events of July were the meeting of the State Teachers' Association and the fourth annual assembly of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, both at Mt. Gretna. Our teachers deserve praise for the support they gave the former. The sessions of the latter should have been better attended by our educational classes. The work was of a very superior character. Jackson district is erecting a four-room building in Myerstown.

LYCOMING Supt. Becht: The High School of Jersey Shore borough graduated its first class under the new course of study. The graduates, ten in number, acquitted themselves in a manner creditable to the institution and themselves. Prof. Furst, who has charge of the school, is an earnest and conscientious worker, and has given his best efforts to building up a splendid system of schools. The semi-annual meeting of the County Directors' Association convened in the U. S. Court Room in Williamsport, June 1st. Two sessions were held. Dr. J. F. Fleming presided, and W. W. Champion acted as secretary. Among the questions discussed were the following: The Care of School Books and Apparatus; the Necessity of Supplying Supplementary Text Books; the Compulsory School Law. At the afternoon session Dr. N. C. Schaeffer delivered an interesting and instructive address to the directors assembled on "The Duties and Responsibilities of School Directors."

MIFFLIN Supt. Cooper: Our summer Normal class was held at Reedsville. Prof. W. W. Deatrick, of Kutztown Normal, and Prof. Kennedy, principal of the Lewistown public schools, did excellent work as instructors. My own work was without compensation. The class was a good one, consisting of 40 ladies and 42 gentlemen. At our annual examinations, 121 applicants were examined and 96 legal certificates issued. Prof. Auman, ex-Supt. of Juniata county, will teach at Burnham.

MONROE-Supt. Serfass: A revised course of studies has been adopted by the School Board of Stroudsburg. The grade of the grammar school has been raised and the following studies added to the High School: higher arithmetic, Greek or botany, Virgil, higher algebra, Xenophon's Anabasis or natural philosophy, and English literature. With these additional studies, together with that thoroughness characteristic of the past, the high school of Stroudsburg will rank among the most efficient of its class in the State.

NORTHAMPTON-Supt. Hoch: Eighteen examinations were held in the county, attended by 216 applicants, of whom 162 received certificates. All our schools are supplied with teachers.

NORTHUMBERLAND Supt. Shipman : There were 225 provisional certificates issued this year. The average ability of the applicants was above that of last year; im

methods and general training for schoolroom work. Lower Mahanoy, Jordan, and Washington have adopted a series of music books for use in the schools. Three of the Trevorton schools opened August 5, and all of the Mt. Carmel Township schools August 12th, for term of ten months. The two-room brick building at Montandon has had a new roof put on it and been otherwise repaired. Upper Augusta purchased Monroe's Reading Charts for each school. Cameron township placed a combined Arithmetic and Grammar chart in its schools. We have arranged to hold a series of seven teachers' meetings, most of them before schools open. The objects of these meetings are: 1. To try to arrive at some definite outline of work for the coming year; 2. To introduce pupil's monthly report cards, where not already in use; 3. To arrange for the holding of Local Institutes; 4. To advocate the teaching of local geography and local history.

PERRY-Supt. Arnold: Nineteen public examinations were held during June and July, and 155 provisional certificates issued. These, with the high grade certificates held by teachers in the county, are more than sufficient to fill our schools. The examinations were more thorough and searching than heretofore, and consequently the number of applicants rejected was greater than last year. It is hoped that our teaching force will thus be improved. A number of new school-houses are in course of erection. The building at Millerstown has been greatly improved and fully supplied with patent furniture. On account of the crowded condition of the schools, a two-room brick building will be erected at Marysville and one new school organized.

SNYDER-Supt. Bowersox; Eighty-nine teachers and prospective teachers attended our Normal School. Prof. I. L. Herman, Drs. A. E. Gobble, P. Hermand, and Prof. Wm. Noetling rendered excellent assistance. Instruction in method and government was our chief aim, and we believe that greater enthusiasm and love for the teacher's work, and skill in the profession, will be manifested by those who attended the sessions of the Normal than would have been the case otherwise. Prof. Schroyer has again been selected as Principal of the Selinsgrove schools. Arrangements are being made to revise the course of study in the Selinsgrove district, and it is to be hoped they will be successfully carried out, as great improvement can be made therein by the proper effort of teachers and directors.

TIOGA-Supt. Raesly: There has been a change of principals in some of the borough schools, as follows: Miss Laura Cass goes to Fall Brook, Mr. H. F. Walker to Blossburg, Mr. A. U. Deming to Covington, Mr. Hugh Sherwood to Mansfield, and Mr. George B. Strait to Knoxville. Prof. A. B. Hitchcock, who was for many years principal of the Knoxville schools, has quit teach

ing to engage in the insurance business. Mansfield will employ but two teachers this year, as all grades under what was known as the high school will be taught in the Model School department of the Normal School. During the summer new houses have been built in Delmar, Middlebury, and Rutland. There have been more applicants for schools than usual, which fact, in connection with the stringency of the times, has induced several districts to reduce salaries.

