Devonshire (1871-5)

Background notes

All eight of the Devonshire Reports are shown in this single web page. You can scroll through it or use the following links to go to the individual Reports.

First Report (1872)
Royal School of Mines, Royal College of Chemistry, Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; the teaching of elementary science under the Science and Art Department.

Supplementary Report (1872)
Organisation and accommodation of the Science School.

Second Report (1872)
Science teaching in training colleges and elementary schools, and in Science Classes under the Science and Art Department - effects of the Revised Code of 1861 and the New Code of 1871.

Third Report (1873)
Oxford and Cambridge - science teaching and research; proposals for a school leaving examination, science scholarships, the role of professors and a university Council of Science.

Fourth Report (1874)
The role of the British Museum, the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, the National Botanical Collections and Gardens, the Museum of Practical Geology, the South Kensington Museum, other scientific collections, and public lectures in connection with museums.

Fifth Report (1874)
Science teaching at University College and King's College, London, Owens College, Manchester, the College of Physical Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the Catholic University of Ireland.

Sixth Report (1875)
The teaching of science in public and endowed schools.

Seventh Report (1875)
Science teaching in the University of London; the Universities of Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrew's, and Aberdeen), the University of Dublin and Trinity College, and the Queen's University in Ireland.

Eighth Report (1875)
The government's duty to promote the advancement of science: grants for scientific research, and the appointment of a Minister of Science or a Minister of Science and Education.

The Reports of the Devonshire Commission were prepared by Derek Gillard and uploaded on 19 March 2019.


Devonshire Commission (1872-5)
Reports of the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science

London: HM Stationery Office


[title page]

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VOL. I


FIRST, SUPPLEMENTARY, AND SECOND REPORTS,
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE AND APPENDICES


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty


LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1872

[C. 536.] Price 8s. 4d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
FIRST REPORTvii
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT TO FIRST REPORTix
SECOND REPORTxi
LIST OF WITNESSESxxxi
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE1
APPENDICES1
ANALYSES OF EVIDENCE61





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And Our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


[page iv]

execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





[page v]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.



[page vii]

FIRST REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty the following First Report:

1. We have heard the evidence of witnesses in reference to the following subjects, forming part of our inquiry, viz. the Royal School of Mines, the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mining Record Office, and the Museum of Practical Geology, at present located in Jermyn Street; and also concerning the Royal College of Chemistry, at present lodged in a building in Oxford Street; which institutions are under one head, entitled Director-General of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland and Director of the Royal School of Mines.

2. There is no necessary connexion between the direction of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland and the government of the Royal School of Mines.

3. The Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Chemistry, which practically constitute one School of Pure and Applied Science, are not organized in such a manner as to enable them to perform efficiently the work for which they were originally, or are, at present, intended. We base this conclusion upon three grounds: (a) the absence of a chair of Mathematics, (b) the absence of Physical or Biological Laboratories in which students can receive practical instruction, (c) the insufficiency of accommodation in the Royal College of Chemistry.

4. The Officers of the Geological Survey are greatly hindered in their work by want of accommodation; for although their number has been quintupled during the last 20 years, the space originally allotted to them has not been increased.

5. The space allotted to the Mining Record Office is already insufficient for the proper reception and arrangement of the valuable series of documents accumulated there; and for the accommodation of the public who desire to consult them.

6. The collections in the Museum of Practical Geology require greater space for their proper display than is at present afforded.

7. In order to provide a remedy for the inconveniences which have been enumerated, we recommend: (a) That the Building in Jermyn Street be given up to the Survey and to the Museum, with the reservation that the Lectures to Working Men be delivered as heretofore in the Theatre; (b) That the building in Oxford Street be vacated by the Royal College of Chemistry; and (c) That the Mining Record Office be lodged with the Statistical Department of the Board of Trade; or, failing accommodation there, in the building now occupied by the Royal College of Chemistry.

8. Without expressing any opinion, at present, as to the policy of Government Schools of Science, your Commissioners, having to deal with the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Chemistry as Institutions which have existed for 20 years, and which, during that period, have turned out a large number of well-instructed Students, consider that such steps should be taken as may be necessary to render their Teaching thoroughly efficient.

9. With this object we recommend that the two Institutions be consolidated; that Mathematics be added to the Courses of Instruction now given; and that sufficient Laboratories and Assistance for giving Practical Instruction in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, be provided.

10. The Institution thus formed (herein-after called the "Science School") may be conveniently and efficiently governed by a Council of Professors, one of that body acting as Dean.


[page viii]

11. We have further heard evidence concerning the Buildings at South Kensington, now nearly completed, and intended for the reception of a projected School of Naval Architecture and Science; and we recommend that the Science School should be accommodated in these buildings. We have given careful attention to the considerations in favour of the retention in Jermyn Street of the Technical Instruction in certain Branches, but we are of opinion that these considerations are outweighed by the great advantages to be derived from concentration.

12. We have further heard evidence concerning the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, now conducted at South Kensington; and we recommend that the theoretical instruction of that school should in future be given in the Science School, the general instruction in Mathematics, Physical Science, and Mechanical Drawing, thus becoming common to both schools. We also recommend that no additional buildings, and no reconstruction of the temporary buildings at present occupied by the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, should be undertaken, until a Further Report has been received from this Commission.

13. We have further heard evidence concerning the system of teaching Elementary Science under the Science and Art Department; and we are of opinion that the Quality of the Instruction given under this Department would be greatly improved if the teachers received Practical Instruction in Elementary Science. Such instruction has, indeed, already been given with marked advantage, although only to a limited extent. The Science School will be available for the instruction of many Science Teachers throughout the country; but we reserve for a Further Report any expression of opinion as to the precise character of such Instruction, and as to the conditions under which it shall be accessible.

14. The organization of, and accommodation required by the Science School (including its Technical Branches), and the Royal School of Naval Architecture, will be dealt with in detail in a Further Report.

All which we humbly submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
B. SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
THOMAS H. HUXLEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
J. NORMAN LOCKYER,
Secretary.
9th March 1871.




[page ix]

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT

TO

FIRST REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY:

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty the following Report on the Organization of the Science School referred to in our First Report, and on the accommodation of that School in the new buildings at South Kensington.

I. ORGANIZATION

1. Your Commissioners recommend that the Science School be represented before the Board of the Science and Art Department by its Dean, as the Royal School of Mines has been hitherto represented by its Director.

2. We recommend that the Council of Professors shall have power, subject to the approval of the Board, to provide for the due maintenance of discipline in the general school and technical schools; the discipline of the students of the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering remaining under the Principal of that School.

3. We consider that such modifications as to the conditions of admission to the courses, as well as such re-arrangement of the courses as may be rendered expedient by the consolidation of the Schools recommended in the First Report of the Commission, should be considered and reported on to the Committee of Council on Education by the Council of Professors, due regard being had to the maintenance of its character as a School for Special Scientific Instruction. Such re-arrangement should admit of provision being made for the continuance and extension of the instruction given to Elementary Science Teachers during the summer months.

4. With reference to the assistance required by the Professors, we recommend that this subject should also be considered by the Council of Professors, and reported on by them to the Committee of Council on Education, due regard being had to the necessity of practical instruction, and to the suggestion in the previous paragraph concerning the instruction to be given to Science Teachers.

II. ACCOMMODATION

5. Your Commissioners find that the new buildings at South Kensington will afford sufficient space as regards lecture theatres, class rooms, and laboratories, for the theoretical and practical instruction of a large accession of students. A Committee of Your Commissioners have inspected the new buildings with special reference to the accommodation that will be afforded, and the Secretary, at their request, has applied to the several Professors for information as to the space that they require.


[page x]

The Committee having reported the results of their inspection and inquiry, Your Commissioners suggest the following general appropriation, considering that the detailed allotment of rooms had better be left to the Professors themselves:

BasementPhysics, Metallurgy, Chemistry.
Ground FloorSchool of Naval Architecture, General Lecture Room, Mathematics, Applied Mechanics, &c.
First FloorPhysics and Chemistry.
Second FloorChemistry.
Third FloorBiology, Mineralogy, Mining, Geology, Physics, Chemistry (open air work).

All which we humbly submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
B. SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
*T. H. HUXLEY.
*The Chairman has been authorized by Professor Huxley to affix his name to this Supplementary Report.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER,
Secretary.
28th February 1872.




[page xi]

SECOND REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty the following Report on Scientific Instruction in Training Colleges and Elementary Day Schools under the Education Department, and in Science Classes under the Science and Art Department.

I. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION IN TRAINING COLLEGES AND ELEMENTARY DAY SCHOOLS

STATE OF INSTRUCTION PRIOR TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE REVISED CODE

1. In dealing with the Scientific Instruction in Training Colleges and Elementary Day Schools, Your Commissioners have, in the first place, enquired what provision was made for such instruction before the introduction of the Revised Code in 1861.

2. With respect to the Training Colleges, we find that instruction in the elements of science was given to students in their second year. The Committee of Council on Education made grants in aid of the stipends of masters specially qualified to teach the elements of science. In some training colleges a sound, though limited, instruction in the elements of some branches of physical science was thus added to the usual instruction in elementary mathematics. In the model schools attached to the training colleges the students were practised in teaching the rudiments of science, chiefly, though not exclusively, in illustration of appropriate lessons in reading and geography, with obvious advantage in the increase of the intelligence of the scholars and of their interest in their schoolwork. Such instruction enabled skilful teachers to make the lessons the occasion of conveying important explanations of natural phenomena, and some rudimentary acquaintance with the most easily understood laws of nature; although neither in the training colleges, nor in the model schools attached to them, were the methods of communicating the rudiments of scientific knowledge by means of systematised object lessons always sufficiently cultivated. The scientific instruction received by the teachers in the training colleges was, however, of great value irrespectively of such use in the rudimentary lessons; for all such knowledge tends to enlarge the intelligence of the teacher, and enables him to give better and more interesting instruction.

3. With respect to the Elementary Schools, we find, as a consequence also of the instruction thus afforded to the teachers, that it was the practice formerly, more generally than at present, in the best of such schools to give, either in separate oral lessons or as parts of the illustrations of the reading lessons, general outlines of physical geography, some of the more prominent facts in astronomy, and instruction in those parts of domestic and social economy which affect the health of families and communities. In some remarkable schools more extensive instruction of this character was given, just as more advanced literary culture was given in others. Under Professor Henslow, for instance, botany was found an excellent method of training the powers of observation and the intelligence. In like manner, in a school comprising, besides the children of labourers, the children of small farmers and tradesmen, Dean Dawes* gave instruction in applied mathematics and mechanics, as well as in some of the elements of experimental physics.

4. It is, no doubt, true that the success obtained in these schools was due to the guidance and the direct personal teaching of men of superior education, having an earnest and even singular interest in the attainment of this result, and a capacity much beyond the average of that of elementary school teachers. We concur, however, in Canon

*See Canon Moseley's Report on King's Somborne School in the "Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education", for 1847-48, Vol. I., p. 7.


[page xii]

Moseley's opinion that, even without such exceptional advantages, the system pursued in these schools may be conducted by well-trained teachers of average capacity with good effect. Indeed, we have the evidence of highly competent authorities to show that the scientific instruction which was given by ordinary elementary school teachers, before the introduction of the Revised Code in 1861, was in many cases sound and valuable in itself and beneficial to the pupils.

5. In order to show more distinctly the state of Scientific Instruction in Training Colleges and Elementary Schools before 1861, we proceed to give some extracts from the evidence of the Rev. Dr. Rigg, Principal of the Wesleyan Training College, Westminster, and of the Rev. Canon Cromwell, Principal of St. Mark's College, Chelsea.

6. In the earliest schemes of the Training Colleges, arrangements were made that the students should have such a basis of scientific instruction as, in the words of Dr. Rigg, would enable them to give the children in "elementary schools information on various points of science which at that time were not generally taught in the school reading books, and, therefore, could only be done by oral lessons. The subjects were such as these: the structure and habits of remarkable animals and plants, short explanations of various scientific principles involved in manufacturing processes, as, for instance, the construction of some common machines, involving, of course, the principles of mechanics; together with points in physiology, as bearing on the preservation of health; instruction with regard to our own body and its organs; the atmosphere, and other such topics." In order to prepare the teachers for giving such instruction, the promoters of the Wesleyan Training College at Westminster, at its foundation, spent £200 "in purchasing scientific apparatus". " Pure and mixed mathematics "were, up to 1862, taught to an extent about equal to that required for a B.A. degree of the London University. One half of the second year's male students received some sort of systematic instruction in the elements of physics, and the other half in mathematics."

7. The Rev. Canon Cromwell states, that, "between 1851 and 1861, there was a very great change both in the amount of assistance that the Government gave, and also in the character of the candidates who came for admission. The Minutes of 1846 began to tell on the Colleges. Those minutes provided for a system of apprenticeships to schoolmasters all over the country. The cleverest boys in the schools were selected to become pupil teachers. They received special instruction at the hands of masters, and for that instruction the masters were paid a certain sum by the Government. The result was, that the schoolmasters were stimulated to give as much instruction as they possibly could to their pupils, and the pupils came up to the College, in 1851 and subsequent years, with a very fair amount of mathematical knowledge. They came with a thorough knowledge of arithmetic, in all its branches, applied as well as theoretical, with a knowledge of algebra as far as simple equations, and sometimes as far as quadratic equations, with a knowledge of the first two books of Euclid, as a necessary condition of admission, and very often they brought up four books of Euclid, and not unfrequently they came up with some knowledge of Latin. There was here a good foundation upon which subsequent knowledge could be built. Such were the qualifications for admission into the college between the years 1851 and 1861; and during that time instruction was given in applied mechanics, in chemistry, in hydrostatics, and in optics. A laboratory was established, and a regularly paid and competent teacher was employed. Models of all the ordinary machines were bought, and the students were instructed in applied mechanics. Drawing was so taught as to be applied to the arts. The drawing master was an engineer of considerable experience, and a perfect enthusiast in the way of practical education." "I should say that in the year 1854, at the representation, I think, of Canon Moseley, who was once Professor of Mathematics at King's College, special encouragement was given to the teaching of applied science in Normal Colleges, by the establishment of lectureships for competent instructors, and those lectureships could not be obtained unless the lecturers passed a special examination before, I think, the Civil Service Commissioners. Every lecturer who did so pass (for instance, in chemistry, or in applied mechanics, or in any other subject of science) received £100 a year from Government, in addition to the salary which he received from the Council or Committee of his College. That grant gave a very great stimulus to scientific instruction in the various Colleges. That £100 a year was not paid, however, unless the lecturer continued to give satisfaction at the annual inspection of the College by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors. One of the Inspectors during a part of that period was Professor Moseley, and during the other part of that period Bishop Temple was Inspector."


[page xiii]

These lecturers "taught solely in the College, and it was a condition they should have a fair salary from the College as well as the £100 augmentation from the Government." "A College of 30 could not have more than one lecturer, and a College of 100 not more than three lecturers."

INFLUENCE OF THE REVISED CODE UPON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION

8. We now proceed to consider the influence of the Revised Code of 1861, which introduced the system of individual examination, proposed in the Minute of 1853. While we approve the principle that the grants to schools should be determined to a considerable extent by the results of individual examination, we are of opinion that the limitation of such examination to the subjects of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic unfortunately narrowed the instruction given in Elementary Schools; and that this change, together with the lower standard adopted in the training and examination of Pupil Teachers, and the curtailment of the Syllabus of the Training Colleges, exercised a prejudicial effect on the education of the country.

9. Dr. Rigg observes that "if the Revised Code is considered to be identified merely with the principle of individual examination in schools, I do not doubt that, from the principle of individual examination in schools, very good results have followed; but that principle was recommended before the Revised Code was in existence." It had been previously recommended "that a certain proportion of the grant should be made dependent on individual examination", and a Minute had been drawn for that purpose in 1853, but not carried out; "therefore, I do not consider that the principle of payment after ascertainment of results was really the principle of the Revised Code. I think that the principle of the Revised Code was to restrict education as far as possible within the limits of those particular subjects on which payment was made. That was the governing principle of the Revised Code, especially as originally propounded in Parliament, and to discourage everything in the nature of higher education, and broader education, and deeper education; that it looked, in fact, to mechanical instruction in what are considered the three principal rudimentary branches. I have no doubt at all that many children were more or less neglected, and that in order to cure that, individual examination was necessary; but I believe that individual examination might have been had without the general spirit and scope of the Revised Code."

Dr. Rigg also expresses his opinion that the tendency of the Revised Code was to compress the school age within very narrow limits, to discourage children attending school after 10 or 11 years of age, and to restrict the education of the children within hard and narrow lines."

10. The same witness also states, that though, between 1862 and 1867, scientific instruction was never given up in the Training Colleges, "there is no doubt that from 1862 everything suffered; our infant school processes suffered, and everything suffered more or less, perhaps owing as much to panic as to anything else; but many things were sacrificed in, I do not say the majority, but in a considerable proportion, of our schools, to what were considered to be paying results."

11. Canon Cromwell confirms this evidence by stating, "that before 1861 the inspectors were called upon to inspect in all the subjects which were taught in a school; but after 1861, as a rule, they did not examine except in those subjects which were prescribed by the Code of 1861 and 1862 reading, writing, and arithmetic, and some religious knowledge. That change caused the schoolmasters to cease from giving instruction in extra subjects."

12. In reference to Pupil Teachers and Training Colleges, Canon Cromwell states: In the year 1861 a great change took place. The amount of instruction encouraged and paid for in the Training Colleges was very much reduced, and those lectureships to which I have referred were all of them abolished. The Government has, for many years past, been in the habit of drawing up a Syllabus of the course of instruction to be followed in the various Training Colleges. That syllabus was very much curtailed in 1862. The special subjects, such as applied mechanics, physical science, and the higher mathematics, were all struck out, and the syllabus was reduced almost to the level that might be attained by a really clever boy in the first class of a good national school. The students were expected to have a certain amount of religious knowledge, geography, history, arithmetic, and two books of Euclid. At the same time, the amount of instruction given to pupil teachers all over the country was also diminished, because no longer were the masters and mistresses paid for giving instruction to pupil teachers, and the result was, that, in


[page xiv]

many cases, scarcely any instruction has since been given. In most of the Normal Colleges, certainly at St. Mark's, and at Durham, where I was at the time, we struggled against that reduction in the subjects of the syllabus. We tried to retain the higher standard as long as it was possible with the students; we taught more things in the Colleges than the Government required; but year by year we found that the pupils who came in were worse and worse prepared, so that, at last, it was almost impossible to give anything more than the Government syllabus demanded."

"The syllabus is almost the same that it has been since 1861. Under it, the pupil teachers, instead of being required to bring two books of Euclid into the College, are only expected to bring up one book, and, instead of being expected to go through simple equations, they are now not expected to have any knowledge of algebra; so that the whole standard, everywhere, from the National School up to the Training College, has been reduced in amount, making it extremely difficult for us to continue the higher style of education in the Training Colleges. The time given to the instruction of pupil teachers in each week was also reduced. Prior to 1861, the pupil teachers were to receive one and a half hours' instruction on five days in the week, or seven and a half hours' instruction in each week; but, subsequently to 1861, a pupil teacher was only required to have one hour a day, or five hours a week. But time was not the only thing that was reduced; the teachers had not the same interest or zeal in the matter, because they were no longer paid as before."

"The pupil teachers might be instructed in the evening school along with the ordinary scholars, and that almost reduced the instruction to the level of an ordinary evening school."

13. The general apprehension inspired by all these changes, rendered the profession of schoolmaster less popular. The education of the pupil teachers was generally impaired, fewer candidates were apprenticed, and the number of those who resorted to the Training Colleges fell off. So that, Canon Cromwell says, "in the spring of 1869, instead of having 50 or 60 candidates for admission, we had, I think, only 34; and the College, instead of having 104 inmates, had less than 80 inmates. The Highbury Training College and the Chichester Training College were entirely closed; and the Colleges at Chester, York, Durham, Culham, Peterborough, and Exeter were scarcely half full. It was the case almost all over the country. The number of pupil teachers fell [at one period] from 13,000 to 6,000."

14. It is right, however, to point out that the consequences to which we have referred have been in part obviated by the operation of the system introduced by the Science and Art Department. So strong was the conviction of the Principals of certain of the Training Colleges, that elementary scientific knowledge was of great value to their students, that, in the absence of any assistance from the Education Department, they prepared their students for the May Examinations of the Science and Art Department, and permitted them to attend those examinations, thus qualifying themselves to earn grants under that Department.

15. Thus, Dr. Rigg, speaking of the Wesleyan Training College at Westminster, says, that "in 1868, 1869, and 1870, the encouragement given by the Science and Art Department had begun to tell so powerfully, that instruction was fully restored in those scientific subjects, and some classes of students in the Westminster Training College were presented for the May Examinations of the Science and Art Department, and there will be a large number of them this year. The subjects selected for such examinations were physical geography, inorganic chemistry, elementary mathematics, and, in part, theoretical mechanics, and, this year, animal physiology. Those were prepared as being in some relation to the ordinary course of training presented by the Committee of Council on Education. The female students attempted nothing more than physical geography. Of course, that includes some instruction about the habits of plants, and about geology, and so forth. Some of the male students took four subjects, but the majority of them took only three."

16. Among the impediments to higher instruction in Training Colleges, besides the restricted range of the syllabus of studies, the absence of sufficient indication of the objects and limits of the examination papers is also the subject of important evidence from Dr. Rigg, and Canon Cromwell. Dr. Rigg represents that the Principals or Committees of Training Colleges have slender opportunities of making any "deliberate representations upon the subject to the Committee of Council". We are of opinion that occasional conferences on the syllabus might be useful, in giving the Department the aid of the practical experience of Principals, of Inspectors, and of Men of Science.


[page xv]

THE NEW CODE OF 1871

17. The New Code of 1871 does not affect the Training Colleges except so far as relates to religious inspection, and, from the evidence we have taken, we fear it will practically have little effect in widening the range of the education in elementary schools; that, as heretofore, the grants will, in future, be almost wholly given for reading, writing, and arithmetic; and that little encouragement will be afforded to the study of other subjects, even of history and geography.

18. It is true that grants of 3s each are offered for proficiency in any two "extra subjects", under which term the Committee of the Privy Council on Education include everything except reading, writing, and arithmetic; but no children can earn these grants unless they are presented for examination in Standards IV - VI, and pass a satisfactory examination in two out of the three compulsory subjects. Now, no child can be presented in the first standard until it is seven years old, so that the fourth will not be passed before the 11th year. For children of this age, the standards for the extra subjects, as laid down in the schedule of the New Code (p. 19), seem to us very low. For instance, in geography the requirements are "a knowledge of the chief divisions of the world and of the meaning of a map"; while, in history, the master is instructed to "select some chief event of importance in the history of England since the Conquest, and let the children know something about it in detail." The requirements in the other extra subjects are not more difficult, and we are of opinion that such examinations might easily be passed by children at an earlier age than 11, and that the grants for extra subjects might, therefore, be advantageously thrown open at an earlier period at any rate, to children who are going in for the third standard. Such a modification in the Code could not interfere with the instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, because the grant for extra subjects is contingent on success in two out of the three elementary subjects. As regards the younger children, also, we consider that Her Majesty's Inspectors should be directed to satisfy themselves that such elementary lessons are given as would prepare the minds of the children for the more advanced instruction which will follow.

19. We now come to the case of the elder children. Those who are presented in Standards IV - VI may offer themselves for examination, and, if successful, will earn the grants of 3s. each offered for proficiency in any two extra subjects. But, on the other hand, it appears to us that the encouragement thus apparently held out is rendered, to a great extent, illusory by the other conditions of the Code. To make this clear, it is necessary to state the manner in which, under the Code, grants are earned. The sum of 6s. is granted for each scholar on account of attendance, and 4s. each for the three subjects, making 12s. for reading, writing, and arithmetic. Thus, each scholar can earn 18s., apart from extra subjects, and as 14s. a head (or 15s. where music is taught) is the maximum payable, it is evident that schools can earn the whole amount without teaching any of the so-called extra subjects.

20. Indeed, it is obvious that if 75 per cent of the children pass in reading, writing, and arithmetic, the school will earn the maximum grant, and, in fairly good schools, this amount of success has been, and we doubt not will be, attained without difficulty. Nor do we think it would be desirable that the standards should be raised in such a manner as to reduce the passes below this proportion; such a course would, we think, tend to discourage both the masters and pupils. The last Report of the Education Department shows* that the existing schools did, in fact, earn last year almost the full grant, without any assistance from the extra subjects, and those schools which are unable to pass the children in the elementary subjects are certainly not likely to be successful in others of a more advanced character.

21. We do not wish to underrate, in any way, the necessity of careful instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, as the very foundation of education; but we do not believe that the introduction of extra subjects would in any way interfere with it. Mr. Lingen, then Secretary to the Committee of Council on Education, stated before Mr. Samuelson's Committee on Scientific Instruction, in answer to Mr. Dixon,† that those schools in which extra subjects are introduced are most successful in teaching reading and writing; and Mr. Moseley, in his Report on the King's Somborne School, expressed his opinion that the slowness with which children in our elementary schools learn to read

*The total number of children qualified to earn grants was 1,090,611 (1. c. p. viii.). The number presented for examination was 887,041, of whom 810,911 passed in reading, 792,480 in writing, and 707,381 in arithmetic.

Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee, Qu. 756, p. 40.


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is in some degree to he attributed to the unwise concentration of the labours of the school on so few subjects. With these opinions we are disposed to concur.

22. Although we are not at present prepared to recommend any change in the existing system under which the number of extra subjects is limited and the choice left to the school managers, we trust that the time may not be far distant when it may be possible to introduce a more systematic programme of instruction in elementary science.

23. Meanwhile, we submit that the scale of payments in boys' and girls' schools might be so arranged as to encourage the regularity of the attendance of the scholars; to promote the employment of a sufficient staff of teachers; and to ensure the success of the teaching of the three elementary subjects, while a sufficient reward was given for proficiency in the extra subjects. Even without altering the maximum of 15s., we conceive that scales of payment might be adopted by which it would be possible to afford adequate encouragement to humble rural schools; to increase the general intelligence of the scholars in all schools, and thus to make success in the teaching of the rudiments more certain, while the range of instruction was enlarged, and the standard raised.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

24. From a consideration of the evidence we are of opinion that instruction in the elements of natural science can be, and eventually ought to be, made an essential part of the course of instruction in every elementary school.

25. The instruction to which we refer, though scientific in substance, should, in form, be devoid of needless technicality, and should be almost wholly confined to such facts as can be brought under the direct observation of the scholar. It should, in fact, be conveyed by object lessons, so arranged and methodized as to give an intelligent idea of those more prominent phenomena which lie around every child, and which he is apt to pass by without notice.

26. A course of object lessons of the nature here indicated could be given even to the junior classes of elementary schools, not only without in any way interfering with the efficiency of other instruction, but with the effect of aiding the general development of the intelligence of the children; and similar advantages would attend teaching of a like kind, but of a somewhat more advanced character, in the senior classes.

27. Canon Cromwell sets forth the nature and extent of rudimentary scientific instruction which can be given in elementary schools with teachers properly trained. "I know, by experience, that the elements of physical geography can be very well taught almost throughout the school." "Another subject which I find can be generally taught is drawing." "It is very useful because, as we all know, many boys go from the elementary school to various building trades or designing trades", or to "engineers' and machinists' offices". "I should like also to have mensuration taught generally." Also "a certain amount of natural science of an elementary character, remembering that it must always be given in a concrete shape with plenty of illustrations." "I think that boys should be familiar with some of the simple machines and instruments, which could be explained to them by ordinary models, and they should know something of the common properties of matter - chemical attraction, capillary attraction, and so forth."

28. The scientific instruction thus afforded would, within the narrow limits to which it extends, give a sound acquaintance with the elements of physical science. It would, therefore, possess very considerable intrinsic value, especially in localities in which classes under the Science Department have not been established; while in those places in which Science classes are accessible, it would render the additional service of preparing the scholars for them, and thus enable the teachers to raise the standard of their instruction.

29. It is of great importance to remember that in order to render the scientific instruction in elementary schools as successful as possible, the teachers must not only have acquired the needful amount of scientific knowledge, but must also have been carefully trained in the special methods of teaching science.

30. A reasonable hope may be entertained that, as the methods of instruction are improved, and the skill of the principal and assistant teachers increases, the standard reached by very young children in infant schools may be much raised without any undue pressure. Moreover, if some of the principal objects for which the Education Act of 1870 was passed be attained, the greater regularity of the attendance of children at school; the economy of time attained by better teaching, and a larger staff of teachers;


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and the prolongation of the school age; will afford greater facilities for the introduction of elementary scientific instruction in the sense already explained.

31. In any case, there can be no good reason why such Elementary Scientific Instruction as has long been given in the Primary Schools of Germany and Switzerland should not be bestowed upon English children. The Report of Mr. Samuelson's Committee entirely confirms this opinion.

32. The London* and Liverpool School Boards have recently determined to make elementary physical science and social economy essential subjects in all the schools which they provide, and their example will not improbably be followed by other school boards.

33. While we are clearly of opinion that scientific instruction should form a substantial part of the curriculum of Training Colleges, we feel the great difficulty which arises from the present condition of the general instruction in those Colleges, as disclosed by the Reports of the Inspectors for the years 1870-71, extracts from which we have placed in a footnote.†

*The following is extracted from The First Report of the Scheme of the Education Committee of the School Board for London, p. 4.

JUNIOR AND SENIOR SCHOOLS

We recommend that certain kinds of instruction shall form an essential part of the teaching of every elementary school; while others may or may not be added to them, at the discretion of the managers of individual schools, or by the special direction of the Board.

A. ESSENTIAL SUBJECTS:

a. Morality and Religion.
b. Reading, writing, and arithmetic; English grammar in senior schools; with mensuration in senior boys' school.
c. Systematised object lessons, embracing, in the six school years, a course of elementary instruction in physical science, and serving as an introduction to the science examinations which are conducted by the Science and Art Department.
d. The history of Britain.
e. Elementary geography.
f. Elementary social economy.
g. Elementary drawing, leading up to the examinations in mechanical drawing, and to the art teaching of the Science and Art Department.
h. In girls' schools, plain needlework and cutting out.
B. DISCRETIONARY SUBJECTS, which may be taught to advanced scholars:
a. Algebra and geometry.
b. Latin, or a modern language."

†[Extracts from the Report of the Committee of Council on Education, 1870-71.]

Extracts from the Report, for the Year 1870, by Her Majesty's Inspector, the Rev. B. Morgan Cowie, B.D. on the Church of England Training Schools for Schoolmasters:

Battersea "The students of the second year fell below a fair standard of proficiency in grammar and mental arithmetic."
Carmarthen "The students of the second year ...fell below a fair standard in mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, political economy, and Euclid. Their penmanship was also very inferior to what is needed to qualify a good teacher."
Carnarvon "The students of the Second year ... did not pass creditably in ... mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, or school management."
Chelsea - St. Mark's College "The students of the second year ... did not reach a fair standard in mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, and Euclid. Their penmanship, also, judged by the copy setting, was of very low quality."
Cheltenham Training College "The students of the second year ... did not acquit themselves creditably in English grammar, ... mental arithmetic, English composition, and geography."
Chester Diocesan Training School "The examination at Christmas shows that the students ... fell below a creditable standard of proficiency in mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, and economy."
Culham Training School for Masters "The students of the second year ... were below a fair standard in mental arithmetic and English grammar."
Durham Training College for Masters "The students of the second year ... did badly in ... mental arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, and Euclid."
Exeter Training College for Masters "The students of the second year did not reach a fair standard in these subjects: mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, and Euclid. The copy setting (penmanship) of both years was very poor, the second year even being worse than the men in their first year."
Peterborough Training College for Masters "The students of the second year did not reach a fair proficiency in mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, or Euclid. In penmanship neither years did as well as they ought to do for schoolmasters; the second year was in this respect inferior to the first."
Saltley Training College for Schoolmasters "The students of the second year fell below a fair standard in ... mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history. In penmanship they got a very low mark." [footnote continues on next page]


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34. We have recorded the evidence which has been given as to the changes in the conditions of the grants of the Committee of Council on Education which interfered with the efficiency of the instruction of Pupil Teachers in Elementary Schools, and caused the colleges to be supplied with students imperfectly prepared, which deprived them of a staff of special teachers, which curtailed the syllabus, and reduced the standard of acquirements in the examination for certificates. In so far as these circumstances affect the preparation of teachers on subjects other than scientific, they fall within our province only because they militate against the introduction of the elementary forms of scientific

[footnote continued from previous page] Winchester Training College for Schoolmasters "The students of the second year fell below a fair standard in mental arithmetic (although in this subject they gained more marks than many colleges), grammar, geography, and Euclid."
York and Ripon Training College for Masters "The students of the second year fell below a fair standard in mental arithmetic, English grammar, geography, history, and Euclid."

Extracts from a Report, for the Year 1870, by Her Majesty's Inspector, Matthew Arnold, Esq., D.C.I., on the Training Schools of the British and Foreign School Society in the Borough Road for Schoolmasters, and at Stockwell for Schoolmistresses:

Borough Road College "For the second year students I find that the weak points are geometry, mental arithmetic, geography, and grammar. Less than 27 per cent reached the mark of fair in Euclid, less than 14 per cent in mental arithmetic, less than 5 per cent in geography, and less than 3 per cent in grammar. The results in these matters with the second year students of 1869 were better as regards Euclid and grammar, slightly worse as regards mental arithmetic and geography. Grammar, mental arithmetic, and economy are the weak points with the first year students this time. ... With the Stockwell students also mental arithmetic is a weak point."

Extracts from the Report, for the Year 1870, by Her Majesty's Inspector, Scott Nasmyth Stokes, Esq., on the Roman Catholic Training School at Hammersmith for Schoolmasters:

"The results of the ordinary examination held in December 1870, show that the second -year students obtained ... moderate marks for history and Euclid; and they were found imperfect in mental arithmetic, grammar, and economy, since in those subjects none got even fair marks."

"The students of the first year ... were judged to be imperfect in mental arithmetic, grammar, and economy."

Extract from the Report, for the Year 1870, by Her Majesty's Inspector, James Cumming, Esq., LL.D., on the Free Church Training School, Edinburgh:

"In considering the tabulated results of the examination in reference to the different subjects of study, the conclusions are partly satisfactory, and partly of a somewhat perplexing if not startling nature. In regard to the most essential subjects, the reading, writing, arithmetic, religious knowledge, and teaching power, the results are generally good, with, perhaps, some deduction in the penmanship of the female students. But according to the table, while in composition 88 per cent of the senior females, and 84 per cent of the junior females, as well as 66 per cent of the junior male students, have passed creditably, not one individual of the senior male students has passed as excellent, as good, or even as fair; the percentage is an absolute blank. A similar result appears as to geography. Such a result would require very anxious consideration and inquiry on the part of the conductors of the institution, and would no doubt receive it, were it not so very extraordinary as to excite the suspicion that there must be some mistake. I am assured that this is not the case, and I can therefore only direct attention to the striking fact."

TABULATED RESULTS OF EXAMINATION, CHRISTMAS, 1870

Percentage of Candidates examined who obtained Marks of Excellent, Good, or Fair.
Male Students of the Second Year.

[click on the image for a larger version]


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instruction into the education of pupil teachers, and the re-establishment of scientific instruction as a part of the curriculum of training colleges.

35. We do not consider that the evidence which we have received is exhaustive or conclusive as to the causes which have led to the results which we have stated but whatever may have been their origin, we fear that an extension of the curriculum so as to include elementary science, could not be expected to succeed until the means of scientific instruction for the students are more complete, and until the students enter in a better state of preparation, or remain a longer period.

36. On the other hand, the extension of the time of education in Training Colleges would obviously raise questions of expense both with respect to the buildings and annual outlay. These questions may bring under consideration the expediency of adopting, to a greater or less extent, the alternative of instruction without board.

37. Before we leave this part of the subject, we think it expedient to state that the encouragement of instruction in the rudiments of natural knowledge in elementary schools falls properly within the province of the Education Department, and should be adequately provided for in the regulations of the Code issued under its authority.

Recommendations

I. We recommend, as regards the elder children in the Elementary Schools, that the teaching of such rudiments of Physical Science as we have previously indicated should receive more substantial encouragement than is given in the Regulations of the New Code.

II. We recommend, as regards the younger children, that Her Majesty's Inspectors should be directed to satisfy themselves that such elementary lessons are given as would prepare these children for the more advanced instruction which will follow.

III. We recommend that the mode of instruction of Pupil Teachers; the conditions of admission to Training Colleges; the duration of the course of study in them; and the syllabus of subjects taught, should be so modified as to provide for the instruction of students in the elements of Physical Science.

II. SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION IN SCIENCE CLASSES UNDER THE SCIENCE AND ART DEPARTMENT

Origin and growth of the System

38. Before the year 1859, elementary instruction in science was scarcely attainable by the working classes. Some of the principal mechanics' institutions of great towns had, from time to time, popular lectures on scientific subjects, which were frequently illustrated by experiments, diagrams, or specimens; but these lectures seldom extended to systematic courses. In very few of such institutions did any classes exist for collective instruction; scarcely any had laboratories; and whatever collections of natural objects existed were almost always ill-arranged and incomplete, even for the purposes of very limited instruction. Certain exceptions to this description existed, as, for instance, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, and one or two institutions in London. But in smaller towns, and in manufacturing and rural districts, no such instruction was attainable except from one of the better educated schoolmasters, whose time, however, was otherwise sufficiently occupied.

39. The Department of Science and Art was constituted in 1853 by a Minute of the Treasury in consequence of the representations of the Board of Trade (under whose jurisdiction a Department of Practical Art was at that time included), and was placed under the Committee of Council on Education.

40. In 1859, the Department, thus constituted, originated a system of teaching by means of Elementary Science Classes and of payment on the results of the examination of the scholars. Examinations on a somewhat similar plan had been carried on by the Society of Arts, through local agency, in different parts of the kingdom; but, whilst encouragement was given to students by granting prizes for proficiency, the plan did not include any direct aid or encouragement to teachers. The object of the system introduced by the Science and Art Department was more comprehensive, for it proceeded to encourage the formation of a class of teachers of elementary science, and to stimulate and reward their activity by granting a payment, proportionate to attainments, for every pupil who passed an examination in one of certain successive stages of proficiency.

41. This system has given a remarkable impulse to elementary scientific teaching throughout the United Kingdom, some indication of which will be gathered from the


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following table, showing the number of schools and persons under instruction in successive years:

Number of
Schools
Number under
Instruction
18609500
1862702,543
1864914,666
18661536,835
186721210,230
186830015,010
186952324,865
187079934,283

Teachers

42. As the introduction of the system coincided with the period in which the masters of elementary schools were under great apprehension as to the reduction of their emoluments, and did often actually suffer considerable loss, they naturally availed themselves of the opportunity offered by a Department of the Government to increase their income by teaching science classes in the evening. This course was open to them if, either by their own unaided personal exertions and private studies, or by attendance on elementary science classes, they could acquire sufficient knowledge to enable them to pass whatever examination was required.

43. A special examination was originally instituted for teachers, and a certificate was issued recognising the amount of knowledge which they had obtained. But, subsequently, the Department relied to such an extent upon the examination of the papers of the pupils in the several classes as to regard the special examination of the teachers as, "to a great extent, unnecessary". Any student of an elementary science class recognised by the Department, if he pass in the advanced classes of the annual May examination, is now deemed to be qualified to teach, and may, by presenting pupils at a subsequent examination, earn by their success the grants given by the Department.

44. Under these conditions an elementary schoolmaster could, with the consent of his school committee, open his schoolroom in the evening for the instruction of the youth and adults of the working classes in his vicinity. Many scholars in his own more advanced classes passed from the elementary school at once into the evening school, and he gathered about him others who had been his pupils in previous years. The knowledge of the existence of such a class spread to others whose education had been neglected; and some who were desirous to fit themselves for positions in manufactures or trade requiring some elementary scientific knowledge, resorted to these classes as a first step towards the attainment of that object.

45. The number of teachers in March 1871 was 957. From a return made at a somewhat earlier period to a circular issued by the Science and Art Department at the suggestion of this Commission,* it appears that, of the 867 qualified science teachers employed at the date of the return, 556 were day-school teachers. Of these, 429 were certified as elementary school teachers by the Education Department in Whitehall or in Dublin, and 112 possessed no such certificates. One large section of the masters of day-schools who conduct science classes in Great Britain has passed through the Training Colleges, and, up to 1861, as we have already observed, had in many of those colleges an opportunity of obtaining an elementary knowledge of one or two branches of science. Such masters have had experience in teaching, and possess considerable knowledge of the organisation, discipline, and methods of instruction adopted in elementary schools. The masters who have left the Training Colleges since 1863 have passed through a more limited course of study, but they have recently been stimulated to acquire some knowledge of science in the elementary classes under the Science and Art Department.

46. We feel that the experience and skill of even an uncertificated teacher, and the previous literary training of certificated teachers, qualify them to acquire an elementary knowledge in the existing elementary science classes with a greater degree of success than inexperienced students. When they take charge of science classes, the skill they have acquired in giving instruction cannot fail to increase their success as teachers, especially in promoting the development of the intelligence of the pupils.

*See Appendix XII, p. 41.


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47. There remain, according to this return, 311 private teachers, who are not day teachers, of whom 259 are persons having other employments in the daytime. These occupations are commonly those of tradesmen's clerks, surveyors' assistants, draughtsmen, mechanics, or handicraftsmen, or persons employed in such trades as dyeing or calico printing. In these last, the work affords some opportunities for acquiring skill in chemical manipulation. It is probable that, notwithstanding the want of training in the management of classes, and in teaching, and the occasional want of literary qualifications, many of these teachers have rendered valuable service. We are also informed that 79 hold honorary science certificates; that 33 of them obtained certificates according to the method of examination in use previously to 1867; and 176 have qualified according to the system now in use by passing in the advanced classes at the May examinations, while 23 hold certificates awarded in consequence of the examination previously to 1867 in some subjects, and have qualified in other subjects at the present May examinations by passing in the advanced classes. We have no information as to what is the relative scientific knowledge of the several classes of teachers.

48. The steadily increasing stringency of the examination, ensured both by the character of the questions and the requirements of the examiners as to the answers, has doubtless had considerable influence on the qualifications of the teachers. The operation of the system has been marked by a progressive improvement in the answers to the examination papers.

49. While the increased stringency of the examinations to which we have already referred supplies a powerful motive to the teachers to improve themselves, an important opportunity of such improvement is afforded by the system recently introduced by the Department of supplying courses of lectures in the metropolis, with opportunities of practical instruction, which science teachers are aided in attending by a grant towards their expenses. The initiation of this system is thus described:

In accordance with the terms of the Minute of 11th March 1869, two courses of six lectures each to science teachers were delivered: one of them, on Light, by Professor Guthrie, was given at the Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street, on the evenings of the week ending the 3rd July; the other, on Animal Physiology, by Dr. Michael Foster, prefaced with an introduction by Professor Huxley, in the Lecture Theatre of the South Kensington Museum, during the following week.

These lectures were specially meant to instruct teachers in the art of teaching, making their experiments, &c.; and special pecuniary assistance was given to enable teachers generally to avail themselves of the opportunity, which 253 did. Of these 169 attended both courses, 35 that on Light only, and 49 that on Physiology only. The total numbers attending the two courses were, therefore Light, 204; Physiology, 218. Admission to the lectures was also given to various other persons connected with education, including several Principals and Tutors of Training Colleges who made application for it.

Simultaneously with the delivery of these lectures a short course of practical instruction in the laboratory of the Royal College of Chemistry was given by Dr. Frankland and Mr. Valentin, permission to avail themselves of which was given to 153 teachers.

50. In 1870 short courses of lectures, of a similar character, upon chemistry and experimental physics were delivered by Dr. Frankland and Professor Guthrie, and were accompanied by six days' work in the chemical laboratory for each teacher who came up for instruction.

51. In the year 1871, the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education, "finding that the special courses of lectures on teaching science have been very successful, and highly appreciated by the masters for whose benefit they were instituted", provided for an extension of this kind of instruction in biology and in experimental physics.

52. The course on Biology was commenced by Professor Huxley on the 14th of June; and the course on Experimental Physics by Professor Guthrie on the 5th of July. Each course lasted six weeks, and was attended by between forty and fifty persons.

53. Oral instruction was given by the Professors in the form of lectures or otherwise; but the most important feature of the course was the practical work through which every one under instruction was made to pass, and which occupied four or five hours of each working day.

54. In giving this practical instruction, each Professor was aided by several highly competent Demonstrators.

55. We are of opinion that the arrangements for the instruction of teachers, thus briefly described, have already been of material benefit, though, as yet, they have been attended by no great number of teachers; and that they may be continued and extended with every prospect of advantage.


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Buildings and Apparatus for Teaching

56. Excepting when building grants are given, no restriction is placed upon the character of the room or building in which the class may be held. To quote the words of Mr. Cole, "it might be held in a garret or in a cellar". Neither is it required that a typical collection of specimens, apparatus for the illustration of instruction, or for acquiring skill in the use of instruments, or a laboratory for practice in manipulation, should be attached to an elementary science class. Such requirements would obviously, at the origin of the system, have proved insurmountable hindrances to the formation of these classes in the great majority of instances.

57. Science classes conducted by certificated and uncertificated day-school teachers are commonly held in day schoolrooms, which are generally sufficiently commodious, and are frequently furnished with well-arranged desks and benches, with black-boards, and easels, and the other ordinary apparatus of elementary instruction.

Subjects Taught

58. The subjects taught are as follows:

1. Practical Plane and Solid Geometry.
2. Machine Construction and Drawing.
3. Building Construction.
4. Naval Architecture and Drawing.
5. Pure Mathematics.
6. Theoretical Mechanics.
7. Applied Mechanics.
8. Acoustics, Light, and Heat.
9. Magnetism and Electricity.
10. Inorganic Chemistry.
11 . Organic Chemistry.
12. Geology.
13. Mineralogy.
14. Animal Physiology.
15. Zoology.
16. Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology.
17. Systematic and Economic Botany.
18. Principles of Mining.
19. Metallurgy.
20. Navigation.
21. Nautical Astronomy.
22. Steam.
23. Physical Geography.

59. The teachers in the several schools are aided in their course of instruction by a Syllabus carefully prepared by the eminent scientific men who act as examiners, setting forth the range of study required, so as to enable the pupils to prepare for examination.

60. The syllabus is, in fact, a valuable outline of a course of elementary scientific instruction, suitable to the working classes. It is the result of the experience of men who have devoted themselves for many years to the teaching of science.

Examinations

61. From the memorandum printed in our Appendix III (p. 6), with regard to the preparation of the papers for the science examinations of May 1870, it appears that there are three papers in each subject: A, an elementary or first stage paper; B, an advanced or second stage paper; and C, an honours paper. The examiners frame their papers with a view to discourage and detect mere cramming.

62. The examination is conducted under the superintendence of local committees.

63. All students in the science classes are required to present themselves for examination in the elementary stage before they come up in the second or advanced stage. The elementary paper is intended to meet what may be expected to be the reasonable results of one or two years' instruction of lads of from 13 to 14, and artizans who attend classes during the winter evenings. The paper, however, covers a wide range, so as not only to reward the teachers who, by careful instruction of the duller pupils, enable them to pass in the lowest class, but, likewise, in the case of the better informed and more intelligent pupils, to secure the higher grants to the teacher where they pass in the first class.

The advanced paper is intended to test what may be regarded as a reasonable amount of progress in knowledge after another year's instruction.

The honours paper requires for success more efficient means of instruction than are commonly afforded by the elementary science classes, and is adapted to the acquirements of highly advanced students, teachers, and candidates for the Whitworth and other scholarships.

64. The examination papers are privately printed, and are distributed by post in sealed packets addressed to the proper officers of the several committees of elementary science schools throughout the country.

65. On the evening of an appointed day, the seal of this packet is broken in the presence of at least three members of the committee, and the papers are distributed to the several candidates assembled. The papers are worked in the presence of three selected members of the committee, in order to prevent any assistance being given to any student. The examination, excepting in two subjects, lasts three hours - from 7 till 10. The written answers are collected, sealed in the presence of the Committee, and returned by post to the office of the Department. The duties of the committee may


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extend over eight or ten successive evenings, when several separate subjects have been taught. The mode of appointment of the committees from which these members are selected, is obviously important as a means of preventing any breach of rules in the conduct of the examination. The regulations of the Department, as to the constitution of the committees, are carefully drawn, and, if carried out in the letter and in the spirit, would ensure an occasional visitation of the classes while under instruction, and would effectually prevent any unfair proceedings at the examinations.

66. The Department acknowledges the attention of the Local Committees at the period of examination. "It is through their agency that more than 2,000 examinations were held n all parts of the country in 1869. Mistakes and irregularities have in some cases occurred, as might be expected, from the novel nature of the duties to some gentlemen." "The employment of 60 or 70 officers of the Corps of Royal Engineers as Local Inspectors has, as in the previous year, been of great service in assisting the Local Committees, and seeing that the rules were strictly adhered to. In this way about 500 of the examinations were visited."* "By these means several cases of irregularity were" (as Mr. Iselin reports) "brought to the knowledge of the Department."

67. Mr. Iselin remarks that "a periodical inspection of the science schools and classes has always been found useful in preventing the spread of irregularities, and in controlling the appointment and action of the Local Committees, over whom, otherwise, the Department, from want of special local knowledge, could exercise no authority."†

68. We are informed that the Department has had under its consideration the question whether School Boards established under the Education Act, 1870, might not be of service in the appointment of Committees, and in the selection of the members to be present at the examinations, as well as by the attendance of their own officers.

69. The same scientific men who prepare the syllabus of studies and the examination papers, are likewise charged with the duty of reporting on the results. They nominate, for appointment by the Department, assistant examiners, and their suggestions in this respect are in practice adopted. As in eight of the subjects above 2,000 papers have to pass under their scrutiny, these papers are divided by the chief examiner among his assistants. As the papers are distinguished only by numbers, the examiners have no knowledge of the classes or schools from which the papers come. The assistants receive instructions from the chief examiners as to the mode of conducting their work, so as to secure uniformity. Certain of the papers are taken as examples, and the amount of marks to be allotted is determined in a preliminary conference between the chief examiner and his assistants. When each assistant has completed his work, it is reviewed in all special cases by the examiner. The honours papers are read, and the marks for these are awarded by the chief examiner himself.

70. Out of 29,928 elementary and advanced stage papers examined in 1870 (Eighteenth Report of the Department, 1871, p. 57), 25,200 were presented in the elementary stage, and of these 11,835 failed. Of 4,728 papers examined for the advanced stage, 1,723 failed. The percentage of failures in the elementary stage was 46.96, and in the advanced stage, 36.44. The proportion in successive years is indicated in the following table, extracted from the 17th and 18th Reports of the Science and Art Department for 1870, 1871 (p. viii in both).

Number of
individual
Candidates who
presented
themselves for
Examination
No. of Papers
worked
No. of Papers
passed
Prizes
18674,5208,2136,0133,453
18687,09213,1128,6495,246
186913,23424,08514,5501,969
187016,51534,41318,6903,108

71. The prizes consist of four medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronze); Queen's prizes (books or instruments); scholarships of £5 (to assist in the instruction of deserving students); local exhibitions grants of £25 per annum for one, two, or three years, where the locality raises a like sum by voluntary subscriptions (to enable students to complete their education at some college or school where scientific instruction of an advance character maybe obtained); and Royal exhibitions (tenable for three years) to the Royal School of Mines, London, and the Royal College of Science, Dublin, admissions to the last-named institutions are also given to all gold medallists.

72. A table communicated by Captain Donnelly gives the ages of 34,336 students examined in 1870, and the number who passed at each age.

*Seventeenth Report of the Department (1870), p. x.

Seventeenth Report of the Department (1870), p. 58.


[page xxiv]

73. Of those examined 4,739 were under 13, the age to which day-school attendance is required under the Factory Acts, and 7,746 were under 14, the age to which efforts have been made to extend the operation of those Acts.

74. Among these 7,746, there were 5,027 unsuccessful candidates. In considering this proportion due allowance must be made for age, but it would probably be improper to regard this result as a measure of the capacity for scientific instruction of boys up to this age. It must be taken into account that, for the most part, the scientific instruction received by the teachers themselves was elementary, their training imperfect, and that their classes were conducted without the aid of experimental or other illustrations.

75. An inspection of the table will show that the percentage of success increases in each year up to candidates who were 20 years old, when it was 62.5, having been 62.3 in the preceding year. Between 12 and 13, one-third of the candidates were successful, and a somewhat greater proportion between 13 and 14.

AGES of CANDIDATES who presented themselves for Examination, May 1870

*The discrepancy between this and the number given in p. 19 arises from an occasional double counting of papers, which cannot be detected at the time.


[page xxv]

76. We have had before us certain of the Examiners: from them we have derived the impression already recorded, that substantial advantages result from the system of instruction pursued, but from the considerable proportion of failures which occur as well as from the character of the answers given, the examiners are under the impression that a very large part of the instruction is derived from books, tested and aided by the class examinations of the teachers; and that it is not often illustrated by specimen experiments, the use of apparatus, or the out-door study of nature. One of the examiners even complains that it is clear that the common expedient of the black-board and chalk is not used to illustrate instruction in geology. We have it in evidence that not only is scientific apparatus wanting, but that too often the teachers confine their instruction to the same routine of book learning and class questioning with which alone they were made familiar in the rudimentary classes in which they received their own imperfect elementary knowledge.

77. The examiners conclude that when there is a great preponderance of failures in any school, the teacher has systematically endeavoured to prepare his students by an almost exclusive exercise of the memory. Mr. Iselin confirms this impression by reporting that "this defect is most observable in science classes established in connection with, and for the pupils of elementary schools, where the students are more immediately under the control of the teacher. In order to produce good results, the youth, and often the deficiency in primary education of his pupils, compels the teacher to cultivate their memory rather than their intelligence."* Teachers of elementary day schools are, as we have already observed, under strong inducements to found evening science classes, and the transfer of scholars immediately from the day to the evening schools is one chief means of filling those classes.

Inspection

78. There are only two permanent Inspectors of Local Schools of Science and Art, and as their inspection extends to the Art as well as to the Science Classes, it is obvious that their supervision must be inadequate to provide any important check against irregularities, or to greatly influence the methods and means of instruction.

79. The Engineer Officers before referred to are employed as local inspectors, their only duty being to see that the regulations of the Department are complied with. They are not charged to report upon the methods of instruction adopted by the teachers, as to the degree in which that instruction is limited to text-books, and to class examinations, founded upon such book instruction, nor as to the comparative skill and knowledge of method, or assistance from apparatus or specimens, by which the success of the teaching may be promoted. But a system of inspection embracing these objects, yet without proceeding to systematic individual or class examination, would be of great value as a supplement to the May examination of the papers of the pupils.

80. Practical instruction in the science classes would be greatly promoted by more frequent inspection, followed by reports on the methods and apparatus employed, and the number of pupils receiving such practical instruction.

Payments on Results

81. Payments are made by the Department on account of each successful student of the industrial classes,† at the rate of £1 for every second class, in either the elementary or the advanced stage; of £2 for a first class in either of these stages, or for

*Seventeenth Report of the Science and Art Department (1870), p. 57.

†The following definition of these classes is thus given in the 24th edition of The Directory of the Science and Art Department:

"Under 'Students of the Industrial Classes' are included:

a. Artisans or operatives in the receipt of weekly wages.
b. Coastguards, policemen, and others who, though in receipt of weekly wages, do not support themselves by manual labour.
c. Teachers of elementary schools in connexion with the Education Department, Whitehall, or the National Board of Education, Ireland. (See exceptions in §XLVII., p. 17, and in the special rules applying to Irish National School Teachers, see p. 32.)
d. Persons in the receipt of salaries not large enough to render them liable to the income tax, as some descriptions of clerks, shopmen, &c.
e. Small shopkeepers employing no one but members of their own family and not assessed to the income tax.
f. Tradesmen and manufacturers on their own account, supporting themselves by their own manual labour, not employing apprentices, journeymen, &c., and not assessed to the income tax.
g. The children (not gaining their own livelihood) of all such persons above mentioned.
No payments are made on account of any other students."


[page xxvi]

a second class in honours; and of £4 for a first class in honours. "The payments to teachers on the results of the instruction of the artisan classes, as tested by these examinations, amounted in the year 1869, to £17,015 15s, being at the rate of about 13s 7d for each person under instruction. In the previous year the rate paid was about 17s 5d."* In this way teachers were sometimes enabled to earn considerable sums, and in the 17th Report, 1870, the average payment to the teachers is stated to be £35 a year, while one earned as much as £227 10s, and the Bristol Trade School, with three teachers, earned, in 1869, £653. Although we do not think that either the times of attendance, or the amount and sources of contributions in elementary schools can be strictly compared with those in science classes, it may be worthy of observation that the elementary schools are required to be open 400 times, and no grant is made for the elementary instruction of any boy or girl who has not attended 250 morning or afternoon meetings of the school, whereas the science classes are only required to be open 25 times in the year. The cost per head of teaching each scholar in an elementary school, calculated on the average attendance, ranges from 21s to 30s; but the average rate of grant was reduced by the operation of the Revised Code from 12s 3d to 8s 6d or 9s per scholar, and the maximum grant attainable under the New Code cannot exceed 15s, nor can it exceed one half the sum raised by fees and subscriptions.

82. The expenses are defrayed by school pence and contributions. We have grave doubts whether equivalent subscriptions could, at an early period, have been raised in support of the most improved forms of teaching in the elementary science classes. Nevertheless, we think it worthy of the consideration of the Department whether means could not be adopted to increase the resources of the elementary science classes by greater payments from the pupils, and by local contributions. This will become necessary in proportion as practical instruction is introduced. Though, in the earliest period, to have required local contributions, bearing some proportion to the grants, might have prevented the establishment of the classes, that danger ought, if the instruction is valued, gradually to cease to exist.

General Remarks

83. The efficiency of the instruction given in the science classes has been diminished, on the one hand, by the imperfect organization of the classes, whether considered separately or in groups, and the absence of practical teaching; and, on the other, by the irregular and unsystematic manner in which scholars have taken up the subjects taught.

84. As an example of the efficiency of scientific instruction as an instrument in the education of boys belonging to the humbler middle classes, and from 12 to 15 years of age, we think it desirable to describe the Bristol Trade School, which was successfully developed tinder the guidance of the late Canon Moseley, who, both as a Professor at King's College, London, and, subsequently, as an Inspector of Training Colleges, had prolonged experience of such instruction.

85. This school was designed for boys intended for "trades chiefly connected with the construction of machinery and building", or for general commercial pursuits.

86. The school now contains 160 boys, who belong chiefly "to the manufacturing and mechanical trades". It comprises an elementary department of 100 boys, from 10 to 12 years old, who learn "nothing of science" "except a little practical geometry". These elementary classes are introductory to the science department, which is attended by 60 boys, who "pass from the elementary part of the school into the science part at about 12, and remain until the age of 15." "There are four masters" to the whole school, "each of whom takes his share in the general literary work". "There is only one master who is not engaged in both divisions." "One master devotes himself more especially to mathematics, another to descriptive geometry and its application to machinery and building structures, and to applied mechanics"; and the head master "to chemistry and experimental physics".

87. The head master (Mr. Thomas Coomber) gives the following account of the instruction in the Upper Department: "We teach mathematics and the application of mathematics to mechanics and mechanism, descriptive geometry, and the applications of descriptive geometry to machine drawing and building construction." "In addition

*Seventeenth and Eighteenth Reports of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education (1870 and 1871), p. viii in both.


[page xxvii]

to that, we teach chemistry, both inorganic and organic, and experimental physics, which includes electricity, magnetism, light, and heat." Nothing systematic has yet been effected in the day school in the practical scientific instruction of boys in the laboratory. This, "as far as the day school is concerned", is confined "to several boys who have been withdrawn from the school, and have become apprentices as chemists". A mining school is connected with the trade school, and contains six pupils, who have the advantage of attending the scientific classes. A fifth master superintends this school. Considerable opportunities are afforded for practical observation, and for manipulation in the laboratory, in connection with the mining school. "The boys who are educated" in the day school, "and leave at ages varying from 14 to 15, continue their education, after their day's work, in the evening school". Free exhibitions to the lectures of the Royal School of Mines in Jermyn Street have been awarded to three of the scholars, to enable them to pursue the scientific study of mining. One of the former mining scholars is "the manager of a colliery in South Wales; another is now engaged in the development of a coalfield at Natal; and the third used the education which he acquired at the Royal School of Mines in London to obtain a science scholarship at Cambridge, and is still at Cambridge." The boys educated in the trade school "are, as a rule, doing very well indeed"; but so short a time has elapsed since the commencement of the school that instances of remarkable success can scarcely yet be expected.

88. The charges and resources of the school are thus described: "Our fee is £3 per year in the trade school, and in the mining school an additional £7, in all £10 [in the mining school], so that our income for the past year will be very nearly £450 from fees in the trade school only." This is increased by subscriptions, and by the rent of the cellar, to a little more than £500 a year, independently of the grants of the Science and Art Department. Out of the grants to science classes in this school in 1871 £240 15s were for the day school.

89. As an example of the grouping of classes for the purpose of introducing the services of more efficient teachers, we proceed to give a brief sketch of the organization of a group of evening classes formed in East Lancashire. These classes were in the first instance assembled for the purposes of elementary literary instruction, either in day school-rooms or in the rooms of literary and mechanics' institutions. They were conducted at one period by three kinds of teachers. Besides the principal teacher, one of the most successful students of former years was appointed a local assistant teacher. These local teachers were for a time encouraged by a grant of £10 annually from the Committee of Council on Education. They were aided by a pupil fulfilling the function in the evening school which a pupil teacher does in the day school. Such teachers were paid £5 annually from a local subscription. We may remark, incidentally, that the training of such assistants in elementary science schools would greatly facilitate the introduction of practical instruction by the aid which they would give to the master in all mechanical details; while, on the other hand, such assistance would insensibly, but surely, impart such skill and knowledge as would give an impulse to the career of the pupil so employed.

90. The class, organized as we have described, was visited on one or two evenings in the week by a highly-instructed certificated master, qualified also to give elementary instruction in science under the Science and Art Department. A class in the ordinary rudiments of literary instruction, and another in the elements of science, were conducted by him at successive periods of the same evening, and the youths who had entered in the literary class, commonly, after having passed through that, proceeded to receive instruction in the science class, and became candidates in the science examination. By these expedients the services of a master of much greater experience, skill, and knowledge, were obtained for the entire group of science classes. Boxes of apparatus were provided by subscription aided by the grants of the Education Department, or the Science and Art Department, and the instruction by these means assumed a more practical form. The master of this group of schools gave, in the daytime, scientific instruction in a grammar school, and, on Saturdays, to a class for elementary day-school teachers, as well as in a private school. Efforts have been made to introduce a similar system into a few other districts.

91. As a remedy for the irregular and unsystematic manner in which students take up subjects for the study of which they are unprepared, the Science and Art Department on


[page xxviii]

the 24th November 1871, issued a Minute* suggesting the adoption of definitely arranged courses of instruction, and offering encouragement in the form of extra payments to the schools in which such courses are adopted. This minute will be of especial service to the teachers themselves, who have hitherto been in the habit of qualifying themselves successively in different subjects without sufficient regard to their connection.

92. In the preceding outline of the system of elementary scientific instruction which has rapidly sprung into existence under the Science and Art Department, we have recognised the high value of the schemes of instruction prepared for each branch of study by the examiners, as well as the skill and care with which they have superintended the examination of the papers by which the distribution of the grants has been determined, and have been enabled year by year to raise the standard of instruction. On the other hand, we have not concealed the imperfections, either of the organization or the working of this system, or of its results.

93. These imperfections seem to have been the unavoidable incidents of the mode in which these classes came into existence, and of their very rapid extension, notwithstanding many difficulties and obstacles. The undeveloped state of elementary education, and the defects of the only machinery available for the establishment of these classes, rendered necessary the experiment of employing whatever rooms and teachers were at hand. The degree of success attained in the enterprise of thus boldly opening, in spite of all obstacles, a path for the introduction of a system of elementary scientific instruction, is greatly due to the vigorous and able administration of the Department, and to the efficiency with which the examinations have been conducted.

94. The ground thus prepared may hereafter be occupied, step by step, with elementary science schools in well-constructed buildings, supplied with proper apparatus, and a sufficient staff of trained teachers. These schools may train assistant teachers, may group around them humbler classes, and aid them with apparatus and superintendence or instruction.

95. The first steps have been taken with such vigour, and the result has been to such an extent successful, that we confidently expect that, with needful guidance and encouragement, a thoroughly efficient system of elementary scientific instruction for the working classes may, ere long, be founded on this basis. Our recommendations show in what way, in our judgment, the existing system should be further developed.

Recommendations

IV. We recommend that the instruction in elementary science classes under the Science and Art Department, be so arranged as to work in complete harmony with the general system of public elementary education, but, at the same time, we consider it important that the Education Department and the Department charged with Instruction in Science shall continue to be co-ordinate.

V. We recommend that a more efficient inspection of Elementary Science Classes be organized, and that the Inspectors should advise the Local Committees and report on:

(a) The apparatus of instruction.
(b) The state of the discipline and methods.
(c) The general efficiency of the arrangements.
VI. We recommend that teachers who have already qualified by passing the May examination in either of the advanced classes shall continue to be recognised as qualified to conduct Elementary Science Classes, with the title of Elementary Science-Teacher, and to earn the grants awarded by the Department of Science and Art on the results of the examination of their scholars; but that this qualification and title shall in future only be attainable by passing in the first of the advanced classes.

VII. We recommend that should such arrangements as are herein-after set forth for conducting the practical instruction of teachers, and for providing for them practical examination at several centres, be adopted, all elementary science teachers shall, after such practical instruction, be admissible to a further examination, which, in all suitable subjects, shall be practical. We recommend that success in this examination shall entitle a teacher to a certificate of Second Grade Science Master.

*See Appendix XIX, p. 57.


[page xxix]

VIII. We recommend that, as an inducement to teachers to prepare for and pass this further examination, payment for results in the case of a Second Grade Science Master be made at a somewhat higher rate than in that of the Elementary Science Teacher.

IX. We recommend that an examination, both by papers and by practical tests, in any group of allied subjects defined by the Department which the candidate may select, shall be open to all those teachers who have passed in the advanced classes, or who have been otherwise admitted as Science Teachers; and that success in this examination shall entitle the candidate to receive a certificate of First Grade Science Master in that group.

X. We recommend that a greater capitation grant be payable in respect of the scholars of a First Grade Science Master teaching in any group of allied subjects with or without assistance, than in respect of the scholars of a Second Grade Science Master, provided that the Inspector report that the apparatus is sufficient, and that practical instruction has been given in each suitable subject.

XI. We recommend that, with a view of maintaining uniformity of standard in these examinations, they shall be conducted at the several local centres by the staff of Examiners acting under the Science and Art Department.

XII. We recommend that the more systematic training of the teachers of science referred to, be provided for -

(a) By the adoption of special arrangements for this purpose in the Science School which has been referred to in our First Report; and by the recognition by the Department of similar arrangements for the instruction of this class of students in any University or College, and in Science Schools as herein-after described.

(b) By giving to the students of Training Colleges the opportunity of remaining a third year, during which scientific instruction may either form a principal part of the curriculum of such Colleges or be accessible in some adjacent College or School of Science approved as efficient for that purpose.

XIII. We recommend that the Science and Art Department be at liberty to dispense with the preceding examinations and to accord the privilege of First and Second Grade Science Masters in consideration of University Examinations in Science, or of a satisfactory course of study in Colleges in which Science is taught, as well as in other cases of obvious scientific qualification.

XIV. We recommend that in schools recognised as Science Schools, as herein-after set forth, facilities for the employment of Assistant Teachers be afforded as an experiment on a limited scale, some addition being made to the emoluments of the teacher in consideration of the instruction afforded; provided the Department be satisfied, on the report of an Inspector, that such assistant teacher has received practical instruction in subjects in which it is prescribed, and that he has been actively engaged in teaching.

To encourage the more advanced scholars to become assistant teachers under first grade masters in such schools, a small stipend, rising in successive years, might be granted on condition that a like sum was raised locally, subject to such conditions as the Department might deem expedient. The proportion of assistant teachers should not exceed one for every 15 successful scholars in any science school, and no scholar should be recognised as an assistant teacher until he has passed in the first division of the elementary class in the May examination.

XV. We recommend that, with a view of training First Grade Science Teachers, exhibitions of sufficient value and in sufficient numbers be offered to elementary science teachers and to assistant teachers who have served three years, and passed in the first division of the advanced class in the May examinations; and that such exhibitions should be tenable in any University, College, or Science School recognised in Recommendation XII.

XVI. We recommend that the grants made by the Science and Art Department for buildings be extended, under sufficient guarantees, so as to embrace institutions for scientific instruction, although they may not be built under the Public Libraries Act, or be in connexion with a School of Art.

XVII. We recommend that grants similar to those now made for apparatus be given for laboratory and museum fittings under proper guarantees.


[page xxx]

XVIII. We recommend that whenever the arrangements for scientific teaching in any institution shall have attained a considerable degree of completeness and efficiency, such institution be recognized as a Science School, and be so organized as to become the centre of a group of elementary science classes; and to provide the assistance of First Grade Science Masters, the loan of apparatus and specimens, and the means of instruction in the laboratories and museums to the more advanced students of the group.

XIX. We recommend that assistance be given for the formation and maintenance of such Science Schools by special grants, the conditions of which shall be determined by regulations to be framed by the Science and Art Department.

XX. We recommend that when laboratories are attached to second grade grammar schools in the schemes issued by the Endowed Schools' Commissioners, the Trustees of such schools be encouraged and enabled to invite the formation of elementary science classes, to be taught therein.

All of which we humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
BERNHARD SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
*T. H. HUXLEY.
*The Chairman has been authorized by Professor Huxley to affix his signature to this Report.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER,
Secretary.
March 22nd, 1872.




[title page]

THIRD REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1873

[C.-868.] Price 8d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORTvii
APPENDIXlxi





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

Victoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


[page iv]

execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





[page v]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen. Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
    Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.


[page vii]

THIRD REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty the following Report on the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

We have received a large amount of valuable information from persons well acquainted with, and deeply interested in, the progress of Scientific Education and Research within these two Universities; and the evidence thus placed at our disposal contains not only a full account of the present state of scientific study in them, but also much that is suggestive of hope for the future.

In reporting on this evidence, we desire at the very outset to guard against a possible misconception. Our use of the term Science in this Report is limited, by the scope of the duties assigned to us, to the Sciences of Organic and inorganic Nature, including under that general designation the Sciences of Number and Magnitude, together with those which depend on Observation and Experiment; but excluding the Mental add Moral Sciences, as well as all those parts of human knowledge and culture which are not usually regarded as having any scientific character. In dealing with the relations of the Universities to Science, we shall use the word in this restricted sense; and we can refer only in a very secondary manner to the equally important duties which such academical bodies owe to literature and learning, and to education in other than purely scientific directions. Nor must it be supposed that in referring only incidentally, as we shall have to do, to subjects which justly form a large part of the business of a University, we intend in any manner to undervalue them, or even to suggest any comparison between the place which they occupy in University Education and that which has hitherto been assigned, or which ought hereafter to he assigned, to training in the methods of Science. Least of all should we wish to imply that there is any antagonism between the literary and scientific branches of education and research; it is rather our conviction that neither branch can be neglected without grave detriment to the other; and that a University in which the Mathematician, the Experimental Philosopher, and the Biologist are actively engaged in the endeavour to advance human knowledge in their own provinces, is not on that account less likely to be productive of original labours in the fields of Literature and Learning.

For the sake of convenience we have classified the subjects referred to in the evidence under the following heads:

I. The Courses of Study and the Examinations.
II. The Professoriate.
III. The Scientific Institutions within the Universities.
IV. The Colleges.
V. The Relation Of the Universities to Technical Education, and to Education for Scientific Professions.
VI. The Duty of the Universities and the Colleges with regard to the Advancement of Science.
We shall consider these subjects in order, observing, however, that, as we shall recognise throughout the twofold character which ought to attach to the Universities as centres of Scientific Education and as centres of Original Research, much that would properly fall under the last two heads will of necessity be anticipated in earlier parts of the Report.

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I. THE COURSES OF STUDY AND THE EXAMINATIONS

I. Matriculation and Entrance Examinations

1. Neither at Oxford nor at Cambridge is there at present any University Matriculation Examination. At Oxford, its place is usually supplied by a College Entrance Examination, of which the subjects to a certain extent, and the standard to a very great extent, vary in the different Colleges. With regard to the Unattached Students who are allowed to reside without belonging to any College or Hall, the Censors are authorised to impose, and do impose, an Entrance Examination in lieu of that required by the college authorities; it is understood, however, that the standard of the Censors' examination is not intended to be a very high one. At Cambridge, Trinity College stood, till lately, alone in having an Entrance Examination; one has recently been established at Trinity Hall. When there is no entrance examination, the tutors require a certificate of fitness from a Master of Arts of Cambridge or Oxford. The regulations respecting Unattached Students are entrusted by the University to a Board Constituted for the purpose.

2. At both Universities the question has been frequently raised, and it has been brought before us in the evidence, whether it would be desirable to institute a University Matriculation Examination, and if so, what should be the subjects of examination, and what standard of attainment should be required? The question is one of a double aspect, affecting the Public and First Grade Schools on the one hand, as much as the Universities on the other. It is not improbable that the Masters of the Public and other Schools would prefer to see a Uniform matriculation standard sanctioned by the Universities, instead of having to prepare their pupils, as at present, for examinations requiring such various degrees of proficiency as the College Entrance Examinations. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the advantage which the schools would thus obtain would, so far, at least, as Oxford is concerned, be more apparent than real, inasmuch as those colleges which now maintain a high entrance standard would most probably refuse to accept the University Matriculation Examination in the place of their own severer test; and thus the inconveniences arising from the alleged uncertainties and fluctuations of the present entrance examinations would not really be got rid of; while a new inconvenience would be superadded in the co-existence of two examinations, one by the College and one by the University, both being intended to test the same thing - the fitness of the candidate to enter upon a course of University study.

3. But independently of the well-founded claim for a more uniform and satisfactory test than any now existing of the proficiency of a schoolboy when his school studies are just ending, there appears to be a growing disposition on the part of many Masters of Schools to admit the Universities to a larger share in the direct guidance of school studies than is at present conceded to them. One way of supplying such guidance would be to institute a Matriculation Examination, at which, in all probability, if the Universities should offer no objection, a certain number of pupils would offer themselves who had no intention of continuing their studies as resident students. So long as the older Universities abstain from instituting a Matriculation Examination (or some equivalent examination, such as that which we shall presently propose), they do, pro tanto, neglect the function which is most usefully and efficiently discharged by the University of London, that, namely, of systematising and stimulating education in a large number of schools.

4. It is, however, contended by those, whether masters of schools or others, who are opposed to an organised matriculation system, that the enormous indirect influence which the university curriculum and the later University examinations exercise over the course of school instruction is sufficient for all useful purposes; and that more is gained by leaving to the schools their present freedom, than by attempting to enforce the same course of study upon all. A common objection to a Matriculation Examination is based upon the fear that if the standard were low it would exercise a depressing rather than an elevating influence on the schools; and that if it were high it would be exclusive, and would keep away from the Universities a certain number of students who at present find their way to them. If it were only the careless and the idle who would thus be rejected, the Universities would be by so much the gainers; but there are cases of a very different kind and deserving of much more consideration. A young man may have a fair share of rough untrained ability, but if his circumstances have not enabled him to enjoy the advantage of a good secondary education, he may easily find himself worsted in an examination which ought to be adapted to test boys from the upper forms of the best schools in the country. This objection (which, indeed, would be much weakened, if secondary education in England were more satisfactorily organised than it


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is) might, to a certain extent, be obviated by so arranging the examination as to admit of a certain number of options between different subjects, so that no one would be rejected who could give satisfactory proof of his fitness to profit by academical instruction in any one of its more important branches. It may be mentioned that at Oxford students are usually required by their Colleges to pass their Responsions at the end of the first term of their residence, and may pass it before coming into residence at all, though they may also postpone it for a year. The elasticity of this arrangement is thought to have some advantages as compared with the "hard-and-fast" line of a Matriculation Examination.

II. Proposed Examination on leaving School

5. While we fully appreciate the importance of the Matriculation Examination as conducted at the University of London, which is essentially an examining body, we are of opinion that as regards Oxford arid Cambridge, which are teaching as well as examining bodies, an examination on leaving school, analogous, in some respects, to the Abiturienten Examen in Germany, would be open to fewer objections than a Matriculation Examination on entering the University, and would possess great advantages of its own. Such a "Leaving Examination" could only be established by the co-ordinate action of the Universities on the one hand, and the First Grade Schools on the other; unless, indeed, the duty should be undertaken by Government, in which case the control of the examination would, in all probability, be entirely withdrawn from the Universities. At the present moment the two Universities have expressed their willingness to undertake the examination of First Grade Schools; and with the view of taking immediate action in the matter, a Delegacy has been appointed at Oxford, and a Syndicate at Cambridge, with power to form a Joint Committee representing the two Universities. In the present state of the negotiation, however, it might be premature to assume that the plan will be accepted by all the First Grade Schools.

6. We prefer a "Leaving Examination" to an Examination at Matriculation for the following reasons:

7. The education of a great number of the pupils of a First Grade School ceases when they leave the school. What is wanted in the interest of this large class of boys is an examination supplying not only a standard in accordance with which their school teaching may be directed, but a test whether that teaching has been efficient. A satisfactory standard is supplied by such a matriculation examination as that of the University of London. But, as it must be presumed that only a certain proportion of the senior boys in any school present themselves for matriculation, that examination fails to afford an adequate test of the general merits of a school, because it is applied only to selected candidates from the school, and not to all the senior boys without exception. It might be desirable, in a "Leaving Examination", to allow of more than one standard of proficiency, and it is altogether improbable that the lowest of the standards allowed could be kept as high as the present standard of the Matriculation Examination at the University of London. But, however this might be, the result of a "Leaving Examination" would supply the best conceivable criterion of the goodness or badness of the teaching given in a school, because it would (as a general rule) he undergone by all the senior boys alike, and would place on record the proportion of successes to failures.

8. These considerations have satisfied us that a "Leaving Examination" might exercise a most beneficial influence upon the First Grade Schools, by reaching a class of pupils who never proceed to any University examination at all. But we also conceive that the "Leaving Examination" might be so arranged as to harmonise with the system of University instruction, and might thus be made equally suitable to those students who intend to pursue a University course. It would, we think, be very undesirable to make admission to the Universities depend on the passing of the "Leaving Examination"; on the contrary, we should wish the opportunities of entering the Universities to continue as unrestricted as they are at present. But the "Leaving Examination" might serve to mark the limit between school studies and University studies, so that the student whose performance in the examination had come up to a certain standard, might be supposed to have acquired such an amount of general culture and scientific knowledge as to entitle him, thenceforward, to be left as free us possible to choose for himself among the great lines of literary or scientific study. At the same time we should recommend that a student who should, for any reason, be unable to offer himself for a "Leaving Examination", or who should fail to attain the required standard, should not suffer any disadvantage at the University, beyond that of incurring the obligation to pass an equivalent examination at some later period in his course.


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9. We are of opinion that it is of the utmost importance for the future of scientific education in England, that, in case such an examination should be instituted, those parts of science which are suitable to form part of the education of boys should be fully recognised in it. We feel it necessary to insist strongly upon this point, because any disparagement of science, in comparison with other subjects, in an examination intended for schoolboys upon leaving school, would put insurmountable obstacles in the way of the efforts that are now being made to procure the more general recognition of certain scientific subjects as parts of the ordinary work of a school. Whether, in such an examination, any specified subjects should be made compulsory, or whether, in every case, an option should be allowed between different subjects, are questions which may be safely left to the Universities and the Schools. But we could not approve the institution of a Leaving Examination in which classical or mathematical subjects alone were rendered obligatory, while no similar requirement was made with regard to any part of the sciences of observation and experiment. Such a "præjudicium" against science would not only exercise an influence adverse to some of the best tendencies at present observable in the schools, but would greatly detract from that impartiality which the Universities should endeavour to maintain with regard to all the great branches of human knowledge.

III. Proposed arrangements with regard to the Scientific Curriculum

10. As to the curriculum of study to he prescribed to the student when he has once been admitted to the University, there is less divergence of opinion than there is as to the conditions under which he should be admitted. There is a general concurrence among the witnesses, that the student, at an early period of his academical course, should be left free to choose for himself among the principal lines of study, and should not be hampered and distracted by being compelled to pass examinations in subjects having no direct bearing on his own immediate pursuits. Mr. Pattison, indeed, would go further, and would insist on the course of the scientific student being free from the very beginning, without the University requiring him to devote any time to literary studies, or expecting him to pass any examination whatever in non-scientific subjects. He says, "I would propose that when a young man comes up to the University, it should be open to him to matriculate at once as a scientific student; that he should not be checked in that career at any point by a classical requirement; that if he chooses to enter as a scientific student, the University should know nothing of him but as a scientific student, and that it should not throw what I may call a bar in his way by seeing whether he knows anything of Greek or Latin. A young man does not usually come to the University until 18, more usually it is 19, but 18 is the earliest age, and by that time I think that a good school might have laid a sufficient groundwork in literature, either classical or modern, and that there would be quite enough to do in the three years during which he is in the University, to conduct him through a course of mathematics and natural science." Again, to the question if he "would allow a young man who had had no literary training whatever to enter himself on the scientific side in the University of Oxford"? Pattison answers, "As far as the University is concerned, I would have the University take no cognizance of that matter if he chooses to enter as a scientific student. I would have the University take no cognizance of any literary attainments. Whether you should require the schools to certify themselves in any way of a man's literary attainments, is a different question; but I would not have the University put a barrier in his way at the beginning." Mr. Pattison would also dispense with the Matriculation Examination, "in order to avoid the waste of time which now occurs in preparing for subjects which are not afterwards to be studied."

11. On the other hand. Professor J. C. Adams in answer to the question, "You would not wish mathematics and physics to be studied to the exclusion of literary culture?" replies, "Certainly not. I think that literary culture is extremely important, that without it the mind is apt to become narrowed, especially if it be exclusively devoted to material objects, and that in consequence even physical studies themselves are likely to be pursued with less success. I should not, therefore, be at all in favour of establishing separate schools of science where the scientific studies should take the place of literary or of mathematical studies." He does not, however, consider it imperative that classical and physical studies should both be carried on to the end of an undergraduate's course; for in reply to the question, "At a certain period, do you think that classics might be laid aside, and the student's attention might be devoted to mathematlcs and physical science?" he says, "After a certain time, and after a certain amount of culture had been insured, I should be disposed to allow that." From his


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answer to the preceding question it would appear that he contemplated the requirement of the "previous examination" as sufficient. When this evidence was given the regular time at which a student was obliged to present himself for the Previous Examination was in his third term.

12. We have already stated that, in our opinion, it is essential that some evidence of literary culture should be required by the University from every student; and in the interests of science itself we should not be disposed to see the standard of literary attainment which is expected from the scientific student placed at too low a level, rather, we regret that a principle so sound in itself should receive only a one-sided application; and admitting, as we do, that literary cultivation, up to a certain point, is indispensable for the scientific student, we are of opinion that, in like manner, evidence of corresponding scientific culture should be required from the student of Classical Literature or of Theology. The Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford appears to admit that the present system is indefensible, when he says, "It may very fairly be retorted on this plan which I have just suggested, 'then you require Literature as a condition of taking a degree, but you do not require Science'. I should be inclined to require from everyone a certain amount of Science before he took his degree. I should put the different individuals on the same footing in that respect. ... I think I would wish to leave it in this way, that I am prepared to demand Latin and Greek and a fair amount of Science of everyone; but I am not prepared to say, considering the small amount of Physical Science that is at present taught in the country, that I would make the amounts equivalent."

13.Since the greater part of the evidence relating to the Universities was received, the University of Oxford has been engaged in remodelling its Examination System, the general effect of the changes being to carry out, to a certain extent at least, the views laid before us by the Witnesses, and to allow a greater freedom of choice between different branches of study than had previously been conceded. According to the Statute now coming into force, every scientific student who wishes to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Arts has to pass three examinations in non-scientific subjects; the first, Responsions, at the end of his first term; the second, Moderations, at the end of his fourth term; the third, an examination in Divinity (or in substituted matter) for which he cannot offer himself before his twelfth term. If it be admitted that a certain proficiency in both Greek and Latin is to be expected from a University Student of Science - a question on which we do not propose to express any opinion in this Report - the amount required at Responsions and Moderations will probably not be regarded as excessive; while the early period at which these examinations may be passed leaves him free to attend to his scientific work during that portion of his University residence which is by far the most valuable, as being not only the longest, but also the latest in point of time. In fact, if a student pass Moderations in his fourth term, he has two full years before he can offer himself for an examination in Honours; and, if he pleases, he may prolong this period to two and a half or to three years. Nor is this all; for if he has obtained an Honour in any one of the Honour Schools at the Final Examination, he acquires the right to offer himself for examination in any other honour school as late as his twentieth term. Thus, a Student in Natural Science who should obtain a fourth class in the School of Mathematics would have nearly four years, after passing Moderations, which he might devote almost without interruption to his scientific work.

