incidents and sports. Once in the course of each session my practice was to take them for two days to some neighboring town or village, and while there, as well as in going and returning, they were required to make close and careful observations under the guidance of the teachers and myself, and then, when they returned, I always gave them an entire day to write out the account of their observations and enjoyments, which in like manner they sent to their parents. These I looked upon as among the most profitable as well as agreeable of the days and exercises of the school. I had many students from a distance, mostly from the Southern States. The vacations lasted a month in the spring and a month in the autumn. The time was too short for them to go home. And there were generally half a dozen of the pupils who, under the protection of a teacher, went on journeys often to distant parts of the country; such scholars were always required to keep a journal of all they saw and experienced, and send it to their friends. This also was found extremely useful.

I agree entirely with you, Mr. President, in the views you have expressed, from which a friend has dissented, that some degree of instruction should be given in the industrial arts even in our common schools. This idea is carried out very successfully in Sweden.

I have occupied too much time, Mr. President, and am much obliged for your patience and that of this learned assemblage.

The Department then adjourned to meet at 7.30 P. M.

SECOND SESSION-TUESDAY EVENING.

WASHINGTON, February 4, 1879. The Department reassembled at 7.30 P. M., President Wickersham in the chair.

The convention was tendered and accepted an invitation to visit Mr. Z. Richards's Eclectic Seminary, at No. 1434 Q street.

Hon. W. H. BARRINGER, of Newark, in the absence of the author, Hon. E. A. Apgar, superintendent of public instruction for the State of New Jersey, read a paper on

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

Before going to Europe the past summer I was honored with a nomination by Governor McClellan and an appointment by President Hayes as United States Commissioner to the Paris Exposition. I was also favored by General Eaton, chief of our National Bureau of Education, with letters of introduction to prominent educators and school officers in various countries. I thus enjoyed peculiar advantages in studying school systems abroad.

While historical monuments, church architecture, picture galleries, sculpture, antiquities, museums, natural scenery, the Paris Exposition,

&c., all made demands upon my time, I endeavored to give special attention to European systems and methods of instruction, and seldom left a city without either visiting some of the schools or ascertaining something of what was being done for the education of the children.

In some respects their schools resemble ours, and in others the contrast is quite striking.

The buildings, as a rule, are not so good as those in this country. Most of them have either been rented or purchased and awkwardly adapted to the uses of the school. Even in Paris, the schools I visited were held in buildings which had not originally been erected for school purposes.

Not in a single school from London to Naples did I find the school furniture equal to ours. The pupils usually sit on long benches capable of accommodating from four to six. Some of the forms are for two only; in their construction, however, no attention is paid to beauty and but little to comfort. In general, I am justified in saying that the seats and desks for pupils and teachers in the schools of Europe are no better than those which were in use in ours twenty-five years ago. I saw many schools where there were evidences of as free a use of the jackknife as the Yankee boy was ever guilty of in the days when his natural propensity in this direction was unrestrained. The blackboards I saw were quite inferior, and what seemed most remarkable was that only one, large enough for the teacher's use, was to be seen in each room. Only the teacher makes use of the blackboard. In this respect our mode of teaching, which requires much blackboard work by the pupils, is far superior to foreign methods. The rooms are usually well supplied with maps and charts. Metric charts and apparatus are to be found in all the schools outside of England and in all departments. Small natural history collections are occasionally seen, but usually there is a large museum in the city which the classes, accompanied by their teachers, visit, and thus some knowledge is gained of familiar objects in natural history. In this respect we in this country are sadly deficient.

The military spirit which prevails in Europe is manifest in the schools. On every occasion when I entered a room all the children rose and gave the military salute. This consists in gracefully raising the right arm and placing the hand, with the two forefingers extended, at the side of the forehead. Being a simultaneous and graceful movement, it is a pleasant sight.

The schools outside of England are closed on Thursday instead of Saturday, as with us. There are numerous other holidays, called festal days, which sadly interrupt the work of education. Some are prescribed by the church, others by the state. In Italy scarcely a week passes without one or two interruptions of this nature.

The studies pursued are much the same as here. In all the girls' departments instruction is given in needle and crochet work, in embroidery, and in the making of lace. Usually one afternoon of each week is

devoted to handiwork of this nature. Much attention is given to composition writing, far more than with us. The teachers all seem to take special pride in showing the compositions which the pupils have written.

In our schools, except in the higher departments, the girls and boys are generally taught together. In Europe this coeducation of the sexes is unknown; in all the departments, from the lowest to the highest, they are separated. In Paris I found a custom prevailing which I did not observe elsewhere: the boys are all taught by men and the girls by

Women.

TUITION FEES.

