In the assignment of rooms for the departments, the committee failed to understand the signs of the times sufficiently to name a large room for the child study society, and consequently, Another from the first it was crowded almost to suffocation. and a larger room was soon provided for the overflow meeting, where the program was repeated. That room also overflowed, and doubtless a third room could have been filled had announcement been made earlier. President Chrisman was in 'the chair, and everybody on the program, with a single exception, responded promptly. The discussions were confined chiefly to "The Troublesome Child in school;" "What does he do?" "Why does he do it?" "Can he do otherwise?" The paper by Miss Beth Warner proved to be particularly apt and instructive. The papers and the summary of the extemporaneous talks will appear in the Child Study Monthly.

The Music Round Table, under the charge of Professor C. A. Boyle, was driven out of a cold church into a grade room in the high school building, but easily attracted as many teachers as it could accommodate. This round table claims more than a hundred members and asked for recognition as a department. It is probable that there will be no objection to the granting of its request at the next meeting of the association.

The officers elected for the ensuing year are: president, Superintendent Frank B. Dyer, Wichita; first vice president, Charline P. Morgan, Emporia; second vice president, John MacDonald, Topeka; third vice president, W. G. Riste, Colby; auditing committee, W. M. Davidson, Topeka, J. Hullinger, Kansas City, W. B. Hall, Cherokee.

NOTES.

Professor Boyle was for the third time elected president of the music round table.

Many teachers who heretofore have found homes in the hotels were driven out to private residences.

"I Can Not Sing the Old Songs," by that versatile Modoc in his inimitable falsetto, was worth going a long distance to

hear.

Ought there not to be some plan devised whereby the persons whose names appear on the program will not fail us in the future? People are getting tired of these failures.

President MacDonald's remark in adjourning the association, that he had not heard a single note of discord during the entire meeting, found hearty "amens" in every corner.

Mr. Wyant, of the Kodak force, sold a number of this beautiful souvenir of the State Normal School. He also looked after the interests of the institution at the registry table.

It

Scott, Foresman & Company made an extra effort to have the new book for "Culture Studies" on hand for the associa. tion. Its title at this time of the year is particularly attractive and "Apple Blossoms, and Other Stories," had a surprising sale at once. President Stanley, of Wichita, and President Taylor are its authors.

Though the legislative session forced us into the high school building for all of our meetings, it is agreed that we suffered little by it. The difference in expense to the association made many of us feel that we would like to make our permanent home in the high school building. There are many things about it that make it very attractive to us all.

Superintendent Davidson and his able corps of assistants deserve the hearty thanks of every teacher present for the generous way in which they provided for the accommodation of the association and its various departments. Thanks are also due to the Topeka board of education for its liberality in opening the entire building for our accommodation.

Several of the leading institutions of learning in the state established headquarters in the building. Probably Washburn had the most home-like room among them all, with Baker following next in order. The State Normal headquarters at the head of the stairs was often thronged with visitors. The interesting exhibit of elementary work in manual training called forth much commendation. Our Professor Abbott was kept busy much of the time explaining the models and the nature of the work done here.

The new Reading Circle board is as follows: Superintendent C. V. Norman, Troy; Superintendent L. W. Boyle, Paola; Superintendent B. B. Bone, Howard; Superintendent C. G. Swingle, Manhattan; Superintendent M. D. Weltner, Westmoreland; Superintendent E. O. Humes, Russell; Superintendent F. M. Shell, Medicine Lodge. Many of the Reading Circle people regret exceedingly to see Superintendents Kyner, Mack, Stillwell, Stafford and Stout dropping out of the board. They have been enthusiastic and untiring workers, and to their never failing interest much of the great success of the Kansas Circle is due.

There being no room large enough to accommodate the State Normal delegation, two hundred strong or more, it became necessary to hold the annual reunion in the great assembly room at the high school building. Of course, there was the usual "handshaking, light conversation and laughter." Everybody, however, remarked the absence of many members of the State Normal School faculty, who are usually present at these gatherings. Mr. W. G. Butler, on the violin, and Miss Grace King, at the piano, furnished appropriate music for the occasion. Miss King also sang two or three selections, much to the delight of her friends. Professor Boyle rallied a company of "old timers" who led the boys and girls in "Old Gold" and "The Jayhawker Song."

