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Family Characteristics in Plants.

HE lessons on plants, continued year after year from the time a child enters school, should result, not only in a knowledge of what grows in the neighborhood, but in a systematic understanding of the flora. In only a few schools has the work been continued through a sufficient number of seasons to show much more than the mere description of the parts of a plant. These descriptions may be utilized if treated in a systematic manner, to lead the child to discover for himself certain characteristics of the most common families of plants. Let him write out carefully a description of all the members of one family that can be obtained in the vicinity. These compositions should be very carefully illustrated by drawings. At the end of the term the pupil will be able, from these descriptions, to pick out the characteristics common to all the members of the family that have been presented. This is a most excellent exercise in comparison.

The photographs of pupil's work here given are from a seventh grade class and show the beginning of this kind of work.

[The two following compositions are illustrated in the same manner as those photographed (see illustrations) but our limited space precluded our showing photographs of all.— ED.]

The first violet is the common blue violet. It is the large size with a long stem but sometimes the stems are short. The botanical name is Viola palmata. Its leaves are nearly round, and scalloped. The corolla is blue and three of the petals are bearded. The second flower is the bird-foot violet and the botanical name is Viola pedata. The leaves are deeply cleft and the petals are beardless, and the color is blue.

The third flower is the downy yellow violet. The botanical name is Viola pubescens. Its leaves are heart-shaped. The petals are yellow and two are bearded.

The fourth flower is the sweet white violet, the botanical name is Viola blanda. The leaves are round and the petals are white. The fifth flower is the dog-violet, the botanical name is Viola canina. Its leaves are round and the petals are blue. One petal has a spur half as long as the petal.

The sixth flower is the lance-leaved violet and the botanical name is Viola lanceolata. Its leaves are lance-shaped and the corolla is white.

The seventh flower is the swamp violet and the botanical name is Viola palustris. Its leaves are heart-shaped and the corolla

blue. The stem is very long.

The lady's delight and pansy also belong to this family.

V. E. S., age 12 years.

PUPILS' COMPOSITIONS.

Violaceae.

The stem of the violet is fleshy and usually light green and slightly hairy. The violet's leaves vary in shape some are round, some lance-shaped, some deeply cleft, and some heart-shaped. The leaves are complete and alternate.

The calyx is composed of five green sepals. The corolla is composed of five petals which vary in color, some are blue, others white, and others yellow, and the lower petal has a spur. All the petals are distinct. There are five stamens and one pistil and the stigma is three-parted. The ovary is three-celled, the seeds are many and the fruit is a capsule.

Rosaceae.

In the flowers of the Rosaceae the stem is woody almost always. The leaves are complete and are net-veined. The leaves are almost alway serrate, meaning that the edge is like a saw.

The calyx is cup-shaped and there are five roundish sepals. The corolla has five distinct petals in the flowers I bave drawn here. The petals are on the edge of the calyx. There are a great many stamens which are on the calyx. The anther is divided. There is one pistil which is more or less divided at the top. The ovary is five-celled.

The pear is my first drawing and the petals in this are white.

The part that differs mostly is the fruit which is called the pear and grows on a tree. The botanical name is Pyrus malus communis. The apple in my next drawing has quite a large flower and about the only difference is that it grows on a tree. The botanical name is Pyrus malus.

My third drawing is of the cinque-foil and it is quite small in leaf and flower. The petals are yellow and the leaves are often five parted. The botanical name is Potentilla.

My fourth is of the June bush and the leaves keep folded up and the petals are white.

My last drawing is of the peach. The petals are pink and we call the fruit the peach.

FIRST GRADE.- Conversational lessons on pet animals, define domestic animals, birds about the school-house, common insects, other familiar animals. Observation. Recognize and name new animals; single qualities of the animal and its parts; habits and voices; (home, ways of eating, drinking, flying, building nests, care of the young.) Begin collections of stuffed birds, insects, cocoons, shells, etc. Language. At first oral, then to read and copy names of animals and their parts; short sentences describing qualities and habits; to give simple narrative stories from pictures.

reading, to interest pupils in animals like those observed; stories to inculcate kindness. Natural History Readers.

THIRD YEAR. Observation.- Compare domestic animals, e. g., horse and cow, dog and cat; compare parts with human body; birds continue recognizing and naming new birds, parts of a bird in order (stuffed specimens), parts and qualities of feathers; insects more detailed observation of parts, qualities, and habits, e. g., honey bee, butterfly, fly, beetle; other animals according to locality. Continue collections. Language and Drawing. Lists of new animals; drawings, with names of parts attached, coloring, descriptions, comparisons grouped, anecdotes read and written.