Free schools for children of all classes, such as we have in this country, are as a rule unknown in Europe. The terms "public" and "free" are applied to their schools, but with a meaning different from that which belongs to them as used here. A "public school" is one subject to governmental control; a "free school" is one which, in a measure, is free from such restrictions and regulations as have been prescribed by the government. Both classes receive assistance from the public treasury, but not sufficient to meet all the expenses. Tuition fees are charged in both. Those known as "public schools" receive more aid from the government than those called "free," and hence the latter are more expensive to the patrons than the former. The proportion of expense paid for tuition varies in different countries. In London and Paris about four-fifths of the entire expense of maintaining the schools are paid by the government and the balance is assessed upon the parents of the children who attend. Last year the fees in London ranged from four to eighteen cents per week for each pupil. This is about the average in other countries; in some the percentage paid as tuition is lower, and in some it is higher. In several of the countries the governments have prescribed the maximum and the minimum for the charges that can be made, and the local authorities determine the varying amounts between these extremes that shall be paid by the school patrons, according to their varying financial conditions. I found in some cases that there was an ascending scale of fees charged, the expense being very slight in the lowest departments and gradually increasing through the advancing grades.

In all the countries provision is made for the free education of those who are unable to pay. Such children, however, are looked upon as pauper pupils. Sometimes all such are gathered together, and the school is known as a pauper school. The rule is, those who can pay, must. The distinction between the rich or those in moderate circumstances and the very poor, is thus made unpleasantly prominent.

Such, in brief, are a few of the observations I should make respecting the character and work of those schools abroad which correspond most nearly with our public schools; and in making a general comparison that shall be limited to schools of this grade, I feel justified in saying that our educational systems and methods of teaching are superior to those of Europe.

TECHNICAL SCHOOLS IN FRANCE.

There is another class of educational institutions to be found abroad, corresponding to which we have very few in this country, and in the study of which we may learn an important lesson; I refer to technical schools, or schools for workmen.

France has probably done more than any other country in fostering technical instruction. Special schools for educating workmen and artisans are found in every city throughout the republic. These are so conducted that any one, at a trifling expense, may pursue that course of training which will fit him for any trade or profession he may desire to pursue. The schools are divided as follows:

1. Normal schools.-In France there are eighty-six departments; in each of these there are two normal schools for the training of teachers, one for young ladies and the other for young men.

2. Professional schools.-In these schools pupils from twelve to sixteen years of age are taught to work in wood, iron, and brass. They are also instructed in mechanical and architectural drawing. A portion of the time is given to mental studies, especially to such as are in some wise related to the trades taught.

3. Industrial schools.-Pupils are here taught the art of making textile fabrics. Different materials are used, such as silk, wool, cotton, hemp, and flax. Much attention is paid to chemistry, because of its importance in the art of dyeing. The most thorough instruction is given in the art of designing.

4. Schools of fine arts.- Here every facility is afforded for obtaining a knowledge of drawing, designing, and modelling. In this class of schools the instruction is limited to art as applied to industry, or to what is known as industrial drawing.

5. Trade schools.-These are sometimes called apprentice schools. In them the ordinary trades are taught.

These special or technical schools are supported in various ways. A few receive direct government aid; some are supported by the departments. The trade schools are generally established and maintained by capitalists and manufacturers. Those interested in any particular line of business will contribute the funds necessary to support a school in which instruction in their trade can be given, and thus many large manufacturing firms educate their own workmen. These trade schools frequently receive some assistance from the cities in which they respectively are situated. But few of the schools are entirely free. The pupils generally pay a small tuition fee, the amount thus paid, however, being trifling.

These institutions may be divided, according to their support, into five classes:

1. Government professional schools, which receive their support from the government and are under the direct control of the minister of agriculture and commerce.

2. Department professional schools, which receive assistance from the departments in which they are respectively situated.

3. City professional or trade schools, which are supported in part by municipalities.

4. Society trade schools, which are controlled and supported by organized societies of tradesmen and capitalists.

5. Private trade schools, which are conducted strictly as private enterprises.

The exhibits made by these industrial schools constituted the chief attraction in the French educational department at the Paris Exposition. The exhibits consisted of articles made by the students, including drawings, models, machines, designs for textile fabrics, pottery decorations, lace, jewellery, clocks, watches, &c.

TECHNICAL SCHOOLS IN RUSSIA.

The exhibit made at Philadelphia by the technical schools of Russia suggested the establishment of the industrial department connected with the Institute of Technology at Boston, which has met with such marked success. The exhibit at Paris was much of the same character; it was far more extensive, however, and many of the articles manifested a higher degree of workmanship.

The Institute of Technology at St. Petersburg made an exhibit of students' work in wood and iron that was truly marvellous. The workmanship shown in the production of some of the articles was of the highest order. This school was founded in 1828. It has at present about 600 pupils. The course of instruction extends over five years. In the mechanical workshops the students commence with the trade they have chosen: they first learn the uses of the various tools and are taught certain test operations; they then proceed to the modelling of various machines and mechanical apparatus from given designs. In constructing an engine or any other complicated machine, each student makes but a single part. Any one will readily understand how accurate must be the workmanship and how closely the designs furnished must be followed in each case to insure a perfect agreement when those parts are brought together.

The School of Trades at St. Petersburg serves as a preparatory school for the Institute of Technology already described. Pupils thirteen years of age who have completed a three years' course in a Gymnasium may enter this school. The course covers two years. Two hours each day are given to work in wood, two hours to work in iron, and four hours to study.

An exhibit was made by the Imperial School of Technology, situated at Moscow, an institution similar to the Institute of Technology at St. Petersburg.

The Central School of Technical Drawing at Moscow made a fine exhibit of designs, drawn by the pupils for painting and weaving and