KTOSTBAISI D SCIENCE SEIIII.S. 50 Ctfs^ ^ T .P73 I jix)W TO BECOME ENGINEER, ^^CJ<:ssARV jn fitting ipoe the DUTIES OF THE CIVIL ENGINEEE. T>IE OPINIONS OF EMINENT AUTHORITIES, AND TilE COliRM-S OF i^TDM IN T!!E TECHNICAL mmi Gh/), W. .PLYMPTON, Avr^ B^K, (1.,E, I NEW YORK: \ D. VAXn" NOSTXiAND COMPANY'.. f ^?:'. iUlTItRAY AND ST* WAKP.JilJj'STIi.SJ?:'!-. THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. 18mo, Boards. Price 50 Cents Each. Amply Illustrated when the Subject JDemands, No. 1.— CHIMNEYS FOR FURNACES, FIRE-PLACES, AND STEAM-BOILERS. By R. Armstrong, C. E. Second American edition. To which is appended an Essay on Higrh Chimneys, by Prof. L. Pinzger. No. 2.— STEAM-BOILER EXPLOSIONS. By Zerah Colburn. New edition, revised by Prof. R. H. Thurston. No. 3.- PRACTICAL DESIGNING OF RET AINING-W ALLS. By Arthur Jacob, A.B. Second edition, revised, with additions by Prof. W. Cain. No. 4.— PROPORTIONS OF PINS USED IN BRIDGES. By Charles Bender, C.E. No. 5.-VENTILATION OF BUILDINGS. By W. F. Butler. Second edition, re-edited and enlarged by James L. Greenleaf, C. E. No. 6.— ON THE DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF STORAGE RESERVOIRS. By Arthur Jacob, A. B. Second edition, revised, with additions by E. Sherman Gould. No. 7.— SURCHARGED AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF RE- TAINING-WALLS. By James S Tate, C.E. No. 8.— A TREATISE ON THE COMPOUND ENGINE. By John Turnbull, jun. Second edition, revised by Prof. S. W. Robinson. No. 9.-A TREATISE ON FUEL. By Arthur V. Abbott, C.E. Founded on the original treatiseof C. Will- iam Siemens, D.C.L. No. lO.-COMPOUND ENGINES. Translated from the French of A. Mallet. Second edition, revised, with results of American Practice by Richard H. Buel, C.E. No. ll.-THEORY OF ARCHES. By Prof. W. Allan. No. 12.— A THEORY OF VOUSSOIR ARCHES. By Pi-of W. E. Cain. ^ No. 13.— GASES MET WITH IN COAL-MINES. By J. J. Atkinson. Third edition, revised and enlai*ged by Edward H. Williams, jun. No. 14.-FRICTI0N OF AIR IN MINES. By J. J. Atkinson. No. 15.— SKEW ARCHES. By Prof. E. W. Hyde, C.E. Il- lustrated. No. 16.— A GRAPHIC METHOD FOR SOLVING CERTAIN ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS. By Prof. George L. Vose. No. 17.— WATER AND WATER- SUPPLY. By Prof. W. H. Corfteld of the University College, London. No. 18.- SEWERAGE AND SEWAGE UTILIZATION. By Prof. VV. H. Corfield, M.A., of the University College. Loiid'iu. THE VAN NOSTRAND SCIENCE SERIES. piTo. 19.— STRENGTH OF BEAMS UNDER TRANSVERSE LOADS. By Prof. W. Allan, author of *' Theory of Arches." No. 20.— BRIDGE AND TUNNEL CENTRES. By John B. MeMaster, C.E. No. 21.— SAFETY VALVES. Second Edition. By Richard H. Buel, C.E. No. 22.— HIGH MASONRY DAMS. By John B. MeMaster, C.E. No. 23.— THE FATIGUE OF METALS UNDER REPEATED STRAINS. With various Tables of Results and Experiments, From the German of Prof. Ludwig Spangen burgh, with a Preface by S. H. Shreve, A.M. No. 24.— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE TEETH OF WHEELS. By Prof. S. W. Robinson. Second edition, revised. 5 No. 25.—ON THE THEORY AND CALCULATION OF CON- TINUOUS BRIDGES. By Mansfield Merriman, Ph.D. No. 26.— PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE PROPERTIES OF CONTINUOUS BRIDGES. By Charles Bender, C.E. No. 27.— ON BOILER INCRUSTATION AND CORROSION. By F. J. Rowan. No. 28.— TRANSMISSION OF POWER BY WIRE ROPES. Second edition. By Albert W. Stahl. U S N. No. 29.— STEAM INJECTORS. Translated from the French of M. Leon Pocliet. No. 30.— TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM AND THE MAG- NETISM OF IRON VESSELS. By Prof. Fair- man Rogers. No. 31.— THE SANITARY CONDITION OF DWELLING- HOUSES IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. By George E. Waring, jun. No. 32.— CABLE-MAKING FOR SUSPENSION BRIDGES. By W. Hildebrand, C.E. No. 33.— MECHANICS OF VENTILATION. By George W. Rafter, C.E. No. 34. -FOUNDATIONS. By Prof. Jules Gaudard, C.E. Second edition. Translated from the French. No. 35.— THE ANEROID BAROMETER : ITS CONSTRUC- TION AND USE. Compiled by George W. Plympton. Fourth edition. No. 36.— MATTER AND MOTION. By J. Clerk Maxwell, M.A. No. 37. -GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYING ; ITS USES, METHODS, AND RESULTS. By Frank De Yeaux Carpenter, C.E. No. 38.— MAXIMUM STRESSES IN FRAMED BRIDGES. By Prof. William Cain, A.M., C.E. No. 39.— A HANDBOOK OF THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. By A. E. Loring. No. 40.— TRANSMISSION OF POWER BY COMPRESSED AIR. By Robert Zahner, M.E. Second edition. No. 41.— STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. By William Kent, C.E. Second Edition. No. 42.— VOUSSOIR ARCHES APPLIED TO STONE BRIDGES, TUNNELS, CULVERTS, AND DOMES. By Prof. W^illiam Cain. No. 43.— WAVE AND VORTEX MOTION. By Dr. Thomas Craig, of Johns Hopkins University. No. 44.— TURBINE WHEELS. By Prof. W. P. Trowbridge, Columbia College. Second edition. Revised. No. 45.— THERMODYNAMICS. By Prof. H. T. Eddy, Uni- versity of Cincinnati, N^ 46,— ICE- MAKING MACHINES. From the French of ^ M. Le Doux. Revised by Prof. Denton. ^o, 47.— LINKAGES ; THE DIFFERENT FORMS AND USES OF ARTICULATED LINKS. By J. D. C. de Roos. No. 48.-THEORY OF SOLID AND BRACED ARCHES By William Cain, C.E. No. 49.— ON THE MOTION OF A SOLID IN THE FLUID. BylThomas Craig, Ph.D. No. 50.-DWELLING-HOUSES: THEIR SANITARY CON- : STRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENTS. By Prof. W. H. Corfield. No. 5L— THE TELESCOPE: ITS CONSTRUCTION, ETC. By Thomas Nolan. i No. 52.— IMAGINARY QUANTITIES. Translated from the j French of M. Argand. By Prof. Hardy. No. 53.-INDUCTION COILS: HOW MADE AND HOW I USED. Fifth edition. No. 54.— KINEMATICS OF MACHINERY. By Prof. Ken- nedy. With an introduction by Prof. R. H. Thurston. No. 55.— SEWER GASES : THEIR NATURE AND ORIGIN. By A. de Varona. No. 56.— THE ACTUAL LATERAL PRESSURE OF EARTH- WORK. By Benjamin Baker, M. Inst. C.E. No 57.— INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC LIGHTING. A Practical Description of the Edison System. By L. H. Latimer, to which is added the Design and Operation of Incandescent Stations. By C. J. Field, and the Maximum Efficiency of Incandes- cent Lamps, by John W. Howell. No. 68.— THE VENTH.ATION OF COAL-MINES. By W. Fairley, ME., F.S.S., and Geo. J. Andr6. No. 59.— RAILROAD ECONOMICS ; OR, NOTES, WITH COMMENTS. By S. W. Robinson, C.E. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER, THE THEORETICAL A^ D PRACTICAL TRAIMNG NECESSARY IN FITTING FOR THE DUTIES OF THE CIVIL ENGINEER. THE OPINIONS OF EMINENT AUTHORITIES, xVND THE COESES OF STBM IN THE TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. BY GEO. W. PLYMPTON, Am. 8oc. C.E. yyo w I NEW YORK : D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, '^3 Murray and 27 Warren Street. 1891. Copyright, 1891, BY D. Van Nostrand Company. \ ^ PREFACE. In answering the question suggested by the title of this little book, the writer has felt throughout the embarrassment arising from the consciousness that in the minds of the great numbers who almost daily ask the question there isi almost as large a number of pursuits comprehended in the inquiry. The title engineer is assumed by men engaged in many varieties and many grades of human industry, from the ambitious plumber^s apprentice, or the engine- driver of a tug-boat, to him who plans and directs the construction of the most ex- tensive public works. The attempt has, however, been made to define the proper limits of the application of the term ^^ engineering,^^ and to advise the young man who desires to become an engineer in the generally accepted sense of the term how to direct his efforts in such way as to make profitable use of his time. 3 HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTIOK. Ekgi:n^eering is the science of em- ploying the physical properties of mat- ter to serve the purposes of mankind. It includes also the useful application of the different forms of Energy. Two branches of the science are recognized^ the distinction being based upon the ends to be served. If applied to advance the interests of mankind in a state of peace, it is called Civil Engineering ; if to serve the purposes of war, it is Military Engineering. Eankine says : ^^ The term Civil En- gineering is applied to a wide and some- what indefinite range of subjects, but it may be defined as embracing those applications of mechanics and of the arts 5 of construction generally which belong to lines of transport for goods and pas- sengers, whether roads, railroads, canals, or navigable waters ; to works for tlie conve3^ance of water, whether for drain- age or for water-supply ; to harbors and works for the protection of the coast. All these kinds of works are combina- tions of structures and machines ; they comprise structures in earthwork, as cut- tings, embankments, and reservoirs ; in masonr)^, timber, and iron, as bridges, via- ducts, aqueducts, locks,- basins, piers, and breakwaters ; they comprise machines, such as cars and locomotives, lock-gates, sluices and valves, pumping steam-en- gines, and dredging-machines. Their principles therefore consist, to a great extent, of the general principles of con- struction and machinery combined and adapted to suit the circumstances of each kind of work/^ " But Civil Engineering involves also the art of laying out lines of transport, and selecting the sites for works in the best manner possible with reference to the features of the country, so as to se- cure economy in execution and working/^ The water-supply and drainage of cit- ies must be contrived by an engineer, and the cost estimated in advance of the eonstruction. The relative merits of different sys- tems of conveying goods or passengers must be determined by the engineer. Now, because the prpfession of civil engineer involves such a variety of scien- tific labor, it happens that many engi- neers devote their time and energies to some of the various departments men- tioned above. Thus the Meclicmical En- gineer devotes his time to machines, to their construction, use, and efficiency ; also to the construction and operation of steam, gas, and air engines. The Mining Engineer is prepared to direct the various operations connected with the digging of coal or metallic ores from below the surface of the earth, and converting them at once to convenient forms for use, or transporting them to market. 8 The Electrical Engineer confines his work to a narrower field. He contrives the means by which electricity is gener- ated, and conducted to the places where it is to be applied in producing light, heat, or power. Too many in this branch of engineering are unfamiliar with the general principles which underlie all practice of civil engineering. Sir Will- iam Thomson, in a recent address to a body of electricians, reminded them that, to become electrical engineers, they should first make themselves engineers, and then become electricians. The Hydraulic Engineer estimates the water-power of streams and determines the proper location for mills and facto- ries. He designs systems of water-sup- ply and drainage for cities and towns, and estimates their cost. He also plans and directs the improvement of naviga- ble rivers and the construction of canals. The Sanitary Engineer is engaged chiefly with plans for draining and ven- !jilating buildings. The thoroughly educated civil engi- neer is he who has been well grounded in the principles which underlie the practice of the surveyor, the mechanical engineer, the mining engineer, the hy- draulic engineer, the electrical engineer, and the sanitary engineer, and has ac- quired some familiarity with the practi- cal work of each. Military Engineering, as before ex- plained, embraces the science and art of war. The student who designs to become a military engineer devotes his time to acquiring much the same branches of science as he who is to be- come a civil engineer, but it is always with reference to applying his science to the operations of war. His applied sci- ence embraces the construction of forti- fications, either temporary or permanent, the works of attack or defence of for- tresses, the construction and laying of military bridges; also the reconnaissances and surveys for military purposes, includ- ing the operations of armies in the field, and the construction of those transient 10 works by which troops are protected in line of battle. Military Engineering also embraces gunnery, military pyrotechny, transpor- tation of military stores, and the renewal of destroyed forts and bridges. In this book we propose to deal with the training of the civil engineer only. It is undeniable that many engineers have become eminent without the advan- tage of iiie systematic training which is generally considered necessary, and have risen to eminence from obscure positions where they had apparently become per- manently settled after having reached mature years. Watt and Stneaton were instrument-makers, Telford was a ma- son, and George Stephenson was an en- gine-driver. All these men were pos- sessed of a special aptitude for the work they accomplished, and they all, more- over, devoted much time to study after having passed the age which we now con- sider most favorable for the acquisition of book knowledge. They lived, more- over, at a time when the necessity for a 11 special training for engineers in the schools was not thought of. Professor Reynolds^ in a lecture on ^^ Engineering as a Profession/^ said : ^^ Those who, in spite of their early pau- city of education— and there have been many — have, notwithstanding, acquired a fair working knowledge of what we may call the theory of their subject, have done it by undergoing the greatest hardships. They have spent years of weary work in acquiring what would have been a comparatively short and pleasant task if systematically attempted with due means. I once heard an engi- nieer, now of great eminence, when speak- ing of the comparative facilities now af- forded, say : ' With a great sum obtained I this freedom ; but you, like St. Paul, are free-born.^ I doubt not that there are others who have given up as hopeless the attempt to understand comparatively simple matters, because it was wrapped in forms into the mysteries of which they had not previously been initiated. One of the reasons why preliminary education 12 was held of such little account has been the character of the only education to be obtained. These things, however, are now altered by the establishment of spe- cial schools and the extension of the old. All the more useful branches of science are now within the reach of the student of engineering, and in the forms most suitable for him. So that, as a step to- wards understanding the theory of ma- chines, it is not now necessary for him to begin with the theory of astronomy or the doctrine of chances. The miserable form in which tlie only mathematics to be obtained was wrapped has compelled engineers to work out methods for them- selves, and now that the demand for such knowledge has increased, we find that the first mathematicians in the land have, so to speak, patronized our system. And, as is natural, the extension of the practical use of mathematics infused new life into their study. Learned as it now • may be with a special view to the appli- cation of practical mechanics, a knowl- edge of mathematics and science is much 13 more useful than it was. But this is by no means all. This would not be mucli were it not that the accumulated expe- rience of engineering work has to a great extent been systematized and reduced to a form capable of mathematical treat- ment. '' The case is, however, entirely al- tered. Whereas formerly the good — at all events, the immediate good — to be reaped from the higher theoretical stud- ies for those designed for the calling of engineering was doubtful, now there is every inducement for it. Nor has this fact been lost sight of by engineers. To their credit it must be said that they have come forward liberally to provide their successors with that education of which they have avowedly experienced the want. There are now some fifteen colleges and universities in the country where not only can a knowledge of all the useful sciences be obtained, but where the application of science and mathe- matics to the work of the engineer is made a special branch of study. The u advisability of such a course of training is even now sometimes called in ques- tion. But I think this doubt can only apply, and is only meant to apply, to such a course of study as constituting the sole education of the student, as dis- ])lacing the practical training. Looked at in this way, the doubt is just; for, as I have said, no amount of theoretical edu- cation can give that certainty and facil- ity which only come from practice. As an adjunct to the practical training — as a preparation for it — there cannot, I think, be the least doubt. The field of engi- neering has become so vast that it is im- possible for any one to acquire anything like a complete acquaintance with it by practical observation. The actual work of which one can gain experience in the course of a few years is but small, even under the most favorable circumstances. And the only way to make use of such experience as a general training is to supplement it by reading, and thus to use it for the purpose of illustrating the 15 application of general laws and princi- ples. " Even allowing the aid of books, the range of work which may fall to the lot of an engineer is far too large to be mas- tered by one mind, unless reduced to a system and to general laws. Thus all the multifarious forms of structures — buildings, bridges, wheels, roofs, etCo— which, if each one is to be treated as a whole, must be numbered by thousands ; if divided and considered in their com- ponent parts, are found to consist of seven or eight simple structures ; and the laws which regulate the use of these may be treated separately. Or, again, endless as are the varieties of machines, when divided into their elementary parts these are not found to number more than 100. And so we might go on. '^ It is, then, clear what an immense advantage is to be gained by attacking this mass of knowledge in a systematic manner, such as that in which it comes before a student in his course tlirough a college. This is, in truth, the only man- 16 ner in which anything like a complete mastery can be obtained. To attempt it by private study is to work at a great dis- advantage. '' The exact course of preparation which is best for a student of engineer- ing to pursue, although it should be va- ried according to circumstances, seems to be somewhat as follows : Assuming, as in other professions, the age at which he is supposed to commence his career to be about twenty-one or twenty-two; having pursued a general course of educa- tion at school until he is sixteen or seven- teen, he should then commence his special course. In this he must learn some- thing of science and something of ait ; but he must also learn how the one can be brought to bear on the other. Mathe- matics and the natural sciences must form an essential part of his study, but he must not expect to make himself completely master of either. To do this would occupy more than the whole time at his disposal. He must select those branches of those subjects which most 17 directly relate to his future work, and leave the rest as he would leave a luxury. The making of this selection is very dif- ficult ; the temptation is always to at- tempt too much, and this ends only in confusion. It is but a comparatively small portion of these wide subjects that can be usefully brought to bear on engi- neering, and to these he must necessarily restrict himself. The methods of apply- ing these sciences to engineering prob- lems constitute a large subject, and one that it is necessary for him to study; and besides this, he will have to devote some of his time to acquiring sufficient knowl- edge of tlie things to be done by engi- neers, on which to study the application of his science. And then there are yet those manual operations which are essen- tial to bring his knowledge to a practi- cal issue, and in which a long course of training is necessary to acquire the re- quisite skill, such as mechanical drawing and the use of measuring and surveying instruments, the want of facility in the use of wluch would prevent for a long 18 tiwie tlie student from making practical use of his knowledge. "' To acquire a useful knowledge in these various branches of study will re- quire three^ or at least; two years. The student will then proceed with his prac- tical training, which should include as great a range of work as possible. In this he will find the knowledge he has acquired of very great help ; he will rec- ognize much that he sees, and be able to judge of the most important things to which to direct his attention. After such preparation he will learn more in one year spent in the workshop or on the works than in three without it, so that by the time he has completed his train- ing he will have as much practical knowledge as if he had spent his whole time in the workshops. '' Of course it would be little short of affectation to pretend that, surrounded as we are with mechanical results, one cannot learn to produce the results with which he is familiar, unless he is first able to deduce them from elementary 19 principles. This would be equivalent to asserting that an English child could not speak English until he had mastered the rules of grammar. But to teach a lan- guage without the aid of grammar is not only a waste of labor, but a sure means of producing an imperfect result, and this is equivalent to teaching engi- neering without science. Such is the hold which the study of natural science has taken on all classes, and such are the facilities for those in the lower ranks to rise, that it seems to be quite certain that if those who have the best opportunity of qualifying themselves as engineers neg- lect to do so in the highest manner, they will find their places filled by those who, while rising from below, have made bet- ter use of their opportunities/^ 20 CHAPTER 11. SYSTEMATIC COURSE OF STUDY IN THE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES OF THE UNITED STATES. The course of study required to ob- tain the degree of Civil Engineer differs in the higher technical schools chiefly in the amount of study required, not in the character of the branches pursued. The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, N. Y., is doubtless the leading engineering school of this country. Its course of study is given below. The tab- ulated statement is prefaced in the cata- logue with the following summary of the specialties of engineering work: '' It should be stated, perhaps, that Civil Engineering is understood to in- clude Mechanical or Dynamical Engineer- ing, Road Engineering, Bridge Engineer- ing, Hydraulic Engineering, Steam Engi- neering, Electrical Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Sanitary Engineering. By reference to the programme of the 21 course of study, it will be seen that the wants of students of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering have been con- sidered and well provided for, and that, with the supplemental course in Assay- ing, recently introduced, together with proposed special extensions of certain portions of the course, the wants of the future mining engineer will also be rea- sonably well supplied. " The studies of the course are de- signed to secure to all the graduates a professional preparation, at once thor- ough and practical, for the following specialties of engineering practice: ^^The location, construction, and super- intendence of public works, as railways, canals, water-works, etc. ; the design, con- struction, and management of mills, iron works, steel works, chemical works, and pneumatic works; the design and con- struction of roofs, arch-bridges, girder- bridges, and suspension bridges ; the sur- vey and superintendence of mines ; the design, construction, and use of wind-mo- tors, hydraulic motors, air-engines, and 22 the various kinds of steam-engines ; the design, construction, and use of machines in general, and the determination of their efficiency; the survey of rivers, lakes, and liarbors, and the direction of their im- provements ; the determination of lati- tude, longitude, time, and the meridian in geographical explorations, or for other purposes, together with the projection of maps ; the selection and test of materials used in construction, and the construc- tion of the various kinds of geometrical and topographical drawings/^ To enter the lowest class of the Insti- tute the student must pass an examina- tion fn the following : Geography; En- glish grammar, including spelling; Arith- metic, as treated in the higher text-books ; Algebra, through equations of the second degree; Plane geometry, first five books of Wentworth^s geometry, or its equiva- lent. The full course is as follows : 23 COURSE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING. four years. Division D.