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mind of William II. of Germany when he paid this homage the seventeenth-century king? The Thirty Years' War from which Germany suffered so much began with a religious constitutional question in Bohemia. It rapidly grew into a German war between the Emperor and the Catholic princes on the one side against the Protestant princes on the other. The other powers of Europe intervened, Spain on the side of the Emperor, and Denmark, Sweden, and finally France, on the Protestant side, and the war at last ended in 1648 after eight years of diplomacy at Münster and Osnaburg. It was probably to Christian IV.'s intervention as a Lutheran prince in this war, in which the Hohenzollerns, then Margraves of Brandenburg, took a successful part, that the Emperor referred in speaking of him as a hero. Led into war by promises of money from England which were not fulfilled, he was defeated at Lutter (1626), and was glad to save himself from actual loss by making peace in 1629. But he afterwards gave assistance to the more famous, and for a time more successful, "Protestant" hero, Gustav Adolf of Sweden.

SOME interesting particulars of the defence of Mafeking were recently mentioned by Major-General Baden-Powell. It seems that much was done by sheer bluff. Mines were laid, but instead of dynamite they were filled with sand. Sham signals and pretence at wire fences were also used, and orders were shouted through megaphones to imaginary relief forces. Military and naval history abounds with instances of small forces concealing their weakness by confidence, and adopting means to hide their real numbers. The "Birnam wood" that marched to Dunsinane against Macbeth is a well-known example in literature. But perhaps the most famous illustration of this method of fighting an enemy is that adopted by Admiral Duncan during the great naval mutiny of 1797. He was watching the Dutch fleet at Texel, then in alliance with France, when he was abandoned by all of his fleet except two or three ships. But by continuing to make signals to an imaginary fleet in the offing he frightened the Dutch from venturing out of harbour till his men had returned to their duty, and the subsequent victory off Camperdown made England safe again for the time, and raised its hero to the peerage.

TEST EXAMINATION PAPERS IN GEOGRAPHY.

London Matriculation.

(Candidates are to answer EIGHT questions, but no more.) (1) Explain briefly the geographical significance of the following:--The Pampean Sea of South America, The Rift Valleys of East Africa, The Atlantic Coastal Plain of North America, the Aral-Caspian Depression of Eurasia.

(2) In what parts of England and Wales are climatological and physiographical conditions most favourable for the cultivation of (a) wheat, (6) hops?

(3) Enumerate the causes that have led to the localisation of the industries of Sheffield, Middlesborough, Nottingham, Stroud, Northampton, Belfast.

(4) What is the nature of the climatic control of vegetation in (a) the llanos of the Orinoco, (b) the tundra of Eurasia, (c) the Gobi desert, (d) the basin of the Congo?

(5) Point out in what way, if any, the political importance of the following towns is based on physical advantages of situation:-Herat, Madrid, Montreal, Philadelphia, Calcutta.

(6) How do you account for the fact that the monsoon lands of Asia are amongst the most densely populated parts of the earth?

Explain the origin of the monsoon winds.

(7) Discuss the statement: "When it is 12 o'clock, mid-day, at Greenwich it is 12 o'clock at Plymouth, but 7 a.m. at New York."

(8) Write a short description of the Caledonian Canal, the Peak District, Strathclyde, Vale of White Horse, Bog of Allen. (9) Give an account of the Mediterranean Sea with special reference to the successive phases of its commercial develop

ment.

(10) Enumerate and, where you can, account for the conditions that prevent or retard the commercial development of Argentina, Rhodesia, Australia, Mesopotamia.

(11) Name the trans-continental railroads of the New World, and describe the regions served by one of them.

(12) On the accompanying map of Africa, insert and name the Atlas Mountains, Drakenberg Mountains, Mount Ruwenzori ; trace the courses of the Congo, Niger and Nile, and delimit their basins; insert the Tropic of Capricorn, locate the chief deserts, and mark the position of Delagoa Bay, Kano, Berbera, Port Elizabeth, Algiers, Suakin.

College of Preceptors. SECOND CLASS.

A. General. (Not more than THREE questions.) (1) "In all the continents the line of greatest elevation is placed out of the centre, on one of the sides, at unequal distances from the shores of the seas." Illustrate this statement, preferably by means of a sketch-map.

