""We have not the strength of man, returned the mother, and I am sometimes in doubt whether we have the subtilty; and the vultures would seldom feed upon his flesh, had not nature, that devoted him to our uses, infused into him a strange ferocity, which I never observed in any other creature that feeds upon the earth. Two herds of men will often meet and shake the earth with noise, and fill the air with fire. When you hear a noise and see fire, with flashes along the ground, hasten to the place with your swiftest wing; for men are surely destroy; ing one another; you will then find the ground smoking with blood, and covered with carcasses, of which many are dismembered and mangled for the convenience of the vultures.' ""But when men have killed their prey,' said the pupils, 'why do they not eat it? When the wolf has killed a sheep, he suffers not the vulture to touch it till he is satisfied himself. Is not man another kind of wolf?' "Man,' said the mother, 'is the only beast who kills that which he does not devour; and this quality makes him so much a benefactor to our species.' "If man kill our prey, and lay it in our way,' said the young ones, 'what need shall we have of laboring for it ourselves?" "Because man will sometimes,' replied the mother, 'remain for a long time quiet in his den. The old vultures will tell you when you are to watch his motions. When you see men in great numbers moving close together like a flock of storks, you may conclude that they are hunting, and that you will soon revel in human blood.' "But still,' said the young one, 'I would glad. ly know the reason of this mutual slaughter. I 'could never kill what I could not eat.' FECUNDITY OF PLANTS. THE rapidity with which individual species have the power of multiplying their numbers, both in the animal and vegetable world, is well worthy of observation. "During the past season a single grain of potato oats, on the lands of the Rev. Mr. Mills, Ballywillan, near Coleraine, Ireland, produced thirty-two stalks, all growing from the same root, and containing in all nearly 5,000 grains of corn." If each of these 5,000 grains were, in the ensuing year, endued with the same power of fecundity as the parent seed, 25,000,000 grains would be produced; and these multiplying once again, in the same ratio, would yield a harvest of oats which would amount to nearly 30,000 quarters. But though this be a remarkable instance of fruitfulness; there are cases on record which af ford still greater evidence of the prolific properties of the grain-bearing plants. Of these, several examples are to be found in the volume on "Vegetable Substances used for the Food of man." We select the following quotation from Sir Kenelm Digby, who asserted, in 1660, that "there was in the possession of the fathers of the Christian Doctrine, at Paris, a plant of barley which they at that time kept as a curiosity, and which consisted of 249 stalks, springing from one root or grain, and in which they counted above 11,000 grains or seeds of barley." In the same volume there is another well au thenticated fact relative to the power of increase plant were put into the earth, and again this second produce were made to yield a harvest, and so on, in a very few years the entire surface of the earth would be too limited for the sowing of the seed thus abundantly supplied. The hyoscyamus, or henbane, which, of all known plants, produces the greatest number of seeds, would for this purpose require no more than four years. According to some experiments the hyoscyamus produces more than 50,000 seeds; but assuming the number to be only 10,000, the seeds would amount, at the fourth crop, to 10,000,000,000,000,000, and as the quantity of solid land on the surface of the globe is calculated to be about 1,400,350,599,014,400 square feet, it follows that each square foot must contain seven plants, and therefore the whole earth would be insufficient to contain the produce of a single hyoscyamus at the end of the fourth year. 'My child,' said the mother, 'this is a quesThe seeds of many kinds of vegetables are so tion which I cannot answer, though I am reck-numerous that, if the whole produce of a single oned the most subtle bird of the monntain. When I was young, I used frequently to visit the eyrie of an old vulture, who dwelt upon the Carpathian rocks; he had many observations; he knew the places that afforded prey round his habitation, as far in every direction as the strongest wing can fly between the rising and setting of the summer sun; he had fed year after year on the entrails of men. His opinion was, that men had only the appearance of animal life, being really vegetables, with a power of motion; and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the storm, that swine may fatten upon the fallen acorns, so men are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against another, till they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed. Others think they have observed something of contrivance and policy among these mischievious beings; and those that hover more closely round them, pretend that there is, in every herd, one that gives directions to the rest, and seems to be more eminently delighted with a wide carnage. What it is that entitles him to such pre-eminence we know not; he is seldom the biggest or the swiftest; but he shows, by his eagerness and diligence, that he is, more than any of the others, a friend to the vulture.'' COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS. County superintendents will please forward promptly the names, towns, and post office address, of the newly elected town superintendents, as directed by Col. Young's circular. VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS, PUBLISHED BY THOMAS COWPERTHWAIT & CO., And for sale by the Booksellers