Exchange Department. DRAWING AND MUSIC IN SCHOOLS. THE following is an extract from Professor Stow's Report on the Prussian Schools: "The universal success and beneficial results with which the arts of Drawing and Designing, Vocal and Instrumental Music, have been introduced into schools, was another fact peculiarly interesting to me. I asked all the teachers with whom I conversed, whether they did not sometimes find children actually incapable of learning to draw and to sing. I have had but one reply, and that was, that they found the same diversity of natural talent in regard to these, as in regard to reading, writ ing, and other branches of education; but they had never seen a child who was capable of learning to read and write, who could not be taught to sing well and draw neatly, and that, too, without taking any time which would at all interfere with-indeed, which would not actually promote-his progress in other studies." NOTICE OF EXCHANGES. SINCE issuing our last number, but a few drawings have been received. We trust our friends have not become weary in well-doing; but perhaps they are preparing to astonish us by some large packages, showing their great improvement during the past winter. Well, that is not a bad idea. Send them along. From the pupils of Miss Eliza A. Chase, Orangetown, N. Y.-Margaret Blauvelt, aged 16; Maria T. Demarest, 16, three specimens; Matilda Cooper, 12; Jane Maria Post, 14, two specimens; Mary Emeline Cooper, 8; James Van Derbelt, 14, two specimens; John Henry Post, 11, two specimens; Ryckerman Bogert, 11; William Van Houten, 12. Several of these specimens were far superior to any we have before received from these pupils. A GOOD DRAWING BOOK.-Those who wish a scientific and practical work on drawing, one that gives elementary instruction from the sharpening of a pencil, making a pen, and the forming of the most simple lines through the principles of drawing and shading of various objects, foliage, etc., including the human figure, and also perspective, with instruction, for copying from nature, landscape drawing, etc., will find it in " Chapman's American Drawing Book," published by J. S. Redfield, 66 ANSWERS TO QUERIES. Since issuing our last number we have received answers to the mathematical questions in the January number, from the pupils of the Branchville Academy," Branchville, N. J.; M. C. Sibbet, principal; from pupils of Public School No. 7, Brooklyn, David Syme, A.M., principal; also from N. M., of Troy, N. Y. We think N. M. misunderstood the question in regard to the widow's portion of the estate. The solution gave her too large a share. Mr. Sibbet's pupils render the following answers to the second problem, viz. : The widow's portion of the estate amounts to 866 $1602 39 1156 N. M. also sends us the following answers to the first two questions in the February number: Answer to the first-The weight of the ring was 1 pennyweight and 6 grains. Answer to the second-40,320 chimes. We hope soon to receive answers to the rein the last number (Febmaining question ruary), also of those in the present. Will not some pupils furnish answers to the historical questions also? Some teachers and pupils have already sent us questions for publication, but we should be pleased to receive many more. Let a public examination be given, at which all the parents are urged to attend; and let the exercises be so conducted that while they show that the pupils thoroughly comprehend the elements of the sciences which they are pursuing, the spectators may learn something of the same, if not new, yet refresh their own memories on the subject. From such exercises the parents will go away pleased, both from the fact that they have witnessed improvement in their children, and because they, too, leave the place wiser than they came to it. The exercises of a public examination should partake largely of a practical character. Let 157 teachers, better schools, and better scholars would be the result. VENTILATION OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. THIS is a subject of vital importance to both the teacher and the taught in our common schools. Want of proper attention to this subject is a source of great evil. In some schools the temperature of the room is regulated, if regulated at all, by the changeable feelings of the teacher, or perhaps the notions of the pupils. In such cases it is not unfrequent to find the room varying in temperature, during a single half day, from 40 to 90 degrees, whereas it should range only from 60 to 70. And in these instances the heat is more frequently 80 or more, than 70 or less. No wonder that so many teachers complain of ill health, and suffer so severely from exposure to cold, when they allow themselves to live in such a temperature, and that, too, when surrounded by two or three score of lungs to render the air impure! We believe that the principal cause of the ill health of most teachers may be traced to confinement in too warm and ill-ventilated school-rooms. It requires but a short time for the number of pupils usually assembled to use up all the air in the room, or render it entirely unfit for res them not be book recitations