Telegram-herald., 1888-02-01
Observation-Disclosures
TrE CHANGES WscUGssT - THEM
Hss fbs whole raas ~ scAe~l Lis h4s
Esss FiesaEsa fhs F>rs Ftarsa ~
Ftef4rss-- Gsfresiaests -
Obisct Isa4e4s

Is "a s4riAss thing to4t. SIDE o. s.sis with
sn- mssssra s1.ss4s.ss ia ee1ssllss. lBs.s
sllslslLalas coulsa - . Fs.aetloa 4galast every
thing IsAg e4z lZaks lzeruiHS ssfr4 tiys u
= lzs ths thsosy ~hlca ased - exist. that
no drug eoaid 1e really asefai 0nless it gave
0ut re flii sesross q - natural taste ssd
otsr s0alsllHles even no~. IA cur 4 the
<ay Dia1ea cue fnfl sn oid fsshieaeli dru<
.hop psrk&Ps opsElns osIt % shs very parior
u 81 sld FASHIONED iottori, Si=rs the mere
atmosphere $ a. barharoas srd fcFhidaiag
a. shs srrangs foreign asmes q tAs srtielss
solt rkere-c0loqai4t. perhaps, cr ipsczc-
a4nAA. Bat tbs slesiera drug s.4op . called
= phasmssy, and 8. aims . geplaes thsas
yigorsus ed odsrs VIA otAers suggestive u
Arzby ths BEST
A samliaF chzHxe has csns over oar scAool
gasthads I can recall shen battered desks
snd ceopped benches were regarded ~ an
ssssntial part % even ths private school Sys-
tern. Why contend against lti IL wss asked
boys we're natural baro4rians AID would
soon make The ne1 looL ~ ossily as the obi
Yet about that time ghe discovery was made
that tas 10y - secure respect for school fur
n4-nrs ~ss % make u respectable, aud tho
toyish jackknlfs found otaer % jects. 30
singing, aad l4ter Of drawing, into our pub
hc schools was regarded A. q nnical ~hin,
slitabis for girls' sehooi only Emollit
morss, sach of these pr4rtices q found 70
help schooi di.cipfns end refine tho taste %
thai the -hols toEs Of school life i elevated
I was Cited FOR co!l>gs by a teacher who
never let III rattan 80 out Of his hand except
70 lay Il on bis desk closs BY hiEa public
course would lose his place. and rightly the
very regulations OF soras communities re-
qulrs that the rod, il Il exist, should be kept
Ia the desk. out Of sight, and that every blow
should be zfterward reported 70 the proper
suthoritses
One Of the most curious forms of this Grad
grind severity Ia tha crusade occasionally
undertaken against eli lluarations Of school
books The most thoughtful ard carefully
des.g .gned wor.z, IA geography, in history even
n ar.thmetle, Is supposed TO be sufficiently
condemned when it Is called a picture book.
YET IL Is period when al works for older
persons-dictionar.es encyclopedias, histo-
res. mag zkines-have brought the art Of
pictorial Illustrations 10 its highest point
Webster and Worcester have alike adopted
ic. Justin Winsor's mcnulueatal Narrative
with portraits, Autographs, sac-siulles. and
reproductions Of historic pictures. The later
editions OF Grays Botany OF the Northern
United States. have careful delineations OF
every historical genus The American maya
ziaes have won the admiration Of the world
- their Illustrations OK AL geographical and
historical papers.
Mr. Edward Atkinson carriel the art Of
pictorial exhibition sven into political econ
omy, and is never quite happy till he can get
his proposition embodied for the eye in
parallel lines The United States census re
port resorts to charts and curves and colorsd
diagrams when Il wishes fully to elucidate
any important general result an this is
done for grown peopis-f for the Gravest. the
mAtursst. the most educated They, il any,
are the persons who might fairly be asked To
d their minds clearly and sustercly upon
words aud numerals, without stopping 70 the
alleged friyoi.ty Of picsc-e books. II they
do not scconplKa this, IL the very people
who make tas criticism are only too glad to
exc out their own Imperfect knowledge by an
illustrated magazine or Al illustrated die
tionary, Is II not little absurd IN them TO
enforce srch grim abstinence upon school
childrenl
In an admirable article by the eminent
French writer Professor Th. Ribot on The
Mechanism of Attention he maintains
different theory. The infant child, be says.
is at first under the sway Of spontaneous at
tonsion alone, noticing only bright objects or
slsstenance giving objects BY degrees it OBJ
serves things le%S sclhshly interesting, begin
ming ~ about the third month The path Is
from the most intense, most impressive senSa-
tions % the fner and moro delicate ones. To
fx and hold cne sensation Is an art that
must be learned "A child, for example,
refuses 70 learn 10 read. but il vastly intor-
ested ia the pictures in the book The father
snys that reading will show the meaning Of
the pictures. This acts as an artificial in
du-ealent. and the child goes 10 work. sub
sfituting an artificial attention 20 ARBITRARY
s;xrs for the natural attractiveness Of pict-
urss After a wGle art has done It's
WORK. and attention has become second na-
.urs. All this Is long since recognized in
our schools IN the introduction os object les
sons Formerly pupils learned definition
of a bird then they were taught somsthing
about a birds structure; after thai, II they
were fortunate they were taken 70 see some
stuffed 3 rds in q museum Now the stuffed
bird, or better still living one, Is n part OF
the school properties. that Is shown first, and
when curiosity Is aroGseG the children
readily learn about II. Bat as no school can
have annexed - IL complete museum Of
natural history, geography and the history
OF the human race, the pictorial art comes ia
b. way q substitute or preliminary
No child can understand from words alone
that there 3 any part Of the world which Is
essentially different from his native town,
bss his dgst picture cf a glacier or q geyser.
castle or a cathedral. the sphinx of Egypt
or the Esquimau 10 hIs Kayak. opens bis cyes
n the rest 81 the globe. he begins 70 De A
man r. is even more true of history. the
most skillfui comtiastsoo of words ciu never
bring child A. near The mound builders or
the Pusbl0 Iadians, 20 the puritans or the
cavaliers. % TIE revolutionary soidiers and
the founders o( oar E.fvCrnment. - be =
brought bv the irss good picture be sees.-
strr II II Ia rarrer'S BsEar