their respective measures, is the clear, calm, accurate vision and comprehension of all things as far as the finite mind can embrace them, each in its place, with its own characteristics upon it. It is almost prophetic from its knowledge of history; it is almost heart-searching from its knowledge of human nature; it has almost supernatural charity from its freedom from littleness and prejudice; it has almost the repose of faith, because nothing can startle it; it has almost the beauty and harmony of heavenly contemplation, so intimate is it with the eternal order of things and the music of the spheres."

Nor does this higher aim concern the advanced stages of educational work alone. It should be an inspiring force in the kindergarten no less than in the college; for the child, as well as the man, does not live by bread alone, unless, indeed, it be that "pan degli Angeli" whereof Dante tells us. 66 Those few," he says, "are blessed who sit at the board" where it is eaten. Let it be our task to make the few the many, and the largess such as knows no stint.-Dial.

TOO MANY INCOMPETENTS.

THE HE following is taken from a recent editorial in The Outlook, and is suggestive of the open door of opportunity for teachers: "Some one has well said that the tragedy of to-day is not the tragedy of the criminal, but of the incompetent; and not of the absolutely incompetent, but of the relatively incompetent. It is the tragedy of the man who has the best intentions and the best character and a fair equipment for his work, but who has not a thorough equipment, and who can not do the thing he starts to do in the best possible way.

"Society is crowded with half-equipped workers, with men and women who are honest and earnest, and not incapable, but who are not up to the level of the very best work. It is amazing, in view of the immense number of those who are seeking for positions, how few persons there are competent to fill any particular position. There is a host of thoroughly wellequipped people, but there seem to be, at the moment when they are needed, few perfectly equipped persons. When one has a piece of work to be done, it is easy to get it fairly well done, but it is difficult to get it thoroughly well done.

"If a board of trustees are looking for a president for a college, among the host of educated men it is amazing how very few names suggest themselves. In spite of the terrible need of work which weighs upon the masses of men, and in spite of the superior processes of education which are offered to the fortunate few, it remains true that society is filled with incapable or only partially trained people, and that when the thoroughly trained man woman, perfectly fitted to do a specific thing in a superior way, is needed, a candle must be lighted and a long search begun. The great lesson to be read to boys and girls to day is the need of some kind of absolute competency, some kind of ultimate superiority."

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WHAT THE PUBLIC EXPECTS.

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T is evident to any careful observer that the public schools are being tested today as never before. It is also evident that the test of thoroughness in bookknowledge is not the only test being applied. The higher idea of the province of the school to train boys and girls for real manhood and womanhood is being thought of by more people than formerly. When the people become satisfied that the public schools are to have nothing to do with the morals of the boys and girls, are not to be held responsible in this direction, then will begin the end of our American free school system.

The people are testing the schools more on this point now than on the point of scholarship. Is it true that the schools do not teach simple politeness? Are the products of the public schools rude, rowdyish, the boys unruly, the girls unladylike! Is it belittling the work of the teacher to expect that she give some attention to the manners of her pupils? Is it true that too little attention is given to the habits of life! Do the parents want their boys to use tobacco? Do they want them taught the injurious effects of this weed? Do they like to see the men teachers of our schools using tobacco? Does it advance the standing of the profession for teachers to use tobacco? Do the parents want their boys to use profane language? Will they be satisfied with mere formal teaching on this subject? Will they not expect the teachers to reach their boys and send them out in a measure free from such habits?

Do the parents and patrons expect their children to be taught the virtue and habit of speaking the truth? Will they expect their children to be taught the virtue and habit of absolute honesty? Will they expect their boys and girls to be taught the blessing of purity of speech, manner, and life? Will they expect their children taught in school the homely virtues of obedience, respect for their elders, respect for woman, honor of father and mother, industry, frugality, kindness to associates and to animals? Will they expect their children to be taught by their teachers, taught by example and pretext, to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquor, and to hate it? We do not believe there are very many communities where the great majority of the people do not have an idea that the schools are a failure unless they do accomplish these results. The measure of success of the teacher is character, influence, not examination credits.-N. W. Journal of Education.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.

dread of infection and of contagious disease is growing in the public mind, as laws are enacted in the interest of sanitation and health, and as 'those public officials who are entrusted with their enforcement direct attention to the dangers that threaten and risks that must be avoided. The question is asked, "What does the State Board of Health require of teachers, directors and pupils in case of the outbreak of a contagious disease?" The following, from their circular, is sent us by Dr. George G. Groff, of Bucknell University, who has for some years been an active member of the Board, and is chairman of the Committee on School Hygiene.

