a small house, capable of accommodating forty pupils, literally swarming with one hundred and twenty children. They were seated all around and on the teacher's platform; they were stowed away like cord-wood in a little hall or entry way; and the poor female teacher was literally like the old woman who lived in a shoe, "she had so many children she didn't know what to do." In most christian communities such a heathenish condition of things would not be tolerated, but when it is considered that Oakland is mostly inhabited by very poor people, it is some palliation for their neglect. The State Educational Society ought to send a missionary to that city to preach to public schools. True, only poor people's children go to that overcrowded public school; true, all the rich folks' children go to private schools; but then admitting the superiority of the ruling races, it is nevertheless capable of demonstration that the one hundred and twenty children of "poor folks" have souls just as much as Hottentots or Sandwich Islanders, and are capable of learning how to read and write. We would suggest to H. H. Bancroft & Co. or A. Roman & Co. the propriety of making a charitable donation of a set of Willson's Charts or Cornell's Outline Maps to the Oakland Public School, which is as destitute as a barn of all such appliances. They are poor in Oakland, having only $2,000 surplus cash to the credit of the school fund. We suppose the Common Council will bury this surplus cash under some oak tree; but suggest that meanwhile they send in some old second-hand chairs or some three-legged milking stools for the children to sit upon, instead of squatting like little diggers on the school-room floor. We intend to put the members of the Common Council of Oakland on our free list the coming year, and shall include the missionary of the State Society when he is stationed there.

In pleasant contrast to the apathy of the poor people of Oakland, is the action of the citizens of Brooklyn, ex-Clinton, ex-San Antonio. They have built a fine two-story wooden building at a cost of $5,000, designed to accommodate two hundred children. As it stands, it is one of the best planned and most convenient school-houses in the State. It is furnished with Warren Holt's Patent Desks, which present a very neat appearance, and are better, in our opinion, than the single desks. The school numbers one hundred and fifty pupils, in three departments, Primary, Intermediate, and Grammar. The people who grumbled at first about the school tax, are beginning already to recognize the wise policy which voted money to establish a public school worthy of the name, and very soon the last solitary grumbler will be heard of no more. The trustees and the Principal of the school, Wm. K. Rowell, who holds a State Educational Diploma, are entitled to great credit for designing a plan for a schoolhouse which for convenience and elegance is unsurpassed in the State.

Will not the liberal citizens of Brooklyn consent to donate their old schoolhouse to the City of Oakland on condition that the farmers will turn out their ox teams to a grand "hauling" and draw the old shell over to their indigent neighbors free of cost?

EDUCATION IN PLACER COUNTY.-We arrived at Dutch Flat on the 11th of April, 10 days after April Fool's Day, expecting to attend a County Institute

of the teachers of Placer County, and found that the institute had been, for good reasons, postponed until the 7th of June-a letter notifying us of the postponement having failed to come to hand. Nothing remained for us to do but to make the acquaintance of Mr. Hammond, the public school teacher, and to look around the town.

Mr. Hammond has a school of some 75 scholars, divided into Primary and Grammar departments. Dutch Flat, which will be better known when the Central Pacific Railroad shall be completed to that point, is a picturesque little mining town of some 1,800 inhabitants, tumbled down on a hill-side sloping towards Bear River, on the other side of which, in plain views, are the classic towns of Red Dog and You Bet, situated on the River Bluff, one mile apart, both places having a public school. Back of the town, in close proximity, are the Hydraulic Claims, where the whole mountain's side has been washed downthe debris looking very much like the burnt-out crater of an extinct volcano. Accepting the invitation of a Vermont boy, a stage acquaintance we made on our way up, we took a walk across the divide five miles, and descended some 2,000 feet into the cañon of the North Fork of the American River in which mouth of Avernus we found a company of "Yanks" working out a hydraulic claim. We watched the boys shooting off the big bolders into the river, like giants at play, until we felt ashamed of looking ou as a good-for-nothing idler, and then bidding the boys a reluctant good-by, we trudged back up the perpendicular mule-trail, a mile long. On the summit the view of the snow-capped Sierras, stretching away to the north, is magnificent. The summit is covered with a heavy growth of timber, which will be made available and valuable when the great Central Road is completed. On our way back, at Auburn, we met Mr. Goodrich, the County Superintendent, whose good works seem to be appreciated by the people from the fact that his salary has been raised to $1,800 per annum. Mr. Goodrich visits the schools in his county not once only in the year, but many times. He generally walks, and from his robust appearance we should think he found it the very best kind of gymnastic exercise. We have made an engagement, when office work will allow, to take a tramp over the hills with him to try which can walk the other down.