WESTMORELAND Supt. Ulerich: The total number of applicants for certificates was 835. Of this number we rejected 252. On the whole our teachers did much better work on examination this year than during the other two years of my term of office. This is easily explained from the fact that 96 per cent. of all persons examined attended school somewhere during the summer. About 150 of our teachers were in attendance at Normal schools of the State. teachers for the coming year have all been elected, and our number will be increased about 30 in the entire county. The prospects for a successful year are very encouraging.

The

FOSTER TWP.-The Board adopted one set of relief maps to be used at our District Institute, which will be held once a month. Five new outhouses have been built, and all the others repaired.

HAZLETON Supt. Harman: The Controllers have been spending money prudently but generously in repairs, books and apparatus. Each year of late finds us better equipped to do successful work.

HAZLE TWP. (Luzerne Co.)-Supt. Mulhall: A new two-room building has been completed on the Diamond Addition. Our schools opened August 19th. An increased attendance, especially in the primary grades, was noticeable. If the law enforcing the attendance of pupils who are now out of school goes into effect, it will certainly become a very difficult matter to accommodate all of them.

MIDDLETON Supt. Weber: Without enforcing the Compulsory Law we are necessitated to open two more schools for the accommodation of the pupils. Our enrollment the first week was 105 more than the previous year. Indications are favorable for a very successful year. Seven of the ten boys of the class of '95 are entering a Normal School or College this fall. One of the ten was buried last week, leaving nine, of whom seven will receive higher training. The Pollard Synthetic Reading and Spelling is adopted for use in our schools and a special teacher is employed to give the necessary instruction to our teachers.

NEWPORT Twp. (Luzerne Co.) Supt. Dewey: Several events of recent date show that the School Directors of this township are alive to the best interests of the schools. A two-room addition is being built at Alden and at Glen Lyon. Another room will be used in Wanamie as soon as it can be fitted

up.

46

At a recent meeting the Board ordered The School Journal for each member. At the next meeting, twenty-one copies were ordered for the teachers. Several sets of English Classics have been adopted as supplementary reading. A meeting of teachers was held on August 31, for re-organization of the Institute and for instructions in Drawing by the supervisor. The teachers have subscribed for Educational Foundations," and will use it as a basis for professional study during the year. They have also unanimously agreed to contribute at least twenty-five cents each towards the proposed Dr. Thomas H. Burrowes Memorial Fund. The Executive Committee reported the following programme for the next meeting, September 28th: 1. Devotional exercises; 2. "Educational Foundations;" 3. Instrumental solo by Miss Alice Richards; 4. Selection to be read from The Pennsylvania School Jonrnal by Mr. Houseknecht; 5. An Octet: Misses Stair, Davis, Keiser, Richards, and Messrs. Houseknecht, Stair, Evans, and Dewey; 6. Talk on some educational subject by Mr. Coxe.

SHENANDOAH - Supt. Whitaker: Our schools opened August 22d. The attendance so far has been the largest in our history. We have just opened a beautiful four-room building which cost upwards of $13,000. It is finely constructed and finished throughout, and has the Smead Heating and Ventilating System. The rooms are very convenient and attractive, and are supplied with good furniture, blackboard surface and apparatus. New furniture has been placed in one room in one of our old buildings, and in other rooms the desks have been repaired and varnished. Much work has been done during vacation on our buildings and grounds, and their condition as regards repairs and cleanliness is exellent. Our Board have renewed their subscription to The School Journal both for themselves and all our teachers. Since The Journal is being read by our School Directors and teachers they have a more intelligent knowledge of school matters, and take more interest in educational affairs both local and general.

STEELTON-Supt. McGinnes: Five new teachers were elected for the ensuing term, three of them to fill vacancies and the remainder to take charge of new positions. Of this number one is a college graduate, three are Normal School graduates, and one a graduate from the public schools. WILLIAMSPORT

Supt. Transeau: Our school term began August 26th, with an enrollment of 4,129 pupils. This is the largest enrollment we have ever had during the first week of school. We now have 103 teachers and three paid substitutes, whose entire time is to be spent in the schools, and when a vacancy occurs in the corps of teachers one of the three is to be elected to fill the vacancy. This arrangement will give us, in case of a vacancy, a teacher who has some experience and knowledge of teaching.

HE

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

ASSOCIATION.

second of the Gateways

dom is the ear. The organ or instrument of hearing is in all its most important parts so hidden within the head, that we can not perceive its construction by a mere external inspection. What in ordinary language we call the ear, is only the outer porch or entrance-vestibule of a curious series of intricate, winding passages which, like the lobbies of a great building, lead from the outer air into the inner chambers. Certain of those passages are full of air; others are full of liquid; and membranes are stretched like parchment curtains across the corridors at different places, which can be thrown into vibration, or made to tremble, as the head of a drum or the surface of a tambourine does when struck with a stick or the fingers. Between two of these parchment-like curtains a chain of very small bones extends, which serves to tighten or relax these membranes, and to communicate vibrations to them. In the innermost place of all, rows of fine threads, called nerves, stretch like the strings of a piano from the last points to which the tremblings or thrillings reach, and pass inwards to the brain. If these threads or nerves are destroyed, the power of hearing as infallibly departs as the power to give out sound is lost by a piano or violin when its strings are broken.