generally throughout the United States. MITCHELL'S AMERICAN SYSTEM OF STANDARD | gether with the eleventh and twelfth. The errors by SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, In a series; adapted to the progressively developing capacities of youth. MITCHELL'S PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY, Containing 120 engravings and 14 colored maps, signed as a first book of geography for children. MITCHELL'S SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, which Theon and others have long vitiated these books, are corrected, and some of Euclid's demonstrations are restored. By Robert Simson, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in the University of Glasgow ; with elede-ments of plane and spherical trigonometry. Accompanied with an atlas containing eighteen maps, engraved from the original drawings, and executed in a clear and distinct manner. MITCHELL'S ATLAS OF OUTLINE MAPS, (An accompaniment to the School Atlas,) Possessing all the advantages to be derived from map drawing, with a great saving of time. MITCHELL'S GEOGRAPHICAL READER, GUY'S ASTRONOMY, AND KEITH ON THE GLOBES. GOLDSMITH'S NATURAL HISTORY, Abridged for the use of schools, by Mrs. Pilkington ; revised and corrected by a Teacher of Philadelphia, with questions, and upwards of 100 engravings. LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PATRICK HENRY, Py William Wirt; revised edition, with headings to class book for academies and schools. Designed as a reading book for classes using the each chapter, and notes, rendering it suitable for a School Geography, or pupils farther advanced. MITCHELL'S KEY, To the study of the maps, comprising his Atlas, in a series of lessons for beginners in geography. MITCHELL'S HIGH SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, With an atlas, (in press,) will contain about 800 pages, and comprise a complete system of mathematical, physical, political, statistical and descriptive modern geography, together with a compendium of ancient ge ography, illustrated by engravings executed by the first The atlas to accompany the artists of the country. above, will contain not less than thirty maps, constructed particularly for the work, and designed to correspond with and illustrate it in the most precise man ines. FROST'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, For the use of common schools, condensed from the author's larger History of the United States. FROST'S AMERICAN SPEAKER, DR. GOLDSMITH'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, Ravasion of Julius Cæsar to the year 18 IDSMITH'S HISTORY OF GREECE, DSMITH'S HISTORY OF ROME. ons for examination at the end of eagl ings. PARLEY'S COLUMBUS. The life of Christopher Columbus, adapted to the use of schools, with questions for examination, and numer gravings. PARLEY'S WASHINGTON. life of General George Washington, adapted to the wee of schools; with questions for examination, and tumorous engravings. PARLEY'S FRANKLIN. The life of Benjamin Franklin, adapted to the use of ls with questions for examination, and numerngravings. CHILD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, Charles A. Goodrich; designed as a first book of ay for schools; illustrated with numerous engrav anecdotes. DREWS' PRACTICAL LESSONS IN FLOWER PAINTING; series of progressive studies intended to eluteart of flower painting; with twelve beautifuled illustrations; rules for mixing colors, &c PARLEY'S ica, Europe, Asia, Africa, Rome, Greece, IslTales of the Sea, Winter Evening Tales, Juvenile Apecdotes, Sun, Moon, and Stars-all adapted wise of schools. IT'S LIFE OF PATRICK HENRY, 12 mo. es of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, Ham Wirt, revised edition, with headings to each r, and such an arrangement of the notes containhe former edition, as to render the book eminentable for School Libraries, or as a Class Book in wies and Schools. PER'S NAVAL HISTORY-SCHOOL LIBRARY EDITION. history of the Navy of the United States of Ame! vol. 12 mo., by J. Fenimore Cooper. This is nent of the original work of Mr. Cooper, by mitting documents, &c., matter of least inte. render, and as a narrative possessing more the original. The order of events is preken, and the description of Battles, At7. &c., are retained in full, while at the history is brought down to a later period r work. SCHOOL THE SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARY, PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF-STREET, NEW-YORK. FOURTH SERIES. Price $20 including a Case-$19 without a Case. American Biography. By Jeremy Belknap, D.D. With 447. Lives of John de Fuca.-De Monts, Poutrincourt, 148. Lives of William Bradford.-William Brewster.Robert Cushman.-Edward Winslow.-Miles Standish.-John Winthrop, John Winthrop, Jr.-George Calvert, Cecilius Calvert (Lords Baltimore), Leonard Calvert-William Penn. 149. Manners and Customs of the Japanese, in the Nineteenth Century. From the Account of recent Dutch residents in Japan, and from the German work of Dr. Ph. Fr. Von Siebold. 150, 151. History of the Expedition to Russia, undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the year 1812. By Gen. Count Philip de Segur. 152. The Martyrs of Science; or, the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. By Sir David Brewster, K.H. 153, 154. American Adventure by Land and Sea. Being remarkable Instances of Enterprise and Fortitude among Americans; Indian Captures, Shipwreck, Adventures at Home and Abroad, &c. 155. An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Maps and En. gravings. 156. Lives of the Ancient Philosophers; translated from 157. Outline History of the Fine Arts. By Benson J. 159. History of Michigan. From the earliest settle- 162. Essays on Property and Labor, as connected with 163. Beauties, Harmonies and Sublimities of Nature. By Charles Bucke. Edited and revised by the Rev. William P. Page. tory. By Andrew Crichton, LL.D., and Henry Wheaton, LL.D. With a Map and Twelve Engravings. 