chanical powers, optics, acoustics, hydraulics, &c., not neglecting the lower stratra of chemistry, geology and biology. One word more, to correct any possible misapprehension which may arise in regard to the term, scientific instruction, by which we do not mean to imply the drilling into the pupil's head, by rote, the technical phraseology or terminology of any particular science, but imbuing his mind with the prominent facts, supplemented by the necessary deductions and corollaries therefrom, and that in the simplest and plainest language possible. Show him, for instance, the beauty and order manifested in the simplest flower, without bewildering him as to whether it is endogenous or exogenous, monocotyledon, or diocotyledon, with a placentated corolla or not. There is a wide difference between teaching the facts of a science as instruction, and teaching it systematically as knowledge. The former is within reach of us all, and may with advantage be taught to the youngest child: the latter can be gained only in after life-Ohio Educational Monthly. METHOD FOR G. C. D. AND L. C. M.-Arrange the numbers in a column, as in the margin, writing the prime factors to the right of 12 2 12131 each, and placing only like factors in the same column. 88 18 =2 | 331 36 = 2 | 2 | 33 | 302 31 15 product will be the L. C. Take one factor from each full column, and their product will be the G. C. D. of the given numbers. Take one factor from each column, and their M. of the numbers.-Ohio Ed. Monthly. How to Make Clear that Which You Would Teach. By its very nature, the teaching process includes the idea of a teacher, a learner, and a lesson. There must be some one who would teach, some one who should learn, and something to be taught by the teacher to the learner. In the teaching process, the scholar must give his attention, the teacher must make clear that which he would teach, and teacher and scholar must co-work in securing to the scholar's mind the truth which the teacher has in his mind for this teaching. So much for the philosophy of the teaching process. And now, in taking one point at a time, How can a teacher make clear to a scholar that which he would teach to that scholar? To begin with, a teacher must have the truth clearly in his own mind. He must know precisely what the truth is the fact or the doctrine—which he would make clear to his scholar. that which is not clear to himself. He is in no condition to make clear to another So long as he is in doubt as to the real meaning, or the practical bearing, of a lesson, it is vain for him to try to show its real meaning, or its practical bearing, to anybody else; "for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea:" let not that man think that he shall give anything to one who is more in doubt than himself. And when a man has clearly in his own mind that which he would teach to another, who is all attention before him, he must concentrate his chief energies on the work of making that truth clear to that scholar. It is not then a question for him whether that is the most important truth in the world; it is enough that it is the truth he is trying to teach. Nor is he just then to strive at being attractive as a teacher, or impressive as a teacher; those qualities are very well in their way, but it is clearness, not attractiveness or impressiveness, which is needed in making a truth clear; and in order to make a truth clear, a teacher's whole mind must, for the time being, be set on clearness of teaching; that must be the one thing he is living for while it is the one thing he is attempting. To make a truth clear to another, involves an understanding of that other's mind, in its attainments, its limitations, and its methods of working. The truth which is already clear in the teacher's mind must be made clear to the scholar's comprehension; and to this end the truth must be so phrased, so illustrated, and so applied as to be clear-not alone to the one who imparts it, but to the one who is to receive it. It is not a question whether a certain putting of the truth ought to be clear to the learner, but whether it will be; not whether that putting would be clear to another learner, to the average learner, but whether it will be clear to this learner. In order to make clear that which he would teach, a teacher must, therefore, put himself alongside of his scholar, in knowledge and in sympathy; must bring himself down to the scholar's level of understanding and thought and feeling. If there are more scholars than one to be taught at one and the same time, then the teacher must bring himself to the level of the lowest of these scholars; for if those of the lowest grade can understand him, those of the grades above that will understand him also; while, on the other hand, making a truth clear to the higher grade does not necessarily make it clear to the lower. The words chosen for the phrasing of a truth which is to be made clear should be words which the scholar already understands; or, if he has not understood these words before, he should now be helped to understand them. No matter how attentive the scholar may be, nor yet how all-important may be the truth which is declared to him, unless his teacher addresses him in words within his comprehension he must fail to comprehend the truth for which he is waiting. "Tell me the story simply, As to a little child," is the