UC-NRLF 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
THE 
 
 REALISTIC TEACHING 
 
 OF 
 
 GEOGRAPHY 
 
 ITS PRINCIPLES 
 
 ESPECIALLY IN REGARD TO INITIATORY NOTIONS 
 THE CORRECTION OF PREVALENT ERRORS 
 
 AND EXAMPLES 
 OF SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIVE AND DRAMATIC METHODS. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM JOLLY, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED, 50 OLD BAILEY, E.G. 
 GLASGOW AND DUBLIN. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This little book is an expansion of a lecture given in 
 Edinburgh on July Qth, 1886, one of a course delivered under 
 the auspices of the Scottish Geographical Society, and pub- 
 lished in the Scottish Geographical Magazine. It is pro- 
 duced, by request, in this more available form, in the hope 
 that it may help teachers to more educative results in this 
 most attractive but much abused subject. The different 
 points treated have been more briefly indicated than fully 
 elaborated; but this will be sufficient for the earnest men 
 addressed. The methods advocated are available in any 
 school, being inexpensive and homely, while, it is hoped, 
 effective and interesting. 
 
 192461 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION: Reform Necessary in Teaching Geography, 7 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 REALISTIC TEACHING IN RELATION TO PREVALENT DE- 
 FECTIVE METHODS IN GEOGRAPHY, ... 9 
 
 I. Realities v. Words, ....... 9 
 
 II. Realities v. Errors, e 10 
 
 III. Realities v. Vague and Inaccurate Notions, . . 12 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 REALISTIC TEACHING IN THE INITIATORY STAGES, . 15 
 
 I. The Definitions, 15 
 
 II. The Directions or Compass Points, . . . . 17 
 
 III. The True Idea of a Map, 18 
 
 IV. Initiatory Lessons on the Globe, . . . . 21 
 
 V, What Elementary Geography ought to be, . 24 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 REALISTIC TEACHING IN THE USE OF MAPS, . . 29 
 
 I. Deduce Geographical Facts as much as possible from 
 
 Maps, 29 
 
 II. Subordinate the use of the Text -book, . ... 30 
 
 III. Discriminate two Periods and two Purposes in the Use 
 
 of Maps, ......... 31 
 
 IV. Present the Facts as far as possible as viewed from 
 
 Different Standpoints, 32 
 
 5 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 PACK 
 
 EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATIVE AND DRAMATIC METHODS, 35 
 
 I. Latitude and Longitude, ...... 36 
 
 II. The Phenomena of Day and Night, .... 39 
 
 III. Circles and Zones on the Globe, . . . . 41 
 
 IV. Seasons and Months, 45 
 
 V. The Variations of Day and Night, .... 48 
 
 VI. The Phases of the Moon, and Eclipses, ... 50 
 
 PART FIFTH. 
 
 SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF REALISTIC TEACHING, . 51 
 
 1. Subordinate Memory, and use Other Faculties, . . 51 
 
 2. Rouse Interest, . . . . . . . . 51 
 
 3. Use Reasoning, 51 
 
 4. Present nothing as an Isolated Fact, . . . . 52 
 
 5. Utilize Errors made by the Pupils, . . . . 53 
 
 6. Use the Black-board continually, . . . . . 53 
 
 7. Select the Statistics used, 53 
 
 8. Show where possible the Real Objects, .... 54 
 
 9. Vivify by Pictures, 55 
 
 10. Brighten by Readings and Stones, . . . . 55 
 
 11. Employ the Etymology of Place-names, ... 55 
 
 CONCLUSION: Things before Words, 56 
 
ON THE REALISTIC 
 
 TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 FEW subjects are less skilfully taught in our schools 
 than Geography; nay, as a whole, along with History, it 
 would not be far wrong to say that it is the worst taught 
 of common subjects. It is usually traversed with the 
 greatest care and even hard work, but it is made, in 
 general, a painful process of mere memory grind, with the 
 minimum of intelligence. As remarked by Fitch, 1 it is 
 often most ostentatiously offered to the examiner when 
 the teaching is weakest in intellectual training, and it is 
 a favourite subject with mechanical teachers. 
 
 It is generally deemed easy to teach, like its abused 
 companion, History. In reality, it is not easy nay, it is 
 difficult to do really well; the elements of misconception 
 by the pupils are so numerous and so great, and the 
 temptations to the misuse of memory are so strong 
 Rightly taught, there is no more valuable, informing, or 
 fascinating study; nor any one more pleasantly and 
 highly intellectual. 
 
 As a trainer of the reasoning powers, it may be made 
 of the greatest service. In this aspect, Fitch has over- 
 pressed its character of belonging to mere fact-lore. In 
 a sense, on such a theme, the facts are primary, as urged 
 by Fitch, and the mental training secondary; but the 
 
 1 Lectures on Teaching, by J. G. Fitch. 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 two should never be disassociated. Skilfully treated, 
 intelligence can always be brought to bear more or less 
 on the facts, either in themselves, their causes, their 
 results, and their relations, or in the manner in which 
 they are educationally reached in the course of learning. 
 
 Reform in the teaching of Geography is urgently 
 needed, in text-book, apparatus, and method. It should 
 be released from the bondage of the over-burdened 
 statistical school-book, and redeemed from the fact- 
 lore to the rational field. Grind should be minimized, 
 memory subordinated, and the whole teaching interfused 
 with renovating interest and intelligence. 
 
 There are recently apparent most encouraging signs of 
 reform, more perhaps than in most scholastic subjects. 
 It is well and wise that our Geographical Societies should 
 have taken up so vigorously its teaching, for there lurks 
 the seat of the disease they wish to cure. 1 
 
 It is the special aim of this work to show how Realism, 
 as opposed to Verbalism, may be made to pervade all 
 teaching of Geography; to point out prevalent errors 
 in its treatment; and to exemplify shortly certain illus- 
 trative and dramatic methods, demonstrative at once to 
 eye and mind, which are both simple and cheap, and, 
 therefore, easily at command in the poorest schools. 
 
 1 See an important paper and discussion "On the Scope and 
 Methods of Geography" in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical 
 Society, for March, 1887 ; and papers in the Scottish Geographical 
 Magazine, especially for 1886. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 Realistic Teaching in Relation to Prevalent 
 Defective Methods in Geography. 
 
 As in all good teaching, our aim here should be the 
 grasping of realities, as against the conning of mere words; 
 accuracy, in contrast to looseness; clearness, as opposed 
 to vagueness; intelligence, instead of grind. 
 
 I. REALITIES v. WORDS. 
 
 The greatest evil in teaching Geography is the over- 
 use and abuse of Verbal Memory, the glib but empty 
 employment of words without any real knowledge of 
 the things they represent Every examination furnishes 
 abundant illustration. Pupils will speak of "coarse 
 linen," and yet know nothing of what it is, nor be able 
 to name examples; nay, often will they tell you that 
 " coarse linen" is "jute," both being associated with the 
 same town on the Tay. So on all through the word 
 given, the thing little or not known and still less realized. 
 
 i . See that the Things are taught as well as the Words. 
 Show to the children the substances and objects spoken 
 of, in all possible cases. As Rousseau tells us, " Things 
 themselves are the best explanations." Exhibit the pro- 
 ductions talked about, pictures of the animals, the peoples, 
 the scenes, and the rest and materials are, happily, now 
 abundant and cheap and show these to all the classes, 
 even to the highest. It is wrong to think that such 
 
object lessons should be confined only to the lower 
 classes. 
 
 2. Use the Map in all teaching of Locality. Such a 
 counsel would seem to outsiders to be quite unnecessary, 
 and the use of the map to be universal. It is far from 
 being so. It is common, in reporting, to have to say 
 that memory work has been abundant and laborious, 
 while the map has been little or not at all known! I 
 have had to do so hundreds of times, and had again to 
 repeat it last week. It is very usual to hear lists of capes, 
 mountains, rivers, and towns asked, and given with pain- 
 fully thoughtless tripping off the tongue; and not one of 
 them indicated on the map. " Enumerate the capes 
 on the East Coast of Scotland." "Give all the towns 
 engaged in tweed manufacture." These and similar 
 empty inventories you get parrot-wise repeated, and none 
 of them pointed out! Incredible, but true. It surely 
 requires neither explanation nor urging to see that every 
 place-name used by the pupils should be pointed out by 
 them on the map. 
 
 II. REALITIES v. ERRORS. 
 
 The amount of misconception in the minds of pupils 
 is perhaps greater in Geography than in most other 
 subjects; it is certainly much more than is generally 
 thought, as daily exhibited to careful examiners bent on 
 realism. For example: 
 
 i. Regarding the lines on maps. These are often 
 thought by children to be real objects on the earth's 
 surface. I thought so myself as a boy for many a day. 
 I once asked a class how I was to get my ship across the 
 great black line of the Equator, for there was no way 
 
II 
 
 round. The answer was a revelation of much of what 
 geographical teaching is. " Lift it up, sir, and go below 
 it!" promptly shouted a smart little lad, suiting the action 
 to the words with his two hands. The true nature of these 
 lines, as existing only on maps for measurement purposes, 
 should be carefully explained. 
 
 2. Regarding the real character of a map. The most 
 curious ideas are entertained by children on this point, 
 as may at any time be discovered by questioning them 
 on the subject. Its relation to a picture, and the meaning 
 of the different marks used for different features, should 
 be fully explained; and care should be taken, by cross- 
 examination, to make sure that they are really understood. 
 
 See, for instance, that the pupils do not think that 
 mountains are a species of long centipedes wriggling 
 across the map, as many a child has done; or that the 
 different counties and countries are really coloured in 
 nature as they are on the map; or that their boundaries 
 are to be seen marked on the ground, and along rivers 
 and mountain tops, as they observe them done on the 
 map; and so on in numerous but prevalent errors. 
 
