from the university campus, where the university has a farm of two hundred and fifty acres. At this place there are a dozen buildings, and there the work of the experiment station and of the very unique, valuable and interesting School of Agriculture, is carried on. The work of the College of Agriculture is also done here in part, the rest of the work being done at the university in connection with the College of Science, Literature and Arts. On the university campus are fifteen buildings and here the work of all the

in the College of Engineering are from the adjoining states. The growth of the university has been so rapid in the last twelve years that it has been difficult to erect buildings and secure equipment fast enough to meet the needs.

The university as at first organized was prepared to train students in the classical course, according to the old traditions of eastern colleges. It was from lack of means very poorly prepared for work in science. Chemistry and Geology were fairly well provided for. But biology was

done.

The university stands at the head of the public school system of Minnesota. A full four years' course in the high school or an equivalent amount of study is required for admission. Much the larger portion of the students in the university are residents of Minnesota. The Colleges of Law and Medicine draw considerable numbers from outside the state, and a respectable number of students in the College of Science, Literature and Arts and

the work in physics was very inadequate because of insufficient equipment. This has all been changed in recent years. The most marked advance in the university had been along the lines of science. The laboratories of botany, zoology, physics, chemistry and geology and minerology are believed to be superior to those of most institutions in the country, and surpassed by very few. The department of botany has an herbarium that contains nearly three hundred thousand specimens, and is well

worth the attention of visitors, it being surpassed in extent by only three or four herbariums in the country. The laboratories of chemistry and of the other departments of science are especially worth the attention of teachers.

The medical department, requiring four years for graduation, and at least one year of college work for entrance, is believed to be one of the best training schools for medicine in the country. In this department, the laboratories of histology, bacteriology, physiology and chemistry, and the building devoted to anatomy are peculiarly well fitted for the work to be done, and are especially interesting.

Perhaps no work in the university is more interesting in its way, on account of its novelty and its peculiar adaptation to needs that have appeared in the last ten years, than that done at the farm in connection with the School of Agriculture.

Visitors are cordially welcomed at the farm, and they will find the university work at that place most valuable and interesting.

Persons who desire special information in regard to the university in any of its departments can obtain catalogues or answers to inquiries by addressing the registrar of the university.

News Notes.

The Central Illinois Teachers' Association will meet on March 21 and 22 in Peoria. President Nicolas Murray Butler of Columbia University will be one of the speakers. Prof. M. V. O'Shea of Wisconsin University is also on the program. A one fare round trip rate is authorized by the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railway, and the other roads in the district.

April 3, 4, and 5 is the date for the Southern Illinois Teachers' meeting. It will be held at Centralia and Speaker L.

Y. Sherman and Pres. A. S. Draper are to give the evening lectures. The association will discuss "English" and the "Value of Literature." Miss Cora B. Hamilton of Bloomington, Prof. W. M. Evans of Charleston, and Frank Hall of Jacksonville are among those who lead the discussions. This will be a great meeting of the teachers of southern Illinois.

The Northern Illinois Teachers' Association meets at Ottawa April 24-26. The following program is announced:

GENERAL SESSIONS.

Thursday evening-Administrative Questions Regarding Penmanship, Supt. F. E. Sanford, La Grange.

Friday morning-The Most Favorable Conditions for Language Training in the Grades, Professor J. B. Wilsey, Terre Haute, Ind.

Friday morning-Co-Operation of School and Home, Mrs. Helen M. Hefferan, Chicago.

Friday evening-Lecture, How to Make History a Real Live Thing, Prof. Edward H. Castle, Teachers' College, New York.

Saturday morning-The Ends, or Results, that Should be Reached by Pupils in the Grades Through a Study of History (a) From the Pupil's Standpoint, (b) From the Teacher's Standpoint, Principal William Radebaugh, Chicago.

B. The Merits and Defects of Present TextBooks and Aids to History Study for the Grades. How Improve the Defects? Supt. F. N. Tracy, Kankakee.

SECTION MEETINGS.

Primary. A. The Scope and Method of History in the Primary Grades. Miss Anne Durr Sterling.

B. The Literature of Fact versus the Literature of Fancy as Answering to the Life Needs of Children in the Primary Grades. Miss Cora B. Hamilton, Bloomington.

Intermediate. The Scope and Method of History in Intermediate Grades:

A. Suitable Material with Illustrative Outlines for Two or Three Topics According to

(a) The Mace Plan, Miss Ada C. Waldo, Rockford.

(b) The McMurry Plan, Miss Ida Condren, Streator.

(c) The Kemp Plan, Miss Clara Harrah, Ottawa.

B. The Oral Development of History as a Feasible Method of Teaching History in Inter

mediate Grades. Supt. Miriam Besley, Waukegan.

