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Pattengill, Lansing, Michigan. This work is issued with the expectation that it may be useful to the teachers who may have neither time nor opportunity to pursue an extended course of preparation for their work. Such a work in the hands of those of our teachers who attend our Teachers' Institutes would be of greater service than the one which is followed now, and we would suggest that it be examined with the view of introducing it in some such way. It is an excellent little work.

HEATH'S MODERN LANGUAGE SERIES have had several additions made to it of late. The publishers are Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, U.S.A. The new volumettes are Laurette or Le Cachet Rouge, by Alfred De Vigny, with notes and illustrations by Alcée Fortier of the University of Louisiana: Molière's Le Tartuffe, edited by F. E. A. Gase. LE MEDECIN MALGRÉ LUI, edited with arguments and notes by the same writer, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Mr. Gase's work is duly appreciated by all who have examined these neat little volumes.

THE PROGRESSIVE EUCLID, books I and II, with notes, exercises and deductions, edited by A. T. Richardson, M.A., Senior Mathematical Master in the Isle of Wight College, and published by MacMillan & Co., London, England. No one can even open this book without seeing that it has been prepared by a teacher of experience. Mr. Richardson's task has been not to make Euclid easy, but to make it more intelligible and useful in mind improvement. If any teacher

will ask for the loan of the copy we have, we will send it to him only on the condition that he returns it; and if he does not agree with us that it is the best of our "Euclids," we will be very much astonished.

The following books are on our review table and will receive attention next month: The Reproduction of Geographical Forms in land or clay, by Jacques W. Redway. Notes on English Literature, by F. Parker Emery of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Hygienic Physiology, by Dr. D. F. Lincoln; Geography of Europe, by James Sime, M.A.; Sadler's Practical Arithmetic, by W. H. Sadler and W. R. Will of the Baltimore Business College. Business Bookkeeping, by George E. Gay. New Fourth Music Reader, by L. W. Mason and George A. Veazie of Chelsea, Mass. The Morning Hour, by Irving Emerson, O. B. Brown and George E. Gay. Synopsis of English and American Literature, by G. J. Smith, B.A., of the Washington High School. Open Sesame, vol. III, by Misses Bellamy and Goodwin. Storm's Immensee, edited by Dr. W. Bernhardt. Physical Laboratory Manual, by Dr. Alfred P. Gage. Mérimée's Colomba, edited by Dr. J. A. Fontaine, of the University of Mississippi. Irving's Alhambra, edited for the use of schools by Alice H. White. Insecta, by Alphaeus Hyatt, of the Boston Society of Natural History, and many others which will be noticed in due time.

The

Official Department.

OFFICIAL REPORTS.

COWANSVILLE, P.Q., July 30th, 1890.

To the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Sir, Having completed my first year's work as Inspector for the Counties of Brome and Missisquoi, I beg leave herewith to submit my statistical report and the following statements :

I find on comparing the present state of affairs with the last report of my esteemed predecessor, the late Mr. McLaughlin, that I have five more municipalities than existed at the time of his last report.

These are Eastman, Mansonville, Sweetsburgh, Stanbridge-East and Knowlton, which makes the present number 25.

I have visited the schools of every municipality, and each individual school twice during the year, in all cases where the schools have regularly been in session during the year.

I have succeeded in visiting each school which has been in operation during the year, with the exception of four, which were held only for a small portion of the year and were not in operation at the time of my visits.

In some cases, I have made three tours of inspection through some extended municipalities, in order, if possible, to see every school.

I have reported the statistics of no school that I have not been able to report upon by actual inspection.

There are, in my district of inspection, 181 school buildings, 28 of which have been vacant during the year.

There have been, of elementary schools, 141 in session, model schools 7, and academies 5, making a total of 153.

I am informed that several of the school buildings which have been closed during the past will be occupied in the coming year.

For some of these, teachers are even now engaged. Hence, I expect next year to report a larger number of schools in session. In the elementary schools, I have found 2970 pupils, in the model schools, 491. In the academies, 555, making a total of 4016 pupils in the schools of the two counties.

There are only seven teachers without diplomas, and several of these expect to present themselves next year for examination.

There are 156 female teachers including those who are teaching in the higher schools, and three male teachers in the elementary and ten in the higher schools, making a total of 169 teachers.

For the most part, these are doing very faithful work, and at my second visit, I was gratified with the evident progress made in the majority of the schools.

The Teachers' Institute, which was held in Cowansville, in July, was largely attended by the teachers of the district of Bedford, notwithstanding the fact that a new departure was inaugurated this year,

which seems to have given, in the result, very general satisfaction, namely, the introduction of the independent instead of the billeting system hitherto in

vogue.

This was done by the hotels giving cheap rates to the members of the Institutes.