merely, but expla-piration; hence the necessity of a ventilation nations and applications of principles. The teacher should not be so anxious to make a great display as to allow himself to give an exhibition of superficial recitation. It would be well if the trustees, or some suitable persons in the district, could conduct a portion of the examination, by which means not only variety would be given, but it would afford an excellent opportunity to test the thorough ness of the teacher's instruction. These examinations would also tend to break up that diffidence so common on the part of pupils, in our country schools, when reciting in the presence of visitors. The exercises should be enlivened by singing, reading of compositions, declamation, etc. And it would be well to close by a short address to parents and children, from some person previously invited for this purpose. With such examinations at the close of each term, the interest in common schools would be increased in the minds of parents; teachers would feel that they had something to do; children would learn to prize knowledge more highly, and better by which the impure air may escape, and fresh air be admitted. The ventilation should be through an opening in the ceiling overhead, or by lowering the upper sashes of the windows, or by both. The sudden exposure caused by opening the door, or by raising the lower sash, is very injurious; besides, it does not rid the room of the vitiated air which rises in the upper part of it. We say again, this subject is one of vital importance, for it involves the health and wellbeing, not only of the teacher, but of the fifty or hundred children under his charge. TEACHERS and PARENTS, we beseech you to attend to this matter. See that your school-rooms are properly ventilated, and that the temperature is regulated, not by the changeable feelings of the teacher or pupils alone, but by a thermometer hung in some suitable place in the room. THE DAGUERREIAN JOURNAL, by S. D. HUMPHREY, No. 235 Broadway, New York, is improving with its growth. Every Daguerreian artist in the land should take it. Published semi-monthly, octavo, 32 pages Terms $3 per annum, in advance. NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS. VIEWS OF THE MICROSCOPIC WORLD. Designed for ' general reading, and as a hand book for classes in Natural Science. By JOHN BROCKLESBY, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy in Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. Octavo; 146 pages. Illustrated with numerous engravings and drawings. Published by Pratt, Woodford, & Co., No. 4 Courtland Street, N. York. 1851. This book unfolds in the works of nature, which are hidden from the unassisted eye, much that is exceedingly interesting It is the result of extensive personal observ. ation, united with a vast amount of reading and practical research, and illustrated with several hundred beautiful engravings and drawings. The teacher will find in it a vast fund of interesting and useful information to impart to his pupils in the form of brief lectures. It will also prove a highly interesting work to the general reader, giving sublime views of the life-teeming world around and beneath him. See extract from it on the 137th page. THE PLANETARY AND STELLAR WORLDS; a popular exposition of the great discoveries and theories of Modern Astronomy. In a series of ten lectures. By O. M. Mitchel, A. M. 12mo; pp. 336. Published by Baker & Scribner, 145 Nassau Street, New York. We know of no American astronomer who has clothed the science of the stars in such attractive and eloquent language as has Prof. Mitchel in his lectures; and those only who have read them, or have had the pleasure of listening to his glowing eloquence on this subject, can imagine what is their style. These lectures will prove highly valuable to the teacher of astronomy, and deeply interesting to the student or general reader who wishes information on this subject. HOME BALLADS; A Book for New Englanders. In three parts. By ABBY ALLIN. 12mo; pp. 238. Published by James Munroe & Co., Boston, and Cambridge, Mass. Seldom has a work of a similar character fallen under our notice the perusal of which has afforded us so great a satisfaction as the one with the above title. There is a simplicity, life-like truthfulness, and ease in the author's style which the reader can not fail to admire, as it brings to mind the happy days of childhood, and makes him feel indeed young again. The productions are full of poetic genius, and so appropriately has the collection been called "Home Ballads," that while perusing them one seems almost to breathe the very air of home and the spirit of those New England scenes. SALANDER AND THE DRAGON; A Romance of the Hartz Prison. By Frederick W. Shelton, M. A., Rector of St. John's Church, Huntington, Long Island. 