FOURTH GRADE. Observation. Group common verte. brate animals according to resemblances, e. g., grass-eating, flesheating, gnawing, hoofed, swimming animals: group birds, e. g., swimmers, scratchers, perchers; observe turtles, frogs and toads, fishes; compare with each other and with other animals; watch changes in tadpoles; compare wings, mouth parts, eyes of insects; watch the development of insects; scrape up mud and water from ponds, keep in jars with plants; observe water insects and snails. Language and Drawing.- Similar to third grade; read on habits, and write. Natural History Readers. ("Leaves from Nature's Story-Book.")

FIFTH GRADE.- Continue work of Fourth Grade. Notice adaptation of parts to kind of life and various needs. Make collections if possible, of every animal studied. Study characteristic animals of the different zones habits, uses, values. Language and Drawing.-Similar to Third and Fourth Grades. GRAMMAR GRADES. Sixth to Ninth Grades.- Review work of previous three grades. Observation and comparison of typical animals. Arrangement of facts in outline; expression by drawings and written exercises; reading concerning habits and This Order of the work, observe, read, tell, draw, write. course may include a sponge, starfish, earthworm, bivalve and univalve shells, lobster or crab, insects, vertebrates.

uses.

Suggestions for Plant Work, for the Fall.

In addition to the study of our fall flora which every teacher will undertake, a study of the seeds and their means of distribution should be made. A collection of seeds made now will prove invaluable for the winter work. A convenient and inexpensive form for the collection is to place the seeds in small homeopathic vials, the three drachm size being sufficiently large for all ordinary purposes. Many an illustration of different ways in which seeds are distributed can be found in the course of a single walk. The Coreopsis, the Bidens, and the Burdock will be most likely to accompany us to our homes, on some portion of our clothing.

If to the above be added a collection of pressed leaves, the teacher will be well equipped with material for work when without is "No cloud above, no earth below,

A universe of sky and snow." The study of roots and stems can be postponed till the late fall when other material fails.

C. H. Morse.

Most so-called popular science is either so technical or so full of errors as to be of little value to the non-scientific. There has been hitherto almost nothing adapted to the young. "Leaves from Nature's Story-Book" has all the fascination of a collection of fairy tales. The stories are graphic and accurate, and cannot fail to interest children as well as teach them to observe intelligently many of the details of the life and habits of animals and plants, which are everywhere abundant and generally but little understood. C. E. BEECHER, Prof. of Paleontology, Yale University.

GEOMETRIC DRAWING.

HAND.

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT OF DRAWING.

All representation of objects is either MECHANICAL or FREEIf mechanical, the drawing may be Geometrical or Decorative in character; if freehand, either Decorative or Pictorial in character. That drawing in which the actual form and structure of artificial objects are represented is Geometric; that in which the enrichment or decoration of artificial objects is represented, that which represents units or motives of design, whether natural or artificial, is Decorative; that in which the forms of objects are represented as they appear from one point of view is Pictorial.

A thorough understanding of geometric drawing demands a knowledge of measurement, geometry, projection and development. A just appreciation of decorative drawing requires some knowledge of color, historic ornament, plant form, and design. Accurate knowledge of pictorial art and appreciation of its artistic qualities proceed from a study of the principles underlying the representation of geometric solids, and of the application of these principles in the representation of natural objects. There will be, therefore, nine divisions of the work for grammar grades:

Review the use of the rule, and the fractions of an inch previously taught, and teach ".

Have the pupils judge distances, and the dimensions of common objects, afterward testing with the rule.

Also give practice in ruling firm lines of even quality, and let each pupil draw the margin lines on several sheets for future use. One or two lessons spent in this way will be productive of better and more accurate work in

GEOMETRY

which should begin with a review of plane figures taught in primary grades; i. e., circle, square, half-circle, oblong, triangle. Have members of the class name those which are bounded by straight edges.

Review the details of these:

square and oblong diagonals

You are ready now, to classify the common rectilinear figures. Have paper and scissors distributed.

"Who can cut a figure having the smallest number of sides? I shall let the pupils in this row try. What is it that you have cut?" "A triangle."

"How many sides has it? Yes, all triangles have three sides and three who can tell what? Yes, everv triangle has three angles. Harold, you may draw on the black-board a triangle like the one you have cut, and in it place the letter A. Now you may all try and see who can cut a triangle which shall differ from his. Let us try to have no two alike. Alice has one that I want. She may represent hers on the black-board also, and mark it B.

"Here is another that I need, and there is one."

Physics,

II.

[By the art of experiment we converse with Nature, asking her questions and receiving from her replies. The intructor is to be the guide, but Nature is to be the teacher. In these lessons the pupils should be required to describe the experiment from seeing it; to announce the results as they occur; and to interpret them as fully as possible and with as little assistance as may be practicable. The observation and the inference of each experiment is given to remind the intructor. what the desired inference is, which by skilful questioning and by ap. propriate remarks the pupils should be led to deduce.