Grammar School. A. Some Fundamental

of Colonial History. Illustrated by outlines of two or three events. County Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford.

B. Some Fundamental Principles and How They Control in the Study of the National Period. Illustrated by outlines of two or three events. Supt. G. C. Griswold, Mendota.

High School. A. Should a General OutlineCourse in Mediaeval and Modern History be Attempted in High Schools. Mr. C. A. Wendell, Rock Island High School.

B. The Values of Original Investigation, Special Topic, and Supplementary Reading in the Teaching of History in the High School. Mr. C. C. Bebout, Elgin High School.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BUSINESS COMMITTEE OF THE NORTHERN INDIANA TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

The twentieth annual meeting of the association is to be held in South Bend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 3, 4, and 5, 1902. The Studebaker auditorium and the Auditorium-Annex have been leased for the use of the association. Suitable rooms have been secured within three blocks of the Auditorium for the several section meetings. The school exhibits will be displayed in the high school building, four blocks away. All work for this exhibit should be sent to Miss Alice E. Hill, chairman of the local committee on exhibits, not later than March 31. Ample provision will be made for the entertainment of 3,000 or more teachers who will surely attend the next meeting at rates ranging from $1 to $2 per day. Enough of the best homes in the city will be open for the entertainment of those who prefer to be so accommodated, at the customary rate of $1 per day.

HOTELS AND HOTEL RATES.

The Oliver, $2 per day, double. The New Sheridan, $2 per day, single, or $1.50 per day, double.

Hotel Johnson, $1.50 per day, double. Grand View Hotel, $1.25 per day, double.

Hotel Windsor, $1 per day, double. All who desire hotel accommodations should make their wishes known early, either to the proprietor of the hotel where they prefer to stop, or to Supt. Calvin

Moon by March 15.

In preparing their lists, superintendents and others will please observe the following instructions:

(1) Group the names of persons who wish to be together.

(2) State definitely when your party expects to arrive in South Bend, and by what railroad.

(3) State how long guests expect to remain, and whether they desire to stop at a hotel or private residence.

A one fare for round trip is guaranteed by the railways.

The local executive committee of the ninth annual meeting of the Western Drawing Teachers' Association, consisting of Supt. C. M. Jordan, Miss Bonnie E. Snow and Miss Emma Roberts, has issued the following announcements of the next meeting:

The Western Drawing Teachers' Association will meet in Minneapolis, Minn., Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, May 7, 8, and 9, 1902.

The Minneapolis meeting bids fair to be the largest in the history of the association. Exhibits of drawing, manual training and general industrial work are promised from many cities and art schools and the program committee has secured prominent speakers on special topics for the morning and evening sessions.

County Supt. O. J. Kern of Rockford, Ill., announces, in connection with his teachers' institute, two special features of instruction of great interest and value to his teachers. In connection with the United States history work opportunity is offered for a course of library reading, and about 150 books are provided from the Rockford public library treating on different phases of American history. In connection with the work in art and school room decoration, Supt. Kern has secured an exhibit of over 250 pictures from the Soule Art Company of Boston, and provided over 100 volumes on art and artists for reference.

Dr. William T. Harris, United Statescommissioner of education, will give a

course of lectures at the Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute on "The Psychology of Education," beginning July 14.

Professor McKean, of the schools of Middletown, Ohio, still believes in having the children learn to spell. He recently held a public spelling match between children from all the schools in the city from the fourth grade to seniors in the high school. The contest lasted to a very late hour and the little man who won was able to defy all comers in the way of English words to the very end.

Supt. W. N. Clifford, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Professor Ensign, principal of the high school, won golden opinions for the hospitality of their town by the cordial entertainment given the Southwestern Teachers' Association last month. These men have the hearty support of the citizens of Council Bluffs in their work.

"Jean Mitchell's School.”

[A review by Supt. J. K. Stableton of the Bloomington schools.]

"Jean Mitchell's School" is the unassuming name of a little volume that should find a place in the library of every teacher and school officer, and should be read by every one who is at all interested in the life of children. It is not a statement of pedagogical principles but the gradual unfolding of school life in accord with the highest pedagogical principles. In beautiful literary form is put the drama of a little country school. To crystallize the soul life of a school in this beautiful form is the work of a master hand.

The school is in perfect harmony with its setting. The season brings its varied. lessons just when the teacher can best use them to supplement the work of the school. She has attuned her school to nature and there is harmony. The gold and crimson of October brighten the walls of the school room and give subjects for drawing and language lessons, while they unconsciously teach the children to appreciate and enjoy the beauties that surround them.

Scarcely had the forests cast their

leaves ere Thanksgiving brought to mind the fruitfulness of the year, the bountiful giving of the all-wise Father. The exercises of the day while specially designed to teach the great lesson of thankfulness were so carefully planned that reading and history received increased attention.

