Hon. Arthur Lefevre, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Appointed by the Governor, July 1, 1901, and elected by the people at the last general election.

2. "The Practical Value of Manual Training." Mr. C. C. Harris, Devine.

3. "High School Manual Training for Girls." Miss Elma B. Perry, Denton.

4. "Requirements of the Manual Training Teacher." Mr. N. S. Hundson, Austin.

A general discussion of each of the above subjects is invited.

LENGTH OF PAPERS, ADDRESSES, AND DIS

CUSSIONS.

In the general sessions addresses and

Start early so you may be present at the opening Monday night. Marlin promises to entertain the teachers in royal style. She has ample facilities for caring for a large crowd.

The headquarters of the Associations will be at the Arlington Hotel, one of the finest hotels in Texas.

Hotels and railroads offer special reduced rates for the meeting.

Beaumont has a free school library.

OUTLINE OF A COURSE IN BOTANY.

BERNARD MACKENSEN, INSTRUCTOR IN SCIENCE, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

This course is designed for the second half of the school year, beginning about February 1st. About one hour daily will be required for the subject, the greater part of the time being devoted to laboratory work. Pupils should be required to keep a notebook and to draw a large part of the materials studied. Good magnifying glasses or dissecting microscopes will be needed, and compound microscopes will be found useful.

One of the chief difficulties that teachers of botany in the South have to contend with is the absence of a text adapted to our flora and time of development of vegetation. The present course is an attempt to relieve this difficulty to some extent by giving the order in which the several subjects should be taken up and by indicating what materials, selected from the local flora, will illustrate them. These materials are usually available when the subject is reached, but some of those needed for the study of fruits and of seed dispersal, and a few others, will have to be collected beforehand (in summer autumn). In those cases where the teacher is not familiar with the materials mentioned or is unable to procure them himself, valuable aid may be obtained from florists, and botanists and even from pupils.

or

For study and reference the teacher should have access to the following books: Bergen's Foundations of Botany (or other good text, with directions for laboratory work).

Gray's School and Field Book of Botany (useful for its lessons and for its descriptions of plants, especially of cultivated ones).

Small's Flora of the Southeastern United States (for wild plants east of the 100th meridian. For the flora of Western Texas use Coulter's Botany of Western Texas, published by the United States Department of Agriculture).

(c) The Pumpkin Seed.
(d) The Castor Bean.
(e) The Grain of Corn.
2. Storage of Food in the Seed.
(a) Albuminous and

Ex-albuminous Seeds. Classify those studied.

(b) Starch. Examine starch of bean with compound microscope or good lens. Test with iodine solution.

(c) Other Constituents.
3. Dispersal of Seeds.

(a) Importance of Dispersal.
(b) Dispersal by Water. Cocoa-
nut, Seabean, Pecan.

(c) Dispersal by Wind. Devices:
(1) Wings, as in fruits of elm,
ash, ailanthus (tree of heaven),
and box-elder, and in seeds of
catalpa and trumpet vine. (2)
Hairs, as in fruits of virgin's
bower and dandelion (or this-
tle), and in seeds of poplar (or
willow) and milkweed. (3)
Bladdery coverings, as in ground
cherry and fruit of balloon vine.
(4) Tumbleweeds, as tickle-
grass, white pigweed, and sand
bur (solanum rostratum).
(d) Dispersal by Animals: (1)
Edible fruits, the seeds escaping
destruction because of disagree-
able taste (orange), hard cover-
ing (peach, date, tomato), or
smallness (fig, strawberry). (2)
Grappling fruits, as those of uni-
corn plant ("devil's horns"),
cocklebur (or goose grass), tick
trefoil, bur grass, carrot, and
beggar ticks. Look for minute
hooks and barbs with a lens.
(e) Dispersal by the Springing
of Elastic Tissues. This may be
studied later in the year in the
garden balsam, violet, and
crane's bill, and in many plants
of the pea family, as the lupine,
butter bean and jack bean.
II. GROWTH FROM THE SEED.

In preparing for this topic, plant in a box some castor beans (four weeks beforehand), and some beans, peas, pumpkin