who have already some acquaintance with Attic, though not necessarily with Epic, Greek" will be satisfied with this volume; they are so accustomed now to notes, vocabulary, &c., which save them all labour. But for more advanced students the book will be most valuable and will be thankfully used. The Introduction, however, contains much information in a summary form for the beginner on his first approach to Homer, and the first appendix presents a good introduction to Homeric grammar. The second deals in an interesting manner with the incorporation of folk-lore, often common to many different peoples, into the story of the Home-coming of the hero. The notes, as hinted above, are not spoon-meat, but are really illuminative and scholarly. The illustrations are reproductions of ancient work, and two of metal-work from Mycenae are specially interesting from their antiquity. It is a pity there is no index.

Selections from Plato. By L. L. Forman, Ph.D. lx. +510 pp. (Macmillan.) 75. 6d. One of the most striking features of this book is its absolute unconventionality. The whole preface is distinctly refreshing and almost disarms criticism. Here is an extract : "The editor wishes to be the first to declare that the notes here offered on Plato are by no means the kind that should be offered that it is a 'base use' he makes of Plato, taking his words as texts for instruction on μévтoi, yáp, prolepsis, &c." And here is the end of it: "This creature before him is not that which it was to be, not by leagues. His only consolation is that the purchaser has not wholly lost his money. For has he not 275 pages of Plato?" But even American humour may seem to go too far and to be rather out of place in a commentary on Plato, on this side of the Atlantic at any rate. We had marked several passages in the notes for quotation, but this expression of opinion may suffice. In other respects we have nothing but praise to record. The Introduction deals freshly and pleasantly with the personality of Socrates, the circumstances of his time, and the works of Plato. The selection of passages is admirably adapted to give a clear idea of the Socrates according to Plato. The text is conservative-this was not the first intention of the editor, he tells us,-the chief variations from the MSS. being five of Mr. Adam's restorations, and an equal number by the editor. The commentary is rich with varied information, and the appendix is a veritable mine of Platonic usages. There is also an index of proper names and a very copious Greek index. The instructor in Greek in Cornell University proves himself to be a Platonist of no mean order.

Edited Books.

Handbook to S. Matthew. By Canon Newbolt. 250 pp. (Rivingtons.) 2s. 6d. This "handbook consists of a series of notes, and is intended primarily for the use of teachers in elementary schools. To aid this design blackboard sketches are interpolated which should be found of the greatest practical utility, and the arrangement of each lesson in accordance with the now time-honoured divisions of "matter and method" ought to make the work of giving divinity lessons almost trifling to any moderately well-trained teacher. The introduction is very brief, and the notes are clear and excellent; the cross references are almost overwhelmingly complete ; and every point upon which instruction needs to be conveyed is clearly brought out. The book can hardly be called a commentary, because it most resolutely avoids every appearance of mere scholarship or of pedantry; but if some compilers of commentaries could be persuaded to make their works as clear and as useful as this volume, a great gain would accrue to students, and teachers would likewise save a great deal of valuable time; especially since (all the merely practical features of this work notwithstanding) the name of the editor is a guarantee of sound learning and discriminative doctrinal excellence.

154 PP.

Essays from De Quincey. By J. H. Fowler, M.A. (A. & C. Black.) 25.-Notwithstanding Professor Masson's tremendous labour of love in the cause of De Quincey's fame, it may be very gravely doubted whether, even among persons of some considerable literary accomplishments, he is by any means as well known as he deserves. A hundred will read Charles Lamb with relish, for one who can be found to take up De Quincey with tolerance, to say nothing of admiration; and so long as this is the practice of maturer minds, it is scarcely likely that De Quincey will fall into the hands of boys at school. Hence Mr. Fowler's volume almost deserves the motto of one of Victor Hugo's books. It "is not merely opportune, it is imperative ;" and as it supplies every evidence of careful workmanship, of scholarly insight, and of a love for an English classic undeservedly neglected, it may be hoped that this volume will be found as widely useful as it is in every sense acceptable. From the voluminous remains of De Quincey, Mr. Fowler only selects six essays; but these are among his very best work, and in themselves are sufficiently stimulating to make healthy mental food for students who happen to have arrived at that stage of development where the merely jejune and commonplace among the ordinary school subjects in literature have ceased to possess any further attractiveness. They are above the average of the ordinary boy, perhaps, but for those who have native literary talent will be found exceptionally useful. The introductory matter, with a rare modesty in editors, is almost too brief, and the notes are conspicuously unobtrusive. Mr. Fowler evidently considers his author as of more importance than himself, and it is to be hoped that this volume will meet with such approval that even a modest editor may be constrained to give us some more of De Quincey in another volume of the same kind.

A Soldier in Christ's Army. By A. C. Champneys, M.A. 224 pp. (G. Bell & Sons.) 2s. 6d. net.-This is a valuable manual upon the English Church Catechism and the Order for Confirmation, and if something less rhetorical could have been chosen for a title, the volume would have been not only unexceptionable, but highly praiseworthy. For boys it supplies a real want, because it is full and exhaustive without the slightest attempt at anything which might conduce to priggishness on the one hand or a merely formal understanding of the meaning of the offices of the Church of England on the other. It is a long way in advance of many manuals in common use, and can hardly fail to be read with interest and with profit even by the average schoolboy, for whom, perhaps, religious topics are rarely made attractive. The appendix, dealing mainly with the current difficulties in matters of belief, will be found of genuine worth. Altogether it is a volume of sound sense and sympathetic helpfulness.

Grammar and Composition.

Designed for use in (The Macmillan Co.)

A Second Manual of Composition. Secondary Schools. By Professor Lewis. Price 4s. 6d. An admirable text-book for the higher forms in secondary schools. The book consists of two parts, the first treating composition in general, the second composition in its particular kinds. The plan pursued in the former is the graduated construction of five essays illustrative, respectively, of the five principles of development springing from the associations of ideas. At the end of this course the student will have to hand five essays representing his completed application of the various principles of good composition in which he will have received a gradual and thorough drill. He will have modified his outlines, his paragraphs, his sentences time after time until he cannot help but have a real grasp of the significance of composition. The only danger, and it is one which Professor Lewis recognises, and, in our opinion, not unsuccessfully com

bats, is the apparent monotony of this constant repetition. “There will be a constantly increasing delight in the thought of doing something in a finished fashion, to the very best of our ability." In English schools the disgracefully subordinate position essay-writing occupies will not allow of the thorough working-out of all the exercises, but the five essays should certainly be treated on the lines laid down, and many of the illustrative exercises might be worked orally. They deal with such branches of writing as-Unity of Thought, Order of Topics, Scale of Treatment, Proportion of Parts, applied generally and particularly. In Part II. the student leaves the more mechanical processes and begins to write rather with an eye to effect. Models of Narration, Description, Exposition, and Argumentation are supplied, and the leading principles underlying their construction are clearly pointed out, and exercises upon them given. Three appendices -- on Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling-form a useful addition to a book that deserves to be widely used. We have not seen so suggestive and instructive a volume on this subject before.

Mathematics.

Practical Mathematics. By A. G. Cracknell, M.A., B.Sc. viii +368 pp. (Longmans.) 3s. 6d. Mr. Cracknell is a competent mathematician, and hence his work is free from the tiresome errors and misleading statements which so often occur in works of this kind. The book deals with a great variety of subjects, ranging from decimals to trigonometry and vector analysis; hence some of the sections are mere summaries, and their success will be in arousing interest and inducing the reader to apply himself to other books. But the chapters on graphic methods, on approximations, and on the slide rule are very good, and the work, generally, is a very favourable example of its class. On page 81 we have the problem, "Solve 2+5x-4y=4x-3y+6," the "solution being given as xy+4: this phraseology should be amended, because it is certain to lead to confusion.

Algebra for Elementary Schools. Part II. By H. S. Hall, M.A., and R. J. Wood, B. A. iv. + 67-158 pp. (Macmillan.) 6d.-A continuation of the simplified "Hall and Knight"; Part I. has already been noticed in these columns. Part II. comprises simple equations, factors, L.C.M. and G.C. M., addition and subtraction of fractions, and problems leading to simple equations. These last are of very familiar types.

Science and Technology.

Magnetism and Electricity. P. L. Gray. 227 pp. (London: Methuen.) 35. 6d. -This is a theoretical text-book containing sufficient subject-matter for the Advanced Stage of the Board of Education (South Kensington) Examination and for the London B.Sc. Pass Examination. The subject is, as a rule, treated in a clear manner. Several of the more recent discoveries receive brief but thoroughly intelligible treatment; more especially may this be said of the chapters on Electric Waves, Atmospheric Electricity, and Terrestial Magnetism. The author rightly refers (in the preface) to the importance of experimental work being done by the student, and advises that "every experiment should be repeated, as far as possible." It is, therefore, surprising that details, or even suggestions, as to the methods of conducting such experiments are almost absent. The illustrations form the weakest feature of the book. Flat diagrams are certainly more instructive for the beginner, but in a text-book these should at least have commendable neatness. The artist, in this case, should have avoided perspective views of apparatus and restricted himself to cross-section diagrams. The absence of test questions at the end of the various chapters is detrimental

to the volume as a class text-book. In a section on Electrotyping we read that "Newspapers are now generally printed from cylinders, upon the surface of which the letters have been formed by the help of electrotyping." Surely this is not the

case.

A Primer of Astronomy. By Sir Robert Ball, LL.D., F.R.S. viii.+183 pp. (Cambridge University Press.) IS. 6d. This is the first volume of a series of science primers which have been arranged by the Cambridge University Press, to be published at what Mr. Montague Tigg would call "the ridiculously low price of eighteenpence ;" and it is really a marvel of cheapness. There are eleven beautiful plates, reproduced from the best pictures of celestial objects in existence, and the descriptive text is composed in Sir Robert Ball's inimitable style. In our opinion, however, many of the descriptions are too difficult for general readers to understand, and not graphic or concise enough for students. Experience in teaching the subject to beginners-and there is considerable difference between teaching and lecturing-tells us that the following points are not presented with sufficient clearness :-Fig. 4. The Celestial Sphere. A very unsatisfactory diagram, likely to mislead the beginner to think it represents the earth, and only a student familiar with geometry could understand its significance. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are also too diagrammatic to be instructive. P. 56, the statement that a mean solar day is the average of a very great number of "intervals between two successive transits of the sun" is incorrect. At pp. 62, 99 and elsewhere, references are made to the "weights" of the moon and planets, when "masses" are meant. P. 43, the view that sunspots are "rents in the brilliant mantle [of the sun] through which we are permitted to obtain glimpses of the nonluminous interior" is misleading, and, with the other parts of the paragraph in which it occurs, ought to be revised in the light of modern solar physics. The diagrams of planetary orbits (Figs. 19 and 21) ought to be omitted if a better means of showing the orbits cannot be invented. Notwithstanding these defects, the primer contains much information admirably set out and should be possessed by everyone interested in reading about the signs and wonders of the heavens.

The Romance of the Earth. By A. W. Bickerton. 181 pp. (Swan Sonnenschein.) 2s. 6d.-Prof. Bickerton has produced an interesting sketch of what modern science has to say concerning the various stages in the evolution of the earth from what is poetically called chaos. Having briefly described the nebular hypothesis and the origin of the earth's crust, the author provides short essays on such subjects as the origin of life, the life of the body, organic ascent, and the procession of animal life. It is a little difficult to indicate the class of reader for whom the book is suitable: the language is too technical for boys and girls, while the treatment is too slight for serious students of evolution. Perhaps it will be most useful to those persons who attend university extension lectures and similar meetings, and are able to distinguish between accepted opinions and Prof. Bickerton's own views.

A School Chemistry. By John Waddell, B.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.D. (Heidelberg), D.Sc. (Edin.). xiii.+278 pp. (New York: The Macmillan Company.) 45. net.-The most im portant particular in which Dr. Waddell's introduction to chemistry differs from previous similar books is in the descriptions of industrial processes: these are systematically brought up to date. For instance, under the Production of Sodium we find an account of the electrolytic method and of the process of the reduction of the hydroxide by iron and carbon. Many of the illustrations will prove familiar to British teachers of the subject. Dr. Waddell is a firm believer in the experimental method of teaching, and we are glad to find that he recommends the teacher to encourage individual experimen

tation on the part of his pupils. Chemical theory is introduced gradually. A chemical law is only explained after sufficient experimental data have been accumulated by the pupil to make it intelligible. It is abundantly clear throughout the volume that Dr. Waddell is an experienced teacher thoroughly conversant with the needs and limitations of the youthful student.

:

A Reader in Physical Geography for Beginners. By Richard E. Dodge. ix. +231 pp. (Longmans.)-Professor Dodge is already known in this country as a stimulating writer on geography, and we hope this excellent little book will increase the number of his readers very considerably. The volume is divided into some six divisions, dealing respectively with the continents, the industries of men, the origin of land forms, the great land forms, climate, and other important physical features influencing man. A glance through the book at once reveals its American origin; the profusion of well-reproduced illustrations, the clear printing, and the quality of the paper, are all superior to what British teachers are used to. Unfortunately, so little attention is given to the study of physical geography in our schools that we are behind American teachers in our methods of imparting instruction in this really educative subject. As a means of cultivating the observing faculties and of developing the power of tracing the connection between cause and effect, physical geography can become an invaluable aid to the schoolmaster, and Professor Dodge's book should do a great deal towards making the subject more popular.