The Lecturers were listened to with marked attention throughout the sessions and it is hoped much good will result from the stimulus the teachers received at this Normal Institute.

In my association with the commissioners and secretary-treasurers, as well as the teachers, I have been much gratified with the evident desire to co-operate in any movement for the advancement of education.

For particulars in relation to the municipalities and the individual schools, I would refer to the bulletins which have been regularly transmitted to the department and also to the statistical tables.

Below, I give a classification of the municipalities, based upon the following points :

1. The length and arrangement of the school year;
2. The condition of the school houses and grounds;

3. The supply of appliances, blackboards, maps, etc.;

4. The use of the course of study;

5. The use of a uniform series of authorized text books;
6. The salaries of teachers and method of payment.

EXCELLENT.

Knowlton, Cowansville, Sutton Village, and Town of Farnham.

GOOD.

Mansonville, Sutton, Brome, Dunham Village, East Farnham, Dunham, Sweetsburg, Phillipsburg and Clarenceville.

MIDDLING.

St. Damien, dissentient, St. Ignace, West Bolton, West Farnham, dissentient, Potton, St. Thomas, East Bolton, Notre-Dame des Anges, dissentient, and St. Sebastien de Missisquoi, dissentient.

New academy buildings have been erected in Bedford and Mansonville; and one new elementary school house in each of the following: Stanbridge-East, Dunham and Phillipsburgh, and each is a vast improvement on the preceding buildings in those localities.

I have the honor to be Sir, &c.,

ERNEST M. TAYLOR,
School Inspector.

KINNEAR'S MILLS, 30th July, 1890.

Sir, I have the honour to submit my annual report for the year ending June 30th, 1890. My statistical table was mailed to your address last week.

This report shows that there are in my district of inspection twentysix municipalities, of which twenty are under the control of Protestant school commissioners, four under the control of Protestant trustees and two under the control of Roman-Catholic commissioners. Six of these are village municipalities, viz.: Coaticook, Waterville, Beebe-Plain, Stanstead-Plain, Dixville, and Lake Megantic. Sixteen municipalities are in the county of Compton, eight in the county of Stanstead and two in the county of Wolfe. Those having the largest number of schools are Stanstead, Barnston and Compton.

The total number of schools in operation in my Inspectorate this year, was one hundred and ninety-four, an increase of three over the previous year. The number of pupils attending was four thousand six hundred and fifty-nine, an increase of two hundred and twenty-four over last year's figures.

These one hundred and ninety-four schools are classified as follows: One academy, six model schools and one hundred and eighty-seven elementary. There are also the Stanstead Wesleyan College and Compton Ladies' College, neither of which I have included in my report, as both of these institutions send returns directly to your department. There was a slight improvement in the average attendance this year, being about seventy-nine per cent.

The Coaticook Academy which is, as usual, graded in five departments, was attended this year by two hundred and fifty pupils, with an average attendance of one hundred and sixty-eight.

There were fifty-four pupils in the academy courses, fifty-one in the model school department, and one hundred and fifty five in the elementary.

The model schools are those of Waterville, East-Hatley, Robinson, Marbleton, Cookshire and Gould.

The largest elementary schools were kept at Beebe-Plain, Sawyerville, Barnston-Corner, Dixville and Scotstown. Two teachers were employed in each of those schools and much improvement shown in all of them.

There is not much change in the general management of the schools since last year. In many of them, there has been marked progress during the year, while a number remain about the same.

The commissioners, as a rule, take a lively interest in the schools under their charges, and endeavor according to the best of their ability to carry out your instructions and those of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction.

There has been some improvement in the manner of engaging teachers, as most of them are now engaged by the year or at least for the number of months that their schools are to be in session during the year.

Six new school houses have been completed: two in the municipality of Eaton, one in Dudswell, one in East Clifton, one in Stanstead and one in Whitton, while a number of others have been extensively repaired.

In some localities, much difficulty was experienced in obtaining qualified teachers; and consequently, quite a number of schools were taught by teachers having no diplomas.

The total number of teachers engaged during the year was two hundred and six, of whom twenty-seven held no diplomas, sixteen had diplomas from Roman Catholic Boards of Examiners, twelve had diplomas from the McGill Normal School, (six model and six elementary.) The average salary for elementary female teachers was one hundred and twenty-eight dollars, and for model school female teachers, two hundred and sixteen dollars.

As full particulars regarding each school were contained in the bulletins of inspection which have been forwarded, it seems unnecessary to give any further details.

According to instructions, I will classify the municipalities in order of merit, with reference to the following points :

1. The length and arrangement of the school year.

2. The condition of school houses and grounds.

3. The supply of apparatus, blackboards, authorized school journals, etc. 4. The use of the Course of study.

5. The use of a uniform series of text books.

6. The salaries of teachers and method of payment.

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