The following members of the faculty were in attendance at the State Teachers' Association, part or all of the time: President Taylor, Professors Wilkinson, Wooster, Chrisman, Boyle, Payne, Abbott, Morgan and Harris, Miss Worcester, and Messrs. Picken, Salser and Butler.

PROFESSOR D. A. ELLSWORTH'S lecture on "The Dramatic Elements in History," on Wednesday morning, December 14, was heartily enjoyed by all. He illustrated his theory with a few descriptions from early American wars, and aroused great interest and enthusiasm. We hope he may put his lecture in permanent form.

Chemistry in 1898.

Among the chemists the year was remarkable for the discovery of new elementary substances. Strange to say the atmosphere, whose composition was long ago supposed to be well known, has been the principal field of research and discovery.

About four years ago Professor Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh of England, startled the chemical world with the announcement that they had found a new element in the air. They called it argon because of its general inactivity. It had never done anything to make itself known. This was the reason given for not suspecting its existence. An interesting fact about this discovery is that it was due, partly at least, to an observation made by Scheele a century before. He had observed that nitrogen taken from the air did not have the same properties as nitrogen obtained from some of its compounds. A hundred years passed before this difference was properly accounted for by ascertaining that the nitrogen obtained directly from the air was not pure but contained at least one other element.

Much attention has been given of late to the liquefying of air. Liquid atmosphere is now inexpensively prepared in large quantities. It is particularly useful in the production of very low temperatures. In liquefying air it was observed that a residue was left that would not liquefy and that a solid was also formed along with the liquid air. Examination showed the solid to resemble argon but to possess some different properties. Ramsay named it metargon. To the gaseous residue was given the name neon. Professor Dewar, the English scientist who has been so successful in liquefying refractory gases, questions the existence of metargon.

Ramsay and Morris Travers announced early in the year the finding in the air of a new element which they named crypton. This, they determined, constitutes one part in twenty thousand of the air.

Very recently they announce stil' another elementary gas in the air. To it they have given the name Xenon. Its spectrum resembles that of argon but the position of the lines is different. Professor C. F. Brush, of Cleveland, Ohio, read a paper before the American Association for the Advancement of Science last summer in which he claims to have found and separated a new element of the air. This is the most extraordinary of the new constituents of the atmosphere. It has a heat conductivity one hundred times as great as hydrogen and a density only one one-thousandth that of hydrogen which is by far the rarest of common gases.

Its discoverer calculates the specific heat of this new element to be six thousand times as great as that of hydrogen, which, up to this time, has been known as possessing a greater specific heat than any other substance. Such a gas could not be confined to the earth and must necessarily extend out into space forming an interstellar atmosphere. Its possible identity with the hypothetical substance ether, which physicists have long accepted as necessarily existing, led him to name the new element "etherion". Scientists generally, and those of Europe in particular, are disposed to make light of this so-called discovery, but it must be said that Mr. Brush supports his conclusions with some very strong and scientific proofs.

Dr. Henry B. Baker finds that sodium is always present in the air and thinks it should be counted one of the constituents of the atmosphere.

Sir Wm. Crookes has discovered a new element which he calls monium (alone). He so names it because of its quite exceptional spectrum-showing lines in the Ultra Violet. He determines its atomic weight to be 118.

Polonium is announced as a new element found associated

with uranium but having an activity four hundred times as great. It bears many resemblances to bismuth.

Coronium has been discovered on the earth within the last year. It has heretofore been recognized only as a constituent of the sun. No element very nearly resembling it has been known on the earth. It has a vapor density far less than hydrogen and has been found in the gases from volcanoes, just where it might have been expected if found at all on the earth. This is another link in establishing the identity in composition of the sun and the earth.

uct.

Dr. Leo Lilienfeld claims to have formed peptone synthetically and to have established its identity with the natural prodIf his claim is supported by further experiments it will still be a question as to whether such artificially prepared peptone will have a value as a food equal to the product of nature. Two quinines have been prepared synthetically neither of which produces the same physiological effect as the product of nature.