Christmas brings the spirit of thoughtfulness for others. How skilfully she wove this thought into all the work of the school, giving to it a peculiar charm! The autumn leaves had given place to the holly, the Christmas tree held a surprise for every one and the spirit of the Christchild brooded over all.

Spring brought wealth of flowers. Even the pussy willows were made to teach lessons in letter-writing, as the boys and girls sent them on a mission of love.

The simple exercises of Memorial Day were so in keeping with the day and the people that the hearts of those who gathered there were touched and they went away with an undefined sense that were was a life in the little school-house that was sending its genial warmth throughout the whole neighborhood.

All these things are so unconsciously made to supplement the work of the school that one wonders how it could be otherwise.

When one of the fathers fears that the teacher who is making the work so interesting to his boy may not be doing her whole part by the boy, he visits the school and finds that his boy can out-do him in solving arithmetic problems, and hence concludes that the teacher must be all right, even if she does not teach arithmetic as it was taught when he was a boy.

It is not a graded school with one, two or even three grades, but a mixed school, the most difficult of all to manage.

While the work of the school as a whole is wisely planned and skilfully carried out, the study of the individual boys and girls is not forgotten. She must know each one to help each one, as she would. She had faith that there was much good in each one and thus her own mental and soul attitude made it possible for her to be helpful. The dishonest boy was not called a thief, a liar, but was led to have faith in the good that might develop within him. The boy whose father had sunk

to the lower stratum was not looked upon as a boy from low parentage, hence of little value; and when he could sing and would not, he was not commanded to sing under the threat of suspension; but the key that would unlock his shut-up self was searched for and found, and a new ambition was awakened within him. The girl who was moody and silent was not called a disagreeable creature, but a warm heart went out to her and finally a responsive chord was touched and a sad life was brightened by another's helping to bear the burden.

"Ah, but," says one, "it is an overdrawn picture that Jean Mitchell paints. I have taught school and know what I'm talking about." This critic's voice is the voice of the schoolkeeper, and not the voice of one who would render service. Jean Mitchell paints no fancy picture, tells no fancy tale, but what is now, and what will be more and more.

The soul life must be in our schools to inspire and lift, while common sense must keep the machinery of the school in working order.

Would that every teacher in the land. might read this book and be filled with its spirit. J. K. STABLETON.

Bloomington, Ill.

Chicago, Feb. 10, 1902.

My Dear Mr. Brown.

Your letter and copy of "Jean Mitchell's School" received. I have read the book through, and that is quite an unusual thing with me nowadays. There is very much of value and inspiration in it for the young teacher, and its bright narrative style will enable it to do good work where the most carefully written pedagogical essay would be laid aside unread. I do not believe that many teachers, of the rank and file, are students of pedagogy except through actual personal experience. Of the many who read pedagogical books, few are students in any real sense, and fewer still derive any practical help from such reading. This book is different. Like the Evolution of Dodd, it will be completely read by the teacher who begins it. And the teacher who can read it through without being helped is not a teacher.

With Jean Mitchell the solution of the problem is an ideal one in the fullest sense; with no other teacher could Jean Mitchell's solution be even approximately ideal, but the knowledge of Jean Mitchell's plan and its outcome may help another teacher to the realization of a solution which for her will approach as nearly to the absolute ideal. The trouble is that there are as few Jean Mitchells as there are Aunt Jos and Plumfields.

Altogether it is a beautiful little story, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention in a way which led to its careful reading. Yours very truly,

LINCOLN P. GOODHUE.
District Superintendent, Chicago.

BOOK TABLE

AN ELEMENTARY EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY, by John Bernard Ekeley, A. M. 12 mo. Pp. xii., 252. Introductory price, 90 cents. Silver, Burdett & Company, New York, Boston, Chicago.

In this new addition to the list of science text-books for secondary schools the author and publisher have combined in the effort to produce a volume that shall make the study of chemistry most attractive and most profitable to the student. As it should be the aim of the study of every science to develop the student's power of observation, as well as his knowledge of the relationships of the principles and facts underlying that science, so this present work aims to accomplish both of these ends.

The work is divided into three parts, these very divisions are indicative of the didactic and natural method in which the science is here treated.

Part I deals with "The Preparation and Properties of Elements and Compounds," and is arranged in the form of sixty-two experiments. In no experiment is any compound introduced with which the student has not be come familiar in some previous experiment. tatively, and in words, leaving all use of chem The formulas are expressed simply, qualiical theories and conventional symbols for treatment later on. Each experiment is planned to make the student construct for himself an additional link in the chain of scientific thought.

The "Laws and Theories of Chemistry" are made clear in Part II. In their treatment the student is himself made to develop the laws by means of pertinent experiments. With the laws thus revealed, the reasoning upon which is based belief in the respective explanatory theories is given in full.