Journal of the Society of Arts, 52 tomas
men of both parties took part in the discussion. This national and imperial question had not previously been fully placed before a London audience.
In a striking paper on "The Biology of the Empire" Sir John Alexander Cockburn traced the close analogy that he finds to exist between "the laws of life" and the various processes that have operated and are operating "to provide for the world-wide British possessions an organisation sufficiently elastic to permit the full play of the British genius for self government, and yet at the same time sufficiently co-ordinated for mutual purposes." Was Great Britain doomed to succumb in the struggle to some world power capable of higher organisation? Reason joins with instinct in assuring us that this cannot be.
Two other instructive papers were readone by Mr. Ben. H. Morgan on "The Regeneration of South Africa," and the other by Mr. W. L. Griffith on Canada and Great Britain."
explained how in his own practice the chief difficulties connected with the use of these glazes had been overcome, and the erratic character of their flow been brought under control. The paper was illustrated by the exhibition of a fine collection of glazed pottery. The last paper of the session was by Mr. Arthur Lasenby Liberty on "Pewter and the Revival of its Use." In it the author, after giving a history of pewter, drew special attention to the attempts which had been made in England and in Germany to revive the use of this interesting metal. A large collection of specimens of old and modern pewter was shown. At the invitation of Mr. Carmichael Thomas, Treasurer of the Society, a visit was made on Thursday evening, February 18th, by the Applied Art Section, to the new printing offices of the Graphic newspaper in Tallisstreet, Victoria Embankment. The newspapers were in course of production, and the whole process, from the composition of the type and the preparation of the illustrations, was shown and explained to the visitors, who highly appreciated the completeness and beauty of the arrangements.
IV. APPLIED ART SECTION.
At the first meeting of the Section on December 15th, 1903, Mr. Frank Warner read a paper on The British Silk Industry," which contained a full account of its decay since 1860, and suggestions as to the best means for reviving it. A brilliant collection of furniture silks was exhibited on the walls of the Meeting - room. At the second meeting, Mr. George Coffey, in dealing with "Celtic Ornament," chiefly conSned himself to the consideration of the scroll pattern, and illustrated his subject by lantern slides of fine examples, dating from the 3rd century, B.C., which had been found between the Danube and the West Coast of Europe. Mr. Alan Cole, C.B., in his paper on
Recent Developments in Devonshire Lacemaking," drew attention to the public action which was being taken in Devonshire for the improvement of the teaching of the art of designing, and showed photographs of some of the specimens sent to the St. Louis Exhibition. Mr. Alfred East, A.R.A., in his paper on "The Sentiment of Decoration," drew attention to the principles upon which decorative design should be founded, drawing distinctions between the classic, the naturalistic, and the emotional, and claiming that the decorative quality was as esssential to fine art as to applied art. In his paper on Crystalline Glazes and their Application to the Decoration of Pottery," Mr. William Burton
V. CANTOR LECTURES.
Five courses of Cantor Lectures were delivered during the session. The first of these by Mr. Bennett H. Brough on "The Mining of Non-Metallic Minerals," was supplementary to the course on "The Nature and Yield of Metalliferous Deposits," which he gave in 1899. The minerals treated included coal, which was dealt with very briefly, as it has already been the subject of previous lectures, bitumens, such salts as nitrates and phosphates, stones, together with clays, gypsum, asbestos, &c., and precious stones. The second course was by Professor J. Lewkowitsch on " Oil and Fats." The treatment included the supply of the various fats, animal and vegetable, and their manufacture, also their numerous applications for food, paints, varnishes, linoleum, candles, soap, &c. The third was a short course by Mr. Charles T. Jacobi on "Modern Book Printing," in which the character of modern type was dealt with, and the style and character of modern typography. The important subject of "Electro-Chemistry" formed the subject of the fourth course by Mr. Bertram Blount. This course may be looked upon as a continuation of the course delivered by Mr. James Swinburne, in 1896, and dealt entirely with recent work in electro-chemistry. In addi
tion to the methods of electrolytic refining and winning of metals, both in aqueous solution and from fused electrolytes, Mr. Blount described the methods applicable for obtaining electro-chemically such non-metallic products as alkali and bleach, chlorates, baryta, nitric acid, &c. The last lecture was devoted to the electric furnace and its products, such as calcium carbide, carborundum, phosphorus, &c. This lecture was illustrated by experiments on what was practically a manufacturing scale, for a large electric furnace was built up in the meeting-room, and practial demonstrations were given of the production by its means of calcium carbide and carborundum. The fifth course was by Professor Langton Douglas on "The Majolica and Glazed Earthenware of Tuscany." The lecturer, in tracing the history of this famous artistic earthenware, brought to bear on his subject the result of much original research among the Italian archives. In the first lecture he pointed out that the prominent position held for a time by Siena in the production of the ware. In the second lecture a full account was given of the family of Della Robbia and the majolica of Florence. Montalupo and Cafaggiola, and the smaller fabbriche of Tuscany were dealt with in the third lecture.
