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AUTHOR OF "a POT OF GREEN FEATHERS." SYRACUSE, N. Y. C. W. BARDEEN. PUBLISHER 1892 Copyright, 1892, by C. W. BARDEEN Bequest This work is published at the sugges- tion of W. T. Harris, LL. D., Commis- sioner of Education. Object Teacliing-, or Words and Tilings. " Her eyes are open; Aye, but their sense is shut."- On a particular occasion during the re- cent visit of the Empress of Germany to London it became the duty of the report- ers of the public journals to describe Her Imperial Majesty's dress. Subsequently the Globe collected the descriptions of the costume as they were given by different reporters, to this effect : — The Times stated that the Empress was in "gold brocade," while, according to the Daily News, she wore a " sumptuous white silk dress." The Standard^ however^ took another view: "The Empress wore something which we trust it is not vulgar to call light mauve." On the other hand, the Daily Chi'onicle was hardly in accord with any of the others : " To us it seemed almost a sea-green, and yet there was now a cream and now an ivory sheen to it." THE POT OF GREEN FEATHERS. No wonder that the Globe asks emphati- cally, "What did the Empress wear?" This incident seems to me another illus- tration of what I tried to explain in a brief paper, which I named, " The Pot of Green Feathers." I tried to prove in that paper that we do not, as common sense is apt to suppose, learn directly from an ob- ject that lies before us nearly as much as we seem to do. I showed that the mind of the beholder, with its existing stock of ideas, adds to the impressions which it re- ceives from the object as much or more than it actually receives from them . Many impressions which seem to enter the mind directly from the object really make their way in only mediately, as the result of in- ferences and combinations made by the mind itself. Something is supplied by the object and something else is supplied by the mind. The consequence is that our knowledge of an object is not, as it seems to be, en- tirely determined by the object, and the •statement that *'the senses are the gate- ways of knowledge " must be accepted as one which conveys only a partial truth. "What/' says somebody, ''can I not be- lieve my own senses?" "Certainly," I reply, ''but only if you carefully distin- guished between the actual gifts of the senses and your inferences from those gifts." The process of interpreting im- pressions was popularly explained in the aforementioned paper, but those who wish to see the question much more philosophi- cally treated should read Mr. Stout's arti- cle on Apperception in a recent number of Mind. I propose in my present paper, to assume a knowledge of this process and to proceed a little further in the applica- tion of psychological principles to educa- tional practice. My intention is to ex- plain what I know of Object Teaching— that kind of teaching which ought to be the foundation of all learning, however abstract and advanced. WHAT OBJECT TEACHING IS. Object Teaching has so much in com- mon with other kinds of teaching, es- pecially with language lessons and infor- 8 mation lessons, that it is frequently con- fused with them. The distinction between them is, however, of the utmost import- ance, and the true nature of Object Teach- ing can hardly be made clear without drawing the distinction. THE RELATION OF WORDS TO THINGS. My first point, therefore, will be to show what Object Teaching has in common with language teaching, or in other terms, the relation of Words to Things. If an object be presented to our eyes for the first time we cannot at once obtain a clear vision of all its separate parts and qualities. By fixing our attention we be- come aware of a number of different parts and qualities, which we make out one after the other in more or less rapid succession ; but the mental image of the object which we obtain in this way is far from clear or well defined. The object as it is first viewed by the inner vision is like a mass of hills in a sea of mist. Just as the num- berless summits are there massed together into one ill-defined elevation of land, so the parts and qualities of the objects are 9 massed together into a vague multitude about which we can say little that is precise. THE PROCESS OF ANALYSIS. The process of arriving at definition and precision is one of analysis. Out of the confused mass of impressions, first one emerges into clearness, and then an- other, until the division of the whole is as complete as our mind can make it. The process of analysis of an unfamiliar ob- ject is far from easy, because each sepa- rate quality and part exists in the object as a portion of an undivided whole, A piece of lump sugar, for instance, is to a young child a composite whole which he cannot analyse for himself. Older per- sons can say that it is white, hard, sweet, sparkling, and crystalline, but we cannot present to the child the whiteness, or the hardness, or any of the other qualities as separate objects outside and independent of the lump. We can only place beside the sugar other white things, such as salt, milk, fat, cotton, and direct attention to the quality which they have in common, lO namely, whiteness. In this way only we can guide the child to make for itself the mental effort which is needed for reaching the abstract conception whiteness, and if we wish to lead him to the conception of hardness, sweetness, and the rest, we must proceed in the same way. IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE. The process seems to prove that lan- guage is practically essential for success in such acquisition of knowledge, and the truth is as we shall see more and more clearly in the sequel, that apart from " words" there are for human science no "things", because the analysis of a whole into its parts can proceed but a very little way without words. When we take notice of the various parts and qualities of an object and give each a name successively, what is there to fix these parts in the mind as complements of one whole, but the name which we give to the whole object? Essential as the word is for analysis, it is quite as necessary for synthesis — that is for re-uniting in thought what our thought has separated. II NEW IMPRESSIONS MERELY OBJECTIVE. There is another mental process which the word greatly assists. In the presence of a new object, if it is sufficiently start- ling in its nature, we forget ourselves and are lost in the object. Self-consciousness vanishes. We can no longer say "That is an object, and this is I." We are in that strange condition of mind which super- venes when we witness a fine soliloquy well acted on the stage— say, Hamlet's '* To be or not to be", or a love scene. If the actors are really successful, the scene be- fore us does not seem to be going on in our presence. The thought of ourselves as present would be a disagreeable feeling of intrusion. ENTRANCE OF THE SUBJECTIVE. In certain states of mind the inner and outer are blended into one. When the consciousness of the distinction between the " I " and the " not I ", that is between the " I " and the object, begins to arise, it is language which defines and renders permanent the distinction. Disturbed by a sudden peal of thunder in the night, we 12 wake in a confused state of mind till the word "thunder" occurs to us, and seems to extricate us from the feeling of " not knowing our own selves ". SPEECH THE DELIVERANCE OF THE UNDERSTANDING. In this way it comes about that speech may be regarded as an act of deliverance for the understanding. When from amidst the whirl of sensations which crowd in upon it, or from the over-powering effect produced by a single group of impres- sions, the mind has obtained mastery over itself and reduced confusion to order, there arises a feeling of triumph which finds expression for itself by means of words, and often by gestures as v/ell. The internal sense of victory re-acts upon the body, and the body reflects the feeling of the mind. The re-action of the mind on the bodily organism causes the utterance of the word, and now there are present in the consciousness two things — the object known and the utterance of the sound or the name of the object. These two are intimately associated, and so strong is the 13 association that afterwards one alone, if both are not present, calls the other into consciousness. I see, for instance, a lake before me, and I cry " Windermere." Or I read of Windermere in a book, and I think at once of my mental image of the lake ; I see a view of the lake in my mind's eye. WHEN WORDS ARE SIGNIFICANT. This association occurs where the knowl- edge of the object and of the name of the object have been associated in acquisition. Where word and object are thus associated the word is in a special way the mark or indication or sign of the object, and such words are significant words in a special sense of the word significant. The utter- ance of them is weighted with a men- tal reproduction of the thing signified, and it is by no means so rapidly or so easily made as the utterance of a word that reproduces no mental image, and is a mere sound. If words were more signifi- cant in this sense than they are to most people, orators would use fewer of them ; for really significant words, inasmuch as they thus carry weight, pass much more slowly through the mind than the others which are as empty ships that float lightly and sail quickly, owing to the absence of cargo. THE WORD MEDIATES. The word then mediates between the mind and the object. The object is with- out us, and the knowledge of the object is within us. Between the inner and the outer, that is between the object and our knowledge of the object, comes the word as a support to the mind in mastering the object. By means of the word the mind can set itself opposite to the object, and separate itself from it more completely than during the actual contemplation which precedes recognition of an object. DOUBLE NATURE OF THE WORD. The spoken word is well suited for mediating between mind and object, be- cause of its double nature. It is on the one hand physical and outward, being the product of the bodily organism; and on the other hand inward and immaterial, be- cause it is called into being by the mind> 15 and expresses an inward impression. In- asmuch as the nature of the spoken word is inward, it is related to inward impres- sions ; but inasmuch as its nature is also outward, being a physical thing, it helps the mind to present to