Lantern Slides for Teaehers 21 



that, with the numerous demands upon the teachers, many would 

 not have time to prepare lectures from miscellaneous slides. Accord- 

 ingly, the staff of the department undertook the preparation of 

 several lectures on topics connected with school work. Each set of 

 slides was accompanied with a manuscript, so that teachers could 

 prepare their own lectures with a minimum of effort. These lecture 

 sets are greatly appreciated by the teachers and are in almost con- 

 stant use. At first, five sets were prepared. They have now been 

 increased to fourteen, and their titles well represent the scope of the 

 field covered: 



1. The War Zone of Western Europe in Time of Peace 



2. The Panama Canal 



3. Our Forests and Their Uses 



4. The Birds of Our Parks 



5. A Journey in South America 



6. The Wonderful Work of Water 



7. Oral Hygiene 



8. Minor Industries of New York State 



9. Some Sources of Our Food Supply 



10. Mexico 



11. Longfellow's "Evangeline" 



12. Washington Irving's "England" 



13. "The Meadow People" 



14. Japan 



Announcements of the plan for loaning slides, together with 

 reference catalogues and order blanks, were sent to all the schools in 

 the City. At first, the use of the slides was somewhat limited by 

 the fact that many schools were not equipped with classrooms which 

 could be darkened, or did not possess stereopticons. In spite of these 

 handicaps, the growth of this work has been most encouraging, as 

 the following statistics show: 



1915 1916 1917 



(9 months) 



Number of Loans of Slides to Public Schools 146 491 935 



Number of Public Schools Borrowing Slides 35 63 84 



Number of Slides Circulated ' 11,929 38,912 63,111 



In 1915, 1916 and 1917, the City provided annually, through the 

 Board of Education, #2,000 for this work. This appropriation is 

 barely sufficient to cover the cost of distributing the slides and the 

 expenses incident to the preparation of the catalogues, lecture sets 

 and manuscripts. Museum messengers deliver the slides and call 

 for them at the end of the loan period. Unfortunately, for 1918 

 the appropriation was reduced to #1,200, although the work shows 

 a growth of nearly 600 per cent, in two years. 



