with an increasing stock of useful facts and apposite illustrations. He will, in fact, never be able to give a lesson on any subject a second time without making it better and more complete than when he gave it at first. And to the end that he may do this most effectually, it will be well not only to note down the facts which have been brought together for a lesson, but also the authorities from which those facts were derived, with full reference to the book, and even to the page of the book, which has been consulted. Such a memorandum costs little or no trouble to make at the time, but it becomes invaluable on any subsequent occasion, when the same ground has to be gone over again. The threads by which the mind holds together the various parts of a subject, and which give unity to the facts which we teach, are very apt to snap asunder, as soon as the attention to the particular subject is withdrawn. It is therefore very important to know how we may be able, with the smallest amount of effort, to gather them up again when occasion requires, and recover our grasp of the entire subject. And our efforts to do this will be greatly facilitated by the simple plan of recording references to all the books and authorities from which information has been collected.

V. PUPIL-TEACHERS.-Every master or mistress who has pupil-teachers in the school will find it of great advantage to keep a journal, and to make daily entries in it respecting their progress, the discipline of their classes, and their successes or failures in teaching. The power of the head-teacher in a school to exercise a judicious influence over the apprentices depends very much on his knowledge of the manner in which every day's work is done by each of them. And this knowledge should be minute and detailed; for general impressions will only serve as the basis for general counsel and direction, but particular faults in conduct or in educa. tional methods require to be pointed out, and special guidance is needed by each of the young people in relation to his or her own peculiar weaknesses or mistakes. I am sure that in schools in which a daily record is made in the teacher's diary of the manner in which the pupil-teachers have prepared their lessons and discharged the school-duties, the power of the master or mistress over the apprentices is far greater, and the opportunities of being useful to them are far more numerous, than where the plan does not exist. The young people have necessarily a far more serious notion of the requirements and responsibilities of their position, when they see that importance is attached to every little item of duty; and that their teacher conscientiously records, for his own guidance and for their improvement, facts and incidents which, though they have much to do with the formation of their characters and with their professional success, are yet very apt to be disregarded as trifles, or to be wholly overlooked.

In these several ways, among others, I feel sure that the habit of registration might be turned to most profitable account in all British Schools. We are all apt, for want of some such methods, to be extravagant with our experience, and to let much valuable knowledge slip away from our grasp. At the moment when a thought is in our minds, or an object before us, it seems to us impossible that we can ever forget it; but a time soon comes when we want to recall it, and discover that we have at best but an indistinct remembrance of it. What Coleridge said of history, is often sadly true of our own experience,-that it is like a lantern hung on the stern of a ship, illuminating only the track which has been passed, but shedding no light on the future course. The wisest teachers are those who are most sensible of the value of little facts in the history of a school, and of the special treacherousness of memory in relation to such facts. And the obvious remedy is a more systematic registration, in the form of memoranda, of all such facts, and a determination at least to retain some hold on every incident and every piece of information which is in any way calculated to be of value in future lessons, or to be helpful in future emergencies.

TEACHING NOTES OF LESSONS.

I. GEOGRAPHICAL.-THE RHINE.

NOTE.-The words in italics are intended to appear on the board before the children; those in capitals to be spelt by the class. The first part of the lesson to be accompanied or illustrated by a sketch of the Rhine on the board, with tributaries, towns, &c., marked; and this to be done as the teacher proceeds. The course

of the Rhine to be given in words by the children after the chart has been drawn. I. INTRODUCTION.-Name any rivers rising in the Alps-say where each empties itself. Name the country in which the Rhine rises-name other countries through which it flows. Where does it empty itself?