itself its inward impressions as outward objects. Every- one may notice that as soon as a young child has once recognized and named a particular object (^no matter whether he invents a name for himself or imitates his mother^, he loves to keep on repeating the name as often as he sees the object. The pleasure of recognition is marked by the utterance of the word. SIGNIFICANCE OF A NAME. However long we regard an object we do not take in all that can be known abou t it, but only so much of it as we ourselves are able to comprehend. A name, in the same way, does not indicate all the quali- ties of a thing, but only the most promi- nent. The baby child calls his dog " bow-wow " ; that is to say one single live- ly impression, that of barking, is named and taken to represent a large collection i6 of impressions. A number of separate impressions are by means of the word "bow-wow" converted into a concise whole, and in place of several separate items of observations made successively and often at long intervals, we now have in the word or name a brief summary of them recalling the whole. CLASS NAMES. The word which thus summarises for us what we know of an object serves as a fixed point around which we can group all else which we may afterwards learn about the object. The child hears the dog bark, and sees it run, jump, pursue, catch flies, and worry the cat, and the name dog in the end calls up all these qualities. Then inasmuch as the child sees other dogs behaving like his own, he uses the name dog to describe the whole fused mass of similar impressions, and " dog " be- comes a class name. Every fresh impres- sion about a dog which the child acquires is associated with the name "dog", which thus collects a wider and fuller meaning. The word then may be regarded as a net 17 spread by the mind to catch the results of new observations and retain them. The word "mountain", for instance, remains the same, although after seeing t?ie Lake Mountains in England, the mountains of Central Europe, and the Swiss Mountains, my conception of the thing changes very considerably. ETYMOLOGY SUBORDINATE. Words in this way lose something of their original meaning. "Wolf" meant originally "the tearer ", and "mouse" meant "the thief". " Lady " meant ^per- haps) ^' bread-kneader". Who thinks of such meanings now? Thus it is clear that the current meaning of a word often de- pends upon the connection in which it is used at the time, and not upon its etymol- ogy, as is amusingly shown in the little invitation and acceptance of two French ladies which I read lately in a French comic paper : — " Voulez \o\xs five-o' docker chez moi?" " Avec plaisir. Mais a quelle heure.^" * * " Will you take five o'clock tea with me?" — " With pleasure ; but at what hour ?" i8 SIGNIFICANCE BECOMES RICHER. The word then, briefly to resume its uses, aids us to analyse an object into its component parts. We look at a dog and see it sometimes running, sometimes sleep- ing, sometimes black, but in every differ- ent case we see the dog as a whole. Our eyes do not divide for us the thing dog, and the action running. It is by use of the word dog that we are able to separate in thought the object dog from its various properties and activities. The more searching and varied our observations, and the more we increase our knowledge of these properties of an object, the richer becomes the significance of the word, and the more refined and definite becomes our knowledge of the thing. THE RIGHT USE OF THE RIGHT WORDS. By use of the word again, we can group together many different but similar im- pressions. We call many shades of green — apple, emerald, sage, and grass — all green. Words help us to restore to con- sciousness at pleasure past impressions of objects, and make it possible for us to re- 19 call particular impressions out of a cum- brous or perhaps ill-defined mass. Words give us a mastery over our stores of past impressions which we should not possess if the whole of every object had to be re- called every time we wished to speak of it, instead of so much of it as is sufficient for our immediate purpose. By words we can study the properties of things inde- pendently of things themselves, and by words we can arrive at the conception of general ideas and enter into the domain of science. Without words we can look at objects and know them as animals do, but we can have little or no science. Ob- ject teaching should bring us into ever closer touch with objects ; but to effect this contact the right use of the right words is indispensable. THE FUNCTION OF GRAMMAR. But you may say, '* If you insist so much on the importance of language, why do you attach so little importance to formal grammar as a class subject ?" My answer is, that there is a wide difference between learning a foreign language and learning 20 your mother tongue. Grammar lessons in connection with his mother tongue are commenced long after the child has learnt to talk and read it. The function of the grammarian in dealing with the grammar of his own tongue is to take the language as he finds it used, and note its agreement with or variation from the laws which gov- ern human speech; and, as far as possible, to explain discrepancies. GRAMMAR SHOULD BE COMPARATIVE. It seems, however, that this study is hardly possible until the student has learnt some other language besides his own with which he may compare its usages. Those will speak the purest English who con- verse with people whose diction and pro- nunciation are sound and clear, and whose vocabulary is ample and correctly used. Following rules of grammar when you are acquainted only with your mother tongue leads to as many mistakes as it cures. For instance, the rule that adverbs and not adjectives modify verbs, as " I write badly ", not *^ I write bad ", leads stu- dents to say "I feel badly "when they do 21 not mean to complain of their power of feeling, but to describe their own physi- cal condition, A describing and not a modifying word is, therefore, wanted. They ought to say, "I feel bad", "I feel sick ". " You look sad " again has a dif- ferent meaning from " You look sadly ". EVERY CHILD SHOULD LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. Command of English, therefore, is gained by constant practice, by attending to the corrections of some one who has a good acquaintance with the current use of it, and by reading well-written books. To learn enough of grammar to parse ''he would have written," is a lengthy process, and the time which it requires may more usefully be spent in different studies. I have noticed in looking over papers in grammar and composition, that a sound knowledge of grammar is quite consistent with undeveloped powers of writing and understanding plain English. To bring it so far as to distinguish the parts of speech and to analyse sentences hardly de- serves to be called learning grammar; but so much probably every child would learn in the lessons on composition. I think, however, that every child ought to learn some foreign language, and then the study of formal grammar becomes much more useful. THE STUDY OF OBJECTS FUNDAMENTAL. The study of objects is the forming cor- rect impressions from objects which are actually presented to the senses; and though it is the lowest stage of intellec- tual development it is the foundation. Man shares this study with animals, but it is the base of his whole mental superstruc- ture. The mind has no ready-made knowledge of things and no innate ideas or conceptions. At the most it has apt- ness for acquiring them. Step by step, by daily contact with the outer world, by action and reaction of itself on objects and of objects on itself, by the reception of im- pressions and by the elaboration of them through internal processes, the mind wins its laborious way to that degree of intel- lectual, moral, and spiritual elevation of which it is capable. 23 IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT IMPRESSIONS. The main business of the Object Teacher is to enable the learner to form correct impressions, and there is no more impor- tant branch of instruction. Like the re- porters, we look at a lady's dress. We then shut our eyes and try to recall what we saw. We have in our mind a mental image of the dress. Similar mental im- ages are the starting-point of all knowl- edge. If the impression first received is wanting in clearness and precision, if the mind cannot assimilate the impression, or if it cannot express in words v/hat the impression is, as in the case of the same reporters, the mental image will not be an improvement upon the impressions on which it is based, but will be full of con- fusion and obscurity. THE ATTENTION MUST BE TRAINED. A clear mental image can only be formed by trained attention to impressions from objects, by which the parts and character- istics are carefully grasped and impres- sions nearly alike clearly distinguished from impressions really alike. Vague, ob- 24 scare, and shifting impressions of an object will never help us to know it rightly, how- ever frequently they are made. Four re- porters take note of a dress and are at variance in describing its color. Another reason for the need of trained attention to impressions is to be found in the fact that our mental image of a partic- ular object, when provided with a name, soon passes from being particular and in- dividual, and supplies us with a conception of a class. At first we name a particular animal dog. We afterwards think of all kinds of dogs under the name dog. Any particular dog which we note is seen in connection with many special characteristics, such as size, color, action, and the like; whereas our general conception of ''dog" only retains the most general impressions. The content of the class name — the name dog as applied to all individual dogs — must needs be much more vague and in- definite than the same name when applied to a particular dog which we are looking at. 25 Our general notions, therefore, although based on impressions from objects, can never be as clear and full and free from vagueness as the result of the original studies of particular objects upon which they are based. How important, therefore, that the study of such impressions of indi- vidual objects should be as exact as it admits of being made ; for otherwise our conceptions are like a copy of an ill-drawn picture, which besides suffering from the defects of all copies has this additional dis- advantage, that it exaggerates the original imperfection of the first picture. SPEECH A SPIRITUAL HAND. The trained use of the senses is neces- sary not only to the man of science, whose pursuits are wholly based on the study of objects, but to the artist, who needs a vivid and accurate perception of all the parts and relations of the objects which he represents, and even to the or- dinary artisan, if he is to introduce into his work any original thought or design. By the early training of the senses a man may learn to look out for what is new in objects, and to find it where the less care- fully trained sees only what is familiar. The link between the inner world of the mind and objects, or the outer world, is speech. Speech is a spiritual hand for grasping objects by the mind. By words we fix in our minds our own impressions^ and by words we communicate them to other people. Words express the relation of our consciousness to objects, and we mostly comprehend objects as words pre- sent them to our minds. Want of language, want of words filled with clear, definite meaning, is the greatest hindrance to cul- ture. Object teaching, then, should in connec- tion with language teaching, form the children's conceptions, and supply them with a good store of significant words, together with a knowledge of the right way to apply them. Object teaching places children closely in contact with nature and human nature, the two sources of human knowledge and moral experi- ence. There is a knowledge of words which is really a knowledge of things. 