 3. Regarding the real directions on a map. The north 
 many pupils think is up. They cannot help it, unless 
 the subject is properly taught; and this common mistake 
 is by no means confined to lower classes. Yesterday, I 
 heard a teacher ask his boys to tell him "the highest 
 cape on the West Coast of Scotland," meaning thereby 
 the most northerly Cape Wrath. 
 
 4. Regarding the real directions in nature as compared 
 with those on a map. Often, where the directions are 
 known on the map, their relation to the school-room and 
 the country round is too little taught. How seldom 
 
J2 
 
 does an examiner find a class able to point out which 
 side of the school-room is north and which south ; or how 
 a person could discover the north and south during the 
 day in a place he did not know. Yet surely such ele- 
 mentary notions, which can be simply taught and easily 
 understood, should be known by every child. They are 
 generally unknown. 
 
 5. Regarding the possibility of our living on a round 
 globe. The pupils see the globe called the earth either 
 on a stand or on the walls; and their inquisitive minds 
 are in active wonderment how men can stick on to the 
 world with heads upside down; how the water does not 
 run off its surface; and a hundred like difficulties, forced 
 on them by the globular representations in school con- 
 tinually staring them in the face. Most of us can 
 recall such infantine problems, and even later ones of 
 gravest difficulty, presented to the young philosophers, 
 and attempted to be solved in vain. Error and miscon- 
 ception are here rampant in schools. 
 
 We begin the teaching of the globe and the shape of 
 the earth far too early, and have little realized the ex- 
 treme difficulty to young minds that attends this subject 
 at every point. In no part of Geography is reform more 
 urgently called for than here; in having these notions 
 postponed for some years till they have some chance of 
 being truly comprehended by children. Of this, again. 
 
 And so on with many other things that might be men- 
 tioned, in the broad geographical field 
 
 III. REALITIES v. VAGUE AND INACCURATE NOTIONS. 
 
 i. /;/ loose description of localities. One daily hears 
 that such and such a place is " in Inverness-shire," " in 
 
Argyll," " on the east coast," " in the south of Scotland,'' 
 " in the eastern hemisphere," " in America," and the like; 
 instead of a precise notation of its position, which it is 
 one of the aims of good geographical teaching to secure. 
 The teacher should be satisfied with nothing short of 
 perfect accuracy, by tongue and pointer. 
 
 2. In loose pointing out on the map. It is the com- 
 monest thing to see pointed out the name of a town, a 
 cape, or mountain, instead of the very place itself; to 
 have the name of a river or its mouth shown, instead of 
 having the river traced from source to mouth, which 
 alone is satisfactory; and so on and so on. A facetious 
 but practical colleague of mine used to draw attention to 
 this common absurdity when he saw a boy point, say, to 
 the name of Aberdeen as printed on the German Ocean, 
 by suddenly calling out: "Oots, tak' care, man, or 
 ye'll get drooned oot there!" And it is a pity both 
 teachers and pupils don't get a sousing every time they 
 take such liberties with facts, to keep them from such 
 errors. 
 
 It is insufficiently realized by teachers, and it is much 
 less practised by pupils, that there are necessarily three 
 kinds of pointing out on the map those of 
 
 (i.) The point, as in towns, capes, peaks; 
 
 (ii.) The line, as in rivers, coasts, mountains; 
 
 (iii.) The superficies, as in boundaries, lakes, seas. 
 Each species has, of course, its own style of pointing out 
 on the map, and each should be carefully discriminated 
 and rigidly exacted. Exercises should be given on these 
 three varieties of map pointing, with the specific purpose 
 of discriminating them to the pupils, and securing their 
 accurate manipulation; and special attention should be 
 
M 
 
 paid to tlie correctness of the pointing in each case. It 
 is simply surprising how little strict accuracy is exacted 
 in general practice here. 
 
 3. In loose questioning. It is a frequent pain to listen 
 to such questions as these: "Any cape on the east 
 coast?" " Any town on the Thames?" "Any mountain 
 in the Highlands?" "Any river in Asia?" Could any- 
 thing be more vicious in any subject? It is especially 
 bad in a subject where the central idea and aim should 
 be absolute accuracy in question and answer a precise 
 demand with one precise and only solution. In truth, it 
 should be put down as a maxim in most teaching, 
 certainly in Geography, Banish the word "any" from 
 all questions. 
 
 4. In loose ideas of proportionate areas on maps. The 
 different scales on which maps are made are not suffi- 
 ciently explained. The result is an incredible amount 
 of erroneous notions in regard to the relative sizes of 
 countries, especially as the native county and country 
 are given, for clearness, on such a large scale. These 
 errors should be corrected by constant reference to one 
 scale, in the maps of the world or by other means, as 
 now given in good text-books and on good maps. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 Realistic Teaching in the Initiatory Stages. 
 
 Here, as in most subjects, Initiatory notions are all- 
 important, because affecting present and future progress 
 and colouring all after study. If these are not absolutely 
 clear and true, disability lurks all through the course. 
 
 I. THE DEFINITIONS. 
 
 1. Of phenomena on the plane. A very effective method 
 is to form the various features in the sight of the children, 
 and still better with their help, by means of water poured 
 on the table, or on the floor, or on a board laid on the floor. 
 In this way, all the relations between land and water may 
 be graphically exhibited island, cape, peninsula, coast, 
 isthmus, continent; sea, ocean, bay, gulf, strait, channel. 
 Demonstrate the phenomena, by observing each of them ; 
 obtain the definitions from the pupils themselves, by 
 questioning; write them on the board, and have them 
 repeated simultaneously and singly till learned all the 
 while directing attention to each feature thus defined, as 
 shown to the eye by your artificial ocean and continent. 
 With young children, use only the simpler words and 
 features at first, introducing gradually the more difficult. 
 
 2. Of phenomena in relief. Use clay, sand, and gravel, 
 and form the features, with the help of the pupils. It is 
 one use of the Modelling so commendable in the Kinder- 
 garten, and is effective, interesting, and educative. By 
 
i6 
 
 these means, make hill, mountain, peak, range or chain, 
 group; valley, glen; plain, table-land, desert; watershed 
 or waterparting; highlands and lowlands. Utilize simple 
 Etymology where possible, as explained hereafter. 
 
 3. Of river phenomena. Show these by pouring water 
 on the head of the valley of clay, and noting its course 
 to the sea, the water on the table. In this way, create 
 the stream or river, its source, its banks; its course, its 
 mouth, its feeders or tributaries, and its basin; a con- 
 fluence or meeting of waters, a waterfall, a delta, a firth, 
 &c.; and lakes in its course. If the model is made in 
 hard clay, the phenomena can be very effectively shown 
 by pouring water on it from the rose of a watering-can in 
 the way of rain, and noting what it proves such as the 
 run of water to the lower levels and to the sea, the for- 
 mation of tributaries and lakes and deltas, according to 
 the shape of the land through which the streams flow, &c. 
 
 4. Of human arrangements. Countries, nations, coun- 
 ties; villages, towns, cities; roads, canals, railways; ports, 
 harbours ; bridges, piers, etc. These can be shown, with 
 all the interest of a game, by means of toy houses, churches, 
 bridges, carriages, engines, and the like; and by the use 
 of coloured chalks and the paint brush. 
 
 The ideas thus drawn from actual things, done before 
 and by the pupils, should also be further illustrated by 
 picturesque diagrams of the definitions, of which there 
 are now very good examples published. Still more 
 important, constantly use the children's own knowledge 
 of their neighbourhood for illustration of each definition. 
 
 The chief point is to see that the ideas they receive 
 are real and true; and that the definitions are clearly 
 understood, as well as learned. 
 
 (400) 
 
II. THE DIRECTIONS OR COMPASS POINTS. 
 
 1. Fix the south by turning to the sun at mid-day. 
 (South = the sol-2x or sun quarter.) From this, find all 
 the other directions or cardinal points; first north, then 
 east and west. It is important to correct the common 
 error of starting with the north, which in maps and 
 geographies has gained a fictitious importance. It is 
 from the sun that we obtain all our ideas of direction 
 in practical life; in proof of which, note the habits of 
 country folks when determining direction and time, and 
 of travellers in unknown lands. From the mid-day posi- 
 tion of the sun, that is, the south, all other directions are 
 deduced. 
 
 2. Fix these directions in the school-room. Mark their 
 names or initials on the walls, and draw them by a cross 
 on the floor, with the appropriate letters. They are 
 sometimes shown on the roof in schools; and in one case, 
 at least, in Glasgow, by means of brass bars inserted in 
 the granolite at the school threshold. 
 
 3. Show how the top of a map is north. Lay the black- 
 board on the floor, and mark there the true directions 
 thus found. Then place it on an easel, and show how 
 north is put to the top; but that north does not mean up 
 or higher than the rest, but is only put thus to be well 
 seen and for convenience ; and that all maps should really 
 be laid on the floor in their true directions. 
 
 4. Explain the principle of naming the other points by 
 describing each by means of the two between which it 
 lies. Thus a place between N. and E. is both N. and E., 
 and is, therefore, shortly said to be N.E. So with the 
 other middle points, N.W., S.E., etc. Later, extend this 
 
 (400) B 
 
i8 
 
 principle to N.N.E. between N. and N.E.; and to all the 
 others. 
 
 5. Introduce the Compass. At first, reckon it as pointing 
 true north, and explain its value and use in indicating 
 direction. Explain its name, by showing that the direc- 
 tions pass all round the circle (as in the verb to compass 
 a place). Hence that these directions are called the 
 points of the Compass. Later on, when the reason can 
 be understood, explain the deviation of the compass from 
 true north, the number of degrees of deviation, and its 
 variability. 
 
