for elementary schools. To any one desiring a compendium of Modern Chemistry, the book will be found very valuable. For sale by West, Johnston & Co. EPITOME OF ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, AND MODERN HISTORY. By CARL PLOETZ. Translated with extensive additions, by Wm. H. Tillinghast. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1884. Price, $3. We can hardly speak in too high terms of this book, containing as it does the summary of the world's history, and giving the conclusions reached in accordance with the most recent historical investigations. It is not designed for a text book, but a book for handy reference, where one may readily find the state of knowledge on any given historical subject, or may readily recall what has escaped his memory. The translator has added much in the department of American history. "The distinguishing feature of the Epitome is the arrangement whereby a brief connected narrative is accompanied by a clear, well graduated chronology which emphasizes the sequence of events without breaking up the story or fatiguing the mind." For sale by West, Johnston & Co. THE ENGLISH BODLEY FAMILY. BY HORACE E. SCUDDER, author of "The Bodley Books." With illustrations. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1884. Price, $1.50. This book details the travels of "The Bodley Family" in England, which they reach by way of Holland. In their travels they meet a party of English Bodleys who prove to be of the same family, and who in their intercouse with our friends exhibit many of the characteristics which distinguish Englishmen from Americans. Many points in England are visited, especially to exhibit the connection between the histories of Old England and New England. The book is handsomely illustrated, and the story is told in Mr. Scudder's pleasing style. For sale by West, Johnston & Co. CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN-STORIES OF THE OLD WORLD. By the Boston: The author, who has been very successful in presenting agreeably to the children stories from the Old World, has in this volume presented the story of the Argo, of Thebes, of Troy, the Adventures of Ulysses, and the Adventures of Æneas. It is well to familiarize children at an early age with classic stories that permeate all our literature. The names and characters of the heroes and the events in which they took part, become imbedded in their minds, and they early learn to appreciate and to enjoy the allusions constantly appearing in our own literature. In this volume the stories are stripped of all that could mar their beauty cr offend the taste. The book is both cheap and entertaining. RECEPTION DAY NO. 3. New York: E. L. Kellogg & Co. 30 cents. The third number of this quarterly issue confirms the impression of its thorough practical value. It contains fresh and original dialogues, recitations, declamations, and short pieces in poetry and prose, to meet the constantly recurring needs of schools and gatherings of any sort, public or private. It is of excellent moral tone, and calculated to be very helpful in school work. The wants of both young and older pupils are provided for, and the work is suitable either for public or private schools. SCHOOLS AND STUDIES. By B. A. HINSDALE, A. M., Superintendent of Instruction, Cleveland, Ohio, author of "President Garfield and Education." Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. 1884. Price $1.50. In this volume the author treats mainly of educational subjects, though a few of the papers are on other themes. We have rarely read an author who is more disposed to look at the subject of which he treats from every point of view. He examines critically existing systems and methods, commends their excellencies, condemns their defects and suggests remedies for their deficiencies. The teacher who reads and carefully weighs what is said in these essays will stand upon a higher plane of thought with broader views of his work. The topics treated are arranged under the following heads: The Origin of Character; Handling Children; Means and Ends: The Specialization of Studies; A Plea for Breadth; John Stuart Mill; The Mission of the Public Schools; Industrial Education and Public-School Reforms; The Nation and the States; The Secularization of Learning: The Eastern Question; The Public vs. The Public Schools; A Phase of College Education; Reforms in the School Law of Ohio. News and Notes. AMERICAN NEWPAPERS IN 1884.-From the edition of Messrs. Geo. P. Rowell & Co's American Newspaper Directory, now in press, it appears that the newspapers and periodicals of all kinds at present issued in the United States and Canada reach a grand total of 13,402. This is a net gain of precisely 1,600 during the last twelve months, and exhibits an increase of 5,618 over the total number published just ten years since. The increase in 1874 over the total for 1873 was 493. During the past year the dailies have increased from 1, 138 to 1,254; the weeklies from 9,062 to 10,028; and the monthlies from 1,091 to 1,499. The greatest increase is in the Western States. Illinois, for instance, now shows 1,009 papers in place of last year's total of 904, while Missouri issues 604 instead of the 523 reported in 1883. Other leading Western States also exhibit a great percentage of increase. The total number of papers in New York State is 1,523, against 1,399 in 1883. Canada has shared in the general increase. TEACHERS' INSTITUTES will be supplied with solid songs of service for their gatherings, free of charge for the books, by sending for the Business Editions of Acme Songs. Only cost is for transportation. If desired by mail, send one halfcent a copy for postage. J. C. O. Redington, 267 Broadway, N. Y. The Magazines. POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.