The Placer County Institute will be held in Dutch Flat on the seventh of June next. A large number of teachers intend to be present, and the occasion will be an interesting one. The Dutch Flatters liberally make provisions for entertaining teachers free of expense; and the "Dutch Flat House" is one of the best kept hotels in the State.

BETTER STILL!-The March number of the American Educational Monthly has just come to hand in the superlative degree. It comes to us in covers having as its title page a vignette of Horace Mann. The first article is on Horace Mann-his early education. An illustrated article on Gymnastic Apparatus, including Indian Clubs and Rings, is excellent. A well prepared abstract of the Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of New York; Primary Instruction; The Dearth of Qualified Teachers; Primary Schools, and State Normal School, will give some idea of the drift of the jour

nal. In the article on Normal Schools, the writer ignores the fact that California has a State Normal School. For the enlightenment of our Eastern brethren, we may be permitted to say that our State has had a Normal School for two years; that the annual appropriation for its support is $8,000; that it numbers seventy pupils; and that we intend to make it one of the best schools in the United States. We are also inclined to the opinion that Pennsylvania has two Normal Schools, and a third about going into operation. We only wish we had room to quote from the Editor's Table the valuable notice of Prof. Guyot's new map of the hemispheres. If you want more good things in the pages of the TEACHER, enlarge our subscription list. Advice: subscribe for the American Educational Monthly, and send ten dollars for ten new subscribers to the CALIFORNIA TEACHER.

UTAH TERRITORY.-We have received the Annual Report for 1863 of the Superintendent of Common Schools of Utah, Hon. Robert L. Campbell. We have space for only a few items. Number of school districts, 108; number of male teachers, 95; number of female teachers, 67; total number of children between four and eighteen years, 11,619; total number enrolled in school schedules, 6,163; average daily attendance, 3,330; average number of months of school, 6.5.

THE BAROMETER.-Many private persons consult the barometer, and see it daily, and are surprised to find that they cannot rely on its indications, especially on those of the unscientific wheel barometer, with a face like an underdone clock. The fault, however, is not with the instrument, but with those who use it improperly; "th' ap'ratus," as Salem Scudder observes, "can't lie." A few words on the practical use of the weather-glass may be useful. It is an invaluable fact, and too often overlooked, that the state of the air does not show the present but the coming weather, and that the longer the interval between the barometric sign of change and the change itself, the longer and more strongly will the altered weather prevail; so the more violent the impending storm, the longer warning does it give of its approach. Indications of approaching change of weather are shown less by the bight of the barometer than by its rising or falling. Thus the barometer begins to rise considerably before the conclusion of a gale, and foretells an improvement in the weather, though the mercury may still stand low, nevertheless, a steady hight of more than thirty inches is mostly indicative of fine weather and moderate winds.

Either steadiness or gradual rising of the mercury indicates settled weather, and continued steadiness with dryness foretell very fine weather, lasting some time. A rapid rise of the barometer indicates unsettled weather; a gradual fall of one-hundredth of an inch per hour indicates a gradual change in the weather, and moderate rising of the wind; several successive falls to the amount of one-tenth of an inch, indicate a storm eventually but not a sudden one; and a gale if the fall continues. These storms are not dangerous, as they can be foretold; but a sudden fall one-tenth of an inch betokens the quick approach of a dangerous tempest. Alternate rising and sinking (oscillating) indicates unsettled and threatening weather. When the barometer sinks considerably, wind

and rain will follow-from the northward, if the thermometer is low for the season; from the southward, if high. For observing barometric changes, the barometer should be placed at the eye-level, out of the reach of sunshine and of artificial heat, as of fires, and out of the way of gusts of wind. It should be set regularly twice a day by a competent person. A card should be accessible close by, and on it should be registered the indication at each setting.-Chambers' Journal in Littell's Living Age.

BOOK NOTICES.-We have received the following works:

BROKEN COLUMNS. New York; Sheldon & Co. San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Co. pp. 558.

We have read this novel with unusual pleasure. The unknown author has exhibited a wealth of thought altogether beyond that displayed by most novelists. It is a fresh book. The style is admirable; the plot new and well worked; and we think no reader will fail to receive impressions by its perusal tending to make him broader-souled towards others and purer-souled for himself. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC., OF LYMAN BEECHER, D.D. Edited by Charles Beecher. Vol. I. New York: Harper & Brothers. San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Co. pp. 563.

This is a peculiar book. A man of untiring energy and uncommon force of character became old, and in his children's home was accustomed to talk over what he had seen and felt in his busy life. They would take down from his lips his story, question him on various points, noting both question and answer, introduce paragraphs from his discourses or letters, and then put aside the sheets until the old man passed away. Any life so written is a rarity in the world of literature; such a life, so written, becomes a work for examination; and as a curiosity should become generally known. Dr. Beecher was a great educator, but his teachings, so far as this volume goes, were not in the school or lecture room. As to the general tone of sentiment in this first volume, we need only say, that they who admire the views of Theodore Parker will find little attraction here. Neither Parker nor Beecher was accustomed to keep back what he considered truth. It is almost startling to see the distance and the difference between what seemed to them truths which should be sacred to every human soul. We shall look for the succeeding volume of the Autobiography with great interest. We have space only for the following extract from a letter to Dr. Beecher's son at college :

"Dear Son: I perceive you feel, not home-sick-oh no, but dreadfully desirous of hearing about home, even down to the cow and pigs, and the 'apple by the gate.' But this is all very well, and shows that you love home, and feel, when absent, an increase of sensibility and interest in persons you love, and in every domestic circumstance and association. If you get puzzled with your lesson, and 'feel queer,' you must avoid two things: first, not to pass over the difficulty. Make thorough work, and dig up science by the roots. Second, not to puzzle too long before you ask assistance, if you need it, as to confound your mind. There is nothing which can not be learned in the whole course of your study; and if you can not find the end of the rope, the tutor's lips must keep knowledge, and you must not be afraid or ashamed to go to his room and ask his assistance. It is much better than to flounder in the mire, or leave behind you a post in the land of Nod (a dark unexplored place nobody knows where) untaken.

"As to your mode of pursuing your studies: if you have spare time, I think it best to explore the same subject you are studying, taking a wider range. Let your knowledge be accurate, and your ideas definite; so that you will know what you do know, and be able, at a moment's warning, to put in requisition your resources. Accustom yourself, also, to a careful method; think methodically on all subjects; lay every idea in its place, on the right shelf, and tie it up, and lable it with others in the right bundle, so that you can go to it in the dark and lay your hand on it. Every subject, like a tree, has a root. If you find the root and follow it up, you will find, by an easy and natural process, all the branches, and will be able to pursue a subject in all its ramifications; whereas, if you lay hold and pull by the branches first, it will be like pitching into the top of a tree, and cutting your way through brush and thorns to the root.

"Let me repeat a caution before given: never be concerned in any disorderly frolic, or witty, waggish trick. Never be afraid to say no to any solicitation to do a wicked or improper thing. Never be governed by the sneer of fools instead of your Bible and your conscience.

"One thing more I must say there are often in the freshman class, as well as other classes, many sage opinions broached as to the utility of this or that study. One thinks languages useless, and becomes a poor lazy dog in the languages. Another despises algebra, and can see no use in mathematics. Now let no such vain imaginations enter your head. The system of study is relatively good. It has for its object mental vigor as well as practical utility, and all parts are necessary and wise in the prescribed course; and the sciences also, bound up, as Cicero says, by such common bonds that the possession of one aids in the attainment of the others, and he is most perfect in each who is versed in all. May God preserve your health, and sanctify your heart, and fulfill all our hopes, and answer all our prayers in your usefulness and happiness."

LETTERS TO THE JONESES. By Timothy Titcomb.

New York: Charles Scribner.

San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Co. pp. 347. Here we have another of those common sense books by which Dr. Holland has made the name of Timothy Titcomb dear to thousands of people. These letters are written to various members of the Jones family, who seem to have been very numerous in the district where he taught schools. He addresses the Deacon, the Spiritualist, the Lawyer, the Clergyman, the Politician, and a host of other characters, not omitting the Schoolmaster. We should like to quote the entire letter to Thomas Arnold Jones, who represents our profession; but Timothy Titcomb has business qualities and shrewdly had his publisher copy right this new book. Let our readers, therefore, buy the plain-spoken volume and read for themselves.

FIVE YEARS OF PRAYER, WITH THE ANSWERS. By S. I. Prime. New York: Harper & Brothers. San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Co.

This book is chiefly compiled from the records of the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting in New York. It contains many marvelous statements, all of which are vouched for by the editor. It is a work to be welcomed by all who believe in prayer as an element of power in the ordering of our human lives. GILEAD; OR THE VISION OF ALL SOULS' HOSPITAL. An Allegory. By J. Hyatt

Smith. New York: Charles Scribner. San Francisco: A. Roman & Co. pp. 360. A religious work after the fashion of Pilgrim's Progress, but a great ways after. Here and there, however, are scattered pleasant pictures and noble thoughts; and to certain classes of mind the book will prove interesting and profitable.