METHOD OF TEACHING, AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.

II.

1. THAT, by teaching we may educate, what is necessary beyond imparting information? 2. What general method of teaching most assists a master in accomplishing the object referred to in the first question?

3. Take the subject of arithmetic, and show what method of treatment makes the teaching of it decidedly educative.

4. Reason cut the following in such a way as to make its solution intelligible to a class of boys:

A hosier sells 90 pairs of stockings and 3 s., and the gloves at 2s. 6d. per pair. sold.

gloves for 127. 10 s., the stockings at
Required the number of pairs of each

5. Is it desirable in giving a reading lesson to have the whole read before questioning? State clearly how you would conduct such a lesson, and sum up the different points to be kept in view to render it complete.

6. On what resources should a master rely for securing order, rather than on corporal punishment? (go into this somewhat fully).

7. How should English (including technical grammar) be taught? How far is the aid of a vernacular language to be brought in?

8. Give a short sketch of a lesson to boys on the Tamil methods of expressing the English comparative.

9. Give the natural order in which the geography of any country should be treated, with reasons for the order adopted.

10. What method of proceeding is adopted to make geography more intelligible as well as more interesting than the usual one of beginning with the world, and confining attention to mere names?

11. In what light is the knowledge now being acquired by you to be regarded? When left to your own choice, what must be your guide in determining the subject for study?

12. If you were sent out to take charge of a school, what points would require special attention?

Madras.

MENSURATION.

1. GIVE expressions for the area of a triangle, parallelogram, trapezium, and trapezoid.
2. Investigate the last expression referred to in question 1.
3. In the accompanying figure given A, D, parallel

to B, C; and A, H, G, E, in the same straight
line.

4. Investigate an expression for the area of a cir-
cular.

5. In a wall one foot thick a doorway has to be knocked, B, out, and an arch turned. The width of the door is four feet and its height six feet. The distance from the ground to the lower surface of the arch is eight feet. The arch is to a brick and a half (133 in.) deep. Required the cost of turning the arch at 7s. 6d. per cubic yard.

F

G

H

E

A

D

B

C

6. The area of a circle is equal to that of a triangle having the circumference for its base, and the radius for its altitude.

7. The area of a circle is 39.27 square feet; required the difference of the areas of the circumscribed and inscribed squares.

8. Give the expression for the surface of a sphere, and find that of the earth (supposing it to be a sphere).

9. A hollow iron sphere full of water weighs 432-725 lbs. ; its interior diameter is one foot. Find the thickness of the sphere, water weighing 6. 2. 6 lbs., and iron 481.25 lbs. per cubic foot.

II. Madras.

FOR TRANSLATION INTO TAMIL.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries :

On such a full sea are we now afloat;

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures."

First paraphrase, and then translate, the above, into easy, plain prose Tamil.

The matter in dispute can easily be settled by referring to his account.

The affairs of the firm are greatly involved, as appears from the account which was laid before the creditors last night.

The Julian account of time is used by some writers because it facilitates the statement, and elucidates the sequence of historic events.

The events, the circumstances, the incidents so graphically recited by that writer in his account of the reign of terror in the French revolution are the most astounding fact ever recorded.

'Tis true the allegations against him are plausible; but I am convinced he will give an account of all his proceedings that will free him from impeachment.

It is very

settled.

desirable on many accounts that the business should at once be cleared up and

The man is held in high account by all those who have discernment enough to estimate his worth, and the value of his services to the State.

The expedition failed as regards the specific objects sought, but the expense and trouble will turn the account at length.

You should be more careful of your health, particularly on account of your family. Translate the preceding sentences so as to give the meaning of the word "account" found in each.

Note.-The next exercise, being in Tamil, is not printed.

REMARKS appended to Mr. Percival's Tabular Report.

SOME weeks ago I had the pleasure to transmit to you the result, tabularly arranged, of the perusal of the papers I set for the Normal Students under your care.

The subjects assigned were

Julius Cæsar.

Gray's Elegy.

Milton's Lycidas.

Bacon's Essays.

Tamil Grammar.

Tamil Classics-the minor parts.

Translation in the vernacular from English and from the vernacular into English. The tabular statement which stands at the head of these remarks is sufficiently explicit as regards the result of the examination, as far as it was conducted by me in writing. The table shows the individual success of each student, his position in regard to his fellow students, and the relation of each to the maximum number assigned to the different branches of study.

The papers of the superior students in the several English branches were highly creditable in every respect; the accuracy of their replies, their general completeness, the occasional indications of intelligence, apart from and beyond the mere question, the writing and the spelling, were alike satisfactory.

I regret to be obliged to state that the vernacular papers were far below what I regarded as the standard in the several studies on which the questions were written; one paper was utterly impracticable.

The question of vernacular education is of such vital importance in this country, that it behoves all concerned in the instruction of the people to use the most strenuous efforts for its promotion, and also for the counteraction of the causes that exercise so patent an influence against its advancement.

Presidency College, 5 March 1857.

(signed)

P. Percival.

II.

No. 29.

From Henry Fortey, Esq., B.A,, Acting Principal Presidency College, to J. T. Fowler, Esq.,
Principal of the Government Normal School.

Sir,

I HAVE now the honour to report upon the late examination in mathematics of the students in the Government Normal School.

2. They were examined by me in Arithmetic, Euclid, Algebra, Mechanics, and Astronomy. The examination was conducted entirely by means of written question papers, and three hours was the time allowed for each paper.

3. By inspecting the tabular statements annexed, you will be enabled to form a very exact estimate of the absolute and relative attainments of the students in each subject. These tables speak for themselves, and render it unnecessary for me to say more than a few words in recording my impressions of the examination. They indicate the maximum number of marks and the number obtained by each student, both for the whole paper and for each question separately.

4. In arithmetic the result is, with only one or two exceptions, highly creditable to the students in both divisions; the average number of marks obtained is nearly 60 per cent. of the maximum. Sashia has particularly distinguished himself, obtaining 94 marks out of a total of 100 assigned to the paper. I must remark, however, that the paper was not a difficult one; and that I purposely refrained from setting questions the solution of which would involve long and tedious calculations.

5. The result in Euclid also does the students of both divisions very great credit; the average number of marks gained is 63 out of 100, and the propositions are for the most part neatly and accurately written out. Kistniah is the first in this subject, and has

obtained 87 marks.

6. It was naturally to be expected that the boys would succeed better in Euclid and arithmetic than in the more difficult subjects which follow. In algebra, taking the two divisions together, the average of marks gained is 35 out of 100, or, taking them separately, for the 1st division 30 per cent., and for the 2d, 17. Considering the difficulty of the paper, I think that the 1st division have acquitted themselves passably; the result in the case of the second division is decidedly unsatisfactory. Chellippo and Kristniah, however, of the first division, have done remarkably well in this subject, and Tandavaroyen, of the second division, is honourably distinguished from his class-fellows.

7. In mechanics and astronomy the average of marks gained is, for both divisions, 30 per cent., or, taking them separately, for the first division 40, and for the second division 16 per cent. I consider the first division to have done very well in this subject, and Moses and Kristniah remarkably so. The second division have failed in this subject, as well as in algebra. I venture to suggest, that in future it will be well to defer entering upon the study of mechanics until the students have acquired some knowledge of plane trigonometry, and then to introduce a somewhat less elementary work than that now in use.

8. On the whole, I am well pleased with the result of the examination, and think it highly probable that at the end of the present year the majority of the students will be qualified to impart instruction in the branches of mathematics which they have studied.

Madras.

Presidency College,
February 1857.

(signed)

Henry Fortey,

Acting Principal.

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