E. C. Brice of Chicago, has not made the world believe that he can change antimony into gold and silver, though this year has seen time and money spent in the effort. His formula is made public and every one is at liberty to try the experiment for himself. Here it is: Chemically pure antimony five parts, sulphur ten parts, iron one part, caustic soda four parts. The mixture is heated in a graphite crucible to a temperature of 5000° F trom eight to forty eight hours. The resulting mass is powdered, mixed with one part of charcoal, five parts oxide of lead and four parts of sodium hydroxide. Fuse till a metallic button is obtained. Scorify and cupel the mass. The author of this receipt claims that gold and silver has been thus obtained.

How to Open a New Book.

D. Appleton & Co. send out a neat little card which fits in here:

Hold the book with its back on a smooth or covered table; let the front board down, then the other, holding the leaves in one hand while you open a few leaves at the back, then a few leaves at the front, and so go on, alternately opening back and forth, gently pressing open the sections till you reach the center of the volume. Do this two or three times, and you will obtain the best results. Open the volume violently or carelessly in any one place, and you will likely break the back and cause a start in the leaves. Never force the back; if it does not yield to gentle opening, rely upon it the back is too tightly or strongly lined.

"Once on a time" a library book was overheard talking to a little boy who had just borrowed it. The words seemed worth recording, and here they are:

"Please don't handle me with dirty hands. I should feel ashamed to be seen when the next little boy borrowed me. "Or leave me out in the rain. Books as well as children can catch cold.

"Or make marks on me with your pen or pencil. It would spoil my looks.

"Or lean on me with your elbows when you are reading me. It hurts.

"Or open me and lay me face down on the table. You wouldn't like to be treated so.

"Or put in between my leaves a pencil or anything thicker than a single sheet of thin paper. It would strain my back.

"Whenever you are through reading me, if you are afraid of losing your place, don't turn down the corner of one of my leaves, but have a neat little bookmark to put in where you stopped, and then close me and lay me down on my side, so that I can have a good, comfortable rest.

"Remember that I want to visit a great many other little boys after you are through with me. Besides, I may meet you again some day, and you would be sorry to see me looking old, and torn, and soiled. Help me to keep fresh and clean, and I will help you to be happy."

Nature Studies for January.

The study of live birds has so far superseded the study of dead ones, that several authors and publishers have prepared and issued aids to such studies. Among the best of these books is "BirdLife," by F. M. Chapman, (D. Appleton & Co., $1.75). This book is beautifully illustrated and furnishes a key by which birds may be identified without capturing or killing them.

The cuts illustrating the topography of a bird and Junco, our most common snow bird, were loaned to the MONTHLY by the publishers of Bird-Life.

This and the other helpful books on birds make it very easy to identify them and to learn by reading the printed page something of their habits. But the study of birds in books should not take the place of personal observation of birds in the gardens, fields and forests.

It would be far better for one to use the common names of our birds; classify them as seed birds, insect eating birds, fish-eating birds, fruit-eating birds, and as birds that eat other birds; and learn the special habits of each species by personal observation. Indeed, every boy and girl would enjoy nature-study one hundred times more if he were to observe the habits of birds, name them in accordance with their colors or habits, and classify them after some scheme of his own. It is the original work that counts and not the borrowed work.

them.

Why not thus study our winter birds? Make a list of Learn what they eat. Discover their homes. What dangers do they encounter? Last December, after a heavy snow storm, hundreds of sparrows perished in Emporia. Probably five sparrows, on the average, died in each block. As there are over two hundred blocks in Emporia, more than a thousand sparrows lost their lives. Why? One says, because it was so cold. Another says, because they had no place to sleep. A third thinks that they were smothered in the snow. A fourth thinks that they tried to alight upon the snow and sank down in it and became chilled. The cats certainly had a fine time eating sparrows.

I would be glad to receive postal cards answering the questions given above and giving estimates of the numbers that perished in other parts of Kansas.

Then there are the quails, and owls, and jays, and red birds, and eagles. How do they live? Why is the golden eagle most abundant in Kansas in the winter time?

Most snow birds have much white in their plumage that they may escape the sharp eyes of the hawks, but Junco, whose picture is given at the left, is dark on the head and dark gray on the back with white on the breast. Do these colors make him easily visible when viewed from above? Do his colors resemble shadows? What other animals have colors that imitate light and shade? L. C. Wooster.