166. The Natural History of Selborne, By the Rev. Gilbert White, A.M. With numerous Engravings. 167. Von Wrangell's Expedition to Siberia and the Polar Sea, in 1821, 1822 and 1823. Map. 168, 169. Indian Biography; or, an Historical Account of those Individuals who have been distinguished among the North American Natives as Orators, Warriors, Statesmen and other remarkable characters. By B. B. Thatcher, Esq. 170. Essays, Moral, Economical and Political. By Francis Bacon. And the Conduct of the Understanding. By John Locke, Esq. With an Introduction, by the Rev. Dr. Potter. 171, 172. Journal of an Expedition to explore the Course and Termination of the Niger. By Richard and John Lander. With Portraits. 173. Memoirs of the Empress Josephine. By John S. Memes, LL.D. With a Portrait. 174, 175. The History of Philosophy, being the Work adopted by the University of France for Instruction in the Colleges and High Schools. Translated from the French, with Additions, and a continuation of the History from the time of Reid to the present day. By C. S. Henry, D.D., of New-York. 176. History of Charlemagne. By G. P. R. James, Esq. Portrait. 177, 178. Popular Technology; or, a Concise View of the Professions and Trades. Illustrated with eighty Engravings. By Edward Hazen. 179. Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft. By Sir Walter Scott. 180. History of Louisiana, from its first Discovery and Settlement to the present Time. By E. Bunner. 181. Court and Camp of Bonaparte. With Portrait. 182. History of Poland. By James Fletcher, Esq. With a Portrait of Kosciusko." 183. Principles of Eloquence. By the Abbe Maury. With an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Dr. Potter, of Union College, N. Y. 184. Woman in America; being an Examination into 185. Nubia and Abyssinia; comprehending their Civil 186. Description of Pitcairn's Island and its Inhabi 187. History of Persia from the earliest Ages to the present Time. By James B. Frazer, Esq. With Map and Engravings. 188. Xenophon's Cyropædia; or, Institution of Cyrus. Translated by the Hon. M. A. Cooper. 189. History of the Italian Republics, being a View of the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Italian Freedom. By J. C. L. de Sismondi. 190. History of Switzerland. From the Cabinet Cyclopædia. 164, 165. Scandinavia, Ancient and Modern; being a History of Denmark, Sweden and Norway; compre. hending a Description of these Countries; an Account of the Mythology, Government, Laws, Manners and Institutions of the early Inhabitants; and of the pre-191, 192, 193, 194, 195. History of Spain and Portugal sent State of Socjety, Religion, Literature, Arts and By S. A. Dunham, Commerce. With Illustrations of their Natural His VOL. V. DISTRICT SCHOOL JOURNAL, OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. ALBANY, MAY, 1844. No. 2. TERMS FOR THE ENLARGED JOURNAL. STATE CONVENTION OF COUNTY SU. PERINTENDENTS. THE State Convention of County Superintendents will meet at RoCHESTER on the FOURTEENTH day of May inst. We are gratified in announcing that the Hon. SAMUEL YOUNG will probably be present at the Convention. Invitations have been extended to the friends of education in our own and sister states; and there is reason to anticipate the co-operation of many distinguished advocates of general and sound education. The town superintendents are earnestly requested to attend and share in the business of the Convention. Could a delegation be sent from each county, it would give great additional interest to its proceedings. A general attendance is anticipated. STATE OF NEW-YORK-SECRETARY'S OFFICE. DEPARTMENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. TO TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS. THE commencement of a new and enlarged volume of the District School Journal, affords a fit opportunity for calling your attention to its reception and preservation in the several districts. The efficiency and success of the system depend so materially upon its faithful administration and upon the prompt and punctual per-make their arrangements to be in Rochester on formance of the various duties devolved upon those charged with that administration, that a rigid adherence in future to the requisitions of the law, will in all cases be insisted upon, where no unavoidable necessity exists for a departure from its strict provisions. It is therefore essential to the districts that the directions, decisions, Members of the Convention are requested to Monday evening, or as early on Tuesday as possible, in order that the Convention may have at least a FOUR DAYS' SESSION, and be enabled carefully to mature its business... The several committees appointed at the Albany Convention, to report on the subjects then allotted to them, are respectfully reminded of their duties. To determine which of these two opposite opinions is conformable to reason and to right, will be the object of a few moments' inquiry. of "moral suasion," and in ninety-nine cases of corporal punishment is necessary or even justifi. an hundred, he will melt and dissipate his pupils' able; that the very idea of influencing intellec obduracy, as is the hoar frost liquidated and eva- tual and moral action, by means of coercion and porated by the vertical rays of an equatorial sun. physical suffering, is a relic of barbarism which Now if a teacher has secured the confidence of has been transmitted to us from the dark ages. his pupils if he is thoroughly qualified to teach On the other hand, it is maintained that it is inwhatever is required of him—if he always asks,dispensably necessary to the salutary discipline