14. As, however, a University course of five or even of four years is of inconvenient length, it would be very desirable for the scientific student to obtain the privilege of passing Moderations as soon as he finds himself prepared for that examination, instead of passing it, as at present, at the end of the first year. The effect of this alteration would be, not to lower the standard of literary acquirement at present expected from him, but simply to give him the opportunity of showing, at the earliest period possible, that he can satisfy the requirements of that standard. The anticipation of a classical examination at the end of the first year not unfrequently altogether prevents a student from settling down with proper regularity to his scientific work; not to mention the obvious tendency of the arrangement to unduly lengthen the course of those students who, at first coming up, could pass both examinations without difficulty. It must be admitted that if this change were introduced, the University would combine, to a much greater decree than at present, the two advantages of maintaining the stringency of its literary requirements, and of leaving the scientific curriculum unfettered, almost from the commencement of the student's residence. But if, as we have already recommended, a "Leaving Examination" should be instituted in connexion with the University, it would seem certain that the most satisfactory mode of securing these two objects conjointly would be to require


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in that examination whatever amount of literary attainment might be thought desirable; so that the scientific student who had shown the requisite literary proficiency in the "Leaving Examination" would find himself absolutely free, except so far as the examination in Divinity is concerned, from the first moment of his entrance to the University, to devote his whole time and energy to his scientific studies. And we are of opinion that any system which does not concede, from the first, this freedom to those students of science who have given proofs of sufficient literary acquirements, involves an interference with their course of study which in many cases is prejudicial.

15. In the University of Cambridge a wide option as to choice of subjects of study on the part of the students already exists. After passing the "Previous Examination" including certain additional subjects for candidates for honours, such students are free to devote themselves entirely to that branch of study in which they aspire to honours; and should they succeed in obtaining them, or even be declared by the examiners to have answered sufficiently well to deserve an ordinary degree, they may obtain their degree without the necessity of reverting to any other branch of study. And the tendency which of late years has existed to allow a student to pass the previous examination at a continually earlier period of his course has culminated in a regulation recently passed whereby he can present himself for examination even in his first term of residence, by a regulation similar to that existing at Oxford, a Student of Natural Science who obtains honours in either mathematics or physics may offer himself for examination for honours in natural science a year later than the normal time.

16. It will be seen, from what has been said, that the arrangements of the University of Cambridge do allow, and those of the University of Oxford might, without much difficulty, be so modified as to allow, nearly complete freedom to scientific students. On the other hand, it is important to bear in mind that, if we except the requirement at Cambridge of Elementary Mechanics, nothing is done, at any part of the course in either University, to exact from all students alike any knowledge, however small, of the elements of the sciences of experiment and observation. Such obligatory subjects of study appear to be viewed with increasing disfavour by the authorities in the Universities. Nor is the reason far to seek. It is found that while work which a student chooses for himself is well done, that which he is forced to do, and does against the grain, is ill done, and is comparatively unprofitable to him. Indeed, if the Universities are left to themselves in the matter, it is much more probable that the literary tests now required from scientific students will be lowered, it may be even beyond what is desirable, than that any now requirement of a minimum of scientific knowledge will be imposed on Students of Classics, or Divinity, or Laws. For a body of teachers to maintain such a requirement would be very difficult, on account of the intense repugnance with which it would he regarded by a large number of the best students. If, in spite of the traditions of three centuries, it has become an open question whether Greek should be a compulsory subject of University education, it may well be considered that it would be difficult, if, indeed, it were desirable, to give an obligatory character to any other study. In all recent changes in the system of University teaching and University examinations, it is impossible not to recognise a tendency in the direction of that complete freedom of study which is so ably advocated in the evidence of Mr. Pattison; nor can we escape the conclusion that this tendency will receive and ought to receive yet further development. We think, therefore, that the literary student should retain a freedom of choice similar to that which we have already insisted on as being of the first importance to the student of science. But, just as we should require the student of science to give evidence, in his "Leaving Examination", of sufficient literary culture, so we should expect the student of literature to give proof of corresponding scientific knowledge in the same examination; failure to pass the examination involving, in the case of both classes of students alike, not exclusion from the University, but only the obligation to pass an equivalent examination at some subsequent period of the University course.

17. Should the Universities ultimately adopt the principle of allowing the student, on his first coming into residence, to choose for himself the branch of study to which he will devote himself, it is earnestly to be hoped that when that time arrives, the state of secondary education in the schools of the country may be such as to enable the student to exercise his choice with intelligence and discrimination. Some opportunity should have been afforded to him, during his work at school, of acquainting himself, to a certain degree, with the objects and methods of more than one of the typical branches of human knowledge. Unless some such breadth of view has presided over the teaching given to the student at school, the best-intentioned youth, when he comes to the University, is only too likely to run on in the old grooves of his school training, and, from the mere influence of habit, to forego the exercise of a well-advised choice between


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the different lines of study that are put before him. It must always be remembered that up to a certain point in the pupil's development, the subjects of education are of necessity compulsory, and must be selected by the teacher for him; and while it is desirable that when this point is once passed, a wide latitude of selection should be allowed to the student, it is of no less importance that the compulsory subjects, in which he receives his previous training, should be rightly chosen for him. It is not easy to see how the Universities can retain any influence or control over that previous training if they allow themselves to become great schools of highly specialized branches of knowledge, without insisting, in the case of all their students alike, on certain elementary attainments which ought to be the common property of all educated men. Such influence and control over secondary education is an important function of the universities, and we are of opinion that they ought to justify their claim to it by requiring certain definite literary and scientific attainments from all their students alike; although it should be left to the student himself to determine whether he will offer evidence of these attainments before entering the University, or as soon after entering it as he may see fit.

18. The separation of the scientific curriculum from the literary one, which, at both Universities, has almost become an accomplished fact, has given rise to the suggestion that in the case of science students, degrees in science might be taken in the place of degrees in arts. So far as the proposed substitution of the degree of Bachelor of Science for the present degree of Bachelor of Arts is concerned, the opinion of the witnesses whom we have examined does not appear to be favourable to the change. While attributing the utmost importance to the independent existence of a scientific curriculum, they regard the institution of separate degrees in science as a matter of very subordinate interest, and as turning, in fact, on the value likely to be attached to a new name in comparison with an old one. Viewing the matter in this light, they apprehend that it might be a positive disadvantage to the science students to give them the degree of Bachelor in Science instead of the old degree in Arts, the position of which, in the eyes of the public, has been established by long lapse of time. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the science students themselves would not care to see a line drawn between them and their fellow students in classics and literature.

19. These objections, however, do not apply to the institution of higher degrees in science, to be obtained only after the ordinary degree in arts. And it has been suggested, though not by witnesses specially connected with Oxford or Cambridge, that the older Universities might, at no very distant period, imitate the example of the University of London, by instituting a Doctorate in Science; requiring, however, that candidates for this degree should not merely show proficiency of knowledge as tested by examination, but should also offer some original contribution to science. We shall return to this suggestion, to which we attach much importance.

IV. Proposed University Scholarships in Natural Science

20. We are also of opinion that, in addition to the College Scholarships, University Scholarships in Natural Science should be founded at both Universities; scholarships comparable to those which already exist for various branches of classical learning, and, at Oxford, of mathematical science.

21. At Oxford the Hertford Scholarship for Latin literature and the Ireland Scholarship for Greek and Latin, of which the first is accessible to candidates who have not been matriculated for more than two years, and the second to candidates who have not been matriculated for more than four years, have been found of the greatest use in maintaining a high level of Greek and Latin scholarship among the candidates for honours in the University. The same service is rendered to Mathematics by the Junior Mathematical Scholarship, for which candidates can compete until the end of their second year, and by the Senior Mathematical Scholarship, which is intended for students who have already taken their degree. It must be remembered that in the University of Oxford the examinations for honours are not competitive; and although there is no evidence before us to show a desire on the part of the University to abandon its present system, and to adopt a competitive one instead, it is felt that the introduction of the principle of competition by means of the examinations for the University Scholarships, reacts in a most favourable manner upon the examinations for degrees; and that the standard of merit to be expected from a candidate for a first class in the classical and mathematical examinations is maintained by means of the competition for the scholarships at a higher level than in all probability it would otherwise attain.


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22. To carry out this principle with reference to the examinations in science, we should wish to see three University Scholarships offered every year; one in Physics, one in Chemistry and one in Biology. It would probably be desirable to fix the time up to which candidates might compete for these scholarships somewhat late in the academical course. The prospect of obtaining a University Scholarship is so great an incentive to exertion, and the honour, quite apart from the pecuniary value, is so highly prized, that we should expect a considerable impulse to be thus given.

23. In connexion with this proposal it may be proper to mention three Foundations which already exist and which have for their object the encouragement of certain special branches of scientific study: (1) The Radcliffe Travelling Fellowships, of the value of £200 per annum for three years, of which one is filled up every year by a competitive examination in Medicine. Candidates are required to declare that they intend to graduate in medicine and to travel abroad with a view to their improvement in that study; but if no candidate of sufficient merit complies with these conditions, the competition is thrown open to all candidates who have satisfied certain other academical requirements. (2) The Burdett Coutts Scholarships for Geology, of which one is offered every year, the subjects of examination being geology generally, and so much of experimental physics, chemistry, and biology as is necessary for the understanding of geological science. Candidates must have passed all the examinations required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. (3) The Johnson Memorial Medal, which is awarded once in every four years for an Essay on some prescribed Astronomical or Meteorological subject.

Although all of these foundations appeal to us useful in their different directions, they cannot be regarded as rendering the same services to scientific education which might be expected from the three university Scholarships which we should desire to see founded.

24. At Cambridge the system of arranging the names of those who obtain honours in the various triposes in order of merit renders the competition so keen in the cases of mathematics and classics, for which Honour Triposes have long been established, that in these subjects the additional stimulus of University Scholarships seems hardly required. There are various University Scholarships for Classics, but none for Mathematics, and yet there is no lack of energy in the prosecution of mathematical study. Indeed, until lately the Mathematical Tripos was much more popular than the Classical, notwithstanding the disadvantage at which mathematics were placed as compared with Classics in respect to University Scholarships: of late the numbers on the two lists have been more nearly equal. The Natural Sciences Tripos has not hitherto proved nearly so attractive. We think that until its position is more firmly established, the establishment of University Scholarships for Natural Science would foster its growth.

25. At Cambridge, as at Oxford, certain Foundations exist having for their object the encouragement of Scientific Study or Research - (1) Two Smith's Prizes are awarded annually to the two commencing Bachelors of Arts who are deemed the best proficients in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. (2) The Adams Prize is offered every second year to the author of the best Essay on some subject of Pure Mathematics, Astronomy, or other branch of Natural Philosophy. (3) The Sedgwick Prize is offered every third year for the best Essay on some subject in Geology or the kindred sciences. (4) The pensions charged by Mr. Worts upon his estate for the remuneration of two Travelling Bachelors of Arts, have been converted into a fund from which the University may make grants from time to time, by Grace of the Senate, for the promotion or encouragement of investigations in foreign countries.

Of these foundations the first is so far blended with the Mathematical Tripos that it seems to exert little independent influence; the second and third are rather of a nature to reward study, pursued subsequently to the regular Academical Course, than to operate as a stimulus to undergraduates; the fourth is exceedingly wide in its scope, and rather enables the University to carry out, from time to time, certain desirable objects than acts directly as a stimulus to exertion. Hence none of these foundations, useful as they are in their way, fulfil in any degree the office of a University Scholarship.


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II. THE PROFESSORIATE

26. Our attention has been especially directed to the following questions relating to the Professoriate:

I. What should be the number of Professors, and with what assistance should they be provided?
II. What duties should be assigned to them, with special reference to the question whether both teaching and original research should be included in those duties?
III. What should be the mode of their appointment?
IV. What should be their emoluments, and how should such emoluments be provided?
V. Should a Council of Science be organized for University purposes?
I. Present and Proposed Professoriate

(A) PRESENT SCIENTIFIC TEACHING STAFF AT OXFORD

Existing Professorships

27. The following is a schedule of the Scientific Professorships in the University of Oxford:

28. Certain older Professorships have now disappeared: thus the Aldrichian Professorship of the Practice of Medicine is now united with the Regius Professorship of Medicine, but although the Clinical Professorship is at present held by the Regius Professor of Medicine, the two offices are not united.

The Tomlins Prælectorship of Anatomy and the Aldrichian Professorship of Anatomy are now united with the Linacre Professorship, their joint stipends being charged with the salary of a Demonstrator of Anatomy, who is also Keeper of the Physiological Collection in the University Museum.

The Aldrichian Professorship of Chemistry was suppressed at the time of the first appointment to the Waynflete Professorship in 1865, and its stipend is now applied to the payment of a Demonstrator of Chemistry.

Besides these two Demonstratorships of Anatomy and Chemistry, the University has also provided a Demonstrator of Experimental Philosophy.

Instruction provided by the University

29. The following is a statement of the Professorial Lectures during the Academical year 1872-73.

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30. In addition to these Professorial lectures, arrangements were made during the same Academic year for Practical Instruction in Anatomy and Microscopy in the work rooms of the Anatomical Department; in Chemistry and Physics, in the University Laboratories; in the detection of the adulterations of food, in the Laboratory of the Medical Department; in the use of Astronomical Instruments, in the Museum Observatory; and in Botany at the Botanical Garden.

Instruction provided by the Colleges

31. In addition to the above courses of instruction which are provided by the University, a certain amount of scientific teaching is given in the Colleges. The lectures, enumerated in the lists which follow, are those which are advertised as public lectures, and which are understood to be accessible to all members of the University. A very large amount of private instruction, in addition to the lectures, is of course given by the lecturers in their respective colleges. There are several Mathematical Lecturers in the various colleges, besides those whose names appear in list (1), but there are no College lecturers in Natural Science besides the Lee's Readers and those whose names appear in list (3).

(1) COMBINED MATHEMATICAL LECTURES

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(2) LECTURES by DR. LEE'S READERS (Chrlst-Church).

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(3) COMBINED LECTURES IN NATURAL SCIENCE

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32. It will be seen from these lists that (with the exception of Pure and Applied Mathematics) nearly the whole of the Science teaching in the University devolves upon the Professors and their demonstrators. The two Professors of Pure and Applied Mathematics (the Savilian Professor of Geometry, and the Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy) occupy a position in some respects different from that of the other Professors, in consequence of the fact that a large amount of mathematical instruction is given in


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the different Colleges by Mathematical Lecturers. Thus, the position of these two Professors with regard to the teaching of Mathematics in the University can hardly be said to be different from that which is held, for example, by the Professor of Greek, or of Latin, or of Moral Philosophy, with regard to the teaching of those subjects. Again, Christ-Church has the advantage of its three Lee's Readers in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology; and in a few of the Colleges arrangements have been made for supplying the scientific students with a certain amount of tutorial assistance. But after making every allowance for the help thus afforded, the fact remains that the main responsibility of teaching Natural Science within the University is thrown upon the Professors. It is not surprising, therefore, that we have found a general agreement among the witnesses whom we have examined as to the necessity of increasing the number of University Teachers of Science. This necessity arises not so much from the number of students at present attending the courses, as from its being essential that all the principal scientific subjects should be properly represented, and that teaching in any one of them should be accessible to any student who may need it.

(B) PRESENT SCIENTIFIC TEACHING STAFF AT CAMBRIDGE

Existing Professorships

33. The following is a schedule of the Scientific Professorships in the University of Cambridge, and of the Demonstratorships attached to them:

Instruction provided by the University

34. A tabular statement is appended of the lectures of the Scientific Professors for the Academical year 1872-3, extracted from the programme published by the Vice-Chancellor at the beginning of the October Term.

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*The Woodwardian Professorship of Geology, which became vacant by the death of Professor Sedgwick, is now filled by Mr. T. McK. Hughes.


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35. In considering the list of the scientific Professors' lectures, it must be remembered that Pure and Applied Mathematics have for a long time been zealously studied at Cambridge. The Mathematical Tripos was in existence long before the Classical Tripos was established, and even after its establishment continued for many years to form the chief road to academical distinction. These subjects are accordingly taught, at least in all their ordinary branches, in every College. The Mathematical Professors being thus relieved from all elementary teaching, their lectures are devoted to some of the higher branches, followed only by the more advanced students, and are not, for the most part, of a nature to attract large classes. And, as the information to be obtained in a professor's lecture does not come and ought not to come in a shape in which it is immediately available for rapid production in a written examination, it does not seem probable, considering the keenness of the competition for high places on the Mathematical Tripos, that students would be willing to interrupt their more direct preparation for examination by attending numerous courses of professors' lectures. Whether the influence which this examination exerts on the studies of the students may not be excessive, is a question which seems to deserve the serious attention of the University.


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Instruction provided by the Colleges

36. In addition to these courses of instruction which are provided by the University, a certain amount of scientific teaching, available beyond the limits of individual Colleges, is given by certain Colleges which have combined into groups, as shown in the subjoined lists. These Lectures are open to the students of the respective groups of Colleges, either gratuitously or on payment of a certain fee; but other Matriculated Students of the University may attend on payment of a fee, or of an increased fee, as the case may be.

(1) INTER-COLLEGIATE LECTURES

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(2) LECTURES IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES.
Open to Students of Trinity, St. John's, and Sidney Sussex Colleges

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37. The Inter-Collegiate Lectures on Pure and Applied Mathematics contained in list (1) by no means represent the whole of the teaching on those subjects given by the Colleges. The lectures which the Colleges provide for their own students are not publicly advertised.

The students of Natural Science are at present much less numerous than those of Mathematics, so that it is not probable that an individual College would establish lectures in a branch of Natural Science merely for its own students. Thus the lists of lectures given may be taken as fairly representing the amount of teaching in Natural Science which is given outside the Professoriate.

These lectures for the most part are on the footing of ordinary College lectures, but the position of the Trinity Prælector of Physiology closely resembles that of a University Professor. He is allowed by the University the use of a room in the New Museums for a temporary laboratory, and his lectures are open to all members of the University.

(C) COMPARISON WITH THE INSTRUCTION PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN

38. In comparison with the lists of Professors and Lectures in the two Universities which we have given, we would place the following list of the Scientific Professors and Scientific Lectures in the University of Berlin. As this list does not include the lectures given by the Faculty of Medicine, the principal courses on Anatomy and Physiology are not included. It may also be observed that the list conveys the impression that the organisation of the instruction is in some respects incomplete; for example, while the supply of lectures in Chemistry may he said to be profuse, there is not a single lecture in the Philosophical Faculty on any part of Electricity, theoretical or practical. But, notwithstanding this and some other obvious defects, it is impossible not to be impressed with the evidence which


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the list affords of the abundance and variety of the scientific teaching given in the University of Berlin by Professors of great eminence. We would particularly call attention to the fact that the list includes not merely general courses adapted to the requirements of those students who are interested in science only as a part of a liberal education, but also special courses on subjects taken from some of the newest and most interesting fields of scientific inquiry; so that instruction of the kind most likely to develop a scientific spirit in the mind of the learner, and given by the most competent teachers, is put within the reach of every student.

LIST OF THE SCIENTIFIC LECTURES announced to be given in the UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN in the ACADEMICAL YEAR, 1872-73

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39. Besides these courses of lectures the following arrangements for practical work were carried on throughout the academical year.

The Physical Laboratory of the University was open daily from 10 to 4 for practical work, under the direction of Professor Helmholtz.

Theoretical and practical exercises in Optics, and other parts of Mathematical Physics, were conducted by Professor Erman in his laboratory, on Wednesdays from 11 to 12, and at other times to be agreed upon later.

Practical work in Chemistry, under the direction of Professor Hofmann, daily from 9 to 5 (on Saturdays from 9 to 2).

Practical work in Chemistry, under the superintendence of Professor Sonnenschein in his laboratory daily from 8 to 12 and from 2 to 6.

Chemical investigations under the direction of Professor Wichelhaus in his laboratory (daily).

Practical exercises in Organic Chemistry, under the direction of Dr. Liebermann, in the Laboratory of the Academy of Manufactures.

A "Repetition" in Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, in the form of a conference, illustrated by experiments, by Dr. Sell (four times weekly).

Exercises in Zoology and Zoötomy, by Prof. Peters.

Botanical Investigations, under the direction of Professor Braun.

Anatomical and Physiological Investigations, under the direction of Dr. Kny.


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Exercises on the determination and description of plants, by Dr. Ascherson.

In addition to the above there were, in the Winter Semester:

Repetitions in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, by Dr. Pinner; and
Introductory Exercises on the use of the Microscope, by Dr. Kny.
In the Summer Semester:
Mathematical Exercises under the direction of Professors Kummer and Weierstrass.
Practical Exercises in Mineralogy, by Dr. Bauer.
Practical work in Botany under the direction of Professor Garcke.
Botanical Excursions with Professor Garcke, and also with Dr. Ascherson.
40. The Principal of Owens College and Professor Roscoe (in a Report which was submitted by them to the Extension Committee of Owens College, and which is given at length in Professor Roscoe's Evidence before this Commission) have made some important observations with reference to a similar list (that of the Berlin lectures for the Summer Semester of 1868). "It is unnecessary to say that we do not set forth this list of teachers and lecturers as a pattern for us to follow in Owens College or in English Universities generally. We only desire to point out and emphatically to press the importance of the principle that the existence (in due proportions) of a plurality of teachers is an indispensable prerequisite both for breadth and depth of instruction. Where only one teacher is charged with one leading branch of study, it is barely within his power to provide the systematic teaching necessary for pass-men; whereas, if, as in German Universities, several teachers lecture concurrently on subdivisions of a subject, the more advanced students have the opportunity of studying more thoroughly some one section of their subject. The teachers are also induced, by the opportunity of lecturing on special subjects, to engage in profounder investigations; and thus that other aim of University institutions - the advancement of science and the promotion of a learned class - is furthered."

With the general tendency of these remarks we entirely concur; and although there is evidence to show that the scientific teaching at present supplied by the Universities has attained a high degree of excellence, so far as is compatible with the limits within which it has been confined, we are, nevertheless, of opinion, that it is inadequate in amount, and that due attention has not been paid to the principle that "the existence of a plurality of teachers is an indispensable prerequisite both for breadth and depth of instruction."

(D) PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO THE SCIENTIFIC PROFESSORIATE AT OXFORD

41. At Oxford the position of the Chairs of Experimental Philosophy, of Chemistry, and of Physiology furnishes conclusive evidence that some further subdivision of the subjects must be introduced before the system of instruction can be regarded as having attained that standard of perfection which we have a right to expect in a great English University.

42. The Professor of Experimental Philosophy has the duty of teaching the subjects of Experimental Mechanics, Sound, Heat, Light, and Electricity; and it is impossible that any one man should give courses of lectures with sufficient frequency on all these parts of Physics. In a School of Science in which the teaching is completely organized it would be proper that in each year, or, at any rate, in each two years, an adequate course of lectures in each of these subjects should be open to every student. With only one professor to lecture in them it is impossible that the cycle can recur within four or even five years.

43. The extent of the subjects practically assigned to the Linacre Professor of Physiology is also far too great. Upon him devolves the duty of teaching the whole of the science of Biology, so far as the animal kingdom is concerned; the duties of the Hope Professor of Zoology being confined, partly by Statute, and partly by custom, to the care of the Hope Collections, and to lecturing on certain parts of invertebrate zoology which are not admitted as fundamental subjects into the University examinations, and which, consequently, are not taken up by students who have to pass those examinations. The imperative necessity for a division of the subjects of the Chair of Physiology, and at least for the separation of the Anatomy from the Physiology, has been urged by the Linacre Professor, in his Evidence before this Commission, and also in a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, which is printed at length in the Appendix to this Report, from which the following is an extract:

I will conclude by stating, in the third place, what, in the event of any larger plan being brought under consideration for the rearrangement of the several Chairs

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connected with Biology, should, in my opinion, be the division of the subject. If it should be thought that the University should aim at developing the study of Biology mainly in relation to the purpose of general as opposed to that of professional education, and should lay weight, therefore, mainly upon the anatomical and morphological aspects of the subject, it is still no exaggeration to say, that the subject, even when thus limited, is now far too large to be entrusted to the care of any single professor. Two professors, one with the title and duties of Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Zoology, "and Histology, the other with that o fProfessor of Human Anatomy and Physiology and Ethnology, ought at once to divide the field at present in charge of the Linacre Professor. The scientific appropriateness and the economical advantages of combining the subjects of Zoology, Comparative Anatomy, and Histology are sufficiently obvious. Ethnology again, or 'Anthropology', is a subject which, however vast and growing, is nevertheless one which the Professor of Human Anatomy and Physiology in Oxford should fairly be expected to deal with, if not from its historical and philological, still, at all events, from its Natural History side. The development within late years of collections illustrating this latter aspect of Anthropology is no less remarkable than that of literature treating of it from every point of view; and the establishment in Oxford of a professorship with such duties as those indicated would cause such collections to gravitate hither as being a place eminently fitted, by reason of the many and various departments of human knowledge, as of art, of history, and of ethics, represented within its precincts, to be a home for their preservation and utilization. But Biology would bear still further division with much advantage, and a third Chair should be established to represent and expound the Physiological as opposed to the Anatomical and Morphological division of Biology. With this Chair the Professorships of Medicine and the duties of teaching what has elsewhere been called the Institutes of Medicine might, I would suggest, be combined.
44. We are disposed to go further than the Linacre Professor. While agreeing with him as to the necessity of charging one Professor exclusively with Physiology; another with Zoology including the Comparative Anatomy of both recent and fossil forms: and the geographical and geological distribution of animal; and a third with Anthropology and Ethnology; we must demur to the proposal to combine the Chair of Medicine with that of Physiology. The science of Physiology is more than enough to occupy the energies of any one man, however great his abilities, and the Professor of Medicine, as a practical physician, could not be expected to find time to keep up a real knowledge of any science save that of Medicine.

45. We would further suggest that provision should be made for the instruction of those members of the University who are unable or unwilling to undergo a complete technical training in Botany or Zoology, in the broad principles and large truths of Biological Science. For the purposes of general culture an acquaintance with the principles of Biology is of more importance than a knowledge of special Physiology, Zoology or Botany, nor is it of less moment that the Botanical, Zoological or Physiological Specialist shall have acquired a familiarity with those principles at an early period of his career. The establishment of a Chair of General Biology, with appropriate practical instruction, is probably the only means of attaining the object here indicated.

46. As a Chair of Botany already exists, there would thus be five chairs in the department of Biology. But if, as we shall hereafter recommend, Oxford should undertake to furnish the preliminary scientific discipline which is necessary for the student of Medicine, it will become necessary to establish, in addition, a special Professorship of Human Anatomy. This Chair, however, we should regard as belonging to the Faculty of Medicine, and not to the Department of Biology.

47. We do not think it would be necessary to require complete academical residence the Professor of Anthropology and Ethnology. A full course of lectures on these subjects, delivered once a year, would probably suffice for the requirements of University students.

48. Again, in the case of Chemistry, it is of great importance that the cycle of lectures should recur each year; but considering the vast extent of the subjects which, in the present state of science, must be included in a chemical course, it is manifestly impossible that this should be effected by one professor. The courses have accordingly been hitherto chiefly biennial; and even with this extension of their duration, a large part of the science has inevitably been excluded from the syllabus.

49. It is not less evident that the Chairs of Pure and Applied Mathematics are overweighted with the number of subjects assigned to them: it must however be remembered that the deficiency thus occasioned in the University teaching of these subjects is of less immediate consequence, on account of the instruction in them which is supplied by the Colleges.


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50. Without, therefore, attempting to decide what should be the ultimate organisation of the Scientific Faculty in Oxford, we are of opinion that arrangements should be made at the earliest possible opportunity for the establishment of two Professorships in Physics, and two in Chemistry, in addition to those already existing; for the redistribution of the Biological subjects (exclusive of those assigned to the Faculty of Medicine) in such a manner as to secure their being represented by five independent professors; and for the addition of two Chairs, one in Pure Mathematics and one in Mathematical Physics. Lastly, on grounds to which we shall hereafter refer, We are disposed to recommend the establishment of a Chair of Applied Mechanics and Engineering.

(E) PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO TUE SCIENTIFIC PROFESSORIATE AT CAMBRIDGE

51. In the University of Cambridge the whole of the Science of Chemistry in its now vast extent is represented by only one Professor. We think that Chemistry can not be represented with any approach to adequacy by fewer than two Professors, and that it would furnish ample occupation for three.

52. There are already four Professorships which are regarded as Mathematical, but it should he remembered that the care of the Observatory has from the first been attached to one of these. Two of these professorships are by the original foundations in part astronomical, and the care of the Observatory has naturally been associated with one of them. When it is remembered how totally different are the methods by which the results are arrived at in Physical and Practical Astronomy, it will be seen that there is ample room for two Astronomical Professorships, especially if the care of the Observatory is associated with one. The distribution which would abstractedly be the most desirable would evidently be that the care of the Observatory should be associated with the teaching of Practical Astronomy and Geodesy, while the other Astronomical Professor should represent Physical Astronomy. One of the Mathematical Professorships is expressly devoted to Pure Mathematics by the terms of its foundation; and in the application of Mathematics to certain branches of Physics other than Astronomical, there is sufficient occupation for a fourth Professor.

53. As to Experimental Physics, the Jacksonian Professorship is denominated a Professorship of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, but the terms of the original foundation are exceedingly wide. The present Professor, following the direction given to the Jacksonian Professor's lectures by his predecessor, lectures on Mechanism and the Steam Engine. Such lectures are plainly required, whatever may be the designation of the Professor who gives them; but while belonging to general culture, they are imperatively required from the student of Civil Engineering. They do not at any rate fall under the head of Experimental Physics, which, therefore, is at present represented by a single Professor, except in so far as the lectures of some of the Mathematical Professors may be of an experimental character.

54. We think that, considering the great range of subjects embraced in Experimental Physics, that subject and Civil Engineering could not be adequately represented by less than three Professors.

55. There is at present no Professorship of Physiology, though the Trinity Prælector of Physiology discharges in great measure the duties of a university Professor. We think that a Professorship of Physiology ought to be established in a permanent manner, which, along with existing professorships, would make four for Biological subjects, exclusive of the Regius and Downing Professorships of Medicine; and, generally, that the arrangements of professorships as regards the Biological subjects should be rendered as complete as we have recommended for Oxford.

(F) ADJOINT PROFESSORS, DEMONSTRATORS, AND ASSISTANTS

56. Although the witnesses have been unanimous as to the necessity of strengthening the professorial staff, they do not entirely agree as to the way in which this should be done. Mr. Pattison would increase the number of independent Chairs of Science to twenty or even to thirty. On the other hand, there appears to be a feeling that the principal subjects should not be too much divided, although it is admitted that at present they are too much grouped together.

57. It must not be forgotten that an increase in the number of independent Chairs would render it necessary for the Universities to provide increased accommodation in laboratories, and additional apparatus. With the view of utilizing to the utmost the existing appliances of this sort, some of the witnesses have suggested that the increase of the Professoriate should, as far as possible, be provided for by an abundant supply of skilled assistants,


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of demonstrators, and of assistant professors, rather than by increased numbers of independent lecturers.

58. The necessity for skilled assistants and for demonstrators of course made itself felt at a very early period, and though a certain number of such assistants anti demonstrators have been supplied, yet the need for an increase in the number of these subordinate offices has already become apparent. It may be mentioned, for example, that at neither University is any assistance of this kind at present afforded to the Chair of Geology, or to that of Botany.

59. A Natural Science Professor should have, in the first place, sufficient skilled assistance to relieve him from all mere drudgery in the preparation of his lectures. In the second place, he should have such further assistance as may be necessary to enable him to carry on original researches. And, thirdly, although no professor would wish to hand over the superintendence of the practical teaching in his laboratories entirely to others, he should be enabled to discharge this duty of superintendence without an undue sacrifice of time. The work should be done under the professor's eye, but its details should be entrusted to competent demonstrators, appointed by and responsible to him.

60. So far there is a general agreement; but the question whether assistant professors should be appointed at all, and if so, how far the dependence of the assistant professor upon the principal professor of the subject should be carried, has given rise to some divergence of opinion. We have already stated that we regard as indispensable the establishment of a certain number of new Chairs, to be independent of, and to take equal rank with, the existing Chairs. If the Universities are to become great Schools of Science, it is of the first importance to secure for them the permanent services of a very considerable number of scientific men of established reputation; and we cannot perceive how this object is to be attained otherwise than by offering to such men, without any reservation whatever, the same academical status which has hitherto been enjoyed by the University Professors. We consider, therefore, that in any extension of the Professoriate, this is, without doubt, the first point to be attended to. But we are also disposed to attach great weight to the suggestion that, in addition to the Professorships representing the great divisions of Natural Science; University Teachers, who might be termed Adjoint Professors or Readers, should be appointed to undertake the instruction in special branches. It would be undesirable to place an Adjoint Professor in a position of complete subordination to the Principal Professor of the subject; and it would probably be very difficult to arrange any plan of partial subordination which could work satisfactorily. We are, therefore, of opinion that the Adjoint Professors should not be regarded as assistants to the Professors, but should be responsible for the due discharge of the duties assigned to them to a Board or Council, appointed by the University, and not to any individual Professor.

61. It is important that the Universities should be able to secure the services of men who have shown their ability to promote science, and to become successful teachers of it, by offering them places, such as the Adjoint Professorships, which would give them an opportunity of distinguishing themselves; and, with this view, it is very desirable that as much independence as possible should be allowed to the Adjoint Professors, in order to make the appointments attractive to the best men. On the other hand, as it is obvious that the perfection of the means and system of instruction in the Universities is of primary importance, an organisation of, and control over, the courses of instruction would be necessary, as otherwise there might be an excess of lectures in some subjects, and a deficiency in others. We are of opinion that these difficulties might be overcome, and a sufficient amount of liberty combined with systematic organisation, if, as we shall presently recommend, a Central Board, or Council, should be formed, representing the Scientific Faculty, and having definite functions with regard to the scientific teaching within the Universities.

62. We may observe that the financial argument in favour of extending the Professoriate (at least in the first instance) by the institution of offices not intended to take equal rank with the existing Chairs, rather than by increasing the number of the Principal Professorships, will probably lose some of its force when a careful estimate is made of the difference which the adoption of the one plan or the other would make in the charge to be laid upon the funds of the Universities. It is quite true that the emoluments of an Adjoint Professor need not be so great as those of one of the Principal Professors; and that to this extent there would be a saving. But whether an additional professor of any subject be termed an Adjoint Professor, or whether his Chair be regarded as co-ordinate with the existing Chairs, the difficulty would always remain that if be is to be of any use at all he must be furnished with the necessary apparatus; he must have a room to lecture in, a room or rooms to work in, and the classification of the


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students will also probably require additional space. Laboratories of chemistry, physics, and physiology have been already provided; it would, therefore, not be necessary to create a large establishment for any new professor. But it is certain that the only way in which the Universities can increase the usefulness, at the same time that they increase the number of the professors, is by being ready to make, from time to time, such moderate additions as may be necessary to the buildings which they appropriate to science.

II. Duties of Professors

63. The duties actually assigned in the University of Oxford to the Scientific Professors are very different in different cases. The number of lectures required from any professor is not more than 40 or 50 in the year, so that, in the case of a professor who has no laboratories to superintend, the duties of the office cannot be described as onerous, and might, perhaps, be increased without any disadvantage; but the case is very different with the Professors of the three leading subjects of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, whose time during the University Terms is almost entirely occupied by their work as teachers. No doubt by supplying these Professors with more assistance than they at present have, their duties might, to a certain degree, be lightened; but the difference will, nevertheless, always remain considerable between a professor whose duties consist only in lecturing, and one who has also to superintend a great department in a scientific institution in which practical work is carried on.

64. In the University of Cambridge the duties of the Scientific Professors are regulated, so far as relates to the general scope of the respective Professorships, by the terms of the foundation, but so far as relates to lectures and residence, by Statutes made under the Act 19 & 20 Vict. c. 88. The University Statutes contain a provision, to which we shall have occasion presently to refer at greater length, that the University shall appoint Boards for reviewing the more important departments of study. The Statutes of each individual Professorship enact that it shall be the duty of the Professor to give lectures in every year, and to order as well the subject of such lectures as the times and places of delivery, according to a scheme to be approved from time to time by the Board of Studies connected with his particular department, of which Board the Professor shall be a member; and that it shall be the duty of the said Board to provide that the subjects of the said lectures be determined with regard to the objects of each particular Professorship.

65. The Statutes also prescribe a minimum amount of residence in the University. For the Mathematical Professorships the minimum prescribed by statute is six weeks in the Michaelmas Term in every year, and twelve weeks in the Lent and Easter Terms. In the other cases it is enacted that the University shall have power to determine from time to time, by Grace of the Senate, the time for which the Professor shall be required to reside in the University in every year, such time not to exceed eighteen weeks. In neither case is there any precise definition of what constitutes residence. The minimum determined by Grace has usually been fixed at eighteen weeks. It may be remarked that the new Statutes have practically had the effect of abolishing non-residence on the part of the Scientific Professors, so that actually the question whether the minimum is satisfied, is not likely to arise.

66. While the Statutes throw upon the Board of Studies the duty of approving, or otherwise, the schemes of lectures of the Professors, the University has in a few instances prescribed a minimum. Thus the Professor of Experimental Physics is to deliver at least one course of lectures in each of two Terms, the total number of lectures delivered in the whole year being not less than forty; and the Woodwardian Professor is to deliver at least one course of lectures in each of two Terms.

67. It has been suggested that, in the case of certain professorships at both Universities, the functions of Original Research might be separated from direct instruction. To a professor the duty of teaching is a matter of daily routine; whereas, Original Research is a duty which belongs to no day in particular, and which is, therefore, very likely to be neglected in comparison with the other. Nevertheless, we cannot see any just and sufficient reason, in the case of the professorships, for a total separation of the two functions; and even Sir Benjamin Brodie, who has supported the view that some distinction should be made between offices appropriated to teaching and those appropriated to original research, would not have the separation absolute, and would consider it of importance that even a professor whose chair was founded chiefly with the latter view, should be called upon to produce, from time to time, in the form of lectures, the results of investigations in new departments of science. Lecturing is not the only mode in which scientific instruction may be imparted. A professor who should undertake the


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direction of a laboratory in which advanced students were to be trained in the methods of scientific research, would be very far from holding a sinecure office, and would be rendering the highest, as well as the most direct, service to scientific education.

68. We have no doubt that for a professor the duty of teaching is indispensable, but we agree with the witnesses whom we have examined that Original Research is a no less important part of his functions. The object of a University is to promote and to maintain learning and science, and scientific teaching of the highest kind can only be successfully carried on by persons who are themselves engaged in original research. If once a teacher ceases to be a learner, it is difficult for him to maintain any freshness of interest in the subject which he has to teach; and nothing is so likely to awaken the love of scientific inquiry in the mind of the student as the example of a teacher who shows his value for knowledge by making the advancement of it the principal business of his life.

69. It has been, to a certain extent, a complaint against the School of Natural Science in Oxford that hitherto it has produced but very few original workers. The complaint (if well founded) may, perhaps, be accounted for by the circumstance that the school has not been long in existence; but there can be no question that it is of the utmost importance to impress upon teachers and learners alike that one, and, perhaps, the chief criterion of success in the teaching of science is its leading to new discoveries. To promote this end the Universities probably can do nothing more useful than to increase the number of persons employed, under whatever name, in the teaching of science, taking care at the same time that while such duties are assigned to them as may prevent their offices from being sinecures, they shall be left with time and energy enough to carry on original work. We consider this to be a point of great importance, and we should regret to see any scientific office whatever established in either of the Universities without its being understood that it is expected from the holder that he shall do what is within his power, not only for the diffusion, but also for the increase of scientific knowledge.

70. It has been stated in some parts of the evidence which we have taken, that the duties of lecturing and leaching which are required from the Professors are such as seriously to interfere with their leisure for original investigation, and a wish has, therefore, been expressed that the provisions of the Professorial Statutes as to the number of lectures to be given should be relaxed. We cannot concur with this suggestion. In estimating the amount of teaching and lecturing which can properly be required from a Professor, we do not forget that he is expected to keep himself well acquainted with all the latest advances in some very wide department of knowledge, a task which, at the present rate of scientific productiveness, is no light one. But, on the other hand, we cannot leave out of sight that the University duties of a Professor last for only six months, and that he has thus the invaluable privilege of being master of his own time for fully one half of the year. It is, therefore, only reasonable that during the University Terms he should devote a fair proportion of his time to the work of teaching. And we feel it to be our duty to say that, in recommending, as we have done, the foundation of a considerable number of new Scientific Professorships, our intention is that duties of a very substantial kind should be attached to each of these offices, with a view to the establishment of an efficient and complete course of instruction.

III. Appointment of Professors

71. The mode in which the University Professors should be appointed has given rise to much discussion. It need hardly be stated that to secure a right mode of appointment is a matter of the most vital consequence; and this is strongly felt at Oxford and Cambridge, where the numbers of the Professoriate are so limited that a single inefficient or unsuccessful appointment might cause very serious detriment to the whole system of instruction.

72. There is a very general agreement that a Scientific Professor should be appointed by a Board constituted ad hoc; and it may be mentioned that at Oxford the Clinical Professorship is the only Scientific Professorship the election to which is now vested in the Convocation of the University. What should be the precise composition of an Electing Board is a very debatable question. Sir Benjamin Brodie has expressed a decided opinion that an Electing Board should be composed entirely of men of science. "I, myself," he says, "have come to the conclusion that by far the best mode of making scientific appointments is to make them by a small board of persons who understand the special subject in reference to which the appointment is to be made, and the sort of board which I would suggest would be this: In the first place I would put two professors, say, of the subject in the University. I would begin with them; then I would put on the board another official person, another professor, for example, of some other


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University, to be associated with the two professors that I have mentioned, and would allow those three persons to nominate two other members of the board, individuals to be selected not with reference to a particular professorship, but to be nominated for some time prior to any appointment, men distinguished in science and eminent for their knowledge of the subject of the Chair. We have had some experience at Oxford of this mode of constituting a board, and of the way in which it works, and I have come to the conclusion that it is a very good mode of making such appointments." A feeling, however, has been expressed by other scientific men that in certain cases the interests of science are more safely entrusted to a board in which some kind of neutral and businesslike element is represented; or at least that appointments made by such a board would be above all suspicion of scientific cliqueism which might possibly attach to a board consisting entirely of men eminent for their knowledge of the subjects of the Chair. Perhaps the general opinion would be in favour of combining several different elements upon the Electing Board, in some such manner as that suggested in the evidence of Professor H. Smith:

"Can you give us your views as to how an Electing Board should be constituted? - I should certainly wish an Electing Board not to be a large one, so that there might be a sense of responsibility attaching to the individuals composing it. I shoUld like to see three elements represented upon it; first, the local scientific element, on account of the keen interest which scientific men resident in a University are sure to take in the appointment of those who are to be their fellow workers; secondly, I should like to see the outside scientific world also represented upon such a board; and, thirdly, I should wish to see some impartial arid simply business-like element also present. A board so constituted would, I believe, work well. A purely local board would be objectionable, on account of the difficulty of passing over local claims."

"Do you think that the Professors themselves should have seats in the Electing Board? - I think that one or two of the local Professors ought to be upon every board, but I do not think that they should form the majority of any board. I ought to explain that I should not wish to have one and the same Electing Board for all professorships. I should have different boards for different groups of professorships."

73. The evidence of Dr. Rolleston is to the same general effect; .and we are disposed to concur in the view taken by these two witnesses. The preponderance in any electing board should unquestionably be given to the scientific element, which should be represented by scientific men both within and without the University. The presence of scientific men belonging to the University itself is evidently necessary, not only because they are well acquainted with the working of their own system, but also because they are certain to attach the greatest importance to the choice of the persons with whom they will have to work, and on whose fitness the success of the work in which they are themselves engaged in a great measure depends. The feeling of the Universities themselves would probably be adverse to the proposal that an Electing Board should consist entirely of their own Professors. It is not safe to allow any body of men to perpetuate itself by co-optation, however desirable it may be that it should have some share in the appointment of its new members. And since, at Oxford, the endowment of several of the Professorships has been in part obtained from the Foundation of a College, it would probably he thought right that in such cases the College should have some voice in the Electing Board.

74. Each of the Scientific Professorships in the University of Oxford has its own special Statute, assigning the duties of the professor, and fixing (except in the case of the two Chairs of Geology and Mineralogy) the mode of appointment to the office. A tabular statement of the different modes of appointment will be found in the subjoined note.* As

*Modes of appointment of Professors in the University of Oxford:

1. Regius Professorship of Medicine. - The Crown.

2, 3. Savilian Professorships of Geometry and Astronomy. - The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, the Chancellor of the University, the Bishop of London, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the two Chief Justices, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Dean of the Arches, and the Warden of New College, taking into their counsel the Vice-Chancellor of the University.

4. The Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy. - The Vice-Chancellor, the Provost of Queen's College, the President of the Royal Society, the Astronomer Royal, and, alternately, the President of Magdalen College and the Warden of All Souls' College.

5. The Professorship of Botany and Rural Economy. - The College of Physicians.

6. The Professorship of Experimental Philosophy. - The Vice-Chancellor, the Warden of Wadham College, the Savilian Professor of Astronomy, the Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, and the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry.

7. The Clinical Professorship. - The Convocation of the University.

8, 9. The Professorships of Geology and Mineralogy. - The Vice-Chancellor; no mode of appointment being provided in the Statute.

10. The Linacre Professor of Physiology. - The Visitor and the Warden of Merton College, the Presidents of the College of Physicians, of the College of Surgeons, and of the Royal Society. [footnote continues on next page]


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it is desirable, on the one hand, that the board appointing to any professorship should be small, and, on the other hand, that it should be mainly composed of persons well acquainted with the actual state of those branches of science which form the subject of the Chair; we are of opinion that in reconstituting the electing bodies it would be advantageous to adhere to the precedent afforded by the existing Professorial Statutes, and to provide by separate enactment for the mode of appointment to each professorship; except in any case in which it might be found that the circumstances of two or more Chairs were so precisely similar as to render the same electing body equally suitable to each. It would be natural that the new statue of any chair should place on the Electing Board, as the representatives of science outside the University, the Presidents for the time being of certain scientific societies, or the holders for the time being of certain important scientific offices, such as that of Astronomer Royal or Professor at a sister university. Similarly, the representatives upon the Electing Board of the Scientific Faculty of the University itself might be either the holders for the time being of certain professorships, or they might be persons nominated to serve on the Electing Board by the "Council of Science", which, as we shall presently propose, might be organized within the University. Lastly, it would be in accordance with academical tradition that the University at large should be represented by the Chancellor or by the Vice-Chancellor, or, in certain cases, by a person nominated by the College which had contributed to the endowment of the Chair.

75. From a list already given it will be seen that there are twelve Scientific Professorships in the University of Cambridge, exclusive of the two Medical Chairs. The four Mathematical Professors are elected, one by the Heads of Colleges, the other three by special boards.* The eight remaining Scientific Professors are elected by the members of the electoral roll (with the addition, in one case, of a few privileged individuals†), that is, mainly by the resident members of the Senate.

76. A Statute passed under the authority of the Act 19 & 20 Vict. c. 88. not only governs many of the existing professorships, but also has been held to be binding in case of the endowment of new professorships out of funds available to the University. This statute provides that "the appointment to every such new professorship shall be made by vote of the members of the Senate on the electoral roll."

77. This mode of election has been much discussed, and is very generally disapproved of. The electing body consists indifferently of those who are and those who are not specially acquainted with the subject to which the professorship relates. It is too large to meet together and elect by repeated scrutinies in case the votes should in the first instance be divided between several candidates, a circumstance which is liable to render the election a matter of chance. The electing body is so large that the sense of individual responsibility is enfeebled, and there is danger that considerations of personal friendship may outweigh the claims of public duty; and such considerations are all the more likely to intervene since so large a proportion of the electing body consists of residents.

78. On this point Mr. Bonney remarks: - "I think a change is very desirable. Though the result of the elections that I have seen has always been that which the University might he thoroughly satisfied with, I do not think that the body which elects is a good one; it is too large. It is very difficult to get men fairly and well to weigh the attainments of the candidate; they feel their individual responsibility to be small, and I think it would be far better that comparatively small boards, mainly composed of persons experienced in the particular science, where the sense of personal responsibility would be very great, should elect." In this opinion we entirely concur; and we think that in the formation of any new Board of Electors, the recommendations which we have made with respect to Oxford should apply equally to Cambridge.

[footnote continued from previous page] 11. The Hope Professorship of Zoology. - The Hope Curators, viz., the Vice-Chancellor, the two Proctors, the Regius Professor of Medicine, the Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, and two co-opted members.

12. Waynflete Professorship of Chemistry. - The Chancellor of the University, the Visitor and the President of Magdalen College, and the Presidents of the Royal Society and of the College of Physicians.

*Modes of appointment of the Mathematical Professors in the University of Cambridge.

The Lucasian Professor is elected by the Heads of Colleges. The Boards for the other three are: For the Plumian, the Vice-Chancellor, the Masters of Trinity, Christ's, and Caius Colleges, and the Lucasian, Lowndean, and Sadlerian Professors - if either of the Masters be Vice-Chancellor, the Master of St. John's acts in his stead. For the Lowndean, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the President of the Royal Society of London, the President of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, the Astronomer Royal, and the Lucasian, Plumian, and Sadlerian Professors. For the Sadlerian, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, three Heads of Colleges, to be elected by the persons on the Electoral Roll, and to hold office as long as they continue to be Heads of Colleges, and the Lucasian, the Plumian, and the Lowndean Professors.

†The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Ely, the Members of Parliament for the University, and the Presidents of the Royal Society and of the College of Physicians are also electors in the case of the Woodwardian Professorship.


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79. The opinion entertained as to the best constitution of an electing body has been shown in a very substantial form by the regulations which govern those professorships which have been founded by bequest or subscription subsequently to the enactment of the general statute above referred to. Three such have been founded since the statute was passed, two by bequest and one by subscription; it matters not for our present purpose that they are not scientific. The model of the statute has in no instance been copied, but in every case the election has been vested in a small special board.

80. We do not anticipate that any great difficulty would be experienced in carrying out the proposed alterations in the Professorial Statutes. In the case of some of the Oxford professorships the change in the mode of appointment could be made by the University Itself, acting with its existing powers; in other cases the consent of the College which had contributed to the endowment would have to be obtained; while in a third class of cases the consent of the Queen in Council, or even additional Parliamentary powers would be necessary. In the case of the University of Cambridge, we believe that the consent of the Queen in Council to a petition of the University would in every case be necessary and sufficient.

IV. Emoluments of the Professors

81. The emoluments of nearly all of the Professors in either University originally depended upon ancient endowments, and, with the exception of those of most of the Professors of Divinity, were of very small amount. In the course of the last twenty years these emoluments have been raised, and the average stipend of the Scientific Professors at Oxford is now a little above £500 a year, and about £450 at Cambridge, exclusive of Fellowships, which may be held by professors under exceptional conditions. At Oxford, a Fellow of a College who becomes a professor, does not thereby acquire the right of holding his fellowship free from the restriction of celibacy, but he becomes eligible to a fellowship free from this restriction, at his own or any other College. Two of the Scientific Professors have been thus elected to fellowships; but no account has been taken of these fellowships in the above estimate of the average professorial stipends. At Cambridge a Fellow who obtains a professorship does not as a rule vacate his fellowship by marriage, and a married professor may be elected to a fellowship.

82. It is of great importance in the interest of the Universities that these places should be such as to render them attractive lo the most eminent scientific men that can be found to take them, and it may be doubted whether the amount which has been named is sufficient for the purpose. When an office is offered to a man, the duties of which are to form the business of his life, it is certainly right that the remuneration accompanying it should be such as to enable him to marry and maintain a family in a suitable manner.

83. Another point to which our attention has been strongly directed is the desirability in the interest of the Universities of obtaining retiring pensions for professors. The system at present existing in both Universities is, that if a professor, from age or from declining health, should become incompetent to perform the ditties of his office, a certain portion of his stipend is assigned to him by the University, and a Deputy Professor is appointed to discharge the duties of the office in the interim. As an arrangement intended to meet the case of temporary illness, this plan would appear to work well, but it does not appear to be very suitable in the case of a long-continued incapacity from ill health or old age. It would seem desirable that when a professor is permanently disabled from discharging the duties of his office, he should be superseded, and that a new election should take place at once; and it is disadvantageous that the incoming professor should be burdened with a payment to his predecessor, because it is the interest of the University that the place when it is vacant should be made as attractive as possible to candidates. We should, therefore, wish to see a well-considered system of retiring pensions instituted in the Universities, and we believe that this would be conducive, not only to the comfort of the professors themselves, but also, which is of more importance, to the maintenance of a uniformly high standard of instruction.

84. There is but one quarter to which we can look for the funds which would be necessary in order to introduce improvements in the directions which we have indicated. The Universities themselves (considered as distinct from the Colleges which they contain) are not very wealthy bodies. The University of Oxford is the richer of the two, but the funds at its disposal are almost completely appropriated, and there does not appear to be any probability of an immediate or rapid augmentation. The revenues of the Colleges are, therefore, the only available source for any increased expenditure for University purposes. To a certain extent the Colleges at Oxford have already contributed to the university, the increase that has taken place in the emoluments of the scientific and other professors having been derived almost entirely from their funds. At Cambridge


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the Colleges have contributed to the University by taking upon themselves a tax formerly defrayed by the University. It is not improbable that further demands of the kind may be made upon the Colleges of both Universities, nor are we led to suppose by the evidence before us that they would regard such demands as conceived in a spirit of hostility.

85. It has been suggested, and the proposal seems a very reasonable one, that the Colleges should annex fellowships to the professorships, the restriction as to celibacy being of course withdrawn. This has already been done in a few cases, and there would seem to be no reason why it should not be done in all. The advantage would be a reciprocal one, because in most cases the College would be as likely to obtain a valuable member of its governing body, as it would be by an election founded on a competitive examination; and, on the other hand, the advantage to a Professor who becomes a member of one of these Corporations is very great indeed, and is not to be measured by the pecuniary advantage alone, as he thus acquires an increased interest in the studies and business of the University, and increased opportunities of becoming acquainted with the requirements of the students. The evidence of Professor Fowler on this point is deserving of attention.

86. At Cambridge there appears to he an unwillingness to allow a Professor to become, ex officio, a Fellow of a College; but, as already mentioned, nearly all the Colleges have accepted a Statute enabling a Fellow who is a Professor to retain his fellowship after marriage, and allowing the Governing Body to elect a professor, though married, to a fellowship. If this plan has the advantage of being more acceptable to the Colleges, it has the obvious disadvantage that the University does not make the most of the money virtually bestowed upon it, since the uncertainty of election to a fellowship might prevent an eminent man from standing for a professorship for which he would have become a candidate if he had been sure of holding a fellowship with it.

V. Proposed Council of Science

87. There is already more than one body within the University of Oxford which, to a certain degree, discharges administrative duties in connexion with science. The first of these is the Delegacy of the University Museum. This body consists of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors for the time being, and of six other persons elected by the Congregation of the University. No professor lecturing within the Museum is eligible as a member of the Delegacy, but all such professors have the right to be present at its meetings, as assessors, without a vote. The duties of this Delegacy refer exclusively to the financial and other arrangements requisite to carry on the business of the Museum. Any proposal for new expenditure upon the Museum is brought before them in the first instance, and if approved of by them is passed on to the Hebdomadal Council, who have the power of rejecting or modifying it, as they may think proper. But, as great weight naturally attaches to any measure sanctioned by the Delegacy, the Hebdomadal Council, as a general rule, do not withhold their approbation, but submit the proposition of the Delegates to the Convocation of the University, with whom the ultimate decision upon it rests. The Delegates of the Museum, however, have no educational functions, and they have no control of any kind over the teaching given by the professors.

88. The other administrative bodies are of quite recent creation. The Board of Studies of the Natural Science School was instituted by a statute passed only at the commencement of the year 1872. The Scientific Professors (with the exception of the two Savilian Professors) are ex officio members of the Board, which also contains the Examiners for the time being in the Natural Science School, and all persons who have served as examiners in the School within the two years preceding. The duties assigned to this body are, to exercise a general supervision over the subjects of examination in the Natural Science School. They have no power of controlling in any manner the courses of instruction given by the professors, or of interfering with the examiners in the conduct of any particular examination; but they may frame from time to time regulations as to the conduct of the examinations; and, within the limits prescribed by the University statute, they may issue notices explanatory of the range of the subjects included in the examination, and may recommend treatises to be studied in connexion with them. These powers they have already exercised, in publishing a complete syllabus of the subjects of examination in the Natural Science School, accompanied with a list of works to be studied. This list does not appear to have been drawn up upon any uniform principle; no books whatever being recommended in some subjects, while in others the list is so extensive that it can hardly serve as a guide to the ordinary learner, though it may be very valuable to some advanced students.


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89. The Board of Studies of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences is composed of the two Savilian Professors; the Sedleian Professor; the Professor of Experimental Philosophy; the Examiners for the time being in the School; all persons who have served in that capacity within the two years preceding and three persons added by co-optation. The duties of this Board are similar to those of the Board of Studies of the School of Natural Science. The Medical Examinations are not under the supervision of a Board.

90. From the limited scope of the functions of these various bodies, as well as from the constitution of the first of them, it is evident that they cannot be regarded as representing, in any adequate manner, the Scientific Faculty of the University. We are of opinion that the best mode of providing for this important object would be to replace them by a Single Administrative Body, representing every department of science, and having wider but still definite powers entrusted to it. Without attaching any importance to the name, we shall, for the purposes of the present Report, designate this proposed administrative body as "the University Council of Science".

91. The duties of the Council would, we conceive, be two-fold - educational and financial.

92. If, as may be expected, the number of Professors and Adjoint Professors, engaged in the teaching of science should hereafter be considerably increased, it would become indispensable that the arrangements for the discharge of their educational duties should be made, not altogether independently, but as the result of mutual agreement. The task of co-ordinating these arrangements would not always be an easy one, and would, we think, be most safely entrusted to a Council of Science. It would be of great importance that the supervision exercised by the Council should not assume even the most distant resemblance to a vexatious interference; but it should be carried at least to such an extent as to provide that the teaching in the different subjects should be duly co-ordinated, so as to prevent, for example, a plurality of courses upon one subject, while others equally important were neglected. It is impossible not to apprehend that if the teaching staff should become very large, some inconvenience might arise from a continuance of the almost unrestricted freedom at present allowed to a professor of choosing the time at which he will lecture as well as the parts of his subject which he will include in his course; and we cannot but think that some attention to united action in these respects is essential to the establishment of a School of Science which it is intended should be worked upon a large scale.

93. A further educational duty might eventually devolve upon such a body, that of endeavouring to co-ordinate such scientific instruction as might he given within the Colleges with that given in the University. At the present moment, however, it must be admitted that this duty would be a light one, because the amount of such instruction, except so far as it is mathematical, which is at present given in the Colleges is so small as to be in the last degree unlikely to interfere with that provided by the University Teachers. But if, as may be hoped, the scientific instruction given in the Colleges should receive a considerable development, it would become very desirable that such a co-ordination should be attempted to prevent the waste of teaching power which must otherwise ensue.

94. The main financial duty of the Council of Science, would be one which now (within a limited sphere) falls upon the Delegates of the University Museum, that of taking into consideration all applications which require the expenditure of money for scientific purposes, and of determining whether such applications should be brought before the University with the weight of their recommendation. It is difficult to see how, without such a preliminary scrutiny by a competent body, the demands of different individuals and of various scientific subjects can be dealt with by the University in a uniform and satisfactory manner. It would be desirable that the Council of Science should have a discretionary power of making grants, up to a certain moderate amount, in aid of original researches, or to obtain the temporary assistance of a lecturer. But in all cases in which a larger expenditure was required the consent of the University would no doubt have to be obtained in the usual manner.

95. What the precise composition of the Council of Science should be, and within what limits its powers should be confined, are important questions, which, however, we may leave to be discussed within the University itself. It would probably be best that the numbers of the Council should be Considerable, in order to ensure a fair representation of all the interests concerned, it being intended that a great part of the work should be done by Committees according to the usual practice of Academical Delegacies. If this view of the composition of the Council should be adopted, all the Professors and Adjoint Professors might be made members of it ex officio; a certain proportion of non-official members, elected possibly by the Congregation of the University, being added


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in order to represent the instruction given in the Colleges. The infusion into the Council of Science of such an elective element would tend to give the University at large an increased interest in the proceedings of the Council; and it would also provide a mode of admitting to the Council, from time to time, a certain number of persons who, not happening to hold any academical office, might nevertheless be eminently fit to take part in its deliberations. It may be added that a Council, containing such a representative element, would be more likely to deal successfully with the complicated questions relating to the co-ordination of University and College instruction.

96. With respect to bodies exercising administrative duties in connexion with Science, the arrangements of the University of Cambridge bear a strong general resemblance to those that have been now adopted in the University of Oxford. The Museums and Lecture-rooms Syndicate at Cambridge is analogous to the Delegacy of the University Museum at Oxford, while the Board of Mathematical Studies and the Board of Natural Science at Cambridge answer to the corresponding Board at Oxford.

97. The Museums and Lecture-rooms Syndicate is a permanent Syndicate, which was formed in connexion with the establishment of the new Museums. All the members are appointed by Grace of the Senate, and vacate their seats by rotation, the retiring members not being re-eligible at that election. There is no provision excluding Professors, as at Oxford, and, in point of fact, the Syndicate usually consists in part of Professors, in part of other Members of the Senate. The Syndics have no educational control, and their duties are mainly financial. The University has set apart £1,500 a year to the maintenance of the Museums, and out of this sum the Syndicate defray the ordinary expenses of management, on their own responsibility as regards smaller sums, subject to the sanction of the Senate as regards the larger.

98. The University Statutes made under the Act 19 & 20 Vict. c. 88, after providing for the establishment of a Board of Theological Studies, enact that "the University should appoint Boards for reviewing the more important departments of study recognised in the University, and reporting thereon to the Senate, which Boards shall severally comprise the Professors and Public Lecturers, whose duties connect them with such departments, as well as such other persons as may be determined from time to time by Grace of the Senate; and it shall be the duty of such Boards to consider the schemes for lectures submitted to them in every year by such Professors and Public Lecturers, and to approve of the same, or to remit them from time to time for further consideration or revision, with amendments or alterations therein."

99. In accordance with this Statute the University has appointed among others (1) a Board of Mathematical Studies; (2) a Board of Natural Sciences; to which, in consequence of its close connexion, in many respects, with the Board of Natural Sciences, we must add (3) a Board of Medical Studies. These Boards are composed, first, of certain Professors as required by the Statute; secondly, in the case of the Board of Mathematical Studies, of the Moderators and Examiners of the current and two preceding years; and, in the case the two other Boards, of the Examiners of the current and last preceding years; and, thirdly, of a certain number of members appointed by Grace of the Senate, who retire by rotation.

100. So far the machinery for co-ordinating the lectures of the different Professors appears to be complete; but it may be questioned whether the provisions relating to the Boards are not too stringent, and, consequently, not easily carried out. It seems probable, therefore, that additional provisions will be required for securing greater regularity and unity of action, and should any considerable modifications appear desirable, we are disposed, for the reasons we have given above, to recommend the establishment of a University Council of Science at Cambridge, similarly constituted and with similar powers to that which we have suggested for the University of Oxford.



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III. THE SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS WITHlN THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE

I. Oxford

101. The following scientific institutions exist within, or in connexion with, the University of Oxford: The University Museum, the Clarendon or Hyde Institute, the Botanical or Physic Garden, the Radcliffe Library, and the Radcliffe Observatory. Of these, the last two do not belong to the University, but are under the absolute control of Dr. Radcliffe's Trustees. The University Act of 1854 has however given to the Radcliffe Observer the status of a Professor within the University, and has so far recognized, greatly to the advantage of the University, the connexion between the Radcliffe Observatory and the University.

102. It is unnecessary to say that the Bodleian library is as invaluable to the scientific as to the literary student. But, as it is not exclusively, or even principally, a scientific institution, we have not included it in the preceding enumeration.

103. The evidence of Dr. Acland contains an interesting account of the movement which led to the erection of the University Museum. From his evidence and that of Professor Price, it appears that a large sum, amounting to nearly £85,000, was originally expended in the purchase of the site, in the erection of the building, and in providing a certain proportion of the fittings, and that since that time further sums, amounting in the whole to nearly £15,000, have been expended upon the completion of the internal arrangements and on additional fittings.

104. The collections at present comprise (1) A cabinet of Pathological Anatomy, formed by the present Regius Professor of Medicine, to which has recently been added the Collection of Schröder Van der Kolk, which has been purchased by the university; (2) A Collection of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; (3) A Collection of Zoology, including the extensive Hope Collection of Invertebrate Zoology; (4) Collections of Geology; and (5) of Mineralogy.

105. Continual additions are being made to these collections; but even in their present condition they may probably be described as adequate for the ordinary requirements of students, while in some directions they are sufficient for the purposes of the most advanced investigators. As instances of this larger development may be mentioned the Craniological collection formed by Professor Rolleston, and included in the collection of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, the collection of Saurian remains in the department of Geology, and, above all, the Hope Collection of Invertebrate Zoology.

106. A great part of the collection of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, is the property of Christ-Church, and has been lent to the University on condition of its being freely accessible to members of Christ-Church.

107. It appears from the evidence that the space in the Museum which can be devoted to the exhibition of specimens is almost completely occupied.

108. The Laboratories for Pathology and Physiology, and Chemistry, which surround the central court of the Museum, are described as just sufficient for all present requirements. Sometimes, however, there is a little difficulty in finding room for all the students who want places in the practical laboratory of Chemistry. The rooms originally appropriated for Physics, which, however, were very inadequate for the purposes of that branch of Science, have, since the building of the Hyde Institute, been placed at the disposal of the Professor of Chemistry, and it is in consequence of this accession that the space allotted to Chemistry has become sufficient for immediate purposes. The Laboratory attached to the Department of Medicine is at present chiefly used by the Deputy of the Regius Professor of Medicine for sanitary investigations, such as analyses of water, adulterated food, and the like. The Physiological Laboratories, though sometimes overcrowded, may in the main be described as sufficient for the present, because certain parts of the instruction are given in the central court, where a considerable number of the specimens are placed.

109. Some of the architectural peculiarities of the Museum have, perhaps, rendered its original construction, and its present maintenance, more costly than they might have been. The expense of warming the great central court, roofed as it is with glass, is very considerable, and the cost of lighting it would be so great that this part of the building is not used at night. It has also been found that the repairs of a building, constructed as it has been, are likely from time to time to be very heavy. Care, however, was taken in the original design to provide for the possibility of future extensions, the back of the building having been left in an unfinished state, so that whenever the necessity for extension shall arise, as it must at no very distant period, it can be carried


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out without any great cost, and without interfering with the architectural arrangements of the building.

110. The Hyde Institute for Experimental Philosophy was built by the Clarendon Trustees out of a fund amounting to about £12,000, which had accumulated under the provisions of the will of Henry, Lord Hyde, who died in 1753, and of which the original destination was to found a Riding School. The building, when completed and fitted up, was made over by the Trustees to the University. The whole sum of £12,000 was expended upon the building and the fittings, so that the cost of maintenance and of providing apparatus devolves entirely upon the University funds. The most minute attention to all the details of the building was given by the present Professor of Experimental Philosophy, and the result is described by persons competent to judge as eminently satisfactory. The Institute, though separate from the Museum, is close to it, and is connected with it by a covered passage, so that no time is lost by students in passing from one department to another.

111. We think it necessary to call attention to the condition of the Cabinet of Physical Apparatus placed in the Hyde Institute. The University granted, when the present Professor came into office, a sum of £1,000 in aid of the formation of such a cabinet, and there is in addition a benefaction, conferred by Edward, fifth Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh, High Steward of the University, who died in 1786, which is entirely appropriated to this object, and which now amounts to £90 a year. But the collection of apparatus existing at the time when the University grant was made was extremely antiquated and imperfect; and those who are acquainted with the costliness of physical apparatus when made with the precision which the accuracy of modern observations requires; and also with the number and variety of the instruments which are necessary for experimental work in the many different sciences included under the name of Physics; will have no difficulty in conceiving that this amount has not been found sufficient to establish a really satisfactory or complete Cabinet. A comparison of the apparatus in the Hyde Institute with that at the College de France or the École Polytechnique in Paris would serve to show how much more must be done with the Oxford collection before it can be regarded as worthy either of the building in which it is placed or of the University to which it belongs.

112. A collection of scientific Books has been obtained for the purposes of the Museum, without any cost to the University, through the wise liberality of the Radcliffe Trustees, who have allowed their Library to be transferred from its former place in the Radcliffe Dome to the Museum, placing, at the same time, the Radcliffe Dome at the disposal of the Bodleian to be used as a Reading Room. A great advantage has thus been secured, both for the Bodleian and for the students at the Museum; an advantage which, so far as the latter are concerned, has been turned to the best account by the Radcliffe Librarian (Dr. Acland), who has arranged a well-selected Students' Library in the Reading Room, which also contains all recently purchased works, and a large collection of scientific periodicals. It is, perhaps, to be regretted that there is at Oxford no students' lending library except a very imperfect one of small extent which has been formed by the Ashmolean Society. It would be a great additional benefit to the Students of Natural Science if, under certain conditions and with proper exceptions, books were permitted to be taken from the Radcliffe Library, as is at present the case with the University Library at Cambridge.

113. The annual cost of the Museum, including the Hyde Institute, but not including the Radcliffe Library (the cost of which is entirely defrayed by the Radcliffe Trustees), amounts to £2,451. Of this £376 is defrayed out of certain trust funds - the Aldrichian Fund, the Tomlins Fund, the Hope Fund, and Lord Leigh's Fund. The remainder constitutes a charge upon the yearly income of the University. The annual expenditure is distributed as follows: for the Chemistry Department, £626; for the Physical Department, £655; for the Department of Zoology, £85; for the Physiological Department, £90; for General Purposes, £995; but, as a large proportion of the expenses of the Physiological Department and of the Zoological Department are defrayed under the item General Purposes, this statement can only be regarded as giving precise information with regard to the Departments of Chemistry and Physics.

114. The fees charged to the students in the laboratories for practical work are as follows: in the Department of Physiology, two guineas a term; in the Departments of Chemistry and of Physics, three guineas a term in each. The fees for lectures are in every case small, and many of the courses given by the professors are entirely gratuitous. The fixed salaries of the Demonstrators and Assistants, but not those of the Professors, are included in the above gross expenditure of £2,451 a year.


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115. The present condition of the Botanic Garden requires, and we have no doubt will receive, the immediate attention of the University. The Garden was founded in the year 1622 by Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, and is said to be the oldest in the country. The Professor states: "The total area is under five acres, but that includes a great deal of ground which is made no use of at all for growing plants; it contains also the Professor's residence and the library, the museum, and the herbarium."

"For the purposes of teaching, it is necessary, certainly, that we should have a garden of moderate size. I believe that a large garden is not required, but it should be a larger one than we have already. I believe also that we ought to have a large number of herbaceous plants, which are easy to keep up at a small expense. We ought also to have a large area covered with glass, but these houses ought to be low. ... They would not be expensive to keep up, while they would be cheap to build and cheap to keep in repair, and they would grow a great number of plants for us."

"Financially it is in a bad condition. The keeping up of the garden has cost hitherto considerably more than there are funds for its maintenance, or, rather, I ought to say, it has done so up to the present time, for there has been a considerable increase of nearly £100 a year, which would, under ordinary circumstances, be sufficient for all purposes; but owing to the great rise in the cost of labour and in the price of coal, particularly the latter, I am afraid that that sum will be eaten up, and we shall have nothing left for the repairs of the garden without further grants from the University."

The state of efficiency of the garden for the purposes for which it was founded "is at present very bad. The gardens contain a large number of plants, but they are in very bad order, owing to the want of larger houses and more room. The gardens and houses are very small for the number of plants which we have got crowded into them. The houses also are in exceedingly bad repair, and in some cases they are absolutely falling to pieces."

The Herbarium contains (besides ancient collections made previous to the time of Linnæus, and now kept separate in order to illustrate the history of Botanical Science) a British Herbarium, intended as a herbarium of reference for students, and a General Herbarium, the gift of the late Mr. Fielding. This herbarium is described as being now in a good condition and as being one of the largest and most valuable in England, after those at Kew and in the British Museum. The cabinets in which it is placed are, however, "bad, and utterly unsuited for the purposes to which they are applied." It is now being rapidly arranged, and the post-Linnæan collections are being incorporated with it. The museum, containing collections of such parts of plants as cannot conveniently be incorporated with the herbarium, is in a bad condition, owing to the ravages of insects, and is so ill lighted as to be almost useless to students. The Professor thinks "it ought to be entirely remodelled." The library is "a very good one indeed, but it cannot be made of much use at present, at least not nearly of the use of which it ought to he capable, because it is separated from the Museum and from the Herbarium by the whole length of the garden; consequently, if you want any books at all to compare plants with, you have to go right through the garden to get them. It ought to be placed under the same roof with the Herbarium and with the Museum, in order to make it really useful." It further appears from the Professor's evidence that it is under the consideration of the University whether the garden might not be removed to the Park, where it would be in the immediate neighbourhood of the University Museum. The cost of putting the present garden into good working order is estimated at between £3,000 and £4,000; the cost of removing would, of course, be greater.

116. We print, in the Appendix to this Report,* a paper transmitted to us by the Rev. R. Main, the Radcliffe Observer, containing an outline of the history of the Radcliffe Observatory from its first foundation, in 1771, to the present time. From this paper it appears that the expenditure for the year 1870-1, which may be taken as an average year, amounted to £1,265 8s 5d, and that the present staff (which has never been exceeded) consists of the Observer, two Assistants, and one Computer. With this limited staff, Mr. Main has provided (1) for the prosecution of regular meridional observations of stars and certain planets; (2) for the tolerably constant use of the heliometer; (3) for the prosecution of the system of photographic meteorology, in addition to the usual eye observations of standard instruments; (4) for the regular reduction and publication of the Observations. The volume of observations annually published by the Radcliffe Trustees furnishes ample evidence of the great amount of successful work that is done at their Observatory.

*See Appendix II.


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117. The duties of the Radcliffe Observer are not educational, although the present Observer has at all times shown the greatest willingness to admit advanced and meritorious students to the benefits of practical instruction within the Observatory, indeed, the great success of the Institution dates from the time when the offices of Radcliffe Observer and Savilian Professor of Astronomy were separated from one another, although, in consequence of the separation, the Savilian Professor of Astronomy was left but poorly supplied with instruments for educational purposes, and with none whatever suitable for research. The Professor states,* however, that the University has recently granted the sum of £2,500 for the purchase of a refracting telescope, of 12¼ inches aperture, and for the erection of a suitable building to contain it; and that, at a still more recent period, Mr. Warren De La Rue has offered to the University "his well known reflecting telescope, together with all its valuable appurtenances, including among them no less than four mirrors, each excellent of its kind, besides all the mechanical means necessary for the most accurate grinding, polishing, and testing, after Foucault's method, of large mirrors and object glasses"; so that the deficiency of appliances, under which the study of Astronomy at Oxford has hitherto laboured, may be regarded as on a fair way to be completely remedied.

118. The general impression which has been made upon us by the evidence relating to the Scientific Institutions at Oxford is, that the University in recent times has acted with great liberality to Natural Science, and has shown the utmost willingness to recognize its claims as a great branch of education. But considering the great position so justly allowed to our ancient Universities, and the great opportunities of usefulness which their wealth and their prestige confer upon them, we think it would be a matter of regret if they should allow their Scientific Institutions to fall short of that standard of excellence which has been attained elsewhere; and we are obliged to say that although nothing can be more admirable, in many respects, than the arrangements of the Oxford Museum, as far as they have yet been carried, yet that in extent of appliances, and in completeness of range even for purely educational purposes, they are at the present moment far outdone by many Institutions upon the Continent of Europe.

II. Cambridge

119. The following Scientific Institutions exist within, or in connexion with the University of Cambridge: The Botanic Garden, the Observatory, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the Woodwardian Museum, the New Museums, and the Physical Laboratory.

120. The Botanic Garden was founded by the Rev. Richard Walker, D.D., in 1762. The original site having been deemed unsuitable, both from size and position, a new garden was many years ago formed, a little outside the town. It is managed by a permanent Syndicate. The old site is partly occupied by the New Museums and lecture rooms.

121. The Observatory was erected in 1822-4, at an expense of upwards of £18,000, about one-third of which was raised by subscription, and the rest was granted out of the University chest. The transit instrument has recently been replaced by a very fine transit circle. There is also an excellently graduated mural circle of 8 feet diameter, and a large equatorially mounted refractor of nearly 12 inches aperture, the gift of the late Duke of Northumberland, Chancellor of the University. The other instruments need not be enumerated. The care of the Observatory was formerly attached by Grace of the Senate to the Plumian Professorship, but has now been attached to the Lowndean Professorship. The observations made at the Observatory are regularly reduced and published.

122. The Cambridge Philosophical Society was established in 1819, and obtained a charter in1832. Though an independent corporate body, it has from the first been closely connected with the University. It was originally established by members of the University, and the charter provides that the fellows shall be graduates of the University. It publishes Transactions, which form a convenient vehicle in which members of the University can make known their original investigations to the scientific world. Eleven volumes of these important Transactions have already appeared. The evening meetings afford opportunity of scientific discussion and of making known original investigations, even though they may not afterwards be published in the Transactions. A few years ago the Society parted with its house, on being permitted by the University to occupy with its library a room in the New Museum. The evening meetings are held in a lecture room in the same building. A fine collection of stuffed British birds and one of British insects, formerly the property of the Society, have been given by the Society to the University, and now form part of the Zoological Museum.

*Appendix III.


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123.Ten years ago the geological and mineralogical collections were contained in two rooms under a wing of the university Library. A building on the side of the old Botanic Garden contained a single lecture room, which was used by the Professors of Chemistry and Botany and by the Jacksonian Professor. An adjacent room served as a laboratory for the Professor, but there was no students' laboratory. The botanical collection was contained in a store room, where nothing could be displayed, and the collection of comparative anatomy was contained in a small adjacent building where the specimens were most inconveniently crowded.

124. But about the year 1865, the University expended a sum of about £30,000 in the erection of museums and lecture rooms in connexion with Natural Science, which have been built on the site of the old Botanic Garden. The mineralogical collection has been removed into a spacious and well-lighted room in this building, and the well-known Woodwardian Collection has expanded into the space formerly occupied by Mineralogy. The Botanical Collection, which, as we have explained, was formerly contained in a mere store room, is now arranged in the new building, to which also is removed the collection of apparatus belonging to the Jacksonian Professor. The building on the side of the garden, which formerly was used by three professors, is now entirely devoted to Chemistry, and, with certain additions and adaptations, now includes proper Laboratories both for the professor and for students. The collection of Comparative Anatomy, formerly so much crowded, is now properly displayed in a wing of the new building, and the building which formerly contained it is now devoted to Human Anatomy.

125. The New Museums contain no sufficient provision for the study of Experimental Physics. This want, which of late years has been strongly felt, has been met by the establishment of a Physical Laboratory, now being erected at the expense of the Chancellor.





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IV. THE COLLEGES

126. In relation to the Colleges, our attention has been principally directed to the following points: (I) The Scholarships; (II) The Fellowships; (III) The Organisation of the Instruction given in the Colleges in relation to the Instruction given in the Universities; (IV) Contributions from the Colleges to a fund for University purposes.

I. The Scholarships

127. The following is a list (extracted from the Oxford University Gazette) of the whole number of scholarships filled up in the Colleges of the University of Oxford during the year 1872, and of the number of such scholarships appropriated to the various subjects of academical study. It should be observed that in the examination for classical scholarships, a mathematical paper is often set, which has some weight in the determination of the result, particularly when the classical merits of the candidates are nearly equally balanced. The exhibitions are so frequently filled up on the ground of merit shown in more than one direction that no attempt to classify them is made in the list.

128. The number of scholarships and exhibitions offered for competition may differ slightly from the number actually filled up, because no candidate of sufficient merit may present himself, or because, on the other hand, the College may be induced, by the excellence of the competitors, to give an additional scholarship or exhibition. Thus it would appear that in the year 1872, to which the following list relates, six Natural Science Scholarships were filled up, whereas only five were offered.

SCHOLARSHIPS filled up in Oxford from January to December 1872

[click on the image for a larger version]

129. It is evident upon a comparison of the numbers contained in this list that the Scholarships offered for Natural Science are but a small fraction of the whole number.


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The state of the case appears to be that the Colleges do not offer Scholarships for Natural Science because they fear they would not get good candidates from the Schools; and the Schools do not teach Natural Science because they are afraid of injuring the prospects of their pupils by diminishing their chances of obtaining a Scholarship. It cannot be doubted that the effect upon the schools of this unequal distribution of rewards has been, and is, very discouraging to scientific study; and that it has exerted a most unfavourable influence upon the number of Natural Science Students. So important has this point appeared to some of the witnesses that we find Professor Clifton expressing the feeling that Scholarships for Natural Science are even more needed than Fellowships. "We want", he says, "more scholarships, and perhaps more fellowships. I am not so certain about the fellowships, but certainly more scholarships are required for science." In the same spirit Professor Jowett observes: "I think that there should be a much greater proportion of Scholarships [for Science] compared with Fellowships. It appears to me much more important to make a number of students than to reward a few, because what you want is to increase the supply of students."

130. Without being prepared to concur in this estimate of the relative value of the two objects, we are nevertheless of opinion that it is of great importance, with the view of promoting the study of Natural Science in the First Grade Schools throughout the country, that there should be an immediate, and ultimately a large, increase in the number of Scholarships offered for this subject by the Colleges.

II. The Fellowships

131. The number of Fellowships in the University of Oxford is about 370. The number till recently was somewhat larger, and probably exceeded 400; but a reduction was effected by the changes introduced by the University Commission of 1854. Of these Fellowships, at the date of the return printed in the Appendix to Vol. I*, 120 were held in connexion with educational offices within the Colleges, and 23 in connexion with offices, such as bursarships, which, though not directly educational, are indispensable for the purposes of the college business and government. The remaining Fellowships are chiefly held by non-residents, and must be regarded as almost, if not entirely, sinecure offices.

132. The condition of the University of Cambridge is not very different in this respect. The number of fellowships is about 350.† Of these about 120 are held by persons holding educational offices in the Colleges or the University, or other college offices similar to those just described, while the remaining 230 are chiefly held by non-residents.

133. Whether the existence of these sinecure fellowships is defensible is a question upon which the witnesses whom we have examined are not unanimous. Mr. Pattison is of opinion that the system should be entirely changed, as the following extracts from his evidence will show. "Do I understand that your proposal would be to suppress all fellowships the holders of which are not employed in teaching, or in doing University work of some kind? - I am afraid that if I were to say that 260 fellowships should be suppressed, I might throw ridicule upon the whole proposal. ... Is it your opinion that a considerable proportion of them might be suppressed? - I think that we are all prepared for a further very large suppression of fellowships, but there is a great difference of opinion as to how far that should go. But you are of opinion that men's minds are prepared for a very large suppression of non-working fellowships? - I think that a large majority of the residents in the University would be in favour of a further large suppression of fellowships."

Again, in reply to the question "I may say that the great preponderance of opinion amongst the witnesses from the Universities who have been examined is, that a larger amount goes in mere rewards than is at all called for, or is desirable - would you be so good as to give us your view upon that point?" Lord Salisbury, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford states, "Considering the amount of controversy that prevails on University questions, it is astonishing how great an agreement there is upon that point. I have heard from all schools, theological and political, in the Universities, a coincidence of opinion that the present application of the revenues of fellowships is exceedingly unsatisfactory."

134. On the other hand, Professor Jowett observes, "I think that fellowships fulfil a very important purpose, partly in supplying teachers to the University and still more in supplying to young men the means of passing through the University into a profession. That is a very great good which they do at present, and I should not like to see it materially infringed upon. That a number of highly educated young men are able to go to the bar or to some other profession, having leisure and being free from pecuniary anxiety, and not being compelled to slave for the press, or lose their time for the sake of making money for seven or eight years of their life, seems to me

*See Appendix, vol. i, pp. 25-27.

†Appendix, vol. i, p. 28.


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to be a very great national good, and I should hot wish to see that use of fellowships infringed upon; but the property of the Colleges is greatly increasing, and I think we can afford to supply a considerable sum for University purposes, without seriously affecting the number of the fellowships."

135. Whilst giving every weight to the considerations urged by Professor Jowett, and admitting to the fullest extent the great stimulus which the higher education has received at Oxford from the system of election to fellowships by open competition, we are nevertheless satisfied by the evidence laid before us that an unduly large proportion of the revenues of the Colleges is expended in sinecure fellowships; and we have reason to believe that this opinion is shared by a large and increasing number of the resident members of both Universities. We believe that if those fellowships which may properly be described as prize fellowships, were made terminable, so as to secure a rapid succession, it would be possible to effect a great reduction in their number, without weakening, to any important extent, the stimulus to education which is afforded by the present system. We also think their value might be diminished, at least in some cases.