27 Object teaching is the reconciliation of the old antithesis between them. METHOD OF OBJECT TEACHING. Having described the end and aim of Object Teaching I now come to its meth- od. The key to the art of training the senses is analysis. • An object presented to a child for the first time gives him a confused sense of impressions. The child must be shown how to divide this whole into convenient parts in an orderly man- ner. His attention must be directed first to one part and then to another, and after- wards the bearing of one part on another must be carefully worked out. After this analysis or study of detail the object must be again studied as a whole. It should never, after being thus pulled to pieces, be left in fragments as it were^ but the careful division of the separate parts should be followed by a reconstruction of them into the original whole. Such an attentive study of an object must replace the hasty, fugitive and unstable glance which usually satisfies a child. In study- ing an object it should not be forgotten 28 that in nature things are not separate and independent existences ; the attention must not be so wholly confined to the ob- ject and its parts as to allow the child to forget its relation to other things. Let the child see what part the object plays in its usual surroundings, and dwell upon its material, its origin, its use, its hurtfulness, its opposites, and its resemblances. THE FACULTY OF STUDY. Even children can study a particular object thoroughly up to a certain point, and the habit thus acquired extends itself to objects which are not treated of by the teacher in school. In fact the right sort of object teaching develops a faculty of study which is of infinitely more conse- quence than the actual information ob- tained. The faculty which is developed is of universal application, w^iile the knowledge of the object studied in devel- oping it is necessarily limited and re- stricted. If I have studied with attention a very few of the manifestations of the effects of gravity and have really assimil- ated them, I am able to study other forces 29 with greater ease. The use I can make of my knowledge depends not so much on what I can write down in an examination — often a cumbrous and superfluous store — as upon the way in which I have been taught. Teaching of this kind cannot be a hasty process. Time is needed for the mind to play freely over the object, and time is needed for recapitulation. After each part or characteristic has been considered separately, it should be again reconsidered in relation to the whole. As there are three characteristics of good powers of observation which the detailed analysis of an object tends to promote — namely, speed in responding to impressions, infallibility in interpreting them, and exhaustiveness in examining their origin; so there are three advantages which recapitulation se- cures — namely, vividness of the mental image, strength of mental hold upon it, and versatility in employing it. THE OBJECT MUST BE AT HAND. Necessarily, therefore, in true Object Teaching the object must be kept fre- quently and long under the child's notice, id hi checked lis mental by image memory must peated comparison oi with the actual object. Hence drawing — that best external evi- dence of the inner mental image — or modelling, should be resorted to as early as possible. Even a very young child would early learn to reproduce from mem- ory the shape of a particular ivy leaf, and then match the drawing or model with the original. The temptation of the teacher is to trust to the child's memory, which is usually a perfect lumber-room of confused and inaccurate impressions. The object should be withdrawn from sight bit by bit while it is being studied. Where it is proved that the child has a vague or inac- curate notion of any part, let that vague- ness be cleared away by fresh reference to the object. In this way the carrying power of the memory is surely, if slowly, in- creased. One of the ablest specimens of Object Teaching in its elementary stage is printed in Mrs. Sewell's Life, and I can give no better illustration of my meaning. 31 A SPECIMEN OF OBJECT TEACHING. A little boy — we will say about four years old, runs from the garden to his mother. "Oh ! mother, do come and look at this beautiful thing on the rose-tree; I want to know what it is." " I am busy now, Charles, tell me what it is like. What color is it ?" "Red, I think." " Oh, I suppose it is a ladybird." " Oh no, it is a great deal bigger than a ladybird." " Well, perhaps it is a tiger-moth, that has two red wings. Look, like this "—and the mother slightly sketches the tiger- moth on the slate. " Oh no, it is not at all like that." " Is it this color ?" " No, it is not so red as that." "Perhaps it is the color of this mahog- any chair ?" "No, not just like that." " Perhaps like this nut ?" "Yes, it is very much like that." " Well, this is light brown, not red- 32 But what shape is this beautiful creature ?" ",Oh, I think it is round." The mother draws a round figure on the slate. ^' Is it like this ?" "No, not so round." The mother makes a long thing in the form of a long caterpillar. " No, it is not so long." The mother then draws an oval. "Yes, it is very much like that." "And has it no feet?" " I think it has some feet." "How many? I suppose two feet like the birds. Are they like these ?" *'Ohno! I am sure they are not like those." " You had better go and look at it again, and come and tell me." " Mother, it has six legs." The mother draws two on one side and four on the other. " Is that right ?" " No, it has three on each side." The mother corrects it. " Is that right?" " Yes, that is really right." " You will see by this example," said Mrs. Sewell, " how much of accurate ob- servation this lesson will have taught the 33 child. Children will never weary of this sort of instruction, and it is impossible to calculate how much the child will g^ain ; very soon he will endeavor to guide his mother's fingers to the correct form, and next endeavor to form the figure himself. The value of the habit of accurate observa- tion is not to be told. In this way a child obtains the power of using his own mind, and he learns the value of correct language and description. Had the mother simply complied with the child's request, and gone into the gar- den and said 'That is a stag-beetle', the subject would have been closed and the child's interest quenched. Had a servant been with the child she probably would leave the question thus, ' Oh, that's a nasty beetle; don't touch it or it will kill you with those great nippers; come away from it.' Then the child would not onjy have its interest quenched, but would be taught to fear a harmless insect, and the creature would become an object of dis- 34 BEGIN WITH SOMETHING AT HAND. If then Object Teaching be- what I have attempted to describe it, the instruction must commence with an object or speci- men. To talk to the children about things not seen duringthe lesson is not Object Teaching. Again, a conversation about all kinds of things in a superficial way is certainly a valuable lesson for a certain purpose. It conveys general information and corrects a tendency to pedantry, which is the besetting sin of all school work, but it is not Object Teaching, Talk- ing over many things is not the same in effect as talking of nothing, but it is prac- tice in conversation, the use of words, mustering ideas, quickness in recalling past impressions, and grammar, rather than training the powers of observation and attention or laying the foundation of knowledge by developing the faculties which we possess for attaining knowledge. OBJECT TEACHING MUST TRAIN THE SENSES. Nothing should be called an object lesson which does not improve the senses of the child and make him able, of him- 35 self, to advance in the true path of acquir- ing knowledge. The information con- veyed in chats and lectures ends v^^ith the passive reception of it. The child is suf- farcinated with facts like the Strasburg geese, but the facts are not imparted in such a way as to form the starting-point of further learning or to lay the founda- tion of a method of observation and re- search. In concluding this brief account of the theory of Object-Teaching, I ask, what is the aim of Object Teaching? Is it talk? Is it the mastery of language ? Is it the mustering of ideas ? Is it conveying gen- eral information ? All these kinds of instruction are needed, but they are not properly Object-Teaching. This begins with a keen, many-sided, and accurate ob- servation of a familiar specimen. A SPECIMEN LESSON. You ^may now fairly challenge me to give some concrete instance of what I consider good Object Teaching. ''These are very fair philosophies of yours, no doubt," it may be urged, " but unless you 36 reduce your theories to practice, how can we be sure that they are not like the pro- verbial horse which is a very good steed in the stable but an arrant jade on the journey?" After some consideration I have chosen as the subject of my lesson the common