Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 27.djvu/52

40 is expected to do it independently of any aid beyond general oversight and direction; and he is warned that the paper will be of greater value, provided it contain the bibliography of the subject and constant reference by page and volume to his authorities.

11. The preparation of bibliographies is part of a teacher's duty. Moreover, he who has access to a rich and well-appointed library can do a service to the rest of his guild by leaving behind him notes of his bookish experiences. He can in a few words say whether a book is good or bad for a particular purpose, or indicate what part of it contains a valuable discussion, or furnishes useful facts in a subject within the study. For this purpose it has been a great convenience to have little blank-books of ordinary stiff manila paper, six inches by three, with each page perforated like postage-stamps near the butt of the book, so that each page can be torn off smoothly. On this page a book can be entered under a suitable heading, with its exact title and author, and room still be left for a very generous amount of criticism or commendation, or for noting the contents of the book. The cards can be laid away alphabetically by subjects in a drawer, and will prove of invaluable aid at many times. Books of which one has heard but never seen, can also be entered with a star, to be erased when a book has been examined. This systematic habit is peculiarly desirable when one is hunting for the facts on a certain subject. One will in this way lose nothing by forgetting where a statement has once been seen.

In this brief and inadequate way I have attempted to suggest from my own experience what may enable others to avoid difficulties, and possibly to aid in a more rational method of teaching political economy. It is scarcely more probable that what I have said is all new than that others should agree with me throughout in what I have advanced; nor is it unlikely that other teachers may have many other suggestions to make in addition to mine. If my efforts may call them out and aid in better methods of teaching, I shall be amply repaid.



O one can find a "message from the sea," telling of the fate of some long-missing vessel, without a feeling of emotion; but the stray waifs that throw light on the history of lost colonies are of a deeper interest, for they supply missing chapters in the annals of colonization and early maritime enterprise. 