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OUR BEST THANKS are due to the school Superintendents, and other school officers of the State who have so generously and efficiently aided us in getting the JOURNAL into the hands of the teachers. We shall seek to show our appreciation of their kind. ness by making the JOURNAL as good as possible, and thus aiding them as much as we can in their work.

THE Central School Journal, Keokuk, Iowa, comes to us greatly improved in appearance. It has always shown excellent taste and judgment in its articles, both original and selected. It is now in its seventh year and numbers 8,000 readers.

SEVERAL articles prepared for this number have been unavoidably omitted.

News and Notes.

-THE VIRGINIA AGRICULTURAL and Mechanical College.—Within two years the number of pupils has increased from forty eight to one hundred and eighty-two. Not a breach of public decorum on the part of the students has occurred within the year. A library room has just been handsomely fitted up, and a first purchase of 2,0co volumes has been made. The Faculty consists of seven professors and two assistants. The Chemical Laboratory has sixteen seniors working in qualitative analysis five hours a week.

-The Normal Index is the title of a new paper devoted to the principles of practical education, published at Middletown, Virginia. G. W. Hoenshel and G. O. Moore, editors.

-Messrs. Rand, Avery & Co., Boston, are about to publish a new story-said to be a thrilling and powerful tale-involving the question of Mormonism.

Book Notices.

EXAMPLES FOR ELEMENTARY PRACTICE IN DELINEATION, designed for the use of Schools and Isolated Beginners, by CHARLES H. MOORE, Instructor in Drawing and Principles of Design in Harvard University. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $2.

The volume, as its title indicates, is intended for practice in elementary work. Twenty designs are furnished, and these are preceded by some general instructions on the subject, by methods of work, and by illustrations of the formal exercise. The whole is constructed on the idea of Leonardo de Vinci, " And let him (the young student) remember to acquire accuracy before he attempts quickness." For sale by West, Johnston & Co.

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THE PRIMER OF POLITENESS: A help to School and Home Government. By ALEX. M. Gow, A. M. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Perhaps there is no better way of presenting the principles on which this book is based than by repeating the few lines that form its motto and its preface. "Scholarship without good breeding is only half an education." "He is best taught who has

learned the secret of self-control." "He is best governed who is self-governed." "Other things being equal, that school is the best where the government is the result of moral and not of physical force." The principles thus outlined are sytematically developed in a series of questions, and illustrated and enforced in a number of apt stories. The use of the book in the school and family cannot fail of producing excellent results.

For sale by West, Johnston & Co.

The Magazines.

EDUCATION FOR JANUARY-FEBRUARY.-Contents: Frontispiece--Le Roy D. Brown, Ph. D.; The Normal School Problem, and the Problem of the Schools, Prof. H. Straight; Manual Training, Prof. C. M. Woodward; Notes on the Origin of the Italian Language, W. C. Wilde; The Function of the Normal School, E. C. Hewitt, LL. D.; Music in Public Schools, Prof. H. E. Holt; The Teacher's Influence, Superintendent Geo. J. Luckey; What has been Done for Education by the Government of the United States Gen. John Eaton; The Imagination, A. P. Marble; The University-How and What, Wm. W. Folwell, LL. D; Editorial:-Le Roy D. Brown, Ph. D., Report of the United States Com. of Education for 1881, Valuable Books, Foreign Notes.

THE AMERICAN NATURALIST FOR JANUARY.-Contents: Disadvantages of the Upright Position, S. V. Clevering; The Mammalian Fauna of the Australian Desert, E. B. Sanger; Observations on the Pulsating Organs in the Legs of Certain Hemiptera. Wm A. Locy; On the Character and Function of the Epiglottis in the Bull-Snake, C. A. White; The Carolina Wren--a Year of its Life, C. C. Abbott; The Batrachia of the Permian Period of N. America, E. D. Cope; Editor's Table; Recent Literature; General Notes:-Geography and Travels, Geology and Paleontology, Mineralogy, Botany, Entomology, Zoology, Psychology, Anthropology, Microscopy; Scientific News; Proceedings of Scientific Societies.

