102 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
no mechanical means known of so thoroughly compacting the outer fibers of sheet 
iron as to prevent the action of moisture. Unused and uncared-for Russia sheet 
iron, unless kept in a place of equable dry temperature soon shows pin spots and 
blotches, like mold, and these are the beginnings of disintegration. Those 
stoves which use wood or charcoal as a fuel, or for kindling, are particularly lia- 
ble to decay. The inside of the stove and the pipe are attacked by the pyrolig- 
neous acid contained in the soot and soon show the effects after being taken 
down. So long asa fire is kept up the heat counteracts, in some measure, the 
attacks of the acid; but when put away for the summer the soot has opportunity 
to act, especially if it is aided by the damp atmosphere of a cellar, or the varia- 
ble draughts of an outhouse. The garret, or a room above the living rooms, is 
the best place for unused stoves and funnel. Perhaps the time will come when 
‘the superior advantages of sheet brass to sheet iron will be conceded, and our sheet 
metal stoves and pipe last a generation and grow handsomer as they grow older. 
Brass—aniy of the alloys of copper—is preserved from decay by its atmospheric 
oxide. The rust of brass preserves the metal and ornaments the surface. 
The oxide of iron disintegrates and ‘‘kills” the metal and disfigures the surface. 
Cast iron is worse in its objectionable features. A cast iron stove once rusted is 
a deformity and an eyesore. No amount of ‘‘ Rising Sun” or ‘‘ Carburet of 
Iron” can restore its pristine beauty or conceal the ravages of rust. The 
only way to preserve for the summer our red hot winter friends is to keep them 
in an equable atmosphere as to humidity; don’t let them dry up through negli- 
gence nor weep out by carelessness.— Boston Journal of Commerce. 
DD UCAmT@IN. 
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION. 
BY PROF. E, C. CROSBY, KANSAS CITY, MO. 
Thoughtful comparison of our best common schools with schools of an 
earlier time, suggests the conclusion that, although we are struggling in the dawn 
of a better age, we have hardly escaped from the traditional empiricism which 
forms the literature of the past. Probably, one of the greatest obstacles to pro- 
gress is the paradoxical aversion of teachers themselves to scrutinizing their own 
methods with the same interest and persistence manifested by them in pursuing 
light literature, society, fashions and gain. 3 
A child of six years must attain some proficiency in many subjects, if he 
would leave the school room, at the age of seventeen, respectably intelligent. 
Hence, arises the question, ‘‘ What subjects should be pursued during these few | 
years?’ But this question is inappropriate to the case at hand. Let us see. 