call of many a learner who is addressed as if he had knowledge far beyond a child's. And, again, an adaptation in the manner of address in teaching has much to do with making clear the truth which is to be taught. "Tell me the story slowly, That I may take it in." A scholar of slow thought must have the teacher's help in slow and patient teaching. No matter how long it takes to make the one truth in hand clear to the one scholar under instruction; no matter how many times the words chosen to make that truth clear have to be changed or re-stated, the teacher must keep on trying; for to make just that truth clear to that particular scholar is the only thing that is really worth thinking about by that teacher, until that thing is finally accomplished. Illustration is an important help in making a truth clear, if only it be used fittingly, in the line of illustration, and for the purpose of making the truth clear. Appropriate anecdotes are not necessarily illustrations. Indeed, those anecdotes and figures of speech which are so frequently introduced into lesson teaching are more commonly not illustrations; nor are they used as such. Their purpose is ordinarily rather to attract or to impress than to enlighten; whereas an illustration, as its very name indicates, should be used to enlighten. An anecdote which is not an illustration of the very truth which the teacher is teaching, tends to draw away the scholar's mind from that truth which he should be gaining; and so far it retards rather than promotes the teacher's clearness in teaching. For a teacher to show how a truth which the scholar does not quite understand is like a truth which is familiar to the scholar, is to illustrate that truth, and thereby to enlighten the scholar. Simple truths from the Bible text can be made clear by illustration; so, also, can the more complex and difficult truths, which have any possibility of clearness to the human mind. For example, the text: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap; " might have its helpful illustration, merely as a figure of speech, by telling of a boy's mistaking poppy-seed for radish-seed in planting time, and then wondering how he came to have poppies instead of radishes in his garden. Again, that text might be illustrated in its mental and moral bearings by telling of two schoolboys, one of whom studied faithfully, and the other wasted his time in play, and then picturing those boys after their schooldays were over, the one well-informed and able to fill a place accordingly, the other behindhand in all the competitions of active life; or, again, in telling of two boys, the one doing deeds of kindness, and the other showing himself selfish and illnatured, with the sure results of their different courses in their after lives and in their times of need. The help of the eye, of the scholar's eye, ought to be sought by the teacher in his effort at making clear the truth he would teach. Maps and pictures, and other visible helps, have their important place in this line of effort. Yet, more commonly, the blackboard, or the class slate, or a sheet of paper and a pencil, can be made to do much toward making clear that which the teacher would teach. Peculiarly is this the case where the lesson includes a narrative, and where the relative positions of persons and places need to be understood. It is hardly less useful where related truths are to be considered over against each other. With all scholars who can read, the directing of their attention to the text itself, in conjunction with the teacher's explanations, can be made to perform an important part in making clear that which the teacher would teach. Making clear that which you would teach is not the whole of teaching; but there is no teaching without it. There are other things to be done besides this—things which, in their place, are even more important than this; but this is the thing of things for you to attend to when it is the thing you are attempting as a teacher. How to do it is a point of preeminent importance to you, when you have it to do.—Sunday-School Times. Some Questions on Discipline. What is discipline from the teacher's standpoint? What do other people call discipline? Why do you subject your school to such a code? How do you discipline, or manage, or govern? What is the effect-present and prospective-of your methods upon the character and after-life of your pupil? Will a community composed of your pupils be wiser, happier, better, because of your treatment? Does your idea of the term comprise merely the method of government employed to paralyze unquiet bodies, to silence active tongues, and to touch with apathy all the emotions of the human heart? Does it mean punishment, chastisement, correction? so that you sing with Cowper: "Plants raised with tenderness are seldom strong, And without discipline the favorite child, Does it not mean the application and enforcement of those principles and rules which regard the purity, order, efficiency, peace, and well being of your pupils? If a school is designed to develop head, and heart, and hands harmoniously, must there not be training of the heart as well as of the others? and is your discipline that you enforce in the line of this training? Rather do you not discipline mainly with the thought of your own bodily comfort in view, that you may have a good, easy time in your teaching