16mo; pp. 184. Price 50 cents. Published by Samuel Hueston, 139 Nassau Street, and George P. Putnam, 155 Broadway, New York. We acknowledge that on first reading the title of this book the impressions that struck us were not prepos. sessed in favor of it, but a perusal of the beautiful story quite changed those thoughts. It is an allegory, the object of which is to exhibit the pernicious effects of evil speaking and slander, and the danger of uttering or lending ear to an unkind word or an insinuation. There has hardly appeared a more ingenious and useful allegory than this since the days of Bunyan. THE ISLAND WORLD OF THE PACIFIC; being the personal narrative and results of travel through the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands, and other parts of Polynesia. By Rev. Henry T. Cheever. 12mo; pp. 404. Published by Harper & Brothers, New York. Owing to the increasing relations between the Sandwich Islands and the United States, this work must be received with much interest. It presents a correct pic. ture of the Pacific Islands as they appeared in the year 1850; and since any previous work on the Polynesian Islands has been written, great changes have taken place there. The author tells us what he saw, and what he thought and felt while seeing. NEW ELEMENTS OF GEOMETRY. By Seba Smith. Octavo; 200 pages. Published by George P. Putnam, 155 Broadway, New York. This treatise is divided into three parts; namely, The Philosophy of Geometry, Demonstrations in Geometry, and Harmonies of Geometry. A fundamental principle in Geometry, as laid down in this work, is, that there is but one kind of quantity, and that solids, surfaces, and lines all have the same unit of comparison, and must also be measures of each other. The author says a unit in Geometry is always a cube, and that it is one in length, one in width, and one in thickness; that a line is a suc. cession of single units, hence a line is one in breadth and one in thickness; that a surface is composed of a succession of single lines, and therefore has a thickness of one. But this unit may be of any positive magnitude, from magnitude infinitely diminished to magnitude infinitely extended. By the theory of these new elements, Mr. Smith proves that the same relations exist in cubic quantity, between solids, surfaces, and lines, that exist mathematically-a relation which old geometers do not admit. The author does not claim to have changed any principles of Geometry-they are immutable, and ever remain the same-but to have changed the definitions to make them agree with new discoveries in these princi. ples. The work shows ability, profound research, and a noble freedom of thought, which can not fail to attract the attention of those who are fond of investigation in the natural sciences. CHRISTIAN MELODIES; a selection of hymns and tunes, designed for social and private worship in the lecture room and the family. Edited by George B. Cheever, D.D., and J. E. Sweetser. 12mo; pp. 252. Published by A. S. Barnes & Co., New York, and H. W. Derby & Co., Cincinnati. The hymns and tunes being arranged in one book, and classified according to the subjects, renders this a desirable work. The tunes are mostly old and familiar ones. THE PROPAGANDIST, devoted to practical reform, especially in matters of self-education, but chiefly to the writing and spelling reformation, is issued every other Wednesday, in a quarto form, eight pages, Stephen P. Andrews editor, and published by John F. Trow, Nos. 49 and 51 Ann Street, New York. Terms, in advance, $1 per annum. A portion of this paper is printed in Phonotypy. It also contains lessons in Phonography. Probably no person in this country understands Phonography better than Mr. Andrews, and no one has done more for its exten. sion. Let him continue to speed its progress. HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. This work con tinues to increase in popularity, and its circulation has extended with a rapidity unrivaled in the history of magazines. MULTIPLICITY OF STUDIES IN SCHOOL. BECAUSE improvements have been made in teaching, and because youth now acquire a greater amount of knowledge at a specified age than was formerly attained, even at a much more advanced period of life, many of the community seem to entertain expectations altogether extravagant. It is needless to say that these expectations are seldom realized; and whenever they are realized, it is often at the expense of the health and even the life of the youthful prodigy. Numerous instances have occurred within the observation of the writer, to verify this assertion. School committees, parents, and teachers seem to overlook the great law of nature, that all healthy growth, whether in the physical, moral, or intellectual world, must be gradual, and in accordance with pre-established laws. The strength of the oak must be the result of many years; the enlarged humanity of Howard was the fruit of extensive observation, careful reflection, and oft-repeated self-denial; and the great genius of Newton or Laplace would never have been developed without long-continued exertion and profound attention. That the growth of the youthful intellect be vigorous and healthy, the energies must be exerted on few things at a time, and those few must be studied faithfully, and, at least, somewhat extensively. But such is not generally the case. There are, indeed, exceptions, and among the most decided exceptions in this country, may be mentioned the Military Academy at West Point. The course