idle pupil rewarded owing to the timidity of a class-mate, who has worked well throughout the year but who finds himself out of sorts on examination day. It is easily understood that this old agonizing custom is simply fitted to discourage workers, who often see themselves supplanted, on the great prize-day, by a badaud, who is gifted with great selfconfidence and with an intelligence vide. The only way to reward pupils with equity and intelligence, is to have them compete at the end of each month in a written examination for the more advanced, and orally for the more elementary grades, on the subjects taught in the school. At the end of the school year, twelve compositions will have been wrought on each branch of school work, and the sum total of marks obtained by the competitors should determine their standing. It will then be an easy task for the teacher to make up his list of prize-winners. The prizes awarded in this manner become an object of very laudable emulation, and exempt the teacher from deciding himself who shall bear away the palm. Some writers have decried the custom of public distribution of prizes, giving as a reason the wounding of the unrewarded pupils' self-regard, and maintaining that these wounds to self-regard have an injurious effect later on. We are not of this opinion. Children know better than anyone else what they deserve and what is their worth. When prizes are awarded by means of impartial competitions there are no fatal consequences to be feared on these grounds. Take away the publicity from the distribution of prizes and what remains? The authorities of primary education should inform the parents of the manner in which the prizes are to be awarded and to announce it on examination day. By this means misunderstandings will be avoided. To the Editor of the EDUCATIONAL RECORD: SIR,-In view of the discussion going on about our course of study, I think it would be as well for you to publish in your esteemed periodical the new regulation 74. From that regulation parents and teachers will see that they have in their own hands the limitation of the number of subjects undertaken by the pupil during the year, although I may say from experience that the more industrious of my pupils are always anxious enough to take all the subjects that may give them a good standing. As far as I understand the regulation, it has evidently been drawn up in the interests of those parents who think their children have had too much to do in school and at home, and my translation of it is that pupils of Grade I., Model, have but eight subjects in connection with which home tasks may be required, writing, arithmetic and drawing being for the most part work done in school; pupils in Grade II., Model, have nine such subjects; in Grades I. and II., Academy, eleven such subjects, and everybody knows how the minimum number of subjects required for passing A.A. is ridiculously small, and is hardly, if ever, taken advantage of. Facts are better than fine writing; and I have been unable to resist asking you, Sir, to give the facts about this so-called over-pressure in our schools. Yours, etc., A TEACHER. [The Regulation to which our correspondent refers reads as follows: 74. In these written examinations pupils shall be considered as having passed in their respective grades provided they pass in writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, scripture, French, physiology and hygiene and drawing; except (1) that pupils in Grade I., Model School Course, will also be required to pass in English, (2) that pupils in Grade II., Model School Course, will also be required to pass in at least one of the remaining subjects of their grade, and (3) that pupils of Grade III., Model School Course, and Grades I. and II., Academy Course, will also be required to pass in at least three of the remaining subjects of their respective grades, of which Latin shall be one. It may as well be understood that the decision about the Latin does not refer to the present year's work.-ED. EDUCATIONAL RECORD.] Books Received and Reviewed. [All Exchanges and Books for Review should be sent direct to Dr. J. M. Harper, Box 305, Quebec, P.Q.] THE QUARTERLY REGISTER OF CURRENT HISTORY has been received and placed on our list. This is the second number, and we would advise our teachers to become subscribers for the sake of the library and its young readers: it is published by the Evening News Association, Detroit, Mich. The Young Canadian we again welcome as an exchange. The Phrenological Journal is one of our most valuable magazines of physical research. The Scots Magazine, published in Perth, is a periodical which ought to receive every encouragement from Scotsmen abroad, as it is evidently receiving such at home: it is a well conducted periodical. The same may be said of the Highland Monthly, published in Inverness. A true Celt can hardly do without these magazines, if he would know what is going on among his kindred in the higher literary walks of life. These magazines are in no sense rivals. PLATO'S GORGIAS, edited by Gonzalez Lodge, of the Bryn Manor College, and published by Messrs. Ginn and Company, of Boston. This is one of the college series of Greek authors edited under the supervision of Professors John W. White and Thos. D. Seymour, The excellence of this series has been frequently spoken of in the RECORD, and the volume before us is likely to sustain their popularity. The introduction refers to the beginnings of rhetoric, Gorgias' life and activity, and gives the aim of the dialogue in a manner that cannot fail to interest the student at the outset of his task of reading the Greek text. Our college professors have surely grateful reason to favor the enterprise of the editors and publishers of this classical series of text-books. EUCLID'S ELEMENTS for the Use of Schools, containing Books III. and IV., by H. S. Hall, M. A., of Christ's College, Cambridge, and F. H. Stevens, M.A., of Queen's College, Oxford, and published by the Messrs. Macmillan & Co., London and New York. The text-books of the Messrs. Hall and Stevens have given the highest satisfaction, and the above, for compactness and arrangement, is all that teacher or pupil could wish for. LIVY, Books I. and II., edited, with introduction and notes, by J. B. Greenough, and published by the Messrs. Ginn and Company, Boston and London. This is another of Greenough's College Series of Latin Authors. The editor holds that the essential object of studying Latin is to learn to read Latin with readiness and accuracy, and though we cannot all agree with him in this matter, we must confess that this new text-book of Livy cannot fail to have a favorable reception from the student. The critique on the great Latin author, which precedes the text, is an excellent oral lesson, giving a bird's eye view of Livy's career in its ralationship with the times in which he lived, while the notes are not so much meant to assist the reader in his translation as in