tenable for two years; two will become vacant each year. They will be given to students who shall have been a year in the College. There are also nine Royal Exhibitions attached to the College of 50%. each, tenable for three years. These Scholarships and Exhibitions are tenable only on the condition that the holders shall attend all the lectures of their respective years. This condi tion is strictly enforced by the Department. They must also pass the examinations at the end of the session. Students at the conclusion of their first academic year are examined in the subjects of that year. Prizes are awarded for superior answering in each branch. The award of the Royal Scholarships is made on the result of this examination, to those students, not Royal Exhibitioners, who on the whole have answered best, if sufficiently deserving to be recommended for them. At the conclusion of the second and third year, similar examinations are held and prizes awarded. A medal is awarded at the conclusion of the second year to that student who, on the total results of both years, shall have most distinguished himself, if sufficient merit be shown. To candidates for the associateship whose knowledge of pure mathematics is not sufficiently advanced, the Professor of Applied Mathematics gives such instruction as is necessary. These lectures may be attended by other students. Prizes will be awarded for proficiency at the end of the first and second years. During the session, short courses of evening lectures of a more popular character will be delivered, the particulars respecting which will be duly announced. The Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratories, under the direction of Professor Galloway, are open every week day during the session (except Saturday, and the usual holidays) from 10 A. M. to 4 P. M. The library contains carefully-selected works, and is open to the students, and also to the public under certain restrictions. The Museum is open to the public on week days from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M. The session commences on the first Monday in October in each year, and lasts until the 21st June following, with a vacation of ten days at Christmas, and of a week at Easter. The first term commences on the first Monday in October, and the second term on the first Monday in February. The examinations are held at the close of the session. The fees, in all cases payable in advance, are,— 21. for each separate course of lectures; And for laboratory practice, 21. per month, 51. for three months, or 121 for the entire session. Students entering for the purpose of obtaining the diploma of associate, or intending to compete for the scholarships, pay 101, each year, which will admit them to all the courses of that year, exclusive of laboratory-or 251, for the whole studentship of three years. The holders of Royal Scholarships or Royal Exhibitions pay no fees. STAFF OF INSTRUCTION, 1869-70. Dean of Faculty-SIR ROBERT KANE, LL.D., F.R.S., M.R.I.A. Applied Chemistry-ROBERT GALLOWAY, F.C.S. Geology-EDWARD HULL, F.R.S. Applied Mathematics-ROBERT BALL, M.A. Botany-WYVILLE THOMSON, LL.D. Zoology-RAMSAY H. TRAQUAIR, M.D. Agriculture-EDMUND W. DAVY, M.B., M.R.I.A. Descriptive Geometry-THOMAS F. PIGOT. Mining and Mineralogy-J. P. O'REILLY. Librarian and Curator of Museum-ALPHONSE GAGES, M.R.I.A. Assistant Chemist-WILLIAM PLUNKETT, F.C.S. Clerk-GEORGE C. PENNY. Secretary-FREDERICK J. SIDNEY, LL.D., M.R.I.A. ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY. THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY was originally founded to encourage husbandry, and has from its first institution received large government grants in aid of its operations. It was associated with the Science and Art Department in 1854, and the professorship of agriculture, for many years attached to its operations, was in 1864 transferred to the College of Science. At the close of 1869 there were 1,254 members. Its operations consisted of: 1. Evening Meetings of the members for the discussion of subjects of applied Science and Art, were held on the third Monday of each month, which had an average attendance of 96 persons at each meeting. The papers read, and proceedings, were published in the Journal of the Society. 2. Scientific Lectures were delivered on the afternoon of every Saturday in March, April, and May, which were attended by 3,714 persons. The substance of the lecture was published in the Journal. 3. The Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, with its experimental grounds, its exchanges and donations of plants, flowers, and seeds, and its Botanical Museum, has been maintained in a high degree of efficiency, and visited by 50,936 persons on week-days, and 172,600 on Sundays. 4. The Museum of Natural History-rich in geological, palæontological, mineralogical, and zoological collections-was visited by 31,975 persons, and the Library was consulted by 18,375 individuals. 5. The Agricultural Department included four exhibitions:-(1,) of cattle in April; (2,) of horses in August; (3,) of sheep in September; and (4,) of fat stock, poultry, and farm and dairy produce, in December, attended in the aggregate by 21,184 persons:-encouragement for the cultivation of flax:-the Agricultural Museum, which was visited by 18,500 persons. 6. The Art Department, embraced in a School of Art, which in the day classes was attended by 293 students (64 males and 229 females), and morning and evening classes by 242 artisans (214 males and 28 females), an aggregate attendance of 535 students; an annual and competitive examination for prizes; an exhibition of works of art; lectures on the Fine Arts, and a course on anatomy applied to art, which was attended by 805 persons. 7. The provincial lectures, and the instruction by a special professorship in agriculture, have been transferred to the College of Science, ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, The Royal Zoological Garden, which receives a public grant of 500%, from payments of members 3431., and from the sale of tickets at the entrance gate, 1,0467, was visited by 136,052 persons; and the lectures and discussions on comparative anatomy, and veterinary surgery, were largely attended. ROYAL HIBERNIAN ACADEMY, The annual exhibition of works of fine art (392), realized 2057. out of the sale of 16,001 tickets; and the School of Art was attended by 60 students. The Academy receives a special grant of 300L MUSEUM OF IRISH INDUSTRY. This Museum was founded by the government in 1845, and has heretofore received an annual grant of 4,3367., a portion of which was expended on scientific lectures in the large provincial towns. A portion has been transferred to the Dublin Society, and another portion to the College of Science. SCIENCE IN LITERARY INSTITUTIONS-OLD AND NEW. It is only within the last twenty years that the claims of mathematics and the natural sciences in their application to practical life, and of the languages and literature of nations now controlling the destinies of the world, to an assured place in any and every course of liberal education, have been so boldly and widely asserted as to secure even a partial recognition. Even now a member of Parliament, and a prominent member of the Government. (Hon. Robert Lowe), feels himself justified in using the following language in respect to the education given in the Public Schools and Universities of England : - Our education does not communicate to us knowledge, it does not communicate to us the means of obtaining knowledge, and it does not communicate to us the means of communicating knowledge. These three capital deficiencies are undoubted; and what makes these so painful is the thought of the enormous quantities of things eminently worth knowing in this world. I have spoken only of modern history, of modern languages; but what are modern history and languages compared with the boundless field that nature opens out-with the new world which chemistry is expanding before us-with the old world that geology has called again into existence-with the wonderful generalization with regard to plants and animals, and all those noble studies and speculations which are the glory and distinction and life-blood of the time in which we live, and of which our youth remain, almost without exception, totally ignorant? It is not too much to say, that the man who becomes really well educated must begin his education after it has closed. After all had been done for him that the present miserable, contracted, and poor system can do, he has to begin and educate himself over again, with a feeling that he has wasted the best and most precious years of his life on things neither useless nor unprofitable in themselves, but which were the mere by-paths or appanages to the knowledge which constitute the mental stock of a man of erudition.—An Address at Edinburgh, Nov. 1, 1867, "On Primary and Classical Education." ENDOWED PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The endowed schools of the highest grade, and particularly the Public Schools, as Eton, Harrow, Rugby and a few others are called, in connection with the requirements for matriculation at the Universities, determine the studies and culture of the educated and governing classes of England, and influence powerfully in the same direction the studies of all adventure and private schools. Into the curriculum of these schools is put as much of the languages and liter ature of ancient Rome and Greece, their history, geography, and polity, as can be crowded into an industrious school life of eight or ten years, to be supplemented by four years of university labor, stimulated by every form of rewards and honors, scholastic, ecclesiastical and state, which the garnered endowments of centuries of individual beneficence, bestowed in reference to a state of learning, society, and government which has passed away, can produce. Under the influence of these endowments, and the habits and traditions which permanent schools of great reputation foster in families and the community,-mathematics, natural science and modern languages, with the literature, arts, and political constitutions and relations of the great nations of our own day, have been, to a great extent, excluded from the higher education of Englishmen-except of the small number who have educated themselves after leaving the public school or the university, or have enjoyed the advantages of the few great schools which have been forced into existence by the exigencies of modern society. UNIVERSITIES. Until quite recently the whole influence of fellowships, scholarships, prizes, and honors, and almost the entire teaching of the great universities of England, were exerted and felt in other directions than those of scientific education, or in training the men who became the leaders in the principal national industries as capitalists, engineers, and foremen in a practical knowledge of the principles of science. But few representatives of these classes, except the first, thought of sending their sons to Oxford or Cambridge, with any expectation of their following the same profession or occupation, out of which not a few have emerged into great affluence and high social and parliamentary distinction. Cambridge. Prof. G. D. Liveing writes in 1868 to a member of the Select Scientific Committee, substantially as follows:-"The University has strained its resources to supply museums of natural science, chemical laboratories, and other facilities for the study of natural sciences, both practically and theoretically. The number of students in these sciences is small, but is gradually increasing, and the University recognizes such studies as a pathway to a degree or to honors, and several colleges (Trinity, St. John's, Caius, Sidney, Downing) have held out the offer of rewards in the way of scholarships for