duck, not that I mean to make up one adapted only for infants, for I intend it for children over ten years, but because of its familiarity and the ease of procuring a specimen. Of course the compilation is intended to take up much more than one lesson time, and I can only give you the matter of the lesson, as it would take too long to show the method. A LESSON ON THE DUCK. In a lesson on the duck I should avoid commencing with its Latin name (Anas boschus), its ornithological classification, and its history under domestication, and I should prefer to take first of all, what we see of it ourselves. The children must be made to visit a pond, where there are ducks very frequently — the first time with their teacher, and afterwards by them- 37 selves ; and the points which I state as facts should be gained by questioning the class after they have been to the pond and watched the ducks. A live duck should also be brought into school from time to time. THE duck's body. Where does the duck live? Mostly in the water, even in winter. If we swam about in water which was nearly freezing we should be starved with cold. What is the difference between us and the duck ? The duck has feathers and we are without such covering ; and further, the legs and feet of the duck are not made like ours. They do not contain so much blood. Com- pared with ours they are less fleshy, and expose less blood to the surface where it gets chilled by air or water. Now let us examine the duck's clothing of feathers. On the sunny side of a pond we can pick them up in numbers. Are they all of the same size ? No, some are smaller than others. Let us examine a large feather. It consists of two parts, a firm stem which at one end is inserted into the skin, and at a certain distance 38 above the end branches spread out on two opposite sides. We call the stem the quill, and make pens of them, as goose- quills and crow-quills. Note that in the larger, the branches cling to each other closely. In the smaller, they are separate and fluffy. Which are softer ? Which do we make beds of? The difference we mark by a name. The small feathers we call down. Now look at the duck's body. Which feathers are outside.^ We cannot see the down until we pluck off the feathers. The down clings close to the body ; and notice the lower and inner part of some of the large feathers is also downy. Thus the duck has underclothing as well as a dress to wear. These two coats keep it warm even in cold water. (^The differ- ence between the circulation and the breathing in birds and mammals should be introduced when the children are more advanced. J Now look under the duck's skin. There is a layer of yellow fat. (^What people live on fat and smear themselves with fat ? Why ?J So the duck is kept doubly warm. 39 Does the water soak the duck's feathers as it swims ? Any lady who has a feather in her hat fears the rain will spoil it, and so it does. The water hardly wets a duck's feathers. Note how it slides off a duck's back in drops like peas. How is this ? First look at the arrangement of the outer and larger feathers. They lie close pressed together and overlap each other like tiles on a roof, off which the water flows from one to the other without get- ting between them, and the outer feathers protect the downy inner ones. If the wind is blowing and the rain falling, the duck swims to meet the wind, and the penthouse of feathers is so arranged as to have its free and weaker end turned away from the wind. We see how easily the water drops off the feathers, but if you look at the tiles of a roof you will see that they get wet in a storm though the people beneath remain dry. Do the duck's feathers themselves get wet ? Try. Take a feather which has re- cently been dropped by a duck, and wet the upper side of it. It keeps dry like oiled silk. The reason is that it Aas been 40 oiled. Where does the oil come from ? Is it exuded from all over the duck's body? If this were so the down would be oiled, which lies nearest the body. But the down, unlike the larger feathers, does get wet if you put it in water, as you see, and so the source of the oil cannot be in the general surface of the skin. Now watch the duck on a sunny day, either when it is sitting on a sunny bank or when it is floating about on the calm surface of the water. Sometimes it is sleeping with its head under its wing. Sometimes it works its bill about, now moving it in the feathers near the tail, and now, as it were, smoothing down the other feathers of its body. The duck has a wart-like excrescence near the root of its tail, and this body secretes oil, which the duck, by use of its bill, smears over the feathers to make them waterproof. Now watch the duck on the pond. When a dog swims it sinks all its body in the water as far as its neck, and so does a horse, and so does a man, and what is more, all of these never cease moving their limbs, in order to keep their heads I 41 above water. The duck swims on the surface of the water more like a cork, and can float without moving a muscle. Now what makes a cork swim so lightly ? Look at it. A cork is full of holes, and the holes are full of air. Look how lightly a blad- der full of air floats. Is the duck full of air ? Let us examine a duck more closely, and look inside it as well as outside. First compare the flight feathers of the wing, the tail feathers, and the covering feathers. Then examine a wing and see how many joints it has, and how it unfolds and is folded, and note how the feathers lie. Then remove a wing and spread it out on a board for better study, and name the kinds of feathers on it. Then with a sharp knife, cut delicately through the skin over the breastbone, and fold it back and fasten it. Show the strong and thick muscles. Why does a bird want such strong muscles.? Then cut through the breastbone, or separate the breastbone and the ribs to 42 show the hollow of the breast. Show the thin tissues in which air is collected. Clean the upper bone of a wing, and show a small hole in it near the shoulder. Saw through a bone lengthways and across. Show that it is hollow and that the hole in the bone admits air from the air spaces above found, so that the duck's bones are filled with air. The appearance and position of the lungs can be contrasted with those of a rabbit or any other mammal. Any one who has to clean and truss a chicken for roasting will not be shocked at dissecting a duck. The comparatively solid bone of a mammal can be contrasted with those of a bird. Besides the air in the breastbones the quills of the feathers are full of air^ and the close packed outer feathers keep much air beneath them in among the down. No wonder, then, the duck swims on the surface of the water, while the dog, when he swims, has only his head out. Now look at the shape of the body. Apart from head and neck it is oval^ but not a perfect oval. It is somewhat flat- tened. That is, it is wider from right to 43 left than it is deep from below to the top of its back. This flattening makes it rest more securely on the water than it would if its body were perfectly oval. THE duck's movements. Notice how the duck swims. It moves its feet alternately, exactly as in w^alking on the land. Its feet have skin between the toes. Examine a foot. With its out- stretched broad surface it fans the water. Compare the foot of a hen. Which is best for swimming ? The feet push out back- ward and the body moves forwards. Have you watched men rowing a boat.? If the body moves forward when the feet are moving backward what happens when the feet are pulled in again? Does not the body move backward? Watch the feet. When they are pushed back, the toes spread out and make, with the skin be- tween them, a broad surface. When they are pulled in, the toes draw together and curl up a little, just as happens when the duck lifts its foot in walking on dry land. Thus the foot presents as little surface as possible to the water when it is being drawn in again. 44 You will notice that the toes do not bend quite in the same way as our fingers do. Our fingers we bend at our pleasure, but the duck's toes bend of themselves, and the skin folds up between them. As soon as they meet the resistance of the water in swimming, the toes and skin be- tween them are spread out by the pressure of the water. Now notice the position of the feet on the legs. The feet are set inwards, and are less convenient for walking on land. Compare a hen and a duck when they walk. The duck waddles. Watch the duck swim. The right foot in striking out backwards pushes the body forwards towards the left. The left foot similarly pushes the body forwards towards the right again. Thus the body moves for- ward in a straight line, although neither foot pushes it quite straight forward. Lay two books of one size flat on a table. Push them forward by shoving the end corners alternately, but push one book in a diagonal direction each time, and the other in a perpendicular direction. Con- trast the movements of the two books. 