136. It is doubtless advantageous to the country at large, as has been urged by some of our witnesses, that young men of ability, who choose to enter into one of the great professions, should be supported, or nearly so, in the early years of their professional career, and thereby be enabled to apply themselves at once to the higher studies of their profession, instead of wasting their energies in drudgery of some kind, for the mere purpose of obtaining a temporary livelihood. But this end maybe secured by means of fellowships tenable only for a limited period. It has been urged that the feeling of security given by the system of unlimited tenure greatly enhances the value of a fellowship. No doubt it is a very comfortable thing for a young man to feel that, come what may, he is secure of an income so long as he chooses to remain single. But we can see no adequate reason why he should be thus comforted at the expense of the College, when he has preferred the more attractive prospect of a professional career in the outer world to the work of the College. And although there is a natural wish to deal tenderly with ill health, yet we cannot see that a general rule of unlimited tenure can be justified on the ground that it affords a provision in the exceptional cases of a failure of health, to the consequences of which men in general are exposed.

137. It has further been urged that the conditions under which a non-resident fellowship is at present held are such as sometimes to enervate rather than to stimulate the holder. A man who holds a fellowship is likely to feel that he is not absolutely dependent upon his professional work; and this feeling sometimes prevents him from throwing himself upon his own exertions. There are many instances of young men who persuade themselves that they have given their profession a fair trial, and make up their minds to abandon it, simply because, being in possession of a fellowship, they find that it is possible for them to lead a comfortable existence without going through the long-continued exertion and the tedious waiting which success in one of the great professions requires. To such men a moderate emolument, held for a limited period, might be even more advantageous than a fellowship held under its present conditions. Nor in estimating the use to the public of the fellowship system can we leave out of sight the loss of time that it entails to many men who ultimately fail to get a fellowship at all, but who linger on at the Universities for two or three years, after taking their degree, in the vain hope of obtaining one of these great prizes.

138. We are therefore decidedly of opinion that the fellowships awarded as prizes are excessive in number if not in value, and that the system ought to be remodelled. We are further of opinion that in any such remodelling a considerable proportion of the fellowships should be suppressed or consolidated for the purposes of contributing to the general fund of the University, and of endowing, within the Colleges and the University, new institutions, or new offices, in aid of Education or Research. But it must be remembered that, as Professor Jowett has stated, the property of the Colleges at Oxford, in some instances at least, is greatly increasing, so that quite independently of the suppression of fellowships there will in all probability be considerable sums available for these purposes. In any case, therefore, we are prepared to admit that a great part of the fellowships ought to he retained as fellowships, and the problem that has to be solved is how to employ those which are so retained in the most useful manner possible.

139. The following are the chief purposes to which, in our judgment, the fellowships should be applied:

In the first place a certain but not a very large proportion of the fellowships will be always required, as at present, for the payment of the persons entrusted with the management of the college estates, and with the government and administration of the colleges themselves.


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Secondly, a large number of the fellowships is at present employed, and probably a still larger number ought hereafter to be employed, in connexion with the Instruction given in the Colleges.

Thirdly, a smaller, but still a considerable number of fellowships ought to be employed as Terminable Prize Fellowships.

Fourthly, a certain number of fellowships ought, as we have already said, to be united with Professorships in the University; the University professor becoming ex officio a Fellow of the College and a member of its governing body.

Lastly, it is, in our opinion, most important that a certain number of fellowships should be appropriated to the Direct Promotion of Learning and Research in various directions. It has been objected to this proposal that the fellowship system, as hitherto administered, has not shown any great tendency to encourage Original Research, either in the field of learning or in that of science; that, when an office is created simply and solely with the view of giving a man leisure and opportunity for original research, there is always the appearance, to say the least, of creating a sinecure; and that it is impossible, as Professor Jowett has said, to get a man for money who can make a discovery. But, though you cannot get a man for money to make a discovery, you may enable a man who has shown a special capacity for research to exert his powers; and we are of opinion that, unless an effort is made to do this, one of the great purposes for which learned bodies, such as the Colleges, exist, may run the risk of being wholly lost sight of. Scientific discoveries rarely bring any direct profit to their authors; nor is it desirable that original investigation should be undertaken with a view to immediate pecuniary results. "Research", as Lord Salisbury has observed, "is unremunerative: it is highly desirable for the community that it should be pursued, and, therefore, the community must be content that funds should be set aside to be given, without any immediate and calculable return in work, to those by whom the research is to be pursued."

It may be that properly qualified candidates for such scientific offices would not at first be numerous, but we believe that eventually a considerable number of Fellowships might be advantageously devoted to the encouragement of Original Research.

140. We think that such fellowships as might be expressly destined for the advancement of Science and Learning should only be conferred on men who by their successful labours have already given proof of their earnest desire, and of their ability to promote knowledge; and we believe that appointments, made with a due regard to this principle, would be abundantly justified by results. A man who has once acquired the habit of original scientific work, is very unlikely ever to lose it excepting through a total failure of his health and strength; and even if it occasionally happened that a fellowship awarded on the grounds of merit, as shown in original research, should only contribute to the comfort of the declining years of an eminent man of science, there are many persons who would feel that it could not have been better expended in any other way.

141. We should not wish to attach any educational duties properly so called to a fellowship awarded with a view of encouraging Original Research in Science. But for many reasons we should think it desirable that the holder of such a fellowship should be expected to give an account, from time to time, in the form of public discourses, of the most recent researches in his own department of science.

142. We now proceed to offer some suggestions with regard to one of the most difficult questions relating to the Fellowships, the Conditions of their Tenure. In doing so, we think it desirable to treat separately the cases of fellowships held by those who aspire to make their way in the outer world, and by those who look to a University career.

143. In the case of the former, or non-resident class, the tenure of the fellowship should, as we have already said, be limited to a term of years; and we are disposed to think that a term of seven years would suffice for every useful purpose. In the case of such terminable fellowships, held by non-residents; the restriction of celibacy which, originating doubtless in the celibacy of the clergy, has been very generally retained as a means of leading to a more rapid succession, becomes unmeaning, and ought we think to be removed.

144. The most important use of the latter, or resident class of fellowships, is to enable the Universities to retain a large staff of able teachers and workers.

145. From the evidence before us it appears that the colleges find some difficulty in obtaining efficient tutors and lecturers. Professor Jowett observes, "We have always a great difficulty about teachers. In fact, at Oxford the whole thing seems to require to be re-constituted; there is such a difficulty in keeping the best men there, and they stay for so short a time. If we are to keep men as teachers, we must get rid of the condition of celibacy."


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146. There are other difficulties, which are not adverted to by Professor Jowett in these remarks, besides that occasioned by the restriction to celibacy. One of them is that in endeavouring to obtain teachers not only do the Colleges, to a certain extent, bid against one another, but each College bids against itself. A College offers a distinguished man, shortly after he has taken his degree, an income say of £250 a year as a Fellow, and of £250 a year additional as a Lecturer, so that, in fact, the College offers him £500 a year if he will stay and be a teacher, but at the same moment it offers him £250 a year even if he goes away. Under these circumstances we can hardly wonder that the inducements offered by tutorships and lectureships are not sufficient even in the first instance to command the services of the men whom it would be most desirable to retain; and the difficulty is greatly increased by the further fact that as the University system is at present organized the teaching offices in the Colleges do not offer any very inviting prospect of further advancement.

147. A man who accepts a fellowship and a lectureship in a college will find that at the end of 20 years' of service he is much less fit for the special work in which he has been engaged than he was when he began it, and probably he will also find that he has not been in the meantime preparing himself for any other occupation for which he would be more suitable, and in which he might obtain larger emoluments. In former times, when the connexion between fellowships and the obligation to take holy orders was almost universal, the difficulty which is here referred to did not arise. It was met by the system of College Livings. It was then the most natural thing in the world for a young clergyman to devote himself for nine or ten years to giving instruction in Classics and Theology, and if work of this kind was not continued too long it was generally thought to form no bad preparation for the duties of a parish priest. But at the present time, the Fellowships are very largely held by laymen, and there appears, for some reason, to be a growing disinclination on the part of the men who now engage in tuition in the Colleges to take Holy Orders. Thus the layman who becomes a college tutor or lecturer finds himself entirely cut off from every other profession, and dependent exclusively upon that of teaching, the great prizes of which are to be found in the Public Schools and not in the Colleges, inasmuch as the professorships are too few in number to offer much prospect of promotion within the University, while the headships are still to a great extent restricted to clergymen. It is not surprising under these circumstances, that there is a widespread feeling in the Universities that the tutorial system is falling into a state of disorganization. It is felt that the college tutorships and lectureships do not lead to any permanent positions in the end, although they are, perhaps, a little too highly paid at the beginning, if, at least, we regard the fellowship as part payment for the work done. What is wanted is a graduated succession of offices, such as would make the business of a College Tutor a profession which an able and distinguished young man might embrace without imprudence.

148. To a certain extent this want has been already supplied, in both Universities, by the increase which has recently taken place in the number and value of the Professorships. But, as we have already seen, these offices are still so few, and, in some cases, so poorly endowed as to offer little inducement to a man to look forward to a University career. Further do we not think that a University office is in every case the most fitting reward for a man who has shown himself eminently useful in College work.

149. We are, therefore, of opinion that it is to Offices within the Colleges that we must mainly look for inducements to able and useful men to devote themselves to College work. We think that one who has proved his success as an Educator, might fitly be elected to a Permanent (or, as we shall here call it, a Senior) Fellowship, which should be free from the restriction of celibacy, though subject, as a rule, to the condition of residence in the University and of readiness to take some part in the work of the College or the University.

150. A Senior Fellowship would also (in accordance with the recommendation already made) be fitly conferred on the ground of services rendered to Science or Learning by Original Research.

151. The question remains, what should be the status of a resident fellow who aspires to a senior fellowship?

152. An advantage attending the old system of tenure undoubtedly is, that while it does not offer a man a permanent provision unless he looks forward to leading a life of celibacy, it yet permits him to apply his mind to any course of study, free from all care as to his immediate future. We fear that the anxieties attending a short tenure would have the effect of discouraging men from engaging in Original Research; and even in the less uncertain career of Education, we fear that the prospect of election to a senior fellowship would be so uncertain that unless a considerably longer tenure were allowed


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to Probationary (or, as we will now call them, Junior) Fellows than would suffice for non-residents engaging in professions, the University would be drained of its best men.

153. On the other hand, if there were no counterbalancing advantages in a non-resident fellowship, we fear the effect might be to cause men to linger on at the University who would do better to engage at once in a profession. We think, therefore, it might be advisable for the individual colleges to make such an adjustment between the advantages of the two kinds of fellowships as should preserve a due balance in their attractiveness.

154. The Junior Fellows might be expected to reside in college, and thereby aid in preserving the discipline of the place. Accordingly, the retention of a junior fellowship might in the discretion of the college be subject to the restriction of celibacy.

155. While it is only right to give a junior fellow ample time for exhibiting his capacity for a University career, it seems highly desirable to allow a fellow who had preferred the junior to the non-resident tenure, but who afterwards found that he was not suited for University Work or Original investigation, and had small chance of promotion, to engage without delay in some profession independent of the University. We should, therefore, allow a junior fellow the option of stepping on to the non-resident tenure, in which case the same proportion of the whole time of tenure of a non-resident might be allowed to him as remained to him of his time of tenure as a junior. The option of a newly-elected fellow to be placed on the non-resident tenure, or of a junior to transfer himself to the non-resident class, should be limited by the restriction that there be at least a certain number of juniors, so as to preserve a sufficient staff of fellows resident in college.

156. The questions relating to the tenure of Fellowships, which we have now discussed, have been incidentally brought under our notice in various parts of the evidence which we have taken. These questions are also raised in a Memorial submitted to the First Lord of the Treasury, by a large number of influential resident members of the University of Cambridge, a copy of which has been forwarded to us, and will be found in the Appendix to this Report.*

157. We are convinced that the future interests of Scientific Study and Research at the two Universities must of necessity be greatly affected by any changes that may be made in the tenure of the Fellowships, and, consequently, in the Constitution of the Governing Bodies of the Colleges. But as we have not taken a complete body of Evidence on this subject, and as we consider that any attempt to do so would lead us into inquiries beyond the scope of our Commission, we shall abstain from offering any detailed recommendations with regard to these important questions. We desire, however, to express our conviction that if the Colleges are to become, to a greater degree than in times past, the homes of men distinguished for Original Research in Science, provision must be made for attaching such men in a permanent manner to the College Foundations, and for rendering them permanent members of the Governing Bodies.

158. The following proposals appear to us to sum up the results of the preceding discussion. To adapt them to the case of some of the smaller foundations, important modifications would be required; and, even in the case of the larger Colleges, we should wish them to be regarded only in the light of suggestions, which we feel to be worthy of attention, but at the same time to be by no means free from objection.

(1) That there should be three classes of fellows, which we have distinguished as senior, junior, and non-resident.

(2) That the senior fellowships should be permanent, and free from the restriction of celibacy, but subject, as a general rule, to the condition of residence in the University and readiness to take some part in the work of the College or University.

(3) That the elections to the seniority should, in ordinary cases, be made from the class of juniors, but should not be limited to that class.

(4) That the junior fellowships should be tenable for, say fourteen years, and should be subject to such restrictions as to residence in college and duties as may appear desirable to the several colleges.

(5) That the non-resident fellowships should be tenable for about half that time, free from all restrictions.

(6) That a person elected to an ordinary (as distinguished from a senior) fellowship should have the option of being placed on the junior or non-resident tenure, and that a junior fellow should at any time be at liberty to place himself on the non-resident tenure (but not conversely), with a proportionate allowance for the unexpired portion of his time of holding his fellowship as junior fellow; provided that the number of junior fellows be not suffered to sink below a certain minimum.

159. The effect of these proposals would be to constitute in each College a seniority of a very permanent kind, because its members would hold their places for life, and would be free from the restriction of celibacy. Whatever share in the government of the College it might be thought proper to assign to the holders of the terminable junior fellowships,

*See Appendix IV.


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it is evident that the influence of such a permanent seniority would be very great, and that the prosperity of the College would depend in great measure on its constitution. According to the above proposals (taken in connexion with the recommendations we have already made), the seniority in each College would consist, (i) of University Professors officially attached to the College; (ii) of persons elected for eminent services to Learning or Science; (iii) of men who had given some of the best years of their lives to the service of the College, and had proved their fitness for college work. It would be for the Universities, and the Colleges, to consider whether a body so constituted would be in all respects suitable for the important functions it would have to discharge. In particular, it would be worthy of careful consideration whether such a seniority should be allowed to appoint its own members by co-optation, or whether the whole body of fellows should elect, or whether the filling up of vacancies should be vested in some authority external to the College; or, lastly, whether some course intermediate between these several modes of procedure should be adopted.

160. With regard to the present system of appointment to fellowships in Oxford, we do not find that it has worked favourably for Natural Science. Until the last twenty years there were but few open fellowships, and of these none were offered in the University of Oxford for any subjects but those of Classical Literature, with a very rare exception in favour of Mathematics. A great change has taken place within the last twenty years, and the Statutes of most Colleges now require that their system of examination should be such as to render their fellowships accessible from time to time to proficiency in the various branches of study which are recognized in the Schools of the University for the time being. As Natural Science is one of these, it follows that it is the duty of every College which has this provision in its Statutes to offer from time to time a Fellowship for Natural science. It is not easy to say how many fellowships have been given for Natural Science within the last twenty years, because fellowships are often given, and most properly so, not on the ground of merit in any one direction alone, but on the ground of proficiency in more than one subject. Roughly speaking, however, the number of fellowships that have been given exclusively, or principally, for all the subjects included under the general name of Natural Science, may be taken at twelve. The whole number of fellowships filled up by open competition during that time exceeded two hundred.

161. Although it thus appears that the number of fellowships given for Natural Science has been insignificant, we have evidence that there is no unwillingness on the part of the Colleges at Oxford to elect fellows in Natural Science; and we have repeated assurances from the Cambridge witnesses that no such reluctance is felt at that University. Since the system of open election to fellowships was introduced at Oxford, twenty years ago, the Colleges in general have carried it out in the most loyal spirit, and have shown themselves desirous of securing for their society the men of the most eminent ability whom they could obtain; and since the establishment of the Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge there have been several persons elected to Fellowships for proficiency in Natural Science. But the difficulty to which we have already referred with regard to the scholarships exists no less in the case of the fellowships. The Colleges at Oxford are afraid to offer fellowships for Natural Science on account of the smallness of the number of candidates; and the number of candidates is prevented from increasing by the uncertainty whether any fellowship will be offered. At Cambridge, on account of the smallness of the number of candidates, a high place in the Natural Sciences Tripos is not always by itself considered a sufficient guarantee of excellence, and the number of candidates is kept low partly by the uncertainty as to immediate reward in the shape of a fellowship, though in great measure, also, by the want of a promising career in after life. It must also be remembered that as the Colleges at Oxford have hitherto been literary rather than scientific societies, composed of persons well acquainted with certain branches of knowledge, and very competent to judge of literary ability in all its various directions, they have had a natural tendency to choose men of whose fitness to be fellows they could themselves form an opinion, rather than to take upon trust a man of whose merit they could only judge upon the testimony of others. But there is every reason to believe that if the electing body of any college in either of the two Universities were once satisfied of the eminent ability of a Natural Science candidate, they would be as glad to welcome him into their society as they would be if he had chosen to pursue one of the older branches of academical study. In the interest of Natural Science itself, it cannot be wished that fellowships should be rendered too easily accessible to Natural Science Students. A man who is elected as a Natural Science Fellow appears, in a certain sense, as a representative of science in a learned and very critical society; and it is extremely desirable that the representation should not be inadequate. What is to he desired in the interests of Natural Science Students


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is not that the number of Fellowships appropriated to them should be immediately increased to any very great extent, but that they should be bestowed with more regularity than at present, and that their number should increase proportionately with the number and claims of Natural Science Students. It is very important for a Student to know that he will have a chance of obtaining a Fellowship within a year or two after taking his degree if he can show that he deserves one, and not to be perplexed by the feeling that, however fit he may be, he may not have a chance at all.

162. The evidence of Professor Clifton and Professor Jowett upon this point appears to us to deserve great attention.

163. At Cambridge the mode of awarding fellowships differs in some important particulars from that which prevails at Oxford. The most important difference is, that at Cambridge, as a rule, there are no Fellowship Examinations, but fellowships are awarded by the Colleges on the evidence furnished by the University Examinations. Trinity College, which forms about one-fourth of the whole University, is, indeed, an exception, for there fellowships are awarded by the result of a Fellowship Examination. At King's College also, admission to which formerly was confined to scholars coming from Eton, the present Statutes prescribe that the fellowships shall be awarded according to the result of a special examination. At St.John's College there is a Fellowship Examination, but the result appears to form only one element out of many whereby the electors judge of the merits of the candidates. At the smaller Colleges the merits of the candidates are judged of mainly by the results of the University Examinations.

164. This last remark leads us on to another important difference between the two Universities. At Oxford the Fellowships of each College are filled up in accordance with the results of a competition examination held by the College, but open (when the fellowship is subject to no clerical restriction) to all members of the University who have passed the examinations required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in many cases open also to all graduates of any University in the United Kingdom. At Cambridge, on the other hand, those Colleges which award their fellowships according to the result of a Fellowship Examination, open the examination, as a rule, only to members of the College, though the Statutes give power to the Governing Body, on any occasion when they think fit, to throw open the examination to members of the University. At the smaller Colleges it is generally understood that the electors look in the first instance to members of their own College; and in case there be no candidate of sufficient merit, or the needs of the College require a Fellow having some special qualifications not found among the otherwise eligible members of the College itself, they then "go out of college", as It is called, that is, elect to the Fellowship a member of some other College.

165. At Oxford, where the examinations for degrees are not competitive, it would be difficult to suggest any mode of electing to Fellowships other than that by competitive examination; but at Cambridge, where the names in the honour lists are arranged in order of merit, there is something to be said on both sides with respect to the desirableness or otherwise of special fellowshIp examinations. On the one hand, the wider study which such a system demands, enlarges the foundation which lies at the base of a subsequent career of professional activity or original research, as the case may be; and means are afforded of remedying the result of accidental failure in a final examination, such as might arise from temporary illness or other similar cause. On the other hand, it is urged with great force that by the time a man has taken his degree, supposing him to have been industrious while an undergraduate, he has had enough of study pursued with a view to the immediate production of his knowledge at a moment's notice; and that he should then be left free to pursue his studies in a more systematic and specialized manner, and his originality should be no longer cramped by preparation for an impending examination. We attach great importance to this freedom from the immediate pressure of examination at such a stage of the student's progress, and are disposed to regard the advantages which may attend the holding of special fellowship examinations as too dearly purchased by its sacrifice. But whatever differences may exist in the system of election to fellowships in the two Universities, we think it very desirable that in both of them alike original research should be encouraged by taking into account any evidence of power in this direction which a candidate for a fellowship is able to give.

III. The Organisation of the Instruction in the Colleges in relation to the Instruction given in the Universities

166. The evidence before us is not favourable to the proposal that each college separately should institute a Laboratory for educational purposes. The reasons in favour of concentrating the practical instruction of the students to a considerable extent in a few institu-


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tions are obvious. A considerable expenditure of time on the part of the Instructors, and of money on the part of the Colleges, would be occasioned if each College were to undertake a Laboratory of its own, and to teach its students in it. It is at once better for the students, and a more economical use of the funds of the Colleges, that the practical Instruction, so far as it is not given in the University Laboratories, should be given in Laboratories belonging not to a single College, but to a group of Colleges. It would be undesirable to prescribe, by any definite rule, what should be the division of labour between the University laboratories and the college laboratories, as this must depend on the discretion of the University Professors on the one hand and of the College authorities on the other. But the most convenient arrangement would probably be that the more elementary instruction should be given in the college laboratories, and that when the student had attained a certain degree of proficiency he should pass under the hands of the Professors in the central laboratories of the University.

167. There can be no doubt, however, that the institution of Separate College Laboratories might be of great use in promoting a spirit of Original Research among students who have already obtained their degree. It would probably be by no means either necessary or desirable, under existing conditions, that every college should contain a laboratory intended for purposes of this kind; but wherever it could conveniently be done, few things would be more to the credit of a College not merely as a place of education, but also as a Home of Learning and Science, than to have a place within its precincts in which any of its fellows or graduates who are inclined to devote their time to original inquiries should have opportunities of doing so with advantage. When the suggestion which we have already made, that certain Fellowships should be awarded with the express view of promoting original research and inquiry, is carried out, an immediate and obvious use for such laboratories will arise.

168. But whatever may be the case with the laboratories, it must be considered indispensable, so long as the present relations of the Colleges to the Universities continue, that the Colleges should appoint Lecturers in Natural Science. Without such Lecturers the students in Natural Science will be at considerable disadvantage as compared with their fellow students in classical or other literature. A great deal is done by a College Tutor for his pupils that cannot be expected from a University Professor. Every young man requires from time to time a certain amount of private instruction and private advice as to his studies, and also a certain amount of watchful control over them. Assistance of this kind is abundantly given by the college tutors to their pupils in mathematics, and in literature; and in every college in which there are Natural Science students it is extremely desirable that there should be some one capable of doing as much for them in regard to their scientific studies.

169. We are of opinion that the Lecturers in Natural Science, whom we should wish to see appointed in every college, might, besides giving private instruction to their college pupils, be most usefully employed in giving lectures, accessible to all the members of the University, upon various subjects of Natural Science. These lectures would probably be inter-collegiate, as are those already given by the existing College Lecturers on Natural Science.

170. As we have already stated at length with reference to the Scientific Subjects, a large proportion of the lectures, upon all subjects, which are now given in the Colleges are of an inter-collegiate character, three or four colleges uniting together and making a combined arrangement for their lectures, so that all the students of any one of the colleges are admitted to all the lectures of any other of the colleges entering into the arrangement. There exist already several groups of colleges formed upon this principle. The system, although of recent introduction, appears to have become firmly established, partly from the difficulty of supplying instruction in all the various subjects which are now admitted into the courses of study at the Universities, and partly from the feeling, that when the services of an able teacher have been secured by a college, his powers are, to a certain degree, wasted unless the advantage of his instruction can be extended beyond his own college.

171. The advantages of this united action, on the part of groups of colleges, are evident. It has not only rendered good instruction more widely available to the students, but it has done what is no less important - it has improved the quality of the lectures given. A college lecture given to the college pupils of the tutor was often given under rather depressing circumstances, and the result was not in every case satisfactory; but a lecture given to the students of three or four different colleges of necessity acquires a very different character. The lecturer has to do his best, and there can be ho doubt that many of the inter-collegiate lectures are so excellent as to make it desirable that they should be delivered, not in a half private manner as College Lectures, but as public University Lectures.


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172. But the disadvantages which arise from the incompleteness of the system are no less obvious. There are colleges included In these groups, but there are also colleges left out; and the system cannot be regarded as more than partially successful until some arrangements are adopted rendering possible the admission of these colleges into the existing groups, or the formation of new groups including them. In consequence of the incompleteness with which the principle of combination has been carried out, as well as in consequence of the great benefits which have resulted from its partial introduction, it is more and more generally felt that what has been done hitherto can be regarded only as the first step in the direction of a more regularly organized system of teaching in the Universities. The next step will probably be to give a recognized University position to the most eminent and successful of the College Lecturers, and thus to secure their services for the University at large.

173. The lectures which could most advantageously be given by the College Lecturers in Natural Science, would seem, under the present circumstances of the Universities, to be chiefly those which do not require experiments, or which require only very simple experiments, and very easily procurable specimens. Such lectures are of two very different kinds: elementary lectures on various parts of Mechanical Philosophy, Chemistry, and Biology; and lectures suited to advanced students on the more theoretical parts of Natural Philosophy. It would be extremely desirable that lectures of both these kinds should be occasionally given in the colleges. Lectures of the first kind would supersede the necessity for elementary instruction in the same subjects being given by the Professors, and might thus relieve them in certain cases of a burthensome part of their duties. Lectures of the second sort would probably be given only at intervals and to small classes. Nothing could be more conducive to the usefulness of the Natural Science Lecturers, and, indeed, to their own improvement, than that they should be expected from time to time to give public instruction in special departments of Physical Science, and even in some of its most advanced theories; and it would be very undesirable, if indeed it were possible, to confine their duties to the giving of elementary lectures. As a general rule, the College Lecturers on Natural Science would be young men desirous of working their way upwards in the Universities; and it would be for their interest, as well as for that of the University at large, that they should have opportunities of showing, by their success as lecturers, their fitness for professorial offices. Their lectures would not necessarily have any formal University character, and might, or might not, be recognized by the University. They would be given by virtue of the right which the Universities have always recognized as belonging to every Master of Arts, that of giving public lectures, under what conditions he pleases, upon any subject included in the Faculty of Arts.

174. We have already referred to the existence at Christ-Church, Oxford, of the three Lee's Readerships in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology. These Readers are supplied with working rooms and apparatus partly in Christ-Church itself, and partly in the University Museum, upon which Christ-Church has a claim for such accommodation, in consequence of its having lent to the University Museum a large number of biological specimens. It has been proposed that the Lee's Readerships should be made University offices; and there are certainly strong reasons in favour of the proposal, as the University would thus immediately gain what it greatly needs, an accession to its teaching power in these three branches. The change would involve a two-fold difficulty, which, however, need not be regarded as insuperable, partly on the side of the University and partly on the side of Christ Church. Christ-Church might not wish to surrender the special advantage which its students derive from having their own Reader on the spot, and the University might not wish to accept as a Professor, or even as an Adjoint Professor, an officer elected by the governing body of Christ-Church.

175. One other particular suggestion has been made to which we think it right to refer. It has been thought that it might be advantageous to devote one or more colleges separately, and especially to the Natural Sciences. We confess that we do not look upon this proposal with favour. If it were possible only in this way to obtain a home for Science and for scientific men within the Universities, we should have no hesitation in considering the plan one worthy of adoption; but as this is far from being the case, we consider that the objections to it outweigh the considerations that may be urged in its favour. In the first place there would be an almost insuperable difficulty in carrying out such a measure. It would probably be regarded as a very revolutionary proceeding to seize upon a particular college and to devote it to one particular branch of learning or science, although a precedent for such a measure has to a certain extent been furnished by the Commissioners of 1854, in the manner in which they dealt with the exceptional circumstances of All Souls' College. But we feel even more strongly that the interests of


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Natural Science would be most imperfectly served by such a measure. Its position in relation to the various branches of learning is not one of separation or antagonism; it should rather be regarded as running through the whole of human knowledge, and as inseparably blended with every part of it. We think that it would be better both for science and for learning that they should be intermingled together in the different colleges in such proportions as the requirements of education in the Universities and in the country may, from time to time, seem to render necessary, rather than that an endeavour should be made to separate the one from the other in any arbitrary manner.

IV. Contributions from the Colleges to a Fund for University Purposes

176.We have already more than once referred to the proposal that a general University fund should be formed, to which the Colleges should contribute. It appears to be generally admitted that the Universities have a real claim (though one of a somewhat vague and undefined nature) to be supported or at least assisted by the Colleges; and the fact is unquestioned that while some of the Colleges are very wealthy the Universities are comparatively poor. The income of the University of Oxford is derived partly from endowment, partly from the profits of its Press, but, to a very great extent, from the taxation of its members. The gross amount of income in the year 1871-72 was £31,718 19s 4d, and the gross expenditure was £30,730 15s 2d. The condition of the University of Cambridge is very similar to that of Oxford, but a larger proportion of its income is derived from taxation. The gross amount of income was, in the last year, £23,206 18s 2d, and the gross expenditure, exclusive of investment of a portion of the balance in the hands of the Vice-Chancellor, was £22,400 19s 6d. So that it will be seen that although, in the case of both Universities, there is a certain surplus of income above expenditure, it is not greatly in excess of what must necessarily be reserved for contingencies.

177. The evidence before us leads us to believe that, as soon as objects are clearly defined for which the Universities require assistance, the Colleges, generally speaking, would be ready to consider them favourably, but that they would be reluctant (and not unnaturally so) to contribute a fund until it was known for what purposes that fund was intended. So much depends upon the relations as to teaching that may ultimately be established between the Universities and the Colleges, that it is very difficult to say what sum may eventually be required by the Universities.

178. Besides the Professorships in Natural Science, the foundation of which we have already pointed out to be urgently necessary, it is probable that many Professorships, or Public Readerships, in other branches of Learning are indispensably required. In illustration of this remark it may be perhaps not improper to mention that no public lectureship on the English language or English literature exists at either University. But, without entering further upon matters which lie beyond our province, it is especially important for us to notice that in the case of the Natural Sciences a large outlay for Laboratories, and the other material appliances necessary for the cultivation of science, is required over and above the expenditure necessary for the payment of Professors, Adjoint Professors, and Demonstrators. This disadvantage in the position occupied by Natural Science is inherent in the nature of the case, and cannot be remedied; but it should be borne in mind that the difference between the Natural Sciences and the various Departments of Literature is to a certain extent more apparent than real. In former times the great libraries, which are indispensably necessary for the study of ancient literature and learning, were formed at a vast cost, and were placed in buildings not unworthy of the objects which it was sought to promote. The debt of gratitude which we owe to those who in past times rendered this service to their successors is very great; but while we acknowledge this debt, we must remember that on the present generation the duty has clearly devolved of imitating their example, and of setting by the side of those institutions which former ages created for the Advancement of Learning, other institutions founded in a similar spirit, and devoted to the Advancement of the Sciences of Observation and Experiment. In claiming for Natural Science a large share of whatever funds may be contributed to the Universities by the Colleges, we do so in no spirit of illiberality towards the older studies, but only from the feeling that they have been, to a great extent, provided for in the past, and that the time has now arrived in which the newer studies ought to be placed in a similar position of advantage.


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V. THE RELATION OF THE UNIVERSITIES TO TECHNICAL EDUCATION, AND TO EDUCATION FOR SCIENTIFIC PROFESSIONS

179. If for the moment we regard the Universities simply as educational bodies, and leave out of sight their duties as upholders of learning and promoters of original inquiry and research, we can have no hesitation in admitting that their main function in relation to science is to maintain its position as a part of liberal education. How this is to be done is no doubt well understood at the Universities themselves, and it is only for the sake of completeness that we refer to it here. The art of doing it consists, in the first place, in teaching well whatever parts of science are taught at all, and, in the second place, in selecting for the instruction of the general student such parts of science as tend best to give him a correct idea of its whole structure, and are most likely to be useful to him in his subsequent course of life. But subordinate to this general function of maintaining science as a great and necessary part of liberal education, there are other more special considerations which ought not to be wholly lost sight of. Foremost amongst these is the immediate necessity which has arisen for supplying the country with a highly educated class of Teachers of Science. In consequence of the improvement which has taken place in the First Grade Schools, there is an increasing demand throughout the country for good scientific teachers, and it is probable that at the present moment the demand exceeds the supply. It is to the Universities that we must look to meet this demand, and to meet it in as perfect a manner as they can. The smallness of the number of science students at Oxford and Cambridge has been made, and with some justice, a ground of reproach; but it would not be fair to measure the usefulness of the Schools of Science at the two Universities by the number of their students. It must be remembered that more is done for the ultimate diffusion of scientific knowledge throughout the country by supplying the first grade schools with three or four first-rate teachers in the course of a single year, than by giving during the same time a good education in the elements of science to a much larger number of general students. It is, therefore, of much importance that the education of students of science should be such as especially to fit them to become teachers of it; and to this point, we believe, much attention is at present paid.

180. But the profession of teaching is not the only profession for which science students should be prepared; although it is, perhaps, the only profession for which they should obtain a complete preparation at the Universities. Professor Jowett observes, "I am inclined to think that physical science can only be spread in one way, and that is by connecting it with the professions. There are two professions with which you would naturally connect it - the medical profession and the profession of an engineer; and if you want to increase the number of physical science students and to arouse the spirit of physical science in the University, you must draw from those two classes of students of medicine and engineering." Without altogether adopting this view, we are, nevertheless, prepared to admit that only a few young men are able to devote themselves for two or three years to any pursuit whatever without being able to see definitely whether the pursuit is one by which they will be able to live afterwards. Unless, therefore, science students can be made to feel that their study of science is leading them up to a profession in which they can maintain themselves, their numbers are not likely to receive any large accession.

181. The principal professions for which extensive preliminary scientific studies are required, are, the profession of medicine, the professions of consulting and manufacturing chemistry, and of civil, mechanical, and telegraphic engineering in all its various branches. With regard to all of these the tendency of a great amount of the evidence which has been laid before us is to show that the Universities ought not to undertake to give direct professional or technical instruction. For example, the difficulties in the way of making either Oxford or Cambridge into a great School of Medicine are very considerable. It is sufficient to advert to the size of the towns, and the consequent smallness of the hospitals that could be placed at the disposal of the students, as one circumstance amongst many which would render such an attempt unadvisable. Nor are the difficulties less which stand in the way of any attempt to give a complete education in civil engineering at these Universities. According to the evidence which we have taken, so much of this education must of necessity be practical, that a complete technical education in engineering cannot possibly be given in a town in which there are no manufactures. On the other hand, the professions of medicine and of civil engineering both require, though in different directions, very thorough and very extensive preliminary scientific training; and in these professions the feeling appears to be


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growing that the highest possible development should be given to these preliminary studies. It is our opinion, therefore, that the Universities should provide to the fullest extent for the theoretical instruction of such professional students.

182. There would probably be ho difficulty in securing this object, so far as the profession of Medicine is concerned, if the department of Biology in each of the Universities should hereafter receive an adequate organization.

183. With regard to Civil Engineering, at Cambridge the Jacksonian Professor gives a course of lectures on the Principles of Mechanism, and the Professor of Experimental Physics gives courses on different branches of that subject, but there is no Professor of Civil Engineering, unless the Jacksonian Professor can be regarded as such. The only preliminary instruction that is offered by the University of Oxford is that to be obtained in the Hyde Institute; and considering the great number of subjects which have to be taught in that Institution, it would be too much to expect that a course of instruction could be provided there exactly suited to the wants of professional students. The first step towards meeting these wants would be to provide a Professorship of Civil Engineering, and to place such appliances at the disposal of the Professor as would enable him to give to students intending to devote themselves to that profession the same kind of assistance which is now given with so much ability and success in Scotland at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in Ireland at Trinity College, and in the Colleges of the Queens University. The functions which might be usefully discharged by a University Professor of Civil Engineering are stated with great clearness in the evidence of the late Professor Rankine.





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VI. THE DUTY OF THE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES WITH REGARD TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

Research a primary Duty of the Universities

184. On no point are the witnesses whom we have examined more united than they are in the expression of the feeling that it is a Primary Duty of the Universities to assist in the Advancement of Learning and Science, and not to be content with the position of merely educational bodies. We entirely concur with the impression thus conveyed to us by the evidence, and we are of opinion that the subject is one to which it is impossible to call attention too strongly. We think that if the Universities should fail to recognize the duty of promoting Original Research, they would be in danger of ceasing to be centres of intellectual activity, and a means of advancing science would be lost sight of which, in this country, could not easily be supplied in any other way. There is no doubt that at the present time there is a very strong feeling in the country in favour of the wide diffusion of education, and of the improvement of all arrangements and appliances which tend to promote it, from the simplest forms of primary instruction up to the most advanced teaching that can be given in a University. But there is some reason to believe that the Preservation and Increase of Knowledge are objects which are not as generally appreciated by the public, and of which the importance is not so widely felt as it should be. On this point we would direct especial attention to the remarks of Sir Benjamin Brodie: "For education we construct an elaborate and costly machinery, and are willing, for this end, to make sacrifices; but, on the other hand, the far more difficult task of extending knowledge is left to the care of individuals, to be accomplished as it may; and yet it is this alone which renders education itself possible. I really am inclined to think that in former days a more real and earnest desire must have existed to preserve knowledge as a valuable national commodity for its own sake than exists now; and the reason that I say this is, that we have existing in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge records of another condition of things with regard to knowledge than that which exists at present. In the first place we have extensive libraries which could only have been founded and preserved for the sake of the preservation of knowledge itself; and in the next place the collegiate foundations in the Universities were originally and fundamentally, although not absolutely and entirely, destined for the same objects. ... This object is certainly not less important in modern than in ancient society. I presume that in the middle ages knowledge would altogether have perished if it had not been for such foundations, and it appears that now from other causes the pursuit of knowledge and of general scientific investigation is subject to very real dangers, though of another kind to those which then prevailed, and which make it very desirable for us to preserve any institutions through which scientific discovery and the investigation of truth may be promoted. ... The dangers to which I refer, are dangers which arise partly even from the growing perception of the practical importance of knowledge, which causes a very great draught indeed to be made upon the scientific intelligence of the country. In the first place, almost every scientific man is caught up instantly for educational purposes, for the object of teaching alone; and, in the next place, a very great draught indeed is made upon science for economical purposes; I mean for purposes connected with practical life. In sanitary matters we have numerous examples of the vast amount of work done by scientific men for public and practical objects. So that the supply of scientific men is not equal to the demand for those objects alone. Manufactures offer another great field of scientific employment, and it is to be observed that these are the only ways through which an income can be obtained, the pursuit of scientific truth being an absolutely unremunerative occupation."

185. We believe that the dangers referred to in these remarks are real; and their existence induces us to lay down, as emphatically as possible, the position that the Promotion of Original Work in Science should be regarded as one of the Main Functions of the Universities, and should be specially incumbent upon the holders of those fellowships which, as we have already recommended, should be awarded with a view to encouraging original research. As regards the Professors, we have already insisted on the importance of so arranging their duties as to give them abundant leisure, and, what is no less indispensable, abundant opportunities for Original Investigation, by providing the external appliances necessary for it. We think that the great national interests connected with the advancement of science form one, although only one, of the grounds upon which the endowment of professorial offices is defensible, and regard it as a great advantage that


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an opportunity is afforded by the peculiar circumstances of the Universities of giving encouragement and maintenance to a class of persons who are competent to advance science, and who are willing to make its advancement the principal business of their lives.

186. We have already stated, but we would repeat it here, that we would on no account have offices founded within the Universities without special duties attached to them. It is an absolute advantage, if not in all, at least in many cases, to a man who is engaged in some abstract part of science, to be compelled to produce, in the form of public discourses, the results of his labours; and it can be no disadvantage to him, under any circumstances, to be obliged to devote some moderate part of his time to showing, if it were only by the example of his own work, to younger men, how scientific studies should be carried on with the view of promoting human knowledge. We believe that in all ordinary cases a certain amount of educational work is of advantage to the scientific worker, and we also believe that for the promotion of the highest scientific education it is very desirable to bring the original worker into direct personal contact with the student.

187. We have also already spoken of the propriety of awarding Fellowships in certain instances, not, as at present, by an examination test, but for services rendered to Science in Original Research. Although we should wish, as we have already said, to see this done from time to time (as it has already been done at Cambridge) in the case of persons who have already made themselves eminent in science, and whose accepting the Fellowship is rather to confer an honour upon the office than to receive one from it. We also think that a wider application should be given to this principle; and, that whenever a Fellowship in Natural Science is offered for competition among the younger Graduates of the University, such evidence as any candidate can offer of his aptitude to become an useful worker in science, should always be taken into account in the award. Nothing, we believe, would tend to give the students at the Universities so just an idea of what science is, or of what the objects are which those who pursue it should have in view, as the adoption of the principle by the Universities and the Colleges, that the highest honours and rewards in Natural Science are to be conferred upon men who can offer some evidence that their names are likely afterwards to find a place on the list of those who have added to human knowledge.

188. The proposals to which we attach the most importance with a view to the Encouragement of Original Research at the Universities are the two to which we have just referred: (i) the Establishment of a complete Scientific Professoriate; (ii) the Appropriation, under certain conditions, of Fellowships to the Maintenance of Persons engaged in Original Research. But, in addition to these main proposals, other suggestions are contained in the evidence before us, to which we would call especial attention: (i) that Laboratories should be founded expressly intended for Research, and for the Training of Advanced Students in the methods of research; (ii) that Scientific Museums and Collections should be maintained to an extent beyond what is required for purely educational purposes; (iii) that a Doctorate in Science should be instituted.

Proposed Laboratories for Research

189. It is one of the disadvantages of a University course that a young man, up to the time of taking his degree, is straining every nerve in order to master a certain amount of knowledge in which he has to pass an examination; and however improving this process may be to him, in certain respects, the impression is widely entertained that it is not calculated to develop the originality of his mind, or those peculiar qualities which fit a man to become a discoverer in Science. As it is indispensably necessary that the student should be well grounded in his work, and should have a thorough comprehension of the methods and principles of his branch of science, before he attempts to add to it, it is not easy to see how this disadvantage could be remedied during his undergraduate course; but as soon as his examinations are passed, it is surely time that he should be led to regard his studies from another point of view, and to give them a different direction. He should then be placed in a laboratory devoted to original research, and under the immediate care of persons who are principally engaged in work of that nature.

On this point we would again refer to the evidence of Sir Benjamin Brodie: "I should like (speaking of my own department and departments which are cognate with it, and I have no doubt that the same remark would also apply to Physiology and to other subjects) to see those professors have under their control laboratories suited for scientific research and investigation, in which they should take a certain limited number of students who would work, partly as their pupils and partly as their assistants, for those ends. And I should myself say that this is an educational


[page lviii]

function of the most important character possible, because you would here really carry scientific education to its end. If you do not do this you stop short of the most important part of all in scientific education. Now the real perfection of science is shown only in scientific inquiry - the perfection of science not only in its general results, but the perfection of science as an instrument for education; and if you leave out in the University system any provision for scientific research, you are leaving out the most important feature of the subject. Those pupils would be persons who would ultimately pursue the science as their main business in life, and become in their turn the teachers and the professors of the subject. I am not giving a mere chimera or dream, but this is already, though not exactly in the way that I am suggesting, carried out to a great extent in Germany."

No less important, as giving one view of this question, is the evidence which we have received from Dr. Frankland, who says, "In my opinion the cause of this slow progress of original research [in England] depends, in the first place, upon the want of suitable buildings for conducting the necessary experiments connected with research; secondly upon the want of funds to defray the expenses of those inquiries, these expenses being sometimes very considerable; but, thirdly and chiefly, I believe that the cause lies in the entire non-recognition of original research by any of our Universities. Even the University of London, which has been foremost in advancing instruction in experimental science, gives its highest degree in science without requiring any proof that the candidate possesses the faculty of original research, or is competent to extend the boundaries of the science in which he graduates. I consider that this circumstance is the one which chiefly affects the progress of research in this country, because if we inquire into the origin of those numerous Memoirs upon original investigations that come from Germany, we find that a considerable proportion of them are investigations made by men who are going in for their science degrees, and who are compelled, in the first instance, to make those investigations, and they attain by that means the faculty and liking for original research, and frequently follow it out afterwards; so that a considerable proportion of the papers themselves are contributed in the first place by those men going in for degrees, and a considerable proportion of the remainder are obtained, I believe, through the influence of this previous training in research upon the men who have taken the degrees. Further, the entire ignoring of research in the giving of degrees in this country diverts also, or has a tendency to divert, the attention of the professors and teachers in this country from Original research. They have not to take it into their consideration in the training of their students; they have not to devise, as is the case in Germany, suitable subjects for research to be pursued by their students; and thus their attention is, as it were, taken away entirely from this highest field of science. And, indeed, if they themselves devote some of their time to Original research, it almost appears to them to be a neglect of their class duties, because their class duties do not require it. Their students are to be trained for subjects which are foreign to original research; they are to be trained chiefly in subjects that are to be taught by lectures, and by what I should call 'descriptive', as distinguished from 'experimental' or 'practical' teaching; and, consequently, I think that in both ways - both by not bringing students into contact with original experimental work, and by diverting the attention of the teachers and professors in this country from such work, great damage is done to the progress of investigation in Great Britain by the attitude of our Universities."

190. Sir William Thomson has gone even further, and has expressed an opinion that the systems of examination in the Universities, as at present arranged, so far from doing anything to encourage the spirit of scientific research, have an exactly opposite tendency. "That to some degree, competitive examinations produce an elementary smattering of science I have no doubt whatever, but I cannot see that they produce much beneficial influence; and in the higher parts especially, they have, I fear, a very fatally injurious tendency in obstructing the progress of science."

191. The kind of assistance which we should desire to see given in the English Universities to young men who have completed their University course, and who propose to adopt a scientific career, has been from time to time afforded at various institutions in the United Kingdom, among which we may particularly mention the Laboratory of the University of Glasgow, under the direction of Sir W. Thomson. The plan has been adopted in some of the German Universities, and even in the great Polytechnic Schools of that country. In France it has recently been organized on a most complete and extensive scale. The École Pratique des Hautes Études is a Government Institution of which the object is to encourage young men to devote themselves to scientific research, and to give them


[page lix]

opportunities of learning its methods. The course pursued by this Institution is to take young men who have completed their preliminary scientific studies, and, allowing them an annual stipend to defray the expenses of their maintenance, to place them under the care of competent professors, who give them assistance and advice in their first researches, and to whom they afterwards become useful. This plan appears to us so excellent in itself, and at the same time so academic in its general character, that we desire to recommend it for adoption at Oxford and Cambridge. To insure due attention to both classes of students, it would be proper that the laboratories intended for training in the methods of research should be distinct from those in which more elementary instruction is given.

192. We are also of opinion that arrangements should be made, in some of the public buildings of the Universities, for giving opportunities to members of the Universities, no longer in statu pupillari, of prosecuting researches; although we should regard it of primary importance that these arrangements should be such as not to interfere with the teaching duties, or with the scientific work, of the Professors. We agree with Dr. Frankland that one "cause of the slow progress of original research" in England is "the want of suitable buildings for conducting the necessary experiments connected with research"; and we think that the Universities might, with great propriety, supply this want, so far as their own members are concerned. We also think that collections of apparatus should be formed, which should be available for the use of such independent workers in science. There are some obvious difficulties involved in this plan, which has been strongly recommended by some of our witnesses, but which, so far as we are aware, has not been anywhere practically tried. We should, however, look with confidence to such a body as the proposed "University Council of Science" to frame suitable regulations as to the fitness of the persons admitted to the privilege of working in a University laboratory, and as to the securities to be taken for proper care in the use of valuable instruments. We are disposed to think that, under the special circumstances of the Universities, they would do more to promote original work by offering facilities of the kind which we have described than by making grants of money similar to those which are made in aid of special researches by the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society. The plan would have the collateral advantage of rendering residence at the Universities attractive to scientific men.

Proposed Special Scientific Collections

193. Although we think it desirable that Scientific Museums and Collections should be maintained in the Universities to an extent which would render them available for original research, as well as for the purposes of education, we do not attach the same importance to this point as to the preceding, because museums and collections have been formed and will be formed in other places than in Universities, whereas laboratories adapted for the instruction of students in the methods of scientific investigation are not likely to be founded except in connexion with educational institutions; and although it is a disadvantage to a scientific man not to have all the collections that he desires immediately at his hand, yet, considering the proximity of the Universities to London, it cannot be said that this disadvantage amounts to more than an inconvenience.

194. We also are of opinion that it is very desirable that such more extensive collections as may be formed in the Universities should, as far as possible, be kept separate from the more limited collections intended for educational purposes. A Museum may be very easily made too large for these purposes, and instead of giving the student clearer ideas, may serve to confuse him.

Proposed Doctorate in Science

195. We have already referred to the possibility of instituting Higher Degrees, to be conferred upon students, not in accordance with the results of an examination, but upon their giving proof of capacity for original research. The evidence of Dr. Frankland and of Sir William Thomson, which we have already quoted, and to which we might add that of the late Professor Rankine, appears to us conclusive upon the point that there is a real danger in the examination system; and in our opinion this danger might be guarded against by instituting a higher degree in science, the obtaining of which should be regarded as a great honour, and which should not be awarded except with reference to original work. The plan of requiring from a candidate for the Doctorate in Science a dissertation embodying an account of some original research of his own is strongly approved by such competent witnesses as Dr. Siemens, Dr. Carpenter, and Professor Frankland. This plan has been adopted in several of the German Universities, and has now become the established rule in France.


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VII. CONCLUSION

196. In concluding our report we beg leave to point out that in regard to many of the most important questions, the evidence of the witnesses is, on the whole, characterized by a remarkable unanimity; while with regard to a few points of primary interest, and a large number of details, there is a considerable divergence of opinion. Taken as a whole, the evidence has convinced us, that, although much has been done in the Universities towards the Promotion of Scientific Education and Research, much remains to be done; and that changes, or at least extensions, of no inconsiderable importance have now become indispensable, if the work, which has been so well begun, is to be continued successfully. We have endeavoured to indicate what, in our own judgment, should be the general direction of such changes; and we have not altogether abstained from offering suggestions as to particular modifications or improvements of existing arrangements: but we are sensible that questions of detail are likely to be best discussed in the Universities themselves, where they will come under the consideration of persons who have made the theory and practice of education the business of their lives, and whose judgment, on all points connected with the working of their own system, ought to carry great weight.

All of which we humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
*J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
B. SAMUELSON.
*W. SHARPEY.
*G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
*T. H. HUXLEY.

*These Commissioners have authorized the Chairman to append their names to the Report, in consequence of their absence from London.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER,
Secretary.
1st August 1873.




[title page]

FOURTH REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1874

[C.-884.] Price 6d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORT1
APPENDICES25





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


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execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





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ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.



[page 1]

FOURTH REPORT

TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE Y OUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty the following Report respecting the National Scientific Museums and Collections and the Scientific Portions of the National Museums of a General Character.

For the sake of convenience we have classified the subjects referred to in the Evidence under the following heads:

I. The British Museum.
II. The Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
III. The National Botanical Collections and Gardens
IV. The Museum of Practical Geology.
V. The South Kensington Museum, and its Branch Museum at Bethnal Green.
VI. Other Scientific Collections.
VII. Public Lectures in connection with Museums.
I. THE BRITISH MUSEUM

1. Our Inquiries concerning the British Museum have had reference mainly to the Natural History Collections (including the Mineralogical Collection), which, it has been determined, are to be transferred to a new Building now being erected for their reception at South Kensington.

Government and Administration

2. The British Museum is Governed by a Board of Trustees, These are 50 in number: 25 are Trustees ex officio, one is nominated by the Crown, nine are Representatives of the Families of Benefactors, and the remaining 15 are elected by those otherwise appointed.* Among the ex-officio Trustees are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord

*The following is the Official List of the Trustees for 1873:

Official Trustees

Archbp. of Canterbury; Lord Chancellor; Speaker of the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council; First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Privy Seal; First Lord of the Admiralty; Lord Steward; Lord Chamberlain; Principal Secretaries of State; Bishop of London; Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Chief Justice, Queen's Bench; Master of the Rolls; Lord Chief Justice, Common Pleas; Attorney-General; Solicitor-General; President of the Royal Society; President of the Royal College of Physicians; President of the Society of Antiquaries; and President of the Royal Academy.
Trustee appointed by Her Majesty: The Hon. and Very Rev. Gerald Wellesley, Dean of Windsor.

Family Trustees

Earl Cadogan; Earl of Derby. - Sloane Family.
Rev. Fr. Annesley; Rev. Francis Hanbury Annesley. - Cotton Family.
Lord Henry Charles George Gordon-Lennox, M.P.; George Aug. Fred. Cavendish Bentinck, M.P. - Harley Family.
Charles Towneley, Esq. - Townley Family.
Earl of Elgin. - Elgin Family.
Frederick Winn Knight, Esq., M.P. - Knight Family.

Elected Trustees

Right Hon. Sir David Dundas , Sir Philip de Malpas G. Egerton, Bart., M.P.; Duke of Somerset, K.G.; Right Hon. Earl Russell, K.G.; Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.; Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, M.P.; Viscount Eversley; Right Hon, Benjamin Disraeli, M.P.; Right Hon. Robert Lowe, M.P.; Duke of Argyll, K.T.; Bishop of Winchester; Duke of Devonshire, K.G.; Lord Acton; Viscount Ossington; and Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, Bart.


[page 2]

Chancellor, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, who are named Principal Trustees, and with whom rests the appointment to all Offices m the Museum except the Office of Principal Librarian, to which the Crown appoints. The remaining Official Trustees are certain Chief Officers of State, with the Presidents of the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries, the College of Physicians, and the Royal Academy. The General Body annually appoint 15 of their number, who, with the three Principal Trustees, form a Standing Committee for carrying on the Ordinary Government of the Museum. The Standing Committee appoint, from among themselves or from the General Body, Sub-Committees for special Superintendence of the several branches of the Establishment, one being for Natural History. The Sub-Committees report their opinions and recommendations to the Standing Committee.

3. The Natural History Collections form four Departments: Zoology, Botany, Geology, and Mineralogy. Each is under the charge of a Keeper or Head, under whom are Assistants and subordinate officers. The whole are placed under a Superintendent, who at present is Professor Owen. His duties are -

(1) "To exercise a general Superintendence over the Departments of Natural History; to transmit to the Principal Librarian the Reports of the Keepers of each Department, accompanied by such remarks as he may think proper for the information of the Standing Committee; to suggest such improvements as, in his judgment, may increase the Scientific value and general utility of the collections; and, within the first fortnight after Christmas of every year, to lay before the Standing Committee an Annual Report on the condition of the Collections under his Superintendence.

(2) To be the Editor of such Catalogues and other Scientific Publications as shall be entrusted to him by the Standing Committee; and to see that they are prepared and printed in a proper manner, and in accordance wIth such directions as may, from time to time, be given to him by the Standing Committee.

(3) To take care that the officers, assistants, attendants, and servants of each Department be regular in their attendance and perform their proper duties; and to report every omission in this respect to the Principal Librarian."

4. The Reports and Recommendations of the Keepers of the Natural History Collections are transmitted, through the Superintendent, to the Principal Librarian, and by him brought before the Standing Committee. It is the duty of the Superintendent to append to these Reports an expression of approval or disapproval, with such remarks as he may think proper, after communication, if he see fit, with the Keeper making the Report.

5. The Sub-Committee on Natural History, as constituted in 1871, consisted of the Duke of Argyll, Earl Cadogan, Viscount Eversley, the Bishop of Winchester, Sir Philip Egerton, Sir Roderick Murchison, Sir Edward Sabine, Sir James Alderson, and George Annesley, Esq. The Sub-Committee may communicate directly with the Superintendent, the Keepers and other officers, and may make Recommendations to the Standing Committee; which Recommendations, if adopted by that Committee, are embodied in Minutes. These Minutes, as well as other orders and directions of the Standing Committee, are transmitted by the Principal Librarian to the respective Keepers, a copy being also communicated by him to the Superintendent.

6. As we have already stated, all appointments of officers, except that of Principal Librarian, are made by the three Principal Trustees; these, however, have the advantage of learning the opinion of the Standing Committee as to the eligibility of candidates, after that Committee has consulted the Heads of the respective Departments, and deliberated on the matter.

7. The funds applied to the maintenance of the Museum, whether derived from property belonging to the Institution, or voted by Parliament, are entirely under the management of the Trustees. The estimates to be submitted to the Treasury are named under their direction, and the vote is moved by some one of their number who is a Member of the House of Commons.

8. The opinions expressed in the Evidence laid before us concerning the Constitution and Functions of the Governing Body have been widely different. Sir Philip Grey Egerton, who has had long experience as a Trustee, considers that the general or routine business of the Museum is thoroughly well conducted through the Standing Committee, and he would recommend no fundamental change in the Constitution of the Board of Trustees; but he would confine the duty of the General Body of Trustees to an annual inspection of the Museum, and the appointment of the Standing Committee, to whom the whole management of the Museum should be entrusted for the ensuing year. At the same


[page 3]

time, he thinks that Natural History is not sufficiently represented on the Board of Trustees, and that the defect should be remedied by appointing more men of scientific eminence as Trustees when vacancies occur, so as to keep up a due representation of Natural Science in the Standing Committee; by which, or by a Board similarly constituted, including both men of science and men of experience in business, a Natural History Museum could, in his opinion, be best administered; there being under them a Scientific Head or Director over the whole Natural History Establishment, with a seat at the Board.

9. Other witnesses whom we have examined have generally expressed unfavourable opinions respecting the Constitution of the Governing Body, and especially consider that Science is not adequately represented. In their view it is unsatisfactory that the National Collections should be managed by a body of gentlemen whose time is in most cases fully occupied by other important duties, and the majority of whom are not selected with reference to any special qualifications for such a post. These objections are, in their opinion, but partially obviated by, the appointment of a Standing Committee and Sub-Committees. Moreover, it is held to be singularly inappropriate that the three important Personages who are the Principal Trustees, occupied as they are in the discharge of the highest functions in Church and State, should be burdened with the duty of making appointments to offices of every grade in the British Museum.

10. It has accordingly been recommended by various witnesses that the British Museum should be placed under the direct control of some responsible Government Authority - a Minister of Public Instruction, if such an office be created, or, in existing circumstances, the Lord President of the Council; that the administration of the Natural History Department should be confided to a Director appointed by the Crown and immediately accountable to the Minister; that the Director should be an accomplished Naturalist; that the Keepers of Collections and the other officers of the establishment should be subject to his control and direction; that the different officers, at least those holding the higher appointments, should be appointed by the Minister, on the recommendation of the Director, or after receiving a report from him; and that the Director, with suitable aid, should regulate and control the expenditure and prepare the estimates for the approval of the Minister, to be by him submitted to the Treasury and brought before Parliament.

11. It has been further suggested that in addition to the arrangements above indicated it would be advantageous to appoint a Board of Visitors, who should inspect the Collections at stated times, and, in communication with the Director, acquaint themselves with the working of the Establishment, recording the result in Minutes to be transmitted by the Director to the Minister. The Board of Visitors need not be a large Body, and it has been recommended that, besides men of general accomplishment and knowledge of affairs, it should include Members specially acquainted with Natural History, and that to secure this end, a certain number might, from time to time, be nominated by the Royal Society and the several Natural History Societies of the Metropolis.

12. After due consideration of the question, Your Commissioners are of opinion that the objections to the present System of Government of the British Museum by a Board of Trustees, as at present constituted, so far as relates to the Natural History Collections, are well founded; and we have been unable to discover that the system is attended by any compensating advantages.

13. We accordingly recommend that the occasion of the removal of those Collections to a separate building in a different locality should be taken advantage of to effect a change in the Governing Authority and Official Administration of the Natural History Division of the Museum, in the sense indicated by several of the witnesses.

We further recommend -

14. That a Director of the National Collections of the Natural History Department should be appointed by the Crown, and should have the entire Administration of the Establishment, under the control of a Minister of State, to whom he should be immediately responsible; that the Keepers of Collections should be responsible to the Director; that the appointments (if Keepers and other Scientific Officers should be made by the Minister after communication with the Director and with the Board of Visitors (herein-after referred to); and that the Director should prepare the Estimates


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to be submitted, after consultation with the Board of Visitors, for the approval of the Minister.

15. That the present Superintendent be the first Director.

16. That a Board of Visitors be constituted. That this Board be nominated in part by the Crown, in part by the Royal and certain other Scientific Societies of the Metropolis, and, in the first instance, in part also by the Board of Trustees; that the Members be appointed for a limited period, but be re-eligible; that the Board of Visitors should make Annual Reports to the Minister, to be laid before Parliament, on the Condition, Management, and Requirements of the Museum; and that they should be empowered to give Advice on any points affecting its Administration to the Minister.

17. It is no part of the duty of the Commission to attempt to define the boundary between the Scientific and the Art Collections of the Museum; but we conclude that the Collections to be left in Bloomsbury will have reference, in the main, rather to Literature and Art than to Science, and that the Collections at South Kensington will be exclusively Scientific; we have, therefore, confined ourselves to the question of the Government of the latter Collections.

18. The evidence which we have received, however, leaves no doubt upon our minds that the Banksian Library ought to follow the Botanical Collections to South Kensington, On this point Mr. Carruthers says:

It would be absolutely necessary [to have a subsidiary library, if the Botanical and other Natural History Collections are removed to South Kensington]; and I believe that unless the value of the herbarium were to be greatly destroyed, the Banksian Library will be required to form a portion of that subsidiary library; inasmuch as the Banksian Collection was in continual use while the Banksian Herbarium was being formed, and the volumes that form that library were annotated by the workers in the herbarium, so that if the books were left behind and the plants separated anywhere from the annotations on the books, the value of the plants in their cross references to books would be completely destroyed.
Employment for Purposes of Special Scientific Study and Instruction

19. The Natural History Collections of the British Museum are not only open to the general public on certain days of the week, but, being intended to supply materials for study and research, are accessible, at certain other times, to Students of Science, specially qualified, for the more minute and elaborate examination of specimens. We consider it of importance that this purpose of the National Establishment should be steadily kept in view, and carried out in the most effectual manner. To this end it is essential that ample accommodation should be provided in the New Building for properly qualified persons desirous of using the Collections for a Scientific Object. With a view to affording increased facilities for this purpose, It has been pointed out by some of the witnesses conversant with the management of Museums, that the admission of students need not, as at present, be restricted to private days; and that, by adopting a certain mode of constructing the cases in which specimens are exhibited, it would be quite practicable to enable Students to carry on their scientific work at the same time that the Galleries are frequented by the Public. The method they propose is described in their Evidence: it consists in making the glazed cases to open at the back, so as to be accessible from the working rooms, whilst they are effectually and permanently closed towards the public Galleries. Without pronouncing an opinion as to the general applicability of this proposal, we think that it should receive careful consideration when the fittings of the new Natural History Galleries are planned.

20. Under the present head we call attention to an opinion expressed by several witnesses as to the distribution of the contents of the Museum best calculated to meet the wants of Students and General Visitors respectively. It is held that the object should not be the display of the Natural History treasures in detail, but rather the exhibition of a Selection of Typical Specimens, adequately representing the several departments, for general study; the rest being reserved, and accessible under appropriate arrangements, for the purposes of special Scientific Investigation. In this view we entirely concur, and we would especially direct attention to the very decided opinion on this question given by Professor Phillips.

21. The Special Collections of Botany and Mineralogy are further referred to in a subsequent part of this Report.

II. THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND

22. This Collection of Human, Comparative, and Morbid Anatomy was founded in the last century by the celebrated John Hunter. After his decease the Hunterian Collection


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was purchased by the Government, and placed in the keeping of the Royal College of Surgeons, subject to periodical inspection by a Board of Trustees, which is kept up by co-optation of new members as vacancies occur. Since the Collection came into the possession of the College, it has been vastly extended and enriched, and is now probably the most complete and best arranged museum of its kind in existence. It is freely accessible to Students; and Lectures to Members of the College, to which any person interested readily obtains admission, are delivered, on Comparative Anatomy, by the Conservator, Professor Flower, and, on surgical subjects, by Fellows of the College appointed to that duty, from time to time, by the Council.

23. For the purchase of the original or Hunterian Collection, and in grants for buildings, the Nation has contributed £57,500 towards the expense of this Museum; but the entire expense of its maintenance and continued extension, amounting to about £2,500 a year, is discharged by the College out of the fees payable by candidates who pass the Examination for the College Diploma; and the aggregate sum which has been thus expended far exceeds that supplied by the State.

24. The Comparative Anatomy Division of this Museum, besides a great Osteological Collection, contains an extensive series of preparations of the internal organs and other dissected parts of animals, preserved in spirits. Preparations of this description are requisite for a well grounded study of Zoology; and as no such series exists in the British Museum, this part of the College of Surgeons' Museum may be regarded as supplemental to it. But although it might seem, on this account, desirable to incorporate the Comparative Anatomy Division of the College of Surgeons' Museum, in whole or in part, with the Zoological Collections of the British Museum, there appear to be serious objections to such a measure. For, in the first place, by far the greater part of the collection in question being the property of the College of Surgeons, a very large outlay of public money would be required for the purchase of it, were the College willing to part with it, which we have no reason to think probable. Again, so large an increase of spirit-preparations in the British Museum would increase the risk of destruction in case of fire; and, lastly, the transference of the Comparative Anatomy Collection to South Kensington would render it much less conveniently accessible than it is at present to Students attending the Medical Schools, who now make use of it.

25. Should the fund at the disposal of the College, owing to changes in Medical Legislation, or from any other cause, prove inadequate for the efficient Maintenance and continued extension of the Museum, we are of opinion that it should receive support from the State as an Institution intimately connected with the progress of Biological Science in this country. At the same time, there seems to be no sufficient reason why it should, in such a case, pass from the custody and management of the College, under which it has so long and so greatly prospered.

III. THE NATIONAL BOTANICAL COLLECTIONS AND GARDENS

26. Two Institutions for the promotion of Botanical Science are at present supported by the State in or near the Metropolis. Of these, one is lodged in the British Museum, under the charge of the Keeper of Botany; the other at the Royal Gardens, Kew, under the Director of the Gardens.

27. From the date of its Foundation in the year 1755, the British Museum has contained a collection of dried plants, the most valuable part of which, at that time, was the Sloanian Herbarium; but Botany is said by the celebrated botanist, the late Mr. Robert Brown, to have been almost entirely neglected in the British Museum, from the death of Dr. Solander, in 1782, until the year 1827. In the latter year, however, the Botanical Collection was made into an Independent Department, of which Mr. Brown was appointed Keeper; and the Banksian Herbarium, devised to Mr. Brown during his life by Sir Joseph Banks, was provided with accommodation in the Museum. The Collections were at the same time opened to general scientific visitors two days a week, and to foreign botanists visiting England five days a week.

28. The collection, as it now exists, consists of -

1. The Herbarium, comprising
a. The general herbarium.
b. The British herbarium.
c. Various separate herbaria of historical interest.

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2. The Structural series, comprising

a. The fruit collection.
b. The collection of gums, resins, and other natural products.
c. The general collection, consisting of the larger specimens chiefly exhibited to the public; and
d. The microscopical preparations, illustrating the minute structure of recent and fossil plants.

29. It may be remarked that the General Collection of Fossil Plants is under the charge of the Keeper of Geology.

30 Additions are made to the Collection, by purchase, at the discretion of the Keeper, subject to the approval of the Trustees, and by donation.

31. At present the full staff of the Botanical Department is a Keeper and two Assistants, and its cost, during the financial year 1870-71, was £1,767.

32. With respect to the magnitude and scientific importance of the Herbarium, the Keeper of Botany has expressed the following opinion:

I believe that our British Museum herbarium is unequalled in the world; and that is not only the opinion which I myself have formed, for I am not very extensively acquainted with herbaria abroad, but it is the universal testimony of men who have become sufficiently acquainted with the British Museum herbarium to form an opinion worth considering.

I believe that the British Museum is visited by all the foreign botanists that come to this country. ... I find amongst the foreign botanists, who have been in the habit of visiting the museum, the names of Cosson, Baillon, Triana, and Welwitsch, who have been here during the year 1871.

33. The Royal Gardens at Kew were the private property of the Crown until the year 1840.

34. In the year 1838, a Committee was appointed by the Treasury to Inquire into the Management of the Royal Gardens, and that Committee desired the late Dr. Lindley, aided by Messrs. Paxton and Wilson, to Report upon the Condition of the Gardens, and make Recommendations for their future Administration. In consequence, a "Report upon the present condition of the Botanical Gardens at Kew, with Recommendations for their future Administration" was drawn up by Dr. Lindley, and was published as a Parliamentary paper in 1840.

35. According to this Report, the Garden (including the Arboretum) occupied 15 acres, and the collection of herbaceous plants was stated to be then "inconsiderable". The Reporter states that "no attempt has been made till lately to name the multitudes of rare plants it comprehends, and thus to render it a place of public utility"; and, further, "What names are to be found in the Garden have been furnished by Mr. Smith, the Foreman, and the Director [Mr. Aiton] does not hold himself answerable for them. This was most particularly inquired into, and most distinctly avowed; so that by far the most difficult part of the duty of the principal officer - a duty on the perfect execution of which the credit and utility of the Garden essentially depend - a duty which can be only executed properly by a man of high scientific attainments, aided by an extensive herbarium and a considerable library; this most important duty is thrust upon a foreman, paid small weekly wages for cultivating plants, who, whatever his zeal and assiduity may be (and in this case they have been such as to deserve the greatest praise), has no sufficient means of executing such an office."

36. Dr. Lindley recommended that the Royal Gardens at Kew should become public property, and be converted into a National Botanical Garden, and brought into close official relations with the Botanical Gardens of the Colonies; that at least 30 acres should be added to the gardens, and considerable additions be made to the houses; that everything should be systematically arranged and named; that there should be nurseries for the propagation of plants for Government exportation or for public purposes; that gratuitous Lectures should be given upon Botany in a popular form, but not as a regular academical course; and that the most beautiful specimens of the Vegetable Kingdom should be carefully preserved for exhibition. He further urged the necessity of providing an extensive herbarium and a considerable library.

37. The Royal Gardens became public property in the year 1840, and most of Dr. Lindley's other recommendations were carried into effect by Sir William Hooker, who was appointed Director of the Gardens in that year.

38. The Gardens at Kew were unprovided with any public herbarium or scientific library when Sir William Hooker took charge of them. As Dr. Lindley's "Report"


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shows, the naming of the plants was insufficiently attended to by his predecessors. The new and rare plants in the gardens, before Sir William Hooker's time, were named partly by the use of a herbarium in the gardens, which was broken up before their transference to the Nation, and partly by the aid of the Banksian Herbarium.

39. Sir William Hooker brought a large private herbarium (which Mr. Bentham terms the richest in Britain) and library to Kew, and these were increased, at his own expense, until his death in 1865. After his death, the herbarium and library were purchased by the Government at a valuation, and have been added to the public herbarium at Kew, which was founded in 1854, when Mr. Bentham presented his large private collection of plants and botanical library to the Nation.

40. In regard to the work done at Kew at the present time, the latter gentleman, who is one of our most eminent botanists, and who has been for many years wen acquainted with Foreign Botanical Establishments, observes:

1. For the close study of plants - the only sound foundation upon which the science of botany can be usefully established - for their accurate determination and practical classification, the requisites are: that the herbarium should be as rich as possible, not only as to the genera and species, but as to the variations of all sorts and repetitions of the same form from different localities and stations; that the herbarium should be a single one, the geographical arrangement being kept in subservience to the scientific classification, and without any detached smaller herbaria, except such definite historical ones as only require occasional reference like the books of a library; that there should be good accommodation for the sorting of unnamed collections anti fresh arrivals, ample means for the dissection and examination of specimens not only by the staff of the establishment, but also by scientific botanists in general, who, under special regulations, are allowed to work in the herbarium, and store rooms for duplicates required for exchanges, &c.; that there should be in the same suite of rooms as the herbarium a botanical library, as complete as possible, and a series of drawings of plants, also as complete as possible; that the herbarium should be in close connexion with the National Collection of living plants; and that it should be under the keepership of a resident scientific botanist, with the requisite staff of scientific assistants. All these essentials are at present afforded by the herbarium at Kew, in a degree far beyond what can be met with in any other establishment at home or abroad.
41. For 40 years the herbarium has received almost all Collections made by Government Expeditions; and it has been the chief recipient of contributions from both British and Foreign Travellers, as well as from Continental Museums.

42. At present the Gardens occupy 300 acres, and are estimated to contain 20,000 species of plants; and the following Statement of the operations carried on at Kew is taken from a Memorial (signed by many eminent scientific men) presented to the First Lord of the Treasury in 1872.

In no particular does England stand more conspicuously superior to all other countries than in the possession of Kew. The establishment is not only without a rival, but there is no approach to rivalry as regards the extent, importance, or scientific results of its operations. Upwards of 130 volumes on all branches of botany, including a most important series of Colonial Floras, but excluding many weighty contributions to scientific societies and journals, have issued from Kew. To these are to be added guide books and official papers. This vast literature has been produced and published through the efforts of the Directors of Kew, for the most part at no expense whatever to the Nation.

To these labours is to be added the correspondence of the Directors with all parts of the world, a mere selection from which, now bound together at Kew, embraces some 40,000 letters addressed to the Directors, and for the most part answered with their own hands.

During the 10 years from 1863 to 1872 inclusive, the number of living plants sent from Kew to various parts of the world has been doubled, amounting on an average to 8,000 or 9,000 annually. Of seeds ripened at Kew, or obtained by the Director from various parts of the world, the annual average distributed amounts to about 7,000.

Of the practical value of these labours, the introduction of the Cinchona plant into India, Ceylon, and Jamaica, the commercial success of which is established, constitutes one of many illustrations. The introduction of ipecacuanha is another.

n India upwards of 30 gardeners, trained at Kew, are now employed in forestry, cotton, tea, and cinchona plantations; Government gardens, &c., and a far greater number are usefully employed in other parts of the world.

By the joint efforts of the Directors, a series of complete Floras of India and the Colonies was set on foot at Kew, of which those of the West Indies, all the Australian Colonies, New Zealand, Tropical Africa, the Cape Colonies, and British India, are completed or in progress. These are standard works of inestimable value to the countries whose plants they describe, as well as to scientific travellers and institutions in Europe.

43. In addition, there is the work of the Economic Museums, which are thus described by Dr. Hooker:
Of museums proper, apart from the herbarium, there are three; they were designed primarily to illustrate to the public the uses to which plants are put, by exhibiting specimens that illustrate useful plants; maps showing their distribution, diagrams showing their structure, and specimens of the products which they afford. They are arranged scientifically, according to the natural system, and, as far as we have procured them, all the products of the plants are shown. At the same time it is the receptacle for all specimens that are not fitted to be kept in an herbarium; for instance, there are certain fruits of no known economic value. which are interesting from their structure or from their appearance, but whIch, though they are not of economic value, are placed in the museum, because they could not be put into the herbarium. The arrangement of the herbarium is similar to that of a library. Thus the museums serve a double object. They are ancillary to the herbarium in containing specimens not fit to be placed in the herbarium, and they are instructive to the public, inasmuch as they show the uses to which the plants of all Natural Orders are put.

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44. There is no competition between the Kew and South Kensington Museums; for the Museum at South Kensington consists chiefly of manufactured articles arranged according to their uses. At Kew the fibres used for textile fabrics are arranged under the Natural Order to which each belongs; the European flax going into the case illustrating the Natural Order to which the flax plant belongs, the New Zealand flax under another order, and the hemp under a third; but at South Kensington all the flaxes would be brought together. At Kew little is shown beyond the raw product and one or two manufactured articles to attract public attention immediately to its uses. South Kensington, on the other hand, affords a complete illustration of the uses of Vegetables as applied to Arts and Manufactures, arranged under their applications.

45. The collection of numerous Vegetable Products in the Food Museum at South Kensington is totally different in object from the Kew Economic Museum, and cannot be said to be intended for the promotion of Botanical Science.

46. Besides the Director, who has charge of the whole Establishment at Kew, the Staff consists of a Keeper of the herbaria and library, two Assistants, a Clerk, a Curator of the Museums, and two Attendants, whose pay altogether amounts to £1,792 a year.

47. Three distinct methods of dealing with the two Botanical Establishments now maintained at the expense of the State - the one in the British Museum, and the other in the Royal Gardens at Kew - have been put before us by the witnesses who have given evidence.

1. The first proposal is that of the Keeper of Botany in the British Museum, Mr. Carruthers, who thinks that the best way would be to keep both collections at their full efficiency; but that, if only one great National Herbarium is to exist, it should be lodged in the British Museum., and that Mr. Bentham's collection should be transferred to the British Museum, a second Herbarium of a subordinate character, for use in the Garden and Museum, being provided at Kew. Mr. Carruthers is of opinion that all Collections purchased by the Government, or made at Government expense, should be sent to the British Museum and worked out there, and that the Kew Botanical Library should be transferred to the British Museum.

2. The second proposal is that of the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, Dr. Hooker, who agrees with Mr. Carruthers, that the Herbarium at the British Museum and that at Kew should both be maintained in a state of efficiency.

But, in disagreement with the Keeper of Botany in the British Museum, the Director of Kew Gardens recommends that Kew should be the site of the principal National Herbarium; and that it should remain, as heretofore, the centre to which the collections made at the expense of the Government are sent, worked out, and published.

Dr. Hooker further recommends that the Collection in the British Museum should be of a subordinate character to that at Kew, and should be arranged chiefly with a view to Geographical Distribution and to the needs of Botanical Palaeontology.

Dr. Hooker does not suggest the transference of any of the Collections now in the British Museum to Kew; on the contrary, he proposes to recruit the British Museum Collection from that at Kew; nor does he think it necessary that any part of the Library of the British Museum should be transferred to Kew.

3. The third proposal is that made by the Superintendent of the Natural History Collections in the British Museum, Professor Owen, to the effect that the Herbarium at Kew should be altogether transferred to the British Museum; and that it should be the duty of the Director of the Royal Gardens to occupy himself exclusively with Physiological and Horticultural Botany.

48. As respects this last proposal, we have already shown that, in the opinion of Dr. Lindley, Mr. Bentham, Mr. Carruthers (the Keeper of Botany in the British Museum), and other eminent Botanists, the possession of an extensive Herbarium is indispensable for the efficiency of the Kew Establishment. In this opinion we concur, and we cannot, therefore, recommend, as proposed by Professor Owen, that the Kew Herbarium or any portion of it should be transferred to the British Museum.

49. With respect to the first and second propositions, we have now not to consider what arrangement might be theoretically best if the Botanical Establishments supported by the Government were to be organized de novo; but to recognize the fact that two such Establishments have grown up, each of which is doing its own special work efficiently.


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We do not think it advisable to interfere with existing arrangements, which are working satisfactorily, for the mere sake of administrative symmetry.

50. The two proposals under discussion, much as they diverge in some respects, agree in advocating the continued existence of two Herbaria, one at the British Museum, and the other at Kew. All Botanists are of opinion that Kew needs a Herbarium. Dr. Lindley, whose opinion we have already quoted, and than whom there could be no more competent judge, 35 years ago urged the necessity of an "extensive herbarium and a considerable library" for Kew; and the Keeper of Botany in the British Museum expressly speaks of "the great waste of time which would be incurred in consulting a herbarium at a distance". On the other hand, no one has suggested that the British Museum should be deprived of its Herbarium, and the Director of Kew Gardens, as we have seen, proposes to increase that Herbarium.

51. The Keeper of Botany in the British Museum has made suggestions as to the best mode of uniting the two Herbaria, if such a course should be deemed desirable; but he has also stated reasons for the separate maintenance of these two Herbaria, which appear to be so conclusive in favour of that course that we recapitulate them here.

1. "The two herbaria already exist, and are to a considerable extent parallel collections." In other words, the collections are to a considerable extent in duplicate, and, so far, nothing could be gained by bringing them together in one place.

2. "The two herbaria have been under different management, and, to some extent, express different results of the 'close study of plants'. The important bearing of this consideration on Botanical Science in Britain can scarcely be overrated."

3. "The objects of the herbaria are fundamentally different, and in as far as they fulfil their objects they are employed for totally different purposes."

4. "The practical difficulties in the administration of two separate, and, to some extent, independent herbaria would be numerous and serious; and, in the course of time, a condition of things similar to what at present exists would result."

5. "It is not an unimportant consideration that the continued separate existence of these two great herbaria is a great security against their destruction by fire."

6. "The expense of the two herbaria is very small. I am unacquainted with the amount granted for Kew Herbarium, but it cannot greatly differ from that required by the National Herbarium, which amounted for the financial year lately completed to £1,767. I know of no way in which the country can at once advance the interests of Science and encourage its students at a smaller cost and with more important results, than by maintaining in their full efficiency the two Botanical Collections at present existing."

52. In this, as in other cases, we conceive that the State may be asked to aid Science with those Appliances which are out of the reach of private enterprise, and as such we regard the Herbaria at the British Museum and at Kew, each of which, being supported by the State, is as much entitled as the other to the name of a "National Collection". And the evidence which has been laid before us leaves us no alternative but to recommend that these two Botanical Collections, the maintenance of neither of which involves any considerable cost, should not be merged into one, but that both be kept in a state of efficiency, and that the special scientific direction which each has spontaneously taken should be retained.

53. As a matter of fact, the Botanical Department of the British Museum, under its present able Keeper, has inclined in the direction of Botanical Palæontology - a direction rendered particularly convenient and appropriate by the existence of a large and valuable collection of Fossil Plants in the Museum; no less, as a matter of fact, under the late and present Directors of the Royal Gardens, has the Herbarium at Kew become the most complete apparatus for the cultivation of Systematic Botany in existence. It is the centre to which Botanists flock from all parts of the world, and with which Botanists of all parts of the world are kept in communication by a system of Correspondence, of vast extent, which could only have been organized by means of the exceptional physical strength and mental capacity of successive Directors.

54. It may be said that if the Kew Herbarium is to remain a great National Scientific Herbarium, the accommodation to be given to Botany in the new building at South Kensington is excessive. But we do not think that such will prove to be the case. In the first place, we should not be disposed unduly to limit the power of the Keeper of Botany in the British Museum to purchase systematic collections for purposes of palæontological comparison; and, in the second place, it would be highly useful to have a geographically arranged collection in the British Museum as the complement of the purely systematically arranged collection at Kew.


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55. We think it desirable, then, that the collection at the British Museum should be maintained and arranged with special reference to the Geographical Distribution of Plants and to Palæontology; and that the collection at Kew should be maintained and arranged with especial reference to Systematic Botany. And we are of opinion that all collections of recent plants made by Government Expeditions should, in the first instance, be sent to Kew, to be there worked out and distributed, a set being reserved for the British Museum; and that all collections of fossil plants made by Government Expeditions should be sent to the British Museum.

56. It has been suggested to us that some part of the resources of Kew might be advantageously directed towards the advancement of the science of Botanical Physiology, and the Director of the Gardens states that he has "repeatedly urged young experimenters to commence, offering them facilities; but the difficulty with them has always been to give the time and get funds to support themselves."

57. We agree with the Director in thinking that it is highly desirable that opportunities for the pursuit of investigations in Physiological Botany should be afforded at Kew to those persons who may be inclined to follow that branch of science.

IV. THE MUSEUM OF PRACTICAL GEOLOGY

58. The Museum of Practical Geology is administered by a Director, who is responsible to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council on Education.

The primary object of this Museum is to exhibit the industrial applications of Geology and the kindred sciences, with special reference to the mineral resources of this Country and its Dependencies; and the Collection of British fossil and rock specimens, illustrating the Geological Survey of Great Britain. The following collections are comprised in the Museum:

(a) Specimens of British building stones, polished marbles and other ornamental stones, used for constructive and decorative purposes.

(b) A collection of British, Colonial, and Foreign Minerals, specially selected for their economic value, or for their importance to the Student of Mineralogy, Geology, and Mining.

(c) A Metallurgical Series, comprising specimens illustrating the smelting of ores and the industrial applications of metals and metallurgical products.

(d) Models of mines and mining machinery, with examples of mining tools; models of ore-dressing apparatus, furnaces, and metallurgical appliances, with geological and topographical models of special localities.

(e) A collection of specimens showing the technological applications of clays, and fully representing the history and present position of British Ceramic Art; with illustrations of manufactures in glass and enamels.

(f) The Palæontological Collections, embracing a large series of British fossils, stratigraphically arranged. .

(g) A Petrological Collection, comprising specimens of the Igneous, Metamorphic, and Stratified Rocks of Great Britain.

(h) A Library of upwards of 20,000 volumes, including works on all those branches of Science which find illustration in the Collections exhibited in the Museum.

59. The Museum is open gratuitously to the public on Mondays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m., and on the other days of the week (Friday excepted) from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. during the months of November, December, January, and February; and until 5 p.m. during the remainder of the year, with the exception of one month's vacation from the 10th of August to the 10th of September. It is in evidence before us that the evening opening of this Museum is attended with considerable expense without corresponding advantage.

60. It is evident that the Collections of Minerals in this Museum are closely allied to the Mineralogical Collections of the British Museum, which it is proposed shall hereafter find a place in the New Natural History Museum.

