present circumstances, to consign the schools to inefficiency and inferiority. It is the first step towards a fatal policy-appropriation of school revenues to the schools of the race paying taxes.

"3. Better teaching to be provided or stimulated by normal schools and teachers' institutes."

These were all happily enforced. He showed the need of normal schools and teachers' institutes, and urged a liberal appropriation on their behalf. His eulogy of the teacher was the finest we ever listened to. His peroration was a sketch of an imaginary picture-gallery in which the great men and the noble women of the past in Virginia's history looked down encouragingly on their descendants, while imploring them to put the old State in the very vanguard of progress and freedom.

NO MORE important recommendations are contained in Superintendent R. R. Farr's report for 1883 than those in reference to normal schools and teachers' insti tutes. It is shown clearly (see statistics published in December JOURNAL, page 378) that the common plea that we do not need a normal school for white teachers is not correct; that the University, the Virginia Military Institute and the colleges do not supply the necessary teachers for our public schools. This is not new to those familiar with the working of the public schools, but the statistics given make it clear to everybody. The need then for normal schools, whose special sphere is the preparation of teachers for the public schools, must be apparent to all. Again, there are 3,351 teachers in Virginia who expect to make teaching a permanent business. Few of these have had the advantage of normal training. The only feasible means of giving these instruction in the best methods of teaching is the teachers' institute. It is not probable that the great body of our teachers will ever be normal graduates. In Massachusetts even, the earliest supporter of normal schools in this country, only forty per cent. of the teachers are normal graduates. They will still need instruction in methods of teaching. The teachers' institute ought to be a fixture, therefore, in our school system. The Legislature could do no more valuable work for the schools than to establish one or more normal schools and provide an annual appropriation for holding teachers' institutes.

Both the preceding articles were prepared for the January JOURNAL, but were inadvertently omitted. Though a little out of time we prefer to let them go into this number.

News and Notes.

-Professor P. H. Carpenter, for a number of years Superintendent of Schools in Halifax county, now has charge of the public school at South Boston, in the same county.

-ROANOKE COLLEGE.-At a meeting of the Trustees of Roanoke College held on the 9th instant a vote of thanks was tendered to W. O. Grover, of Boston, for "his recent generous gift of $3,000 to the Endowment Fund of the college, as well as for the various gifts before made by him to the amount of $2,000." In consideration of a gift of $1,000 for that purpose by James J. Lane, of Newberry, S. C., the Trustees established the Lane Prize Scholarship in English Language and Literature, to be annually awarded by the Faculty to that member of the Junior Class who

shall receive the highest grade in the final examination of the class in the studies indicated.

The Trustees appointed a committee to have enclosed with a suitable iron fence the grave of the late Jacob Persinger, of Roanoke county, who by will left the greater part of his estate to the College. This bequest will probably amount to more than $10,000, but is not immediately available.

The College is in the fourth year of successive increase in the number of students. This year sixteen States, Indian Territory, and Mexico are represented. In March, April and May a special course of instruction in the Science and Art of Teaching will be given, in connection with regular college studies. Dr. William H. Ruffner and Professor E. V. De Graff, and also members of the Faculty, will give lectures.

Book Notices.

CAEDMON'S EXODUS AND DANIEL. Edited from Grein. By THEODORE W. HUNT, Ph. D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Princeton College. Boston: Ginn, Heath & Co. 1883.

One of the most urgent needs brought to light by the revival of interest in English Philology is that of American editions of the best specimens of First English Prose and Poetry. The recent publication of the text of Beowulf by Professor J. A. Harrison, of Washington and Lee University, marks a new departure in the critical study of our mother tongue. The book before us is volume ii. (Beowulf forming volume i.) of a series to be published under the general editorial management of Professor Harrison, entitled Library of Anglo-Saxon Poetry. This will be followed by Caedmon's Genesis, edited by Professor Thomas R. Price, late of the University of Virginia, now of Columbia College, N. Y. Other of our scholars are engaged on work in this direction, and it is not too much to hope that we shall have at an early day a body of carefully edited early English texts that will render the critical study of the English tongue easy and satisfactory.

WHITE'S TWO-BOOK SERIES: A New Elementary Arithmetic, Uniting Oral and Written Exercises, and a New Complete Arithmetic, Uniting Oral and Written Exercises. By E. E. WHITE, M. A., LL. D., President of Perdue University, Indiana. Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., Cincinnati and New York.

