one more case, in which modern educational method refuses to take advantage of knowledge and power already possessed, and tries to work ab initio.

The question of inductive grammar has also been much discussed. Some German teachers rather incline to teach grammar inductively from the reading lesson, but admit that, to make this possible, the reading lesson must be prepared with that deliberate object in view. But if this be thoroughly done, and the instances grouped in lessons which illustrate particular points, we tend to approach the old series of exercises which the new method so violently attacks, only with a change of name; that is, what was formerly called an exercise is now called a reading lesson. One valuable difference arises from the fact that the term reading lesson emphasises the oral aspect, which we, at any rate, have so frequently overlooked.

But, as is usual in these controversies, each side makes valuable affirmations which the other side too rashly rejects.

Expressed popularly, we might say that, whereas the older school tends to forget that boys have ears and voices, and that languages are sometimes spoken, the newer school forgets that they have eyes and hands and some reasoning powers, and that languages are also written and read.

Another controversy arises as to the age at which foreign languages should be begun in the secondary school? A little inquiry shows that the following propositions are held with equal certainty :—

1. One cannot begin too soon.

2. One should not begin until the mother tongue is mastered.

3. Any time lost at first is more than made up when one begins later.

4. One can never recover ground unoccupied during the earliest years.

I could not, however, find a single instance in which, with boys of equal capacity, under equal teachers, different plans had been adopted and tabulated results kept over a series of years. Of course one must argue from general principles, but they only point the way for observation and experiment, they do not render it unnecessary. In all probability America will lead the way in such inquiry. Germany is rather too closely regulated perhaps, and England, whilst beginning to awake to the need of education in science, does not yet believe in science in education.

CHAPTER XVI

OBJECT LESSONS AND SCIENCE

Frankfort. Primary School. Class VII.-Object Lesson (Anschauungsunterricht).

First School

Year. Sixty boys were present, aged six and seven years.

A picture of a harvest field, with trees round it, hung before the class.

Teacher. What is this? (pointing to a tree).

Pupil. That is a tree.

Teacher. What part of the tree is this?

Pupil. That is the stem.

Teacher. By what is the stem surrounded?

Pupil. The stem is surrounded with bark.
Teacher. What colour is the bark?

Pupil. The bark is brown.

Teacher. What grows on the stem?

Pupil. Moss grows on the stem.

Teacher. What colour is the moss?

Pupil. The moss is green.

Teacher. What comes out of the stem ?
Pupil. Out of the stem branches come.

Teacher. What do we find on the branches ?
Pupil. We find leaves on the branches.

Teacher. What colour are the leaves?

Pupil. The leaves are green.

Teacher. What is there here under the tree?

Pupil. Under the tree are cows.

Teacher. What are they doing?

Pupil. The cows are drinking water.

Teacher. What sort of tree is this?
Pupil. That is an oak.

Teacher. What grows on it?

Pupil. On the oak grow acorns.

Teacher. Who can tell another tree that grows in the forest?

Pupil. The fir tree grows in the forest.

Teacher. What are found on the fir tree?

Pupil. The fir tree has needles.

Teacher. What are the needles like ?

Pupil. The needles are sharp.

The picture was small, and the children in the back rows could barely see what was referred to. Several questions were outside the range of the picture. But the most marked point was the continued insistence on the proper order of the words in the answers. The inflected article gave trouble; der, dem, and den were frequently confused, and the teacher deplored the "slang" which the children used at home. This was really a lesson in framing short and correct sentences. Our notion of object lessons-the actual manipulation and investigation of an object-is not the basal conception underlying these lessons. They are exercises in the correct use of language, and only incidentally lessons in observation.

Leipsic. Primary School.

Class VII. Object

Lesson. Forty-six children were present, seven and eight years of age.

The teacher held a flax plant in her hand. The lesson proceeded as usual by a series of questions and answers, the pupils being questioned in turn.

Teacher. What is this flower called?
Pupil. That flower is called flax.

Teacher. Where does it grow?

When does it grow?

Pupil. It grows at the beginning of summer.
Teacher. When does it bloom?

What parts are there?

Pupil. There are root, stem, leaves, and flower.
Teacher. What kind of root has it?

Pupil. It has a very small root with root hairs.
Teacher. What can you easily do?

Pupil. You can easily pull it out of the ground.
Teacher. What comes out of the root?

What is the stalk like ?

Pupil. The stalk is very thin and long, and easily bends.

Teacher. Where do the leaves grow?

Pupil. The leaves grow all the way up the stem.

Teacher. Now look at this young plant, and now at this older one. Where do the leaves come off first? Pupil. The leaves first come off the lowest part of the stem.

Teacher. Now look at the flower; how many petals has it?

Pupil. The flower has five petals.