The observations and inferences should not be given the pupils; but they should be required to express them in their own language with as little assistance as possible.

In any class where the pupils do not need practice in written expression, the compositions can be omitted.]

Experiment 5.- Melt a piece of lead in an iron tablespoon over a spirit-lamp, then turn it out on a board.

Obs.-The solid has become a fluid.

Inf.- The heat loosened the particles of lead so that they could move among themselves like particles of water. Experiment 6.- In a spoon boil away a little water. Obs. The water has left the spoon.

Inf.-The heat set free the particles of water and they mix with the air.

Experiment 7.- Drop 10 or 15 drops of ether into a tablespoon and watch it a minute.

to go.

Obs.-The ether has left the spoon.

Inf.- Particles of ether will not remain together if left free

Did you see the separate particles of lead which were loosened by the heat of the lamp?

Did you see the small particles of ether as they left the spoon? Definition 2.- The smallest particles of any substance are called molecules.

Molecules are much too small to be seen with the naked eye; in fact, no one has ever been able to see a molecule of matter even with the most powerful microscope.

Experiment 8.-To an iron ferrule, about two inches in diameter, fit a plug of wood a bit too large to enter the ferrule. Heat the ring red hot and put it on the plug and quickly plunge it into some water.

Obs.-The ferrule when cold would not go on the plug; when heated it went on easily; and when cooled by the water it gripped the plug.

Inf.-Heat made the molecules of iron occupy more space thereby making the ferrule larger; but when the iron was cooled the molecules came nearer together again.

Experiment 9.- Take a thin French glass flask, and fit a cork to

it. Bore a hole through the cork, with a rat-
tail file, large enough to receive tightly a small
glass tube, about 10 inches long. Fill the
flask "brimful and running over" with colored
water; then press in the cork with the tube
inserted so that the tube will reach half way
down the flask. Mark the height of the water
in the tube by slipping on a piece of paper.
Then set the flask into a freezing mixture-
1 part of salt to 3 of snow or pounded ice.
Figure 1.

Experiment 11. -Turn about two-thirds of the water from the flask, replace the cork with the tube, invert the flask, and hold the end of the tube in a vessel of water; then with the iron spoon place some of the freezing mixture upon the bottom of the flask.

Obs. The water runs from the vessel into the flask.
Inf.- Air occupies less space when cooled.

Experiment 12.-Slip the tube through the cork till none remains in the flask below the cork. Invert the flask holding it steadily by the neck.

Obs.-The water does not run out.

Experiment (continued.) Keeping the flask in the same position, grasp both hands around the bottom.

Obs. The water runs out.

Inf.-The heat from the hands caused the molecules of air to take up more room and crowd the water out. We find then, that solids, liquids and gases occupy more space when heated and less when cooled.

General inference.- Heat causes the molecules of matter to occupy more space, and cold causes them to occupy less space.

The inferences gained from many experiments by scientists, is that the molecules themselves are not changed in size by heat or cold, but that heat forces the molecules further apart while cold draws them nearer together; and that the molecules never come in contact, not even in the metals.

Definition 3.- The spaces between the molecules are called Pores. Definition 4.-The force which draws the molecules nearer together is called an Attractive Force.

Definition 5.-The force which crowds the molecules further apart is called a Repulsive Force.

Because these two forces act between molecules, they are called the Molecular Forces.

Now there is an opportunity for the teacher to make a few interesting remarks on Molecules and Pores, making a distinction between physical and sensible pores - writing on the blackboard the outline for a

Composition on Molecules,

describing the experiments, and giving the definitions in proper order; together with whatever they have gained from the teacher's closing remarks. These compositions make good reading exercises.

Chemistry.

Air.

LESSON. Air is necessary to support ordinary burning. EXPERIMENT 1. Light a piece of candle and set an inverted bottle over it. The candle goes out. Repeat the experiment, using a larger bottle. The candle burns longer than before. How long will it burn in the open air?

Suggestions: Have pupils distinguish between what is observed and what is inferred.

1. Why lamps have so many small holes in the burner, and why the top of the chimney is open.

2. Why stoves are furnished with drafts and dampers. 3. Why throwing a rug over a fire may extinguish it. LESSON. Air is necessary to support rusting, and when iron rusts some of the air disappears.

Put

EXPERIMENT 2. Wet the inside of a wide-mouthed bottle. in a spoonful of iron-fillings and shake well. The inside of the bottle should be well coated. Place the bottle mouth down in a dish in which is half an inch of water. Leave it undisturbed till the next day. Slip a glass cover over the mouth of the bottle before lifting it from the water. Remove the bottle quickly so as to lose none of the water in the bottle.