8honld be made a living embodiment, a real life, 
created anew, stripped of formality and dull ver¬ 
biage. To effect this, the teacher must be an 
eclectic, a gleauer, a kaleidoscope, turning np 
new shapes aud beauties at all hours in the day. 
Let us do this, and the flickering shadows of mo¬ 
notony will be lifted, and an intellectual sunlight 
will be felt reciprocally by both teacher and pu¬ 
pil.— New York Teacher. 
THE ATMOSPHERE. 
[Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker.) 
SCHOOL - TEACHING EXPERIENCE. 
HEING AND HEARING. 
A mono the many busy thousands who daily 
troad this broad and beautiful earth, how few 
there are who stop, even for a moment, to give a 
passing thought to this great and wonderful ele- 
ineut — the atmosphere • 
Evontful, ever-changing, yet ever the same, it 
covers the whole earth aronnd, filling every nook 
md secret place,— there is not a spot that is 
free from its presence. It is tempered to suit 
every climate and every zone ; increasing and 
deceasing iu temperature as it blows to and 
fro across the earth. Warm and balmy bree7.es 
blow from the equator toward the poles, dif¬ 
fusing life to the scanty few that are scattered 
along those desolate regions; while in the tem¬ 
perate and torrid /,ones, strong currents blow 
over vast bodies of the watery deep, evaporating 
moisture, which it raises and carries along, far 
above us, in clouds of mist, and vapor, and at 
last precipitates it upon the arid and dusty fields 
of the anxious husbandman, in plenteous and re¬ 
freshing showers; thus giving new hope and 
vigor to tho hearts of wishing, watching multi¬ 
tudes. To distribute moisture over the earth, and 
to temper tho climates of different latitudes, it 
would seem, arc two great, offices assigned by tho 
Creator for it to perform; but tho atmosphere, like 
every other department in the economy of Nature, 
lias its olfioes to perform, and they are many; and 
these offices of the atmosphere, the ends and pur¬ 
poses for which they were designed, prosont at 
once a delightful and a profitable subject for in¬ 
vestigation, to the Young Uuralist who is in any 
way studious or observing. 
It is a subject which the Young Ruralist can 
study at all times and in all places, without a 
great deal of trouble or expense, lie can study 
it while laboring iu the field or tho shop; he can 
study it while waiting for the rain to descend 
aud bless the earth with its freshness; aud he can 
study it during tho winter, that great vacation for 
the farmer from his toil, and thus relieve winter 
of its dl-earinesa. His principal text books are, 
the airs, the breeze, the wind, and tho storm; the 
mists, the vapor, and the clouds. The astronomer 
is said to see tho hand of God in the sky, but can 
not the studious husbandman, and the observiug 
Young Uuralist, who look aloft to the clouds as 
they ponder over these things, hear his voice in 
tho moaning of every storm, and feel His pres¬ 
ence in every breeze that blows. The investiga¬ 
tions into the broad-spreading circle of phenom¬ 
ena connected with the winds of heaven, are 
second to none for tho good which they do, and 
the lessons which they teach. 
Harmonious in its actions, the atmosphere is 
obedient to laws, and subject to order in all its 
movements. When wo consult it in the perform¬ 
ance of its manifold ami marvelous offices, it 
teaches us lessons concerning the wonders of the 
mist and the vapors, the mysteries of the sky 
aud the clouds, the greatness and the wisdom 
and goodness of the Creator, whicli make us 
wiser and better men. J. Gould. 
Suueua, Michigan, 1860. 
On looking over your last Home-Luxury, and 
finding the column usually devoted to Education¬ 
al topics filled with other matter, 1 was somewhat 
disappointed, for 1 really enjoy that part of the 
Tie baI,, being myself a young pedagogue, and tho 
thought occurred to me where there i 9 an effect, 
there must be a cause; so I settled my head to 
think a little, and soon decided that I had found 
the trouble. First, we know that you have the 
agriculture of all these United States, and part of 
Canada, to look after, which is quite enough for 
one head; so if you have the kindness to allow the 
large body or teachers to interchange ideas thro’ 
your columns, limy ought to keep you flush with 
items on educational subjects. What f wish is, 
that our District School teachers would take it iu 
hand; for the lessons we would get from them 
would he practical, and could readily bo tested; 
and I have concluded that if one effort will start 
a pore Distiict School confab, it shall be made. 
The idea that all the smart ones teach High 
Schools, is absurd. This, 1 think, will bo fully 
proved if we get our ranks stirred up, and, per¬ 
haps, I had better break the ice, by giving a short 
sketch of my experience. I commenced with a 
school of forty, aud remember, very distinctly, 
thcfiist long day. T did not know what to do, 
nor where to begin; and felt as though a sad mis¬ 
take bad been made, und that a certain individual 
had evidently got into the wrong pew. The first 
two days, we had a real good old-fashioned 
school,— the scholars doing as they wished, 
teacher, ditto. The second night I was possessed 
of a subject for serious consideration, and made 
up my mind that a revolution must be effected. 
The next morning tho pupils were favored with a 
short harangue, the burden of which was to the 
effect that an Education was wbat wo came there 
for,—what wo could not very well get along with¬ 
out—and that to get. it we must work. We made the 
simple word work our motio; and woik wo did. 
For once there was a whole district pleased with 
their school—rather a novelty about here. Work 
brings with it order, and system; and the old say¬ 
ing, “give a child something to do and you will 
keep it out of mischief,” is, word by word, 
capable of proof. Get life into the school,— get 
their ambition aroused,— and make everything 
practical, as far as you can, and the school will 
prosper. 
District School teachers labor under one seri¬ 
ous disadvantage, and that is, our good old far¬ 
mers seem to think the books they used twenty 
years ago, are Just as good for their children to 
study as modern woiks. Every one who will give 
it a second thought, however, cannot fail to see 
that this idea is wrong. Suppose I turn farmer, 
and, climbing up in the shed, find an old plow, 
with a wooden mould-board, but one handle, and 
taking it down, begin the labor of inverting the 
soil. Along comes one of these old-time book 
fanciers, remarking, “Friend yoa’re behind the 
times—you’re foolish to try and plow with such 
an old thing as that,—we have a much better kind 
now-a-days.” Let us turn bis own weapon against 
him:—" My father used this, and he said it always 
did good work.” Teachers must have all the ex¬ 
ternal aids that can be brought into service, if we 
expect to reap a worthy harvest from their labors, 
and these should be cheerfully furnished by those 
who stand Bponsois to the intelligences put into 
their hands for ins!ruction. 
Allow me the piivilege of mentioning one or 
two essential characteristics of works for educa¬ 
tional purposes. Mathematical books should fur¬ 
nish the analysis, or reasoD, for every thing. 
Headers ought to he based on the modern style of 
pronunciation, and contain suitable aud interest¬ 
ing pieces, thus imparting new animation. The 
old seriea have been re-read, aud sung over by the 
children, until there is not a spark of interest left. 
In fact, the old Geographies, Arithmetics, Gram¬ 
mars, and Readers, are a detriment to scholars. 
L cross-way, N. Y,, i860. J. A. Cobii. 
It has been a fault, in our schools that pupils 
have not been taught to see aud hear. Hence, we 
have hundreds of men who, “having eyes see not, 
and having ears bear not.” They live and move 
in the midst of the most beautiful scenery and 
surrounded by the wonders of nature, and yet if 
they sec at all, it is as “ through a gluss darkly!” 
They discern no beauties in the works of creation, 
and the most enchauting landscape is to them 
simply a collection of pasture, woodland, field, 
and meadow, attractive only as a source of profit. 
Theysee no God in nature, nothing to awaken de¬ 
votional feelings, nothing to excite admiration. 
