Thus far I have given a detailed account of two days of the trip, but I find that my letter is getting too long, and I shall be obliged to give only a summary of what was seen on the remainder of the journey.

At Stassfurt a descent into a salt mine was made. The boys were much interested in the reception room, containing furniture of salt.

The next point was Magdeburg, one of the most important commercial cities of Germany, and one of the first places to espouse the cause of the Reformation. Perhaps the remembrance of the boy Luther, who went to the Franciscan cloister here and sang on the streets for his bread, lingered in the minds of the people. A Luther monument and an indulgence chest of the notorious Tetzel were shown the children. The main object in visiting this place was to acquaint the children with the life of a large city. In order that the traffic of a large river might be comprehended, they were taken to the Elbe to watch the loading and unloading of the freight boats with their various cargoes, and allowed to examine the steamboats, with their fine equipments for carrying passengers.

An afterncon was spent in Wörlitz, noted for its beautiful park containing many foreign trees-chiefly from America-various lakes and a fine Gothic house, of valuable art collections. Through the kindness of Mr. Wigge, of Wörlitz, the children were entertained for the night in various private families.

The last day was spent in Wittenburg. The first object of interest was the oak tree in the center of a small garden enclosed by a fence, where Luther with the

words "As thou hast troubled the Lord's saints, may the eternal fire destroy thee," publicly burned the papal bull. The Luther house was first occupied by "Brother Augustine." Later it was presented to the great Reformer by the elector, Frederick. In commemoration of the fact that Luther had spent many happy hours here in the circle of his family, and that the blessed Christmas time had been a season of great joy to him, the boys sang "O, du fröhliche, o du selige, gnandenbringende Weihnachts zeit!"

In the interior of the castle church are brazen slabs with Latin inscriptions which mark the graves of Luther and Melancthon.

This city, the cradle of the Reformation, was left about half-past three in the afternoon, and Jena was reached at 8. The children were met by their parents at the station, and flowers were presented to the principal as an appreciation of his kindness.

I have no doubt that school excursions are of great benefit, but I am equally sure that to conduct one successfully the most careful preparation must be made on the part of the teacher, and furthermore, the teacher must have the tact and executive ability to make the circumstances and situations in which he and his pupils may be placed, incidently, conducive to the interest of the pupils. The objects of nature should be noted and explained. In passing by a copper or silver mine, pieces of the slag, or, if possible, of the ore, might be examined, and thereby the impression might not be given to the pupils that it was a coal mine.

The products of man's skill and labor are worthy of close study. Every piece

of machinery that lightens man's labor and produces most easily the comforts of life, is worthy of the attention of both pupils and teachers.

In passing through the country, many questions might be asked concerning the cultivation of different crops. For in

stance, why in one place such extensive fields of sugar beets; why in another large hop fields; still in others, barley and rye? Why are grapes cultivated on some mountain sides and not on others? Why are tomatoes and corn not raised? etc. Questions which lead to man's dependence upon nature, and also to commercial relations.

In this manner the child's knowledge is broadened and widened, and the more intimate the relations between teachers and pupils, and the greater love which the teacher has for the pupils and the less value he places upon his system of pedagogy as such, the greater will be the good attained. School excursions simply as a factor in a system of education, for

the carrying out of a favorite theory, are of little value.

How far these school excursions could be made practicable in American schools is worthy of our serious consideration. Our facilities for travel are unexcelled; our country is certainly replete in everything that pertains to nature, and unparalleled in its various inventions for making the forces of nature man's servants.

We cannot boast of hoary age; we cannot trace the progress of our nation through the centuries of civilization, but from its origin it is rich in historical events, which have in a degree changed the whole trend of civilization. And to our youth the history of the nation reveals the progress of man in its best light, and its aim has been the highest of all nations-the freedom and the brotherhood of man.

It would be well, especially in our large cities, that these school journeys be one of the reforms in our public schools.

A Valuable Report.

The following is the explanatory part of the final report of the Committee of City Superintendents to the State Association of City and Town Superintendents, of Indiana, to which reference is made in the editorial columns of THE JOURNAL. The remainder of the report consists of a program of studies for the different grades. This report was endorsed by a unanimous vote of the association. [-ED. Members of the State Association of City and Town Superintendents of Indiana:

At your last meeting the undersigned were appointed a committee further to consider the suggestions found in the report of the Committee of Ten, and ascertain how far the same could be applied in our schools, and to outline a course of study embodying the same, applying so far as practicable the principle of co-ordination of studies, to the end that there might be secured the greatest results in school work with the greatest economy of effort on the part of the teachers and pupils. The committee met at Indianapolis on the first and second days of July and agreed upon the outline of the course of study to be recommended, then by correspondence and a second meeting, August 28, the work was amplified to meet what they deemed to be the wish of the association. It was the judgment of the committee that their work was to indicate what should be taught, and when and in what relation, rather than to discuss methods which have been amply presented in the Report of the Committee of Ten. We have not presumed to do what that committee has already well done in pointing out weaknesses in the work of the schools and suggesting remedies, but have contented ourselves with seeking for a practical application of the work done by it. The special problem we set for ourselves was to organize the course of study into a unity on the principle of correlation. And in this we were able to arrive at a practical unanimity. It must not be understood that individual members did not in some minor particulars have preferences which they yielded to the

judgment of the majority. While agreeing that so far as practicable the principle of concentration should be observed in securing unity we could not always agree as to the limit of practicability, nor whether longitudinal unity should be sacrificed to transverse unity, whether the unity of the subject should be violated to secure unity with other subjects. To illustrate: The latter unity would have called upon us to omit geography entirely as a distinct study during the seventh year, as Asia, Africa, Australia, etc., have no real relation to the Revolutionary period in United States History and would, by the principle of concentration, be reserved till the study of the commercial development of the United States during the nineteenth century. But even in this period there were found so few points of contact that the unity of the subject of geography was maintained, and the relation of the two secured by a study of commercial geography in connection with the study of the commercial development of the United States in the eighth year.

It was decided by the committee unwise to attempt to plan a course for the high school, first because there is so wide a divergence in these schools, both as to time for pursuing the course and as to material equipment to do the same work, and secondly because specialization should be much more marked in high school work. The committee are heartily agreed that the studies pursued in the high school and the methods employed in teaching them should cause them to illuminate one another, and that pupils should be led to see the unity existing, but we recognize that this unity must be secured more by the methods of teaching than by any order of studies. It was not in the mind of the committee that pupils in the lower grades should be led to see this unity but rather that they should feel it, in that they are able to utilize in one study what they have acquired in another. That the teacher should constantly maintain this relation

of studies and should recognize that what should constitute the apperceiving centers can not be too strongly emphasized. And that the humanities, or as the committee has chosen to designate them, the culture studies, have greatest power over the moral nature of the child, and should, therefore, have a prominent place in the course, is the unanimous conviction of the committee; hence these have been placed at the head of the outline for each year's work.

It did not seem necessary for the committee to enter into detail in making out the work in all the studies, as that is already well done in the manuals of the various schools. But as the work in the culture and nature studies has not received so great attention and is not so well defined, it seemed wise to indicate with a good degree of particularity not only what should be done, but to point out material which could be used to great advantage. It is not expected that any schools will use all the material suggested, nor that there will not be found other that is equally good and perhaps more convenient. Many of the books suggested for collateral reading will not be found in the libraries of the schools, but the lists will be suggestive of books which may wisely be secured for the purpose as future purchases are made.

It is urged that teachers be on the alert for opportunities in the teaching of the branches included under the head of formal studies to utilize the ideas gained in the culture and nature studies, as is suggested in d under Determinate Propositions. To illustrate: When the goldenrod is being studied as a flower and the myth of "Golden rod and Aster" is being read or told, the children should sing the simple little song that refers to the goldenrod; they should make drawings of it, use it as a color lesson, make stories about it with word-builders or in writing, imitate the swaying of the plant in their physical exercises, spell words learned in the story, have reference to it in the work in.num. bers, etc.

Many of the books, stories, and poems suggested will belong both to the culture and to the formal studies. Read or spoken to pupils, as many of them are designed to be, the leading thought should be their value in character building; but

when these same stories, a year later, perhaps, are read by pupils themselves the work will in part partake of the nature of drill and place them thus far in the list of formal studies. In all such work care should be taken to make good oral readers.

