Commissioners, deserves credit, as, indeed, do the other commissioners. The influence of Inspector Parker is felt in his inspectorate. -THE teacher occasionally appears in a new role. From the following news-note it appears that he can be plaintiff in a suit for libel. The teachers of Dartmouth, in Nova Scotia, have instituted a suit for libel against a member of the local School Board, because he stated, at a board meeting, that the penmanship of all of them, except the principal, was bad. They deny the truth of the statement, and have concluded to carry the matter into the law courts. -BISHOP'S COLLEGE, Lennoxville, has 182 students in attendance this session, 112 at Lennoxville and 70 in Montreal, at the Medical College. The Dominion College of Music and the Dental College of the Province of Quebec have been affiliated to Bishop's. In the Arts Faculty, Prof. Parrock has succeeded Prof. Watkins as professor of classics. The authorities are confident that they will be able to raise the $10,000 necessary to entitle them to the $20,000 offered by Mr. Robert Hamilton, of Quebec. -IT IS understood from some remarks made by the Chief Superintendent of New Brunswick, at a recent teachers' institute, that it is contemplated to regulate the employment of teachers according to the ability of the districts. If this plan be carried out, there can be no doubt but that it will meet with the approval of all rate-payers who are interested in schools, and teachers as well. At present some of our ablest districts employ the cheapest and lowest class teachers they can engage, greatly to the disadvantage and annoyance of many rate-payers. -THE influence of the free text-book movement seems to be extending in the United States. From latest accounts, ten states, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Vermont and New Jersey, have made free text-books compulsory; while nine states, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio and North Dakota, have passed resolutions making the system permissive. -THE State of Illinois has a law providing for the retirement of public school teachers, after twenty-five years' service in the case of men, and after twenty years' service in the case of women. The statute provides, however, that no taxes can be levied for the use of the pension fund established. The fund is to be maintained by the deduction of one per cent. each year from the salaries of all public school teachers employed in the state. -IT IS said that Mr. Rockefeller has given still another million dollars to Chicago University, and this will bring the amount of his gifts to the cause of education almost up to the sum left by Stephen Girard to Girard College. An exchange says that it is somewhat remarkable that with the vast increase in the amount of wealth and number of millionaires the record made by Girard so long ago as the year 1831 should still remain unbroken at the close of the year 1895. Of the eighteen American millionaires who have contributed to educational institutions sums ranging from the one million dollars given by Ezra Cornell to Cornell University to the eight millions given by Stephen Girard to Girard College, four, namely, Girard, Asa Packer, James Lick and A. J. Drexel, were Pennsylvanians, and the value of their gifts reached the large total of $14,650,000. Mr. Rockefeller, being still in the land of the living, is likely at last to exceed Girard's record as a patron of education. If a great university could be made with millions, Mr. Rockefeller would already have made it. -BESIDES the $1,000,000 which Mr. Rockefeller is said. to have just added to his former donations to the University of Chicago, Miss Helen Culver, of Chicago, has given to the same institution a like sum for the spread of knowledge within the field of biological sciences. With the great wealth which is being put at its disposal, the University of Chicago should be able to do good work in the realm of higher education. -THE University Banquet, which is a quinquennial event of the history of McGill, was held on the 24th of January last, at the Windsor Hotel, Montreal. Many distinguished educationists, from all parts of the Continent, were present, in addition to the members of convocation. Many excellent speeches were delivered. The Hon. G. W. Ross, Minister of Education for Ontario, in proposing the toast, "McGill University," spoke in glowing terms of the work done by the university, and referred to the high and honourable positions held by many of its graduates. He gave a word of praise to its princely benefactors, and intimated that they would be glad to see the same generosity in Toronto. He deplored the smallness of the influence exercised by the universities in Canada, as compared with the Mother Country, and advocated the teaching of constitutional law, political economy and civil government, as a training for public life. Such a university training would broaden the sentiments of our legislators, steady their minds in times of crisis, give them broader conceptions of the empire, and lessen the influence of demagogues. -ON THE same occasion, in response to the toast of Eastern Universities,' President Eliot, of Harvard University, said: I find a close resemblance between the history of McGill and the history of Harvard. To be sure, Harvard University is much older. Its character, unaltered to this day, dates from 1650, twenty years before the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company was given. We were poor for two centuries. McGill University has, within its comparatively short life, reached a greater magnitude and a higher level than Harvard University in two hundred years. Therefore, the history of Harvard is encouraging to every university which depends chiefly upon endowment for support. We have depended almost entirely upon the benefactions of our citizens. The dependence of McGill has been similar. Mr. Ross called attention to the munificence of the citizens of Montreal to McGill University, but there is another side to that picture. Universities like McGill and Harvard