faulty paper might have been prevented, had the instructors of its writer given due attention to neatness and taste.

I have said enough to give a clew to my thought. The reader can easily make his own application to all departments of school work. The time must come when one essential qualification of the teacher will be the ability to do, and the purpose to require his pupils to do, all school work in a neat and tasteful manner, or, as the sailor would say, "snugly." The sooner that time comes, the better.

E. B.

WRITING IN THE EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS.

Writing as an art, and more especially as a department of education, is rapidly attaining an important position in this country. It is now admitted that it is scarcely less important than reading as a means of pursuing other branches of study as taught by the best teachers.

If this view of the subject be correct, we think examiners are almost universally at fault in not demanding of teachers an acquaintance with the principles of writing, and the most successful methods of presenting them, before granting certificates. Examiners who fail to ascertain, by means of suitable questions, whether an applicant possesses a knowledge of the principles of orthgraphy, reading, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and theory and practice of teaching, and the practical application of these principles, are pronounced unfit for the position they occupy.

It may be answered by some, that, when written answers are required, the penmanship of each candidate is to be judged by his manuscript. But we ask, Will this test be considered sufficient in the case of grammar or arithmetic? Are not teachers required to give rules and principles in arithmetic as well as to solve examples? Are they not required to give the rules of syntax as well as to use correct language? Are they not expected to be able to give general rules for spelling as well as to spell correctly? Are they not expected to be acquainted with the rules for emphasis, inflection, cultivation of the voice, etc., as well as to read correctly a paragraph in the presence of the examiners?

The point we would urge then is, that examiners are as much required to ascertain each candidate's knowledge of the princi

ples of good writing, pen-holding, movement, etc., as they are to ascertain his knowledge of the structure of his own language. We have called the attention of examiners to the foregoing thoughts, because we firmly believe that until the subject of writing is treated as the ordinary branches at county examinations, it will fail to command the consideration its practical importance demands.

L. S. T.

INTEMPERANCE.

In the Monthly for 1865, p. 202, I said:

"All war arouses the dormant propensities of humanity, and places the intellectual and moral powers in abeyance. War has ever had the same effect; for excitement of every character spreads among those liable to it. The present war will slay as many at home, as it will on the field or in the army. It will be noticed that there will be a large increase of the inmates of jails, alms-houses, and state prisons."

I need not do more than call attention to the startling increase of crime. All our papers come to us laden with its horrid details, not the half being told. Neither nced I argue the fact, that intemperance is the greatest moral evil which now curses our land.

My object, at present, is to point out the only sure remedy for this evil; or, rather, the sure means by which it must be removed. As it is a moral evil, it must be exterminated by moral power. And the most potent moral instrumentality which can be used, is found in the hands of our teachers. I refer to their influence over our youth. The moral power of our teachers is almost omnipotent, and every interest, present and future, demands that they use it wisely and earnestly to shield and save our youth from this terrible evil. It is not my design to point out the best methods of accomplishing this work. I only wish to call the attention of teachers to this great duty, and, in behalf of our youth, so fearfully exposed, to urge, with all earnestness, that it be faithfully performed.

To the general reader, let me say a word: Have you reflected seriously on the rapid increase of intemperance, and the consequent misery, sorrow, and crime? Have you instituted an inquiry as to how it is to be overcome? Have you ascertained what influences can be brought to bear against this evil?

A little careful thought may show us that the case is not entirely hopeless. We have an abundance of instrumentalities, if

we will only use them. We have our public schools and other institutions of learning. We have the Sabbath-school, reaching its millions of youth. We have the family and the pulpit. We have the religious press and a large portion of the secular press. We have all the educational journals of the land. And no country on the globe can boast a greater number of juvenile periodicals, or those of a purer and more high-toned character. What lack we yet? We need, 1. A full realization that the work must be done upon and through our youth. 2. A coöperative and combined effort on the part of parents, teachers, preachers, and editors, those who control the different instrumentalities named. 3. The blessing of God, that our labors be not in vain.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

J. H. L. S.

GENDER OF "THAT."