THE JOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY FOR OCTOBER, 1883-Edited By Wm. T. Harris and published quarterly by D. Appleton & Co. Price per volume, $3.-Contents: Philosophy in Outline, The Editor; Trentowski on the Sources and Faculties of Cognition, I. Podbielski; A Study of the Iliad, D. J. Snider; Göethe's "Das Märchen," Gertrude Garrigues; The Puritanic Philosophy and Jonathan Edwards, F. B. Sanborn; Man's Freedom in his Moral Nature, R. G. Hazard; Notes and Discussions; Book Notices; Books Received; Contents and Title Page.

THE SANITARIAN, after trying for a year the plan of a weekly issue, has returned, enlarged and improved, to its former plan of a monthly. It is devoted especially to the Science of Hygiene, and takes rank with the best journals devoted to this subject. The following are the contents of the January No.: What shall de done with the Sewage?" A. N. Bell, A. M., M. D.; "Canning Houses and their Relations to the Public Health," W. Stump Forwood M. D.; "Typhoid Fever in America-Its Nature, Causes and Prevention," R J. Farquharson, A. M., M D.; "Museums of Hygiene," Medical Director J. M. Browne, U. S. Navy; "School Hygiene," Charles F. Lundy, A. M., M. D.; "Physical Training," Professor J. Madison Watson; "Some Causes of Infant Mortality," T P. Cobally, A. M., M. D.; "The Disposal of House Refuse," J. P. Spencer, C. E." Besides these leading papers, under the "Editor's Table" timely topics are discussed of general interest; mortality statistics in the chief cities of the United States and abroad, and three pages of review literature.

OUR LITTLE ONES AND THE NURSERY continues to hold its place at the head of periodicals for small children. In beauty of designs and in excellence of adaptedness to its object, it can hardly be surpassed.

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW for January presents a table of contents possessing in the highest degree the character of contemporary human interest. First, the opposite sides of the question of "Ecclesiastical Control in Utah" are set forth by two representative men, viz: President John Taylor, the official head of the Mormon Church, and the Hon. Eli H. Murray, Governor of the Territory of Utah. Senator John I. Mitchell writes of the "Tribulations of the American Dollar." In an article entitled Theological Readjustments," the Rev. Dr. J. II. Rylance insists upon the necessity of eliminating from the formularies of belief and from the current teachings of the churches all doctrines and all statements of supposed facts which have been discredited by the advance of exegetical schalarship, and by the progress of natural science. Senator Henry W. Blair, taking for his theme Alcohol in Politics," advocates the submission to the people of an amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting the manufacture, sale and importation of intoxicating liquors. No one who read in the December Review the first half of "The Day of Judgment," Gail Hamilton's incisive review of the domestic life of Thomas Carlyle, will forego the pleasure of perusing the latter half in the current number. "Evils Incident to Immigration," by Edward Self is a forcible statement of the mischiefs wrought by the importion into our social and political life of an enormous annual contingent from the lowest stratum of the population of Europe. Finally, the subject of "Bribery by Railway Passes" is dsscussed by Charles Aldrich and Judge N. M. Hubbard.

THE JANUARY CENTURY-General Sherman's retirement from the army lends timely interest to the frontispiece of the January Century His life, character, and his services to the country are discussed by E. V. Smalley in a fresh and authoritative paper, which contains several good anecdotes. General Grant has assisted in making the paper exact aud valuable with reference to war history by giving important information and by reading the proofs.

"Garfield in London" is an account, in the main, of President Garfield's experiences and impressions while in the British capital.

The most interesting of French institutions, the Academy, with its "Forty Immortals," is made the subject of a gossipy paper. Portraits of thirteen of the most widely known Academicians illustrate the writer's crisp characterizations.

"In Wordsworth's Country" is an English prose pastoral by John Burroughs.

"Edinboro Old Town" is the opening article of the number, and is profusely illustrated. Both the writer and the artist have felt the romantic and picturesque influence of "Auld Reekie." In the "Log of an Ocean Studio " is described a vacation voyage to Europe of seven New York artists, who amused themselves with decorating one of the steamer's cabins.

