themselves, and are doing good; but the children do not exactly belong to the class which we chiefly hope to find in our 'national' schools, and which the parliamentary grant for education is principally designed to benefit. Nor is the attempt to increase the funds of schools by raising the fees in the head classes only in the school, an expedient at all preferable to raising them for all the scholars. Several evils result from this expedient.

"In the first place, it is taxing the parent more heavily, and therefore tempting him to send his boy to work just at the very time when you most want to retain the youth at school. Again, it tends individually to keep back in the lower classes those children whose parents cannot afford the fee required in the second or first class while, on the other hand, it tempts those teachers who obtain for themselves the children's payments, to promote into the second and first classes those who can afford to pay the higher fee, but do not deserve to be in the higher classes. Accordingly, while I duly appreciate the importance of requiring the poor parent to pay some fee in order to preserve his own independence of character, to give him a claim of gratitude upon his child, and to interest him in the work of the school, I deprecate most strongly, for the reasons intimated, the attempt to increase school incomes, in the ways just referred to, in our schools for the poor."

We have only space for one extract from Professor Mosely's valuable report. It refers to the delivery of what are called "object lessons ;" and comments upon the the usual mode of giving them :

"I have listened to some hundreds of oral lessons delivered by teachers in elementary schools, and the observation has continually presented itself to my mind, that in such lessons the cardinal defect-that which lies very generally at the root of the failure of such lessons, and makes of what would, under other circumstances, be the most successful expedient and the highest resource of education, in too many cases an impediment to it is an inadequate knowledge on the part of the teacher of that which he is teaching. He may know many things, and be generally a wellinformed man, but if he fails in his lesson, it is commonly because he does not know the particular subject of that lesson. If his knowledge of it had covered a larger surface, he would have selected matter better adapted to the instruction of the children. If he had comprehended it more fully, he would have made it plainer to them. If he had been more familiar with it, he would have spoken more to the point.

"A teacher proposing to give an oral lesson on coal for instance, holds a piece of it up before his class, and having secured their attention, he probably asks them to which kingdom it belongs, animal, vegetable, or mineral-a question in no case of much importance, and to be answered in the case of coal doubtfully. Having, however, extracted that answer which he intended to get from the children, he induces them by many ingenious devices, much circumlocution, and an extravagant expenditure of the time of the school, to say that it is a solid, that it is heavy, that it is opaque, that it is black, that it is friable, and that it is combustible. And then the time has probably expired, and the lesson on the science of common things, assumed to be so useful to a child, is completed. In such a lesson the teacher affords evidence of no other knowledge of the particular thing which was the subject of it, than the children might be supposed to possess before the lesson began. He gives it easily, because the form is the same for every lesson; the blanks having only to be differently filled up every time it is repeated. All that it is adapted for, is to teach them the meanings of some unusual words, words useless to them because they apply to abstract ideas, and which, as the type of all such lessons is the same, he has probably often taught them before.

"He has shown some knowledge of words, but none of things. Of the particular

thing called coal, as distinguished from any other thing, he knows nothing more than the child; but only of certain properties common to it, and almost every thing else, and of certain words useless to poor children, which describe those properties. Coal is a common thing to the child, one with which its daily observation is familiar, intimately connected with uses of its life-a substance about which it might be taught many things which would probably be of great use to it in after-life-things, which it would not be likely ever to know unless it were so taught them.

"But they are not these things; and if the science of common things is to be so taught as to be of any future use to the child, it must not be this science. This tendency, from ignorance of things, to teach children words only, runs in a notable manner through almost all of the lessons on physical science which I have listened to."

FIVE MINUTES ADVICE TO TEACHERS ABOUT TO UNDERGO EXAMINATION BY WRITTEN PAPERS.

