MIDLAND INSTITUTE AT BIRMINGHAM.

The Midland Institute at Birmingham was established in 1853, and its formal opening was inaugurated under the auspices of the attendance, and an address of Prince Albert, and of Lord Calthorpe, the President of the Institute, in which the great principles of industrial instruction were admirably set forth.

Lord Calthorpe, the President of the Institute, in his address in behalf of the Council, to Prince Albert, remarked that the enterprise was one of the results of the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851, which had shown that to meet the sharp competition of French and other continental workshops in the markets of the world, the English manufacturer and workman must have a higher scientific and artistic training than was provided in existing institutions of education.

"In the design of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, the general features of a Literary and Scientific Institution are combined with those of a school of industrial science,

In the former department provision will be made for libraries, readingrooms, museums of geology, mineralogy, and natural history, for collections of fine art manufactures, machinery, and mining records, and for lectures and discussions on literary and scientific subjects.

The industrial department, which has received the approval and assistance of the Board of Trade department of science and art, has been already opened with considerable success; provides systematic lectures and class instruction in mathematics, mechanics, chemistry, and other branches of science which are specially applicable to the manufacturing and mining operations of the district.

It is also intended to provide in the same building improved accommodation for the Government School of Ornamental Art, which has long been established in Birmingham with the happiest success.

Such are the general features of an institution destined, as we hope, to advance not only the material, but also the moral welfare of this great community, by uniting men of all ranks and of divers opinions in the promotion of studies which add dignity to daily labor, enlarge the faculties, refine the tastes, and fill the heart with nobler conceptions of man's destiny, and of God's all-wise, all-bounteous love.

On this commanding site, liberally given for the purpose by the municipal corporation of the borough, a building is to be erected in which literature, science and art, may be worthily enshrined under one roof."

In a speech after the corner-stone was "well and truly fixed," Prince Albert uttered some truths which American manufacturers and workingmen will do well to heed.

"Without a knowledge of the laws of nature which are set in operation in every workshop, we are condemned to one of three states: Either we merely go on to do things just as our fathers did, and for no better reason than because they did them so; or, trusting to some personal authority, we adopt at random the recommendation of some specific, in a speculative hope that it may answer; or, lastly-and this is the most favorable casewe ourselves improve upon certain processes; but this can only be the result of an experience hardly earned and dearly bought, and which, after all, can only embrace a comparatively short space of time, and a small number of experiments. From none of these causes can we hope for much progress; for the mind, however ingenious, has no materials to work with, and remains in presence of phenomena, the causes of which are hidden from it. But these laws of nature-these Divine laws-are capable of being discovered and understood, and of being taught, and made our own. This is the task of science; and, while science discovers and teaches these laws, art teaches their application.

Far be it from me to undervalue the creative power of genius, or to treat shrewd common sense as worthless without knowledge. But nobody will tell me that the same genius would not take an incomparably higher flight if supplied with all the means which knowledge can impart; or that common sense does not become, in fact, only truly powerful when in possession of the materials upon which judgment is to be exercised. The study of the laws by which the Almighty governs the universe is therefore our bounden duty. Of these laws our great academies and seats of education have, rather arbitrarily, selected only two spheres or groups (as I may call them,) as essential parts of our national education-the laws which regulate quantities and proportions, which form the subject of mathematics, and the laws regulating the expression of our thoughts through the medium of languagethat is to say grammar, which finds its purest expression in the classical languages. These laws are most important branches of knowledge; their study trains and elevates the mind. But they are not the only ones; there are others which we can not disregard, which we can not do without. There are, for instance, the laws governing the human mind and its relation to the Divine Spirit-the subjects of logic and metaphysics. There are those which govern our bodily nature and its connection with the soul-the subject of physiology and psychology. Those which govern human society and the relations between man and man-the subjects of politics, jurisprudence and political economy, and many others. While of the laws just mentioned some have been recognized as essentials of education in different institutions, and some will, in the course of time, more fully assert their right to recognition, the laws regulating matter and form are those which will constitute the chief object of your pursuits, and as the principle of subdivision of labor is the one most congenial to our age, I would advise you to keep to this speciality, and to follow with undivided attention chiefly the sciences of mechanics, physics and chemistry, and the fine arts in painting, sculpture and architecture. You will thus have conferred an inestimable boon upon your country, and in a short time have the satisfaction of witnessing the beneficial results upon our national powers of production. Other parts of the country will, I doubt not, emulate your example, and I live in hopes that all these institutions will some day find a central point of union, and thus complete their national organization."

