce. It is on this point of view alone that I shall have the pleasure of addressing you to-day. We are all led by a natural instinct to enjoy the pleasant odours diffused by fragrant flowers and plants. The humble floweret which blooms wild in the plain or on the mountain shares equally with its prouder sister which ornaments our garden the privilege of embalming the air, and of creating on our minds a cheerful impression. This charm, however, is of short duration; the flower soon fades and droops, the plant dries and sheds its leaves; and were not some means adopted to save their aromatic treasures in all their vitality and strength, we should be left, especially in northern climes, entirely deprived of "sweet smells" for many a long dreary month. To the art of perfumery we are indebted for this miracle, and for reviving in the middle of winter the enjoyments of the floral season; for, as Shakespeare says: "Then were not Summer's distillation left, But flowers distill'd though they with winter meet, Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet." The origin of perfumery, like that of all ancient arts, has been the subject of great controversy. Some assert it took its birth in Mesopotamia; others in Elam or ancient Persia, others again in Arabia; which has long en joyed and still retains the name of the "land of perfumes." It is, however, certain that the first perfumes were obtained by a combustion of aromatic woods and gums (hence the name per fumum," through smoke") and that the first use primitive nations made of them was to offer them on the altars erected to their gods, perhaps with the mystic idea that their prayers would reach them sooner wafted on the blue wreaths of smoke, or for the less poetical purpose of counteracting the smell of the flesh burned in their sacrifices. Modern incense derives its sweet balsamic smell from benzoin (Styraz benzoin), which also forms one of the chief ingredients in pastilles and fumigating papers. Stacte is a The holy incense mentioned in the Exodus as having been prepared by Moses, consisted in equal parts of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense. kind of myrrh; onycha, a sort of shell found in the Red Sea; galbanum, an aromatic balsam; and frankitable of all the perfumes known and used by the ancient the gum of the Boswellia thurifera. I have here a Jews, amongst which you will find the celebratel spikenard, which Sir W. Jones has proved beyond a doubt to be the Valeriana Jatamansi. cense, Frankincense (Boswelia thurifera). Henna or Camphire (Lawsonia inermis), with enlarged leaf and fo cious liquid called rose-water. I have here an Arabic manuscript of the 12th century, treating of medicine and perfumery, which at that time were combined in one, and containing, perhaps, the first illustration of a still, which was then of very rude construction. Some centuries later, as Noorjehan Begum, the favourite wife of Jehan-Geer, was walking in her garden, through which ran a canal of rose water, she remarked a few icy particles floating on the surface; they were carefully gathered and found to possess an intense and delightful fragrance. This is given by Lieut.-Col. Polier as the origin of the far-famed otto of roses, which still sells in India for 60 rupees, or £6, per ounce. Various ottoes or essential oils are now made in India from native fragrant flowers, principally at Ghazepore, on the banks of the Ganges. Besides the rose, they distil several sorts of jasmine, the pandang (Pandanus odoratissimus), the champac (Michelia champaca), the kurna (Phoenix dactilifera), the bookool or maulsari (Minusops elengi), and the blossoms of the henna (Lawsonia inermis), the leaves of which are largely used by Eastern women for imparting a rosy tint to their fingers, the palms of their hands, and the soles of their feet. These essential oils are made in very primitive clay stills; the distillate is left to stand over night in open vessels, and the oil is skimmed off in the morning. They would be very beautiful if they were not spoiled by the admixture of sandal-wood shavings, which facilitated distillation, but give them all the same heavy flavour. There are four means in use among modern European perfumers for extracting the aroma from fragrant substances: distillation, maceration, absorption, and expression. Distillation, which is applied to plants, seeds, barks, woods, and a few flowers, consists, as you all probably know, in placing the substance from which the scent is to be extracted in a copper vessel called a still, with enough water to cover it. Heat is applied, and the steam generated, which, impregnated with the fragrant molecules, passes through the head of the still into the worm, a coiled pipe placed in a tub, where it beco.nes condensed by means of the surrounding water, which is constantly kept cool, issues in liquid form at the tap, and flows into the recipient. If sufficiently loaded with aroma it then separates into two parts, the most concentrated of which, called the essential oil, collects either on the surface or at the bottom, according to its specific gravity. It is then decanted, and the water used again for distilling, unless it is of sufficient value in itself to be saved, as is the case with rose and orange flower-water. The recipient you see here is called a florentine recipient, from its having been first used at Florence, where flower distilleries still exist. It is constructed in such a way as to allow the water to escape whilst retaining the essential oil. A great improvement has been lately effected in dis-, without dissolving the bitter principles frequently residing tillation, which consists in suspending the fragrant sub- in the basis. stance on a sieve in the still, and causing a jet of steam to pass through. This operation produces a finer essential oil than by allowing the substances to be steeped in water, as it only carries off the most delicate part of the aroma The fragrant principles of all aromatic plants may be extracted by distillation, in the shape of essential oil; in fact, it exists ready formed in many of them, contained in minute vesicles, as you may see by bruising a thyme or rosemary leaf. Such is not the case with flowers; the aroma they possess, with a very few exceptions, is so fugitive that it would become destroyed in the process. In that case maceration or absorption is resorted to. Maceration consists in steeping flowers in a bath of hot grease, letting them infuse for some time, and renewing them until the grease is completely saturated. This grease, which is called pommade, is then submitted to strong pressure in horsehair bags. Oil is also perfumed in the same way, but requires less heat. This process is applied to rose, violet, cassie, jonquil, and orange flowers, but for more delicate flowers, such as jasmine and tuberose, the absorption, or enfleurage system, is employed. Purified grease is spread in a thin layer on a pane of glass mounted in a wooden frame or sash; fresh flowers are strewed over this grease, and renewed every morning; at the end of two or three weeks this grease or pommade acquires the scent of the flower in a high degree. Perfumed oil is made in the same way by substituting a wire bottom to the frame, and spreading on it a thick cotton cloth, steeped in the finest olive oil, which is pressed out of it after complete saturation. These frames are piled on each other to keep them well closed. documents collected by Mr. T. Twining, in pursuance of the inquiry adverted to in the Journal for January 13th. 1865, p. 129: The Industrial Schools of Belgium are ten in number. namely the Industrial School of Bruges, the Industria School of Gand, the School of Arts and Trades at Tour nay, the Training School of Soignies, the Industrial School of Liège, the School for Workmen at Verviers, the School for Industrial Drawing and Weaving at Verviers, and the Industrial Schools of Huy and Seraing. Amongst the Industrial Schools may be included the Higher Institution of Commerce of Antwerp, although it differs from them essentially. With the exception of the Schools of Gand and Liège, these institutions are of recent date. The State in gebe ral has had some share in the expenses of their establishment. Although Government gave some aid every year to the expenses of these schools, yet it did not interfere at all in a direct manner in their management till 1859, and till then left to the communes the nearly exclusive guardianship of the high interests belonging to the establishments. But from that time they were reorganised completely by Government. Monsieur Séméria, of Nice, lately devised an improved The instruction is free, except at Antwerp. Those sort of frame for the enfleurage of jasmine. Instead of only are admitted to the schools who are under a fixed laying the flowers on the grease, he places them on a fine age, and who have passed a preliminary examination, net mounted on a separate frame; this net is introduced showing them to possess a certain general knowledge. between two glass frames, covered on each side with such as is obtainable in the higher classes of elementary grease. The whole series of frames is enclosed in an air-schools; but there are also evening classes for adults tight recess, and all that is required is to draw out the which serve, if needed, as preparatory schools. nets every morning, and fill them with fresh flowers, which give their aroma to the two surfaces with which they are in contact. This saves the waste resulting from having to pick out the old flowers. Each establishment is under the direction of a managing committee. Its staff consists of a director, professors, and one or more inspectors named by the common counel and approved by the Minister of the Interior. The comMr. Piver, the eminent Parisian perfumer, has like-mittee fixes the hours of the classes, exercises a general wise invented a very ingenious pneumatic apparatus for supervision over the studies and discipline, and sends an making these pommades. It consists in a series of perfor-annual report on the state of the school to the Minister ated plates, supporting flowers placed alternately with sheets of glass overlaid with grease, in a chamber through which a current of air is made to pass several times, until all the scent of the flowers is carried into the grease. These two processes of maceration and absorption are founded on the affinity which fragrant molecules possess for greasy bodies, becoming fixed into them more readily than into any other. Thus the aroma of flowers is first transferred to these pommades, which are made afterwards to yield it to alcohol, whilst the latter, if placed in direct contact with the flowers, would not extract it from