sheet of water, and over plains; the waving rye-field; the mimic waving of acres of houstonia, whose innumerable flowers whiten and ripple before the eye; the reflections of trees and flowers in glassy lakes; the musical, steaming, odorous south wind, which converts all trees to wind-harps; the crackling and spurting of hemlock in the flames,- these are the music and pictures of the most ancient religion."

On the whole, we feel that the results of the calendar are valuable enough for every teacher to try to make room for the "just one thing more," and give the very, very few moments a day to this part of the program,- not only in the ideal school where there is plenty of time, but above all, in the crowded school-room, the country school especially, where there is so little time that it can be given only to the important things;- among them the daily calendar.

As a decoration the calendar is a bright and cheerful addition to the room, and there are different ways of making it both attractive and appropriate to the season. For most of these a box of colored crayons is necessary, but this is something which no school-room should ever be without, for in half a dozen ways it proves a magic wand to a fairy world of enjoyment for the color-loving children. With these and a simple copy, it does not require much artistic skill to make a bunch of yellow golden-rod or purple thistles nod from behind September's calendar; a cluster of crimson leaves brighten October; a pumpkin vine encircle Novem ber; holly, evergreens, or snowflakes surround December, January, and February; while the pussy-willow and the early flowers decorate the spring months.

One year the children enjoyed very much a calendar set in the midst of a simple landscape which changed with the outside season, through the agency of the same colored crayons. In the autumn the trees had foliage of brown and red, with many falling leaves, but as the season advanced the trees were left bare, the grass turned brown, and the first snowfall cutside gave occasion for powdering our mimic ground with white, as well. It remained so during the winter, till the spring sent a flush of green over it, and melted the snow in the crotches of the trees These gradually took on the green few ieaves (It is not difficult to "plach 00" green chalk), and by May we had dandelions and vioiets growing in the grass.

Some teachers prefer to have their calendars on large sheets of cardboard, and sometimes this is necessary through lack of blackboard space. There is a certain advantage in this plan, because the calendar is not erased at the end of the month, but the sheets preserved during the entire year, and at any time a general comparison may be made, to see which months had many sunny days or many snowy ones, which season had the most north

winds and just how many weeks came between each full

moon.

These cardboard calendars should be as large as the blackboard ones (at least twenty inches square, including decorations), and if the paper is rough enough, may be marked with the colored crayon, otherwise a paint-box with a few colors would be necessary. For the landscape calendar, a larger sheet of some rough paper (cartridge or ingrain wall paper, mounted on cardboard to stiffen it), may he used for the landscape part, and drawn upon with chalk quite as successfully as the blackboard, and the calendar in the middle may be on smaller sheets, which are fastened down together and one detached each month.

To keep before the children the thought of the continuity of the year, a fanciful border representing the different months may be sketched along the top of some blackboard. A pretty conceit of this sort is a row of candles in white chalk on the blackboard. As each month comes around, the candle representing that month is "lit" (that is, a yellow flame added to the wick with colored chalk), and when the month is past, it is "blown out," and the next one lit, and so on through the year.

Each candle-stick may have some device suggestive of the month, and if the children help in choosing appropriate ones, they will like it all the better,- a snowflake for January perhaps, simple flowers and fruits for the months where they belong, a pumpkin for November, and for December a tin Christmas candle-holder on a branch of evergreen may take the place of the regular candle-stick, and lo! the candle becomes a Christmas candle, to set astir the pulses of every Christmas child.

Below this border may be written each month a little couplet or stanza, to be explained to the children and perhaps learned by them. The following are suggested for those who may not find it convenient to look through the poets for their own selections.

H

"Playing School”

A TEACHER

OW many teachers have ever watched children playing school?

If each of us could find an opportunity of watching some of our own pupils in play with those of another teacher's pupils, we might learn considerable that would be of advantage to us, in regard to the manners and methods of teaching. For it is known that children almost invariably copy the ways of the teacher with whom they are most of the session.

At one time, I was the unobserved witness of five little girls and two boys playing school. It was quite evident that the facilities for teaching in the way of seats and desks was a secondary consideration-in fact, no consideration at all; for matters progressed as earnestly and realistically as though carried on in a thoroughly equipped school-room. Naturally there was some discussion as to who should be lucky enough to hold those enviable positions of superintendent, principal, and teacher; but the difficulty was settled by drawing lots and as there was a scarcity of children it was decided to have the Right Honorable Superintendent an imaginary evil, to be called on only in case of "expension."