Among Ourselves.

Said Life to Art: "I love thee best

Not when I find in thee

My very face and form expressed With full fidelity,

"But when in thee my craving eyes Behold continually

The mystery of my memories
And all I long to be."

Wake Up! Whether you are a sleepy teacher or a sleeping teacher, it is surely time for you to wake up. The sun of the new education is already high above the horizon, and yet you seem oblivious to the light of this new day. Your fellow teach. ers are awake and at work. Your patrons are hearing about the discoveries in child life and the improvements in educational method. Your pupils see that you are stupid and slow and they are running away from you. You are wasting precious time and allowing golden opportunities to go by unimproved. Awake! "Taste the joy

That springs from labor."

Wash Up! Yes, wash up! A sleepy teacher needs to wash up. Nothing but a good body bath and vigorous rubbing will bring him out of his stupor and start circulation. The sleepy teacher is sure to be slovenly in person as well as slovenly in his schoolroom and in his work. A reform in externals through the generous use of castile soap and hot water is the first requisite for success. His enjoyment of the day depends upon it; his clear. ness of vision is made possible by it; his success in interesting his pupils is enhanced with it; the atmosphere becomes pure and crisp and vitalizing; the machine becomes a man!

"He that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger." Brush Up! What, do you ask a school-teacher to brush up? Even so, my brother. Your clothing as well as your hair needs brushing at least once per day, often twice. Your hat looks as though it belonged to a steam-thresher outfit, and your boots suggest the dairy yard. Certainly you ought to brush up. While we are brushing, let us take a little turn at dusting your books, your desk, and the furniture generally about your schoolroom. Have you really failed to notice the cobwebs in every corner, the rusty old stove, and the greasy-looking blackboards? But you need to brush up mentally still more. You have not only forgotten many valuable things you once knew, but you have not been keeping your wits sharp and keen by study and investigation. You have been wrapped up in your own selfsufficiency and are as rusty as that old stove. If you do not brush up, you will soon go where it will go when a wide awake teacher comes in at the front door,-into the old iron pile. "Foul, cankering rust the hidden treasure frets; But gold that's put to use, more gold begets." Brace Up! If the washing and brushing be thoroughly done, you will feel so much like a new man that you will stand straight on your feet and wonder whether you will ever be sleepy again. This is the time to realize the dignity of your work, to find in it problems worthy the ambition of any man, to cast aside your timidity and face duty willingly and fearlessly, to fortify yourself where you are weak, and to fit yourself for leadership. Your dependency and hesitancy have almost unfitted you for any aggressive action, and nothing but a new baptism of the spirit can give you that confidence which brooks no defeat. Let past ills and past misfortunes be forgotten in the new life upon which you now enter.

"No great deed is done

By falterers who ask for certainties."

Look Up! This leads me to remark that salvation will not come unless you look upward. The eye can scarce see a dozen

miles on the level plain, but it can see a mountain top a hundred miles away and a star in the infinite depths of space overhead. No man ever becomes wise or great or strong by clinging to his muck rake. It is vision that awakens and quickens and inspires. It is outlook that calls forth impulse and multiplies power and vitalizes faith. The rut in which you have been running so long is pretty deep and it obstructs your view. The little things that have been filling out each day's experiences, have kept you contracted and narrow, both in head and in heart./

"In your
dull atmosphere, a thing so fair,
Never tripped, with footsteps light as air,
So glad a vision o'er the hills of morn."

Work Up! But what good is it to see and not to realize? What gain if you simply catch glimpses of greater things and hear vanishing strains of nobler melodies? What you see and hear is possible of realization. A perfect understanding of what you are not makes that very ideal attainable,—not in an hour or a day, but in the coming hours and in the coming days. The notion that youth is the only time to learn died long ago. The man who is just out of school is but just prepared to learn; the teacher who holds a first-grade certificate is simply a little better prepared to learn than the one who holds a second- or a third-grade,—that is all. The man at forty ought to be seeing and learning many times more than he saw and learned at two and twenty. Proctor began the study of astronomy in earnest at thirty-nine. W. T. Harris began the study of French at forty. Hugh Miller's scholarship was attained while working as a stone mason. G. Stanley Hall made his first systematic study of Froebel after fifty. Julia Ward Howe began to study Greek at seventy and became a fine Greek scholar. An hour of study per day now ought to do as much for you as five hours at the age of twelve. Can you not find so much time out of each twenty-four? I grant that you may be just waking up, but thank God for that and go to work. Remember that he who aspires must also perspire if he is to accomplish anything.

"Tis he, I know the manner of his gait;
He rises on the toe; that spirit of his
In aspiration lifts him from the earth!"
Keep Up! "To have done, is to hang

Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery."

It is not enough to work up; you ought also to keep up. No matter what your attainments may be, you will quickly fall behind if you slacken effort. New inventions, new discoveries, new methods, new adjustments of old devices, deeper insight, wider vision, greater economy of time and labor, readier agreement in theory and practice, characterize the advancing years. The only way to maintain your standing and increase your usefulness is to keep in touch with the best thought and to keep working at the most promising problems of the hour. By this I do not mean that you should feel it necessary to be acquainted with every little fad or novelty that forces itself into the pedagogical horizon, nor with the whole field of pedagogical literature, but rather with the main currents of thought,-those that touch all phases of our educational life, and with that particular one which relates more directly to your individual work. You ought to be familiar with the latest investigations in physiology and psychology, particularly on the side of the child and of the youth. You ought to know the pedagogical value of such inquiries, and understand how the results may be profitably utilized in the schoolroom. You ought above all to be bringing yourself more fully into sympathy with your children through a daily study of their dispositions, their limitations, their needs, A little self-study will help the process along materially.

The Contest in Essay and Oration.

For several days the societies had been holding secret meetings and it gradually leaked out that they were practicing some weird and paralyzing yells. The non-society people were greatly at sea concerning the plans of the different organizations, but were well satisfied that no storm could dampen the ardor of any of the society people, and they came to Albert Taylor Hall in spite of the rain and slush on the streets expecting one of the most interesting contests in the history of the school. They were not disappointed, for the contestants in both essay and oration so evenly matched each other that all prophecies seemed doomed to confusion when the last speaker had finished. There were several surprises in the thoughtful and spirited presentations. The following is the program: Music

NORMAL BAND.

Selected

Flora

Simon says, "Thumbs Up" LELA LOCKHART. Marble Faun AURA L. LOVE. ROYAL V. PHINNEY.

American Imperialism

Old Glory

Man and Evolution

The Power of Beauty

Oration

Space will not permit a ful. summary of the different productions of the evening. All of the essays were not only well written, but unusually well delivered. Miss Lockhart's interesting way of placing the whole world under Simon's command gave her the first place. Miss Love's analysis of "Marble Faun," and the underlying philosophy, set many people to thinking more deeply than they had ever done before. She was given second place. Mr. Phinney, of course, touched a live theme and easily kept everybody wide awake as he showed us his conception of true "American Imperialism". Many of his thoughts were new to the audience, and he received hearty commendation on every hand.

Though the preliminary oratorical hearing had occurred such a short time before the contest, there was no evidence of lack of preparation manifested by any of the orators. Miss Balcomb's clear outline of the place of man in evolution was thoughtfully and entertainingly given. The subject is difficult to cover in so short a time, but one of the judges thought her worthy of first place in delivery.

Mr. Daniels spoke with surprising ease and fluency. His voice covers a register seldom equalled by more mature speakers. Probably no one of the orators showed greater command of voice and gesture than he. Chancellor Snow gave him first place in thought and composition.

Miss Paterson had somewhat the advantage of her competitors in the subject which she had selected. Scottish character and Scottish life are enshrined so deeply in Anglo-Saxon ideals that a skillful speaker easily arouses an audience by picturing them in their simple sturdiness and naturalness. Though her delivery was hardly equal to her thought, she ranked decisively above the others.

The audience was inclined to regard Mr. Ward's oration as the result of more thought than any of the others. The judges on thought, however, not having Mr. Ward present to interpret it, seemed to think otherwise. Mr. Ward's evident belief in his theme, and his intense earnestness, made him Miss Paterson's dangerous rival. Professor Metcalf, of the department of elocution at the State Agricultural College, marked him first on delivery, a very high compliment indeeu.