VI. JUVENILE LECTURES.
The Juvenile Lectures this year were delivered by Mr. Eric Stuart Bruce, the subject being The Navigation of the Air." As usual, the course consisted of two lectures, the first being devoted to balloons and parachutes, the second to airships, kites, and flying machines. A short historical sketch of the progress of ballooning was given, and special reference made to the use of balloons in war. An account of the airships of Santos Dumont, Severo, Spencer, and Lebaudy was also given, also of the flying machines depending on aeroplanes, such as those proposed by Sir Hiram Maxim and Professor Langley. The use of kites for scientific investigation was also described.
VII. ALBERT MEDAL.
The Albert Medal for the present year has been awarded, with the approval of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, President of the Society, to Mr. Walter Crane, "in recognition of the services he has rendered to Art and Industry, by awakening popular
interest in Decorative Art and Craftsmanship, and by promoting the recognition of English Art in the forms most material to the commercial prosperity of the country."
Mr. Crane's reputation as a decorative designer stands very high in his own country, but it stands even higher on the Continent of Europe and in America, where his work has met with the fullest appreciation. His writings on decorative art have had a very great influence in the revival of that branch of the arts, while the establishment, greatly due to Mr. Crane and Mr. Lewis F. Day, of the Art Workers' Guild and the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, have largely aided to secure for the industrial arts of the United Kingdom that public recognition as a department of art which has long been wanted. Mr. Crane's work as a decorative designer has not only secured wide popularity, but has received the approbation of those best qualified to appreciate it.
The Council have long felt that while the claims of Applied Science have been fully recognised in the awards of the Albert Medal, those of the application of art to industry have never received the recognition they deserved, and it has been a matter of regret not only to the members of the present Council, but to their predecessors, that there is only a single name (Sir Henry Doulton) on the long list of the recipients of the Albert Medal to whom the medal has been given for services rendered to the application of art to industry. They are, therefore, specially gratified that His Royal Highness, the President of the Society. has ratified their award of the medal on the present occasion to Mr. Walter Crane.
VIII.-MEDALS.
Amongst the readers of papers during the past Session there were several Members of the Council, and, according to the usual practice, medals were not awarded for such papers. These are (in the Ordinary Meetings):-Sir William H. Preece, who read a paper on "The Science of Taxation and Business," and Mr. H. H. S. Cunynghame on Furnaces suitable for Jewellers' Work, Enamelling, Art Casting, and other similar Industries;" also (in the Indian Section) Sir William Lee-Warner, on "The Presidency of Bombay," and Sir Thomas H. Holdich, on "Our Commercial Relations with Afghanistan." The Council have had pleasure in acknowledging the merit of all these papers
by passing a vote of thanks to their authors.
It was decided last year that no medal should be awarded to readers of papers who had previously received medals from the Society. Acting on this rule the Council were precluded from considering the following papers :-In the Ordinary Meetings, the paper by Professor C. V. Boys on 44 Thermit; in the Indian Section, the paper by Mr. A. G. Stanton on "British-Grown Tea; in the Colonial Section, the paper by Sir John A. Cockburn on "The Biology of Federation; and in the Applied Art Section, the papers by Mr. William Burton on " Crystalline Glazes," and by Mr. Lasenby Liberty on "Pewter." All these papers the Council consider to be of considerable merit and well worthy the distinction of a medal.
The following are the awards :
At the Ordinary Meetings :SIR CHARLES MALCOLM KENNEDY, K.C.M.G., C.B., "The Fiscal Problem." ARTHUR GULSTON, "Ice Breakers and their Services."
ROBERT JONES, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.,
"Physical and Mental Degeneration."
J. C. MEDD, "Agricultural Education."
THOMAS TYRER, F.I.C., F.C.S., "The Need of
Duty-free Spirit for Industrial Purposes."
WILLIAM POLLARD DIGBY, "Statistics of the
World's Iron and Steel Industries." RICHARD R. HOLMES, C.V.O., "Early Painting in Miniature."
In the Indian Section :
J. M. MACLEAN, "India's Place in an Imperial Federation."
FRANK BIRDWOOD, B. A., "China Grass: its Past, Present, and Future."
In the Colonial Section :
LADY LUGARD (Miss Flora L. Shaw), "Nigeria." ALFRED EMMOTT, M.P., "Cotton Growing in the British Empire."
In the Applied Art Section :FRANK WARNER, "The British Silk Industry." ALFRED EAST, A.R.A., "The Sentiment of Decoration."
ALAN S COLE, C.B., "Recent Developments in Devonshire Lace-making."
IX.-SWINEY PRIZE.
In accordance with the provisions of the will of Dr. George Swiney, the prize bearing his name was duly awarded in January last, on
the sixtieth anniversary of the testator's death. Dr. Swiney died in 1844, and in his will he left the sum of £5,000 Consols to the Society of Arts, for the purpose of presenting a prize, every fifth anniversary of his death, to the author of the best published work on Jurisprudence. The prize is a cup, value £100, and money to the same amount; the award is made jointly by the Society of Arts and the College of Physicians.
A meeting of the adjudicators of the prize was held on Wednesday, January 20, 1899. The Lord Chief Justice, G.C.M.G., VicePresident of the Society, was in the chair.
The adjudicators received a report from the joint Committee of the Society of Arts and the College of Physicians, recommending that the prize should be awarded to Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr. F. W. Maitland, for their book, "History of English Law before Edward the First," and in accordance with the recommendation adjudged the prize for the work mentioned.
The cup hitherto awarded was designed, in 1849, for the first award by D. Maclise, R.A., but on the present occasion a cup was presented to each of the joint authors, and it was therefore necessary to make certain modifications in the original design. The required alterations were successfully carried out by Messrs. Garrard, to whom the preparation of the cup has always been entrusted.*
X. OWEN JONES PRIZES.
After the death, in 1874, of Owen Jones, a committee was formed to collect subscriptions The for the purpose of founding a memorial. money thus obtained was partly expended in erecting a monument over his grave in Kensal Green, and the balance (a sum of £400) was presented to the Council of the Society of Arts upon condition of their expending the interest thereof in prizes to "Students of the Schools of Art who, in actual competition, produce the best designs for Household Furniture, Carpets, Wallpapers and Hangings, Damask, Chintzes, &c., regulated by the principles laid down by Owen Jones." The prizes have now been awarded annually since the year 1878 on the results of the annual competition of the Board of Education.
Six prizes were awarded this Session, each prize consisting, in accordance with the regulations laid down for the administration of
* A list of the previous recipients will be found in the Journal for October 16, 1993 (vol. 51, p. 893).
the Trust, of a bound copy of Owen Jones's "Principles of Design," and a Bronze Medal.
The list of the successful candidates has already appeared in the Journal.*
The next award will be made this summer, on the result of the present year's examinations. Six prizes have again been offered for competition.
XI.-MULREADY PRIZE.
Under the terms of the Mulready Trust, a Gold Medal, or a Prize of £20, was offered for competition among students of the Schools of Art in the United Kingdom at the annual competition for the present year. The prize was to be given to the student who obtained the highest awards in certain subjects-all life studies, and was awarded to Thomas Corrie Derrick, of the Queen's-road School of Art, Bristol, who obtained the mark" Excellent."
This prize is presented occasionally, as the accumulated funds permit, to the student who exhibits the best drawing from the nude at the annual examinations of the Board of Education. It has been awarded on several previous occasions, the last being in 1897.
XII.-FIRE PREVENTION PRIZES.
At the request of the Executive Committee of the International Fire Prevention Exhibition held in London last year, the Council of the Society offered, out of the funds of the Fothergill Trust, certain gold, silver, and bronze medals, for the best chemical fire engines and for the most easily worked long ladders exhibited at the International Fire Prevention Exhibition at Earl's-court.
This Trust arose out of a bequest by Dr. Fothergill, in 1821, "for the establishment of premiums for promoting useful arts." The objects which the testator proposed to the Society for consideration all related to the prevention of fire, and the Council have therefore considered it desirable to retain the connection of the Trust with fire prevention, although the bequest was not really limited to this special purpose. On the report of judges appointed by the Executive of the Exhibition, one gold, three silver, and two bronze medals were duly awarded. The names of the recipients will be found in the Journal for October 16, 1903.
*See Journa', vol. 50, p. 819, September 11, 1973.
XIII.-NORTH LONDON EXHIBITION TRUST. It was stated in the Report of the Council for 1902-3 that prizes amounting to fourteen guineas had been offered to students in the art classes of the Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell.
The money for these prizes was provided by the accumulation of interest on an invested capital of £157 presented to the Society of Arts in 1865 by the Committee of the North London Working Classes and Industrial Exhibition (1864). This amount was the balance of the surplus from that exhibition, and it was given with a view to the award annually of prizes for the best specimens of skilled workmanship exhibited at the Art Workmanship Competitions of the Society of Arts. The Art Workmanship Competitions were discontinued after 1870, and it has since been rather difficult to know how the funds arising from the Trust could be disposed of in a manner which might accord with the intention of the donors. In 1884 the Society awarded certain prizes in connection with the Inventious Exhibition, and among these was one (a gold medal or £20) offered under the Trust in question for the best set of specimens illustrating the handicraft teaching in any school. In 1896 an amount of £22 odd was awarded in prizes at the East London Exhibition, held in that year. In 1902 there was again a small accumulated capital, and the Council considered that a very proper way of disposing of it would be to offer it in art workmanship prizes for students connected with that part of the metropolis where the North London Exhibition was held.
The prizes were duly awarded last November, and the offer has been renewed for the present year.
XIV. PRIZE FOR A DUST-ARRESTING RESPIRATOR.
In July last an announcement was made that the Council were prepared to award, under the terms of the Benjamin Shaw Trust, a Prize of a Gold Medal, or Twenty Pounds, for the best Dust-Arresting Respirator for use in dusty processes, and in dangerous trades.
As far back as 1822 the Society awarded its Gold Medal to Mr. J. H. Abraham, of Sheffield, for a Magnetic Guard to protect persons employed in dry grinding. The apparatus described in the Society's "Transactions" includes a Respirator to cover the mouth and nose. This Respirator was fitted
Vol. 40, 1822, page 135.
with magnets, for the purpose of arresting the fine particles of steel thrown off in the process of pointing needles, and in other processes of dry grinding. Although the invention was greatly appreciated at the time, it appears never to have come into practical use, the main objection to it having been, it is believed, raised by the workpeople themselves, who feared that the lessened risk attached to their employment would lower their wages. Similar considerations have, it is believed, stood in the way of the introduction of various appliances intended to limit the risks associated with all trades in which the workpeople breathe a dusty atmosphere. It was, however, thought that such considerations are likely to have less weight at the present time, and it was hoped that the offer of a prize might draw the attention of inventors to the matter, and might result in the production of some suitable piece of apparatus, despite the difficulties with which the solution of the problem is surrounded.
By the end of December, the date fixed for their reception, 60 different inventors had sent in apparatus. Of these 27 came from the United Kingdom, and 33 from other countries, viz., United States of America (9), Germany (6), Austria (6), France (3), India (2), Italy (2), Norway (2), Holland (1), Canada (1), Tasmania (1).
The Committee has held numerous sittings and have examined all the appliances sent in. A large number they have been able to reject as unsuitable or impracticable, but they have selected a certain number for further examination and test, and on these they hope to be able to report before very long.
XV.-PRIZES FOR DRAWING.
Since 1899, the Council have placed at the disposal of the Royal Drawing Society, for competition among the candidates at its annual examination, 12 Bronze Medals, and, as usual, these medals were awarded for drawings sent in by students to the exhibition held by the Drawing Society in April last.
candidates presented themselves, but the numbers are-Grade II. 11,368, and Grade I. about 6,447, the total being approximately 17,815. The actual number of papers worked was in Grade II. 12,610, and in Grade I. 7,203. In addition to those candidates who were examined in commercial subjects and in music, 438 candidates were examined viva voce in modern languages, and 514 in the practice of music. The total number of candidates who were examined in all subjects by the Society of Arts during the year just completed is therefore 18,767.
The following Table shows the general results in Grade II. for the last twelve years:
XVI.-EXAMINATIONS.
The number of students who enter for the Society's examinations still continues to Increase. The total number of candidates in March last was 21,570, an increase of 2,155 on last year. These entries were in the ordinary grade 13,709, and in the elementary grade 7,861. As the working out of the results for the present year is not yet completed it is not possible to say exactly how many of these
-:
It is not perhaps wise to lay too much stress on these percentage calculations, but so far as they can be trusted, the percentages for this year seem to indicate that the standard, which has shown in previous recent years a tendency to rise, has, if anything, fallen a little during the present year, and indicates that the rapid growth in numbers has not been accompanied by a similar increase in the quality of the candidates. This year it will be noticed that the percentage of First-class candidates is a little smaller than last year13'4 against 14, while the percentage of