— First Year. Mathematics. — Wells' University algebra J Went worth's text-book of geometry; Wood's trigonometry, analytical, plane, and spherical. Descriptive Geometry. — Warren's element- ary plane -prohlems— plates ; Warren's ele- mentary projections — theory and plates. Stereotomy. — Warren's drafting instruments and o\)eTSiiions—theo7y and plates. Physics. — Atkinson's Ganot's elementary phys- ics through acoustics. French Language. — Fasquelle's French gram- mar. English Language.— Hart's English composi- tion and rhetoric. Geodesy. — Gillespie's chain and compass sur- veying — theory and practice ; farm surveying — practice. Topographical Drawing.— Elementary draw- ing; topographical plans. Free-hand Drawing. — Elementary practice. Division C— Second Year. Mathematics.— Higher algebra ; analytic ge- ometry. Descriptive Geometry. — General ortho- graphic projections — theoj^y and plates. 24 Stbreotomy. — Bridge drawing; shades and shadows — theory and plates ; linear perspec- tive — theory and plates. Chemistry. — Inorganic chemistry. Physics. — Heat; optics. Natural Hibtory. — Botany. French Language.— Syntax of grammar, with exercises and writing from dictation ; translation of scientific works ; epistolary cor- respondence and conversation. English Language.— Composition ; elements of criticism. Geodesy. — Plane table suvYeyin g— theory and practice; adjustment and use of field instru- ments — theory and practice; trigonometrical and topographical surveying — theory; trigo- nometrical suryeying and \eiel\ing— practice; mine surveying — theory. Topographical Drawing. — Map of farm sur- vey ; colored topography — plates. Free-hand Drawing. — Sketches of tools, of the components of machines, of bridges, and other structures. Division B.— Third Year. Mathematics. — Differential calculus ; integral calculus. Astronomy. — Descriptive astronomy. Rational Mechanics. — Mechanics of solids ; mechanics of fluids ; mechanical problems. 25 Stereotomy. — Machine construction and draw- ing — theory and plates. Physics. — Electricity and magnetism — theory and practice. Natural History. — Mineralogy and petrog- raphy ; descriptive geology ; technical ge- ology. Chemistry. — Qualitative analysis; blow-pipe analysis ; determinative mineralogy ; practi- cal chemistry. Geodesy. — Hydrographical, topographical, and town surveying — practice. Topographical Drawing. — Contour map ; map of hydrographical survey. Division A.— Fourth Year. Astronomy. — Spherical and practical astron- omy. Physics. — Thermodynamics: electrod}^ amies. Physical Mechanics.— Mechanics of solids— friction, — strength of materials; mechanics of ^xAdiS— practical hydraulics, — practical pneu- matics. Machines. — General theory of machines; description of machines; theory of prime movers — steam-engines, — air-engines, — electro- magnetic engines, — hydraulic motors, — wind motors; construction and location of ma- chines; designs for, and reviews of special machines; measurement and estimnto <)f 26 power; weir, and other measurements of the flow of water. Constructions. — Equilibrium and stability of structures — remiemeni walls, — reservoirs, — roofs, — arches, — girder bridges, — suspension bridges; designs for, and reviews of special structures. Stereotomy. — Stone cutting — iTieary and plates. Geodesy. — Higher geodesy ; projection of maps — theory; line surveying — road surveys, — staking out for constructions. Road Engineering.— Common roads; rail- roads; canals; tunnels. The Steam-engine. — Lectures; indicating and estimating the power of steam-engines; dut}*- tests of water-works pumping machinery; compound and multiple-expansion engines. Metallurgy.— General metallurgy; iron me- tallurgy. Topographical Drawing.— Plans, profiles, and sections of railroad survey's. Law. — Law of contracts. This is the most complete engineering course afforded in the United States. The course in the Pardee Scientii5c De- partment of Lafayette College, at Easton. Pa., is as follows: 27 CIVIL ENGINEERING COURSE. Freshman Year. First Term, — Algebra (completed), Elements of Industrial Drawing, English, March's Method, French, Chemistry, Lectures on Health. Second Term. — Geometry (completed). Survey- ing, Plane Problems, French, German, Prob- lems in Division of Land. 2Viird Term. — Surveying, Field Work, Ele- mentary Projections, Trigonometry and Men- suration, French, German, Analytical Chem- istry. Throughout the year: Declamations, Themes, and the Bible. Sophomore Year. First Term. — Analytical Geometry (begun)» Surveying, Field Work, Elementary Projec^ tions, Mineralogy, French, German, Study of Words, Trench. Second Term. — Analytical Geometry (com* pleted), Topographical Drawing, Botany, Zoology, French, German, Mineralogy. Third Term. — Differential and Integral Calcu- lus, Descriptive Geometry, Botany, Zoolrgy, French, German, Determinative Mineralogy. Throughout the year: Declamations, Themes, and the Bible. Junior Year. First J<3rm.— Descriptive Geometry (General Grl'hographic Projections), Triangular Sur- 28 veying) Field Work, Adjustment of Instru ments, French, Mechanics, Lithology, Prac- tice with the Blow-pipe. Second Term. — Physics (begun). Calculus (con- tinued). Shades and Shadows, Road Enginuer- ing — Theory (begun), Colored Topography, Hydrographical Surveying. Third Term. — Linear Perspective, Physics (com- pleted). Analytical and Applied ivfechanics. Topographical Surveying, Map of Topo- graphical Survey, Road Engineering— The- ory (completed). Throughout the year : Declamations, Themes, written Debates, and the Bible. Senior Year. First Term. — Water Supply, Road Engineering — Practice, Plans, Profiles, and Sections of Road Surveys, Astronomy, Machine Draw- ing, General Theory of I^IachiDCs, Anatomy and Physiology. Second jngrm.— Stone Cutting, Machinery and Motors, Strength of Materials, Stability of Structures, Supply and Distribution of Water, Astronomy, Geology, Mineralogy, Political Economy. TJiird Term, — Bridge Drawing, Foundations, Retaining Walls, River and Canal Improve- ments, Designs for and Reviews of Engineer- ing Works, Bridge and Roof Construction, 29 . Graphical Statics, History, Geology, Gradua- tion Theses. Throughout the year : Themes, Speaking, and Biblical Studies. Graduates from this course also receive the degree of Civil Engineer. * A course in Mining Engineering is also provided, differing from the above in the practical work during the Junior and Senior years. In the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology the course of Civil Engineering is specified as follows : First Year. First Term. — Algebra, General Chemistry, Chemical Laboratory, Rhetoric, English Composition, French, Mechanical and Free- hand Drawing, Military Drill, Second Term. — Solid Geometry, Plane Trigo- nometry, General Chemistry, Chemical Lab- oratory, Modern History, ^English Literature, French, Mechanical Drawing, Military Drill. Second Year. First Term. — Surveying: Compass and Transit, Plotting from Notes, Analytic Geometry, Ad- vanced Geometrical Drawing, Physics, Mod- ern History, German, Spherical Trigonometry. 30 kcond Term. — Levelling. Profiles, Eleuients of Topography, Differential Calculus, Physics, Physical Geography, Modern History, Ger- man. Third Year. First Term^—Ho'dd Engineering, Advanced Field Work, Topographical Drawing, Inte- gral Calculus, General Statics, Physics: Lec- tures and Laboratory, Structural Geology, Constitutional History, German. Second Term. — Railroad Engineering, Topog- raphy and Map Work, Kinematics and Dy- namics, Strength of Materials, Physics: Lab- oratory Work, Historical Geology, Political Economy, German. Fourth Year. First Term, — Bridges and Roofs, Railroad Man- agement, Hydraulic Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Strength of Materials, Topog- raphy and Geodesy. Second Term. — Bridges and Roofs, Hydraulic Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Specifi- cations and Contracts, Applied Mechanics, Thesis Work. The following is the outline of the course of Civil Engineering at the School of Mines, Columbia College : 31 First Year. Trigonometry and Mensuration, Physics, Bot- any, Geometrical Conic Sections, Analytical Geometry, Descriptive Geometry, Chemistry, and an extensive course in Surveying. Second Year. Analytical Geometry, Differential Calculus, Graphics, Stereotomy, Study of Roads and Pavements, Sanitary Engineering, Practical Mining, Zoology, Applied Chemistry, Blow- pipe Analysis, Integral Calculus and Miner- alogy, Surveying during summer vacation. Third Year. Mechanics of Solids, Physics, Practical Astron- omy, Geodesy, Properties and Use of the Materials of Engineering, Metallurgy, Geol- ogy, Strength of Materials, Drawing, Prac- tical Geodesy. Fourth Year. Water Supply Engineering, Sewerage, River and Harbor Improvement, Hydraulic En- gineering, Machinery and Millwork, Graphic Statics, Railway Engineering, Railway Sur- veying and Practical Geodesy, Engineering Designs and Drawing. Other institutions in this country af- 32 fording similar courses o'f study are Cor- nell University, Princeton College, Rut- gers College, Lehigh University, Ste- vens Institute, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and Michigan University. A course in the night-school of Cooper Union affords the same mathematical training as in most of the above courses, together with physics, chemistry, geology^ and astronomy, but without the practical field-work. It has proved sufficient in several notable instances to serve as a groundwork to a successful course in en- gineering. 83 CHAPTER IIL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. The f oliowing abstracts are taken from a report to the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The report was com- pleted from documents obtained from the various countries mentioned. THE STATUS AND EDUCATION OF ENGI- NEERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOJ^L In England the profession of engineer- ing is entirely unconnected with the gov- ernment^ there being no state corps of engineers other than those attached to the acrmy. It is open to any one to enter the profession, and to obtain in it any standing his merits may entitle him to j and all the civil works of the country, whether public or private, are (with some u few exceptions, where Royal Eng^ineers have been employed) executed by private practitioners. There is, further, in England no pub- lic provision for engineering education. Every candidate for the profession must get his technical, like his general educa- tion, as best he can ; and this necessity has led to conditions of education pecu- liarly and essentially practical, such be- ing the most direct and expeditious mode of getting into the way of practical em- ployment. The education of an engineer is, in fact, effected by u, process analogous to that followed generally in trades, name- ly> by a simple course of apprenticeship, usually with a premium, to a practising engineer ; during which the pupil is sup- posed, by taking part in the ordinary business routine, to become gradually fa- miliar with the practical duties of the profession, so as at last to acquire com- petency to perform them alone, or, at least, after some further practical expe- rience in a subordinate capacity. 35 It is not the custom in England to con* sider theoretical knowledge as absolutely essential. It is true that most consider- ate masters recommend that such knowl- edge should Vje acquired, and prefer such pupils as have in some degree attained it, and it is also true that intelligent and earnest-minded pupils often spontane- ously devote themselves, both before and during their pupilage, to theoretical stud- ies; but these cases, though happily much more frequent now than formerly, really amount only to voluntary departures from the general rule. The theoretical knowledge which may, in these cases, be desired, is obtained either by private reading or by attend- ance at the scientific classes established at various educational institutions, some of which have made special provision for studies of this kind, as may be seen in the particulars given farther on. The idractical education in England is perhaps the most perfect possible, if the opportunities obtained during the pupil- a2:e are ample, and the pupil properly- u avails htmself of them ; for nothing can give a student so thorough and useful a knowledge of practical works as being ac- tually engaged for a length of time upon them in a really working capacity ; in addition to which, the habits of business and the familiarity with all subsidiary arrangements, acquired in this way, have a beneficial influence on the student's fu- ture career. This thorough proficiency in practical matters tends largely to com- pensate for — in many cases to outweigh — the deficiency in theoretical attain- ments, and it is undoubtedly this, in- fluenced in some degree by the natural self-reliance and practical common sense inherent in the English character, which has given such a high standing to tho profession in this country. THE STATUS AND EDUCATION OF ENGt NEERS IK OTHER EUROPEAN COUN- TRIES. In most parts of the Continent the sta- tus of civil engineers differs materially from that obtaining in England. In al- 37 most every country of Europe there ex- ists a state corps of engineers, educated and supported by the government, whose business it is to construct and superin- tend the public works of the nation. Private practitioners are therefore ex- cluded from these works, and have to "find employment, as best they can, in private industrial enterprises. France affords the most perfect ex- ample of this system. The Government Corps of Engineers exists under two di- visions, viz., the Ingenieurs des Mines and the Ingenietii^s des Fonts et ChattS' sees. The former have the highest mnk, and are employed chiefly, but not exclu- sively, on mining operations, and works allied thereto ; the latter take the more general public constructive works, as their name implies. There are several classes in each di- vision, inspectors general, engineers in chief, and ordinary engineers, and pro- motion is partly by merit and partly by seniority. The total number at present is given at 783. They hold a good posi- 38 tion in the country, have generally con- siderable ability, and include in their ranks some men of great eminence in mechanical science. Members of either corps are allowed, on special application, to undertake pri- vate work on the railways of the country (all other private work being forbidden), and receive a sort of furlough for the purpose. But if their absence from their official duties exceeds five years they for- feit their position, and lose all rights ap- pertaining thereto. The cases, however, of government en- gineers taking charge of private works are not numerous, as there exists in France a large body of civil engineers independent of the government, and hav- ing no official status, who devote them- selves to the requirements of private in- dividual enterprises. These have to make their own way in the profession, and occupy, in fact, the same kind of .posi- tion as engineers in England, except that they have a sort of official guarantee m 39 to tlieir education, as will be hereafter explained. The education of foreign engineers is strongly contrasted with that in England in every particular. Practical training by apprenticeship is unknown ; the edu- i)ation begins at the other end, namely, by the compulsory acquirement of a high degree of theoretical knowledge, under the direction, and generally at the ex- pense, of the government of the country. Partly with this, and partly afterwards, there is communicated a certain amount of information on practical matters ; but this is imparted in a way diilering much from the English plan, and probably with less efficient results. Thus, while the English engineer is launched in his profession with the qual- ification of a considerable practical ex- perience, but with perhaps little or no theoretical knowledge, the foreign one begins with a thorough foundation of principles, but with a limited course of practice ; a deficiency, however, which tends to correct itself with time. 40 The education of both the government aiid the private engineers is on the same system, though carried on in diiferent es- tablishments. The government engineers must have been at first pupils at a large general sci- entific educational establishment called the Ecole Polytechnique. Admission to this is by public competition, and the standard is very high — so high, in fact, as to exclude all but persons already well advanced. The education in this school is exclusively scientific and theoretical, and from it students are taken to supply not only the corps of Government Civil Engineers, but also all the scientific de- partments of the army and navy. After a two years^ course in the Ecole Polytechnique, such joung men as are candidates for government employment as engineers are drafted off, also by strict examinations, into two special schools for the two departments respectively, namely, the Ecole des Mines and the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees, in each of which the studies last three years. 41 During the five years thus spent, the theoretical education given to the engi- neer is very complete, every branch of science bearing on his profession being taught him, and his proficiency being tested by the strictest examination at the end of the term. On passing the final examination, the pupil enters the corps he is destined for, and begins at once his official duty in the lowest grade. The practical education of the pupil, though not so complete or so effective as in England, is by no means neglected. During the three years' study in the spe- cial schools, much instruction is commu- nicated having a practical bearing; lec- tures, descriptions, and exercises being given very fully on practical matters, with the object of making the pupil fa- miliar with the general nature of the works he will hereafter have to do with, and so preparing him for his future ex- perience on them. To aid this, the pu- pils are sent, for a considerable portion of the three years, on " missions '' to va- rious public works in practical executian 42 under the department tliey are to be at- tached to ; but whether during these missions they actually take part in the works going on, or merely make observer lions, and write accounts of what they tave seen, is not clear. At any rate, at the end of the terut (being then twenty-three or twenty-foui years of age) they are assumed to be ca- pable of doing useful practical work in the lower grade, or third class, and are at once given employment, with pay, as supernumeraries, draughtsmen, or sub- engineers, on some important engineer- ing work in progress, where they gain the further practical experience neces- sary to fit them for taking more inde* pendent positions. The education, both iu the Ecole Poly- technique and the subsequent special school, is mainly at the cost of the gov- ernment, the pupil only paying small fees. This fact, and the provision for life which the employment affords, produce a very keen competition for the privi- 43 leges, which keeps up a high standard of qualification. The education of civil engineers prac- tising privately is given in an establish- ment called the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. This was originally founded as a private establishment ; but it was afterwards taken to by the state, and is now entirely under government direction. The instruction, however, is not professedly gratuitous, as the pupils pay moderate fees. Admission to this school is open to all who can pass a strict entrance examina- tion ; but the applications always much exceed the numbers that can be received (about 200 annually), and selection is made of the best. The course of studies lasts three years, and is generally of the same nature as that given to the government engineers, with the exception that mathematical at- tainments are not pushed quite so high. In the first year the instruction is the- oretical only; in the second and third years theoretical and practical instruc- 44 tion are combined. Thus the school aims at representing a combination, on a less extended scale, of the Polytechnic and special schools of the government corps. It is, moreover, more general and prac- tical in its nature, so as to prepare the pupil as much as possible for any of the varieties of engineering work that may fall in his way, or, indeed, for other occu- pations of a scientific nature. After this course is passed through, a diploma of ^^Ingenieur des Arts et Man- ufactures^^ is given to those students who have passed the highest public examina- tion, and a lower certificate of capacity to those who have simply satisfied the important points. These documents give no claim to any employment, but are considered such good guarantees of abil- ity, that their holders seldom fail to pro- cure paid employment soon after leaving the school. They begin, like the govern- ment engineers, in subordinate situations, and gain experience and position as they go on. There is nothing to prevent arvff engi- 45 neer from practising in France who has not been through any of the acknowl- edged schools, and self-made men of su- perior practical ability have often suc- ceeded well ; but these cases form the exceptions to the general rule. In Prussia, a corps called Master Con- structors {Baumeister) are employed by the state, and are educated as follows : Each officer must first have received a complete general scientific training in one of the ordinary schools or gymnasia of the country. He must then be practically engaged for one year with one of the constructive officers of the state. He is then admitted into a special gov- ernment educational establishment in Berlin, called the Eoyal School of Con- struction (Konigliche Bau Akademie), where he remains two years, the stud- ies comprising all branches of scientific knowledge appertaining to engineering and architecture, particular care being bestowed on construction and drawing. He then passes the first state examina- 46 tion^ and enters upon practical paid em- ployment in a subordinate capacity. After three years of this, he devotes two more years to study, and then passes a second state examination, when he is considered fully qualified for a govern- ment appointment in the higher grade, which he will receive as vacancies occur. Thus the complete education of the government official engiueer occupies in all eight years from the time of liis leav- ing the preliminary school, of which four years are devoted to actual practice — a feature that appears to be general in Germany, and that remarkably distin- ^uislies the German curriculum from the French one, and brings it more into anal- ogy with the English ; with, however, the very important addition of the theoreti- cal acquirements. It has, in fact, the ad- vantages of the English and the French systems combined. It is peculiar to the Prussian govern- ment system that the student must fully qualify both in engineering and architect- ure. 47 There is also in Berlin a governmonfe school for private practitioners, called the Eoyal Industrial Academy (Konig- liche Gewerbe Akademie), analogous to the Ecole Centrale of Paris. This has also the feature of requiring the educa- tion to be commenced by passing some time in practical employment. The course in the school occupies three years, and the certificate given is generally a sufficient recommendation to remunera- tive employment. In the Duchy of Baden the arrange- ments for engineering education in tho Polytechnic Institution at Carlsruhe aro noted for their perfection, and in conse- quence the school is much frequented by foreigners. Copious information will be* found as to this school ; and, in order ta convey a more complete idea of the na- ture of the education, there is added a complete list of the questions given for the examination for the Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1867-8. The de- gree of proficiency, both in theory and practice, required for the proper solution 48 of these questions must be very remark- able. The system in Austria seems pretty nearly the same as in Prussia, except that there would appear to be only one educa- tional establishment, the Polytechnic In- stitute, for all classes of engineers, and that any students are eligible for gov- ernment employment, on passing the re- quired examinations. After examination diplomas are granted, guaranteeing the theoretical and practical proficiencj'' of the student ; and licenses to practise in engineering, architecture, and surveying must be obtained from the government, according to prescribed rules. This re- striction on private practice appears pe- culiar to Austria and some neighboring states. In Prussia, and in most other German countries, as in France and England, the right to practise is free. The system in Kussia appears pretty nearly the same as in France. In Switzerland, the Polytechnic School of Zurich and the Special School of Lau- 49 Baiine bear a high character for engineer- ing education. In Italy there are also good educational arrangements. J^. Spain there is a corps of government engineers somewhat analogous to those of France, and their education is prop- erly provided for. THE COURSES OF STUDY IN" SOME OF THK LEADING EDUCATIONAL INSTITU- TIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRE- LAND WHERE INSTRUCTION IS GIVEN" BEARING ON" THE PROFESSION- OF ENGINEERING. KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON. This is one of the most frequented in- stitutions for the preparatory training of young men about to enter the profession of Civil Engineering in England. It comprises several departments of education, but the one which has more- particularly to do with this subject is the '^ Department of Applifnl Sciences/* 50 ^^hicli is thus defined by the aufliorities of the college : '* The object in view iu this department is to provide a system of general education, practical in its nature, for a large class of young men who in after life are likely to be engaged in commercial and agricultural pursuits, or in pro- fessional employments, such as Civil and Mili- tary Engineering, Surveying, Architecture, and the higher branches of manufacturing art/' It is also intended to prepare students for scientific examinations, such as those of the University of London, the Department of Pub- lic Works, India, Whitworth Scholarships, etc. The whole course occupies three years, and forms an appropriate introduction to that kind of instruction which can only be obtained within the walls of the manufactory, or by actually taking part in the labors of the surveyor, the engineer, or the architect. Tlie following subjects are taught in this department : 1. Mathematics, 2. Natural Philosophy in its various branches, including Practical and Ex- perimental Physics. These are taught by lectures and illustrations in the usual way. 51 3. The Ai'ts of Construction in con- nection with Civil Engineering and Ar- chitecture. This consists of lectures on mate- rials, foundations, the principles and practice of the design and construc- tion of railways, bridges, houses, sew- erage, tunnels, canals, docks, harbors, lighthouses, etc.; and the more ad- vanced students are exercised upon essays on various engineering ques- tions, and on constructive designs for works. 4, Manufacturing Art and Machinery, This comprises lectures on the manufacture of iron and steel, and other metals, and on machinery and manufacturing processes of various kinds ; the lectures " being intended to add a knowledge of practice to a knowledge of theory taught by the other professors.^^ The students have the opportunity of visiting works in the vicinity of London; and, at an advanced stage. 52 are exercised on essays and designs as in the last-mentioned subject. The instruction in this branch is aided by the establishment of an Engineering Workshop, in which the students are al- lowed to work, and where they have the opportunity of learning some of the sirn- plest processes of practical working in wood and metals. 5. Land Surveying and Levelling. These are taught theoretically by College lectures, and practically by exercise in the field. 6. Drawing. This comprises not only free draw- ing, but geometrical projection, and practical drawing of tlie kind used by architects and civil and mechani- cal engineers. It is taught by actual practice in the ordinary way. 7. Chemistry. Taught by lectures and laboratory practice. 53 8. Geology and Mineralogy. Taught by lectures and by occa* sional field excursions. 9. Photography, Lectures and demonstrations. Examinations are held, and prizes and certificates are given ; and a few of the students exhibiting most proficiency are elected ^^ Associates/' who are entitled to perpetual free admission, and to special honor in the College. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. This establishment is also designed to afford preparatory training to students of Engineering. It contains a Deimrtment of Civil and Mechanical Engineeringy of which a special prospectus is issued an- nually. The following extract from the pro- spectus will explain the general objects aimed at: The course of iustruction in this department is not intended to supersede the necessity of the 54 Engineeriug student serviug a pupilage on the works of a Civil and Mechanical Engineer, as it is only upon them that he can obtain a thorough knowledge of the practical details of construction; but it is designed to teach him the theoretical principles of his profession, to- gether with those habits of thought and obser- vation without which he will not be able to take full advantage of the practice that will come before him during his term of pupilage. The complete course extends over three seS' sions, and embraces the following subjects: Mathematics, pure and applied. Applied mechanics. Physics. Physical laboratory. Chemistry. Chemical laboratory. Civil and mechanical engineering. Mechanical drawing and designing. Surveying and levelling. Geology. Students who have gone through the com- plete course, and who have passed the examina- tion at the end of each of the three sessions, to the satisfaction of the professors, will be en- titled to the General Certificate of Engineering. There is also a Professorship of Archi- tecture and Construction, in which these 55 subjects are comprehensively treated in two courses, \\z. : Architecture as a Fine Art. Architecture as a Science, EOYAL SCHOOL OF MINES, LONDON The object of this School is set forta in the following extract from the pro- spectus: *' The principal object of the Institution is to discipline the students thoroughly in the prin- oiples of those sciences upon which the opera- tions of the miner and metallurgist depend. Of course, nothing but experience in the mine and in the laboratory can confer the skill and tact requisite for the practical conduct of those operations; but, on the other hand, it is only by an acquaintance with scientific principles that the beginner can profit by that experience, and improve upon the processes of his predeces- sors. " The course of study occupies three years, tod comprises the following sub- jects : Physics and Applied Mechanics. Chemistry (Inorganic). 56 Laboratory Practice. Mechanical Drawing. Geology. Palaeontology. Mineralogy. Metallurgy and Assaying. Mining. The mode of instruction is by system- atic courses of lectures, by written and oral examinations, by practical teaching in the laboratories and drawing office, and also, under certain conditions, by field excursions. Scholars who have gone through the proper course, and pass the requisite ex- aminations, are entitled to receive an of- ficial certificate, conferring on them the title of " Associate of the Royal Scliool of Mines. '^ UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. The arrangements for engineering in- struction at this establishment are thus de- scribed by the able Professor of Civil En- gineering, Mr. Fleeming Jenkin, F.R.S.; 57 ^^ The instruction provided for engi- neers at the University of Edinburgh is now, I think, fairly well organized. It consists of afc least a two-years^ course of study, arranged as follows ; First Year, Mathematics. Natural Philosophy. Engineering. Mechanical Drawing. Second Year. Summer Session. — Surveying, levelling, and setting out. Winter Session. — Mathematics. Chemistry. Engineering. Mechanical Drawing. These two years of study are followed each by a general University examina- tion, leading to a degree of Bachelor, or Licentiate of Engineering. This degree has not yet been conferred, owing to cer- 58 tain legal diflBculties, whicli are in pro- cess of removal. The course called Engineering consists of about 100 lectures in each session, and treats of the following subjects: Year A. 1. Principles of statics ; couples ; par- allel and inclined forces ; centre of grav- ity; moments of inertia. 2. Equilibrium and stability of frames, bracing-cords, ribs and linear arches. 3. Strength of materials. 4. Strength of the simpler forms in which materials are used. 5. Application of mechanical princi- ples to combined structures, especially roofs and bridges. 6. The construction of roads, railways and tramways. 7. Principles of dynamics ; Newton^s laws of motion ; conservation and trans- formation of energy. 8. Application of the principles of dy- namics to prime movers, especially to lo- comotives. 59 9. Applications of machinery to man- ufactures. Year B. 1. Application of statics to the deter* mination of frictional stability and to hy- drostatics. 2. Hydrodynamics. 3. The construction of waterworks. 4. Drainage of towns. 5. Construction of harbors. 6. Application of kinematics to ma- chinery, illustrated by millwright work. 7. The construction of the condensing steam-engine. 8. The construction of water-wheels, turbines, and primary machinery. 9. Some special applications of ma- chinery to manufacturing purposes. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. In this University the Faculty of Arts, which contains Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, includes also a Professorship of Civil Engineering, the studies in which are summed up briefly as follows: 60 The stability of structures, the strength of materials, the principles of the action of machines, prime movers, whether driven by animal strength, water, wind, or the me- chanical action of heat (as in the steam-engine), the principles of hy- draulics, the mathematical principles of surveying and levelling, the engi- neering of earthwork, masonry, car- pentry, structures in iron, roads, rail- ways, bridges and viaducts, tunnels, canals, works of drainage and water- supply, river works, harbor works, and sea-coast works. A certificate of '' Proficiency in Engi- neering Science '^ is granted to students who have passed two sessions in the above studies, and also satisfy the examiners as to their knowledge of mathematics, nat- ural philosophy, chemistry, geology, and mineralogy. The following notes on the subject are by the present able Professor of Civil En* gineering at this University: 61 Notes as to Instruction^ ik Ej^gi- KEERiNG Science, drawn up for THE INFORMATION OF STUDENTS. 1. Preliminary Education. Of the ordinary brandies of elementary education arithmetic is of special impor- tance to the student of engineering ; and he ought to be familiar in particular with the most rapid ways of performing calculations consistently with accuracy. It is desirable that he should be well instructed in engineering and mechan- ical drawing, as part cf his preliminary education ; but he may, if necessary, ob- tain that instruction during the intervals of a University course. It is also desirable, if possible , that the elementary parts of mathematics, such as plane geometry, plane trigonometry, and algebra as far as quadratic equations, should form part of his preliminary edu- cation, as thereby time and labor will be saved during his University course. 63 2. University Course. The course of study and examination adopted by the University of Glasgow is described in the Glasgow University Cal- endar, In drawing up that course the Univer- sity have had in vievv to avoid altogether any competition with the offices of civil engineers, or the workshops of mechani- cal engineers, or any interference with the usual practice of pupilage or apprentice- ship; and they have accordingly adopted a system which is capable of working in harmony with that of pupilage or ap- prenticeship, by supplying the student with that scientific knowledge which he cannot well acquire in an office or work- shop, and avoiding any pretension to give him that skill in the conduct of actual business which is to be gained by prac- tice alone. The University course may be gone through either before, during, or after the term of pupilage or apprenticeship, according to convenience. An arrange- ment which is sometimes found to an- 63 swer well is to devote the winter to aca- demic study and the summer to the prac- tice of engineering. A student who is not a candidate for a certificate in engi- neering science may attend as few or as many classes as he thinks fit. (Signed) W. J. Macquorn Rankin"e, OWENS COLLEGE. MANCHESTER. A department of Civil and Mechan- ical Engineering has been added to this College. The following extract from the pro- spectus will explain the course of educa- tion pursued: The complete course of instruction in this de- partment, extending over three years, embraces the following subjects: First Year, Mathematics. Natural philosophy (mechanics). Chemistry. Geology. Geometrical and mechanical drawing. 64 Second Tear. Mathematics. Natural philosophy (physics). . Chemistry. Mechanical engiueeriug. Civil engineering. Drawing and Surveying. Third Year. Mathematics. Natural philosophy (mathematical). Mineralogy. Engineering (Senior Class). Drawing and surveying. Successful attendance on the course will fur- nish a thorough scientific groundwork for the attainment of the knowledge requisite for the prosecution of the higher branches of tbe en- gineering profession, but it is not intended to supersede the practical training w^hich can only be obtained in the oflice of a Civil, or the work- shop of a Mechanical, Engineer. Certificates in Engineering will be granted by the College. The examination of these certifi- cates will comprise all the subjects recited above. 65 General Observations on the Poly- technic Schools of the Continent. The French commission remark on these as follows : POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTES. ^^The various institutions intended for commercial or industrial education present, under identical designations, very great diversities in Germany, but the case is different with polytechnic es- tablishments, which, under the name of GewerbS'lnstitut at Berlin, and of Poly- technic School or Institute in Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Wiirtemberg, Switzer- land, and the Grand Duchy of Baden, are intended to train civil engineers for the services of bridges, roads, mines, and manufactures, mechanical engineers, manufacturing chemists, architects, for- est engineers, etc. In all these estab- lishments scientific instruction is given in a very high degree, and sometimes €ven to an extent superior to tlie re- 66 quirements and the end to be attained ;: but/ everywhere also, the technical branch of this instruction is cultivated with the utmost care. The polytechnic institutes are at once schools of theory and of application, and present, in this respect, a very great analogy with the Central School of France. '' In all these establishments the pupils enter at seventeen or eighteen years of age, and must possess a preparatory edu- cation corresponding to the special studies they intend to follow. The choice of his branches of study having been made by the pupil, the courses he must attend are indicated to him, and become almost everywhere compulsory. However, this obligation is not always absolute, and the liberty accorded to the pupils, of not attending certain scien- tific courses, has the eflfect of inducing the professors to confine their theoreti- cal instruction within the limits of what is really useful to those divisions. "The part of the first courses which forms the scientific foundation of the 67 technical applications is usually common to several of the special divisions into which the pupils are separated, and each division likewise receives the peculiar in- struction required for it. These divis- ions, more or less numerous according to the country, are in general the follow- ing : /^ Engineers for bridges and roads. ^"^ Civil engineers for railways, etc. *^ Architects and builders. " Mechanics. *^ Manufacturing chemists. ^^ Mining engineers. " Forest engineers. "All the institutes do not comprise the same number of divisions, but the first four or five are almost universally adopted, if there be no special establish^ ment to replace them. " The peculiar arrangement and grad. ation of the studies nearly always possess a remarkable feature, which is that the first part of the studies of each special division, which reo^uires one or two years, is so regulated that it constitutes 68 a body of knowledge sufficiently com- plete to allow a young man to break off there and enter advantageously on the second-rate positions in the career he has chosen. After accomplishing this first part of the studies, a pupil may become an able assistant engineer of roads and bridges, or of civil architecture {Werk- meister), a builder (Bmimeister), over- looker or head mechanician, a dispens- ing chemist, or foreman of chemical works, a head miner, a mining overseer, a forest agent, etc. In more than one state, pupils are even required, after reaching this first stage of technical in- struction, to pass a year or two in build- ing-yards, workshops, or factories, be- fore going through the rest of thidr studies. This practice, which presents the inconvenience of interrupting the studies and exposing many pupils to the danger of forgetting a part of them, has, on the other hand, the advantage of ma- turing their minds by practice, of show- ing them the applications of science, and of not leading to higher studies any 69 but those who really have a vocation for them. It is, however, practicable only under the system of out-door pupils, which is universal in Germany, and for pursuits in which there is no limit of age/^ The duration of the instruction at the Ecole Polytechnique is two years, that of the special instruction at the Ecoles des Fonts et Chaussees et des Mines is three years. These three years comprise eighteen months of missions on works. The preparatory instruction given at the Ecole Polytechnique has comprised, from its foundation, the mathematical sciences, drawing, physics, chemistry, mechanics, hydraulics, etc., as well as the general sciences, astronoihy, and geol- ogy. The pure science acquired in this school exceeded then, and exceeds much more now, the notions necessary for the special schools of Fonts et Chaussees and of Mines. But far from being dis- advantageous, this was the germ of an intellectual development, most rapid and most elevated, for the choicest scholars, 70 and to this must be attributed the large number of savants who have come from this school. The admission to the Polytechnic School is by public competition, and to this liberal and democratic measure, as well as to the scientific success of some pupils, is due the popularity the school has enjoyed from the time of its foun- ^dation. The Bachelor^s degree in Science or Literature {Baccalaureat es sciences oic es lettres) is required for admission to the competition. The programme of the competition has undergone developments analogous to that of the instruction it- self. It comprises now the whole of arithmetic, the elementary and part of the complete instruction of geometry, algebra, trigonometry and descriptive ge- ometry, physics, and general chemistry. But the separation of the two classes (military and civil) is no longer so abso- lute in the actual exercise of the profes- sion as this classification would seem to indicate. A certain number of military 71 engineers abandon the profession of arms in order to enter into an industrial career ; engineers of the Artillery and of the Navy give themselves up in the workshops and ship-yards of the Govern- ment to studies and labors by which industry profits. As the Government has demanded hitherto but little com- petition from private enterprise in the manufacture of the arms, the ships, and the engines of the Imperial Navy, it fol- lows that important establishments are directed by State engineers, who seek to follow, if not to advance, the progress of private industry in works of the same kind. The instruction in the special schools of the Fonts et Chaussees and Mines has, for its object, the application of the sciences to public works, to the working of mines, and to the treatment of mineral matters. This range of scientific applications becomes more extensive every year ; it includes not only the public services, but nearly all large industrial enterprises. 72 The constant tendency of the State be- ing to substitute its action for that of private industry in the public services, as well as in the industrial enterprises which are connected with any political or fiscal requirements, it will be seen how important is the basis of the education given by the State to its pupils, and what a multiplicity of details it involves. In the terms of the special programme for the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees, the instruction comprises " the construction of roads, bridges, railways, canals, harbors, the improvement of rivers, civil architec- ture, applied mechanics, hydraulics, the steam engine, agricultural hydraulics, the geological and mineralogical knowledge required in the arts of construction, ad- ministrative law, and political economy.'" The pupils are exercised in drawing operations, in the preparation of designs or projects, the manipulation and testing of materials, levelling, mechanical draw- ing, etc. For half the year they are sent away to employ themselves, under the direction 73 of the chiefs of the service, in the prac- tice of the art of the engineer. ECOLE CENTRAL DES ARTS ET MANUFACTURES. The studies of the Central School may be thus briefly recapitulated : — In the first year pupils follow the course of descriptive geometry with applications; analysis, comprising the elements of the differential and integral calculus; kine* matics, general mechanics, general phy* sics, general chemistry, construction of machines, and hygienics. In the second and third year courses of applied mechanics, construction and putting up of machines, analytical chem- istry, industrial and agricultural chemis- try, constructions (civil buildings, public works, and railways), applied physics and steam engines, metallurgy, mineralogy, geology, and working of mines. The course of construction of ma- chines, which is very complete, as well as that of applied physics and steam 74 engines, and the course of applied chem- istry, are peculiar to the Central School. The teaching of mechanics is also con- ducted on a new plan, in a spirit essen- tially practical. • An accurate idea of the education given at the Central School may be formed from an attentive study of the new programmes. Whoever reads them will admit that if they have not yet reached perfection, they nevertheless pre- sent a well-ordered instruction useful to all who wish to pursue an industrial career. The oral instruction of the Central School is judiciously completed by impos- ing on the pupils numerous studies of projects, by manipulations in the labora- tory, by visiting workshops, by minera- logical and geological excursions, and es- pecially by frequent compulsory examina- tions, not only at the end of each yearns studies, but also during the courses and at their close. • 75 HOLLAND. In the Netherlands any one who pleases is perfectly at liberty to exercise the profession of engineer, architect, mechanical engineer, or engineer for the mines. Anybody, too, who chooses may style himself engineer, architect, etc.; but no Government diploma conferring such title is granted except to those who have passed the regular examinations required by law. A\\ engineers in the Government ser- vice, for the Fonts et Chaussees and the mines in India, must be duly qualified by the above-mentioned diploma. Those who wish to obtain a diploma must follow a fixed course of study in order to prepare themselves for the ex- aminations they will have to pass. Government diplomas are given for Technology, Civil Engineer, Architect, Naval Engineer (ship-building). Me- chanical Engineer, Engineer for the Mines (metallurgy). 78 These diplomas are granted on pass- ing various examinations, namely: a. A general examination (called ex- amination A) in the different branches taught at the Higher Bur- gher Schools, serving to prove the candidate's proficiency in all the preparatory studies. K Examinations in the engineering sciences themselves, differing ac- cording to the diploma demanded by the candidate: as for Civil engi- neer, two examinations are required; namely, an examination (called ex- amination B) in a^ Higher algebra. h. Spherical trigonometry and analyti- cal geometry. c. Descriptive geometry. d. Differential and integral calculus. e. Application of physics. /. Analytical chemistry in relation to building materials. g. The knowledge of building materi- als for architectural and hydraulic works. 77 A. The construction of the various parts of buildingSo i. Plain architectural and hydraulic as well as ordinary drawing. An examination (called examination 0) in a. Theoretical and applied mechanics and the knowledge of machinery. \ Hydraulic architecture, compris- iug— 1. The construction of roads, rail- ways, and bridges. 2. Sea-dykes and embankments. 3. The knowledge of rivers as means of drainage and in relation to navigation. 4. The construction of canals, sluices, harbors, and maritime works. 