blind by an injury to the optic nerve; but a person whose blindness is due to an injury to the optic brain centre, does not simply not see, but such a person cannot recall anything he has ever seen, and cannot imagine anything he has ever seen. Pathological evidence goes to show that such a person does not even "see darkness" like an eye-blind person. It is interesting to note that Milton's blindness could not have been due to an injury to the visual brain cells. The visual pictures in Paradise Lost," and his sonnet on his blindness prove that. In like manner if the Iliad was written by Homer and not "by some other man of the same name," his blindness could not have been due to degeneration of the brain centers.

What I have said of the visual centers is true of the auditory centers and of all the rest. Beethoven composed music after he was deaf. His deafness must have been ear-deafness. If his auditory centers had been injured, his imagination of tone would have been gone. But we also dream with the very brain centers with which we perceive, remember and imagine. Consequently persons born blind, whose visual brain-cells have never been stimulated, never dream of things visible;

It is

nor those born deaf of things audible. In sense perception the cells are stimulated by sense impressions; in the processes which we call recollection, imagination, and dreaming, they are stimulated by impulses from within the brain. an interesting question to determine how long these cells must be stimulated by sense impressions before they can be aroused by a weaker stimulus coming from other parts of the brain. Professor Jastrow of the University of Wisconsin determined this question a few years ago by a series of tests on blind persons. He tested fifty-eight persons. Of these, thirty-two became blind before they had completed their fifth year, and not one of these thirty-two dreams of things seen. Six became blind between the end of their fifth and the end of their seventh year; four of these dream of things seen and two of them not. The remaining twenty who became blind after their seventh year all dream of things seen. From this it would appear that it takes at least five years to educate the brain centers enough to enable them to recall, imagine, and dream, in the absence of the strong stimulus which comes only from sense impressions.-N. E. Journal of Education.

N retiring from the School Department Superintendent Waller can rest content in the consciousness that his administration has fully vindicated Gov. Beaver's judgment in selecting him for that important position.

His term of office has been intelligent, dispassionate, conservative, and judicious, characterized by the judicial temper and equipoise, and an appreciation of the underlying principles embodied in the organic structure of our school system. The law of growth has been steadily maintained at its recognized high level, and without sensationalism the development of its working life has moved forward

with a productive usefulness that has been fruitful of good results, and deserves the. cordial public recognition which it has everywhere received.

He brought to the service the resources of a liberal education, and the special experience and administrative ability that virtually re-created one of our struggling and embarrassed State Normal Schools, and enabled him thoroughly to understand the professional wants of our common schools and the character and capabilities of our great system of Normal Schools.

Dr. Waller retires from the Department of Public Instruction in the ripe maturity of his mental powers, and with the ability to be eminently successful in other lines and channels of well-directed effort and influence. He carries with him, into whatever field of labor he may enter, the kindly good-will and best wishes of school officers and teachers throughout the Commonwealth, and of the general public as well.

No regular meeting of the National Educational Association will be held this year. An Educational Congress will be in session from July 18th to July 25th as one of the World's Fair Congresses. Many teachers are planning to attend it. President A. G. Lane, Superintendent of the Chicago schools, will aid members in securing boarding places while at the Fair. For this there will be no charge. The membership fee of two dollars may be sent to him by such persons as desire his assistance in securing suitable accommodations during their stay in Chicago.

WE had the pleasure of hearing the baccalaureate address of Dr. Schaeffer to the graduating class of the State Normal School at Millersville, on Sunday morning, June 25th, from the text, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." It was an impressive discourse. The class numbered eightythree graduates, the full attendance at the school being now upwards of nine hundred students.

THE State Appropriation to the schools, for which the warrants are now going out from the Department of Public Instruction, is five millions. Next year it will be five and one-half millions, and the same amount for the year thereafter, the recent Legislature having added a million to the appropriation for the two years, 1894 and 1895.