Husbandry in Colony Times" is perhaps the most popular of Dr. Edward Eggleston's studies of colonial life.

In fiction the Jauuary number is notable for the conclusion of the "Bread-winners"; the third part of Dr. Sevier "; the second part of Robert Grant's 'An Average Man"; and a humorous story entitled, "His Wife's Deceased Sister."

LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE for January contains an amount of varied and entertaining reading, which gives the best assurance of the good things to be expected during the coming year. It opens with a description of the new Public Buildings of Philadelphia, written with marked ability and copiously illustrated. "Notes of Conversations with Emerson," by Pendleton King, bring up very vividly the figure of the great New England thinker in the simplicity of his Concord home. "Matthew Arnold in America," by L. J. Swinburne, is an appreciative criticism treating mainly of those points in Mr. Arnold's teachings which have a special application to American social life. "Hawaii Ponoi," by Belle Osbourne, is an amusing account of the rece:t coronation of King Kalakaua, with many capital illustrations from sketches by the writer "Undergraduate Life at Oxford," by Norman Pearson; an account of the great flour mills of Minneapolis, by F G Curtis, and the first of a series of paper on "Healthy Homes," by Felix L. Oswald. All are interesting and instructive articles. The opening chapters of Sebia's Tangled Web," a short serial story, by Lizzie W. Champney; "Christmas-Eve at Tuckey ho," by Sherwood Bonner; and "Whither Curiosity Led," by Charles Dunning, constitute the fiction in this number, and will be found very attractive. There is the usual variety of short papers in the "Gossip" and the notices of new publicatious, principally holiday books, are numerous and discriminative.

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY-Contents for January: The Classical Question in Germany, E. J. James, Ph. D.; Early Colonists of the Swiss Lakes (illustrated); The Morality of Happiness, Thomas Foster; Female Education from a Medical Point of View, II.; The Control of Circumstances; Religious Retrospect and Prospect, Herbert Spencer; The Iguanodon (illustrated); Defective Eyesight, Samuel York, at Lee; The Chemistry of Cookery; Catching Cold: The Source of Muscular Energy; Idiosyncrasy, Professor Grant Allen; Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (with portrait); Correspondence; Editor's Table; Literary Notices; Popular Miscellany; Notes.

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for January. Contents: In War Time, I., II., S. Weir Mitchell; Chester Streets, H. H.; The Bishop's Vagabond, Octave Thanet; van Turgenieff, Henry James; Lepage's Joan of Arc; A Roman Singer, XIII, XIV., F. Marion Crawford; At the Saturday Club, Oliver Wendell Holmes; The Study of Greek, A. P. Peabody; Newport, XV-XVII, George Parsons Lathrop: Hafiz of Shiraz; A Sequel to Mr. Washington Adams, in a Letter from Mr. Mansfield Humphreys, Richard Grant White; The Political Field, E. V. Smalley; Unheard Music, Edmund W. Gosse; Illustrated Books; The Annexation of Heaven; The Contributors' Club; Books of the Month.

ST. NICHOLAS for January makes its New-Year's call with a bright table of contents and a brilliant list of contributors.

Louisa M. Alcott begins her promised series of "Spinning-Wheel Stories" with a sketch of the "good old times" of seventy years ago, showing how Grandmother's wheel spun a tale of fun, war, love, and wolves, to suit the tastes of all her hearers.

The frontispiece is by Mary Hallock Foote, and H. H. opens the number with a complete and timely story of Colorado mining life, entitled, "Christmas in the Pink Boarding-House."

Julian Hawthorne finishes his fanciful allegory, "Almion, Auria, and Mona," and Rose Hawthorne Lathrop contributes a merry tale of child-life in holiday times, called "Fun Bearns." Mayne Reid's serial, "The Land of Fire,' continues to grow in interest, and is full of instruction in regard to the many peculiarities of that far-away region. H. H. Boyesen ends the first of his "Tales of Two Continents" with an exciting encounter; and W. O. Stoddard entertains his readers with the second instalment of "Winter Fun."