5. The hydrography of the Nether- lands, the knowledge of polders and mill-drainage. c. Domestic architecture, comprising — 1. The construction of plain build- in s^s. 78 2. The principals of ornamental architecture. d. Topographical, ornamental, and or- dinary drawing, as well as the draw- ing of objects required in hyiraulic worsd. €. The drawing up of plans and esti- mates. /. The elements of geodesy and prac- tical levelling and surveying. g. Administrative law, relating to en- gineering and public works, RUSSIA. There exist in Eussia five corps of Engineers of the State, viz. — 1. Military Engineers. 2. Naval Engineers. 3. Engineers of Maritime Construc- tion. 4. Engineers of Ways of Communica- tion. 5. Engineers of Mines. These Engineers receive their educa- tion in the following establishments: 79 1. At the School of the Academy of Military Engineers. 2. At the School of the Engineers and Artillerists of the Marine. 3. At the Institute of the Engineers of Ways of Communication. 4. At the Institute of Mines. All these establishments belong to the State ; there are no private ones of the kind in Russia. In 1867 the Institute of Engineers of Ways of Communication, and in 1866 the Institute of Mines, were completely re- organized so as to furnish engineers, not only for the State, but also for private industry. Also, none of the students of these Institutions are now obliged to serve six years to the State, as was the case before 1864 for the students edu- cated at the expense of the Government. The students of the Institute of AVays of Communication have changed their name to that of Civil Engineers, and the Corps of Engineers of Ways of Communica- tion is now completed by these latter; 80 the students of the Institute of Mines have retained the name of Engineers of Mines. On the Course of Studies followed at the Institute of Ways of Communication. At the former, the following subjects are taught: General notions of theology. Law, having particular reference to constructions and ways of communica- tion. Political and statistical economy. Chemistry, general and analytical. Physics, general and technical. Telegraphy. Mineralogy and geognosy. Mathematics, differential and integral calculus, and analytical geometry of two and three dimensions. Descriptive geometry, and its applica- tion to the theory of shadows, to per- epective, and to isometrical projection. Drawing. Topography, astronomy, and geodesy. Statics and analytical mechanics. 81 Applied mechanics (kinematics, living^ prime movers, hydraulics and water con- duits, aerodynamics), and the steam-en- gine. Constructive mechanics (the theory of the strength of materials and of the sta- bility of the parts of buildings). The art of construction (studies of materials, works of construction and foundations, drawing and irrigation, the consolidation of lands and slopes ; the embankment of rivers, and other means of preservation against inundations ; sew- ers, bridges, roads, and railways ; the improvement of navigable streams, ca- nals, harbors, and docks). Architecture. The preparation of designs for mechan- chanical and architectural objects, for bridges and other constructions. Every student is also obliged to study one of three languages, English, French, or German. On the Nature of the Diplomas given. The students of the fifth class of the 82 Institute of Ways of Oommuuication, ufter having passed their final examina- tion, receive a diploma, giving them authority for the direction of all kinds of works of construction, with the title of Civil Engineers. PRUSSIA. The Prussian system of combining Architecture and Engineering rules the plan of lectures at Berlin and Hanover. Mechanical engineers find in Berlin the ^^Gewerbe Academic/'' where extensive workshops offer to the students practical exercise, combined with theoretical in- struction by lectures. Those who devote themselves to the service of the State in Prussia have to pass through the following course of <3ducation. 1. General scientific education must be proved by a testimony of ^^ maturity for university/^ which can be acquired by examination when leaving the upper class of a college. 83 2. Then follow three years^ regular study at the ^^ Bau-Akademie at Berlin/* or the polytechnic school at Hanover. Part of this time may be spent at another polytechnic school. 3. One yearns practice under the super- intendence of State Engineers is afforded^ but it is permitted to combine this with the academical years, by disposing the vacation time (several months every year) for practical purposes; so that by adding these together, and with a few months afterwards, a full year is to be made up* These three conditions being accom- plished, the student may present himself for — The First Examination, Which comprises mathematics, including the differential calculus, all branches of engineering and architecture, theoretical and practical, geology and other auxiliary sciences, histoi-y of art, knowledge of styles, literature, perfect ability in draw- ing, architectural and engineering, ver- satility in projecting and estimating any 84 kind of work, calculatiug and })rojecting machinery, as far as it is used for build- ing and engineering purposes. The whole examination takes several days, by special examiners for the different stud- ies. Each of these gives separately a certificate, viz. '^distinguished,^' '^good/* ''sufficient,^' ''tolerable," "insufficient/* These are brought in the full commission, which draws the result, " Admitted,^^ or •' Not admitted.'' In the latter case, the young man may present himself again in a year or two. If admitted, he receives the title of "Baufiihrer" (Conducteur), has to promise solemnly, correct, upright, and good behavior, is declared qualified for temporary paid employment under superintendence of an official engineer or architect, and has *' public faith'^ in measuring and receiving work and ma- terials, and also in carrying accounts. Now he is at liberty to choose his way of further study and practice as he likes, and when he thinks to be sufficiently prepared he may apply for — 85 The Second Examination. The form for that is to send in an ap- plication for '' Aufgaben" (themes, prob- lems) connected with the declaration ^hat he wishes to be admitted; he is per- mitted to name that branch of the pro- fession (engineer or architect) to which he has principally devoted himself. This will be considered, to a certain degree, but without dispensation from the other branch in general. In answer to the ap- plication, the candidate receives two themes, one in architecture, another in engineering, and two years' time is left to him for coming forward with his elab- oration, which requires generally a year's hard work, consisting of about fifteen to twenty large sheets of drawings (plans, sections, facades, details of any kind, ma/3hinery, etc. etc. ), and accompanied by a voluminous explanatory report. The board of examiners have then to consider whether the elaboration is ac- ceptable, and if this is affirmed, a verbal examination takes place; the main object 86 t)f this being to prove the true author- ship of the candidate as regards the elab- oration, and to test his general knowl- edge, judgment, scientific standing, and practical views. t BADEN. At Carlsruhe in Baden there is a pre- paratory mathematical school, in which pupils are prepared for the SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING. First Yearns Course, Strength of materials (Parts L and n.)- Applied hydraulics and the mechani- ;cal theory of heat. General administrative economy. Political economy. Freehand drawing. Landscape paint- ing and water-coloring. Hydraulic works (first course). Road construction do. Constructive examples (first course). 87 Use and nature of mechanical instru* ments. Construction of machinery (first course). Chemical nomenclature. Technical course of architecture. Study of the orders of architecture (first course). Exercises in architectural projects. Constructions in masonry. General history of art. Second Year's Course. General study of manufactures. The general and more important spe» cial study of civil law. Freehand drawing ; landscape draw- ing and water-coloring. Hydraulic works (second course). Road construction (second course). The construction of railways. Examples and exercises in the con- struction of hydraulic works and roads (second course). Theoretical study of machinery. 88 Theory of the consumption of fuel and heating apparatus. The manufacture of machines (Part IL). Mechanical nomenclature. Study of architectural orders (second course). Exercises in architectural projects (Part II. ). General history of art. Third Course {six months). Hydraulic works (third course). Road construction do. The above with special reference to the Grand Duchy of Baden. Designing important engineering pre jects. Marine works. Practical geometry (Part IL). The higher geodesy. Method of fluxions. N.B. — Every year excursions are made to examine works either in process of construction or already carried out. For entrance to the Civil Engineering Department of the Polytechnic School at Stuttgart, the student must as a rule have completed his eighteenth year. He must possess a proper certificate of good moral training, and have acquired the necessary information. When under eighteen years of age the consent of his parents or guardians is necessary to his entrance into the school. He must give in a written declaration as to his education, and give evidence of possessing the knowledge without which he could not with advantage attend the professional courses of instruction. He shall prove that he possesses this preliminary knowledge before the princi- pal of the particular technical school. The Engineering Course extends throughout three years. First Yearns Course, Chemistry, mineralogy, and a knowl- edge of the structure of the earth. Practical geometry : instruments for the measurement of angles ; plain trian- gulation, and fixing stations ; eradication 90 of errors ; trigonometrical and baromet- rical levelling ; measuring distances; examples of foregoing; trigonometrical calculation of heights ; technical mechan- ics; stability of buildings ; elasticity and strength of materials ; beam-girders,, arches, retaining and ^^revetement ^* walls ; solution of practical examples ; statics and dynamics of fluids and gaseous bodies, with special reference to their im- portant applications in the practice of Engineering. Bridge construction (first course) : especially bridges in masonry, and retain- ing walls, with examples ; general struc- tures in stone and timber. Second Yearns Course. Bridge construction (second course) r with examples, viz., timber and iron bridges; foundations; management dur-^ ing construction. General study of buildings (second course), with examples: iron and mixed structures ; application of water-power and steam ; examples in the construction 91 of machinery ; history of the art of building (first course), especially with reference to the Grecian, Etruscan, and Koman manners of building. Perspective drawing: drawing figures from plaster casts ; landscape drawing from examples and from nature, in out- line aild shaded, in chalks, lead, pen and ink, brush and colors. Third Yearns Ooursti. Bridge construction (third course) : waterworks ; road and railway construc- tion, with examples; staking out; calcu- lating earthworks. History of the art of building, with examples (second course): especially with reference to Koman and Gothic build- ings. AUSTRIA. At the School of Engineering at Vienna the following is the outline of the course of study : 82 SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING. First Year. Building ; materials and the art of construction. The mechanics of construction (first course), general division. Mechanical technology. Technical physics. Analytical mechanics. General knowledge of machines. Ornament drawing. Second Year, Earthworks — setting out; tunnelling. Construction of bridges. Exercises in construction. The Mechanics of construction (second course); theory of bridges. Spherical astronomy. Higher geodesy. The knowledge of ground and Soils. Third Year. Road and railway construction. 93 Hydraulic construction. Eailway architecture. Geology and mineralogy. Law, as relating to buildings and Railways. SWITZERLAND. At Zurich the following studies are in- cluded in the engineering course: . ENGI]S"EERING SCHOOL (three years' course). First Yearns Course. Differential and integral calculus (with repetitions); descriptive geometry (with repetitions) and examples. Study of the art of building. Building drawings; plan drawing. Second Yearns Course. Study of differential equations; dif- ferential and integral calculus (with re- petitions). Technical mechanics (and repetitions). Plane geometry. 94 Study of shadows and perspective. Topography. Technical geology. Technical physics (with repetitions). Construction of machinery. Third Yearns Course. Theoretical study of machinery. Mechanics. Theory of heat, and theory of the steam engine. Construction of earthworks, bridges, and tunnels (with repetitions). Examples in construction. Construction of roads and canals. Geodesy; Plan drawing. Astronomy; administrative law. Theory of construction of iron roofs. The manufacture of rolled iron and the strength and calculations for iron girders. In a School for Engineers at Rome, Italy, the following is the schedule of study for a three-years^ course : Fir^t F^ar.— Algebra, Geometry, Descriptive Geometry, Analytical Geometry, Physics, Principles of Architectural Designing. 95 Second Year. — Higher Algebra, Deteriminants, Calculus, Chemistry, Geometrical and Orna- meutal Designing, and Topographical Draw- ing. Third Year, — Rational Mechanics, Graphic Statics, Geodesy, Mineralogy, Chemical Analysis, Geology, Construction of Machines, Bridges, Roads, and Hydraulic Works, Engineering and Architectural Designing, Mechanics applied to Structures, Properties fo Materials. 96 CHAPTER IV. OPINIONS OF PROMINENT ENGINEERS RE- GARDING THE PREPARATORY TRAIN- ING FOR THE PROFESSION. At two important meetings of the engineering societies of this country the subject of discussion was Technical Edu- cation. The first meeting was that of the American Institute of Mining Engi- neers, at Washington, February, 1876, and the second a joint meeting of the Mining Engineers and the American So- ciety of Civil Engineers, in Philadelphia, June, 1876. A few abstracts of the addresses on these occasions are given below, with the names of the speakers. The late Alexander S. HoUey, presi- dent of the American Institute of Min- ing Engineers, in his address at the Washington meeting, said : In order that the technical school should be in the highest degree useful. 97 f rmitf ul, and economical, it must instruct, not men of good general education, but artisans of good general education. The art must precede the science. The man must first feel the necessity, and know the directions of a larger knowledge, and then he will master it through and through. Mark how rapidly the more capable and ambitious of practical men advance in knowledge derivable from books, as com»pared with the progress of bookmen, either in books or in practice. Many men have acquired a more useful knowledge of chemistry, in the spare evenings of a year, than the average graduate has compassed during his whole course. These men realized that success was hanging on their better knowledge. ^Familiar with every changing look of ob- jects and phenomena, they detected the constant play of the unknown forces which underlie them, and longed for a guide to their operation, as a mariner longs for a beacon light. This practical familiarity and judgment at once re- vealed the importance of scientific facts 98 and methods, promoted their acquisi- tion, and guided their application. Un- der what comparative facilities does the mere recitation-room student, or even the mere analyst of the hundred bottles, study applied chemistry? It is to these a matter of routine duty, without a soul; they are neither stimulated nor directed by a previously created want. Beginning with theoretical and abstract knowledge, is no less an inverted process in the use- ful arts than in the fine arts; as it would be to take a course of Ruskin within brick walls, as preparatory to opening a studio, and then climbing the mountains to square nature with the book. Undoubtedly there maybe extremes in any form of educational meinod. For a youth to begin the special business of technical education by any method, prac- tical or otherwise, before he has acquired not only a common school education, but, at least, such a knowledge of polite literature and general science, including of course mathematics, as would fit him to enter one of the classical colleges, 99 should be strongly discouraged, for vari- ous reasons. It is useless to disguise the fact that the want, not of high scholar- ship, but of liberal and general education, is to-day the greatest of all the embar- rassments which the majority of engi- neering experts and managers encoun- ter. This statement cannot be deemed uncomplimentary to the class, seeing that they have risen to power despite the em-> barrassment. At the present day, the high-school systems founded by states and by private enterprise, bring such an education within the reach of every one ; and it seems of the first importance to promote, if not almost to create, a public opinion, that liberal and general culture is as high an element of success in engi- neering as it is in any profession or call- ing. But this is not all. Professional and business success is not, even in America, the chief end of life. All the social and political relations, and even personal hap- piness, are governed, not by the special- ties, but by the balance of mental cul- 100 ture. What, then, shall we say of the policy of wealthy parents — not indeed general, but too frequent— of placing an uncultured boy in a technical school, and then in works and business, without giv- ing him one chance to acquire a general and polite culture ? Many young men display a liking, and others a marked talent, in some special direction. There is no danger tliat these will be crowded out of existence by the culture necessary to make a well-balanced mind ; and tlie nearer the talent ap- proaches genius, the less imminent will be any such danger. The proposition then is, not that mere common schoolboys shiiU go into works, and then into technical schools, but that young men of more advanced general culture, when they do begin the business of technical education, shall apply to nature first and to the schoolmaster af- terward. It may be urged in favor of beginning in the technical school, rather than in the works, that mental capacity for the 101 after acquisition and application of facts and principles is thus developed. But mental training is not the product of the technical school alone. Habits of logical thinking and power of analysis and gen- eralization may be acquired in any school. And a positive objection to beginning with the technical school is, that it can- not stop at logical methods and sciences which are essentially abstract. It also at- tempts to teach about objects and phe- nomena, the first knowledge of which, if it is to be broad and genuine, must come from the fountain-head. These considerations may be further illustrated by the course of the inexpert graduate when he enters works as a mat- ter of business or of study. We 'have seen that the practical man can, at least, keep the wheels running and the fires burning, and that when he is of a cer- tain grade of ability and ambition, he will most rapidly acquire the scientific knowlcdrje and culture which, joined to Tiis practical judgment, make him a mas- ter. The unpractised graduate, hovvcver. 102 can keep neither wheels turning nor fireff burning ; he has not even the capacity of a conservator. Nor can he for a long^ time recognize, in the whirl and heat of full-sized practice, the course and move- ment of those forces about which his ab- stract knowledge may be profound. The youngest apprentices are more useful in an emergency. He must begin with the lowest manual processes, not indeed to become simply dexterous, but, as it were,, to learn the alphabet of a new lan- guage. He has started in the middle of his course instead of at the beginning. He must go back before he can advance, while the practician goes straight on. The knowledge of the schoolman about physical science, however often he may have visited works and mines and en- gines during school excursions, is essen- tially abstract ; it no more stimulates de- sire and power of practical research than the calculus creates a passion or a capac- ity for studying the actual work of steam in an engine, or the actual endurance of a truss in a bridge. 103 The disappointment of inexpert grad- uates at finding themselves so far from being experts, their inability ofttimes to pay for further schooling, the necessity that they should now begin to earn money, as they had persuaded them- selves they could so readily do upon grad- uation, discourage many from pursuing engineering, and, what is worse, send many out into practice who never do complete their technical education, but who, by the character of their work, lower the professional standard. It can hardly be urged against the pre- cedence of practical culture, that the stu- dent will get " out of practice '^ while he is in the school. He may, indeed, lose dexterity, but not the better fruits of ex- perience. In fact, those who begin as practicians, almost instinctively keep up their intimacy with the current practice. A most signal advantage of beginning technical education in the works is, that the mind is brought into early and inti- mate consideration of those great ele- ments of success which cannot be im- 104 parted in any other way — the manage- ment of labor and the general principles of economy in construction^ maintenance, and working. An early hioiuledge of these subjects moulds the whole character of subsequent education and ])ractice* There seems to bo no corresponding ad- vantage in beginning with the technical school. The fundamental mathematics and general information on physical sci« ence may bo acquired in the preliminary school. There is little doubt that the mana- gers of technical schools will favor this order of study. They want to graduate, not half-educated men, but experts. They desire, of all qualifications in the stu- dent, that enthusiasm which can only spring from a well-defined want of spe- cific knowledge. 