WE Congratulate the State upon the appointment of Dr. J. T. Rothrock, of West Chester, as Botanist of the Forestry Commission appointed under a recent act of the Legislature. He is regarded the best botanist in Pennsylvania, and he is an ardent and judicious advocate of our Forestry interests. Col. A. H. Tyson, of Reading, has been appointed as the engineer of the Commission.

DR. SCHAEFFER will make his home in Lancaster, having leased the desirable residence No. 203 East King street. This city was the home of Dr. Burrowes during all of his manhood life until he became president of the Agricultural College. Dr. Wickershamn removed to Lancaster after his appointment to the Superintendency, and it was his home during the rest of his life. Dr. Higbee lived here during almost the whole of his term of service. And Dr. Schaeffer will, we think, be the

fourth State Superintendent of distinction whom Lancaster will be proud to reckon upon the honor roll of those who have been her best known and most useful citizens.

THE Directory of the World's Columbian Exposition has decided that a series of world's congresses shall be held at Chicago during the summer. The arrangement for these congresses has been entrusted, with the approval of the Government of the United States, to the World's Congress Auxiliary, under the presidency of Mr. Charles C. Bonney, of Chicago. The management of the special Congress on Education in Schools, Elementary, Secondary, and Superior, has been assigned by the World's Congress Auxiliary to the National Education Association of the United States. A committee of arrangements has been appointed by this body, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner of Education for the United States, Hon. Wm. T. Harris, for the completion of all details and the invitation of delegates. The Congress will be held in Chicago during the week beginning July 25, 1893. It is proposed to have two general sessions, both in the evening, and meetings of the several departments in the forenoons and afternoons. This Congress will be preceded by several special educational conferences, beginning July 17th.

TO THE READERS

OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL JOURNAL.

HE symposium in the last issue of

The Pennsylvania School Journal reminded me of the Emperor Charles V. During one of his journeys through France he was welcomed to Paris in a speech that ascribed to him all possible virtues. He replied: "The great praise which you have bestowed upon me is dear to me, because it reminds me of what I should be." The many good qualities which enthusiastic friends ascribe to me in The Journal for June, plainly indicate what I should strive to be, not what I

now am.

In assuming the duties of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, I cherish, among other things, the ambition to be more than merely a nominal editor of The School Journal. It is the official organ of the School Department at Harrisburg, and an invaluable channel

for reaching all who are connected with the school system. Personal contact with thousands of school directors and teachers is impossible. The only alternative is to reach them through the printed page. The Journal can only be an effective instrument for good in so far as it is read by directors, teachers and advanced pupils, especially those preparing to teach. The School Department has an appropriation to pay for a copy for the Secretary of every School Board in the State. The other members of the School Board should also be in touch with the School Department; and this is not possible unless the Board exercises its right to subscribe for copies for them, paying for the same out of the school funds at their disposal. I do not know any other direction in which so small a sum of money can be expended with equal benefit to the schools of the district. It is the only remuneration which School Directors can receive for the discharge of their important and trying duties, and it is directly in line with their official duties as the guardians and directors of our educational system.

Every cultured home has a library and a reading table, containing books and periodicals suitable for children to read. Is it not possible to make the school as attractive as our best homes? Can we not have a reading table in every school of Pennsylvania? The Journal is a magazine devoted to the interests of the School and the Home, and I should like to make it even more worthy than it has been in the past, of a place upon the reading table of every school and every home in the Commonwealth.

A leading aim will be to give the results of the latest studies and investigations in the department of pedagogy, as well as an account of interesting movements in the educational world. Recent legislation upon school matters, and the decisions upon perplexing questions connected therewith, will be published more fully than ever before for the benefit of all who are connected with our excellent system of schools.

Upon one question this age is practically agreed. However much men may differ in creeds, customs and social life, and however widely their views and interests may differ upon questions of finance, protection and political economy, the civilized world is practically agreed upon the supreme importance of popular

education. Even far distant countries like Japan, New Zealand and Madagascar have adopted and put into operation most excellent systems of public instruction. Half a century ago people talked of the rights of the parents and the duties of the children. To-day discussion turns upon the rights of children and the duties of parents, especially the right of the child to the best education possible and the duty of parents and citizens to provide for the same. The servants of the people in the halls of legislation no longer dare to vote against liberal appropriations for popular education.

