THE POETIC IN CHILDREN.

BY BURRILL WINSLOW.

T is a mistake to suppose that children are without literary taste, yet such a mistaken notion seems still to sway the popular mind. As evidence of this we have volumes in which the cream of literature has been diluted and disguised that it may form "fit food for children." Children, far more than their elders, have a keen appreciation of beauty wherever found, and a milk-and-water literature offers to them no charms. Even the veriest street Arab has a rude instinct for the classic, amazing to those unfamiliar with his genus.

You can better afford to shoot over children's heads than those of any other class of people. They like it; and it lifts them to higher levels, just as all minds are lifted towards those unattainable heights of greatness which they can only dream of reaching. If any teacher would test the rashness of these statements, let her read, with proper appreciation of its grandeur, to pupils of even primary schools, Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg. Doubtless the last boy from whom she would expect such opinions will say, "That is fine! I like that!"

If children do not read the best books, it is not because they do not know good literature, but because they do not know where to find it. They will gladly read | such when given to them.

To regard children without poetic insight is still greater fallacy. Their daily life is the very poetry of existence. The mature mind ground down by toilsome routine is alone capable of common-place prose; and if in the living of it, how much more in its appreciation. Believe it, the child-mind has a native taste for poetry, true as that of the connoisseur. Your own poetic feeling may be quickened and enhanced by study with these youthful

critics.

To be practical, a teacher not a thous and miles from the "Hub of the Universe" gave as a study, to a class averaging upwards of ten years, Lowell's "First Snow Fall." It was an experiment and a revelation. Even the most obtuse child could see a picture in every line; and all astonished themselves and their teacher by their happy expressions. To select the line he liked best, and tell why it was his favorite, was a delight to each.

"I like best," said little Emma, "the poorest twig on the elm tree,' because it was a poor little twig, and when it was all covered with snow it looked just as nice as the best ones."

"I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn,' was what Johnny selected, "because," he said with a tremble in his voice, "it makes me think of my brother that is dead." Johnny was only a gamin whom you would not suspect of sentiment.

In the next stanza Johnny preferred, "I told of the good All-Father," because it made him think of God. In the majority of cases the children selected the most poetic line.

The teacher, who before had been in a perfect swamp of discouragement because she had such a hard school, felt herself raised to the "seven millionth heaven," and became a different being. She resolved to start her class in literature right away, and that she would either get the city to furnish, the children to buy, buy herself, or otherwise procure, a note-book for every child, in which each week some gem of a poem could be neatly copied and committed to memory, so that by the end of the term seven or eight beautiful masterpieces of literature would belong to those children by right of conquest, and all should be fairly launched on that delightful voyage which leads at length into the world of books.-The American Teacher.

SHOWING THE SPECTRUM.

BY W. W. DEATRICK.

all physical phenomena those of

the attention of the child. As he grows older the rainbow never fails to please, and in school-day years the production of the spectral band by means of a prism is an experiment pre-eminently fascinating.

For the production of the solar spectrum a darkened room and bright sunlight passed, as a beam, through a narrow slit, are ordinarily supposed to be indispensable. While a cloudless sky, a southern exposure, means for darkening the room, the admission of the sunlight through a narrow slit, and after the passage of the beam through a prism, the reception of the dispersed rays upon a screen or on the wall or ceiling, are in

many respects desirable, they are by no means necessary. It is true that the greatest dispersion and the most brilliant effects are to be obtained under such circumstances. But it often happens that it is difficult or inconvenient thus to darken a school-room. Often the windows open in the wrong direction, for example to the north. How often a teacher has wished to show the spectrum to his class, but when the teacher and class were ready there was no time to darken the room, or the sun was shining in the wrong direction, or the sky was overcast with clouds. Recently "rainy-day spectrums" of colored papers have been provided for the teaching of the spectral colors; but while these have their use, they are far from affording the satisfaction given by a glimpse at the genuine article.

But it is still possible to observe the real spectrum without the foregoing_accessories, and in a very simple way. The method is so easy that no teacher should allow the subject to be passed without performing the experiment for his class. Place a black book, or better still a piece of black velvet, on the window sill or on a table between the eye and some source of light. On the book or velvet lay a strip of white paper about a quarter of an inch in width and an inch or so in length. Holding a prism between the eye and the paper (in the case of the vertical prism, to one side or the other of the line joining the eye and the slip of paper, and in case of the horizontal prism, with the apex of the prism downward and below the line of sight), look through the prism at the slip of paper. The spectral colors will then appear with great distinctness a narrow band, it is true, but so brilliant as to compensate fully for the less degree of divergence.

If the expe

riment is performed in full sunlight the colors are exceedingly brilliant, but on a cloudy day, and even when rain is falling, a very satisfactory spectrum may be obtained in this way.

A prism, too, is within the reach of every teacher. A favored few may be able to secure the costly bisulphide of carbon prism used in most delicate research, and costing seven dollars and

more.

But good glass prisms may be had cheaply. A four-inch flint or crownglass prism may be had for forty cents. Fifty cents will buy a larger one. Queen & Co., of Philadelphia, or Eimer and Amend, of New York, will furnish them

at these prices. W. A. Olmstead, 182 Wabash ave., Chicago, or No. 9 West 14th street, New York, advertises prisms three inches, four inches, and six inches in length, for twenty, twenty-five, and fifty cents respectively. But that no one may do without a prism by reason of its cost and that color may be taught objectively in every school, the Milton Bradley Company, of Springfield, Mass., have brought out a series of cheap prisms which they sell, No. 1 for ten cents, No. 2 for fifteen cents, and No. 3 for thirty cents. It is possible, too, for one who is at all handy with tools to construct a water prism, with glass sides, at practically no expense at all. Directions for making such a prism may be given at another time.

Kutztown, Pa.

NEW PERIL TO CHILDREN.

BY GEO. G. GROFF, M. D.

THE recent action of the Pennsylvania Legislature making text-books free to the children in the public schools, carries with it a peril to which the attention of directors and teachers should be early directed. The danger is the spread of contagious diseases by the use of books which have been used by children suffering from such diseases. To illustrate: Should a child having diphtheria be permitted to use its books while sick, these would be contaminated and capable of giving the disease to the first susceptible child into whose hands the book should be placed. During the last school year this matter came before the school authorities of Brooklyn, as the following from the New York Sun will show:

Dr. Thomas L. Wells, Dr. Skidmore Hendrickson, Dr. John Walker and other physicians in Brooklyn have directed the attention of the educational authorities of that city to the danger to the health of the chilindiscriminate use of text-books. Dr. Wells dren in the public schools arising from the

said: Public School 41, at New York avenue and Dean street, is in my neighborhood, and I am familiar with it. There is something significant in the fact that diphtheria should break out in that particular school every winter.

The plumbing is good, and I think there can be no doubt that the constant recurrence of epidemics must be due to the use of school books which have been used by former pupils who have had diphtheria. I have had fif

teen or more cases of diphtheria from this school, and I know that other physicians have had fully as many each winter.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Maxwell said: This is the first time this matter has been presented to this Board. The use of books formerly used by pupils who have been ill with contagious or infectious diseases will be stopped. Such books will be destroyed.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Health, at a recent meeting, passed a resolution advising that all books which had heen exposed to the contagion of diphtheria, scarlet fever (or scarlatina), diphtheritic sore throat, small pox, cholera, yellow fever, or other contagious disease, should be destroyed by fire. The matter is an important one, and should receive attention.

QUEEN'S SCHOOL AT BURANO.

BEFO

BY MRS. N. C. SCHAEFFER.

EFORE a case in the Woman's building at Chicago stands a guard day and night. If you speak to him in English he shrugs his shoulders, in foreign fashion; address him in Italian, and he replies in the melodious accents of that musical tongue. He is guarding the laces loaned for exhibition by Her Majesty, Queen Margherita, of Italy. Many of these laces are worth $1,000 a yard. They have been worn by royalty on the most important state occasions. One is particularly important because it served in the room of the palace of Turin where King Victor Emanuel was born, under whose beneficent reign the States of the Peninsula were consolidated into a united kingdom.

The art of lace-making almost shared the fate of one of the Gaelic dialects which became extinct through the recent death of an aged woman, who was the only woman still able to speak it on the face of the earth. The stitch used in making the finest laces was known to but one woman living upon the Island of Burano. The Queen gave her a pension, established a school under her upon the island, and loaned her own laces to the pupils for study and imitation. By this means lace-making was rescued from the list of the lost arts. The laces made by the pupils of this school are also on exhibition. The young women who work on this art earn 3 francs a day-good wages for a land overcrowded with population.

One of the laces is a deep flounce representing ladies swinging; another contains illustrations of animals, taken from Æsop's fables. One of the royal laces was made especially by order of Napoleon I, as a present for a cardinal, and represents great medallions containing flowers and doves on a fine tulle ground, held together by bows and garlands of ribbon on a large mesh ground. The shading of the flowers, one petal being made in close stitch and the other in sheer stitch, was an innovation of the year 1807 and gave rise to much criticism, but had so lovely an effect that it permanently established itself in lacemaking.

Laces are for beauty and not for comfort. Royal children, who are almost smothered in them, may well envy the freedom of motion which the unclad child of the peasant enjoys under the sunny skies of Italy. In all that relates to comfort, the fabrics spun by modern machinery furnish the middle classes with robes and garments of which Solomon never dreamed in all his glory.

PERSONALITY OF TEACHER.

BY SARAH CORBETT.

T is true that no amount of mere knowl

able a to put him

self in touch with his pupils; but it will help him, when he has put himself in touch with them, to make better use of the situation. Traiuing for the teacher should throw some light on the main problem of how to acquire direct insight into mental processes, in order to influence them close at hand instead of from a distance. We all know that a "word spoken in season" produces more effect than many hours of teaching which does not chance-we call it chance-to touch the right note. Mental ailments, like bodily ailments, are produced by unwholesome food.

In the cases where teachers are honestly trying to find out the real needs of their pupils and how to supply them, difficulties still remain, in the way of natural temperament, and these are not, perhaps, sufficiently considered in organizing classes in schools. Cases sometimes arise where children are permanently injured by being allowed to remain under teachers who, however well-meaning, are

unable to supply their special intellectual needs who praise when they should be silent, bring into prominence what they should ignore, discourage by blame of punishment some really healthy tendency -who, in short, are incapable of seeing what the child really requires.

Healthy development cannot go on without some amount of direct sympathetic insight on the part of the teacher. It is not only that the wrong word should not be spoken, but the teacher must learn how to make his influence felt by his mere presence. There is a force in character which underlies and is superior to all spoken words. And, indeed, words are only useful in so far as they correctly embody this subtle force. A teacher can never be successful who does not, consciously or unconsciously, develop this force to himself, and learn how to use it. It would seem, therefore, that an important element in the training of teachers is the awakening and cultivation of the will power and the sympathies. These are often expressed more by the tones of the voice than by the actual words. The inner nature expresses itself more fully by the tones of the voice than in any other way. When the character changes, the tone of the voice changes also.

Children do not, of course, analyze the effect produced on them by the personality of the teacher. Even in the case of adults, with well-trained minds, a judg-| ment made by that region of the mind which borders on the sub-conscious often presents itself to the fully conscious mind only in the form of a sense of harmony or discord. And this is still more the case with children or with uneducated persons. But the influence is felt though not analyzed, and produces its effect on the mind and character. The fully developed mind of an adult is, or ought to be, strong enough to gather to itself all the nourishment which its outward condition affords, and to refuse to be influenced by unfavorable conditions. the mind of a child is not strong enough, or sufficiently experienced, to master and guide the mental influences to which it is exposed. Uufavorable mental influences may take permanent root in the character, and cause unhealthy conditions which cannot afterwards be removed.

Bnt

The most common error made by a teacher in trying to control a class is that he endeavors to suppress natural tenden

cies, instead of guiding and directing them. The influence of a teacher over a class should be of the same nature that a man should use in governing himself. Human activities and emotions are natural forces. The will of man, however, can guide them in the right directioncan insist that they shall be creators, not destroyers. When the teacher arouses the interest of his class in some intellectual pursuit, by showing interest in it himself, and suggesting ways in which the class. is already interested, he directs so much energy, which would otherwise probably be expended in mischief, into a useful channel. Personal influence should always be expended in directing activity, not in endeavoring to suppress it.

Another mistake which young teachers often make is to try to get as much work out of the class as possible. This may lead pupils in self-defense to try to do as little work as possible, and introduce that feeling of opposition between teacher and pupils which is one of the most objectionable elements in school life. If children were not at school forced into a position of antagonism there would be less selfseeking in later life.

The clue to the whole position is harmony of aim between teacher and pupils -the full realization on both sides of the fact that they are working for a common end; the substitution of the spirit of brotherhood for the spirit of competition. A teacher who has true sympathetic insight has the power of promptly grasping the manifold subtle mental influences which are at work at any given time and place, and of as promptly seeing the best way to deal with them. Wherever a number of human beings are together, there is always a certain amount of discord caused by the clashings of cross currents of inharmonious tendencies and desires. One who would lead his fellows successfully must learn how to weave these into harmony, to gain control of the nervous force that is flowing in wrong directions, and to direct it into the right channel. When the teacher is able to strike the right key-note, confidence on the part of the pupils in his willingness and ability to help them follows, and harmonious action is possible to a greater or less extent. Absolute harmony is never, of course, established, and is perhaps not desirable, for healthy natures. can bear without injury a certain amount of discord, and will probably in the end

give out richer music. But a constant | succession of discords will put the healthiest nature out of tune. The intuitional perception, then, of the mental needs of others is one of the most important qualifications for a teacher. The born teacher is one who has this faculty naturally in a high state of development; but such natures are rare, and it is quite impossible to place all educational work in their hands. The faculty is latent in all, and may be developed by careful study, especially by the study of child nature.

To develop it successfully it is necessary to look beneath the surface, to give one's attention to causes rather than effects, to find out the real meaning which lies beneath the outward form. It is especially necessary not to start with any hard and fast theory as to what children ought to be, but to study carefully what they are in fact.-The School Journal.

PSYCHOLOGY AS A FAD.

THE

BY H. K. WOLFE.

ject, it is safe to conclude there is very little teacher and very poor psychology.

This subject should treat of life and some of its manifestations. Much that is called psychology is mere words, definitions, and memory exercises.

It is sometimes said, and with much truth, that psychology is dry reading for many persons. A book that should fairly represent the newer methods and have enough literary merit to interest the nonprofessional reader has been earnestly hoped for. I think such a book may now be found. Prof. James, of Harvard, has written, and Henry Holt & Co., of New York, have published the most readable book on this subject in any language. It is for the most part in harmony with the newer ideas and methods, and no teacher who reads it will suspect that the psychology is uninteresting. I wish to recommend this book to teachers as an admirable introduction to the science on which all professional work in teaching is based.-N. W. Journal of Education.

READING BOOKS DISCARDED.

THE

BY SUPT. THOS. M. BALLIET.

Doubtless the same persons would speak of the study of physiology by physicians as a fad. Electricians would be said to have their fads in physics and mathematics. In the college the fad of the student who desires to become a professor would be post-graduate work. In this sense psychology is the teacher's fad. It is the one thing that is now recognized by all educators and by all schools as essential in preparation for effective study of whatever science of education exists. I have sometimes been asked, by very young teachers, whether it is not probable that this fad has about run its course. Quackery in medicine is no greater humbug than "professional training" in teaching that is not based upon a study of life and mind. Psychology is now widely talked about. The future will doubtless show more study of the subject.

The born teacher is always a born psychologist; the made teacher is largely dependent upon acquired knowledge of human nature. But there are psychologies and psychologies. Whenever a teacher speaks disparagingly of this sub

In this way the reading all bears on the regular work of the school, and helps along the studies named so much in the aggregate that considerable time is saved. On the first three topics, pupils read for the sake of information, and much of the reading is silent.

What is the object of reading on literature? Literature furnishes the elements of the ideal in the school curriculum. It is just as necessary to develop the child's ideal and spiritual nature-more so, in fact as to train his observing and his thinking powers. Here literature finds its place. It idealizes for the child the things which he has been studying as mere prosy realities; it spiritualizes material things for him. After he has been studying the brook in geography, for example, let him enjoy Tennyson's