 III. THE TRUE IDEA OF A MAP. 
 
 The order of procedure in introducing children to the 
 idea of a Map and onwards to general geography is 
 matter of controversy. In most text-books and Manuals 
 of Method, it is recommended to begin with a plan of 
 the school-room ; and from this unit, to proceed to a plan 
 of its neighbourhood, then to the village or town, then to 
 the parish, then to the county, then to the native country, 
 then to the continent in which it is, and so outwards to 
 the globe itself. 1 This looks natural and logical, but it is 
 much too formal and logical to be soundly educational. 2 
 
 It is open to several objections, especially in the early 
 stages. It is difficult for a young child to conceive and 
 follow, as \\sfirst attempt at map-making, the plan of the 
 school-room; from the fact that he is himself seated 
 inside the room, and that it is too elaborate and too 
 
 1 See this plan recently well stated and recommended by Professor 
 Laurie in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for August, 1886. 
 
 2 See a protest by Fitch against it, as pushing a theory "to an 
 impracticable and absurd extent." Lectures on Teaching^ p. 347. 
 
large. It would be wiser, therefore, to take something 
 smaller, which he can see before him such as the table 
 with two or three articles upon it, as a book and an 
 inkstand. The all important matter here is to give him 
 perfectly accurate notions to start with, by means quite 
 within his grasp; and the room itself presents several 
 mental difficulties, which the table removes. After that, 
 proceed to a plan of the floor of the room in which he sits. 
 
 But at this point, it will be well to stop, remembering 
 that we are teaching very young children. To carry 
 them over the logically expanding circle of the theorist, 
 and to ask them to understand the plan of the village, 
 town, or city in which they live, with all its intricacies, even 
 though these were simplified on the black-board, and then 
 the map of the county, of which a child has no more 
 real knowledge than of Central Africa, is an educational 
 mistake, which all who seek to impart realistic notions have 
 felt. It is much more difficult for a child to disentangle 
 the map of a town and of a county, especially if large 
 and inland, like Inverness or York, than of a simple 
 outline, say of England. Enough has been gained by 
 the plans of the table and the room; for these have 
 introduced him successfully to the idea of a map, which 
 is our present aim. 
 
 The initiatory course I recommend is, therefore, the 
 following : 
 
 i. Draw a plan of the table. Do this on the black 
 board placed on the floor, getting the children to direc i 
 the laying down of every line. First have the table bare. 
 and draw its outline; then place some articles on it, as 
 the ink-bottle and books, etc., and draw these in proper 
 shape and place on this plan. Then lift the board fron 
 
the floor to the easel, and show why this position is 
 necessary, and its effects. 
 
 2. Draw a plan of the school-room floor , with its walls, 
 doors, desks, chairs, etc. being always guided by the 
 pupils first, when the board is on the floor or table, and 
 then when it is raised to the easel. 
 
 3. Draw apian of " the phenomena on the plane" in the 
 water-modelused for the Definitions. At first, let the features 
 modelled be few, and let these be carefully traced on the 
 board. We are thus gradually introducing the pupils 
 more nearly to a true map. Of course, at first, only put 
 on the plan the features on the flat. Here also, first have 
 the board on the floor or on another table; and then 
 elevate it to be seen. Begin with the land and sea 
 features, and then include the river and its tributaries. 
 
 4. Insert in the plan " the phenomena in relief" of the 
 model. Thus we introduce them to the need of having 
 special marks to indicate mountains and plains, ranges, 
 etc. Make each of these marks first on the board, then 
 insert them on your plan; and point them out on some 
 distinct map hanging on the wall. 
 
 5. Distinguish between a map and a picture. Dis- 
 criminate between the two, by showing a picture and a 
 map of the same room or physical features. There are 
 some good diagrams published for this purpose. 
 
 6. Distinguish between a plan and a map. Show that 
 a map is a plan with additional special marks to indicate 
 features in relief and towns, roads, railways, etc. 
 
 7. Insert the true directions on the plan and map, when 
 each is executed, by means of the usual signs; and show 
 how the top becomes north, and so on. 
 
 8. Show the need and way of drawing to scale This 
 
21 
 
 should not be done at first, as introducing too many 
 ideas at once, only a general proportion in the plan of the 
 table and room being preserved. By and by, draw the 
 table to scale, of say an inch to a yard; then the room 
 to scale. Show how all maps are thus drawn to scale. 
 At first, of course, do not use the word scale, but secure 
 the idea. 
 
 9. Show the need and nature of lines of measurement. 
 Draw them on the plan of the school-room, say at each 
 yard, both along and across. Point these out on maps, 
 and expound their use. Explain how they exist only on 
 maps, not on the things themselves. 
 
 i o. Draw maps of the school and its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood. Up to this point, the maps made with the 
 child's help, under the teacher's guidance, have all been 
 of things in the room and of the room itself. Extend his 
 ideas by making a plan of the whole school, at least of 
 his own floor, if it is a large town school and not too 
 difficult; then of the playground and offices; then of 
 the nearest roads or streets. This will help to give him 
 a notion of how maps of larger areas are made. But here 
 it will be wise to stop, as maps of the town, city, and 
 county will not add to but will confuse the clearness of 
 the conceptions already gained; and they are much too 
 elaborate and advanced for his present capacity. 
 
 IV. INITIATORY LESSONS ON THE GLOBE. 
 
 i. They should be postponed for some years. It is 
 peculiarly difficult for a child to grasp truly the idea of a 
 sphere or globe as that on which we live. All his notions 
 of the possible are confounded; and, when we think of it, 
 it cannot be otherwise. How can we stick on below the 
 
22 
 
 earth with our heads upside down? How is it that the 
 water does not run off, both above and below? These 
 and a hundred other questions crowd on a child in 
 looking at the globe ; and the more intelligent he is, the 
 more is he impressed and depressed by them. 
 
 Strangely, the difficulty of the subject does not seem to 
 have been sufficiently considered by educationists. They 
 have too readily assumed it to be plain and easy, and 
 actually begin lessons on the earth in the Infant room by 
 means of a globe! Such lessons should be postponed 
 for some years, till expanded knowledge of things and 
 some ideas of gravity and other difficult matters will 
 prevent or lessen misconceptions, which are sure to be 
 caused by too early or unskilful teaching here. The 
 following notes may help the reader to realise this. 
 
 2. They should be preceded by simple elementary lessons 
 on the Curvature of the Earth. With young pupils, this 
 subject requires to be approached and taught with great 
 care, to prevent erroneous notions. Happily, we now 
 possess some very good illustrations to help us, in both 
 text-books and diagrams. The curvature of the ocean, as 
 proved by the mode of the appearing and disappearing 
 of ships, would seem to be the best way of approaching 
 the subject In teaching this, a very good illustration is 
 to take a toy ship with sails, and placing it on the globe 
 away from the class, to get them to see that the same 
 phenomena are exhibited here as on the ocean. The 
 bulge or curvature of the artificial globe that rises between 
 them and the little ship, causes exactly similar appear- 
 ances to those exhibited by real ships at sea. It follows, 
 therefore, that our earth is similarly curved or rounded; 
 and that, as this takes place on all parts of its surface, it 
 
23 
 
 is curved equally all round that is, it is a ball or globe 
 or sphere. 
 
 Some of the other usual proofs should be added to 
 this one, as the pupils are able to comprehend them ; but 
 with young children, they require to be treated skilfully 
 to be really understood. 
 
 3. They should be preceded by simple elementary lessons 
 on Attraction. These are necessary to enable the child 
 to conceive, as adequately as he can at the age, the 
 manner (with reasons) in which all things on the earth's 
 surface adhere to it; because pulled by itself towards its 
 own centre. It is not easy to teach the subject well and 
 realistically to any class, especially to a young one. 
 
 A good way to begin it is through the phenomena of the 
 Attraction of Cohesion, as on a pencil dipped in water, 
 and then of Magnetic Attraction ; to show that bodies have 
 the remarkable power of attracting or drawing each other. 
 Then extend the notions thus gained to the attraction of 
 Gravity, as affecting larger bodies like the earth, and the 
 planets and stars. 
 
 The chief difficulty is to get the child to correct the 
 misconceptions almost forced on him by the sight of a 
 globe in the class-room, and by its relation to the earth 
 itself: whereby anything placed on the lower surface of 
 the artificial globe falls to the ground, that is, to the 
 terrestrial globe, instead of towards the centre of the 
 artificial globe. This difficulty would be best met by 
 having, if it were possible, a globular magnet, to which 
 would adhere light pieces of iron on all sides; thus 
 showing to the eye the manner, and to some extent the 
 principle, of the related terrestrial phenomena. 
 
 4. They should be complemented by lessons on the In- 
 
equalities of the Earth's surface. These should be directed 
 to remove the child's difficulties regarding the possibility 
 of the earth being round like a ball, while mighty moun- 
 tains and deep valleys and oceans exist on its surface. 
 These difficulties are real and great, and should be skil- 
 fully removed by various comparisons. These should give 
 some notion of the relative proportions of these inequalities 
 to the globe itself as given in good text-books. But care 
 should here, as everywhere, be taken, to see that the 
 notions of the children are real and correct, and truly 
 grasped by them no easy task. 
 
 V. WHAT ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY OUGHT TO BE. 
 
 1. Teach it as a series of Object lessons. Of course, and 
 decidedly, there should be no text-book, which should 
 be banished for years as a forbidden spectre. The 
 subject should be presented in a succession of lessons 
 on real things, from the simplest notions to the more 
 complex; the teacher having a well-arranged, expanding 
 plan, though never formally obtruding it. The central 
 aim is to make all the notions of the pupils on the 
 subject absolutely firm, realistic, and accurate, by seeing 
 and handling the things spoken of at every stage. The 
 facts communicated and evoked should, of course, be 
 suited to the age and capacity of the pupils, being at 
 once simple, telling, interesting, and correct. 
 