61. In a Paper printed as an Appendix to our first volume of Evidence, Professor N. Story-Maskelyne, the present Keeper of the Mineralogical Department of the British Museum, expresses the opinion that the juxtaposition of Mineralogical and Biological Collections is not now considered so important as formerly.


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So long as the British Museum might be retained in its integrity, or its collections might be re-grouped into distinct divisions at the present locality, the mineral collection would seem to be in its place among them. But when once a separation of a part of these collections from the rest is determined on, the logical position of a collection of minerals in the midst of a series of biological collections assumes a new and very questionable phase.

The division of created things into animal, vegetable, and mineral is no longer exhaustive; it no longer represents the whole world known to science. Organic chemistry and the sciences that deal in organisms treat of certain forms of matter that are organic from one point of view and yet are not organic from another, and even inorganic chemistry deals in substances that can only be called mineral by using the word in what must, even in the present age, be termed an ambiguous sense. The place of a collection of minerals is certainly either by the side of the crystallised products of the laboratory, that is to say, it should aid in illustrating the science of chemistry; or that place is to be found where minerals are most completely studied, technically as well as scientifically, that is to say, where mining is especially taught.

62. Professor Story-Maskelyne then expresses his opinion that the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street is:
The best and most practical destination for the Mineral Department of the British Museum: under the supposed change in the distribution of the collections , and I think this is equally so, whether the objects embraced in my collection be confined, as at present, to natural minerals, or whether the limits of that collection be enlarged in the manner I have proposed, so as to embrace artificially formed 'mineral' or chemical products. ...

Under any circumstances, a gallery must be built to contain the mineralogical collection, and the cost of building it will not be very different, whether it be associated with the Biological Museum or with the School of Mines. But I beg to place on record, and in the hands of Her Majesty's Commissioners, my strong opinion that the least appropriate destination of this collection would be in association with a Biological Museum.

63. We have felt it our duty to call attention to this Opinion; but, considering that arrangements have been made for the lodgement of the Mineralogical Collections of the British Museum in the New Buildings which have been begun at South Kensington, and that these Collections could not be accommodated in the Museum of Practical Geology, which needs all the space disposable for the display of the British Palæontological, Rock and Mineral Specimens - which is its primary object - we do not base any recommendation upon it. In connexion with this subject, we may again refer to the insufficiency of accommodation in the Museum in Jermyn Street for the staff of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, upon which Professor Ramsay, the Director-General of the Survey, has so strongly insisted in his evidence.

V. THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, AND ITS BRANCH MUSEUM AT BETHNAL GREEN

64. The South Kensington Museum is administered by a Director who is responsible to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council on Education.

65. Though, from special circumstances, the Art Collections of this Museum have been, up to the present time, most developed, it has contained, from its earliest days, several Collections of a Scientific Nature. Those at present existing are:

1. The Food Collection.
2. The Animal Products Collection.
3. The Structure and Building Materials Collection.
4. Models of Machinery, Ships, and Military and Naval Appliances.
5. Collections illustrating Economic Entomology and Forestry.
6. Collections illustrating Fish Culture.
7. The Educational Collections.
8. The Patent Museum.

The Food Collection

66. This Collection, which was commenced in 1858, has been formed with a view to showing first, the chemical composition of the various substances used as food; secondly, the sources from which all varieties of food are obtained; and, thirdly, the various substances used for adulteration, and the best methods of detecting them.

A duplicate Collection of the chemical analyses of food is used for circulation among country Schools, and large descriptive labels are supplied to the Managers of country Museums who may apply for them.

The Animal Products Collection

67. This Collection was established by the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, who observed that, whilst the public possessed in the Museums of Kew and Jermyn Street Collections illustrative of the Economic Applications of Mineral and Vegetable Sub-


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stances, there was no representation of the uses of the Animal Kingdom. The Collection consists of Animal Substances employed in Textile Manufactures and Clothing; substances used for domestic and ornamental purposes; Pigments and Dyes yielded by animals; Animal substances used in Pharmacy and in Perfumery; and the application of waste matters, together with Illustrations of the Processes of Manufacture.

We have been informed that for want of space this Collection has been but little developed of late years.

Construction and Building Materials Collection

68. This Collection had its origin in a large number of models and specimens which were presented to the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 at its close. In 1859 the Collection had become so extensive from gifts, especially from the Exhibitions in London and Paris, that the Classified Catalogue formed a most useful book of reference on the subject, and was largely sold as such.

The Collection consists of the following objects: Building Stones; Marbles and Slates; Cements and Plasters; Bricks of every description; Tiles for roofing, flooring, and wall decoration; Terra Cottas; Drain-pipes; Asphalte and Bitumen; Iron and Metal Work; Woods applicable to building purposes; Glass, and its application; Models of Buildings and Construction; Paperhangings; Papier-maché Work; Architectural Drawings and Plans.

69. In connexion with this Museum, numerous experiments on the strength of materials have been carried on, the results of which have been published in the Catalogues.

Models of Machinery, Ships, and Military and Naval Appliances

70. This Collection consists principally of Models of Marine Engines, Ships, and Guns.

But there are also specimens and models of machinery of a different character, such as the Jacquard Loom, the Whitworth Measuring Machine, and the Babbage Calculating Machine.

Collections illustrating Economic Entomology and Forestry

71. A Collection of Economic Entomology is now in course of formation. It is intended to enable the public to distinguish insects injurious to man from those that work to his advantage, and to illustrate the best means of destroying those which are injurious, or of mitigating the ravages committed by them.

This Collection, in its relation to Forestry, contains specimens of the various kinds of timber attacked by insects, the insects themselves in various stages of growth, and the appearance of the foliage and bark when attacked. The best known means of destroying the insects are also indicated.

Collection illustrating Fish Culture

72. This Collection illustrates the artificial breeding of fish, the protection of rivers, methods of capture of fish, &c. All or nearly all the Collection belongs to Mr. Buckland (Inspector of Salmon Fisheries). It is on loan to the Museum.

The Educational Collections

73. These Collections comprise: 1. A Library of Books bearing on Education in which Education in Science is largely represented, and 2. A Collection of School Furniture and Fittings, Philosophical Instruments, Apparatus for Scientific and other Instruction, specimens and diagrams of Natural History, including Mineralogy and Geology, and other Educational Appliances, such as drawing materials, &c.

74. The origin of the Library and Collections is due to an Educational Exhibition formed by the Society of Arts, and held in St. Martin's Hall in the summer of 1854. When this Exhibition closed, many of the contents, English and Foreign, were placed by the Exhibitors at the disposal of the Society, and a strong desire was expressed that it should become a Permanent Institution. The Collection thus formed was offered to and accepted by the Government.

75. The chief Manufacturers of Educational Appliances and Publishers of School Books have largely contributed, and numerous gifts have been received from Foreign Governments, especially at the close of the Exhibitions of 1862 and 1871. In consequence of


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the great demand for Educational Works on Scientific Subjects, the vote for purchases has of late years been largely expended in strengthening the Library and Collections in this direction.

76. Special Collections of Apparatus for Teaching the various branches of Science have lately been formed. Duplicate sets of these are circulated in the country.

77. The total number of books and pamphlets in the Library exceeds 30,000.

78. A Reading Room, ill-adapted and much too small for the purpose, as it has been stated in evidence, is attached to the Library. It is open during the same hours as the Museum, and is chiefly frequented by students, teachers, clergymen, school managers, and others who wish to consult special books, or to become acquainted with the best Educational Works on the various subjects.

The Patent Museum

79. In connexion with the South Kensington Museum, but under the Control of the Commissioners of Patents, there is also a Patent Museum, consisting of a Collection of patented and other inventions, ill-accommodated in a building which is much too small for the proper display of the Objects. The Collection belongs partly to the Commissioners of Patents, partly to the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, and partly to private: persons: it contains many most interesting specimens, especially a series illustrating the History of the Steam Engine from its earliest days.

Proposed Additions to the Scientific Collections of the South Kensington Museum

80. We consider it our duty to point out the striking contrast afforded by the British Museum Collections, dealing with Biology, Geology, and Mineralogy; the Jermyn Street Collections, dealing with Geology (Scientific and Economic), Mineralogy, Mining, and Metallurgy; the Kew Collections, dealing with Botany, on the one hand; and, on the other hand, the. Collections in the Scientific Department of the South Kensington Museum (including the Patent Museum), where alone has any attempt been made to collect together, in a Museum, Objects Illustrating the Experimental Sciences.

81. While it is a matter of congratulation that the British Museum contains one of the finest and largest Collections in existence illustrative of Biological Science, it is to be regretted that there is at present no National Collection of the Instruments used in the Investigation of Mechanical, Chemical, or Physical Laws; although such Collections are of great importance to persons interested in the Experimental Sciences.

82. We consider that the recent progress in these Sciences, and the daily increasing demand for knowledge concerning them, make it desirable that the National Collections should be extended in this direction, so as to meet a great Scientific Requirement which cannot be provided for in any other way.

83. The defect in our Collections to which we have referred is, indeed, already keenly felt by Teachers of Science. If a Teacher of any branch of Experimental Science wishes to inspect any Physical Instrument not in his possession, as a Teacher of Literature would a book, or a Teacher of Biology would a specimen, there is no place in the country where he can do it.

84. We are assured by high authorities that, on the Continent, Collections of Scientific Apparatus, when combined with Lectures accessible to workmen, have exerted a very beneficial influence on the development of the skill of artisans employed in making such instruments.

85. Lord Salisbury, in Evidence before us, has stated:

There is another point in which I think that the Government might give an advantage of an educational kind to Scientific Research. It would be desirable, if it were possible, to provide the means of giving Scientific Instruction to Instrument Makers. My impression is that their importance to the conduct of scientific research is scarcely sufficiently recognised by the public, and that it is, I will not say quite, but almost of equal importance, to have highly educated and cultivated scientific instrument makers, as to have highly educated scientific thinkers.
86. A valuable part of the instruction to which Lord Salisbury refers would be derived from the examination of Collections in which the history and latest developments of each instrument could be studied with a view to its improvement or modification in any particular direction.


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87. On this point we have received interesting Evidence from Colonel Strange:

What is your opinion as to the need of a museum of scientific instruments, and apparatus, and machines, and tools used in the arts? - I think that that is a very important branch of the subject indeed. I need scarcely allude to the great importance that is attached to that on the Continent. The name of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers will suggest it at once, which is the very best evidence indeed that I could produce. I have often visited it with great interest and profit. Moreover, I believe there are several others in Paris, some of more recent establishment, of the same kind; I look upon that as a most necessary part of any scientific system. No Scientific System can be complete without examples of the apparatus that are being used in all branches of Science, both in England and abroad, and on that point I speak from experience of the great use that such a museum would be. ... If there were a great Museum, such as I suggest, containing all the new developments in instruments, and in machines and tools, to which I could resort, I should be able to introduce modifications with far greater confidence, and it would be an enormous assistance to me individually. I find very few persons who have really studied what I will venture to call the physiology of instruments and apparatus, and such persons would derive very great advantage, I think, from being able to go to an establishment where large collections of apparatus of different dates and the products of different minds were collected together in one view, some of which would contain some desideratum of which they were in search. I think, if they had such a collection to go to, it would materially aid them in the choice of the apparatus that they required, and would tend enormously to advance exact experiments. There is no doubt that some years ago there was no nation that could compete at all with England in such matters, but we have taught the rest of the world, and the pupil has now become somewhat in advance, in many directions, of his master. Also the spread of scientific education on the Continent has tended to the application of more sound principles of construction in such things than with us.
88. Although the question of the Establishment of a Museum of Scientific Apparatus is more closely allied to the objects of our Commission than that of a Museum of Mechanical Inventions, we think it right to call attention to the proposals made by a Committee of the House of Commons appointed to Report on the Patent Office Library and Museum.

89. That Committee gave, in the following terms, their conception of the nature of the "General Museum of Mechanical Inventions", the establishment of which they contemplated:

It appears to your Committee that the chief purpose of a General Museum is to illustrate and explain the commencement, progress, and present position of the most important branches of mechanical invention; to show the chief steps by which the most remarkable machines have reached their present degree of excellence; to convey interesting and useful information, and to stimulate invention.
90. With regard to the Funds which would be necessary for the Establishment of such a Museum on an adequate scale, the Committee, referring to a large sum which had accumulated from the fees paid by inventors (which Fund at the end of the year 1871 amounted to £923,741 8s 11d), stated that -
Your Committee consider that the principal object of the fees payable under the provisions of the Patent Law Amendment Act, was to provide for the proper working of that Measure, and not for the purpose of increasing the general revenue of the country. Without entering upon the question whether or not a claim exists to have the surplus exclusively devoted to the purposes of the Act of 1852, your Committee are of opinion, that for the future the annual surplus revenue accruing from the operation of that Act, should be so applied to the extent which may be necessary.
91. We agree with the Committee as to the general character of the objects to which the Fund in question should be appropriated.

92. We consider that this Fund, which is derived in great part from the Applications of Scientific Principles to various uses in the Arts and Industries of the Country, would be very properly spent in bettering some of the conditions on which invention and discovery depend; and we are of opinion that, among the uses to which such a Fund could be most advantageously applied, the Establishment of such a Museum of Scientific Apparatus as that which we contemplate, would rank among the most important; and we are convinced that such a Museum would have a material influence upon the spread of Scientific Instruction throughout the country, and would, therefore, largely foster Invention and Discovery.

93. We accordingly recommend the formation of a Collection of Physical and Mechanical Instruments; and we submit for consideration whether it may not be expedient that this Collection, the Collection of the Patent Museum, and of the Scientific and Educational Department of the South Kensington Museum should be united and placed under the authority of a Minister of State.

94. Whether this union be effected or not, we are of opinion that it is desirable that the Scientific Collections now placed at South Kensington should be subjected to a critical revision with a view to restricting them to such objects as are of National Interest or Utility.


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VI. OTHER SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS

95. The only Public Scientific Museums and Botanic Gardens besides those already referred to which receive direct aid for their maintenance from the Government are the Edinburgh and the Dublin Museums, and the Botanic Gardens of those cities. The Edinburgh Museum consists of a Scientific and also of an Industrial Collection. The Natural History Collection, formed by the University of Edinburgh, was some years ago handed over to the Government, and was lodged in the same building with the Industrial Museum, adjoining the University, and placed under the general charge of the Professor of Natural History, as Regius Keeper, and of the Director of the Industrial Museum, an officer appointed by and responsible to the Science and Art Department of the Privy Council.

96. Evidence has been brought before us on the Condition and Management of the Natural History Collection so transferred; but as we have been informed that the Education Department had appointed a Commission to which it had committed the prosecution of the Inquiry into the Management of the Industrial Museum in Edinburgh, and that the Commission so appointed had Reported; and, further, that the Department had taken administrative action on their Report; we are of opinion that the further investigation of questions concerning the Management of this Museum has been removed from our hands. We have, therefore, felt it to be our duty to omit whatever passages in the Evidence relating to matters of fact respecting this Museum have been controverted before that Special Commission.

97. The arrangement recommended by the Special Commissioners and adopted by the Government is the appointment of a fully qualified Naturalist, under the administrative control of the Director of the Museum, as Curator of the Scientific Collections; the Regius Professor in the University being relieved of his responsibility as Regius Keeper.

98. The Royal Dublin Society act as Trustees of the Museum of Natural History (including Mineralogy and Geology), of the Botanic Gardens and Botanical Museum, Glasnevin, and of the Library, and are responsible for their Administration. These establishments are wholly supported by public funds, provided for annually in the Estimates of the Science and Art Department. The Agricultural Museum is supported by the Royal Dublin Society out of its own funds.

99. The Institution in St. Stephen's Green, formerly known as the Museum of Irish Industry, has ceased to exist under that name; and the School of Science applied to Mining and the Arts, which was attached to it, has been converted into a Royal College of Science. All the Collections of the Industrial Museum (with the exception of the Portlock Collections of Irish Flora and Fauna, which have been transferred to the Royal Dublin Society) are still retained, and, with the Collections of the Geological Survey, are exhibited in the building in St. Stephen's Green. The Collections comprise objects illustrative of building materials, mining, metallurgy, and fuel; of ceramic and glass manufactures; and of vegetable and chemical products. These Collections are in charge of the Curator of the Museum. The Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland has charge of the Palæontological and Rock Collections: the former has been made by the Geological Survey; the latter purchased, out of the funds of the Museum, to illustrate Lectures and for the use of the Officers of the Survey.

100. Besides the Museums and Collections which receive aid from the Government, there exist in various parts of the United Kingdom Local Museums, supported from independent sources. Most, if not all, of these include Natural History Collections, often associated with other objects, especially with specimens illustrative of Archæology and Ethnology, and sometimes of the Industrial Arts.

101. Some of these are under the government of Municipal Bodies; some are maintained by the inhabitants of the locality, and are managed by Committees or Governors elected by the Contributors; while others are connected with Scientific Societies or Naturalists' Clubs.

102. Certain of the great Towns possess Museums of considerable extent, and arranged with skill and care. We may refer to those of the Manchester Natural History and Geological Societies, which, associated as they now are, with a College possessing an efficient Staff of Scientific Professors, are able to afford important assistance, not only in illustration of their lectures, but also to the independent studies of advanced Students.


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However, even in the case of many of the larger and more important Museums, many specimens are often required for the completion of their series.

103. The Museums of less important Towns are generally very incomplete. They too often consist of specimens unconnected with each other, the gifts of travellers possessing little or no knowledge of Natural History. When they are the result of the labours of some local Naturalist, or of some Provincial Society, they are of exceptional, and sometimes of great, value; but such Collections are rare.

104. It cannot be doubted that Local Museums greatly tend to create and diffuse a taste for Natural History Studies; but if they are to become useful in promoting such studies, and for the purposes of instruction, it is essential that they should contain typical specimens illustrative of Geology, Botany, and Zoology; and, also, as far as possible, a Collection illustrating the recent and fossil Zoology, Botany, and Geology of the district.

105. Museums of this character might be used most advantageously for purposes of class instruction, and for demonstrations by competent scientific persons.

106. In our Second Report, on Elementary Scientific Instruction, we insisted on the importance of more practical Scientific Teaching in Laboratories, and on the illustration by specimens of all instruction in the Natural Sciences depending on Observation. Consequently, we recommended that greater facilities should be given to obtain grants for buildings and for museum fittings [p. xxix. vol. 1.]. We suggested that whenever a Provincial Science School had attained such a degree of efficiency as to be capable of being organised as the centre of a group of Elementary Science Classes, it should be enabled, among other things, to provide a supply of specimens for the illustration or instruction in those classes.

107. In many towns of considerable population, there are no Museums, or only such as are worthless for purposes of even popular instruction. Yet some of these towns are, as is shown by the Evidence submitted to Your Commissioners, well fitted by situation to become centres of Scientific Instruction to considerable groups of population. On the Coalfields a town containing 30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants is, not unfrequently, the centre of a group of smaller towns existing within a radius of from five to ten miles, and, to a great extent, connected by railways. Within this area, the population is often as numerous as from 100,000 to 150,000. If a Science School, provided with Laboratories and a Typical Museum, existed in such a centre, it would exercise a most important influence on the Scientific Education of the District. The Museum would also be eminently attractive and humanizing as a place of popular resort.

108. We, therefore, consider that the Establishment of such Museums, where they do not exist, as well as their maintenance and improvement where they have already been formed, should be promoted by Aid from the State.

109. The aid here recommended might either take the form of grants of money (as has been already suggested in our Second Report), or of contributions of specimens coming into the possession of the Government which may not be required by the British Museum or other Public Collections.

110. We would point out that the latter proposal is in accordance with one of a series of Recommendations made in 1857 by the Committee which assists the Council of the Royal Society in the administration of the Fund for the Promotion of Science known as the "Government Grant". These recommendations were approved by the Council and communicated to the Prime Minister of the day, in answer to an inquiry as to the measures which could be adopted by the Government or by Parliament with a view to improve the position of Science, or its Cultivators, in this country.

The Recommendation in question was as follows: "That duplicate specimens from the British Museum, and other Institutions supported at the public expense, be distributed to Provincial Museums." This was in pursuance of a previous Recommendation to encourage the formation of Provincial Museums and Libraries.

111. A difference of opinion prevails among the witnesses as to the possibility of carrying out this Recommendation. Mr. Winter Jones and others connected with the British


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Museum have pointed out that the number of duplicates or redundant specimens is insignificant, and it appears not to be the usual practice to acquire duplicates, or to accept them when offered as a gift, as such duplicates are looked upon as an incumbrance; whilst the few which are preserved, as being especially valuable, are utilized for exchanges, and are thus to be reckoned as part of the resources of the establishment. It is further urged that the determination of duplicates is a work of difficulty, consuming time and labour, and that were they to be habitually received in large numbers, and were the task of assorting them and distributing them to Local Institutions to be thrown upon the officers of the Museum, the regular business of the establishment would be injuriously interfered with, unless an adequate addition were made to the working staff.

112. Dr. Günther, of the British Museum, a high authority in all that relates to the Management of Natural History Collections, while he is strongly in favour of encouraging and aiding Provincial Museums, considers that the most useful and economical mode of bestowing aid would be by grants of money, to purchase from the dealers in objects of Natural History such specimens as may be required, and he believes that, from the now extended traffic in those objects. there would be no difficulty in procuring in that way all that would probably be wanted.

113. Professor Owen and Professor Maskelyne are decidedly in favour of employing the agency of the British Museum in distributing specimens to Provincial Institutions, and Professor Maskelyne is satisfied that there would be no difficulty in carrying out the plan as regards his own Department.

114. Professor Phillips (Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford), while attaching no importance to the occasional transfer of duplicates from the Metropolitan to Local Museums, considers that it would be quite possible for the Metropolitan Museum to undertake to supply Local Museums with well-arranged Typical Collections, and that the assistance thus afforded would be of great advantage.

115. We are of opinion, on a careful examination of the whole question, that the organization of any systematic distribution of specimens would present considerable difficulties.

116. We consider, indeed, that the authorities of the British Museum should be empowered to dispose, by gift, in favour of Local Museums, of any specimens which may be ascertained to be duplicates, and which can be dealt with by the present Staff. But we cannot conceal from ourselves that, though the extensive Colonial Dependencies of this Country, and its universally diffused commerce, make it the centre to which should naturally flow specimens from every quarter of the world, the organization of the machinery for collecting, naming, and distributing duplicates on any large scale, involves a task far more formidable than is apparent at first sight. So laborious a work could not be imposed on the present Officers of the British Museum; for extensive correspondence would be necessary to secure the collection of specimens, and much time would have to be devoted to their discrimination and classification in Typical Collections. Nor could the distribution of specimens for the maintenance of Provincial Museums be systematically and successfully carried out on such a plan without the aid of Inspectors, charged with the Classification and Arrangement of the Local Collections, and who, thus becoming acquainted with their wants, would be able, in the Department of Collection and Distribution, to provide for the supply of what was locally deficient.

While we thus point out what is the task involved in carrying the Recommendations of the Witnesses into effect, we repeat the expression of our conviction, that, without some method of collection and distribution, or some efficient supervision, Provincial Museums will probably generally continue to he, as most of them now are, very inadequately supplied with specimens, imperfectly arranged, and insufficient to prove in any way a source either of popular attraction, or of more complete instruction.

117 . We recommend, therefore, that, in connexion with the Science and Art Department, qualified Naturalists be appointed to direct the collection of specimens in order to supply whatever deficiencies exist in the more important Provincial Museums; and, also, in order to organize Typical Museums, to be sent by the Department of Science and Art into the Provinces to such Science Schools as are reported to be likely to make them efficient instruments in the instruction of their own Classes, or to form and conduct subordinate classes in the surrounding country, to which specimens could be lent for the illustration of courses of teaching.

118. The Department of Science and Art has already had some experience of the conditions on which grants of Apparatus for Instruction in Experimental Science can be


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usefully made; and that Department would determine under what regulations Typical Museums could be lent, or more permanently founded.

119. Whenever it was seen to be expedient, in accordance with the suggestions of Professor Phillips and other witnesses, to organize a System of Inspection of Provincial Museums, such inspection could be accomplished at little expense. Scientific men, living in the Provinces, would be eminently qualified for the duty of inspecting Local Museums. They would report on their deficiencies as typical collections for purposes of instruction; they would ascertain to what extent they were usefully employed, and whether the conditions attached to the loan or grant from the Department of Science and Art were fulfilled. These Reports would aid the Department in its administration.

VII. PUBLIC LECTURES IN CONNEXION WITH MUSEUMS

120. The possibility of extending the usefulness of the Natural History Collections in the British Museum, by the delivery of Lectures, has been brought before us in Evidence. On this point, we have first to state that, of late years, parties of working men, accompanied by one or more gentlemen who take an interest in their instruction, have on several occasions attended at the Museum, to have the benefit of Demonstrations by Professor Owen and others of the Officers, explanatory of the principal objects in one or more of the galleries. The service performed by the officers is entirely voluntary. This use of the Museum has not been attended by any inconvenience, and has been warmly approved and encouraged by the Trustees.

121. As to the expediency, however, of giving regular Courses of Formal Lectures, the views entertained by highly competent witnesses are widely divergent.

122. Professor Owen, Professor Flower, Dr. Günther, and (with some qualifications) Dr. Sclater, have all expressed opinions favourable to the delivery of "Lectures" by the Keepers or Assistant Keepers of the British Museum, but it is important to observe that these witnesses attach very different meanings to the word "Lectures".

123. Professor Owen understands by this term Elementary Courses of Lectures, open to the public without charge, and of a character adapted to afford Instruction to the Teachers of Elementary Schools, and proposes that 12 distinct Courses of such Lectures should be available to them; each course consisting of 24 lectures to be given by Officers of the Museum.

124. Professor Flower (Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons), on the contrary, understands by "Lectures" Advanced Lectures. The Lecturer is "to select some subject he happens to be working at in his duty of arranging or cataloguing the collection under his care, and to give a short course of lectures on that particular subject". Professor Flower is not of opinion that the British Museum is a proper place for giving Elementary Instruction, and says "at all events the Officers of the Museum would not be the right persons to give it".

125. Dr. Günther (Assistant Keeper of the Department of Zoology in the British Museum) advocates a far more extensive System of Lecturing than either Professor Owen or Professor Flower.

First, a regular Course of Elementary Instruction to Students, such as is given in the Universities, accompanied by practical work.
Secondly, Lectures for the general public, such as are given at the Royal Institution.
Thirdly, Demonstrations of a popular character in the Galleries of the Museum.
126. Dr. Günther proposes that the Lectures and Practical Instruction of the first class should be given by the Keepers; those of the second class by the Keepers or by persons not connected with the Museum; and those of the third class by the Assistants.

127. Dr. Sclater (Secretary of the Zoological Society of London), though in favour of having Lectures at the Museum (or in its immediate vicinity), would not have mere Elementary Instruction given by the Keepers, and thinks it would be "very objectionable" to connect the teaching absolutely with the office of Curator.

128. Again, Mr. Waterhouse (Keeper of the Department of Geology in the British Museum), whose experience as a Curator is as great as that of any of these gentlemen, does "not think it at all desirable" that Keepers or other officers of the Museum should lecture, and is of opinion that lecturing would "interfere very much with their ordinary duties".

129. And Mr. Winter Jones, the Principal Librarian of the British Museum, considers


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that the delivery of lectures "is not consistent with the proper performance of the duties" of the Keepers.

130. Professor Maskelyne (Keeper of the Department of Mineralogy in the British Museum) would preclude Formal Lectures in the Museum, but would allow a Lecturer to meet his class there to illustrate lectures he may have given elsewhere, by demonstrations in the galleries of specimens which, from their size or value, could not be exhibited in his lecture room. Professor Maskelyne considers that if a Keeper has an aptitude, and also opportunities, for delivering lectures, he should be encouraged to do so, but not in the Museum; and he would altogether disapprove of appointing a Keeper simply or chiefly because he was a good Lecturer.

131. With regard to the Demonstrations given in the Natural History Galleries, we are of opinion that though they tend to increase not only the attractions but the usefulness of the Museum, the delivery of such Demonstrations should be in no degree obligatory on the present or future staff of Keepers, and should not receive such a development as to interfere with the discharge of the proper duties of any officer of the Museum.

132. But while favourable to the continuance of such Demonstrations, we are by no means prepared to recommend the institution, in the Museum, of Systematic Courses of Lectures; in fact, on this question we find our opinion to be entirely in accordance with the conclusions arrived at by the Royal Commissioners appointed, in 1847, to Inquire into the Constitution and Government of the British Museum, as stated in the following extract from their Report, page 35.

At Q. 2717, and elsewhere in the course of Professor Owen's evidence, will be found some observations on the expediency of introducing the practice of lectures illustrative of the collections of the Museum. In favour of the introduction of this practice, the instances are cited of the Hunterian Collection, and that of the Jardin des Plantes and other Continental Institutions, We are of opinion, as regards the Museum, that however undeniable the advantages which might be derived from some of its collections, as materials for oral illustration, it would not be desirable either to place these collections for such purpose at the disposal of lecturers not attached to the Museum, or to add to the present duties of its officers the obligation of lecturing. We consider the Museum as essentially a repository for the conservation and arrangement of a vast variety or material objects, from which men of science, literature, and art may derive assistance to their researches. We believe that the task of its superintendence and management, with a view to this main purpose alone, is sufficient to engross the time and the ability of its own officers, and that the full attainment of that purpose might be in some degree hazarded by the pursuit of every adventitious advantage which might appear of possible attainment through the instrumentality of its stores. Without desiring to limit the discretion of the Trustees in dealing with any suggestions of this nature, we cannot take upon ourselves to recommend the systematic adoption of the practice in question, nor to advise that any building in the nature of a theatre or lecture-room should form part of any future additions to the Museum.
133. Concurring in every respect with the opinions thus expressed by the Commissioners of 1847, we would further point out that, as remarked by several of the witnesses, lecturing and curatorial work are entirely different occupations, aptitude for the one by no means implying skill in the other; and that were the possession of a talent for lecturing allowed to weigh in the selection of Keepers and their Assistants, the result would, in all probability, prove prejudicial to the interests of the Institution.

134. In accordance, moreover, with the view we take of the proper purposes of the Museum, we are not favourable even to the modified proposal that Lectures should be given in the Establishment by persons specially employed for that duty who are not on the Official Staff; and, indeed, we do not see that any special advantage would be gained by delivering Natural History Lectures at the British Museum; for, as the valuable specimens in the Galleries ought not to be subjected to the risk of rough usage in a Lecture Theatre, and as Special Collections would, therefore, be required for teaching, these might as well be provided and used elsewhere.

135. In considering the question of the modes of turning Natural History Museums to account as places of Instruction, it must not be forgotten that much may be done towards this end by other means than by the delivery of Lectures. By the skilful selection and arrangement of the specimens exhibited to the public; by providing Descriptive Labels instead of the meagre indication of names at present adopted; and, above all, by supplying Explanatory Catalogues suited to the wants of unscientific people, the public might be enabled to teach themselves with as much efficiency as they would be taught by the majority of Lecturers, and with far less trouble and inconvenience than are involved in the Attendance on Lectures.

136. We have formed a decided opinion that Keepers and other Scientific Officers in charge of the Collection ought not to be diverted from their proper business, which


[page 20]

is the naming, arrangement, and cataloguing of the specimens, by being required or expected to give lectures. The National Collection of Natural History should represent as completely as possible the totality of the forms of animals and plants, both living and fossil; and these forms ought all to be named, described, arranged, and catalogued. The task of bringing the National Collection into this ideal state of perfection is assuredly of sufficient magnitude to occupy for very many years to come the full working power of the staff of Keepers and Assistants.

137. Those whose duty or inclination it is to act as interpreters between Science and the general public should have full opportunity for doing their excellent and useful work; on the other hand, those whose duty it is to instruct the student, not only in the facts, but in the methods of Science, and those, whose no less laborious task it is to discriminate and put in order the endless variety of Natural Objects, so that they may become accessible and useful to the advanced worker, should be enabled to perform these functions without the hindrance and distraction of popular lecturing.

138. The objections, which we have just pointed out to the delivery of systematic courses of lectures in connexion with the Natural History Collections of the British Museum, do not apply with equal force to Provincial Museums, the collections of which are incomparably smaller, are of a different character, and exist for different objects; and we are of opinion that it would be of great advantage for the diffusion of scientific knowledge, that arrangements should be made for giving courses of Scientific Lectures in such Provincial Museums of Natural History as have Typical Collections of specimens, and are provided with convenient Lecture Rooms. These Lectures should be explanatory of the contents of the Museum, and accessible to all classes on the payment of a small fee. But it is not desirable that the duty of giving such lectures should be, ex officio, incumbent upon the Curator, on whose time, especially in the larger Provincial Museums, there are many pressing claims; and, if the specimens are to be largely used for educational purposes, a special collection should be formed for use in the Lecture Room.

139. Again, the objections to the organisation of Systematic Courses of Lectures in connexion with Museums of Natural History do not apply to those Museums, whether Metropolitan or Provincial, which contain Collections of Physical, Mechanical, and Chemical Apparatus; of Geometrical Models; or of Models illustrating the progress of invention in Machinery and in Manufacturing Processes. The objects deposited in such Collections being already fully known, and having simply to be catalogued and kept in order, the work of the Curator is to a great extent mechanical, and his time, if the Collection is not a very large one, would be well employed in making it intelligible, and, therefore, useful, to the public.

140. In accordance with this view, we think it desirable that Courses of Lectures should be given at South Kensington in connexion with the Collection of Physical and Mechanical Instruments, the establishment of which we have recommended. The object of these courses should be to illustrate the progress of Scientific and Mechanical Invention by exhibiting and explaining the improvements from time to time introduced into the instruments and methods employed in Scientific Research, and in the applications of Scientific Discovery to National Industries. The Lectures should not have an elementary character, and should be given, as occasion may arise, by persons selected on account of their special acquaintance with the most recent developments of some important branch of Science.

141. The importance of the question raised by the proposal to organise Courses of Lectures in connexion with Museums, induces us to submit in this place some further recommendations with regard to it. We have felt it our duty to express our disapproval of this proposal, so far as the great National Collections of Natural History are concerned. We also consider it to be indispensable to the maintenance of a high standard of scientific instruction, that the lectures and class teaching given in Colleges and Schools of Science should have that strictly scientific character which alone can meet the requirements of the regular Students of such Institutions; and this opinion is corroborated by the evidence* given to us by some of the most eminent Teachers and Investigators. But we are anxious that it should be clearly understood that we do not underrate the usefulness of popular Lectures on Science, although we are convinced that they ought not to form any necessary part of the business of the working staff of a great National Museum, or of an Institution for the Training of Students. On the contrary, we have arrived at the conclusion that

*Vide Qu. 1174. Qu. 2793 et seq.


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Lectures on Science, accessible to all classes on payment of a small fee, should be organised in the great centres of population; and we are of opinion that the establishment of such Lectures should be promoted by the Government. In the Metropolis, Lectures on Experimental and Natural Science have already been founded by the Government, and, though tried upon a very limited scale, the experiment has been attended with complete success. We recommend, therefore, that, in the first instance, a greater development should be given to this system of instruction.

142. The Lectures should be of two kinds:

First. Lectures of an elementary character on the General Principles and most important Facts of Science.
Secondly. Lectures specially intended to familiarize the working classes with the Applications of Science to the Arts; and Industries of the Country.
143. The arrangements for both classes of Lectures would be greatly facilitated by connecting them, as far as possible, with local Scientific Institutions, and especially with the Provincial Museums, which we have already recommended should receive direct aid from the State, and of which the Collections (and, in many cases, the Buildings) would be available for Lecture purposes.

144. The importance of Lectures of the first kind, as a powerful means of diffusing knowledge among the masses of the people, and thereby elevating their condition and making them more useful members of the community, is so generally admitted, that we do not propose to dwell on it here. But the object sought to be attained by Lectures of the second kind is a more special one; and we are induced to recommend the institution of such Lectures chiefly by the following considerations:

145. We have elsewhere stated our opinion that Instruction in the Application of Science to the Arts and Industries of the Country should not be largely mixed with the courses delivered from purely Scientific Chairs. The immediate objects sought to be attained by a purely Scientific Course, and by one applied to the Arts, are so far dissimilar, that each can only be effectually promoted by separate modes of instruction. It must, moreover, be borne in mind that the distance which separates the Strictly Scientific Course and its Laboratory from the Workshop or "Colourshop" of the Manufactory is very great, and that the education of many of our artisans is at present so rudimentary, that even if they had the time they have not the culture necessary to enable them to derive much advantage from a complete Scientific Course. What is required, therefore, is a form of instruction intermediate between pure Science and the manipulations of industry, which may spread scientific knowledge among workmen, and, by rendering the relations of Science and Industry familiar to them, promote the improvement of manufacturing processes and the progress of invention.

146. A large proportion of the workmen attending the proposed Lectures will probably have received preliminary instruction in the Elementary Science Classes already founded in connexion with the Science and Art Department. We have recommended that this instruction be made more efficient by the establishment of Laboratories and Museums, which we have suggested should be founded in connexion with Schools of Science in the centre of groups of such classes. The instruction thus provided would form a fitting preparation for the proposed courses, and many workmen would by these successive means be enabled to grasp the whole theory of the application of Science to their own branch of Industry.

147. Courses of Lectures of the kind which we are here contemplating have been conducted in Paris in connexion with the "Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers", an Institution the foundation of which was begun in the year 1775. Its scope and purpose are explained in detail in a Memorandum by our Secretary, which is appended to this Report, but we may briefly state that it is a great Collection of Geometrical and Mechanical Models, of Physical and Chemical Instruments, and of Machinery illustrative of the Progress of Invention. In the Theatre of the "Conservatoire", no fewer than 14 Courses of Lectures are given by very eminent Professors on the following topics: Geometry applied to the Arts; Descriptive Geometry; Mechanics applied to the Arts; Civil Constructions; Physics applied to the Arts; General Chemistry in its relations to Industry; Industrial Chemistry; Chemistry applied to Dyeing, Pottery, and Glass; Agricultural Chemistry and Chemical Analysis; Agriculture; Agricultural Works and Rural Engineering; Spinning and Weaving; Political Economy and Industrial Legislation; Industrial and Statistical Economy.

148. Each Professor gives two lectures weekly in the evening to suit the convenience of the artisans, by whom they are chiefly attended. The Lectures are intended to


[page 22]

show the application of Science to practice; to render accessible to the workman such portions of scientific knowledge as are most directly germane to his work; and finally to bring under notice and to explain the latest refinements of invention exhibited in the Museum.

149. From a communication received from General Morin, the Director, we learn that almost all the Courses embrace a considerable range of matter, of which the whole can only be gone through in two or three, sometimes more, years; but each yearly Course begins with an exposition of the principles, or, at all events, a reminder of them, before the special subjects of the course are discussed.

150. That the classes for whom these lectures are intended appreciate them is beyond a doubt, no fewer than 250,000 persons having attended the courses of last year; and it seems as little open to question that such instruction must have had a most beneficial effect.

151. In bringing thus prominently forward the example of the "Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers", we do not necessarily imply that its arrangements are in all respects suitable for imitation in this country. Instruction on many of the topics dealt with in the fourteen courses of lectures might be given as well in other places as in a Technical Museum. But it is obviously convenient that lectures on Mechanical and Physical Instruments, and on Machinery, should be given within the building which contains the objects described - objects which are not easily moved, and the inspection of which is a needful supplement to diagrams and descriptions.

152. In making the foregoing remarks we have been guided by two convictions.

The first, that the diffusion among the people of a general knowledge of Science is in itself an object of great importance, and that, in particular, an acquaintance with the manner in which abstract science is brought to bear upon industrial occupations is of the greatest moment to the working classes of this country, not merely as tending directly to increase the skill of the artisan in his handicraft, but as the best means of awakening his intelligence, by forcing him to reflect upon the general laws which are exemplified by the processes with which he is familiar in his daily life.

The second, that no real Advancement of Knowledge and none of the higher benefits from Science as Educational Discipline are to be hoped for from merely general and occasional Scientific Instruction, whether it be derived from books or from lectures, but that such Advancement and benefits will result only from systematic and sustained study.

153. While, therefore, we deprecate the notion that no Scientific Institution ought to be supported by the State unless it contributes directly in some way or other to the Instruction or Entertainment of the General Public, we advocate the fullest extension of Popular Instruction in Science, whether by Lectures in connexion with Public Museums suited for such purposes, or otherwise.




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Conclusion and Summary of Recommendations

154. In concluding that part of the Inquiry Entrusted to Your Commissioners which has reference to Scientific Museums, we deem it advisable to Summarise the Recommendations which we have considered it expedient to make.

With regard to the Natural History Collections of the British Museum, we recommend:

I. That the occasion of the Removal of these Collections to the New Buildings now being erected at South Kensington for their reception, be taken advantage of to effect a change in the Governing Authority and Official Administration of that Division of the Museum.

II. That a Director of the National Collections should be appointed by the Crown, and should have the entire Administration of the Establishment, under the control of a Minister of State, to whom he should be immediately responsible; and that the Keepers of Collections, should be responsible to the Director. That the Appointments of Keepers and other Scientific Officers should be made by the Minister, after communication with the Director and with the Board of Visitors (hereinafter referred to). And that the Director should prepare the Estimates, to be submitted, after consultation with the Board of Visitors, for the approval of the Minister.

III. That the present Superintendent be the first Director.

IV. That a Board of Visitors be constituted. That the Board be nominated, in part by the Crown, in part by the Royal and certain other Scientific Societies of the Metropolis, and, in the first instance, in part also by the Board of Trustees; the Members to be appointed for a limited period, but to be re-eligible; and that the Board of Visitors should make Annual Reports to the Minister, to be laid before Parliament, on the Condition, Management, and Requirements of the Museum, and should be empowered to give him advice, on any points affecting its Administration.

With regard to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, we recommend:
V. That, should the fund at the disposal of the College, owing to changes in Medical Legislation, or from any other cause, prove inadequate for the efficient Maintenance and continued Extension of the Museum, it should receive support from the State, as an Institution intimately connected with the progress of Biological Science in this Country.
With regard to the National Botanical Collections and Gardens, we recommend:
VI. That the Collections at the British Museum be maintained and arranged with special reference to the Geographical Distribution of Plants and to Palæontology; and that the Collections at Kew be maintained and arranged with special reference to Systematic Botany.

VII. That all Collections of Recent Plants made by Government Expeditions be, in the first instance, sent to Kew, to be there worked out and distributed, a set being reserved for the British Museum; and that all Collections of Fossil Plants made by Government Expeditions be sent to the British Museum.

VIII. That opportunities for the pursuit of Investigations in Physiological Botany should be afforded in the Royal Gardens at Kew.

With regard to the Scientific Collections of the South Kensington Museum; we recommend:
IX. The formation of a Collection of Physical and Mechanical Instruments; and we submit for consideration whether it may not be expedient that this Collection, the Collection of the Patent Museum, and that of the Scientific and Educational Department of the South Kensington Museum, should be united and placed under the Authority of a Minister of State.
With regard to Provincial Museums, we recommend:
X. That, in connexion with the Science and Art Section of the Education Department, qualified Naturalists be appointed to direct the collection of Specimens in order to supply whatever deficiencies exist in the more important Provincial Museums;

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and, also, in order to organize Typical Museums, to be sent by the Department of Science and Art into the Provinces to such Science Schools as may be reported to be likely to make them efficient instruments of Scientific Instruction.

XI. That a System of Inspection of Provincial Museums be organized with a view of reporting on their condition, and on the extent to which they are usefully employed, and whether the conditions of the Loan or Grant from the Department of Science and Art have been fulfilled.

With regard to Public Lectures, we recommend:
XII. That Courses of Lectures be given in connexion with the Collection of Physical and Mechanical Instruments, the establishment of which we have proposed, the object of these Lectures being to illustrate the progress of Scientific and Mechanical Discovery and Invention.

XIII. That the establishment of Lectures on Science, accessible to all classes on the payment of a small fee, should be promoted by the Government in the great centres of population.

XIV. That, in the first instance, with the view of carrying out the preceding recommendation, the system of instruction of this kind, which has already been established by the Government in the Metropolis, should be developed by the institution of Courses of Lectures on the principal Branches of Experimental and Natural Science.

XV. That the proposed Lectures be of two kinds. First: Lectures of an elementary character on the General Principles and most important Facts of Science. Secondly: Lectures specially intended for the Working Classes on the Application of Science to the Arts and Industries of the Country.

All of which we humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty's gracIous consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
W. SHARPEY.
T. H. HUXLEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
*B. SAMUELSON. (Feb. 16th 1874.)
I request permission to state that I have withheld my signature from the above Report, not because I disagree with the Recommendations which it contains, but because I have been prevented from taking part in the recent deliberations of Her Majesty's Commissioners.

LANSDOWNE.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER,
Secretary.
January 16th, 1874.

*Having taken a part in the deliberations which led to this Report, my signature has been appended to it after its presentation to the Queen, only on account of my unavoidable absence from England when it was presented.

B. SAMUELSON.



[title page]

FIFTH REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1874

[C.-1087.] Price 6d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORT1
APPENDIX29





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


[page iv]

execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





[page v]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen. Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
    Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.


[page 1]

FIFTH REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

We, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty, in continuation of our former Reports, the following Report on certain Institutions of recent voluntary origin and mainly dependent on voluntary support, which have made arrangements for Advanced Instruction in Science.

The Institutions of this description to which our attention has been directed, and with regard to which we have taken Evidence, are the following:

I. The Two Metropolitan Colleges, viz.:
    University College.
    King's College.
II. The Owens College, Manchester.
III. The College of Physical Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
IV. The Catholic University of Ireland.


I. THE TWO METROPOLITAN COLLEGES

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON

1. The history of this Institution, as briefly stated in its Calendar, is as follows:

It was founded in the year 1826, and opened on the 1st of October 1828, under the title of The University of London. It was incorporated as University College, London, by a Royal Charter dated the 28th of November 1836, which was annulled by an Act of Parliament passed on the 24th of June 1869, whereby the College was re-incorporated with additional powers and divested of its proprietary character. The purpose of the College, as expressed in the Act, is "to afford, at a moderate expense, the means of education in Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, and in the knowledge required for admission to the Medical and Legal Professions, and in particular for so affording the means of obtaining the education required for the purpose of taking the degrees now or hereafter granted by the University of London."

2. The College was in the first instance constituted as a joint stock company, and the original deed of settlement provided for a dividend not exceeding 4 per cent on the share capital. But, as a matter of fact, no dividend was ever paid, the expenditure of the College having from the very first absorbed the whole of the receipts from that portion of the fees paid by the students which was applicable to the purposes of a dividend. The title of "The University of London", which was at first assumed by the Institution, did not carry with it any of the privileges of an University, or the power of granting degrees. On the 26th of March 1835 the House of Commons adopted by a large majority an address to the Crown, praying that a Charter of Incorporation might be granted to "the University of London", containing the power of conferring degrees, other than degrees in Medicine and Divinity. Instead of giving this power, the Government determined to found a new Institution, the present University of London; and it was proposed to the College, or University of London, as it was then called, that it should give up its title in favour of the new Institution then about to be founded, and should take instead the title of "University College, London". This proposal the Council recommended the proprietors to accept, and it was accordingly accepted by them. It was one of the conditions of the agreement between the College and the Government, when the original title was given up, that the Institution should be incorporated by a Royal Charter. It would seem that it was intended that this Charter should extinguish the pecuniary rights of the proprietors. These rights were, however, not formally cancelled, and provision was made for the transference of the shares; although all reference to any pecuniary advantage to be derived from the possession of the shares was left out of the Charter. At a subsequent period doubts were entertained as to whether the Charter had so effectually extinguished the proprietary rights as to prevent them from becoming inconvenient at some future time; and the College, with the


[page 2]

unanimous approval of the proprietors at a General Meeting, determined to apply, and did successfully apply, for a private Act of Parliament to settle the question. The main object of the University College Act of 1869 was to secure the extinction of the proprietary rights, but at the same time the powers of the Institution were enlarged in several directions. It then obtained the power, which it had not before, of instructing women as well as men in the College, and also of giving instruction in the Fine Arts. The Act also gives the College a licence of mortmain up to a rackrent value of £10,000 per annum, exclusive of its freehold site in London.

3. By the provisions of the University College Act the government of the College is intrusted to a Council elected by a General Meeting of its members. The Members of the College consist, first of the Governors, secondly of the Fellows, and thirdly of the Life Governors. The Governors represent the registered proprietors of the shares in the College, as it was constituted under the Royal Charter; and, although all their pecuniary rights have been abolished, the right of proprietorship is still so far preserved that every Governor has the privilege of nominating by writing under his hand some person, subject to the approval of the Council, to replace him in his lifetime, or to succeed him after his death as Governor. No such power of transmission is given to the Fellows or to the Life Governors. The Fellows are former or actual Students of the College, nominated by the Council, and admitted by a General Meeting of the Members. The Life Governors are similarly nominated, either by the Council, or by twenty members of the College, and are admitted by a general meeting. They are not, however, necessarily former students of the College, but must be persons having special claims to the distinction, which special claims the Council, or the nominators, are required to state in writing at the time when the nomination is made. The Council consists of a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and not more than twenty-one or less than sixteen other members, to be elected at a general meeting, out of the members of the College. Six of the members of the Council retire every year, but are re-eligible.

4. The powers of the Council are very wide; it has "the sole and entire management and superintendence of the College, as well relating to the income and funds thereof as to the teaching of the various branches of literature, science, and art therein, and the appointment, suspension, and dismissal of professors, lecturers, and teachers, and all other the affairs and concerns thereof." The Council also has the government of the Hospital, which has been established in connexion with the College, and the control of its funds. The power of making byelaws, however, rests with the General Meeting of the Members.

5. The byelaws at present in force provide that no professor or holder of any other place of emolument in the College or Hospital shall hold the office of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, member of the Council, or Auditor, without vacating his professorship or other place of emolument. The effect of this byelaw is to exclude the professors, individually as well as collectively, from any direct share in the government of the College; but at the same time by another byelaw the professorial body is constituted into a Senate, which possesses no powers under the Act of Parliament, and which occupies with regard to the Council the position of a purely consultative body. The Senate is empowered to make suggestions to the Council with regard to the general management of the College, and especially of the libraries and the museum. Further, whenever a professorship or lectureship is vacant, the Council is required by the byelaws to communicate to the Senate the names of all the candidates, with their testimonials; or, if an advertisement has been dispensed with, the name and testimonials, if any, of any person whose appointment is under consideration. The Senate report their opinion, with their reasons, to the Council, and no appointment to a permanent professorship is to be made by the Council until either a report has been made to the Council, or until the time appointed for making it has expired. Similarly, the powers of the Council in removing any professor, lecturer, or teacher, are limited by the requirement that the Council should previously send to the Senate a written statement of the grounds on which his removal is proposed, and should request the opinion of the Senate thereupon. This scheme of government possesses several obvious advantages, and has been found in practice to work very well. The Council naturally attaches great weight to the opinion of the Senate on any academic question; and the Professors thus exercise a very substantial, though indirect, control over the management of the College as a place of education, while at the same time they are relieved from the duty of attending to the details of its financial business.

6. The expenditure of the College on Capital account up to the year 1870, amounted to £202,287, and was incurred as shown in the following statement:


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Freehold land£30,000
Buildings and furniture125,070
Books4,425
Anatomical and Materia Medica Museums6,153
Chemical, Physical, and Physiological Apparatus4,336
Museum of Comparative Anatomy and Zoology602
Birkbeck Laboratory of Chemistry3,128
Expenditure on maintenance in addition to the College share of fees18,393
Amount paid to Professors in augmentation of fees, and for annuities and pensions10,180

7. The whole of this expenditure has been defrayed out of the original share capital of the College, and out of the sums that have been either given or bequeathed to it for general purposes from time to time. A portion of these expenses, viz., the items of £18,393 for expenditure beyond the College share of fees, and £10,180 paid to professors in augmentation of fees and for annuities and pensions, were not properly chargeable against the capital of the College, as they represent ordinary expenditure, which ought to have been defrayed out of the annual revenue; but the Council considered themselves justified, and no doubt were justified, in trenching upon the capital of the College for the purpose of maintaining its efficiency. In addition to the capital sum which has been expended as shown above, there are endowments arising out of various bequests which produced, in 1870, an annual income of £2,978. Of this income £2,276 is appropriated to special purposes. No assistance has ever been received from any Government grant.

8. A school into which boys are admitted at any age between seven and fifteen has been established in connexion with University College. It forms a distinct branch of the College, and its pupils are entirely separated from the students. The Head Master is appointed and is removable in the same manner in all respects as a Professor of the College, and is subject to the control and regulations of the Council. The numbers of the school during the last few years have rapidly augmented, and the instruction in Mathematics and in some branches of Natural Science has received a very considerable development. The connexion with the School is of unquestionable advantage to the College, as a large and increasing proportion of well-prepared pupils pass from the former to the latter. The establishment of the School must originally have involved a large outlay; but during the last few years the College, in a financial point of view, has not been a loser but a gainer to a slight extent by the maintenance of the School. We are informed that the financial relations between the two branches of the Institution have "recently been carefully investigated by the School Committee of the Council, and it has thus been ascertained that for the last five years - the most prosperous in the history of the School - the net amount received from the School by the College for its general purposes has been only an average of £982 6s 8d per annum. But even this is subject to a large deduction for rent, which may be moderately estimated at £750 a year for the south wing, and of £150 for the portion of the main building still occupied by the School. Thus the actual profit derived from the School is reduced to about £100 a year."

9. There are three Faculties in University College: (1) of Arts and Laws, (2) of Science, (3) of Medicine. There is also a Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering.

10. The number of Professorships in the first two Faculties is thirty-one. Of these the scientific chairs are the eleven following: (1) a Professorship of Mathematics, (2) of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, (3) and (4) of Chemistry and Applied Chemistry (these two chairs being at present held by the same professor), (5) of Physics, (6) of Engineering, (7) of Zoology, (8) of Botany, (9) of Geology and Mineralogy, (10) of Physiology, (11) of Practical Physiology and Histology. There is, besides, a Professorship of Architecture and Construction. Of these eleven professorships, one only is endowed, Mr. T. J. Phillips Jodrell having lately presented to the College the sum of £7,500 for a permanent endowment of the Chair of Physiology. Mr. Jodrell's object in founding this endowment, as stated in the deed of foundation, was to "promote the study of Human Physiology in University College, London, and especially to encourage original research in combination with professorial teaching", and "to ensure such a provision for the professorship as shall induce men of eminence and ability, who may be willing to cultivate science for its own sake, to forego more lucrative sources of emolument, and to undertake the office on the condition of devoting to original research, either in connexion with this professorship, or any other work of a kindred nature which shall be essential and auxiliary to such research, all the time that can be


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spared from the work of a lecture room." The report of the Council on February the 25th, 1874, states that Mr. Jodrell has signified his intention of presenting the College with a further sum of £500 to be applied, under the direction of the Jodrell Professor of Human Physiology, in the purchase exclusively of such additional apparatus as may be required for the effectual prosecution of original research, and that this sum will be paid over to the College as soon as provision has been made for the reception of the apparatus, arrangements for making which provision are now in progress. With the exception of this recent benefaction, the College can hardly be said to possess any endowment whatever the revenue of which is properly applicable to the support of its Scientific Faculty. The Professor of Geology, however, receives £31 per annum from the Goldsmid Fund.

11. The courses of study, as indicated in the programmes of the professorial lectures, appear to be carefully arranged with a view to the requirements both of elementary and of advanced students. Great importance is attached to the laboratory instruction in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology.

12. The College has but few Scholarships or Exhibitions, and of these none are appropriated exclusively to scientific subjects.

13. The College possesses a valuable Library, consisting of upwards of 68,000 volumes and 16,000 pamphlets, a great part of which has been derived from gifts and bequests. Within the last few years the libraries of Mr. James Morris and of Mr. J. T. Graves, the latter containing a splendid collection of works on Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy, have been bequeathed to the College.

14. The Report of the Council already referred to states that during the Session of 1873-74 the number of pupils was 1542; of these 893 were Students in the College, and 649 Pupils in the School. Of the Students, 322 belonged to the Faculty of Medicine. In the Faculties of Arts and Laws and of Science there were 571. The fees received, exclusive of those for clinical instruction, amounted to £24,266 10s 6d, this sum consisting of the following items:

Fees for attendance on the Classes of the Faculty of Medicine£6,112 11s 6d
Fees for attendance on the Classes of the Faculties of Arts and Laws and of Science£7,053 18s 0d
School fees£11,100 1s 0d

15. The total payments out of these fees to the professors, teachers, and masters amounted to £16,904 8s. 6d, leaving £7,362 2s for the College share of fees.

16. In addition to the above-stated amount of fees, the sum of £2,010 7s 0d was received for clinical instruction in the Hospital, but these fees, as has always been the practice in this hospital, were devoted to the support of the hospital. The preamble of the University College Act recites that in the year 1832 the College appropriated "a certain portion of its land for the erection thereon of a Hospital in connexion with the Medical School of the College, and the Council obtained subscriptions from the proprietors of the College and others, whereby the North London or University College Hospital was erected on the said land, and the said hospital has since been supported by annual subscriptions, and by donations and bequests, and also by means of the fees of students of the College attending the hospital, which fees have for that purpose been relinquished by the medical officers of the hospital appointed by the Council; and the government of the hospital and of its funds since its foundation has been in the hands of the Council, who have from time to time made and altered the rules for the management thereof; and the College is now possessed of considerable investments for the benefit of the hospital." It may be added that in 1838 the College gave £500 as a contribution towards building one of the wings of the Hospital. As to the present financial relations of the Hospital to the College, the Secretary, Mr. Robson, states that -

The College discharges gratuitously all the duties of Trustee for the hospital; it manages the investments of the hospital funds, conducts the correspondence connected therewith; acts as the guardian of the legal rights of the charity, and in various other ways carries on what may be called its external affairs, defraying out of its own funds the expenses incidental to its connexion with the hospital. Besides this, it pays each of the two Holme Professors, one of Clinical Medicine, the other of Clinical Surgery, a stipend of £100 per annum, out of the income of the Holme Fund, which was bequeathed to the College 'for the purposes of its Medical Department'. The duties of these Professors are discharged wholly within the hospital, which derives an important part of its income from the fees paid by the students for hospital practice and clinical instruction.
17. The evidence which has been laid before us clearly shows that the usefulness of


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the College is greatly restricted by the insufficiency of its funds. The difficulty is felt in two respects principally; first, in providing adequate payment for the professors and their assistants, and, secondly, in providing laboratory accommodation upon a sufficient scale, together with the proper appliances for instruction and research.

18. The following are schedules of the payments received by the Professors in the session of 1872-73, and of the lectures and other instruction given by them in each academical year:

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

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SCHEDULE OF LECTURES

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19. It will be seen from the above schedules that the Professorships, with perhaps one exception, are very inadequately remunerated.

20. The emoluments of the Professors, excepting as shown in the first schedule, are derived from a share of the gross fees paid by the students, which are divided between the College and the Professors according to a sliding scale, so arranged that in the case of the larger classes the College receives one third of the fees. In the opinion of the Secretary, "the large deductions from the fees which the College is obliged to make in order to provide for the current expenses of the institution, have a twofold injurious effect. They materially diminish the remuneration of the professors, and so far tend to deprive the College of the services of able men, and by rendering it necessary to charge fees higher than might otherwise be requisite, they must have the indirect effect of keeping down the number of our students. The result is that our Professors as a rule are very inadequately paid." The natural consequence of the inadequacy of the professorial stipends is, that in many cases the College has found it impossible to retain the services of some of its most distinguished Professors. Some striking instances of very recent occurrence, which show the disadvantage at which the College is placed in this respect, are mentioned in the evidence.

21. With regard to the second point, it is stated that the resources of the College have been quite inadequate to provide suitable and sufficient laboratories, apparatus, and assistance for the practical departments of experimental science. The laboratories have recently been extended and improved; but in order to provide for all the requirements of the professors, they would need to be much larger than they now are, and to be better supplied with fittings and apparatus. With especial reference to the Physical Laboratory, it is stated by Mr. Robson that "when the present Professor of Physics was elected he pointed out to the Council the importance of having the means of giving practical instruction in the various subjects which he had to teach, and the Council complied with his suggestions as far as they had the means of doing so. Those means were so limited that they were sufficient merely to fit up one of the ordinary rooms as a physical laboratory, and to add a considerable quantity of modern apparatus to the stock which we previously had. The professor went over that stock very carefully, and drew up a long catalogue of the apparatus which he considered indispensable for carrying on his work, and the Council gave him what he said was absolutely necessary at once, but were compelled to withhold a large portion of what he wanted and which he said would be extremely useful." The Professor himself considers that his department is still to a great extent in want of apparatus, as well as of more suitable rooms.

22. The Chemical Laboratory, which is known by the name of the Birkbeck Laboratory, was not provided wholly out of the funds of the College. About a third part of the sum which was expended on it was obtained from subscriptions raised by a number of Mechanics' Institutions in various parts of the country in honour of the man who first suggested their foundation. With regard to this laboratory, Professor Williamson states: "The public laboratory which is attended by the students is supplied by the College with the stock apparatus, which is kept up partially by a moderate sum which is spent every year in renewing and repairing the apparatus. The Council are very considerate in the matter. I believe they have never refused anything in that way which I have asked for; but I conceive that that is only due to the fact that my requests have been exceedingly moderate, because I knew that I should very soon get to the limit of their power of supplying them, I do not remember a case of their declining to give me anything I asked for ... As to the extent of the laboratories, there are important wants for operations of greater nicety, but the general accommodation is not unsatisfactory." The important wants referred to are rooms "for gas analyses, and for operations requiring high temperatures and requiring furnaces; the accommodation for such purposes being at present scanty." Professor Williamson adds: "The first thing I should wish to do, if I had had the command of more money for the purpose, would be to get better illustrations for my lectures and better apparatus for the laboratory. I should also use available money for apparatus and materials, and for assistants in original research, and that is the bigger item of the two." The working space in the Birkbeck Laboratory is stated to be only sufficient to accommodate twenty-four students, and this number is accommodated only by allowing less space to each student than in laboratories of more recent foundation, such as that at Bonn, for example.


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23. Proposals for the extension of the College buildings appear at various times to have come under the consideration of the Council, but no definite action has been taken with regard to them. Mr. Robson believes:

That if the Council had the necessary funds at their disposal, they would take steps to complete the two wings, already partly erected, and thus carry out the original design of the College, so far as its extent is concerned. Judging from estimates made at various times by our architect, I conclude that the cost of the work in question would be upwards of £40,000.

Among the uses to which the additional buildings could advantageously be put, I may mention, in the first place, laboratories for Practical Physics, and for original physical research; next workshops attached to the Class of Engineering; accommodation of this kind has been greatly needed for several years past, and the want of it, there is good reason to believe, has been a serious obstacle to the full development of both the departments of the College affected by it.

Greater space could be beneficially devoted to providing more extensive and complete accommodation for the teachers and the students engaged in the classes of Chemistry and of Practical Physiology.

Laboratories for original chemical research, and for the practical applications of chemistry, would also require much space as well as expensive fittings and apparatus.

The whole of the south wing, when completed, would probably be required for the use of the School, if, as there is every reason to expect, the number of its pupils should go on increasing for the next few years, as it has continuously for the past six or seven years. A large portion of the wing last built, which was finished in September 1873, having been assigned to the classes of Practical Chemistry and of Physics, to which subjects great attention is paid in the school, it is found that less accommodation than had been anticipated is available for ordinary classes, so that the school is already again cramped for space.


KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON

24. King's College was founded by Royal Charter in the year 1828, "for the teaching of various branches of Literature and Science, and also the doctrines and duties of Christianity as the same are inculcated by the United Church of England and Ireland." The College was erected, on a site granted by the Crown, with money raised partly by shares and partly by donations, there being no grant whatever from the Government towards the erection of the building. It is stated in a document issued by the Council of King's College in 1871, that "a number of its original promoters, both donors and shareholders, withdrew their support at the last moment in consequence of certain political differences with which the College itself was entirely unconnected, leaving £12,000 of shares forfeited, besides promised donations, of which the amount cannot now be ascertained, but it is believed to have been at least £3,000. The debt thus involved in the building of the College has been in regular course of liquidation by a sinking fund which is rigorously kept up. On the other hand, new buildings have been needed, and consequent debt has from time to time been incurred in order to meet the requirements of efficient teaching, and especially the increased demands of Physical Science, for which more accommodation is still urgently needed."

25. The proprietary rights of the original shareholders and of donors have never been entirely extinguished, although they appear to be limited in point of fact to the right of nominating pupils to the School or to the College at a slightly reduced fee, and even this right is but seldom exercised. The proprietors are precluded by a provision in the Charter from receiving more than four per cent, per annum upon the amount of their shares; but as there has never been any divisible surplus they have received no dividend whatever.

26. The official title of the Corporation is "The Governors and Proprietors of King's College, London". Its government is vested in a Council, which reports annually to the Court of Governors and Proprietors. The Council consists altogether of forty-two members, nine of whom are the official Governors; one is the Treasurer; eight are life Governors; and the other twenty-four, of whom six go out every year, are elected by the Court of Proprietors from a list prepared by the Governors, and containing twice as many names as there are vacancies. The Official Governors are the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Chief Justice of England, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Mayor of London, and the Deans of St. Paul's and Westminster. The Life Governors are appointed, as vacancies occur, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the Visitor of the College. The elected members of the Council must be members of the Corporation; and it is further provided in the Charter that "no person who is not a member of the United Church of England and Ireland, as by law established, shall be competent to act as Governor by virtue of his office, or to be nominated or act as Life Governor, or be eligible as a member of the Council, or to fill any office in the College, except only the Professorships of Oriental Literature and Modern Languages." The Council has "full power, from time to time, to appoint, and, as they shall see


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occasion, to remove, as well the Principal, or other head, the Professors, Tutors, and Masters, as also the Secretary and all officers, agents, and servants of the said College." It has also the entire management of and superintendence over the affairs, concerns, and property of the College, and in all cases not provided for by the Charter, it is empowered to act in such manner as it may deem best calculated to promote the welfare of the College. It may further make, and vary any byelaws and regulations, touching the government of the College, the appointment and removal, number and rank, powers and duties, stipends and emoluments, of the several persons employed, and the terms and conditions upon which students shall be admitted. The appointment, or dismissal, of the Principal and of the Head Master must be confirmed by the Governors; and their consent is also requisite for the validity of any "fundamental regulation" affecting the discipline and course of education in the College.

27. The following is a statement of the expenditure of the Capital funds of the College from its foundation to the present time:

Freehold lands, exclusive of site granted by the Crown£16,448 0s 0d
College and School buildings and fittings£146,899 0s 0d
Fittings for museums and laboratories£5,738 0s 0d
Cost of books for general and medical libraries£5,296 11s 5d
Cost of museum and laboratory apparatus£6,039 14s 4d

28. The College possesses no Endowment applicable to General Purposes (other than the buildings, &c., upon which its capital has been expended). There are, however, endowments amounting in all to about £21,500, and producing an annual income of about £880, which are specially appropriated to certain prizes, scholarships, and professorships, none of which are scientific. In fact the whole of the expenditure required for the ordinary everyday work of the College has to be defrayed out of the fees paid by the students.

29. The general education of the College is carried on in six distinct Departments, (1) the Theological Department; (2) the Department of General Literature and Science (of this there are three divisions, the Classical, the Modern Division, and the Oriental; (3) the Department of the Applied Sciences; (4) the Medical Department; (5) the Evening Classes; and (6) the School. The whole of the arrangements of the College are under the supervision of a Principal, for whom a house is provided in the College building. The management of the School is left to a great extent in the hands of the Head Master, subject to consultation with the Principal.

30. The Students are divided into two classes, the Matriculated and the Occasional students. The Matriculated Students are those admitted to the regular and full prescribed course of study. The Occasional Students are those who, being unable to attend the whole course, are desirous of pursuing any particular subject. The Matriculated Students are expected to attend the daily service in chapel, unless specially exempted by the Principal. An exemption is allowed in all cases of conscientious objection. As, however, no register is kept of the attendances, the exemptions are not often applied for. Divinity Lectures form a part of the regular course in all the Departments, but exemptions from attendance at these lectures are likewise readily granted. As has been stated above, the Charter requires that the Professors should be members of the Church of England. No very stringent test, however, is applied in practice. In reply to the question, "What is the nature of the declaration of conformity?" the Principal states that the candidate does not sign any declaration whatever, but simply says, I am a member of the Church of England.

31. The Scientific Professorships in the Department of General Literature and Science are (1) a Professorship of Mathematics, the Professor having the assistance of three lecturers; (2) of Natural Philosophy; (3) of Chemistry; (4) of Mineralogy; (5) of Geology (the Professor of Geology has also the assistance of a lecturer); in addition to these there are in the Department of Applied Science, Professorships (6) of the Arts of Construction; (7) of Manufacturing Art and Machinery; (8) of Surveying and Levelling; (9) of Drawing (Geometrical, Engineering, and Freehand); and, in the Medical Department, Professorships (10) of Botany; (11) of Comparative Anatomy; (12) and (13) of Physiology and Practical Physiology, the last two being held by the same Professor. The Professor of Natural Philosophy has one Demonstrator, and the Professor of Chemistry two; there is also a Lecturer in Photography. A schedule is annexed of the stipends received by the Scientific Teaching Staff, not including the payments for the Evening Classes (which, however, are very small in amount) in the year 1873:


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This schedule shows that, as in the case of University College, the teaching staff is very inadequately paid.

32. Great attention is paid at King's College to the Department of Applied Science, which is intended chiefly, but not exclusively, for engineering students, and students of manufacturing art. This Department appears to have met with a considerable amount of success, and there is evidence that the instruction given in it is highly esteemed by professional men. The following statement, laid before us by Professor W. G. Adams, describes the arrangements of this Department:

At King's College the course is divided into three sessions, with three terms in each session, affording about 11 weeks' actual tuition in each term, and includes the following subjects:

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The professors of civil engineering and mechanical engineering require, at regular intervals, essays on some practical subjects from third year students.

In addition to one lecture in each week during the first two sessions, the professor of mechanical engineering takes the students in his classes to visit manufactories in the neighbourhood of London. The average time is thus two hours a week for each session.

In addition to, or instead of certain parts of this, the regular course, the second and third years' students can, and frequently do, attend and receive instruction in the chemical or the physical laboratories, which are open to them and to others (occasional students) for several hours daily, on payment of an extra fee of from £4 4s to £8 8s a term, or £10 10s to £21 for three terms, and in which there is always a professor or demonstrator to give instruction and assistance. The engineering drawing class is also open for three hours daily (except on Saturday), and the mechanical workshop (in which the first year's students do wood work, and the second and third years' students do metal work) is open for six hours daily (except on Saturday, when it closes at 1 p.m.), and in each case there is always some one to give instruction and assistance.

Professor Adams adds: " We have every means at King's College that can be pro-


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vided for the education of engineers, except the practical engineering itself, and for that it would be necessary that our students should go to a practical engineer to finish acquiring a knowledge of the profession, but we have everything preparatory to that in our present course at King's College; the course is complete for civil or for mechanical engineering." For some years past the number of students in this department has ranged from 75 to 95.

33. The evening classes at King's College have been eminently successful, and provide a fairly complete course of scientific instruction for persons who are unable to attend the day classes. They were attended in 1873 by as many as 550 students, the majority of whom attended more than one class; about 300 of the 550 attending Science Classes. The students at the evening classes are usually clerks, either in the Civil Service, or in mercantile, architects', or engineers' offices.

34. The School appears to be in a flourishing condition, and its numbers are rapidly increasing; they amounted in the year 1872-3 to 456, and in the year 1873-4 to 521, the highest point that they have yet reached. The financial relations of the School to the College are substantially the same as at University College.

35. As in the case of University College, it is stated that in King's College the chief impediment to its further success is "that it is so extremely poor". The Secretary, Mr. Cunningham, says, "Our original subscriptions were £15,000 short of the sum that was actually wanted for the building, and although the Council has for many years insisted on putting by £500 a year to pay off the debt, yet the increase of new wants has been so great that the original debt remains very much the same now as it did originally." "Science in all its departments" is said to have been "the chief source of permanent outlay of late years. In the first place, the Council, only a few years ago, spent £5,000 in building a new Hospital, with the simple object, as far as they were concerned, of providing Clinical Teaching for their Medical Students. Within the last five years they have spent £2,000 on a new Museum, and £2,000 on Chemical and Physical Laboratories. And now, at the present moment, they have a further demand of, I suppose, £1,500 more for the new subject of Practical Physiology." The Scientific Departments as a matter of profit and loss do not add to the resources of the College. The Department of Applied Sciences may be said almost to pay its own way, but the Medical Department has always been worked at a very heavy loss. The evening classes, for which very moderate fees are charged, and for which the Professors are very poorly remunerated, contribute little or nothing to the support of the College. The Theological and Literary Departments are, financially, more successful; and may be said to keep the College afloat. The teaching staff is paid upon the principle of dividing amongst the Professors and Lecturers in each Department three fourths of the fees paid by the students of that Department, the College reserving to itself the remaining fourth part, out of which it has to pay the whole expenses of the buildings, the interest on the debt, and the salaries of the Principal, the Secretary, and the clerks. But the Professors do not always get their three-fourths. "The Council have for the last 10 or 12 years insisted on there being £500 clear profit made every year, and if that clear profit is not made, the professors have to make good the deficiency out of their next fees. This time last year the Council had to charge 3 per cent upon the whole staff to cover the deficiency of 1869, and this year they have had to charge one and a half per cent for the expenses of 1870." The Council has frequently to refuse applications for increased grants from the various Departments.

36. Great efforts have been made and are still being made by the Council to raise an endowment fund of £30,000, between £11,000 and £12,000 of which has now been subscribed. It is proposed to apply this fund partly in liquidation of the existing debt of £15,000, and partly in extending and improving the educational appliances of the College.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE TWO METROPOLITAN COLLEGES

37. We infer from the evidence laid before us that a strong feeling exists on the part of the persons interested in University and King's Colleges, that these Institutions have to contend upon very unequal terms against the competition of highly endowed Colleges and Schools, and especially of Institutions supported wholly or in part by Government. There does not appear to be any ground for believing that in the Government Institutions Scientific Instruction is provided at a lower rate than in these Colleges. It is rather with regard to the competition for professors, than with regard to the competition for


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students, that the disadvantage is alleged to exist, it being obviously difficult to maintain an unendowed and self-supporting system of instruction at the same level of efficiency as one assisted by public funds, or endowments. We have already referred to the complaint on the part of University College, that "able professors are drawn away from it by opportunities of obtaining better remunerated posts", and that in this way it suffers directly from an unequal competition with the State. To the same effect the Principal of King's College observes, "It is clear that the Government comes into the field with the advantage of the public purse, and can pay their teaching staff very far better than we can pretend to do; the effect ought to be that they should draw the best teachers to their College by being able to remunerate them most largely. If they get the best men, their tuition ought to be the best, and if their tuition is the best, of course they will gain the greatest amount of success. I say it ought to be so, because other than pecuniary influences come in." It must, however, be admitted that the Schedules of the Professorial stipends at the Royal School of Mines, and at Cooper's Hill College, which will be found in the Appendix to this Report, do not altogether justify the apprehensions which have been expressed to us by the witnesses from University and King's Colleges.

38. These witnesses further agree in entertaining the apprehension that there may be a tendency in the distribution of Government patronage to prefer students educated at Government Institutions to students educated at independent Colleges. At the time of the first establishment by the Government of the Engineering College at Cooper's Hill, it was in contemplation that appointments in the Indian Engineering Service should be confined to the students trained in that College. As the Council of King's College felt that this restriction was likely to exercise a most depressing influence on their own Engineering School, they addressed a Memorial to the India Office on the subject; and a similar Memorial was also presented by the Council and Senate of University College. The cause of complaint was, however, in great measure removed by the determination at which the Government ultimately arrived, in accordance with a resolution of the House of Commons, to allow students from other Colleges to compete, under certain conditions, for admission to the Engineering Service of India. This after action of the Government may be taken as a sufficient proof that the independent Colleges are in a position to assert successfully the claims of their own students to a fair share in the distribution of Government patronage. We have, however, thought it our duty to refer to the matter, as our attention has been called to it in the evidence, and as some importance has been attached to it by the working staff of the two Colleges.

39. The question of applying to Government for pecuniary assistance appears to have come under the notice of the authorities both of University and King's Colleges; but no formal step with this object has been taken by the Council of either Body. Speaking on behalf of University College, Mr, Robson says, "The question has been discussed several times in the Senate or body of Professors, but the Council hitherto have never discussed it in a formal manner. I speak with some amount of hesitation and reserve, but I believe that the general feeling in the Council, at all events until very recently, was that if they could maintain the Institution without making any appeal to the Government or to Parliament, they would very much prefer doing so. I think it may be truly said that every effort has been tried to accomplish that end. The financial statement which I have read shows that the Council have gone on from the first with a determination to carry on the Institution without appealing to the public, if possible; and probably if it had not been for the recent very great extension of scientific teaching in every department all over the country, they might have continued to pursue the same policy; but it is quite clear, I think, that our means and appliances, although they might have been sufficient 20 or 30 years ago, are not sufficient now; and undoubtedly the resources of the Institution have not increased of late."

40. The witnesses from King's College speak with more definiteness. Mr. Cunningham states that the history of the College has, in his judgment, established its claim to public support, and bases that claim mainly on the following grounds: "First of all, the very large educational work on which we are engaged ... Secondly, the immense difficulty of carrying it on with such very small funds as we possess. Thirdly, the new wants every day coming up which we really cannot meet. Lastly, the very large number of honours gained at the Universities by the students of King's College."


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Recommendations with reference to the two Metropolitan Colleges

41. After carefully reviewing the evidence laid before us with regard to University and King's Colleges, and especially taking into account the great public services which have been rendered by these two Institutions to Scientific Education in the Metropolis, we are of opinion that, subject to the reservations which we shall make hereafter, they have established a claim to the aid of Government which ought to be admitted. We think that such Government aid should be afforded, both in the form of a capital sum to enable the Colleges to extend their buildings where requisite, and to provide the additional appliances for teaching which the advance of scientific education has now rendered absolutely necessary; and also in the form of an annual grant in aid of the ordinary working expenses of the Colleges.

42. With regard to the grant of a capital sum we are of opinion that it should be appropriated to definite objects such as those above referred to; and we further think that the amount of such grants should be dependent upon the amounts raised by subscription.

43. With regard to the annual grants in aid of the income of the Colleges, we think that they also should be appropriated to definite purposes, such, for instance, as the augmentation of the stipends of certain professorships, the payment of demonstrators and assistants, or payments in aid of the laboratory and establishment expenses. An account of the yearly expenditure of each Institution receiving such assistance should be reported to Government. As the suspension or withdrawal of the annual grant would always remain in the power of Parliament, we do not think that it would be necessary or desirable to give the Crown a voice in the appointment of the professors, or any control over the management of the Colleges, other than such visitatorial jurisdiction as would be implied by an annual presentation of the accounts.

44. As we do not consider that a day school in the metropolis ought to receive pecuniary assistance from an Institution which is itself in receipt of such assistance from Government, our recommendation of Government aid to University College is subject to the reservation that its financial arrangements shall be such as, while enabling the College to do full justice to the School, may prevent the School from becoming a charge upon the funds of the College on an average of years. Our recommendation is also subject to the reservation that the finances of the Hospital, and of the purely Medical Departments, shall be kept distinct from those of the College generally. Our inquiry has not extended to Medical Schools, and it is not within our province to make any recommendation with respect to Government aid to such Schools, whether associated with Scientific Colleges or not. In the case of University College, where such an association exists, we think it expedient that the annual outlay on the purely Medical Department should be kept distinct, in order to enable the Government to consider separately the question of aid to the Scientific Department. At the same time, we do not think that there is any reason why the boys' School and the Hospital should not continue, as at present, under the management and control of the Council of the College.

45. The same reservations apply to our recommendations with regard to King's College. Indeed, so far as King's College Hospital, and the Medical School connected with it, are concerned, the need of such a reservation is more obvious, because it is admitted that these institutions are a heavy burden upon the resources of the College.

46. With regard to King's College, we would further suggest that the College should apply for a new Charter, or for an Act of Parliament, with the view of cancelling the proprietary rights of its shareholders, and of abolishing all Religious Restrictions (so far as any such exist) on the Selection of Professors of Science, and on the Privileges extended to Students of Science. We consider that any grant of public money which may be made to King's College should be conditional on such a reconstitution of the College as should effect these objects. And we suggest that advantage might be taken of the opportunity thus afforded to introduce into the government of the College such other modifications as the experience of the persons concerned in its management may have shown to be desirable.


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II. THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER

47. This College owes its origin to the bequest of a merchant of Manchester, Mr. John Owens, who in 1846 bequeathed the principal part of his property to Trustees, whom he appointed in his will, to found within the limits of the Parliamentary Borough of Manchester, or within two miles of its boundary, "An institution for providing or aiding the means of instructing or improving young persons of the male sex - and being of an age not less than fourteen years - in such branches of learning and science as were then and might be thereafter usually taught in the English Universities." The original Trustees were either personal representatives of Mr. Owens or officially designated; and the government of the College was for many years in the hands of fourteen Trustees appointed under the will of the Founder; the work of instruction, the maintenance of discipline, and the ordinary executive, subject to the general control of the Trustees, having been during this period entrusted to the Principal and Professors, at first six and afterwards nine in number.

48. Before proceeding to open the College the Trustees made very extensive inquiries as to the course which they ought to pursue and as to the subjects of study, consequently the College was not opened until 1851. They had no power to spend any portion of the original endowment in the purchase of land or erection of buildings, but having first hired a house and land in Quay Street, they were relieved from immediate difficulty by Mr. George Faulkner, who purchased these premises for £4,500, and presented them to the College. This building in the progress of the College was found to be quite inadequate and inconvenient, though "an auxiliary fund" had been raised, a portion of which, amounting to about £4,300, had been expended in the erection and fitting up of a chemical laboratory, and in building and fitting up class rooms.

49. It may be convenient to state what were the original resources derived from the bequest of Mr. Owens, and what have been the subsequent accumulations; though, in doing so, the history of the College in its scholastic relations will necessarily be somewhat anticipated.

50. The endowment of the founder consisted of £91,325 3s 4d, and the gross income arising from it amounted in 1871 to £3,197 1s 5d. In the history of the College since its opening in 1851 numerous proofs have been given of the interest taken by the inhabitants of Manchester and the neighbourhood in its success, as will appear from the following list of benefactions:

The Auxiliary Fund, consisting of donations from 118 merchants and others, made about the year 1852, for the erection of a chemical laboratory, the formation of a library, and generally in aid of Mr. Owens' bequest£9,610
Land and buildings, the gift of the late Geo. Faulkner, Esq., originally valued at4,500
The Victoria Scholarship (Classics)500
The Wellington Scholarship (Greek Testament)500
The Dalton Memorial Fund for Scholarships in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Natural History4,125
The Shuttleworth Scholarship (Political Economy)1,250
The Shakespeare Memorial Fund for a Scholarship in the English Language and Literature1071
The Cobden Memorial Fund for the further endowment of the chair of Political Economy, and for prizes1,966
The Grammar School Scholarship1,060
£24,582

Recently a further sum of £10,000 was bequeathed by Mr. Langworthy, and will soon be available.


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51. In 1867 an important movement originated for the extension of the College. The classes had become more numerous; the number of the students had increased; the College had been affiliated to the University of London, and 130 of its students had matriculated in that University, one half of whom had proceeded to the higher examinations for degrees. Probably no institution of the kind at that time conducted the instruction of its students in so confined a space. It was apprehended that unless ampler and more appropriate accommodation could be provided, the prosperity of the College would suffer a decline as steady as its growth had been till that time; it was therefore determined to raise a fund for the erection of new buildings. The promoters organised themselves into an Extension Fund Committee, with the view of furnishing "the highest general education leading to degrees in Arts and Science, and the special training required for professional and mercantile life." They proposed to found various new professorships, and to provide them "with all the apparatus for complete and successful study; to set aside considerable sums for the extension and regular maintenance of the Library and of the Physical and Natural History Department; and, above all, to place the Chemical Department in a position of efficiency worthy of the present state of the science, and of its importance in relation to the interests of this district." The consequences of this movement were not confined to the amount of the contributions obtained for the general fund. It was accompanied by subscriptions towards special objects, such as the establishment of a fund to endow a chair of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, and the building of a Chemical Laboratory; and by the gravitation to the College of the buildings and collections of the Natural History and Geological Societies; and, more recently by the absorption of the Manchester Medical School into the scheme of the College.

52. The amounts subscribed may be classified as follows:

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53. The Land and Building Fund has been in part expended in the following manner. A site of about four acres has been acquired at a cost of £31,000 and a part of the College buildings has been erected, upon plans prepared by Mr. Waterhouse, at a cost of £54,000, to which must be added an estimated outlay of £15,000 for internal fittings. These buildings, now completed, contain (1) lecture rooms of various sizes for the Classical, Mathematical, English, and other Arts Departments; (2) lecture rooms, laboratory, workshops, drawing room, and museum, for the Natural Philosophy and Engineering Departments; (3) lecture rooms for the Natural History and Geological Departments, and temporary accommodation for the Natural History Museum; and (4) temporary library, room for examinations, Governors' council room, private rooms for the Principal and Professors, Registrar's room, Students' common room, and Offices. The new College Buildings also include a large and complete Chemical Laboratory, containing provision for upwards of 100 students, together with a Lecture Theatre capable of holding 400 persons, which will be generally appropriated to the Chemical Glasses.