there embraces comparatively few branches for four years' study, but those branches are thoroughly learned. True, the Government of the Academy wields a power which almost no other academical government has, or, at least, which almost no other presumes to exercise, the power to dismiss the indolent and inefficient. But, after all, concentration of energy is the most effi cient means of success. Hence, the number of distinguished engineers and other eminent scientific men graduated at that institution. But how is it with most of our colleges, academies, high and grammar schools, and even those of a lower grade, especially when these institutions depend upon popular favor for support? An array of studies is flourished abroad, sufficient to occupy one's lifetime; sometimes a single one of them would fill up threescore years and ten; and the tyro is expected to master the whole in a year or two. Such a splendid prospectus promises a rich and varied harvest, but it most generally proves to be a crop from a sand bank. Indeed, these liberal promises ought to be regarded as prima facie evidence of inefficiency, as presumptive proof that the amount really learned will be in the inverse ratio to the number of studies. Let us look into the school-room, and see the operation of this multifarious system. The writer once visited an academy in which thirty recitations per day were heard by a single teacher; and they were just such recitations as might be expected-absolutely nothing. The pupils were merely asked if they found any difficulties, and it may be inferred that they found very few, for it was asking the blind to distinguish colors, or the deaf to detect a discord in music. Under such a system, the learner is hurried from one thing to another; no time is lef. for reflection no opportunity for research and in vestigation; truth and error are strangely confounded; what is attained is learned by rote; and, what is most to be deplored, the youth imagines that he has sounded the whole depth of a subject, when his eye has merely floated over its surface. Hence, conceit, the offspring of ignorance, the bane of all progress, is early implanted in the mind, and can be eradicated only by severe disappointment and mortification. The effect upon the teacher also is bad, especially if the same person has many branches to teach. He can neither devote the necessary time to self-preparation, nor expend sufficient labor in drilling to develop the abilities of his pupils. A smattering of the text-book is all that the pupil acquires, and the teacher's view is necessarily quite limited. Now we do not object to learning many things, but we repudiate the idea that all can be profitably pursued at the same time, or that any considerable degree of acquaintance with all can be acquired in an inconsiderable space of time. Let so few studies be pursued at once that the student may become interested in each, that he may study each understandingly, and so thoroughly as to strengthen his powers, and give him such knowledge as will be of real and lasting service to him. But, it is said, children ought not to leave school without having learned something more than the common. est branches of education; and it is better to learn a little of many branches than to be entirely ignorant of several of them. The correctness of such an assertion may well be doubted. This supposes that education terminates with the school-days, which may be, in a plurality of cases, practically true, but whenever true, it is a melancholy truth. Education, nay, book education, should be the business of life; and in this age and this country there is no good reason why it should not be co-extensive with life. If, then, youth are to make progress in learning subsequently to leaving the schoolroom, will they be more inclined to carry on the work after their curiosity has been sated by the knowledge of a few facts and elementary principles, after they have formed a vain conceit that they are masters of all good learning, or after they have acquired mental discipline and thorough knowledge as far as they have gone, and a conviction that there are many highly important and interesting branches of knowledge of which they are as yet profoundly ignorant? Facts are good arguments; and in the most difficult branches of study the writer has witnessed the most remarkable progress in pupils who had never heard of those branches until they were called to grapple with them. But it should be remarked, that all the preliminary steps had been taken with care, and a perfect knowledge of the way, so far as they had progressed. Careful and thorough study generates strength; the novelty and freshness of a subject gives zest; curiosity is awakened and gratified; but since the powers of digestion and assimilation are vigorous and active, the appetite is renewed, and the result is, not only healthy, but rapid growth of the intellectual man. In short, we would say, let education embrace many subjects; but let it not be forgotten, that there is a time for every thing, and that every thing worth learning requires its appropriate amount of time and attention.-The Massachusetts Teacher. |