 2. Utilize the Child's Own knowledge and experience at 
 every step. In this subject, above most, these are con- 
 stantly available if drawn on as they ought to be. In teach- 
 ing, for instance, the definitions, see that you employ, for 
 illustration and realization in nature, the actual phe- 
 nomena of the neighbourhood, known or shown, and 
 
25 
 
 explained to the child. These should be made the basis 
 and type of greater forms the brook representing the 
 river; the hillock, the mountain; a sloping ridge or roof, 
 a watershed; a runnel on the road or a gutter after rain, 
 the chief facts of a river basin ; and the like. It is in the 
 use of such homely illustrations that the skilful teacher 
 delights, and the best knowledge is incorporated in the 
 mind. The known near and individual should always be 
 made to lead to the unknown distant and universal. 
 
 3. Begin the Realistic teaching of Geography very early. 
 If the idea of early Geography being simply a unified 
 series of object lessons, governed by the principles of 
 such lessons, were more practically realized and acted 
 on, we should make it possible and desirable to have it 
 one of the very earliest subjects to be taught in the Infant 
 room ; and Geography would be redeemed from most of 
 its present lamentably bad teaching at this stage. 
 
 4. See that all lessons are short and thoroughly conquered. 
 Here, as in all early training, no lesson should exceed? 
 at one time, fifteen or twenty minutes. It should embody 
 one or two specific points, to be grafted into the pupils' 
 minds; and should be thoroughly and frequently revised 
 till it is thoroughly and permanently grasped. 
 
 5. Move slowly but surely. One evil that pervades 
 most teaching is that we proceed too fast. We attack 
 new forts without silencing those in our rear, and thus 
 allow ourselves to be harassed throughout by an un- 
 conquered enemy. And this is true of Infant work as 
 much as of more advanced, and, relatively to the capacity, 
 more so. Let every point be thoroughly mastered before 
 another is attempted. Haste is impossible in good 
 teaching. 
 
26 
 
 6. Graduate the technical terms used. All technicalities 
 are difficult to all learners: as adults know when they 
 begin a new subject, especially a science, which Geo- 
 graphy truly is. Happily, there are here numerous 
 duplicate terms, many of which are easy. Only the 
 easier should, of course, be used for a time, till their more 
 difficult technical equivalents are gradually introduced. 
 For example, use "point," "nose," "head," and "head- 
 land," before "cape," or "promontory;" "neck" before 
 " isthmus;" " a narrow " and " channel " before " strait;" 
 "shore" before "coast;" "inlet" before "bay" or "gulf;" 
 "table-land" before "plateau;" "water-parting" before 
 "water-shed;" "feeder" before "tributary;" "meeting 
 of the waters" before "junction" or "confluence;" 
 " spring " before " source;" and so on. In fact, for a long 
 time, the simpler vocabulary should alone be employed, 
 till the connection between the real things and their 
 names is firmly and intelligently established. 
 
 7. Write on the board all the technical terms used. 
 If necessary, print them ; but present them both to eye 
 and ear. Get them also copied. While repeating them, 
 see that the pupils look at them ; so that sight and sound 
 are wedded. Thus we should teach not only Geography 
 well, but English, and help reading and spelling. 
 
 8. Utilize Derivation at this stage where possible. This 
 can be done from the first more than may be supposed 
 likely always, of course, in the hands of a wise and 
 informed teacher. Do not introduce Etymology proper, 
 but only the simpler root words in plain English, where 
 such are available. For example, show that " island " 
 defines itself, being simply "is-land" water-land (con- 
 nected with aqua and its cognates, the letter s being an 
 
erroneous interpolation from isle but, of course, here we 
 do not bother the child with that); and that " continent " 
 is so named from containing so many countries, etc. 
 
 In a similar fashion, connect "cape" with cap; "ness" 
 with nose; "channel" with canal; "bay" with bow; 
 "creek" with crook; "promontory" with prominent; 
 "belt" with a belt; "peak" with beak; "plateau" with 
 flat and plate; "watershed" with the "shed" of the hair; 
 "confluence" with flow; "strait" with a stretched, and 
 therefore narrow, piece of india-rubber; "desert" with 
 deserted; "lagoon" with lake; "tributary" with paying 
 a tribute of water; "firth" with ferry; "sound" with 
 swim; "range" with rank; "haven" with have. Many 
 of these words should, of course, be postponed to a much 
 later stage. 
 
 Such terms as the following explain themselves, but 
 even the meaning of such obvious words should always 
 be drawn attention to: head, neck, point, bed, break- 
 water, waterfall, banks, chain, plain, sand-bank, headland, 
 highlands, lowlands, etc. These words are available 
 from an early stage. 
 
 9. Get the definitions from the Pupils. These should 
 be led up to and proved, as in the demonstration of a 
 problem. The words of the children should be always 
 utilized, and made the basis, by gradual correction, of the 
 final form; which should be learned. The definitions 
 thus received are often striking, original, and interesting. 
 For example, a boy was shown a large map of the Pacific, 
 with its deep-blue, expansive sea, and with its little bits of 
 land like specks in its midst; and the nature of these 
 pieces of land, as connected with the water, was pointed 
 out. When asked what an island was, his answer was at 
 
28 
 
 once quaintly Irish, and quite philosophical " An island 
 is a portion of sea with no water into itl n 
 
 i o. Use diagrams for illustration in addition to the 
 tangible demonstrations you give. These are now graphic, 
 instructive, artistic, and abundant. 
 
 ii. Discard all text-books. Cast far from your children, 
 with disgust, most so-called " Elementary Geographies/ 1 
 They are, in general, monstrous, and their compilers are 
 educational traitors to childhood. The recipe for their 
 manufacture seems to be this: Take an Advanced Geo- 
 graphy, squeeze out of this poor orange all the juice, then 
 force the child to swallow the dry remainder. 
 
 Happily, a delightful change has very recently taken 
 place in elementary books, especially those for the New 
 Code of 1886. A few of these are really simple, and 
 finely illustrated. Some of these might be judiciously 
 utilized by a good teacher, at least for their pictures; but 
 their use in the hands of the pupils is attended with 
 danger, under most teachers. 1 
 
 1 Blackie & Son's "Geographical Readers" and "Geographical 
 Text-books," and others', have really good materials and illustrations 
 for use at this stage. 
 
2 9 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 Realistic Teaching in the Use of Maps. 
 I. DEDUCE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS AS MUCH AS 
 
 POSSIBLE FROM MAPS. 
 
 Every fact, topographical, social, and political, that can 
 be so obtained, should be learned by a careful examina- 
 tion of the map, under the guidance of the teacher. In 
 truth, it should be put down as a central principle of 
 practice, to tell nothing, and to ask nothing to be learned 
 from a book, that can be got by observation of the map. 
 On the map, we have the facts and features presented to 
 the eye in their natural relations to each other with the 
 aid of the faculty of locality and of their proper sur- 
 roundings, physical and social, to fasten them to the 
 memory. By skilful questioning, also, much additional 
 and valuable matter, besides that seen by the eye, can be 
 obtained from the children. 
 
 As I have heard my friend, Mr. John St. Clair of 
 Newton Stewart the best teacher of Geography I have 
 known wisely suggest, the text-books of the future will 
 be greatly a series of skilful questions on the facts presented 
 on good maps, instead of the present forbidding lists of 
 names and statistics in books. The man that achieves 
 such a text-book will inaugurate a new era in Geographical 
 teaching. Mr. St. Clair should himself be the first to do 
 it to show its nature, prove its wisdom, and exhibit how 
 
30 
 
 educative and intelligent the plan may become in good 
 hands. 
 
 II. SUBORDINATE THE USE OF THE TEXT-BOOK. 
 
 The text-book has been one of the chief causes of " the 
 worst way of teaching Geography," so justly satirized and 
 condemned by Professor Meiklejohn; it has been the 
 curse of the subject and the scholar. Think of asking a 
 child to learn the endless, nauseous lists there presented. 
 And they are learned by mere rote in this way, more than 
 most folks, including many teachers, would think; so 
 much so that one is tempted to recommend that text- 
 books should be thrown entirely aside. 
 
 True geographical teaching can only be done by the 
 paramount use of the map and the tongue, and by the 
 firm subordination of the text-book in the hands of the 
 scholar. 
 
 But, in their own place, really good text-books have 
 their uses. They are a means of revising what has thus 
 been learned through the eye and the ear; of presenting 
 clearly the various words used, many of these being new, 
 difficult, and foreign ; of adding facts not obtainable from 
 the map; of furnishing illustrations of the scenes and 
 objects spoken of, as, happily, so many of our recent 
 Geographical Readers now abundantly do; and in other 
 ways that might be mentioned. But it cannot be enough 
 urged, that the map should be made the main source and 
 means of geographical teaching, and that the book, 
 reduced to its true level of an auxiliary, should be spa- 
 ringly and wisely utilized. 
 
3 1 
 
 HI. DISCRIMINATE Two PERIODS AND Two PURPOSES 
 
 IN THE USE OF MAPS. 
 
 1. In Learning facts, the map should be placed near 
 enough to allow the pupils to read the names. This, of 
 course, from the principles just explained; because they 
 are to obtain from the map as much as possible. Hence 
 the map used in teaching should have the names clearly 
 exhibited, so as to be easily seen by the pupils. The use 
 of blank maps at the learning stage is objectionable, as 
 they show only the features without the names. Blank 
 maps, especially when they exhibit the features boldly, 
 are not, however, to be discarded at this stage. Rightly 
 used, they may be of value in teaching. But what I 
 contend for is, that the names of places and phenomena 
 should be learned as presented on the map, and not from 
 a book. 
 