instead of commanding his pupils-if he never of families, schools, and to society itself; that manifests any peevishness by scolding and storm- the power to inflict corporal punishment, in cering-if he never makes laws before they are tain cases, should be possessed by parents, necessary if he makes the studies perfectly in-teachers, and civil magistrates, and that without telligible to his pupils-if he keeps them con- the existence of this power, in the present state stantly amused and employed, and above all, if of virtue and intelligence, order in any depart he administers reproof in the spirit of gentleness,ment of civilized and social life, could not be kindness and love, and always in private if pos-preserved for a single hour. sible, and yet does not succeed in governing his school, what is to be done? In ninety-nine schools of an hundred he will succeed; and with ninety-nine scholars of an hundred of the hundredth school he will also succeed. But what must be done with the hundredth scholar of the hundredth school? An "extreme case." Resort to corporal punishment? No. He will make him "two-fold more the child" of Diabolus than he was before;" for if fair, mild and judicious means will not subdue him, neither will he be permanently subdued, though he were beaten from head to foot, into physical callousness. Those scholars that are conquered through the instrumentality of the rod. are those that were perfectly retrievable by milder means. In these "extreme cases" let the teacher solicit the interference of the parents; request them to correct him for misdemeanors at school, and let them punish him corporeally if they please. If this means has not the desired effect, ask the trustees to expostulate with him, and as a dernier resort, expel him the school-house. Thus I have endeavored to portray the evils of "corporal punishment as a means of school discipline," and have imperfectly suggested the remedy. Now in conclusion, I wish to enforce upon teachers the necessity of their studying thoroughly the work entitled "The School and the Schoolmaster." It is said if a person wishes to become a good prosaic writer, he must spend his days and nights in reading the works of Addison: in like manner, if a person wishes to become a good disciplinarian, and in every respect a good teacher, he must spend his days and nights in reading "The School and the School Master." The present age is remarkable for the boldness and universality with which it interrogates and examines all laws, customs, and usages of the past, and for the rapidity with which it pronounces its decrees of approval, or condemnation, on all institutions of former times. A question of much practical importance, in relation to the order and discipline of schools, is now dividing the opinions. and eliciting the discussions of great numbers of virtuous and enlightened men, who are nobly engaged in promoting a general and thorough reformation in the system of public instruction; that question is, whether corporal punishment is a necessary part of school discipline. On one hand, it is asserted that the use of the rod, in any case whatever, is brutal and degrading to both teacher and pupil; that there can never be found an instance in which Were human beings of every age and condi tion generally well informed and virtuous, no sufficient reason could be assigned for imposing any restraints upon their liberty of action; and were they universally rational and moral, they would need no other mode of government than that which they would voluntarily institute for themselves, by their prompt obedience to the principles of reason and morality. But by common consent, men, even in the most enlightened and cultivated states of society, are not thus gene rally intelligent, reasonable and moral; and other means for establishing order, without which society could not exist, have necessarily been resorted to. A law to be universally obey. ed must have means of enforcement which can be apprehended and felt by all. While intelligence, reason and virtue, are obeyed, as has been seen, but by a part of mankind, the senses exert a perpetual influence over all; through the senses, therefore, must the observance of the law be enforced upon all who are not sufficiently enlightened and virtuous to obey it from principles of reason and morality. It is, therefore, a fundamental and universal principle of government, that, until the principles of intelligence, reason, and morality are so far developed and brought into activity as to become of controlling influence, order must be enforced by an appeal to physical pleasures and pains. On this principle exclusively, to a certain extent, the authority of the parent over the child is founded; until a certain age, all appeals to reason and morality, on the part of the parent, are wholly inoperative upon the conduct of the child, and for the very good and sufficient reason that both the principles of reason and morality, and the obligation to obey them, are necessarily unknown to the child. It is true that this power to inflict physical pain may be, and often has been abused; but it is believed, few would have the boldness to propose, for the purpose of restraining the abuse, the abolition of the power itself. But it will be said that the power of the parent to inflict corporal punishment has never been deni ed, or even questioned. Let this be granted then, and it is confidently believed that it will be no difficult task to prove that the very same power, and for the very same reason, is invested in the teacher. The office of a teacher is a parental one. The object of its institution was to perform a part of the parental duty, for the obligation on the parent to educate the child, is not less imperative than to provide food and clothing. If therefore |