proficiency in the same studies. These measures will do something slowly to supply teachers and diffuse sound scientific knowledge, but will not reach soon, if ever, even the master manufacturers. At present the traditions and habits of the place practically exclude young men, whose parents design them to pursue their own occupation. The University ought to assist that class by opening the examinations in science to non-collegiate students, and to require a brief residence of those who desire to pursue special courses. We have great facilities here for treating science, the laws of nature and their relations to each other, in a philosophical way, and for teaching the several branches side by side; with the prevalence of mathematical study, an exactness and logical consistency in the scientific instruction can be attained more readily, than if this instruction was attained in the laboratory or workshop alone." Oxford. Under the discussions of the last ten years scientific instruction has made great progress in Oxford, and theoretically the class-man in science stands nearly on a par in competition for honors with the class-man in classics. A new building has been erected at a cost of 10,000l. for physics, a museum of necessary apparatus and appliances has been established with an annuity to provide for additions, a professorship of experimental philosophy with an assistant has been instituted, and opportunities of studying thoroughly mathematics, astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, and almost every science which admits of application to the great national industries, exist. The difficulty in the way of the future engineer, machinist, chemical technologist, and practical manufacturer generally, is not the absence of instruction, but in the length and cost of residence, the modes in which the instruction is given, and the general tone and habits of university life. Before science teachers even will go up to Oxford to be properly qualified, there must be practical as well as theoretical equality with the language teachers in the conditions of study and promotion. University of London. The University of London was the first in exercising its function of conferring degrees, to introduce into its matriculation examination, and into its programme of study on which the degrees are obtained, a certain amount of science; and also to confer special degrees in science. The matriculation examination is the test of a good school education-the common trunk from which all the higher studies should diverge. Into that examination, the elements of natural philosophy, mathematics, as far as algebra and geometry, and chemistry, enter. For the present, a sound elementary knowledge of Latin and Greek, or for the Greek a sufficient knowledge of French or German to read a scientific work understandingly, is required. The Bachelor's Degree in science is given after an examination conducted by experts in mathematics, mechanical philosophy, animal physiology, botany, chemistry (either inorganic, or organic, or their applications), moral philosophy, and the science of reasoning. The programmes on which the examinations are conducted were drawn up, in chemistry by Faraday, and on organic science by Huxley, Hooker, and Carpenter. The Degree of Doctor of Science is conferred on successful candidates, who, having become Bachelor, have gone through a general course of scientific study, and attained a certain amount of proficiency in several related branches, have devoted themselves to the thorough mastery of at least one science. The experience of the London University examiners for science and other degrees is of great importance in forming a correct judgment on the relative disciplinary values of different studies. Dr. William B. Carpenter says: I am perfectly convinced that elementary science is capable of being taught to pupils in all ranks of life, of both sexes, with very great advantage. It tends to develop faculties which are kept undeveloped and even repressed, by ordinary systems of culture. I am quite sure, from my own experience as a teacher, that the simple truths of science are built up very readily on a foundation of ordinary experience, in a child of ordinary apprehension. I have been constantly struck with the want of any ordinary scientific teaching in schools, and especially of the combination of pure science with the practical applications of it. The great value of natural history is in the encouragement of observation and correct description. The late Prof. Henslow devised a method of teaching botany which was remarkably effective in that respect with young boys and girls in a village school. The effect of it was, the girls in farticular became livelier and brighter than other girls of the same age. The observing faculties of children from ten to twelve years of age are extremely active, and under a good teacher they readily apprehend the bearing of the facts they observe. Boys who are dull in the acquirement of languages will often be amazingly brightened up if they go into the chemical class; and will return with fresh zest and vigor to their classical studies. A small amount, a taste even for scientific knowledge, furnishes a basis to which more is easily added, and it developes the power of apprehension which makes it easy to acquire knowledge. Before the universities can do the higher work of scientific instruction, the pupils must be better prepared to receive and participate in it, in the secondary schools below. A beginning has been made in this direction by the introduction of elementary instruction in chemistry, geology, and botany, at Rugby, Harrow, and Eton, and more systematically into the modern schools of Cheltenham, Marlborough and Wellington. It will be found easier in many places to establish new schools like those last mentioned, than to modify essentially schools which are fortified against modern ideas by endowments. |