45 Which motion makes the book move more easily forward? If the duck's feet were so set on, that each stroke in swimming were made exactly in a straight line back- wards, would its progress be as easy as now, when the stroke is made sideways? The legs of the duck are short. As it swims you see only its feet. The part of the leg which is inside the skin is stout. The free part is thin and sinewy. Take a flat ruler and move it through the water broadside, first holding it by one end so that nearly all the ruler is in the water, and then holding it by the middle so that only a third of the ruler is in the water. In the second case the ruler is moved more easily. Which case does the duck's leg resemble? Examine the muscle of the duck's leg; its strength, size, color, and attachment. The muscle of the foot. Look at the po- sition of the legs. They are set on towards the hinder end of the body. Some water birds have their legs set on more in the middle, like the moor hen. On the con- trary, the grebe has its legs set on still further back than a duck, and when it 46 wants to stand it has to set its body nearly vertical or upright in consequence. This position may be again illustrated by holding a book between the finger and thumb (a) horizontally and (b) near one end. The duck walks uneasily on land : of course because its build is contrived for its aquatic habits — look at its feathers^ its toes, the length and position of its feet ! The hen's legs look quite different. They are longer and more flexible. The toes are longer, being without a web. Much more of the legs is outside the skin. You can see a joint more than you can see in the duck. Compare, however, a duck's leg and a hen's leg after separating both from the body. Show the skeleton of the two legs and compare them and contrast the upper joint of the duck's leg and the hen's drum- stick. If you hold a small book between your finger and thumb and make it walk along the table on the tips of them, the book moves more easily when you grasp it in the middle than when you grasp it near the end. Of course this can be explained by reference to mechanics if it is thought 47 desirable. The centre of gravity should be in a vertical line with the centre of support, or at any rate it must not be out- side of it. The connection between this principle and the oval shape of the bird's body can be shown and similarly in regard to the bend of the legs. But even without this a parallel instance leads to thoughful observation of nature, and this leads on presently to a more accurate and quanti- tative study. It is possible to compare the foot of the coot or grebe, which has a frin ge of web on each side of the toe as an inter- mediate form between a hen and a duck. THE duck's food. What does the duck do on the pond ? It seeks food. Watch how it plunges its head under water and searches among the waterweeds or in the mud. Its name comes from this action. To duck is to dip the head. Besides weeds the duck eats snails, fish, frogs, eggs and spawn, caddisworms, beetles and the like. See how long it holds its head under water without taking breath. Remember how much air it has in its body. Watch 48 the duck raise its head from the water with its prey in its bill. It swallows the food but lets the water flow away. The duck does not want to swallow too much water. You can watch the duck drink. It only swallows a few drops while stretching out its head and neck. We men can take a good mouthful of water. Why cannot the duck } Look at the duck's bill f There are no lips like ours. Inside its mouth you see channels and groves crossing from side to side, and the free ends form a fringe or strainer. The edges of the tongue have a similar fringe. These serve two purposes. They help to hold the prey firm in the beak and they help to strain the water run off it. How can the duck find its prey in the weeds. '' True, as it has eyes it, like us, can see under water, but poking about in the mud it soon make the water thick. Compare the hen's beak with the duck's. The hen's is pointed and hornlike. The duck's is broad and more like a skin. Now we will cut this skin from base to point down the middle. Then we will make another cut in the left side across so 49 as to divide it into an upper and an under section. Now we will turn back to the lower section. There you will see a great number of nerves. We men have many nerves under the skin at the tips of our fingers, and by the means of them we can tell in the dark whether we are touching a piece of bread or a stone. The duck uses its bill as we do our fingers, only far more cleverly. The blind men, however, see with their fingers. Look at the tongue of the duck ; see how thick and fleshy it is, not dry like some birds'. That helps it to get its food. Now then we have seen how well adapted the duck's feet and legs are for living much on the water. We now see how well its bill is constructed for the same purpose. What can you remember about its cover- ing in this connection ? COMPARISON WITH OTHER BIRDS. I have no space to continue about nest- ing and brooding, and hatching, or the development of the chick. After treating of all of these, it would be desirable to in- troduce the conception of classification. 50 'By comparing the duck with geese and swans, and contrasting them with spar- rows and robins, storks and cranes, you can show the difference between swim- ming birds and waders andperchers. SATURDAY EXPEDITIONS. A Study like this can most readily be made in the country where the children can visit a pond frequently and watch the ducks and note their habits; but most towns possess parks with lakes on which ducks swim about. Occasional expedi- tions on summer evenings or Saturdays, for the purpose of investigating natural objects in their surroundings, would be well spent time. TOO MUCH SCIENCE AND TOO LITTLE. If every detail that is dwelt upon is il- lustrated by presenting it to the eye of the children, and in many cases to the touch, such a lesson is not like a compen- dium of scientific facts which is learned by heart. On the contrary, the object is presented as much as possible as it lives and moves in its natural surroundings. It is not a mummified specimen out of a 51 museum, from which all the grace and beauty of life and warmth and motion have been abstracted. A girl taught on this principle is not likely to commence a theme on her Mother with the remark, ^' Mother is the female parent of the child ", where there is too much science. Neither would a boy when asked to de- scribe an ordinary hen's egg answer, "An Ggg is an oblong white object with a shell composed of gravel ", where there is too little science. Again, the talk about the duck has not passed into a general information lesson. We have not discussed duck shooting, de- coys, and the like, neither have we gone into the "culinary" preparation of the duck, all of which might be usefully dealt with in their place. It has been an object lesson within the meaning of that term, as I have described it in my lecture. Of course, I might have selected as a subject something of a wholly different character — chemical, for instance, or physiological ; but after listening to the lectures by Miss Beszant and Mr. Lishman, both of whom displayed for us their exceptional ability 52 as teachers of elementary science, I pre- ferred to choose a theme which was as unlike theirs as possible. I have been reading the second report of the committee of the British Associa- tion on present methods of teaching chem- istry, and I appreciate very keenly the excellence of the pamphlet. What there is said of chemistry is true of science. '' The most ", it is written, " that can be properly aimed at in teaching chemistry (I should prefer to extend the statement and say science^ in elementary schools is the training of the faculties of observation and of orderly thinking, and the stimula- tion of the instinct of inquiry, which is the possession of every uneducated child. By restricting the teaching to common things this can easily be done, and so an interest aroused both in the phenomena of nature and in those involved in industrial operations." What the report says of books on chem- istry is true of books on other sciences. We need more books for instruction that may show how chemistry and other sub- jects may be approached naturally and 53 logically from a study of common things and of every-day phenomena. I am looking forward to the publication of Miss Bes- zant's and Mr. Lishman's joint book on elementary science, because I think it will help to supply this pressing want; and I find Mr. Sykes has a valuable book on Object Teaching in the press, designed for Standards I. and II. A good many teachers are using Professor Miall's ex- cellent Object Lessons in Biology. HOME TEACHERS THE BEST. The British Association Report recom- mends the peripatetic system of teaching science as the only one at present practi- cal, because a high standard of scientific knowledge is absolutely necessary for the proper educative teaching of the most elementary chemistry. I incline to think myself that, where possible, it is better that all instruction should be given by some member of the school staff. I think that a good organizing teacher, who can direct, advise, and encourage the class teachers in different schools in a district, would produce in the end more and better results than a peripatetic teacher, because the 54 latter can never know at all intimately the number of individual scholars whom he will have to address, and can know little of the contents of their minds or how to get hold of them. The kind of science teaching in elemen- tary schools in Germany and Switzerland is well described in this report, where it is stated to be of the most simple and general character as distinguished from the syste- matic instruction for technical purposes, which begins in polytechnics and higher schools. The higher teaching demands as its basis that the elementary science les- sons shall not merely have given infor- mation but that it shall have developed intelligence, that it shall have been rational and thorough, and that it shall have been given by good teachers. I do not myself know of any peripatetic teachers in Berlin, but I met with teachers in large schools whose duty consisted entirely in teaching and superintendingtheteachingof science, just as one teacher often deals with needle- work in England, No doubt in country districts the peripatetic system is at pres- ent often the only possible one, and also 55 in towns where the schools are small or not large enough to occupy the whole of the time of a science teacher. THE METHOD MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SUBJECT. However taught, science in its elemen- tary stage must be of the nature of object teaching. The subject may consist of a connected series of object lessons in a particular study, such as many teachers are now devising in domestic economy, physiology, mechanics, and physics, or the field of inquiry may be more general, or the teaching may be applied to history or social science; but the real worth of this study of objects is not the quantity of ground covered and information imparted, but the quality and method of instruction. The observations must be made or verified by the scholars themselves, who are thus trained to use and trust their own senses and powers of inference instead of repeat- ing other people's descriptions or accounts in books. This kind of object teaching is an anti- dote to the degradation of learning, which we all know and deplore, but can never wholly escape. After a full and living 56 description of an object the teacher writes down a few of the salient points in his development, which of coarse prove of immense value first to the examinee and afterwards to the examiner. The next step is that, in order to save time, the full account is omitted in teaching, and the dry bones of the skeleton are studied ex- clusively by the student as his sole weapon of defence against the examiner, and he abandons all hope of taking any interest in his studies except as means to a pass. It only remains for me to express my ob- ligations in writing this paper to two German authors — Karl Richter, whose excellent treatise on Object Teaching has been the principal source for the first part of it, and to Frederich Junge, whose book, called "The Village Pond ", has supplied me with materials for the second part. The book which throws most light on the theory of Object Teaching in the English language is Warner's " Mental Faculty ". I should be glad to see the formation of classes for teachers (ij in the principles underlying the science of hygiene and domestic economy, and (2) in the general introduction to elementary science. ■THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS. Selections for Memorizing. 