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54. The buildings for the Medical School are also in course of erection, at an estimated cost, including internal fittings, of £15,000.

55. The whole immediate outlay, already incurred or under contract, for buildings and land is estimated at £131,934. Towards this outlay the Extension Fund Committee report that (including the realised value of the old site and buildings, and the Brakenbury bequest) they have available the sum of £109,885, leaving an immediate deficit of £22,049.

56. Other buildings comprised in Mr. Waterhouse's plans, and required for the Museum, Library, and Hall, but not yet erected, the Committee estimate will cause a further expenditure, within a few years, of £60,000, towards which outlay there is in hand £5,000, derived from the Natural History Society's building fund. There is therefore on these proposed future extensions a deficit of £55,000; so that, in order to carry out the intentions of the Court and Council of the College, a further sum of £60,200 will be required for building.

57. In the original organization of the College, the Trustees felt themselves under an obligation to introduce at once into the curriculum all the subjects of a liberal education, "that is to say, Classics and Mathematics pure and applied, Logic and Mental and Moral Philosophy, History, English and Modern Languages"; but whereas Natural Philosophy was at that time treated as a branch of Mathematics, and Chemistry was regarded in the light of a Chair of the second and not of the first rank, in the course of about 10 years a great change had to be made in order to give to the practical departments of Experimental Science, and especially to Chemistry, their proper position in the curriculum. The Chairs which Principal Greenwood, who is also Professor of Greek, reports to have been established (31st March 1871), and the fixed salaries paid to the Principal, the Professors, and Assistant Lecturers are shown in the following table. Although our inquiry only extends to Owens College regarded as a Scientific Institution we give the statistical facts relating to the Classical and Literary Professorships, because in the case of this College these professorships are partly remunerated by fixed stipends, and we desire to show the total charge upon the income of the College.


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The following Table contains the proportion of fees paid to the Professors and Lecturers in addition to the above fixed stipends.

Share of Fees paid to Professors and Lecturers, 1872-3

I. In the Day Classes

II. In the Evening Classes

58. In addition to the Professorships enumerated in the first Table, the Chairs of Practical Physiology and Systematic Physiology in the School of Medicine have since become available to the Students of the College.

59. The following are the sources of income out of which the College defrays its general expenditure and the fixed stipends and other emoluments of the several Professors and Lecturers (not including the Medical Department):


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This income (1872-3) was expended in the following manner, viz.:

The fixed salaries of Professors and Lecturers£4,940
Share of fees appropriated to Professors and Lecturers3,767
Departmental expenses, including Library1,248
Establishment expenses, including rates, taxes, water, gas, wages, &c.1,432
£11,387

60. It will be seen from the above financial statements that some of the professorships are inadequately paid. Thus, though the Chair of Latin has been separated from that of Greek, it has not been found possible to provide a full stipend for the new Chair. And though the Natural History Chair has been divided, its Professor being now charged with lecturing on Animal Physiology and Botany, the Chair of Geology has been assigned, not to a professor, but to a Lecturer with a very inadequate stipend. The Lecturer in Mineralogy, though a well-trained and skilful Mineralogist, receives practically neither stipend nor fees.

The financial statement also shows that with the present resources of the College, it is impossible, however much the Governors may desire it, to provide a more adequate remuneration for the Chairs in question.

61. It is also certain that the new buildings will involve a very considerable increase in the establishment expenses, and that some of the temporary sources of income enumerated in paragraph 59 will fail. The annual deficit which may thus arise is estimated at about £1,500.

62. With the prospect of this deficiency the Governors of the College cannot at present undertake the establishment of any new Chairs. If, however, they had adequate resources, it has been stated that they would probably proceed to divide the Professorship of English and History, and to found new Chairs of Mixed Mathematics, of Applied Geology and Mining, of Astronomy and Meteorology, and of Architecture.

63. We have already stated that the estimated cost of the buildings of the Medical School, which are now in course of erection, and which will probably be completed in October next, amounts to £15,000, towards which, as we have shown, a special fund of £10,300 has been given. It is intended that after the completion of the buildings, the expenses of the Medical School shall be covered by separate endowment, so that the union of the School to the College will not entail any burthen on the latter.

64. The following table shows the number of students attending the various Day Classes:


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The number of students in the Medical School is 140. These have not been included in the above table.

65. The ages of the students attending the day classes are shown in the following table, which, with the former, has been furnished to us by Principal Greenwood:

66. The evening classes, which were originally established in 1852-3, form an interesting feature of the College. In the first two years instruction was given in Classics and Mathematics only, the classes being then intended for the use of schoolmasters alone; and these subjects being the most desirable for them. Only 28 students attended, in the first year; but, after a few years, the classes were thrown open to all applicants, by the absorption of an institution called the "Working Men's College", conducted by the Professors of Owens College and other gentlemen in Manchester. The range of subjects taught has been gradually enlarged so as to include the whole of those comprehended in the day classes; and the fees have been reduced so as to bring the instruction within the means of a larger number. In order to provide some additional remuneration for the teachers of each class, £500 a year is contributed by two friends of the College, Mr. Henry B. Jackson and Mr. Samuel Watts. This subscription secures £10 per annum to the lecturer in each class, as well as the offer of an exhibition of £2 10s 0d to the most successful student in each class, and of other exhibitions ranging from £2 10s. 0d to £10 0s 0d, on graduation in the London University, according to the rank taken by the candidate. These arrangements have been followed by remarkable success. The number of students entering during the last two years, and the average number of entries in each class, are shown in the following table:

67. We have had evidence from the Principal of Owens College, who is also the Professor of Greek, and from Dr. Roscoe, the Professor of Chemistry, on the beneficial reciprocal influence of literary and scientific studies in the courses pursued by the students. Thus Principal Greenwood says: "Our regular courses are directly fashioned to meet the requirements of the London University degrees; and as the London University demands of all those who seek its degrees, whether in Arts or in Science, or in Law, or even in Medicine, that they must first of all matriculate, every holder of a degree in the University of London must needs at one stage of his preparation for the degree have gone through a preliminary culture both in Science and Literature. Thus a Bachelor of Science must have shown himself possessed of the minimum of Classics, and a Bachelor of Arts or Laws of the minimum of Science. Therefore in this way our own conclusions are materially aided by the line taken by the London University."

68. These conclusions are expressed in the following terms by Principal Greenwood: "Not only do men of science undergo a useful influence from the co-existence in the same College of language studies, but for another reason they should desire this


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combination." "The influence of the introduction of experimental Science into our regular curriculum, not merely on those students who are going into some scientific profession, but also on the ordinary students, has been of the most beneficial kind."

69. The course adopted by the Science students is thus described by Professor Roscoe: "We lay down a distinct course of study in Science adapted especially for the Science degrees of the London University, with which, as has been stated, we work. In the first year the course in Science and Literature is identical, being the preparation for the London University Matriculation. In the second year the Science course consists of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Mechanics and Physics, the junior class of Chemistry and laboratory practice two days a week, Anatomy and Physiology, together with French or German. I have all along insisted very strongly on the necessity of introducing the study of these two modern languages in connexion with our Science course. In the third year the Science students take the following subjects: Logic, Mental and Moral Philosophy, Mathematics, Mathematical Natural Philosophy, the senior class in Chemistry, laboratory practice two days a week, Geology, and Botany." The prescribed courses in Science and in Engineering (as in Arts) are not obligatory; and a majority of students in all departments, except Engineering, take courses varying more or less from those laid down. In the present session the number of students following these courses is in Science 27, and in Engineering 22. Thus of a total of nearly 200 students who may collectively be described rather as students in Science than in Arts, only 49, or about one in four, are following the prescribed course. The least departure, however, from the curriculum causes them to be classed as occasional and not as regular students; but a majority of them are really as thorough students as the 49.

70. In the Science Course, the fees for the first year are 15 guineas, and for the second and third years 22 guineas each. We take the following comparison between the cost of Science and Art students from Principal Greenwood's evidence: "Each Science student costs the endowment £27 15s and each Arts student, or non-science student, costs the endowment £11 13s, and that although, from the nature of the case, the fees paid by the Science men are much heavier than those paid by the non-science men. Every Science student on the average pays £17 10s, and every Arts student pays £9 7s; so that while the Science men pay on the average twice as much as the non-science men, they yet cause a net expenditure to the endowment of £27 15s, against a net expenditure of £11 13s in the other case. Of course the addition of the two sums will give about £45 as the gross cost of each Science man, against, in the other case, about £20."

71. As the course of instruction is intended to meet the requirements of the London University, it is interesting to ascertain how many students have recently matriculated in each year, and how many of these have proceeded to take degrees in that University. We have therefore procured the following return from the Principal:

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72. This summary of the principal characteristics and of the history of Owens College would be incomplete without an account of the arrangements made for incorporating the results of the efforts of the Extension Fund Committee with the institution founded by the original Trustees. This Committee was instructed to proceed, in conjunction with Mr. Owens' Trustees, to make application to Parliament for an Act or Acts for the incorporation of the Governors under the extension scheme, so as to enable the Trustees of the Owens College to unite that Foundation with the Institutions which might result from the exertions of the new body. The requisite Acts of Parliament have since been passed, and in virtue of them the College received a new Constitution on the 1st of September 1871.

73. The Constitution thus conferred may be briefly described as follows: The essential conditions of Mr. Owens' will are embodied in the Acts; but the age below which the College is not bound to admit students is raised from 14 to 15 years; "and the restriction of Mr. Owens' will as to the sex of students may, subject to certain qualifications, be set aside at the discretion of the Governors." In lieu of a body of Trustees renewable by private co-optation, the Act provides for the appointment of a body of 42 Governors, 24 to be selected from gentlemen residing within 50 miles of Manchester, and 15 to be nominated, so as to secure a definite and characteristic but a somewhat wider representation of public interests. It is provided that three shall be nominated by the President of the College, three by the Lord President of Her Majesty's Privy Council, or other Minister of Education, and three by the Governors themselves from amongst the Members of Parliament for the counties and boroughs of Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire; two by the Council of the city of Manchester, and one by that of the borough of Salford. With the object of introducing into the Governing Body distinguished alumni of the Institution, the nomination of three Governors is intrusted to the Associates of the College. The Principal of the College and two Professors, to be elected by the body of Professors, complete the number.

The 42 Governors elect a President, and with him form, as the Court, the supreme Governing Body.

The Court appoint out of the Governors a Treasurer and 10 members of Council, who, with the Principal and two Professors, form the Council, or the Executive Committee of the College. The Principal and Professors form the Senate of the College.

The Council, subject to the control of the Court, conducts the whole of the ordinary, so to speak, secular business, and the external relations of the institution; and the Senate, subject to the control of the Council, the whole of its internal or academic business. The President is the Official Head of the Court, the Treasurer of the Council, and the Principal of the Senate.

74. The Owens College has now been twenty-three years in operation, and we have briefly traced the principal stages of its development. It has acquired considerable reputation, and has a staff of twelve Professors, without including those of the Medical School, many of them distinguished in Arts or Science. The income from endowments and fees is about £11,500 a year. Its lectures are attended by more than 350 students, exclusive of the Medical School, and of the evening classes which are attended by nearly 900 persons. The whole capital accumulated in its foundation, including the original bequest of Mr. Owens, exceeds a quarter of a million sterling, and is of purely local origin, being derived from public subscriptions, from benefactions, and from the amalgamation of local institutions owing their origin solely to private contributions. Its government has the character of a public trust; and the large capital embarked in it, together with the Acts of Parliament by which its constitution is defined, affords sufficient guarantee for the maintenance of the principle of its foundation, and of the character of its administration. It is placed in the midst of a population already possessing many secondary schools, some of which are in a state of growing efficiency, and capable, therefore, of supplying students prepared to pursue the courses of education which it provides. These advantages are offered to the entire population without distinction of class, and without any religious disqualification. The entire scheme of the College has not yet been carried into effect. The Extension Fund Committee report that a further sum of £60,200 is required for the completion of the buildings. It is also estimated that £3,000 a year in addition to the present income is needed for the support of the Chairs now existing or imperatively required.


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Recommendation

75. Considering the strenuous and persevering efforts made by the great commercial community by which the Owens College is surrounded, and the cordial sympathy which these efforts have evoked, and which has manifested itself in the incorporation of other Societies and Schools with the College, and in the subscriptions and benefactions for special objects by which the exertions of the Governing Body have been seconded; We are of opinion that this Institution has established a claim to aid from the National Funds. We, therefore, recommend, in accordance with the views which we have expressed with regard to the two Metropolitan Colleges, that the Owens College should receive assistance from Government, both in the form of a capital sum, to be regarded as a contribution towards its Building Fund, and also in the form of an Annual Grant, in aid of its working expenses, with the especial view of enabling it to complete the curriculum of studies by the establishment of New Chairs.





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III. THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE

76. The University of Durham is provided with Professorships of Mathematics and Astronomy, and with a Readership in Natural Philosophy. It also possesses a Museum of Natural History, and an Astronomical Observatory. It is in intimate connexion with the Medical School at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and is thus in a position to give a complete system of instruction in Medicine, and to grant degrees in that Faculty. The University further confers a certain academical status on Mining or Civil Engineers who reside for three Terms, and pass two Public Examinations. But as this University cannot be said to have any complete Scientific Faculty, or to offer any complete System of Instruction, or of Examinations in Science, we have not thought it our duty to take any evidence with regard to the older foundations connected with it, but have confined our attention to the efforts which it has recently made to advance Scientific Instruction by assisting in the establishment of a College of Science at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

77. This College was founded in 1871 for the teaching of Physical Science, particularly in its practical application to Engineering, Mining, Manufactures, and Agriculture. The funds necessary for its endowment were provided in part by the University of Durham, which gave in the first instance £1,000 a year in perpetuity, which has since been increased; and, in part, by a subscription raised in the north of England.

78. The circumstances which led to the foundation of the College are stated in the evidence of the Dean of Durham. It appears to have been felt that the instruction afforded by the University of Durham did not completely meet the educational wants of the north, and that the chief reason which had originally led to the Foundation of that University, namely, the expectation that it would attract a large number of students from among the people of the north country, had almost entirely ceased to exist. Under these circumstances, it was thought that to render the University more generally useful the best step that could be taken would be to establish a School of Physical Science in connexion with it. The question then arose, what would be the proper place at which to found this school. Opinions were to a certain degree divided as to whether it should be placed at Durham itself, or at Newcastle; but it was found that almost all the eminent employers of labour were strongly in favour of Newcastle upon a variety of grounds.

79. We have also received the following statement from the Dean of Durham as to the amounts contributed from local sources (in addition to the endowment given by the University of Durham), and as to the arrangements which are now in contemplation for amalgamating with the College the other Scientific Institutions in Newcastle:

1. Sums equivalent to £30,000 have been paid or guaranteed to the College of Science.

2. A subscription has lately been raised to found a Memorial to the late Mr. Albany Hancock, and the sum promised amounts to £17,000. It is proposed to devote this sum to a building for a Museum to form part of a larger building for a College of Physical Science.

The sum thus subscribed would, if added to that already subscribed to the College of Science, amount to about £50,000; and it may be proper also to mention that the value of the Museum itself and of its permanent building amounts to at least £10,000.

In addition to this the Medical College of Newcastle is desirous to join in the erection of a Joint College, and will subscribe the sum of £10,000 for the purpose.

80. The amount originally subscribed was of course insufficient to provide buildings for the new institution, and the College has at present to pay rent for the premises which it occupies. It is the opinion of the witnesses that it is extremely desirable that the College should be provided with buildings of its own. Mr. Lowthian Bell says, that "the buildings are very good, but they are deficient in laboratory accommodation. I should greatly prefer a building expressly erected for the purpose of the College." Sir William Armstrong adds: "We consider the present accommodation as a makeshift, but without Government assistance it would be scarcely possible to undertake" to provide separate buildings appropriated solely to the College.

81. The College is under the government of a Body consisting of 47 members, of whom nine are ex-officio, and the remaining 38 are elected for a term of four years by various representative bodies. These Governors elect out of their own number a


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Council consisting of 15 members, in whose hands the ordinary administration of the College is placed. It was proposed in the first instance to provide four Professorships, viz., of Pure and Applied Mathematics, of Chemistry, of Experimental Physics, and of Geology. To these Professorships lectureships have been added in literary subjects, in Greek and Latin, in English History and Literature, in French, and in German, besides a lectureship in Mechanical Drawing. It is thought very desirable by the Founders of the College that other Professorships of Science should be added to those already founded. Mr. Lowthian Bell, speaking immediately before the foundation of the College, expresses the opinion of its promoters, "We are quite unanimous upon the branches of knowledge which we ought in the first instance to undertake .... Pure and Applied Mathematics, Chemistry, Geology, Mineralogy, and Physics. We are quite unanimous upon these as a commencement, and we are also unanimous, I think, that as soon as the College has the means, we should have other chairs; for example, a chair of Biology, and a chair of Mining, and Civil Engineering. I have no doubt that these will follow." Of these we observe that the Professorship of Biology has already been established and is on the point of being filled up.

82. The number of students in the year 1873-4 was 78. An account of the number of students attending the various classes during this session will be found in the Appendix. The course of study for regular students is one of two years, and there are two examinations, one at the end of each year, besides a Matriculation Examination at entrance, for which, however, any examination recognised as a qualification for registration as a Student of Medicine, is accepted as a substitute. The candidates who pass the Final Examination in Physical Science at the end of the second year receive the title of Associate in Science of the University of Durham; but not the B.A. degree. The fees paid by the students are five guineas a year for each course of lectures, the fee for admission to the College being one guinea, and a separate charge being made for the use of the laboratory. Four Exhibitions of £15 a year, tenable for two years by Students at the College, are offered for public competition every year.

83. There appears to be every reason to think that the Newcastle College of Science is serving a most useful purpose in its own neighbourhood. The experiment of introducing an engineering course into the curriculum of the University of Durham has been tried, and must be considered to have failed. The reason given for this failure by the Dean of Durham is that a great number of young men who would wish to attend that course live in Newcastle, or near Newcastle, and have to come some distance to Durham, and that consequently very few of them do come. And there can be no doubt that local Colleges in the great centres of manufacturing industry are in a position to meet local requirements which Central Institutions in London, or the National Universities are unable to do. Sir William Armstrong says, "I think what we want is local Colleges. London is far too distant. We want a College to be established in the locality, so that young men can attend it without going from their homes. I do not think that a College in London would have any practical effect in realizing the object that we have in view." "If local Colleges were as efficient as central ones, there is no question that they would be preferred by all classes."

84. According to the same witness, the character of the instruction should be mainly, or almost entirely, of a purely scientific character, because at present there is no difficulty as regards practical knowledge, while on the other hand there is no means of acquiring scientific knowledge. Sir William Armstrong does not think that practical instruction should be combined with scientific instruction in the College itself, because "practical knowledge is better acquired in the workshop and in offices, in actual business in fact." He would not attach any workshop to the College, believing that what the College can give is "the facility of acquiring theoretical information, such as can be applied to practice in actual business".

85. The claims which the promoters of the College consider themselves to have upon the Government for assistance are founded upon the National usefulness of the Institution, and on the amount of local support which it has received. Sir William Armstrong's view is that the promoters "have a very sound claim upon the Government, considering how liberally the scheme has been supported locally. I think it would be a very fair thing if the Government, considering how much the nation benefits from the establishment of such Colleges, in every case were to contribute a sum proportional to what has been raised in the locality towards the attainment of the object." And Mr. Lowthian Bell states that, in his opinion, "It is essential for the progress of the industry of this country, looking at the footing upon which it is placed now, that those to whom is entrusted the management of large concerns


[page 24]

should have generally a higher class of education than that which they possess at the present time. At the same time, I am bound to say that very great progress has been made by many in spite of their want of instruction upon those questions which, in my opinion, are of vital importance." "Personally, I entertain a very very strong opinion in favour of receiving aid from the Government. I cannot help feeling, when I come to London, and I go to Jermyn Street, to Kensington, or elsewhere, and I find Government money applied, I do not say otherwise than very properly applied, for the purposes of instruction, that London is not the best place for teaching many of those sciences. You have no means of seeing their application ..."

Mr. Bell would not "desire, that such schools should be entirely supported by the Government". He considers that "the best guarantee which a community like that of Newcastle can give to the Government, of the necessity of establishments of this kind, is by doing something themselves, and asking the Government to assist to a certain extent."

86. We concur to a considerable extent in the opinions expressed by these witnesses. The degree of success which has attended the College of Physical Science at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, both in the collection of local subscriptions and in the organization of its system of instruction, leads us to express with confidence the hope that by further efforts of the same kind it will before long be placed in a position to establish its claim to assistance from the State.




[page 25]

IV. THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND

87. The following account of the establishment of this Institution is given in its Calendar for the year 1869:

The foundation of a Catholic University in Ireland, upon the model of the Catholic University of Louvain, had been strongly recommended by Pope Pius the Ninth, in the Rescripts by which he condemned the Queen's Colleges, and was formally resolved upon by the National Synod of Thurles in 1850. In order to carry out this intention, a committee was appointed, consisting of the four Archbishops, four Suffragan Bishops, eight other ecclesiastics, and eight laymen. The business of this committee was to make the public familiar with the objects of the University and the means necessary for securing its establishment, to collect funds, to arrange the details, and take all the other necessary steps for the actual opening of the University. The first public collection was held on St. Patrick's Day, 17th March 1851.

At length, in May 1854, the bishops, assembled in synodal meeting in Dublin, canonically erected the University. The first Rector, the Very Rev. J. H. Newman, D.D., was installed on Whitsunday, 4th June, following. In the autumn of the same year several Professors were appointed, and the Schools of the University were formally opened on the feast of St. Malachi, 3rd November 1854. The Pope was again pleased to express his approval of the work by a special brief, in which he bestowed on the new Institution all the canonical rights and privileges held by other Universities, and gave to the Rector the faculty of conferring degrees.

88. By the Statutes of the University, as approved by the Episcopal Board in 1869, its government is vested in the hands of a Rector, assisted by a Rectorial Council, consisting "of the Vice-Rector, the Dean of Faculties, one of the Heads of Colleges or Collegiate Houses (to be elected annually by the others), and six additional members to be chosen annually by their respective Faculties, viz., two representatives from that of Philosophy and Letters (one from each of its divisions), and one representative from each of the others." There is besides a Senate, "composed of the Vice-Rector and Secretary, the Professors, permanent Lecturers, and the Heads and Tutors of Colleges or Collegiate Houses. With regard to the Senate, it is further provided that those who, hereafter, being of at least seven years' standing, shall have taken the degree of Master, Doctor, or other of the higher degrees, in the University, may be admitted Members of the Senate, on such conditions as the Senate itself shall fix." All the authorities of the University are subject to the control of the Episcopal Board, consisting of the Roman Catholic Prelates of Ireland. The Rector, Vice-Rector, and Bursar are appointed by this Board, with power of revocation, "pro nutu et arbitrio". The definitive appointment of the Professors also rests with the Bishops; but "whenever a Professorship is to be filled up, it is the duty of the Rector, having consulted the Faculty in which the vacancy occurs, to present to the Bishops the names of (at least) three candidates." All the officials of the University, "though subject to removal by the same power that appointed them, are secure of the permanence of their appointments till they forfeit them by some offence against religion or morals, by insubordinate conduct, contentiousness, incapacity, or other obvious disqualification, according to the judgment of the Cœtus Episcoporum, or the Episcopal Board of the University."

89. The intentions of the founders of the University were that it should be organised upon a very complete scale. Accordingly, the original plan embraced five Faculties: Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Letters, and Science. The Faculty of Theology, although provided with professors, and granting theological degrees, is not in operation as a teaching Faculty. The Faculty of Law has also been constituted, and Professors have been appointed; but we do not learn from the evidence that any system of instruction has as yet been commenced in this Faculty. The Faculty of Medicine, however, has had a fair measure of success, and in the academical year 1873-4, which has just come to a close, had 86 students. The number of resident students in Science and Arts was, in the same year, 30.

90. The Professorships which it was intended to establish in the Faculty of Science were as follows: (1) Mathematics, (2) Physics, or Natural Philosophy, (3) Chemistry, (4) Geology, and Mineralogy, (5) Botany, (6) Zoology, and (7) Physiology, to which (8) a Professorship of Astronomy was to have been added. The Chairs that have been actually established are those of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Physiology. There are, however, Lecturers on Botany and Zoology, and on Geology.

91. The resources of the University have always been very limited. At the time of its foundation a fund was subscribed, which in the year 1855 amounted to £58,070 1s 5d. Of this sum £27,616 had been collected in Ireland, £16,000 in the United States, £4,166 in England and Scotland, and the balance in different Roman Catholic countries. The University since that time has been supported by voluntary contributions, obtained chiefly by an annual collection in the Roman Catholic churches of Ireland. The whole sum contributed up to the present time, including the original fund and a recent bequest of £2,000, amounts to about £187,000. Of this sum, £10,000 was raised in the year 1873-4.


[page 26]

92. A comparatively small part of these funds remains unexpended. About £18,500 was invested in the purchase of buildings; about £2,500 was expended on laboratory fittings, apparatus, and specimens (exclusive of those in the mineralogical cabinet); and about £5,000 was lost in the course of the proceedings in connexion with the Clonliffe estate. But by far the larger part of the money contributed has been treated as income, and has been applied year by year to the maintenance of the Institution, and to the payment of the stipends of the Professors. Dr. Lyons says:

The annual expenditure for maintenance and Professorial stipends has been about £6,000 per year, and has been this year increased to about £7,000. Of this sum over £5,000 are absorbed in the salaries of Professors and officers.

Not less than £10,000 a year would, however, be required to maintain the Institution in a moderate degree of efficient work, and at least twice that sum annually if it is to be developed to meet the full requirements of the Catholic population of the country.

The amount required for the Professorial stipends is explained by the statement that "the fees paid by University students in the Faculty of Science are little more than nominal, and are paid into the University chest." The stipends of the Professors in the Faculty of Science are estimated at about £300 per annum.

93. At one time it was in contemplation to erect very large University buildings. In accordance with the suggestions contained in a Report laid before the Episcopal Board by the Professors of the Scientific Faculty, the Clonliffe estate, a piece of ground of the extent of 34 acres, upon the north side of Dublin, was purchased at a considerable cost; plans were obtained, and the foundation stone was laid on the 20th of July 1862, it being hoped that no less a sum than £200,000 might ultimately be provided. The University, however, became involved in litigation with a railway company, and was ultimately obliged to abandon its purchase. It has also failed, owing to legal difficulties, in an attempt to extend its original site in St. Stephen's Green, which it still occupies, and which has a frontage of 270 feet and 260 in depth. It appears, however, that, if funds were forthcoming, there would be no difficulty at the present time in obtaining additional ground. The present buildings are stated to possess considerable commercial value, but not to be very well suited for the purposes to which they are applied, although there are some rooms of considerable size. The Museums and Laboratories are described as having been adequate to the wants of the time when the University was first founded, but we infer from the evidence that they would require very considerable extension to meet the more recent requirements of Scientific teaching.

94. It has been already stated that the University grants degrees in Theology. In point of law, it does not possess the right to grant degrees in that, or any other Faculty; and, as a matter of fact, it has never granted any other degrees than Theological ones, not desiring to raise any question which might bring it into collision with the authority of the Crown. Nevertheless, examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science are advertised in the Calendar referred to above; and the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts are recognized in the Statutes. As is well known, it has been a standing subject of complaint by persons interested in the Catholic University that the privilege of conferring degrees has never been conceded to it. They state that "the fact of attaining a degree in an University is one of the most potent incentives to students to flock to the University, and no matter what inducements in the way of scientific teaching are held out, where a degree cannot be got in the end to cap a student's labour, and so present to the public a proof that he followed an University career, it adds enormously and incalculably to the difficulties which any teaching body so circumstanced has to contend against We have constantly addressed successive Governments on the subject, and as it is a matter of public history and notoriety, you are aware that the subject has been in one way or another before the public now for many years, and some tentative efforts towards its solution have been essayed by more than one Government." The University has adopted the title of Scholar for those students who, having reached the middle of their course, have attained a certain degree of proficiency; but it has been found that this title is not practically recognised by the public, and that no value is attached to it comparable to that which is attributed to the old degrees.

95. There is a considerable number of Scholarships and Exhibitions in the Catholic University; and as much as £700 per annum is expended in this manner. The regulations, however, vary from year to year. Only a small proportion of the scholarships is devoted to science. There are three Limerick Exhibitions for Mathematics, of the value of £40, £30, and £20 respectively; two Conolly Exhibitions for Mathematics of £20 each, and two for Experimental Science of the same value, viz., one for Chemistry, and the other for general Physics. These exhibitions are all given away yearly, and are tenable for a year.


[page 27]

96. The courses of scientific study, as described in the Calendar, appear to be organized with as great an approach to completeness as the limited numbers of the professorial staff allow. We are not informed that there is any laboratory instruction in Physics, although the cabinet of physical apparatus is described as having been fairly complete at the time when it was formed, and although the lately-appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy has given a sum of £750 to supplement the stock of apparatus with instruments required for efficient teaching. The practical instruction in Chemistry has been very successful, and acquired a very considerable development under the management of Professor Sullivan, who, till lately, held the Professorship of Chemistry. The Chemical Laboratory belongs both to the Faculty of Medicine and to the Faculty of Science; and it is stated by Professor Sullivan that it was the first laboratory in Ireland in which medical students received regular practical instruction in Chemistry.

97. The Students are divided into two classes, the Resident and the Non-Resident, or Affiliated Students, the latter being those who receive their education not in immediate connection with the University itself, but in Colleges in the country, which are affiliated to it, and which are visited and inspected by it. The Resident Students are either Interns or Externs. The Intern Students are those who reside in the Colleges, or Collegiate Houses, in Dublin (three such Houses are mentioned in the Calendar); the Extern Students are those who either live with their friends in Dublin or its neighbourhood, or who reside in lodging houses licensed by the Rector for the reception of students. Both these classes of students are, by the Statutes, and by the regulations published in the Calendar of the University, placed under very strict religious discipline, even the Externs being required to attend Mass and General Communion on certain, days in the year, and being required on Sundays and other days of obligation to assemble in cap and gown before Mass, to answer to their names, and then proceed in a body to the church. But it is provided in the Statutes that, "with the permission of the Rector, and on payment of the proper fees, any person may attend the schools of the University or any particular course of Lectures. Such persons are called Auditors. Except in the lecture-room, they have no connection with the University, which is in no wise responsible for their conduct or their success in studies. ... In order to become formally Students, and consequently Members of the University, entitled to all its privileges, the candidates for admission must pass the matriculation examination, and place themselves under the guidance and discipline of the University." And it appears from the evidence that non-Catholic Auditors have been constantly admitted to the lectures; and even to compete for and to hold exhibitions, although this last privilege is not secured to them by the Statutes. But, whatever may be the privileges of non-Catholic Pupils, it must be taken as certain that no dissident from the Roman Catholic religion could be admitted as a professor or teacher in the University. The Statutes require that each Professor shall make the Profession of Faith, according to the form prescribed by Pope Pius IV, in the presence of the Rector. The Rector, who must always be in Priest's orders, has to make the same Profession, in addition to the following promise: "Ego N., nominatus Rector Universitatis Catholicæ, fidelis et obediens ero cœtui Episcoporum Hiberniæ et pro viribus juxta iliorum mentem curabo honorem et prosperitatem dictæ Universitatis." The principle of the restrictions imposed by the Statutes is stated with great clearness by the present Rector, the Very Rev. Canon Woodlock, who says, in his address at the Inauguration of the Session of 1867-8, "Our Faculty of Medicine does not exclude Protestant Students from its lectures, but neither do our other Faculties. We recommend or prescribe, as the case may be, religious observances to the Catholic Medical Students under our care, as well as to our Students in Letters or in Science; but our rules on this subject do not comprise those who decline to accept the teaching of the Church. But there is one point on which we stand firm, and which equally regards our Faculty of Medicine and the other Departments of this University; we will have Catholic Students taught by no Professors save those whose principles we know to be in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church in faith and morals." It is stated in the evidence that there has never been any difficulty in finding Catholics qualified to fill the Professorial Chairs; but, on the other hand, in the Report of the Professors of the Scientific Faculty, to which we have already adverted, great importance is attached to the desirability of selecting for the Scientific Chairs persons who have been educated on the continent of Europe, owing to the impediments which up to that time prevented the cultivation of the Natural Sciences by the Catholics in Ireland. It is remarkable that the first Rector, Dr. Newman, at the time of the Foundation of the University, was prepared to admit non-catholics to the Professorships, or the ground of the importance of maintaining a high standard of excellence in teaching.

98. It is contended, on behalf of the Catholic University, that it might, if it could obtain a more complete development, be in a position to render great services to education


[page 28]

in Ireland. It is pleaded that the people of Ireland have very little knowledge of what a University education as distinct from a school education should be; that it is of great importance for them that they should have a Resident and Teaching University as opposed to a merely Examining University; and that neither of the two Teaching Universities - the Queen's University and the University of Dublin - commands the confidence of the large masses of the people. The comparative want of success which has attended the Catholic University is attributed, first, to its inability to grant degrees; secondly, to its want of funds, which has prevented the appliances for instruction and the courses of instruction from being made so complete as they ought to be; and, lastly, to the general poverty of the country, which precludes the existence of any large class of students able to support themselves for a sufficient time at the University.

99. Our attention has been also called to the relations between the Catholic University and the Catholic Schools in Ireland. Most of these schools are under the control of Roman Catholic Clergymen, and are greatly in need of Scientific Teachers. It is urged that it would be much more easy for scientific teachers educated in the Catholic University, and stamped, as it were, by its approval, to obtain appointments in such schools, and thus to spread a knowledge of Science in them, than it would be for teachers who had been brought up in a non-Catholic University. It is stated that the University has already in this way exercised a very beneficial influence upon the schools; there being but few of them that do not now attempt to teach a little Chemistry and some of the elements of Physics. The remarks of Professor Sullivan upon the present condition of the Irish Schools are certainly deserving of attention. He thinks, "that not more than 5 per cent of the Catholics of the higher and middle classes go to any other schools than clerical schools. There are about 50 of them in the country, and those schools will not, and as a matter of fact do not, come in contact with any other educational institution in the country; they have no confidence in the present University of Dublin, and I may say they are in open hostility with the Queen's Colleges and the Queen's University, and, therefore, they have no source from which to get any inspiration in Science, no channel of communication with the scientific world, except through the Catholic University."

100. On a review of this evidence we are satisfied that the establishment of the Scientific Faculty of the Catholic University has not been without advantage to the instruction of the Irish people, an advantage which might be considerably increased if this Faculty could be more completely organized, and its Professors increased in number and supplied with adequate means for practical teaching. And we have not failed to observe that at the present time fresh efforts are being made by the persons interested in this Institution, to improve and to render more widely available the Instruction afforded by it.

101. It is also indisputable that the Catholic University has received, and still continues to receive, a large amount of pecuniary support. The permanency, however, of this support, which proceeds, to a large extent at all events, from annual subscriptions levied by clerical agency, cannot be predicted with any certainty.

102. The peculiar organization of this Institution; the religious restrictions imposed upon the selection of its Scientific Professors and Lecturers - restrictions the removal of which it would be idle to anticipate; the incompleteness of a large portion of its arrangements for the teaching of Science, and the uncertainty of its income; preclude us from recommending that it should receive a grant from public funds.

In conclusion, we humbly beg leave to submit this Report for Your Majesty's Gracious Consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
J. P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
B. SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
T. H. HUXLEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
J. NORMAN LOCKYER, Secretary.
August 4th, 1874.


[title page]

SIXTH REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1875

[C.-1279.] Price 6d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORT1
APPENDICES11





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


[page iv]

execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





[page v]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.



[page 1]

SIXTH REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty, in continuation of our former Reports, the following Report on the Teaching of Science in Public and Endowed Schools.

I. Preliminary Remarks

1. In dealing with that branch of the Inquiry entrusted to us which has reference to the Scientific Instruction given in the various Secondary Schools throughout the country, we have been induced by the circumstances of the case to deviate from the mode of obtaining information which we had hitherto adopted. The number of Secondary Schools is so considerable that any attempt to obtain the facts by examination of Witnesses would have necessitated the attendance of a very large number, while, by adopting a different method of procuring information we were enabled not only to economise time, but to obtain a comparative survey of the various Systems and Appliances of Instruction employed in the different Schools.

2. With this view our Secretary, Mr. Lockyer, was appointed Assistant Commissioner with reference to this branch of the Inquiry, and by means of personal visits, and by the circulation of various forms of questions agreed upon between him and the Commissioners, much information has been obtained, which will be found in an Appendix to the present Report.

3. The following are the Public and Endowed Schools to which attention was specially directed:

Eton College, Rugby School, St. Peter's College Westminster, Harrow School, Winchester College, Charterhouse School, Marlborough College, Dulwich College, City of London School, University College School, King's College School, Taunton College School, Wellington College, Rossall School, Clifton College, Cheltenham College, Christ's Hospital, and the Manchester Grammar School.

4. Information was also sought from the Head Masters of the 202 Schools which appear in the Report of the Schools Inquiry Commission as possessing Endowments of over £200 per annum, and from 128 of these Schools replies have been received.

5. The Evidence thus placed before us conclusively proves that in our Public and Endowed Schools, Science is as yet very far from receiving the attention to which, in our opinion, it is entitled. For instance, the Returns furnished to us show that, even where Science is taught, from one to two hours' work per week may be regarded, with very few exceptions, us the usual time given to it in such Classes as receive Scientific Instruction at all. Moreover, the Instruction in Science is generally confined to certain classes of the School.

6. Among the 128 Endowed Schools from which we have received returns, Science is taught in only 63, and of these only 13 have a Laboratory, and only 18 Apparatus, often very scanty. Out of the 128 Schools, definite information has been received from 87. Of these 30 allot no regular time whatever to scientific study; 7 only one hour a week; 16 only two hours; while out of the whole number only 18 devote as much as four hours to it. The neglect with which it is treated is also clearly shown by that portion of the Assistant Commissioner's Report in which the weight attached to Science in the School Examinations is stated, whence it appears that among the higher grade Schools from which information has been received, only two attach a weight to Science in the Examinations equal to that of Classics or Mathematics; while in the case of the 128 Endowed Schools from which information has been received, only 13 give any weight at all to Science in the Examinations.

7. Languages and Mathematics are by universal consent regarded as indispensable parts of a System of Education, but any System from which Science is excluded must, in our opinion, be incomplete and unsatisfactory.

8. We feel it the more incumbent upon us to insist on the Introduction of Scientific Training as an integral part of School Education, because in our Third Report we have


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recommended that Students at the Universities should, at an early period, if not from the commencement of their Academical Course, be left free to choose for themselves among the principal lines of study, and should not be hampered by being compelled to pass Examinations in subjects having no direct bearing on their subsequent career. But we made this Recommendation conditionally; that is, upon the understanding that the Student should be well grounded in the principal branches of Knowledge before his entrance into the University; for, while asserting that Literary Cultivation, up to a certain point, is indispensable for the Scientific Student, we expressed the opinion that, "in like manner, evidence of corresponding Scientific Culture should be required from the Student of Classical Literature or of Theology"; and we consider that no one should receive a Degree who has not proved himself to be well grounded in Science as well as in Languages and Mathematics.

II. Opinions in favour of the Teaching of science in Public and Endowed Schools

9. Our opinion on the importance of introducing Science as an integral part of our Public School Instruction is in general accordance with the Recommendations of two previous Royal Commissions - the Royal Commission appointed in 1861 to Inquire into the Revenues and Management of certain Colleges and Schools (shortly styled the Public Schools Commission), and the Royal Schools Inquiry Commission appointed in 1864. The same view has been also adopted by the Special Commissioners appointed for the Purposes of the Public Schools Act of 1868, and the Commissioners appointed for the purposes of the Endowed Schools Act of 1869.

10. The Royal Commissioners appointed in 1861 say:

Natural science, with such slight exceptions as have been noticed above, is practically excluded from the education of the higher classes in England. Education with us is, in this respect, narrower than it was three centuries ago, whilst science has prodigiously extended her empire, has explored immense tracts, divided them into provinces, introduced into them order and method, and made them accessible to all. This exclusion is, in our view, a plain defect and a great practical evil. It narrows unduly and injuriously the mental training of the young, and the knowledge, interests, and pursuits of men in maturer life. Of the large number of men who have little aptitude or taste for literature, there are many who have an aptitude for science, especially for science which deals, not with abstractions, but with external and sensible objects; how many such there are can never be known, as long as the only education given at schools is purely literary; but that such cases are not rare or exceptional can hardly be doubted by any one who has observed either boys or men. Nor would it be an answer, were it true, to say, that such persons are sure to find their vocation, sooner or later. But this is not true. We believe that many pass through life without useful mental employment, and without the wholesome interest of a favourite study, for want of an early introduction to one for which they are really fit. It is not, however, for such cases only, that an early introduction to natural science is desirable. It is desirable, surely, though not necessary, for all educated men. Sir Charles Lyell has remarked on the advantage which the men of literature in Germany enjoy over our own, in the general acquaintance which the former possess with what is passing in the scientific world; an advantage due to the fact that natural science to a greater or less extent is taught in all the German schools. To clergymen and others who pass most of their lives in the country, or who, in country or town, are brought much into contact with the middle and lower classes, an elementary knowledge of the subject, early gained, has its particular uses; and we believe that its value, as a means of opening the mind and disciplining the faculties, is recognized by all who have taken the trouble to acquire it, whether men of business or of leisure. It quickens and cultivates directly the faculty of observation, which in very many persons lies almost dormant through life, the power of accurate and rapid generalization, and the mental habit of method and arrangement; it accustoms young persons to trace the sequence of cause and effect; it familiarises them with a kind of reasoning which interests them, and which they can promptly comprehend; and it is perhaps the best corrective for that indolence which is the vice of half-wakened minds, and which shrinks from any exertion that is not, like an effort of memory, merely mechanical. With sincere respect for the opinions of the eminent Schoolmasters who differ from us in this matter, we are convinced that the introduction of the elements of natural science into the regular course of study is desirable, and we see no sufficient reason to doubt that it is practicable.
We shall hereafter refer to the Recommendations relating to Scientific Instruction made by this Commission.

11. The Schools Inquiry Commission in their Report remark, as the result of their Inquiries, that the importance of Natural Science as a branch of General Education, "has received a large amount of sanction of the highest kind." "Of the Witnesses", they say, "whom we ourselves examined on this point, almost all who were not Schoolmasters, desired the adoption in schools of some branch of Natural Science, though, as a rule, they did not aim at the deposition of any existing subject."

And they continue, "We cannot consider any Scheme of Education complete which omits a subject of such high importance."

"We think it established that the study of Natural Science develops better than any other studies the observing faculties, disciplines the intellect by teaching induction as well as deduction; supplies a useful balance to the Studies of Language and Mathematics, and provides much instruction of great value for the occupations of after life."


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12. The Regulations relating to Natural Science issued by the Special Commissioners appointed for the Purposes of the Public Schools Act of 1868 are referred to in a subsequent part of this Report.

13. The intention of the Endowed Schools Commissioners is thus expressed in the following extract from a letter addressed by their Chairman to the Chairman of this Commission on the 25th March 1871:

In all these Schools, without exception, whether for boys or girls, we propose to require as a substantial and indispensable part of their course of Instruction, at least one branch of Physical Science; and in a few, intended for the more special encouragement of what may be called modern subjects, we suggest, without absolutely requiring, more extensive teaching of Science.
In accordance with this intention, the Endowed Schools Commissioners have taken steps to render obligatory the teaching of one or more branches of Natural Science in many of the Schemes which they have issued for the future management of the Grammar Schools of King Edward the Sixth, and of other Royal or Private Foundations. When the Trustees of such Endowments, or the Governors appointed under the new Schemes, have desired to build Laboratories for the Practical Instruction of the Pupils of such Schools in Chemistry or in some branches of Experimental Physics, the Endowed Schools Commissioners have, in some cases, sanctioned the appropriation to these objects of funds raised from the corpus of the trust estate.

14. Not only has the importance of introducing Science into our School System, as an integral and important part of Education, been urged by the four Commissions, to which reference bas been made, but the good effects which have attended its partial introduction have been fully acknowledged by many Schoolmasters of great experience. Mr. Wilson, one of the Assistant Masters at Rugby School, in a paper "On Teaching Geology and Botany as part of a Liberal Education", strongly supports this view:

I am quite sure that this is the first business of our profession as schoolmasters, to hold this truth strongly against all comers, that 'humanity', and nothing else, is to be our object. We must make our teaching bear on this, give our best care to the selection of subjects, and the method of teaching, in order to make this teaching more effective. And when I urge the introduction of the sciences at the head of this paper into our course of education, I wish to make it plain that this is what they ought to be introduced into, and to this they ought to be made to contribute very effectively.
To this end Mr. Wilson proposes that the Elements of certain parts of Science, to which he gives the general name of "Natural History", should be taught to young boys as part of what he aptly terms the "common ground for all", and he has so well described the nature of this common ground that we quote the main parts of his sketch.
An orrery and globe, and a little astronomy, form the natural beginning. Let the boys make the effort involved in realizing the plan of our solar system, and our earth in space with its atmosphere mantling round it; its kinship to the planets, its relations to sun and moon. These, and some of the common phenomena - day and night, summer and winter, eclipses, and the changes of the moon - form the natural and the old well-established introduction to science. They are still subjects of surpassing interest to every successive generation. They take boys on all their sides - memory, imagination, and reason. They show, as nothing else shows, the connexion of cause and consequence. And there is a genuine and deep satisfaction, a real pleasure of the intellect, which boys attain when they first understand the causes of these common great phenomena. They stand thenceforward on a higher platform. The universe presents to them not a mere wonderland but a reign of law. These are the literæ divinæ written in the universe by the finger of God.

Then we pass to the great earth itself, and all its activities; the effects of its still remaining internal heat, its volcanoes and earthquakes, the slow oscillations of level, and the great changes slowly taking place in the familiar outline of the continents and islands, and the proofs still visible of past changes. These things must be well thought out by the class, and illustrated and brought home to them by pictures and specimens. The effect of the attraction of the sun and moon in making tides, and their geological and cosmical action, is a matter that can be to some extent grasped, though so difficult in its complete theory; and is far too important and common a phenomenon to pass by without notice. And then come the complicated consequences of solar heat and light. It is with peculiar interest and pleasure that a boy learns the causes of winds and currents, of trade winds and cyclones, of evaporation and rain, and its distribution on the earth. There is a sense of power obtained by finding out that these great and familiar phenomena are subject to laws, and are not primary facts. And all these are matters, towards which it is only necessary to guide the thoughts of the boys, and they can, with very little help, think them out for themselves. I find it rarely necessary to give a regular explanation of anything, except as a kind of résumé of the suggestions thrown out by the class, and successively criticised. Fresh information as to fact must of course be given, when it is seen to be wanted, and not before. And this incidentally gives them a much higher respect for knowledge and the value of facts than they had before. The labours of observers, and mathematicians, and collectors are seen by the class in their true light, as contributing to the store of accurate knowledge in regions more or less inaccessible to themselves.

The consequences of these activities must then be traced out. And these constitute the principles of Geology. To teach them is not hard; a large stock of pictures, photographs, &c., will be found very useful. We take the work of rain and rivers; their solvent and transporting powers, and straightway the ravine and the waterfall, the rich plain, and the whole river valley, with its wondrous system of drainage, are seen to be the consequences of the familiar forces at work all round us. The work of the sea is easily understood, and behold the map of England is looked at with new eyes; there must be a cause for every bay and headland. The formation of marine deposits, the growth of coral, and Darwin's explanations of the form of coral


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islands: the ooze of the Atlantic, the work of frost and snow, the glacier and iceberg, the geographical distribution of plants and animals, all are intelligible, and all, if I may so call it, exciting; they excite to further reading and a good deal of thought; they show, moreover, the regions of knowledge; the necessity of chemistry, and meteorology, and astronomy, and zoology is really felt, without being stated in so many words.
After some further illustrations of his method of teaching Geology, Mr. Wilson continues:
It may seem to some that the amount of positive knowledge gained is too little; and indeed it is not much, not as much as would be gained by half the time spent in learning and being examined on somebody's advanced text-book. But from the one system the boy emerges hungry for more knowledge, and his own reading will supply his wants; he emerges with a clear understanding how science grows, and what it is, and has a framework in which he can fit all knowledge he subsequently acquires; while from the other he comes out - perhaps some of my hearers know how he comes out.

I know of no single book which contains all these subjects. The teacher, at any rate, must draw his knowledge from many books, and from real, personal knowledge of his subject. Methods of teaching are very important, but the teacher is of far more importance; and no teaching of these or any other subject is likely to be worth much unless the teacher is thoroughly master of his work, has made it his own by viewing it in various lights, and is independent of any text-book, or any order of viewing nature. He cannot be too discursive in his reading or varied in his attainments; and if he is further able to be prosecuting some original work, however humble, in which his pupils can assist him, they will learn more of the true scientific spirit by contagion than they will gather from the most eloquent lectures. ...

I do not see any reason for doubting that these subjects are the best for early education, say from the ages of twelve to fourteen. At such an age, chemistry or physics cannot be understood, except in the rarest cases. I know that Faraday expressed an opposite opinion. But Faraday loved the children, and never examined them. These subjects, especially the geological course, as I have explained it, give a solid foundation of familiar facts, which form the basis of subsequent scientific knowledge. And they attract the strongest and finest minds, which is not found to be the case with all branches of science.

It may be urged that this teaching cannot be thorough - that boys will be brought in contact with chemistry, physics, mechanics, mathematics, at an age when they cannot understand them; and the result will be, to turn them out capable of talking about a great many things, and knowing theories about a great many things, but without the rigorous training necessary to enable them to judge of these theories.

This is, of course, partly true. But it is no objection. The logical order of ideas is not the educational order. A boy learns to read, and make out the meaning of a storybook before he learns grammar, which might be said to precede logically; he reasons before he can learn logic; and so he has to learn a thousand things by experience and observation and reading and conversation, which form the material out of which science grows. The teaching is thorough so far as it goes, and it is delusive to suppose that the teaching of mechanics or physics can be made exhaustively thorough to a boy. He apprehends only by comparison of one thing with another; and where experiment takes him out of the range of his experience, there his conclusions are not his own, but his teacher's. These subjects, which may be put aside as mere scientific information, have a double value, stimulative and intellectual, that no one who has not tried them can well estimate. They would plainly be incomplete by themselves; they do not admit, taught in this manner, of the careful study of detail, the minute and painstaking work and drudgery, that makes every science so valuable as an instrument of education. But these subjects claim to enter into the schemes of literary and scientific education; to form a common ground between them; to be science to the men of literature and literature to the men of science.

15. Whether the topics of Elementary Scientific Instruction should be taken in the precise order indicated by Mr. Wilson, or in some other, is a point on which we do not express an opinion; but we desire to draw attention to the fact, that it is the opinion of some able and experienced Schoolmasters, and that of previous Commissions, as well as our own, that such Instruction in Elementary Science ought to be given, and that there is no real obstacle to its being given, in the early years of school life.

III. Discussion of the Difficulties attending the Introduction of the Teaching of Science into Public and Endowed Schools

16. In spite of this concurrence of authority in favour of the Introduction of Science into Schools, it appears that not one half of the 128 Endowed Schools from which returns have been received have even made an attempt to introduce it; and, of these, as we have already stated, only 13 have a Laboratory, and only 10 give as much as four hours a week to these subjects.

17. The neglect of Recommendations of so weighty and authoritative a character should imply the existence of strong grounds of excuse. The chief of those given for the omission of the teaching of Science in Schools are - (1) the Absence of Funds; (2) the Uncertainty as to the Educational Value of Science, particularly in the case of young Pupils; (3) the Difficulty of finding Time for a New Study in an already overcrowded Curriculum.

18. The absence of funds, no doubt, places very serious difficulties in the way of some of the smaller Foundations; but experience shows that satisfactory results in Science Teaching may be produced at a very small expense. On this subject we may refer to Mr. Tuckwell's account of the limited means with which it was commenced and carried on with success at Taunton.


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19. We think that this account conclusively proves that the apparatus requisite for Elementary Science Teaching can he provided at a comparatively trifling cost; and that, where there is a good Teacher, the makeshift character of the appliances need not prevent efficient Teaching. On the other hand, it is important to remember that the introduction of new subjects of study implies the introduction of Teachers qualified to take charge of them; and that in many of the smaller and more poorly endowed schools to which we are now referring, there is great difficulty in obtaining the funds requisite for the payment of additional or increased salaries. At the same time, it must be regarded as certain that no school which is forced to plead its poverty as an excuse for the neglect of Natural Science, can pretend to complete efficiency, or can adequately meet the Educational Requirements even of its own locality.

20. When the income of a School is small it may not be possible to provide an adequate stipend for an Assistant Master employed only in Scientific Instruction. Moreover, the number of pupils may not be so great as to justify such an appointment. It is, therefore, important that at least one Master should combine, with the qualifications necessary for his success in teaching Literature, such knowledge and skill as may enable him to give Practical Instruction in Natural Science. No doubt this combination of Literary and Scientific Knowledge with Practical Skill in conducting the Instruction of Classes is at present rare, and it is very desirable that a Systematic Preparation for such Teachers should, if possible, be provided.

21. With reference to the wealthier Foundations, and the great Proprietary Schools, the want of funds cannot be properly alleged as a reason for not providing appliances proper for the Teaching of Natural Science. Indeed, there is already considerable evidence of improvement in this respect. Laboratories have been built, or are in the course of construction, at Eton, Harrow, and Rugby; and there is reason to hope that the example will be generally followed, as the Special Commissioners appointed for the Purposes of the Public Schools Act of 1868 have included in their Regulations a Clause requiring the Governing Bodies of the nine Public Schools to which their powers extended to provide and maintain Laboratories and Collections of Apparatus and of Specimens. We desire to record our opinion that School Laboratories should be constructed so as to supply accommodation for Practical Work in Physics, as well as in Chemistry. It will be seen from the Secretary's Report that many persons of experience in education have arrived at the conclusion that Chemistry is not so well fitted for the practical instruction of young pupils as Physics. Without attempting to decide this disputed question, we would express our conviction that neither of these forms of practical work ought to be neglected in School Teaching.

22. It is generally admitted that a sound knowledge of the Sciences of Observation and Experiment cannot be acquired from the study of Text Books alone; and that oral teaching, accompanied by appropriate illustrations and experiments, is indispensably necessary. But even such oral teaching has been found by itself to he insufficient; and, in our judgment, no System of Scientific Instruction can be regarded as satisfactory which does not familiarise the learner with the methods of observation and experiment, by making him practise them himself, whether in the field or in the Laboratory.

23. As the organization in a large School of Practical Instruction in Physics has appeared to offer some difficulties, we would refer to the Secretary's Report for an account of the advantages attendant upon the arrangement adopted by Professor Pickering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

24. We regret to observe that in many of the Larger Schools the number of Science Masters is totally inadequate. The Special Commissioners have found it necessary to insist that there should be at least one Science Muster for every 200 boys; a provision which appears to point to a still greater deficiency at present. Until this state of things is remedied, no considerable improvement can be expected in the Standard of Scientific Education at present prevailing in English Schools. We fear that the fewness of the Science Masters in the great Public Schools, and the slowness with which their number is allowed to increase must, to a certain extent, be attributed to an inadequate appreciation, on the part of the Authorities of those Institutions, of the importance of the place which Science ought to occupy, and which the country desires it should occupy, in School Education. But we are also disposed to believe that the difficulty of disturbing existing arrangements, and the increased expense entailed by additions to the staff of Masters, are among the principal causes of the delay in remedying an evil of such magnitude. It might seem, at first sight, that the provision of an adequate number of Science Masters ought not to involve any heavy charge upon the income of a


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large school; because, in proportion as the time of the pupils is occupied with Natural Science, fewer teachers of other subjects would be required. It has, however, been found in practice that whenever the subjects of instruction in a school become more varied, the whole number of persons employed in teaching has to be increased. But as there is a well-founded impression that the large English Schools have suffered from being insufficiently supplied with Assistant Masters, we cannot regard it as any disadvantage that a more general introduction of Natural Science Teaching would call for an increase in the number of such Assistants.

25. We have alluded to the difficulty of providing for schools, which have slender incomes, Assistant Masters who have both adequate Literary and Scientific Knowledge, and the requisite skill in Class Teaching and Practical Instruction. Even for the great Public Schools much difficulty is experienced in obtaining the services of Science Masters fitted to form part of their staff. The Head Masters naturally look to the Universities to supply them with Assistant Masters; but the number of University Students of Science is still so limited that the supply falls short even of such demand as exists at present. These several considerations support the suggestions recently made by the Head Masters of Public Schools at their Annual Conferences, that means should exist - and, if possible, within the Universities - enabling young men, who intend to devote themselves to the Scholastic Profession, to pass through a Course of special preparation for it, and to obtain a Certificate of the nature and extent of their qualifications. By such means adequate knowledge and practical skill, both in class teaching and in manipulation, would be ensured.

26. With regard to the second objection, it is obvious that all branches of Science do not possess an educational value of the same kind; and we are not prepared to assert that the mere communication to the mind of the pupil of the facts of Science would contribute very materially to the training of his intellectual powers, although it may supply him with much valuable information, and may render him the still more important service of awakening his desire for further knowledge. But the true teaching of Science consists, not merely in imparting the facts of Science, but in habituating the pupil to observe for himself, to reason for himself on what he observes, and to check the conclusions at which he arrives by further observation or experiment. And it may well be doubted whether, in this point of view, any other educational study offers the same advantages for developing and training the mental faculties by means of a great variety of appropriate exercises. In the Lower Forms of our Public Schools, the youth of the scholars must of course be taken into consideration in the nature of the instruction given, but we nevertheless think it of great importance that the introduction of Science into Education should take place at a very early stage. Elementary Science is certainly not more difficult, and to most young persons is more interesting, than Arithmetic or Grammar, and the most eminent men of Science, as well as some most successful Teachers, are of opinion that there is no reason to apprehend any difficulty in this respect. The Evidence which we have received on this point is very strong; and its force is not diminished by the fact that much of it relates to Primary Schools.

27. Sir W. Thomson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, on being asked:

At what age do you think it desirable that the teaching of elementary science in our primary schools should be commenced; in fact, how young do you think a child could, with any profit, commence instruction in elementary science?
Replied,
I think that at 12 or 14 the commencement of teaching in some branches of science would be very advantageous. I scarcely think before 12; but I think that boys of good intelligence might be very advantageously introduced to much of natural science at 12.

Then I am afraid that would almost exclude natural science from the primary schools of the country, because we can hardly hope to keep children there after 14? - No; I scarcely like to adhere to any such answer, except in respect to the more abstract branches. For instance, higher mathematics and dynamics may be very advantageously commenced at 12; but I doubt whether there can be much advantage in commencing such subjects before 12. But there is a great deal of general knowledge in natural history, and geography, and chemistry, which I think could be imparted very advantageously indeed to boys of considerably younger age than 12.

28. Professor Ramsay, Director General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, of the Museum of Practical Geology, and of the Mining Record Office, thus states his opinion regarding the elementary part of Astronomy and Geology:
At what age do you think that a boy might advantageously be instructed in the elementary facts of geology? - I think they might begin at an exceedingly early age, in the same way that all children who have any education at all, for example, know some of the elementary points of astronomy, so certain questions involving geological knowledge might be instilled into them.

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Would you do that by means of the aid of specimens and plans, and the like, and not merely books? - Not merely books, but by the aid of specimens and by the generally better educated state of the whole of the public. It might be part of a household education, quite irrespective of the teaching in schools, if scientific education in the country were placed on a proper footing.
29. Dr. Rolleston, Linacre Professor of Physiology in the University of Oxford, says:
I would certainly cause a boy to begin acquaintance with scientific matters much earlier than that [the age of 16], for the faculty of observation, the power of observing, is in all its vigour long before 16. Long before the faculties of reflection and ratiocination are in anything like ripeness the faculties of observation are well developed. A boy, I should say, at 11, or certainly 12, might be put through certain of the classificatory sciences, or one at least, viz. botany, and he might have a training in physics and a training in chemistry, and all boys alike should have some training in these before 16.
30. Canon Cromwell, Principal of St. Mark's College, Chelsea, insists on the Importance of introducing the Elements of Physical Geography and other parts of Natural Science into Primary Schools:
Understanding by primary schools those in which boys are generally under 13 years of age and above seven, I know by experience that the elements of physical geography can be very well taught almost throughout the school, The first step in geography should be made in physical geography, and one advantage possessed by this subject from an educational point of view is this, that almost everything in it can he presented to a child in a concrete form. He may learn something about the principles of heat, about air and water, about natural history, and the action of the elements upon the surface of the globe. He can have illustrations of those things pointed out to him in his own neighbourhood almost, wherever he is. It seems to me that it is the best introduction to any knowledge of physics that might he hereafter required. Wherever the teacher had a special bent for chemistry he might illustrate what he had to say about the laws of physical geography by his knowledge of chemistry. If, again, he were a man who took great interest in natural history or botany, he would dwell more upon those portions of the subject. Physical geography connects itself with almost the whole circle of what are called the physical sciences. I know that children and young men also take great interest in the subject, and what they take great interest in, they learn quickly. ...

You think also that a certain amount of information in natural science could be given in elementary schools? - A certain amount of an elementary character, remembering that it must always be given in a concrete shape with plenty of illustrations. For example, experiments can be exhibited to children illustrating the properties of heat, by taking a common bladder and putting it before the fire, and showing how the bladder fills and bursts, or by taking a bar of iron and putting it into the fire and heating it. Such common experiments are things which boys can easily comprehend. In the same manner, I think, they should be familiar with some of the simple machines and instruments, which could he explained to them by ordinary models, and they should know something about the common properties of matter, something about the different forms of attraction - chemical attraction, capillary attraction, and so forth. All this would be useful to boys of almost all classes, whether in town or country.

31. Mr. Jarmain, Teacher of Science at the Mechanics' Institute, Huddersfield, answered several questions bearing on the subject:
If I remember right, in the evidence which you gave before Mr. Samuelson's Committee in the House of Commons, with reference to elementary schools, you expressed an opinion as to its being perfectly possible to teach a certain amount of elementary science in the elementary schools of the country? - Yes, to the upper classes of the school. I tried the plan during the time that I had a school, and I found it to answer very well.

From the age of 11 to 13? - Yes.

That is a point which you feel no doubt upon whatever? - I feel no doubt upon it whatever.

Did you try it in chemistry? - Yes.

But, I presume, you would consider that there would be no more difficulty in applying it to botany or physiology than in the case of chemistry? - No, I do not.

Do you think that the teaching of one or two such subjects would in any way interfere with the instruction of children in the elementary subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic? - No, I do not think it would, I think that the pupils would like it very much. As a rule, boys very much like scientific instruction.

It would give them, would it not, a greater interest in their school education, as a whole? - Yes, I think so.

And, in that way, would have a decidedly favourable influence upon their reading and writing? - In two classes that I have at the Huddersfield College and the Huddersfield Collegiate Institution, the boys who are in the chemistry class I find to be the best boys in the school in other subjects.

32. Mr. Shore, Organizing Master of the East Lancashire Union of Evening Schools, expresses a similar opinion:
I think that all the great principles of physical geography might undoubtedly be taught to boys in the day school at 10 years of age.
33. The Evidence laid before the Public Schools Commission by Dr. Carpenter, Professor Faraday, and Dr. Hooker, is so entirely in harmony with those views that we quote it in part here.

34. Dr. Carpenter speaks strongly on the importance of introducing into Education at an early period subjects of a less abstract character than Grammar and Mathematics.

65. Do you think that the mind, ordinarily speaking, is as apt for the exercise of its faculties upon the subjects of natural science as upon grammar and mathematical subjects, at an early period of life? - I should say more so; that it is more easy to fix a child's attention upon something which it sees, than upon an abstraction.

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66. Do you think that in that point of view, in fact, it is so far a subject better calculated to call out a healthy action of the reasoning powers than the more abstract subjects of grammar and mathematics? - I think it is, at the early period. I think that a lad of from 10 to 12 years of age is better fitted to be led to observe and reason upon what he observes in objective phenomena, than he is to reason upon abstractions. I think that from say 12 years of age, the powers may be healthfully exercised upon abstractions; but as far us I can judge, a child in learning a language learns by rote purely or almost purely up to say 12 years of age, but after that he begins, if he is well taught, to understand the rationale (so to speak) of the rules, but it is a mere matter of memory with him up to that time.
35. Professor Faraday thus refers to his own experience:
46. I understand you to say, that you do not feel in a position to define exactly at what age it might be desirable to introduce the physical sciences? - I think one can hardly tell that until after experience for some few years.

47. Or whether you would introduce it at an early age concurrently with classical instruction?- I would not undertake to say. All I can say is this, that at my juvenile lectures at Christmas times I have never found a child too young to understand intelligently what I told him; they came to me afterwards with questions which proved their capability.

50. If you take a little boy of ordinary intelligence, 11 years old, at Eton, and, say, half his time is devoted to classics and the other half to any branch of physical science, what would you teach him? - I would teach him all those things that come before classics in the programme of the London University -mechanics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, pneumatics, acoustics, and optics. They are very simple, and easily understood when they are looked at with attention by both man and boy. With a candle, a lamp, and a lens or two, an intelligent instructor might teach optics in a very short time, and so with chemistry, I should desire all these. There might be a door by which you could leave out those for which they were inapt.

51. You would not be frightened by the hard words? - I do object very much to the too frequent use of hard words or technical phrases either in chemistry or in other subjects. The hard words are not the things. But the result will depend more on the men who are the teachers than on the wording itself. Education should not be stopped by that.

36. The same Commission received from Dr. Hooker an interesting account of the successful attempt made by Professor Henslow to introduce the study of Botany into a village school. Professor Henslow thought that "It was the most important agent that could be employed for cultivating their faculties of observation and for strengthening their reasoning powers. ... It was also the opinion of some of the Inspectors of Schools who came to visit him, that such children were in general more intelligent than those of other parishes, and they attributed the difference to their observant and reasoning faculties being thus developed."

The ages of the children varied from 8 to 14; the class, which was a voluntary one, mostly consisted of girls; and the children are said to have learnt the subject readily, and to have been exceedingly fond of it.

37. This Evidence leaves no doubt upon our minds that Elementary Scientific Instruction might be given with great advantage from the commencement of the school career.

38. The third of the difficulties most frequently urged is want of Time. While we cannot deny the reality of this difficulty, it seems to us to offer no justification whatever for the total or almost total exclusion from Education of any great branch of Human Knowledge. The difficulty is one which can only be met by carefully economizing time, by employing the best methods of teaching, and by discarding superfluous subjects of study. To meet it by making education one-sided and incomplete, cannot be for the interest of the pupil. Nor does it appear to us impossible to make a fair adjustment between the claims of the different branches of Instruction. The number of hours of study in our Public Schools may be taken at not less than 35 per week, including in the estimate the number of hours on an average employed in preparation. Now, if six hours per week be devoted to Science, and if we suppose six hours also to be given to Mathematics, there would still remain at least 23 hours a week for the study of Language and other subjects.

39. We are not prepared to admit that the classical Scholarship of the Pupil would, by the close of his school career, have suffered in consequence of the subtraction of the 12 hours which we have assigned to Mathematics and Science: since we believe that the influence of Instruction in Natural Science on the development of his intellectual powers might be such as to promote his success in Classical Learning. Be this as it may, it is quite certain that his Education, if confined to one class of subjects; would be an unbalanced one, that his intellectual tastes and powers would have been developed in one direction only, and that so far he would be the worse prepared, whether for the continuance of study, or for the active business of life. We have already expressed the opinion that the Student who has given evidence that he possesses a fair amount of both Literary and Scientific Culture, may with advantage be allowed to choose for himself among the main lines of study pursued at a University. But, while he is still at school, and before he can have given such evidence, we do not think that the same liberty of choice ought to be conceded.


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IV. Recommendations of the Royal Commission of 1861

40. The Royal Commissioners of 1861 [The Royal Commission on the Public Schools which produced the 1864 Clarendon Report], while advocating Science Teaching, recommend that "Arrangements should be made for allowing boys, after arriving at a certain place in the school, and upon the request of their parents or guardians, to drop some portion of their classical work (for example, Latin Verse and Greek Composition), in order to devote more time to Mathematics, Modern Languages, or Natural Science; or, on the other hand, to discontinue wholly or in part Natural Science, Modern Languages, or Mathematics, in order to give more time to Classics or some other study." [Clarendon 1864:35]

41. We confess that, in our opinion, such options should be exceptional and confined to the very highest divisions of the schools, as we regard Science, Language, and Mathematics as essential subjects of education up to the age at which boys leave school.

42. The same Commissioners also say:

We think it essential that every non-classical subject (except music and drawing), in every part of the school in which it is compulsory, should affect the promotion from one classical form to another, and the place given to each boy in such promotion, as indeed in certain instances is already the case with respect to Mathematics and some other subjects. Thus, if Natural Science is compulsory on all boys in the fourth and fifth (Classical) Forms of a School, each boy's proficiency in Natural Science should contribute, according to a certain scale of marks, to the rise from the fourth form to the fifth: and from the fifth to the form next above it, and should also help to determine the place assigned him, on each promotion, in his new form.

A scale of marks for this purpose should be settled by the Governing Body, or by the Head Master with the approbation of the Governing Body, and amended, if necessary, from time to time.

It is essential that the scale should be such as to give substantial weight and encouragement to the non-classical studies.

The following approximation to a scale is suggested as indicating the relative weight, which, in our opinion, may fairly be assigned to the various subjects.*

Classics, with History and Divinity, not less than 4/8 nor more than 5/8; Mathematics, not less than 1/8 nor more than 2/8; Modern Languages, not less than 1/8 nor more than 2/8; Natural Science, 1/8 to 2/8; the three non-classical subjects combined 4/8. [Clarendon 1864:35]

V. Regulations issued by the Special Commissioners

43. The Special Commissioners appointed for the Purposes of the Public Schools Act of 1868 have recently issued Regulations for all the Schools to which that Act applies.

44. The Regulations for Eton, so far as they relate to Mathematics and Natural Science, are as follows:

3. In any examination determining the position of a boy (not being one of the senior boys) in the School, or in any report of a general examination, the proportion of the marks to be assigned to Mathematics shall be not less than one-eighth, nor more than one-fourth, as the Governing Body shall think fit.

4. In any examination determining the position of a boy (not being one of the senior boys) in the School, or in any report of a general examination, the proportion of the marks to be assigned to Natural Science shall be not less than one-tenth, nor more than one-fourth, as the Governing Body shall think fit.

5. In any examination of senior boys, the proportion of marks to he assigned to the several subjects of study shall be determined by the Head Master, with the approval of the Governing Body.

6. The Governing Body shall from time to time determine the point in the College list above which the boys shall be reckoned as senior boys for the purposes of these Regulations.

7. There shall be one Mathematical Master, at the least, for every 100 boys in the school; and there shall be one Science Master, at the least, for every 200 boys learning Natural Science in the School. All such Masters shall rank as Assistant Masters of the School.

8. Every boy shall learn Natural Science continuously from his entrance into the Remove until he become one of the senior boys in the School, unless his parent or guardian express in writing a desire for his exemption from this Regulation.

9. The Head Master shall give facilities so far as he shall think practicable to any senior boy, at the request of his parent or guardian, to pursue any particular subject or subjects of study as may be deemed most expedient for him, and to discontinue any other subject or subjects of study for that purpose.

10. The Governing Body shall, as soon us possible, provide and maintain out of the income of the property of the School, or out of any other means at their disposal for the educational purposes of the School, laboratories, and collections of apparatus, and of specimens.

12. Any boy entering the School above the age of 12 shall have the opportunity of showing acquaintance with Botany, Physical Geography, or some other branch of Natural Science, and with Arithmetic, or Mathematics, in the entrance examination for the School.

13. Any boy in the School above the age of 12 who may evince an aptitude for Natural Science, shall have facilities for that study.

*"In this ... scale of marks ... it is assumed that all the branches of the course are being pursued together. Some variation would be necessary in applying the scale to parts of a school in which this was not done."


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45. The Regulations for the other Schools to which the Powers of the Special Commissioners extended are of a similar character, and, as will be seen, the Teaching of Science is left open as regards the more juvenile part of the School, not being compulsory until boys reach a part of the School which they usually attain at about the age of 13.

Conclusions and Recommendations

46. On a review of the present state of the Public and Endowed Schools, it appears to us that though some progress has no doubt been achieved, and though there are some exceptional cases of great improvement, still no adequate effort has been made to supply the deficiency of Scientific Instruction pointed out by the Commissioners of 1861 and 1864. We are compelled, therefore, to record our opinion that the Present State of Scientific Instruction in our Schools is extremely unsatisfactory. The omission from a Liberal Education of a great branch of Intellectual Culture is of itself a matter for serious regret; and, considering the increasing importance of Science to the Material Interests of the Country, we cannot but regard its almost total exclusion from the training of the upper and middle classes as little less than a national misfortune.

47. While appreciating the reasons which may have induced the Special Commissioners not to insist, in Regulations which have the force of a Statute, on the introduction of Science in the junior parts of the Schools, we desire to express our own opinion that Scientific Instruction ought to commence from the beginning of the school career.

48. Moreover, while we are sensible that much discretion must be left to the Governing Bodies of Schools, and are, therefore, not surprised at the latitude allowed by the Special Commissioners, we think that the Governing Bodies would do well to adopt not the minimum of one-tenth of the marks, but a larger proportion, say one-sixth.

49. We, therefore, Recommend,

1. That, in all Public and Endowed Schools, a substantial portion of the time allotted to study, should, throughout the School Course (but subject to the exceptional options to which we have before referred), be devoted to Natural Science; and we are of opinion that not less than six hours a week on the average should be appropriated for the purpose.

2. That in all General School Examinations not less than one-sixth of the marks be allotted to Natural Science.

3. That in any Leaving Examination, the same proportion should be maintained.

All of which we humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.

(Signed)

DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
JAMES P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
BERNHARD SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
THOMAS H. HUXLEY.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.
In signing this Report, I feel compelled to say that I regard the first Recommendation us too inelastic. While fully admitting that Natural Science ought to form a substantial part of a liberal education, I am not prepared to recommend that in all Schools the study of Natural Science should be carried on throughout the School course, but wish a wider discretion to be left to the Governing Bodies, or Head Masters, as to the degree to which what has been called the "stratification" of studies should be carried out.

G. G. STOKES.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER, Secretary.
June 18th, 1875.


[title page]

SEVENTH REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1875

[C.-1297.] Price 10d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORT1
APPENDICES41





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


[page iv]

execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





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ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.



[page 1]

SEVENTH REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to Inquire what Aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such Aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty, in continuation of our former Reports, the following Report on the University of London; on the Universities of Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrew's, and Aberdeen); on the University of Dublin and Trinity College; and on the Queen's University in Ireland.

As in our Third Report we have dealt with The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and as in our Fifth Report we have referred to the Arrangements made by The University of Durham for the Promotion of Scientific Instruction at Newcastle-On-Tyne, the present Report will conclude that part of the Inquiry entrusted to us which relates to the Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof.

I. The University of London

1. The University of London was founded by Royal Charter, on the 28th of November, 1836, for Objects which are best expressed in the words of its Original Charter:

"Deeming it to be the duty of our Royal Office, for the Advancement of Religion and Morality, and for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, to hold forth to all classes and denominations of our faithful subjects, without any distinction whatsoever, an encouragement for pursuing a regular and liberal Course of Education; and considering that many persons do prosecute or complete their studies both in the Metropolis and in other parts of the United Kingdom, to whom it is expedient that there should be offered such facilities, and on whom it is just that there should be conferred such distinctions and rewards, as may incline them to persevere in these their laudable pursuits; further know that for the purpose of ascertaining, by means of Examination, the persons who have acquired proficiency in Literature, Science, and Art, by the pursuit of such course of education, as evidence of their respective attainments, and marks of honour proportioned thereunto, we do will, grant, declare, and constitute our right trusty and right well beloved cousin, William Cavendish Earl of Burlington [with 37 others], one Body Politic and Corporate, by the name of 'The University of London'."

2. The Governing Bodies of the University are the Senate, and the Convocation. The Senate consists of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Fellows. The Fellows (36 in number, exclusive of the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor for the time being) are appointed partly by the Crown and partly by the Members of the Senate under the powers granted by the Charter. The following Graduates of the University constitute the Convocation of the University, viz., all Doctors of Law, Doctors of Medicine, and Masters of Arts; all Bachelors of Law of two years' standing, all Bachelors of Medicine of two years' standing, all Bachelors of Arts of three years' standing, all Doctors of Science, all Bachelors of Science of three years' standing; and also all Graduates holding other Degrees recognized as qualifications for admission to Convocation by resolution of Convocation.

3. The whole of the annual expenses of the University are provided for in the Civil Service Estimates, the Estimates for the financial year 1874-75, being £9,861. The fees received by the University are paid into the Exchequer: the sum thus paid in for the same year is gIven in the Appendix, together with the annual expenses for 1875-76.


[page 2]

4. That the Government which founded the University desired specially to encourage the introduction of Scientific Study into General Education, may be inferred from the character of the original Body of Fellows; which included many names distinguished in Science, as well as many eminent members of the Medical Profession.

5. The Senate was not originally empowered to grant any other Degrees than those of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Laws, and Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine.

6. Certificates of Studentship in some one or more of the affiliated Colleges or Medical Schools were required from all Candidates for Examination; and on the Report of the Senate to the Home Secretary, from time to time; the list of such affiliated Institutions might be varied, altered, or amended.

7. The Examinations have from the first been conducted by Examiners appointed by the Senate.

8. In proceeding to frame a Curriculum of Study for Degrees in Arts and Medicine (Degrees in Laws being originally conferred only upon such as had previously Graduated in Arts), the Senate determined to institute a Matriculation Examination, which should be the test of the candidate's qualification to enter upon a course of Academical Study for either of such Degrees. This Examination included, from the first, not merely Classics, Mathematics, and English, but also an Elementary Knowledge of either Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, or Natural History; and a further encouragement to the study of these Departments of Science was given by subsequent Honours Examinations.

9. The value attached to this Matriculation Examination, as a test of a good School Education, is increasingly shown by the large number of Candidates (now exceeding 1,000 annually) who present themselves at it; a considerable proportion of these having no intention of proceeding to any Degree.

10. No practical Examination was originally instituted at Matriculation, and no change in this respect has been hitherto made. It is evident that there would be considerable difficulty in organizing such an examination for five or six hundred candidates. But there can be no doubt that if this difficulty could be overcome, the enforcement of a practical test would accelerate the introduction of Practical Work into School Teaching, and would thus exert a very favourable influence on the progress of Scientific Education.

11. The Curriculum for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts included Animal Physiology, with Classics, Mathematics and Mental Philosophy, as subjects of the Pass Examination; and Honours Examinations were instituted in Chemistry, Animal Physiology, and Vegetable Physiology with Structural Botany.

12. The First Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine included Chemistry and Botany, in both which subjects the examination was practical as well as written and oral. A subsequent Honours Examination was held in Chemistry, to which was attached an Exhibition of £30 per annum for two years. And an Honours Examination was held in Botany.

13. In the Second Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine, Physiology (with Comparative Anatomy) took equal rank with Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery; and was the subject of a subsequent Honours Examination, to which was attached a Scholarship of £50 per annum for two years, with a gold medal and the style of University Medical Scholar.

14. No material change in these arrangements took place until the grant of a New Charter in the year 1858, by which the University was empowered to confer the several degrees of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor, in Arts, Laws, Science, Medicine, Music, and in such other Departments of Knowledge (except Theology) as the Senate might determine. And the same Charter provided that persons not educated in any of the affiliated Institutions, might be admitted to examination for any of the Degrees conferred by the University, other than Medical Degrees.

15. Before the terms of this Charter were finally settled, a Memorial had been presented to the Senate, signed by 20 of the most eminent Scientific Men in the Metropolis, urging the propriety of establishing Degrees in Science, and a Committee of the Senate, which included Dr. Arnott, Mr. Brande, and Mr. Faraday, with the subsequent addition of Mr. Hopkins, had been appointed for the consideration of the subject. In the following year (1859) the Degrees of Bachelor and Doctor in Science were instituted, under Regulations which, with some alterations in detail, remain in force at the present time.

16. The principle on which the Curriculum of Study for the Degree of Bachelor in Science was framed, was that of laying a broad foundation of Scientific Culture, upon which the student might advantageously base his acquirements in whatever department of Science he might choose as his special pursuit. The First (Pass) Examination for the


[page 3]

Degree of Bachelor of Science includes Pure Mathematics, Experimental Physics, Inorganic Chemistry, Zoology, and Botany. Subsequent Honours Examinations are held in these several branches of knowledge; an Exhibition of £40 per annum for two years being awarded to the highest proficient in each, provided that he is found deserving of it. The competition for the Exhibition in Mathematics is open also to Candidates who have passed the First Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts; and the competition for the other exhibitions is open also to Medical Candidates.

17. The First Examination, for the Degree of Bachelor of Science, with the omission of Mathematics, under the style of the Preliminary Scientific Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine, is now imposed on all Candidates for degrees in Medicine, as a preliminary to the proper Medical Curriculum; the subjects of Inorganic Chemistry and Botany being omitted from the First Examination for the Bachelor's Degree, while Physiology is now transferred to it from the Second. All Medical Candidates are required to go through a Practical Examination in Chemistry; and it is the intention of the Senate to impose this test on Candidates for Degrees in Science also. The Examinations in Zoology and Botany have from the first been partly practical.

18. The Second (Pass) Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Science includes Mechanical and Natural Philosophy, Organic Chemistry, Geology and Palæontology, Animal Physiology, and Logic and Moral Philosophy. Subsequent Honours Examinations are held in these several branches of knowledge; Scholarships of £50 per annum for three years (the competition for which is open also to candidates who have passed the Second Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts) being awarded to the highest proficients in Mathematics and in Logic and Moral Philosophy respectively; and Scholarships of £50 per annum for two years being awarded to the highest proficients in Chemistry, Zoology (including Physiology), and Geology and Palæontology respectively.

19. The Programme of Subjects for the Degree of Doctor in Science, on the other hand, was framed with a view of encouraging the highest proficiency in some special Branch of Knowledge; the candidate being expected to be so fully conversant with the principal subject he may select, as to be able to go through any test (whether by theoretical or practical Examination) of his acquirements in it that can be fairly applied. Sixteen Primary Branches are specified; but several of these are again subdivided, and others may be treated in different ways, at the option of the Candidate.

20. The total number of Candidates who have obtained the Degree of Bachelor in Science up to the present time is 157; the number of those who have obtained the Degree of Doctor in Science is 21, of whom 11 presented themselves in one or other of the Departments of Chemistry.

21. In our Third Report we have suggested that a Doctorate in Science should be established in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and we have expressed the opinion "that Candidates for this Degree should not merely show proficiency of knowledge as tested by Examination, but should also offer some Original Contribution to Science." This principle has already been adopted by the University of Edinburgh, and we think that the senate of the University of London would do well to consider whether they should not also award the Degree of Doctor of Science only to those who have given proofs of the desire and the capacity to make some addition to Scientific Knowledge.




[page 4]

II. The Universities of Scotland

GENERAL REMARKS

22. The four Scottish Universities were, as lately as 1863, the subject of an Inquiry, conducted, at considerable length and with great minuteness, by Commissioners appointed under the Universities (Scotland) Act of 1858. The powers given to the Commissioners included the Arrangement of the Financial Affairs of the several Universities and Colleges; the Foundation of new Professorships; the Regulation of the Course of Study and of Examinations for Degrees; and the Revision of Foundations. These powers were, however, conferred upon the Commissioners on the understanding that the additional sum to be provided by Parliament for the four Universities was not to exceed £10,000 a year, and there can be no doubt that in making the Recommendations contained in their Report, they were influenced, not only by the ascertained wants of the Universities, but by the consciousness that their expenditure was to be confined within this limit.

23. We have not thought it necessary to follow the Report of the Commissioners through its various details. It is, however, important that we should point out the position assigned by them to Science in the System of Education enjoined by their Ordinances.

24. The fourteenth Ordinance, which applies to the four Universities, prescribes for Graduation in Arts "a course extending over four winter sessions, and including attendance on the Classes of Humanity, Greek, Mathematics, Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Natural Philosophy"; and, in addition to these, "attendance on a course of English Literature", which previously had not been required in any Scottish University except that of Edinburgh.

25. The Commissioners "considered it necessary to take, as the basis of a System applicable to the Universities of Scotland, the course of study which had been followed in those Universities for a very long period"; they dwelt upon the variety of the subjects which that course already embraced, and upon the injurious effect of too large a variety in dissipating the attention of the Students; and they hesitated to recommend any steps which might tend to distract the attention of the Student still further.