(2) Name some points (a) of resemblance, (b) of difference between the configurations of the Atlantic and Pacific.

(3) Explain these terms:-Atoll, lagoon, isotherm, savanna, artificial boundary, fiord, moraine.

(4) Give the names of the British possessions in Africa, with their capitals, and write a short account of the climate and productions of one of them.

B. United Kingdom. (Question 5 obligatory: answer not more than THREE others.)

(5) On the outline map of the United Kingdom mark the basins of the Thames, Clyde, Shannon. Indicate the districts of densest population, with their leading industries. Locate the four largest towns in each country. Name the largest islands and openings into the land.

(6) Why are the following places important :-Bristol, Aber. deen, Carlisle, Leith, Belfast, Dublin, Swansea ?

(7) Write an account of the distribution of rainfall in the United Kingdom.

(8) Name districts (one in each case) from which large quantities of (a) tea, (b) rice, (c) gold, (d) coffee, (e) tobacco, (f) currants, are sent to the United Kingdom.

(9) What parts of the United Kingdom are the chief centres for making (a) cotton, (b) steamships; growing (c) flax, (d) hops; mining (e) iron, (ƒ) lead; and for (1⁄2) sugarrefining.

(10) Draw a map of the Irish Sea, showing the chief steamship routes.

C. Physiography. (Question 5 obligatory: answer not more than THREE others.)

(5) On an outline map of the world locate (a) the chief deserts, (b) the course of one of the Tropics, (c) the largest forests, (d) the course of the Trade Winds.

(6) Explain some of the effects of rivers on the surface of the

land.

(7) What is the relation of mountains to rainfall? (8) What are the causes and effects of the monsoons?

(9) What are the chief conditions that determine the climate of a place?

(10) What do you know about the distribution of volcanoes?

THIRD CLASS.

(Question 1 obligatory: answer not more than FIVE others.) (1) On an outline-map of Great Britain, between the Humber and the Firth of Forth, trace the courses of the chief rivers, locate the seaports, and show the positions of :-Leeds, Lanark, Hexham, Falkirk.

(2) Explain these terms: right bank, source, basin, estuary, bed, used in connection with rivers.

(3) For what are the following places noted:-Plymouth, Paris, Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, St. Petersburg.

(4) Give the positions of the chief highland districts in Europe.

(5) Into what seas do the following rivers flow:-Rhone, Volga, Shannon, Tiber, Elbe, Loire?

(6) Why is cotton made in Lancashire, wool in Yorkshire, cutlery in Sheffield? In what parts of England is most wheat grown? Why?

(7) Make a sketch-map showing the positions of the moun. tain ranges in the United Kingdom.

(8) Why is it colder in winter than in summer?

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(1) On an outline map of India indicate the basins of the Ganges and the Indus, and trace the courses of the chief rivers in the two basins; mark the boundaries of the Deccan Plateau, and place dots with initial letters showing the positions of the following towns:-Madras, Haidarabad, Calicut, Agra, Patna, Darjiling, Goa, Trincomali, Singapore.

(2) Explain the causes of the monsoon winds of the Indian ocean, and give an account of their effect on the vegetation of India.

(3) Illustrate, from instances in both Italy and India, the climatological and physiographical conditions that determine the possibility of rice cultivation.

(4) Give reasons for the following:-(a) The wheat exports of Karachi ; (b) the teak exports of Madras; (c) the locale of the textile centres of Italy; (d) the unhealthiness of the Campagna. (5) Where are the following places? Account for their importance :-Bombay, Bulawayo, Brindisi, Buenos Ayres, Batum, Bushire, Bergen, Beira.

(6) Write a general description of the distribution of highlands and lowlands in North America.

(7) Whence do we derive our main supplies of :-rubber, silk, silver, furs, wheat? Explain the suitability of the respective sources of supply with regard to climate and soil.

(8) Enumerate the chief deserts of the earth and point out in tach case the controlling climatic force.

(9) Explain fully what is meant by local time.

JUNIOR.

