DEVICES FOR TRAINING ATTENTION.

I have a strip about a yard long and two inches wide made of different colored ribbon-two inches of each color. Holding this before the class, I say: "There is a color here that has red for one neighbor and blue for another. Who can tell me first what it is? All are on the alert. Every eye is searching for the right color. Before long the hands fly up, some one announces, "It is brown." And another description is given, "My color is between orange and purple, can you tell what it is, class ?" 'Yellow," is the response from the quick ones. Then I let one child describe the position of a color and the class tell what it is. This is an excellent Language Lesson and gives training in color as well. It trains the class to concentrate their minds upon the matter of moment-a power that is invaluable later on.

Sometimes I draw triangles, squares, oblongs, circles and stars in truly artistic confusion on the front board. Then I describe the position of a certain form, e. g., I am thinking of a form that is at the right of a crescent, at the left of a circle and is above a triangle." Or, "What form is near a star, a square and a crescent?" The forms can be colored with crayons and the exercises wonderfully varied. "Tell me where my blue triangle is." "It is at the right of a red square," the child replies. I whisper the name of a form to each child and let him describe it while the other members of the class try to find it.

If black-board room is limited, draw these forms on manilla paper charts. Never give the same exercise often enough to tire the child.-Carolina Teacher.

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

In response to a very general request from the educational press for information concerning the next meeting of this Association, we submit the following-our monthly circular for December, to the Board of Directors:

The Executive Committee met in Lawrence, Kansas, on November 11th. It was impossible for Ex-President Sheldon or Hon. J. W. Holcombe to be present, but their regrets and suggestions were duly received.

At a meeting of this Committee in Chicago, July 16th, the following memorandum was prepared and submitted to the representatives of California as the conditions-precedent to a meeting of the Association on the Pacific Coast:

The following are adopted as the requirements for railroad rates for the season of 1888, if the meeting is to be held at San Francisco, California.

Rates shall not be more than one-half the ruling fare at the time, or one fare for the round trip, from Boston, New York, Philadelphia,

Washington, New Orleans, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Buffalo, Chicago, and from all principal points west of Chicago.

Tickets shall bear a plus $2.00 coupon, or must be stamped by the Secretary of the Association in order to be good for the return trip. Westward bound, the stop over privileges shall be as follows: At Chicago and at all principal points on the Missouri River, at Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Cheyenne, Salt Lake, and Ogden.

On return, passengers may stop over during the limit of the ticket at pleasure, west of the Missouri River.

For the return trip, tickets may be exchanged with the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Northern Pacific (plus $15.00 from San Francisco to Portland), if holders so desire.

These tickets shall be good for members of the Association, teachers, and editors of Educational journals and reporters thereof, together with the immediate families of such persons.

After a careful consideration of the entire subject, the following motion was passed:

That, accepting the invitation of the citizens of San Francisco, California, made in communication from their Committee to the President of this Association, under date of October 13th; and acting on pledges of the Southern Pacific Company, made in letter from R. A. Donaldson, under date of October 29th, and telegram from the same under date of November 7th; all based on and fully meeting demands of memoranda furnished the Executive Committee of this Association on July 16th, and quoted in official letter of Mr. Goodman under date of August 17th, and of number 12,011 C; we hereby designate San Francisco, California, as the place for holding the next meeting of this Association.

And we further designate the time of such meeting to be from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth of July, 1888, each date included. The following topics have been selected for the general sessions of the Association, subject to possible modifications:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

Literature in the Reading courses in the public school.

How can our schools best prepare law-reverencing and law-
abiding citizens.

Current criticism of our school system, and what answer.
"Practical" education.

The relation of the State to school books and appliances.
What is needed in our educational system to secure respect
for common labor, or wage-working.

VII. Spelling Reform.

AARON GOVE, President,

Denver, Colorado, December 1, 1887.

JAMES H. CANFIELD, Secretary.

It is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking

on the bright side of things.-Dr. Samuel Johnson.

DERIVATION OF WORDS.

J. F. Clarke, in an article on this subject in The Independent,

says:

Our word "tawdry" has a curious origin. It came from St. Audrey, Abbess of Ely, wife of the King of Northumberland. A fair was held in her honor after her death, at which a peculiar kind of beads were sold, called St. Audrey beads, or for shortness, tawdry beads. These became at last very poor and shabby, and the name was given to anything showy, but cheap and poor.

66

Sometimes a whole history is buried in a single word, like a fossil in a rock. Our English verb "to rebel" is derived from a Latin term, as well known, which means "to make war again"; for as the Romans habitually conquered their foes in the first war, the second would be a rebellion. So we have a long history of Roman conquest hidden in this single word as the instrument of their conquest, in the word army-exercitus; for the army with the Romans meant a body of troops who were being continually "exercised." The word palace" carries us back through the Counts Palatine in Germany to the Palatine Hill in Rome, where Augustus built his palace, but which was called Palatine from the Goddess of sheep, Pales, and was the first inclosed pasture in Rome. So in our word "inaugurate there is a reminiscence of the "augurs," who introduced all public meetings. In the word "decamp" we are taken to medieval times, when the peasantry lived in the fields around the baronial castle, and were obliged to "decamp," that is to leave the fields at the approach of an enemy. So when we speak of a "a pecuniary transaction," we are taken far away to the days when the medium of exchange was the "pecus" or herd of cattle.

THE education by the newspapers is one of the noteworthy phenomena of our time. Where all the people read, and where the vast majority of the people live in cities or near railroad stations in the country, the daily newspaper brings to each person at his breakfast a survey of the entire world. Compared with the village gossip in olden times, this general survey is a miraculous instrument of education in the humanizing direction. While it educates it governs, and few nations now exist that do not consider very carefully how their conduct will appear, when it, by the telegraph and the daily newspaper, is placed under the the inspection of the entire world.-W. T. HARRIS.

The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them, everything. -Benjamin Franklin.

BOOK NOTICES.

NUTTALL'S STANDARD DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. New edition. Two hundredth thousand. London and New

York, 1887. Fred. Warne & Co.

This book has been lying at hand for several weeks, and has been tested by almost daily use. It is a compact, clearly printed, small octavo volume of 816 pages. The Dictionary proper is very full, and contains, besides a very full vocabulary of ordinary words, many recent words, and new meanings, as well as very many scientific terms. The etymology, so far as examined, seems to be mainly in accordance with the best authorities. As regards the pronunciation and spelling, and, to some extent, the definitions also, it would be thought that the book was prepared for the English market exclusively. Indeed, in the original preface, which is retained in this edition, the following passage occurs: "In the orthography . . . . the innovations of the Transatlantic school have been entirely rejected." In accordance with this statement (the substance of which is repeated elsewhere), in all words such as favor, the final syllable -our is given only, without any intimation that about one-half of those who use the English language spell favor, and similar words, without the u. For a work expected to circulate in America such an omission is inexcusable. Again, in the matter of pronunciation, clerk has only clark given-not universal even in England. So lieutenant has only leftenant; neither has nither or nether, while either has only ether. Among the geographical names we have Sint Elena for Saint Helena, which is certainly unusual, if correct. Many definitions are given to which [U. S.] is appended, e. g. corn. Car, baggage-check are given, but not ticket-office. Among new words are found skedaddle and boycott, but though coca occurs, cocaine does not. Oleo-margarine is in, but with the vicious pronunciation oleomarjerine. The only word in the English language in which g has the soft sound before a, is gaol, which is not used in America. The correct pronunciation of this word is given in the supplement to Webster. Corner, in the sense of making a scarcity, is given, but not call, nor future, in the commercial sense. Soc is given, but not sac; Celt, but not Kelt. Centre-board and dory are wanting, as well as autotype, which is strange, as the "Autotype Co. of London" is an extensive advertiser in English periodicals; but photogeny, photoglyphy and phototype are given. An American would look in vain to find a word answering to his idea of what he calls coal-oil, petroleum or kerosene. The last two are given, it is true, but the definition is not up to date. The system of spelling Greek words, as given in etymologies, is consistent with itself, and is also followed in Chambers' Etymological Dictionary; but it is, as we think, based on a wrong principle. It is that Greek words should be spelled as if they were English words; thus, under physic, the Greek word is given physis. This, we contend, gives a totally wrong idea to one ignorant of Greek. For there is no y in Greek, its place being

taken by u. It is true that when words are formed from the Greek, the English changes u into y, as in physic, but to say that the Greek word is physis, when it really is phusis, is not only incorrect, but to the ordinary reader conveys a wrong impression, in two ways: first, that Greek has a y; and, secondly, that the sound of the vowel is similar to that in English-both of which inferences would be entirely erroneous.

It is greatly to be regretted that a work so admirable in most respects should have the serious-and, for the American market, almost fatal-defects referred to. It only intensifies this feeling to know that the book is being actively pushed by its enterprising publishers, with great success, owing to its many excellencies and very low price.

HAND-BOOK OF VOLAPÜK. By Charles E. Sprague, Member of the Academy of Volapük, President of the Institute of Accounts. New York, The Office Company.

We believe this is the first thoroughly American book published for the teaching of the "universal language." Considering the fact that two hundred and ten thousand persons, according to the estimate of Prof. Kerckhoffs, of the School of Higher Commercial Studies, at Paris, have already learned the language, and that ninety-six books on this subject have been published in thirteen languages, that no adequate American work on Volapük had before appeared would seem strange but for another noticeable fact that the advance of this "world-language" has been geographical, and that pronounced interest in it has only just reached this continent. The author has recognized that in translations from the French or German the average American student is confronted with many difficulties, in that "he finds things taken for granted which are quite unknown, and things explained which to him are self-evident." This book presupposes the knowledge of no language except English. This idea is strictly carried out, even where a reference to the sound of a letter or an idiom of expression in another language would be of great assistance to the student with even small linguistic training.

The author's plan of developing the grammar in the order of inflectional terminations rather than by taking up each part of speech by itself, is excellent in a language without irregularities and without exceptions.

VOCAL AND ACTION-LANGUAGE Culture and EXPRESSION. By E. N. Kirby, Instructor in Elocution in Harvard University. New edition. Boston, Lee & Shepard.

This practical handbook on vocal culture contains many good suggestions on the proper methods of respiration, articulation, gesture, and expressive reading, with numerous valuable exercises. The author lays great stress upon physical training, as a first step towards the culture of the voice, and recommends" a regular and systematic attention to the needs of the body."