tarily after a hard day's work in school; the conditions under which such classes are held must therefore be made as easy as possible if they are to be successful, and the sympathy and enthusiasm of the teacher are to be aroused. During the last year some fifty or sixty teachers under the London Board went through practical courses at the demonstrator's laboratory in Whitechapel, where the accommodation will soon be quite insufficient to meet the requirements of the district. Full and complete notes and suggestions were issued to all teachers attending the courses, which were much appreciated. The development of the work is largely due to the establishment of this system of normal classes. In the meantime the question of science teaching in girls' schools has not been left unattacked. Two schools have now adopted a course of domestic science in lieu of domestic economy. A syllabus has been devised to deal as far as possible with the nature of the processes and the materials employed in the household. A short course of measurement and weighing has been introduced with the double object of familiarising the scholars with the decimal system and making them acquainted with the instruments they will have to use in accurate experimental work. The general effects of heat on matter, and their application to the work of the laundry and kitchen, are then studied; the modes of cooking and some of the simpler changes involved, chemistry of air and water, combustion, fuel, soap, hardness of water, and finally a few lessons are given on the mechanics of the household, such as the structure of taps, locks, gas fittings, hot-water boilers, flushing tanks, &c. Classes have been held for the mistresses in this subject at the laboratory, and it is generally considered by those who have been through the course to combine mental training with the acquirement of valuable information. Except that the physiological part of the Domestic Economy is not touched, most of the important work in that syllabus which can be dealt with by scientific methods has been considered. During the coming winter classes will be held at Berner-street Laboratory, London, E., in all stages of Elementary Natural Philosophy and Domestic Science syllabuses, but it is only too clear that this course involves commencing at the wrong end. Before any great headway is made, work of this nature must be introduced into the teachers' course of training, and to this end it is essential that teaching on the lines of the new syllabuses must be started in the Pupil Teachers' and Training Colleges. In many parts of the country School Boards and County Councils are beginning to follow in the wake of the London Board; the subject is becoming a popular one in Evening Continuation Schools, and is often adopted as part of the elementary course for organised science schools. The great obstacles to good science teaching at the present time in Elementary Schools are 1. Large classes. 2. Multitude of subjects. 3. Insufficiency of the training course for teachers in science sub- 4. Effects of the old Science and Art system, which is clearly far The return of the work of the Evening Continuation Schools under 1 the Code of 1893 furnishes interesting data as to the instruction in scientific subjects in these schools. Your Committee drew attention in their Report for 1893 to the development which was taking place at that time in this direction; but pointed out that the Government return of that year did not furnish precise information on the point. A new table has been introduced this year, which gives the information desired. In the following table your Committee give the number of units for payment' of the grant by the Education Department for the several scientific subjects taken throughout England and Wales during the session 1893-94, to which is appended a similar return for the schools under the London School Board, extracted from the Board's Annual Report upon their Evening Continuation Schools. It may be necessary to explain that the 'unit' means a complete twelve hours of instruction received by each scholar, fractions of twelve hours not counting. The total number of units is (for England and Wales) 51,607, whereas the number of scholars is 41,960, indicating that about one-fourth of them must have received at least twenty-four hours of instruction. It is evident that London is far behind the country in general in the teaching of these science subjects in their Evening Continuation Schools, excepting in the matter of Mechanics and Magnetism and Electricity. The stronghold of this instruction is in Manchester and the other manufacturing districts. It is especially interesting to note that 3,696 students took up Chemistry, and that a much larger number took the comparatively new subjects of Elementary Physics and Chemistry, and the Science of Common Things. Your Committee has already on a former occasion (1893) expressed approval of the course on Elementary Physics and Chemistry in the Evening School Code, which is a practical course intended to be carried out experimentally by the scholars themselves, and deals, not with definitions or descriptions, but with actual facts. The course on the Science of Common Things is a brief survey of the physical properties of bodies, serving to determine their uses and relative value.' It may be looked upon as an introduction to physical and biological science in general, and to its application to ordinary and domestic life. In their last Report your Committee referred to the difficulties inter posed by the regulations of the Code in making visits for the purposes of education to such places as Kew Gardens, the South Kensington Museum, &c., although the Science and Art Department have recognised the educational value of such attendances; and stated that Mr. Acland had favourably received a deputation on the subject, and promised increased facilities. This promise has been fulfilled; and the Code of this year provides that the time spent during school-hours in visiting museums, art galleries, and other institutions of educational value may count towards the time required for an attendance at school. Her Majesty's Inspectors are moreover instructed to encourage these visits wherever such institutions exist. It is stipulated that the teacher in charge should not have, as a rule, more than fifteen scholars with him, and that no visits should be paid unless some person competent to give information of a kind interesting to young children is present. All these regulations appear wise and proper, so that the real object of visits to these institutions may be attained; and the limitation of