(1) On an outline map of Ireland insert the rivers Shannon, Boyne, Blackwater; Loughs Erne, Corrib, Neagh; show the distribution of mountains, name the openings of the south-west coast and indicate the positions of Dublin, Birr, Sligo, Londonderry, Cork.

(2) In Lancashire there are more than 1,000 people per square mile; in Lanarkshire there are more than 1,200; in Louth about 200. How do you account for these differences? No. 54, VOL. 5.]

(3) Name some places in the United Kingdom where the following industries are carried on:-cotton, brewing, slate quarrying. Account for the location in each case.

(4) Draw a sketch-map to illustrate the railway communication between :-(a) Cardiff and Leeds; (b) London and Aberdeen; (c) Dublin and Queenstown.

Indicate also the chief steamship routes between England and France; Great Britain and the Baltic; Great Britain and Ireland.

(5) Explain and illustrate these terms:-tundra, hinterland, campos, glacier, volcano, delta.

(6) Write a short essay explaining your preference of one of the Colonies as a field for emigrants.

(7) From what countries do we obtain our chief supplies of gold, tea, bananas, tobacco, tin, teak, guano, sugar, silk,

cotton?

(8) Give reasons for :-(a) The great rainfall in the Amazon basin; (b) the desert condition of Central Australia; (c) the "extreme" climate of Central Russia; (d) the annual overflow of the Nile.

(9) What countries, &c., are crossed by (a) the Equator, (6) the meridian of Greenwich?

(10) Draw a sketch-map of the Danube basin or the Rhine basin; indicate the course of the water-parting in either case, and show the chief towns.

PRELIMINARY.

(1) On the outline map of Europe draw the following rivers and mountains:-Danube, Rhone, Rhine, Volga, Caucasus, Carpathians, Alps, Appenines, Scandinavian Mountains. Name the inland seas, and mark the position of Berlin, Constantinople, Dresden, Genoa, Hamburg, Lisbon, Moscow, Stockholm, Warsaw.

(2) Where in England and Wales are the following made:cannon, pens, boots and shoes, carpets, knives, paper? (3) Explain these terms and give examples :-strait, archipelago, isthmus, promontory, volcano.

(4) Describe a bicycle ride from York to London, mentioning the occupations of the people in the various counties, and the character of the surface you would pass over.

(5) What is the principal trade of each of the following ports: ---Cardiff, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Southampton?

(6) Draw a sketch-map showing the towns on the railway routes between London and Plymouth, and London and Manchester.

RECENT SCHOOL BOOKS AND APPARATUS.

Modern Languages.

A Selection of German Idioms and Proverbs. Compiled by Alfred Oswald. 127 pp. (Blackie.) 1s. 6d.—A convenient and neatly printed book of (a) idiomatic uses of (1) prepositions and adverbs, (2) other parts of speech, (3) particles, and (b) of proverbs, (1) German-English, and-which is hardly wanted(2) English-German. For the purposes of extending the vocabulary and for revision it will prove most acceptable; of course it makes no claim to be exhaustive. We have noticed a few slips: "Speak out!" is not necessarily "Lesen sie laut !" It should be "Gleich und gleich gesellt sich gern” (p. 95). "Lust und Liebe sind Fittige für grosse Thaten" (p. 57) is not a proverb, but a misquotation from Goethe's "Iphigenie."

T

A Practical German Composition. By Alfred Oswald. 135 pp. (Blackie.) 25.-Mr. Oswald first gives some thirty pages of "practical hints for translation," which will be found useful; and then a number of well-chosen passages for translation, in six parts, graduated according to difficulty. Occasionally the English reads a little awkwardly, e.g., "I saw her on the street." "I went with him to London till Thursday." "He lives in No. 17, King Street." "He fell soon asleep." "A few slices of ham and biscuit." There is a vocabulary to each exercise, in which a good deal of valuable information is given. The book is well printed, and the proof has been read with care. On p. 25, l. 18, read dauert for bedauert.

A. Darmesteter, A Historical French-Grammar. English Edition, by A. Hartog. Book II. Morphology. xviii. +238 pp. (Macmillan.) 35. 6d. This is a reprint, with certain corrections and additions, of part of the grammar published in 1899. Probably the chief reason why the "morphology" is issued in this form is the fact that the subject has been introduced into the programme of the Leaving Certificate Examination in Scotland; but many teachers in England also will be glad to have this section of the excellent handbook at a reasonable price.