his intelligence. PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC, by W. H. Sadler and W. R. Will, of Baltimore, and published by the Sadler Publishing Co., 10 N. Charles Street, Baltimore. Though we cannot expect to see such a book as this introduced into our Superior Schools, we would urge our teachers to send for a copy of it, as they cannot fail to find from its completeness many valuable hints in their work. As a mercantile arithmetic it has few rivals in the field that surpass it. INSECTA is No. 8 of the Guides for Science Teaching, prepared, under the auspices of the Boston Society of Natural History, by Alphaeus Hyatt and J. M. Druis, and published by the Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. The young entomologist cannot secure a better guide than the beautiful little volume before us. There is little in connection with the science which is not touched upon, while the series of diagrams are in every respect excellent. The habits of insects, their seasons, and the manner in which they may be preserved, are treated of in anything but a dryly scientific manner; and yet the book is by no means altogether elementary. If there is a guide for the study of botany prepared with diagrams in the same way, we would like to see it in the hands of all our academy teachers, HANDBOOK OF HISTORIC SCHOOLS OF PAINTING, by Deristhe L. Hoyat, instructor in Massachusetts Normal Art School, and published by the Messrs. Ginn & Co., of Boston, U.S. The aim of the author, as is said, is to give in a more simple and condensed form than has hitherto been attempted some general knowledge of the principal historic schools of painting, their characteristics, chief artists and some of the most noted paintings executed by each, and these words indicate in brief the scope of the work. A more interesting book for the guidance of the general reader, while approaching the history and development of the art of painting, would be hard to find. From the early Greek painters to the Dutch and English schools the story is sustained in a manner which shows the compiler to be an enthusiast thoroughly qualified to make enthusiasts of others. GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE, by James Sime, M.A., and published by the Messrs. Macmillan & Company, London. Though we cannot recommend this as a text-book for our schools in America, considering its scope, it would, nevertheless, in our opinion, be a good book for the school library, with its easy reading and beautiful illustrations. A SYNOPSIS OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE, by G. J. Smith, B.A., of the Washington High School, and published by the Messrs. Ginn & Co., of Boston, U.S. The volume is a cram-book and has no interest for us; yet the student preparing for an examination would, probably not be inclined to despise it considering the amount of information condensed in it, and the manner of its arrangement. THE NEW FOURTH MUSIC READER, arranged by Messrs. Luther Whiting Mason and G. A. Veazie, and published by the same publishers, is a splendid collection of vocal exercises and musical selections, and one well worthy careful examination by our music teachers. THE MORNING HOUR: a Daily Song-Service with Responsive Selections for Schools, by Messrs. Irving Emerson, O. B. Brown and George E. Gay, of Malden, Mass., and published by the Messrs. Ginn & Co. A book like this we have long looked for, placing within the reach of the teacher, as it is meant to do, a simple arrangement of readings from the Bible, with appropriate hymns and musical exercises with which to begin the day. There is too little of this in our schools. To those of our teachers who do not hesitate to train their pupils in religious exercises-to worship God in spirit and in truth-we would heartily recommend this excellently arranged exercise book. STUDIES IN NATURE AND LANGUAGE LESSONS, arranged by T. Berry Smith, M.A., of Central College, Fayette, and published by the Messrs. Heath & Co., of Boston, U.S.A. From the cradle the mind of the child is engaged in two distinct ways, says Professor Smith, (1) forming acquaintance with material objects and (2) expressing this knowledge in language. And the query is often put, does a man really know when he is impotent to communicate to others what he is supposed to know. Besides, how often are we startled by some of the questions which children put to us, and which we are unable to answer simply from the fact that we have been imperfectly trained to communicate our thoughts about simple phenomena. The book prepared by Mr. Smith may be called a composition exercise-book, but it is much more, and we trust to see it soon in wide circulation, as a text-book which will not only train children to observe but to speak and write intelligently about their observations. Official Department. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, Which day the regular quarterly meeting of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction was held. Present: The Right Rev. James Williams, D.D., Lord Bishop of Quebec, in the chair, the Rev. John Cook, D.D., Sir William Dawson, C.M.G., LL.D., R. W. Heneker, Esq., D.C.L., LL.D., the Ven. Archdeacon Lindsay, M.A., George L. Masten, Esq., the Rev. W. I. Shaw, LL.D., A. Cameron, Esq., M.D., M.P.P., A. W. Kneeland, Esq., M.A., Ph.D., E. J. Hemming, Esq., D.C.L., the Very Rev. Dean Norman, D.D., the Rev. Dr. Cornish, LL.D., the Rev. George Weir, LL.D., R. J. Hewton, Esq., M.A. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was received from Mr. Peter McArthur, regretting his inability to attend. The Secretary then submitted the following communications and correspondence for the consideration of the Committee: 1. From Miss Letitia Barlow and Mrs. Wardrope, applying for diplomas under the regulations of the Committee. The Committee agreed to recommend that Miss Letitia Barlow be granted a first-class academy diploma under regulation 56. The Secretary was instructed to inform Mrs. Wardrope that it will be necessary for her to submit the teacher's certificate which she holds to the Committee for examination, in order that the Committee may be able to accede to her request. 2. From Mr. T. B. Smiley, resigning his position as head master of the boys' department of the McGill Model School. The resignation was received and accepted. Moved by Sir William Dawson, seconded by Dr. Cornish, and resolved: "That this Committee do recommend the appointment of Mr. Orrin Rexford, B.A., Sc., as head master of the boys' department of the Model School of the McGill Normal School, in place of Mr. Smiley, resigned, at the same salary." 3. From the Rev. Elson I. Rexford, resigning his position as secretary of the Department of Public Instruction. The Hon. Gédéon Ouimet having expressed his regret at the resignation of Mr. Rexford, it was moved by Sir William Dawson, seconded by Dr. Heneker, and resolved: "That the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruc |