AIDS IN GEOGRAPHY. 35 



found a series of specimens ranging from the unweathered 

 fragment taken from the quarry to the brown soil which is 

 the same rock oxidized by the weather. The formation 

 of sand is shown by a similar series. A half dozen speci- 

 mens show the history of coal from peat to the hardest an- 

 thracite, while pieces of shale with impressions of ferns 

 and leaves tell the story of the production of fuel. Pieces 

 of wood and bark from the big trees of California with a 

 string that shows the exact circumference of one of them 

 as measured by a lady who gave the specimens to the 

 school, make the giant trees more real to the pupils. 

 Trays of coffee from the berry just as it is picked from the 

 tree, to the roasted kernel ready to be ground, teach the 

 classes more than books alone can tell. Dishes of tea, 

 illustrating the various kinds that are dear to tea lovers, 

 tell an interesting story and make the children wonder if 

 the peculiar flavor of gunpowder tea is due to the perspira- 

 tion of the hands that roll it into little pellets. The com- 

 mon ores help in the study of mining ; specimens of rubber 

 in various stages of completeness, in connection with a 

 growing rubber tree, illustrate the geography of the trop- 

 ics ; building stones and the different varieties of marble 

 tell an interesting story ; and many of the commercial 

 woods are in the collection. 



Pieces of rope of various fibers are exhibited, and the 

 pupils learn that more sisal in value is brought into this 

 country than any other fiber. The sisal plant grows in 

 Mexico and somewhat resembles the common century 

 plant. A growing plant in one of the school rooms is an 

 ornament to the room and teaches geography at the same 

 time. Manila rope is made from a species of banana that 

 grows in the Philippines. No specimen of this species is 

 found in the school, but a banana plant from Plorida which 

 is sending up leaves at the rate of five inches a day is a 

 constant source of interest to the children. 



In connection with these specimens more than a thou- 

 sand lantern slides illustrate the text of the geography 

 and make it real to the 3'oung students. — Manchester Un- 

 ion . 



