At this early age, when nature is laying her The well-equipped teacher is familiar with a foundations, promise of a glorious future, food philosophical analysis of the powers of the and exercise in plenty should be given. Easy mind, and with the nature and functions of each gymnastic exercises should be practiced in the of them. This analysis should be supplementinfant schools, and interesting games be insti- ed with observations on mental powers, capacituted on the play-ground. Plenty of sweet ties and tendencies, as exhibited in the unfoldbread at home should also be had, and good ing of his own and others' character. The bread is a very important item. teacher is thus enabled to determine with some

Now because nature first attends mainly to approach to accuracy, what appetites and what the body, and afterwards to the mind more, did desires are strong, and what ones weak, in each we have no experience to guide us, following of his pupils, and how far the affections and her plan, we could make two deductions, 1. conscience are their guides. He can note the First feed a starving beggar and clothe him; first faint efforts of the reasoning powers, the then attend to his mental and spiritual improve- grasp and the readiness of memory, the growth ment. 2. Governments and rulers whose course of emotions, thought and will. His object being tends to render the living of the laboring classes to mould souls to a diviner form, he should stumore and more precarious, must not be aston- dy character as shown in habits, the ways in ished at mobs and revolutions; the French re- which the mind inclines to act; in the temper, volution, with all its atrocities, was natural. or state of the mind in point of irascibility; in In accordance with the instincts of self-preser- disposition, or condition of the mind in regard vation, the higher faculties in the average of to the dominant affections and principles; in men, in such emergencies, give place to the lower, the temperament, or that state of the mind that and human beings are then impelled by fiercer is constitutional and is closely connected with passions than tigers are. the physical nature.

But it is obviously impossible to treat fully of Gauging, in this way, the present condition the education of a child up to the age of five and the capacities of each mind, the question years in a single article. The operation of near- to be answered next is, what tendencies and ly every mental faculty can be noticed before powers are to be checked or to be fostered in that age, so that he who knows perfectly how each child, what are the proper means to be to teach a child thus far, need be troubled with employed for this purpose, and what are the but little afterwards. I give below a synopsis studies and what the succession of them best of some of the more important powers of the adapted to promote the welfare of each. mind:

I. TO FEEL. (Sensitivity.) (Active Powers.) 1. Appetites — Hunger, Thirst, Artificial Appetites.

2. Desires-Knowledge, Society, Superiority, Power, Esteem, Expression.

This is no easy task; a harder one could scarcely be set. Yet the difficulty, in all its breadth and minutiae, is to be grappled with and mastered, before the art of training one child up to its fifth birth-day shall be well understood. Viewed in this light, how sad the mistake we make in supposing any person whatsoever fit to teach a primary school. Here is the weak point in our school system,- we slur the primary 4. Moral Sentiments — Approbation, Disap-ed in mathematics, are now needed there, or schools. Not teachers learned in Latin or skillprobation, Indignation, Esteem, Admiration, ever will be, but those who have had a special Awe.

3. Affections-Domestic Affections, Friendship, Patriotism, Pity, Philanthropy.

5. Self-Love, (Desire of Happiness.) 6. Moral Faculty, (Conscience.) II. TO THINK. (Intelligence.) (Intell. Powers.) 1. Reason, which gives us ideas of the Universal, the Infinite and the Absolute.

training for the purpose, and who have, in addition, good sense, tact, and love for the work. The order in which the mental faculties are developed and brought prominently forward should also be investigated, so that the teacher may work in harmony with nature, rather than at variance with her. To force the study of abstractions and of logic on to a young child, is as unnatural as unwise: to neglect to cultivate let slip an opportunity that can never be recallits powers of observation and its memory is to

2. Perception-1. Sense, (Observation,) (The five Senses.) 2. Consciousness, (Reflection.) 3. Memory, Understanding, Judgment and Im- ed. agination.

The Will.

III. To ACT.

A little reflection will make it evident that we should note first the action of the senses, then of the memory, and afterwards of the desires, the habits and the affections.

Natural Science.

COMMUNICATIONS for this Department should be addressed to I. F. CADY, Warren.

For the Schoolmaster.

A Peep into the Dock.

a leap in the dark. We may presume he was so.
But then, he was young, and had about him neither
parents, guardians nor teachers, to give him time-
ly warning and instruction. Has not such been
the fate? I presume the little fellow got terri-
bly frightened, or-

He would never thus have blindly rushed
Upon destruction.