2d. But the order of education is not the only desirable change. Whether before or after their course in the school, the hundreds of youiig men who are every year entering engineering pursuits, are wasting their time in bad metliods of 105 practical study, or, if after the school course, they are more frequently doing bad work as engineers, when they should still be only students. Hardly two engi- neers acquire any part of their practical knowledge in the same curriculum. They pick it up as best they may, usually in a manner that is wasteful of time or dam- aging to the public. While the teaching of general facts and principles and of scientific method is highly developed, there is no organized system for guiding students to direct knowledge of objects and phenomena. This statement requires two explanations : I. Apprenticeship is a school of skill in a specialty rather than a school of liberal art. It is intended for a class of men who propose to remain mere workmen, and not for the class who intend to improve and direct engineering enterprises. It imparts a degree of dex- terity far beyond the requirements of the general expert, while it would hardly im- part in a lifetime his required range of practical knowledge. II. A school of en. gineering practice, such as that of re- 106 search in zoology which was established by Agassiz, would be wholly impractica- ble, because it could be nothing less than a vast and successful establishment for construction and operation in nearly all the departments of engineering. If such a school were not commercially success- ful, and if its range were not compre- hensive, it would be unsuitable and inad- equate. Now, if there can be a system of in- struction in the one school, there can be in the other. The same discipline and responsibility, the same guidance as to precedence of study, quality of evidence, and correctness of conclusion, should hold good in both cases. To say other- wise would be to say that all knowledge should come from unaided original re- search, and that every investigator should begin, not where a former investigator left off, but where he began. It there- fore appears that there can be a school of practical engineering, but that it cannot be mere apprenticeship in engineering practice, nor a system of engineering 107 construction and operation, maintained merely for the purposes of a school. The only alternative is to establish or- ganized schools in the various existing engineering works. At first, this qdea would seem subversive of all discipline and economy, but I am assured by ex- perts in several branches of engineeriug that such would not be thfe case. Let us take, for example, a Bessemer Avorks. A score of students under the discipline, as well as under the technical guidance of a master, could be distributed among its various departments, not only without detriment, but with some immediate ad- vantage to the owner, for while receiv- ing no pay, they would become skilful, at least as soon as the common laborers who form the usual reinforcements. Students should, of course, be expected, not to work when and in what manner they might choose, but to do good and full work during specific hours. This respon- sibility as workmen would rapidly impart not only the knowledge sought in the 108 works, but a desire for higher knowledge and culture. These considerations are not merely theoretical. Several students at a time, subjected to no discipline, sometimes working hard, and sometimes not at all, may often be found in a Bessemer works, and I have yet to hear of their embarrass- ing the management in any way. The laborer has no cause for interference, as the students are not under pay, and what- ever they accomj)lish is clear gain to the three parties concerned — the owner, the student, and the operative. A large num- ber of young men may be found studying in machine shops, and sometimes earning small pay, besides having opportunity to work in all departments. The proposition is to eiilarge and sys- tematize the existing desultory study in works — to increase its usefulness to the student, and, at the same time, to make the granting of such facilities to stu- dents an object, immediately, as well as remotely, to the owners of works. To this end, the schoolmaster should be not 109 only well read in the professional litera- ture, but a practical expert who could take charge of the works himself, so that whilst best aiding the students, he could prevent their interference with the regu- lar and economical operations. His func- tions would be, not those of an instruct- or, nor, to any great extent, of a clinical lecturer, but those of a disciplinarian. The students should acquire skill, in or- der that they might acquire judgment of skill and original knowledge of materials and forces, and the master should see that they did acquire them all. He might do some service by stated examination and current criticism and suggestion, but his chief office would be to promote hon- est work, and to provide opportunity for work in all departments with reference to the economy of the student^s time and to the owner's interests. It should thus appear that these some- what radical changes in the curriculum of engineering study — first, a hand-to-hand knowledge, acquired not desultorily, but by an organized system, and afterwards 110 the investigation of abstract and general facts and their relations, would largely economize the student's time and bet- ter the quality of his knowledge. The novice is nearly as valuable a student in works as the graduate, but he is a vastly less apt scholar in the school. My own belief, founded on the study of many typical cases, is, that this order of proce- dure would produce a better class of ex- perts in little more than half the time re- quired by the reverse order; that it would always make experts ; that it would dis- courage none from finishing an engineer- ing education which would be complete in its parts, even if insufficient time were taken to fully develop it. A well-balanced culture will naturally grow in scope and in fruitf ulness. In this connection it seems proper to say a word about the royal road to learn- ing, which a few ill-advised students at- tempt to pursue. I do not refer to their availing themselves of professional data and drawings on file in engineering of- fices, but T do refer to their asking engi- Ill neers and managers to furnish them spe- cial reports on subjects regarding which their own observation would be vastly more useful to the applicants, and quite as convenieut to the respondents — re- ports on the number and duties of work- men in each department, and the particu* lars of operation and relative cost, which can only be profitably investigated by a student, when not only the facts but the reasons are ferretted out by himself, rather than transmitted to the academic grove through the post-office. In conclusion, if it should appear upon larger observation, to the profession in general, as it does appear to many of its members, that this waut of coalescence, ranging from indifference to antagonism between its scientific and practical branches, is a real and substantial fact, a larger effort would undoubtedly be made to change a condition so damaging to the profession and to the public. This inap- preciation of one department by the other is not unnatural — neither side has taken sufficient pains to observe what the other 112 side lias done. The mere scientist in- stinctively believes that the achievements of the profession are so far due to the deductions of scientists that all other causes fade into insignificance; and the practician knows that just as far as ani- mal life is from the disembodied spirit, so far is utilization of nature from the formulae of heat, chemical affinity and mathematics itself. The first step is to recognize the fact, and I beg engineers, especially those who, from their scholastic habits, see least of the everyday embarrassments which are encountered by the executive depart- ments of the profession, to take into ac- count, not only the pride of class power, which the artisan feels as keenly as the scientist, but those baser elements of dis- union, ranging from trades-unionism to counting-room dictation in technical af- fairs. Having recognized the grave and com- prehensive character of the evil, the next step should be, not I think, to attempt any violent alteration in the existing con- 113 duct of engineering by the men who are now in active service, but to change, if I may so say, the environment of the young men who are so soon to take our places, in order that their development may be larger, higher and in better balance. Two co-operative methods have been suggested — reversing the order of study, and organizing the practical school. Whatever the course of improvement may be, it becomes us to leave some heri- tage of unity to the coming race. How shall we more fitly crown a century of engineering — a century in which our noble profession has risen from compara- tive potentiality to living energy ? And as its force is multiplied by the general advance of science, it becomes the mo- mentum which evermore shall actuate the enginery of civilization. Prof. Eobert H. Thurston at the same meeting said : The question to be dis- cussed here is certainly not whether the young engineer shall have a technical training, but whether he shall secure it in one way or another of several proposed 114 methods. We are not asked whetlier he shall have such an education and train- ing, but liow sliall we give it, and when should he seek it, and where. I have said that I would specify three courses, either of which may, perhaps, accomplish the desired result. These are: First. That method which is most usually adopted, in which the student is given his education, and is then sent in- to business. Secondly. That which gives the boy a common-school education, then sends him into the office, or the field, or the workshop, to acquire a certain amount of practical experience, business knowledge and general development, and finally places him in the technical school, to ob- tain the professional education and scien- tific basis for a sound reputation, which can there be best and most readily given him. Thirdly. The course which, although usually most difficult to pursue, is, if I may judge from observation and expe- Hi rience wilh a cou.sidei-aljle niinif>er of in- Ht'duccH, the most pcrfootly and econom- ically successful. That is, a mixed course of study and practice, extending through- out tlie early life of the man up to his final and complete immersion in the practice of hu profession. It is possible that I may be influenced by that prejudice, which most men have in favor of a course which has answered its purpose more or less fully in their own cases, or in cases which liave appeared to them illustrations of great or of (;ven moderate success; but I believe that the boy who, with natural predisposition toward a certtin branch of engineering, spends his weekly holidays and his vaca- tions playing about the workshop, grow- ing up in contact with the workmen, and witnessing continually all those opera- tions which, as he becomes old enough, he learns to conduct himself, imbibing, with that wonderful accuracy and rapid- ity for which boys are remarkable, all the traditions and recognized principles of shop practice, learning the construe- 116 tion and use of tools, and now and then acquiring the art of manipulating a ma- chine or handling a tool, I believe that this boy will most easily and perfectly secure the technics of his profession. The course adopted generally in this and in all countries is the first of those specified. The boy is sent to school, and is given the usual common-school educa- tion. Upon concluding this course of study, he is sent to the college, or the technical school, and a four years^ course of higher education having been com- pleted, he is sent into business at the age of twenty or thereabouts. He has then been engaged in the work of the student all his life; habits of study have been formed, and usually he has become, to a certain extent, unfitted for the vastly different kind of occupa- tion which is now to be taken up. He has acquired habits of study, a good memory, and the ability to utilize it thoroughly, and has learned to make logi- cally correct deductions from properly grouped facts. He lacks usually, how 117 ever, the power of quickly perceiving and promptly acting upon such perception. He probably lacks decision, has lost some of that strength of character which may have been his by inheritance, and he has none of that experience which is as essen- tial as character and knowledge to suc- cess in business. He may possess a great store of learning, both general. and pro- fessional, a weli-trained mind, a sound judgment, and all that scholastic habits and training can give him, but he lacks the noi less essential knowledge of men and of things which he can only obtain by a personal contact. He cannot man- age his employes without either making unreasonable demands upon them or yielding to them more than is just. He knows nothing of methods of conducting business, and cannot have become accus- tomed to the hard rubs which so seriously disturb the tyro, and which so often dis- courage him at the outset. Habits acquired in youth are always diflBcult to modify in later years. His habits are those of the student, and he 118 must inevitably find it a seriously diffi- cult matter to acquire the peculiar and distinctive habits of the business man. 'Once succeeding, however, he will rarely fail of full success. The exceptional course in this country, and I presume in Europe, is the second •of those outlined. The boy goes to the shop, or the office, immediately after completing his grammar or high school <30urse, and learns the trade which leads most directly toward the profession which he proposes to enter; or, under the tui- tion of some practitioner, he acquires a knowledge of the ordinary routine of work and some idea of the character of the greater problem which he may ex- pect to be confronted with in later years. Arriving at the age of twenty, he sees the advantage of the possession of a knowledge of the science of his profession and he leaves his practice for a time and devotes himself to study in some techni- cal school. His difficulty now is to acquire habits of study and the student^s power of mak- 119 ing his own that knowledge which h& finds in books, and of grasping experi- mental data and of collating essential facts and grouping them systematically, and of deducing from them general laws of precise definition, and of well-deter- mined range of application. He has ta reacquire the mathematician's power of basing upon a statement of accurately defined conditions generalizations which find practical application in every de- partment of human knowledge. He ha& to regain that fondness for research and study of which his business life has done; so much to deprive him. On the other hand, he has learned by experience to prize knowledge, both for its own sake and for what it will enable him to accomplish. He has learned in what direction he is to expect most aid from literary attainments and scientific- knowledge. He can, to a certain extent,, distinguish between those branches of study which give only a mental gymnas- tic training and tliose which enable him to accomplish two objects simultaneously 120 — to acquire a store of valuable knowl- edge aud, at the same time, to profit by a DO less useful mental fulness of stature; becoming more of a sage and moi-e of a man at the same time. On the whole, I suspect that the ad- vantages of this method more than coun- terbalance the disadvantages, and I have no doubt that, could this course be gen- erally adopted, it would be seen to have an importance in the acceleration of pro- fessional progress which we probably hardly realize to-day. Two great obstacles intervene to pre- vent the general adoption of this plan. The first is that conservatism which al- ways retards the introduction of any- thing new, and which usually makes it necessary to agitate for at least a genera- tion before a really great change can be l^rought about. Even when all are agreed on the question of the propriety of a step such as this, it is usually along time before the public inertia is fully over- come. This is well illustrated by the fact that the necessitv of technical edu- 121 cation itself — proposed two centuries ago, and fairly inaugurated a century ago by Vaucanson, the father of the great Oo7i^ servatoire des Arts et Metiers at Paris — is only just now beginning to be universally acknowledged by even those who are not hampered by a traditional proclivity in favor of the old Greek non-utilitarian idea of a purely gymnastic system of education. The second great obstacle is the nat- ural, and almost universally observed, reluctance of the young man, who has once become fairly inducted into busi- ness, and who sees oppoitunities opening to him in the immediate future, to give up all and to return to the school to secure advantages which his reason tells him are still more important, but which he, nev- ertheless, cannot fully realize, looking upon them as he does from a standpoint which does not permit him to see them as distinctly as he may in after life, when experience has confirmed the previous judgment. An active, energetic, and ambitions young man can rarely bring 122 himself to the point of going back to the scliool after having once tasted the pleasures of success in business. Where this has been done, however, it has been almost invariably the fact, if I may judge from my own observation of quite a number of cases, the result is a most encouraging one. Could this plan be generally adopted, it would not only be decidedly better for the young man him- self, but it would prove vastly better for the schools. The greatest difficulty met with in carrying out a satisfactory course of technical instruction in the schools, is that of finding students who have suffi- cient ripeness of intellect and of judg- ment, and sufficient physical strength to comprehend readily, grasp fully, and re- tain pei'fectly, the principles which are presented to them. Boys are sent to technical schools without well-developed habits of study, with insufficient and superficial preparation, with minds un- ripe and with bodies still taxing their systems by the drain of that vital power 123 needed in carrying on the operations of physical development. Were the la:t considered, plan adopted, they would come to this work, which demands all the powers of maturity, with body and mind full developed, and with an under- standing of the extent, difficulty, and im- portance of the work to be done which would insure vastly better performance, and the accomplishment of vastly more in the time assigned to the course. The work of the instructor would be rendered more easy and more satisfactory to both himself and his pupil. The time would be far better utilized, and the greatest good would be accomplished in' the given time and by the expenditure o\ the given amount of time and funds. It is in this direction, I am pleased to find, that our President is looking fox higher efficiency in technical training. If the plan which he proposes, of mak- ing our larger manufacturing establish- ments advanced technical schools, can be carried out, it will prove, I am sure, a lone^ step in the rig:ht direction. The 124 final portion of the work of education would be done at a time when the student has attained sufficient maturity to appreciate it, and in the midst of such influences as will most effectually im- press its value upon him. I sincerely hope that a way may be found of initiat- ing this method of tuition, and that we may soon learn just what we are to ex- pect from it. Difficulties will undoubt- edly arise, but w^ith the exercise of care in the choice, from among the many of the few w^ho are adapted by nature and inclination to the pursuit of the profes- sion, and w^ith tact on the part of the instructor and a hearty good ^\\\\ on the side of the manager of the works, both, hand in hand, w^orking for the accom^ plishment of an object the importance of which both appreciate, there can arise no insurmoui] table obstacle to final and complete success. During the genf^ral discussion Mr. Os- w^ald J. Heinrich remarked as follows: There cannot be the least doubt, that at no time in the past has a partial edu- 125 cation and training been sufficient for a man to fill, creditably, any position of importance in the various codlings of the technical profession, and we need not expect that it will be different in the future. While partial experience alone, after perhaps a lifetime spent in a par- ticular calling, may fit a man for a spe- cific purpose, facts are not wanting to show that even such a man may commit gteat errors, or even blunders, in disre- garding well-known principles which would be thoroughly understood by one of far less practical experience, but pos- sessing a school education. It is true, a really good practical man, with indomit- able energy, may succeed ultimately, but probably only after dearly-bought expe- rience, which otherwise could have been avoided, and wasted time and money saved. This being the era when the state of cultivation of a nation is meas- nred, to a great extent, by the most thorough use made of waste, material, we we may just as well say, also, that this should be extended to the imponderable 126 items of time and brain. On the other hand, a young man of a thorough theo- retical education may deliver a lecture before a set of practical men which would fill them with admiration and awe, and yet he might be puzzled by the same set of men if called on to show how to do some simple practical operation. But the result may be, that other practical men may exult over the apparent superi- ority of the "indomitable^^ spirit of the practical man (probably themselves too- ignorant to judge of the cost of his ex- perience), and sneer at the xailure of the scholar, and thus bring discredit on the attempts at liberal education of man- kind. A long life in various practical callings may fit a man to fill even emi- nent positions, anil, by being cautious, he may avoid such losses as have been enumerated, while, on the contrary, the unpractical scholar, possessed, as it is fre- quently the case, of too much self-reliance and mere book experience, may waste time and money to overcome practical diflSculties. It is therefore not surpri«- 127 ing to see the scale often over-weighted on the practical side. It follows naturally^ particularly in this country, that preference is given to the practical man. Unfortunately^ for want of thorough understanding of the subject, the choice often falls upon a so- called practical man, and educational training has fallen into disrepute. The great drawback to obtaining a thorough, practical, and theoretical education in this country, will probably be less found in the means offered, than in the unwill- ingness to spend the time and money necessary to obtain it. The order of the day in this country, ^^to make money, ^^ and, to a great ex- tent, judging the capacity of a man ac- cording to the amount of money he has, or is earning, will unquestionably be a great drawback yet awhile. On the other hand, it is also impossible to obtain suflScient knowledge and experience dur- ing a few years of training, and in one particular course of instruction. Taking my own experience, I had the 128 good luck, from my early boyhood until J had arrived beyond the years of matu- rity, to be alternately occupied in practi- cal pursuits, and in receiving educational training, at schools of various grades. Until I had arrived at the age of twenty- three years I had never earned money worth speaking of, but spent my time from my fifteenth year in apprentice- ships and going to various technical schools and public works. In my coun- try, boys intending to devote themselves to technical occupations generally pursue the following plan, partially even regu- lated by law. After passing through the higher grades of the common school up to fifteen or sixteen years of age, where even, to some extent, Latin and Greek, but particularly modern languages, and the elements of mathematics and natural sciences form a part of the system of in- struction, they are regularly apprenticed to the particular branch of business they intend to take up afterwards. As ap- prentices, they pass their regular time as carpenters, masons, pattern-makers. 129 moulders, machinists at mines or furna- ces, etc. Generally night schools, or schools during part of the winter — in- dustrial schools — are visited during their time of apprenticeship, the time so spent being allowed as regular apprenticeship. They receive little or no pay during this time, according to choice snd circum- stances. After spending several years in. this way, they enter the higher grades of the technical schools or colleges, to pass through a thorough course of scientific training, at the same time, in various ways, being constantly reminded of the practical duties necessary to be per- formed by them hereafter, by making excursions during the period of lectures, and during vacation visiting the public works and shops of the country. After graduating at these schools^ they enter again for a time as volunteers at the dif- ferent public works or private establish- ments, and are glad to be takert as such, without receiving any compensation, sometimes even paying for the privilege. After such a course, and proper exami- 130 nations^ they are only considered, even at private works, to be fit to take a sub- ordinate position, and are often only too glad to get it. I consider a good general education more than desirable before entering prac- tical life for various reasons. The prin- cipal reason is, that tho mind of the boy is more susceptible to mental training and exercise. During his apprenticeship, or attention to practical work, he will find out the great help he may derive from educational training. This is kept up by attending the night or industrial schools during that time. These pre- liminary studies, connected with practi- cal exercise, will balance mind and body, both essential for a young man in those years of life. He will be by far a more attentive scholar at the higher grade schools, at least so far as my experience has gone, and will profit m^ore by attend- ing such schools than generally is th« oase with those who have first passed through the entire collegiate or classical course of studies. I consider this a very 131 natural consequence of the necessary course of studies in industrial schools, they being better designed to prepare for subsequent training than the old faculty studies of law, medicine, theology, etc. At the joint meeting of the Mining^ Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers, in Philadelphia, in dis- cussion of the subject of engineering, education. Dr. E. W. Eaymond, the* President, made an address of which the- following is an abstract : " I wish to emphasize what I remarked on a former occasion, that whether technical instruc- tion be preceded or followed by manual practice, one thing must precede both,, to insure the highest success in any profession, and that is general culture. For success is a social matter; it de-^ pends upon a man^s influence over men. Knowledge of facts and laws in nature will not achieve it. The most thorough metallurgist or engineer needs to be able- to make other men recognize his ability. Nay, long before he can acquire thor- oughness, he is dependent upon other 132 men for every chance of practice. A liberal education gives power over men; and the technical education, which gives power over matter, will be twice as easily gained, and twice as effective when gained, if it is grounded upon the men- tal discipline and the moral strength of a, culture wider than its own. The more one observes the careers of men about him, and the more one wres- tles with difficulties of one's own, the more profound becomes the conviction that a young man makes a great mistake, w^ho, because he is going to take a tech- nical education in engineering, deliber- ately decides that he will not have any general culture to begin on. I am not spea!:ing of the men who, struggling against cruel necessity, make their way honorably and effectually, in spite of early disadvantages. Such often win a place among the greatest names. But the reason is very simple. It is just the same reason as makes the Indian a hardy son of the forest. Excessive exposure, hardship, insufficient food and clothing. 133 do not make men hardy; they merely kill off the men who are not hardy, and those who survive must be the vigorous ones. Poverty, ignorance, isolation, dif- ficulty, are not elements of strength; they are obstacles over which strength, and strength only, can triumph. Infi- nitely better they are than the luxury that drowns ambition and breeds swamp- gases of indolence and vice; but in them- selves they are hindrances. A man who is truly a man will not be enervated, but en- larged and stimulated by liberal culture I would appeal to no one sooner than to our self-made men for a hearty recog- nition of the valtie of such preparation. They have felt the lack of it too keenly not to wish for their children a better chance. Now, with due caution against the waste of time, I cannot doubt that a general culture, though it may not be the quickest preparation, will lead to the best results. I remember the remark cf a man of great success and quick obser- vation, who assured me that if his son would become a metallurgical engineer. 134 he would put him through college first, and let him begin his special studies afterwards. I am not prepared to say that an entire college course is necessary, or that it is the best preliminary course, though I have a high opinion of it, but something equivalent to it, or to a part of it, that is, what our German cousins give to their young men in the Gymna- sium, They give to them a liberal cul- ture in the beginning; and it is a very remarkable thing, that amongst the many skilful metallurgists and mining engineers from Germany with whom I have had the pleasure of becoming ac- quainted, I have found a large propor- tion who had learned Greek and Latin, could perhaps even play on some musical instrument, and were widely acquainted witli literature. Finally, we must recognize the fact that individual character is, after all, the decisive element in success. We may devise plans without end to facili- tate the manufacture of skilful engi- neers, but the men who have fidelity, 135 honor, virtue, courage, and that genius ^hich has been well defined as the power •of application, will make their way sure- ly to the top, either by the help of our S/rrangeinents, or in spite of them all ; and of these born and bred leaders of the profession, those who have the broadest culture, other things being equal, w^ill stand easily first. ABSTRACT OF MR. THOMAS C. CLARKE^S* ADDRESS. I would recommend that the engineer- ing pupil get as sound a general educa- tion as possible, including the principles of the sciences. Let his early education be rather that of general culture, developing his mind, strengthening his powers of observation and judgment, teaching him to generalize. This course he should, if possible, pursue up to the age of eighteen or twenty. Before that age the mind and body are not generally sufficiently developed to endure the physical hard- .ships of engineering. Then let him * American Society of Civil Engineers. 136 spend several years in practice in the machine shops, in the field, in the draft- ing-room, and in the office. Let him learn to deal with men and things, and to understand the conduct of affairs. Whether he will return to his books again depends upon what sort of a man he is. I believe that all men, or nearly all men, from the natural constitution of their minds, fall into one of two classes. They are either the men of executive ability, the practical men, par excellencey those who have a natural talent for af- airs, the organization of labor, and the direction of men ; or else they are the men of science, the investigators, the men who are hungry for knowledge, and will learn the reason why. Very rarely one man unites bot^ qualifications. James Watt did, and so did Professor Morse, but such men are rare. If the young engineer belongs to the executive class, having once plunged into practice, he will probably never go back to his books. But the other kind of man 137 will do so, either by himself or in the schools. When he will have found out exactly what his deficiencies are, and he will be able to judge (much better in most cases than his professor can) what it is desirable for him to learn, you may be sure of one thing, he will study the principles of science, and pay very little attention to their application as taught in the schools. He will not spend his time over the pages of Eankine, learning how English permanent way was made twenty years ago, before Mr. Bessemer was heard of. Whatever he studies will be of value to him, and no one can judge of that better than he can. One thought more and I have done. To all classes of engineering students let me point out the immense value of ac- quiring and fully understanding the sci- entific metliod. This is, first, the art (for it does not come by nature) of observing facts and acquiring data; second, of observing the relations of phenomena and of drawing conclusions therefrom; third, of verifying 138 those conclusions by observation and ex- periment. Robert Stephenson, in alluding once to the vast progress of modern engineer- ing, in which he himself had born so distinguished a part, said : *^^ We found it a craft, and we have left it a profession/' That is to say, it had been put on a sci- entific basis, and by the use of the scien- tific rnethod. This, after having been ap- plied to the construction of railways, is now beginning to be applied to their management, and the results are remark- able, and promise to be more so. ABSTRACT OF THE ADDRESS OF MR. COLE- MAN" SELLERS, AM. SOC. C. E, It is safe to say, that a young man, after passing through college properly, and having a good sound education, who determines to succeed in the workshops at any hazard, will in two years make him- self so valuable in the position that he occupies, as to be elevated by his em- ployer into something higher. Now I say that I thought of this very 139 deeply in the case of my own sons, and I did precisely, and I am doing precisely what I have just told you. I was not at all surprised, when I found my eldest son, after leaving the university, accepting a position in the workshop a little better than a common laborer. He commenced by chipping the scale out of the boiler. 1 tell you it Avas the best thing for him, because he made a beginning at the bot- tom, and did not shirk his work; it was as much as to say that he was willing to learn all that could be taught him in the Bhop, and he rapidly rose to a position higher than many who had been longer at work, but who had less book learning to back them. It is impossible to make engineers out of pupils who have not engineering abil- ity. There must be something in them that will compel them to take it up as a profession, and succeed in it. I am now clearly of the opinion that as it is not in the power of most young men to take the college course, and then afterward to take the technical course; that it is far 140 better for them to obtain what scientific^ knowledge they can in a good college, or in a technical college where something else is taught besides the exact sciences, where they can be taught the languages, not the dead languages but the modern languages, and taught at the same time rhetoric, composition, and all that will enable them to express themselves ; and by all means let them have a good sound basis of mathematics before they venture their education in the work- shops. Then when they have entered the workshops there will be time to ac- quire technical education without schools. I have no doubt that many who have been liberally educated, have, after en- tering the shop, felt the want of some technical education, and have broken away from the shop, and gone into schools to learn. They felt the need of obtaining more knowledge, and that the time they spent in the college or school was not sufficient. I do not think it advisable as a rule however, to take the boy from the work- 141 bench and send him to school a second time. I have in some instances noted the effect of such a course upon young men to be disadvantageous. If the boy has left school too soon, and feels after- wards the want of more knowledge, it is well enough, if he can, to return to his studies, but such return makes sometimes a disadvantageous break in his habits. I look upon it rather as a means of mend- ing a defect in education rather than a course to be pursued as prearranged with an objecto By not attempting to teach too muoh ^^ practice ^^ in the schools, time is left to give a good grounding in gen- eralities, which cannot fail to be of use in any walk of iife^ and which can be better acquired when one is young. The practising engineer Jhas not only to master his profession, but he must learn how to place himself and his works before men so as to be seen of them and appreciated by them. He requires a very extended knowledge ; all learning will at one time or another be of use to him ; and habits of study, which will enable him to con- 142 tinue a student to the end of his days, will the more readily fit him to rise in his profession, and make him a leader among men. ABSTRACT OF THE ADDRESS OF COL. W. MILNOR ROBERTS, AM. SCO. C. E. It may be necessary, or at least ad- Tisable, when considering the subject of the proper method of training the young engineer, to have special reference to the particular branch of engineering he in- tends to follow. For any branch there must of course be a proper foundation, to the extent of a good English education (if German and French are added, it would be decidedly advantageous), and a ready use of figures, and of mathemati- cal principles, to precede both technical engineering study, and practice — this in any branch. In mining engineering particularly, the student, to be reasonably accom- plished, should also understand chemis- try, as well as geology and mineralogy. 143 In the other branches of engineering, chemistry may not be so necessary or important, although it is a kind of knowledge which is useful to all engi- neers. An accomplished civil engineer should be familiar with mechanical en- gineering, and not ignorant of mining engineering, though he need not, neces- sarilj^, be an expert therein ; it could hai'dly be expected of him. His chief or highest duties are not embraced in either of those branches, and his princi- pal requisite is ready, sound judgment, and the more this is strengthened and confirmed by experience, the better for his employers as well as for himself. Sound Judgment can never be wholly the result of education, either technically in the schools, or in engineering practice, because it does not always accompany knowledge or even experience. For civil engineering, the teaching and training in those higher schools, where this de- partment, with the use of instruments, is a regular course, the student can learn all that is necessary for him to know. 144 before takiug a very subordinate position in a regular engineer corps in the field, where he would still have much, very much, to learn, which cannot be conveyed to him thoroughly in any other than this final school. It may not be equally practicable to organize "practical schools under the direction and discipline of experts in en- gineering works/^ in all of the branches of engineering, but in mining and metal- lurgical engineering it seems to me to be quite practicable and desirable, likewise in mechanical engineering. In civil engineering the real school is largely in the field, beginning with the rapid preliminary explorations of lines of canals, or railroads, or projections of water-works, etc., extending through the processes of provisional and final loca- tions, up to the planning and construction of the various works and structures appropriate to the particular improve- ment. Those who by great experience become experts in civil engineering, are usually too closely occupied in the p^o- 145 fessional conduct of works lo take an active or controlling part in the business of educating younger members, excepting as above indicated, by having them in their corps on active duty of some kind. The day may come in this country when civil engineering may assume a somewhat different shape, but at present it appears to me that the polytechnic schools in our country, in which civil engineering is a leading feature, furnish adequate train- ing for young men desirous of becoming civil engineers. Of course the more thoroughly the teachers are themselves grounded in the practice as well as the principles of civil engineering, the better it is for the pupils, though it may be well to consider that the most expert, and the most experienced in practical engineer- ing, are not necessarily the best teachers. There are men peculiarly well adapted to shine and succeed as teachers of young engineers, who would not be selected to take the responsible practical manage- ment in particular lines of civil engi- neering, while there are many instances 146 of good practical engineers who would be likely to do no honor to a technical pro- fessorship. FROM THE ADDRESS OF MR. ASHBEL WELCH, MEMBER OF THE AMERICAIS^ SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. I suppose all agree that the future engi- neer should remain in the school or college till he is eighteen or twenty years old, and should get all the general education ho can, up to that time, before he begins his professional education. But experieace shows that a long course of technical study, preceding and unac- companied by professional practice, is highly inexpedient. I propose to glance at some reasons why it is so. The object of the philosopher is to attain scientific results; the object of the engineer is to attain directly benefi- cial ends by using those results. One gets up the tools, the other works with them. Engineering education should therefore aim at readiness and skill in the application of science, rather than at 147 scientific investigation or accumulation. The habit of mind good for one, is, when carried far, bad for the other. Too long study of science without applying it in practice, induces a habit of allowing knowledge to lie dormant in the mind, of regarding it as end, not as means, and to a greater or less extent, produces in- capacity for applying it. Many years ago, a foreigner was found on a work under my charge, plying the shovel and wheelbarrow, who had ac> quired a large amount of knowledge b} years of study at a continental uni versity. But though he knew so much, ;and was so expert in abstract science, h(; was unable to make any earthly use o\ it. He could not be taught to apply ix to anything. In learning a giant, ho was a child in everything else. This may be an extreme case, but it illustrates the tendency of all study and no prac- tice. On the other hand, practice keeps one on the qui vive to know the reasons for doing things, and the laws that operate. 148 Old George Stephenson, for example, picked up a great amount of knowledge, because his practice made him hungry for it, and enabled him to assimiliate it. Men of practice come to know, by what looks like intuition, things that science teaches other men only by a long course of reasoning. The habit of applying knowledge is more influential in induc- ing men to acquire it, than the posses- sion of it is in inducing them to apply it. A habit acquired in the practice of turning knowledge to account, is more valuable than a large amount of knowl- edge. In Franklin^s time, myriads of men had much more knowledge than he had, but his habit of applying it made his little more valuable than their much. Of course a man must have some science before he can apply it. But this he can get at school, or college, or in a sliort course at a technical school, while his mind is yet flexible. But a long course, reaching to a more matnie period of life, fixes in the now rigid mind 149 a habit unfavorable to engineering suc- cess. It can hardly be doubted that instruc- tion in works should^ when possible, accompany that in the technical school ; just as the young lawyer or doctor learns to practice while studying. Too much time spent on scientific abstractions and refinements (however useful such things may be to the philos- opher) is more than wasted by the engineer; it unfits him for practical use- fulness. Napoleon said La Place was good for nothing for business; he was always dealing with infinitesimal quanti- ties. A general ought to have been a captain in his younger days, but if a man con- tinues to perform captain^s duty up to the age of fifty, he is not likely to make much of a general. So an engineer should begin low down. But the student should not be kept long in acquiring mere manual skill. What he wants is mental skill. He should be practically familiar with iron, but it 150 would do him little good to be expert in making horseshoes. It is only early practice that can teach the self-reliance, energy, and enterprise so essential to an engineer's success. The engineer has to do with cases where the laws of nature act in different directions. Science alone cannot often give the exact resultant of those forces, sometimes unknown, often separately in- capable of measurement. Experience must give the habit of estimating what allowances should be made for unknown actions and unknown quantities. Men of science once told the engineers to make fish-bellied rails, so that they should not break in the middle. The foundry laborers that broke up pig-iron could have told them that the rails would break close by the supports. Sci- ence teaches that with perfectly elastic bodies the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence; practice teaches that with material bodies as they are, it never is. Time was, when for such reasons, there was some truth in the say- 151 ing, that tlie stability of a structure was inversely as the science of the builder. The best engineering is that which in the long run accomplishes the purpose at the least cost. The engineer should not be a mere engineer, looking only at en- gineering results, for then he will lose sight of their subordination to economic results. In this way so many parties have been ruined by splendid engineer- ing. Actual practice, where money is scarce, is the best way to impress this on the young engineer. He should learn not to do, propose, or advocate anything that will not pay. ABSTRACT OF THE ADDRESS OF PROF, FAIRMAN ROGERS. " In my opinion the time at the disposal of the student, before he enters upon the actual practice of his profession, can be best employed in the schools, without practical work, further than the small amount which may be necessary to fix in his mind the theoretical principles which have been presented to him, provision 152 for which can be made by very simple workshops and laboratories under the control of the professors. Beyond that, I doubt very much whether the attempt to combine practical with theoretical in- struction gives an equivalent for the time spent, and I believe that the interrup- tion of the course by a year or two years of practical work in a shop or in the field would not in the main be attended wdth any satisfactory result. Habits of continuous study are formed with diffi- culty, and should not be broken in upon until the time arrives for them to be exchanged for habits of work. The industrious student may, with, undoubted advantage, spend his vaca- tions in each year of his study in such observations of practical matters as he may have opportunities for, a course which will result in fixing in his mind very strongly the principles presented to him by his text-books and his instruc- tors. There are so many things that can be taught properly only in the regular pro- 153 gressive methods of the schools, such a^ pure and applied mathematics, and mechanics, and the like, that there seems to be every reason for embracing the opportunity which can never occur again, and requiring the student to devote his time exclusively to such sub- jects. Once launched into the hurry and excitement of practice, the young man finds the systematic pursuit of such knowledge difficult, if not almost impos- sible. Other subjects in the same category are those based upon the digested ex- perience of many investigators, which,, though to a certain extent empirical, and wanting the logical completeness of mathematical investigations, must be adopted as embodying the principles which underlie practice. Belonging to this class are the laws of the regimen of rivers, the action of cur- rents, and the flow of tidal streams, or the various matters of shop or construc- tive practice which a man must know 154 -thoroughly at the very outset of his career, and which have been reduced to form by the labor of hundreds of indi- viduals. We may be assured that the young man who goes out into the world with an entirely thorough theoretical education properly given to him by competent, progressive, live instructors, will be in a position in which he cannot make seri- ous mistakes, and from which he will surely in the long run distance those competitors who are less thoroughly pre- pared. The absence of an exact knowledge of the principles which underlie practice is, I think, painfully apparent in the larger number of so-called practical men, and while we constantly hear the practical man regretting that he has not had the opportunity of obtaining that theoretical knowledge which appears to him to be so desirable, we rarely hear the man whose theory has preceded his practice com- plain in the opposite direction. In a case that came under my notice 155 some years ago, a portion of a new build- ing was covered with a half-span, lean-to, iron roof, from which was suspended a light ceiling which hid the framing from view. With the first heavy fall of snow of the succeeding winter the roof fell in, and the removal of the ceiling disclosed a curious condition of affairs, which accounted sufficiently for the accident. The contractor being sent for, ex- pressed unbounded surprise, and insisted that, as he had put up several tvhole-sip'dn roofs, from the same drawing, of eighty feet span, this half'SipSin roof of only forty feet ought to have been unneces- sarily strong, and it was difficult to ex- plain to him that, by cutting his drawing in two, he had converted an inch and a half round iron tension rod, which was amply strong, into a compression piece which was useless. In my opinion no properly educated graduate of an engi neering school, in his first year of prac tice, could possibly make that mistake, and yet I am certain that similar things, coming out of well-known workshops. 156 will present themselves to the minds of many of my hearers. A similar case is stated to have oc- curred in England, where somewise indi- vidual attempted to give additional sup- port to a whole-span iron roof which was thought to be rather light, by inserting a row of columns under the centres of the principal rafters, with the same satisfac- tory result. In individual cases the precise method of education may be modified by the peculiar connections of the student giv- ing him extraordinary facilities in certain directions, but I Avould sum up my re- marks by saying that the best time for a young man to acquire a systematic knowledge of the fundamental principles of his science is while he is in the school, and while he is attending to what is usually called his education, and we may feel assured that he will rapidly over- come whatever temporary disadvantages he may labor under in the outset of his career for want of practical knowledge, and in a thorough and scientific manner 157 apply those unchanging principles which have sunk into his mind and become a part of his professional nature. remarks of the president, dr. r. w, raymo:n^d.* It has been a very remarkable dis- cussion in some respects. The unani- mity of feeling in one particular has been manifest, namely, as to the value of broad and general culture. This is very agreeable, because it shows that all the engineers are in favor of that thing; yet I may say that the parents in this coun- try as a class are just the other way. When an American father talks of putting his son into any special profes- sion he says, ^' I am not going to send my son to college, because he is going to be an engineer. I will take him out of col lege. ^^ He says, '' My son is going to be a merchant; I will take him out of college ;^^ and parents are all the time pulling their sons out of college because they are going to go into some special * Am. Institute of Mining Engineers. 