Mother Nature's Children. By Allen W. Gould. vi. +261 pp. (Boston: Ginn and Co.)-The idea of this book is to show how the instinctive acts of animals, and functions of parts of plants, can be given human significance. As in "Sandford and Merton," everything in nature is made to convey a pretty lesson, and beautiful aspects of the lives of living things are presented to view. We have little sympathy with the plan adopted, and none with such remarks as that the flowers of roses are "the baby clothes which the loving mother-plants have made to wrap their babies in. A flower is a cluster of leaves that the plant has gathered into a nest for its little baby." Or, "The grain out of which we make our flour and bread is really the food which the wise plant-mother lays up for its baby seeds." "The little creatures [Hydras] find it so much pleasanter living together than apart." We are anxious to encourage the study of nature, but do not consider it desirable to give children the habit of attributing wisdom, love and foresight and other human qualities to plants and animals. For those who like this fairy-tale method of imparting natural knowledge, the book will be found instructive.

Miscellaneous.

The Army and Navy Musical Drill. By A. Alexander. 14 pp. (Geo. Philip & Son.) Is. net. Mr. Alexander's latest musical drill quite maintains the high standard of former members of the series to which it belongs. The method adopted certainly goes a long way towards making physical exercises one of the most attractive of school occupations.

Free-Arm Drawing for Infants. By J. H. Stevens. (Geo. Philip & Son.) 35. 6d. This book contains some forty examples in coloured chalk on squared paper, with notes and illustrations. For those teachers who believe in the use of squared paper the book is a good one. Two photographs are given at the beginning indicating very clearly the position of a child when working at free-arm drawing. The apparatus seems to be a very simple one and easily fitted to a school desk. Most of the examples are very well chosen. It does not, however, seem advisable to keep very long to squared paper.

Frances Mary Buss Schools' Jubilee Record. Edited by Eleanor M. Hill, B.A., with the co-operation of Sophie Bryant,

D.Sc. 171 pp. (Swan Sonnenschein.) 7s. 6d. This book consists of the three numbers of the magazine issued in the year of Jubilee of the Frances Mary Buss Schools, founded in 1850 by the lady after whom they are named. The story of the growth of these schools is so intimately connected with the development of a system of improved education for women that a large amount of space is very appropriately given to an account of the steps by which the advantages now enjoyed by women have been secured. The very handsome volume contains a great deal of interesting material and should appeal to a much wider circle than the old students of the Frances Mary Buss Schools. The illustrations are numerous and the printing good.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed in letters which appear in these columns. As a rule, a letter criticising any article or review printed in THE SCHOOL WORLD will be submitted to the contributor before publication, so that the criticism and reply may appear together.

The Teaching of English Literature.

I have read with much interest and profit Mr. Addis's paper on the Teaching of English Literature which was printed in the January number of THE SCHOOL WORLD. His methods appear to me to be good and likely to be productive of the best results. But are we not met with a difficulty at the outset a difficulty that consists in the precise signification of the expression " a fair number of hours a week?" My estimate of the value headmasters place upon English literature may be incorrect, but judging from an experience extending over twelve years, I am strongly of the opinion that they think little of it. The number of lessons devoted to the teaching of this subject has fluctuated between 0 and 2 a week, with a distinct tendency to gravitate towards the former! Surely Mr. Addis is exagge rating when he speaks of the "lame limp" of the Classics. I have found that the Classics have lost very little of the force of their crushing tramp, and it is my belief that they still dominate the curricula of secondary schools in an overwhelming degree. Many a teacher has expressed to me his firm conviction that the intellectual capacity of a boy is only to be gauged by his ability to "do" Latin, and I should say that the majority of English headmasters still believe in the pre-eminent advantages in the way of culture that are held to accrue from a training based on,' and largely composed of, Latin and Greek. (Mr. Addis himself, by the way, does not hesitate to besprinkle his paper freely with words and quotations from Latin sources.) This prejudice naturally results in the interest in English literature being "confined to a few," and it is, to say the least of it, somewhat illogical for classical teachers to complain, as they frequently do, that boys cannot write a passable piece of English. If a boy receives six lessons a week in Latin and six in Englishwhich have to be apportioned to geography, history, grammar, dictation, essays and English literature-no wonder that "the average London day-school boy knows as much of his native literature as he does of Chinese."

