7 8 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Almost all the multitudinous causes which concurred in bring- 

 ing about the French Revolution are happily absent in this coun- 

 try ; and I have not the slightest fear that the preaching of any 

 amount of political fallacy will involve us in evils of the magni- 

 tude of those which accompanied that great drama. But, seeing 

 how great and manifold are the inevitable sufferings of men ; how 

 profoundly important it is that all should give their best will and 

 devote their best intelligence to the alleviation of those sufferings 

 which can be diminished, by seeking out, and, as far as lies within 

 human power, removing their causes ; it is surely lamentable that 

 they should be drawn away by speculative chimeras from the 

 attempt to find that narrow path which for nations, as for indi- 

 vidual men, is the sole road to permanent well-being. Nineteenth 

 Century. 



SLOYD : ITS AIM, METHOD, AND RESULTS. 



By FEIMANN B. AENGEIMSSON. 



SLOJD, anglicized into sloyd, is a Swedish word, meaning dex- 

 terity or manual skill (compare old Norse slclegd, cunning, 

 and English sly). Of late, however, the word has been restricted 

 to denote a system of manual training. 



This system came originally from Finland, but was adopted 

 some fifteen years ago in Sweden, and there perfected in its meth- 

 ods. The Finnish teacher Zygnaus is its originator ; but to Messrs. 

 A. Abrahamson and O. Salomon,* of Naas, Sweden, is due the 

 honor of having adapted it to the use of schools and made it gen- 

 erally known. For fifteen years their institute has been growing 

 in importance, and in that time over one thousand teachers have 

 been trained there and sent out to different parts of the world. 

 Hence this method has often been called the Naas system of 

 manual training. 



The aim of the system is not to teach the pupil a trade, but to 

 educate him. Its primary object is to insure a healthy physical 

 and mental development, while its secondary object is to secure 

 general dexterity useful in every vocation. 



The method is based upon the principle that a harmonious 

 mental development is best secured through a harmonious physi- 

 cal development, promoted by exercise. It proceeds first to call 

 the physical activities into play, and by stimulating, strength- 

 ening, and training these, it seeks to awaken, develop, and culti- 

 vate the powers of the mind. Taking advantage of the pupil's 



* For more detailed accounts of the Sloyd system, consult the writings of Dr. 0. Salo- 

 mon, Miss C. Lord, Prof. W. T. Ilarris, P. M. Sluys, etc. 



