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TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 80 TECHNICAL EDUCATION. den, Darmstadt, and Hanover, are foremost ex- amples of this class. Engineering schools of a high grade are maintained also by the govern- ments of Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. Great Britain awakened more slow- ly to the need of technical education than other luropean countries. In 1881 a Royal Commis- sion on Technical Instruction was Appointed to investigate the entire subject. Among other re- sults of this awakening was the foundation of the City and Ciuilds of London Institute, formed by a union of many of the wealthy corporations of the old London guilds. The scope of the Institute activities includes the support and management of three institutions in the city of London, and the direction of a system of examinations dealing with the work of technical classes throughout England and Wales, and represents a sj-stem that touches all the important pliases of technical ia- struction with the single exception of the trade school. The most important of the three schools established in London, the Central Institution of the City and Guilds of London Institute, is a well-organized school of technology'. The Institute gave £100,000 for buildings and equipment, and annually contributes £10,000 to its support. Courses are provided for training engineers, ar- chitects, industrial chemists, and technical teach- ers. Other schools of an advanced character , and several university departments of applied science have come to the front in Great Britain, promi- nent among which are Owens College (q.v.), Manchester ; Mason College, Birmingham ; York- shire College, Leeds; and Bradford Technical College. In the United States the development of the school of technology has been exceedingly rapid, and has resulted in a type of institution that in some respects is the superior of any- thing to be found abroad. The Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute (q.v.), founded in 1824 by Ste- plicu Van Rensselaer as a school of theoretical and applied science, was the first establishment in this field. The work of this school has been almost exclusively devoted to the training of civil engineers. In response to the growing de- mand for scientific instruction, the Sheffield Scientific School (1847) at Yale and the Lawrence Scientific School ( 1848) at Harvard were founded. Most of the technical schools^ however, date from the later years of the Civil War. In 1861, through the efl'orts of Prof. William B. Rogers, the charter of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (q.v.) was granted, and in 1805 the first classes were organized. The Worcester Polytechnic Institute (q.v.) was opened to stu- dents in 1867. This was the first school of tech- nology in the LTnited States to provide systematic , instruction in workshop practice as an element of the course in mechanical engineering. In 1864 the first courses in the School of Mines. Columbia LTjiiversity, were organized, and from this have developed the several schools of applied science of that institution. In 1871 the Stevens Institute of Technology (q.v.) at Hoboken was opened. The beginnings of the Sibley College of Mechanical Kngineering and the Mechanic Arts were made at Cornell Llniversity in 1872, and other courses in applied science were soon established there. In the next twenty years a large number of schools of the first rank were founded either as separate institutions or as departments of universities. Notable among those of the first kind are Purdue University (q.v.), Lafayette, Ind. ; Rose Poly- technic (q.v.), Terre Haute, Ind.; the Michigan School of Mines, Hougliton, Mich.; the Case School of Applied Science (q.v. ) , Cleveland,01iio; and the Armour Institute of Technology (q.v.), at Chicago, HI. Prominent among the second group arc the engineering departments of Lehigh University, the Ohio State University, Wash- ington University ( Saint Louis ) , and the uni- versities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California. The history of these schools has been marked by the development of a number of very signifi- cant features of instruction. To begin with, emphasis has from the first been placed upon the laboratory method of instruction, as opposed to sole reliance upon text books. Following the organization of instruction in pure science came that in applied science. Another feature that has characterized the instruction in many of these in- stitutions is the degree of specialization in the instructing staff made possible by the large num- bers of students. The courses of study of Ameri- can schools of technology almost universally ex- tend through four years. Technicai, and Applied Art Schools; Con- tinuation Schools. All the types of this group of institutions have reached a high point of or- ganization on the Continent of Europe. Tech- nical schools, in which to practical training in the metliods of a special craft is added instruc- tion in the scientific principles upon which they are based, appear in greatest numbers in Austria, Germany, and France. Some have been estab- lished by guilds or masters' societies, some by a union of manufacturers of a town or city wishing to improve the efficiency of their establishments, and others by action of the local authorities or by the Government. A steady tendency toward Government contj'ol and support is apparent in all the Continental countries. Prominent among schools of this type are the special schools for weaving and dyeing, of which frequent examples are found in various parts of Germany. The most famous institution of the kind is located at Krefeld, in Prussia. In this model institution very thorough study is made of the chemistry and technology' of dyeing, and of the mechanism and pattern designing involved in weaving. The Advanced School of Weaving at Lyons, France, the School of Silk Weaving near Zurich, Switzer- land, the School of Weaving and Dyeing at Y'ork- shire College. Leeds, and the textile departments of the Manchester Technical School and of the Bradford Technical College, are other examples of this type of school. In the United States similar schools are the textile and dyeing schools of the School of Industrial Art of the Pennsyl- vania Museum, at Philadelphia, .and the textile schools at Lowell and New Bedford. Mass. Another type of technical school found in Ger- many and Austria is the Baiiiieirerkschnlc or building trades school. These schools arc gen- erally open during the winter months alone. Only students are admitted who have had practical experience in some branch of the trade, and the courses deal with the principles and practice of building construction, the nature of materials, mechanical and freehand drawing, modeling, science, mathematics, and bookkeeping. 'The courses generally run through four terms and