774 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the attention of students of language and 

 mythology, traces this as well as older al- 

 lied meanings from the original meaning of 

 aroi%itov in classical Greek, as the shadow 

 on the sun-dial, acutely observing that the 

 moving shadow would seem to the natural 

 man far more alive and mysterious than the 

 fixed rod. 



There are several matters dealt with in 

 special chapters by Mr. Fiske which we 

 must put off with little more than allusion : 

 the book is indeed a small one, but so full 

 of interest that choice among its contents 

 is not easy. An essay on "The Descent of 

 Fire " treats of the divining-rod and other 

 talismans endowed with the faculty of rend- 

 ing open rocks and revealing hidden treas- 

 ure, which all appear to be symbols, some- 

 times obvious, sometimes remotely and fan- 

 cifully derived, of the lightning which breaks 

 the cloud and lets loose the treasures of the 

 rain. There is also a chapter on the my- 

 thology of non-Aryan tribes, showing the 

 difference between the vague resemblance 

 of these to Aryan myths and to one another, 

 and the close family likeness which leads to 

 the certain conclusion that the great mass 

 of Aryan mythology came from a common 

 stock. Spectator. 



Home and School : A Journal of Popular 

 Education. Morton & Co., Louisville. 



In a late number of this journal is an 

 excellent article by Prof. Alexander Hogg, 

 of the Alabama Agricultural and Mechani- 

 cal College, entitled " More Geometry 

 less Arithmetic," that contains various sug- 

 gestions worthy the thoughtful attention of 

 teachers. It was a favorite idea of the 

 late Josiah Holbrook, which he enforced 

 upon educators on all occasions, that rudi- 

 mentary geometry should be introduced 

 into all primary schools j but he insisted 

 with equal earnestness upon his theory of 

 their order, which was embodied in his 

 aphorism, " Drawing before writing, and 

 geometry before arithmetic." The priority 

 of geometrical or arithmetical conception 

 in the unfolding mind is a subtle psycho- 

 logical question, into which it is not neces- 

 sary for the teacher to go, the practical 

 question being to get a recognition of the 

 larger claims of geometry, and this is the 

 point to which Prof. Hogg wisely directs 



the discussion. The fact is, mental devel- 

 opment has been too much considered in 

 its linear and successive aspects, and the 

 theories that are laid down concerning the 

 true order of studies have been hitherto 

 too much confined to this idea. Starting 

 with inherited aptitudes, mental develop- 

 ment begins in the intercourse of the infant 

 mind with the environment, and, while it is 

 true that there is a sequence of mental ex- 

 perience in each increasing complexity, it is 

 equally true that many kinds of mental ac- 

 tion are unfolded together. Ideas of form 

 are certainly among the earliest, and there- 

 fore should have an early cultivation. To 

 all that Prof. Hogg says about the need of 

 increasing the amount of geometry in edu- 

 cation we cordially subscribe, and we think 

 he is equally right in condemning the excess 

 of attention that is given to arithmetic, 

 which is mainly due to its supposed prac- 

 tical character as a preparation for business. 

 But neither is geometry without its impor- 

 tant practical uses. The professor says : 



" Let us see, then, what a pupil with 

 enough arithmetic and the plane geometry 

 can perform. He can measure heights and 

 distances ; determine areas ; knows that, 

 having enclosed one acre with a certain 

 amount of fencing, to enclose four acres 

 he only has to double the amount of fencing ; 

 that the same is true of his buildings. In 

 circles, in round plats, or in cylindrical ves- 

 sels, he will see a beautiful, universal^ law 

 pervading the whole the increase of the 

 circumference is proportional to the in- 

 crease of the diameter, while the increase 

 of the circle is as the square of the diam- 

 eter. . . . 



" Thousands of boys are stuffed to re- 

 pletion with ' interest,' ' discount,' and 

 ' partnership,' in which they have experi- 

 enced much ' loss ' but no ' profit ; ' have 

 mastered as many as five arithmetics, and 

 yet, upon being sent into the surveyor's of- 

 fice, machine-shop, and carpenter -shop, 

 could not erect a perpendicular to a 

 straight line, or find the centre of a circle 

 already described, if their lives depended 

 upon it. Many eminent teachers think that 

 young persons are incapable of reasoning, 

 and that the truths of geometry are too ab- 

 struse to be comprehended by them. . . . 



" Children are taught to read, not for 