The principal-ah! That dignitary can not well be pictured. She had perched on her nose, an old pair of spectacles, minus one glass, and with all the air of supreme authority and superiority which that person of high estate could command, she strutted around the room critically examining the work, and giving special directions here and there.

This little girl was a "pointer teacher," that is, a teacher with the pointer always in hand, ready for any emergencyYou know her. We've all heard of them.

Well, the pointer must be used in marking the time, so, majestically it was waved back and forth, but the matter of lagging time was of small significance with the manner of executing the song.

The singing lesson is over. Now for spelling. With pointer still in evidence, our teacher, not very gently, raps several knuckles for letters not according to her model, and with high pitched voice, the words are pronounced.

Teacher:- All take gogerfies and learn questions about New York State. You don't never knows 'em, and can't tell if the city you're livin' in is on 'Lantic Ocean or Red Sea. Most likely as not, you'll say it's the largest city in 'Merica - course Don't seem's if coz you're livin' here. I could never get anything knocked into your brains, if you've got any, and I half doubt it. B class, order, for language."

Boy number one, is in all classes, answers at all times, and is a general mischief maker.

Teacher:-Who can give synnim for " Farewell? " Bobbie knows, O yes, Bobbie always knows; and promptly comes the answer, "So Long." A commotion follows and as a punishment, Bobbie must write a composition on "Squirrels." Here is a copy of the original manuscript.

The Squirrels

I was in the country and I went in the wood to get some Squirrels, And I seen one on the top of a tree he had A nut up there And he was eaten Away and I got the gun and when I came back the squirrel was gone. Did you thinks that I would come And I was going back I saw one in a chestnuts tree And I was going to shoot him but You see he had a hole in the tree an I can't think of no more to-day, so good-bye. End of the Squirrels.

Matters continued rather smoothly the rest of the school

All figures of speech appeal to children. They respond to them with unerring recognition of their under-meaning. When I tell my little folks to bottle their feelings a moment and put the cork in tight, till they get out of doors, do you not suppose the instant quiet in the cloak room is the quick translation of the figure of speech?

Again, I need but to say "I hear a fly buzzing in my room; let us drive it out," to see a comprehending smile on little faces, and lo! the buzzing has ceased.

Does not every one understand about those wooden shoes that will thump so and the velvet slippers that never make a noise!

Speak of pines- the beautiful straight pine-trees that grow so tall, or of soldiers who march so erect, and rounding shoulder and crooked backs straighten in the twinkling of an eye.

No letter 's in our room, we say, and smile, because we know how much like that letter small backs can get to be.

We don't always remember the dots to our i's. How queer we would look without eyebrows! Next time the eyebrow is pretty sure to be in evidence.

When Willie is so slow about rising from his seat, so that all the others are standing before he is, I wonder if a certain little boy is getting old and has the rheumatism, so that he cannot move quickly.

And then those queer storks, that will stand on one foot ! This has troubled you, I am sure, as many another teacher. We cannot always be saying, "Stand on two feet." Let us It is harmful to all avoid all appearances of "nagging." concerned.

Can you stand as I do? Has your plant one, or two roots? There are many ways to put it. Once in a while an effectual method is to go and look very closely for that retiring member, with an air of astonishment at its nonappearance.

Are these details unimportant?

Is there a right and a

wrong way to even such trifles? Let us try the metaphor once in a while and see what wonders it can work in a sunshiny way.

he is only good-naturedly mischievous. They also know, probably as well as the principal, whether a harsh or a mild punishment will best serve the purpose of reform. So the club by vote passes sentence. If it is the culprit's first offence the strong probability is that they will require him to apologize not only to the teacher but to the club. The offender, if he be of the stubborn sort, will consider carefully before he refuses. No youngster wishes to be held in contempt by his playmates. He must have comradeship. If he declines to make amends for breach of good conduct he knows that he will be obliged to do his playing by himself, and it is an exceptional case where a boy will refuse to pay the penalty imposed by a jury of his peers.