 2. In Testing knowledge, the map should be far enough 
 distant to prevent the pupils reading the names. If they 
 are able to read the names then, there is no security that 
 they really know them. Therefore, have the map so far 
 off that they cannot read them ; or, what is much the same 
 thing, cover the names, when you wish to see if they are 
 truly learned. Yet I have seen many schools where the 
 pupils were allowed to read the map all the year round, 
 and where they broke down when they were prevented 
 reading them at the examination! In many reports, I 
 have had to state that the map was more or less, and 
 sometimes altogether, unknown, while memory facts were 
 elaborately prepared. In such cases, I have always put 
 it, that it is not the pupils who know the Geography, but 
 that it is the map, which is always good at the subject. 
 
32 
 
 At this test stage, the value of blank or skeleton maps 
 is very great, as they render the tests perfect and save 
 trouble to the teacher. There are two kinds of blank 
 maps the one where the whole of the features and places 
 are laid down, minus the names; and the other of black 
 material, which can be used like a board, on which the 
 teacher can insert these, under the dictation of the class. 
 The latter are, of course, the better, and in every way, the 
 more thorough tests. I have seen skeleton maps painted 
 most effectively on common black-boards. Such board- 
 maps can be purchased; but they can easily be made by 
 the teacher himself, by sketching, or by pricking an old 
 map through when fastened to the board, and afterwards 
 painting the pricked lines. 
 
 IV. IN TEACHING THE GEOGRAPHY OF A COUNTRY, 
 
 PRESENT THE FACTS TO THE PUPILS, AS FAR AS 
 POSSIBLE, AS VIEWED FROM DIFFERENT STAND- 
 POINTS. 
 
 i. Look at a full map of an unknown country, espe- 
 cially one with numerous physical and political facts. 
 How crowded and perplexing it appears even to adult 
 eyes; and how much more must it do so to those of 
 children ! To them a map must seem a forbidding and 
 inextricable maze, as maps have generally been made for 
 schools, until recent reforms have improved them. Hence 
 the wisdom of presenting these crowded facts in groups, 
 based on a succession of " standpoints," as they are best 
 called. Such are: (i) The external physical features; 
 (2) the internal physical features; (3) the chief towns; 
 (4) the minerals; (5) the manufactures; (6) the railways; 
 (7) the commerce; and the like. 
 
33 
 
 This plan recommends itself strongly, by all the prin- 
 ciples of good teaching. It is doing in Geography what 
 is done in all sciences, classifying the facts and graduating 
 their presentation to the pupils. Only, see that the full 
 map is at last presented to them as they will have it in 
 actual use. The knowledge and ready and accurate use 
 of the full map are what is aimed at in the end; but we 
 help the pupil the better to that end by disentangling the 
 complex whole, for teaching and acquiring purposes. 
 
 There are now some very good examples of this 
 system, which may be called " the Stand-point System " of 
 geographical teaching such as Ruddiman Johnston's 
 "World Series;" and an exceedingly good, clear, and 
 cheap combined atlas and geography by Mr. T. M. David- 
 son of Dundee Academy (published by Menzies), " The 
 Geography of England and Wales from Ten Different 
 Stand-points;" and the same of Scotland. 
 
 2. Guard against the Abuse of Classification. One of 
 the chief errors in the teaching of Geography has been 
 over-classification; learning, from a book or otherwise, 
 lists of capes, rivers, countries, and the like. Reform 
 lies in presenting these features to the pupils, from the 
 first, as much as possible in the natural groupings 
 physical, social, and political in which they really exist, 
 and by which they throw valuable light on each other, 
 all-important in good teaching. Hence the need of 
 teaching and examining each district and country in the 
 light of the mutual relations of the facts to each other. 
 All good teaching of Geography is governed by the con- 
 stant aim of the teacher, to make all facts shed mutual 
 light on each other, and to present no fact except in its 
 connection with other facts. 
 
 (400) C 
 
34 
 
 A good plan, therefore, is to revise, by sailing along a 
 river, taking a voyage along a coast, or making a journey 
 by railway. The teaching of the railway system of a 
 country is too much neglected. Railways are now more 
 important than most rivers, as being, in modern life, a 
 greater means of communication than rivers, or even the 
 sea. 
 
OF THE 
 
 C UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 Examples of Demonstrative and Dramatic 
 Methods in Teaching Geography. 
 
 Dramatic illustrations should be used in the teaching 
 of all subjects where possible; in Geography, they are 
 very available, and this to an extent not sufficiently 
 realized by most teachers. Happily also the most effec- 
 tive methods are the simplest and cheapest; the best 
 being those carried out by the use of the plainest materials, 
 existing in every school-room in the country, and with the 
 help of the children themselves. Expensive Orreries and 
 like machinery and models are not required for successful 
 teaching; and I should myself prefer such simple means 
 as are here described to the most expensive. Where the 
 pupils' own assistance can be made use of, it should never 
 be missed; as this is always intensely relished by them, 
 and it may be made an honour and a reward to be 
 allowed to give it. In skilful hands, all the interest of 
 play or a game may often be infused into the teaching 
 and examining as is here attempted to be shown. 
 
 Really, the chief part of the apparatus requisite for all 
 schools, in addition to good, clear maps, is a good terres- 
 trial globe. In most cases, good teachers will be able to 
 create the rest; but even the globe is not essential, though 
 very useful. 
 
 The following methods are given merely as examples 
 of how dramatic teaching might be employed with simple 
 materials. 
 
36 
 
 I. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 
 
 1. The difficulty of describing Position on a Globe. Use 
 a plain, unmarked sphere a common ball or orange will 
 do. Mark a cross upon it. Ask the pupils to describe 
 its place. Show the impossibility of doing so, as it is. 
 The cross is neither up nor down, right nor left, north, 
 south, east, nor west, top, middle, nor bottom as you 
 have only to change the position of the globe to nullify 
 any description of its place. Thus they vividly realize 
 the difficulty of describing place or locality on an un- 
 marked sphere or globe, under non-stationary conditions. 
 
 2. Fixing Polar Points. Make it revolve. At once, 
 we have two fixed points the ends of the axis (or axle) 
 of rotation. These are called Poles which can be in- 
 dicated by means of a wire run through the orange, round 
 which it is made to turn. Care should be taken to see 
 that they truly understand the realities as to axis and poles, 
 and to discriminate between this use ot the word " pole " 
 and the common one a most frequent source of error, 
 or at least, bad association, in young minds. Utilize its 
 derivation, from TroAoc, a pivot, TrcXctv, to move, akin to 
 KeXXtiv, to drive. These points are called north and 
 south poles; either being either, but one being selected 
 as north. We can now state the distance of our cross 
 from either pole. 
 
 3. Drawing an Equator. To help us to measure the 
 distance from the poles found, we draw a line round the 
 globe, equally distant from the poles, in the direction ot 
 the rotation. This is called an Equator, or equal divider. 
 We can now see more readily whether the cross is half- 
 way between the poles, or how far it is from that position. 
 
37 
 
 4. Finding Latitude. It will be better, however, to 
 reckon the position of the cross from one thing rather 
 than two that is, from the equator instead of from either 
 pole. We can thus say how far it is north or south of the 
 equator. This is called Latitude, which means distance 
 from the equator. 
 
 5. Parallels of Latitude. To enable us to measure 
 latitude accurately, we draw lines at regular distances, 
 parallel to the equator. These are Parallels of latitude. 
 They tell distance north or south of the equator. 
 
 6. The difficulty of describing position East and West. 
 We can now give the distance of the cross north or 
 south of the equator, but not its position east or west. 
 The globe revolves; so that we cannot say it is on the 
 east or on the west side, because the west at once 
 becomes east, and east becomes west. We must, there- 
 fore, have, as in latitude, some point, or, better, some 
 line to count from. But latitude is reckoned from a line 
 which was determined for us, by its equal distance from 
 the two fixed poles of rotation. In judging as to a place 
 being east and west, we have no fixed point or line. We 
 must, therefore, choose some one line from which to count. 
 
 7. The need of a First Meridian. This line may be 
 any line, as being chosen or arbitrary, in the absence 
 of a natural means of fixing it, as in latitude. Hence 
 different nations have chosen different first lines of 
 reckoning the British, the great national observatory at 
 Greenwich; the French, Paris; the Americans, Washing- 
 ton; and so on. This line, from pole to pole through 
 this point, is named a meridian^ = line of mid-day; because 
 all the places along this line have mid-day at the same 
 
 1 Corrupted by d becoming r, from the difficulty of saying medidian 
 
moment which show. Distance east or west of this first 
 meridian = Longitude or length. 
 
 Explain that the words " latitude " and " longitude " 
 were so given from the Roman notions of the size of the 
 earth. The world as known to them was longer east and 
 west than north and south; hence the one measurement 
 was by length, the other by breadth. 
 
 All nations must reckon from the same line in latitude, 
 that line being fixed in nature. In longitude, they vary, 
 which is a source of difficulty, one system requiring 
 to be translated into another. Hence the desirableness 
 of having a Universal First Meridian. This is not yet 
 generally agreed on, though the meridian of Ferro Isle 
 has been used. Point it out and show its centrality. 
 
 8. Meridian Lines. As in latitude, we measure longi- 
 tude by drawing lines (or meridians) at equal distances on 
 both sides of the first meridian. Show how these all pass 
 through the poles, and why they cannot be called parallels, 
 like the latitude lines ; as they are not parallel, but narrow 
 or converge to two points through which they all pass 
 the poles. 
 
 9. Degrees of measurement. The distances on a circle 
 are called degrees, because they proceed from each other 
 gradually, by grades, or steps. Show how a circle is 
 divided into degrees, that the 360 fixed on is only an 
 arbitrary number, not necessary for 100 in a decimal 
 system would be better; that this number was chosen 
 from its being divisible without a remainder by more 
 numbers than any other, that is, by all numbers up to 
 12, except 7 and n. Then make the pupils name the 
 number of degrees in a right angle or quarter circle = 90; 
 in a semicircle = 1 80, etc. 
 
39 
 
 10. Degrees on the Globe. Apply all this to the globe. 
 Demonstrate how latitude, being from the equator to the 
 two poles, can only be counted by a quarter circle or 
 90; and longitude, being east and west of a central north- 
 and-south line, can be counted by half a circle, 180 
 Show, also, how the degrees of latitude are always equal, 
 that is, of the same length ; and how degrees of longitude 
 must vary, gradually lessening from the equator to the 
 poles, being, in fact, merely proportional parts, not 
 absolute measurements. 
 
 11. Position on a Globe absolutely fixed by latitude and 
 longitude. Exhibit these lines on a good globe and on 
 a map of the hemispheres; and show how the exact 
 position of a place is determined by the two together. 
 Give examples and exercises in latitude and longitude; 
 both by finding out places by their means, and by giving 
 places to find their latitude and longitude. 
 
 II. THE PHENOMENA OF DAY AND NIGHT. 
 
 In the absence of an Orrery (some of which, however,, 
 are now cheap while effective), use a candle or lamp, or 
 better, a lamp with a reflector; and a globe. The expo- 
 sition need not here be complicated by putting the earth 
 at its angle of 23^; it should be placed perpendicular. 
 
 i. Day and Night. The lighted half = day; the dark 
 half = night; the part between the two = twilight, that is, 
 the light between the light of day and the light of night. 
 Mark a chalk cross, or fasten a small piece of white paper, 
 on the globe, and show how it passes into day and night 
 during its rotation; taking care to move the globe from 
 west to east. Note its position at midday and midnight. 
 Show the place and the manner of sunrise and sunset, 
 
40 
 
 the morning and the evening twilights. See that the real 
 nature of all these changes is fully understood that the 
 sun is stationary, and that we pass in and out of the light 
 and dark, which are also stationary, as caused by the sun. 
 
 2. Hours moved. Put a chalk cross directly under the 
 sun =12 o'clock or noon. 1 From this one fact, deduce 
 all the other hours, with graduated difficulty first mid- 
 night or 12; then morning and evening, at half times; 
 then forenoon and afternoon, at quarter times; then any 
 hour. Explain fore- and after-noon; and the Latin, ante 
 meridian, and post meridian; and their contractions A.M. 
 and P.M. Also explain our system of counting by twelve 
 hours, and the Italian by twenty-four hours; and our 
 recent attempt to introduce the natural twenty-four hours' 
 reckoning. Give exercises to the pupils, by placing a 
 cross at any position in the circle, and getting them to 
 tell and prove the hour; and vice versa, by naming any 
 hour, and asking them to turn the globe to the requisite 
 position, and to prove it. 
 
 3. Degrees moved. In like manner, deduce the number 
 of degrees moved through in any given time. The whole 
 circle = 360 = 24 hours. Give numerous exercises in 
 degrees, asking children to tell the number of degrees 
 moved through by you; and vice versa^ to turn the globe 
 through any number of degrees you name. 3 - = 15 
 are moved through in one hour. 15 E. of our meridian 
 or noon = one hour earlier, or forenoon, or A.M.; and 
 15 W. of it = one hour later, or afternoon, or P.M. Vice 
 versd, giving hours, ask the degrees passed. 
 
 1 Explain that noon was originally the ninth hour, or three o'clock, 
 but that afterwards the Church services, called nones, or noons, or 
 nines, were changed to midday. 
 
Then i of longitude = the 36oth part of 24 hours or a 
 day- 4 minutes time. New York, which is 75 W long. 
 = 75x4 = 300 minutes = 5 hours, later than our time. 
 A telegram from Britain arrives five hours earlier than it 
 was sent off! 
 
 Give varied exercises in time and place, in latitude and 
 longitude, by both ways the teacher naming time or 
 degrees, and asking results; and vice versa till the subject 
 is mastered. 
 
 4. How Longitude is found at sea. Explain the use of 
 a chronometer, which tells Greenwich time. The captain 
 finds when it is noon at ship, and thus obtains the differ- 
 ence from Greenwich in minutes; and 4 minutes = i. 
 Hence he deduces his longitude. Explain how he knows 
 when it is east or west longitude. This is the mere 
 application of last paragraph. Give numerous exercises 
 on slates as above. 
 
 III. CIRCLES AND ZONES ON THE GLOBE. 
 
 Use a terrestrial globe; or better, a plain sphere or 
 large ball, with poles and equator marked on it. Have 
 a small table best if it is circular; but other shape will 
 do. In the centre of the table, mark the sun; a chalk 
 circle with rays is best; a small round flat stone, or other 
 flat ornament, does well. But do not use another globe or 
 large object for the sun, as its size and height will confuse 
 the demonstrations. The flat table represents the plane 
 of the earth's orbit, with the sun in the middle; the sun 
 can, at present, be marked in the centre, and the ellip- 
 ticity of the orbit may be left out. 
 
 i. If the earth stood vertical before the sun, show the 
 effects: (i) day and night equal all over the world; (2) 
 
42 
 
 the sun would always shine above the equator; therefore, 
 no variety of climate except that caused by latitude that 
 is, there would only be the gradual diminution of heat 
 from torrid to frigid; (3) there would be no seasons. 
 
 2. The Earth's Inclination and the Pole Star. Hold the 
 globe at an angle of 23^. Be careful to explain that the 
 axis always points in the one absolute direction. This may 
 be represented by an object at one end of the room, so 
 that the axis is always parallel to the two sides of the 
 room. Show that this point in the heavens is practically 
 the pole star with reason of its name; ani the effect ot 
 this, that in the rotation of the earth, the whole of the 
 other stars seem to whirl round this one star, which seems 
 to remain stationary; but that this is only apparent, the 
 heavens no more turning round than the room does while 
 the globe is whirled. Prove this by making a cross on 
 the globe, and showing how the objects in the room, 
 while stationary, are seen at different angles all round 
 the circle, as the globe turns. This should be carefully 
 demonstrated, as misconceptions are otherwise certain. 
 
 3. The Earth's Inclination and the Tropics. Incline the 
 globe at 23^, and prove the results by moving it round 
 the table, noting at each point the part of the globe 
 above which the sun is vertical. This is done by holding 
 the globe so as to touch the edge of the table, the surface 
 of the table showing, by where it touches the globe, the 
 verticality of the sun's rays at each point thus touched. 
 Start with the part of the table where the edge touches 
 the equator, at the spring equinox, and move from west 
 to east. Note specially, at present, only the four quad- 
 rant points, and mark where the edge of the table touches 
 the globe at each of these points. 
 
43 
 
 (i.) Start, therefore, at the left-hand side of the table, 
 looking to the assumed pole star in the room, as settled 
 on. There the sun's rays touch the equator. This gives 
 rise to the equinox, or time of equal night, all over the 
 world. Prove this fact by whirling the globe and marking 
 crosses at different latitudes, and noting the length of the 
 day at each. (2.) Move to the south side of the table, 
 and show, by where the table edge touches the globe, 
 that the sun now shines directly on the earth 23^ N. of 
 the equator; and that, as the earth moves from this point, 
 the sun's direct rays fall nearer the equator. This turning 
 point is called the Tropic 1 that of Cancer, from the sun 
 then appearing in the star group called Cancer, the crab. 2 
 (3.) Move to the right-hand or east side of the table, 
 where the edge of the table touches the equator again = 
 Equinox. Call the equinoxes the first and second, till 
 the Seasons are taught. (4.) Move to the north side of 
 the table, where the edge of the table touches 23^ S. 
 of the equator, and from this, moves nearer to the equator 
 again. This is another turning or Tropic point, that of 
 Capricorn; so called from the sun appearing in the star 
 group of the Horned Goat or Caperer. (5.) Move onwards 
 to our starting-point, where the sun is again above the 
 equator. 
 
 Thus we prove the part of the earth upon which the 
 sun shines directly down during the year, and the position 
 of the tropics = 23 J north and south of the equator the 
 
 1 From T/>TTW, to turn^ connected with torqueo, to turn or twist ; 
 trope, a turn or figure of speech. 
 
 2 Connect etymologically for illustration, with the disease cancer, 
 which is so called from its having a centre and branches round, like 
 a crab and its toes. 
 
44 
 
 whole being caused by the number of the degrees of the 
 earth's angle of inclination. Draw circles representing 
 these tropics, and name them. 
 
 4. The Earth's Inclination and the Polar Circles. Move 
 the globe round the table in the same way, stopping 
 specially at the same quadrant positions, and noting the 
 circle of twilight between day and night. If the teacher 
 does not possess or does not use a terrestrial globe, this 
 twilight circle may be well represented by a large sheet 
 of paper, having a circle cut out of it, of the size of the 
 globe used. The globe being placed inside this circle, the 
 paper is held vertically, to represent the twilight circle; 
 but care should be taken to hold it always at right angles 
 to the sun. 
 