In the use of the terms culture studies, nature studies, and formal studies it must not be understood that the work under these several heads is culture, nature, or formal alone, but rather that these suggest what is prominent in the mind and purpose of the teacher. That there ought to be much besides drill in the studies laid down as formal is without question, and the real end designed to be secured is to put so much of thought content into the careful drill necessary in these studies that they shall be more than a drill on dead, unmeaning forms.

In all the science work it is designed that the scientific method of acquiring knowledge at first hand by actual observation and experiment shall be followed, that throughout the entire course the habit and power of learning from nature what she has to teach shall be cultivated. It is not expected that all of these things will thus be done, but that so far as practicable this shall be the method.

While not entering into detail as to the language work, the committee are agreed that its importance demands that the greatest care should be observed in this work, and that having in the culture and nature studies trained the children to accurate thought and painstaking efforts and furnished them with ideas of highest value, they should in the language work be equally trained to accurate expression and to careful correction of the forms of thought. It is manifestly true that he who has lofty and beautiful ideas will seek earnestly for a fit dress with which to adorn them. Let pupils feel that their ideas are worthy of their best efforts to express them, and that their object should be to set them forth in a pleasing manner, and the art of composition will be more highly regarded by them. Much time will necessarily be demanded of the teacher in the higher grades in correcting these compositions, but only by this painstaking endeavor can the best results be secured.

The plan here presented by the committee dispenses with the elementary

texts in arithmetic and geography, except that the elementary geography may be made to serve a useful purpose as supplementary reading in connection with the geography study indicated. For an elementary text in arithmetic no sufficient reason was found by the committee who were unanimous that some shortening and enriching of the course in arithmetic is desirable. It is therefore suggested that there be a single text and that the subjects indicated be omitted. While the demand for less of difficulty in problems to be solved makes arithmetic yet less a thought study and more a formal one, devoted only to drill, it was agreed that the introduction of algebra and concrete geometry into the eighth year would compensate for this.

In geography it was deemed best that there should first be a mastery of the forms of land and water, and the accuracy of the ideas gained tested by moulding them in sand. A variety of images as formed by different pupils should be moulded and maps searched to find the same form under as many varieties as possible that the idea shall be a generalized one. The geography of North Amer

ica should be studied as to its most striking physical features, that the pupils may be prepared for the special work of the fourth year-a close study of the Mississippi valley. Here the true habit of geography study should be inculcated, and books of travel, pictures, maps, descriptions, personal knowledge, should all be drawn upon. Imaginary excursions along the great river and its tributaries, across its bordering mountains searching for the sources of rivers, will furnish excellent material for training in descriptive and narrative composition. The study of the biography of the heroes among the pioneers of the region will make the study a moral force in the lives of pupils. Experience has shown that this work arouses an intense interest and produces healthful development in pupils.

But little time is assigned for the geography of South America, because it is comparatively simple and lacks essential relation to the other work of the year, while Europe, taken in connection with the great movements in exploration and colonization of the new world, has large apperceiving content and great interest for students.

The United States history work corresponding to this study of the geography of Europe is again in harmony with the principle of the culture epochs, the life of the people in the period of discovery, exploration, and colonization being very simple and suited to the pupils of the grade. No text book is designed for the 5th year as it is the purpose to train pupils from the beginning in historical study to depend not on a text alone, but on all available sources of knowledge. The work is also largely biographical. In all this history study the committee would emphasize strongly the suggestion of the Committee of Ten that a variety of books be supplied to pupils and that they be required to prepare the lesson from at least two or three books. In the sixth year the text will be in the hands of the pupil for more orderly study of the period. Special attention is called to the various methods named in the report of the Committee of Ten, which will prevent this study from becoming memoriter and will make it a force in the true development of the powers of pupils.

The committee did not follow the proposition to put Greek and Roman history into the eighth year for the reason that they did not feel that it could be done without overcrowding, the course at this point seeming full heavy; and for the same reason the study of Latin was not introduced.

The following schedule of time will be suggestive of the proportionate time which should be allowed each branch of study, rests, etc.: