MECHAIN, Peter Francis Andrew, a well-known practical astronomer and geographer, was born at Laon, on the 16th April 1744. His father was an architect, and educated him with the intention of making him his successor in his business. He afterwards took charge of two young men at Sens, as their private tutor, and accidentally became acquainted with Lalande, under whose patronage he was subsequently brought forward as an observer, surveyor, and computor. He made two voyages with M. de la Bretonnière, and assisted him in surveying some parts of the coast of France. He was afterwards employed in various computations by the Marquis de Chabert, and the Duc D'Ayen. Having obtained a prize from the Academy of Sciences in 1782, for a Memoir on Comets, he became a member of the Academy the same year. About the year 1785, he undertook the publication of the Connaissance des Temps, and continued it till he was employed in geodetical operations at a distance from Paris. He was appointed member of a committee, along with Cassini, de Thury, and Legendre, to meet the English astronomers for the determination of the relative situation of the observatories, which had been proposed by Cassini. It was in these operations that he first brought Bord's circle into general use. In 1791 he was appointed, in conjunction with Delambre, to execute the intentions of the Constituent Assembly, with regard to the determination of a basis of linear measures. A variety of delays and difficulties occurred in these operations. In Spain he was wounded in the head and side, by an accident which occurred whilst he was inspecting a water-wheel; and the political circumstances of the times produced many embarrassments, which caused him to linger in Italy perhaps a little longer than was actually necessary; but the establishment of the Bureau des Longitudes, and his nomination as a member of it, determined his immediate return to Paris. He was now director of the Observatory, and he entered with great zeal on a series of observations, which were to rival those of Flamsteed, of Bradley, and of Maskelyne; but he seems to have been a little tired of the confinement, and he readily accepted, or rather solicited, the appointment to assist in the measurements required for the still farther extension of the arc of the meridian to the south of Barcelona. But the secret motive for his seeking this humbler employment appears to have been a desire to remove some doubts which he entertained respecting the latitude of Barcelona, as it appeared after his death from his papers, that there had been a discordance of 3° in some observations which he had not made public. In this unfortunate undertaking, he paid a heavy penalty for any want of candour which may have been attributed to the concealment. Shipwreck and disease awaited him; and he died at last, on the 20th of September 1805, of a fever, which fatigue and a bad climate had brought on. From the time of his accident in Spain he had become habitually melancholy and timid, though regardless of personal danger in the pursuit of his professional objects. His whole time was occupied in observing and calculating; he published little; and never ventured to advance any reflections on the subjects which employed him, being probably more in the habit of acting than of speculating. He married, in 1777, Mademoiselle Thérèse Marion, with whom he had become acquainted at Versailles. This connexion was in every respect happy; he was indebted to it for a competent fortune, and he left a daughter and two sons.

1. Of his publications the most important are to be found in the Mémoires des Sciences étrangères; that is, besides some Observations of eclipses and occultations, a Memoir on the comets of 1532 and 1661, showing that they are not the same; and their non-appearance seven or eight years afterwards fully justified his conclusions, and the adjudication of the prize. 2. In the Memoirs of the Academy, from 1782 to 1784, there are several of his Observations of transits, eclipses, occultations, and comets. 3. There are also some letters of Méchain in Zach's Geographical Ephemerides about 1800, on the instruments of the Parisian Observatory, and on other subjects. 4. He edited the Connaissance des Temps, from 1786 Mechanics' Institutions.

MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS have for their object the instruction of the working classes in those branches of science and art, which are of practical application in the exercise of their several occupations.

It has been a subject of very considerable controversy to whom the honour of having originated these institutions ought to be attributed. Some have contended that to Professor Anderson, the founder of the institution in Glasgow, which bears his name, it is alone due; because in addition to the clauses in his will, which especially provide for the formation of a class of manufacturers and artificers, he had for a period of thirty years, whilst professor of natural philosophy in the university of that city, opened a class to which manufacturers and others had access, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the fundamental principles of experimental physics. Others, again, have affirmed that although Professor Anderson had such an intention in view when he framed his will, it was only through the exertions of Dr. Birkbeck, the second professor of the Andersonian Institution, that the project was carried into complete and practical effect. Without going into the merits of this question, however, it appears to us that to Professor Anderson is certainly due the merit of having originated the idea of instructing that previously neglected but valuable portion of the community. But whilst we give all the weight to which that admission is entitled, we are of opinion that in so far as regards the usefulness of the idea when carried into effect, the merit is due to Dr. Birkbeck. Professor Anderson was in the frequent habit of visiting and spending several hours in the workshops of the mechanics of Glasgow, and freely entering into conversation with them; amongst others he was often found at the workshop of our illustrious countryman James Watt, then a watchmaker in Glasgow; and it was in consequence of the avidity with which the workmen availed themselves of the theoretical information which on these visits he was in the constant practice of imparting, that he first conceived the idea of bringing within their reach those principles of science, the attainment of which had hitherto been confined to the higher and wealthier classes.

He then commenced within the walls of the university a course of lectures on natural philosophy, for the especial benefit of that class of society, and divided the course into two branches; one meeting four times a-week, in which the mathematical principles of the science were considered apart from experimental illustration; and the other, which met twice a-week, consisting entirely of those branches which admitted of such illustration, and in which the principles of mathematics were less called into operation. This latter class was regularly and numerously attended by a great many manufacturers and others engaged in operative occupations, and was continued for several years with great success; and he called it his antitoga class, in contradiction to his regular academic attendance, which was denominated the toga class. It was in consequence of the decided improvement in the arts and manufactures of Glasgow, which from that time became very evident, and which Professor Anderson justly attributed to his instructions, that he conceived the truly philanthropic intention of bequeathing his ample fortune for "the good of mankind and the improvement of science." In the provisions of his will there was an especial reference to the formation of classes upon the principle of that which he had himself so successfully taught within the walls of the university.

Professor Anderson died on the 16th of January 1796; and at a meeting of his executors, held on the 23d of March following, it was resolved to carry his intentions into immediate effect. Accordingly on the 21st of September of the same year, Dr. Thomas Garnett was elected first professor of natural philosophy.

The lectures however were at first only popular. Dr. Garnett, in 1800, was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, founded at the suggestion of Count Rumford and Sir Joseph Banks; and Dr. George Birkbeck was elected in his stead. It was then, upon the suggestion of Dr. Birkbeck, that the trustees were enabled to give full effect to Professor Anderson's favourite idea, as expressed in his will, of affording instruction in experimental philosophy to the artizans of Glasgow. Such was the origin of the first mechanics' class, which has now been taught for upwards of thirty-six years with increasing success and advantage to this interesting class of students.

But important as was this era in the history of the class which was thus instituted, it was not until upwards of twenty years afterwards that the example was followed by any other city in the kingdom. At length, however, in 1821, the School of Arts for the instruction of mechanics was formed in Edinburgh; and within a year or two afterwards, the example was followed, and another institution of the same nature was originated in Glasgow, in consequence of some differences which had arisen between Dr. Ure, (Dr. Birkbeck's successor in the Andersonian Institution), and the students who attended his operative class. A great many of these left the Andersonian and founded the Mechanics' Institution, of which Dr. Birkbeck, at their solicitation, consented to become the patron. About the same time the London Mechanics' Institution was instituted, and within a very few years after this period there was hardly a city of any note in the kingdom which had not institutions of a kindred description.

As might have been expected, there exists a variety of opinions both as to the precise kind of instruction which these institutions ought to afford in order to carry their objects into the most complete effect, and also in regard to the manner in which they ought to be governed. Some conceive that the course of instruction ought to be of a popular nature, admitting amongst the lectures upon the graver and more abstruse sciences, prelections of a lighter and more attractive kind; whilst others are of opinion that the course ought to be strictly confined to those branches of physical science alone which are of practical application in the arts or manufactures. The management of several, indeed of the greater number, is entirely in the hands of the mechanics themselves; some have an admixture of these with the upper classes of society, whilst in others of a third description, the government is entirely vested in the latter, or wealthier classes.

Favourable as we are to the universal diffusion of knowledge amongst the great mass of the people, we conceive, that the paramount object which these institutions have in view, namely, the advancement of the arts and manufactures, will be most decidedly and advantageously promoted, by confining the attention of the student to those branches of the physical sciences which bear more especially on the great majority of the useful arts. We have seen and examined carefully the plans of study as followed by most of the leading institutions of this kind throughout the kingdom; but, whilst we generally approve of them all, we shall confine ourselves to a more extended outline of the course followed by the Edinburgh School of Arts, as being that which seems to us most likely to promote the great objects they all have in view. It being self-evident that the elements of mathematics, mechanical philosophy, and chemistry, are of the most general application to the useful arts, it has been the

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1 Professor John Anderson was the eldest son of the Rev. James Anderson, minister of the parish of Roseneath, in Dumbartonshire, and was born there in 1726. Mechanics' principal aim of the directors of that institution to urge the necessity of acquiring a knowledge of these upon the notice of the student by every possible means; and especially that they should thoroughly understand the fundamental principles of mathematics, both from the intimate connexion these have with all the physical sciences, and as supplying a course of mental discipline, highly favourable to the successful prosecution, at any after period of life, of those studies the principles of which are more immediately involved in the ordinary occupations of life, and by the application of which alone any decided improvements in the arts may reasonably be looked for. And in order to encourage the student to adhere steadily to a certain course of study, an honorary certificate or diploma was instituted, conferring on the successful candidate the privilege of availing himself gratuitously, during his life, of all advantages of the institution. That course of study is as follows:

I. A junior class of mathematics meeting twice a-week, in which the following branches are taught: Arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions; Algebra, as far as simple and quadratic equations; Geometry, first and second books of Euclid. In this class, a portion of each hour of teaching is devoted to exercises and examinations.

II. A senior class of mathematics meeting once a-week, in which the following branches are taught: Geometry, the remaining books of Euclid; Logarithms; Mensuration and Trigonometry, with their various practical applications. In this class, also, a portion of each hour of teaching is devoted to exercises and examinations.