Elm-dust.-A new question. -Results.

larger every day, and by-and-by they will turn brown, and look as if they were ripe. Just about this time the leaves will come out; and soon after, these seeds, during some windy day or night, will all fall off. The ground will be covered with thousands of them. Per haps you have seen this."

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"Yes, sir," says John, "Grandpa calls that elm-dust." Perhaps next year you can watch this, and ask your parents to examine it with you. But the five minutes are ended."

Now information thus communicated will never be forgotten. The mind, having been put upon the stretch, is no longer a passive recipient.

The next question :- How ARE SEEDS DISSEMINATED? (of course explaining the term-" dissemi nated.")

This will bring in a fund of information from the pupils. They will mention that the thistle seed flies, and so does the seed of the milkweed; that the burs of the burdock, and some other seeds are provided with hooks by which they attach themselves to the hair of animals or the clothing of men, and ride away to their resting-place, which may be a hundred miles off. Some fall into the water and sail away to another shore. Some, like the seed of the Touch-me-not, are thrown at a distance by the bursting of the elastic pericarp; others, as nuts and acorns, are carried by squirrels, and buried beneath the leaves. These facts would mostly be noticed by children, when once put upon observation.

1

Another. Results.-Still another.-Remarks.

Next question, Are plants propagated in any other than by seeds?

way

This question would call their attention to the various means of natural and artificial propagation, by layers, by offsets, by suckers, by grafting, by inoculation or budding, &c. &c.

Again,-Have any plants more ways than one of natural propagation? Some have one way only, by seeds, as the annual plants; some have two,-by seeds, and by roots, as the potato; some have three,-as the tiger lily, by side-bulbs from the roots, by stalk-bulbs, and by the seeds. This can be extended indefinitely.

SECTION V.-REMARKS.

Let it be remembered that the above has been given simply as a specimen of what could easily be done by an ingenious teacher, with as common a thing as an ear of corn for the text. Any other thing would answer as well. A chip, a tooth or a bone of an animal, a piece of iron, a feather, or any other object, could be made the text for adroitly bringing in the uses of wood, the food and habits of animals, the use and comparative value of metals, the covering of birds, their migration, the covering of animals, &c. &c. Let the teacher but think what department he will dwell upon, and then he can easily select his text; and if he has any tact, he can keep the children constantly upon inquiry and observation.

The advantages of the above course over simply

Effects upon the children.-Advantages of observation.

lecturing to them on certain subjects, that is, over the pouring-in process, are many and great. Some of the most obvious I will briefly state.

1. It immediately puts the minds of the children into a state of vigorous activity. They feel that they are no longer passive recipients. They are incited to discover and ascertain for themselves. They are, therefore, profitably employed both in and out of school, and as a consequence are more easily governed. A habit of observation is cultivated in them; and what an advantage is this for a child! It is almost unnecessary to remark that many people go through the world without seeing half the objects which are brought within their reach. It would be the same to them if their eyes were half the time closed. If they travel through a country presenting the most beautiful scenery, or the most interesting geological features, they see nothing They grow up among all the wonders of God's works amid all the displays of his wisdom, of his design, to no purpose. They study none of the plans of nature; and by all the millions of arrangements which God has made, to delight the eye, to gratify the taste, to excite the emotions of pleasure instead of pain, they are neither the happier nor the wiser. What a blessing, then, it is to a child, to put his mind upon inquiry; to open his eyes to observe what his Creator intended his intelligent creatures should behold, of his goodness, his wisdom, his power. And how far superior is he who teaches a child to see for himself, and to think for himself, to him who sees and thinks for the child, and thus

Parents benefited.-Take an interest in the school.

practically invites the pupil to close his own eyes and grope in darkness through the instructive journey of

life.

2. It is of great service to the parents in the district to have this waking-up process in operation. Our children are sometimes our best teachers. Parents are apt to grow rusty in their acquirements, and it is no doubt one of the designs of providence that the inquisitiveness of childhood should preserve them from sinking into mental inactivity. Who can hear the inquiries of his own child after knowledge, without a desire to supply his wants? Now it is right for the teacher to use this instrumentality to wake up mind in his district. Parents, by the course I have recommended, very soon become interested in these daily questions of the teacher; and they are often as eager to know what is the next question as the children are to report it. This course, then, will supply profitable topics of conversation at the fireside, and very likely will encourage also the pursuit of useful reading. It will moreover soon awaken a deeper interest in the school on the part of the parents. They will begin to inquire of one another as to this new measure; and when they find by conference that the feeling in this matter is becoming general, they will desire to visit the school to witness this as well as the other operations of the teacher. This will secure parental coöperation, and thus in every way the influence of the school will be heightened. It is no small thing for a teacher to enlist the interest of his patrons in the success of his school; and this is the most

Teacher is improved.-His temptations.

happily done, when it is achieved through the medium of the pupils themselves.

3. It wakes up the teacher's own mind. This is by no means the least important point to be gained. The teacher, by the very nature of his employment, by daily confinement in an unhealthy atmosphere, by teaching over and over again that with which he is quite familiar, by boarding with people who are inclined to be social, and by the fatigue and languor with which he finds himself oppressed every night, is strongly tempted to neglect his own improvement. There are but few who rise above this accumulation of impediments, and go on in spite of them to eminence in the profession. A large proportion of all who teach, rely upon the attainments with which they commence ; and in the course of two or three years, finding themselves behind the age, they abandon the employment. This is very natural. Any man who treads in a beaten track, like a horse in a mill, must become weary, however valuable the product may be which he grinds out. It is essential that he should keep his own interest awake by some exercise of his ingenuity, and that he should compel himself to be industrious by undertaking that which will absolutely demand study. The above process will do this; and while he may have the exquisite pleasure of seeing the growth of his pupils' minds, he may also have the higher satisfaction of feeling the growth of his own.

I must here add, that it has not been my intentiou