The popular demand for a two-book series in arithmetic afforded the author the opportunity of revising his three-book series on this subject. The New Elementary is not a combination of the first two books of the old series, but is essentially a new book carefully graded to meet the wants of a progressive pupil. Thorough drills in all elementary processes with both integral and fractional numbers, with those practical applications of numbers which are most frequently used in business and common life, are presented. It thus prepares the pupil for the use of the Complete Arithmetic, and presents a short course in arithmetic for those who cannot take up the higher book. The Complete has been modified especially by the introduction of more practical problems. Oral and written exercises are combined throughout both books. They present a practical exemplification of the inductive method of teaching.

SHORT STUDIES IN LITERATURE, ENGLISH AND AMERICAN. A

For the

Manual of Literary Culture, Poetical Gems, and Familiar Quotations. Use of Common Schools, Intermediate Schools, and Grammar Schools. By A. P. SOUTHWICK, A. M., author of the "Dime Series of Question Books." Philadelphia: Eldredge & Bro. Price 60 cents; to teachers, for examination, 45 cents. The author has briefly sketched the history of English and American literature. English Literature is divided into eight periods. The authors of each period are mentioned with greater or less fulness of statement, according to the merit of the writer. Then follow illustrative extracts. American literature is divided into four periodsthe Colonial Age, the Revolutionary Age, the National Age, and the Golden Ageand is treated with considerable fulness. The volume will be very useful to those who desire a general sketch, yet have not the time for more detailed study.

LITERATURE FOR BEGINNERS. Containing Biographies of the Most Prominent Authors, British and American, with extracts from their writings. Also, Gems of Thought, Birthdays of Authors, Pseudoyms, Contemporaneous Writers, etc. By HARRIET B. SWINEFORD, Teacher of Literature in the State Normal School, Lock Haven, Penn. Lock Haven, Penn.: E. L. Raub & Co. Price 75

cents.

This volume, in its general arrangement, is very similar to the preceding, though differing considerably in the working out of the details. The design of both is the same—to give beginners in the study of literature a correct knowledge of the promi nent British and American Authors and their writings; and so to present the subject as to create a love for literature and make the pursuit of it a pleasure, not a task. PEDAGOGICAL LIBRARY. Edited by G. STANLEY HALL. Volume i. METHODS OF TEACHING HISTORY. By Dr. G. DIESTERWEG, Professors H. B. ADAMS, C. K. ADAMS, J. W. BURGESS, E. EMERTON, W. F. ALLEN, and Mr T. W. HIGGINSON. Boston: Published by Ginn, Heath & Co. 1883. Mailing price $1.30.

No branch of school study is probably taught with so little skill or with so little advantage to the pupil as history. Singularly enough, pupils do not like history, and class it among their difficult studies. The volume before us discusses the subject broadly, and is adapted to those who wish to know the subject in the fulness of its bearings, and who from an appreciation of the ends aimed at can adapt their methods to the accomplishment of those ends. Methods of teaching history in some of the higher institutions of the country are indicated. Under Historical Literature and Authorities Professor W. F. Allen gives an exceedingly valuable classified list of historical works.

ASTRONOMY FOR SCHOOLS AND GENERAL READERS. By ISAAC SHARPLESS, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, Haverford College, and Professor G. M. PHILLIPS, Principal State Normal School, West Chester, Penn. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. By the same authors. Price $1.25 each.

The special feature of these books is the ability of their authors to explain the principles of the sciences treated (and even some of the more abstruse problems) in language easily comprehensible by readers of ordinary intelligence. The latest data have been used, and the books are abreast of the most advanced state of science. In the Philosophy numerous questions and exercises involving the principles taught have been added.

For sale by West, Johnston & Co.

BARNES'S ONE TERM SERIES. A Brief History of Ancient, Midiæval, and Modern Peoples, with some account of their Monuments, Institutions, Arts, Manners and Customs. A. S. Barnes & Co., New York and Chicago. 1883.

We have had occasion before to commend "Barnes's History of Ancient Peoples," which makes the first part of the present volume, for the clearness and conciseness of the narrative, and especially for the desertations on the civilization and social customs of the various peoples. The book has been extended, on the same plan, so as to include the history of medieval and modern nations, and embodies the same excellencies. The general “get up” of the book, its maps and numerous illustrations, are in the higest style of the book-maker's art.

NEW TWO-BOOK SERIES-THE ECLECTIC ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY and THE ECLECTIC COMPLETE GBOGRAPHY. Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., Cincinnati and New York.

