POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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people, but positively exult when they re- 

 duce those of foreigners. And, when one 

 nation has injured another in this way, that 

 other is now very likely to strike back by 

 means of " retaliatory legislation." Ameri- 

 cans and Europeans have sunk to the morali- 

 ty of the Chinese, who regard the sufferings 

 of all but themselves with amusement and 

 pride, and any one who talks of neighborli- 

 ness and consideration for other nations is 

 set down as too sentimental to meddle with 

 practical affairs. Strange to say, the fact 

 that foreign workmen are in want and misery 

 has been urged as a reason for trying to in- 

 jure them further. Even the socialists, who 

 proclaim the brotherhood and equal rights 

 of man, are very apt to limit these principles 

 by geographical boundaries. But the fur- 

 ther a pendulum swings from the upright 

 position, the sooner its return may be ex- 

 pected. Hence it is quite likely that a new 

 era is soon to dawn, in which humanity shall 

 no longer be dominated by geography. 



Dry Denudation. Dry denudation is 

 shown by Prof. Johannes Walther, in his 

 book on Denudation in the Desert, to be a 

 process of considerable geological impor- 

 tance. The author points out that no part 

 of the African desert is absolutely rainless, 

 and that, as the storms, though rare, are 

 heavy, the mechanical effects of water are 

 more marked than they would be in a region 

 where precipitation was more uniform. But 

 in a desert, where the absence of plants and 

 of soil exposes the rock to the effects of 

 atmospheric variations, changes of tempera- 

 ture are yet more potent in causing denuda- 

 tion. These changes, owing to the dryness 

 of the air, are very great. The diurnal range 

 may be 30 C, and the annual range as 

 much as 70 C. By the constant expansion 

 and contraction due to these variations, the 

 rocks are split, and the results are more im- 

 portant in producing denudation than are 

 chemical changes. Illustrations are given 

 to show how rock-masses in the desert are 

 destroyed by heat and cold, wind, and drift- 

 ing sand. The surfaces of old walls are 

 corroded; strata of different hardness in 

 the face of a cliff are worn back unequally ; 

 masses of rock are isolated, and the blocks 

 and pillars are carved into strange forms ; 

 denudation, in short, seems to proceed as 



actively in a desert as in a damp climate, 

 and along very much the same lines. Iso- 

 lated hills of tabular form are also charac- 

 teristic of desert denudation. Such hills 

 may be either on a large scale outlines of 

 an extensive plateau or on a small one, 

 like models, but a few feet high. In each 

 case the cause is the same : a harder stratum 

 at the top has preserved the softer material 

 below. The author also describes the val- 

 leys of the desert, usually dry, and the cirques 

 which, as was pointed out some years since 

 by Mr. Jukes Browne, seem to occur in 

 the deserts of Egypt even as in regions 

 where ice may be supposed to have acted. 

 " The description of the latter forms is im- 

 portant," writes T. G. B. in Nature, " since 

 it indicates that there is not that necessary 

 connection between glaciers and cirques 

 which some geologists seem to have im- 

 agined." 



The Teacher's True Power. The ex- 

 treme elaboration of system in school, says 

 State Superintendent Sabin, of Iowa, gives 

 us symmetry and uniformity, but it is at 

 the expense of growth. It promotes smooth- 

 ness, prevents friction, and furthers exact- 

 ness of detail, but it crushes out all life, 

 energy, freshness, and enthusiasm, and ex- 

 alts itself to the chief place in the school. 

 The child is forgotten in the worship and 

 homage which is paid to the system. We 

 sometimes speak of teaching the child to 

 think. It is as natural for a child to think 

 as it is for a tree to grow. It is not the 

 part of the teacher to wake up the mind, 

 but to avoid putting it to sleep. Give the 

 child the same freedom to think and ob- 

 serve that the street Arab has in his games, 

 only guide him with skill ; take advantage 

 of his curiosity and wonder ; take advan- 

 tage also of what he already knows, and do 

 not attempt to teach over again what he has 

 already learned, and he will startle you by 

 his progress, and by the readiness with 

 which he will profit under your instruction. 

 There is no place in which the individuality 

 of the teacher can so make itself felt, and 

 in which the individuality of the child is so 

 thoroughly alive, as in the primary room. 

 The author does not object to the rigid exam- 

 ination in the case of young teachers ; but, 

 when that is once passed, the only conditions 