II. Source and Course, Towns, and Tributaries.—Formed by two streams,-VORDER RHINE, rising in Mount ST. GOTHARD, and HINTER RHINE, rising in VOGELBERG. [Refer here to the Thames, which is formed by seven small rivulets.] Flows north to LAKE CONSTANCE (290 square miles). Forms boundary between Germany and Switzerland, west of Constance Lake, SCHAFFHAUSEN. Here are the celebrated falls of Schaffhausen, which descend more than seventy feet. [The cause of falls to be explained here.] A river may glide along very smoothly and gently, when, presently, its bed descends very suddenly, and its waters dash and foam in the descent. The river Niagara is exceedingly calm and quiet until its waters come to a sudden descent, and then it dashes with such noise and rapidity as to produce a noise like thunder. Leaving the falls we come to the river Aar, and west of that is Basel, where the river turns north, and we pass in succession the following towns and tributaries:-STRASBOURG, BADEN BADEN, the river NECKAR with the town of STUTTGARD, river MAYNE with the town of FRANKFORT, MAYENCE, BINGEN, river LAHN, COBLENTZ, river MOSELLE, BONN, COLOGNE, DUSSELDORF, rivers RUHR and LIPPE. On entering Holland the Rhire is half a mile wide, and divides into three parts-(1) river YSSEL with the town ZUTPHEN; (2) river LECK with ROTTERDAM; and (3) the WHAAL. UTRECHT is on a stream branching off from the Leck.

III. Delta and Basin.-A delta is that part of a country occupied by the various mouths of a river. The basin is that part of the country drained by a river.

The delta of the Rhine is the largest in Europe, being 4,000 square miles, i.e., one-third of Holland. Its basin contains 70,000 square miles, i.e., nearly as large as Great Britain. The Rhine is 760 miles long, or nearly four times as long as the Thames.

The principal States of Germany drained by the Rhine are Baden, Wirtemburg, Hesse, and the Rhine provinces of Prussia.

The recapitulation here to be made by the teacher sketching another map, omitting all names, and causing the children to supply the names of all the tributaries, towns, provinces, &c.

IV. General Character of the Rhine and Neighbourhood.-Very swift river, owing to its elevation at its source being 6,580 feet. Flows through a beautiful valley formed by the Vosges mountains in France, and the Black Forest. In this part it abounds in islands, which make its navigation difficult. Between Bingen and Coblentz it flows through a rocky district, with a narrowed bed, and many rapids. The remaining part of its course is through a level country. Boats go as far as Schaffhausen, and steam-boats to Basel.

V. Scenery. The scenery between Bonn and Mentz is remarkably beautiful. Banks present every variety of picturesque rocks, thick forests, fertile plains, vineyards, and corn-fields, gently sloping to the river. Also, populous cities, towns and villages, castles and ruins, are seen.

The Rhine is much frequented by tourists; 200,000 pass along it annually, the majority being English.

VI. Rafts of Timber.-These rafts are 700 or 800 feet long, 200 or 300 feet wide, and several feet thick. Many thousand trees go to form one raft, and 700 or 800 persons to work it. Whole families, with their cattle, are found on them, and provisions are conveyed, killed, and cooked on them. These large rafts look like floating towns, and are formed by joining smaller ones, which are themselves formed by felled trees which have tumbled into the water.

VII. RECAPITULATION.-Elevation of the source of the Rhine-cause of its rapidity—cause of waterfalls. Why is it so much frequented—which is the most beautiful part of the Rhine—suppose ourselves in a vessel sailing up the river in this part, what should we see along its banks—and other questions on the formation and appearance of the rafts.

VIII. FACTS RELATING TO TOWNS.-Stuttgard, on the Neckar, surrounded with beautiful hills, covered with orchards and vineyards.

Mayence or Mentz.-Strongly fortified,-birth-place of Gottenberg, the inventor of printing.

Bonn.-Celebrated University, at which Prince Albert was educated.

Cologne. Very interesting and ancient city, with one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, unfinished.

Frankfort.-Very active commercial city, and the seat of the inland trade. Basel.-Birth-place of Euler the mathematician, and Holbein the painter. Rotterdam.-The tomb of De Witt, who was defeated in the English Channel in 1666, and afterwards slain in his own country.

Zutphen.-Battle in 1586, in which Sir Philip Sydney was slain.

RECAPITULATION.-A map to be again sketched by the teacher, and the pupils to apply names to every place, tributary, province, &c. In mentioning the names of towns the above facts to be referred to by the scholars. The names of the towns to be spelt, &c. G. W.

II. DESCRIPTIVE LESSON. THE GRASSES AND CORN PLANTS.

For Children from Nine to Twelve years of age.