-Contents for April: The Coming Slavery, by Herbert Spencer; The Electric Railway, by Lieut. B. A. Fiske, [illustrated]; Photographing a Streak of Lightning. [illustrated]: Methods of Instruction in Mineralogy; Physiological Significance of Vital Force, by W. G. Stevenson, M. D.; The Chemistry of Cookery, by W. Mattieu Williams; A Defense of Modern Thought, by W. D Le Sueur; The Faculty of Speech, by Dr. E. F. Brush; Biblical and Modern Leprosy, by G. H. Fox, M. D.; The Remedies of Nature-Miscellaneous, by Felix L. Oswald, M. D.: The Morality of Happiness, by Thomas Foster; Why the Eyes of Animals Shine in the Dark, [illustrated]; Prehistoric Art in America: Recent Geological Changes in Western Michigan; Sketch of August Wilhelm Hofmann, by E. J. Hallock, Ph. D., [with portrait]; Correspondence-Editor's Table-Literary Notices-Popular Miscellany-Notes. THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for April.-Contents: Drifting Down Lost Creek, II., C. E. Craddock; Presi dential Nominations, 0. T. Morton; Haroun Al Raschid, Helen Gray Cone; A Roman Singer. XIX., XX., F. Marion Crawford; The Red Sunsets. N. S. Shaler; In War Time, VII, VIII, S. Weir Mitchell; Night in New York, George Parsons Lathrop; Madame de Longueville-An Outline Portrait, Maria Louise Henry; The Return of a Native, Edith M. Thomas; En Province, VII., Henry James; Phillida and Coridon, Bradford Torrey; Annina, Charles Dunning; The Champs Elysees; General Beauregard: Juliau's Political Recollections; Recent Travel; The Latest of "The Virgilians;" The Contributors' Club; Books of the Month. ST. NICHOLAS for April.-Contents: Frontispiece. "Spring;" A Hero of Lexington, Poem; Fairy Lodge, five illustrations; How Bright Benson Got His Appointment to the Naval Academy, three illustrations; A Modern Artist, Verses, illustrated; Onawandah, Fourth Spinning wheel Story, illustrated; The Plaything of an Empress; Meditation, Picture; Bird-Talk, Verses, illustrated, Celia Thaxter; Girl-Noblesse-A Repeat of History, concluded, Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney, two illustrations; Grandma's Angel, Verses, illustrated; The Land of Fire, Chaps. XVII-XIX., Mayne Reid, three illustrations; The Gnu Baby. Picture; Historic Boys-Harry of Monmouth, the Boy General, two illustrations; First Steps, Verses, illustrated; Winter Fun, concluded, W. O. Stoddard; Magic Buttons, Poem; Hoop Song, Verses, illustrated; Tsang Tsan and the Man-Eater, illustrated; Noon, Noon, Jingle, illustrated; The St Nicholas Almanac-When Spring Began, illustrated; Jack-in-the-Pulpit; Letter from Deacon Green, four illustrations-Prize Drawings; The Letter-box-Agassiz Association-The Riddle-box, illustrated. LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE for April.-Contents: New Germantown and Chestnut Hill, illustrated; The Perfect Treasure, four parts, II., by F. C. Baylor; How the Roman Spent His Year, two papers, I., by William F. Allen; Her Lover, A Story, by Louise Stockton; In the Kauri Forests of New Zealand, by C. F. Gordon Cumming; Healthy Homes, IV., Rooms and Halls, continued, by Felix L. Oswald; Glimpses of the Queen's Negrees, by Arthur F. J. Crandall; At Last, A Story, three parts, I., by Annie Porter; A German Novel, by Horace M Kennedy; April Fish, A Story, by M. J. Barnett; Some New Anecdotes of Heine, by William R. Thayer; together with other Short Stories, Poems, and Articles of Interest upon Current Topics. THE APRIL CENTURY -Five profusely illustrated articles and a biograpical paper with two portraits lend unusual pictorial interest to the April number. The frontispiece is a portrait of the late Sidney Lanier at the age of fifteen, and with the text of Dr. William Hayes Ward's essay on "Sidney Lanier, Poet," is also printed a portrait of the poet in mature age. In "Open Letters," Arthur Penn writes of "Sidney Lanier on the English Novel." The illustrated articles are: An interesting account of the memories which cluster about "The White House;" Miss Sarah Freeman Clarke's concluding paper of pen and pencil Notes on the Exile of Dante;" a description of the building and partial impairment of "The New York City Hall," which is regarded as one of the finest architectural monuments in the metropolis; the picturesque record of a cruise "Among the Magdalen Islands," the third paper in the series, The Cruise of the Alice May;" "Progress in Fish-Culture." An interesting travel article, without pictures, is "New Zealand in Blooming December." Foremost among the unillustrated papers, in points of general interests, is George Alfred Townsend's account of How Wilkes Booth crossed the Potomac." Two other striking essays of the number are "Uncle Tom without a Cabin," by Walter B. Hill, a consideration, from the Southern point of view, of the present status of the negroes of the South; and Professor Samuel Willard's "The Destiny of the Universe" The sixth part of Mr. Cable's Dr. Sevier; the fifth part of Robert Grant's An Average Man; and a short story in negro dialect, Marse Chan, by Thomas Nelson Page, are the fiction of the number. THE AMERICAN NATURALIST for April.-Contents: The Exhalation of Ozone by Flowering Plants; The Creodonta, illustrated, E. D. Cope; Anatomy and Physiology of the Family of Nepidae, illustrated: Topozraphica! Phenomena in Indiana, illustrated; Renumeration of the Spinal Nerves and Reconstruction of the Plexuses in the Human Subject, Elliott Coues; A Review of the Progress of N. A. Invertebrate Palaeontology for 1883: Editor's Table; Recent Literature; General Notes: Geography and Travels, Geology and Palaeontology, Mineralogy, Botany, Entomology, Zoology, Physiology, Psychology, Anthropology, Microscopy and Histology; Scientific News; Proceedings of Scientific So. cieties. NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW for April.-Contents: The Decline of American Shipping, N. Dingley, Jr., M. C. and John Codman; Shall our Civilization be Preserved, Judge J. A. Jameson; The Development of Religious Freedom, Rev. Dr. Philip Schaff; Changes in the Climate of North America, Felix L. Oswald, M. D.; A Plea for Modern Laguages, Professor C. A. Eggert: Literature for Children, Julian Hawthorne; Recent Criticisms of the Bible, Rev. A. G. Mortimer and Rev. Dr. R. H. Newton. SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS for April.-Contents: Organization of the Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Chickamauga; Letters from Fort Sumter, Lieutenaut I. Jones: Story of the Arkansas, III., G. W. Gift; Sketch of the Third Maryland Artillery-Retreat from Nashville, Captain W. L. Ritter; The Last Chapter in the History of Reconstruction in South Carolina, Professor F. A. Porcher; Report of General J. C. Brown of the Battle of Lookout Mountain; Further Details of the Death of General A. P. Hill-Letter from "A Courier," Letter from Colonel C. S Venable; Editorial Paragraphs; Literary Notes. OUR LITTLE ONES AND THE NURSERY for April-simple, attractive, pleasing-has been received. OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT. R. R. FARR, Superintendent Public Instruction, Editor. [The Journal is sent to every County Superintendent and District Clerk, and must be carefully preserved by them as public property and transmitted to their successors in office.] Conference. We surrender our space this month to the report of the Superintendents' Conference, which will doubtless prove interesting to all who feel an interest in the educational affairs of our State. The representation was creditable, there being seventy-eight active members present, besides many trustees and teachers. Most of the Superintendents who did not attend sent excuses, which we have no doubt they thought were excellent, and on that point we refrain from expressing an opinion. Of course, without the power to compel the attendance of members it is useless to complain of their absence. Those who did attend, we believe, do not regret it, and we are satisfied that they will find their official duties rendered much lighter by the information gained from the lectures and addresses of the distinguished gentlemen who honored the Conference with their presence, as well as by the interchange of views one with another. Hon. J. L. M. Curry was present during the entire meeting and participated actively in all its proceedings, adding greatly to its success by several able and eloquent addresses on educational subjects. He made a stirring and unanswerable argument in advocacy of Normal training for teachers, and in that connection called attention to the Farmville Normal School, and urged Superintendents to use their best efforts to assist in making it a success. General Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education, was also present most of the session. His addresses on educational topics were replete with valuable information. Hon. M. A. Newell, Secretary of the Board of Education of Maryland, rendered valuable assistance, and delivered several addresses of a most interesting character. Prof. T. N. Conrad, President of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, represented that College and delivered an able address on the merits of the institution. General S. C. Armstrong, Principal of Hampton Normal and Collegiate Institute, was again with us, and his address on the practical operations of the Institute, over which he presides, was an enjoyable treat. Prof. Noah K. Davis, LL. D., ably represented the University of Virginia. The address of Prof. Harris, of Richmond College, on the aims and purposes of the new State Normal School at Farmville, was an able effort, and was listened to with deep interest. Prof. W. B. McGilvray, the well-known enthusiast in the work, gave no uncertain sound in his address on “County Institutes." Prof. W. F. Fox, Principal of the Richmond High School and editor of the EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL, was of course present, not only representing this valuable journal, but taking an active part in the proceedings, and in addition delivered an interesting address on the "Importance and Benefits of Proper School Literature." The new Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute at Petersburg, for colored teachers, was well represented by Hon. A. W. Harris. Professor George E. Little, of Washington, D. C., a gentleman of national reputation in black-board drawing, "an equal of Nast in making cartoons," was present, and added much to the interest of the sessions. His services have been secured for one of the summer institutes. Professor N. B. Webster, of Norfolk, in his illustrated lecture on "Periods of History," gave much valuable information. Besides the above, addresses were made by Superintendent General Daniel Ruggles on the subject "Higher Education for Woman Industrial and Scholastic," and Superintendent Hon. J. G. Cannon on the subject, "Free Text-Books along with Free Education." It is needless to say that with the above array of talent, taken together with the many interesting discussions on subjects intimately connected with the daily work of the Superintendents, the Conference proceedings were attractive and valuable. EXHIBITION HALL. The Senate Chamber was well filled with samples of school furniture of all kinds, maps, globes, charts, school books, &c. Besides, Messrs. Ramos & Moses and Messrs. Ryland & Lee, had a fine assortment of organs and pianos on exhibition. Professor C. E. Vawter, of the Miller Manual Labor School, sent for exhibition a fine writing-desk and a small engine, specimens of the work of the boys of the school. The little engine attracted much attention, and is a fine specimen of workmanship. |