In thirty-four are four times eight, and onefourth (4) of eight. The tables subjoined are repeated by the same method, each section being a distinct lesson. To give an idea to the reader, the boy in the rostrum says ten shillings the half (4) of a pound; six shillings and eightpence one-third (†) of a pound, &c. Sixpence the half () of a shilling, &c. Always remembering, that whatever the boy says in the rostrum, the other children must repeat after him, but not till the monitor has ended his sentence; and before the monitor delivers the second sentence, he waits till the children have concluded the first, they waiting for him, and he for them; this prevents confusion, and is the means of enabling persons to understand perfectly what is going on in the school. Numeration, Addition, Substraction, Multiplication, Division, and Pence Tables. ADDITION AND SUBSTRACTION TABLE. 1 & 2 & 1 are 1 are 3 & 1 are 11 12 13 10 13 11 14 11 14 189012345678 S. 1. 30 1 10 3 0 140 70 3 10 150 80 4 0 90 Avoirdupoise Weight. 1 ounce 2 pints Dry Measure. 2 quarts 1 pottle 2 pottles 1 gallon 2 gallons 1 peck 4 pecks 2 bushels 1 bushel 1 strike 1 sack flour 1 quarter 2 10 130 6 1016 drams 160 5 quarters 1 wey or load Of a Pound. s. d. 1 ounce 10 0 are half 112 ounces 1 pound 27 feet 1 yard or ld. 3 feet 1 foot 1 yard 6 feet 12 sacks 1 last Of a Shilling. 6d. are half 8 furlongs 1 fathom 1 pole or rod 1 furlong 1 mile 1 league 4 quarts 1 gallon 10 gallons 1 ank. bndy. 20 leagues 1 degree 42 gallons 1 tierce 63 gallons 1 hogshead 24 inches 2 fourth 84 gallons 2 hogshead 1 pipe Ale & Beer Measure. Save February, which Coal Measure. alone 4 pecks Hath twenty-eight, ex- 9 bushel 1 bushel Cloth Measure. 1 vat or strike 36 pounds 1 trs. of straw 1 sack 56 pounds do. of old hay And twenty-nine is then 12 sacks 1 chaldron its share. 91 chaldron 1 score 60 pounds 1 do. of new 36 trusses 1 load CHAPTER XII. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING THE GEOMETRICAL FIGURES. Useful knowledge can have no enemies, except the ignorant; it cherishes the mind of youth, and delights the aged, and who knows how many mathematicians in embryo, there may be in an Infant School. AMONG the novel features of the Infant School system, that of geometrical lessons is the most peculiar. How it happened that a mode of instruction so evidently calculated for the infant mind was so long overlooked, I cannot imagine; and it is still more surprising that having been once thought upon, there should any be found incapable of perceiving its utility. Certain it is that the various form of bodies is one of the first items of natural education, and we cannot err when treading in the steps of Nature. It is undeniable that geometrical knowledge is of great service in many of the mechanic arts, and therefore proper to be taught those children who are likely to be employed in some one or other of those arts; but, independently of this, we cannot adopt a better method of exciting a spirit and strengthening their powers of observation. I have seen a thousand instances, moreover, in the conduct of the children, which have assured me, that it is a very pleasing as well as useful branch of instruction. The children, being taught the first elements of form, and the terms used to express the various figures of bodies, find in its application to objects around them an inexhaustible source of amusement. Streets, houses, rooms, fields, ponds, plates, dishes, tables,-in short every thing they see, calls forth their observation as to its form, and afford an opportunity for the application of their little geometrical knowledge. Let it not, then, be said, that it is beyond their capacity for it is the simplest and most comprehensible to them of all knowledge; let it not be said that it is useless, since its application to the useful arts is great and indisputable; nor, lastly, let it be asserted that it is unpleasing to them, since it has been shewn to add much to their happiness. It is essential in this, as in every other branch of education, to begin with the first principles, and proceed slowly to their application, and the complicated forms arising therefrom. The next thing is to promote that application of which we have before spoken to the various objects around them. It is this, and this alone, which forms the distinction between a school lesson and practical knowledge; and so far will the children be found from being averse to this exertion, that it makes the acquirement of knowledge a pleasure instead of a task. With these prefatory remarks I shall introduce a description of the method I have pursued, and a few examples of geometrical lessons. We will suppose that the whole of the children are seated in the gallery, and that the teacher is |