8oo POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



It is the function of some schools to provide better teachers accord- 

 ing to present standards ; it is the function of others to create new 

 standards and ideals, and thus to lead to a gradual change in con- 

 ditions. If it is advisable to have smaller classes, more teachers, 

 and a different working hypothesis than is at present the case in 

 the public schools, there should be some institution to show this. 

 This the school in question hopes to do, and, while it does not aim 

 to be impractical, it does not aim primarily to be of such a char- 

 acter as to be immediately capable of translation into the public 

 school. 



"The hypothesis underlying this experiment is that of the 

 school as a social institution. Education outside the school pro- 

 ceeds almost wholly through participation in the social or com- 

 munity life of the groups of which one is a member. 



" The work here outlined is based on the assumption that the 

 more formal education of the school does not depart from the 

 same general course that the unconscious adjustment follows, but 

 organizes it. The school is a special social community in which 

 the too complex social environment is reduced and simplified ; in 

 which certain ideas and facts concerning this simplified social life 

 are communicated to the child ; in which, also, the child is called 

 upon to undertake not all kinds of activity, but those specially 

 selected on the ground of peculiar adaptation to the child." 



The Haskell Oriental Museum is a three- story and basement 

 building erected by Mrs. Caroline E. Haskell to the memory of 

 her husband, Mr. Frederick Haskell. At the jjresent time the 

 second floor only is devoted to museum collections, but in the near 

 future the whole space of the building will be so occupied. While 

 the most extensive collections are in Egyptology, there are other 

 series. A biblical collection has been begun; the Assyrian col- 

 lection consists almost wholly of reproductions ; the Buckley col- 

 lection, illustrating the religions of Japan Shinto and Buddhism 

 was secured by Dr. Edmund Buckley during a long residence 

 in the Island Empire. This last deserves more than passing 

 notice ; while rich on the Buddhistic side, it is notable in Shinto. 

 Shinto is a religion of a barbaric people held by a nation in full 

 civilization; it is profoundly curious and interesting. There is 

 probably nowhere so complete an exhibition of this native Japa- 

 nese cult as in Dr. Buckley's collection, containing as it does 

 sacred objects, votive offerings, scriptures, prayers, and cult im- 

 plements. Dr. James H. Breasted is in charge of the work in 

 Egyptology and brings to it an unusual enthusiasm. Recently the 

 Chicago Society of Egyptian Research has been established, with 

 a threefold object: (1) to assist in Egyptian excavation, (2) to 

 bring to Chicago a just share of antiquities so discovered, and (3) 

 to inform its members concerning the ancient civilization which 