They have uo court of appeal in these clubs. The principal abides by the finding of the jury. When the club suspends one of its members from school the principal carries out the sentence. If the penalty be too severe the teacher will point out in a friendly, never a mandatory way, where a probable injustice has been done, and advise the club how to remedy and to avoid a repetition of it in future. If it has been too light a reform will likewise be pointed out, but never commanded. Common experience is proof that children have an instinctive sense of justice, and no one who has not the power to touch that sense of justice should be permitted to teach. Results show that offenders very seldom fail to recognize that revenge cuts no figure in the

Schools

The Horace Mann and John Crerar Schools N the Horace Mann grammar school there have been established a series of clubs devoted to self-government.

own officers and conduct their own affairs. Children who have not yet reached the age of seven years are memers, and the oldest pupil is not yet sixteen.

To say that the object of the clubs is the elevation of morals, would, perhaps, be not too broad. In fact, the motive which inspires them is desire for better deportment. A comprehensive name for them would be "Good Conduct" clubs. They were started just after the last Christmas holidays, and now embrace about eighty per cent of the entire membership of the school. The organizations are altogether voluntary. These juvenile clubs sit in judgment on their members in and out of school, and hold each member to accountability for his or her individual acts. In rare instances the penalty for infringing on general rules for good conduct is fixed by the school officers, while in most cases of enforcing discipline the club governs by vote of its members. In every case the pride of the pupil is appealed to and worked on. His or her standing in the estimation of fellows is affected by his or her conduct toward fellows,

and no scholar who misbehaved is able to maintain the good will and comradeship of those who strive to be respectful and orderly. Additional to the punishment provided by rules of the school, thèse clubs have a less severe but more effective code, namely, of social ostracism. Nothing brings a wilfully bad boy to a realization of his con

duct so quickly and so sharply as to manifest disapproval of his playmates, and experience shows that, while many boys of grit can withstand the birch, it is an exceptional case where he is impervious to the silent punishment administered by his fellows in withdrawing from association with him at play.

Workings of the Club Plan

With the clubs good conduct is incited, not forced. Reward comes in the way of self-approval, and punishment in the way of penalty fixed by equals, not by superiors. One instance will suffice to explain the workings of the club plan. A mischeivous boy shoots a bean and hits another scholar on the ear. He is sent to the principal. This officer refers the offense to the club made up of members of that room. They know the offender and the offense. They know his record in the school-room, at play and on the street. They know whether he is malicious or whether

Organizations in Each Division

The social effect of these clubs is marked. Each division has one such organization. Each chooses a name. In the highest grade the club is called the Golden Rule; in another, Honor Club; in the fourth grade, the fanciful name, Pretty Flowers, struck the youngsters, and one boy wears a pin engraved "P. F." In the Honor Club each member has a badge bearing the name painted on ribbon. They meet regularly and discuss various questions pertaining to good conduct.

One club meets weekly. A rule was made that each the way of self-government, and that such cases should be member should try to be helpful to some other scholar in reported. Where a member had been derelict in this selfimposed duty he was fined 5 cents. The fines were devoted to the purchase of photographs of American poets for the school-room.

Efforts to improve conduct by the force of a child's own will were not confined to the school-room and school playground, but were carried to the streets and to homes. In these clubs it is a very serious breach of ethics for a big boy to allow another lad to strike a boy "under his size," to get together in a gang and snowball peddlers, to refuse to take part in a club entertainment, to break into another's conversation, to take a twig for nature study without asking permission of the owner, to steal flowers, to be rude at table, to refuse to tip the hat to a teacher or to a girl of his grade. This custom of tipping the hat provoked animated discussion at first. The boys insisted that the girls should return the salutation, and they were strenuous about it. No doubt they would have carried their point if the exigencies of the hatpin had not presented an insuperable obstacle. Now, the raising of hat or cap is almost universal in the school. Toward the teacher it is a friendly greeting, not the salute of a soldier in the ranks to his superior officer.

Serves to Protect Property

This systematic work in behalf of self-government serves to protect property. Some months ago a lady who lives in the neighborhood of the Horace Mann school and has very fine grounds, made complaint of a mild sort of vandalism among her shrubs and flowers by the pupils. The matter was taken up by the clubs and stopped at once. Since early spring there has not been a single complaint lodged in the school of broken windows, limbs or twigs torn from trees or flowers stolen. Properly to estimate the value of the self-government clubs it should be borne in mind that a considerable part of the membership comes from children whose home influence is not conducive to self-discipline.

Principal John T. Ray

of the John Crerar grammar school first advanced the theory of a pure democracy in the primary schools. He presented it in a paper about a year ago and since then it has been taken up by educators on both sides of the Atlantic and very widely discussed. He also was the first teacher to put the theory into practice.

Professor Ray starts out with the proposition that to the average child entering the public schools the average teacher is a despot in whose smile he lives and in whose frown he dies. The teacher in the child's mind is an autocrat. The first step which Mr. Ray takes is to teach the child that it is able to govern its own conduct under the direction of some other child whom the class shall select as leader. He teaches them, in language that a six-year-old can comprehend, the old Roman idea of the tribune. He explains the difference between a monarchy and a democracy. He shows how they may select a tribune who shall not only serve as a sort of a leader among them, but act as an intermediary between the pupil and the teacher or principal.

Tribunes of the Crerar Tribune

The children's first step in self-government is the selection of a leader, whom, like the Romans, they call their tribune. One of his duties is to protect the weak, and to require all the strong ones in the class to assist him in such protection. He is to settle all disputes which arise between pupils. He is to impress on each individual child that the good name of the class is in his keeping. Last and most important, he must teach that order is the prime requisite of society and that each child has rights that every other child is bound to respect. In actual workings the tribune is the judge, the friend and the companion of the class.

One of the first effects of the establishment of pure democracy among children is the checking of an almost irresistible tendency to "tell on" somebody. When a child comes to the principal with a story of some one "picking on " some one else, the complainant is immediately referred to his tribune, who takes the matter up and settles it in such manner as he deems just. The judgment of the tribune is often more effective than the same judgment would be coming from a teacher, because the class stands at the back of its tribune. His decree is the decree of the whole class.

Professor Ray holds that there are many more good boys than bad boys, and it is quite as easy for a right-minded boy to become the leader as it is for the bad boy to run things. The democratic plan as opposed to the autocratic plan has had one year's trial at John Crerar school. Its results thus far have vindicated the soundness of the theory that children are able at an early age to comprehend the principle of pure democracy and to put it into practice in all the acts of their lives.

One little cloud said, "I am so heavy, I cannot stay here. I must fall. Good-bye."

It began to fall. The wind blew cold.
Jack Frost was in the wind.

He changed it into ice-needles.
Six little ice-needles froze together.
Down, down they went.

They reached the ground.
School was just out.

"Oh, see the pretty snow-flakes!" said John.
"They look like stars.

Every one has six points.
Now I can use my sled."

Practical Work on Moths and Butterflies in all Stages I

A

Pupa and Chrysalides

CAROLINE G. SOULE Brookline Mass.

S winter is here we will begin the work at the winter end, the pupa or chrysalis stage.

"Pupa" is used for the moths, and "chrysalis " for butterflies, and the pupa may be in a cocoon or not, while the chrysalis is almost always not in a cocoon, or even between leaves spun together.

As most moths and butterflies pass the winter in the pupal state it is clear that late autumn, winter, and early spring are good times for pupa-hunting.

The chrysalides of butterflies may be found under the cross-pieces of fences, in chinks of stone walls, hanging from projecting rocks and edges of clapboards on houses and barns, under the edges of piles of boards or the woodpile, or logs; sometimes fastened flat against a wall or fence, and a few, as those of Eudamus tityrus, between leaves spun together and fallen to earth. A very few, not in our part of the country, are in the ground, as in the Megathymus family found in the southern states and farther south. The chrysalides thus found are often stung, and give flies of different kinds instead of the expected butterfly.

cess.

An easy way to keep chrysalides is to fasten them to the sides of a wooden box, by a pin put through the silken tuft from which each suspended chrysalis hangs. This tuft can easily be scraped off the stone or wood with a pen knife, but care is needed to prevent injury to the chrysalis in the proIf the chrysalis is suspended by a band of silk around the upper part, and a tuft at the lower end, both may be detached and fastened, by pins, to the box. An empty starch box is excellent for this. Have a pane of glass to slip into the grooves in which the cover slides, and then stand the box on end or on one side, fastening the chrysalide around the wooden sides. The box may be made presentable by covering it with brown paper. Through the glass front all the process of the emergence of the butterflies may be seen. The sides and top should be left rough for the butterflies to climb by or hang from while their wings are expanding and drying, though some kinds will hang from the empty 66 case or "shell."

Chrysalides, when they hang by one end only should be fas