It has often been noticed that it is one thing to possess knowledge, and quite another to possess the power of making it tell, and look well upon paper. But on the whole, the examination to which you are going to be subjected is a perfectly fair one, and will, more surely than any other form of scrutiny, reveal what are really the weak points of your attainments, and wherein you excel. Be sure that nothing but ignorance can account for failure; nervousness, want of practice, bad writing, though they may detract from the general excellence of your papers, cannot prevent you being fully credited for such knowledge of the subject as you have. Nevertheless, a few hints as to the right management of yourself and your time while you are under examination may, perhaps, help you to avoid doing injustice to yourselves, and may serve to put you more at your ease than you would be without them.

Concentrate your whole attention on the matter during the few days in which the examination is going on. Make the utmost of every interval between the several subjects. If the strain upon your memory and the tension of your whole mental power seem severe and painful, remember that the end is worth the effort; that your future standing in life depends in some measure on the result of such competitions as these, and that it will be very painful to you hereafter to feel that the desire of present ease or convenience, or some temporary indolence or fatigue, had caused you to sacrifice a position which was otherwise attainable.

Lose no time. Remember that the results of many months' labour are expected to show themselves, and are to be tested in two or three hours. Every minute is precious. If a question seems difficult or embarrassing, leave it, and push on at once to something you can answer well. You can revert to the hard questions afterwards, if time permits, and if you have answered all you can do thoroughly. Moreover, in doing something easy, you will have gained that confidence which is seldom felt by any one on first sitting down.

Do not attempt to answer the question on another sheet and then transcribe it. You have not time for this. It is never expected that the answer is written a second time; and allowance is always made by an examiner for verbal and other mistakes, the result of hasty writing. Sums and equations which have to be solved, must of course be wrought on other paper first, and then transferred to the sheet which you send in; but all explanations, and all ordinary answers, should be set down currente calamo on the paper which is afterwards to be read.

Carefully mark the clock as you finish each answer, and be sure to give a due proportion of time to each division of the subject. Even if you feel a wish to give a very copious and satisfactory answer to a question in one department, remember that

the omission of the other subjects will be construed as indicating ignorance. Moreover, you are not expected to give such an answer to any one question, however important, as will occupy a large fraction of the time. Be concise, therefore carefully avoiding all redundant expressions, and remembering that to put too much into an answer is sometimes almost as great a sign of weakness as to put too little.

Be careful to arrange your answers in a readable form. An examiner may be influenced, more than you suspect, by any indication of clumsiness or want of system in the arrangement of your matter. It will be well to throw such of your knowledge as admits of it, into a tabular shape; and to lay out answers to all questions in such a way, that the eye of a reader shall easily detect their general purpose, and distinguish the main parts from the subordinate; careful numbering of answers, leaving a clear and well-defined margin, underlining all important words, and giving distinct headings to the subordinate branches of the subject, will all contribute, not merely to make the examiner's task more easy, but also to shape your own thoughts better, and therefore to make the answers more systematic and satisfactory.

As a general rule, avoid the expression of opinion. You are asked for facts; and although it is undoubtedly desirable to show that you have not merely learnt facts, but thought about them, it is bad taste to obtrude your own sentiments when the question does not require them. In history there is great temptation to neglect this rule; and I have seen many otherwise admirable papers disfigured by unnecessary digressions and sentiments.

Avoid, also, all attempts at fine writing, make no use of unnecessary expletives or phrases, and give yourself very little trouble about the construction of your sentences. The object of the examination is primarily to determine what you know of a given subject, and although it is very important that you should write good English, yet that main purpose must be first kept in view. Moreover, you are more likely to write correct sentences, if you are unaffectedly and simply trying to explain what you know, than if you are concerning yourself much as to the sound or the elegance of your composition.

Study well the form of the question before you answer it. Serious mistakes are often made by neglecting this rule. Students sometimes hastily interpret a question, and after taking some time to answer it, find that they have misapprehended its purport and that their labour has been in vain. This should be particularly noted in the mathematical parts of the examination.

Above all, let your paper be thoroughly honest and truthful. I do not mean merely that you are not to conceal help of any kind, or copy from one another, nor do I refer to surreptitious use of books or notes. These things are so flagrantly wrong, that no one with the least self-respect would be guilty of them. Facts "cribbed" or stolen are generally fitted so clumsily to their place in the answer, that they are of little use to the answerer, and are generally detected; and whether they are detected or not, they never can be of advantage enough to compensate for the moral degradation which the candidate must feel.

But I mean, let there be no attempt to look more learned than you are; no pretentious selection of harder questions than you can do; no trick of beginning a difficult question which you could not finish, and trying to make it appear that you had only been hindered by want of time. Examiners see through these thin devices. It is not difficult to discover indications of a man's uprightness and moral rectitude in this matter, and if the candidate has a false estimate of himself and his own powers, he is pretty sure to show it, and the exhibition will tell unfavourably. Try, there fore, to gauge yourself well before you begin. Clear your mind thoroughly as to what it is you can and what you cannot do, and while you take care that your paper does you full justice, beware of any lurking artifice for getting any credit which inwardly you know you do not deserve; for it will surely avail you very little if it be

ever so well done, and the chances are all against your deriving anything but harm from it.

For you have to remember, that although you are very justly anxious to acquire distinction in this examination, your best friends are not, and I hope you yourselves are not, prepared to pay too high a price for it. It would not be worth having at the expense of your honour or your truthfulness, or on any such terms that you would look back with humiliation and sorrow at the means by which you acquired it. It is not absolutely necessary at this, or any other crisis of your life, that you should reach the first rank in a competition for a prize, but it is absolutely necessary that you should sustain the character of Christians and of gentlemen; that you should sustain it in little things as well as great ones; and that you should determine not to sacrifice the moral status, which is the chief ornament of a teacher's reputation, for any intellectual distinction, however valuable.

A LESSON ON THE COCOA-NUT PALM.

CHIEF OBJECTS FOR EXHIBITION AND INQUIRY :-The husk containing a nut (that is, the fruit); a mat made of the fibres of the husk; a piece of cocoa-nut cable; sail-cloth; cocoa-nut oil; candles; sugar; a drawing of the plant.

SUBORDINATES:-Cream; an egg; a plum; a basin and cup; the map of the

world.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES OF INQUIRY, &c.

I. Concerning the seed-vessel (the object to lead to an observation of the plant). Exhibiting the cocoa-nut mat and cable, inquire what they are used for. Untwist the fibres which constitute the mat and cable; and, exhibiting them and those of the husk (seed-vessel), ask if they resemble those of the husk, or differ from them. Break a single fibre, and attempt to break the cable, and ask which is the stronger, and in what the strength of the cable consists. Then exhibiting the husk containing the seed (nut), a plum, and an egg, ask in what respects they resemble and differ, that is, with regard to shape, contents, &c., (allow the pupils to feel the angles of the husk.) Receive in reply, that the husk, with its seed, resembles the plum in being a fruit containing a seed, and the egg in general in shape; but differs from it (the egg) by its angles (it is rather round, yet obscurely triangular). Inform the pupils that the plum and husk with its seed are drupes,-fruits of very different plants;-that the husk with its seed is the fruit of a palm, called the cocoa-nut palm. Show the drawing of it.

II. Character of the Plant. The stems of it from sixty to ninety feet high (compare the height with that of the school-room, or some well-known building). The branches or fronds (show a frond), which are about fifty in number, form a head at the top of the plant: the upper ones are erect, the middle ones horizontal, and the lower ones rather drooping. The fronds are pinnate; that is, each consists of numerous smaller leaves or leaflets. The flowers come out at the base of the fronds, in large clusters, enclosed in a spathe (sheath). Each cluster of flowers is succeeded by ten or twelve drupes, each containing one seed or nut. The cocoa-nut palm is an endogenous plant; for its last growth or increase is from the interior of the stem, the veins of its leaves are simple, straight or parallel, and the petals (flower-leaves) of its blossom are three. The palms, grasses, rushes, lilies, &c., bearing these characters, are of the same class. (Show some plants or specimens of plants with such characters, or of that class.)

III. Places where found.-Almost everywhere within the tropics. It is cultivated in the East and West Indies; and is found wild in the Maldive and Ladrone islands. Native of Asia. (Give the positions of the places by the aid of the map.)

IV. Parts and Products.-(a) The husk. Again exhibiting the husk, inquire what things are made from it. Receive or educe as an answer,—brushes, beds, mats, sail-cloth, cables. Ask why cables made from its fibres are preferred, or considered by some the best. Stretching a small piece of India-rubber, and showing that to be tough and elastic, receive as an answer, that cables made of them are very elastic. Present the husk to the pupils, and ask what is its average thickness, &c.

(b) The Nut. Taking the nut out of its covering, ask what it is called. Receive in reply, a seed or nut. Ask if it resembles the egg in shape, or differs from it. Answer: it resembles (is ovate). Show the three holes at the base of the shell, and inform the pupils that when the nut is sown, the first shoot or young plant proceeds from them. Show the shell divided into two equal parts, and ask what each resembles. Exhibiting the cup or basin, receive in reply, a cup or basin. State that the shell polished is used for such household utensils. Break a nut, and ask what is to be observed. Answer: a fluid and hollow kernel. Exhibiting some cream, state that when the nut is growing, it contains nothing but a milky fluid, which settles round the inside of the shell like soft cream; that this increases in substance and becomes hard-the kernel (which exhibit). The milky liquid is a very pleasant drink. The kernel is very nourishing, but not easily digested when eaten raw. In countries where the cocoa-nut palm is cultivated, the kernel is cooked. Cocoa-nuts are sold at 12s. a thousand in Ceylon. Showing cocoa-nut oil in a little bottle, inquire if that is obtained from the husk, shell, or kernel. Receive as the answer, from the kernel ;— it is expressed from it. State that the real cocoa-nut milk is an oily matter mixed with a quantity of water, and is expressed from the kernel. Exhibiting some candles, inform the pupils that from the cocoa-nut oil and the oil of the oily palm mixed, candles are made.

(c) Sap. State that when the plant flowers, the sap rises in abundance to supply it with nutritious matter, and to enlarge and ripen the ovaries (young fruit); and then certain inhabitants of the countries in which the cocoa-nut palm grows, climb the trees by means of hoops; and cutting or breaking off the flowers, from the points of fracture collect the sap. State and educe that this collected sap forms toddy, a cooling and refreshing drink which looks like whey. The coolness of the sap arises from the roots of the plant shooting deep into the ground; and though within the tropics the surface of the ground, as well as the atmosphere, is very warm, the depth to which the roots penetrate is cool. Early in the morning the sap is very sweet and cooling; therefore much is collected then, by persons called toddy-drawers. This toddy contains much sugar and nitrogenous matter, and so forms an article of diet well adapted for the purposes for which all diet is supplied to the human system. If toddy be allowed to stand sometime, it will ferment and form an intoxicating drink. This is called palm-wine; and from it a spirit called arrack is extracted by distillation. Showing a specimen of sugar, state and elicit that sugar is made from toddy by evaporation;-that when toddy is held over the fire the water is evaporated, and what remains is very much like honey: the sugar, which is called jaggary, is obtained from this by a further process,

(d) The Stem. Used in construction of huts, drums, cradles, gutters, boats, and articles of furniture.

(e) Leaves. The leaves or fronds are used for thatching the huts; for making baskets and fences; for writing on; they also make excellent torches, and the midribs of them are used for oars. The ashes of the leaves yield potash in abundance. (f) The Flowers and Young Plants. The flowers proceed in sheaths from the base of the leaves. From the unripe fruit, that is, from the ovary (part of the flower which ultimately becomes the fruit), an agreeable article of diet is formed. The young plant is also eaten; that is, the plant proceeding from the nut is taken up when young, and eaten as we eat asparagus.

V, Propagation in England.—It is preserved here in a stove for curiosity; and