them. These alcoholic extracts form the basis of the finest perfumes, as they possess the true scent of the flower in all its freshness and delicacy. The best are made from pommades, those made from oil retaining a slightly oily flavour which is not, agreeable. M. Millon, an eminent French chemist, discovered another mode of extracting the aroma of flowers by placing them in a percolating apparatus and pouring over them sulphuret of carton or ether. The liquid is then placed in a still, the sulphuret of carbon or ether evaporates, and leaves a dry waxy residue, which possesses the aroma of the flower in its most highly concentrated form. This process has not yet received a practical application owing to the expense attending it, as it requires an immense quantity of flowers to make a single ounce of these concrete essences. It is, however, very interesting, as an illustration of the absolute imponderability of perfumes, for although this substance appears at first sight to be the solidified principle of scent, if you treat it several times with alcohol it loses all its fragrance, but not an atom of its weight. (To be continued.) TECHNICAL TRAINING OF ARTISANS. of the Interior. The director is usually chosen from amongst the professors; he is entrusted with the superintendence of the studies and the carrying out of the regulations with regard to the teaching and discipline. THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL OF BRUGES (l'Ecole Industrielle de Bruges) was founded in 1853; it is annexed to the Academy of the Fine Arts, and placed under the direc tion of the parochial Board. Its object is to initiate young artizans into that knowledge which in general is most indispensable for arts and trades. The instruction com prises elementary mathematics, mechanics, physics, and chemistry in its applications to manufactures and drawing. It is of an elementary and at the same time practical nature, and lasts about three years for the whole course. The classes are so arranged that the pupils of both schools may follow them in common. The pupils of the Academy receive at the industrial school the theoretical lessons necessary for forming good workmen; at the Academy they receive the instruction in drawing which relates to industrial art. The government of the school is in the hands of a committee composed of six members, two named by the parochial board, two by the existing deputies of the province, and two by the Minister of the Interior. THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL OF GAND (l'Ecole Industrekt de Gand).-Under this name are united in one Inst tution the industrial school and the school for industrial designing and weaving of this town. The first of these establishments was founded previously to 1830, and Wa governed by a code of r gulations, bearing the date of 27th November, 1833. The latter was in-tituted in 195 The new regulations decided on by the parochial burd and approved of by the Minister of the Interior, bearing the date of 26th October, 1860, established the manner in which these two Institutions were to be governed. The classes of the two Institutions were united and made to include elementary algebra and geometry, descriptive geometry, plan and ornamental drawing, elements of physics and industrial mechanics, weaving, the technology of textile fabrics, chemistry, and industrial | drawing (particularly that applied to manufactures), and economy. The classes are conducted both in French and Flemish, and are extended over a period of four years. The classes are public and free, with the exception of those for drawing and weaving. The number is, on an average, 900, who follow one or more courses of lectures in different branches, but principally in industrial mechanics. It is worthy to be noticed that the majority of the professors at this school are former pupils of the classes. This circumstance is perhaps not without its influence on the practical results which this Institution has produced. These results are manifold. Thus, as to the pupils themselves, almost all of whom received their education at the free parochial school, they are now to be seen at the head of almost every industrial workshop, some as the owners, the majority as directors and foremen, and it is only by an exception, which is becoming rarer from day to day, that one meets anywhere a foreign foreman. As to the local industry, the results are not less striking. THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES OF TOURNAY (l'Ecole d'Arts et Métiers de Tournay) was opened in 1841, for the purpose of perfecting the manufactures of the town of Tournay, and for forming good foremen and workmen. Under the old organisation, the pupils paid annually the sum of £10 (250 fr.), for which they were boarded, lodged, clothed, received a certain elementary instruction, and were taught a trade. By the decree of the 1st October, 1860, this establishment has been quite reorganised, and everything has been taken away from the new institution which was contrary to what it was really designed for, namely, to its being an establishment for the technical teaching of the working classes. Thus, the boarding-school has been suppressed, and in order to render the school perfectly industrial in character, public evening classes have been formed, which all workmen and apprentices are allowed to attend gratuitously. The pupils receive technical instruction in the workshops. Before the reorganisation took place there were four workshops in the school- the building workshop, the workshops for cap-making, copper-smiths' work, and weaving. The two latter have been discontinued, as they afforded no good results. By way of compensation for this, the workshop for cap-making has been notably developed and raised to perfection. At the same time the stock of tools for the workshops for building machines has been completed. The theoretical instruction given at the school consists of arithmetic, elementary geometry, physics, chemistry and mechanics, and mechanical drawing. The budget of the school is as follows. 1st. The salaries. B. Expenses. 2nd. The money necessary for the keeping in repair and the improvement of the apparatus for teaching, and the expenses of the distribution of the prizes. 3rd. The expenses of warming and lighting. 4th. Additional expenses. THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL OF LIEGE (l'Ecole Industrielle de Liége) was first erected by some private individuals during the latter years of the union with Holland. It preserved the character of a private establishment till 1852, when the Commune of Liège, having recognised its utility, admitted it among the communal establishments, and determined to reorganise it, which was accordingly done in 1860. hygiene. It is given by six professors, one of whom is the director. The classes are held every evening from seven to nine, and are gratuitous. There is likewise a preparatory section, the classes of which are also held in the evening, and a special class for stokers. The duration of the studies is three years. No pupil can be admitted who is less than fourteen years old, and who has not undergone satisfactorily a preliminary examination in reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic, and the elements of drawing. The number of pupils varies from two to three hundred. The new organisation which it has just received will probably add much to the advantages which the manufacturers of Liége derive from this establishment. The budget of this school is of a similar nature to that of the last. The remaining industrial schools of Belgium, which I have not noticed, are of a similar character to the abovementioned ones; the subjects taught there are almost exactly the same, except, that at the school of Soignies the theory of stone cutting and modelling is taught, and that at the school of Seraing the pupils learn, among other subjects, the working of coal mines. Amongst the educational establishments for the improvement of the working classes, perhaps the most important are the apprentice workshops (les ateliers d'apprentissage), a good account of which is given by M. de Grave in his "Notice sur les Ateliers d'Apprentissage dans les Flandres."* He states that the principal employment of the working classes in Flanders was weaving by hand, but when machine weaving was introduced into England, a great part of the business of the Flemish weavers was taken away from them. By a fatal coincidence, too, just at the moment when a trade which had seemed inherent in the soil of Flanders was being taken out of the hands of a quarter of a million of workmen, a potato famine and an epidemic of typhus fever added their horrors to the general distress. In order to furnish a mode of gaining a livelihood to the women spinners who had been thus deprived of all means of subsistence, there were instituted in nearly all the communes of Flanders, by means of pecuniary aid from Government, manufacturing schools, in which women and girls, under the superintendence of skilled mistresses, were taught embroidery, glove-making, sewing, knitting, and especially lace-making of all kinds. But it was not only spinning by hand that thus became lost to Flanders as a branch of industry, but also hand-weaving as then carried on. The weavers had never produced but one kind of work, as they had always been certain of being able to dispose of it advantageously. Their tools had remained the same for ages, and hence they were unable to struggle with success against the more perfect machinery, then introduced into Ireland. This being the state of the case, it became necessary for Government to take measures for the protection of weaving. In order to carry out the designs of Government the apprentice-workshops were introduced. The organisation and the carrying on of establishments of this class was necessarily economical. The brauches of industry exereised there, were placed completely under the management of those masters (industriels) who were willing to undertake it. Government reserved itself solely the light of watching over these establishments and seeing the execution of contracts carried out. The superintendence was exercised by the provincial inspector of workshops, and by a special committee appointed for each workshop, and composed as much as possible of persons of the neighbourhood acquainted with industry. In the contracts relating to these workshops, it was always expressly stipulated that the contractors Congrès International de Bienfaisance de Londres. Session The instruction comprises elementary mathematics and descriptive geometry in their applications to manufactures, physics, elementary and applied mechanics, chemistry, de 1862. Tome I. |