And I have little doubt that his physiognomy was

Two eyes above and none at all below!

"One more unfortunate (NOT) weary of breath Rashly importunate."

ANOTHER inmate of the wash-bowl was a small flounder, scarcely more than two inches in length. He made his appearance, one sunny morning, so at fault:near the foot of the ladder previously described, among the kelp, as to be easily captured by means of a small dip-net. A small "Devil Fish," or, as But he was not to blame for this-only the boys call the species, "Toad Grunter," had previously found quarters in the bowl, under a stone, placed so as to form a small cave for his special accommodation. These two fishes, four He was wont sometimes by day-light to circumActiniae, or Sea Anemonies, and the shrimp, navigate his miniature sea, when tired of lying be whose history, in part, has been previously given, neath a clump of sea-weed-expanded to his full made up the sum of the inhabitants intentionally circumference, and motionless except the horizonintroduced into our mimic sea. A stone, with a tal movement of his jaws and a ludicrous rolling cluster of green algae growing upon it, however, of his ill-placed eyes-and would, sometimes, proved afterward to have addded to their number in passing over an extended actinia, come slightly indefinitely. Some of the inmates thus acciden- in contact with its extended tentaculae. On such tally introduced proved very interesting, and will occasions he always seemed surprised and alarmreceive notice as we proceed. The dock had, in ed at the unseen proximity of his Briarean comfact, already afforded a miniature aquarium. A panion, and, in his sudden fright, would leap quite plain glass jar, about seven inches in diameter out of the water. In this particular instance, and nine inches deep, has since supplied the place it is fair to presume that he leaped farther than he of the wash-bowl. The bottom contains a layer, intended. But the most curious fact in the case

about two inches deep, of small, white pebbles. was his instinctive dread of the actiniae, which A few stones, two or three of which extend nearly the shrimp always exhibited in an equal degree. to the top of the jar, and have upon their surface For when a stone, containing three or four Actina few clumps of algae to furnish oxygen, and are iae upon its top, was placed in the bowl, some marked by the tortuous, chalky lines of Serpulae, shrimps that were introduced, on passing over form hiding places for such creatures as endeavor them, would throw themselves out of the water, to shun observation, while they afford places for so that as many as four out of six were found lying the Actiniae to attach themselves, and furnish upon the floor upon a single morning, having promenades for the travellers. A few additional thrown themselves from the bowl during the prespecimens of animal life complete the present es-vious night. It is certainly singular that creatures tablishment. For several days all operations have so apparently incapable of doing harm, except to been performed, and all necessary functions dis- very small animals, and whose substance has a charged with an, apparently, enviable indepen- consistency but little surpassing that of jelly, dence of foreign aid. If there be any important should possess so much power to inspire terror in lack of comfort it is not manifest, and if there remain a source of suffering it remains latent.

But the present felicitous state of things was not attained without pains and losses. A sentimental mood might here send us off into a reverie,

creatures so much superior to them in size and activity. It appears, however, that they are capable of inflicting injury which we should little suspect. Not only do they seize greedily, with their tentaculae, upon whatever comes in contact with them, and make surprising efforts to engulf it withHow suffering is "for aye" the price of bliss, in their wonderfully elastic maw, but when occasion and involve a homily on The Uncertainty of-but demands, it seems that they are capable of send"praestat componere fluctus." Painful facts are ing forth arrow-pointed, poisoned threads, and thus none the less facts because painful; and however inflicting deadly injury upon their victim. Mr. much of pleasure the novel exercise of flying in- Humphreys, in his little work entitled, "Ocean stead of swimming may, for the moment, have af- Gardens," says: "Mr. Gosse very graphically forded to my little pet flounder, the result was dis- describes the death of a small fish struck by one astrous; for when I went to inquire after his wel- of these thread-borne, poisoned arrows, at some fare, one morning, I found him lying dead upon distance from the offended Actinia, who launched the carpet. Perhaps he was foolish to make such its dart, as it seemed, for no greater provocation

than a slight disturbance of the water rather near- apparently in contact with it, and through this the er to his retreat than was agreeable." This will animal constantly thrust forth its tongue and lickaccount for the instinctive dread which these crea- ed the surface clean, in a manner more like the tures inspire in those so much superior to them in licking of a dog or cat than anything to which it strength. My little flounder, from his curious can be compared. At one side of the tube there structure and novel mode of swimming, had be- is a sort of channel, which affords facility for the come an object of no little interest, so that I am tongue to bring neatly within the tube whatever it compelled to confess that his loss was the occasion has gathered. Within, the animal, no doubt, posof some regret. He was so young as to be semi-sesses a masticating and digestive apparatus. transparent, which afforded opportunity for obser- In common with others, I had often noticed the vation that imparted to him an additional interest. stones along the beach, where the water was shalI had previously ascertained that the roughness of low and flowed with considerable velocity, marked the species was owing to the presence of rows of with elevated, tortuous lines having the appearregular and delicate spines upon the outer margin of their scales. These scales are quite interesting objects under the microscope.

ance of chalk. In the attraction offered by other objects I had failed to give them special attention. Of course it was with no little interest that I found them the habitations of some of the most curious Most of the tubes animals I had yet noticed.

In the course of my experiments with the washbowl, I found a slimy sediment of a greenish color gradually collecting upon the bottom. I did not were creataceous, like the shells of oysters; some, choose to dirturb this, but instead, introduced a however, partook more of a semi-gelatinous, leathcouple of snails, obviously allied to the whelk ery character. From the open end of these slentribe, from the dock. These began sweeping the der cornucopias the little serpulae thrust out a surface with their broad, disk-like feet, and leav-collection of delicate plumes, which expanded in ing a clean track behind them. In performing the form of a fan, or more like the feathers in the this they did not push the slimy deposit before tail of a fan-tail pigeon, or, perhaps, more exactly them, nor did they leave it upon the borders of still, like the feathers of a common, ostrich, feather their track. The proportion of clean surface be- duster. The plumes are exceedingly delicate, of came greater each day without any increased ac- different hues, and marked with transverse shades, cumulation of substance at the bottom of the bowl. which render them objects of great beauty. EveThe only possible conclusion was that they devour- ry separate filament is instinct with life, and is ed it. On subjecting a little of the deposit to ex-possessed with its separate power of motion. The amination with the microscope the reason was ob- serpulae are easily frightened, when they suddenly vious. It was found to consist chiefly of Navicu- withdraw themselves within their tubes, leaving an lae, of the size of scarcely more than the five-hun-organ with a knob-like extremity to close the endred-thousandth of an inch. And yet, there the trance against intruders. They cannot be satislittle animals were navigating, or perhaps I should factorily examined without a magnifier. While say, carrying their little, graceful, boat-shaped, observing them I discovered one, more delicate silicious shells, which distinctly showed the golden than any of the rest, which had a somewhat arbosubstance of the little creatures, by means of their rescent form. From a main stalk there shot forth perfect transparency. The object of the snails several branch-like filiments, each terminated by a in cleansing the bowl was obvious. Some land collection of extremely delicate tentaculae arranganimals, I believe, consider it a luxury to clean a ed in the form of a daisy or star. These stars, at bowl of Narraganset oysters. But one part of the the pleasure of the animal, were capable of being operation was yet unexplained, viz., the manner in contracted into the form of little pearly balls at which the snails partook of their banquet. They the extremity of their filiaments. could not eat with their one foot, however broad and elastic it might be. This would be out of any "TOBACCO KILLED HIM."-"A youth of sixregular line of analogy. They certainly did not teen fell dead, with a cigar in his mouth, in a dram eat with the trunk-like organ which they swung shop. What caused his death? The coroner's about and extended and retracted at pleasure. inquest said, 'It was a mysterious act of God.' They exhibited no organ that seemed adapted for The minister at the funeral consoled the friends eating how, then, did they eat? This question by saying much the same thing. Physicians said was easily solved by watching one of the animals it was the 'heart disease,' and said nothing about through a pocket-magnifier, as he was removing the cause of the disease. A sensible woman,

I. F. C.

the deposit from the inside of the glass jar, to knowing the boy's habits, said, 'Tobacco killed which I had made a transfer. I could then see an him.' It deranged the action of the heart; it organ protruded from beneath the trunk, as we ceased to beat, and the victim fell!" may call it, close to the edge of the shell. This was a hollow tube, somewhat enlarged at the end, and having a somewhat revolute appearance around the edge. The end of this passed close to the glass,

SEVERE trials call into action those reserved forces of thought and courage and fortitude and faith, which give the victory in the battle of life.

love to read, portrays, with a stronger and a stern- O'er all the earth resounds his trumpet-call. er spirit than usual, the marshalling of our forces: