72 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 207 



arship. Evidently, he who knows not the subject 

 to be taught can never be a nmster of the method 

 of teaching it. 



It is plain that all our teachers cannot have the 

 benefit of a professional training in our state nor- 

 mal schools. The number is too great for us to 

 expect this. It is important, therefore, that they 

 use eveiy opportunity within their reach to ad- 

 vance their professional zeal and skill. Well-con- 

 ducted teachers' institutes are exceedingly valua- 

 ble for this purpose ; indeed, in our judgment, 

 indispensable. It is not out of place here to men- 

 tion in brief some of the benefits derived from 

 these institutes. Teachers, especially in our coun- 

 try districts, are much isolated. They need the 

 inspiration gained from association. Engrossed 

 with their daily routine of labor, and deprived of 

 aU chance of any frequent consultation with oth- 

 ers of their own vocation, their work is in danger 

 of becoming a monotonous task, lacking all in- 

 citement to that professional zeal which prompts 

 to new exertion and sweetens every toil. These 

 yearly conventions serve, in a great measure, to 

 keep up the esprit de corps, and to give rest and 

 recreation so much needed and so valuable, while 

 each teacher feels the supi)ort of, and enjoys com- 

 munion with, the profession at large. Again, by 

 means of the pointed instruction of experienced 

 educators, many difaculties are removed, better 

 methods suggested, troubling mistakes corrected, 

 false tendencies thwarted, and new inspiration 

 aroused. Through valuable lectures and addresses, 

 educational interest is awakened, and the warm 

 sympathy of large communities gained in behalf of 

 the schools. Parents and teachers and directors 

 come face to face, and the duties and responsibili- 

 ties of each are more clearly understood. It would 

 be a fatal mistake not to encourage these institutes 

 in every possible way. 



LUDWIG WIESE. 



In his review of Wiese's Lebenserinnerungen 

 u. Amtserfahrungen, published in the Berliner 

 philologische wochenschrift, Professor Paulsen pays 

 a warm tribute to Wiese's character and pedago- 

 gical work. He describes Wiese's life as that of 

 a healthy, strong, enthusiastic, frank, and self- 

 confident personality, and calls his life a rich and 

 happy one in the true sense of the Aristotelian 

 definition. Wiese was born at Herford in 1806, 

 and from 1826 to 1829 studied theology and philol- 

 ogy at the University of Berlin. His activity as a 

 teacher began in the Friedrich-Wilhelms gymna- 

 sium, and in 1831 he was called as con-rector to 

 the gymnasium at Clausthal. In 1837 he accepted 

 an appointment at the celebrated Joachimthal- 



isches Gymnasium, and worked there until he was 

 appointed to an ofiice in the ministry of education 

 in 1853. Wiese's early teaching pointed out for 

 him the demands of sound methods of instruc- 

 tion. He himself says, "The perception that the 

 majority of the pupils understood the rules as laid 

 down only with much difficulty, suggested to me 

 to begin with the demonstration of an example, 

 letting them discover the rule for themselves 

 from it. Such examples as commended them- 

 selves as suitable for this process I brought to- 

 gether as Normalsdtze, and, having dictated them 

 to the pupils, caused them to be learned by heart ; 

 %vhich was done willingly and easily. The result 

 was surprising, and the written themes soon 

 showed a pleasing correctness. It was the begin- 

 ning of a grammar invented from examples." 

 While a teacher at the Joachimthalisches Gym- 

 nasium, Wiese made a journey to Italy and one 

 to England. The letters which he wrote home 

 to a friend about the English educational estab- 

 lishments were published as ' German letters 

 about English education.' In 1852 he was in- 

 trusted by Minister von Eaumer with the super- 

 vision of the secondary school organization of 

 Prussia, and for twenty-three years he held this 

 office under four successive ministers of educa- 

 tion. In 1875 the governmental policy of Kultur- 

 kampf brought about his resignation. The two 

 aims of Wiese's ofiicial life were, first, the con- 

 fining the curricula of the gymnasia within proper 

 bounds ; and, secondly, the restoration to the 

 gymnasia of the former Christian character. Pro- 

 fessor Paulsen's estimate of Wiese's influence is 

 kindly but cautious, and it probably well repre- 

 sents the esteem in which the veteran educator is 

 held in his native land. 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL 



NAMES. 



The importance of geographical names in con- 

 nection with the teaching of history and philology 

 is almost entirely overlooked by teachers. These 

 subjects acquire an added interest if linked to- 

 gether in this way, and details are better retained 

 in the memory if provided with these associations. 

 The following account of the word ' Donau ' is 

 translated from the Zeitschrift fur das realschul- 

 wesen, and serves as an example of how history, 

 geography, and philology may be connected in 

 teaching. The points of contact, and the lines in 

 which they can be developed, are apparent. 



The Greeks (Herodotus, ii. 33) applied the name 

 ' Donau ' (Greek, ' Istros ; ' Roman form, ' Ister ' 

 or ' Hister ') to the entire stream, and used it 

 almost exclusively, though their later authors 



