COMMUNICATIONS.

To the Editor of THE ACADEMY :

Last May the following circular letter was sent to the secretary of the Board of Education in each of the one hundred and thirty-onecities, which, according to the report of the Commissioner of Education for '85-'86 have between 15,000 and 50,000 inhabitants, and also to the city of Topeka, which is omitted from that list.

To the Clerk of the School Board.

OSHKOSH, WIS., May 9, 1888.

DEAR SIR-A change in our city charter with reference to the method of electing the Superintendent of Schools is contemplated, and we wish to collect statistics with regard to the methods in use throughout the United States. A copy of this letter will therefore be sent to the Clerk of the Board of Education in each city having between 15,000 and 50,000 inhabitants (according to the report of the Commissioner of Education for '85-'86). Will you kindly answer upon the enclosed postal card the following questions:

I. How is the Superintendent of Schools in your city elected (i. e., of Education, the Common Council, or popular vote)?

2 For how long a term is he elected?

by the Board

3. Does he devote his whole time to the superintendence of schools, does he teach in any one of the city schools a portion of the time, or does he follow any other vocation than his school work?

4. Is it the policy in your city to select a professional teacher for this position? 5. What salary does the Superintendent receive?

An early response to these questions will greatly oblige.

Answers were received from one hundred and ten cities. Below

Several points in these statistics are worthy of attention:

(1). That the method of electing the superintendent is quite uniform. Several correspondents have enlarged upon this subject, but there has been no adequate defense of any other mode of election than by the Board of Education.

(2). That so large a majority of our cities should still elect their superintendents for the short period of one year. It would seem almost self-evident that no radical changes, however necessary, would be made in the school system of any city by an officer who feels that his plans must be judged by their workings during one year.

(3). It is encouraging to note that in the great majority of these cities the superintendent devotes his entire time to the work of supervision. It was a surprise to me that in only seven cities was the superintendent engaged in teaching, for I had supposed that many

places between 15,000 and 20,000 in population had one and the same person for superintendent of schools and principal of the high school.

(4). It will be a source of satisfaction to all interested in the welfare of our schools to learn that the number of superintendents who are not professional teachers is proportionately small.

R. H. HALSEY.

NOTES.

THE ACADEMY is mailed promptly on the first of the month. Subscribers should inform us if it is not received within two days of the time when it ordinarily

reaches them.

At the close of last June, the editor of THE ACADEMY resigned his position as principal of the Syracuse High School to enter upon other work. Many inquiries have come to us asking what effect this will have upon THE ACADEMY and its future. To all these we can briefly answer that for the present there will be no change that will affect its publication, its purpose or its methods. THE ACADEMY was established as the official organ of the Associated Academic Principals of the State of New York. It has been conducted entirely by teachers and wholly in their interests. It owes its success to the moral and material support which secondary teachers have given it. With its growth and prosperity the personal responsibility of the editor and publisher have gradually been lightened, and more and more it has become a coöperative arrangement for mutual benefit. Until the meeting of the principals in Syracuse for the Holiday Conference of 1888, it will undergo no change. At that time some new arrangement may be determined upon, and if this should happen timely notice will be given. It has no connection either intimate or remote with the new firm of Allyn and Bacon.

The following resolutions have been sent to us with the request that they be published.

STATE OF NEW YORK. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC IN

STRUCTION. BUREAU OF TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

We, the members of the Institute Faculty of the State of New York, learning of the death of Professor James Johonnot, and desiring to express our high appreciation of his splendid services to the cause of public education, do hereby resolve:

That, as teacher, institute conductor, and author, Professor Johonnot deservedly ranks with those who are recognized as educational leaders and reformers.

That he has rendered distinguished service to the educational interests of the State of New York, and is entitled to the lasting gratitude of teachers and friends of education.

That his purity of personal life and character, and his vigorous intellectual qualifications, challenge our highest respect and admiration.

That we mourn his death as a great loss to the teaching profession. That these resolutions be sent to the family of the deceased, and a copy to each of the educational journals of this State.

JOHN H. FRENCH,
HENRY R. SANFORD,

S. H. ALBRO,

C. T. BARNES,

ISAAC H. STOUT.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

What Words Say. A Practical Analysis of Words for use in Elementary Schools. By John Kennedy. New York: Kennedy & Co., Publishers.

1888.

The author of What Words Say believes that "primary education is vitiated by the use of unanalyzed terms." Until the pupil comes to recognise the fact that each syllable is significant, he cannot be said really to know what words say. Accordingly the author has prepared a series of exercises designed to put the pupils of our elementary schools in possession of such knowledge. In each exercise is given a group of words which have a common root, prefix, or suffix. The meaning of this common element is given at the head of each list, the other syllables are explained in connection with each word, and finally in the notes which follow the author attempts to show that the use of a word always conforms to its analysis. After mastering each exercise the pupil is expected to construct original sentences illustrative of the use of the new words.

While we are not disposed to deny that our pupils cannot learn too much about the derivation and meaning of words, we seriously doubt whether the method Mr. Kennedy has followed is best calculated to add to their knowledge. Not a few of the words illustrated are

either Latin or Greek, like Carnifex and Archon, and are not properly English words at all, or else are technical terms which are of doubtful use to the pupil and need besides to have the limits of their application accurately defined. Often the analysis is misleading and sometimes the definition wrong. For example Malaria is thus treated under the heading MAL-BAD, ILL: "MALARIA ari-air-a-disease." A treatment which cannot but lead the pupil to understand that the ending a means disease. Malaria is then defined as "a disease caused by breathing foul (or bad) air" etc., a definition which is correct neither for the Italian nor the English word.

More serious than an occasional error is the mistaken assumption that because it is easy to point out in a particular case the original word from which we get a derivative, the derivation of sense immediately becomes plain. In fact it is frequently a most difficult problem and can be determined only by historical investigation. Where the derivation of sense is obscure the author seems not to hesitate to invent one, as, for instance, where he explains that Carnifex was the ancient Roman executioner " (he who made the axe sink into the flesh of the condemned)" Again a contingent liability is one that "touches upon probability," and the Bible is so called because it is the book of books." The literal meaning of asbestos, unquenchable, is made plain by the statement that "Since it will not ignite, it can not, therefore be quenched, or extinguished."

Sometimes the author lays too much stress upon the meaning of a prefix or rather mistakes its force. Thus an incendiary is one who causes " a burning in buildings," and "concise means originally cutting short one's expressions when conversing with another."

While the study of the source of English words is extremely interesting, one must not overlook the truth that only in a general way does the primitive word fix the signification of the English word and does not teach the range of meaning which the derivative may acquire. This acquired meaning is often the essence of the English word and the etymology of little use save to show how long and devious a path the word has travelled. Mr. Kennedy defines pilgrim with reference to its etymological meaning as "a wanderer, as if going through the fields," and "to perigrinate is to wander about (as if to wander through the fields)." But Pilgrim has come to be restricted to the special sense of a wanderer who goes to visit a holy place and however familiar one may be with the fact of their origin, one would never think of associating together the words pilgrim and perigrinate as having a common meaning.