1. Regents' Selections in Literature. Selections for Eepetition from. Memory at the Examinations conducted by the Eegents of the University of the State of New York, in connection with the courses of American, German, and French Literature. Leatherette, 16mo, pp. 56. 25 cts. Each separate, paper, 6 cts. These selections were officially prepared in the Regents' office, and pub- lished under the direction of Mr. James Russell Parsons, Jr. Besides their special purpose, they will be found admirable for use in classes. 2. Memory Selections from nearly 150 authors. By Chas. Northend. In three sets, Primamj, Intermediate, and Advanced, each consisting of 36 cards printed on both sides, in neat box. Price of each box 25 cts. The best apology I can make for my delay in answering your letter is to send you the enclosed check for 135 sets of Memory Selections. I shall probably call for an additional supply. I wish these selections could be used in every home and in every school-room throughout the land. They will surely accomplish much good, both intellectual and moral.— 2>. B. Hagar^ principal State Normal School, Salem, Mass. Your collection of Memory Selections came to-day, and I hasten to ex- press my appreciation of the same. Nothing finer has ever came to my no- tice. Will send you an order in a few days. The cards are just the thing to have on one's library table. What pleasanter way is there to spend five or ten minutes, when one is obliged to wait that time, than with such a collec- tion?— C. A. Holbrook, Lewis High School, Southington, Ct. 3. A Primer of Memory Gems, designed especially for Schools. By Geo. W. Hoss. Paper, 16mo, pp. 40. 15 cts. There has long been need of more philosophy in the arrangement of memory gems. We have here at a merely nominal price a classification of selections, so that a teacher can select discriminatingly that which he de- sires memorized.— iVetf' England Journal of Education. h. TJwughts from Earnest Wo?7ien. Arranged by the Women's Literary Club, Dunkirk, N. Y. Paper, IBmo, pp. 86. 15 cts. This is one of the most admirable collections ever made, containing much that is unhackneyed, and so entertainingly arranged that one who takes it up can hardly lay it down without looking it through to the end. 5. Education as Viewed by Thinkers. Paper, 16mo, pp. 47. 15 cts. These quotations will be of especial service in normal schools and teachers' meetings. 6. Anecdotes and Humors of School Life. By Aaron Sheelt. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 250. $1.50. Most of the stories are too long for the purpose, but some of them may be used with good effect. 7. Mottoes for the School Boom. By A. W. Edson, State Agent of 'Massa- chusettts. Per set of 12 on heavy colored card-board 7x4 inches, printed on both sides. $1.00, post-paid, #1.10. C. W, BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. THE SCHOOL BULLETm PUBLICATIONS. Home Exercise for Health and Cure. Translated from the German of D. G. R. Schrebttr, M. D., by Charles Russell Barbeen. Cloth, IGmo, pp. 91, 45 Illustrations, 50 cts. The teacher's work is confining, and leads to special physical defects. These are recognized in this manual, -which provides " prescriptions," or combinations of exercises to meet certain needs. The exercises are for men and women alike, and there is not a teacher in America who would not profit by them. See the strength of these recommendations. An interesting manual which not only does not re- quire a gymnasium, but even dispenses with Indian clubs, wands, and dumb-bells. The original treatise has had a -wide circulation in Germany. It suggests the 2}rin€iples of the Delsarie system.— Atlantic Monthly, Feb., 1891. In Germany 140,000 copies of this book have been sold, and American teachers would do well to make themselves familiar with a system of bodily exercise that is pronounced by competent authorities the best treatise on the subject extaxit.— Journal of Pedagogy, Oct., 1890. The original of this book is almost as easy to find in German homes and school-rooms as the Bible. Its purpose is to give a system of physical exer- cise without any appliances, expensive or otherwise, so that men, women and children whose habits are sedentary may be enabled by a few moments of effort each day to overcome the physical ailments which beset those who have forgotten that the human body is a complex and delicate bit of machinery never intended to accustom itself to neglect. It is a small book, and the exercises may. seem childishly simple, but no one can follow them for half an hour without having a clearer head and better spirits, as well as a sense of bodily weariness which shows how shamefully the system has been neglected.— iVezo York Herald, Oct. 21, 1890. It is certainly a most practical little book, more than nsnally interesting on account of the exact physiological effects described as the object of each exercise.— TAe Educational Review, Oct., 1890. I have carefully read the translation from the German of the beautiful and valuable little volume on Home Exercise. I regard it as one of the best contributions of this age in the line of physical education. It is simple, full of common sense, and peculiarly adapted for use in schools. Every man, woman, and child would be better off physically if they studied and carried into effect the methods made so plain in this unique little volume. I cannot commend it too highly.— C H. McCormick, director of Y. M. C. A. Gymna- sium, Syracuse, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1890. Of all the books on gymnastics we have ever seen, we pronounce this the best. The simplicity, the common-sense quality of the exercises, stamp it at once as a work of sterling value and of great worth. We would like to see a copy on the desk of every teacher in the country. It would improve the next generation about tenv^v cent.— Edticational Courant, Oct. 1890. C. W, BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. THE SCHOOL BULLETIIT PUBLICATIONS. Helps toward Correct Speech. 1. Verbal Pitfalls : a manual of 1500 words commonly misused, includ- ing all those the use of which in any sense has been questioned by Dean Alvord, G. W. Moon, Fitzedward Hall, Archbishop Trench, Wm C. Hodgson, W. L, Blackley, G. F. Graham, Kichard Grant White, M. Scheie de Vere, Wm. Mathews, " Alfred Ayres," and many others. Arranged alphabetically, with 3000 references and quotations, and the ruling of the dictionaries. By C. W. Bardeen. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 223. 75 cts. Perhaps the happiest feature of the book is its interesting form. Some hundreds of anecdotes have been gathered to illustrate the various points made. These have the advantage not only of making the work entertain- ing, but of fixing the point in the mind as a mere precept could not do. The type indicates at a glance whether the use of a word is (1) indefensible, (2) defensible but objectionable, or (3) thoroughly authorized. 2. Orthoepy Made Easy. A Royal Road to Correct Pronunciation. By M. W. Hall, Cloth, 16mo, pp. 103. 75 cts. Everyone remembers the queer shibboleths of culture in the paragraph T)eginning " A sacrilegious son of Belial," that has been the rounds of the newspapers. This book is made up of 38 such exercises, all of them ingen- ious and many of them amusing, each followed by a key to the difficult words. Bishop Vincent says , " I take great pleasure in testifying to the ex- ceeding value of the little volume ; ' Orthoepy Made Easy.' The book is a sensible, practical text-book for the purpose intended. I congratulate you on having produced it, and I wish you success in its wide circulation," S. Practical Phonics. A comprehensive study of Pronunciation, form- ing a complete guide in the study of elementary sounds of the English Lan- guage, and containing 3000 words of difficult pronunciation, with diacritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. By E. V. DeGraff. Cloth, 16mo, pp.108. 75 cts. " The book before us is the latest, and in many respects the best, of the manuals prepared for this purpose. The directions for teaching elementary sounds are remarkably explicit and simple, and the diacritical marks are fuller than in any other book we know of, the obscure vowels being marked, as well as the accented ones. This manual is not like others of the kind, a simple reference book. It is meant for careful study and drill, and is es- pecially adapted to class use."— iVer^; England Journal of Education. h. Pocket Pronunciation Book, containing the 3,000 words of difficult pronunciation, with diacritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. By E. V. DeGraff, Manilla, 16mo, pp. 47. 15 cts. 5. Studies in Articulation : a study and drill-book in the Alphabetic Ele- ments of the English language. Fifth thousand. By J, H, Hoose. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 70. 50 cts. " Dr. Hoose 's ' Studies in Articulation ' is the most useful manual of the iind that I know of. It should be a text-book in every Teacher's Institute." —A. J. Rickoff, formerly SupH of Schools at Cleveland and at Yonkers. 6. Hints on, Teaching Orthoepy. By Chas. T. Pooler. Paper, 16mo, pp. 15. 10 cts. 7. Question Book of Orthography, Orthoepy, and Etymology^ with Notes, •Queries, etc. By Albert P, Southavick, Paper, 16mo, pp, 40. 10 cts. C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N, Y. THE SCHOOL BULLETIN' PUBLICATIONS.- Helps in Foreign Languages. 1. On Memory, and the. Rational Means of Improving it. With an Ap- pendix containing the Application to tlie Study of Foreign Languages. By Dr. Edv>^ard Pick. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 193. Price SI -00. Dr. Edward Picl£, the famous English authority on psychology, and es- pecially that branch of it called memory, has been invited to deliver at Harvard his course of lectures on " Memory : how to strengthen it without the aid of Mnemonics." Dr. Pick is one of the most learned of that great circle who have adorned Oxford, Cambridge and Eton for the last twenty years, and his works on both psychology and language have rendered his name known to the literary circles in this country. His chief works are the "Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," and on " Memory, and the Eational Means of Improving it." This latter work was an innovation, causing much discussion, as its prime object was to demolish the teaching of "Memoria Thechnica." * * * With Alexander Bain he holds that there is hope for the most forgetful of men, and that the most simple rules, building up natural processes, will work wonderful changes, and in a very brief period. * * * Perhaps the most unique and valuable aid offered by the system is in the acquirement of languages. Dr. Pick's system being radically different and infinitely shorter than any of the other methods. ■;. * * In recognition of his services to education. Dr. Pick was in 1870 Knighted by the Emperor Francis Joseph, and the " Statistical Congress " eulogized his system and teaching in a recent re,i)Ovi.— Boston Post. 2. Br. Pick's Method applied to acquiring tJie French Language. Leath- erette, 16mo, pp. 113. Price SI. 00. Taking the pupil absolutely without knowledge of the language, this book carries him through the first book of Voltaire's Histoire de Charles XII. The system of connecting each new word with English words or with French words already learned makes the vocabulary a connected whole in- stead of a rope of sand. An index of all words referred to serves as a vocabulary. No teacher who uses Charles XII as a text book can afford to be without the notes here contained, even if he does not use the system. S. Perfected Guide to the Spanish Language. By A. de Varona. Leath- erette, 16mo, pp. 66. Price 35 cts. Convenient for those who desire a slight acquaintance with the lan- guage without the cost or labor of consulting the larger text-books. It. A Vocabulary of Cczsar's Gallic War, Book II. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 69- By George M. Smith. Price 50 cts. 5. Conspiracy of the Helvetians. Five chapters of Caesar's Gallic Wai*. For use in First-Year Latin Classes, especially in Regents' Schools. Con- taining Special Vocabulary, Exercises in Latin Composition, Idioms, and Ir- regular Comparisons, with Suggestions for Study. By a High School Teacher. Leatherette, 16mo, pp. .50. Price 35 cts. The Regents' Syllabus has given definite direction to the teaching of most of the subjects taught in Regents' schools, and this little book is meant to be especially helpful in this direction. C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. ■THE SCHOOL BULLETIN" PUBLICATIONS.- Helps in Teaching Geograpliy. I. iTopica^ G^og-m^^^y, with Methods and Supplementary Notes. By Ida L. Griffin, School Commissioner for the Third District, Oswego County, 1^. Y. Leatherette, 12mo, pp. 142. 50 cts. This is a complete manual of geography, covering the entire subject. It outlines in detail what should be taught, when it should be taught, and how It should be taught. In addition to this a large number of Supplementary Notes are given, which are invaluable to the teacher. * * * It is the most complete and helpful guide in teaching the subject that has ever been written.— J.. P. Chapin, editor Educational Gazette. %. Oral Instruction in Geography. By Emma L. Pardon, Paper, 16mo, pp. 29. 15 cts. 3. Conversational Lessons leading to Geography. By H. C. Northam. Lewis County Edition. Paper, 16mo, pp. 43. 25 cts, h. The same. Oneida County Edition. Pp. 46. 25 cts. 5. A Brief Geography of Onondaga County. By C. W. Baedeen. Paper, 16mo, pp. 48, with Map. 25 cts. The last three are prepared for local use in the State of New "S^rk and have general interest only by way of suggestion. 6. Kehle Outlines of Geography. By Josephine K. Browk. Paper, 16mo, pp. 59. 25 cts. 7. TJie Regents^ Questions in Geography from the Fii-st Examination to that of June, 1882. Manilla, 16mo, pp. 70. 25 cts. 8. Key to the above. Manilla, pp. 36. 25 cts. These 1987 questions and answers have had a larger sale than those in any other subject, and are generally recognized as the best general review attainable. 9. The Uniform Examination Questions in Geography, from the begin- ning to March, 1889. Paper, 16mo, pp. 30. 10 cts. 10. Key to the above. Paper, 16mo, pp. 34. 10 cts. These 709 questions and answers served for the examination of 30,000 teachers in the State of New York. The fact that the Key contains more pages than the Questions, shows how carefully the answers, officially fur- nished, were prepared. II. A Globe Manual for Schools. By FiAvius J. Cheney. Paper, 16mo, pp. 95, 25 cts. ^ A simple and comprehensive hand-book with illustrations and problems. 12. The International Date Line. By Henry Collins. Paper, 16mo, pp. 15. 15 cts. A conclusive treatment of a subject often debated. IS. Latitude, Longitude, and Time. By J. A. Bassett. Manilla, 16mo, pp. 42. 25 cts. Though especially intended for arithmetic classes, this will be useful to the teacher of geography. lU. Dissected 3faps a,s follows: a. Of the United States, b. Of the State of New York. c. Of the State of Michigan, d. Of the States of N. Y., N. J., Del., Md. e. Of New England. /, Of la., Mo., Ks., Nev., Col., Dak., Wy., Hont. ) Price of each, in box, 75 cts. Those from c to / are from maps several years old. The others are new and fresh. The peculiar use of these maps in teaching geography is now commonly recognized, C. W. BARDEEX, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS. Helps in Teaching History. I. A Thousand Questions in American Eist&ry. Cloth, ICmo, pp. 247. Price $1.00. This work shows rare breadth of view and discrimination, dealing not merely with events but with causes, and with the side-issues that have so much to do with determining the destiny of a nation. S. Helps in Fixing the Facts of American History. By Henry C. Nor- THATVT. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 298. Price $1.00. Here all facts are presented in groups. The L— exington. key-word to the Revolution, for instance, is I— ndependence. LIBERTY, as shown in the accompanying table B— urgoyne's Surrender., of Key- Words ; and in like manner the events of E— vacuation. the late civil war are kept chronologically dis- R— etribution. tinct by the key-words SLAVES FREED. Chart T— reason. Ko. 1 indidates by stars the years in each decade Y— orktown. from 1492 to 1789, in which the most remarkable events occurred, while the colored chart No. 2 arranges the events in 12 groups. S. A Chart of United States Hlsfori/. By Noah T. Clarke, Ph.D. One- page, 9x12. Each 5 cts ; per dozen 50 cts. This chart gives a birdseye view of the entire history of our country. No more practically helpful review has ever been published. A. Topics and Beferences in American History, with numerous Search Questions. By Geo. A. Williams. Leatherette, lOmo, pp. 50. 50 cts. The references are largely to the lighter and more interesting illustra- tions of history, of a kind to arouse the thought of pupils by giving vivid conceptions of the events narrated. By dividing these references among the members of a class, the history recitation may be made the most de- lightful of the day. 5. Brief Views of United States History. By Anna M. Juuand. Leath- erette, 16mo, pp. 68, 35 cts. It contains the leading facts chronologically arranged under the various admuiistrations, leaving the story to be filled out from reference-books by the pupils. 6. Outlines and Questioiis in United Slates History. By C. B. Van Wie. Paper, 16mo, pp. 40, and folding Map. 15 cts. The outgrowth of four years' practical work in the school-room, witk map prepared by a pupil as a suggestive modeL 7. Dim£ Question Books, No. 5, General History, and No. G, United States^ History and Civil Governrnetit. By Albert P. Southwick. Paper, 16mo, pp.. 37, 32. 10 cts. each. 8. Conspectus of United States History to the time of Garfield. Clothe 81x96 inches, on rollers. $2.00. 9. Consjiectus of the History of Political Parties and the Federal Govern- ment to 1880. By Walter R. Houghton. Cloth, 4to, pp. 85, with colored charts, $5.00. Or the chart alone, mounted on rollers, $1.00. 10. Syllabusses of American History. By Welland Hendrick. Paper^ 8vo, pp. 4. Each 5 cts. Per dozen 50 cts. Published four times a year for the Regents' Examinations. II. A Brief History of the Empire Siate. By Welland Hendbick.. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 203. 75 cts. •THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS.- Topics ani Refereices in American History. By Geo. A. Williams, Principal of Vermont Academy. Leatherette, 16mo, pp. 50. Price 50 cts. Tlie title indicates the plan and scope of the work. The history is taken up by topics from the earliest times to the administration of Cleveland. The references are largely given to magazines and to works written in popu- lar style, rather than to standard histories, in the belief that the main point on the start is to awaken an interest If the work is taken up topically with this little book as a guide to study and reading, " that hateful history " may bs made the most delightful of studies. From abundant testimonials we select the following : It seems to me well prepared and likely to be very useful. — Martin B. Anderson^ late president Rochester University, I think your "Topics and References" is an admirable little manual for use in our academies and union schools. In fact it would be very useful for any student of American history. It is full, accurate, and free from aV political \A^&.—Ehenez(:r Dodge., late president Colgate University. I have looked over your Topics with genuine pleasure, and I see that you are doing your work in the right way. There is so much of humdrum work that such a method is an inspiring relief from the ordinary text-book methods.— C/ia?/f5 if. Ada?ns, president Cornell University. Thank you for the little book, which seems to me uncommonly well done It is the fulfilment of my strong desire to see in various directions such a Jumianizing influence brought to bear on the teaching of history in our schools.