REQUISITES. As many good specimens of the grasses, corns, &c., as could be procured. Pictures of maize, bamboo, sugar-cane, and rice. Map of the world, and drawings on the board, with chalk, of the flowers, stem, leaves, &c., of the corn taken as a type of the class.

INTRODUCTION.—Give a very short and vivid description of the verdure of foreign countries. Revert then to the appearance of our own island in this respect. What is the cause of its freshness and greenness of hue?

Varieties of GRASSES.-Meadow grass, canary grass, Timothy grass. Cultivated grasses-wheat, rice, maize, or Indian corn, barley, rye, oats, sugar-cane, bamboo.

DESCRIPTION.-The stem or "culm" is single until it parts, sometimes to produce a cluster of flowers. The leaves are very long when compared with the breadth, hence called blades. Flowers composed of concave parts, fitting one over the other. (Draw a flower on an enlarged scale.) These are called valves. When four of these valves belong to a single seed, the lower pair is called the flower-cup or "calyx," and the upper pair the blossom or "corolla." In some grasses every seed has a "calyx" and “corolla,” as in the Timothy grass, canary grass, &c. (Show specimens.) In others, a single pair of calyx leaves holds two or more flowers, as in the common meadow grass, which has flower for nearly six months of the year. All corns are cultivated grasses, being annual plants, which complete their vegetation generally in a few months, and never live more than a year. All of them send up a hollow straw or "culm," which is divided into lengths by joints. (Draw stem.) At these joints the leaves are inserted, one at each joint on the alternate sides of the stem. Each

ong.

renders then

(strong enough to support the heavy ear). The last leaf of the season becomes protection for the flower, which when the proper time arrives bursts forth, and th last leaf falls backward in a graceful curve. The head or ear consists of many f flower at first, and then seeds.

CULTIVATION.--Grasses thrive under a treatment which would destroy many other plants. The more their leaves are consumed, the more their roots increase the more they are trampled on, the thicker they grow. In lofty mountains grasses are found which spread and reproduce without seed, Corn, of various kinds, is found in all quarters of the globe. Wheat is cultivated from Lapland to near the tropics; but is best in the temperate regions. Barley is spread almost as much as wheat, but principally in Egypt and Syria. Oats will succeed where wheat barley, and others will not. It is peculiarly fitted for mountainous and rainy regions. Maize, otherwise called Indian or Turkey corn (why?), grows in hot and temperate countries. It is the most beautiful of all grasses, attaining a height of five or six feet. (Show picture.) Rice is grown in hot countries, and supplies food to more people than any other corn. Rye is grown in several countries of Europe. Sugar-cane and bamboo in hot countries.

USES. The seed is the principal food of man. Cattle feed on the leaves, and birds on the smaller seeds. Sugar is produced from the sugar-cane, and the bamboo supplies the Indian with all he requires except food. He makes dress, habitation, weapons, &c., from it. The ashes of the stems of corn are used for polishing articles made of wood, horn, ivory, and some of the softer metals.

III. OBJECT LESSON.-BIRD'S EGG.

J. R.

To give this lesson effective, a boiled hen's egg cut in two, so as to exhibit the "white" and "yolk," is neede and the complete shell with the inside taken out, so as to bring more immediately before the class the nature and properties of the "shell." I. SHELL. This is a compound of carbonate of lime or hard chalk. It is the "external part," used for "protection;" therefore, "hard, durable, oval." It " contains the embryo of the same species;" or, in other words, the substance from which a like animal is produced; therefore, "penetrated by minute pores,' "to convey air to the young" during the process of hatching. This air causes decomposition or rottenness. This is sometimes remedied by rubbing the surface with an oily matter. (Illustrate.) Hermetically sealed meats of long voyages, Other qualities of shell are "brittleness, smoothness, and opaqueness.” one-tenth part of the weight of the egg."

So as

"It forms

II. WHITE. This is the substance "between the shell and yolk." "When heated it coagulates into a white solid substance;" hence its name. Corresponds chemically to the gluten of vegetables. 'Entirely free from fat." Should "therefore be eaten with fatty substances." Hence nature suggests "eggs and bacon"—" eggs and butter." "It forms six-tenths of the egg." "Insoluble" in water. "Tasteless." When raw, "translucent" and "adhesive." Much "used for a covering in pastry," and so on.

III. YOLK.-The "central substance," enveloped by the "white." "Coagulates on exposure to heat." When dried, crushed, and mixed with alcohol, a yellow oil is extracted. Closely resembles (in a nutritive sense) the gluten of plants. “Forms three-tenths of eggs.' "Yellow." Average weight of a common hen's egg two or

three ounces.

IV. USES OF EGGS.-Eggs contain "flesh, warmth, and bone-producing substance," the essentials of animal food. It is, therefore, an "edible, wholesome, and nutritive food."

Method of Teaching.

The words in italics should be spelt. The parts enclosed by commas thus “. would form the sketch on the black board.

The subject of the lesson may be easily introduced by a few simple questionsperhaps about the habit of boys of robbing poor birds of their eggs, or by asking them what is sometimes used in their mothers' puddings, &c.

I. That the egg is a "compound" may be easily elicited by showing them a section of the egg-they would thus see its various component parts. Why a "hard" and “durable” shell may also be drawn from them. Nature has everywhere provided a protection for the vital parts of animals. (Illustrate.) The "brain" of man, protected by a hard bony case, called skull. Why shell should be of an "oval shape might easily be educed. Capable of bearing stronger pressure. (Illustrate.) The skull. Bridges, &c., made by man. Why shell penetrated with innumerable "pores" might be shown by the fact that "air" is an indispensable thing to animal or vegetable life.

II. The chief points here requiring attention are the "properties" and position of the white. The former might be treated in the following manner. For instance, take "insoluble." Attention might be called to what would happen to a piece of sugar when put in tea. It would "dissolve." Such things said to be "soluble." Therefore "white," because it cannot be reduced by water, said to be "insoluble." W. B.

QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.

THE following were among the questions proposed to the students at the Normal College, Borough-road, at the recent Midsummer Examination :

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

The first question in each section is intended for students of the f, and the second for those of the second year. Questions 3, 4, and 11, are to be taken by every studer I. Quote the rules of syntax which relate to words in appositio. nd give examples of each. II. Quote the passage in Acts I. and II. of "Julius Cæsar" which appears to you to be most remarkable for poetic beauty, or for the insight which it reveals into human character.

III. Comment upon any peculiarity which you observe in the spelling of the following words, or in the phonetic value of the letters in italics. (Where the letter is silent, account, if you can, for its presence in the word):-While; food; physic; train; debt; chamber; thrush; cuticle; try; scissors; drenched; yield.

IV. Paraphrase the following passage:

"In the temperate climates, all is activity and movement. The alternations of heat and cold, the changes of the seasons, a fresher and more bracing air, incite man to a constant struggle, to forethought, and to the vigorous employment of all his faculties. [Nature, more economical than in torrid regions, yields nothing except to the sweat of his brow; every gift on her part is a recompence for effort on his.] Less mighty, even while challenging man to the conflict, she leaves him the hope of victory; and if she does not show herself prodigal, she grants to his active and intelligent labour more than his necessities require; she gives him ease and leisure, which permit him to cultivate all the lofty faculties of his higher nature. Here physical nature is not a tyrant, but a useful helper; the active faculties, the understanding and the reason, rule over the instincts and the passive faculties-the soul over the body, man over nature."-Guyot's Earth and Man.

V. Parse the sentence in the above extract which is enclosed within brackets.

VI. Write out the perfect tenses indicative of the verbs-Malo; fero; sum; and disco.

VII. Make a brief summary of the contents of so much of the selected book for 1860 (Goldsmith's "Traveller," or Herschel's "Discourse") as you have already examined and paraphrased.

VIII. Whence did Shakespeare derive the materials for his tragedy of "Julius Cæsar"? Give a summary of the principal events in the life of Cæsar, and say how far you think Shakespeare's representation of those events is historically accurate.

IX. Give the etymology and the precise meaning of each of the following words :-Kine; tradition; ratiocination; logic; whom; enormous; ecstacy; populace; unanimous; mathematics; triglyph; might.