MR. EDITOR: Permit me to reply to the query of your correspondent "J. M. M." in the May MONTHLY, respecting the gender of "that" in the sentence, "We described the men and the customs that we saw." If by gender be meant a change of form in a word to point out the sex or no sex of the antecedent to which that word refers, such a distinction exists only in personal pronouns of the third person singular, He, She, It, and in the conjunctive (relative) pronoun Who, Which.

If the proposed sentence had run thus: "We described the men and customs that are to be found in the countries which we visited," that, representing a plural antecedent, is virtually plural, and therefore requires the verb of which it is the subject, to be plural also. But as nothing depends on the supposed gender of that in either sentence, I would ignore it as one of the many instances of the perverted application of the laws of inflected languages about agreement in gender, to an uninflected language like our own, in which, except in a very few instances, no such distinction exists. Case being in this, as in most cases, the name of an abstract relation, not of outward form, I would say that the pronoun "that" is in the objective case or relation in the first sentence, and in the subjective (nominative) in the second.

T. E. S.

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The articles in this Department have special interest to school officers. Communications from the State Commissioner of Common Schools and other school officers, are specially solicited. All articles not otherwise credited, are prepared by the editor.

DESIGNS FOR SCHOOL-HOUSES.

We are receiving many applications for designs for school-houses, but so far as buildings for graded schools are concerned, we can do no more than refer our correspondents to other parties for information. We have never made the study of school architecture a specialty, and, besides, we have not the time to execute the necessary drawings. The increasing demand for information respecting school-houses for country districts induces us to offer a few suggestions in the MONTHLY.

The grounds surrounding a country school-house should contain not less than half an acre—an acre is much better-and should be conveniently and pleasantly located. They should be enclosed with a neat and substantial fence, and made as beautiful and attractive as possible. The school-house should be situated a few yards from the front of the lot, and equally distant from the two sides, and its external appearance should be attractive. A close fence, extending from the centre of the rear of the house, should divide the back yard into separate play-grounds for the boys and girls. A substantial wood-house and other houses should be provided. The space in front should be laid out and ornamented with shade-trees and shrubbery. Shade-trees should also surround the play-grounds.

The engraving which is inserted in the front of this number, conveys a better idea of a country school-house and its surroundings than we can give in words. The engraving is found in Wickersham's School Economy, the insets having been kindly furnished us by Messrs. Lippincott & Co., the publishers of Prof. Wickersham's educational works. Instead of a portico extending the full width of the house, a neat porch, about one-third as wide, might be preferable. A school-house designed for a school taught by one teacher, should contain not less than eight hundred square feet, and if the school is large, it should contain from nine hundred to one thousand square feet. The rectangular form is best, the width being about two-thirds of the length. The ceiling should be not less than twelve feet high, and the windows should be provided with blinds or shutters, and should be so constructed as to admit of the easy lowering of the upper sash.

Every country school-house should contain, in addition to the main schoolroom, two smaller rooms for the pupils' hats, shawls, overcoats, umbrellas, dinner-baskets, etc., and for the use of the teacher for private interviews with pupils and visitors, and for purposes of discipline. These rooms should be well lighted, and they should be connected directly with the main room. There should also be an entry hall, which should be well supplied with good mats. There should be ample space in the main room for the stove and for recitation forms.

We give below a diagram representing the internal arrangements of a schoolhouse possessing these necessary features. It is similar, in many respects, to the diagram found in Wickersham's School Economy, p. 35:

Several advantages are secured by placing the teacher's desk in the front end of the school-room, the most important of which is the proper location of the stove. The best place for a stove in a school-room is near the door. The cool currents of air from the door are heated in passing near the stove, and the warm air is also carried into the most distant parts of the room, thus producing an equal temperature. The common notion that a stove should be placed near the centre of a school-room, is erroneous. Such a location forbids the proper arrangement of the seats; over-heats the pupils who sit near the stove; and fails to warm those who sit near the door.

The recitation seats are to be placed on the platform back of the pupils' desks, and also on the right and in front of the teacher's platform-the latter to be occupied by the smaller classes. It is well to have the larger classes in reading, spelling, etc., placed some distance from the teacher.

A sliding partition should be placed between the clothes-rooms and the schoolroom. This arrangement will provide additional room on public occasions, and will otherwise prove convenient.