 The phenomena now to be examined are those oc- 
 curring at the two poles, (i.) At the first equinox, the 
 daylight falls equally all over the globe from pole to pole. 
 (2.) From this point to the Tropic of Cancer position, 
 the twilight circle between day and night has gradually 
 moved away from the North Pole till it reaches 23^ 
 from it, when it again begins to approach it Hence the 
 position of the North Polar Circle, 23^ from the pole, 
 called the Arctic Circle, from the star group of the Bear 
 or Arctos^ or the Ursine group. (3.) From this point, 
 it gradually approaches the pole again till it reaches it at 
 the second equinox. Show how this circle is and must 
 be distant from the North Pole the same number of 
 degrees as the tropics from the equator, both arising 
 from the same cause, the earth's inclination. (4.) Give 
 a similar proof regarding the South Pole, demonstrating 
 the position of the Antarctic Circle. This is easily shown 
 
 1 dpAcros, a bear, connected with Latin ursus, a bear. 
 
45 
 
 by means of the same perforated paper representing the 
 twilight circle, during the revolution round the sun. 
 
 5. The Zones on the globe. These follow as corollaries 
 from the above, (i.) The part of the earth over which 
 the sun shines vertically is, of course, that between the 
 tropics. Its breadth = 23)^ + 23^ = 47. This runs 
 like a belt, or girdle or zone, round the middle of the 
 earth, called Torrid or toasted or hot. (2.) The parts 
 next the poles = 23^ in breadth, or, as in the Torrid 
 Zone, 47 from side to side erroneously called a zone or 
 belt, being really a complete circle the Frigid, or freez- 
 ing zone. (3.) The part between the Frigid and Torrid 
 Zones, standing in climate between the one and the 
 other, is the Temperate Zone. Its breadth = 90 minus 
 23^ + 23^ or 47 = 43. (4.) There are five zones 
 on the globe : one torrid, two temperate, and two frigid. 
 These are really six, for the Torrid Zone is, in truth, two 
 zones touching each other; so that we have three zones 
 north of the equator and three south. 
 
 IV. SEASONS AND MONTHS. 
 
 A. With table and globe. Use the same table and 
 globe in the same way; for this subject is but a sequel to 
 the foregoing. Mark a chalk cross clearly on the position 
 of Great Britain, or paste a white or red paper on it. 
 
 (i.) Place the earth at the position of the first equinox. 
 There day and night are equal all over the globe, and 
 the sun above the equator, making the climate in Britain 
 neither hot nor cold. This is 2ist of March, called the 
 Spring Equinox. (2.) Move the globe round to the posi- 
 tion of the Tropic of Cancer. The sun gradually moves 
 north till it reaches the tropic Climate of Britain 
 
4 6 
 
 gradually warmer = Summer. Northmost point of sun = 
 Solstice, or Solar stand, from the sun apparently standing 
 stationary for a little before turning south again. This 
 occurs at one-fourth of the circle onwards, in of course 
 one-fourth of the year, or three months more = 2ist of 
 fune. (Though not quite accurate, it is sufficiently so 
 for our present purpose to keep to the 2ist of the months 
 all through.) (3.) Move the globe round towards the 
 second equinox. The sun gradually moves towards the 
 equator again, till it reaches the Autumn Equinox = 2ist 
 of the third month forward = 2 ist of September. (4.) 
 Move onwards towards the position of the Tropic of 
 Capricorn. The sun now gradually moves south of the 
 equator, and the British climate gets colder till the sun 
 reaches its southmost point, the Tropic of Capricorn - 
 Winter Solstice = 2ist of December.^ (5.) Move round 
 to the starting-point. The British climate gradually gets 
 warmer as the sun wears towards the equator, at the 
 Spring Equinox. (6.) We thus have four seasons corre- 
 sponding to the quadrant or quarter positions of the sun 
 above the earth in the tropics, during the yearly circuit 
 or annual revolution of the earth round the sun. Note 
 that the four positions in March, June, September, and 
 December are the central places of each of the seasons; 
 and thus roughly each season consists of each of these 
 months, with a month on each side of it. Thus Spring 
 = the month of March and those of February and April 
 on each side of it, when the sun is on the equator and 
 a month north and south of it; and so with the other 
 seasons. (7.) Ask the pupils to point out the spaces on 
 the table corresponding to each of the seasons. Draw 
 four quadrant lines from the sun to the circumference of 
 
47 
 
 the table showing these, and mark also on the table the 
 points of the equinoxes and the solstices, the lines drawn 
 being half-way between these points. (8.) Deduce the 
 place of each of the months from the foregoing, for all the 
 year from these four quarter positions of the sun, with 
 a month on each side of them = 12 months. Get the 
 pupils to put the globe in its right place for any month, 
 and to prove it, from reference to the equinoctial and 
 solstitial points. 
 
 B. Without the table or globe. Draw a white circle 
 on the floor for the sun, with a circle round it for the 
 earth's path or orbit. Fix the four great quadrant points 
 of equinoxes and solstices, and mark them on the floor. 
 Ask the pupils individually to stand at the right place for 
 any month, and prove its correctness; and to walk or 
 stretch over the space for any season. Let the teacher 
 stand also at any part of the circle, and ask, conversely, 
 the month and the season represented. Ask the pupils 
 in succession to stand at the places of the months till the 
 whole twelve are filled. Ask them then in succession, 
 but irregularly, to take the position of any month, and 
 then to return to their places in the class; and so on, 
 giving similar exercises in great variety. The interest of 
 a game the game of the Months and Seasons may be 
 imparted to such lessons and exercises. 1 
 
 C. Go over the same demonstration and exercises 
 regarding the Southern Hemisphere ', selecting Australia or 
 New Zealand as the place of observation; and give similar 
 exercises, with and without the table and globe. 
 
 1 Effective and practical methods of exposition, very well illus- 
 trated, will be found in Professor Grove's admirable little Primer 
 of Astronomy (Macmillan). These take more trouble, and cannot 
 be acted by the pupils like the above. 
 
4 8 
 
 V. THE VARIATIONS OF DAY AND NIGHT. 
 
 Use a candle or, better, a strong lamp (with a re- 
 flector, if possible), casting a decided shadow for the 
 sun; and the same globe: the table is not required here. 
 Place the lamp on the floor, or on a small stand high 
 enough to light the globe, so as to be easily seen. Draw 
 a circle on the floor for the earth's orbit. Make the 
 globe rotate while traversing the orbit, and slope it at 
 2 3/4 , keeping its axis, as before, pointing to the same 
 part of the room. In the lesson on Britain, mark its 
 position on the globe with white or red paper. 
 
 A. Regarding Great Britain. (i.) Place the globe 
 at 2ist March, as before. Show how day and night are 
 equal all over the world, by means of the illuminated 
 half of the globe as it rotates. Hence the Spring 
 Equinox or equal-night period. (2.) Move the globe 
 towards June. Show how the day gets longer and the 
 nights shorter, till June 2ist is reached. (3.) Move on 
 towards September. Prove the longest day; then the 
 gradual shortening of the day and lengthening of the 
 night, till they are again equal at 2ist September the 
 Autumn Equinox. (4.) Move on towards December. 
 Show the gradual shortening of the day under twelve 
 hours and the lengthening of the night over twelve 
 hours, till 2ist December is reached. (5.) Demonstrate 
 this to be the shortest day. Move on towards March 
 again, and show the gradual lengthening of the day 
 and shortening of the night till they are once more 
 equal. (6.) All this should be exhibited to the eye, not 
 merely stated or questioned on, and should be shown by 
 
49 
 
 repeated revolutions till it is firmly apprehended. (7.) 
 Traverse the same ground, estimating the number of 
 hours in light and dark, at each station of the equinoxes 
 and solstices. 
 
 B. Regarding the Southern Hemisphere. Paste paper 
 on say, New Zealand, and evolve the phenomena as 
 exhibited there, in like manner. 
 
 C. Regarding the Arctic Regions. Paste white paper 
 over these, and note and mark with pencil the movement 
 of the twilight circle on it as the globe rotates while it 
 revolves round the year circle. Start with the Spring 
 Equinox, and its equal day and night at the poles, as 
 well as all over the world. Then watch and show the 
 gradual effulgence of the polar regions in the light, till 
 the day has no night at all, at the Summer Solstice; then 
 the gradual extension of the night till it equals the day 
 again, at the Autumn Equinox; then the gradual immersion 
 of the Arctic regions in the shadow, till there is no day 
 there, at the Winter Solstice; and then the gradual growth 
 of day, till once more it is twelve hours long, at the Spring 
 Equinox. 
 
 Well shown to the eye, this may be made a beautiful 
 and effective demonstration of these phenomena, so diffi 
 cult for a child unaided to conceive, and so often mis 
 understood even by adults. The subject requires rigorous 
 questioning in order to be fully comprehended, but it de 
 serves and rewards it. 
 
 D. Do the same with the Antarctic regions. The 
 phenomena are easily gone over, if the above are con- 
 quered. 
 
 (400) 
 
VI. THE PHASES OF THE MOON, AND ECLIPSES. 
 
 1. By means of a lamp for the sun, especially with a 
 good reflector casting a definite shadow; a globe for the 
 earth; and a smaller globe for the moon the various phases 
 may not only be explained, but made clear to the eye. 
 Nothing should be told, but all should be deduced and 
 demonstrated. 
 
 2. By the same means, the eclipses can be explained. 
 The Eclipse of the Moon may be shown to the eye, 
 especially with a reflector which casts a good shadow 
 behind the earth. The immersion of the moon in the 
 shadow can be observed; and if the globe is of the right 
 size, partial, total, and annular eclipses may be formed 
 and shown. 
 
 3. When this is understood, very good exercises on 
 the phenomena may be given by using a stationary globe 
 for the sun, and the boys themselves for the earth and 
 moon, one representing the earth, and another the moon. 
 You ask " the earth " to stand in a certain position, and 
 then " the moon" to place himself in any required phase; 
 each to prove that he is right or wrong. In this exercise, 
 use a succession of boys, rewarding any one who corrects 
 .an error made, by allowing him to come to the floor. 
 This becomes a pleasant and instructive game, that of 
 the Moon Phases. 
 
