Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 24.djvu/143

Rh The Structure and Appearance of a Laramie Dinosaurian, pp. 4, with Plates; and On the Mutual Relations of the Bunotherian Mammalia, pp. 7. By E. D. Cope. 1883.

Notes on the Volcanoes of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington Territory. By Arnold Hague and Joseph P. Iddings. 1883. Pp. 18.

The Heart of Man. An Attempt in Mental Anatomy. By Putnam P. Bishop. Chicago: Shepard & Johnston, printers. 1883. Pp. 93.

A History of the New York State Teachers' Association. By Hyland C. Kirk. New York: E. L. Kellogg & Co. 1883. Pp. 174. Illustrated.

Syllabus of the Instruction in Sanitary Science. By Delos Fall. Albion, Mich. 1883. Pp. 7. 10 cents.

On the Right Use of Books. By William P. Atkinson. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1879. Pp. 65.

God and the State. By Michael Bakounine. Translated from the French by Benjamin R. Tucker. Boston: Benjamin R. Tucker, publisher. 1883. Pp. 52. 15 cents.

A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Parts XVII and XVIII. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. 1883. Pp. 239. $1 per Part.

Sewer-Gas and its Alleged Causation of Typhoid Fever, pp. 20; and The Status of Professional Opinion and Popular Sentiment regarding Sewer-Gas and Contaminated Water as Causes of Typhoid Fever, pp. 10. By George Hamilton, M.D. Philadelphia. 1883.

The Influence of Athletic Games upon Greek Art. By Charles Waldstein, Ph.D. London. 1883. Pp. 24.

Studies from the Biological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Edited by H. Newell Martin and W. K. Brooks. Vol. II, No. 4. Baltimore. 1883. Pp. 85, with Plates.

Professional Papers of the Signal Service. No. VIII. The Motions of Fluids and Solids on the Earth's Surface. By Professor William Ferrel, with Notes by Frank Waldo. Pp. 51. No. IX. Geographical Distribution of Rainfall in the United States. By H. C. Dunwoody. Pp. 51, with Maps. No. XI. Meteorological and Physical Observations on the East Coast of British America. By Orray Taft Sherman. Pp. 202. No. XII. Popular Essays on the Movements of the Atmosphere. By Professor William Ferrel. Pp. 59. Washington: Government Printing-Office.

Verbal Pitfalls. By C. W. Bardeen. Syracuse, N.Y.: C. W. Bardeen, publisher. 1883. Pp. 223.

Henry Irving. New York: W. S. Gottsberger. 1883. Pp. 207.

Van Nostrand's Science Series. No. 68. Steam-Heating. By Robert Briggs, C. E. Pp. 108. No. 69. Chemical Problems. By James C. Foye, Ph.D. Pp. 141. New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1883. 50 cents each.

Astronomy. By Simon Newcomb, LL.D., and Edward S. Holden, M.A. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1883. Pp. 338. $1.40.

A New School-Dictionary of the English Language. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1883. Pp. 390. 90 cents.

The Fertilization of Flowers. By Hermann Muller. With a Preface by Charles Darwin. London: Macmillan & Co. 1883. Pp. 669. $5.

Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Year ending June 30, 1882. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1883. Pp. 504.

Finland: Its Forests and Forest Management. By John Croumbie Brown, LL.D. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. 1883. Pp. 290.

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the Year 1881. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1883. Pp. 837.



School Examinations.—In an address before the Teachers' Association of Cook County, Illinois, Colonel Francis W. Parker, formerly of Boston, now Principal of the County Normal School, severely condemned the prevalent system of examining in schools. He believed that none were more faithful in their efforts than the teachers of to-day, and none were more anxious to do good than they. He had wondered why progress had not been greater, and had come to the conclusion that the greatest obstacle was the examinations. The standard for the work had a powerful influence on the work it-self. He believed that examinations were the greatest curse the schools had, though they might be made the greatest blessing. What is the true motive of examinations? Real teaching leads to the systematic, all-sided up-building of a compact body of knowledge in the mind. In this up-building or instruction, every faculty of the mind is brought into action—perception, judgment, classification, reason, imagination, and memory. Examinations, then, should test the condition and progress of the mind in its development. Is the common standard of examinations a test of real teaching? If I am not mistaken, the examinations usually given simply test the pupil's power of memorizing disconnected facts. The surest way to effectually kill all desire to study any subject, say history, when the pupil leaves school, is the memorizing of disconnected facts. A no less sure way of creating an intense desire to read history is to take one interesting subject and read from various books all that is said about it, and then under the guidance of a skillful teacher to put together this information, arranging events in logical order, and finally writing out in good English the whole story. It is very easy for an expert in examinations to judge of the true teaching power of the teacher in such work, by the written papers. If meaningless words have been memorized, if there is a lack of research, investigation, and original thought, the results will be painfully evident.

"Examinations should not be made the test of fitness for promotion. Those who understand children will readily appreciate 