Idiomatic Phrases (French-English). By Edward Latham. With a Preface by Francis Storr. 80 pp. (Sonnenschein.) The arrangement of this book is like that of Mr. PayenPayne's excellent volume. It contains, however, idiomatic rather than proverbial phrases, as Mr. Storr points out; a distinction, some might say, with very little difference. It certainly contains a large number of useful expressions. The renderings are mostly satisfactory, sometimes very neat; some. times a round-about phrase is used in place of a common expression. Thus instead of "to try to do an impossible thing," surely it would have been better to render rompre l'anguille au genou by "to make a rope of sand." For il en arrivera ce qu'il pourra an obvious rendering is "time will tell." The proof has not been read with sufficient care.

A. Daudet, La Belle Nivernaise. Edited by Frank W. Freeborn. 68 pp. (Ginn.) 15.-This carefully printed text of Daudet's popular tale is preceded by a short, but adequate biographical account of the author, and followed by a few pages of notes which give all necessary information, but do not make the text a peg for elementary grammar rules.

An Outline of French Literature.-By D. T. Holmes, B.A. ix + 164 pp. (Holden.) 25.-This outline is "founded on the Littérature française of Professor Meunier," a book which we have not seen. We cannot tell, therefore, how much credit is due to Mr. Holmes for this convenient hand-book; but we conclude that he has taken much of his matter straight from Professor Meunier's pages from the fact that his English often suggests French modes of expression; e.g., "the durable tradition of his able administration," "they lacked amplitude of inspiration," "the disputatious and susceptible Sorbonne," "he sallied forth in nomadic fashion," "his verse is well minted,” "an epoch of trouble and brutality." The criticisms are eminently sensible, and as a rule the relative importance of authors is well indicated. Montaigne, however, is badly treated, and only a few lines are devoted to Lesage; whereas Mme. de Maintenon gets a whole page. It is a pity that dates are not given more freely. We have noticed a few slips, e.g., Durandel for Durendal (p. 13); où for on (p. 36); Jodelle is generally included in the Pléiade (p. 46); Attile for Attila (p. 73). Can it be said that the Lettres Persanes are 66 so many pamphlets directed against Christianity?" Is it fair to say no more of the Nouvelle Héloïse than that it is "a story which could have originated only in an unhealthy and paradoxical brain?" What evidence is there for saying that printing was invented in 1436?

Classics.

Clytemnestra: A Tragedy. By Arnold F. Graves. With a preface by R. Y. Tyrrell, Litt. D., D.C.L. xix. + 121 pp. (Longmans.) 5s. net.-Mr. Graves's conception of Clytemnestra breaks away from tradition altogether. She is a more human, and we must add, a far weaker creature than the terrible and merciless creation of Aeschylus. The whole standpoint of the play is modern, and all its characters fall below the heroic level. This does not imply that it is an untrue conception; but we think, on the whole, that Aeschylus comes nearer to the barbaric age than Mr. Graves. In spite of this fault, which mars the play in our opinion, the play is written with simplicity and some skill in construction. It is interesting to read, and we are quite ready to believe that it will act.

Cornelius Nepos. Twenty Lives. Edited by J. E. Barss. xiv. +316 pp. (The Macmillan Company.) 5s.-The plan of this book is the same as that of Macmillan's Ovid. Two-thirds of the book is edited in the ordinary way; the last seven "Lives" being annotated with footnotes which give translations of the words which a boy at that stage would not be likely to know, or other help. These seven are intended for reading at sight. The Introduction contains references to standard "books for parallel reading"; and a very brief sketch of the history brings in the personages whose Lives follow. In the text, long quantities are marked; a doubtful advantage after the earliest stage. We think that this should be done only in the Grammar and the first reading-book. A number of illustrations are inset in the text; again a doubtful advantage, since it is difficult to keep the words in one's eye in reading. The notes are overloaded with references to grammars: if one thing is certain, it is that no boy will look them up. Some of them are too elementary; thus, "saltasse for saltavisse," p. 137, and the frequent explanations of " ablative of cause," "dative of end or purpose," and so forth. As a whole, we do not think these notes judicious. There are useful exercises for retranslation at the end.