Nonconformist Grammar School,

Bishop's Stortford.

E. W. HURST.

Holiday French Courses at Caen.

WILL you kindly allow me to call the attention of your readers to the Holiday Courses for Teachers which are held at the University of Caen, Normandy, during the month of

August, with short sessions at Christmas and Easter? The number of students attending last August has shown a marked increase on August, 1899, when the courses were first established, nearly 80 students following the course, compared with 51 who attended the previous year. During the month we arranged a three days' visit to Paris, of which 30 availed themselves. For the courses in August, 1901, my committee are offering thirty scholarships, four paying full fee for morning lectures and classes, ten paying half fee and sixteen one-third of the fee. The scholarships are offered for competition, and candidates must send in names before February 15th. Subjects for an essay in French will be set, the compositions to be forwarded during the month. I shall be pleased to send conditions of the competition on receipt of a penny stamp.

There is plenty of good accommodation for visitors at Caen. The cost of living with the best families is about 40 to 45 francs a week. A month's stay at Caen, including fees, need not cost more than £10, and can be done for considerably less.

9, Northbrook Road, Lee, London, S.E.

Holiday Literature.

WALTER ROBINS.

MR. ADDIS's article and Mr. Fearenside's letter, both in the January number of THE SCHOOL WORLD, lead me to think that some of your readers may be interested in the results of a more elaborate "plot" to " influence a child's pleasure-reading" than either of these writers suggests.

My pupils (girls) are permitted as a treat to read carefully selected works of "high literary merit" during the holidays. There are two sets of subjects and two examination papers, for girls over, and under, thirteen. The standard for the seniors is of necessity much lower than that of Mr. Addis's specimen paper, but I have been surprised at the amount of æsthetic appreciation generally displayed. The advantage of making the work strictly voluntary is that it is done with enthusiasm, by about half the school. In choosing subjects I aim, as a rule, at giving matter for comparison and contrast: "Westward Ho," "Kenilworth' and "The Revenge" formed one list; "Crossing the Bar" and "The Epilogue to Asolando" appeared in another; "Gray's Elegy" and "The Ancient Mariner" in a third. Hardly a girl failed to apprehend the essential characteristics of Tennyson and Browning; not one but could correctly assign unseen passages of Gray and Coleridge. But I think I cannot bring forward a better argument for " Holiday Literature" than some answers of a pupil of my sister's, a child of twelve, who had no help whatever in her preparation. The work set was Thackeray's "Rose and the Ring," Tennyson's "Day-dream," and "Crossing the Bar," which was to be learnt by heart.

Q. Explain carefully "Crossing the Bar."

A. May I die in the evening and may Death call me sharply and quickly, and may there be no great mourning when I go on the sea between Hades and earth. But may it be so quiet that it seems a sleep, and the sorrow so deep that it makes no noise, when my life which came from the boundless ocean of eternity returns from whence it came. May there be "twilight and evening bell and after that the dark," and may they who love me not take very sad farewells when I die. For although from out our present and natural place Death may take me far, I hope to see my Pilot (God) face to face when I have crost the bar between life and death.

Q. Describe the "Sleeping Beauty."

A. The Sleeping Beauty was lying on a couch, with a purple coverlet across which year after year her jet-black hair, flowing down from a braid of pearl, had grown down to her feet. The silk coverlet embroidered with stars had moulded itself to her limbs, and each softly-shadowed arm peeped through her hair,

and on them were diamond bracelets. "Her constant beauty doth inform Stillness with love and day with light." Her breathing could not be heard in the palace chambers, and the lovely tresses were not moved that lay on her charmed heart. She does not dream, but lies, "A perfect form in perfect rest."

Q. Describe the scene you like best in "The Rose and the Ring."

A. The scene I like the best in the "Rose and the Ring" is where old Gruffy, after producing the paper which Giglio wrote, and which ran: "I, Giglio, promise to marry the charming Griselda Gruffanuff, widow of the late Jenkins Gruffanuff.” Poor Giglio had to confess he wrote it, and so had to go to church with "dear Gruffy," as he had called her, but whom he hated now, as nothing would induce her to give up Giglio. Poor Rosalba hearing this fainted, and Giglio was forced to get into the same carriage with Gruffy as he had meant to enter with Rosalba. When they got to the door, Fairy Blackstick said, "Will you still persist in making this poor Prince unhappy?" Gruffy answered her very rudely, and ended by saying, “I shall have my husband." "Yes; you shall have your husband," said Blackstick, and so saying she touched the brass knocker, and there appeared Jenkins Gruffanuff, and called in his old fashion "Missis ain't at home." So Giglio was able to marry Rosalba after all.

In reference to Mr. Addis's recommendation of verse exercises for Sixth Form boys, I should like to mention that I have had better first attempts at blank verse from girls of fourteen than from girls of eighteen. My plan is to tell some romantic historical episode -the siege of Quebec, for instance-and let the class in reproducing it work in some half-dozen lines of verse, as if they were quotations; but I cannot do this oftener than once a term, as only the usual hour a week is allotted to Literature. My experience points to the conclusion that a genuine love of literature, and particularly the sense of rhythm and the power of reading verse aloud, can seldom be roused at a maturer age than fourteen or fifteen.

Brighton.

January 11th.

MARGARET M. MACK.

Enlightened Patriotism.

WILL you allow me through the medium of your paper to call the attention of teachers to our work in Canada?

Ist. OUR EMPIRE DAY, when once a year (at present on the day of Her Majesty's birthday) the children of the public schools in all our large towns are gathered together for patriotic exercises. These exercises consist of a varied programme. An enormous hall is profusely decorated with flags and emblems. A large choir of children's voices, trained by their teachers, and military bands supply the music. Distinguished men come to address the young people, and occasionally portraits of prominent men from various parts of the Empire are thrown upon a screen by lime-light. Last "Empire Day" in Montreal was attended by over 10,000 children with their parents.

2nd.-OUR FLAG DAY, when once a month, for an hour or so, the pupils are gathered in their respective schools for regular and systematic instruction about the Empire.

It is hardly possible to imagine what this may amount to among our young people in half a generation. In an empire so mighty and so scattered some such means of bringing the distant parts together seems desirable, and we desire to bring the subject, through your pages, under the consideration of the men and women engaged in the teaching profession in Great Britain.

There are some reasons for believing that young colonial children may be more easily interested in the other colonies and

in the mother country than their sisters and brothers in the old land. Be that as it may, it must be admitted by all that we cannot do too much to draw out an enlightened and intelligent patriotism-the patriotism not merely of hoisting flags and beating drums, but of a warm, living and practical interest in all that belongs to the nation in every part of Her Majesty's dominions.

It will give our committee very great pleasure to secure your interest in England, and we shall be happy to be put into correspondence with teachers who would like to know more of

to see largely increased in the future. I wish more teachers would realise what great advantages Chess possesses for their pupils. To be sure, there are signs that its progress in schools is steady, if very slow; and it is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when a London School Chess League will be un fait accompli. What is wanted is the active co-operation of more of the many teachers who play Chess themselves in organizing clubs in their schools. This is what a French writer has to say on the subject:-"It would be desirable if the fathers of families, the chiefs of institutions, should utilize with care the predilection of a boy for chess: because the game develops without fatigue, and in an admirable manner, and even with pleasure, the faculties of intelligence: it combines, in effect, the habit of reflection with the rectitude of judgment, and specially with the greatest motor of progress, the satisfaction of self-love. Men devoted to the education of youth, meditate on these observations; they emanate from a person experienced in the career of teaching, and who has reaped its blessings.”

I see that a grand tournament to inaugurate the new century has been arranged by the "Pillsbury" National Correspondence Chess Association. The Western States are playing the Eastern, with 150 players a side. There will probably also take place an International Tournament-the competitors being America, England, Germany, Austria.

It is too early yet to predict the result of the Correspondence match that is taking place between the North and South of England-50 players a side, but the latter has had decidedly the better of it so far. At the time of going to press the scores are North 7, South 8.

Mr. Blackburne (who, I believe, is to take part in the forthcoming Monte Carlo Tournament) has been giving exhibitions of simultaneous and blindfold play recently. A short time before Christmas he played against 25 members of the City of London Chess Club. Five of the games were drawn; the single player won the rest.

The "Tournament" which took place at Simpson's Divan, Dec. 10-19 resulted as follows:-Teichmann 3; Lee 21; Van Vliet 2; Muller 2; Mortimer .

A very successful gathering of nearly 400 members was the result of Captain Beaumont's invitation to Surrey Chess players to spend the afternoon of Jan. 5th at the Crystal Palace. Sixtyfour players took part in the Rapid Transit Tournament; Mr. Blackburne played blindfold against 6 opponents, his score being 3 wins, 2 draws, I loss; Mr. Curnock also played 4 blindfold games, and Mr. Hoffer 24 simultaneously.

The School World.

A Monthly Magazine of Educational Work and Progress.

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