— C'of Thos. TV. //ig'{7i«50w, Boston, Mass. I take a personal satisfaction in all such works as yours, for T was one of tho first to adopt the new view of United States history of which your work is a type. It is hardly necessary to say that I admire your book. I had had it sent to me before by one of the Messrs Holts' agents as a model of what such a book ought to be, and I entirely agreed with him.— Prof. Alex. Johnston., Princeton College. The first sentence In the preface of Mr. Williams's little pamphlet con- tains the secret of the general excellence of the publications of this pub- lisher ; "* The main purpose in printing this little hand-book has been to save time in my own classes that would otherwise be consumed in copying." Most of Mr. Lardeen's books are bom in the school-room, not in the study. That is a good place for a school-book to be born in.— School Gazetteer. If this little volume were in the hands of all our teachers, the excuse for a good deal of nonsense in the name of history -teaching would be obvi- ated.— iZ. S. Howard, Jr., School Commissioner, Schuyler Co., N. Y. We do not say it in the interests of the author or publisher, but for the benefit of the profession, that we know of no outline of historical topics that will compare with the above for completeness of arrangement and general suggestiveness to the teacher. Not only are the topics stated in his- torical and logical order, but copious and definite references to standard his- torical and literary works are given m connection with each All teachers and students of history should have a copy of this -work.— True Educator. C. W. BARDEJEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS. Instruction in Citizenship. 1. Civil Government for Common Schools, prepared as a mannal for public instruction in the State of Is'ew York. To which are appended the Constitution of the State of New York as amended at the election of 1882, the Constitution of the United States, and the Declaration of Independence, etc., etc. By Henky C. Northam. IGmo, cloth, pp. 185. 75 cts. 2. The Sam£, prepared for the State of Missouri. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 151. 75 cts. Is it that this book was made because the time demanded it, or that the publication of a book which made the teaching: of Civil Government practi- cable led to a general desire that it should be taught ? Certain it is that this subject, formerly regarded as a "finishing" branch in the high school, is now found on every teacher's examination-paper, and is commonly taught in district schools. Equally certain is it that in the State of New Y^'ork this text-book is used more than all others combined, while in Missouri the first edition was exhausted in a month. S. A Chart of Civil Govei-nment. By Charles T. Pooler. Sheets 12x18, 5 Cts. The same folded for the pocket, in cloth covers, 25 cts. Some commissioners have purchased these charts by the hundred and presented one to every school house in the county. U. Common School Laiv for Common School Teachers. A digest of the provisions of statute and common law as to the Eelations of the Teacher to the Pupil, the Parent, and the District. With 500 references to legal decis- ions in 28 different States. 16th edition, with Introduction for School Trus- tees, containing the most important General Provisions of the School Law. By C. W. Bardeen. 16mo, cloth, pp. 1G6. 75 cts. This has been since 1875 the standard authority upon the teacher's rela- tions, and is frequently quoted in legal decitions. The new edition is much more complete than its predecessors, containing all that has heretofore been published in " Brownell's Handbook for School Teachers and Trustees," and "The Institute Manual of School Law," with a Topical Table of Con- tents, and a minute Index. 5. Laivs of New York relating^ to Common Schools, with Comments and Instructions, and a digest of Decisions. 8vo, leather, pp. 867. $4.00. This is what is kno\^^l as " The New Code of 1888," and contains all re- visions of the State school-law to date. 6. The Poivers and Duties of Officers and Teachers. By Albert P. Mak- BLE. 16mo, paper, pp. 27. 15 cts. •. A vigorous presentation of tendencies as well as facts. 7. First Principles of Political Economy. By Joseph Alden. IGmo, cloth, pp. 153. 75 cts. Ex-President Andrew D. White says of the book : " It is clear, well ar- ranged, and the best treatise for the purpose I have ever seen." 8. The Ready Reference Law ManucU. By E. E. Knott. Cloth, 8vo, pp. 381. $2.00. It is not meant for lawyers, but for all. It gives clearly and simply that of which it sometimes costs a man a good deal to be ignorant. C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, IST, Y. ■TEE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS.- The Song Budget Music Series. 1. TJie Song Budget. A collection of Songs and Music for Educational Gatherings. By E. V. DeGrapf, Paper, small 4to, pp. 76. 15 cts. This book owes its popularity to two causes: (1) It gives a great deal for the money. (2) The songs are not only numerous (107), but tJiey are the standard favorites of tlie last fifty years. This is why the book contains more music that will he used than any other book published. For in most books two-thirds of the tunes ai'e written by the compilers, who are of course partial to their own productions. The suc- cess of this book is due to the fact that only those songs were admitted that have proved to be universal favorites, and the result is a school singing- book of popularity unexampled. For instance, a single firm in Cleveland, ■Ohio, had purchased of us up to Nov. 1, 1890, no less than 15,230 copies, be- sides 2,G0O of the School Room Chorus, and 3,100of the Century. S. The School Boom Chorus. A collection of Two Hundred Songs for Public and Pi-ivate Schools, compiled by E. V. DeGraff. Boards, small 4to, pp. 148. 35 cts. This is an enlarged edition of the Song Budget, with twice the number of songs The plates of the last edition are so arranged that it is identical with the' School Budget as far as page 68, so that both books can be used to- gether. S. Tlie Song Century. Small 4to, pp. 87. Pap- •er,15 cts. Boards, ;25 cts. The popularity EE:Nr, Manufacturer, Syracuse, I^. Y. School Bulletin* Teachers' Agency. Not one desirable place in fifty is filled now-a-days except directly or inairectly through the medium of a Teachers' Agency. Nearly all teachers holding responsible positions are themselves enrolled in some Agency and give to this Agency immediate information of prospective changes. Hence an outside teacher has no chance to learn of vacancies. Before he hears of them they have been filled by candidates notified by the Agency. A pro- gressive teacher could afford the annual fee for enrolment in an Agency for the information alone. He might not care to use it, but it is worth two dol- lars a year to be sure he has missed no opportunities he would like to know of. The Best Agencies, however, do not depend on information alone. By repeated successes, by fair dealing and through the influence of the teach- ers they have placed, they have won the confidence of many school boards and employing principals. There are hundreds of schools that systematically engage all their teachers through an Agency and will not consider applica- tions from any other source. ^The Fact is, matters do not go so much by chance as they used to in fill- ing vacancies. Time was when nothing was said or thought of changes till the end of the year, but nowadays teachers and school boards both have their eyes wide open. We happen to know as we write that a man now principal of a S1600 school will before the end of the year be appointed teacher in one of the normal schools. We are pretty well satisfied that a man now getting $1400 will have the $1600 place. If he gets it we have our eye on another man now getting $1100 who will be glad of the $1400 place : in every case because these men are especially fitted for these places and desirous of them. All this in January. Now next June some principal who saves his two dollars by not registering in an Agency will read in the morn- ing newspaper that Principal So-and-so has been appointed to such a chair in such a normal school, and will pack his valise, take the train, and hurry off to Principal So-and-so's present place to appJy for his position before anyone else gets there. It will surprise him to learn that the vacancy was provided for six months before— if he does find it out. He hSs saved his two dollars registration fee but he has lost his time, his car-fare, and whatever chance he stood of the place. One year we sent Principal Poland to the Jersey City high school at $2500 ; that left a vacancy at Ilion which we filled by sending Principal Wm- ne at $1600 ; that left a vacancy at Canastota which we filled by sending Principal Ottaway at $1200; that left a vacancy at Amsterdam Academy, and so on. Dm you ever see people stand in line at the post-office waiting for their mail ? As each one is supplied he goes away, giving place to the next, and so there is a continual moving-up ; the man who keeps his place in the line will eventually get to the head. In no profession is there so frequent and so rapid moving-up as in teaching. To get to the top, do your work well where you are and keep registered. Presently you will be the man that fits and vnll be elected, and if you do fit when you get there the Agency wiU keep its eye on you for the next fit. Try it. It is Important, however, not only to register, but to register in the Agency most likely to help you. Without reflection upon others it may be said with confidence that the School Bulletin Agency is safe and trustworthy. Aaron Gove, superintendent of schools in Denver, Colo., and late president of the National Teachers' Association, said in the Colorado School Journal for July, 1890: " The School Bulletin, edited, owned, and conducted by C. W. Bardeen, at Syracuse, N. Y., is an old and reliable school journal. Its proprietor is a school man and understands his business He is also at the head of an ed- ucational bureau As at present advised, we are suspicious of bureaus unless we knoiv the man at the head." '' The man at the head " of the School Bulletin Agency makes personal selection of every teacher recommended. Send for circulars. ^C. W. BARDEEN, Proprietor, Syracuse, N. Y, THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS. *Maps for the Wall. Send for Special Circulars. Dissected 31 aps United States sawn into States 75 The same, New Y ork State sawn into Counties 75 *Ono)idaga County. 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