To mediate between the old and the new, to abolish the defects of the present without sacrificing the heritage of the past, to provide an education that will fit. our children to hold their own in the competition with the educated labor of other lands, to develop loyal and good citizens out of the children of the foreigners whom our industrial life attracts in marvelous numbers to Pennsylvania, to bridge the chasm which separates the public schools from our higher institutions of learning, to keep the teachers and directors alive on the many educational questions which call for solution in the closing decade of the nineteenth century-surely these are aims lofty enough to satisfy the ambition of an archangel. That The School Journal may continue to help the workers in this vast field of effort, is the hope which the undersigned cherishes in assuming editorial duties in connection with the office of State Superintendent. NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER.

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP.

FRIDAY

RIDAY, June 23, was a notable day for the people of Lower Merion Township, in Montgomery county. The Duke and the Duchess Veragua, and five hundred other Spanish and American guests, accompanied Mr. Geo. W. Childs to his country home at Wootton, attended a lawn party, and planted trees. No country has lost more than Spain in the deterioration of her soil through the destruction of forests, and this action of the stranger should be a warning to the people of America.

On the afternoon of the same day, the children and citizens held graduation exercises in the advanced schools of the township. In the evening the several

of

graduates assembled at Ardmore to receive their diplomas. Addresses were made by Dr. N. C. Schaeffer and Hon. H. C. Hickok, the latter the first land the former the last State Superintendent of Pennsylvania since the erection the bureau of education into a Department at Harrisburg. Mr. Hickok lauded the Directors for their wisdom in selecting a skilled teacher to supervise the schools, and in re-electing him at an advanced salary for the next three years. In glowing terms he described the zeal, fidelity and efficiency of Supt. J. I. Robb, who is showing the value of careful local supervision in the schools of a township.

The diplomas were presented to the class in a neat speech by the President of the Board, Wm. McGeorge, Esq., who raised the question why the fair sex should be so largely in the majority in the graduating class. Are the boys not born in Lower Merion township? or do they die too early? or do they lack the brains necessary to complete a course of study?" Pertinent questions like these were asked with telling effect for the purpose of arousing the ambition of the boys.

Ex-State Supt. Hickok has been without doubt, one of the most far-seeing and most useful men that Pennsylvania has known in her educational history. Greatness is not measured by wealth or by scholarship, but by the moulding influence which a man exerts upon the life of the race. Everywhere the results of this man's energy and wisdom as State Superintedent are visible. Very much of the superiority in school affairs which Pennsylvania has attained over other States, is due to his foresight and skill in securing at a critical period the preparation and passage of the Normal School law; in retaining the County Superintendency as a part of our educational system against the most bitter opposition; în securing the passage of the Separation act, which created the Department of Public Instruction; and in having The Pennsylvania School Journal made the official organ of this Department. The result of his work in connection with these four strong features of our system of education is of incalculable and ever-cumulative benefit to the State. We have the laws. We need only to go forward with the work. The development of the Superintendency alone in cities, boroughs and townships is destined to give Pennsylvania the best school supervision in the world.

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.

THE

HE success which attended the Oxford summer meeting in England has encouraged the American society to adopt a similar plan for the coming season in Philadelphia, as this city has been the headquarters of the organization from the beginning. The courses will be given at the University of Pennsylvania, extending from July 5 to August 3, and the admirable facilities of that institution, its library, laboratories, museums and classrooms, will be open to those taking the courses. Lectures will be given by specialists from the various Universities in Pedagogy, American History, European History, Literature, Natural Science, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Music. It will enroll as students all who have an interest in this great movement for popular education and social reform. It is held especially for busy men and women who can get away from their work but for a week or more; for teachers and members of the Extension centres.