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Chaucer's Prologue and Nun's Priest's Tale. By A. J. Wyatt. 175 PP. (W. B. Clive.) 2s. 6d. This is another of the Examination Manuals associated with the University Correspondence College. As such it presents all the familiar features of these books. It is concise to a marvel, and to a fault; the introduction, for instance, aims at imparting information in thirty-two pages which an ordinary student would not absorb from five times that number; nor would he probably know much more about Chaucer if he could repeat Mr. Wyatt's pages by heart than if he had never opened them. This volume will, however, fulfil an educational need, and so merits praise for the manner of its execution: much intelligence has been expended on the art of so putting things that a student shall derive the utmost possible benefit from the method employed.

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troduction or the notes to call for special comment, or indeed for special praise. To say that it is useful is to describe it most fully.

The Laureate Poetry Books. X., XI., XII., XIII., XIV., XV. (Arnold.) 2d. each.-These six booklets contain representative selections from Wordsworth, Longfellow, Scott, Milton, Keats, and Shelley, and the two Brownings. An account of each respective poet is appended to each. At the size and price could not, perhaps, be bettered. Serviceable, to say the least of it.

Select Poems of Tennyson. By H. B. George and W. H. Hadow. XXV. + 154 PP. (Macmillan.) 2s. 6d. These selections avoid all the more abstruse portions of Tennyson's work, and have been compiled with great discrimination. The introduction is if anything a little out of line with the selection; while excellent of its kind it cannot be considered as quite simple. It is a condensed but highly wrought estimate of Tennyson which makes very good reading even for students who have long passed the period of youth. The notes are as scholarly and fine as this series always presents.

English Grammar and Composition.

Senior Course of English Composition. By J. C. Nesfield. iv. +358 pp. (Macmillan.) 35. 6d. The course consists of two parts. The first hundred pages deal with figures of speech, perspicuity, simplicity, brevity, impressiveness, euphony, pictaresqueness, the qualities of composition. Each of these sections is provided with a large number of exercises, which may be worked orally. They have the merit-as indeed have all the exercises-of being actual extracts from journalism or literature. Part II. consists of a few pages dealing with the structure of sentences and paragraphs, followed by essays for reproduction, subjects of essays with notes, and more than thirty pages of "Subjects for Essays, without notes." The extracts are culled from various sources-we notice that one of the essays for reproduction is an article on Stamp Collecting (SCHOOL WORLD, August, 1901), and some are presumably original; all are admirably suitable for reproduction. The notes are, we think, too full, even for a senior course, but there can be no question as to the practical utility of the book in the hands of students preparing for the Senior Locals and examinations of a similar standard.

Principles of English Grammar. By Rev. A. Macrae. vii.+ 168 pp. (Relfe.) Is. 4d. According to the publishers' announcement, this book has been written "to remedy the deficiencies so often met with in the text-books on grammar now in the market." After careful study of it we have been unable to discover any feature that is likely to excite trepidation in the minds of the publishers of already well-known works. The author has written an interesting preface; for the rest, the book is neither better nor worse than the majority of books on English grammar.

A First English Grammar and Analysis. By W. Davidson nd J. C. Alcock. viii. 69 pp. (Allman.) 6d.—An elementary text-book of an old-fashioned type. It is printed in hold type, some of the characters being one-sixth of an inch high. It is fairly trustworthy, but we are not enamoured of the plan of the book, by which eight pages only are devoted to analysis, and those are quite at the end.

An English Grammar. By Rev. S. C. Tickell. 60 pp. (Newmann.) 25. We have already commented on Mr. Tickell's method of teaching analysis and parsing (THE SCHOOL WORLD, July, 1899).

Science and Technology.

