At a teachers' examination in Blank Co. an applicant gave this answer : "Nature studies is what a child will naturally pick up."

Little things cast long shadows in the morning sunlight. In school, nothing can be little which influences the subsequent thought, feeling or action of the child.

M. R. A.

Charles Whibley, in the Nineteenth Century for October, makes a savage attack upon University Extension in England :

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Why should not the lecturer who promises a University educa= tion in five weeks, flourish as exuberantly as the quack who is prepared to cure a wooden leg with a pot of ointment?" M. R. A.

Is reading aloud to become one of the lost arts? Why is it that so few boys of fifteen can read English at sight? It is said that the King of Corea used to conduct his civilservice examinations in person; that when a candidate miscalled a word, he would extend one finger in a downward direction and thus keep count of the mistakes. If he had tried this method on some American boys he would have needed as many hands as Briareus. M. R. A.

What is it to be thorough? The child is thorough in his mental processes if he reasons correctly, even if he does not yet possess the introspective power to describe his own thought. Some of the "explanations" of arithmetical problems seem to have been devised in utter forgetfulness of this truth; they darken counsel by words which are, to the pupil at least, without knowledge. M. R. A.

If unification is a good thing in the primary grades, it might be well to use it in the high school and college. However thoroughly the pupils in the elementary classes have learned geography, they will forget it if general history is taught in the air and not on the earth; arithmetic, too, can be forgotten if no pains are taken in the algebra and geometry classes, to give the pupil arithmetical practice; and even neat writing and correct spelling can soon be lost if slovenly habits are tolerated in the upper classes. "Incidental" instruction in these branches should be continued through the Senior year and even in the Post-Graduate course. Let the professor who is above these things, at once summon Daedalus and secure a pair of wings. M. R. A.

China is giving the world an object - lesson. A nation needs something more than civil-service examination to fit it for winning victories, either in war or in peace. The true politician must feel as well as know. Any system of education which neglects the heart, which has no higher aim than selfish utility, hastens that moral torpor in a nation which is the sure sign of approaching death. M. R. A.

Teachers are often too fearful of discussing an old subject. The Report of the Committee of Ten has not yet been half learned. If it is to bear its full harvest the seed must be sown in every township and district throughout the whole country. It is not long since two teachers were looking at the daily program of an institute, when one of them said: "Report of the Committee of Ten? When was that appointed? Are you on it ?" "No," replied the other, "I guess it must have been appointed while we were away yesterday." Now, if we wish to make such a conversation impossible we must keep on discussing the Report; we must prove that its recommendations are designed to improve the character of the teaching in every sub-district. The walls of ignorance and prejudice are not to be battered down by a single shot from the largest gun; we need a fusilade from the smaller pieces.

A few years ago an editor boasted that he would write a thousand

articles on one subject; he would not withdraw from the battle until the victory was won. Keep up the discussion. The Report is neither infallible nor invulnerable, but it is full of excellent suggestions, many of which are yet new to thousands of teachers. M. R. A.

Glibness is not always a sign of true knowledge, or even of good training. Sometimes the answer which costs delay and hesitation, is the one which reveals true mental power. Indeed the ideal question is the one which demands of the learner a new adjustment of thoughts, a thinking out of the answer. If we ask a pupil, "How many brick houses are there on the street between your home and the schoolhouse?" his delay in answering would reveal, not his ignorance of the subject, but his real knowledge.

M. R. A.

It has been suggested that the office of tithing-man should be revived to enforce order in a few Sunday schools, Our pity for the degraded should not make us forget that our duty is to elevate their sense of right, rather than to lower our own standards. It is not probable that a boy is improved either morally or spiritually when his outrages are tolerated week after week, merely for the sake of keeping him. in school. Our Lord was merciful and forgiving, but He drove from the temple those who disturbed the worship.

M. R. A.

State Commissioner Corson. The announcement here of the reelection of Hon. O. T. Corson to the office of State Commissioner of Common Schools is not news to any of the readers of the MONTHLY. Doubtless, many of them had been apprised of that fact before retiring on the night of November 6.

seems to have been at the front of the great land-slide, his plurality being nearly 700 greater than any other on the ticket, and the greatest plurality by which any state officer in Ohio was ever elected. He is the third incumbent of the office to receive re-election, Anson Smythe and John A. Norris being the other two.

Mr. Corson is to be congratulated, but not more than the friends of popular education in Ohio. His faithfulness and efficiency in the office are universally recognized.

Practical Methods.

How often we hear the expression, "That plan will not do in my grade," or "That is not practicable in the ungraded school." Good teaching in any kind of school has its useful lesson for the thoughtful observer. One of the best highschool teachers in this State used to listen intently to discussions on primary methods. She would say, "I am always interested in good teaching, wherever I find it." One of the most helpful hints for the management of an advanced German class, I received lately by observing the work of a teacher in the lowest class of a primary school. All methods are useless in the hands of the mere imitator; they can never be useful to us until we think them into our own. M. R. A.

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The public school of Beverly, Ohio, stands in the midst of fruitful fields and gardens, but there is no fence about the play-ground. fence is an emblem of authorityinfinitely better than anarchy-but happy is the school where respect for right is so strong in the hearts of the children that no such barrier is needed to keep them within just limits. Where the national flag that floats over the public school is made to teach its true lesson of liberty secured by law, there is no need of high walls to screen that school from public gaze, nor of strong fences to restrain its pupils. Law rules in the hearts and thus

proves stronger than physical force. The latter is sometimes indispensable, but that method of discipline which brings it into daily requisition is not the kind that will make useful American citizens. M. R. A.

Magazine Clubs.

This is the time for teachers to unite and secure good current literature at a moderate expense. Each member of a club, for the price of one magazine, can read what he wishes from a large number. Thus the teacher can see educational topics discussed from many points of view. Dark places in history. are receiving fresh light from year to year, pen and pencil pictures bring the farthest lands to our libraries, and every month the journals of science come laden with fresh spoils from a newly discovered world. M. R. A. P. S.-Of course, each Ohio teacher will want his own copy of the OHIO EDUCATIONAL MONTHLY. EDITOR.

Artificial Incentives. There is something pathetic in the words which our dear old friend, Dr. Hancock, wrote when he was spending a year in retirement and study. "I do some more reading, but not so much more as I had expected." Most men do their best work under pressure; if they know they are expected to discuss a certain question at a fixed date they prepare for it. If they meet regularly in a club or a class they find time for reading and study on many

a topic which would have been neglected had no "artificial" incentive in the form of a certain date been presented. Even the best pupil will do better work, because he knows that searching questions will soon test the thoroughness of his preparation. M. R. A.

Religion and Politics. "Avoid Religion and Politics in your teaching of history," says an institute conductor in Colorado. And how much of history would you then have left? The advice is not good and should not be followed. There are far too many teachers of neuter gender in both sexes. A teacher should never be a fencerider. Where such teachers are, the fences should be made of barbed wire. It was not creditable to an Ohio superintendent to be able to say, "Nobody knows how I vote." A teacher should stand for something more than a cipher. He should be a positive character. His convictions and his actions should count for something in both politics and religion.

A teacher should belong to a political party. He should attend its caucuses and vote at the elections, always exercising fearlessly his right to scratch the ticket when his party puts up corrupt or unsafe men. A man of sense always has greater tolerance and higher respect for a man of upright life in an opposite party, who in good spirit speaks and acts his convictions, than for

the man who either has no convictions or has not the courage to let them be known.

A teacher should have decided religious convictions, and he should belong to the church with which he is most in accord, living in its communion and advancing its interests to the extent of his ability and opportunity. And he can do all this without being offensively partisan or narrowly sectarian. In his school, in his teaching, and everywhere and always, he should be tolerant and charitable toward those whose political and religious opinions differ from his own, and he should cultivate in his pupils the same tolerant and charitable spirit.

In teaching history, it should be the aim to follow the truth, with the least possible bias, wherever it may lead. An increase of the spirit of candor and fairness should be one of the results of the study of history. History is studied to little purpose when the student can see no good in the opposite party, and nothing else in his own.

Annual Meeting of the Central Ohio Teachers' Association.

The annual meeting of the Central Ohio Teachers' Association was held in High School Hall at Dayton, Nov. 9 and 10.

In the inaugural address of the President, he told us that this Association is next to the largest in the United States in membership,something that we came near infer

ring from the crowds of teachers arriving on Friday morning trains. Teachers had also reached the city the evening before, as one great attraction was the opportunity to visit the Dayton schools. The rainy weather prevented the teachers from visiting many of the outlying districts, consequently the High School and the new Central Building were thronged with visitors, and many complimentary remarks were made upon the fine new buildings as well as upon the good schools.

Mr. A. E. Taylor, chairman of the Executive Committee, called the meeting to order at 1:30 p. m., Friday. Music was the first thing on the program. This music was fur

nished at the day sessions by the Normal School, the High School, and Miss Klugel's Sixth Grade Class, and was very enjoyable, while the popular Schubert Glee Club, of Dayton, delighted all listeners at the evening session.

The inaugural address of the President, Supt. J. A. Shawan, of Columbus, was earnest, eloquent, and full of common sense. The main points discussed in it were, why we educate, the kindergarten, the manual training school, the proper enforcement of the compulsary school law, and free text-books. It will be very difficult in a brief article to do justice to the various papers delivered at this Association. Summed up, Mr. Shawan's arguments were that as we educate to make good citizens,-good men and