in the morning, the unwillingness of the TEACHING ETHICS.

spirit and weakness of the flesh seldom If one is inclined to preach and moral- overtaking them till an hour or so later." ize at all in school he is likely to do too A three minutes' talk of this kind with much of it. Too little is altogether better the teacher assuming an intimate, kindly, than too much, and the "unconscious tu- sympathetic attitude toward the pupils, ition" of the teacher's own conduct and reviewing the mistakes of the preceding personality is of more value than many day, finding out the causes and the best sermons. The argumentum ad hominem way to correct them; three minutes thus may, however, occasionally be used with

spent are worth hours of keeping in at excellent effect. The interest of children night when both teacher and pupils are like that of grown persons is easily en- tired, fretted perhaps, and irritable with listed in the discussion of conditions a day's work in the vitiated air of the which they can themselves illustrate from schoolroom. experience and observation.

Keeping in is perhaps a necessary evil, Kate Douglas Wiggin says in Patsy, as a temporary expedient it must occasion“We had our morning hymn and familiar ally be resorted to. It is productive of no talk in which we always outlined the pol- permanent good whatever, and the best icy of the day, for the children were apt schools reduce it to the least possible minto be angelic and receptive at nine o'clock imum.

BRUDDER BROWN'S BLESSING.

O Mahsr! let dis gath'rin’ fin' a blessin' in yo' sight!
Don't jedge us hard fur what we does--you knows it's Christmas night;
An' all de balunce ob de yeah we does as right’s we kin.
Ef dancin's wrong, O Mahsr! let de time excuse de sin!
We labors in de vineya'd, wukin' hard an' wukin’true;
Now, shorely you won't notus, ef we eats a grape or two,
An' takes a leetle holiday-a leetle restin' spell-

ekase, nex' week, we'll start in fresh, an’ labor twict as well.
Remember, Mahsr-min' dis now-de sinfulness ob sin
Is 'pendid' 'pon de sperrit what we goes an' does it in;
An' in a righchis frame ob min' we's gwine to dance an’sing,
A feelin' like King David, when he cut de pigeon wing.
It seems to me-indeed it do—I mebbe mought be wrong-
That people raly ought to dance, when Christmas comes along;
Des dance bekase dey's happy-like de birds hops in de trees,
De pine-top fiddle soundin’to de bowin' ob de breeze.
We has no ark to dance afore, like Isrul's prophet king;
We has no harp to soun' de chords, to holp us out to sing.
But 'cordin’to de gif's we has we does de bes' we knows,
An' folks don't 'spise de vi’let-flower bekase it ain't de rose.
You bless us, please, sah, eben ef we's doin' wrong to-night;
Kase den we'll need de blessin' more'n ef we's doin' right;
An' let de blessin' stay wid us, untel we comes to die,
An' goes to keep our Christmus wid dem sheriffs in de sky!
Yes, tell dem preshis angils we's a-gwine to jine 'em soon;
Our voices we's a-trainin’fur to sing de glory tune;
We's ready when you wants us, an' it ain't no matter when-
O Mahsr! call yo'chillen soon, an' take 'em home! Amen.

-From Irwin Russell's “Christmas Night in the Quarters.”

MATHEMATICS.
ROBERT J. ALEY, BLOOMINGTON, IND,

BIOGRAPHY IV.

genius embraced a general and systematic SOPHUS LIE.

treatment of the theory of differential Mathematical scholars are numerous the

equations. For this purpose he devised

the theory of transformation groups, the world over. All civilized nations have

scope of which embraces not only the thepossessed them, and possess them now.

ory of differential equations, but manifold England, for example, has among her edu

other applications, including invariants, cated men a vast number of mathematical

covariants, differential invariants, as well scholars, men whose knowledge of, and

as problems in mechanics, physics and astraining in higher mathematics is unsur

tronomy. passed. Such men have added greatly to the science; they have tinted the frescoes

Lie's career as a professor of mathemat

ics extended over a period of twenty-one and completed the niches; they have finished the structures only indistinctly pro

years. A special chair of mathematics was

created for him in the university of Chrisjected. Occasionally, however, in a cen

tiania in 1877. He held this position tury there appears quite a different kind

until his call to the university of Leipzig of mathematician, one whose intuition

in 1886. While connected with the uniseems to comprehend the known scope of mathematics, or at least that of certain

versity of Leipzig he held the chair of fields, one whose brain is afire to see be

geometry. His fame spread far and wide;

students from Germany, Russia, Greece, yond the known limits of mathematical knowledge, one who penetrates the un

Italy, France, England, America, attended

his lectures. These lectures were, as a known. Such a man may be called a mathematical genius, and such was Sophus questions, informal remarks and illustra

rule, very informal, being interspersed by Lie.

tions. This method of instruction was, as This remarkable man was a Norwegian, educated at the University of Christiania,

a source of inspiration, far superior to the

formal lecture of the ordinary German receiving his doctorate in 1865 at the age of twenty-three. During his connection

professor.

Lie was a giant physically and mentally, with the University as an undergraduate

odd in habits, fearless in thought and acstudent Lie attracted no especial attention

tion, kind to his friends, intolerant of his as an original worker in mathematics; in

real or fancied enemies. During the last fact, he anticipated his career to be either

few years of his life the fancied enemies philology or engineering, with a possibility of mathematics. A course of lectures

gave him a source of annoyance that was

entirely avoidable. He gradually grew on algebraic substitutions by Professor

discontented with his surroundings at Sylow at the University of Christiania, and a careful study of Plücker's Line Geometry

Leipzig, and resigned in the summer of

1898 to accept his old position at the uniinspired Lie to the highest mathematical

versity of Christiania, where he died in activity. From 1868 to 1872 his genius

February, 1899, at the age of fifty-six. had full sway, unhampered by the details of everyday life. It was during this brief period that the foundations for his far

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION. reaching and epoch-making discoveries were conceived. The remainder of his life By a graph is meant a drawing used to was devoted to the amplification of this represent or illustrate some numerical or program.

statistical fact. It is used very freely in The fundamental product of Lie's the public press. It has a wide applica

1

.