the teacher should carefully keep a memorandum of the lessons given, and of the points brought out, that he may thus know the exact point at which to begin any new lesson. Unless some such memorandum be kept, there will be little likelihood of the successive lessons fitting into each other, and progress will be uncertain and unsatisfactory. To enable the teacher to ascertain where, in any given lesson, he ought to begin, he should preserve carefully the notes and heads of the lessons which he prepares for his own use previous to coming to the class.

9. Having thus selected the materials for his lesson, the teacher's next duty is to arrange them in the order in which he wishes to present them to his scholars. There is no stereotyped method of arrangement; nor can any models be presented which the teacher can, in all cases, implicitly follow. He must have the subject in all its bearings clearly mapped out in his own mind; and must determine on treating it in some given order; but the method of treatment will vary with the varying subjects. To adopt a plan which must be rigidly adhered to throughout, will be productive of as much harm as good. Many suggestions will be made by the pupils, as the lesson proceeds, and it is essential to success that the teacher be able to catch up these suggestions, and work them in to the lesson naturally and without effort. The chief thing to be attended to is that the teacher have some definite end in view in giving the lesson; for, when this is the case, he can intuitively turn to advantage every hint which occurs in the course of it. Where he adheres too rigidly to some one mode of arrangement, he may be able to see straight before him, but will miss many of the beauties which adorn the bye-paths. If, on the other hand, he has no definite end in view, he will be apt to linger altogether upon the various paths which cross the main road, and will thus never arrive at his destination. In all lessons he must commence with what the children know. Where he has to lay a foundation for the lesson, he ought to commence with that which possesses most interest, and makes the deepest impression, and thence proceed to what is less interesting, but, it may be, equally valuable. In giving lessons upon animals, the teacher may commence with the structure, and thence infer the habits and uses; or he may commence with the habits and uses, and thence infer the structure. As the structure of such domestic animals as the cow, the horse, &c., is well known to children, we would commence at this point in lessons on these animals. In lessons, however, on animals of the structure and habits of which the children were equally ignorant, we would prefer beginning with the latter, inasmuch as we could render such instruction very inter

esting by the introduction of anecdotes, &c. Having thus laid the foundation, the pupils would follow with interest that part of the lesson which bore on the structure. In lessons on science and common things, the analytic or synthetic methods may be adopted, according as the teacher finds the one or the other more suitable. Thus in a lesson on "Smoke," we might commence with the smoke as it is seen issuing from the chimney, and trace its history backwards until we reached its cause. In a lesson on the "Winds," on the other hand, we might commence with the causes, and follow these out to their effects. In many subjects, especially those involving important discoveries and inventions, we might adopt what has been termed the Genetic method—that is, carry back our pupils to the very first steps of the discovery or the invention, and lead them gradually onwards to the present time. These hints, combined with the specimens we shall give, may be of some service to the young teacher in the matter of arrangements.

10. To assist the memory, and to make sure of due preparation, the teacher ought to commit to writing the leading points in each lesson. These "Notes of Lessons," as they are termed, are liable to be much abused; and we must be cautious in our recommendation of them. Sometimes the teacher writes out a series of questions and answers, and comes before his class in the expectation that the answers given by the pupils will correspond to those he has written. This seldom, if ever, happens; and accordingly the master, not receiving the answer he looked for, is thrown off his guard and is apt to become confused. Others again write out the substance of the whole lesson, which is of service in so far as it gives a mastery of the subject which nothing but writing can bestow. This plan, in the case of every lesson, entails an immense amount of labor, and, where the master has many duties to attend to, can not be well adopted. We would advise the teacher first to determine the leading points which he desires to bring before his pupils, and to write these down as the main stays of the lesson. He should next proceed to take up each part in detailto reflect upon the method he would adopt in illustrating it and making it clear to his pupils, and thereafter commit to writing the leading thoughts under each division. He would thus have an abstract of the lesson in the order in which it was thought out, and a glance at the abstract would bring the whole vividly before him. For convenience in reference, he should next arrange the notes in such a way that, in the margin he would have the leading heads of the lesson, and in the remainder of the page those hints, illustrations and suggestions which presented themselves to his mind in the course of

preparation. Should he desire to write out the notes in full, this could be easily done. In the actual business of teaching the teacher should trust to his notes as little as possible. The heads of the lesson should be amply sufficient to guide him to the whole. The best notes are a full and thorough understanding of the subject, without which, indeed, all the notes in the world are but so much waste paper.

11. In conducting these oral lessons, it must be borne in mind that both master and scholars should bear their respective shares of the work. Any approach to the style of the pure lecture is to be deprecated, inasmuch as it encourages idleness in the pupils, and tends to render the master contented with giving information, without taking any precautions to ascertain if the information has been received. The master's part in the work is to have the particular subject in hand thoroughly got up, to be well acquainted with it in all its bearings and connections, and to have the various parts of it arranged in logical order, so that, when put together, they may form a connected whole. When he has all this ready, he introduces the subject to the notice of his pupils, and by means of questions, ellipses, suggestions and illustrations, he aids them to reason out consequences from the premises which he supplies. Oral instruction thus assumes the form of a conversation, in which the master acts the part of guide, while the minds of the pupils are constantly employed in making what to them amounts almost to new discoveries. This must never be lost sight of, because the tendency to lecture instead of train the scholars is naturally strong. In school, the lecture is comparatively useless. In its own place, and among those whose minds are sufficiently developed to follow a long train of reasoning, it may be turned to high account; but with pupils of the age ordinarily found in our elementary schools, the ability to listen to or comprehend a lengthened discourse has not been acquired. The master, accordingly, must supply his pupils simply with the facts on which he intends his reasoning to be based, and must lead them to draw the inferences from these facts. For this purpose he must make large use of analogy and illustration. Whenever a term is employed with which the pupils are not familiar, it must be clearly explained, and in the case of illustrations, he must always employ a known thing to illustrate an unknown. Unless this be attended to, no real progress can be made. The illustration must, in all cases, be from a familiar subject to one which is not so familiar. Thus, to illustrate the fact that air exerts a pressure, the case of the boy's sucker may be employed. This is a thing with which children are generally well acquainted, and the introduction of such an illustration will give the lesson a vividness and a naturalness, which it

might not otherwise possess. Analogies, in like manner, should be real and not apparent. Thus, in conducting a lesson on the circulation of the blood, recourse may be had for illustration to the mode by which a town is supplied with water. We have, in both cases, the great central reservoir, constantly sending off a fresh supply of the precious fluid; and in both we have the means of conveying away the fluid when it has served its purpose. The teacher should constantly endeavor to set before his pupils a distinct mental picture of the subject of which he treats; and, for this purpose, should press into his service every possible aid. Illustrations, analogies, pictures, drawings on the blackboard, &c., should be all employed to render the lesson graphic and interesting; for, unless it be made interesting and lifelike, it will assuredly be a failure. While, therefore, in conducting any lesson, the teacher must attend to his manner, must modulate aright the tones of his voice, and must use appropriate gestures, he must not forget that all these things are but means to an end; and that, while in these respects the lesson may be faultless, it may still fail in making any impression on the scholars, simply because it was not interesting to them.

12. The remark with which we concluded last paragraph, furnishes one of the test which the teacher should employ in judging of the success with which he has conducted any lesson. In ordinary circumstances the teacher has nothing to guide him in this respect but the effect which the lesson is seen to produce. But the very fact of his isolation renders it incumbent on the conscientious teacher to adopt tests, whereby he may judge of the practical success of his teaching. In oral lessons, the life and interest displayed by the pupils will generally be a sure index to the ability and skill, or the reverse, with which the master conducts the lesson. Whenever, accordingly, he finds the pupils listless, dull, and restless, he may rest assured that he has failed to secure their interest, which is the first requisite in all teaching. After every oral lesson he should ask himself, not what stores of information have I poured out since the lesson began, but how much of that information have the children received? Let him adopt it as a maxim that a lesson has never been thoroughly given until it has been received. In addition to the test of which we have spoken, the master should devote a few minutes at the close of each lesson to the questioning of individuals on the leading points brought out; occasionally, also, the pupils may be required to write out the substance of the lesson, an exercise which will at once show how much of it has been received, and to what extent it has been understood.

13. NOTES OF LESSONS.-FIRST STAGE.

Example I.-The Cow.

Introduce the subject in a simple, natural way—Ask what the children take along with their porridge-milk. Whence do we obtain the milk-—from the cow. Where will the cow generally be seen-in the fields. What doing-eating grass. What does the cow generally live upon? Notice the different colors of the animal; and see that they know what each color is like-some are white, some black, some spotted, and so on. What has the cow, of which this is a picture, got upon her head? horns. Have all cows horns? Of what use are the horns to the cow? How does the dog defend himself? the horse? the cat? &c. What is the size of the cow? Point out some object in the room about the same height, the same length. What do you call the young of the cow-a calf. You have said that we obtain milk from the cow. Is the cow of When the cow is killed, what do we do with call the cow's flesh, when she is killed? beef. or-beef? In the flesher's, or in the butcher's? do you wear on your feet to keep them warm? shoes. the shoemaker. What does he make them of? leather. leather? What is it made of? Notice in the same way the uses to which the horns, the hair, the milk, &c., are put. Such a lesson as the foregoing exercises simply the observation of the children, and gives them correct terms in which to express their ideas.

any other use?

her flesh? eat it. What do you
Where do you buy cow's flesh
Is the skin of any use? What
Who makes the shoes?
Where does he get the

Example II-A fire.

Where do you find fires generally placed? in the grate. (In a country district, in which there may be few grates, a different answer would be given.) What is the fire made of? of coals, of sticks, or peats, as the case may be. Did you ever see any one putting on a fire? What did they do first? Were the coals placed exactly at the bottom? What was placed below them? Why were the sticks placed below? Were the sticks placed flat on the grate? How were they placed? slanting. Why? After the sticks were laid in, what was next done? Were the coals thrown in or laid in? What would have happened to the sticks if the coals had been thrown in? What kind of coal were placed first upon the sticks? Why small pieces, and not large? Where was the fire applied? What did the sticks then begin to do? to burn. And what did this do to the coals? It kindled them. What did you see rising from the coals? Smoke. And what became of the smoke? It went up the chimney. What then is the use of a chimney? To carry away the smoke. If there were no chimney, where would the smoke go? It would fill the room. And how would you feel when the smoke filled the room? Sore, uncomfortable, uneasy, unpleasant. It would not be―nice, or—pleasant, to sit in a room filled-with smoke. Is the fire of any use? It warms us. Yes, it warms you, and makes the room-warm. What would the fire do, if you went too near it? It would burn us. Little children should never meddle with-the fire; they should always keep away from it. Various other uses might be pointed out, and other simple lessons drawn. At a somewhat more advanced stage, the most economical way of making or of kindling a fire might be pointed out, and thus even to young children might be taught the science of common things.