26. They were, however, of opinion that it was impossible to dispense with any of the branches of study already embraced in that course. "No one", they said, "who is competent to form an opinion on such a question, could doubt the propriety of making Classical Learning the Foundation of a University Course." Again, the historical distinction of the Scottish Universities as "Seminaries of Learning for the cultivation of the various branches of Mental Philosophy", rendered the Commissioners unwilling to assign to it a position less considerable than that which it had hitherto occupied. So, too, the study of Mathematics, which, under the terms of Ordinance 14, includes Pure Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, appeared to form an essential subject. Finally, "considering the importance which belongs to the study of the English Language and Literature as part of a liberal education", and the success of the Literature Classes already in existence, although not compulsory, in the different Universities, the Commissioners "did not hesitate to prescribe, over and above the three original subjects, attendance on the Language and Literature Course to all Candidates for Degrees [without Honours] in Arts".

27. These four subjects once admitted to the curriculum, the Commissioners were unwilling, unless the Universities themselves should think it expedient, to require attendance on a Natural Science Course (including in that term Geology, Zoology, Chemistry, and Botany) in addition to the subjects prescribed as essential by Ordinance 14.

28. Previously to this, however, attendance at Lectures on a branch of Natural Science, either Chemistry or Natural History, had been included in the course of study at the Universities of St. Andrew's and Aberdeen, and representations were addressed to the Commissioners by gentlemen connected with the latter University. In consequence of these representations a fresh Ordinance, No. 18, was issued, sec. 4 of which empowers the University Court of each University to require all Candidates for Graduation to give attendance on the Lectures of any one of the Professors of Natural History, Chemistry, or Botany, whose lectures are included in the Department of Honours in Natural Science. The University of Aberdeen is the only one which has taken action under this Ordinance.

29. For the purposes of Graduation with Honours, Ordinance 14 permits a student to select any one, or more, of the four following Departments:

(1) Classical Literature.
(2) Mental Philosophy; including Logic, Metaphysics, and Moral Philosophy.

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(3) Mathematics; including Pure Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.
(4) Natural Science; including Geology, Zoology, Chemistry, and Botany.
30. In each of the first three of these Departments two Grades of Honour are recognised. In the Department of Natural Science, however, one Class only was instituted by the Commissioners, in the anticipation that, for some time, fewer candidates would present themselves in this than in the other Departments.

31. The effect of this arrangement has been stated to us by Dr. Young, the Professor of Natural History in the University of Glasgow:

The understanding amongst the Professors, both in Glasgow and, I believe, also in Edinburgh, is, that the limitation to one class of Honours in Science means, practically, that the candidate shall pass simply. We require two classes of Honours in Arts, and a pass is all that is requisite, under the Ordinances, in Natural Science, so that hitherto there has been, one might almost say, no inducement to Students to attend the Classes in Natural Science.
32. In order to prevent this discouragement of the study of Natural Science, we Recommend that for the future two Classes be recognised in the Natural Science Honours List.

33. We have already, in our Report on the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, expressed the opinion that, just as a knowledge of Language and Literature is indispensable to the Science Student, so also some acquaintance with Natural Science is essential to the completeness of that education of which a Degree in Arts given by one of the National Universities is accepted as a proof.

We observe with satisfaction that this principle has been adopted by the Scottish Universities, as the chief Departments of Experimental Physics are included under the head of Mathematics, which is one of the compulsory subjects for the Degree in Arts. We would suggest that the Student should be allowed to show the required proficiency, whether in Science or Literature, by passing an Examination at such a period in his University career as will enable him, in the latter part of his Academical Course, to devote his attention systematically to a particular group of subjects.

34. A large proportion of the Students at the Scottish Universities attend the Courses with the object of preparing themselves for a Profession. Their education is, not unfrequently, procured with difficulty, and at a sacrifice by which their resources are severely taxed. "It is undoubted", say the Commissioners of 1858, "that a very large number of the Students in the Scotch Universities are in exceedingly poor circumstances. Many of them engage during the summer in teaching and other employments, in order to gain the means of supporting themselves at the University during the winter; and the Professors receive, in the last few weeks of the Winter Session, frequent applications from Students to dispense with their longer attendance, on account of their scanty funds being already exhausted."

It follows from this that the payments which the Universities feel themselves justified in demanding from their Students are small, and the resources of the Universities themselves, in so far as they are derived from fees, are slender in proportion. Nor will their endowments bear comparison with those of the sister Universities in England. It was no doubt upon these grounds that Parliament, upon the occasion of the passing of the Universities (Scotland) Act, agreed to make, from public funds, a contribution in Aid of these Universities. An account of the application of these Grants, so far as they are available for Science Teaching, will be subsequently given.

35. In Universities accessible to, and widely used by, the middle classes, it is not surprising that, side by side with a system of education which has been successful in producing Literary and Scientific Culture of the highest order, there should exist a body of teaching more utilitarian in its character, and assigning a prominent position not only to Pure but to Applied Science.

Thus, in each of the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, there is a complete Medical School, at which a large body of Students are engaged in qualifying themselves for the Medical Profession, by attendance on the Lectures of the Professors, and by Clinical Instruction in the Hospitals. In the University of St. Andrew's there is a Medical Faculty but no Medical School.

Again, both in Edinburgh and in Glasgow there are Chairs of Engineering, of which an account will be found in a subsequent part of this Report. These Chairs, as well as a Chair of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, the teaching of all of which has a decidedly technical character, are directly endowed by Government from Public Funds, while they share the advantages which have been secured to the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow by the expenditure of large sums of money voted by Parliament for the erection of University buildings.


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EDINBURGH

The Scientific Curriculum

36. The position assigned to Science in the University of Edinburgh has, in so far as it enters into the Examination for Graduation in Arts, been already described in the general account which we have given of Ordinance 14 of the Commissioners of 1858.

37. The Scientific Subjects taught in connexion with the Medical School may be divided into three groups:

A. The general Sciences, in which all Medical Students are instructed and examined in a manner to be presently described.
B. The Sciences more especially appertaining to Medicine, such as Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology.
C. The Special Medical Subjects themselves, such as the Practice of Medicine, Surgery, and the Clinical Courses.
38. All Candidates for the Degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine are required to pass an Entrance Examination, including, among other subjects, Mechanics. and Natural Philosophy. They then undergo a Preliminary Examination in Botany, Natural History, and Chemistry; and Candidates obtaining more than 75 per cent of the marks are placed in the Honours List. This Examination is irrespective of those in the more strictly Medical Departments of Study included in the second and third of the above Groups. It is, however, proper to point out that doubts have been thrown by one of the Witnesses whom we have examined (the Professor of Natural Philosophy) upon the sufficiency of these Examinations for the purposes of his own Department. Mr. Tait states that "there is no provision in the University Regulations for attendance on Natural Philosophy by Medical Students. They are required to pass an exceedingly slight Entrance Examination in the merest elements of what is commonly called Mechanics, and there is also another Examination on what is called Natural Philosophy, but it would be absurd to say that the so-called elements of Natural Philosophy in which they are examined embrace the whole subject."

39. The Examinations for Degrees in Science are described in the following extracts from a Statement furnished to us by a Committee of Senatus of the University.

Candidates for the Degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Science, in the Department of Physical and Natural Science, undergo a Preliminary Scientific Examination in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry Zoology, and Botany. This examination is called the First Bachelor of Science Examination. The candidate may then select one of the following groups for the Second Examination, on passing which he attains the Degree of Bachelor of Science:
(a) The Mathematical Sciences (Higher Mathematics, Natural Philosophy).
(b) The Physical Experimental Sciences (Experimental Physics, Chemistry).
(c) The Natural Sciences (Zoology, Botany, Physiology, Geology).

For the Degree of Doctor of Science, the candidate must profess that Science which he intends to be the special object of his future study, and must further select a particular branch of it in which he believes himself to have attained a considerable knowledge.

40. Since the foregoing information was received from the Authorities of the University of Edinburgh, a Regulation has been made that each Candidate for the Degree of Doctor of Science must submit a Thesis containing "Some Original Researches on the subject of his intended examination, and such Thesis must be approved before the candidate is allowed to proceed to Examination".

41. In addition to the above General Degree in Science, there is also a Special Degree in the Department of Engineering, which is thus referred to in the same document:

Candidates for the Degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Science in the Department of Engineering must undergo a Preliminary Examination in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. They may then proceed to the Second Bachelor of Science Examination in the following subjects - Mathematics applied to Mechanics, Engineering, and Mechanical Drawing. On passing this Examination they receive the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering. The candidate for the Degree of Doctor of Science in Engineering must profess one, and not more than one, of the subdivisions in each of the two following groups of subjects:

I. Practical Engineering

(a) The design of machinery, with complete drawings, specifications, and estimates.
(b) The preparation of designs, specifications, and estimates for Civil Engineering Work.
II. Applied Science
(a)Applied Mathematics.
(b) Chemistry.
(c) Geology.
(d) One branch of Natural Philosophy.
(e) Telegraphy.
The examinations in Group I. consist in requiring the actual execution of the specified work, the candidate is examined orally in connexion with the work submitted as his own.

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42. To the Departments in which Degrees in Science may be obtained, has, we also learn, been recently added a Department of Public Health, an account of which will be found in the Appendix to this Report.

The System of Examination

43. We desire, before proceeding further, to refer to the Evidence which we have received with regard to the manner in which the Examinations for Graduation are conducted, in this University. Its means have not admitted of payments to Special Examiners for the Science Degree, and the Examinations have consequently been hitherto conducted almost entirely by the Professors themselves, who receive no remuneration for their labour as Examiners.

44. The Examination for Degrees in the case of the Faculty of Medicine was, at the time when we received Evidence from this University, entrusted to all the Professors in the Medical Faculty, with three Non-Professorial Examiners, elected by the University Court, and paid by a Parliamentary Grant of £100 a year each.

45. This arrangement was not one with which the University Authorities were content. "Many of my Colleagues", says the Professor of Anatomy, "and myself also are of opinion that our System of Examination would be improved if we had more than three Non-Professorial Examiners specially qualified. We are by no means indisposed to receive additional examiners ab extra, supposing that any arrangement could be made for properly remunerating them." With reference to this subject, the Professor of Chemistry stated to us that all his Colleagues "desired an increase in the number of Non-Professorial Examiners, because, as they are not appointed as Examiners in any one Department, it must frequently happen that no one of them is specially acquainted with the subject" in which he is called upon to examine.

46. Since this Evidence was given, the University Court has, in the case of the Medical Examinations, thoroughly recognised the principle of associating with the Professors additional Examiners, unconnected with the Professoriate, and has introduced a large number of additional Examiners. It would be very desirable that a similar improvement should be introduced into the other Scientific Examinations of the University. We learn that the question of appointing additional Examiners, not Professors, for the Degrees in Science, has been under the consideration of the University Court, but that this useful reform is still likely to be retarded, owing to want of funds. We should regard it as a fortunate result if, out of any assistance granted to the University, funds could be appropriated for this object.

Financial Statement

47. The capital of the University was stated, in 1872, to amount to £144,951. Of this capital, the sum of £103,556 is specially limited to certain uses. The income available for other than these special uses consists of -

1. Interest on the difference between the above sums.
2. Matriculation and Graduation Fees.
3. The Annual Grant from Government.
4. Sundry minor receipts.
From these various sources the University derives an income of £7,375, of the distribution of which we received the following account:
The general administration of the University (viz., the salary of the Secretary, the salary of the Clerk, the salary of the Factor, that is our man of business, the salary of the Dean of the Medical Faculty, of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and the Editing of the Calendar) costs £981 a year: the Library absorbs £1,584 annually; £217 is allowed for the support of the Anatomical and Botanical Museums; the repair, cleaning, heating and lighting of the buildings, the poor rate and water rate, and insurances, absorb £1,827; on the general service of the University, in the shape of door-keepers, warders, and so on, £595 is spent; £1,465 for Class Assistants and class expenses; £366 for printing and advertisements; £207 for prizes; £18 for graduation expenses, and £41 for sundries making altogether £7,301. The balance of unexpended income for the year 1871 was only £74.
48. Out of the income derived from the capital sum of £103,556, the interest of £24,056 is applied under special bequests to the Endowment of five Chairs, including one of Natural History, while the interest of £54,720 is set apart for Bursaries, Scholarships, and Fellowships, of which, however, one only is given in the Medical, and three only in the Natural Science School, the remainder being associated with the Faculties of Arts and Theology.

49. We have been supplied with the following Statement of the Funds Annually applied to Scientific Instruction, whether from Endowments or Parliamentary Grants or from the general University Fund.


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FUNDS ANNUALLY APPLIED TO SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION, DERIVED FROM ENDOWMENTS OR PARLIAMENTARY GRANTS

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FUNDS ANNUALLY ALLOCATED FROM THE GENERAL UNIVERSITY FUND TO SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION†

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*This sum is independent of other emoluments which the Professor of Practical Astronomy receives as Astronomer Royal for Scotland; the two offices being, by his Commission, conjoined.

†Conditional on the state of the General University Fund, which is principally made up from Matriculation and Graduation fees, and depends, therefore, on the number of students attending at the University, and on the number graduating. There are many other unavoidable charges on this fund, such as the maintenance of the College buildings, salaries of librarians, clerk, servitors, &c. &c., so the amount available for scientific purposes is very inadequate.

‡The salaries of Assistants in the Chemical Department amount to £434, and the excess of this over the £200 allowed is paid by the Professor.


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50. A Statement of the total Emoluments of the Professors, inclusive of fees, will be found in the Appendix. It will be observed that there is a great disparity in the amounts received.

51. In the early part of the present century the University received from Government £129,000 towards the erection of the present buildings, which had been commenced with a sum of £30,000 only, raised by public subscription in Scotland. The result of this large expenditure has been to provide the University with buildings containing much excellent accommodation, though, as will be shown by the Evidence to which we shall subsequently refer, they are absolutely insufficient for its present needs.

Number of Students

52. The number of Students who have Matriculated at the University each year, since 1867, indicates a steady and rapid increase, as will be seen from the following Statement:

1867-681,513
1868-691,564
1869-701,698
1870--711,768
1871-721,854
1872-731,906
1873-741,930

The number of Students in the Medical and Engineering Schools during the same period was as follows:

No. of
Medical
Students
No. of
Engineering
Students
1867-68445-
1868-6951629
1869-7058647
1870-7167855
1871-7272545
1872-7378252
1873-7483950

53. With regard to the numbers of Students newly joining the different Faculties of the University in the Summer Session, the following Statistics, relating to the last three years, have been placed before us:

*This sum falls much below the annual amount which the Professor is called upon to expend, in order to carry out, in an efficient manner, Instruction in Practical Anatomy.


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54. During the Winter Session of 1874-75, the number of Students attending the University Course in the different Faculties has been as follows:

Faculty of Arts778
Faculty of Medicine743
Faculty of Law310
Faculty of Divinity66
1,897

Taking the average attendance at the Summer Course, deduced from the foregoing Table, the number of Students attending the University of Edinburgh during the Academical Year 18i4-75, may be set down as -

During the Winter Session (actual)1,897
During the Summer Session (estimate)126
2,023

55. The fees paid for the various subjects will be found given at length in Appendix III to this Report.

Museums and Collections

56. The Museums and Collections available for Members of this University are as follows:

1. An Anatomical Museum, the property of the University, maintained by a small grant from the general fund. This Museum is open to the Students and used by them and the Professors. It contains a valuable Collection (used for Teaching Purposes) illustrative of Comparative Anatomy.

2. A Museum of Materia Medica.

3. A Herbarium.

4. The Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, open to the University under an arrangement made at the time when the Natural History Museum of the University was transferred to the Science and Art Department. Specimens are also collected by the Geological Survey, but there is at present no means of arranging them in such a manner as to render them available for the Purposes of Instruction.

"The Geological Survey", Professor Geikie informs us, "has been prosecuted for about 16 years in Scotland, and every year during that time considerable Collections have been made to illustrate the Rocks, Fossils, and Minerals of the various districts which have been under examination by the Survey. These Collections have been to a very small extent exhibited in the Museum attached to the University; a large portion of them, all or nearly all the fossils, and a large mass of rock specimens and minerals, which would be of great value to the public if they were exhibited, to illustrate wide areas of the country, are at present stowed away in cellars for want of any space in which to exhibit them."

Deficiencies in respect to Buildings, Assistants, and Apparatus

57. We have received much Evidence with regard to the Wants of the University, and to the Difficulties under which Scientific Teaching within it appears to labour. These Difficulties are occasioned principally by deficiencies in the accommodation afforded by the present University Buildings, and in the supply of Assistants and Apparatus.

Buildings

58. There is a complete concurrence of testimony as to the insufficiency of the present building for the work of the University. It is now provided with 18 Lecture Rooms, in which no less than 40 distinct Courses of Instruction have to be conducted. Some of the rooms are used for the Lectures of three different Professors, and it is not matter for surprise, therefore, that this should occasion great inconvenience. The Professor of Pathology has, we are told, "to lecture in a room which is used only one hour before he enters it by the Professor of Moral Philosophy, and one hour after he leaves it by the Professor of Geology".


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59. The demand which has arisen in all the Departments of Scientific Education for Teaching of a more Practical Character than that with which the public was formerly satisfied, has given additional force to the plea unanimously put forward by the different Professors for accommodation more ample than that which the existing buildings afford. "Class rooms for practical instruction take up", we are reminded, "a large comparative amount of space, because you cannot pack up the Students as you do in a lecture room; they must have space to move about in."

60. The Professor of Chemistry represents to us that the accommodation at his disposal is not only inadequate, but most inconveniently arranged. The room which is used for the laboratory "was never intended for the purpose. It is dark and ill-ventilated, and altogether unsuitable". The Students in the Practical Classes of this Department have increased from 72 in the Academical year 1861-62 to 140 in the Academical year 1870-71. The University Laboratory is able to accommodate about 12 students only at a time, and, owing to this limitation of the space available, it has been found necessary to preclude all but the more advanced Students from Laboratory work.

61. The same want has been felt by the Professor of Natural Philosophy. He found it impossible to obtain space for a Laboratory till 1868, when he was provided with "a small class-room which had come to be disused, entirely unsuitable, or at least by no means very suitable for almost any class of experiments". The result of this is that when more than 8 or 10 students attend the Laboratory at once, some of them are obliged to work in the Class-room, and some among the Professor's Collection of apparatus. "The superintendence of groups of students scattered about, with stairs to ascend, and passages between them, is a matter of considerable difficulty, and adds materially to the labour of teaching."

62. We are informed by the Professor of Geology that his Lecture-Room is not adapted for the Purposes of a Natural History Lectureship. Diagrams and models cannot be properly displayed, and "the only table space for the exhibition of specimens is the desk which is used by the Professor of Moral Philosophy". For the storing of the specimens themselves there is no accommodation whatever in the lecture-room. A cellar in the S.E. part of the College Buildings has been used for this purpose, but it is inconvenient, owing to deficiency of light, distance from the lecture-room, and difficulty of access. The requirements for the effectual performance of the duties of this Chair are described by Professor Geikie in the following terms:

In order to the effectual performance of the duties of this Chair, I consider it essential, first of all, that the Professor should have a separate class room, with a suitable lecture table and wall space, as well us the other accommodation which is usual for illustration of lectures by means of diagrams, models specimens, and apparatus. In the second place, there is required a retiring room attached to the class room, with sufficient space for cabinets of specimens, diagrams, &c., and with proper light to admit of the examination of the specimens, and also with adequate provision of microscopes, lathes, blowpipes, and other testing apparatus for thorough practical instruction in the subjects of the Chair; for I consider that the duties of this Chair should consist not merely in lecturing, which is all that they can consist of at present, but in practical instruction by examination of specimens, and in the mineralogical part of the Chair by a series of carefully directed lessons in mineralogical research, and especially in research with the blowpipe and with the microscope. At present no provision exists for that practical department.
63. The University Authorities have, however, by no means limited themselves to barren complaints of their present situation. A Committee was formed for the purpose of formulating the requirements of the different Departments, and we have had before us a copy of their Report. It was proposed "to transplant the Medical School from the present University Buildings to a new site, so as to leave the present buildings for the other Departments of the University". The University was at this time in treaty "for the acquisition of a piece of ground excellently situated for the purpose, and hopes to acquire this ground without much delay". It was contemplated that in the New Buildings the Medical School would require about 60,000 superficial feet, made up as follows: Anatomy, 20,000 square feet; Chemistry, 12,000; Materia Medica, 5,616; Institutes of Medicine (that is, Physiology) 5,500; Pathology, 4,000; Medical Jurisprudence, Surgery, Practice of Medicine, and Midwifery, 3,000 each. The very large amount of space required for Anatomy, includes what is needed not only for Class Teaching purposes, but also for the Anatomical Museum belonging to the University. This Collection is at present very inadequately accommodated.

64. Such a scheme of extension as that indicated above could obviously not be carried out except at very considerable expense. From the account already given of the financial situation of the University, it will be evident that it has no capital of its own to apply for the purpose of erecting new buildings. "The University", we were told by Professor Turner, by whom the Report was laid before us, "has to ask for money, both for buying the ground and for building the necessary structures. We propose to go to the public and endeavour to raise what we can in the way of subscription. But I


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may state that the people of Edinburgh and of the surrounding district have, during the past four or five years, raised a sum of upwards of £70,000 for building a New Infirmary, so that the public pocket has been, we think, very materially drained for that purpose; and although we may raise, and I hope we shall raise, a considerable sum of money, yet we do not anticipate that we shall be able to collect all that will be needed, and we are desirous of obtaining aid in this respect from the Government. ... "

At a public meeting held in London on December 7, 1874, it was stated by his Royal HIghness the Duke of Edinburgh, who presided, that no less than £70,000 had already been subscribed towards the cost of the University Buildings. The necessity for increased accommodation was at the same meeting explained by the Earl of Derby, who stated that at the time when the existing buildings were erected -

The accommodation which it was thought necessary to provide was for a number not much exceeding 600, certainly not exceeding 700 students in all, the number of professors being then 21. At present, as you have heard from his Royal Highness, the number or students falls little short of 2,000, and the number of the professors is 35, and though I cannot actually prove it from figures or facts, I have very little doubt that the still further growth of the University has to some extent been checked by that very great want of space for which we desire to provide a remedy.
At the same meeting, the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair made use of words to the following effect:
As a Professor of lengthened experience, he might be allowed to testify that the Laboratories of Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology were altogether unworthy of such an important University.
65. We are informed by the Principal of the University that, since the date of the above proceedings, the subscriptions have increased up to a sum of over £75,000. The site for the new Medical School, and for the University Hall, in immediate proximity to the New Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh, has been purchased for a sum which, with law and other expenses, will reach about £34,000. It will, however, be impossible to complete the buildings, even in the plainest style, under a cost of £76,000, while the internal fittings are estimated at £20,000. A further sum of £20,000 will, it is contemplated, be required, in order to adapt the old Medical Class Rooms in the present College for the uses to which they will in future be put.

Assistants and Apparatus

66. The Scientific Professors are much embarrassed by the want of a sufficient number of Assistants. This also is attributable to the Inadequacy of the Resources of the University. Among the powers vested in the Commissioners appointed under the Universities (Scotland) Act, is that "of making Ordinances in order to found new Professorships where they are required, and to provide for the Appointment of Assistants to such Professors as from the nature and duties of their Professorships require assistance, and to provide for the remuneration of such Assistants." Under these powers, a certain number were appointed. The Commissioners state in their Report that they were strongly urged to provide Assistants for a greater number of Chairs, but that they found it impossible with the means at their disposal to do so. They were, therefore, compelled to select for such help those Professorships which appeared to them to stand most in need of assistance. The Professors are consequently still either without the necessary staff, or obliged to provide it at their own expense.

67. It is, however, requisite to bear in mind that, in the case of those Professors by whom a special fee is charged for admission to their Practical Classes, apart from that payable for attendance on the Course of Lectures, an increase in the number of pupils, while necessitating increased expense for the payment of Assistants, serves also to increase the emoluments of the Chair.

68. In the University of Edinburgh there are, it appears, three Classes of Assistants:

1st, Assistants allowed by an Ordinance of the University Commissioners, and associated by them with certain Chairs.
2nd. Assistants appointed by the Professors, whose appointments are confirmed by the Senatus. (Both these Classes receive their salaries from the general fund of the University, and discharge similar functions.)
3rd. Assistants appointed by the Professors on their own responsibility, and paid by the Professors themselves.
69. The number of Assistants and their emoluments are, as we have already said, often inadequate. The Professor of Physiology has only £100 a year allowed for his Assistant, whose time is entirely taken up, and who, during nine or ten months of the year, is


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working the greater part of the day. The Professor of Chemistry has four assistants, two of whom are paid at the rate of £100 a year, each, under the Ordinance, the Professor providing from his own resources for the payment of the other two. In addition to this he finds himself obliged to increase the salaries allowed under the Ordinance in order to obtain the services of properly qualified persons.

70. Several of the Assistants throughout the University receive the very small sum of £25 a year; a remuneration so inadequate for a man who has already been obliged to provide for his own professional training, that its amount can only be explained by the assumption that these appointments are sought for by Science Students on account of the opportunities for improvement which they afford, rather than for the emoluments attached to them.

71. It is of the highest importance that the Scientific Professors should be provided with Assistants qualified, at all events, to take charge, and to make use, of the apparatus and collections entrusted to them. One Assistant, at least, of those attached to each Chair should be competent to relieve the Professor of the routine work of his Practical Classes. These duties cannot be effectually discharged except by a person of some standing and attainments, who has by habit and acquaintance become familiar with the work of the Class and the methods adopted by the Professor in treating his subject. It is idle to expect such qualifications from an Assistant whose services are requited so slenderly as to render him anxious to transfer them as quickly as possible to some better remunerated employment.

72. It is fair to assume that the salaries allowed by the Commissioners of 1858 were fixed with reference to the limitation to which we have already referred in the amount of the Annual Grant. We desire to record our opinion, that, in the present day, they can be no longer expected to command or to retain the services of a properly qualified staff. The Professor of Natural Philosophy has given us the following Evidence on this question:

You are also very much inconvenienced, are you not, by the want of proper assistance? - That again is a source of excessively unnecessary labour to myself owing to the small amount of money which I receive for the payment of a mechanical assistant. I am not speaking of teaching assistance, but simply of assistance in keeping in order and setting up for experiment my apparatus. My difficulty in that respect is very great, but that again is merely a question of money. The mechanical assistant whom I have at the present moment is a man between 70 and 80 years old, who, I may mention, was in Sir John Leslie's service. He was doorkeeper when Sir John was Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh, and served him as mechanical assistant the whole time he was Professor of Natural Philosophy; and he served the whole of the principal part of his time with Principal Forbes in all his experiments, and he has served me since my appointment to the Chair. This is his 58th session in the University, and he is at present the sole mechanical assistant that I have, seeing that his son is temporarily disabled.

He is paid by the College, is he not? - Yes, he is paid out of the same fund us that from which I get £100 a year for class expenses.

Have you any teaching assistant? - I have a class assistant, and I have already alluded to his giving Tutorial Lectures. He helps me not only by giving those Tutorial Lectures, but also by superintending the Laboratory when I cannot be present myself; and besides that by relieving me of the excessively tedious work of looking over the answers to the examination papers. In the course of his looking over those answers to examination papers merely, he has, on the average, about 1,500 answers to examine once a fortnight. Then he spends the greater part of five hours each day in the Laboratory, in addition to what Tutorial Lectures he is giving for me at the time.

How is ho remunerated? - He gets £100 a year from the Exchequer. I may mention that when you contrast the amount of work which he has to do for me with the pay which he receives, it is not at all wonderful that during the short period that I have had such an Assistant, I have had almost every second or third year to train a new one, because the salary is utterly inadequate to the work expected of him.

Is it not a consequence of so much work falling upon the Professor that he has not sufficient leisure for original work? - When matters are at the best, I have very little leisure for nine months in each year; but at the present moment I may say that I have absolutely no leisure at all. ... I may say that it is hardly possible, without a large sum, to hire a really trained assistant; no improvised assistant would be capable of giving me the least help, and, therefore, during the temporary disablement of my own assistant I must simply do his work myself as well as my own. It would take at least two months or more of training before I could trust a man with the apparatus.

73. On pages 12-14, Appendix V, Vol. II, will be found a Recapitulation of the principal wants of the University in respect of Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science; and it will be observed that the want of increased and better paid assistance felt by the Professors to whose Evidence we have already referred, is experienced in almost every one of those Departments of the University in which Scientific Teaching is carried on. It will be evident from what has been already stated with regard to the finances of the University, that it has no funds out of which these requirements can be sufficiently complied with.

74. The Inadequacy of the Staff of Assistants causes an encroachment upon the time which the Professor might otherwise devote to original work. The poverty of the Laboratory accommodation is also a serious impediment. The Professor of Chemistry stated in Evidence: "Before I became Professor, while I was what we call an Extra Academical Lecturer (which corresponds to the privat docent in German Universities),


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at the Laboratory which I had at that time, I had more opportunity for carrying on original investigations than I have at present in the University; because our space is insufficient." The Evidence of the Professor of Natural Philosophy, already quoted, is to the same effect.

75. We shall deal in a separate Report with the subject of the Endowment of Scientific Research: in connexion with the present branch of our Inquiry, it will be sufficient for us to express our conviction that it is of the highest importance to these National Universities that the amount of work assigned to their Professors should not be such as to render Original Work on their part impossible from mere lack of time and physical strength. In the case of the University of Edinburgh, that time is often taken up, and that strength overtasked, by the performance of duties which a moderately paid assistant is competent to discharge. We have not overlooked the fact that the summer vacation of six months, allowed in this and other Scottish Universities, affords to some of the Professors a long period of continuous relief from the work of teaching. It does not, however, appear to us that this period is excessive, considering that the Lectures are given throughout the whole Session, and that the careful preparation which they require must, to a great extent, take place during vacation time. Others of the Professors are required to give, in addition to their Winter Courses, a Summer Course, and it is obvious that these can have but slender opportunities for Original Work, unless the aid which they receive from Assistants is sufficient to relieve them from a considerable portion of the routine work of their Classes.

76. The Apparatus possessed by the University is very far from being adequate to the Modern Requirements of Scientific Teaching. The Professor of Chemistry is supplied with only "a collection of old apparatus, mostly inapplicable to the purpose, which belongs to the University, the remains of old collections. There is also a collection of specimens for the illustration of lectures which was presented to the University by Professor Playfair when he retired from the chair. The remainder of the apparatus, both what is used in the laboratory for practical work, and what, is used for lecture purposes", belongs to the present Professor. He purchased what belonged to Professor Playfair, whose private property the apparatus was. The University grant of £100 a year for the purpose of keeping up and renewing the apparatus is insufficient. The same want is also expressed, in the Statement to which we have already referred, on behalf of the Chairs of Natural Philosophy, Practical Astronomy, Engineering, Physiology, Anatomy, Botany, Medicine, Pathology and Clinical Medicine.

77. The different wants which we have now noticed seriatim are thus recapitulated by the Professor of Anatomy in his Evidence:

"If we possessed proper buildings for teaching purposes, if we possessed proper appliances in the way of apparatus, and if we possessed sufficient funds to remunerate and retain about us a good staff of well-qualified assistants, I think that the University would be enabled to develop itself as a teaching body, in connexion with affording general scientific instruction, much more so than it has hitherto been able to do."

Conclusion and Recommendations

78. The Resources of the University of Edinburgh are comparatively small, and it would be unreasonable to expect from local sources contributions sufficient for the complete removal of the defects which we have noticed.

79. We are, therefore, of opinion that, considering the largely increased numbers of Students attending the University, and the demand now universally made in all the great centres of National Education for Scientific Instruction of a very complete and practical kind, the University of Edinburgh has established a claim to increased assistance from Government.

80. We Recommend that such Assistance should be given, both in the form of a Capital Sum in aid of a Scheme of Extension, such as that to which our attention has been specially directed; and of an Annual Grant sufficient to enable the University to increase the Number, and, in some cases, the Emoluments of Assistants; to make more ample provision of Apparatus for Teaching; and to revise the Salaries of the Scientific Professors, regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and, to the income which they derive from fees.

81. We further Recommend, as we have already done in the case of Owens College Manchester, and the Metropolitan Colleges, that the Grant of the Capital Sum in aid of the Extension of the University should be contingent upon the receipt of substantial contributions from Private Sources; and that an account of the Expenditure of any Annual Grant be submitted to the Government, with a view to the exercise of Parliamentary control.


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GLASGOW

The Science Curriculum

82. There are Four Faculties in this University, and the Students are distinguished into Students of Arts, Theology, Law and Medicine, according to the nature of their principal studies. The position assigned to Science in the Arts Curriculum is governed, as in the other Universities, by the Provisions of Ordinance 14.

83. Since the date when we received Evidence from this University, the Senatus has instituted Degrees in Science with four alternative Courses of Study, viz., Law, Biological Science, Geological Science, and Engineering Science. No Faculty of Science has yet been instituted, but the Faculty of Medicine, and that of Arts are said "to contain between them in their provinces nearly all of what is commonly called Science".

84. The Degrees in Science were instituted in consequence, as we have been informed by Professor Allen Thomson, of a feeling that Science was too much neglected in the old Arts Degree, and "it was thought best to institute a separate Degree in Science, for which also facilities existed from the fact of its being recognised in the last Reform Act for Scotland as a qualification for the University franchise. The Representation of the People of Scotland Act recognises the Bachelorship of Science as a degree qualifying to vote. There is no mention of a degree in science in the University Act, nor in the Report of the Commission of 1858; but the Commissioners took evidence from the professors and others with respect to the question whether there was reason to modify the degree in Arts." Professor Thomson suggested "that the topics included in the Curriculum of Arts were too various and too extensive to enable any candidate to acquire a sufficiently good knowledge of them to appear for an examination", and "that the Degree in Arts should be modified, somewhat after a plan of divergence in four directions; that a curriculum of two years, which all should be required to go through, including, of course, languages and mathematics, should form a common foundation, and that then the degree might be given to the candidates who pursued their studies and passed Examinations in four different sections - classics, literature, and languages for one; philosophy, meaning mental philosophy, for another; mathematics, physical science, and natural philosophy, for a third; the fourth, which would probably require subdivision, being natural science or biology and geology."

On further consideration it was decided that candidates for the Degree of Master of Arts should be permitted to graduate in any of the four courses of study to which we have referred. The present arrangements have thus been described to us by the same Witness:

"In the Scheme which has been adopted by the Senatus, while the scientific branches are recognised separately, they are in each department combined with a part of the arts curriculum. Our degree in law has hitherto been only an honorary degree, and it was held to be desirable that we should have the means of giving a degree upon study, and law is accordingly one of the departments. A certificate in engineering had already been given, and it was considered desirable to raise that into the rank of a degree; that is the second department, viz., of engineering and mechanics; the third department is that of natural science, divided into two, the biological and the geological sections. In each of these three departments the branches of study which were considered most immediately necessary and specially connected with the department are made to constitute the curriculum; and then, in somewhat different proportions, the residuum is made up of a varying number of branches taken from the curriculum of arts at the choice of the candidates."

85. We extract from the Calendar of the University, for 1873-74, the following account of the Subjects required for Graduation in each of the Departments in Science:

IN LAW: 1. Scots Law. 2. Conveyancing. And any five of the Classes in the Arts Curriculum: provided always that in the event of a Student taking either Civil Law or Forensic Medicine, or, in conjunction with any University course, consisting of not less than 25 lectures, Political Economy or History, he shall be allowed to dispense with one of the Arts Classes.

IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE: Any four of these five: 1. Chemistry. 2. Anatomy. 3. Physiology. 4. Zoology (including Comparative Anatomy). 5. Botany. And any four of the Classes in the Arts Curriculum.

IN GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE: 1. Geology, 2. Chemistry, 3. Zoology (including Comparative Anatomy). 4. Higher Natural Philosophy. And any four of the Classes in the Arts Curriculum: provided always that in the event of a Student taking Geodesy in conjunction with any University Class of not less than 25 lectures, he shall be allowed to dispense with one of the Arts Classes.

IN ENGINEERING SCIENCE: 1. Mathematics (1 or 2). 2. Natural Philosophy (1 or 2). 3. Inorganic Chemistry (1). 4. Geology (1). 5. Civil Engineering (2). And any two of the Classes in the Arts Curriculum except Mathematics and Natural Philosophy: provided always that in the event of a Student taking Geodesy in conjunction with any University Class of not less than 25 lectures, he shall be allowed to dispense wish one of the Arts Classes.


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86. This classification is open to the apparent objection that the Student is expected to show, upon the occasion of a final examination for his Degree in Science, proficiency in a more or less numerous group of subjects unconnected with that which he has specially selected.

87. We have assumed throughout this and other Reports that there are certain kinds of knowledge and certain forms of intellectual discipline which constitute the essential elements of general Culture, and fall under the two heads of Literature and Science. We have further assumed that means should be taken to ensure the possession of this general culture by all persons who receive a University education, and that it is desirable to permit the Student who has given evidence of this general culture to devote his attention exclusively either to Literature or to Science, and to obtain his Degree by passing an Examination conducted in such a manner as to test the reality and extent of his acquaintance with the subject to which he has devoted himself.

88. We learn that in the University of Glasgow the Student who has attended the Lectures on any subjects for the requisite number of Sessions is permitted to present himself for examination in those subjects at the next examination for degrees, and is not again examined in the same subjects as a condition of his taking the Degree of Master of Arts. The regulation under which this privilege is accorded does not, however, ensure freedom from distraction, during the later part of his University Course, to the Student who desires to devote himself more particularly to some one branch of Study, inasmuch as there is nothing to prevent him from postponing, until the end, his preparation for passing an examination in those subjects in which he is content with showing a competent knowledge. Nor does it seem to contemplate, as the normal practice of the larger number of the Students, that bifurcation of which we have maintained the importance, and which we have already suggested in the 33rd paragraph of this Report. The documents printed in the Appendix show that the Regulations for granting Degrees in Science are now under revision; and we, therefore, take occasion to invite the attention of the University Authorities to the above observations.

Financial Statement

89. We have received from the Clerk of the Senate the following Statement of Sums applied to the Advancement of Science or to Scientific Instruction in the University of Glasgow, which are derived from Endowments or from Parliamentary Grants:

I. Endowments of Chairs

[click on the image for a larger version]

II. Bursaries, Prizes, &c

Watt Prize of £10 annually for an Essay on a Scientific subject.
Walker Prizes in Civil Engineering and Mechanics; annual value, £15.
Cleland Gold Medal (£10 10s), awarded every second year to a Student of Natural Philosophy.
Brendalbane Scholarships (two, each or £50 annual value) in Mathematical and Natural Science.
Sir William Thomson Experimental Scholarships (three, each of £20 annual value).
Neil Arnott Prizes in Natural Philosophy, consisting of the free annual value proceeds of Dr. N. Arnott's gift to the University of £1,000.


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90. A Statement of the total Emoluments of the Professors, inclusive of Fees, will be found in the Appendix. It will be observed that there is a great disparity in the amounts received.

91. In addition to the Annual Grants, a statement of which has been given, very considerable assistance was afforded by the Government to the University at the time of its removal to the site which it now occupies. When this transfer was made, a sum of nearly £100,000 was contributed locally, chiefly in the city of Glasgow. The sale of the Old College and ground produced £100,000. A further sum of £17,500 represented the principal and interest of the compensation obtained by the University from the Monkland Junction Railway Company for the non-fulfilment of their agreement, In consideration of the importance of the work, and the public interest excited by it, the Government of the day announced their intention to ask Parliament for the sum of £120,000 in six annual instalments, on condition of a like amount being raised by subscription and expended on the buildings. This proposal was assented to by Parliament, and the sixth instalment of £20,000 was paid in 1873-74, the public subscription towards the combined extension, including the erection of a hospital, having then reached the large sum of £171,642.

Number of Students; Fees; and Bursaries

92. The number of the Matriculated Students attending the University Course in the past Session was 1,456 - distributed in the following manner between the different Faculties:

Faculty of Arts904
Faculty of Medicine839
Faculty of Law153
Faculty of Divinity60
Total1,456

93. Each Student attending the University pays annually a Matriculation fee of £1, and also a Class fee to each Professor whoso lectures he attends, the fee for each Course being £3 3s, with the following exceptions, viz., Natural Philosophy, Scots Law, Civil Law, Conveyancing, £4 4s each; Astronomy, £1 1s; Political Economy, £1 11s 6d; and higher Metaphysics, £1 11s 6d.

94. It appears from the Calendar that Bursaries, varying in value from £4 to £50 a year, are attached to this University. Of these eight only are, we observe, specially available as rewards for Proficiency in Science. A large majority of these prizes are restricted to inhabitants of particular localities, members of particular families, or they are otherwise strictly limited.

The Engineering School

95. The situation of the University of Glasgow, in one of the Industrial Centres of this Empire, and in the midst of a densely-inhabited district, upon the face and under the surface of which manufacturing and mining enterprise are widely spread, has tended to increase the attention paid in its course of Instruction to branches of Science admitting of Application to Commerce and Manufactures. It has, accordingly, become the seat of an important Engineering School. The Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics itself was instituted In 1840, and is endowed by a Parliamentary Grant. The present Department of Engineering Science was not, however, established until about 12 years ago. The functions of this Department are not limited to the preparation of Students for the Degree in Engineering Science. It was described to us by the late Professor Rankine as "consisting of a course of study in the various branches of Science that are applicable to Engineering, and followed by a System of Examinations, and the granting of what we call a Certificate of Proficiency."

Professor Rankine continues:

We had a reason for giving it that title of Engineering Science; because we do not profess to teach pure practice, but the art of applying scientific principles to practice; and we did not want our certificate to pass as a certificate that the holder of it was fit to practise the profession, but only as a certificate that he possessed the requisite scientific knowledge. As to the details of the course of study, there is, in the first place, Mathematics, which the student studies for one or two years, according to what his previous preparation seems to render necessary. If he has not passed through a preliminary examination, he has to study Mathematics for two years at least. There is a preliminary examination, by the passing of which the minimum time which he has to devote to Mathematics is reduced to one year. When I say a year, I mean the University session for one year. Secondly in Natural Philosophy or Physics, if he studies for the minimum period of one session, it may be increased to two, according to the proficiency

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which he shows. Thirdly, as to Inorganic Chemistry, he studies until he has attained a knowledge of the fundamental principles of Chemistry; of the Chemistry of the more ordinary metals used in engineering structures and machines, such as iron, zinc, tin, copper, and so on; of the chemistry of building materials, such, for example, as cementing materials and building stones; and of the chemistry of air and water, and such elementary matters as that. The fourth subject is Geology, and in Geology his studies are specially directed to what the writers of the present day call Lithology, a branch of Geology that relates to stone and the substances that are used as building materials; he also studies Petrology and Stratigraphy, which have a bearing upon the execution of earthwork. Those are the parts of Geology which are more especially applicable to engineering. Then the fifth branch of this department of study, which concludes the list of the compulsory branches, is civil engineering and mechanics, which is studied for two sessions. This branch relates to the art of applying the principles of the other branches of Science mentioned to practical purposes. There is a special mode of treating such principles where they are to be applied practically; for instance, to engineering field work, to engineering structures, and to machines; a special method different from a purely scientific treatment. I will mention one of the special characters of the application of scientific principles to practice. For any given practical purpose there is a certain degree of precision required inferior to the precision required for purely scientific purposes; and the student ought to be able to judge of the degree of precision that is wanted in applying Science to a particular practical purpose, in order that time and labour and expense may not be wasted on an unnecessary degree of precision. It is a very important and rather difficult subject, and I could exemplify it at great length, but I suppose it is not necessary to occupy the time of the Commission by giving detailed examples of it. Then, on passing a satisfactory examination in those five branches, a student receives a Certificate of Proficiency in Engineering Science.
96. Before the Certificate referred to in the foregoing Evidence can be obtained, the Student must show a proficiency in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy sufficient to qualify him for Second Class Honours in Arts. No Literary Subjects are, however, required for the Certificate, which denotes merely "Proficiency in Engineering Science", but not that the Student is qualified to execute or superintend works. Should he desire to obtain not only this Certificate but also a Degree, he must study any two additional subjects taken from the Curriculum of Arts, and of those two, one must be Literary or Philosophical. The Degree may be with or without Honours; the subjects prescribed for Graduation will be found in the Table extracted from the University Calendar, already given in para. 84. There is no Compulsory Entrance Examination in this Department; there is, however, a Voluntary Examination, by passing which a Student may, if he means to take the Arts Degree, shorten the duration of his attendance by about a year.

97. Professor Rankine stated that his pupils usually came to him fairly prepared in Mathematics. Preparatory study is, he considered, scarcely wanted in the remaining subjects, with the exception of Drawing, for the teaching of which there is no provision in the University. "There is evidently", the Professor remarked, "a deficiency of good instruction in Drawing throughout the country generally."

The same Witness has given us important Evidence with regard to the Association of Scientific Teaching with the Applications of Science:

The main point which has been impressed upon me by my experience is the advisability of carrying on scientific study and practical study as completely separate and independent departments. When I first became professor the lectures were attended to a considerable extent, and to some extent they are attended now, by young men who are actually engaged in business at the time, and who are working at some practical business as civil engineers or as mechanical engineers during one part of the day, and get leave of absence, or find leisure, somehow or another, to attend the lectures also. From my experience that does not answer. It is too great a strain for one thing upon the mental faculties, and then the states of mind required in practical operations and in scientific study are so different that a sudden change from the one state of mind to the other at different periods of the day is injurious to both. In the earliest years of my holding this professorship, I was induced to give evening lectures. In fact, my predecessor lectured in the evening, and I followed the same plan, in order that not only young civil engineers' assistants, but young men engaged in mechanical engineering works and in workshops might be able to attend, but I found those evening lectures were all but useless. The students were very attentive, but when I came to examine them I found that the instruction given to them had taken little hold upon their minds. I found, in fact, that from the state of bodily and mental fatigue in which they were, there was little or no permanent benefit gained.
98. Professor Rankine's experience led him to think that lectures given in the evening, or during the intervals between working hours, will not be practically useful to the students, and "that the best way to combine practical and scientific instruction is what we actually practise, indeed, to a great extent, or induce our students to practise as far as we can, that is, to devote the winter half of the year to scientific study, and the summer half to practical work." The following further definition of the limits within which Applied Science may be taught within a University was given us by the same Witness:
I think it useless to attempt to give instruction in practice proper in a University. If, for instance, we set up a mechanical workshop with machine tools in it in our University, or if we got, say a mile or two of railway, and set our students to superintend the works, this would be worse than useless. The difference between doing things on a small scale like that, and doing things on a great scale, as in actual practice, is so great that the students would only be led to fancy that they had more knowledge than they really did possess, and, therefore, I am for having the practical knowledge acquired at separate times and places by practice on a great scale. There is one rather apparent than real exception to that. I think that certain degree of

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instruction in mechanical manipulation would be useful in our University, or in any University indeed, but rather in connexion with experimental physics than with engineering: such instruction as would make a student, if he were engaged in scientific inquiry, able to make his own apparatus. That actually goes on in the University of Glasgow in the physical laboratory. A great deal of the apparatus used there is made by the students themselves, under the superintendence of the professor and his assistants. This would be useful to young engineers as well as to other students; but they should not be led to suppose that in practising mechanical manipulation on that scale they are at all qualifying themselves for the practice on the great scale that one meets with in engineering workshops, or in the execution of lines of railway or other engineering works.

The proper functions [of a University] are, first, to teach those branches of science proper that are applicable to engineering and mechanics, and, secondly, to teach the special art of applying scientific principles to practical purposes. ... The University having given the student this instruction, and having examined him to see that he is properly proficient in it, can then certify that he is a proficient in engineering science, but not that he is one qualified to execute or to superintend works. I think there is a limit to the function of a University, which is to impart and to certify the scientific knowledge, but not to certify the practical skill, of the candidate.

99. Engineering has now become a profession comparable in importance with reference to the wants of the present time to Law and Medicine. In the University of Glasgow, as well as in some other Universities, there is a tendency to claim for it recognition as a Faculty. When this claim is conceded, this new Faculty, with that of Medicine, will stand in the same relation to the Faculty of Science as that in which the Faculties of Theology and Law at present stand to that of Arts; and just as we should maintain that a Degree in Medicine ought to be preceded by an Examination in Science, and Degrees in Law or Theology by a General Examination in Arts, so, also, we should be of opinion that Candidates for a Degree in Engineering should be required to pass a Preliminary Examination of a general kind in Science.

100. The Certificates to which we have above referred are awarded to Candidates showing Proficiency in Engineering, unaccompanied by any evidence of General Culture, either Literary or Scientific; but the distinction between the "Certificate" and Degree is, we consider, sufficiently marked to justify the dispensation with such evidence in the case of the Certificate. We are, moreover, of opinion that by granting such Certificates to Students who may be unable to follow the complete course of study prescribed for Graduates, the University has been able to extend its benefits to a large class which might otherwise be excluded from them, and which, living as it does in the immediate neighbourhood of the University, should certainly be as far as possible brought into contact with its influences.

Museums, &c.

101. The University is fortunate in the possession of a good Museum, called the Hunterian Museum. This Museum contains a general collection bequeathed to the University in 1783 by Doctor Wm. Hunter, together with £8,000 for the erection of a building and the maintenance of the collection. The collection has been accommodated in the New University Buildings; it contains an important Anatomical Department, besides a Library of rare books and manuscripts, coins, and antiquities, pictures, and natural history specimens. The Museum is available for teaching purposes and maintained by the University at a cost of about £300 per annum, the whole of the original bequest having been expended. The University has also an Observatory with a considerable collection of instruments. The Professor of Anatomy has a collection of his own and another purchased by the University, the two together forming a large Illustrative Class Museum. Some of the other Professors possess small Class Collections. There are a Botanic Garden and Collections in the city of Glasgow to which the University has access.

102. We learn, however, that there is a total want of funds for the maintenance of the Museums, both public and private, and that the expense of supporting the private Museums has fallen entirely on the Professors.

The Chair of Natural History

103. Our attention has been called to the position of the Chair of Natural History, the occupier of which has represented to us "that, as the Chair is at present arranged, it is perfectly impossible for the holder of that Chair to do justice to the work that is expected of him; that in the first place he is required to teach Zoology to Medical Students; in the second place he is required to teach Geology to Students of Engineering; that those two offices are incompatible, since to discharge the one adequately he would require to spend his whole year in dissections and indoor study; and to do the work of the other, he would require to be the major part of the year in the field, making investigations in geology, and that the combination of the two duties renders


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it imperative upon the teacher to neglect, to some considerable extent, one or the other. In my own case", says Professor Young, "I have been obliged to surrender the Geological Section of my work to some extent, so as to attend more thoroughly to the Medical Students, the requirements of the General Medical Council making it imperative upon me that I should do my best for the very large number of Medical Students who attend my class."

This Chair receives £200 altogether from a Parliamentary Grant, and the fees amount to about £260. Sir Wm. Thomson expresses his opinion that it is, perhaps, the most insufficiently endowed of all the Professorships in the University. There is a complete concurrence of testimony with regard to the objectionable character of the arrangement under which this Professor has charge of the two subjects of Zoology and Geology, and as to the inadequacy of this Endowment. Dr. Allen Thomson, the Professor of Anatomy, is of opinion that there would be great advantage in separating the two subjects and assigning them to distinct Chairs.

104. In this opinion we entirely concur; and we Recommend that provision be made out of moneys voted by Parliament for the Endowment of an additional Chair between which and that to which we have just referred the subjects now dealt with by Professor Young should be divided in the manner most advantageous to the University.

Deficiencies as regards Assistants

105. In this University, as in that of Edinburgh, the want of sufficient and competent assistance to the Professor forms an obstacle in the way of the efficient Teaching and Study of Science. It appears from the table quoted on p. 16 that no provision is made either from Parliamentary Grants or from University Revenues for the payment of Assistants to the Professors of Civil Engineering, Natural History, or Botany.

106. The Natural History Professor states that -

But for the accident that I am Keeper of the Museum, I should be absolutely without assistance. There is an Assistant Keeper of the Museum, who receives a salary of £100 a year from the University; and in my own interest I pay him £25 a year out of my own pocket to secure his co-operation in the Geological Course. Other assistance I have none as regards the Chair. What assistance I have, therefore, comes entirely out of my own pocket, and no provision in the Universities Act admits of my receiving such assistance, because the terms of the Act go to forbid an increase of the emoluments of any Professor.
The same Professor complains that in his own department he suffers "from the want of some one who would undertake especially the Histological Course, requiring a great deal of time to be expended upon the preparation of the specimens, and upon the instruction of the students in the method of preparing those specimens. In Geology I am practically at a standstill, as regards the special training of Engineering Students, from want of some one who could undertake a sufficiently good course of instruction in Mining. For three years, at my own expense, I procured the assistance of a medical student who had come to the profession from the pit, who gave a course each year of 10 or 12 lectures upon Practical Mining. I paid him, and I supplied him with the necessary plant and all the expenses required for taking the party out to the field for practical instruction."

107. The Professor of Engineering makes the following statement:

In connexion with the teaching of the scientific principles of Naval Architecture, which I have mentioned as one of the subjects of my lectures, there should be an assistant, a lecturer, or a teacher of some kind, to teach a variety of details that are not properly the subject of lectures, but such details as are taught in the Royal School of Naval Architecture, namely, the preparation of the plans of a ship and the making of a set of routine calculations which in designing a ship are always required. This, in fact, can only be done by the help of some assistant or teacher for that purpose.
108. Sir William Thomson observes, "that it is absolutely necessary, for the efficiency of the teaching and for the position of the Professors in respect to the Advancement of Science, that there should be a sufficient number of assistants of the Tutorial Class".

109. The Professor of Anatomy states that, in conducting his practical or laboratory work, he has the aid of a Demonstrator and several Assistants, and that such employment is much desired by young men of merit.

110. The Professor of Chemistry has two Assistants under the Ordinances of the Commissioners; these are both Skilled Assistants and receive £100 a year each from a Parliamentary vote.

Conclusion and Recommendation

111. Upon a review of this Evidence we are of opinion that an increase in the payments on account of Assistants to the Scientific Professors is essential to the promotion of the Teaching of Science in this University; and we recommend that the Government Grant


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be augmented sufficiently to permit the University to make this increase, and to revise the Salaries of the Scientific Professors, regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and to the income which they derive from fees; an account of the expenditure of this Annual Grant being submitted to the Government with a view to the exercise of Parliamentary control.

THE ANDERSONIAN INSTITUTION

112. Before leaving the subject of Scientific Instruction in Glasgow, we desire to refer briefly to the Evidence we have received as to an Institution in that City known as "Anderson's University". This Institution was founded under the will of John Anderson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, towards the close of the last century, with the object of affording a higher education to the working classes of Glasgow. It is governed by eighty-one Trustees, and by nine Managers elected by the Trustees. In the will of its Founder, it is designated a University, and has Departments which are termed Faculties of Arts, Medicine, Law, and Theology, but as it has neither a Charter nor the power of granting Degrees, it is not a University, nor has it Faculties, in the usual sense of those terms. The Faculty of Arts includes Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. The Faculties of Law and Theology are both in abeyance.

It is stated in the Evidence that, "with the exception of philosophical apparatus and personal effects, there was little else than the formation of the system mentioned in the will wherewith to carry out the intentions of the Founder".

The Institution, of which the system was indicated in the will, has, we are told, "been maintained, up to the present day, in its present efficient condition, through the perseverance of the Trustees and the occasional gifts from time to time of the citizens of Glasgow". The Trustees have also, it would seem, at different times, made purchases of property which has been mortgaged to banks, the Institution paying the interest of the loan. More recently the Institution has received liberal gifts of £10,500 from Mr. Young "for the purpose of establishing a Chair of Technical Chemistry"; of £2,100 from Mr. Euing for building purposes; and of £5,000 from Mr. Freeland for the extinction of debt. No endowments have, however, been attached to any of the Faculties, and the Lecturers are dependant upon fees. Until lately they were obliged to pay rent for lecture-rooms.

113. The attendance on the Scientific Classes appears to be fairly numerous. In addition to these, Popular Classes have, from the first, been carried on in the evening, and the attendance at these appears to be increasing. £7,500 has been assigned by Mr. Freeland, and £3,000 by Mr. Euing of Glasgow, in support of these classes. The number of the Students attending the Institution in 1873-74 is shown by the Calendar to have been 2,499.

114. The fees payable are as follows:

Faculty of Arts:

Chemistry (lectures and demonstrations), £2 2s per course of six months.
Technical Chemistry, £18 per session of nine months, £7 for three months, or £2 10s for one month.
Faculty of Medicine:
Class fees for each course of lectures: First session £2 2s, second session £1 1s, afterwards free.
Anatomy class fees, for both courses (lectures and demonstrations): First session £4 4s; second series £4 4s; summer session, with dissection, &c., £1 1s.
Practical Anatomy: the Dissecting room is free for two Sessions to those who attend both courses of Anatomy; after the second year, the fee for Practical Anatomy is £1 1s per Session.
Ophthalmic Surgery: Attendance gratis by paying a Matriculation Fee of 5s.
The fees for all the Lectures and Hospital Practice required of Candidates for the Diplomas of Physician and Surgeon amount to £50.

The fee for attendance at the Evening Classes is 2s 6d or 3s, except in the case of one Course, that of Applied Mechanics, in which a fee of 10s 6d is charged; the payment of these fees entitles the Student to admission to a library of 6,000 volumes.

115. There does not appear to be any regular System of Examinations in connexion with the Evening Classes; the Students can, however, present themselves at the Examina-


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tions of the Science and Art Department. We have received from Mr. McClelland, one of the Trustees of the Institution, a table showing the occupations of over a thousand of the Students by whom these Evening Lectures are attended. This table proves that the working classes of Glasgow are in the habit of availing themselves extensively of them; the order of students, on the other hand, who attend the Faculties of Medicine and of Arts, is pretty much the same as that by which the Glasgow University is attended. We observe that Students attending these Classes are drawn from all parts of the United Kingdom.

116. It has been suggested to us that this Institution might, under certain circumstances, receive a Charter, in order to enable it to compete, on more equal terms, with the University of Glasgow. In this suggestion we are not able to concur; the proper function of the Institution is, we believe, to afford facilities for education to those classes whose means or opportunities do not permit them to follow a University course. The competition for students of the same class to which we have already referred is, perhaps, inevitable, but should not, at all events, be encouraged; nor do we believe that an increase in the number of Degree Giving Bodies in Scotland is desirable in the interests of the Higher Education of that Country.

It has also been suggested to us that the Institution might be used as a Central Establishment for the Training of Scientific Teachers, and that it might receive a Government Endowment for this purpose.

ST. ANDREW'S

The Colleges and Scientific Chairs

117. This University contains two Colleges, the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard, and St. Mary's College.

118. The Scientific Department of the University consists of five Chairs, comprising Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, a Chair of Civil History and Natural History, and of Medicine and Anatomy. A certain degree of acquaintance with the subjects taught by the Professors occupying the first three of these Chairs is required of all Students Graduating in Arts. The Theological Students are required to attend the lectures of the Mathematical and Natural Philosophy Professors.

119. The Professor of Mathematics "teaches in the junior class six books of Euclid, Algebra as far as Simple Equations, including ratio and proportion, and the Theory of Arithmetic. In the second class Algebra, Plane Trigonometry, the application of Algebra to Geometry, Trigonometry, and Conic Sections. In the third, or senior class, for three days a week he teaches Analytical Trigonometry, Analytical Conic Sections, and Differential find Integral Calculus."

120. The Professor of Natural Philosophy "teaches one class, lecturing seven hours a week. His subjects are the Properties of Matter and of Force, including Inertia, Gravitation, Molecular Forces, Laws of Motion, Conservation of Energy, &c., Dynamics or Mechanics, including Hydrostatics and Pneumatics, Sound, Heat, Light, Electricity, Astronomy, and Meteorology."

121. The Professor of Chemistry "teaches one class, lecturing an hour each of the teaching days, that is five days a week, and he has a practical class, lecturing three additional hours. The subjects taught are Chemical Physics, including the Chemical Relations of Cohesion, Adhesion, Heat, Light, and Electricity; Chemical Philosophy, including the Atomic Theory; the Non-Metallic and Metallic Elements and their Compounds, and Organic Chemistry."

122. Of the Chair of Civil and Natural History, which is in private patronage, we have received the following account from the Principal of the University:

It was originally the Chair of History, which was interpreted to mean Civil History. The University Commissioners gave it the name of the Chair of Civil and Natural History. The Chair does not belong to the curriculum and it has not been practically a useful Chair ever since I recollect, and my recollection extends to the period when I was a Student, as well as since I became officially connected with the University. Dr. Ferrie was the Professor when I was a Student, and he lectured occasionally upon General History. The class was attended for three or four lectures, and then it ceased. Dr. McDonald, the present Professor, has occasionally managed to get a class, but from many causes the class has not been regular.

Then you would say that the University at present gives no instruction in any branch of Natural History? - I cannot say that it does.

This condition of things was, however, described by another Witness as only temporary, and we learn that on the death of Dr. Macdonald, a Naturalist was appointed to this Chair.


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123. The Professor of Medicine and Anatomy has a class described to us by the Principal as a semi-popular one; the lecture being chiefly devoted to the hygienic aspects of the subject. No Examination is held in this Class, which generally numbers about 30 and is chiefly attended by the Senior Students.

Museum and Library

124. The University Museum is represented to us as fairly good; the collection is mainly a local one, but it is pretty complete in all the Departments of Natural History, and as a Teaching Museum it is in excellent condition.

The University Library is a very extensive one, consisting of about 110,000 volumes; but the buildings in which it is placed do not afford proper accommodation for the books. These buildings, like most of those in the Scottish Universities, are the property of the Nation, and the expediency of a grant for their extension has, we are informed, been under the consideration of different Governments during recent years.

Financial Statement

125. The Capital Fund of the University is about £21,000, and its annual income consists of the interest on this sum, and the Matriculation and Graduation Fees, amounting to £500 or £600 a year. A sum of £600 a year, received as commutation of the University's right to books from Stationers' Hall, is spent upon the Library. The total expenditure upon this, however, including salaries to librarians, exceeds this amount. The income of the Colleges may be taken at £2,670, but the appropriation of the whole of the College revenues is determined by Act of Parliament or by Ordinance of the Commissioners, so that there is no surplus revenue from College Funds available for other purposes. We have received from the Senior Principal the following Statement of the only sums which can, in his opinion, be considered as applied from Endowment, or from Votes by Parliament to the Advancement of Science or 'to Scientific Instruction in the University of St. Andrew's:

EMOLUMENTS of the following CHAIRS in the UNIVERSITY of ST. ANDREW'S (year 1870)

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*These sums represent the additions to the Emoluments of the Chairs recommended by the Commissioners of 1858.


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126. A similar return for the past year will be found in the Appendix. It will be seen that the emoluments of the Scientific Professors are uniformly low.

Number of Students, and amount of Fees

127. The number of Students attending the Classes in the Faculty of Arts during the Session 1874-75 was 118. The number attending the Faculty of Theology was 23, making a total of 141 Students, thus distributed among the Colleges:

Number of Matriculated Students at the United College118
Number of Matriculated Students at St. Mary's College23

128. Students attending the United College pay a Matriculation Fee of £1 on entering, and a fee of £3 3s for each Class they may attend during the Session. Should they attend three Classes, which is the average number, the annual payment made by each Student amounts to £10 9s. In the event of their proceeding to Graduation in Arts, a further fee of £1 1s is payable for each of the three Departments of Examination. Students of St. Mary's College pay a Matriculation Fee of £1, and a Fee of £2 2s for each of the Classes they attend, which is in general three in number.

Deficiency as regards Assistants and Apparatus

129. The Scientific Instruction given in the University of St. Andrew's suffers equally with that given in the other Scottish Universities from the want of Skilled Assistants.

130. With regard to Laboratories and Apparatus, we have it in Evidence that although the Professors of Chemistry and of Civil and Natural History, and of Medicine and Anatomy, have their respective apparatus, and receive annually from the University a grant for the purpose of adding to and restoring it, the apparatus is very inadequate and the sum allowed insufficient for the purpose for which it is intended. The Principal of the University expresses his conviction that the University requires additional apparatus and appliances for teaching, and states that the University has no funds available for the purpose.

131. The Professor of Chemistry receives from the University an annual grant of £52 10s for all the working expenses, including apparatus, chemicals, and Assistants. It is scarcely matter for surprise that the whole of this sum should not have sufficed to provide the two former items, and that the Professor has in consequence never had any assistance at all except that which one of the Senior Students has, from time to time, been, in his own interests, willing to afford. The Professor has given it as his opinion that, "in present circumstances, an assistant at a salary of not less than £80 is absolutely necessary; and it would require a sum of from £100 to £120 for the purposes of apparatus and chemicals, and waste of materials", that being the amount of the sum which he has voluntarily made up out of his own pocket, in order to keep the class in efficient working.

132. The Professor of Natural Philosophy receives also £52 10s for all expenses, and out of this sum £12 only is, he informs us, available for the payment of an assistant. When


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asked, "Do you feel the want of an assistant of a different kind from that which you are enabled to provide under the present arrangements?" the Professor replied:

I do very much indeed. Indeed, I am obliged every day that I give an experimental lecture to work for a great many hours, never less than four hours, doing a great deal of work which an assistant ought to do. Then on the other alternate days, by anticipation, I am also obliged to work in preparing experiments, so that a great deal of time is occupied in doing common work, which an assistant might do. Even our present stock of apparatus is valuable, and will, every year, become more so; and in the event of increased grants, we may expect to have a very valuable stock of apparatus in a few years. It is extremely desirable that some Curator of such a collection of apparatus should be provided, able to take care of it. Such an assistant as I have, at £12 a year, although he is an extremely intelligent and perfectly honest man, has not knowledge enough to be entrusted with such a collection. It would need a man specially educated to take charge of such a collection.
133. The Scottish Universities Commissioners, who, in consequence of the inadequacy of the resources at their command, provided very insufficiently for the appointment of Assistants to the Scientific Staff of the other Universities, did not recommend a grant for this purpose to the University of St. Andrew's, which has accordingly been obliged to fall back upon its own slender resources.

134. It is our opinion that the Teaching of Science should be encouraged in this, as in every other University, as a part of the groundwork of a Complete System of Education, and that the Staff of the University, and the Appliances at its disposal, should be sufficient to secure this end. We are not, however, disposed to suggest any steps which might have the effect of erecting at St. Andrew's Technical or Medical Schools such as those of Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Proposed Connection with Dundee

135. The University of St. Andrew's is distant 11 or 12 miles in a direct line from the town of Dundee, from which, moreover, it has been hitherto effectually separated by the intervening Firth of Tay. The completion of the bridge now under construction will, however, render the town and the University much more accessible to each other, and it has been suggested that advantage should be taken of their vicinity in order to connect them for purposes of education.

136. We have received Evidence with regard to the expediency of establishing Classes, taught by the University Staff, for artisans in the town of Dundee, and of founding in Dundee a School of Science affiliated to, and in close relations with, the University. A large building known as the Albert Hall, and containing a Public Library, has been designated as suitable for some such purpose. Whatever may be the decision ultimately arrived at, it must be obvious that no such instruction could be given in Dundee by the University Staff, unless that staff were very considerably increased. The Professors have already as much work as they are able to undertake. We have pointed out that they are far from being adequately provided with skilled assistance, and it would, we think, be unreasonable to expect that they should, in addition to their present lectures and practical classes, travel backwards and forwards between St. Andrew's and Dundee in order to lecture to working men in the evening, or to attend to such Students as might be unable or unwilling to make the short journey between the two places.

137. A certain number of the Students are natives of Dundee, and we may expect that the number will increase. Many of these Students would, in the event of effect being given to such a scheme as that which has been indicated to us, probably cease to reside at St. Andrew's, and would lose thereby the opportunities offered them for acquiring the groundwork of a sound general education. It is further to be observed that the Establishment of a separate Science School in Dundee would necessitate, not only an increase in the University Staff, but also additional Laboratories, and of other appliances which could not be provided except at a very large increase of expense; while, as we have already stated, there are no funds at present available for these purposes. Such an arrangement could only be justified on the grounds of its absolute necessity, and of this we are by no means satisfied, taking into consideration, on the one hand, the ease with which a student who is able to devote the greater part of the day to his studies will be able to attend the St. Andrew's Courses, and, on the other hand, the partial and limited character of the Instruction which artisans, or other persons most of whose time is engaged in professional or commercial pursuits are likely to derive from attendance at Evening Classes.


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138. We desire, also, to express our disapprobation of the suggestion which has, it would appear, been made to the University, that the Scientific Chairs of St. Andrew's University should be transferred bodily to Dundee, and that a separate Faculty of Science should be created in that town. It seems to us almost needless to insist on the hardship which such an arrangement would involve to those Students who now undergo, while in residence at St. Andrew's, a course of combined Literary and Scientific Instruction, and who might be called upon to attend possibly during the same day classes in each of the two towns. We should object to the Scheme on this ground alone, but we do so still more from our conviction that it is undesirable to decentralise and separate the different Faculties of the same Universities. Such a System tends in the direction of narrow and specialised education, widely different from that general and broadly grounded culture which it is the true province of a University to promote.

139. Since the date at which our Evidence was received, we have been made aware of the existence of a Scheme which has met with considerable encouragement in the town of Dundee, and of which the intention is to found in that town "a College in which might be acquired the highest attainments in Literature, Science, and Art". Such a College might, it was suggested, be affiliated to the neighbouring University, the connection implying "that the Teaching of the College is recognized by the University as sufficient to authorize the Students in that College to compete for Degrees conferred by the University". The cost of giving effect to such a scheme is estimated by its promoters at a sum of not less than £225,000. We have no Evidence of the probability of a sum of this magnitude being raised by local or other contributions, and we do not, therefore, feel called upon to express any opinion with regard to the merits of the Scheme, of which the outline only has been before us. We cannot, however, believe that a University so ancient and so distinguished as that of St. Andrew's, possessing a complete University Organization, and a Town of the wealth and enterprise of Dundee, are likely to remain long dissociated; or that the citizens of Dundee, in the event of the establishment of easier and more rapid communication with St. Andrew's, will be slow to avail themselves of the advantages afforded by the proximity of the University.

If, in consequence of such an association, the University were required greatly to extend its establishments for the Teaching of Science, we should not hesitate to recommend that local efforts to meet the necessary expenditure should be supported by a further contribution from Public Funds.

Conclusion and Recommendations

140. The University of St. Andrew's enjoys and admirable situation, and it is supported by the traditions and associations of a long and interesting history; it needs, we believe, in order to the full development of its usefulness for the purposes of Scientific Instruction, only such assistance as will enable the Professors to give efficiently that education which, with the limited means at their disposal, they are now endeavouring to provide.

141. We Recommend that such assistance should be afforded by an increase of the Government Grant sufficient to enable the University to provide the Professors with an adequate Staff and with the proper appliances for Instruction in Science, and to revise the salaries of the Scientific Professors, regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and to the income which they derive from fees; an account of the Annual Grant being submitted to the Government, with a view to the exercise of Parliamentary control.

142. If this be done, we see no reason why the University should not be able, without dismemberment or removal, to enlarge considerably the area to which its benefits extend.



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ABERDEEN

143. It will be observed, on reference to the Correspondence printed in the Appendix to this Report, that the University of Aberdeen has declined to avail itself of the opportunities offered to it of tendering Evidence before this Commission.

144. We have, however, received from the Principal, the following Statement of the sums (derived from Endowments or from Parliamentary Grants) which are available for Scientific Instruction in the University:

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145. The Arts Curriculum in this University does not appear to differ materially, in so far as the Scientific Subjects which form a part of it are concerned, from that of the other Scottish Universities, with the exception that, under Ordinance 18, it has required all Candidates for Graduation to attend the Lectures of one of the Professors in the Department of Natural Science.

146. No Degree is given in Science, but Candidates for Graduation with Honours in Arts may offer themselves for examination in the Department of Natural Science, which includes, as in the other Universities, Geology, Zoology, Chemistry, and Botany. The Regulations for Graduation appear to us to be judicious, and in accordance with the principles which we have advocated should be adopted elsewhere.

147. The University contains a Medical School, and we learn from the Calendar that there is a Museum of Natural History containing collections of Zoological, Geological and Mineralogical Specimens, and that there are other Collections used for purposes of illustration in connection with the different Classes of the Medical School.

148. The number of Students attending the University Courses in the University of Aberdeen during the past Session (1874-75) was as follows:

Faculty of Arts336
Faculty of Divinity36
Faculty of Law14
Faculty of Medicine227
613
Students in both Arts and Medicine (8); Students in both Divinity and Medicine (2)10
Total number of Students603


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149. The average amount of the fees payable by the Students per annum is as follows:

£ s d
Faculty of Arts7 12 0
Faculty of Divinity5 13 4
Faculty of Law5 4 0
Faculty of Medicine12 0 6

150. As in the other Scottish Universities, a large number of bursaries, or scholarships, are annually distributed among the Students. These bursaries are, we are informed, 240 in number, and worth about £4,000 a year. With the exception of those referred to in the above table, we do not learn that any of these are specially available as rewards for Proficiency in Science. We are, however, reminded by Professor Bain, in a letter printed in the Appendix, that "the effect of these bursaries is to educate and assist in maintaining upwards of 200 young men while pursuing a mixed Curriculum of Literature and the Sciences, the Literature consisting of the three languages, English, Latin, and Greek; the Sciences being Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Logic, and Moral Philosophy." The bursaries vary in value from about £10 to about £35 a year, and average about £17, while the cost of education is under £10 a year. We are glad to learn from Professor Bain that - "Nearly two thirds of the bursaries are given by public competition, the collective annual value of these being about £2,500, but the subjects of competition were in former days confined to Classical Literature. For several years one fourth of the marks has been given for Mathematics, and by a Scheme, coming into operation next year, Chemistry and Zoology are admitted into the list of subjects. The obvious tendency of such a competition is to make the bursaries instrumental in stimulating the study of Science in the Schools preparatory to the University."

Summary of Recommendations with regard to the Universities of Scotland

151. In conclusion of our Inquiry into the Universities of Scotland, we beg leave to submit the following Summary of the Recommendations which we have had occasion to make in the course of the above Report:

With regard to The University of Edinburgh we have Recommended:

I. That increased assistance be given, both in the form of a Capital Sum in aid of a well-considered Scheme of Extension, and in that of an Annual Grant sufficient to enable the University - (1) To increase the number, and, in some cases, the emoluments of Assistants; (2) To make more ample provision of Apparatus for Teaching; and (3) To revise the Salaries of the Scientific Professors, regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and to the income which they derive from fees.

II. That the Grant of any Capital Sum in aid of the Extension of the University be contingent upon the receipt of substantial contributions from private sources.

With regard to The University of Glasgow, we have Recommended:
I. That the Chair of Natural History be divided in the manner most advantageous to the University; and that provision be made out of moneys voted by Parliament for endowing a new Professorship.

II. That the Government Grant be augmented sufficiently to enable the University to make an increase in the Payments on account of Assistants to the Scientific Professors, and to revise the Salaries of the Scientific Professors; regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and to the income which they derive from fees.

With regard to The University of St. Andrew's, we have Recommended:
I. That assistance be afforded by an increase of the Government Grant sufficient to enable the University to provide the Professors with an adequate Staff and with proper Appliances for Instruction in Science; and to revise the Salaries of the Scientific Professors, regard being had to the disparity of their endowments, and to the income which they derive from fees.
We have also Recommended generally:
I. That an account of the Expenditure of any Annual Grant made to the Universities above referred to, be submitted to the Government, with a view to the exercise of Parliamentary control.

II. That for the future two Classes be recognized in the Natural Science Honours List.


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III. The University of Dublin and Trinity College

152. The University of Dublin contains only a single College, Trinity College, which was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1591, and created a Corporate Body, consisting originally of a Provost, three Fellows, and three Scholars. The Foundation has been enlarged from time to time, and there are now 7 Senior and 26 Junior Fellowships, and 70 Foundation Scholarships.

153. The principal subjects referred to in the Evidence which we have taken with regard to the University of Dublin and Trinity College, are the following:

I. The Courses of Study and the Examinations.
II. The Exhibitions, Scholarships, and Studentships.
III. The Provostship and the Fellowships.
IV. The Professoriate.
V. Museums and other Scientific Institutions.
VI. The Council.
I. THE COURSES OF STUDY AND THE EXAMINATIONS

154. For admission into the University, a Student has to pass an Entrance Examination, which includes Classical and other Literary Subjects, together with Arithmetic and the elementary parts of Algebra. At the Entrance Examination there is a further Examination for Honours which is confined to Classical and other Literary Subjects.

155. Sizarships, tenable for four years, may be obtained at Entrance. They are awarded by the result of a Competitive Examination, which, however, is open only to Students of limited means. One Sizarship is awarded annually for proficiency in Mathematics.

156. As regards the mode of obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree, the University of Dublin occupies a position intermediate between the older English Universities, on the one hand, and the University of London, on the other. At Dublin, as at Oxford and Cambridge, a certain number of Terms must be kept before the Degree can be obtained, and provision is made for the Instruction and Discipline of Resident Students; but a Non-resident Student is accounted as having kept a Term if he passes an Examination held at the beginning of the following Term. There are thus two distinct ways in which a Term may be kept: (1) by actual residence, combined with attendance at the prescribed Courses of Lectures; (2) by passing the Term Examination.

157. There are three Terms in each year - the Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity Terms - and the Undergraduate Course extends over four years. It is not, however, essential that the Student should keep all these twelve Terms. He must pass in succession through the four Classes of Junior Freshman, Senior Freshman, Junior Sophister, and Senior Sophister, Classes which are designed to consist of Students of the first, second, third, and fourth years respectively. To pass from Junior to Senior Freshman, the Student must have kept at least one Term by examination in his first year. To rise to Junior Sophister, he must have kept at least three Terms in all, of which one at least (which may be kept in either way) must be kept in the Senior Freshman's year, and he must further pass an Examination at the beginning of the third year. The Final Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts is held in the Michaelmas Term of the Senior Sophister year, and before admission to it the Student must have kept one term by Examination as Junior Sophister, one Term either way as Senior Sophister, and a third Term either way in either year.

158. Thus, a Student, before presenting himself for the Final Examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, must have kept at least six Terms, properly distributed, of which two at least must have been kept by Examination, and he must have passed one Examination besides the Entrance Examination and those by which Terms are kept.

159. The natural operation of these rules would be that Resident Students would, as a rule, keep many more Terms than the minimum required, for the sake of profiting by the Lectures, while Non-Residents would content themselves with passing the Examinations absolutely required, with perhaps, such additional days of examination as are given to Candidates for Honours. Thus, as regards Residents, although only six Terms, of which two must be kept by Examination, are nominally required in the whole of the four years, the system practically agrees with that which prevails at Oxford and Cambridge; while, as regards Non-Residents, although a larger number of examinations are required to be passed than at the University of London, the position of the University towards the Student is in principle the same, and the University acts merely as an Examining Board.


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160. It is stated by Mr. Jellett, that it is the general opinion at Trinity College that this substitution of attendance on Lectures for a part of the Examinations which would otherwise be required for Degrees works satisfactorily; and that it is generally thought that attendance at a Course of Lectures, which are, in a large degree, catechetical, is a more satisfactory test, and communicates to the Student a greater amount of knowledge than a simple preparation for an examination, no matter how good the examination, may be. It is found in practice that Candidates for Honours almost universally attend Courses of Lectures.

161. The obligatory Subjects of Study in the several years are as follows: In the first year Mathematics and some Classics; in the second, Logic, a certain amount of Metaphysics, and again Classics; in the third, Mathematical Physics, namely Mechanics and Astronomy, and either Classics or Experimental or Natural Science, in the fourth, Astronomy and Ethics, and two out of the four branches - Classics, Experimental Physics, Mathematical Physics, Natural Science.

162. In the designation of these Courses, it should be observed that the term "Natural Science", being distinguished from "Experimental Science", is used in a restricted sense. The subjects embraced in it are Zoology, Botany, Geology, and (in the case of Moderatorships). Physiology and Comparative Anatomy.

163. A Student is free to devote himself to Science alone from the end of his second year; and as the first year is allowed to be counted by passing an Entrance Examination held near the end of the third Term, and one First-year Examination held at the beginning of the first Term of the following academical year, a Science Student may be free from the obligation to study Classics after little more than a year from entrance; and, supposing he takes his Degree of Bachelor of Arts at the usual time, he has then two years left of his Undergraduate Course, which he may devote to) the Study of Science.

164. At each Term-Examination, there are Examinations for those Students who are qualified to become Candidates for Honours in the several Departments of Undergraduate Studies in that class. The Honours Courses are as follows: (1) Junior Freshmen: Mathematics; Classics. (2) Senior Freshmen: Mathematics; Classics; Logic. (3) Junior Sophisters: Mathematical Physics; Classics; Metaphysics; Experimental Science; Natural Science; Modern History; Modern Literature. (4) Senior Sophisters: Mathematical Physics; Classics.; Ethics; Experimental Science; Natural Science; History and Political Science; Modern Literature.

165. At the Examination for the Bachelor of Arts Degree, which is held in the Michaelmas Term of the fourth year, examinations are held for Special Honours called Moderatorships. There are seven Courses in which Moderatorships may be obtained; namely, 1, Mathematics and Mathematical Physics; 2, Classics; 3, Mental and Moral Philosophy; 4, Experimental Science; 5, Natural Science;. 6, History and Political Science; 7, Modern Literature. In each subject the Moderatorships are arranged. in two Divisions, Senior and Junior, according to merit.

166. There are four Professorial Schools recognized by the University; namely, Divinity, Law, Medicine and Surgery; and Engineering. Degrees are granted in those several Faculties, but only after the Preliminary Degree of Bachelor of Arts has been obtained. Professional Students follow the usual Arts Course for the first two years, after which they are at liberty to commence their Professional Studies. If they do so, they are excused a portion of the Arts Courses for which they may substitute more strictly Professional Studies. The Professional Studies occupy two years at the least.

THE EXHIBITIONS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND STUDENTSHIPS

167. It has been already mentioned that Sizarships are obtainable at entrance. These, however, being designed to assist the poorer class of Students, and being restricted to those whose parents or guardians are of limited means, do not fall under the head of emoluments awarded pureIy according to merit.

168. In 1870 it was resolved by the Board that 20 Exhibitions of the value of £25 a year each, and tenable for two years, should be awarded annually, provided sufficient merit were shown by the Candidates. Of these Exhibitions 12, which are called Junior Exhibitions, are offered for competition to Students of the first year, and the remaining 8, which are called Senior Exhibitions, are obtainable at the close of the second year.

169. The Junior Exhibitions are awarded according to the result of an Examination held in Classics and other Literary Subjects, and in Mathematics as far as Elementary Trigonometry.


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170. The Senior Exhibitions are awarded according to the marks obtained partly in a Special Examination in subjects similar to the above, and in Logic and Locke; partly in the Prize Examinations in Mathematics, Classics, Logics, and English Literature and Composition.

171. There are 70 Foundation Scholarships, tenable from the time of election till the holder is of M.A. standing. The Scholars are of two classes, elected for Scientific and for Classical Merit respectively. Candidates for Science Scholarships are examined in Pure and Applied Mathematics, together with a certain amount of Logic and Metaphysics. The value attached to the several branches in the Examination is expressed by the following numbers: Pure Mathematics, 250; Applied Mathematics, 250; Logic and Metaphysics, 100. Candidates for these Scholarships are at liberty to substitute the course in Experimental Physics of the Junior Sophister year for the course in Logic.

172. There are also seven Scholarships, of Private Foundation, for subjects not connected with Science, and 30 Scholarships founded by the Commissioners of Education in Ireland for Students from the Royal Schools of Armagh, Dungannon, Enniskillen, or Cavan. These latter are awarded for general proficiency in a course comprising Classics, English Language and Literature, Modern Languages, and Science. The number of marks assigned to Scientific Subjects is 100 out of 450. The principal Scientific Subject is Pure Mathematics as far as Plane Trigonometry. The Examination includes, however, Physical, as well as Descriptive Geography.

173. By a Royal Statute of 22 Victoria, 14 Studentships were founded in Trinity College open to candidates of all religious denominations, to be tenable for a period not exceeding seven years, with a salary to be fixed by the Provost and Senior Fellows, not exceeding £100 a year. Two Students are elected every year according to the results of the Moderatorship Examinations. The award is decided by the aggregate merit in two Courses, one Primary and one Secondary, which bear credit as 3 to 2. The Primary Course must be one of the two - Mathematics and Physics, or Classics. The Secondary Course may he either the remaining one of those two, or any other of the Moderatorship Courses.

THE PROVOSTSHIP AND THE FELLOWSHIPS

174. The Provost, who is the Resident Head of the College, is appointed by the Crown. Besides presiding over the whole College, he is, in common with the Senior Fellows, responsible for the Examinations which devolve on the Board.

175. There are 33 Fellowships, which are tenable for life, irrespective of the restriction of celibacy, and are now open to all without distinction of creed. These are divided into 7 Senior and 26 Junior. The Senior Fellowships are filled by co-optation from the Junior; the Junior by an annual election in case there be a vacancy. The average number of vacancies has latterly been hardly more than one per annum.

176. The Fellowships are awarded in accordance with the results of a Special Examination extending over a wide range of subjects comprised in four principal courses, the relative importance of which is approximately determined by numbers representing the maximum obtainable by the highest possible answering in the several courses. These numbers are as follows:

Mathematics, Pure and Applied1,000
Experimental Science300
Classics800)900
Hebrew and Cognate Languages100)
Mental and Moral Science500

177. It will be seen that Classics and Mathematics rank considerably above any other course. Mr. Jellett says in his evidence, "If a student's object is to obtain a Fellowship, he must, practically speaking, be either a good mathematician or a good classical scholar. I think that a man who is neither a good mathematician nor a good classical scholar would have a very slight chance indeed of obtaining a Fellowship."

178. The award being made strictly in accordance with the result of an examination, there is no provision for taking account of Original Research in the estimate of the merit of a candidate. Mr. Jellett observes on this point: "The thing I know has been talked of several times, but we never could see a practical way of carrying out such a thing."

179. It is understood that the emoluments of a Senior Fellowship in Trinity College, Dublin are much greater than at Oxford or Cambridge. As regards the Junior Fellows, their income is, to a great extent, dependent upon their being all engaged in College work. Mr. Jellett says, "All our Fellows are engaged in teaching. We have no Fellowships of the nature that they have at Oxford and Cambridge; they are more


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of the nature of prizes. We take a man's life, and we require him to give his life to it."

180. Formerly, there was a certain number of Non-Tutorial Junior Fellowships, but now all the Junior Fellows have to give lectures, whether they be Professors or not. As the staff is large, and the lectures of the Fellows naturally harmonise with their own pursuits they, or, at least, many of them, have a good deal of leisure, and have, therefore, an opportunity of engaging in Original Research, which is by no means neglected.

181. A Junior Fellow may look forward to succeeding in time to the seniority. The Senior Fellows are exempt from the duty of lecturing, but, with the Provost, form a Board to which, within the limits prescribed by the Statutes, or by any Regulation made by the Senate at large, is entrusted the General Management of the University. On this Board devolves also the Duty of Examining for Fellowships, Scholarships, and Sizarships; but it is at liberty to avail itself of the aid of Assistant Examiners chosen from among the Professors or Junior Fellows. Such, at least, were the rules prior to the Establishment of the New Council.

THE PROFESSORIATE

182. Most of the Professorships in the University of Dublin, which are of ancient foundation, were established to promote the study of Divinity or Literature, but several have of recent years been founded in various brunches of Science, and the University possesses the power of establishing additional Professorships as they may seem to be required. The following is a list of the Scientific Professorships at present existing, including therein those which refer to Professional Studies of a Scientific Nature:

Designation of Professor - Foundation of Professorship

Regius Professor of Physic 1761
Lord Donegal's Lecturer in Mathematics,* about 1660
Astronomer Royal of Ireland 1791
Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy 1791
Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics 1762
University Professor of Natural Philosophy 1847
Regius Professor of Surgery 1852

Professor of Anatomy and Surgery 1785
Professor of Chemistry 1785
Professor of Botany 1735
Professor of Surgery 1849
University Anatomist 1873
Professor of Comparative Anatomy 1872
These Professors are appointed by Trinity College, but belong to "the School of Physic in Ireland", which is a Medical School formed by an amalgamation of the Schools of Trinity College and of the College of Physicians. It was constituted by the Statute of 10th Geo. III. c. 84. and brought into its present form by the Statute of 30th Vict. c. 9.

Professor of Zoology 1871
Professor Extraordinary of Civil Engineering 1842
Professor of Geology 1844
Professor of Applied Chemistry 18~144
Professor of Mineralogy 1845
Professor of Civil Engineering 1852

THE COUNCIL

183. Prior to the issue of Letters Patent, dated the 4th of November 1874, the Board, formed of the Provost and Senior Fellows, was the sole Governing Body of the College, and, practically, to a considerable extent, of the University. To it was committed the regulation of the Studies, Lectures, and Examinations preliminary to obtaining Degrees in

*This Lectureship is now held by the Assistant to Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics.


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Arts or Faculties in the University, and the appointment and election of Professors. But by the Letters above mentioned, a Council has been established to co-operate and have a share in the Regulation of the Studies, Lectures, and Examinations of the College, and in the Appointment and Election of Professors, and the Regulation of the tenure of office and of the duties of such Professors.

184. The Council consists of seventeen members, the Provost (or in his absence the Vice-Provost) being ex officio Member and Chairman, and the remaining sixteen being elected out of the Members of the Senate, or Public Congregation of the University, four by the Senior Fellows, four by the Junior Fellows, four by the Professors who are not Fellows, and four by those Members of the Senate who have not voted, nor been entitled to vote, at the last Election of any existing Member of the Council, either as Senior Fellows, as Junior Fellows, or as Professors.

185. The Council has the nomination to all Bursarships, except those, the nomination to which is provided for by Act of Parliament, or by the Directions of Private Founders.

186. The nomination of the Council is subject to the approval of the Board, except in the case of Bursarships in the School of Divinity. If the Board should refuse to approve a nomination of the Council, the decision rests with the Chancellor.

187. It is also provided, with certain exceptions, that any new Rules or Regulations, and any alterations in existing Regulations respecting Studies, Lectures, and Examinations, or respecting the qualifications, duties, and tenure of office of any Professor, shall require the approval both of the Board and of the Council.

MUSEUMS AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS

188. The following Museums are used for the purposes of Practical Instruction in Trinity College: the Museum of Natural Philosophy; the Museum of Zoology and Archæology; the Museum of Geology and Mineralogy; the Museum of Engineering Models; the Museum of Anatomy, Materia Medica, and Midwifery; the Museum of Botany. In connexion with the last must be mentioned the College Botanic Garden, which is situated about a mile from the College, and contains eight acres of ground.

189. About 20 years ago the College erected a handsome and commodious building in the College Park to contain their collections, and to provide working rooms for the Students.

Trinity College has three Chemical Laboratories. The first of these is intended for the use of the Professor and for Original Research. The second, or Student's Laboratory, is entirely devoted to Students who are learning Chemistry as a Practical Science. It is capable of accommodating 56 Students. The third Laboratory is attached to the Lecture Theatre in Applied Chemistry, and belongs more especially to the Engineering School.

190. The University possesses an Astronomical Observatory, which is available for the Instruction of Students. The Professor of Astronomy has charge of the Observatory, and is the Royal Astronomer of Ireland. This Office was founded in 1783, and since that date has been held by such distinguished men as Dr. Brinkley, Sir William Rowan Hamilton, and Dr. Brünnow.

Professor Jellett informs us that "The Astronomical Observatory has lately received large additions and improvements. The large object glass presented to Trinity College by Sir James South has been mounted as an Equatorial in an Observatory specially constructed to receive it, and a new Meridian Circle, with all the modern improvements, and carrying a telescope of six inches aperture and eight feet focal length, has been ordered from Messrs. Pistor and Martin, of Berlin, and is expected to be completed in the course of the next month."

There is also an Observatory, "erected for the special purpose of Observations in Meteorology and Terrestrial Magnetism. In this Observatory an elaborate series of Observations at stated hours has been carried on during a lengthened period; and the Results of these Observations for the first eleven years have been recently published in two quarto volumes."

191. There is at present no Laboratory specially appropriated to Physics. The University Authorities appear to be fully conscious of this defect in their Scientific Arrangements, and the erection of a Physical Laboratory on an extended scale is in contemplation.

GENERAL REMARKS

192. In Trinity College, Dublin, as in the old English Universities, the prospect of obtaining a Fellowship furnishes the highest class of Students with a powerful motive


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for exertion, and the studies for proficiency in which Fellowships are usually awarded accordingly attract special attention. The proportion of Students who are directly influenced by such considerations must, however, be considerably smaller at Trinity College, Dublin, than at Oxford or Cambridge. For not only are the Fellowships much less numerous, in proportion to the number of Students, than at the English Universities, but, inasmuch as they are tenable for life, irrespective of marriage, the succession is slower; nor could this state of things be changed without an entire remodelling of the System of Fellowships, which we do not think desirable. The great mass of Students, and even of the more promising Students, must, therefore, soon perceive that they have no chance of obtaining a Fellowship.

193. Accordingly, any alteration in the studies which have a predominant influence in the award of Fellowships would, at least in its direct influence, affect only a much smaller number of Students than at Oxford or Cambridge. Indirectly, no doubt, such change would not be without influence, for the fact that the most powerful minds are turned towards particular studies by preference, must tend to commend those studies to the great mass of the Students.

194. The rarity of vacancies renders it exceedingly difficult to reward by election to a Fellowship proficiency in any one of a variety of branches of study. There is probably but one Fellowship to be bestowed in a year, and if one or two great branches of study are selected as exercising a predominant influence, highly qualified candidates are sure to present themselves; and it would be a matter of extreme difficulty to compare first-rate claims in three or four different great branches of study.

195. We think, however, that it would be very desirable that in the election to Fellowships important Original Research should be regarded as a substantial Element of Merit; and we believe that if this were done, it would be possible, without lowering the standard of the Examination, to enlarge the Range of the Scientific Subjects included in it. We have already mentioned that the subject has not been overlooked by the University Authorities, though hitherto no practical method of dealing with it has presented itself.

196. From their Tenure and the Conditions of their Award, one object for which the Studentships are designed would seem to be, to assist those who are reading for Fellowships. The subjects, therefore, for which they are chiefly awarded naturally agree with those which enter into the Examination for Fellowships.

197. The number of Foundation Scholarships, however, annually awarded is much greater, and there appears to be no reason why they should all follow in the line of the Fellowship Examination, and be either mainly for Pure and Applied Mathematics, or else mainly for Classics. We think that some Foundation Scholarships might well be assigned as a reward for eminent proficiency in Physical or Biological Science.




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IV. The Queen's University in Ireland

FOUNDATION AND ADMINISTRATION

198. The Queen's University in Ireland was founded by Royal Charter, dated the 3rd of September, 1850. A Supplementary Charter was granted on the 17th of July, 1851; but, subsequently, both these Charters were revoked, and a New Charter was granted on the 8th of October, 1864, under which the University is at present constituted.

199. The circumstances which led to the Foundation of the Queen's University are well known, and need not be referred to here. They are sufficiently indicated by the Provisions which prohibit the University from imposing any Religious Test, from Granting any Distinction whatever or any Degree in Theology, or even from admitting any person to a Theological Examination.

200. The General Legislation, Government, and Administration of the University under the Charter, and in cases not provided for by it, are vested in the Senate of the University. The Senate consists of nineteen persons nominated, in the first instance, by the Crown, and holding their offices at the will and pleasure of the Crown. As vacancies arise, the Charter provides that every alternate vacancy shall be filled by the Convocation of the University until six places in all have been so filled up. The Senators elected by Convocation are to be elected from the Members of Convocation not holding office in any of the Colleges of the University, and each Senator so elected holds office for three years from the date of his election, or during the will and pleasure of the Crown. Outgoing Senators may be re-elected.

201. The Convocation of the University consists of the Chancellor, Senators, Secretary, Professors, and Registered Graduates of the University for the time being; all Graduates of two years' standing being entitled to register. The Powers of Convocation, besides that, already referred to, of appointing six Senators, are extremely limited. They have, however, the right of discussing any matter whatsoever relating to the University, and of declaring the opinion of Convocation thereon; due notice being given, a week previously, of any such discussion. But it is expressly provided that Convocation shall not be entitled to interfere in, or to have any control over, the affairs of the University.

202. The principal duty of the Senate is to make Byelaws and Regulations touching the Examinations and Qualifications for Degrees, and other University Distinctions; such Byelaws have, however, to be submitted to the Lord-Lieutenant, and to be approved of by him.

203. The three Queen's Colleges at Belfast, Cork and Galway were founded at the same time as the Queen's University, and are declared in its Charter to be Colleges of the University. The Presidents of the three Colleges are, ex officio, Members of the Senate. Each of the Colleges has a Charter of its own, and, in all matters of internal government; is independent of the others, and of the University. The Governing Body of each College consists of a President, and of a Council composed of six Professors elected by the Professors of the College.

COURSE OF STUDY AND THE EXAMINATIONS

204. In its general outlines the Course of Study in the Colleges is regulated by the Byelaws of the Senate, which determine the character of the University Examinations, but the manner in which the Students are to be prepared for these Examinations is left entirely to be arranged by each College. The Degrees of the University are granted only to Students who have resided and have gone through a Course of Instruction in one of the three Colleges. The Medical Degrees form, to a certain extent, an exception, as only one year of study in a Queen's College is required from a Candidate for a Medical Degree, and the remainder of his instruction may be obtained in any other Medical School. The Professors in the three Colleges have, by Charter, the status of Professors of the Queen's University, and conduct the University Examinations in that capacity; although they lecture only in their capacity as College Professors. Thus, the Examinations are under the immediate control of the University, but the Teaching in the Colleges is so only indirectly. Nevertheless, Sir Robert Kane contends that the Queen's University "may be regarded quite as much as the University of Edinburgh, or the


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University of Oxford or of Cambridge, to be strictly and properly a Teaching University." "We attach", he adds, "some importance to that question ... The Colleges are Colleges of the University, not, as in the London University, where the Degrees are given to any person who presents himself, and who chooses to pass through certain Examinations, without reference to whether he has ever gone through any really Educational Course in a Collegiate Institution or not."

205. The Queen's University grants Degrees in Arts, in Law, in Medicine, and, besides, the Degree of Bachelor in Engineering. For the Degree of Bachelor in Arts, the Student has to pass two University Examinations, called, respectively, the First University Examination in Arts and the Degree Examination in Arts. The Pass Examination in the First University Examination in Arts includes Greek, Latin, a Modern Continental Language, and Mathematics and Mathematical Physics. For the Degree Examination in Arts, the Student has to select a certain number of subjects from a list prescribed by the Senate. The Degree of Bachelor of Arts is attainable without any knowledge of Science beyond that included in the Course of Mathematical Physics, which comprises Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Optics, and Elementary Astronomy, as treated in very elementary works.

206. In addition to these Examinations, each College imposes a Matriculation or Entrance Examination, and Sessional or Class Examinations. No Student who does not pass the Matriculation Examination is admitted to the College, and no Student who does not pass the Sessional Examination or a Supplemental Examination, which is held to provide for cases of failure in the Sessional Examination, is allowed to count his Session, but is obliged to go through the course of study of that year over again. It is stated, in the Evidence, that the Sessional Examinations for promotion are conducted very strictly, so that, for example, in the Examination held in Cork at the close of the Session of 1870-1, "in the Faculty of Arts, out of a total of 50 Students, 23 were promoted and 27 were not promoted ... In the Faculty of Law there were nine Students, of whom five were promoted and four were not promoted. In the Faculty of Engineering, out of 30 Students, 14 were promoted and 16 were not promoted; so that of 89 Students, 42 were promoted and 47 were not promoted; but a large number of that 47 would get in in October, by means of the Supplemental Examination."

The University Examinations are all held in Dublin. Formerly they used to be conducted in the Colleges, although by the University Professors, and on papers sent down from the University; but it has been now arranged by the Senate that even at the First University Examination all the Students must be examined in Dublin. This, it is stated, has been found more conducive to the proper conduct of the Examinations, and to the convenience of the Students themselves. The Standard of the University Examinations is said to be fully as high as the Standard in Trinity College, Dublin.

207. So far as the Degrees in Arts, Law, and Engineering are concerned, the Examining Body is entirely composed of the Professors, acting not as College Professors, but as University Professors. "The three Professors in each branch of Science or Letters, for instance, the three Professors of Chemistry, or the three Professors of Mathematics, form a Board of Examiners, and the Examination Papers are prepared in common, a portion of the papers being prepared by each Professor. Then the Students are examined on those papers, and the value of the answers is judged by the Professors conjointly acting together." With regard to the Medical Degrees, those parts of the Examination which refer to Practical Medical Subjects are conducted by outsiders. "The University Senate reserve to themselves the power of appointing any Examiners that they wish, and, generally speaking, they appoint some of the most eminent Dublin men from the Dublin Medical Schools to examine. They consider that they probably get a somewhat higher class of Medical Practitioners from Dublin than they could get from merely provincial towns, and also remove the suspicion of partiality in the Professors examining their own pupils."

SCHOLARSHIPS

208. In each of the Colleges there are forty-six Junior Scholarships - thirty of the value of £24 each, for Students pursuing the Course prescribed for the Degree of A.B.; eight of the value of £25, for Students pursuing the Course prescribed for the Degree of M.D.; three of the value of £20, for Students in Law; and five of £20, for Students of Civil Engineering. The Junior Scholarships are awarded annually, by a General Examination, and are tenable for one year only, with the exception of those awarded to Students in Arts of the second year, which are tenable for two years. The Scholars of any year are not disqualified from being candidates for Scholarships the succeeding year. There are also in each College eight Senior Scholarships, of the value of £40 a year, of which


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one is given each year to Greek and Latin, one to Modern Languages and Modern History, one to Mathematics, one to Natural Philosophy, one to Metaphysical and Economical Sciences, one to Chemistry, one to Natural History, and one to Law. Ail Graduates in Arts of the Queen's University are eligible to the Senior Scholarships; these Scholarships are awarded by examination, and are tenable for one year only, the Scholar not being re-eligible. Certain duties are imposed both upon the Junior and the Senior Scholars, the Senior Scholars in particular being required to assist the Professors in the Matriculation and Class Examinations, and in conducting the business of the special Departments of Literature and Science to which their Scholarships severally belong. They are also required to pursue, under the superintendence of a Professor, an Advanced Course of Study in one or more of the branches in which they have been examined for the Scholarship. If no candidate of sufficient merit presents himself, the Scholarship (whether Senior or Junior) is not filled up. During the five years, from 1866-67 to 1871-72, "in the Faculty of Arts the total number of Scholarships available was 185, that is, including both Senior and Junior Scholarships taken altogether, and the number awarded was 129, or 69½ per cent. In the Faculty of Arts there were, thus, only seven-tenths of the Scholarships conferred. In the Faculty of Medicine, out of 40 Scholarships available, in the five years, there were 35 conferred. In the Faculty of Engineering, out of 25 available, 22 were conferred; and in the Faculty of Law, out of 20 that were available, 19 were conferred; and the total result was, out of 270 Scholarships, 205 were given, or it may be taken as 76 per cent of the Scholarships. Those 270 Scholarships, in the five years, were competed for by 1,190 Students, which gives an average of about five Students competing for each Scholarship." It is unquestionable that young men of ability are attracted to the Queen's Colleges by the probability of obtaining these Scholarships, and we may infer from the Evidence that the Standard of Instruction in the Colleges would be much lower if it were not for the presence of this class of Scholars. Thus, Professor Purser states, "My principal difficulty arises from the widely different degrees of progress Students have made before they enter College. We grant, in Queen's College, Belfast, Scholarships to Students at entrance, and half of them are given for attainments in Pure Mathematics. These are very eagerly competed for, and consequently we find a contingent of the Students come up well prepared. On the other hand, the greater number of the Students in Arts know but the first elements of Mathematics."

209. Besides the Junior and Senior Scholarships, to which reference has just been made, a certain number of Exhibitions and of Prizes has been established in the Queen's University with funds raised by a public subscription originated by Sir Robert Peel in 1861. In the Faculty of Arts there have thus been provided three Exhibitions of £20, three of £15, and two of £10, all tenable for three years. In the Faculty of Medicine, and also in the School of Engineering, there are each year two exhibitions, one of the total value of £40, the other of £30. All. these Exhibitions are given away, in accordance with the Results of the University Examinations, to Students who satisfy certain conditions as to standing, &c. Some of the Exhibitions are assigned in equal proportions to the three Colleges; the remainder are competed for by Students in any one of the three. They have not been established in perpetuity, but only for a period of 10 years. A fund, however, amounting, at present, to £3,408 is being raised with a view to the future continuance of the endowment.

NUMBER OF STUDENTS

210. The Number and Distribution of Students under Instruction in the Queen's Colleges in Ireland in the Session 1873-74, was as follows:

[click on the image for a larger version]


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211. The Number of Students in the Session 1874-75, was as follows:

[click on the image for a larger version]

212. At the Queen's College, Belfast, the number of Arts Students showed a tendency to diminish during the eight or ten years preceding 1872-73. Two causes are assigned for this falling off by Professor Purser: (1) "that the number of Candidates for the Presbyterian Ministry has of late years diminished", whereas such Candidates usually took the Arts Course in the Queen's College before entering the Presbyterian Theological College; and (2) "that during a period of commercial prosperity, there is an inducement to prepare young men for trade and business rather than for a profession. A decided increase is shown by the Returns for 1873-74, and 1874-75.

THE SCIENTIFIC CHAIRS

213. The following are the professorships of Science in each of the Queen's Colleges: Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Natural History, Civil Engineering, Geology and Mineralogy, Anatomy and Physiology. In Belfast, there is a Professor of Agriculture, and, on the other hand, the Professorship of Natural History is united with the Professorship of Geology and Mineralogy.

214. The stipends of the Professors are partly derived from a fixed salary and partly from the fees of the Students. The fixed salaries vary from £150, in the case of the Medical Professors, to £330 in the case of the Professors of subjects included in the Arts Course.

APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING

215. With regard to the appliances for teaching, the Evidence tends to show that they are in some respects insufficient. Each College receives £7,000 a year from the Consolidated Fund, but this amount is entirely appropriated to the payment of the stipends of the Professors and of the other Officers of the College. In addition to this, there is an annual Parliamentary Grant of £1,000 a year to each of the Colleges at Cork and Galway, and of £1,374 to the College of Belfast, out of which the whole of the establishment expenses of the Colleges, and any augmentations of the Museums, Libraries, or Collections of Apparatus have to be provided. The annual grant was originally £1,600 a year, but it was reduced to the present amount about ten years ago, when the inadequacy of the Professorial Salaries was brought under the notice of the Government. The salaries were augmented, but the funds required for the augmentation were obtained by trenching on the only resources available for the supply of apparatus and books.

216. With regard to Belfast, it is stated that the apparatus in the Laboratory of the Professor of Chemistry, if fully maintained, would be sufficient for the Practical Instruction of the Students, but that to maintain it properly with the present funds of the College is hardly possible. It may be mentioned that at Belfast a fee of £3 is charged to those Medical Students who attend a Summer Course in Practical Chemistry. But the Students who go through a more extensive Course of training in the Chemical Laboratory are elected by Examination, and are admitted gratuitously by Professor Andrews, who not only himself pays the salaries of the Assistants, but also provides gratuitous instruction to such Laboratory Students. The apparatus at the disposal of the Professor of Natural Philosophy is described as decidedly inadequate. Professor Cunningham, who holds the united Professorships of Natural History and Geology and Mineralogy, says that there is "a museum in which the Geology and the Zoology are best represented, upon the whole, but we have a very fair Herbarium of British Plants, and there is the Botanical Garden belonging to the town, which allows us specimens of plants during my course, on payment of a certain sum by the College to the Garden." The Professor has no Assistant, and his share of the annual grant of £1,000 is about £50 or £60. The Senior Scholars who are required to assist the Professors are not found to supply adequately the place of regular Assistants. Professor Cunningham says, "I have a Senior Scholar, who is appointed annually in my Department, and he is supposed to


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give me some help when I call upon him to do so in connexion with other duties. If he is a very good man, I may occasionally get a little help from him in the Museum, but nothing very essential." And Professor Purser states that it is "exceedingly difficult for the Professor to teach all [the Mathematical Students] at the same time. I and my predecessors have endeavoured to meet this difficulty, to a certain extent, by making use of the Senior Mathematical Scholar, a Graduate who has been elected to a Scholarship for one year after taking his Degree. I have derived in this way much valuable aid from the Senior Scholars, but such aid is quite insufficient, and a regular and permanent Assistant to my chair is most urgently needed, to render the training in the Mathematical School thoroughly efficient." Nor are the services of the Senior Scholars always really at the disposal of the Professor. "In many cases the Senior Scholars are studying for a Profession or some Civil Service Appointment, and it becomes very irksome to them to have their time drawn upon to any large extent, and the College feel a difficulty in doing so."

217. In Cork similar deficiencies exist. Sir Robert Kane states that of the grant of £1,000 annually voted by the House of Commons (to which must be added about £100 derived from fees paid by the Students to the College), no less than £550 were absorbed by the Establishment and Administration Expenses of the College in the year ending the 31st of March 1872, leaving for the whole of the Scientific and Literary Departments only about £500. This is a sum which must be regarded as totally insufficient, when it is considered that there are four Literary Departments to be conducted, and Collections of Books to be kept up in a satisfactory state, besides the several Scientific Departments. Sir Robert Kane adds, "we have done our best with the funds that were at our disposal for providing apparatus and illustrations of all kinds, but we have been obliged to do it with such parsimony, I may say, that we are possessed only of the material that is absolutely indispensable for anything like proper teaching. ... We have no means whatever at our disposal for advancing Science. All that by any possibility we can pretend to do, is, so far as our means allow, to represent to the Students the actual condition of Science, but we have no means whatsoever by which we could pretend to advance it." At Cork, however, the Departments of the Natural History Museum are described, with one exception, as being in a tolerably satisfactory condition. There has been formed in the grounds of the College "a small garden containing such plants as are useful in illustrating Lectures on Botany and on Materia Medica in the Medical School, as will grow in the open air in these countries, but we have no conservatories. We have had no funds available for the purpose, and the Government has never conceded to us the means of erecting a stove house, in which we could have a collection of such Tropical or Sub-Tropical Forms as would render our illustrations of living plants more complete. ... That is, I think, almost the only point in which our means of illustration in Natural History, or at least in Botany, is defective."

218. In Galway the Chemical Laboratory is described as adequate, and the Museum of Natural History is tolerably well supplied with Zoological and Botanical Specimens, and with Diagrams. "The Geological Museum is well supplied with fossils, which are ranged stratigraphically; there is a very good supply of rocks, both native and foreign, and of course Irish; and there is a very good supply of models of crystals, along with diagrams and. geological maps and sections, that are used for lecturing purposes." There is no Practical Instruction in Physics.

Conclusion and Recommendations with regard to the Queen's University in Ireland

219. In Founding the Queen's Colleges, the State did not adopt the Principle of Assisting and Stimulating Local Efforts, and if we except the Exhibitions and Prizes, to which reference has been already made, as having been provided by public subscription, and a few other Exhibitions which have been founded at Belfast, no voluntary contributions have been received by them. They are Institutions for which the State has made itself responsible, and in which, as part of a University System, a complete Scientific Training is implied.


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220. As we think it of great importance that the sanction of the State should not be given to the Teaching of Science on a scale inadequate to ensure its efficiency, we recommend;

I. That an increased Annual Grant be made to the Queen's Colleges for the purpose of providing Assistants, Apparatus, and the other necessary Appliances of Practical Scientific Teaching.
We further recommend:
II. That the Professorship of Natural History in the Queen's College, Belfast, be separated from that of Geology and Mineralogy.
All of which we humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty's gracious consideration.
DEVONSHIRE.
LANSDOWNE.
JOHN LUBBOCK.
JAMES P. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
BERNHARD SAMUELSON.
W. SHARPEY.
THOMAS H. HUXLEY.
G. G. STOKES.
HENRY J. S. SMITH.

J. NORMAN LOCKYER, Secretary.
June 18th, 1875.





[title page]

EIGHTH REPORT

OF THE

ROYAL COMMISSION

ON

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


Presented to Parliament by Command of Her Majesty



LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1875

[C.-1298.] Price 7d.


[page ii]



CONTENTS

PAGE
COMMISSIONSiii
REPORT1
APPENDICES40





[page iii]

ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin William Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, - Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin Henry Charles Keith Marquess of Lansdowne, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir John Lubbock, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, Baronet, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Sharpey, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Henry Huxley, Esquire, Professor of Natural History in the Royal School of Mines, - Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Allen Miller, Esquire, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry in Kings College, London, - and Our Trusty and Wellbeloved George Gabriel Stokes, Esquire, Master of Arts, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, Greeting:

Whereas We have deemed it expedient for divers good causes and considerations that a Commission should forthwith issue to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and to Inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland and the Colleges thereof and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose.

Now Know Ye that We reposing great Trust and Confidence in your Ability and Discretion have nominated constituted and appointed and do by these Presents nominate constitute and appoint you the said William, Duke of Devonshire - Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne - Sir John Lubbock - Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth - Bernhard Samuelson - William Sharpey - Thomas Henry Huxley - William Allen Miller - and George Gabriel Stokes - to be Our Commissioners for the purposes of the said Inquiry.

And for the better enabling you to carry Our Royal Intentions into effect We do by these Presents authorize and empower you or any three or more of you to call before you or any three or more of you such persons as you may judge necessary by whom you may be the better informed of the matters herein submitted for your consideration and also to call for and examine all such Books Documents Papers or Records as you shall judge likely to afford you the fullest information on the subject of this Our Commission and to Inquire of and concerning the Premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And our further Will and Pleasure is that you or any three or more of you do Report to Us under your Hands and Seals (with as little delay as may be consistent with a due discharge of the Duties hereby imposed upon you) your opinion on the several matters herein submitted for your consideration, with power to certify unto Us from time to time your several proceedings in respect of any of the matters aforesaid, if it may seem expedient for you so to do.

And We do further Will and Command and by these Presents ordain that this Our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue and that you Our said Commissioners or any three or more of you shall and may from time to time proceed in the


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execution thereof and of every matter and thing therein contained although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We do hereby authorize and empower you to appoint a Secretary to this Our Commission to attend you whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's, the Eighteenth day of May 1870, in the Thirty-third year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.





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ROYAL COMMISSION ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE


VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Henry John Stephen Smith, Esquire, Master of Arts, Savilian Professor of Geometry in Our University of Oxford, Greeting:

Whereas We did by Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the Eighteenth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy, appoint Our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin, William, Duke of Devonshire, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and Entirely Beloved Cousin, Henry Charles Keith, Marquess of Lansdowne, together with the several Gentlemen therein named, to be Our Commissioners to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, and to inquire what aid thereto is derived from Grants voted by Parliament, or from Endowments belonging to the several Universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and the Colleges thereof, and whether such aid could be rendered in a manner more effectual for the purpose: And whereas since the issue of the said Warrant William Allen Miller, Doctor of Medicine, one of the Commissioners thereby appointed, hath deceased:

Now Know Ye, that We, reposing great Trust and Confidence in Your Zeal, Discretion, and Integrity, have authorized and appointed, and do by these Presents authorize and appoint you the said Henry John Stephen Smith to be a Commissioner for the purpose aforesaid, in addition to, and together with, the Commissioners now acting under the above-mentioned Royal Warrant.

Given at Our Court at Saint James's the First Day of December 1870, in the Thirty-Fourth Year of Our Reign.

By Her Majesty's Command,
H. A. BRUCE.

Professor Henry John Stephen Smith, M.A.,
To be a Commissioner for inquiring into
Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science.



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EIGHTH REPORT


TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

WE, the Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty to make Inquiry with regard to Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, humbly beg leave to present to Your Majesty, in conclusion of the Inquiry entrusted to us, the following Report on the Advancement of Science and on the Relations of Government to Science.

In the course of our Investigations into the Proceedings and Management of the Universities, Colleges, Museums, and other Institutions, which exist wholly or in part for Scientific Purposes, considerations bearing on the Relations of the Government to Science, and on the Advancement of Scientific Research, necessarily came under our notice to a certain extent; they were, consequently, referred to in an incidental manner in the Reports already submitted to Your Majesty, which, however, were mainly concerned with Scientific Instruction. The present Report will address itself directly to the Relations of Government to Science, and to the Advancement of Scientific Research; and our Inquiry divides itself into the following branches:

(1) The Scientific Work carried on by Departments of the Government.
(2) The Assistance at present given by the State towards the promotion of Scientific Research.
(3) The Assistance which it is desirable the State should give towards that object.
(4) The Central Organization which is best calculated to enable the Government to determine its action in all questions affecting Science.

I. The Scientific Work carried on by Departments of the Government

The principal branches of Scientific Work conducted by Officers of the Imperial Government, and the Departments by which they are administered, are as follows:

Topographical Survey [Treasury (Office of Works)].
Hydrographical Survey [Admiralty].
Geological Survey [Privy Council].
Astronomical Observations:
    Greenwich and the Cape of Good Hope [Admiralty].
    Edinburgh [Treasury (Office of Works)].
Meteorological Observations:
    Greenwich [Admiralty].
    Edinburgh [Treasury (Office of Works)].
    The Meteorological Office.
[The Meteorological Office is not administered by any Public Department, but is directed by a Committee, which, although appointed by the Royal Society, is independent of that body.]
Botany - Royal Gardens, Kew; Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin [Treasury (Office of Works)].
The Chemical Department of the War Office.
The Standards Department of the Board of Trade.
Analogous work is carried on in some of the Colonies and Foreign Possessions by Departments of their respective Governments.

In one case, that of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the work is examined into and reported on to the Admiralty by a Board of Visitors composed of men of Science.

Some branches of the work dealt with, from the accident of their origin and from other causes, are less entirely devoted to the direct necessities of the State than others; whilst it will be seen that there are certain lines of investigation of no less importance to the State than those for which provision has already been made, which the State has not as yet undertaken.

The Imperial Investigations enumerated, with the exception of the very special work of


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the Chemical Department of the War Office and the Standards Department of the Board of Trade, generally extend over large areas or long periods of time, and consequently are of such a nature that the State could not safely intrust them to the action of Individuals or Societies, even if these were willing to undertake them.

When Scientific questions arise on which the Departments are not supposed to possess the requisite theoretical or practical information, Special Committees are appointed or the advice of individuals presumed to be specially qualified is obtained, either directly or through the Royal, the Geographical, or some other Learned Society.

The following is a Statement showing the annual charges borne by Imperial Funds, at the present time, to defray the expenses of such of these various investigations as appear separately In the Estimates for the year 1874-75.

£
Topographical Survey (excluding Military pay of men employed)132,000
Hydrographical Survey121,055
Geological Survey22,920
Astronomy9,703
Meteorology12,082
Botany, including the maintenance of Botanical Gardens as places of Public Recreation21,470
Standards Department of the Board of Trade2,063

In addition to these recurring charges, sums are voted from time to time for various Expeditions and for Experiments incidental to the Services of the various Departments, such as the Investigations concerning the Causes and Processes of Disease carried, on under the Direction of the Lords of the Privy Council, and the various Experimental Researches carried on for the Army and Navy.

We have not considered it necessary to take Evidence regarding the detailed work of the Public Departments, but have thought it sufficient to collect the general opinion of those who are connected with, or well-informed concerning, the Scientific Work carried on by those Departments.

In the case of the Meteorological Office, however, both on account of its recent establishment and the circumstance that it is not directly responsible to any Public Department, we have felt it our duty to take Evidence at some length, both as regards its Scientific and Financial Administration.

Evidence as to the Insufficiency of the present Organization

The Evidence which we have taken as to the sufficiency or insufficiency of the work done for the Advancement of Science, including that of the Government Departments, is very copious. A large portion of it is contained in the volumes already published, and it will have been seen that there is a general concurrence of opinion, that, even in the interests of the Departments themselves, more ought to be done by the Government in the way of Investigation, particularly in respect of those Sciences the Practical Application of which has been developed, or the scope of which has been enlarged by Discovery, within recent years.

These opinions are entertained alike by persons engaged in Scientific Work under the various Departments of the Government, and by Scientific Men having no official connexion with the State.

The following are extracts from the Evidence on this branch of the subject.

Sir Henry Rawlinson, a member of the Indian Council, states that in that Council they perpetually have references before them which they are unable to deal with. He adds:

... We have, for instance, Sir William Baker upon the Council, and General Strachey and Colonel Strange both attached to the Office; yet, notwithstanding their valuable aid, there are many subjects referred to us with which we are quite incompetent to deal.
He then refers to the following subjects among others: The Manufacture of Iron and Steel in India; the Efflorescence of Soda on Irrigated Land; the Fermentation of Beer, "which may involve a loss of £200,000 or £300,000 a year to the British Government"; the question of Drought arising from the Destruction of Forests; the Construction of Harbours and of other Hydraulic Works; the Founding of Brass Guns; Tidal Observations; the Publication of Works on the Flora and Fauna of India; Geological and Trigonometrical Surveys; Sea Dredging; and Observatories.

He points out that many of these questions are practical and economical; but that still there is a scientific element in almost all of them, and he adds -


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References on all these subjects are constantly coming home, and we have no means of answering them in our own body, while it is very unsatisfactory to be obliged to send out for gratuitous information. We do sometimes, it is true, apply to individuals and sometimes to societies, but in very many cases, I am afraid, the questions are shelved, because there is no competent and authoritative body to refer to.
Captain Douglas Galton, of the Office of Your Majesty's Works and Public Buildings, thinks that, as a rule:
... Our statesmen do not appreciate properly the value of scientific advice or scientific inquiry, and that they are very much fonder of experiments made upon a large scale with no defined system, than they are of experiments which have been brought out as the result of a carefully studied previous inquiry. I think that an enormous amount of money was wasted in the case of the inquiry into armour plates, both for ships and forts. In that case the Government appointed a partly scientific committee, but it was mixed up with other persons who were not scientific; and instead of commencing a series of experiments upon a small and clearly defined scale, from which they could have drawn conclusions for making their larger experiments, they began by firing at any plates that were offered to them which had no relation one to another, either in their relations to the guns or to the form of backing, or in any other way, and consequently it was difficult to draw useful calculations from them.
Mr. Froude, who was a prominent member of the late Committee on Naval Designs, and who is now devoting his whole time without remuneration to the investigation of the proper forms of ships of war, states that if, at an earlier time, a laboratory had existed, and proper experiments had been made, enormous sums would have been saved which have been expended in the actual construction of ships, or, as he terms it, in "experiments on the scale of 12 inches to a foot"; and that definite results would have been arrived at with less loss of time.
I think any experiment almost on the sailing or rolling properties of a big ship, when tried in a big ship to begin with, is a waste of money. The cost of construction of a big ship as an Instrument of investigation is enormous; and if it is tried with a view to the application of a new principle, there must be the risk that the experiment will be to some extent wasted. Being an experiment, the very fact that it is an experiment implies that it may not turn out as it is expected, and a failure in so costly a piece of apparatus as a new complete ship is inevitably a very costly failure. So far as it is possible to arrive at a proper understanding of such subjects by small-scale trials, it is of the utmost importance, economically, that that method should be adopted, and I think that that has not been sufficiently adopted.
It will be seen from the Evidence of General Strachey, which we quote in a subsequent part of this Report, that he also disapproves of the mode in which Government is at present advised on questions of Science, especially on the ground of the absence of scientific training in the political and official classes of this country.

Sir Wm. Thomson has given us the following Evidence:

... With a vast amount of mechanical work which is necessarily undertaken by the Government, and which is continually in hand, questions involving scientific difficulties of a novel character frequently occur; questions requiring accurate knowledge of scientific truth hitherto undeveloped are occurring every day. In both respects the Government is at present insufficiently advised, and the result is undoubtedly that mechanical works are sometimes not done as well as they might be done, that great mistakes are sometimes made; and, again, a very serious and perhaps even a more serious evil of the present system, in which there is not sufficient scientific advice for the Government, is the undertaking of works which ought never to be undertaken.

Are you able to point out any instances which you have in your mind of mistakes which you think have occurred from the want of good advice on the part of the Government? - One great mistake undoubtedly was the construction of the "Captain", and I believe that a permanent scientific council advising the Government would have made it impossible to commit such a mistake. They would, in the very beginning, have relieved the Government from all that pressure of ignorant public opinion which the Government could not possibly, in the present state of things, withstand.

The present system of Special Committees is objected to by Sir William Thomson, and by other competent Witnesses.

Sir William Thomson thinks "that a single body would be better than a number of small Committees for advising the Government on the great variety of questions which from time to time would be likely to arise."

Admiral Richards, late Hydrographer of the Admiralty, is of opinion that:

The members of such committees must be selected more or less to fulfil certain political conditions, and that, as a rule, they would come new to the subject that they were going to consider, and I do not believe that the Commission which sat on the Naval Designs the other day was a very successful one. I do not know that any great advantages have arisen or are likely to arise from it.
Mr. Fronde, in reply to the remark: "You do not consider Committees of that kind to be a very satisfactory way of proceeding?" thus states his objection to the present system:
I do not think so, because they have to find out the dream and the interpretation both, which is always a difficulty. They have to feel their way to a locus standi, which would already be possessed by a Council habitually operating with reference to the subject.
Additional examples of these defects are given, not only by these Witnesses, but also by others, whom we shall quote in that part of our Report which deals with the proposed remedies.


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Evidence as to the insufficiency of the present Appliances for Investigation

Our attention has been especially directed to the want of Laboratories for the use of the officials charged with Scientific Investigations urgently required for the economical management of the Public Departments.

Mr. Anderson, the Superintendent of Machinery at Woolwich, who has been responsible for the expenditure of "very nearly £3,000,000 of public money", points out that there are no means at the disposal of State servants to enable them to investigate questions on which large expenditure depends. With special regard to his own Department, he states:

There is a very great deal which I should like to see taken in hand systematically. ... There is much that we are in the dark about; we are groping in the dark in almost everything at present. ...

Although we know a very great deal with regard to iron, cast, wrought, and in the condition of steel, there is yet very much which we do not know, and I am persuaded that if we could with certainty treat ordinary cast iron in the way that we sometimes do, nearly by chance, we would do away with three-fourths, or a very large proportion of the wrought iron which is now used in this country, and we should use cast iron. A great deal of the cast iron of commerce is not much above five tons per square inch in tenacity, but we can, by trying, get it up to 15 tons, although some of the reasons that determine that high character are obscure and it is very difficult to see what they arc. I should like that the subject of cast iron should be thoroughly exhausted, and at the same time I should like to see the physical properties of iron thoroughly exhausted ...

He next refers to another question of great importance to almost all the Public Departments:
... There is another very important subject which I might mention to the Commission. Some 20 years ago we were using 10 or 12 pounds of coal per horse-power per hour, and the majority of engines still require six pounds, but by the improvements that have taken place we are now down to two pounds. There is a little engine at work now in the London district which is working at 1¾ pounds. There is a great gulf yet between getting steam-engines that will work at 1¾ pounds per horse-power per hour, and the point where we are now; I mean getting that done practically; but I believe that if the right man, or two men, were told off to thoroughly investigate this subject, and not to stop working until they had brought it to a practical shape, we could in 10 years from this time get down to one pound per horse-power per hour. I see that there are very many leakages or loss in steam-engines in the very best way that we make them at present. The knowledge that was gained by Joule's experiments a few years ago seems to me to have been of immense value. Those experiments that he carried out for himself were the sort of thing which I think the Government should have done for the sake of the country. He did more to make engineers thoroughly dissatisfied with their present knowledge with regard in what they can do with steam than anything which had been done before. I believe that, what Mr, Joule did will do more for this country than even what James Watt did. The part that James Watt took was very great, and the world gives him full credit for it, but the world is scarcely willing to give credit to Joule for what he will do; but he has made all engineers dissatisfied. They know that the best steam engine is not doing one-sixth of the work which it ought to do and can do. That is a sad state of matters to be in when we know that we are so far wrong, but yet no one will go to the trouble of going to the end of the question so as to improve the steam engine as it might be done; in fact, it will cost a great deal of trouble and a great deal of expense, I have no doubt.
With regard to the question whether it is "desirable that the Government should establish any Laboratories for carrying on those investigations", he thus stated his opinion:
I should like to see a grand laboratory fitted with everything that would go towards the investigation of such matters, and at the same time a testing apparatus for getting at the physical facts us well. To get up the proper plant would be very expensive, but still I should like the nation to have it, so that any public department could go to this same laboratory and ask them for assistance to investigate any doubtful point. ... In the Government service everybody who gets any work to do worth mentioning is overpowered with work - either they get too much or too little to do - and the investigator should not be bothered with such miscellaneous work. For example, take my own case, I may have 50 subjects in a day many times. Yesterday I had well on to 50 subjects to take up, and go into them all as well as I could, and I did not get over my work to write the paper which now lies before Your Grace until 9 o'clock last night. A man is not in a position to pursue investigations when he is overworked in that way.
Mr. Anderson's Evidence finds a parallel in that given by Mr. E. J. Reed, M.P., late Chief Constructor of the Navy.
I think that there are many branches of science remaining undeveloped at present, the development of which would be of great advantage to the country. I base that opinion partly upon the experience which I acquired at the Admiralty, in which I continually found that great and important questions were undeveloped for the want of organisation and of the means of developing them. ...

Mr. Froude in his evidence before this Commission stated that he had in hand a series of experiments for the Admiralty, having for their primary object the determination of the relations between form, speed, and resistance in ships, and, as he justly observed, this inquiry collaterally raises some other questions; but there is one subject related to that which Mr. Froude has under consideration, but which has not been developed at all yet, and it is one upon which very important financial questions hang; I refer to the dependence of the form of ships upon the weight of the materials composing their hulls. It will be obvious to the Commission that if you are going to build a ship for high speed of the thinnest steel, you can afford to prolong the ends of the vessel at either end, and give them extreme fineness in a manner and to a degree which would be preposterous, and I may even say monstrous, in the case of a ship which had to be built with very thickly-armoured sides. In this country the earlier ironclads were made of a form involving very long and fine lines, in fact a form analogous to that of mercantile steamships, and the consequence was that although in the 'Minotour' type of ship armour and backing equivalent only to that used in the first instance in the


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'Warrior' was employed, yet we got a ship 400 feet long, costing nearly half a million sterling. The impropriety of that course impressed itself upon my mind, and I believe it was more for that reason than for any other that I ventured to propose to the Admiralty a great change in that respect, and placed before them the design for the 'Bellerophon' as an example of a vessel which should be as fast as those long ships, and more effectually armoured, and much more handy, carrying at least as efficient an armament, and yet should cost about £100,000 less. That policy was sanctioned by his Grace the Duke of Somerset , the 'Bellerophon' was built, and I believe long before she was finished the principle obtained so much favour that the idea of building another of the extremely long vessels never entered anybody's mind, and it was stated by the late First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Childers, in Parliament, officially, that by adopting that modification of form at least a million sterling had been saved to the county in the course of a very short time. But I wish to impress upon the Commission, if I may be allowed to do so, that that economy resulted from a mere tentative and limited application of a scientific principle, which has never been developed, and which the organisation of the Admiralty furnishes no means for developing. I indicated the nature of this investigation in a paper laid before the Royal Society some two or three years ago, but as the solution of it involves high mathematics on the one hand, and elaborate experimental investigations upon the other, it has never been taken up and dealt with in any sufficient way.

A second illustration which I should like to give is this: the present condition of the marine steam-engine and boiler is very unsatisfactory. It is unsatisfactory to such an extent that I believe if the manufacture of iron and steel were improved with reference to its use in the construction of engines and boilers, and if improved material were applied by improved methods, a saving of one half of the present weight would be attained, and when I say one half I know that I am speaking greatly within the limits which some persons who have thought very much about this question would be prepared to express. Of course, if that be so, if we are carrying about in our mercantile and other steamships twice the weight which is essential for the production of the power, that is so much taken off either from the further power and speed which might be obtained, or from the freightage and commercial value of the vessel. I may mention that in the manufacture of shafts, for instance, of the marine engine and of stern posts, and other large forgings for ships, the method of production is comparatively rude, and it very much needs development. I for one feel the necessity of great improvement in these respects, because I know that at the present moment the successful production of those enormous forgings rests a great deal more upon the skill of a workman than upon the application of any science whatever to them. So much has the subject been neglected, that, at this moment, I have the responsibility of seeing some very large forgings indeed made for certain ships, and the most effectual manner in which I can give effect to my responsibility is that of selecting the very best working smith that I can find, and putting him into the manufactory where those things are being made, for him to do the best that his experience enables him to do, in order to see them properly constructed. I believe that if a regular independent scientific investigation were applied to a manufacture of that nature, enormous advantage would at once result.

The Standards Department of the Board of Trade is another Department requiring advice in varied scientific subjects. The Warden of the Standards (Mr. Chisholm) states:
There is no scientific authority to which I am entitled to appeal. It happens at the present time that I have the advantage of appealing to my former colleagues in the Standards Commission, to the Astronomer Royal and to Professor Miller, and I get a great deal of assistance from them in that way, especially from Professor Miller. In fact I could hardly have executed the scientific duties of my department without having assistance of that kind, but such aid has been obtained merely in consequence of my relations with them as a colleague. I am in no wise authorised to call upon them or upon any other scientific authority for information or assistance. I may here particularly refer to one subject which is mentioned in my paper, the preparation of new standard trial plates for coin. I actually required scientific information upon that point, and I could only apply to the Astronomer Royal; but his time was taken up so much that after some time he declined interfering in the matter, so that I have been obliged to act in the matter without having any scientific authority to aid me, although it is a very responsible duty cast upon me by law.
Sir William Thomson, in reference to the subject of Standards, says:
The conservancy of weights and measures is a subject involving questions of the most extreme scientific nicety. Faraday made statements showing how completely unknown at present are the properties of matter upon which we depend for a permanent standard of length. One of the very first objects that should be undertaken in connexion with the conservancy of the standards of weight and length is secular experiments, on the dimensions of metals and solids of other classes under various conditions of stress, temperature, and atmosphere. Those would involve scientific experiments of an extremely difficult character, and also operations extending from year to year. There ought to be just now a set of experimental specimens of solids laid up which should be examined every year, or every 10 years, or every 50 years, or every 100 years, the times when observations are to be made from age to age being regulated by the experience of the previous observations. It would be necessary to begin observing every month, then when constancy is attained within the degrees of observable minuteness to observe every year, then every 10 years, then perhaps every 50 years, and then it might be sufficient to look at them every 500 years, and examine whether this copper standard and that brass standard have retained precisely the same length. This would not be a very difficult or expensive thing to institute in such a way as eventually to obtain good results, but it would be an operation of a secular character, which could only be carried out by the Government.
Dr. Frankland thus refers to the various requirements of Government involving Chemical Investigations:
... The State requires many important investigations to be carried on. Such investigations are being continually conducted in buildings often very ill-adapted for the purpose, and which are fitted up for the purpose at a great cost.The laboratory of the Rivers Commission, for instance, which we have occupied for four years, was constructed in a house in Victoria Street; a rent of £200 a year is paid for it, and it is literally nothing more than a moderate sized room, and two smaller ones, very ill-adapted for the purpose. Consequently, this laboratory is not so efficient as a building erected for the express purpose of conducting such investigations would be.
In the Evidence which we have taken with regard to Astronomical Physics and Meteorology, the expressions of opinion as to the insufficiency of the means of investigation are so interspersed with suggestions as to the remedies to be applied, that we think it more convenient to refer more particularly these subjects in the Third Part of this Report.


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II. The Assistance given by the State towards the Promotion of Scientific Research

It may be convenient, for the purposes of this Report, to consider the Assistance given by the state towards Scientific Research as being either Permanent or Occasional.

Our great National Museums (upon which we have already reported) come under the first of these descriptions, and it will have been seen that for the purposes of the Student of the Biological and Geological Sciences, Collections are provided on an extensive scale, so that the Student of these branches of Science has advantages similar to those provided for the Student of Art or Literature.

On the other hand, the Student of the Physical Sciences has no such facilities; there are, at the best, for some of these branches of study, Collections of Instruments of a very inadequate kind, and relating for the most part to Applied as distinguished from Theoretical Science.

We have also reported to Your Majesty that the National Collections, so far as they illustrate the Biological and Geological Sciences, are rendered easily accessible to the Students of those Sciences. But the few instruments illustrative of Physical Science in any National Collection are so placed that they can scarcely be used even in the study of the History of Science. Moreover, as a mere collection of instruments, however complete, without working laboratories, is of little use to the Student of the Experimental Sciences, and as there are no Public Laboratories available for the Researches of Private Investigators, it may be said that in many branches of Experimental Science the State affords no permanent material to aid to such Investigators.

Assistance of a Permanent Description is also afforded to certain Learned Societies, by providing them with apartments free of rent, or with annual grants of money in lieu of such accommodation: the sum of £500 granted annually to the Royal Geographical Society under certain conditions is an instance of such a grant.

We may regard as a Permanent Aid to Science the grant of £1,000 for Researches carried on by Private Individuals, which is annually voted by Parliament, and administered by a Committee of the Royal Society.

This Grant has rendered such great services to Science, that we desire to give the following Outline of its History.

The first proposal for such a grant was contained in a letter (dated October 24th, 1849), from Earl Russell (then Lord John Russell) to the then President of the Royal Society (the Earl of Rosse), and was to the following effect:

As there are from time to time scientific discoveries and researches which cost money and assistance the students of science can often but ill afford, I am induced to consult your Lordship, as President of the Royal Society, on the following suggestion:

I propose that at the close of the year the President and Council should point out to the First Lord of the Treasury a limited number of persons to whom the grant of a reward, or of a sum to defray the cost of experiments, might be of essential service. The whole sum which I could recommend the Crown to grant in the present year is £1,000, nor can I be certain that my successor would follow the same course; but I should wish to learn whether, in your Lordship's opinion and that of your colleagues, the cause of science would be promoted by such grants.

Lord Rosse, in his reply to the proposal made by Lord John Russell, expressed his personal opinion that the judicious employment of grants in the way proposed "would very materially promote the Advancement of Science"; and of the two alternatives, namely, expending the £1,000 in rewards or appropriating it to the payment of the expenses of experiments, he preferred the latter, indicating his reasons as follows:
There are often details to be worked out before it is possible to employ usefully newly discovered principles. In many of the sciences reductions are required before observations can be made use of. Both in Science and Art facts technically called constants are the materials of discovery; to determine them accurately is of great importance. Now in all these cases, and in many others, the work to be done is laborious and expensive, and as it adds but little comparatively to the fame of the individual, it especially requires encouragement.
On this correspondence being communicated to the Council of the Royal Society, a Committee was appointed "to consider and report respecting the application of the proposed grant". This Committee agreed to the following Recommendations:
First and chiefly - That the grant be awarded in aid of private individual scientific investigation.

Secondly. In aid of the calculation and scientific reduction of masses of accumulated observations.

Thirdly. In aid of astronomical, meteorological, and other observations, which might be assisted by the purchase and employment of new instruments.

Fourthly, and, subordinately to the purposes above named, in aid of such other scientific objects as may from time to time appear to be of sufficient interest, although not coming under any of the foregoing heads.


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It was further added -

That a Committee be appointed, consisting of the whole Council for the time being, ex officio, together with an equal number of Fellows of the Society, chosen by the Council amongst the members most conversant with the business of the Royal Society, or with one or more of the leading departments of Science, or officially connected with the principal scientific bodies of the kingdom; such additional members to be named for a period of three years, subject to the annual revision of the Council, and provision being made for filling up the vacancy occasioned by such additional member becoming a member of Council during his term of service on the said Committee, should such occur.
With regard to this Government Grant, Sir Edward Sabine, in his Evidence, says:
I suppose that the £1,000 in one year was designed as an experiment to try the matter in the first instance. I always understood that Lord Russell contemplated that the sum would be augmented if the plan were found to work well.
Neither the amount of the Grant, nor the conditions of its administration, have been varied from the time of its commencement. For full details as to its application in successive years, we refer to the Statement presented by Sir E. Sabine, and printed in the Appendix to Vol. II., at pp. 41 to 47. In a later part of this Report, we shall refer to the proposals which have been made to us for increasing the amount and usefulness of the Grant.

The most important instances of the Occasional Assistance given by the State, are Expeditions for Special Researches, and Outfits of Ships, and Apparatus and Grants of Money for such Researches. These contributions are of great value, but they do not appear to be granted or refused on any sufficiently well defined principle.





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III. The Assistance which it is desirable the State should give towards Scientific Research

We have received strong Evidence that it is the interest and within the proper function of the State to give efficient aid to the Advancement of Knowledge, even in those cases where such knowledge is not directly required for State purposes, and, we may remark, that some of the most decided expressions of opinion to this effect are those of Statesmen, whose views, owing to their official experience and their intimate knowledge of the exigencies of Parliamentary Government, are entitled to great weight on points involving increased grants of public money.

The Evidence of Lord Salisbury is emphatic:

Do you hold that the State may legitimately interfere in giving aid to the advancement of science? - I certainly do. It is a very orthodox doctrine to hold, and one which could be supported if necessary by quotations out of Adam Smith, the essence of the doctrine being, that the State is perfectly justified in stimulating that kind of industry which will not find its reward from the preference of individuals, but which is useful to the community at large.

The State has already, to a considerable extent, recognized, has it not, that duty; and there are a considerable number of scientific institutions supported more or less by the State? - No doubt the State, in the money that it gives, and has given in past times, to the best Universities, has recognized that duty.

There are the Observatory at Greenwich, the British Museum, and Kew Gardens; you would consider those as instances in which the State aids the promotion of science? - They would be all instances in point; and do not apprehend that as to the abstract doctrine itself there has ever been any serious contest.

Lord Derby's Evidence in favour of State Aid to Science is all the more weighty from the limitations by which he guards it:
I think there has been a very general consent amongst a large number of men of science who have been examined before this Commission that in the present state of science there are many branches as to which there is no probability of their being advanced to the degree to which they are capable of being advanced by private effort, and without the assistance of State funds in some shape; what is your Lordship's opinion upon that subject? - I am, as a general rule, very strongly in favour of private effort, and very decidedly against the application of State funds to any purpose that can be accomplished without them; but I think that if there is any exception to that which I venture to call a sound and wholesome rule, it is in the case of scientific research, because the results are not immediate, they are not popular in their character, and they bring absolutely no pecuniary advantage to the person engaged in working them out. A great mathematical or a great astronomical discovery is a benefit to the whole community, and in a certain sense to mankind in general; but it is productive of absolutely no benefit, in a pecuniary point of view, to the person who has given his labour to it.
Sir Stafford Northcote thus states his opinion on the point:
... The State should do what it can both to promote scientific education and also to assist in the prosecution of scientific experiments and inquiries when they can be best prosecuted by the aid of the State.

On the proposition that it is the duty of the State to encourage Original Research, we might multiply our extracts from the Evidence indefinitely. Dr. Frankland, Sir W. Thomson, Dr. Joule, Mr. Gore, Dr. Carpenter, Professor A. W. Williamson, Mr. Reed, Sir E. Sabine, Dr. Siemens, Dr. Sclater, Mr. Farrer, Admiral Richards, and numerous others, show that the Aid of Government to Scientific Research has been beneficial, so far as it has gone, but that it has been insufficient and should be increased.

We have selected the Evidence of Dr. Frankland and Sir W. Thomson from amongst that given by men of Science.

Dr. Frankland's Evidence is to the following effect:

Setting aside the interests of science, what would be your expectation under equal circumstances otherwise, in reference to two countries, in one of which scientific research was neglected, whilst in the other it was pursued with considerable vigour, with regard to the progress of the arts and of manufactures?

In my opinion there could not be any doubt but that the nation which neglected science must suffer in the end, because although it could buy scientific inventions from the other country, yet still it would always be behind, as it were, in the market; it would have to follow the lead of the other country, which I imagine would be a commercial disadvantage.

Might it not also be the case that the appreciation of the commercial value of scientific inventions would be very much more uncertain in the one country than in the other?

Yes. It is also much more difficult to establish manufactures upon new inventions in a country which neglects science, because you cannot have either workpeople or managers competent to conduct those processes which depend upon scientific principles.

People might pay large sums for what was worthless, and neglect that which was of great value?

They might.

Sir W. Thomson emphatically asserts that, in his opinion, it is of the most immediate consequence to the honour and welfare of the country that men should be enabled to


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live on Scientific Research, and that a definite and secured position should be given to Scientific Workers.

In another part of his Evidence he states:

... There are many investigations which can only be done by the nation as a whole; and viewing the Government in one sense as acting for the nation, as it were a committee of the whole nation, there are very many investigations not merely of importance with reference to promoting the material prosperity of the nation, but valuable to the nation as promoting scientific discoveries, in which the whole nation takes a pleasure, and from which the whole nation derives as great benefit as anything material can possibly produce. Investigations for which a large expenditure of money is necessary, and which must be continued through long periods of years, cannot be undertaken by private individuals. Generally speaking, I believe that if the Government is well advised in respect to science, it will be for the good of the nation that the Government should make it part of its functions to promote experimental investigations in science.
As representing the opinions of public servants occupying high official positions in Government Departments, we may refer to the Evidence of Admiral Richards, late Hydrographer of the Admiralty, and to that of Mr. Farrer, Secretary to the Board of Trade, the latter of whom, in answer to the question - "Have you formed any opinion as to whether further grants ought to be given by the Government for Scientific Research?" says:
I can only give an opinion which is of very little value; but I think there can be no doubt whatever that there are numerous subjects, and always will be numerous subjects, in which private observers are unable to do what is wanted. For the older sciences yon have had observatories established at the Government expense, for astronomy, and now, recently, for meteorology; and those cannot be the only sciences to which assistance ought to be given on the same principle.
Evidence relating to the Establishment of Laboratories

We proceed to give extracts from the Evidence placed before us in reference to the need of Laboratories for conducting alike Chemical, Physical, Metallurgical, and Physiological Inquiries, both for Departmental Work, and for the Researches of Private Individuals. Where the Evidence is of a general character, and includes proposals regarding Observatories also, we give it here, although we shall deal with the special question of Physical Observatories separately.

Amongst the witnesses who are in favour of the erection of new Laboratories for Research is Colonel Strange, whose view of the National Requirements in these respects is thus given:

Will you be so good as to enumerate the institutions which you think should be under the State? - (1) an observatory for physics of astronomy; (2) an observatory for terrestrial physics, namely, meteorology, magnetism, &c.; (3) a physical laboratory; (4) an extension of the Standards Office; (5) a metallurgical laboratory; (6) a chemical laboratory; (7) an extension of collections of natural history, and an able staff of naturalists; (8) a physiological laboratory; (9) a museum of machines, scientific instruments, &c. I believe that under one or other of those and existing institutions every requisite investigation will range itself. I have not stopped to inquire whether one or another is more or less important. My aim in the spirit of my postulate No. 2 has been completeness. It may be necessary for a manufacturer to prosecute only such particular investigations as promise direct and speedy profit. A great nation must not act in that commercial spirit. All the operations of nature are so intimately interwoven, that it is impossible to say beforehand that a given line of research apparently unproductive may not throw light in unsuspected directions, and so lead to untold and undreamt of treasures. ...
Sir W. Thomson's Evidence is as follows:
Are you of opinion that any national institutions supported by the Government are required for the advancement of science? - I think that there ought to be institutions for pure research supported by the Government, and not connected with the Universities. The only suitable place at present for such institutions would be London, or the neighbourhood of London; in that situation, I believe, very great things could be done by institutions for pure research, at which work of a very great immediate money value would be produced at an extremely moderate cost, and I believe that discoveries redounding to the honour, and credit, and pleasure of this country would infallibly be made.

Are you able to give any idea as to how many such institutions would be required? - There should be five. One at present exists, namely, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Another in my opinion is very much wanted, an observatory for astronomical physics, then again a physical laboratory, and a laboratory for chemical research, and a physiological laboratory are necessary. ...

Would such a physical laboratory differ in any essential respects from a physical laboratory attached to a University? - Yes; it would be adapted solely for research, with no provision for pupils except what may be called apprentices, or pupils for research; no provision for teaching the mere elements of manipulation, but provision for researches directly adapted to increase knowledge, and for making pattern researches for the sake of training research pupils who had already gained experience and proved ability in institutions of instruction.

Would you leave the researches to be carried on at such a laboratory mainly to the discretion of the person who had charge of it, or would you place it in any degree under the control of the council of which you have been speaking? - I would leave it to the discretion of the person who has charge of it.


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And that the Government should also be able to command investigation on the advice of the council? - Yes.

Of course the director would report? - Yes, the director would report on everything, both researches undertaken at his own instigation, and investigations undertaken for the council, or for the Government.

And your view of what should be done in the chemical and physiological laboratories would, I presume, be something of the same nature? - Yes, something of the same kind, mutatis mutandis.

With respect to the apparatus, and the annual supply of apparatus, it is probable, is it not, that the physical laboratories would be the most costly? - Yes, the most costly in apparatus.

Some very fine instruments of a costly kind are now required in physiological inquiries, and large pieces of apparatus are sometimes employed, such as the respiration apparatus at Munich, which was put up on the recommendation of Professor Pettenkofer? - Yes, it would be in my opinion necessary not to limit to a fixed endowment the expenditure of any one of those institutions, but to let it be determined (if I may use the expression once more) by natural selection; applications for money to be made to the council to be duly weighed, and the council to apply to the Treasury. That would be much more economical than giving a fixed sum which, being to be spent, might be spent without due regard to economy, or which, on the other hand, might prove to be insufficient for valuable researches, causing the institution thereby to be crippled and to lose efficiency.

You would not think it indispensable, would you, that such institutions, if the Government thought fit to establish them, should be in the heart of London, or in any very central situation? - No; it would be much better that they should be in the country in positions conveniently accessible to London. For a physical laboratory quietness of the ground is of immense importance. It would be impossible to make a great deal of the most important scientific investigations in a physical laboratory within 100 yards of any of the great thoroughfares of London, and a much greater distance than 100 yards is quite necessary for many such investigations.

You would not institute any regular provision for teaching in those laboratories? - No.

But you would allow young men or students who wished to carry out original research to avail themselves of them under the direction of the persons who were in charge of them? - Yes under the direction, and to some degree under the instruction of the persons in charge; but the instruction should be limited to methods for advancing science. The director of such an institution must not be occupied with lecturing in any other institution, or with lecturing at all. He ought indeed to be prohibited from lecturing, except one or two occasional lectures in the course of a year.

You think that the object for which you recommend the establishment of those laboratories could not be accomplished by any other means - not by investigations carried on in other laboratories in the country? - Certainly not by any other means.

Dr. Frankland thus refers to the double function which such Laboratories might perform, and states his view in reference to their management:
Can you make any suggestions as to stimulating original research in this country? - ... We have in this country a considerable body of investigators who are not engaged in teaching at all, and I think that this is a peculiarly hopeful feature of our case. It shows that the English have not only a taste for research, but that they have a natural talent for it. We have numerous men like Mr. Gassiot, Sir W. Grove, Dr. De La Rue, Mr. Spottiswoode, Mr. Huggins, Mr, Duppa, Mr. Buckton, Mr. Joule, Mr. Lockyer, Mr. Perkin, Mr. Schunck, Colonel Yorke, and others whom I could name, who are not in any way engaged in teaching, and never have been, but who have made important original researches, and have spent a good deal of their time in the working out of new discoveries. Now that method of stimulating research, which I have mentioned in my former examination, would not of course apply to them. Men of this class are really peculiar to England, for I have never known any such instance in Germany or in France, of men altogether disconnected with teaching taking up research in the way it is done in England, I think that for such men the establishment of national institutions such us those which are recommended by Colonel Strange would be peculiarly useful. In fact, I have heard several of these gentlemen express strong opinions us to the great advantage it would be to them if they could go to some institution of that kind to conduct research, where expensive instruments, which are often required for their experiments, were provided for a number of such investigators, and where appropriate rooms for carrying on these researches could be had. It is exceedingly difficult to carry on chemical research in one's own house, because of the want of proper contrivances for dealing with corrosive gases and vapours; and hence appropriate buildings ought to be provided for carrying on such investigations. I think, therefore, that it would afford a great stimulus to research of this kind if such institutions were provided, and furnished with such instruments us would be generally useful in research, leaving the more special instruments and materials adapted to the particular researches themselves, to be provided by each operator. ... I have reason to believe that no inconsiderable number of men, more especially of those educated in some of the science schools, would undertake researches if such facilities were afforded them.

Would you consider the chief use of such institutions as laboratories to be to enable private inquirers to carry on their researches, or would you propose that any investigations should be carried on there on behalf of the State? - I think that both things might be provided for. The State requires many important investigations to be carried on. ... That might well form one part of the objects of such a building, but I should think that so far as abstract research, of which we are more especially speaking now, is concerned, the other portion of those objects, namely, the encouragement of original investigation in the case of amateurs would be more important, because the investigations made for the Government are essentially practical investigations; they are not usually of that character which lead to discoveries or to the advancement of science.

Would you place those laboratories under a permanent official? - They must of necessity be under the direct and constant superintendence of some one thoroughly conversant with the operations going on in them; and, so far as the conducting of the separate original researches is concerned, I think that it would be very desirable that the admission into such institutions should be granted through some such body as the Research Fund Committee, for instance, of the Council of the Royal Society, or some body of that kind, who would make intelligent and impartial inquiry into the qualifications of the men applying for accommodation.

You would not throw upon the director the sole responsibility of deciding who should be admitted and who should not? - I think that would not be desirable.

And I understood you to say that you would not think it desirable that the Government should direct any specific original research to be carried on, except with reference to some practical purpose? - Except with regard to subjects about which the Government wished for information, I think it is much better for each


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man to devise his own research; he takes much more interest in it, and is much more likely to pursue it with vigour than if it is prescribed for him.

And do you think it would be requisite that those institutions should be on a large scale? - I think that they ought to be on a fairly large scale even to begin with, because it is always a costly process to rebuild such institutions; and I am inclined to think that they would be rapidly filled. A tolerably large institution of that kind would probably in a very few years be filled with workers.

You would not recommend, in the first instance, at least, more than the establishment of one for each department of science? - I think not more than that.

And should it be in London? - Yes, I suppose they must be commenced here, but eventually it would be desirable that the important centres in the provinces should also be furnished with such places.

Colonel Strange recommended the establishment of four laboratories; should you be disposed to agree with him in that view? - Yes, I think that those would be necessary; perhaps the least essential of them would be the metallurgical one, but certainly the others would be quite essential.

Could that be combined with the chemical laboratory? - I think the metallurgical one, in the first instance, might be combined with the chemical laboratory, as the processes are similar. There would be the chemical laboratory, the physical laboratory, the physico-astronomical, as we may term it, and the biological. It would be necessary, in the connexion with the physico-astronomical observatory, to have the means of performing various chemical experiments and making physical observations. Of course the chemical operations would be quite subsidiary to the cosmical observations there.

Mr. De La Rue expresses himself as follows:
Are you of opinion that any new institutions in the way of laboratories should be established by the State? - I hold it to be so important that Chemistry should be extensively cultivated in England, that I would strongly advocate that there should be a State laboratory. That State laboratory should undertake all the chemical work which the Government might require, but at the same time, according to the views which I hold, it ought to be such an establishment as could afford facilities to men who have completed their scientific education, and who might be desirous of continuing original investigations, in which space for working and instruments should be afforded them, and, moreover, if men were not in a position of fortune to continue their researches, in some cases materials and even money might be granted to them on the recommendation of the council. I may state that of my own knowledge I know that chemical science at present is not progressing in England in a satisfactory manner, that we do not make so many original researches as our continental neighbours, particularly the Germans, do. In Germany, very great patronage is given to science, magnificent laboratories have been built, and the students, who, after they are sufficiently advanced, are encouraged to make original investigations, contribute at present most largely to scientific Chemistry.

Do you think that the establishment of those Government laboratories would be likely to give rise to complaints from any existing institutions? - I think not, if those Government establishments were not educational establishments. There would be a natural jealousy on the part of educational establishments if the Government were to undertake to educate students without charge; but what I contemplate is merely that facilities would be given to men who have already been educated, and not to interfere at all with the functions of educational establishments.

... I think that some good might be done by aiding educational establishments; but I believe that the more advantageous course would be for the State to afford facilities in the laboratory which it might require for other purposes.

Do you think that any other laboratories would be needed? - I attach the greatest importance to a chemical laboratory, because I believe that Chemistry is destined to play a very important part in the advancement of the arts in all civilised countries, but there also ought to be a physical laboratory, very much on the same footing as the chemical laboratory, and in which facilities should be afforded for conducting physical investigations.

You would give admission to those laboratories on the same principle as to the chemical laboratories? - Yes, to men who could show that they were qualified to make a beneficial use of them.

You think that any investigations required by the State should also be conducted there? - Yes, they should be conducted in either the chemical or physical laboratory, according to the nature of the investigations. For example, there were a great number of investigations carried on at Woolwich relating to the strength of different allows whose chemical composition was determined by analysis. Such investigations would be very well conducted in the chemical laboratories.

Would you transfer the work now done at Woolwich to such a laboratory? - Part of the work, but I would except such special work as could be better done at each of the Government establishments. Special investigations would fall within the duties of the central government laboratory. The testing of the purity of the products to be used in the department, and routine work, would be better conducted in those establishments.

With respect to the other purpose of the laboratory, do you think that there would be a sufficient number of independent inquirers to occupy an establishment like that? - I think that there would be a great number of men who would be very glad to avail themselves os such opportunities as a laboratory of that kind would afford, and their doing so would not add materially to the cost of the establishment.

Mr. Gore also recommends the establishment of Laboratories:
Are there any measures that you can suggest to the Commission which you wish to see adopted in order more effectually to promote this object than is the case at present? - I propose that national laboratories should be established, in which abstract scientific investigation alone should be carried on. I propose that in those laboratories scientific investigators would be wholly employed upon abstract original investigation, and be paid for their labour and be supplied with the necessary means in their respective sciences, leaving each investigator to choose his special subjects of research.

Perhaps you could explain to the Commission rather more fully what should be the general character of those laboratories? - For making original scientific investigations in the subjects of chemical physics and chemistry. I speak only within the subjects with which I am familiar.

Do you refer, in this recommendation, to the establishment of a physical laboratory? - If you mean by a physical laboratory one in which the sciences of heat, light, electricity, and magnetism would be investigated, I should mean a physical laboratory.

And you think that that ought to be distinct from a laboratory for chemical physics and chemistry? - Yes, I think distinct from the laboratory for chemistry only.


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I understand you to recommend that this should be a Government institution supported entirely by Government funds? - Yes, I do recommend that.
We next proceed to refer to the Evidence in which other views are expressed. It will be seen that it is rather in favour of the utilization and extension of existing, than of the establishment of new Laboratories. We shall confine ourselves to extracts from the Evidence of Dr. A. W. Williamson, Dr. Siemens, Dr. Burdon Sanderson, and Lord Salisbury.

Dr. A. W. Williamson -

A good deal of evidence has been offered to the Commission in favour of establishing and maintaining laboratories of research at the expense of the State, in order to give opportunities to original inquirers to carry on investigations. Have you formed any opinion of the expediency of such arrangements? - I think that to establish a laboratory for research only would be beginning at the club end, and would be decidedly inadvisable. I think that the main thing for research is to give to schools, and especially to the higher schools proper facilities for it, and to develop them greatly. At the same time, it is quite possible that, in exceptional cases, research might with advantage be carried on in separate places; but I should always view with regret, as a waste of resources, the separation of that higher work of research from the more humble work of teaching, which naturally belongs to it. They help one another, and I think that each would lose from being separated from the other; still, in some cases, it might possibly be advisable.
Dr. Siemens -
What is your opinion as to the establishment of laboratories at the Government expense? - I would recommend the establishment of observatories but not of laboratories, for the same reason, that in laboratories unconnected with teaching, as have been proposed, using the public conveniences, and public money, there would be a necessity for results which would lead to a certain extent to something approaching charlatanism in the enunciation of those results; and, moreover, I consider that it might lead to disappointment in many, who would believe that they had an equal right with others to take advantage of such establishments.

Do you consider that laboratories are required in greater numbers, and better equipped than they are at present? - I think so, decidedly.

But still you would not remedy that defect by establishing Government laboratories? - Not by establishing Government laboratories, but by granting Government aid towards the establishment of laboratories, and chiefly by the endowment of chairs.

Do you think that laboratories should chiefly exist in connexion with universities or other teaching institutions? - I think so, because we should always look to the coming generation, upon which the future depends chiefly; and a well appointed academical laboratory presents great opportunities for a student, under a great leader, to attain to eminence himself.

With reference to national physical laboratories, it has been suggested to the Commission by several witnesses that such laboratories might be of use, not so much for the researches to be carried on officially in them, but as giving opportunities to private individuals for carrying on researches in them; has it occurred to you whether, in that point of view, they might be useful or not? - They might be useful in certain cases; but if the Government takes in hand such a thing, there must always be favouritism. It would be impossible to grant such facilities to all applicants, and it would be very difficult for the Government to use such discrimination. Any university or society could do so by granting facilities to men who had given promises or success by reading papers, or by fully explaining their objects in view; but for the Government to use such discretion would be impracticable, I think.

Then you think that there should be such laboratories that should be available to persons who could not afford, for instance, to have a physical laboratory of their own, but you do not think that such laboratories should be under the control of the Government, or should be Government institutions? - They should be exceptional cases altogether. If, in any existing laboratory whether Government or otherwise, an instrument existed necessary for certain research, I think that facilities might be given occasionally to an applicant, but I am of opinion that it would not be desirable to establish what might be termed a national workshop of science.

Is there any such institution in Germany as a physical or other laboratory (apart from astronomical observatories), Independent of a university or an educational establishment? - I believe not. There are laboratories connected with Polytechnic or Mining schools, but still they are connected with teaching.

Has any difficulty been found in affording facilities in those laboratories to original inquirers who may not belong to the school? - It would not be difficult for anyone to get access, for instance, to the laboratory of a University. If he entered his name, he would be allowed to go into the laboratory, and, under certain restrictions, imposed by the Professor, carry on his researches.

Are those laboratories, as established in Germany in connection with the universities and other educational institutions, quite sufficient for all the wants of science and of original investigation in science? - Whether more might be done by increasing their number I am not prepared to say, but still there seems to be no expressed want for additional laboratories.

At any rate you would not propose to establish laboratories on a different footing? - No.

Dr. Burdon Sanderson -
Will you proceed to state in what way you consider that money might be applied for the promotion of physiology? - I consider that it might be available for three purposes; namely, for the improvement of laboratories, for the providing of instruments and materials for research, and for the remuneration of workers. I will speak first or the spending of money upon the improvement of laboratories. I do not myself see at the present moment that we are in a position to require the expenditure of large sums of money upon the building of large laboratories, for this reason, that if such laboratories were built we should not have workers to work in them; at present we have not men to work in the laboratories that we actually possess. We have men of a certain class, but we have not men of that trained class which we require. I am of opinion that a physiological laboratory to be of any use at all must be in connexion with the great schools of medicine. A physiological laboratory at a distance from such schools would fail for want of people to work in it. Physiology will never flourish, therefore, excepting in connexion with the two arts which are dependent upon it. Just as vegetable physiology will flourish best in connexion with agriculture, so also animal physiology will flourish best in connexion with medicine. I think that grants might be very advan-

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tageously given for the improvement of the laboratories now existing. Of course, in the administration of such grants, one would go upon the principle 'to him that hath shall be given'; that is to say, wherever a good laboratory exists, or wherever men are to be found to work a laboratory, and where there are likely to be students to work in it, money should be given to carry out improvements. I would further notice that in physiological researches, the expenditure for materials is usually much greater than for instruments, and consequently money is more wanted for current than initial expenses; for this reason large sums ought not to be expended in the purchase of collections of costly instruments, for if such sums were spent they would probably not be used. It is much better to provide money to assist to meet those heavy expenses which are required for material. To show this it would merely be necessary to refer to some of the physiological researches which are now being carried out, in which a great expenditure is required for material, but no tremendous expense for instruments. Of course I do not mean to say that it is not necessary to spend money on instruments, but any expenditure on a large scale for this object would be very likely wasted. On the whole I believe that money can be more economically spent in sums paid for work done than in any other way, i.e., either in the way of periodical payment to men of acknowledged competency, for the purpose of carrying out inquiries of long duration, or in the form of separate grants for special researches, or in the form of grants for skilled assistants. ... Of course in Germany men who do this work are not paid, and it is very necessary to bear this in mind, but the difference there is that such men have something to look forward to. There are in Germany numerous teaching appointments to which a man can look forward with the certainty that if he works industriously for a certain time, he is sure to get an appointment of some kind afterwards, which will enable him to take the position of a professor. This state of things does not exist in England, and therefore it is more necessary in England to encourage the younger men to engage in research by pecuniary aids than it is in Germany.
Lord Salisbury -
In speaking of the establishment of laboratories by the State, your Lordship appeared to me rather to refer to chemical laboratories; but it has not escaped your attention, I am sure, that the cost of physical apparatus is so very great as to put physical inquiries really out of the reach of a very large number or persons who probably might be capable of conducting such researches; and in consequence of there being no such assistance assigned to such persons as a State laboratory, in which they could obtain the use of apparatus, and of a really fitting building, constructed with sufficient solidity for the purposes of research, a great many persons are prevented from entering upon researches of that kind by the want of means; and it has been contended that by providing laboratories, at the expense of the State, you would be doing no more for such persons than has been done for learned men by providing them with great public libraries, as you would be only providing them with the opportunities of research, which otherwise they could not have? - My fear would be that there would be a difficulty in providing laboratories in sufficient numbers to satisfy all, as you can provide hooks at the British Museum to satisfy all, and that the result would be that very often those who are least fitted to obtain any useful result would engross the instruments. For the purpose of really first-rate workers, I think that the Government might very advantageously be liberal; but such liberality I think would best take the form of an increased grant to the Royal Society. But I should be doubtful whether it was possible by any moderate expenditure of funds to provide an expensive class of scientific instruments of all kinds for all the persons who might be inclined to use them.
Evidence relating to the Establishment of Physical Observatories

On the general question of the Establishment and Maintenance of Physical Observatories, Lord Salisbury agrees that:

... Some of these institutions which have been alluded to in your Grace's question, especially observatories, clearly fall within the duties of the Government; and certainly, from all that one hears, it is probable that their duty in that respect is inadequately performed, and that observatories for a much larger range of observations might with great advantage be multiplied. ...
Sir George Airy thus states his view on the subject:
When I began to be an astronomer, such questions as those of the constitution of the sun and the like were not entertained. ...

Are you prepared to express an opinion as to whether it is an object which would be a proper one for the Government to take up as a State establishment? - The Government are already pushed very hard in their estimates. The screw is always put upon them, 'Cannot you reduce the estimates a little more?' And then it would always come to a question of extensive feeling in the House of Commons, and of popular feeling out of the House of Commons; and I am confident from what I have seen that those two bodies would not in every case support an extension. ...

Should you say that it is an object which is not very likely to be prosecuted with sufficient vigour unless taken up by the Government? - I do not see how it could go on except it were taken up by the Government. I do not believe that it could go on in any other way.

It is not likely, you think, to be prosecuted by private individuals, or by other public bodies such as the Universities? - No, I think that their funds are almost all required for other objects, and the difficulty even of getting the business into shape is extremely great. ...

Then such observations, in all probability, will either not be made at all or must be taken up by the Government? - That is my view. ...

Mr. De La Rue's opinion is thus given in reply to question 13,066:
I think that the time for the State providing means for reducing observations has now come: when the State should take up, besides mathematical astronomy (which deals with the places of the stars and planets, and the moon especially), physical observations, more particularly observations of the sun, which appear to me to bear directly upon meteorological phenomena. ...
He says further, in regard to observations of this nature, that they necessitate "a certain staff of assistants, and require continuous superintendence, hence it is necessary that an amateur astronomer who undertakes such work should have leisure during


[page 14]

the day, and that he should be able to pay for duly qualified assistants, and such men have to be highly paid."

Sir W. Thomson points out the importance of multiplying such Observatories:

... In respect to the observatories, it might be necessary to have several observatories for astronomical physics in this country, if it were only to secure observations of interesting conjunctures, notwithstanding the varieties of the weather, that there may be in different parts of the country; and, again, observatories for astronomical physics ought most certainly to be founded in other parts of the British dominions than England, Ireland, and Scotland; in other latitudes and on the other side of the world.
Dr. Siemens expresses the same view in the following Evidence:
... An observatory or several observatories should be established for carrying on physical research, research to obtain information on general subjects, such as solar observations, magnetic observations, and other subjects that might be thought desirable to obtain continually information upon. ...

I think that almost the only new establishments which you recommend are certain physical observatories? - Yes.

What would be the principal object of such observatories? - For the purpose of magnetic observations, solar observations, and other general inquiries into physical phenomena.

Do you contemplate the establishment of more than one such observatory? - Probably more than one would be desirable.

Do you contemplate the establishment of any such observatories in any of the colonial possessions of the country? - Yes, I think so.

Speaking generally, would they be costly establishments to found? - Not very costly, not so costly as astronomical observatories.

Dr. Frankland has also given Evidence on the importance of promoting the study of Astronomical Physics, pointing out that "It would be necessary, in connexion with the Physico-Astronomical Observatory, to have the means of performing various, chemical experiments and making physical observations. Of course the chemical operations would be quite subsidiary to the cosmical observations there."

Mr. De La Rue, in reference to locality and organization, in answer to the question whether provision for carrying out Observations of this character should be in connexion with the Greenwich Observatory, says:

In connexion with the Greenwich Observatory, yes, but at the Greenwich Observatory I should say not. I do not think, in the first place, that there is space enough at Greenwich, and the duties of the staff are already so very onerous that it would require a separate establishment for such special work; besides other new buildings it would entail a chemical laboratory, and there is hardly space for those at Greenwich. I believe also that it would cause too divided attention on the part of the Astronomer Royal, if he were called upon to personally superintend investigations in the physics of astronomy, although I think it would be very desirable that any new establishments, if they are to exist, should be affiliated to Greenwich."
Being asked whether the new establishment should be in the neighbourhood of Greenwich? he replies:
Not at all necessarily so. In fact Greenwich would not be at all desirable for some class of observations, it is much too near London.
And in answer to the question "Would you place the proposed new observatory for those purposes in any respect under the control of the Astronomer Royal?" -
It would be desirable that the State should have to deal only with one astronomer. Possibly by the increase of the claims upon his attention it might be desirable for the Astronomer Royal to have directors under him, so that he should not have to devote so much time to details even of the Greenwich Observatory, but I do not think that the State ought to have to deal with a great number of astronomers, indeed there might be some difficulty in its doing so.
He says further, "In order to obtain a daily record, I would advise that one or possibly two observatories should be established in India, and one at the Cape of Good Hope. ... At the Kew Observatory it was frequently cloudy for several consecutive days."