labor, that your tongue may have uninterrupted sway, and your brain free activity, unchecked by the wilfulness and waywardness of childhood? But how do you discipline? Do you speak in the loud, imperative tones of the task-master, driving unwilling workers to toil-as one who will not brook denial? Do you speak with the dictatorial air of one born and bred to the purple and the sceptre? Do you play the part of the bully, the virago, or the shrew? Do you saw the air with your hands, and gesticulate and attitudinize before your little world with all the impirical graces of a cheap actor in a dime museum? Do you shut your heart as well as your eyes when you open your lips in judgment, and refuse evidence that would be granted to the vilest criminal in a court of Quarter Sessions? Do you, whenever an act is done which merits your disapproval, ever seek to find the inciting cause? Do you ever try to find the cause of the whispered word, the restless movement, the laggard attention? Is there an inner pleasure to your displeasure? Do you lie in wait and spread a net to snare the feet of the unwary? When a fault is committed, and you-all justice-pronounce sentence, do you ever think of the words of Burns? "One point must still be greatly dark The reason why they do it." Do you ever think of changing places with them, and subjecting yourself to the same treatment that you are dealing out so lavishly? Do you ever think that the Golden Rule applies to them as well as to you? Do you ever think that the community created the school wholly for them, and not at all for you? Do you not know that the education of the heart is possibly of more value to the community than the education of the head; that ideas of justice, and mercy, and fair dealing, and regard for the feelings of others, and pity, and charity, are all very valuable adjuncts to modern society; and that possibly criminals are made by your methods of disre garding human rights, even if they are wrapped up in child bodies? And above all, and over all, do you ever think, when you are dealing so unmercifully with bodies, ideas, and principles, and grounds of action-do you ever think of the homes of the children? Do you not know that the home governments, and trainings and surroundings are as diverse as the flowers of the fields; that the ideas of persons, manners and principles there may be entirely at variance with your ideas upon the same subjects; and that the child, with his home affection, believes that his parents are right, and that they can do no wrong? What does your pupil know of the home skeletons that are found in almost all houses; of the hidden vices, ignoble practices, nervous temperaments, domestic infelicities; of the poverty, or crime, or ill-health that cast their baleful shadows around, and affect every view and influence every thought? Do you think that a child that is subjected to such influences can readily, quickly and cheerfully come under your sway, without a jar? Do you not know that a perfect, manly, sensible discipline involves the cooperation of four different parties-the school authorities, the parents, the pupils, and the teachers-and that all four must be in complete accord before success can crown your efforts? Do you not know that, in the light of a true, training discipline, you have not been a success? Have you not experienced the pleasure of receiving the applause of the great public for work well done? Have you not been honored and esteemed for your successful efforts in moulding the intellect and shaping the material destinies of those committed to your charge? But do you not know that "He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins"?—The Teacher. EDITORIAL PARAGRAPHS. ADDRESS OF HON. J. L. M. CURRY.-On the 10th of January Dr. J. L. M. Curry, by invitation of the two houses of the General Assembly, addressed them in the Hall of the House of Representatives. The hall was well filled with legislators, citizens, school men, and ladies. The expectation aroused by the ability of the speaker, his familiarity with the educational problem, and his wide observation, was not disappointed. In an address replete with fact and argument and eloquence he discussed his subject in many phases, and carried conviction to the minds of many of his hearers. He refuted the slander of those who love to sneer at Virginia in the words of Sir William Berkeley, by showing that as early as 1621 a free-school movement had begun in Virginia, and that her long line of statesmen had not been backward in declaring their conviction of the necessity for a proper system of public education. He paid a glowing tribute to George Peabody, as the earliest, most liberal and most enlightened helper of the South after the war; and to Dr. Ruffner as the organizer, and for twelve years the efficient head, of our public school system. The commercial advantages of popular education, aside even from its higher function of the development of noble manhood and womanhood, were very forcibly exhibited. The needs of the public school system in our State to-day formed the closing feature of his address. He summarized these needs as follows: "1. An absolute divorce of the system from party politics. "2. Selection of the best men and women as trustees and teachers. To leave negro schools under the control exclusively of negro trustees and negro teachers was, in |