SERIES OF GEOGRAPHIES, EMBRACING THE FOLLOWING: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF GEOGRPAHY. ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY FOR PRIMARY CLASSES. INTERMEDIATE GEOGRAPHY: A Study of Form and Location. COMMON SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY: A General View of the Continents and all the Principal Countries of the Earth. Ele GUYOT'S GEOGRAPHIES will be sent for examination by mail, post paid, to any address, on receipt of 60 cents for the "Introduction;" 40 cents for the mentary;" 80 cents for the "Intermediate," and $1.25 for the "Common School" book. SPECIAL TERMS FOR INTRODUCTION. The Great Revolution in Geographical Teaching! The New System Triumphant! 1,000,000 Copies Sold. Public Schools, District Schools, Union Schools, Colleges, Normal Schools, Seminaries, Academies, and High Schools in every State in the Union have adopted and are now using Guyot's Geographical Text-books, with entire satisfaction. Characteristics of Guyot's Geographies. The material points in which Prof. Guyot's Geographies differ widely from all other series, and to which your attention is specially invited, are the following: 1. They teach the pupil to consider the Globe as formed by Nature-called Physical Geography-as first in the order of study, 2. To consider Man in his associated capicity-called Politica. Geography-as second in the order of study. 3. They show that the Geography of Nature primarily controls the Geography of Man, and, therefore, that Political Geography cannot be intelligibly studied independent of Physical Geography. 4. In accordance with this view, the texts and maps are arranged so as to advance the study of Physical and Political Geography simultaneously. 5. Geography is taught as a science, and its topics presented in their natural order of dependence: 1. Position on the Earth. 2. Size and Contour. 3. Surface Elevations. 4. Inland Waters. 5. Climate. 6. Vegetation. 7. Animals. 8. Man. 9. Distribution of Man in his associated capacity. 6. By generalizing facts, of surface, soil, climate and productions in describing particular States, and omitting to repeat facts which are common to a whole group or section, the study of Geography is made less tiresome to the young. 7. The texts evince a knowledge of the science of education, by uniformly adapting the mode of instruction to the laws of mental awakening and growth. 8. Colors are employed to represent surface elevati ms; political boundaries are marked by colored lines. 9. While learning the size and form of natural and political divisions, the pupil does not depend on the old mode of verbal description and surface coloring, but is taught to construct these divisions, because what he sees with his eyes and constructs with his hands will be easily remembered. 10. By simple, systematic instructions in map-drawing placed in the body of the texts, very young pupils can determine the size, and construct the form of any State or country as readily and accurately as they can solve a simple problem in intellectual arithmetic. 11. They so classify and arrange all the useful facts of Geography, that they are conveniently taught, easily acquired and remembered, and advantageously applied. Address, GILMAN H. TUCKER, New England Agent, At THOMPSON, BIGELOW & BROWN'S, 36 25 & 29 CORNHILL, BOSTON. PUBLICATION FUND, 400; MEETING OF STATE ASSOCIATION, 401; INTELLIGENCE, 414; NEW PUBLICATIONS, 415. 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PAYSON, Chelsea; those relating to subscriptions to GEORGE K. DANIELL, Jr., Office of Mass. Teacher, Boston; publishing, to D. W. JONES, Roxbury. II. I LEFT a Primary Class in the September issue of the Teacher in the midst of an examination that was to determine what they know and what they can do. I was to continue the examination in the October issue; but circumstances prevented. Therefore I will call up the class for the remainder of their exercises now. Let me first repeat a statement made in the former paper, for it is what gives the attainments of the class before us any special point and value, that it is are presentative class of the whole body of Primary scholars* belonging to one of our Massachusetts communities, that numbers, in all, about fifteen hundred; and that these scholars have been under the charge of teachers who have been selected in the ordinary manner, and very few of whom have received any special training for their duties. The moral is, that any community anywhere, that is earnest to accomplish like results, can do so effectually, through a proper use of its means and powers. Now to our class. It has already been examined in reading, drawing, and phonetic spelling, and it has had dictation exercises, one on the sounds of the letters, and one on the meaning of the words in the reading lesson. *The types made me say in my former paper, that all the scholars of this class were of foreign birth. It should have read "many being of foreign birth." It is time for a little relief from this long continued mental exertion. So the teacher bids the class prepare for an exercise in physical gymnastics. These are then performed with the judicious selection of motions, and the admirable precision and energy that are to be expected where they are daily practised; and where there is a true appreciation of the purpose they are intended to subserve. Then comes a lesson in music, conducted by the music master. The singing chart is placed on the stand, and question after question on musical notation and the laws of expression is asked and promptly answered. Does any one suppose that the Boston Primary school children, who are taught by that famous Mr. Mason, have therefore a monopoly of scientific musical knowledge? Not so, by any means. Mr. Mason has repeated himself indefinitely in his inimitable music book and charts, and, through their use, other schools than his own are making delightful progress. The class before us, for instance, will answer any ordinary question in the fundamental elements of the science, will give you the sounds of the scale without any leading voice or instrument, in any order they may be called for, and will read and sing by note any simple melody. After enjoying one of these melodies when the questioning has ended, we are ready to go forward to something else. Ah! we see what is coming, for the teacher has taken from her drawer a handful of many-colored scraps of cloth, and another of worsted, and has emptied from a box a pile of colored cards. Now she hangs up on the wall behind her a chart, having upon it, in systematic order, the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, and it fortunately being a bright, sunny day, she bids one of the boys hold up a prism in the rays that stream in through the window. The brilliant spectrum is thrown on the opposite wall, and then begins an enthusiastic recitation on the science and uses of color. The children are always enthusiastic when engaged in this exercise, it enlists so many of their young, tecming faculties; and how necessary a knowledge of color is! How it has part among the commonest habitudes, and is an element of the simplest tastes. How much of human happiness is influenced by it! What a variety of occupations, too, depend for the nicety of their operation on accurate and tasteful discriminations of color! Well may it be made a regular study in every public school. The children explain the spectrum, the formation of the secondary and tertiary colors; the distinction between tints, shades, hues, etc., and the harmonies and contrasts of color. Then they have a right earnest and busy time selecting from the little heaps of colored scraps such colors as may be called for, or pointing them out on the chart. Mistakes are made, for very few among ordinary persons have accurate perceptions in this regard, and abundant amusement is created in correcting them, the class, themselves, being the critics. It is to enliven the perceptions, and render them prompt and true, that such exercises are practised. And what do mankind more need than that their perceptions should thus be trained? 'The color-lesson over, we have an exhibition of the attainments of the class in numbers. They have not been schooled in any text-book of "mental arithmetic," as is very common, -solving ́problems which they have no intelligent conception of, by means of formulas that have been drilled into their memories by wearisome painstaking, and that they must begin just so always, or they are all afloat, no such absurd travesties of mental discipline are tolerated among them; but, through a striking variety of ingenious and interesting methods, illustrated now on the black-board, and now again through pure mental processes, they are made to demonstrate that they have been thoroughly grounded in notation as far as four places; that they are familiar with the tables, and can perform readily simple "sums" in addition and substraction. Then they go through with an exercise in ready reckoning. The teacher enunciates the successive steps with rapidity, and at the close a goodly number of hands are thrust up, ready with the answer. Here is a sample or two of the questions, which the teacher gave in full: 497x12+4÷11-5 × 3 × 9-2 = What? Nothing taught in our schools, under the head of arithmetic, is more important than this ready reckoning; for it embraces within |