After the abolition of the School of Naval Architecture, under Dr Inman, in 1832, no agency for higher education existed until 1848, when the urgent necessity for a steam re-construction of the Navy forced attention to the want of trained men, and resulted in the establishment of a second school at Portsmouth. The principal of this school was Dr Woolley, an eminent graduate of the University of Cambridge. From 1848 on to the present time, Dr Woolley has held a prominent place amongst the promoters of naval science, and the pupils produced by the institution under his directorship have given in various ways good practical evidence of his capability as a teacher. After five or six years of useful work, this second school was done away with, and a third was established in London in 1864, after pressure had been brought to bear upon the Government of the day by the Institution of Naval Architects—an association which was founded in 1860, and which has since had so flourishing an existence. The new school was placed for a time under the control of the Science and Art Department at South Kensington, Dr Woolley being Inspector-General, and the late Mr C. W. Merrifield, F.R.S., Principal. This school, unlike its predecessors, was not nominally a mere Admiralty establishment, but offered admission to private naval architects and engineers, and did not exclude foreigners. It remained in operation at South Kensington until 1873, when the Admiralty decided to establish the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and to train their students of naval architecture and marine engineering there. Since 1873, therefore, what may be regarded as a continuation of the third school has been at work at Greenwich, the Admiralty granting facilities for the entry of private and foreign students, much as was done at South Kensington. The small extent to which this institution has been taken advantage of by private students, or by those whose aim is to equip themselves for service in merchant shipbuilding, notwithstanding the inducements existing in the shape of substantial scholarships, has often been subject of comment. Various reasons have been adduced for this state of matters, but the true cause would seem to be largely concerned with the character of the entrance examinations and with the course of study provided. The subject is well worthy of consideration, and fuller reference will be made to it further on when some educational agencies which have been recently established are under consideration.