158 line. As I say, the tendency on the parts of fathers is exactly contrary to the tendency on the part of experts. When a man happens to be both an ex- pert and a father, like my friend, Mr. Sellers, then the boy gets a wise prelim- inary training. But he has put his boy into his own line, and he understands what is necessary in that line. It is not difficult for a hen to bring up her chickens; it is when the hen hatches a duck that the trouble comes in; and it is the fathers who are ministers, doctors, and lawyers, who have seen some young men rise to wealth perhaps in engineer- ing, and have got a vague notion that it would be a good thing to make engineers out of their sons, it is such fathers who are apt to think they must take off a portion of the general culture, because they fancy it does not require so much general knowledge to enter the engineer- ing profession. They may be the sound- est men on other subjects, but they know nothing about engineering. 159 ABSTRACT OF THE ADDRESS OF PROF. C. 0. THOMPSOlir. In this discussion some have held that the order should be handicraft, technics, culture; others culture, tech- nics, handicraft; and others would ar- range in other ways. But there is one objection to all these sandwiching methods. Practically we cannot hold our young men in training till twenty- five. They will go at twenty-one or twenty-two. The period of sharp acquis- itiveness, the most precious part of school-life, lies between sixteen and twenty-one. Now, whichever part of a boy^s triune discipline for an engineering life is allowed to usurp that period to the exclusion of the others, that will be the dominant force in his after-life. If culture, then practice will suffer; if practice, culture will suffer. Either part will be, as it were, attached to, or subordinated to, the one which " rules the favored hour/^ Hence it seems to me that all possible culture should be 160 secured before a student begins his technological course, and that it should be looked to ever after. It must not be forgotten that culture is a result, or rather a growth. All we can do is to prepare the soil. The plant will as- suredly grow. Perhaps, too, the best and only useful culture is to be looked for in the life for which any school training prepares a man; for I take it,, we are not now speaking merely of the cultivation of the aesthetic part of man, but of that discipline of the judgment,, awakening of the imagination, sharpen- ing of perception, repression of conceit, and elevation of motive, which consti- tute a serviceable and efficient man of refined taste and unquestionable integrity and courage. Let us secure as large a foundation as possible m general knowledge before the beginning of the technical course, and not lose sight of the bearing and rela- tions of all knowledge during this course. But let us blend technics and handicraft in the technolo^-ical course. The drift 161 of this discussion has been unmistakably towards the affirmation that the technol- ogist of the future is to be the educated workman. It is to the man whose own hands can execute, if need be, the behests of his brain, that the great engineering works of the future are to be entrusted. Engineering, so happily defined by the retiring President as " the arts of pro- duction and construction/^ including mechanical, civil, mining, and chemical branches, more and more condenses into mechanics. Indeed, all branches of engineering seem to react upon mechan- ics, forming compounds like different acids upon a common base. We are coming to think that, if a man is to be a civil engineer, he had better begin by being a mechanic. If he is to be a min- ing engineer, he had better begin by being a mechanic. If he is to be a chemical engineer, he had better begin by being a mechanic. This is true, at least, of all study of applied science. Now, as to the amount of preliminary culture, it is desirable that at least what 162 is included in fitting for college should be secured. I do not think graduates of college in general will be drawn to tech- nical pursuits. The whole drift of the college is averse to them. Few boys are so powerful polarized as the sons of the honored member who spoke last evening. What might be very easy for Mr. Sellers would bevery difl&cult forafatberinothep walks. In short, it seems to be the best available method for the average boy to fit him for college, then send him through a technical course in which handicraft shall find a place; then let him enter some manufacturing or engineering works^ and see what it all means. ADDRESS OF MR. FREDERICK J. SLADE,. MEMBER OF THE AMERICA:tT INSTI- TUTE OF MIXING ENGINEERS. Mr. Chairman: If it were certain that all the young men who enter our technical schools had the natural quali- fications necessary to be engineers^ then the problem of what the course in such schools should consist would be materi- 163 ally simplified. But when we remember that it is impossible at the early age at which young men enter on such a course, to determine accurately the natural bent of their minds, the necessity of first im- parting a liberal general education is apparent, so that those unfit for engineer- ing pursuits may have other fields opened to their view, and may be drawn away from a profession for which they have no fitness. I therefore agree with the remark that has already been made, that if it were necessary to choose between a strictly technical education and a more general course, the latter would be the more desirable. I believe further, that not only is it desirable on account of the various types of mind to be found in a body of unde- veloped young men, that education should be general rather than special, in order that none may be graduated with- out having received a training which shall be of sei-vice in his particular case, but that even were the classes composed of none but those qualified to become 164 engineers, it would be much better that the instruction should be confined mainly to the theoretical part of the profession, leaving the practical details to be learned afterward, in that school of actual prac- tice from which the engineer never grad- uates. I know that this would require some of our schools to give up some of the very things that they most pride themselves upon, yet I believe the effect in the end would be good. I think it has very generally come within our experience, that those engi- neers who have received that very elab- orate education in foreign schools, of which so much has been said, do not make the most rapid progress in the practice of their professio*n. The effect of theii- study seems to have been to give them a disproportionate confidence in the sufficiency of the formulae and text-books of the school, to solve every problem that arises in practice, and the faculty of judgment so necessary as a check upon theoretical deductions becomes dwarfed by disuse. It sometimes seems even to 165 be the case, that those who have received this training refuse to admit the neces- sity of correcting their theory by facts, and hence shut themselves out from the greatest of all schools. It has been remarked with force by Prof. Thompson, that the acquisitive powers act with greatest vigor before the age of twenty; and he argues that on this account both theoretical and practi- cal education should be crowded into this period. While it is no doubt true that the mind is at this age better able to receive scientific education, and to be moulded by it to correct methods of thought, it may be doubted whether the ability to weigh the value of practical expedients is as much a characteristic of a young as of a more experienced mind. It would, therefore, appear to be wiser that the period of life in which the mind is best adapted to receive that scientific training which is to shape all its future action, should be devoted to the study of science, ratiher than wasted in the vain attempt to acquire an incomplete and 166 delusive acquaintance with practice. One very important result of this would be, that the young graduate could not by any possibility imagine himself an en- gineer, and would thus be ready to com- mence at the bottom, and on a true foundation lay up in intelligence and order, that experience which is the capi- tal of the engineer. It may be asked, why should not the teaching of practice loith theory have the same effect in establishing a proper bal- ance as when acquired subsequently ? To which it may perhaps be answered, that the conditions under which the practical matters are presented are in the two cases widely different. In the school they are presented as problems solved, in actual practice as problems to be solved; and the fact of the solution being at hand in the former case gives a false idea of complete mastery of the profession, the precise reverse of that modesty which is forced upon one, in the latter case, by the uncertainty whether he shall be able at all to reach a solution 167 As to the proposition tHat the student should in the midst of his theoretical course^ take up the study of practice as presented in the workshop, I think it is- a question whether the time so speua would not be spent wastefully. It is in- deed highly desirable that the young man while pursuing scientific studies, should be sufficiently familiar with at least the surface facts of practice to give life and meaning to the abstract truths which he is studying. But this acquaint- ance he can acquire in those afternoon visits which every young man, having a taste for engineering, is sure to make to- such works as are within his reach (and in these days there are a multitude in all places), while he could acquire but littlo more by a constant attendance in the shop, unless in actual employ and with a weigJit of responsibility resting upon him. It is only when the sweat comes out over a man in those emergencies, when he* knows that something must be done, and done quickly, that he begins to lay up valuablfe experience. 168 Now, it would be impracticable to provide such employment for students; and I think it may also be said that in nine cases out of ten, where it could be provided, the young man would never return to school, because the ties that would bind him to his actual work would be too strong to be severed. In a word, then, let the schools give a liberal and scientific education; let the student give concrete form to abstract principles as he may from visits to such works as are within reach, and by the reading of current engineering literature, and let the acquisition of practical knowl- edge begin and go on without interrup- tion after the school course has ended. 169 CHAPTER V. co:n^clusio]!!^. The preceding pages have fully set forth the kind of knowledge that it is desirable should be acquired as a ground- work of engineering practice. The tech- nical schools of different countries agree substantially in the branches in which proficiency must be attained by the stu- dent before the seal of their official ap- proval can be granted to his application to be counted as a beginner in engineer- ing practice. In the order of impor- tance mathematics takes the first place ; then come physical sciences, drawing, and language. With these some famili- arity with the practical work of the pro- fession must be acquired. So surveys^ plans, maps, and estimates form a part of the curriculum. For the student wich ample means the way is clear. He- may select his school and follow the pre- scribed course. Having completed it, if 170 lie is content to accept a humble situa- tion and will patiently wait for promo- tion until his experience shall have ren- dered his services valuable, his introduc- tion to the higher duties and responsi- l^ilities of engineering life is assured, un- less indeed he has entirely mistaken his profession. For him who must earn his living be- fore he is able to complete such a course of study as is universally pronounced requisite, the way to proceed is not so clear, especially if the occupation he is obliged to follow is not of a kind to bo in itself of service as a means of educa-* tion in the line of his chosen profession. As in such a case he must depend upon his power to acquire knowledge in hi^ leisure hours, and complete by himseli the studies which his more fortunate competitor is aided to accomplish. H he has completed a fair academic or high school course before he enters upon daily service, as an earner of wages, hi§ condition is far from unfavorable, espe- cially if he has fully determined to over- 171 come obstacles in the way of acquiring knowledge. If the daily occupation be that of an artisan, it is an open question whether his training is not of the best kind to insure success. For the education he needs is of two kinds — theoretical and practical ; and the period of life most fa- vorable to the acquisition of either kind is between sixteen and twenty years of age. It is not of so much importance that the trade at which he works should be directly related to engineering prac- tice. The work of any artisan method- ically and steadily pursued under skilful guidance, is an education of the eye and hand and judgment of the highest value. The opinions of men eminent in the pro- fession might be referred to, which are quoted in the preceding pages, which are quite pointedly to the effect that the best order of preparation is first the school, then the shop, and then the fin- ishing studies. The reasons given for this order are that the training of the hand and the eye, as well as that of the mental powers, should be brought within 172 the period of easy acquisition ; also that the eagerness to learn through study is much stimulated by alternation of school and shop^ and so the accomplishment of the final studies is rendered easier. Observation of the pupils in the night- schools of our great cities certainly justi- fies the belief that daily labor in the shop in no sense unfits the learner who has once been a student, for steady prog- ress in acquiring knowledge. Promi- nent engineers now living have achieved their successes without other aid from instructors than that obtained in the public day-schools and the night-school. The higher technical schools afford the best means of entering upon the profes- sional work of the engineer' ; but other routes are open, and with patience and persistence the goal may be reached. It should be borne in mind that the learning period ends only with life. The graduate of the Engineering School can rightfully regard his degree only as a certificate that he is prepared to become 173 One part of the education of the young learner has not, it seems to the writer, been sufficiently urged as a necessary part of the school training. That is, some branch of natural science ; one which will stimulate a search for speci- mens : either entomology, botany, or mineralogy (or lithology). The latter is probably to be regarded as the best when the direct bearing upon the after prac- tical experience is considered. Nothing in the way of education so trains the powers of observation as the search over field and through forest for specimens. No phenomenon escapes the notice of the young naturalist. If he be a collector of minerals or rocks, every ledge and every bowlder is an object of interest, and his pursuit takes no account of sea- sons. It is of inestimable advantage to the engineer that the minute features of a structure or a landscape are seen at a glance ; but such seeing depends upon ^arly training and practice under the stimulus of the pleasurable excitement 174 which always accompanies out-door searching for specimens. It is a natural sequence to this course of training that the learner b'ecomes a student of natural phenomena, and the action of streams^, the decay of rocks, and the changes wrought by tides and winds are to him subjects of absorbing interest. Every riv-ulet is to him the analogue of a great river, and will exhibit, either spon- taneously or through slight artificial con- straint, all the features of erosion, trans- portation, and deposit, forming bars^ natural levees, and deltas which are only miniatures of those greater ones which at times become the anxious considera- tion of the experienced engineer. The rock whose surface crumbles under the exposure to rain and frost, be it ever so little, is. noted and regarded as worthless to the builder. The dunes formed even though temporarilj by the wind along sandy shores are studied as likely to af- ford valuable hints in regard to regulat- ing and controlling those larger accumu- lations of similar kind which sometimes 175 prove troublesome to the peace and com- fort of a community. It would be easy to continue this line of advice to much greater extent, but the proposed limits of this little treatise for- bid. For hints about pursuing this kind of out-door observation, an excellent aid is to be found in a small work by the eminent author De La Beche, entitled ''How to Observe/' It can hardly be necessary to urge the student who designs to be an engineer to carefully observe the progress of struct- ures in course of construction, and espe- cially to note the little devices by which weights are raised, structures are stayed, streams deflected, etc. The object of the last few pages has been to advise such a training of the perceptive faculties that the smallest of the expedients of an engi- neering work could not well escape no- tice. That the broadest possible culture is at least desirable in an engineer has been aptly urged by more than one of the em- inent speakers whose expressed opinions 176 are quoted in the foregoing pages. That he should cultiv.ite a knowledge of busi- ness habits as early as possible is suffi- ciently evident from the fact that his dealings are largely with the leading business-men of the community. The same consideration suggests that a repu- tation for the strictest integrity is as es- sential to him as to the banker or the judge, and for like practical reasons. APPENDIX. ABSTBACTS OF ADDRESSES AKD REPORTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Extracts from an address before the American Society of Civil Engineers at its First Annual Convention, in 1869, by John B. Jervis, Honorary Member of the Society. All professions must have a beginning. There must be preparation, just as when a fabric is to be reared, the rubbish must first be removed and a proper founda- tion prepared on which the structure is to rest. You will suspect, from this, I am going to talk to the beginner, rather than to those who have a matured skill and experience. 177 178 A civil engineer I understand to be a man who devises and executes works, as canals, railroads, water-works, bridges, mining, etc. I regard it as different from the strictly mechanical engineer; but the civil engineer should know much of mechanical engineering, though he be not a professor in devising and construct- ing machinery. • After a fair education in the ordinary -elements, the young man that designs to prepare for the profession of an en- ;gineer should study mathematics so far ;as to qualify him to make any computa- tion of quantities, and to carry forward any investigations that he may find it necessary to make in pursuing the science of mechanical philosophy, and especially in regard to the strength of all materials that may be required in the structures he may be called upon to erect, and the capacity of his structures to support the object for which they may be designed. The engineer, having got thus far in his study, he is prepared to enter on the study of mechanical philosophy. In this 179 branch he will hardly be able to learn too much. It enters deeply into the affairs of an engineer. In this, especial atten- tion should be paid to the character of all the materials required in the varied structures it is his business to provide for, and the form and position of ma- terials best adapted to the end it is sought to secure. The next object I should propose for study is hydraulics. This enters into nearly all the questions in engineering, especially canals, water-works, mining, and bridges. In some respects it is a difficult science, not in its mathematic or theoretic aspect, but in the difficulty of obtaining accurate data on which to rest the computations for specific objects. This difficulty only renders its careful study more important, and it will be found that much has been reduced to a scientific form, and if not in all cases exact, is so close an approximation as to afford a reasonably safe guide in practical hydraulics. . I have not noticed the surveying feat- 180 ure, for, with a proper knowledge of mathematics, it is only necessary to learn the use of instruments in order to estab- lish lines and levels. The education, thus far, may be obtained, at any school that has a good mathematical depart- ment. The next step in education should be the study of structures of various kinds that have been erected by experienced engineers. These have been published in various books, and may be advan- tageously studied without a professed teacher. So far, the student is merely a student, and is only well prepared to enter on the practical or real study of his profession. Every work detailed and set forth in books has been erected with some specific object, and under circumstances that are not likely to be in all respects found again for any similar work. The young engineer will, therefore, require great care in recommending a structure he has examined in a book, to see that the cir- cumstances surrounding his case are 181 analogous to the original. Neglect, in this respect, may lead to very unfavor- able results. With a sound knowledge of principles in regard to form of struct- ure best calculated to secure the object for which the work is designed, and to afford the necessary stability and per- manence, and of the materials best adapted to this purpose, he will be able to make an intelligent criticism on what he examines, and judge how far it may be a guide in his operations. The next step in this traiuixig is to enter on the field of practical duties under the guide of an experienced en- gineer. In this situation he will have opportunity to examine the unbroken ground, learn the reasons for the various parts of the work, and why it may be proper to depart from the order of some similar work he may have noticed in his studies. Here he will see the ground to be occupied, and, by communion with his principal, will see how far it may be adapted to the proposed work — the vari- ous needs of the structure, the facilities 182 for materials most suitable^, and how far a modification in plan and materials may- be required to meet the circumstances that may exist. No skill in forming lines and levels, and in devising structures, will complete the education of an engineer without an intelligent capacity for conducting busi- ness. This is an important item in his education, and indispensable to a suc- cessful practice. The training of his mind should make this an easy acquisi- tion. He will often find it necessary for his own investigations to make written statements and tabulations, which will call into action his skill in arrangement — even his common note-book will exer- cise his powers to put his work in an in- telligible and convenient form. If he keep in mind that he should be prepared to protect himself against forgetting his own work, and be able, at any time, to give an account of his doings, he will feel the necessity of order and ready refer- ence, which are the essential elements of business. Some people suppose an en- 183 gineer, as a matter of course^ knows noth- ing about business management. An ab- surd mistake. No profession more needs thorough business qualification. It is still a further error to suppose an en- gineer, by his education, is unfitted for systematic business. The fact is the very reverse. His education peculiarly quali- fies him for a systematic management of business, and his professional duties de- mand the most varied knowledge in this respect. The first operation in his busi- ness life is to set forth, in intelligent form, the work he has been doing; a line, a level, or a series of computations to be vset forth in order. Then he conies to prepare contracts and specifications for work, which demands an accurate knowl- edge of all he wants done, set forth in items so described that there will be no misunderstanding; an important busi- ness matter. His work now under con- tract, he must measure and compute all items of work, and these must be so ar- ranged, in a suitable book, that they can be referred to, and made the basis of his 184 occasional and final statements of work done. So far I have only treated of that branch of a business education that re- lates to the method of preparing tables, accounts, and statements. . . . The most important feature in business is still to be considered, namely, a knowledge of men and of the value of work. I know of no occupation that better qualifies a man in this respect than engineering. He has to deal with men who, as a class, are proverbially sharp in the conduct of their affairs, with whom many questions arise that are not to be determined by a simple computation, and even computa- tions will be questioned. With these men the engineer holds a delicate rela- tion, as the umpire between the contract- ing parties; and will often be placed be- tween plausible claims on one hand, and a sense of duty on the other. In these circumstances he will have great oppor- tunity to obtain a business knowledge of men. Some he will find upright, though they may have mistaken views of their rights; and others he will find under 185 much pretension to seek what they should not have. Under various conflicts the engineer must aim to do Justice between the parties. They have committed to him the duty of adjusting all questions, and in this he must examine the bearing of all claims, and though he may be an- noyed at what he thinks an unjust de- mand, he is in duty bound to render equity, according to the terms of the con- tract. The engineer being in the em- ploy of one of the parties, it is indis- pensable that he maintain the reputation of an upright man, for on this the con- tractor must depend. If he shows a dis- position to take undue advantage, not warranted by the terms and spirit of the contract, the contractor will lose confi- dence if this is against him, and, if in his favor, the other party will be dis- satisfied. In all such cases, committed to the judgment of the engineer, he will need the best experience as a business man, and especially to cultivate the golden rule of doing as he would be done by. It is always prudent for an 186 engineer to so prepare his specifications of work that no misunderstanding may arise. But this cannot always be done, as contingent work is sometimes, and I may say often, required. . . . The business capacity of the engineer will, in most cases, be tried in his inter- course with the managers of the enter- prise. In the utmost good feeling they will be very apprehensive of expense, and desire various methods of reduction, which will appear plausible to them, as well adapted to their circumstances. The engineer, very naturally desires to make a work that will be creditable to his pro- fession. But he must listen respectfully to the suggestions of his principals, and, so far as he can, modify his plans to meet them. The engineer may be well satis- fied his plans are best adapted to the permanent interest of the enterprise, and, so far as he is able, should convince the managers they are so. In this he will find need of all his business tact, to yield when circumstances, and especially the want of funds, afford a reasonable apol- 187 ogy, or even a necessity, for so doing. It may not, in fact, lie practicable to make his work as permanent or complete as its true interest requires, for want of funds, or for want of the most suitable materials. Of these he must exercise his discretion as a business man, as well as a skilful engineer. There is another point in this con- nection that will often be more trying than the above. The managers of such enterprises have been known to conduct their affairs with a view to make them subservient to their private interest or ambition. They may do this more or less, without interference with the duties of the engineer, in which case he may know nothing of it, or, if does know, lie may not be bound as a duty to take notice of it. But it is very likely to come in conflict, and he will be expected to shape his professional duties in a way that will promote private interests at the expense of the institution. Great skill and adroit- ness will be practised, and if the engineer has any weak side it will surely be found. 188 These things will always be done under profession of serving the institution^ To avoid wTong-doing, and, at the same time, give no just offence under the circum- stances, will surely try the business capac- ity of an engineer. The matter in issue may bring a crisis that will compel resig- nation. In review of the brief discussion I have given, I think I am fully warranted in the opinion that the training and prac- tice of an engineer should make him peculiarly eminent as a business man, not less than skilled in designing and erect- ing works in his profession. In railway building, for the most part, the engineer has been regarded merely as an expert, to run lines and levels, and compute quantities. When the work, in this respect, was done, he was regarded as of no more use, and to retain one of his assistants to do a little levelling or surveying, for some contingent work, was all that was regarded as necessary from his department. No doubt some engineers who have built railways had 189 no professional qualification to go fur- ther. No one can complain of them; they did all they supposed required of their profession^ and this was, perhaps, all their employers expected of them as engineers. It may be said why not em- ploy an engineer of more experience; to which it may be replied, the}^ probably were not to be had. It has been a great error on the part of engineers and pro- prietors that the impression to a great extent prevailed that in regard to ma- chinery, station grounds, buildings, and shops, the engineer gave way to the mechanic. This circumstance lias put back the profession, keeping the engineer from the proper study of these duties, so that only a small comparative number have given proper attention to this im- portant branch of professional duty. So long as the engineer did not assume these duties, the resort to the mechanic was very natural, and he would be re- garded as best qualified to make up the complement of the railway. The excuse for this is, the profession in general had 190 little knowledge of what was wanted in these respects, and the engineer was re- garded as a sort of refined surveyor, and as knowing nothing about engines, cars, and shops. Now, the professional point is, that the engineer's education should •qualify him better than any other to provide for everything about a railway. The engineer constructs a railway, and should know better than any other what sort of machinery is best adapted to its use. Of course he will go to the mechanic for his engines, cars, etc., but he should know the general character, and be able to specify the leading or principal characteristics of what he wants. Certain accommodations will be wanted for the current use and repair of the machinery, which requires much thought and care on the part of the engineer to secure the greatest conven- ience and economy in the operations of business. In most cases it will be nec- essary to keep in view the enlargement of stations and shops, to provide for a probable increase in traffic, and, while 191 building for present wants, take care to provide, by method, for enlargement at a future day, with grounds secured for this purpose, so that no pulling down shall be required. In the history of our railways, it is palpable these things have been imperfectly considered. It has been stated why our works have been subject to these imperfections ; but that* does not excuse their want of improve- ment. One reason for neglect may be found in the fact that, for the most part, engineers did not regard this as properly belonging to their profession ^ and when a railway was put in operation they withdrew, as having accomplished their mission. The engineer eminently depends on character. The interests of others, in various ways, are committed to him. On his capacity for his profession, and his integrity as a man, reliance must be placed. He will meet many difficulties of a physical, and not a few of a moral nature. He is in a progressive calling, and has occasion to be cons tan tlv learn- 192 ing. I suggest a ready observation of what he may see, a constant study and reflection on the varied duties of his profession, and a watchful guard against committing himself until he is fully pre- pared to set forth his views clearly and decidedly. To neglect the latter will be very likely to embarrass, and may defeat tha object of his labors. Suggestions Offered to the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the Subject of Engineering Education. FROM SIR JOHIS^ RENl^IE, F.R.S. Any person intended for the prof ession of a civil engineer, in my opinion, should be educated as follows : In the first place, he should be sent to some good school until about twelve years of age, where he may be thoroughly grounded in reading, writing, composition, arithmetic, algebra, oreometry, Englisli, Latiti, and Greek 193 grammar. I mention the two latter, as it will enable him hereafter to acquire with facility European or other languages as occasion may require, particularly French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc. From about twelve to sixteen he should be sent to one of the junior universities, such as King's College, the London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, or Dublin Universi- ties: here he should attend the different classes of mathematics, algebra, geometry, plane and spherical, trigonometry, as- tronomy, natural philosophy, geology, geography, chemistry, electricity, and drawing, assisted by private tutors, who, by frequent examinations, should make him thoroughly understand what he has learned, and enable him to pass with credit the several public examinations which he must undergo. At the age of sixteen, if he has been diligent and ivell looked after, he ought to have obtained a sound general educa- tion, particularly as regards the scientific department connected with the profes- sion of a civil engineer. 194 At sixteen he should be apprenticed to some practical manufacturing engineer of eminence, where he should' commence working with his hands, and go through all the departments of pattern-making, founding, turning, fitting and erecting steam-engines, marine, locomotive, and fixed, and all the variety of machinery connected with them and railways, and a general knowledge of ship-building, whether of iron or wood, also the me- chanical drawing and calculating de- partments connected witli them. After having been well employed in this manner for three or four years, com- bined with his previous education, he ought to be well versed or grounded at least in mechanical engineering, which forms one of the most important parts of the education of a civil engineer. Having completed this he should be sent to some good scientific and prac- tical nautical and land surveyor for a short time, where, if diligent, he will soon be able to acquire a knowledge of levelling, laying out lines of roads, rail- 195 ways, canals, drainage, and mapping large -districts of country and sea-coasts. He should then study practical hy- draulics upon a great scale, such as the principles and management of rivers, embanking, draining, sewage, water sup- ply, irrigation, the planning and con- struction of harbors, docks, bridges, light-houses, masonry, carpentry, earth- work, etc., with a thorough knowledge o;. the use and best mode of applying ma- terials of all kinds ; and having previously obtained a knowledge of working Iron and timber, he should do the same wdth stone, cements, and other materials. He -should likewise practise himself in draw- ing up detached reports, plans, specifica- tions, and estimates of the various works. In these departments he will be greatly assisted by reading and carefully study- ing the reports and plans of Smeaton, Telford, Stephenson, Brunei, Watt, Een- nie, and other eminent engineers. He should also study architecture, so tis to be able to design and construct all the buildings connected with civil en- 196 gineering. such as railway stations, sheds,, and warehouses. Public buildings and ornamental architecture, strictly speaking, are rather out of his line ; nevertheless, if he has time and taste for it, he can do so at his leisure. With regard to languages, it certainly if^ desirable that an engineer should know well German, French, and Italian; having previously laid the foundation of them, he can easily acquire them at his leisure. With regard to the higher classes of physics and mathemati which is the one usually followed more or less in this country, let us consider another, partially adopted here, but much more extensively on the Continent — that of colleges or complete establishments for the training of civil engineers. As far as the purely scientific and literary part of the course goes, there seems to be no reason why such a college should not impart as sound and complete in- 205 struction as any similar institution, sup- posing always the basis of a single pro- fession to be sufficient to maintain it on a satisfactory scale; but then for this alone a separate establishment seems hardly requisite, as there appears to be nothing but what can be supplied by existing schools and colleges, and sup- plied, as it seems to me, if the courses are properly selected, so as to give full oc- cupation to the student in the acquisition of what he really requires without super- addition of redundant or superfluous matter. If we look, however, beyond this to the more special training, I think some marked disadvantages, as compared with the former plan, will become ap- parent. The work is not real work. The plan: of the bridge may be neatly and care- fully drawn, its strength calculated, its cost estimated; and all this may be sub- mitted to judicious criticism, but nobody has got to build it. A survey may be made of the neighborhood of the insti- tution, or of a line of road or farm in its 206 vicinity, and nicely plotted, but it has not got to pass a Committee on Standing Orders. A line of canal may be laid out and levelled, and a working section and detailed plans prepared, but it is exempt from verification by that most uncom- promising examiner — water. I do not at all mean to deny that even in these practical branches much useful information might be acquired, and the advantage of being able to instruct in classes and of selecting the order of sub- jects is obvious; but I do think that this kind of instruction cannot obviate the necessity of a subsequent probation in a real office and in actual work; and in many cases it might possibly have been there acquired as rapidly and certainly more completely. In my point of view, then, the question is brought within a very narrow compass. The engineer's education should begin at a good school, best at a public one. Following this should come a college course, more or less prolonged. He should then master some mechanical 207 trade, or the order of the two last might, if more convenient, be inverted, and should, in any case, finish with a certain term of pupilage under a practising en- gineer. Extract from Scott Eussell's Work oi^ Tech:n^ical Education.* What Technical Education should we give to the Mechanical Engineer or Ma- chinist ? — From the days of James Watt and Arkwright until now, comprehend- ing the whole of the present century, the mechanical engineer or machinist has formed one of the most important ^classes of this country, and has conferred on it immeasurable benefit. It was the mechanical engineer and the manufact- urer who, together, during the early part of the present century, while the whole of Europe was overrun by the * Systematic Technical Education for the English People. By John Scott Russell, F.R.S., -etc, London, 1869. 208 curse of war, created wealth in this country so rapidly as to enable her to struggle through a burden of expendi- ture to which there has been no parallel, and to come out of it prosperous and wealthy. There are no occupations or trades concerning which there could be so little difference of opinion as to the practical importance of special technical educa- tion, as this class of mechanical engineer and machinist. Philosophers have de- fined man as the tool-using animal ; but if the man of this century were defined, the ^^engine-maker'' and *^ machine- user" would be his leading characteris- tic : it is the triumph of human nature in our time, that it has achieved the un- derstanding of the forces of nature so completely, that whatever material ser- vice we wish to perform, we can always discover some elementary force in na- ture willing to lend us its aid to con- quer our difficulty, prouided we will study its nature sufficiently to direct it into the way in which it can best serve 209 our end. The steam-hammer of Nas- myth, and the steel ingots of Krupp, are symbols of the powerful yet plastic forces man wields^ in liis gigantic shape-com- pelling processes of manufacture. We may sum up the duties of a man of this craft by saying that there is scarcely a process now performed by animal or man which our engineers or machmists of the next generation may not be called upon to perform better and quicker by ma- chines of their own creation. Of the engineer and machinist it is therefore very easy to indicate the course of instruction ; unluckily, much easier to indicate than to accomplish. He must master all the known powers of material nature: heat and cold ; weight and im- pulse ; matter in all conditions — liquid, solid, and gaseous ; standing or run- ning, condensed or rare, adamantine or plastic — all must be seen through and comprehended by the master of modern mechanics. The same laws which gov- ern the machinery of the heavens, he has to apply to the machinery of the 210 earth ; and the same exquisite mechan- ism which the Creator has nsed in the structure of his animals^ the modern mechanician has to apply in the con- struction of his microcosms. The- modern mechanician who would be equal to his work must be prepared to shape a tool and frame an engine for the execution of tasks which were never even dreamt of by the older mechani- cians. Technical Education of the Mechanical* Engineer and Machinist , Mechanical Knowledge. Technical Education, Shapes and sizes of things . . Geometry. Quantities Algebra, Numbers . . . Arithmetic, Calculation. Weights Laws of Gravity. Forces and Motions . . Laws of Dynamics. Strengths .... Laws of statics. -»T 1, • 1 i Theoretical me- Mechanical powers . . ] ^,^^,,5^^ Laws of solids . . . Kinematics. Laws of liquids, • ) j Hydrostatics and Laws of airs and gases, f \ hydrodynamics. 211 Mechanical Knowledge. Technical Education. Heat, light, elec- ^ feneration of motion . < tricity, attraction, ( and repulsion, Sources of power . . Chemical physics. A T ^. £ ■ { Elements of me- Applications of power . ] ^j^^^.^^ Mechanical inventions . j ^eSy. ""^ "^^^ What Technical Education should we give the Civil Engineer^ — The great public works of a civilized country have always demanded and generally received from its Government earnest solicitude and forethought. In France, the civil engineers are the elite of the nation ; the most distinguished pupils in the col- leges throughout the country are pro- moted into the central technic institu- tion of France in Paris ; and out of this again, a selection is made of the most talented for the '^ corps de genie mari- time ;^^ for the ^^ corps de g^nie mili- taire;^^ and for the ^^ corps de genie civil/^ or ^^ponts et chaussees/^ By the great public works of a country so much is gained or lost to the public 212 well-being, that the most liberal meas- ures are justified if they succeed in pro viding for its service the profoundest knowledge, the most brilliant talent, and the highest skill. In the time of the Eomans, Europe was covered with those wonderful roads which have been per- petuated to the present day, and are marvels of conception and execution. The correction of rivers and supply of waters to great cities, the drainage of marshes and the irrigation of plains, have developed the industry and created the wealth of populous countries ; and it has depended almost entirely on the wisdom or folly of modern Governments, in the selection of their engineering sys- tems, whether those great engines of commerce, the modern railways, have been given to a country at small cost, on a wise system of development, with gain at once to the capitalist, to the trader, and the Governmento Where Govern- ments have been wise, the railways have been well selected, cheaply made, eco- nomically and profitably worked. Where 213 they have been reckless, ignorant, un- wise, railways have been made at great cost, extravagantly worked, dear to the public, and unprofitable to the capital- ist. When it is considered that the tele- graphs which now work the commerce of the world ; the great lines of steam- ships which unite its most civilized por- tions ; the railways which everywhere connect the populous centres of em- pires ; the water supply; roads; ports and harbors; the direction, training, and permanence of our navigable rivers — are all works involving enormous cost, in- volving the highest national interests, and requiring consummate knowledge and skill, it is plain that we may judge of the wisdom of a nation by the fore- sight and forethought it bestows upon the rearing, training, and selection of this corps d^ elite or corps de genie ; and it is therefore self-evident that, in a technical university, the pupils of this section must find a prominent place. For Eng- land especially, with her wide-spread do- 214 minions, it is evident that the youthful engineer should be prepared to find a sphere of usefulness in any quarter of the globe, and to carry with him a mas- tery of all the resources of modern science and skill. Engineering Knowledge. Laws of water— standing and running. Laws of dead matter . . Laws of fixed and mov- ing bodies Building of bridges and ways. Surveying, mapping, se- lection of routes. lEh'ection of buildings c . Estimates of cost and pro- duction of public works. Steam-ships and machin- ery. Technical Education. Hydrostatics and hydrau- lics. Strength and resistance of materials. Statics and dynamics. Theory of structures in stone, timber, and iron. Geometry, trigonometry, and surveying. Theory of beautj^ and ugliness. Prices, wages, and econ- omical valuations. Naval architecture and mechanical engineer- ing. To a great extent, the civil engineer must have also the same education as the mechanical engineer. The proposed studies are thus de- fined I 215 THE SCHOOL OF MECHANICS. Pure Science. Higher Geometry. Higher Dynamics. Algebra. '* Energetics. " Arithmetic. ** Chemistry. Statics. " Metallurgy. Practical Applications, Descriptive Geometry. Constructive Geometry. Geometric Movements. Sources of Materials. Properties of Materials. Strength of Materials. Elements of Mechanics. Structural Mechanics. Machinery and Tools. Engines and Prime Movers. Economics of Work. Endurance of Machinery. Machine Shops and Buildings. Mechanical Manufactures. Political Economy. Workshop Economy. Principles of Design. 216 In the Drawing Office. In the Collection of Machines. In the Collection of Machine Materials. In the Collection of Raw Materials of Mana factures. In the Collection of Engines, etc. In Mechanical Experiment. In the Factory. Round the Tour of Home Manufactories. In Foreign Travel. THE SCHOOL OF CI YIL CONSTRUCTION^ Engineering. Pure Science. Higher Geometry. Higher Energetics. ** Algebra. ** Hydrology. *' Arithmetic. *' Chemistry. ** Statics. ** Geology. '* Dynamics. " Crystallogy. Practical Applications. Engines and Prime Movers. Theory of Vehicles and Locomotive Ma- chines. Theory of Ships and Steam-boats. 217 Chemistry of Building Materials. Geology of Stones antl Cements. Mineralogy and Metallurgy. Stability of Foundations. Building Combinations of Materials. Sources of Materials of Construction. Theory of Bridges, Roofs, and Tunnels. Constructive Geometry. Graphic Getnnetiy and Surveying. Descriptive Geometry. Perspective Geometry. Geometric Movements. Strengths of Materials. Elements of Mechanics. Machines and Tools. Theory of Rivers. Theory of Tides and Waves. Theory of Roads, Railroads, and Canals. Principles of Architectural Design. Principles of Metallurgy. Economics of Construction. Endurance of Structures, Engines, Ma* chines, and Implements. Work, In the Drawing Office. In the Collection of Engineering Models. In the Collection of Building Materials. In the Collection of Machines In the Laboratory of Strength of Materials. 21S In the Chemical L.Mboralory. In Engiueering- Experiment. In tlie FacloiN . On the \Vork>i. In Foreign Travel, VALUABLE SCIENTIFIC BOOKS PUBLISHED BY D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, 23 Murray and 27 Warren Streets, NEW YORK. OLEVEISTGER, S. R. A Treatise on the Method of Government Surveying as Prescribed by the U. S. Congress and Commissioner of tiie General Land Office, with Complete Mathe- matical, Astronomical and Practical Instruc- tions for the Use of the United States Sur- veyors in the field. 16mo, morocco 12.50 DORR, B. F. The Surveyor's Guide and Pocket Table Book. 18mo, morocco flaps. Second edition. $2. 00 DUBOIS, A. J. The New Method of Graphic Statics. With 60 illustrations. 8vo, cloth, $1.50 EDDY, Prof. H. T. Researches in Graphical Statics. 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