The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-07-15
VIRGINIA NEWS.
Educational Association of Virginia.
SECo Nd ID A y.
W,xcuEsrER, July Il, 1871.
,forn;pu Session.

nnrro,;frnt Powell. and opened with
.'.. H, rs Rev. }. 4, Averitt, of Winches-
t' -',.f.crs were elected. rs stated in our
=, #nuram Yesterday
49,, t,Airc the chair, Mr.. Abbot briefly
messed hi> thanks. and asked the assist
.>t.' # me ASSOCIATION in the discharge Of
49, r',,,r,> If committees were called for.
- ,lrrr was general cry Of "unprc-
,'~, which would have produced Sc
r.., rc s..p$ il uttered in the schools OF
,Er>,, .puiirrlcn teachers.
The committee "to prepare ana report
Dr., ~, l,r books that should constitute I
.,...a,,', professional library were in.
...~,,'..,l ,n print their report in the Ei,tcG-
,,.Huai, and tho committee was dis
,Gaggrd.
c,r primary and secondary schools, and
,.rtirr. 10 report some system of equiva-
',1. for secondary schools. whereby, II
,..,i,Ir. students not studying the COM
~. 10 curriculum may be brought to pur-
~. .,,,.,. complete and consistent course of
...,l, was continued until next year.
Various other committees were passed
,tr.roSthr present.
TIM, report Of the committee :" To OK.
..,,.n,. the best projection for school aliases
.,i .shrr m3,,S" was written 10y Col. L. ii.
Williamson. ot The Virginia Military lnstt-
t,.,,,. and IN his ABSENCE read by his son,
w. Tno.. Williamson. OF Lcrsbury. who
.,,.tinl!>lv desired ii Ia hc distinctly under
,,.,a that she trG$ not hS father, and that
t.s fa'irr 1rr0tC the rcp0rt.'
The REPORT i an able and exhaustive dis
,.,,>,nu Of the various theories of pro
s.,.,i.n," giving minute details Of the adj
y4n,a.r> and disadvantages Of each, and
l}Iu>1ratin. the subject by number Of adj
uirahlv-dlawn maps. The report warmly
E,yor< the rectangular tangential pro-
;-r';nn TOR the i0ntt$, continents, states,
counties. and smaller parts of the earth,
ami Nrrrator for the sea-"
The report WAS discussed by Prof. j. Is.
minor. who asked for information on va
II.,,,, l.o1n;s, and Maj. Jed. HotchkiSs, who
cave. some account of the system of the
United state coast survey, expressed some
Ipnh, aS Ia theory of the report, and asked
,nr \ further continuance OF the subject,
that further light might be had on the
question.
Dr. Homer suggested that the report be
laid over. and Information gotten from the
njtrG states Observatory, before decision
i~.lriycl III.
I,;nr. Minor explained that this associa-
non discusses everything and decides no.
tainr. and he wished further discussion
If the question now. He said that it seemed
~ Zee admitted that there would be some
"di<turton." and the question was which
ave the least distortion.
Prof. E>till desired to know whether
there wcrcno special objections TO the syS-
lem adopted by the United states coast sur
ycy.
Major uotchkiss replied that there were
objections, but that the coast survey had
..tni,ird their system as best suited to our
wants and circumstances, just aS Colonel
James had adopted his system rs best adapt
"a "a England.
Nr. Williamson explained some Of the
details OF the report. .....
ON motion OF Prof. Estill. the thanks Of
The association were returned to Col. Will
lialu>ou for his able report and carefully
;,rruucd maps.
"a motion of Col. d. Lee Powell, Col.
williamson was requested 70 expand his re-
prrI iur the next year, and 10 he present ut
the next meeting to explain his maps. MAJ.
! i. I!utchkiss was added TO the commit
tee.
the Committee on the Establishment Of
4 Pplytechnc School for the South (all the
members being abSent was continued till
The hcXt session, after an address by Dr..
Homer. of FIuquier, who desired The as
>or:a,ua 10 seek after IN | recover the funds
irii bv Washington for this purpose.
Professor II. E>tlll read an able paper on
The proper method TO be pursued in
teaching the mathematics in our schools
and colleges" The report takes the ground
that mathematics is most important as dis
culinary. II urges that arithmetic should
he thoroughly taught, and especially that
mental arithmetic should he insisted upon.
He would have added to our excellent
aIthmctirs 4 chapter on insurance. He
quoted the PruS,au system, and urged
That geometry should be t,ught III connec-
tjun with h'ghCr arithmetic.
The report objects 10 mixing algebralc
demonstrations with this. Algebra should
be taken up after This course Of arithemeJlc
and geometry has been thoroughly master
ed. lie recommends the use of the ele-
!ncntaTy ;iiLcbrlS. lie would postpone
until the calculus the study of the theory
al equations. He would next take up plain
tr!-vnOmctry tand would have better text
books, and would Danish altogether Spherl-
cal geometry and tri"onomclly. He would
hISC cpnlc sections much more thoroughly
studied than l. COMMON.
lie next argued ia favor ct the thorough
study OF the calculus, and made some very
Practical suggestions concerning il. lie in-
sisted upon the absolute necessity and i'm
portancc OF original exercises, and met vari-
uu> objections that arc urged against them.
Col. Hilary l.. Jones called attention to
the fact That Rotiusnn's arithmetic does
contain & chapter on insurance.
Mr. J.. u. Blackiord desired to call eSpe-
cIai attention To the suggestion in favor Of
emitting spherical geometry and trigonom-
ctry. He approved OF the suggestion.
q ,,n<,, -
the suggestion, and desired 10 know the
reasons for the suggestions.
Professor Estill replied that these SUBJ
jccts were really tnterlopers in course of
pure mathematics, and could be, therefore,
dispensed with, and the time given to other
SUBJECTS Intimately connected With the
course Of pure mathematics.
Professor Minor thought they should be
taught for their disciplinary power, but he
would yi,ld cheeriuly to the gentlemen Of
the mathematical profession. .
Mr.. Williamson thought that other parts
Of the course were sufficient for discipline,
and that as these subjects belong more
properly to applied mathematics, they
should hc omitted from the regular course.
Col. Allan agreed to the suggestions of
the report on the point under discussion.
lie thought that the great fault of our
course III mathematics is that 1t has too
much theory anu too little practice. lie
was especially pleased with the suggestion
OF The report III reference to frequent eXer-
cl>"f, and illustrated the position by REFER
cnce 10 various parts of the course In
mathematics.
Col. ID. Lee Powell thought that survey
ing, descriptive geometry, and drawing
should be all taught in the academy.
Rev. k. /. Barton, of the Lexington
Male Academy, insisted upon thorough
groundtng in arithmetic, geometry, and al
Zebra, before proceeding to the higher
mathematics. 80.