July 2, 1864. | Norman MacLeod, Esq.
SIR,
IN reply to your communication of the 29th ult.,2 I beg to state that the results of the examination of candidates from the industrial classes, in Natural Philosophy, are, on the whole, highly satisfactory.
Judging from the answers, I should infer that the examinations cause a large amount of sound scientific knowledge to be diffused among the industrial classes. The importance of this result can hardly be over estimated.
The only point that I would strongly recommend to all teachers is, to aim at thoroughness of instruction rather than extent.
Your communication reached me as I was on the point of going to the Continent, my Report3 is therefore more brief than it otherwise might have been. But I do not think I could add anything material to what I have here stated. The examinations, I would repeat, are most encouraging.
I am, &c. | (Signed) JOHN TYNDALL.
Twelfth Report of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1865), Appendix A, pp. 41–2.
Normal Macleod: Norman Macleod (dates unknown), Assistant Secretary of the Department of Science and Art. He presumably acted for the Committee of Council on Education who oversaw the Twelfth Report of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education.
your communication of the 29th ult.: letter missing.
my Report: enclosure missing.
Please cite as “Tyndall2118,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on