I can take my little kernel of truth and polish it and rub it, and lay it out on my palm, and with it I can convince any man alive that I am right. Without it I cannot. The test of a man in business is whether he is honest or not-conscientiously, broadly honest, not alone legally honest.-Lawson. ONE of the unfortunate evil consequences of an early liberal meat diet is the loss of relish it creates for the physiological foods of childhood-milk, cereals and vegetables. A child that is allowed a generous meat diet, is certain to refuse cereals and vegetables. Meat, by its stimulating effect, produces a habit as surely as does alcohol, tea or coffee, and a distaste for less satisfying foods. The foods which the meat-eating child avoids contain in large proportion certain mineral constituents essential to bodily nutrition and health, and without which the processes of fresh growth and development are stunted. There is more socalled nervousness, anæmia, rheumatism, valvular disease of the heart, and chorea at the present time in children from an excess of meat and its preparations in the diet than from all other causes combined. -Dr. Jos. E. Winters, Cornell University. AT the entrance of the Babylonian section of the museum of the University of Pennsylvania, leading into the study of Professor H. V. Hilprecht, the Babylonian explorer, is a huge stone door socket of Sargon, which is almost 6000 years old. The object is a heavy piece of plutonic rock of grayish white or green color, known as diorite. The stone has a small bowl like indenture in the centre, into which fitted the hinge post of an ancient Oriental gate. The inscription on this unique relic reads: Sargon, son of Itte Beel, the mighty king of Accad and the people of Baal, the builder of Ekur, the temple of Baal in Nippur. Whoever moves this inscribed stone, may Baal and Shamash tear out his foundation and exterminate his posterity." The stone has been removed and brought to Philadelphia, notwithstanding the protest and curse of King Sargon, and no one as yet has been exterminated because of it. I CAN do almost every kind of farm work. I can dig ditches. I can make a pretty good shoe, but I never wear my self one that I make. And if you want to know how I came to give so much attention to these forms of work requiring much muscular activity, let me mention that two years of my course as a student in Germany were spent in studying one of the twenty-one muscles of a frog, and in the discovery of the important relation which the development of muscle bears to both moral character and intellectual work. Before I left Germany, moreover, I had taken eight lessons from a carpenter, eight from a gold-beater, eight from a glass-blower and eight from a shoemaker. So I can do many things that my city friends cannot do, and I feel not a little proud of my acquirements, especially when I meet those young men who cannot use their muscles, and hardly ever do anything to develop them. Beware of that flabby condition of the muscles in which the whole moral fibre of a man's being is slackened, and in which a chasm is set up between what you know is duty and what you actually do. On the other hand, try to cultivate that tense condition of the muscles in which to feel one ought to do something is to do it. The basis of education is motor education, for you cannot have a strong will without well-developed muscles. Stanley Hall. LEWIS CARROLL, the mathematician and author of "Alice in Wonderland," has said: "Once realize what the true object is in life-that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not even fame itself, that last infirmity of noble minds, but that it is the development of character, the rising to a higher, nobler, purer standard, the building up of the perfect man-and then so long as this is going on, and it will, we trust, go on forevermore, death has for us no terror; it is not a shadow, but a light; not an end, but a beginning." IN every community there are people who commit acts of well nigh inconceivable horror and baseness. If we fix our eyes only upon these individuals and upon their acts, and if we forget the far more numerous citizens of upright and honest life and blind ourselves to their countless deeds of wisdom and justice and philanthropy, it is easy enough to condemn the community.-Roosevelt. AT the beginning of the last century the population of European countries and peoples of European origin-exclusive of South America and Mexico-was 170,000.000; at the close it was about 510,000 000. The United States grew from a little over 5 000,000 to nearly 80,000,000; the English population of the British Empire, from about 15,000,000 to 55,000,000; Germany, from 20,000,000 to 55,000,000; and Russia, from 40,000,000 to 135 000,000, partly due to annexation. The growth of France was only from 25,000,000 to 40,000,000. These figures "put aside the nightmares of 'yellow' or 'black' perils," for the yellow and black populations of the Old World are stationary or nearly so.