The "summer meeting" differs from a summer school, it being held primarily for those who are already bound by common interests, and it has the advantage over a conference or convention in that its courses are of sufficient length to be interesting and instructive. Moreover, it has the advantage over summer gatherings in that it is a part of a movement which, in proceeding, as it does, from universities, has enrolled thousands of earnest students; is formally organized in scores of cities, towns and villages of the United States and Canada; that it is under university influence, utilizing university facilities for higher instruction, its professors and instructors in many ways, its libraries, museums, laboratories, etc. It might rank with formal university residence were it not for the fact that no academic preparation is required and no degree is given. Had it not been for the Oxford summer meeting, the University Extension would never have attained its present proportions.

The instruction in American history. will be given by a systematic course of lectures and classes, by seminaries and by regional surveys, which will give an opportunity to visit prominent points of historical interest in and near Philadelphia, under the guidance of a University specialist. A special seminary will be given for those who wish to study the colonial

or revolutionary period. Special brief courses will be given in particular American institutions, showing their origin, strength developed, and the evils which have intertwined in their growth. Such courses are the history of the American newspaper press, of the American magazine, the American stage, art and architecture, educational administration, the Christian Church in America, American shipping and American railways.

The course in European History will deal with the most interesting period in the history of Europe, the sixteenth cen'tury. One course will be given on the Renaissance, and will be followed by one on the Reformation. The lectures will be illustrated by means of the oxyhydrogen light, with views especially prepared by the lecturers for this purpose. In the natural science courses instruction will be given by means of lectures and laboratory work in general biology, geology and botany.

Instruction will be given in the history of music, with particular reference to the origin and gradual development of the

| scale, counterpoint, and harmony. The course will present fully the system so successfully used by the professor of music in the University of Pennsylvania. Two special lectures of unusual interest will be delivered, one on national characteristics in music, illustrated by a concert of ballads and songs, and one on the progress of song-writing from the eighteenth century to the present time, illustrated by the songs of representative composers.

Philadelphia offers peculiar advantages for such a meeting. It has held a prominent place in the military and political history of the nation, and offers, with its suburbs, a unique wealth of historical associations. It has a University, with over 2000 students, providing the needful equipment of libraries, museums, etc., and a number of professors who will deliver courses of lectures and conduct the seminaries of the summer programme. Beside the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Harvard and many of the neighboring colleges will be represented in the corps of instructors.

}

DEPARTMENT PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, HARRISBURG, July, 1893. THE HE following important acts of Assembly, passed at the recent session of the Legislature, have been approved by Governor Pattison and are now a part of the school law of the State of Pennsylvania:

RELATING TO SUPERINTENDENTS. AN ACT to prevent County Superintendents of common schools from engaging in the profession of teaching during their term of office unless it be done without compensation.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same: That from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person holding the office of county superintendent of common schools to engage in the business or profession of teaching in any of the schools of the Commonwealth, unless it be done without any other compensation than that paid him as county superintendent.

SEC. 2. Any violation of the provisions of this act on the part of any county superintendent shall be deemed a sufficient cause for removal from office by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Approved the 26th day of April, A. D. 1893. ROBT. E. PATTISON.

FREE TEXT BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS. AN ACT to amend the first section of an act entitled "An Act authorizing school directors to purchase school books out of the district fund" approved June twenty fifth, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, by requiring school directors or controllers to furnish school books and other school supplies free of cost.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That section first of an act entitled "An act authorizing school directors to purchase school books out of the district funds," approved June twenty-fifth, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, which reads as follows:

"That school directors or controllers may purchase text-books for use in the public schools of their respective school districts. out of the school funds of the district, and when so procured the necessary books shall be supplied free of cost to each pupil for use in the schools of said district, subject to the orders of the directors thereof, whose duty it shall be to provide for the safe-keeping and care of the books, which shall be returned at the close of the annual school term in each year or as the board may direct," be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: