2/2 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



struction, heart-power, self-control, present- 

 mindednets, wisdom in common things, and 

 positive moral character. The best qualified 

 teacher, however, may fail if his methods of 

 instruction or discipline are brought into dis- 

 repute through official interference, or if his 

 surroundings are cramped and unhealthful. 



The mechanical means of government 

 suggested are the proper seating of pupils, 

 a good programme, a self-regulating system, 

 and as few rules as possible. Under the 

 head of moral training is embraced the edu- 

 cation of the will, school incentives, punish- 

 ment, and the principles of direct ethical 

 instruction. Thirty-two topics in morals and 

 manners are named and the material given 

 for fifteen lessons in the primary grades and 

 for sixteen in higher classes. A discussion 

 of the function of religion in the school is 

 given at the close. In this it is held that 

 religious motives may be rightfully introduced 

 in order to render moral teaching efficient. 



Although the ethical value of several of 

 the stories may be questioned, the funda- 

 mental lessons are such as are greatly needed 

 in public schools, and in the hands of an 

 earnest teacher the book can not fail to be a 

 means of moral uplifting. 



The Orthoispist. By Alfred Ayres. New 

 York: D. Apple ton & Co. Pp. 292. 

 Price, $1. 



Tnis is a revised edition of a little man- 

 ual upon pronunciation that appeared four- 

 teen years ago. A thousand words that are 

 often mispronounced have been added, and 

 among these are many foreign names which 

 betray the unlettered. We are told to avoid 

 saying ol'wuz for al-wdys, sparrowgrass for 

 as-par'a-ffus, and be-c5z for be-cause. Educated 

 people may pass by the ranks where these 

 vulgarisms are enrolled and meet foreign re- 

 cruits of doubtful address. 



Although the author presents cliamois as 

 shdm'via and haricot as a're'ko', he states, 

 " It is well to make one's pronunciation when 

 speaking English as English as permissible." 

 From this we find that Mr. Ayres has his lit- 

 tle linguistic leanings, since the word singled 

 out for Anglicizing is cicerone, given as sXs- 

 e-rdne, while massage, which in the Interna- 

 tional is English jHa.ss'-f/fjrf, appears here only 

 as ma-sazh' . Chemical terms are variously 

 marked. The author favors qul-mne, and 



says of iodine, " My impression is that long 

 i will ultimately prevail." Bromide and chlo- 

 ride are marked both short and long, from 

 which it may be judged that Mr. Ayres is 

 unfamiliar with the late decree of chemists 

 making the i short, and even dropping the 

 final e in spelling. Among English words 

 boatswain is given as bosn, a colloquialism 

 according to the International, while bclloios 

 and streiD are preferred as bel-lus and stro. 

 In regard to his own profession, he tells us 

 that any pronunciation but or'tho'epy and 

 or'thoepist sounds inelegant to him. Unhap- 

 pily, we know the Greek progenitor of the 

 word is opdoeneia, and that the French with 

 loyal grace make this orthoepie. In English 

 too we remember or-thog' ra-phy and orthog'a- 

 my from the same root hpQis, and we can not 

 understand why there should be a lack of 

 elegance in accenting the word " correct " 

 correctly according to its descent. 



But probably the whole trouble is with 

 us ; we are asking that the orthoepist should 

 verify his decisions in a scientific manner 

 by some rule of consistency or etymology, 

 whereas his art is in an inchoate state, and 

 this little book helps us to realize its strug- 

 gle for development. 



A System of Lucid Shorthand. Devised 

 by William George Spencer. With a 

 Prefatory Note by Herbert Spencer. 

 New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 30. 

 Price, 50 cents. 



Those who have examined his Inven- 

 tional Geometry could not fail to be con- 

 vinced that W. G. Spencer was a man of no 

 small mental caliber. This conviction will 

 be strengthened by a glance at the produc- 

 tron before us. The system of shorthand 

 which it embodies was devised by him in the 

 course of a few years preceding 1833. The 

 present exposition was drawn up by his son, 

 Herbert Spencer, in 1843, and is now printed 

 unchanged, except by the addition of four 

 specimens. In his prefatory note Mr. Her- 

 bert Spencer states that he has been im- 

 pelled to publish the system at this late day 

 " from the conviction, long since formed and 

 still unshaken, that the Lucid Shorthand 

 ought to replace ordinary writing. Possess- 

 ing, as it does, not equal legibility but greater 

 legibility (the distinctions among the sym- 

 bols being so much more marked), and hav- 