-Advocate. IN that house everything that was connected with the life of the spirit-not religion alone, but literature in its higher forms and art, and what Ethel called 'talking about things"-seemed to be afraid of publicity. The flesh of horses was discussed with vehemence and volubility, but the soul of man was apparently regarded as if it were an indecency. -From Simpson's "Love Never Faileth.' NATURE made glass long before man, who prides himself upon the invention of its manufacture, ever stood upright on the earth. Obsidian, which is a perfect natural glass, exists in vast cliffs in Iceland, Spain, Italy, Sardinia and almost every locality where volcanoes have been in eruption. Mica is another form of natural glass. It has one advantage over ordinary glass, that it will stand great heat. The only preparation it requires after being dug from the ground before being put into use, is splitting. If all the steam engines in the world could assemble their horse power at one point, their combined exertions might be great enough to turn a piece of carbon into a five carat diamond. But the old volcano that once stood where Kimberley now is, was alone sufficient to form millions of these precious crystals of all sizes, and leave them tidily packed in clay until man's pick and shovel should bring them to light-Little Chronicle. THE great lack of this age is spiritual vision. It is the absence of ideals. It is the loss of reverence. And yet it is better to be a peasant and reverence a king than to be a king and reverence nothing! All that has been won out of the evolution of the race from the slime of ocean, is the power to look up into the sky and down into the deeps and around on human life with reverence! When that is lost, all is lost. This is the great gift of the ages-one to another. It is the lighted torch, that (like the messenger of antiquity) each generation, spent with effort, has handed to the next. Will you extinguish it? Shall it be darkened in your hands? When you pass it to the boys and girls who come after you, will you give them a charred coal for a burning flame?-Frederic Goss. LOVE of self is the radical passion of human nature. All advance is an ascent from the primitive and superficial self toward the true self which is born of the union of the soul with truth, justice and love. Every worthy form of individual activity is altruistic. The money paid is never the equivalent of the work done, and the laborer, whatever he be, must look beyond the price he gets to the good he does, must interfuse good will and the desire to be of help with all he does, and with all be receives for what he does, or he will shrivel into something that appears to be alive, but is dead.-Spalding. SOME one has said that a fog is a cloud viewed from inside and a cloud a fog viewed from outside. Theoretically, then, there is no difference; though, practically, while the one may be inspiring, the other is decidedly depressing. The formation of fog or mist is dependent on the general physical law that if a mass of air containing water vapor is cooled below saturation or dew point, condensation will set in, always providing dust be present the particles of which act as nuclei. These dust nuclei are as important in the formation of a cloud or fog as the water vapor itseif: now, the air in many parts of Scotland is comparatively free from dust and dirt, hence the characteristic mist with large but few drops. The other extreme is seen in the thick fogs of cities, which tell their own tale of dust and smoke and grime. IT is evident that the teacher must have character with high ideals and live thereto, possess scholarship, be cultured and equipped professionally, if a degree of success in his work is hoped for; but with it all, his work will prove well-nigh a failure, be a spiritless, mechanical, daily grind, unless he is earnest, responsive, sympathetic-"In the Spirit." What is it to be "in the Spirit?" Illustration and example best answer. John was "in the Spirit" on Patmos. "I was in the isle for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." It was the Lord's day, and a silence was brooding over the lonely Ægean isle, broken only by the dash of waves against the rockbound coast. The day and place lent auspice to spirit, but above all was heart, intent, purpose, the life of that "beloved disciple" that induced the heavens to open and reveal themselves. To the honest heart, the responsive soul, the sincere life, heaven is ever near if he but divine; ever willing to divulge its secrets and joys if he but importune. To the wayfarer the way opens if he but seek. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." But the "asking,' "seeking," "knocking," must be done "in the Spirit." Without responsiveness, sincerity, earnestness and sympathy our petitions, pleadings, labors, our lives even avail not.-Lowden. ASAPH HALL, the astronomer who discovered the moons of Mars, gives this; and if you are in doubt you may work it out. I time 9 plus 2 equals 11. 12 times 9 plus 3 equals 111. 123 times 9 plus 4 equals 11II. 1234 times 9 plus 5 equals 11III. 12345 times 9 plus 6 equals IIIIII. 123456 times 9 plus 7 equals IIIIIII. 1234567 times 9+ 8 =III. 12345678 times 9 + 9 =IIIIIIII. I time 8 plus 1 equals 9. A WOMAN whose single large room serves as sitting-room as well as sleepingroom has made a very attractive place of it. What bric-a-brac she allows to appear in her room has a definite reason for being. She chooses each piece for its color or shape, which adds much to the appearance of the room. Starting with a nondescript and characterless grayish wallpaper, she has followed the necessity for using warm tones, and has made a great success with small expense. Her cotbed has a valance of dull red denim, the cover being a Turkish striped curtain, and one long window being curtained with two more to match. Three flat-top trunks make a delightful window seat under a high mullioned window, the nature of the seat being concealed by red denim covers and warm-colored soft pillows, and the same plan of extra bed coverings and shawls being used to soften the lines. A simple bookcase made of pine, by a carpenter, and stained with shellac tinted with a bit of umber, holds enough books to make the room very cozy, and a number of pictures fills in the wall spaces. A few portraits and rather large pictures were already in this young woman's possession when she started out to make a one-room home for herself. Following the rule well known to artists, that a brilliant bit of color is well repeated in a picture or in a room, she used her bric-a-brac and books to take away any look of monotony and cheerlessness the room might show. The warm reds of a Satsuma jar and some cups on the tea-table gave an answering note to the red denim covers and valance, and the copper of the well-polished tea kettle made its whole corner of the room alive.-Harper's Bazar. WHENEVER and wherever inefficiency is apparent in public work, whatever may be the cause and whatever the position, duty to the lasting interests of hundreds of little children demands that the inefficient shall stand aside. Personal friendship, long service, pecuniary condition, sympathy, each powerful in its appeal, cannot justly be permitted to stand against the present and eternal welfare of children. Efficiency in any line ought to be well remunerated, but inefficiency should not be permitted to exist. There is no place for mediocrity even, when greater excellence can be had at the same price. In the discharge of duty touching these matters there should be no faltering on the part of those in authority.-Blodgett. If there is no library in your schoolroom, begin to form one at once. Give the first book yourself. Ask residents of the district to contribute. Let the school give a library entertainment sometime early in the term. Allow no worthless book, either by gift or purchase, in your collection. Resolve to read one good book each month, a book that will add to your wisdom and knowledge. You are expected to study books which bear directly on your school work, but you must go beyond these into the field of general literature, or narrowness will be your lot. THE majority of us learn, too late, that anything which will add to brain-power, to physical energy, to mental power, is the greatest economy, no matter what it costs. We should never deprive ourselves of nourishment, of exercise, or of anything which will add to our personal power. Success. ness of heart and generosity of soul make millionaires of character, who are worth more to the world than mere moneyed millionaires. The time will yet come when we shall not have to depend on rich furnishings. Character will become so enriched in the upward growth of the world that the surroundings, however costly, will be considered but a cheap setting of a precious life-stone. Cheerfulness is a potent factor of success. NORMAL SCHOOLS. NECESSITY FOR BETTER FINANCIAL SUPPORT. HAL DR. CHARLES DE GARMO, Cornell University. ALF a century of experience with normal schools has demonstrated the fact that they can promote the cause of education in the preparation of elementary teachers, better than can any other agency. So far they have had to stand largely alone in securing the means of existence. The time for such isolated struggle for survival should now be a thing of the past, and all educational forces should unite for the adequate development of these schools. Their sup port should by no means depend either upon their importunity or upon their political influence, but upon their capacity to promote the cause of education; it should originate quite as much outside as inside the schools themselves. The first reason why normal schools should be more liberally supported is that they have too few teachers to do their work in the most effective way. Is there any just reason why the students of a normal school should not have as many teachers as an equal number of college or university students? Yet the college or university has twice as many teachers for a given body of students as has the normal school. It is a fortunate normal school that has one teacher for every twenty students, yet almost every college and university in the country has a teacher for every ten students. Again, the work of the normal school is much more intensive than that of the university; for the one must do its training in two years, whereas the other has four. The normal school is therefore at a double disadvantage, since it has but half the teach ing force and half the time enjoyed by the university and college. There are two especially deplorable results that arise from an inadequate number of teachers. They are, first, the passive, listening attitude of mind engendered by mass teaching; and second, the necessity of a fixed curriculum for all. The evils of mass teaching are too well known to need discussion. Not even in elementary education is it longer possible for every one to do everything. Besides the common branches, think of music, drawing, cooking, manual training for both boys and girls, decoration and design, nature study in all sciences for all grades, etc. Moreover, different persons have differing capacities, tastes aud educational destinations. It must be evident from these and other considerations, that it is a wasteful public policy to compel the normal school longer to put up with half the teachers it ought to have. The second reason why the normal schools should have better financial support is that they may be enabled more rapidly to continue the improvement they have begun in the quality of their teaching force. Correspondence with some forty of the representative normal schools of the United States shows that in nearly all, the number of college and universitytrained teachers has doubled, and in many cases quadrupled, within the last fifteen years. Indeed, it is rare to find a school in which for a man, at least, such training is not now required as a requisite to appointment. If the best college and university trained men are to be attracted to these schools and kept in them better salaries must be paid. In such a country as ours, $1,000 a year will secure an unlimited number of $1,000 candidates, but in the end they must prove to be either inexperienced or in some important respect inefficient. The normal school ought to be able to secure the best educational talent to be found in the United States. It should be able to attract the Stanley Halls, the Deweys, and the Parkers to its principalship, and equally good men in the realm of teaching to its faculty. Nothing else would so rapidly improve the public school as to have its teachers taught by the best minds. But it is vain to expect a ten-thousand-dollar man to teach for the pittance that will barely sup. port him in decency from day to day, leaving little or nothing for improvement or for the future. He must, in justice to his future family, turn to another profession, to business, to engineering or even to the farm. The salaries of our normal school principals should be from four to six thousand dollars per year, and that of the professors from two to four thousand. These schools are doing all that now lies in their power to improve their teaching force, but they suffer the double affliction of their poverty, for the salaries they can offer are both low in amount aud few in number. The third reason why the normal school should be more liberally supported is that its present work should be multiplied. Where it now trains one teacher, it ought to train five. To attain this result more than the appropriation of more money is needed, for just as debased coin will displace good money, so cheap and inadequate training for teachers will, if given full credit, displace that which is more efficient, even if the better is only a little more expensive. In the training of teachers, there ought always to be a surplus of inducement on the side of the more thorough preparation. If a teacher can secure a permanent license by taking a training that is brief, cheap, easy, and inadequate, the economic motive alone will keep that teacher away from the normal school, where she would secure a professional education imparted not by one person alone, but by a faculty; not for a year only, but for two or more years. I do not deplore this cheap and inadequate local training as the beginning of a teacher's preparation, but if it is allowed to be her final preparation, the teaching force of the country will never attain half the efficiency of which it is capable. The State of New York has women enough to teach her schools who will prepare themselves in the best possible way, if required or induced to do so. The State is financially able to give them the finest training to be found in the world. All that is necessary is that money enough be appropriated and that the surplus of inducement be on the side of the better professional preparation. The only other reason I shall now urge for more generous support of normal schools, is that these schools should be enabled greatly to extend the range of their work. Whatever concerns the wel fare of the best elementary schools, whether in cities or elsewhere, is the legitimate field of the normal school. These institutions should be places where |