PART FIFTH. 
 
 Some General Principles in the Realistic 
 Teaching of Geography. 
 
 1. Subordinate mere Verbal Memory, and use the other 
 faculties as much as possible. Though already urged, this 
 cannot be pressed sufficiently. Bring as many of the other 
 faculties to your aid as you can, at every moment the 
 senses especially; the all-potent eye, to perceive; reason- 
 ing, to get at the facts from their causes, and lead to 
 their effects; imagination, to picture the scenes; and so 
 on illuminating all by concentrated lights shed by as 
 many of the faculties as you can bring to bear. 
 
 2. Fasten the facts to the mind by rousing Interest in 
 them. Interest, especially in a child, is to the mind what 
 appetite is to the body. If you do not rouse the mental 
 appetite while communicating facts, you do as much 
 cruel harm as if you forced a child to eat without his 
 being hungry. Interest may be roused in a hundred 
 ways by pictures, dramatic demonstrations, illustrations, 
 reasonings, descriptions, stories, and the like. But it 
 must be created, or drudgery and dulness ensue, with 
 their unhappy and disappointing consequences. If there 
 is any name on which no point of interest can be hung, 
 leave it out. If there is no fact worth knowing about it, 
 the name itself is not worth learning. 
 
 3. Use Reasoning in all possible cases. This can be 
 done much more frequently than is generally thought. 
 
52 
 
 especially by those who have not tried it. In fact, Geo- 
 graphy may be made highly intellectual training. This 
 is all the higher if general principles are carefully ex- 
 plained, and all cases referred back to these. In this 
 subject, general principles regarding the globe, and the 
 laws that govern its movements, structure, and produc- 
 tions, are unusually clear, interesting, and all-embracing; 
 and are easily capable of constant application to par- 
 ticular cases. Properly taught, Geography at present 
 the most mechanical of school lessons may be made, 
 in skilled hands, less mechanical than most subjects. 
 
 4. Present nothing as an isolated fact, but only in its 
 vital relations to other facts; and these, if possible, greater 
 and inclusive facts. This is a corollary from the fore- 
 going; this relationship being obtained mostly by reasoning 
 towards it. A bald, isolated fact is not worth knowing. 
 Rightly viewed, no fact is thus isolated, though often the 
 connection with general principles may not be readily 
 perceived. Where it is not, the pupil should not be 
 harassed with such matters. It follows that the number 
 of such barren facts will be greater with some teachers 
 than with others; the skilled educator discovering and 
 being capable of leading his pupils to discover relative 
 facts and principles where another would perceive none. 
 
 In the teaching of Mr. St. Clair, this reference to 
 general principles was constantly employed with remark- 
 able effect. In his higher classes, he would challenge 
 auditors to point to any part of the globe. His scholars 
 would then be able to describe its scenery, productions, 
 peoples, winds, etc. etc., and to prove each statement by 
 such reasoned reference to principles. This can be done 
 much more easily than may appear; and, when done, it 
 
53 
 
 is peculiarly pleasurable to both teacher and taught, 
 while surprising and gratifying to onlookers. 
 
 5. Utilize the errors made by the pupils. This is not 
 by any means so much tried, in general teaching, as it 
 should be. The errors made by the pupils during the 
 teaching, especially the exposition, of a subject are a 
 valuable indication to the teacher of where correction or 
 additional explanation is required. They are an all- 
 important means of diagnosing the minds of the pupils 
 in regard to the matter in hand; indications of local 
 disease, which must be attacked and cured. Do not, 
 therefore, simply deny or contradict or neglect an error, 
 as is too often done. Use the very error as a means of 
 bringing the pupil and the class round to the correct 
 view; and enable them, by skilful questioning and re-ex- 
 position, to correct their own errors. 
 
 6. Use the Black-board continually. In Geography, it 
 is omnipotent; in most subjects, it is indispensable. A 
 good teacher should here be a good draughtsman; but, 
 in any case, the chalk should seldom leave the hand. 
 
 7. Select the Statistics used, and employ all statistics 
 sparingly. Instead of making these the staple work of 
 the class, they should be few, and mainly given as illus- 
 trating principles. The aim of the teacher, in regard to 
 statistics, is more to guide the pupil where and how to 
 find them in after life when required, than to burden his 
 memory at present with their heavy and barren weight. 
 This is all the more necessary in a subject in which 
 statistics are so fluctuating in most of its departments. 
 The present over-statistical grind of the subject is tor 
 turing and depressing, and utterly destructive of vitality, 
 intelligence, and interest. 
 
54 
 
 But certain statistics are necessary. What, then, are 
 the principles of selection, both as to amount and kind? 
 
 (i.) Give only the chief est facts minutely as to figures 
 the highest mountains, longest rivers, largest towns, and 
 so on. But let these be as few as you can manage with. 
 
 (2.) Choose the less important statistics, and give these only 
 approximately, in round numbers; but these still fewer 
 than the former. 
 
 (3.) Give all statistics as proportionate parts, infractions 
 or multiples, of a well-known unit rivers, by reference to 
 the Tay or the Clyde in Scotland, the Thames in England, 
 the Rhine in Europe, and so on; towns, by reference to 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, Paris in Europe, 
 etc. ; mountains, by reference to Ben Nevis, Mont Blanc, 
 etc. ; seas, by reference to the Mediterranean, etc. ; lakes, 
 by reference to Leman, etc.; and the like. Of course, this 
 continual reference to a known quantity is the only sound 
 teaching of dimension in any form or subject. 
 
 8. Show and examine, where possible, the Real Objects 
 spokeri of plants, productions, minerals, etc. Hence the 
 need of a museum in all schools well chosen, however, 
 for real practical teaching, and not a heterogeneous col- 
 lection of curiosities. Cabinets of such objects can now 
 be had cheap and good. In most cases, these are never 
 used beyond the Infant-room, and in formal Object 
 lessons. No object should be spoken of without being 
 at once shown, examined, and conquered, if at all avail- 
 able. 
 
 In this connection, it is most desirable, in all large 
 schools, especially in our great cities, that a complete 
 list of such apparatus in objects, pictures, and maps 
 should be drawn up, with the name of each room in 
 
55 
 
 which they are kept. This list should be hung in some 
 prominent and convenient place, for reference by the 
 staff; and this not for Geography alone, but for all sub- 
 jects requiring such illustration. 
 
 9. Vivify Description by means of Pictures, where available 
 of scenes, animals, peoples, etc. It saves a deal of 
 trouble, to put it on its lowest level. But how vivid, 
 clear, correct, and, in a word, how real, next to the object 
 itself! 
 
 But even where the thing itself can be exhibited, that 
 exhibition is often imperfect. For instance, in showing 
 teak wood, present also a picture of the tree, and, still 
 better, with its native scenery. Materials for this purpose 
 are now abundant, good, and beautiful. Many recent 
 Geographical Reading Books are a very good departure 
 in this direction. But do more than exhibit a picture; 
 question on it till it is fully and clearly understood. 
 
 10. Brighten and illustrate by Readings and Stories from 
 works of travel, adventure, history, biography, and the 
 like. The good teacher utilizes a library for his pupils, 
 and causes the old dry bones in this valley of lamentation 
 to live, and this ancient educational desert to blossom as 
 the rose. 
 
 1 1. Employ the Etymology of Place-names as much as pos- 
 sible. These are often either remarkably descriptive or 
 historically important, and cast interesting side lights on 
 drier matters. Illustrations are superabundant. Baltic, 
 the sea of the Belts that give entrance to it; Minch, 
 Gaelic for a sleeve, from its shape the same word taking, 
 in French, the form La Manche, the Channel; Uisge = 
 whisky, Celtic for water, becoming Esk, Usk, Ouse, 
 Wash, Isis, Use, Ux, Exe, Ax, Ox, as in Oxford, etc.; 
 
56 
 
 Avon, a stream, appearing alone, as Evan, An, Wan, 
 Aisne, Inn, Inney, Aney, Seine, Vienne, Almond, etc., 
 and compounded, in Boon, Devon, Kelvin, Annan, 
 Leithen, Irvine, Earn, Boyne, Avignon, Verona, Amiens : 
 and so on in innumerable and bright variety and pic- 
 turesqueness, as in Snaehatten, the mountain with the 
 snow hat. 1 
 
 Beware, however, of apparent but wrong derivations. 
 Woolwich, for example, is not the wool town, but the 
 hill town; Carisbrooke has no connection with a brook, 
 but with burg; and the like. The best guide, safe, 
 handy, and cheap, on this subject, is Miss C. Blackie's 
 Etymological Geography (Isbister & Co.), revised by 
 Skene and Joyce, with an introduction by her brother, 
 the Ex-professor. 
 
 In conclusion. In this subject, our central motto 
 should be Res non verba Realities not Words. From 
 prevalent abuses, this excessive expression of a truth may 
 be accepted, by way of revolt against the tyranny of words. 
 
 We should, however, teach both words and things, 
 with the motto, Res cum verbis things with words; but 
 things, realities, being primary and ever-present. Here, 
 as in all education, we cannot sufficiently act on Rous- 
 seau's warning counsel, happily less needed now than in 
 his day, but still clamantly demanding attention " I can 
 never enough repeat it, that we make words of too much 
 consequence; with our prating modes of teaching, we 
 make nothing but praters." Are we to increase the 
 number of praters, or of thinkers? 
 
 1 See an interesting lecture on this subject, by Professor Meikle- 
 john, in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for Sept. 1886. 
 
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