Among the poems are a fable in verse by Joel Benton; some jolly New-Year's verses by Helen Gray Cone, with pictures by A. Brennan, who also illustrates a quaint little verse of his own, entitled, "Lucy Lee from High Dundee "; and "The Ballad of Good Sir Urgan," by E. Vinton Blake, a mediæval poem, with spirited illustrations by Alfred Kappes.

An entirely new feature, inaugurated in this number and to continue throughout the year, is the ST. NICHOLAS Almanac, which will give to young folk, in simple and popular form, the more important phenomena of our earth's relations to the heavenly bodies, and, in addition, some entertaining bits of fun, fable, and allegory relating to the various months and seasons.

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.]

New

SCHOOL HOUSES.-It will be seen by the last report that for the year ending July 31st, 1883, there were reported 5,974 schools, with only 3,444 houses owned by districts; which shows that we need 2,530 additional houses in which to conduct the schools of the State. houses are being built every year, and ultimately we may own school property enough to accommodate the schools. Let us hope so, at least. Many of the houses owned by districts, and called schoolhouses, are a disgrace to the section in which they are found, and a positive injury to the school system. It costs no more to build a comfortable, well-ventilated, and artistic school-house, with proper management, than it does to erect one of those miserable, disheartening structures, which would never be taken for a school-house but for the fact of its being located on some rejected corner or knoll left out in the economy of life, but deemed the very place for a school-house. In the early days of the system the necessity for care in the location and erection of school buildings was not as apparent as it is now, though it was the constant effort of the late Superintendent of Public Instruction to induce school officials to erect the most approved school buildings. The first thing to be done, when a school-house is to be erected in a district, is for the District Board, with the consent of the Superintendent, to decide upon a plan and location for the structure; and when these two important preliminaries are judiciously settled, the rest is comparatively easy. We would urge every County Board to purchase some standard work on school-house architecture, which will give the ground plans and elevations of the modern school structures, based upon the experience of practical men and the results of actual use. To be readily accessible to every District Board in the county, this book should be placed in charge of the School Superintendent, so that when a District Board has determined to build a new house, they can refer to the book and select a plan which will give all the details, as well as the probable cost of the building, and thus save themselves much time and worry, and secure to the district a schoolhouse that will be a real credit, at no greater expense than would be

The location is

incurred in the erection of a guess-work structure. perhaps of more importance than the style of building, and demands better judgment than the selection of the plan; for on the location depend the success and perpetuity of the particular school-for, to have a school, we need not only a proper building, but a suitable number of children.

When it is determined to locate a new house the District Board should lay aside all personal interest in the matter and remember that the school lot is public property, acquired with the money or by the good-will of the people, and that it should be located so that it may be available to the greatest number of those whom it is intended to accommodate. In the country, where land is generally cheap, it is a great mistake to purchase a small lot; for if our hopes are realized and our State settled up, as it should be, the children will be necessa rily confined to their own territory, and should have room.

Less than one acre ought never to be purchased for a school lot in the country, and we consider two acres small enough. In selecting a site for a school house, District Boards should never let their choice be influenced by a hope of reward or a fear of punishment. An acre of ground, or even two acres given by an individual to secure the location of a school house where he wants it, and where it would not be convenient to a majority of the children, is a dear gift to the people of the district. The trustees, with the advice of the Superintendent, ought first to determine the proper place to build a schoolhouse for the accommodation of the neighborhood, without regard to the individual preferences of the trustees or any one else; and then they ought to acquire the title to the desired amount of land. Of course, if they can get the owners of the land upon which they propose to build to give them the quantity they desire, it is their duty to do so; but if they cannot, then it is their duty to purchase it, and not go off into one corner of the neighborhood because some one will give them the land they need, or build it on some angle in the forks of the road because it is cheap. It is the duty of the Superintendent to watch this matter closely, and to see that school houses are properly located and built.

HON. J. L. M. CURRY, Agent of the Peabody Education Fund, by invitation, delivered an able, eloquent, and instructive address before the Legislature of Virginia, in the hall of the House of Delegates, Thursday evening, January 10th, 1884, on the general subject of public educa

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