them to twenty in the course of the school year is not unreasonable, as, with all the other matters that demand attention, more time certainly could not well be spared. The only other alteration of importance in the Code that concerns your Committee is the new stipulation that object lessons must be given in all schools to the children in Standards I., II., and III., and an excellent circular to Her Majesty's Inspectors has recently been issued, pointing out the true aim and nature of object teaching. It commences by drawing attention to the two kinds of instruction which are often confused: (1) observation of the object itself, and (2) giving information about the object. It dwells upon the importance of the distinction, adding, "Object teaching leads the scholar to acquire knowledge by observation and experiment; and no instruction is properly so called unless an object is presented to the learner, so that the addition to his knowledge may be made through the senses.' It enforces the selection of subjects which can appeal to the hands and eyes of the scholars, stating that 'however well the lesson may be illustrated by diagrams, pictures, models, or lantern slides, if the children have no opportunity of handling or watching the actual object which is being dealt with, the teacher will be giving an information lesson rather than an object lesson.' . . . 'It is Elementary Science only in so far as it aids the child to observe some of the facts of nature upon which natural science is founded; but as it deals with such topics without formal arrangement, it differs widely from the systematic study of a particular science.' The circular contains many suggestions on the choice of objects; the avoidance of what is purely technical; the making of drawings or models both by teacher and children; the relation of the parts of the object to the whole; and the leading the children to describe accurately what they have seen. Several complete schemes are given for guidance in the appendix to the circular. The Parliamentary Committee which has been considering the question of decimal weights and measures, under the chairmanship of one of your Committee, Sir Henry E. Roscoe, has just reported in favour of the permissive use of the metric system for all purposes for the next two years, after which that system should become obligatory. It recommends that it should be taught in all public schools as a necessary and integral part of Arithmetic. The Elementary School Code has, for some years past, contained a note to the effect that 'the scholars in Standards V., VI., and VII. should know the principles of the metric system,' but it has not received much attention while so much time had to be spent upon the tables of weights and measures in ordinary use. When these cease to be legal, not only will the teaching of Arithmetic be rendered more rational, but a large amount of time will be set free which can be applied to the promotion of science teaching. Looking back over the years that have elapsed since the passing of the first Elementary Education Act, it is evident that the constant tendency has been to add to the curriculum of the schools; and some of the most recently recommended additions to the time-table include manual instruction and physical exercises. The difficulty of finding time for these has led to the suggestion that the generally recognised hours of schooling might be extended in the case of the elder scholars. This course would involve some practical inconveniences; and in view of the fact that the children pass their Standards now at an earlier and more immature age than they did some years ago, it is a question worth consideration whether the time has not arrived when the recognised school age should be raised from thirteen to fourteen, and the work of the Standards made to spread over this extended period. Such an arrangement would have the manifest advantage of affording a broader and more practical education, without over-pressure to either the teachers or the taught. Quantitative Analysis by means of Electrolysis.-Second Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor J. EMERSON REYNOLDS (Chairman), Dr. C. A. KOHN (Secretary), Professor P. FRANKLAND, Professor F. CLOWES, Dr. HUGH MARSHALL, Mr. A. E. FLETCHER, Mr. D. H. NAGEL, Mr. T. TURNER, and Mr. J. B. COLEMAN. A PRELIMINARY report was furnished by the Committee last year in which the contemplated plan of work was outlined. The bibliography of the subject has been completed and is appended. The experimental work has been carefully organised, and the results on the determination of bismuth and of tin are nearly complete. Other work is in progress, but the Committee prefer to hold over these results until next year in order that they may be added to and may include methods of separation of some of the metals. Considerable attention has been given to the choice and arrangement of the special apparatus required. A detailed description of the arrangements adopted will be given in the next report. As the bibliography is completed, the Committee propose to devote their attention during the coming year exclusively to experimental inquiries. Bibliography on Methods of Quantitative Analysis by means of Electrolysis. The bibliography has been compiled from the following journals, and is complete up to the end of 1894 : American Chemical Journal 5 Journal 1 Journal of the Chemical Society Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry 3 Chemical News. Journal of Analytical and Applied 1887-1894 J. Analyt. & App. Chem. References to papers of importance published in journals other than the above are also included, viz. :— 1862-1894 1868-1894 Zeits. anal. Chem. 1892-1894 Zeits. anorg. Chem. 1887-1894 Zeits. phys. Chem. 1894 Zeits. Electrochem. 1. Quantitative Analyse durch Electrolyse.' A. Classen. 3rd edit., 1892. Published by J. Springer, Berlin. Translation, by W. H. Herrick, of 2nd edition, 1887, Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Electrolysis.' Published by I. Wiley, New York. 2. Electro-chemical Analysis.' Edgar F. Smith. 1890. Published by P. Blakiston, Philadelphia. Arrangement of Bibliography. The bibliography is divided into the following sections : I. General conditions for electrolytic analysis. II. Special apparatus employed. III. Quantitative methods, for the determination of metals by means of electrolysis. IV. Quantitative methods, for the separation of metals by means of electrolysis. V. Special applications of electrolysis in quantitative analysis. VI. Applications of electrolysis to qualitative analysis (including sundry papers bearing on electrolytic analysis). |