Without attempting to enter more mi

No. 5.

nutely into a description of the ear, it may now be stated that in order to produce sound, a solid, a liquid, or a gas, such as air, must in the first place be thrown into vibration. We have an example of a solid body giving a sound, when a bell produces a musical note on being struck; of a liquid, in the dash of a waterfall, or the breaking of the waves; and of air, in the firing of a cannon, or the blast of a trumpet. Sounds once produced travel along solid bodies, or through liquids, or through the air, the last being the great conveyor or conductor of sounds.

The human ear avails itself of all these modes of carrying sound; thus the walls of the skull, like the metal of a bell, convey sounds inwards to the nerves of hearing; whilst within the winding canals referred to is enclosed a volume of liquid, which pulsates and undulates as the sea does when struck by a paddle-wheel or the blade of an oar. Lastly, two chambers divided from each other by a membrane, the one leading to the external ear, the other opening into the mouth, are filled with air, which can be thrown into vibration. We may thus fitly compare the organ of hearing, considered as a whole, to a musical glass, i. e. a thin glass tumbler containing a little water. If the glass be struck a sound is emitted, during which not only the solid wall of

the tumbler, but the liquid in it, and the air above it, all tremble or vibrate together, and spread the sound. All this is occurring every moment in our ears; and as a final result of these complex thrillings, the nerves, which I likened to the piano strings, convey an impression inwards to the brain, and in consequence of this we hear.

We know far less, however, of the ear than of the eye. The eye is a single chamber open to the light, and we can see into it, and observe what happens there. But the ear is many-chambered, and its winding tunnels traversing the rock-like bones of the skull, are narrow, and hidden from us as the dungeons of a castle are; like which, also, they are totally dark. Thus much, however, we know, that it is in the innermost recesses of these unilluminated ivory vaults, that the mind is made conscious of sound. Into these gloomy cells, as into the bright chamber of the eye, the soul is ever passing and asking for news from the world without; and ever and anon, as of old in hidden subterranean caverns where men listened in silence and darkness to the utterance of oracles, reverberations echo along the resounding walls, and responses come to the waiting spirit, whilst the world lifts up its voice and speaks to the soul. The sound is that of a hushed voice, a low but clear whisper; for, as it is but a dim shadow of the outer world we see, so it is but a faint echo of the outer world we hear.

Such then, is the ear; and it is in some respects a more human organ than the eye, for it is the counterpart of the human voice; and it is a sorer affliction to be cut off from listening to the tongues of our fellow men, than it is to be blinded to the sights on which they gaze.

Those who are born or early become deaf, are far more isolated all their lives from their hearing neighbors, than the blind are from those who see. The blind as a class are lively and cheerful; the deaf are shy and melancholy, often morose and suspicious; and naturally so, for our interest in each other far exceeds, and ought to exceed, our interest in the world, and from all this human sympathy the deaf are almost totally cut off; whilst the blind, excused from many duties which the seeing only can discharge, are peculiarly free to indulge in gossip with their more favored neighbors, and can largely exchange opinions with them.

Moreover the blind can scarcely fail to find their own tastes suited in some portion of the talk of their neighbors, and may thus gratify their inclinations to a considerable extent. Whilst the deaf, unless they have a great aptitude for such occupations as employ the eye and the hand, are far more narrowed in their circle of studies, and much more solitary than the blind. No one has illustrated this so touchingly as Dr. Kitto in his striking book on the "Lost Senses," when referring to his never having heard the voices of his children: "If there be any one thing arising out of my condition which more than any other fills my heart with grief, it is this: it is to see their blessed lips in motion, and to hear them not; and to witness others moved to smiles and kisses by the sweet peculiarities of infantile speech which are incommunicable to me, and which pass by me like the idle wind."

And a similar difference appears, though to a less extent, between those who have lost sight and those who have lost hearing, after having enjoyed them. Milton, in one of the noblest passages of Paradise Lost, bewails his blindness; but in a passage still nobler, he rejoices at what is left to him. I need not quote these passages in full to you, or recall those two sonnets unsurpassed in our language, in the one of which he answers the question he has raised,

"Does God exact day labor, Light denied?" and in the other tells his friend that

though his eyes

"Their seeing have forgot;

Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear
Of sun, or moon, or star, throughout the year,
Or man or woman. Yet I argue not
Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward."

Contrast with Milton an equally great genius, Beethoven the musician, who in the prime of life had the misfortune to lose his hearing, and could find almost no alleviation of his misery in gratifying the senses which remained. Gloom, anguish, and often the blackest despair darkened all his later years onwards to the tomb. No doubt, as men they were very differently constituted. Milton was a man of serenely cheerful, versatile temperament, and of unusual mental culture, so that he had many things to fall back upon in the way of work and pleasure; and in spite of his blindness, he could