PUBLISHED BY IVISON, PHINNEY & CO., 48 & 50 Walker Street, New York. HITCHCOCK'S ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND THE LAWS OF HEALTH AND EXERCISE. Price $100. The ILLUSTRATIONS of the volume-nearly 400-were executed by superior artists, French and German, as well as English and American. It is believed that no school-book yet issued has surpassed this in the value of its illustrations. Remodelled, enlarged, and mostly re-written, brought up to the present state of the science; well adapted to the use of SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, and COLLEGES, and the GENERal Reader. These works embody the latest researches in physical science, and excel in their LUCID STYLE, NUMEROUS FACTS, COPIOUS ILLUSTRATIONS (over 700), and practical applications of science to the arts of every-day life. WELLS'S FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. Price 75 cents. A new and improved text-book on GEOLOGY, especially designed to furnish an ELEMENTARY OUTLINE of the science of Geology, and a course of study adapted to the limited time allotted to the subject in the majority of High Schools, Academies, and Colleges. PROF. GRAY'S BOTANICAL SERIES. I. HOW PLANTS GROW; Botany for Young People. 500 cuts. V. MANUAL, WITH MOSSES, ETC., illustrated.. VI. STRUCTURAL AND SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 1,300 cuts... Retail Prices. $0.75 100 150 ...... 250 200 The text-books in Botany by Prof. GRAY, of Harvard University, are distinguished for their HIGH SCIENTIFIC CHARACTER - being the only books on the subject that present the science in its latest aspects. ROBINSON'S COMPLETE MATHEMATICAL SERIES. The most Complete, most Practical, and most Scientific Series of Mathematical Text-Books ever issued in this Country. In Twenty Volumes. Specimen Copies of any of the above text-books will be mailed to teachers for examination, on receipt of one half the retail price. The most liberal terms given for first introduction. Address the Publishers, or their Agent N. L. BUTTON, care of Crosby & Nichols, BOSTON, MASS. Mar. '61.-2t. THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER. JUNE, 1862. Volume XV. GEO. N. BIGELOW, Editor for this month. Number 6. ETYMOLOGY OF A FEW ARITHMETICAL TERMS. EXPERIENCE and observation teach us that pupils learn faster and retain longer, if they have a clear conception of the terms employed and a correct knowledge of their use and application. Our language, as such, is studied but very little, and hence it is that such crude ideas exist, in the minds of many, in regard to the meaning of the most common words. If children, just beginning the language, could be taught, as far as possible, not only the proper word as the sign of an idea, but a little of its origin and history, they would be able to express their thoughts with accuracy and propriety. This instruction will not, in the main, be given by the parents, and therefore it is the more necessary that teachers should do this as early as possible. Frequent reference must be made to the Latin and Greek languages; but this need not be done in a dull and formal way. If a teacher is unacquainted with those languages, he need not be deterred from attempting it; because, in a few hours' time, he can become sufficiently familiar with the Greek alphabet, to find any word in the Lexicon, and determine its primitive meaning. The Latin will give him no trouble in this respect. With these helps before him, let him set himself to work, and he will soon be surprised to see how blindly he had groped his way along before, and how much light is now shed upon his path. With this preparation, he comes before his class inspired with new powers, and enkindles a new interest in every important word in the lesson. The pupil seizes upon the principle expressed in suitable terms, and holds it firmly in his memory. It is somewhat difficult to present this subject in an interesting way to the general reader, and yet, at the suggestion of those who have been interested in the matter, an attempt will be made. An Arithmetic lies before me. I open it at Section III. of Money, Weights, and Measures. Tables The class will now give attention. There is a language formerly spoken by the ancient Romans, the inhabitants of Rome and other parts of Italy, but now called a "dead language," because it is not spoken except by a few learned men, from which many of the words in English are formed or derived. This is called the Latin language, because the people of Italy were called Latins, from Latinus, the name of one of the kings of a portion of that country. We shall have frequent occasion to refer to this language, and you will endeavor to remember what I have told you in regard to it. The people of that country are now called Italians, possibly from italos, a young bull, because Italy was formerly, as well as now, noted for its beautiful horned cattle, and also from Italus, a fabled monarch. The first word, section, is from seco, I cut, and means a cutting, a dividing, and hence the part cut off. If you regard the book as a whole, you will perceive that it treats of number which the Greeks called arithmos, from which we obtain our word arithmetic, meaning the book that treats of the science of numbers and the art of computing by them. We see that the book is divided into parts or sections, and that each portion treats of some part of the general subject number. The first section is about Definitions; the second, Notation and Numeration; and the third, Tables of Money, Weights, and Measures. The characters following the word section, are three letters which the Romans used instead of the word tres, to express the number three, or tertia, meaning third. Observe this difference. If I ask how many pupils there are, you answer, three; but if in regard to the order in which you sit, you say first, second, and third. Some persons would read this, section three; but it is better to say, section third. It means, of course, the third section, and becomes, by changing the order of the words, section the third, and by dropping the, section third. These words, which tell how many units there are in a number, are called cardinal numbers, from cardo, a hinge; and the words which are generally modified forms of these, denoting the order of the units in the number, are called ordinal numbers, because they seem to turn or depend upon the former as a door does upon its hinges; as four, fourth, etc. The word tables is from tabula, a board or plank, and hence something thin with a smooth surface, and not unfrequently anything that has a smooth surface, whether thick or thin, which is suitable for writing, painting, or engraving. By being often used as the object upon which these actions were performed, it came to mean the writing, the painting, and consequently signified records, pictures, etc. We use the word table in various ways, and thereby give to it a variety of meanings. Besides giving a name to the common article of furniture, it is used, among other things, to signify a series of numbers or names of objects, which have some relation to each other; as, the table of circular measure. What have I in my hand? A piece of money. What do you see on one side of it? The letters quar. dol., which stand for the compound word quarter-dollar. This word tells you the worth or value of the coin you have. The term money is derived from moneo, I admonish, teach, tell. Every coin, or piece of money, and every bill used instead of coin, has something upon it to tell or admonish one of its value, and is, therefore, itself called money. Weights. This word comes from the Saxon or Anglo-Saxon language, which was spoken by the Saxons, a people who lived in the northern part of Germany, many of whom, with the Angles, another people also living in the North of Germany, from whom our word England or Angle-land is derived, crossed over into England and formed permanent settlements there. This is the basis of the English, the language which we speak, and sometimes called our vernacular or native language. Most of the words which we use in every day life, are of Anglo-Saxon origin and form a very important part of our language, giving to it beauty and |