Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/140

 of things ill which our navy is inliuslcd with the oxplornlioi) of Llie deeper seas and the mappiiig or far distant t-oasls, while it is held iiiiBt to siiiTBv the sliallower walera of oiir own

TiiEi!!': i> jU'obabiy no other subjcL-t in whidi practice lags so far behind knowledge as it does in tht teaching of small children, nnd especially in country schools. The latest ap- pliaucea in elecliiual apparatuB are no sooner invented and tested, than they are hronglit into use. and supersede what were good ap- pliances ycstei'day : but the antiquated wity of teaching arithmetic and reading is slill almost universal, in spite of its having been proved again nnd again that they eaji lie taught by a scienlilic method in half the time. It was a witty SjMiniard who said thai the i-eason English-siwakitig people are so iilc^cal, is that they have to learn to spell when they arc young. The wonder daily grows that theii- instruction in arithmetic does not wiioUj' destroy what residue of reason their spelling has left iiehind. A marked und much-needed change was brought about in Kngland by the Association for the improvement of bread-making ; and there is no doubt, that, by a vigorous associated ett'ort, — by holding public meet- ings, by distributing pamphlets, and by all tliu nan al means of agitation, — something might be done to awaken school-corn mi Itee men and eii peri nl end ents to some sense of responsi- biiity. There is no better field for the mis- sionary' enei;gy of those persona whose first interest is in the maimed and lortured of their own countn'.

Meantime the Society to encourage study at home could do no better work than to offer a course in pedagogics to primary-school teachers. The teachers of coniitry schools are often intelligent, and eager to learn : but it would be asking too much to expect each one to discover for hei'self methods of teaching that have only been perfected by many generations of exi>erience. To put Ibem in the way of reading a few inspiring books on

��the subject would ollen iie to work a transfor- matioQ in them. This suggestion is made by < the circular of information tu regard to rural ' schools, recently sent out by the Itnrcan of j education. That drcnlar itself, if it were I widely distributeil, would do a great deal ot ' good by means of the model lessons in arith- metic which it reprints from the report of the Massachusetts i>oard of education. They must be in the natui'e of a revelation to most untrained teachers, it is a pity that the com- piler of the circular could not Und an equally good and explicit description of tlu- modern art of teaching how to read.

��LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

��Many taxis seeiu lu imlicate that a direct relation i?x[)ls between Ih^ (orin of pacutent roots and their time of maturity In the different varieties of Ihe satne species.

In the spring ut 18S.1 u tew typical roula of the ■ longliollow crown ' Jinil ' Carter's new Maltese 'ur» nip were set out for seed In the garden of the jlew- Vork HKricultural experiment-station, with other root* ^elccteu from each al these varieties, which were aliortand thick, appruuchlne ti> iiaplfurro. As (lie I flower-stalka developed, those from Ilic short, tliiek ■ rooU in both of the varieties were conRideral)ly earljerf ill blooming than the longer typical roots. This ui expected event recalled lue fact that the 'round' i ' turnip-rooted ' parsnip is earlier in developing its roi than the long vsrlelles; also that In the ' Egyptiai and ' eclipse^ beets, the earliest two varieUes, and the 'French forcing' carrot, the earliest of Its kind, the roots are eliorter ill proportion to their length llian in other varieties.

Printed descriptions ' from the most careful writen upon vegeiablcs Indicate that a simitar relation exists in Ihe onion and turnip. Thus in the onion the. axial diameter in nineteen so-called varieties Is noted lis Ie$8 tlian the transverse diameter. Of Iliese. ^iv lire called ' very early,' live arc calleii ' early,' seven ' baif early.' one ' rather early,' and one ' rather late.' Ill seven so-called varieties, in which the axial diam- eter equals or exceeds the transverse diameter, five are called ' lale,' one ' not early,' and one ' early.'

In addition to these, in which the dimensions arc given in figures, the ' brown Teneriffe' is described as being ' very Hat.' and, with one exception, is called 'earliest of all.' The ' Inlerniediate red Wethersfleld' is described as flattened, and the 'two bladed' as ' flat.' Both of these are railed ' early.' The ' early 1 white silvev'sliiiined ' onion Is described as 'about the same diameter as the Noceia, but thicker' (through the axis), and is said to be 'a little less early than the Nocera.' The 'white Portugal' Is noled as " a little less flat than the Xoeera or ' early

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