The original Eclectic Geographies were published thirteen years ago. To bring them up to the present state of geographical knowledge and make them conform to the most improved methods of teaching the subject, the series has been thoroughly revised, the best sources of information have been consulted, and the latest statistics used. At the same time, the whole subject has been presented in two books—the Elementary and the Complete Geographies. The maps are very fine and the illustrations numerous and exceedingly beautiful.

ROTE SONGS OF THE NORMAL MUSIC COURSE, with Accompaniments for the Piano Forte. By JOHN W. TUFTS. New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco: D. Appleton & Co. 1884.

The melodies of these "Rote Songs" form the second part of the "First Reader of the Normal Music Course," published by the house of D. Appleton & Co. The edition has been prepared for those desiring the addition of simple musical accompaniIt contains fifty-eight songs, simple, and pleasing for the little ones.

ments.

THE ELEMENTS OF BOTANY, by Professor W. A. KELLERMAN, of the Kansas State Agricultural College (John E. Potter & Co., Philadelphia, publishers), is a new text book, bound in attractive style, and printed from good clear type. It is illustrated with 354 fine wood engravings, and sells at $1.25.

In a comparatively small space Professor Kellerman has succeeded in giving a thorough view of the vegetable kingdom. The various organs of plants, with the diversified forms under which they present themselves, are described and their purposes explained, and a complete and interesting study is made of cell-structure and of the processes by which plants assimilate food and perform their other physiological functions.

A fourth part of the book is devoted to Economic Botany, or a consideration of those vegetable products which are found in commerce and which supply the daily needs of man. This is a subject hitherto neglected in botanical text-books, and its consideration gives a valuable practical application to the science of botany which must greatly increase the interest in that science.

Professor Kellerman's book is adapted for school use or for independent study.

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN RHYME. By ROBERT C. ADAMS. Boston D. Lathrop & Co. Price 60 cents.

Many readers will remember Mr. Adams's clever little History of England in Rhyme, published a year or two since. This is a companion volume, and essays to put in easy and flowing rhyme the principal events in the history of the country. No high value is claimed for it as a piece of literary work, the author's sole aim having been to impress dates, names and events upon the minds of young readers by the aid of rhyme and poetic measure. The summary of Colonies and States which closes the book will be found especially valuable. In fifty-six short lines, which any bright boy could commit to memory in an afternoon, is contained a brief history of the American Colonies, the entire list of States, with the order in which they were settled, by whom, and when admitted to the Union.

THE BOOK OF PLANT DESCRIPTIONS, OR RECORD OF PLANT ANALYSES, with a synopsis of the terms most frequently used in the description of plants, and a schedule of work to be performed in the Botanical Laboratory; also, a list of subjects suitable for theses. Prepared for the use of Teachers and Students By GEORGE G. GROFF, M. D., Professor of Physiology and Natural History in the University at Lewisburg, Penn. Lewisburg, Penn.: Science and Health Publishing Company. 1883.

Sample copies to teachers, postpaid, 30 cents.

A BRIEF HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH AUTHORS. By OSCAR FAY ADAMS. Boston Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1884. Price 75 cents.

A handy volume for reference, containing the names of a large number of authors, with brief notes in regard to them.

For sale by West, Johnston & Co., 911 Main street.

THE RIVERSIDE LITERATURE SERIES. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. Now numbers twenty volumes, containing brief selections from some of our American authors. Neat paper-bound volumes at 15 cents each. See advertisement in this number of the JOURNAL for the full list.

To their series of

ENGLISH CLASSICS, WITH EXPLANITORY NOTES. cheap and handy editions of the " English Classics," Messrs. Clark & Maynard, New York, have added The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Memory Quotations, Cavalier Poets, Alexander's Feast and Mac Flecnoe, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Rhetorical Training. Price $1.20 a dozen.

HANDBOOK OF THE EARTH-NATURAL METHODS IN GEOGRAPHY. By LOUISA PARSONS HOPKINS, Teacher of Normal Methods in the Swain Free School, New Bedford, Mass. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1883. Price 50 cents. This book touches on many points of interest to the teacher, and is suggestive of the proper methods of teaching the subject.

PARTIES who contemplate visiting Europe will do well to correspond with Dr. E. Tourjee, Boston, the leader of so many pleasant trips over the ocean, who will send a descriptive pamphlet free to all applicants. The Christian Union says: "Dr. Tourjee's excursions are the most satisfactory, the best planned and conducted, and embrace a wider range of travel than any other of the excursion tours."