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There is no longer any doubt that the contagious diseases of childhood largely spread through the instrumentality of the schools. In cases of epidemics, it has been proven, time and time again, that if the schools are closed the epidemic dies out, or that mainly the children who attend the schools infected contract these diseases. Children who are suffering from consumption in a pronounced form should not be permitted to attend any school. In no case should either pupil or teacher spit upon the floor or into the hot-air registers.

All children should be vaccinated be

fore being admitted to school. All pupils or teachers suffering from diphtheria, scarlet fever, small-pox, varioloid, measles, or contagious diseases of the eye or skin, ought to be excluded from school until pronounced cured and innocuous to other children. When any of the above diseases are in a family, all the children of that family should be excluded from school so long as danger of communicating the disease exists. Teachers should be required to report all cases of contagious diseases in their schools to the Health Officer or Burgess. When any of the above diseases are epidemic in a community, the schools ought to be closed until the disease subsides. The books which have been used by sick children will be infected and should be burnt. The following statement of periods of infectiousness, taken from Abel's School Hygiene, may be of value:

Small-pox, six weeks from the commencement of the disease, if every scab has fallen off; chicken pox, three weeks from the commencement of the disease, if every scab has fallen off; scarlet fever, six weeks from the commencement of the disease, if the peeling has ceased and there is no sore nose; diphtheria, six weeks from the commencement of the disease, if sore throat and other signs of the disease have disappeared; measles, three weeks from the commencement of the disease, if all rash and the cough have ceased; mumps, three weeks from the commencement of the disease, if all swelling has subsided; typhus, four weeks from the commencement of the disease, if strength is re-established; typhoid, six weeks from the commencement of the disease, if strength is re-established; whooping cough, six weeks from the commencement of the disease, if all cough has ceased. No quarantine is necessary in case of exposure to typhoid fever. Under judicious treatment the period of infectiousness may be considerably shortened, but no child suffering as above should be admitted to any school after a shorter period of absence, and should be provided with a medical certificate that he or she is not liable to communicate the disease.

Teachers or children who have been exposed to infection from any of the following diseases may safely be re admitted to the school if they remain in good health (and have taken proper means for disinfection) after the following periods

of quarantine: Diphtheria, twelve days; scarlet fever, fourteen days; small-pox, eighteen days; measles, eighteen days; chicken-pox, eighteen days; mumps, twenty-four days; whooping cough, twenty-one days. Adults may be readmitted immediately if they disinfect their clothes and persons.

The following rules, formulated by the State Board of Health of Wisconsin, the State Board think, ought to prevail in this State:

1. No person infected with any contagious or infectious disease, dangerous to public health, shall be admitted into any public or private school within the jurisdiction of this board.

2. No parent, guardian, tutor or other person having charge or control of any child or children shall allow or permit any such child or children to go from any building infected with scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, small-pox or other contagious or infectious disease, dangerous to public health, to attend any public or private school within the jurisdiction of this board.

3. No parent, guardian, tutor or other person within the jurisdiction of this board having charge or control of any child or children shall allow or permit such child or children to go from any house or building infected with scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, small-pox or other contagious or infectious disease, to attend any public school, church, or place of amusement, or to travel in any public vehicle.

4. No person within the jurisdiction of this board shall be allowed or permitted to go from any house or building infected with scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, small-pox or other contagious diseases dangerous to the public health, to attend any public school, church or place of amusement, or to travel in any public vehicle.

The same Board makes the following suggestions to County Superintendents, to the end that the schools may be placed in good sanitary condition:

1. To clean and perfect all sources of water supply, and, where schools have no water supply of their own, to furnish such.

2. In the absence of a better system, to prepare the windows and transoms, so that ventilation can be had without causing drafts, and that all schools introduce improved ventilating systems as soon as possible.

3. To place buildings in good repair, with tight floors, good roofs and underpinnings.

4. To see that the grounds do not permit standing water, and to prepare gravel or board walks to keep the children's feet out of the mud.

5. Suitable closets for each of the sexes to be provided with every school-house. They should be situated so as to secure privacy,

be kept in good repair and cleaned and disinfected at least twice a month.

6. The rooms should be so warmed as to maintain an even temperature, and all be kept comfortable; stoves and furniture should be safe and in good order.

7. Rooms should not be overcrowded; not less than 15 square feet of floor space and 215 cubic feet of air space should ever be allowed to each pupil.

8. Blackboards should not be placed between windows; the surface should be dead black, not glossy.

9. The light should, if possible, be admitted from the rear, or rear and left of the pupil-never from the front.

io. Desks and seats of different heights should be furnished to suit the size and age of pupils.

TALKS FROM THE OUTSIDE.

BY MRS. S. R. WINCHell.

BELIEVE that every teacher should have morning talks with pupils in the school-room, just as much as every mother should have evening talks with her children in the home. It brings pupil and teacher, mother and child, into close relations with each other, and forms the basis of a friendship that is of the greatest benefit.

Now what to do in a very brief time is quite a problem. Sometimes subjects are suggested by every day occurrences, but if the talks are confined to such topics only, it frequently becomes unprofitable and uninteresting. These little talks should be one of the most profitable lessons of the day. Keep your eyes open when you read your educational journal, and you will be surprised to find how many useful subjects it contains. I do not believe much in "model lessons," but here is a suggestion for you to work out for yourselves.

"That which a gentleman ought to desire for his son, besides the fortune he leaves him, is: 1. Virtue; 2. Prudence; 3. Good manners; 4. Instruction."-Locke.

Ask some pupil, who can write or print well, to put this upon the blackboard where it can be seen from all parts of the room. Call the attention of the pupils to the written work. Ask them to read it silently, then call upon one pupil to read it, and afterwards have it read in concert. Find out if any one knows anything about the author. If you can talk about him intelligently and in an interesting way, do so; but if not, appoint some one

to find out as much about Locke as possible. One might give a little sketch of his life, another a list of his works.

Take up Virtue, Prudence, Good Manners and Instruction separately, giving out each subject the day before, that the pupils may be prepared to make most of the time. Vary the method by asking the whole room to look up the subject as a whole. At other times ask individuals, and again ask a pupil to look up and read all the definitions of the word, another to give his own idea of the meaning, or ask a pupil to write a short essay on the subject, or if the pupils are not far enough advanced for this, let him read some good selection on the subject. Ask if there are any proverbial expressions in connection with the subject. Ask for a quotation from the Bible, or from some well-known author. All of these suggestions can be applied to each subject.

The lesson on "Prudence" can be made to cultivate the observation. Ask as many of the pupils as possible in the limited time to give a good example of prudence that has come under his own observation. Do animals ever exhibit prudence? Give an example.

Suit the lesson on "Good Manners" to the needs of your school, so that it will have a personal meaning for every pupil. A week could be profitably spent on this subject, and then it would not be worn out.

Another could be spent on "Instruction." Doubtless before this you will have found out that children or young people have very little idea of accurate definition. The old-fashioned spelling and definition are too often left out, and nothing supplied in its place.

I desire to reiterate that these are only suggestions. Use the skeleton if you wish, but clothe it in your own ideas. If you spend time and thought on these exercises, your pupils will find them interesting, and tardy marks will decrease, for nearly every one will want to be there. Get your pupils to keep their ears and eyes open in their work and play and general reading, with reference to whatever subject is under discussion, and they will soon learn to observe, to retain and to apply illustrations from life as well as from books.

Learn to use your educational journal. Keep it on file in the school-room, and more than one when you can afford to take them, and teach your pupils to value the

science of teaching. Also let the whole school learn both prose and poetry. They will enjoy doing this, and after it is learned they will enjoy reciting it singly and in concert.

Pupils ought to be taught something outside of text-books, and almost the only opportunity to do this is in the morning and the Friday afternoon exercises. It is not necessary to give up the whole of the afternoon, but devote the last hour, if possible, to such work. The art of expression, the ability to address an audience, to walk properly and without self-consciousness to and from a platform, to be able to address the chairman of a meeting without awkwardness or embarrassment, are all things that can be taught with comparatively little effort in such exercises.

Let this afternoon be a rest from the usual routine. Wear a pretty dress yourself. Make the school-room as festive as possible, and the children will respond to the influence and you will be surprised to find that the Friday afternoons will help govern your school.-Normal Instructor.

CONQUESTS OF SILENCE.

WASHINGTON never made a speech. In the zenith of his fame he once attempted it, failed, and gave it up confused and abashed. In framing the Constitution of the United States the labor was almost wholly performed in committee of the whole, of which George Washington was, day after day, chairman, and he made but two speeches during the convention, of a very few words each, something like one of Grant's speeches. The convention, however, acknowledged the master spirit, and historians affirm that had it not been for his personal popularity and the thirty words of his first speech, pronouncing it the best that could be united upon, the constitution would have been rejected by the people. Thomas Jefferson never made a speech. He couldn't do it.

Napoleon, whose executive ability is almost without a parallel, said that his difficulty was in finding men of deeds rather than words. When asked how he maintained his influence over his superiors in age and experience when commanderin-chief of an army in Italy, he said, "By reserve." The greatness of a man is not measured by the length of his speeches. and their number.-Chicago Times.