have given a noble opportunity to rich men. A judge I knew used to say that Harvard University had given a good chance for a rich man to escape the application to himself of that saddest of epitaphs, the rich man also died and was buried.' But, jesting quite apart, I know no greater service that a patriot can render to his country than the endowment of education, and I know that there is no finer luxury a rich man can procure for himself than the luxury of indulging the hope that he has done. some perpetual good on this earth. Think of it-the doing of some perpetual good. What a privilege to dream of it; what a delight to realize it. President Eliot went on to speak of the good that had resulted from benefactions to Harvard, and enlarged upon the opportunities for beneficence presented at McGill in its present position. -IT WOULD seem that Upper Canada College, which has been identified as "the one great national primary school" of this country, is in financial difficulties, and word nas gone forth that, to assure the permanent efficiency of this school, a supplemental endowment by voluntary subscription is required to take the place of the endowment conferred at its foundation by Sir John Colborne in 1829, of which the College has been deprived by events in the course of years. We trust that the amount needed will be speedily raised. Indeed, it is announced that already Messrs. W. H. Beatty, W. R. Brock, and W. G. Gooderham have given tangible evidence of their views by subscriptions aggregating $11,000. Literature, Historical Notes, etc. -PRONOUNS.-As most of us have more or less had occasion to use the cumbersome expressions, "his or her," "him or her," referring to an antecedent of common gender, this question, asked by an exchange, is of general interest: Does the English language need a pronoun that may logically stand for an antecedent of common gender in the singular number? A great many will answer yes, and the writer is inclined to agree with the affirmative answer. Of course we know what the rule is. Every one can say that "When the gender of the singular antecedent is common or intermediate, use the masculine pronoun." But anyone listening to the average public speaker or watching ordinary conversation will discover that the rule and the practice are far apart. Among the educational fraternity wrong practice is very marked, particularly in the use of the singular of the nouns "teacher" and "pupil." The usual error is to use the feminine pronoun with "teacher" and the plural with "pupil." After listening to many lecturers and institute instructors from the highest rank down, we can safely affirm that the great majority habitually say the teacher, she." Now that might be correct if"teacher" were being used strictly in the feminine and the use were clear to the listener; but when a lecturer, addressing an audience of teachers of both sexes, uses the singular feminine pronoun with "teacher" in the common gender, he exposes himself to the charge of either not knowing and using good English, or of ignoring the masculine portion of the profession. Here are three examples in point-(1) The teacher should study his profession. (2) The teacher should study her profession. (3) The teacher should study their profession. In the first sentence the use of the word "teacher" as a noun of common gender and of "his" as a pronoun of common gender is unquestioned. In the second sentence, "teacher" can only be parsed in the feminine gender, for if of the common gender, the pronoun "her" is wrongly used for "his." The use of noun and pronoun is wrong from all standpoints in the third. If the masculine pronoun, third person, singular, is the only one that can also be properly used as a singular pronoun of common gender, let us use it. An attempt has recently been made by some publishers in the East to introduce a new pronoun to "fill a long felt want " of a pronoun of common gender, singular. The pronoun and its declension is: Nominative "Thon," Possessive "Thons," Objective"Thon." Using this pronoun in one of the sentences given previously, it would read; "The teacher should study thons profession." This word has failed so far to find that favor that is needed to bring it into general use. It is a probable failure. One thing however is sure, we, as teachers, should either bring our practice up to what we know to be correct by our present rules or usage, or use a new device. Practical Hints and Examination Papers. DECIMAL FRACTIONS. BY H. D., IN American Journal of Education. 1. Principles of increase and decrease, made clear by illustrations; such as 5, 50, 500, 5000, 50000, 500000, and 5, 5, .05, .005, .0005, .00005, .000005. I should not try any more than have the above fully understood by every one of the class; not only the apt ones, but also the slow ones. Show the child that .5 is another way of writing, thus .5= or . It is more convenient, often, to use .5 than . Therefore, we use it. Decimal fractions are simply one class of the common fractions expressed in a different manner. They are simply fractions having as denominators 10, 100, 1000, etc. mil 2. Writing decimals. Learn orders, tenths, hundredths, thousandths, ten-thousandths, hundred-thousandths. lionths, ten-millionths, hundred-millionths, billionths, ten billionths, hundred-billionths, trillionths. I consider that far enough. I should write these words until all can spell them. These words look ugly if spelled incorrectly. Learn to name and to write them. Don't forget the hyphen. John, name the fourth order. Mary, give the seventh order. Peter, name them backwards. Teacher, dictate not 10, but 50 or 100 decimal fractions. 3. James, will you put these on the board? .25. .304, .082, 1.3. 54.0004, 194.5, 345.1916, .1896, 20.001008, 1489.690001. Mary may read them. Ruth may read them. Jacob try it. Who made a mistake? Papers or slates ready. Please write these ten decimal fractions dictated by the teacher. Exchange papers. Lucy may read hers by naming the figures in succession and calling the point, decimal point-14.3085, 1, 4, decimal |