The evening instruction since provided by the Institute has done good, but the expectations formed on the opening have not been fully realized. The Borough, with a population of 300,000, and a surrounding manufacturing population, engaged in the iron, coal, glass, and jewelry trade, within a radius or thirty miles, of four-fold that number-has contributed in site and grants, from time to time, 28,000l.; but the leading capitalists and artisans have not provi` such buildings, museums, laboratories and teachers as might have been pected from one of the chief industrial centres of England. By an inqui instituted by one of her oldest mannfacturers, it appears that in 1867 there were, in the special industries of the town, over 33,000 artisans, and that out of all engaged in the brass-foundry trade, there was not one capable of making an analysis; out of all engaged in the electro-metallurgical trade, not three had studied the art or process scientifically; of those engaged in the glass manufacture, there was but one (a Frenchman) who had any scientific knowledge useful in preparing material, staining, and other processes of that trade; of 8,000 persons engaged in the manufacture of jewelry and gilt toys, not one who understood the laws of heat, the principles of metallurgy, the chemical tests for the presence of any ingredient in excess, &c.

OLDHAM SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ART.

In Oldham there is a Lyceum-a sort of primary school for adults, in which geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and chemistry, are taught in an elementary way-but to the extent that men whose early education was defective can go in evening classes. This institution has also a library, reading room, and courses of popular lectures. In addition to these means of adult education, there is now a School of Science and Art, established mainly by Mr. John Platt, M. P., a large manufacturer of machinery, employing from 5,000 to 7,000 workpeople, and aided by the grants of the Science and Art Department. The following was the Syllabus of the Studies of this School in 1868:

SCIENCE.

I. Instruction is given in the following subjects by Thomas Mitchell, F.R.G.S., &c. :

1. Practical Geometry, Plane and Solid.-Classes meet on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 7.30 to 9.30 P. M. Books recommended: Tate's Practical Geometry and Binns' Orthographic Projection (Gleig's series); or, for more advanced pupils, Burchett's Practical Geometry and Binns' Geometrical Drawing.

2. Mechanical and Machine Drawing.-Classes meet on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 7.30 to 9.30 P. M.

3. Building Construction.-Classes meet on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 7.30 to 9.30 P. M.

4. Theoretical Mechanics.-Text-book: Buckmaster's Elements of Mechanical Physics. Class meets on Thursdays, from 7.30 to 9.30 P. M.

5. Applied Mechanics.-Books recommended: Baker's Elements of Mechanism (Weale's series), and Tate's Elements of Mechanism and Exercises in Mechanics. Class meets on Tuesdays, from 8.30 to 9.30 P. M.

This school is well supplied with models, diagrams, and experimental apparatus, provided in accordance with the recommendation of the Science Department at South Kensington.

Fees for Full Course-Artisans, 5s. per session; one-half to be paid at the commencement, and the other half at the end of the first three months.

Non-artisans and those who do not intend to sit at the Government examination, 10s. 6d. per session; to be paid in advance.

Day Classes.-Day classes are in operation for the study of practical machine and architectural drawing, and meet on Mondays and Fridays, at 3 P. M. Terms: 10s. 6d. per quarter of ten weeks.

Students are also trained for the professions of civil, mining, or mechanical engineering, draughtsmen, and surveyors, or for the competitive examinations of the Indian civil service engineers' department.

II. Classes for the study of the following subjects are conducted by J. Philip, M.A.:

1. Geometry.-Original exercises, based on Euclid's Elements, are proposed one Friday and solved on the following Friday.

2. Aljebra.-Regular progressive instruction is given, and the shortest method of operation exemplified on the blackboard.

3. Trigonometry.-A course of lessons in this subject will be commenced early in the session.

Students in book-keeping, mensuration, or other mathematical subjects, are also admissible to these classes.

Books: Euclid, Algebra, and Trigonometry, by Todhunter or Colenso. Classes meet on Mondays and Fridays, at 7.30 P. M.

III. C. P. Bahin, Ph.D., of the University of Giessen, will give instruction in 1. Chemistry. The course of instruction is calculated to prepare students for the examinations which are held yearly by the Science and Art Department. It comprises-1. The elements of inorganic and organic chemistry; 2. Qualitative analysis.

A suitable apparatus has been procured for performing the necessary experi

ments.

Terms: 5s. per quarter for non-artisans, and 2s. 6d. per quarter for artisans. Entrance fee, 5s. per session, for renewing materials. Ten lectures constitute one quarter. The class meets every Monday at 7.30, in the laboratory of the Lyceum.

Text-book: Buckmaster's Elements of Chemistry.

2. Magnetism, Electricity, and Galvanism.-Terms: 5s. per quarter for nonartisans, and 2s. 6d. per quarter to artisans. Entrance fee, 2s. 6d., for renewal of materials. Ten lectures constitute one quarter. The class will meet on Thursdays, at 7.30 P. M.

Text-book: Electricity, Galvanism, Magnetism, &c., of the Irish National School-book series.

IV. Vegetable Physiology and Economic Botany.-Teacher, Mr. C. Walters. Fees for the Session.-Artisans, one lesson per week, 2s. 6d.; non-artisans, 5s. The class will meet on Saturdays, from 6.30 to 7.30 P. M.

ART.

Instruction is given by Mr. T. Haywood to:

Classes for Drawing.-The course of study comprises the following subjects: Free-hand, landscape, perspective, and model drawing; flower painting, shading in chalk from the cast, &c.

Day Classes.-Elementary: Tuesdays and Fridays, from 3 to 5 P. M., 10s 6d. per quarter. From 4 to 5 P. M., 5s. per quarter.

Advanced: Tuesdays and Fridays, from 3 to 5 P. M., 12s. 6d. per quarter. From 4 to 5 P. M., 7s. 6d. per quarter.

Evening Classes.—-Elementary: Tuesdays and Fridays, from 7.30 to 9:30, 2s 6d. per quarter.

Advanced: Tuesdays and Fridays, from 7.30 to 9.30, 4s. per quarter.

Non-artisans or others who wish to join the evening class, and be exempt from the Government examinations, elementary, 6s. per quarter; advanced, 10s. 6d. per quarter. All fees payable in advance.

The quarters of the public classes commence about January 15th, April 1st, July 25th, and October 1st.

Ten consecutive weeks constitute a quarter of the special classes, commencing at any time.

Mr. Platt, in his evidence before the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction to which he submitted the above Syllabus, remarks in substance: that while he was not prepared to admit that French or German workmen were superior to English workmen of the same class in scientific knowledge or practical experience, or turned out better work, he fully indorsed all that had been said by others, on the necessity of better elementary instruction for the whole people, and of special scientific and art instruction, first in local schools (like that of Oldham), and then in a more advanced degree at local colleges, like that of Owens College at Manchester, in which he helped to found a professorship of engineering-which should draw the pupils from a number of local schools within a given radius. After acquiring the theory in the school, and at intervals while at college, he should get practice by actual service in the workshop-in the aggregate for two years, before he leaves the college. While the Government should aid, every locality should contribute, and every pupil should be assessed fees, which he could meet by his success in obtaining scholarships, if clever and diligent. Mr. Platt has put his business on the coöperative system, allowing his workmen to have a share in the works, and thus feel the motive of a direct pecuniary interest in the result of their labor.

TRADE SCHOOL AT BRISTOL.

THE TRADE SCHOOL at Bristol was established on the suggestion of Rev. Canon Moseley, (then Inspector of Schools,) by converting a National School which had been established by the National Society and local subscriptions, on the Bell system, for the poor of that city, into an institution in which boys intended to become artificers, tradesmen, overseers, and clerks, could be trained specifically for such avocations, has now associated with it a Mining School, and evening classes for instruction in chemistry, geometry, and other studies.

The course of instruction embraces chemistry, organic and inorganic; theoretical and applied mechanics and experimental physics, including electricity, magnetism, and heat; descriptive geometry as applied to the construction of machinery and building; mathematics and drawing.

The pupils (average 140) are distributed first into the lower, which is of an elementary literary character, from which they pass into the upper, or science division. In 1867 there were 56 in the advanced class.

The school is supported by subscriptions (each subscriber of 31. has the right of nominating a boy to the school without the payment of fees); by fees (fifteen shillings a quarter); and by grants on results from the Science Department, which constitutes about half the income-which is about 500l. a year.

The teaching force consists of a head-master, who adds to his income by lecturing in the medical school, and by private instruction in his laboratory, and four assistants, who also give instructions in other institutions.

The experience of the master of this school is strongly in favor of having facilities for teaching boys by actual practice in the construction of articles needed in the illustration of their studies, the use of common tools, such as a carpenter's bench, and tinman's bench, with lathe, &c.

BRISTOL MINING SCHOOL.

The Mining School at Bristol exists in connection with the Trade School established in that city in 1851, and owes its origin to the exertions of Mr. Mackworth, the Government mining inspector, and on his death, of Mr. Handel Cossham, who sustained it for three years by an annual expenditure of £100. The charge for each pupil is £7 per annum. The following scheme of instruction was pursued in 1868:

First Year's course:-1. The different modes of working coal.

2. The different modes of ventilation; viz., natural, furnace, and mechanical. 3. The drainage of mines by pumping engines, and other contrivances.

4. Coal-drawing, and the engines and various mechanical expedients employed for that purpose.

5. The character of different coals.

6. Drawing and planning, with operations.

Second Year's course:-1. Hedley's ventilation.

2. Atkinson's papers on ventilation.

3. Atkinson and Coulson's papers on tubbing.

4. Nicholas Wood on underground tunnelage.

5. Hull's Coal Fields of Great Britain.

6. Elementary geology and chemistry, with the examination by analysis of coals, and the assay of the useful metals.

7. On boring, with the tools employed in sinking.

8. The pupils are each to produce a plan of a colliery establishment, with details say depth 100 fathoms. Thickness of seam 5 feet. Inclination, 1 in 18. Water 250 gallons per minute. Coal required, 500 tons per day. The