Admiral Richards says:

If you are going permanently to establish physical observatories, I should prefer to see separate ones. l think that the physical work probably would be better separated from the Royal Observatory.

You think that the two classes of observations are so distinct in character as to render that desirable? - Of course there is a certain amount of meteorology that must be observed at the astronomical observatory; but it need not be of any extended character.

Mr. Spottiswoode's Evidence is as follows:
The Observatories which you recommend could, in your opinion, be attached to existing Observatories; an Observatory for Solar Physics, for instance? - This might be met by an extension of the existing Observatories.

Do you think that it would be as useful, if attached to Greenwich, as if a special observatory were established for the purpose? - I have no doubt that if an independent observatory were adapted to that purpose and furnished with adequate instruments, and manned by such a staff as one could wish, more would be done in such an independent Observatory, so manned, than by a branch of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, but, at the same time, that would involve such a much larger expense, that I thought that the question of expense would perhaps outweigh the scientific advantages to be gained by it.

Do you think that a great deal might be done by making some additions to the present Observatories?


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A great deal, because in a large observatory there are, not unfrequently, instruments only partially employed. For example, at Greenwich there is a large and very fine instrument suited to the investigation of solar physics, which is, at all events, largely disposable for such observations.
It will be seen that most of the Witnesses dealing with Physico-Astronomical Observations recommend that, whether or not they be placed under the control of the Astronomer Royal, they should certainly be conducted by Special Directors, and be placed by preference in localities which the Witnesses deem to be better adapted to the purpose than Greenwich.

Such is not the opinion of the Astronomer Royal himself. Sir George Airy thus deals with the question specially referring to the difficulty as to space at Greenwich, and the mode of management:

Do you think it would be practicable to adopt any measures at the present observatory at Greenwich to make observations of that character? - I think it is possible that it might be done, but I am not prepared with a plan at present, and I am very much inclined to think that the difficulties in these matters will be rather in detail than anything else. There is always a difficulty in keeping an observatory of rather an indefinite character in such a state that it will satisfy the public demands. ...

... It has been found necessary within the last three or four years to extend our grounds at Greenwich. ... Judging from what occurred in our case, I do not think that there would be any difficulty in further extension; where it would be in sufficient proximity to the Royal Observatory to be under the same general control.

If a department of that kind were instituted, do you see any objection to its being placed under the Astronomer Royal, or would it give him too much to do? - It would give him much to do, but a great deal may be effected by organisation, especially with the license to have officers of good position under him; to have lieutenants of a good class.

A Resolution in general accordance with the views expressed by Sir George Airy was transmitted to us in July 1872, by the President and Council of the Royal Astronomical Society. This Resolution is in favour of the extension of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and other existing Astronomical Observatories, and does not recommend the Establishment of an independent Government Observatory for the cultivation of Astronomical Physics in England.

In connexion with some points on which differences of opinion have been expressed in this Evidence, we give the following extracts from a Paper handed in by Colonel Strange, consisting of questions addressed by him to Professor Sir W. Thomson, Professor Hilgard, the Secretary of the American National Academy of Sciences, and Professor Balfour Stewart, and to Mr. Faye, the President of the French Academy of Science; and their replies thereto.

Colonel Strange's questions, and the replies to them, were as follows:

(1) Is the systematic study of the solar constitution likely to throw light on subjects of Terrestrial Physics, such as Meteorology and Magnetism?
(2) What means, at present known to Science, are available for studying the sun?
(3) Do you consider that Photography (one of the assumed menus) will suffice for the purpose?
(4) Do you consider that the class of observations (defined in your answer to my question 2) are such as can be efficiently made in an observatory maintained by the Slate, or that any of them would be bettor left to the zeal of volunteer astronomers?
[Addressed to Mr. Faye only.] (5) Do you consider that it would be advantageous to carry on Physico-Astronomical researches on an extensive scale, and Meridional observations, in one and the same observatory, under a single director?
Sir W. Thomson:
The subject of investigation in any observatory for Astronomical Physics is so very different from that for which the great Astronomical observatories at present existing were founded, that I believe generally it would not be good economy of resources to attempt to adapt the old observatories to the new investigations. The instruments adapted for accurately determining the positions of the heavenly bodies, which constitute the most important part of the great observatories hitherto established, are scarcely adapted to give any contribution towards Astronomical Physics. Now instruments designed for the work of the spectroscope, and new buildings to contain them, are necessary. A chemical laboratory, and an extensive system of galvanic batteries, and electro-magnetic apparatus are required for the new kind of Astronomical observatory. I doubt very much whether one man could act effectively as executive chief of an observatory of Astronomical Physics, and at the same time of an observatory of the old kind.
Professor Hilgard:
(1) That the systematic study of the sun's constitution is likely to throw light on subjects of terrestrial physics, I would unhesitatingly affirm; yet without expressing the belief that the minor meteoric or magnetic variations are dependent on changes taking place in the sun.

(2) The available means for studying the sun at present known to science are, in my apprehension, in addition to observations made with the eye, solar photography, photometric and calorimetric observations, and spectroscopic observations, combined with laboratory experiments necessary for the interpretation of the latter.

(3) I do not think that photography alone will suffice for the purpose indicated, since it will give little else than a registration of solar spots, the study of which by means of the spectroscope appears to be also of prime importance.

(4) I perceive no difficulty in organizing the several classes of observations above mentioned systematically, so as to be efficiently made in an observatory maintained by the State. Similar considerations to those upon which the maintenance of meteorological and magnetical observations is based, would warrant a provision for systematic observation of the sun.


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The value of the latter, as of the former classes of observations, largely depends upon their regular continuity, which cannot be expected from the zeal of volunteer observers, who must look for their reward to results of immediate interest.
Dr. Balfour Stewart:
In reply to your first question, I cannot help thinking that a study of the solar constitution is likely to throw light on the subjects of Terrestrial Physics, such as Meteorology and Magnetism. My reasons are:

(1) That I consider the fact of a connexion between sun spot activity and disturbances of the earth's magnetism to be very well proved, although we are ignorant of the nature of the connexion.

(2) The recent researches of Mr. Baxendell, Mr. Stone, Professor C. P. Smyth, and others, render it extremely probable that there is likewise a connexion between the period of solar activity and the meteorology of our globe.

(3) The recent researches of Messrs. Warren De La Rue, Stewart, and Loewy, as well as those of Professor Wolf, render it very probable that there is a connexion between the positions of the chief planets and the behaviour of sun spots.

(4) The recent observations of Messrs. Browning and others render probable a connexion between the appearance of the planet Jupiter and the state of the solar disc.

I think that all these, taken together, can leave us in little doubt of our duty with regard to solar observations. If we were not only perfectly sure of a connexion, but likewise know all about the nature of this connexion, the necessity of studying the sun would yet be as strong as that of recording the positions of the various planets with the view of verifying the law of gravitation. But inasmuch as here the nature of the connexion is unknown, it is of imperious necessity to study the sun with the view of accumulating a sufficient number of good observations which may ultimately enable us to determine the nature of this unknown connexion.

We ought to remember how greatly the accurate observations of Tyeho Brahe contributed to the generalizations of Kepler. ...

In reply to your second question, I would enumerate the following means of observation of the sun:

(1) Eye observations through a telescope.
(2) Photography.
(3) Spectroscopic observations.
(4) Actinic observations.
In reply to your third question, I do not consider Photography sufficient for the purpose. I think that eye observations, more particularly when combined with the spectroscope, are essential to enable us to know what is going on in the sun from minute to minute, and unless we know this, I do not well see that we are ever likely to arrive at a true theory of solar disturbances, or of the connexion between these and the disturbances of the meteorology and magnetism of the earth. Could we ever have ascertained the velocity of the solar currents without the aid of the spectroscope?

As a self-recording instrument for registering the actinic effect of the solar rays has been perfected by Dr. Roscoe, and as it is a point of importance to study the influence of the solar rays upon vegetation, I think that whenever the sun's surface is regularly studied, actinic observations ought, from this cause as well as from their physical importance, to be included among the duties of the observatory.

In reply to your fourth question, believing that a long continued and systematic series of observations is beyond the means of volunteers, I think that the four kinds of observation of the solar surface which I have specified ought to be made in an observatory maintained by the State. Indeed, for some of them more than one observatory would be requisite, for I think it an object of great importance to obtain a daily record not only of the position but of the area of every group of spots which appears on the surface of the sun. But to obtain this more than one observatory would be necessary, for we must be independent of the influence of weather; and to be so we must have stations so distributed that when it rained at one station it might reasonably be expected to be fair at another. ...

I think that the study of the sun ought to be systematically conducted in an institution for the purpose working under Government, and connected with a number or stations sufficient to ensure a good record of what takes place on the solar surface, independent of the influence of weather.

It appears to me also that such an institution should have a laboratory as well as a workshop connected with it.

M. Faye:
1. L'Étude de la constitution physique du soleil ne me parait pas appelée à répandre de grande lumière sur la Physique Terrestre, c'est-à-dir sur la Météorologie et Magnétisme. L'action solaire est actuellement caractérisé par une constance bien remarquable, sauf de petites variations accidentelles ou périodiques de peu d'importance. L'étude directe de ces divers sujets de Physique Terrestre suffit amplement. Mais il en est autrement des âges géologiques dont l'histoire me paraît liée intimement à des changements progressifs d'ont on reconnait la possibilité dans l'activité interne du soleil.

Toutefois on ne peut nier que les recherches nouvelles qui ont eu pour but de rattacher certaines périodes dans les phénomènes magnétiques aux phénomènes également périodiques du soleil ne méritent intérêt et considération.

2. Les moyens dont nous disposons aujourd'hui pour l'étude du soleil sont au nombre de huit:

1. Étude des mouvements de la photosphère par les taches et les facules. (Carrington.)
2. Étude de la constitution chimique de la photosphère et de la chromosphère. Variations, plus ou moins rapides, de cette constitution. Analyse chimique continuelle de la superficie solaire.
3. Étude des mouvements de la chromosphère, éruptions, protuberances, etc. Distribution de ces phénomènes selon la latitude.
4. Étude des variations périodiques de la surface, par les précédes de Schwabe et ceux de l'Observatoire de Kew.

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5. Étude des éclipses totales, auréole, couronne, etc., au moyen d'expéditions Iointalnes.
6. Étude des changements séculaires de l'activité solaire au moyen des données de la géologie.
7. Étude analogique du soleil au moyen de l'observatlon des étoiles variables ou nouvelles.
8. Application de la mécanique moderne à l'étude des mouvements internes qu'on peut supposer dans la masse solaire.
3. Le moyen le meilleur d'étudier les mouvements des taches et des facules est incontestablement la photographie. C'est surtout par là qu'on peut espérer de rencontrer des phénomènes auxquels s'appliqueront tôt ou tard Ies lois de la mécanique. Mais ce n'est là qu'une face de la question. La spectroscopie n'est pas moin indispensable. C'est par elle que la physique et la chimie pouvent s'appliquer aux études solaires auss bien que la mécunique. Réduire cette étude à la photographie ce serait se condamner à ne voir qu'une face de la question. Je ne veux pas que cette opinion puisse être sérieusement soutenue.

4. Il sufflt d'envisager l'importance du but des études solaires et la variété au moyen d'action que la science moderne nous présente pour penser que le moment est venu de confier les études à un ou plusieurs établissements pourvu de grandes ressources, et pouvant fonctionner avec continuité pendant un laps de temps illimité.

Sans doute ou devra compter sur le concours puissant des volontaires de la science. Mais le concours se présente toujours avec des restrictions quant aux ressources, à la continuité, et à la durée, lesquelles me paraîssent peu compatibles avec les résultats à obtenir.

5. Je suis d'avis que les études doivent être poursuivies dans des établissements spéciaux; que leur introduction dans les observatoires astronomiques serait nuisible à l'astronomie proprement dite, saus pouvoir donner tous les résultats que procurerait une division bien nette du travail. L'expérience que nous en avons en France me paraît décisive.

Evidence relating to Meteorology

For the reasons which have already been stated, we have taken a considerable amount of Evidence with reference to the Meteorological Observations at present carried on in the United Kingdom, whether at the cost of the Government, or of Societies or Private Observers. To some points in this Evidence we think it necessary to call attention: of these the most important are those which relate to the Meteorological Office.

This Office is under the Management of the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society, the Functions of which are thus described in the Report annually presented to Parliament:

The Meteorological Committee consists of Fellows of the Royal Society who were nominated by its President and Council, at the request of the Board of Trade, for the purpose of superintending the Meteorological duties formerly undertaken by a Government Department, under the charge of Admiral Fitzroy.

The Committee are credited with a sum of £10,000 voted annually in the Estimates, for the administration of which they are wholly responsible, and over which they are given the entire control.

The Meetings of the Committee are held once a fortnight, or oftener when necessary, when every subject on which action has to be taken by their executive officers receives their careful consideration. The duties of the Committee are onerous, and ,i.entirely gratuitous; they were accepted, and are very willingly performed by the members, on account of the earnest desire they severally feel for the improvement of Meteorological Science.

The position of the Committee is anomalous. In the words of the Director of the Meteorological Office -
The Government distinctly disclaims all connexion with us, whilst the Royal Society equally disclaims all control over us, except merely the nomination of the members of the Committee.

As a matter of fact, all that the Royal Society does is to nominate the members of the Committee? - That is all.

Having so done, it ceases to have any control whatever, does it not? - Entirely.

What is the precise relation between the Office and the Government? - That the Government gives a vote of £10,000 every year, and that it calls for no account of this money, excepting the account annually presented to Parliament.

Who audits the accounts? - The members of the Committee. There is no formal audit, because, as the Government would not recognize any audit excepting its own, the Committee considered that it was not worth while paying an auditor if such audit would not be recognized, and, as a matter of fact, two of the members take the trouble of auditing the accounts every year.

What, in your opinion, are the chief advantages and disadvantages of such an arrangement as compared with those of the direct management of the Office by the Government? - The chief advantage is the perfect freedom from political management. The risk in being connected with the Government is that if a new President of the Board of Trade comes, he may reverse the action of the preceding one. The existence of a scientific supervision for the Office is exceedingly important; it acts as an intermediate party between the public and the Office. I may mention a decided disadvantage which results from the Office not being connected with the Government, namely, the loss of prestige. Tile difficulty is, that if we are sending instruments by sea or by railroad, if we do not call them Government instruments we cannot get as much attention paid to them, and it is my opinion that we should get more co-operation from the merchant navy if we were an office of the Board of Trade. We should have more prestige as acting directly from the Government.

The following very clear account of the objects which the Meteorological Committee propose to themselves is taken from the Evidence of Major-General Strachey, one of the Members:
I would, then, state generally what I understand to be the objects which the Meteorological Committee

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has to superintend. These are, first, the collection of meteorological data from ships' logs, with a view to the preparation of maps for the use of sailors, showing the probable, or it may be termed the average, meteorological elements all over the ocean, on the chief line of trade routes, for the several months in the year. Included with these is the investigation of the ocean currents. This branch of duties is carried on under Captain Toynbee. The second branch of the business is the collection and daily publication of meteorological observations made on the British Isles and neighbouring coasts, extending from the coasts of Scandinavia to France, and partly to Spain. Although at the outset of the issue of warnings as to probable bad weather was not contemplated, yet after the Committee had been in operation for a few months it was considered desirable again to undertake this, and in the first year of the Committee's existence the issue of warnings of anticipated stormy weather was resumed. I daresay Mr. Scott has told the Commissioners, that within the last few months there has been a little more detail given in the warnings. Originally they were mere warnings that stormy weather was likely to occur. Now there is a statement also given of the probable direction from which the wind is to come, and whether it will be of extreme force. The third of the objects is the recording at certain specially organised observatories, seven in number, maintained under the direction of the Committee, of the principal meteorological elements, with self-recording instruments; with the intention of obtaining a continuous record with as great accuracy and precision as possible, and thus of procuring accurate data for the scientific study of meteorology by all persons who are interested in that science. I should add that the Committee has, within the last month or two, from the commencement of this year in fact, begun to print and to issue monthly the detailed observations made at these seven observatories. The Committee also publishes quarterly reports, which contain diagrams embodying the observations at the seven observatories, and an analysis of the weather over the British Isles, of which the details are furnished in the daily reports. There is no doubt that the publication of those quarterly reports is a useful addition to the daily reports, which are extremely voluminous, and not very easy for persons to follow who do not devote themselves to the subject. The last of the specific duties of the Committee is the supply of meteorological instruments for the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine. Besides various miscellaneous references come from the Board of Trade, to which, of course, the Committee gives such answers as it is capable of doing.
It is admitted that the objects thus described do not exhaust the whole of Meteorology, and that the Committee in their selection of these objects have been, to a great extent, guided by the proceedings of the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade, which existed prior to, and which has been superseded by the Committee. Thus Major-General Strachey says:
The Committee is now in reality doing no more than continuing the exercise of certain functions which had, in the course of time, been thrown upon the Board of Trade by the position which that Department occupies in connexion with the public administration.

Has the consequence been that the action of the Committee has been from the outset rather in a practical direction than in one of original research or scientific observation, properly so called? - I think distinctly that such is the case, and that it has necessarily followed from the position in which the Committee was placed. If a reference is made to the earlier papers, and to the Report of the gentlemen on whose suggestions the present arrangements originated, there perhaps is an indication that they anticipated something more in the way of scientific research than has actually occurred; but the turn that things have taken seems to me the necessary result of the sort of duties that were put upon the Committee under the essential condition that it had but a limited sum of money to spend.

Have any results of scientific importance in your opinion been obtained by the action of the Committee? - In the direction of what one may call investigation of an absolutely scientific character, I should say none at all. Of course the observations that are made at the special observatories are valuable scientific information, and so far one has no right to say that scientific results have not been produced; but I do not think that these can properly be referred to as specific results of anything that the Committee has done, to the best of my belief there has been nothing undertaken in the way of original investigation into the specific physical causes of any of the phenomena which are recorded, nor any original research, properly so called, in relation to any of the several branches of meteorology. The Committee hardly has appliances at its command for any such investigations, and, the funds at its disposal being limited, it was hardly possible that it should attempt them. It is also no doubt quite true that the observations which are made at the seven observatories do not include any matters which are of great importance in physical science, and which would properly come within the range of meteorology.

Are the funds at the disposal of the Committee in your opinion insufficient for doing anything more than has been actually done at present? - I should say distinctly that this is the case. The Committee has always considered that it is bound to attend primarily to the special objects before referred to, which were in a specific manner made over to it, and it finds that after this has been done there is no money left for other things.

Again, the same Witness expresses a decided opinion that the State should do more for the promotion of Meteorological Science than it does at present, but entertains some doubt whether any increased duties could advantageously be allowed to devolve upon a body such as the Meteorological Committee:
Can you state the directions in which you think the State should intervene? - This seems to me an extremely difficult question to answer. The fact is that the form in which the State might in a satisfactory way intervene must depend upon the extent to which it is disposed to intervene. If one knew that the Government really desired to assist in the development of scientific meteorology, it would be possible to make a scheme, but I do not see how anybody could make what I may call an abstract plan which should have any real utility in it. My own impression is that so long as there is no greater interest taken in this sort of matter than at present probably the best thing to do is to leave the expenditure of what money the Government choose to give for the purpose under the control of some such body as our Committee; but I should further say that if the Government is seriously in earnest in taking the matter up, it would then be the proper thing to have a public department that should manage the business. Then again, if there were a public department, it must be a part of an organised system; and in order to secure an efficient public department to supervise such matters, it seems to me that it would be necessary to have some officer connected directly

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with the Government, an Under-Secretary of State, or some such person, who should be responsible that the executive scientific staff properly carried out the whole of the operations of their several departments.

Are you disposed to think that the Meteorological Committee might in any way extend its sphere of action with advantage? - As matters are now I should think it is extremely doubtful. I look upon the Meteorological Committee as being mainly a controlling body to supervise the expenditure of a definite sum of money in a definite way. At all events that practically has been their position. There has been no virtual change from the time that they were started up to the present time.

Do you think that that money would be spent better in some other way; that is to say, supposing the thing had to be started afresh, are those objects which the Committee at present have to carry out exactly those that you would have given them to carry out? - I should say in general terms that the whole of the objects which the Committee has charge of are reasonable objects; I do not think that there is any one of them that it is not desirable to attend to. As to whether the precise method of dealing with them is the best possible will be a matter of opinion, but I do not think that I could very usefully go into that.

Does it occur to you that there is anything else which should be added to the functions of the Committee? - My general impression, as I implied before, is that the Committee is a quasi-financial body having certain scientific knowledge. Its duty is not strictly speaking to direct scientific research or scientific operations, but it is to see that a certain sum of money which the Government thinks may reasonably be applied to collecting and publishing meteorological observations, and doing certain other matters, is not unreasonably applied. It exercises a check upon the persons who have actually to carry out those duties, as I understand it; and I do not think myself that, with a body constituted as the Meteorological Committee is, you can expect more from it than that.

Do you think it would be desirable that the Committee should be entrusted with money to enable it to have any observations collected, scientifically discussed, and turned to scientific use? - l think it would be much better if any such fund were not given to a body like the Committee. If some individual were selected, and the entire responsibility put upon him, I think it would be a much better plan.

You want to do away with the Committee altogether? - I think so, certainly; supposing always that I am at liberty to replace it according to my own conceptions of what is best.

The same view is expressed by Professor Balfour Stewart -
Would you organize the Meteorological Committee in any really different form to that which at present obtains? - I should be inclined to dispense with the Meteorological Committee altogether, and substitute a Meteorologist Royal, or whatever his appellation might be, a single official who should be responsible to the Government in the same way as the Astronomer Royal is responsible for his department. I do not see why the one department should be on one footing and the other department on a different footing. I think that there are grave disadvantages with a department administered by an unpaid committee.

Would you appoint a Meteorologist Royal corresponding with the Astronomer Royal? - Yes, whatever the name might be; I should appoint an official very much corresponding to the Astronomer Royal and responsible to the same extent. A board of visitors would not be objectionable, but the direction of an unpaid committee appears to me to be very objectionable.

The same Witness considers that the subject of Meteorology naturally divides itself into two heads, (1) Physical Meteorology, of which "the object would be to ascertain the Physics of the earth's atmosphere, and perhaps of the earth's ocean", and which must consequently be regarded as a branch of Terrestrial Physics; and (2) Local or Climatic Meteorology, involving a number of Inquiries having special relation to Health, Agriculture, and various Human Interests. The distinction is one which perhaps does not admit of being very closely pressed. For example, it is not clear to which of the two heads the Observations upon Rainfall should be referred; not to mention that any series of Meteorological Observations, with whatever object undertaken, must have a special value with reference to the Locality at which they are made. Professor Stewart is further of opinion that while Physical Meteorology should receive even larger support from Government than it does at present, Climatic Meteorology might in the main be left to voluntary and local exertions.
Would you leave the other branch of the subject, climatic meteorology, to individual and local effort? - Yes, I think so, possibly supported to some extent by funds from the Government, but I should not put such branches under the superintendence of a central board at the present moment.
And again -
Would you leave climatic meteorology altogether to societies and to individual effort? - At the present moment it appears to me to be a matter that might best be left in that position, and that a central authority would do no good in a question of this kind, but rather do harm; in fact, rather tend to depress than to encourage these local efforts. I have no doubt that a great deal might be done by the zeal of local individuals, but if the thing were undertaken in its present state by a central board, which would do little but register a number of observations, I do not think that any good would at the present moment be done.
Such aid as Government might give to Climatic Meteorology, should, in the opinion of the Professor, rather take the form of Grants to Societies, than of any extension, in this direction, of the Functions of the Meteorological Office, for the double reason that it would be undesirable to discourage local efforts, and to dissipate the energies of the Meteorological Office by diverting them from Physical Meteorology.
As far as the money is concerned, I consider that a mere matter of detail, but I should be very strongly against the Meteorological Committee undertaking anything but Physical Meteorology; I think that they

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ought to confine their labours to that. If they at present undertake all those branches of meteorology bearing upon the various individual human interests, it appears to me that you will leave them no energy to attack the problems of physical meteorology. I think the great point is to put physical meteorology somewhat more into the position of a branch of physical science; at the present moment it appears to me to occupy a very low position indeed.
It appears that within the last two or three years the Meteorological Committee have made great efforts to extend their work in such directions as might be most likely to help in the promotion of Scientific Meteorology. Thus, they have commenced publishing the individual values derived from their self-recording instruments; and they have undertaken regular Observations upon Atmospheric Electricity. But the efforts of the Committee to extend their operations are limited by insufficiency of funds.
Is there a want of funds for a more complete treatment of the subject of land meteorology? - A very serious want of funds. As I mentioned before, for any serious discussion like that of the hourly values for all the elements for five years we are not provided with a sufficiency of funds; in fact the amount of our staff for land meteorology would be sufficient to discuss the results for one observatory, but not for seven. It is in that sort of way that the original provision of clerks who were to discuss the work was quite insufficient, the amount of materials being so enormous.
Mr. Scott also informs us that:
Arrangements have been concluded between the Meteorological Society and the Meteorological Office, and have come into effect on the 1st January 1875. The principal features of these arrangements are that the Observers belonging to these two organizations are supplied with a uniform schedule for recording their observations, and that the Society undertakes to furnish to the Office monthly returns from certain selected stations for publication with the returns from its own stations, in consideration of a certain payment, which will probably average about £50 per annum.

An invitation has been issued to the Scottish Meteorological Society to co-operate with the Office on similar terms, and the Meteorological Committee are not without some hope that this proposal may be accepted.

Besides the sum of £10,000 which is placed on the Civil Service Estimates and is annually paid to the Meteorological Committee, the Government incurs a certain expenditure on account of Meteorology at the two National Observatories of Greenwich and Edinburgh. This expenditure for the year 1874-75 amounted to £1,221 for Greenwich, and £115 for Edinburgh.

A further small annual payment of £150 is made by the Registrar General for the Reports of Meteorological Observations which are printed in his Monthly Returns. These Reports are supplied by Mr. Glaisher, the observations being made at different stations in various parts of England, by unpaid private observers, whose co-operation Mr. Glaisher has been able to obtain. The Evidence shows that the work is done under regulations which are sufficient to ensure its general accuracy; and it is obvious that the annual payment of £150 hardly covers the expenses incurred, and affords no remuneration for the trouble taken in organizing and controlling the System of Observations.

Evidence relating to Tidal Observations

Evidence in reference to Tidal Observations has been placed before us by Dr. Joule and Professor Sir W. Thomson.

Dr. Joule is of opinion that -

With regard to the sea level and the tides, although the laws with regard to the tides are pretty well known, they ought to be continuously observed, if only for the purpose of registering the changes arising from the alteration of banks, depth of channels, &c. Also with regard to the sea level, there have been reports from time to time with regard to the inroads of the sea on our coasts, but sufficient steps do not appear to have been taken to ascertain the facts in those cases. It seems to me very important to be acquainted with any alterations in the configuration of the earth which may be taking place, however minute those alterations may be.
He thus expresses his views as to the manner in which these Inquiries may be carried on:
Would that be a work which ought, in your opinion, to be carried on from day to day by a permanent establishment at such places? - I believe that self-registering apparatus have been devised which would enable the mean sea level to be registered, and the tides to be registered, without very much trouble.

Is it a sort or work which can be carried on by public officers stationed at any of the ports, or would you require a separate staff? - Probably it might be carried on by the officers at the stations. I do not think it would be necessary for anyone to be exclusively occupied in such a work.


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Sir W. Thomson's Evidence on this point is as follows:

In addition to those Institutions which you have recommended, you consider, do you not, that it would be advisable that the Government should undertake secular observations of the tides? - Yes, certainly, secular observations of the tides with accurate self-registering tide gauges, with the triple object of investigating the science of the tides, of perfecting our knowledge of the actual phenomena of the tides, both in respect to navigation and as a branch of natural history, and, thirdly, with a view to ascertaining the changes of the sea level from century to century.

Is anything of the kind done at present? - There are several tide gauges, some of which have been carried on with great care, others with not sufficient care, and none with any security of permanence.

Was not it in connexion with the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain? - No sufficient steps have been taken to ascertain whether the sea level is changing relatively to the lane in any part of this country.

Would you think a large number of stations requisite for the observations of the tides to which you have alluded? - Yes, a large number. The phenomena of the tides are of great complexity, but not of baffling complexity, provided that we make the observations at a sufficiently great number of points.

Would the duties attached to such observations take up the whole time of the persons who had charge of them? - By no means. They could undertake other duties. A tide gauge may be put under the hands of a careful harbour master or officer of the coastguard service at any station, but it must be under inspection to secure accuracy. The most careful and scrupulous of such men cannot make sure that the instrument is giving accurate results; and they cannot, except under instruction and occasional inspection, give out recorded curves, that they can be quite sure of being accurate in all points of scientific nicety; but the inspection that is required to secure accurate results would be a very simple and moderate matter.

The accurate Reduction of Tidal Observations, without which, of course, they are useless, has not hitherto been undertaken by any Department of the State, and we are indebted to the zeal of individuals for the results which have been obtained. The reductions are laborious, and require the employment of paid computers,. The following Memorial from the British Association for the Advancement of Science to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, put in evidence by Sir William Thomson, shows the difficulty that has been felt in procuring the moderate sum required for the Reductions:
MEMORIAL to the Right Honourable the LORDS COMMISSIONS of HER MAJESTY'S TREASURY

The Memorial of the British Association for the Advancement or Science

Humbly sheweth -

1. That in the year 1867 the British Association appointed a Committee 'for the purpose of promoting the extension, improvement, and harmonic analysis of tidal observations'. From that time until the present, under committees reappointed from year to year, the proposed work has been carried on. The mode of procedure adopted, and the results obtained up to the month of August 1871, are fully stated in the accompanying series of printed reports.

2. The primary object of this investigation is the advance of tidal science, but the Committee have uniformly kept in view the practical application of their results to Physical Geography, Meteorology, Coast and Harbour Engineering, and Navigation.

3. A large mass of valuable observations, recorded by self-registering tide gauges during the last 20 years, having been found available, the Committee have applied themselves, in the first place, to the reduction of these observations, and have deferred the object of promoting observations in other localities until the observations already made have been utilized to the utmost.

4. The work thus undertaken has proved, as was anticipated, most laborious. The calculations have been performed, under the superintendence of Sir William Thomson, by skilled calculators recommended by the Nautical Almanac Office. The funds required to pay the calculators, and to print and prepare tables, forms for calculations, &c. to the amount of £600, have been granted by the British Association in four successive annual allowances of £100 each, and a sum of £200 voted at the last meeting. The last grant barely sufficed for the work actually in hand, and to secure the continuance of the investigation additional funds are necessary. The Council of the British Association, therefore, directed the Tidal Committee to make an application to the Government for assistance, the amount at present asked for being limited to £150.

5. It seemed to the Council that after the Association had done so much in the way of actual expenditure of time by the members of its Committee, and had given such a large contribution from its very limited funds, enough had been done to show the object to be one for which assistance may reasonably be expected from Government. On representations made by Colonel Walker, Director of the Trigonometrical Survey of India, the Indian Government has already granted the means of defraying the expense of making tidal observations in India, and applying to them the methods of reduction devised by the Committee of the British Association. The Council hope, therefore, that the Government of this country may be similarly disposed to assist in a matter of national importance.

(Signed) WILLIAM THOMSON
President of the British Association.

May 21, 1872.

The Lords Commissioners of the Treasury did not accede to the Prayer of the Memorial, so that, at present, there is no guarantee that the Observations which have already been accumulated, and those which are still in progress, will ever be adequately discussed and utilized.

Evidence relating to the Extension of the Government Grant administered by the Royal Society

The strong and concurrent Evidence which we have received as to the usefulness of the Government Grant, as at present administered b a Committee of the Royal Society, has led us to inquire whether this grant might not be advantageously extended; and


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the Witnesses whom we have examined on this point are unanimous in expressing the opinion that great benefits might be expected from such an extension.

Thus, to the Question, "Have you formed any opinion as to whether it would be desirable that the Government Grant of £1,000 a year, placed at the disposal of the Council of the Royal Society, should be increased or not?" Professor Owen replies: "It has been so admirably applied and with such gain to Science, that there cannot be a doubt that it would be a great benefit to Science if it were doubled to begin with."

Mr. Spottiswoode, the present Treasurer of the Fund, states his opinion that an extension of the Government Grant would be desirable, and expects that the minimum which might be voted every year would increase materially.

Professor Grant gives his opinion "that it is very desirable that the grant should be enlarged". He also considers that it "would be expedient that wider publicity should be given to the fact of its being generally available to persons engaged in scientific investigations".

Mr. De La Rue is of opinion "that it is administered exceedingly well and very carefully". He considers that the amount should be increased.

From the Evidence given on page 13, it appears that Lord Salisbury also is of opinion that the Government Grant might be increased, with the object of affording liberal assistance to "first-rate workers".

In a Memorial presented to us by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, it is recommended that a corresponding Grant be placed at the disposal of that Body, for the Promotion of Science in Scotland. The claims of Scientific Workers in Scotland to participate in the Grant equally with those in other parts of the United Kingdom, have been fully recognised, and we think it of importance that there should be but one such Grant for the whole of the United Kingdom and one body responsible for its administration. In the measure hereinafter recommended we have suggested that the Administration of future Grants should be assigned to a Council of Science which should include the Representatives of the Scientific Societies of the United Kingdom.

Evidence as to the Payment of Scientific Workers

On this branch of our Inquiry, the Evidence laid before us, both by Statesmen and men of Science, is to the same effect, and in favour of increased State Aid. It has also especially been urged upon us, that to afford, by direct pecuniary aid, the means of livelihood to men of distinction in pure investigation would be a great advantage to science, as competent investigators would thus be enabled and encouraged to pursue a strictly Scientific Career.

Lord Salisbury is of opinion that the cause of Science is hindered by the want of a sufficient career for scientific men, giving the following statement of his reasons:

I am induced to think so, by noticing how very much more rapid the progress of research is where there is a commercial value attached to the results of it, than in other cases. The peculiar stimulus which has been given to electrical research, in the particular direction of those parts of it which concern the telegraph, is a very good instance in point, and the extent to which researches into organic chemistry have almost clustered themselves round the production of coal tar colours is another instance in point. And therefore it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that research is really hindered by the necessity under which those who are most competent to conduct it feel themselves, of providing for their own support by means of the talent and the knowledge which they possess.
Lord Derby takes the same view:
I think that, in one way or another, where you have a man of very great eminence us a scientific discoverer, it is unquestionably the duty of the State to provide him with means and leisure to carry on his work. Whether that is to be done by giving him an office under the British Museum, or in any similar institution, or whether it is to be done by simply granting him a pension in recognition of eminent scientific service, or in whatever other way it is done, it seems to me to be immaterial, but I certainly consider that it is a very important part of the public duty, to relieve men who have shown an eminent capacity for original discovery and research from the necessity of engaging in a lower kind of work as a means of livelihood. ...
Sir W. Thomson, in a reply to which we have already referred, stated his opinion on this point as follows:
That men should be enabled to live on scientific research is a matter of most immediate consequence to the honour and welfare of this country. At present a man cannot live on scientific research. If he aspires to devote himself to it, he must cast about for a means of supporting himself, and the only generally accepted possibility of being able to support himself is by teaching, and to secure even a very small income, barely sufficient to live upon, by teaching, involves the expenditure of almost his whole time upon it in most situations, so that at present it is really only in intervals of hard work in professions that men not of independent means in this country can apply themselves at all to scientific research. ...

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Professor Henry, the distinguished Director of the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, who was good enough to appear before us when he was in this country, gave the following emphatic evidence in the same direction:

My idea would be that if the funds were sufficient, and men could be found capable of advancing science, they should be consecrated to science, and be provided with the means of living above all care for physical wants, and supplied with all the implements necessary to investigation.
Professor Balfour Stewart, after referring to the instances of wealthy persons who undertake Scientific Research in this country, points out that the number of those so circumstanced is very small in comparison with the number of able men who are willing to give their time and capacities to Observations and Research. He goes on to say that able men, and men competent to conduct research, suffer in this country from not having sufficient means at their disposal to proceed as they would like to do.
Do you anticipate, then, that if there were any intelligent centre for the distribution of a sufficient fund to persons having the requisite capacities for observation and research, but not having the means, the distribution of such a fund would have any benumbing influence upon original observation and research? - No, I should think quite the contrary; it would encourage it very much.
Mr. Gore also advocates the enlargement of the present system.
... I should strongly advocate that the present system should be enlarged, so that the investigators should not merely be reimbursed for all that they have expended, but also paid in some measure for their time and labour, because each investigator has to give up a profitable employment in order to find the time.
He then gives his own personal experience, which probably resembles that of many of those who, without private fortune, engage in pure research.
I refuse a great many engagements in analyses and other scientific matters for the manufacturers who come to me. ... I gave up some pupils a short time ago to enable me to have more time for original investigation.
Some of the Witnesses seem to have considered the Pecuniary Aid which they think should be afforded, more in the light of Rewards for work done than as an Aid to work to be done. Thus, Dr. Joule, is of opinion -
That a small sum of money in recognition of scientific labour would be in many cases a most useful help as well as a great encouragement, and if the Patent Laws are retained they might be supplemented with provisions to meet the case, of those discoveries to which the Patent Laws do not apply.

Dr. Siemens is of opinion that the Government might promote original research by liberal grants to the Learned Societies; remarking that this is done now to some extent, but might be done with advantage to a greater extent.

He then suggests that the Government might also encourage Scientific Research "by granting through Societies, rewards for successful results obtained by independent research. In many instances the Patent Law provides for the reward, but in other cases of pure science the Patent Law does not apply, and the results of original research are left unrewarded."

Mr. De La Rue is of opinion that if men are not in a position of fortune to continue their researches, in some cases materials and even money might be granted to them.

Referring to the extent and value of the Original Researches in Chemistry carried on in Germany, he ascribes them "to the care which is given to the cultivation of every branch of science; and, moreover to the positions and places at the disposal of the Government which are given from time to time to men who render themselves eminent in Science."

With regard to the Scale on which such Remuneration or Payments for Maintenance should be made, Lord Salisbury observes:

I should say, taking the parallel [that of certain offices in the Church], to which I have already alluded, that an income of about £1,000 or £1,500 a year would be the kind of income which would suffice for the purpose that I have in view.
And he would also add Provision for Retirement.

With reference to the safeguards against abuse which would be necessary, Lord Salisbury continues:

... It would, for their [the investigators'] own interest, and to save them from invidious comments, be desirable, to impose upon them the necessity of publishing, either in the form of books or in the form of lectures (but not sufficient in number really to impede their work), an account of the result of their labours during each successive year. Perhaps one or two stated lectures in the course of a year, to be delivered to University students, would be the best means of imposing upon them that test of industry.

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Lord Salisbury further recommends that aid of this kind should be given directly and with as little concealment by ostensible duties of another kind as possible; adding:

... If any money is to be given, as I think it ought to be given, for the purpose of furnishing a career to men who are really engaged in research which is not pecuniarily profitable, I think that it would be far better given directly and openly than given under the form of an office which would practically be a sinecure.
In contrast with this view, that the endowment should be given directly, we think it right to quote the opinion of the late Professor Rankine:
I think there is no general principle, but every case must be judged of on its own merits. The other thing which is wanted, besides money, is the leisure time of competent persons. It seems to me that it is out of the question for any State to provide or endow such a set of persons, and that it would be impossible for any department of the Government, either to judge who were fit persons, or how they ought to be employed, or what would be a proper renumeration for them. And I believe that if any such system were instituted, it would only lead to abuse. Setting aside such leisure time as men may have who are of independent fortune, and do not require to practise any profession or special occupation, I would say that it appears to me that in order to ensure that other competent persons shall have the requisite leisure, it is desirable that there should be offices with other functions attached to them, but those functions should be of such a nature that the holder of the office may have leisure time for original research. ...

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING EVIDENCE

The great advances in Physical Science which have been made in this Country, and within this century, by such men as Dalton, Davy, and Faraday, without aid from the State; the existence of our numerous Learned Societies; and the devotion of some few rich individuals to the current work of Science; at first sight appear to reduce the limits within which State Aid to Research is required in this country.

But whilst we have reason to be proud of the contributions of some great Englishmen to our Knowledge of the Laws of Nature, it must be admitted that at the present day Scientific Investigation is carried on abroad to an extent and with a completeness of organization to which this country can offer no parallel. The work done in this country by private individuals, although of great value, is small when compared with that which is needed in the interests of Science; and the efforts of the Learned Societies, not excepting the Royal Society, are directed to the Discussion and Publication of the Scientific Facts brought under their notice; these Societies do not consider it any part of their corporate functions to undertake or conduct Research.

It will have been seen, from the extracts from the Evidence, that amongst the Witnesses who have advocated an increase of State Assistance are some who have made great sacrifices in time and money in the cause of Scientific Research.

But whatever may be the disposition of individuals to conduct researches at their own cost, the Advancement of Modern Science requires Investigations and Observations extending over areas so large and periods so long that the means and lives of nations are alone commensurate with them.

Hence, the Progress of Scientific Research must in a great degree depend upon the aid of Governments. As a Nation we ought to take our share of the current Scientific Work of the World: Much of this work has always been voluntarily undertaken by individuals, and it is not desirable that Government should supersede such efforts; but it is bound to assume that large portion of the National Duty which individuals do not attempt to perform, or cannot satisfactorily accomplish.

The following considerations have been suggested to us by the Heads of Evidence relating to (1) Laboratories, (2) Observatories, (3) Meteorology, (4) Tidal Observations, and (5) the Payment of Scientific Workers.

1. The first condition of scientific investigation is that there should be Collections, Laboratories, and Observatories accessible to qualified persons. The evidence has shown that at present, for certain branches, these do not exist or are incomplete.

Moreover there can be no doubt that the Government Service should, to a great extent, contain within itself the means of carrying on Investigations specially connected with the Departments. Even having regard only to the current wants of the State, additional appliances are necessary.


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Three distinct ways have been suggested in which the State might assist in providing the Aids to Investigation which are required by private Individuals. It has been proposed: first, that competent Investigators should receive Grants in Money enabling them to provide themselves with means for conducting their Researches; secondly, that Laboratories, designed primarily for the Service of the State, and those of Universities and other similar Institutions receiving Aid from the State, should be placed, under proper conditions, at the disposal of such Inquirers; thirdly, that Laboratories should be erected by the Government specially designed for the use of private Investigators, though, of course, also available for the service of the State. Wherever the first of these methods can be conveniently and economically adopted, we are disposed to consider that it is the simplest and the best; but it must be remembered that for many Researches apparatus of a costly, but durable character, are among the primary requisites; and that to provide these separately for each investigator would involve a large and unnecessary expenditure. It appears to us that the difficulty thus arising might be adequately met by the adoption of the second of the above suggestions. Our attention has, indeed, been called to the inconveniences which might arise from the admission of independent workers into University or State Laboratories. But, notwithstanding this difficulty, we think the experiment is one which ought to be tried, and till it has been tried we should hesitate to recommend the erection by the State, for the especial use of private Investigators, of Laboratories which would certainly be costly, and might possibly be only imperfectly utilized.

2. Upon a Review of the whole of the Evidence relating to the subject of Astronomical Physics, we are of opinion that an Observatory for that branch of Science should be established by the State. In the study of Solar Physics, continuity of the observations is of the greatest importance; and owing to our variable climate, continuous observations of the sun in this country are subject to peculiar difficulties which should be duly considered in the choice of the site for such an Observatory. The neighbourhood of London is less favourable to Physical Observations than many other sites which might be found, and for this reason we should prefer that a Physical Observatory should be placed elsewhere than at Greenwich. On other grounds, also, we think that the Observatory for Astronomical Physics should be an Institution entirely distinct from any of the National Observatories for Mathematical Astronomy. The subject of Mathematical Astronomy is vast enough to occupy adequately the whole energies of a Director, and it is especially important that Astronomical Physics should have the undivided attention of the Head of an Observatory, because its methods, which are of very recent invention, are as yet incompletely developed, and because, depending, as they do, on a continual comparison of celestial phenomena with the results of experiments in the laboratory, they are entirely different from those of Mathematical Astronomy.

Our opinion as to the desirability of such an Institution is confirmed by the example of Foreign Nations; Observatories for Astronomical Physics being already at work in various parts of Italy, and their immediate erection having been determined on at Berlin and at Paris.

We venture to express the hope that similar Institutions may before long be established in various parts of the British Empire. The regularity of the climatic conditions of India, and the possibility of there obtaining favourable stations at considerable heights, render it especially desirable that arrangements should be made for carrying on Physical Observations of the Sun in that country.

3. With respect to Meteorology we are of opinion that the operations of the Meteorological Office have been attended with great advantage to Science and to the Country. The subject of Meteorology is a very vast one, and any scheme for its proper cultivation or extension must comprise - (1) Arrangements for observing and registering Meteorological Facts; (2) Arrangements for the reduction, discussion, and publication of the Observations; (3) Researches undertaken for the purpose of discovering the Physical Causes of the Phenomena observed. The resources placed at the disposal of the Committee are inadequate to cover the whole of this wide field; and, having due regard to all the circumstances of the case, we believe that in selecting certain parts of it, as the objects of their special attention, they have been guided by a sound discretion.

We are also disposed to consider that although, as we have already said, the Meteorological Committee occupies an anomalous position, no other form of organization could advantageously have been adopted under the actual conditions. We think, however, that if, as we shall hereinafter recommend, a Ministry of Science should be established, the Head of the Meteorological Office should be made responsible to the Minister. We fully concur


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with the opinion expressed by the Witnesses that many branches of Meteorology can only be effectually promoted by an organization having the support of Government; and we would draw especial attention to the consideration that, if Meteorology is to take rank as a branch of Terrestrial Physics, the observations must be made at stations widely dispersed over all parts of the earth's surface, and those taken by Observers of different Nations must be so arranged as to be comparable with one another. It is obvious that the intervention of Government would greatly facilitate the attainment of both these objects.

We are very unwilling that any Scientific Observations which can adequately be carried on by Individuals, or Associations of Individuals, should be undertaken by a Department of the Government. So far as the local interests connected with Climatic Meteorology suffice to ensure due attention being paid to that branch of science, we should prefer to see it left mainly to Scientific Societies, any assistance the Government might afford being merely subsidiary. That useful results may be obtained by voluntary effort is evident from the work carried on under the direction of Mr. Glaisher, and, from the case of the Scottish Meteorological Society, which has succeeded, with, very narrow means, in organising a valuable System of Observations on the Meteorology of Scotland. It is, however, important that any Grants for the promotion of Meteorological Observations in aid of voluntary efforts should be made on some systematic principle; and the attainment of this object would be furthered by making them subject to the Control of a Minister, who would be cognizant of all the facts relating to the expenditure of the Government upon Meteorology.

We may point out that the returns furnished by the Scottish Meteorological Society and Mr. Glaisher, are adopted by the Registrars General, and are recognized by Committees of Parliament in discussions affecting the Public Health, the Supply of Water, and other matters of the same kind. The value of Observations undertaken, as in this case, by private Individuals or voluntary Associations, must vary from time to time, according to the efficiency of the persons principally concerned in their superintendence. We feel, therefore, that the question how far it is proper that such Observations should receive official sanction, cannot be decided à priori, and must be left to the judgment of the responsible Minister for the time being.

4. With regard to Tidal Observations, it will be seen that, in the opinion of the Witnesses, these have not hitherto been conducted and reduced systematically. Considering the agencies which the Government can employ for the purpose of making these Observations, the importance of providing proper Superintendence for them, and of securing their Reduction, we think it desirable that they should be carried on under Government control. The expense involved would chiefly consist in the Establishment at proper points, and Verification, of Tide Gauges, and in the Reduction of the Observations; these being entrusted to officers of Government already stationed at the ports and on the various coasts of the Empire.

5. The Witnesses have expressed themselves strongly as to the Justice and Policy of Remuneration to Investigators for their Time and Trouble, and the Evidence also shows by implication how great must have been the sacrifices of those who without private fortune have hitherto devoted their great talents and their valuable time to such work without any remuneration whatever.

It has hitherto been a rule in the granting of Government Aid to Scientific Investigators, subject, so far as we have been able to ascertain, to but very few exceptions, that such Aid should be limited to what was necessary to meet the expenditure actually incurred on Instruments, materials, and assistance.

To grants made under these conditions we think that considerable extension might be given.

It is hardly necessary to assert the principle that when Scientific Work is undertaken at the request of the Government, the State is not only justified in paying, but is under obligation to pay for what is done on its behalf and for its service. But we desire to express our belief that there are many instances of unremunerative Research in which the benefit conferred on the Nation by those who have voluntarily engaged in it establishes a claim upon the State for compensation for their time and labour. Without such compensation much important work must remain unperformed, because it must be expected that many of the best men will not be in circumstances enabling them to devote long periods of time to unremunerated labour.

It is a matter of course that State Aid shall only be given to Investigators whose capacity and Industry have been placed beyond a reasonable doubt.


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IV. The Central Organization which is best calculated to enable the Government to determine its action in all Questions affecting Science

The functions of the Government with regard to science may be summed up under the three following heads:

FIrst. The Treatment of the Scientific Questions incident to the Business of the Public Departments.

Second. The Direction of Scientific Instruction when given under the Superintendence or Control of the State.

Third. The Consideration of all questions involving State Aid towards the Advancement of Science, and of Administrative Questions arising out of such Aid.

It would be difficult to enumerate exhaustively all the various topics comprehended under these three Heads, and it will be sufficient for the purpose of showing how wide is the field of action of the State in regard to Science, if we point out that under one or other of these heads are included all Scientific questions affecting the Army, the Navy, the Public Health, the Mercantile Marine, Public Works, Government Scientific Establishments; the Elementary Instruction in Science under the Department of Education in Primary Schools, in the Science Classes connected with the Science and Art Department, and in Secondary Schools so far as they are subject to Government control; the Aid which is now given, or which it is desirable should be given, to Universities and other Bodies not directly connected with the State, for the Middle and Higher Scientific Instruction, and the Control which the State either does or should exercise over them in virtue of such Aid or otherwise; the Appointments to all Scientific Offices in the gift of the Crown, Grants to Museums and their Control by the State; Aid to Scientific Expeditions of every kind; the Establishment and Direction of State Laboratories and Observatories; Grants in Aid of such Laboratories not under State Direction, and in Aid of Scientific Research; and generally the allotment and control of Public Funds for similar Purposes.

The majority of the Witnesses who have given evidence in relation to this branch of the Inquiry, express dissatisfaction with the manner in which questions under the preceding heads are now determined, and either recommend the Appointment of a Special Minister of Science or of a Minister of Science and Education.

In most cases the Witnesses recommend that such a Minister should, in regard to Science, be advised by a Council. Others, however, are of opinion that the Functions of such a Council might be exercised by an Administrative Staff of the usual kind. Before continuing our remarks on this subject we beg leave to lay before Your Majesty extracts from the Evidence which has been placed before us regarding the Appointment of a Minister of Science.

Extracts from the Evidence relating to the Appointment of a Minister of Science

We have received a large amount of Evidence in favour of the Appointment of a Minister of Science. There has been almost complete unanimity among the Witnesses on this point. We give the following extracts:

Professor Owen:

I conceive that the recommendation by Bentham in the last century of such a minister can hardly fail to be practically adopted before the close of the present century, and that the necessity of having a minister for such a purpose will be recognised. ...
Sir W. Thomson:
Would you contemplate that a new department of the State should be constituted for directing the scientific work of the Government? - It would be quite necessary to have a Minister of Science; it is indeed, I think, generally felt that a minister of science and scientific instruction is a necessity.

Not a minister of other instruction? - Specially of scientific instruction, and not under any national education board, but a minister of science and scientific instruction. The minister would necessarily be in Parliament and a political man, but it would be very rare that he could also be a scientific man, and perhaps not desirable that he should be a scientific man, but he must have able scientific advisers always at hand.

Could any such duties be well assigned to any existing department of the State? - I believe not.

You spoke of the necessity for having a minister of science, do you conceive that it would be requisite to have a cabinet minister for education and a second cabinet minister for science, or would you contemplate that the minister for education should be the minister for science? - I do not wish absolutely to fix it beforehand; on the whole I think, however, that the title of minister of education would not suffice. If there is to be a minister, it must be a minister of science and education. There might be a minister of science and education, with a chief secretary or under minister for national and elementary education, and another for the advancement of science and for the higher scientific instruction. But naturally the minister of education must act for the masses; that must be his great duty, and however much he might wish to act for science, he has still a great duty to the masses. On the whole, I think that it would be preferable to have a distinct minister


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of science and scientific instruction. A minister of science and scientific instruction, as a subordinate to a chief minister of science and education, might probably be a very good arrangement.

The minister of science administers knowledge to the whole country.

Col. Strange:
It seems to me that in the first place there should be some means of bringing science fully before the nation through Parliament. I know of no means of doing this that is in accordance with our constitutional procedure, except through a minister of state; and therefore assuming science to be a matter of enormous national importance, I think it is essential that it should be all brought under one minister of state, who should be responsible to Parliament for everything which is done in the name of the nation to further science, and who should frame his own estimates and keep them distinct from those of departments which have little or nothing to do with science. ... I think that there should be an estimate for science just as there is an estimate for the army and for the navy. ...

What I should be glad to see would be a minister for science, but I daresay that if proper assistance were given to such a minister, he might superintend other departments as well; for instance, as on the continent, he might superintend education and the fine arts. I think it would be preferable that he should be for science only. I think there is quite enough for him to do in England, for it to be done thoroughly; but rather than have no minister I would assign to him also education and the fine arts.

There would be a difficulty, would there not, in defining the boundaries between the duties of the minister for science and the minister for education? - I think not. I think one would relate to education, which is quite a distinct thing from national research, and I think that they should be kept as distinct as possible. I think one great evil now existing is the mixing up of those two things. Throughout my evidence I have here and there expressed the same opinion that they should be kept distinct, one being the means, the other the end; instruction I conceive to be the mode of growing a certain number of persons fit to investigate.

Mr. De La Rue:
I think that science ought to be recognized in the ministry by the appointment of a science minister, in order that all matters relating to science might come properly under the cognizance of the Government, and that whenever the Government sought the aid of scientific men it should be through the intervention of the science minister. ...
Mr. John Ball:
... If science is to be aided effectually, and at the same time controlled effectually, there should be some permanent officer in the department of the Government that has its relation with science, whose duty it should be and who should be responsible for making himself generally aware of the state of science and the doings of its cultivators, and who should be the proper person to advise the Government, not as to the best mode of deciding a strictly scientific question, but as to where the means for solving it are to be had. I look upon it at present as being a wholly haphazard matter how questions of science or connected with science and affecting the progress of science are decided in the public offices, and I speak from some slight personal acquaintance with the matter during the short time that I was in the public service in Parliament.

You stated, did you not, that you thought it desirable that there should be some permanent official to represent and advise the Government in its relations to science? - Decidedly.

Mr. Gore:
I think there should be a scientific department of the State, which should have the control of the money expended by the State upon scientific matters.
General Strachey:
The first conclusion that I arrive at is, that all questions relating to scientific matters that arise in the operations of the Government should be dealt with by one of the chief ministers of the Crown, and the officer at the head of the Education Department seems to be the most suitable of such officers. It has been, I know, suggested by some persons that it would be better if there were a separate department for science. That I venture to doubt. ...

Under such an education and science department there would be a natural division of the duties, which would probably lead to the appointment of some permanent officer in the position of an under secretary of state, who would have specific charge of the scientific duties of the department as distinguished from the educational duties, which constitute a distinct branch of administrative work. ...

The principal officers in the proposed scientific branch of the department should be, by their scientific qualifications, capable of disposing of the ordinary current business under their charge. ...

Dr. Sclater:
Do you agree with [Col. Strange's] views as to the creation of a Minister of Science and a Council of Science? - Yes, I agree generally with his views; I think that it would be very desirable for the interest of science.

Do you think it would be desirable that the existing State scientific institutions should be removed from the control of the Admiralty, the Office of Works, and other departments under which they are now placed? - I think it would be a very great advantage that they should be removed from these departments and placed under one minister.

Have you any opinion as to whether the work could be done by a minister of education, supposing such a minister were appointed? - I think it would hardly be expected that a minister should be appointed only for science; and as I believe it is the case in continental countries that that department is given to the minister of education, I think that we could not follow a better example here.

Professor Balfour Stewart:
I think it [the ministry of science] might form a division, perhaps, of the ministry of education.
Mr. Farrer:
I dislike very much the idea of establishing new departments of the Government. If it were possible that this business could be placed upon the Minister of Education, who is becoming more and more important, I think that would be much better than establishing a separate department for the purpose.

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Sir George Airy does not appear to be convinced of the advantages likely to be derived from the creation of a Science Minister, so far as it would affect the Scientific Departments.

Do you see any inconvenience arising from the several scientific institutions that are more or less connected with the Government being under different departments? - Not that I am aware of.

You are content that the Royal Observatory at Greenwich should remain under the Board of Admiralty. You do not require to have a Minister of Science, or a Minister of Education? - No; we are naturally connected in these respects with the Admiralty.

The proposal to establish a Council of Science

A proposal to establish a Council of Science was brought before the Government by the Royal Society in 1857, upon a Report from the Government Grant Committee of that Society.

The object of the Committee was (Evidence of Sir E. Sabine, qu. 11,117) to determine "whether any measure could be adopted by the Government which would improve the Position of Science or its Cultivators in this Country."

The report, as quoted by Sir E. Sabine (Qu. 11,119), was as follows:

With regard to the question of which the consideration was referred to the Government Grant Committee on the 11th of July 1855, namely, whether any measures could be adopted by the Government or Parliament that would improve the position of science or its cultivators in this country, the Committee beg leave to recommend the following resolutions:

1. The Committee regard with much satisfaction the steps already taken in the Universities for advancing the study of physical science by including several branches of it in the public examinations, and express their hope that the improvements thus introduced may receive the extension which the interests of science require, and that the public schools may be thereby induced to make physical science an integral part of their course of education.

2. The Committee recommend that the establishment of classes in metropolitan and provincial schools, where those who have not the means or opportunity of studying at the Universities may be taught the elements of physical science on a systematic plan, be promoted by grants from Government in aid of such funds as may be locally contributed for that purpose.

3. That the formation of provincial museums and libraries be encouraged in like manner, and that provincial lectures, accompanied by examinations, be established in Great Britain in towns which request this assistance, and engage to provide a part of the expense, such lectures to be in aid of the schools above-mentioned, so that by means of the two combined a sound knowledge of the principles and application of science may be systematically taught.

4. That duplicate specimens from the British Museum and other institutions, supported at the public expense, be distributed to provincial museums.

5. That national publications bearing on science be more extensively circulated than they are at present by additional donations to societies and individuals engaged in the cultivation of science.

6. That the sum placed annually by Parliament at the disposal of Government for the reward of Civil Services, 'useful discoveries in science and attainments in literature and the arts', be augmented; that the portion to be appropriated to science be defined, and that it be sufficiently large to admit of the grant of annuities of the nature of good service pensions as rewards of eminent scientific merit.

7. That the sum placed at the disposal of the Royal Society for the advancement of science be not necessarily limited to the annual grant of £1,000, when on any occasion special reasons may be assigned for an additional sum.

8. That scientific officers be placed more nearly on a level in respect to salary with such other civil appointments as are objects of ambition to educated men.

9. The Committee regard with much satisfaction the steps already taken for the concentration of the principal scientific societies in Burlington House, and trust that the period is not far distant in which permanent accommodation will be afforded to the principal scientific societies in buildings to be erected near the same site, and in pursuance of the same general plan.

10. While it may not be expedient to interfere in any way with the functions confided to the President and Council of the Royal Society in reference to the distribution of the Parliamentary grant, or with the ancient and recognized relations between the Royal Society and the Government, at the same time it appears to the Committee that much benefit would arise from the formal recognition of some board which might advise the Government on all matters connected with science, and especially on the prosecution, reduction, and publication of scientific researches and the amount of Parliamentary or other grants in aid thereof; also on the general principles to be adopted in reference to public scientific appointments; and on the measures necessary for the more general diffusion of a knowledge of physical science among the nation at large; and which might be consulted by the Government on the grants or pensions to the cultivators of science.

11. Assuming that the above proposal should meet with the approval of Her Majesty's Government, it will be desirable to ascertain what mode of constituting such a board would inspire them with most confidence in its recommendations. Two modes may be suggested in which such a board might be organised. First, the Government might formally recognise the President and Council of the Royal Society as its official advisor, imposing the whole responsibility on that body, and leaving it to them to seek advice when necessary in such quarters as it may best be found, according to the method now pursued in the disposal of the Parliamentary grant of £1000. The second method would be to create an entirely new board, somewhat after the model of the old Board of Longitude, but with improvements. The question as to which alternative shall be adopted is properly a subject for the consideration of the Government.

12. Such of the above recommendations, as involve the expenditure of money, might be eventually carried out by appropriating to this purpose a certain portion of the fees received from the grantees of patents, after


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providing for all expenses which ought to be defrayed from that source. The Committee are satisfied that no application of these fees could be devised more appropriate than the devotion of a portion of them to the encouragement of abstract science, to which practical art is under so many and such important obligations.
The proposal to establish a Council of Science has recently been revived by Colonel Strange.

Amongst the Witnesses who recommend the Appointment of a Council, there is a great diversity of opinion as to its Constitution and Limits of Action. As regards its Constitution, it will be seen from the Summary of Evidence which we shall give subsequently, that while some of the Witnesses are in favour of a Council very limited in numbers, others would desire to have it sufficiently numerous to include Representatives of nearly every branch of Science, as well as Men of known Administrative Ability.

In regard to its Limits of Action, the main difference arises on the two questions, whether the Council should or should not have the power of Initiating Inquiries, either directly or by suggestion to the Minister, and whether or not it should itself undertake the actual work of Investigation required for State Purposes.

As to the Mode of Remuneration, the opinions vary between those which advocate annual payments to permanent officials, and those which are in favour of payments for attendance at meetings.

The Opinions of the Witnesses who are opposed to any such Council are based, in the main, upon one or more of the following objections:

1. That Government can get the best advice without it.
2. That it would be liable to come into collision with Ministers.
3. That it would not work harmoniously with our General System of Administration.
The Evidence of three eminent Statesmen possessing great, administrative experience - Lord Derby, Lord Salisbury, and Sir Stafford Northcote - is in strong contrast (so far as the proposal to establish a Council of Science is concerned) with that which we have received from many persons holding official positions in various Branches of the Public Service. The Opinions of these latter, as to the Inefficiency of the Organization of their Respective Services in regard to questions affecting Science, we have already quoted in the First Part of this Report, and it will be seen, from the quotations we are now about to give, that they in general consider the creation of a Council to be the proper Remedy.

Extracts from the Evidence in favour of the Establishment of a Council of Science

We fear that no mere extracts from the Evidence of Colonel Strange would represent in an adequate manner the views which have led him to recommend the formation of a large and highly-paid Council of Science. It would scarcely be fair to him, as the most prominent advocate of the proposed measure, to do otherwise than refer to his Evidence at length, pp. 75 to 92, and 125 to 135, Vol. II of Evidence.

Sir W. Thomson's Evidence with reference to the Establishment of a Council of Science is as follows:

Do you think that a single body would be better than a number of small committees for advising the Government on the great variety of questions which from time to time would be likely to arise? - Yes, certainly.

The questions which might be referred to such a Council would differ very much from one another, and extend over a wide range, would they not? - Yes, but there would be a unity of design and action, with a multiplicity of knowledge and skill at command, secured by a single council, and those conditions cannot, in my opinion, be secured at all by occasional committees, or committees working separately and independently of each other. ...

A scientific council would relieve the Government of all responsibility in such matters, and would be responsible itself in a general way for all its proceedings to a political chief and to Parliament. ...

Have you formed any opinion as to the constitution of such a committee as we have been referring to; how the members of it should be selected? - I have no other opinion than that the men whose advice may be considered as most valuable and useful to the Government ought to be asked, quite independently of their connexion with any institution, whether under the Government or in the universities, or in connexion with any public or private body in the country.

You would contemplate that committee being formed by the Government itself, and not that the universities or the scientific societies should have the right of nomination? - Certainly by the Government; but aided by recommendations from the universities and scientific societies, and from this proposed consulting committee after its first constitution.

Would you have them a permanent body, with, it may be, a certain number of members going out by rotation, or in the event, suppose, of a change of Government, would you throw over the whole body? - A non-political body, l think, would be necessary for good action.

Would you leave the selection of each appointment to the Government of the day, or would you allow scientific societies or other bodies to recommend, or would you propose that the Government should be obliged to consult such bodies? - I would prefer that the Minister of Science should have the appointment.


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Dr. Frankland thus deals with Colonel Strange's Proposal:

Are you acquainted with Colonel Strange's proposal for the establishment of a consultative council of science? - Yes, I have heard from him some of the chief ideas that he entertains on that subject.

Are you disposed to consider that such a council would be desirable? - I think so. I am not prepared to say that it should be constituted exactly in the way that Colonel Strange mentioned, but a council of that description would be exceedingly desirable, on many grounds, for furnishing the Government with trustworthy scientific opinions in cases requiring them. ...

Are you of opinion that the advice of such a council, even on matters to which the larger proportion of the members of the council had not paid special attention, would be valuable? - Yes, I think it would, because those members of the council who were thoroughly acquainted with the subjects would be expressing their opinion to men conversant with scientific methods, and they would be able to convince their colleagues with respect to the opinion that the council generally ought to give upon the matter. It would be a very different thing from that of convincing a parliamentary committee, for instance, upon a scientific point, because all the men upon the council would have received a scientific training, and would understand the bearing of scientific arguments.

Have you considered at all how such a council could best be appointed, whether would you leave it to one of the ministers to appoint and select the proper persons to serve on the council? - I should think that it must ultimately fall upon the minister, but he might be assisted by the presidents of different learned societies or by the council of the Royal Society, in whom I think everyone would have confidence.

Mr. Farrer suggests the formation of a Council which might be closely connected with the Royal Society.
Have you any suggestions to offer as to the best modes, as it appears to you, of solving problems which from time to time present themselves? - I think if upon purely scientific questions there were some scientific body of some kind to whom the Government departments could as a matter of course refer for the solution of such questions as this, it would be a great advantage.

I have looked at the suggestions that have been made by Colonel Strange and others, and I do not think that any Government department or its professional officers would listen to the dictation of any council of purely scientific men; they would probably say, and say with justice, that they knew more about what was wanted than any such council could know. Every now and then in the course of practice in those cases a new scientific question does arise; such, for instance, as the question concerning deviation of the compasses. In such a case as that we required the best scientific assistance we could get; and in the case of sulphur in gas, and water impurities, we now require it.

I give with great hesitation a suggestion upon a point upon which I really am scarcely competent to suggest anything, namely, whether you had not better make use of what you have at present, namely, the Royal Society or a committee of the Royal Society, rather than attempt to establish any new body. No new body that you could establish would have the prestige, reputation, and influence that the Royal Society has. That is a matter not to be created; it is a matter which has grown with centuries. You have also in the Royal Society itself a scientific public to whose opinion any council or committee appointed by it would or might be made amenable; and my suggestion would be that you should endeavour to create some committee or body out of the Royal Society which should bear a fixed relation to the Government, which should meet regularly, and the members of which should be paid something, as the directors of a joint stock company are paid for their meetings, to whom the Government should have a right to refer, who should feel that they had on the one hand a duty towards the Government, and who on the other hand should be bound to make public all their proceedings, so that they would be responsible to the public scientific opinion of the country. That is the best suggestion that I can make, but, as I say, I am very ignorant upon the subject.

Admiral Richards is of opinion that the appointment of a Minister of Science and of a Council stand and fall together; and thinks "that the one would not be of very much value without the other".

But, as regards the Admiralty, the Department which he knows best, he would prefer that it should be able to decide Scientific Questions within itself. He says:

I think that the Admiralty requires the aid of such a council less, perhaps, than any other department of the Government, for this reason, that there are not very many questions, purely questions of science, that come under the notice of the Admiralty; and then we have the Astronomer Royal to refer to, who is a host in himself, and if any question arises which we do not refer to the Astronomer Royal, we generally ask the President and Council of the Royal Society, and we have never found any difficulty in getting assistance. The only department of the Admiralty which might require such assistance beyond this, is perhaps the Constructors' Department, in the designs for ships of war. But as regards that, my opinion is that it would be far better to have some scientific designer attached to that department than it would be to refer such questions to a council even.
As to the Admiralty deriving any advantage from the appointment of the proposed Council, he adds:
There would be this advantage, I think, which they would derive, that they would be freed from the political pressure which is brought frequently to bear upon the Admiralty upon questions of that kind. The whole responsibility of deciding upon a measure would be thrown upon the council.

Do you think that would be a desirable result? - I think that it would be desirable in all departments of the Government; it would be very agreeable to the Government of any day, I should think, to escape the responsibility of deciding on scientific questions on which they may not be very intimate, but in which they may be believed to be interested parties.

Do you think that the work would be bettor done? - I think it would. I should say there could be no doubt about that, but unless the Government are prepared to vote a very considerable sum every year for


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the advancement of science, which I am quite of opinion that every Government ought to do, I think very little benefit would accrue from having such a council.
Dr. Balfour Stewart is also in favour of a Council:
You have no apprehension that the Government, if advised by men of the highest scientific capacities, would be likely to operate so as to control science, and to fetter the operations of individuals, or to benumb and discourage Original Research and Observation? - I think not. I think that the great desideratum is to put more means at the disposal of private individuals, and, of course, this must be done by some sort of administrative body.

In what way would the advice of the council be better than that of the individual members of that council, who are the highest authorities on the question under review? - Because I think that science has a number of bearings, and that a question might involve, not one branch of science, but a great many, and you might, for instance, have to call in various men of science of different kinds. In order to answer this question, you might have to call in, not the advice of one member of the council, but the advice of a number. Of course there are a number of questions regarding which some of the members of the council would naturally be silent, but perhaps a good many of them might be interested in answering a particular question, and would give their answer. In a case of that kind I should fancy, however, that it ought to come as from the whole body, because, really, in most questions nowadays, the question would not involve one particular branch of science only, but it would involve the joint operation of two or three branches of science.

Take, for instance, such a question as that which has been recently referred to a committee, the efficiency and stability of ships of war, would there be any advantage in referring a question of that kind to the council, rather than to a committee specially appointed, as has been done on the occasion to which I refer? - I think that if there were a council of this kind, the council would have power to associate other people with them in a case of that kind. Science is so ramified, that the council would not be able of themselves to settle all questions; but upon particular questions, such as you name, very likely they would associate other people with them.

Do you think that they would be more likely to make a judicious selection of the persons to be consulted than the Minister of State would be, without the advice of such a council? - I think so, because a Minister of State is not likely to know the capabilities of various men. There are a number of men known to scientific bodies as profoundly conversant with particular branches of science, but their knowledge of those subjects does not appeal to outsiders, it only appeals to those who are cognizant with that particular subject. ...

Dr. Roscoe is in favour of a Council, and would give a voice in its appointment to the Learned Societies:
Can you make any suggestions us to the mode in which Government aid could be best carried into effect? - I do this with the greatest diffidence; but it appears to me that the system of a consultative council, to advise the executive on matters of scientific instruction, is the true one. I believe it is a work which it is almost impossible that the executive can do properly without advice received in some form, and that appears to me the form in which it is most likely to be productive of the greatest good.

Have you any suggestions to make us to the constitution of such a council? - I should be inclined to think that a council, formed on the same plan as this Commission, so far as regards the class of its members, would be a very proper one to advise the Government.

Would you think it advisable that the Government should name its own consultative council, or that some of the members should be nominated by the societies? - I should provide for a certain number of scientific men being upon the council, and desire that the Government should nominate (for you may trust the Government to do it with fairness), as well as the societies; that is, the lay members should be appointed by Government, and the professional ones by the various scientific societies. ...

Dr. Sclater agrees generally with Colonel Strange's views, and thinks that a Council "would be very desirable for the Interests of Science".

He then proceeds to state his opinion as to its Constitution:

Have you formed any opinion as to the constitution of a consultative council to assist this minister? - My idea would be that the heads of the different scientific institutions that are put under the control of the department of science and the minister of education might form a consultative body and be called a council of science, and that there might be certain other members added to assist them in deliberation, if it were thought necessary, such as representatives of the College of Physicians, the College of Surgeons, and of the scientific branches of the Army and Navy.

Colonel Strange's proposed council would consist of 30 members at least; do you think that that would be too numerous a body? - I think that a less numerous body might suffice, because I see that, in many cases, however numerous the body was, it would be necessary to call in special assistance.

If a council were constituted in the manner that you propose, should you contemplate that, as a rule, they would be capable of giving advice themselves on most questions that would arise, or would they generally find it desirable to call in further assistance? - I think, that in most cases, they would be quite competent to give an opinion to the Government; but that sometimes on particular questions, it would be necessary to go elsewhere for advice, and that, in such cases, there would certainly be somebody in the council who would know exactly where to put his hand upon the right man for the purpose. For instance, a question might arise in some special department of Natural History: in that case, the council would naturally refer to the head of the State Museum of Natural History to know if he could give an opinion himself, and if not to inform them who could give an opinion upon the point. Thus, I think that with the aid of a small council of science of, perhaps, 20 members, every question requiring solution by the Government as regards science might meet with very fair consideration and be very easily settled.

Have you any misgivings as to whether such a council would command sufficient public confidence amongst men of science? - I have no misgivings at all upon that subject. I should say that they would meet with general support from men of science. Most men of science, I think, see that something of the sort is


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imperatively required. All lament the piecemeal way in which scientific subjects are dealt with by Government, in consequence of their being subdivided amongst all these different offices, and of there being nobody to appeal to upon a question of science, and, therefore, I think the proposal to establish such a council would meet with universal acceptation amongst scientific men.

Then, in the case of investigations which were required to be undertaken, how do you conceive that they would be dealt with? - I should say that the member of the council representing the particular branch of science would be called upon to present a preliminary report of how he proposed to set about any particular investigation. He would say, to do this I shall require the assistance of such and such persons for so many days, or for such and such time, or to send here or to send there, and would bring these requirements in the shape of a preliminary report before the board, and, if this were approved, would carry out the investigation. Then he would present his report upon the result of the investigation, and the council as a body would consider it, and recommend its adoption by the Government or otherwise.

Then do I understand that you would prefer, as a general rule at least, that the members of the council should themselves carry out such investigations as might be required from time to time, rather than that they should merely indicate to the minister the person, outside the council very probably, who they thought was best competent to carry out the investigation? - I do not think it would be necessary to draw a hard and fast line upon such a question as that. I think that in many cases it would be better that the council, as a whole, should report to the Government on the best way in which any particular scheme might be carried out. I do not think that it would be necessary to introduce a rule that you should invariably go to the member of the council representing that particular science if advice were wanted upon that branch. But the council would naturally turn to the representative of the particular science for an answer; they would naturally look to his advice first.

I understand you to mean that the duty of the members of the council should be to know where to go in order that particular questions should be answered, whether it were to go outside the council or to go to one member of the body? - Yes, that is my opinion.

His remarks on the question whether there should be on the Council men having Administrative Experience are as follows:
I think that the heads of great scientific institutions must have administrative experience. If a man has to manage an institution like the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, or the State Museum of Natural History, he must have the command of a great many men under him, and must be acquainted with the business of the institution, and must have gained his administrative experience. He could not fail to be a person of administrative experience.

But, taking the application of scientific laws to specific departments of the Government, the army and navy, for example, would it not be important that there should likewise be on the council some men of special knowledge of the mode of facilitating the adaptation of scientific laws to those departments? - I think, certainly, that the army and the navy, which are the branches of the service, perhaps, most requiring scientific assistance, should be represented by one or more members of the board, and no doubt the Government would take care to secure a first-rate man for what I should consider a post of the very highest honour.

As to the numbers composing the Council, he considers "that it would not be advisable to have a larger Council than was absolutely necessary", for the reason that a small body of men generally work better and do more work than a large body; at the same time he does not think that 20 would be a very large number.

Dr. Hooker, the President of the Royal Society, gives it as his opinion "That the general proposition, that the Government should be aided by scientific persons, is an "excellent one, both with respect to the administration of the existing Government Scientific Institutions, and with respect to the occasional grants which the Government may be called upon to make for scientific objects." Like Dr. Roscoe, he thinks that the Council should not consist exclusively of Scientific men.

Mr. De La Rue thus gives his opinion:

There ought to be a board of advisers which should consist of men eminent in different departments of science. I can only speak as to those branches of science to which I have paid some attention, and I should put in the first category that there ought to be on the board a chemist of eminence, there ought also to be a physicist, an astronomer, a mathematician, particularly one who has paid attention to the application of mathematics to science, and an engineer or two engineers, one who has given attention to the construction of great works, such as railroads and bridges, that is to say, civil engineering, the other a mechanical engineer. I do not speak of a biologist or a physiologist, because other witnesses are much more competent to speak as to the necessity for such men than I am.

But do you think that all branches of science ought to be represented on the council? - Undoubtedly.

Can you give the Commission any idea as to the number which you think it would probably be necessary to provide for? - About 10 or 12 men, I imagine, would sufficiently represent science.

He would give some voice in the selection of the Members to certain Societies, and would not require the Members to "relinquish any other position that they might already hold".

As to the numbers of the Council, he says that "If 12 men were not found to be sufficient to include all branches of knowledge, it would be desirable to increase the number." He proposes "that special advisers might occasionally be called in who would be remunerated according to their attendance". ...


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He considers that the usual permanent staff of a Secretary and Assistant Secretaries, even if they were men of Science, would not be sufficient; urging as a reason that

Science is really now so extensive that one could hardly imagine any secretary so to be intimately acquainted with every branch of science as to be able, even with the aid of his assistant secretaries, to advise, or to point out where to obtain specific information on every question which might be brought under consideration. I think, therefore, that there would be a very great advantage for the Science Minister to have a sufficiently numerous Advising Council.
He considers that promptness of action would be promoted by the appointment of a Council:
There ought to be a body of men who could be immediately called together, whose time was so far at the disposal of the State that they might be assembled on every occasion and at any time to advise the Science Minister. Then we should get prompt action, instead of questions being allowed to drag over years and years without any practical solution being come to.
But even if a Council were appointed, he thinks that such branches of the Government as the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Public Health Office "should be specially scientific, each in its own department.

In answer to the question, "Have you no fear that there might be some collision, or, at any rate, considerable friction, between that Council and the Scientific Departments of the Public Service?" he says:

Probably at first there might be, but ultimately I believe the confidence of those directors of the departments would be gained by the very sound advice which they would receive from a body constituted us I conceive it ought to be.
He does not think the Government Grant Committee could be so modified as to render a Council unnecessary.
Supposing £5,000 or £10,000 were given to the Royal Society to aid investigations, I do not think that that in any way ought to weigh in the consideration of the establishment of a science minister whose functions would be altogether larger and much more important. We want science really cared for in England by the State, and we want all State questions relating to science, properly considered by a body capable of dealing with them.
Professor F. Jenkin is in favour of an Elective Board:
I think that the judging of the applications for assistance, applications for the endowment of new chairs, and the application of Government patronage generally as regards science might be managed by the following system. Supposing that instead of the grant being given simply by the Department itself(speaking now of the Committee of the Privy Council) there were a representative board composed of men of science, composed of professors who could advise - I will not say that they should have the power of deciding - I would rather leave that with the Government, but that they should have the power of reporting at any rate upon each of those applications, I think that the Government would get better advice than it can command at present. My idea is that this board should be an elected board, that each of the existing colleges (you could easily choose the colleges and universities) should appoint one member at such a board as that; but however the choice was made, if there were something like a representative board of scientific men to advise the department, even if their recommendations were not necessarily acted upon, but that they were simply a reporting body, I think that the Government would be better able to decide on such subjects than they can now do, and that their decisions would give greater satisfaction. ...

I do not know how otherwise the Government is to decide who is really the best man. We cannot have competitive examinations for professorships, I think, and the system of irresponsible testimonials has come to be in a monstrous state. A man really prepares a blue book; every man one has ever spoken to sends for a testimonial, and you get a whole library of those testimonials. ...

Professor Martin Duncan points out an important way in which the Council could be utilized:
With reference to any endowment that might be granted by the Government, have you formed any idea as to the control under which the administration of such endowment should be placed? - That is a matter which I have thought over, and I see that it might lead to great difficulties. The Government might wish to nominate a Professor of King's College, and such a professor might be objectionable to the Council of King's College, and I think it would be more satisfactory to scientific men if all those appointments were placed under the care of a board of scientific men of position, and who would be responsible to the Government for their nominations, and for the duties of the professors being well carried out. There would be no difficulty in obtaining such a board, because the presidents and officers of the learned societies, which have charters, would make a sufficiently good board, and a board beyond doubt as regards their scientific acquirements and their desire to uphold science. To leave the matter entirely in the hands of the Government would, perhaps, not lead to very satisfactory results.
Mr. Spottiswoode considers Colonel Strange's suggestion the most complete and perfect that has yet been made, and states that he has "always looked upon it as an arrangement to the carrying out of which all others should be directed"; at the same time, however,


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he considers "the proposal is a large one", and suggests that "it might be worth consideration whether some intermediate scheme for earlier action should be proposed".

His opinion on the Appointment of the Members is thus expressed:

If any council (without at present going into its constitution) were appointed, in whose hands do you think that appointment should be placed? - I think it clearly should be in the hands of the Minister with whom it would be in direct relation.

You would leave the choice absolutely to him, and not make the appointments in any respect ex-officio? - There might very well be certain ex-officio members, such, for instance, as the Astronomer Royal for the time being, the President of the Royal Society for the time being, and perhaps others.

The greatest importance would attach to the first constitution of the council? - Certainly.

How would you advise the minister to proceed in order to act wisely in that appointment? - I should suppose that he would obtain advice from the leading men of science of the day, and with their advice it would not be difficult to form, at all events, the elements of such a council, although he might not be able at once to complete a very fully organized body. If those first appointments were made, he would have the full advantage of the advice of those members in completing the entire list.

If such a consultative council were appointed, you would probably contemplate that it would be mainly composed of persons now to be found on the council of the Royal Society, or on the committee of recommendations of the British Association? - Yes, I should imagine that it would be mainly composed of Fellows of the Royal Society.

How would it work if there were some arrangement by which the council of the Royal Society should propose a certain number, two or three persons out of whom the Government might select one on any vacancy? - I see no objection whatever to that proposal.

That would secure, as a general rule, the appointment of persons of the highest scientific qualifications on the council? - I think it would.

Sir Henry Rawlinson thinks that the Council should be merely consultative. He regards the nomination of a Permanent Council of Science as the natural remedy for the "spasmodic" action on the part of the Government, and adds:
It appears to me that the chief and most important point in this matter has reference to the appointment of a Council, rather than to the nomination of a Minister. I think with a Consultative Council of Science there would be a corresponding uniformity of action. ...

In the Council of India we have no power of initiation. The initiative rests with the Minister, or, practically, with the executive officers, acting, I may say, on the inspiration of the Minister, and the measures are only brought before the Council, in a subsequent stage, for their approval or disapproval.

We have already quoted the Evidence of this Witness as to the difficulties which the Government Departments, and more especially the Indian Council, meet with for want of authoritative Scientific Advice. In answer to question 12,564, he goes on to say:
I may mention to the Commission, in reference to this subject, that the desirability of such a council is constantly brought to my observation through another channel, namely, through my duties in the Council of India, where we perpetually have references before us, which we are really unable to deal with. These references recall most forcibly to us, and very frequently, the necessity for the existence of such a council as I have proposed. ...

Should you apprehend that a minister would find it a very difficult task to constitute a council in such a manner as to command the confidence both of the public and of scientific persons? - No, I should think not, I should think a minister, with the latitude of selection which he would have in a country like this, would have no difficulty in bringing together a council of 10 or 15 gentlemen whose qualifications and reputation would command the respect of the world, and whose opinion would fortify him in his decisions, and be of great national benefit.

General Strachey has given us some important Evidence as to the Appointment and Functions of a Council of Science:
The persons who are employed in the public administration are certainly as a class not amongst those who have anything deserving the name of scientific education; therefore, for a long time to come, it is not to be expected that the members of the Government, or their chief subordinates, will have any such general knowledge of science as would enable them at all satisfactorily to deal with the scientific questions which come before them. Therefore, I conclude that it is absolutely essential for the Government, under any circumstances, to get advice from outside; and then comes the question as to how this advice is to be got. If there is no recognised and regularly organised body whose business it is to give advice to the Government on such subjects, then the only thing that a minister can do is to get his information from unrecognised and irresponsible authorities, persons whose opinions, perhaps, may be very valuable, but still persons of whom the public never can have any cognizance; and private advice given in that way seems to me given in the worst possible form. If, then, that form of advice is bad, how can you obtain advice of proper intrinsic value on the multifarious subjects on which it is certain to be needed by an administration really striving to advance science to the utmost, and how can you secure its being given under a sufficient sense of responsibility, and in such a way as to carry the greatest weight possible to the mind of the minister who is expected to act upon it? And here I would repeat that any specific proposal to give effect to such an idea must be made to fit into the general form of the administration; and I, therefore, consider that the best course would be to adopt the proposal that has been made by many persons, that there shall be some sort of council constituted to advise the responsible Government department as to its procee