Open-Air Studies in Bird Life: Sketches of British Birds in their Haunts. By Charles Dixon. xii. + 280 pp. (Griffin.) 75. 6d. Mr. Dixon is a well-known writer upon birds, and this book will add to his reputation. Following the plan adopted in the other volume of this popular series of “Open-Air Studies," the author takes in turn various haunts, and describes the ways of their feathered denizens. This method obviously lends itself to a discursive style, but it is one of the merits of the book that the importance of structural affinity, rather than of similarity of habit, is unobtrusively kept before the mind of the reader. A pleasantly personal note, and the frank heterodoxy of the author upon certain debatable points, add much to the interest of the narrative. The book is beautifully illustrated, chiefly by plates drawn by Mr. Charles Whymper. The coloured frontispiece is especially charming.

Nature Studies (Plant Life). By G. F. Scott Elliot. 352 pp. (Blackie.) 35. 6d. - This book must be welcomed as a decided acquisition to the literature of plant natural history as distinct from academic botany. It contains a store of interesting and, in many cases, out-of-the-way information, treated in a manner which the ordinary student will find no less novel than refreshing and suggestive. It also contains a number of excellent illustrations. It is to be regretted that the author did not more consistently carry out his intention, stated in the preface, of as far as possible doing without technical terms. Had he done so the book would have appealed to a much wider circle of readers. To those, however, who have even a slight know. ledge of botany it may be unreservedly recommended.

The Sciences. A Reading Book for Children. By Edward S. Holden. x. + 224 pp. (Ginn.) 2s. 6d. Mr. Holden has created a big brother Jack, who is a student at college and possessed of the pedagogic passion. He is at home for the holidays and has with him his young brother and sister, Tom and Agnes, and his young cousins, Fred and Mary. The four young people play in the morning and spend the afternoon acquiring useful information on scientific subjects from the clever Jack, who knows the leading principles of all the sciences. This book contains all the instructive conversations which occupied these holiday afternoons, illustrated with 198 well executed illustrations.

Mathematics.

A Treatise on Differential Equations. By A. R. Forsyth. Third Edition. xvi. + 512 pp. (Macmillan.) 14s. In this edition some substantial additions have been made; thus there is an outline of Frobenius's method for solving ordinary linear equations by series, and an introduction to Jacobi's theory of multipliers. Professor Forsyth's excellent treatise has now been translated into Italian as well as German.

viii.

232 pp.

Beginners' Algebra. By M. S. David. (Black.) 2s. 6d. -An excellent book, dealing with the right things in the right way. It has the merits of Prof. Chrystal's "Introduction to Algebra " (to which Mr. David refers with grateful appreciation), while its limited scope and clear style make it really suitable for beginners. This is certainly one of the best of the elementary text-books which have appeared lately, and contains all that should be learnt before going beyond quadratic equations in one variable.

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part of a school course more often than it does. This Itttle book provides teachers with excellent material; beside the proofs of the most indispensable propositions, there are directions for making cardboard models, and a very good and practical collection of examples.

Preliminary Tests in Geometry. Parts I. and II. By W. Slade. 28 pp. (Relse.) 6d. Twenty-four papers, each containing two practical exercises, a proposition of Euclid, and two or three deductions. This arrangement is convenient, and the exercises appear to be easy enough. Directions like "Write out Proposition 47" are open to objection; in other respects this is a useful compilation.

Miscellaneous.

The Municipalisation of Secondary Education. A plea for the proper Recognition of efficient Private Schools as part of the Educational System of the Country. By J. W. Richards. vi. + 58 pp. (Simpkin.) 6d. net. -The question as to what position should be assigned to efficient private schools in the national system of secondary education deserves careful consideration. Inefficient private schools cannot reasonably expect to survive the educational stock-taking which the immediate future has in store; but it is earnestly to be hoped that local education authorities in carrying out the second clause of the Act of 1902, will, when considering the educational needs of their areas, sympathetically inquire into the work, equipment and staff of the private schools, with a view to arrange for the continuance of good work where it is found to be going on. Mr. Richards urges the claims of efficient private schools, and though he often repeats himself and is sometimes unfair to the masters in public secondary schools, he has many good arguments which should be studied by all those whose duty it will be to administer last year's Act.

The Making of our Middle Schools. By Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown. xii.+547 PP. (Longmans.) 10s. 6d. net.

Educational literature in the United States is abundant, but so far it does not seem to have included a survey of the history of American secondary schools. Such a survey Dr. E. E. Brown, Professor of Education in the University of California, has made in this important volume. Not only has he welded together materials gathered from all sources-and the wealth of the materials is indicated in a copious bibliography-into a more or less continuous story, but he has also traced the connection between the various types of American schools and their foreign, mainly English and Scotch, prototypes. Although much of the detail in the accounts of the establishment of local schools is naturally deficient in interest to the English reader, he can follow with both interest and profit the main lines of development. Historically speaking, there have been three species of "middle schools," i.e., schools between the common or primary school and the universities. The first were the old colonial grammarschools, copied in aim and curriculum as well as in name from the English grammar-schools of the Renaissance. Their principal function was to train the directing classes, and especially the ministers of religion for "college," i.e., the universities. When the stratified colonial society was broken up in the eighteenth century, the "academy" type of institution found favour. It had neither the classical tradition nor the connection with college that the grammar school possessed. Finally, in the nineteenth century, when elementary education rose into prominence, and when the States began to frame State systems of education, the public high school, which has closer relations with the primary school than either of its predecessors, became the prevalent type. Professor Brown does not merely trace the history of the past. In four most suggestive chapters

at the end of the book he points out the tendencies which are now at work amid "the unrest in secondary education," and tries to estimate in a hopeful spirit the place and function of middle schools in a democracy such as is that of the United States. If it were only for the sake of the first and last chapters, there is no doubt the book should find a place in every library of education.

Arnold's Country-side Book II. 176 pp. 15. IV. 236 PP. Is. 4d. (Arnold.) 15. 6d. -This is a well-printed, nicely illustrated, and strongly bound series of reading books. The titles may, however, mislead some teachers. The first object of the books appears to be to provide interesting material for young pupils from which they may learn to read. The volumes are not devoted solely to subjects explaining the objects of the country-side and the seaside. Interspersed with the natural history lessons are fairy tales, short poems, and in the last book pieces of history and biography. The first four books should prove popular in rural schools, and the last obtain many readers in schools by the sea.

Readers. Book I. 144 pp. 1od.
Book III. 204 pp. Is. 2d. Book
Arnold's Seaside Reader.
264 pp.

Cape of Good Hope Teachers' Annual, 1903. By Geo. Gilchrist, assisted by the General Secretary of the South African Teachers' Association. xii. 227 pp. (Lancaster: Geo. Gilchrist.)-All teachers who meditate taking up teaching either in elementary or secondary schools in South Africa should study this useful annual. It contains all the available official information respecting South African schools, syllabuses of the different school examinations, and chapters on school law and infectious diseases, as well as much other important professional information.

The Calendar for the Year 1903 of the Royal University of Ireland. 519 pp. Supplement to the University Calendar of the Royal University of Ireland, 1903. 748 pp. (Dublin: Ponsonby & Gibbs.)-Students will find in this issue of the Calendar of the Royal Universlty for Ireland all the changes in the courses and in the regulations for the year 1904 duly set forth, as well as any other information they may require about the work of the university. The supplement contains all the questions set in the numerous examinations held in connection with the Royal University during the year 1902.

Memories Grave and Gay. Forty Years of School Inspection. By John Kerr. xiii. +371 pp. (Blackwood.) 2s. 6d.Dr. Kerr's reminiscences have now reached a third edition, which is evidence enough that many persons have found them interesting. We recommend inspectors who have not yet done so to read the book; it will give them many hints as to how to dispel the idea that the school inspector is of necessity an ogre. Teachers will find much useful guidance pleasantly presented and judiciously blended with high-class entertainment.

Reading Taught through Rhyme and Rhythm. By J. R. Blakiston, formerly Chief Inspector of Schools. xvi. + 80 pp. (Bell.) 8d. Here is another ingenious attempt to lessen the difficulties of the learner. It has sometimes come across us that it would be a very good thing to find out how long children do take in learning to read, and whether any of the devices now plentifully put forth are used with success. Mr. Blakiston tells us that his scheme of making great use of rhyme has been largely tried and has been very successful. It is an extension of the phonetic method, and naturally it disregards the spelling difficulty. If it be possible to save "nine to twelve months in a child's school life," then teachers would be well advised to add this musical use of rhyme to their ordinary methods. This little book will be found full of suggestion.

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