The lofty mountain and the flowing river arc olten 
regarded as mere obstacles to man's progress,— 
or as the means of contributing to his material 
resources. Every object is viewed only with a 
do/larish eye, and every flower is snuffed for its 
copperish great. 
How different is it with the man who has been 
trained to see and who is beholding the works of 
Nature, is led to adore as he looks “ through Na¬ 
ture up to Nature's God.” To such an one, every 
mountain, hill and valley, every forest and river, 
is radiant with the smiles of Infinite goodness and 
wisdom. Tho babbling brook uo less than the 
majestic river and the mighty cataract proclaim 
the power of the hand that made them. The 
springing grass, the waving grain, the stately 
forest and the opeuing flower, alike speak of the 
goodness and omnipotence of God. If he looks 
upward aud beholds the “glittering stars that 
gem the sky, he is ready to exclaim: 
“Forever Binging as they shine, 
The hand that trwdo them Is divine.” 
The man of untrained ear hears no sounds ex¬ 
cept those of a discordant or utilitarian nature,— 
while for him who lias been taught to hear aright, 
the world is full of music and sweet sounds. All 
animated nature is ever chanting in soul-stirring 
notes the wondeifnl goodness and wisdom of Him 
at whose cummaud they sprang into existence. 
We may find in every community, men who 
have ears and eyes, und those who are virtually 
destitute of both. The former revel in beautiful 
sednery, listening to nature’s sweet and varied 
music, while the latter grope tbe.ir wayirn in dark¬ 
ness,—hearing no harmonious sounds; the former 
are happy, ever breathing and diffusing a spiritof 
cheerfulness; the latter sad and censorious, ever 
complaining of the present and casting a gloomy 
horoscope of tho future. We have all seen men 
of the latter class, aud know what a chilling an I 
depressing influence their mere presence imparts. 
A man with trained eyes and ears, a man of re¬ 
fined tastes and cultivated judgment, is a prize to 
any community. Happy influences emanate from 
him, and his spirit of cheerfulness ever makes him 
a welcome companion, a cherished neighbor. We 
know of a man, whoBe correct taste and well- 
trained eye have done much toward beautifying 
the village in which he resides,—all unconsciously 
on his part, and, to a great extent, on the part of 
oihcrs. ft is tho result of his silent hut correct 
example by which many have been led to deco¬ 
rate their grounds and to cultivate flowers and 
shrubbery. Many such men there are in the land, 
and their worth is inestimable. We hope their 
number is increasing from year to year. That 
such may be the case, wo would urge upon teach¬ 
ers the importance of training their pupils to ob¬ 
serve and to hear. This may be done in many 
ways and on various occasions. Let them fre¬ 
quently be called upon to give an account of ob¬ 
jects of interest that may Lave attracted their at¬ 
tention on the way to or from the school-room. 
If they take a holiday walk, let that be made the 
subject of familiar conversation, with a view to 
learn what was seen and heard. If a journey has 
been made by a pupil, take special pains to inter¬ 
rogate him as to what of interest he saw, aud thus 
by your own spirit of inquiry you will awaken in 
him a desire to afford you gratification, and make 
him ever watchful to note objects of interest and 
to catch the sounds of sweet music. In fine, it 
should be the constant aim and wish of the teacher 
to train his pupils to move about with open eye8 
and listening ears; and also so to cultivate the 
senses of vision aud hearing, that only beautiful 
Beenes shall be treasured up,— only sweet and 
harmonious sounds remembered. Then may we 
hope to meet with more men who possess a genial 
nature and in whom the true spiritof observation 
and investigation is properly developed. “Teach 
a child to see properly and to hear properly, and 
you have prepared him to receive instruction on 
any point”— Conn. Common School Journal. 
VIEW ON TAGDANIC FALLS. 
In a previous nnmber we gave several views 
of Cayuga Lake, aud briefly mentioned the beau¬ 
tiful Falls of Taghanio, promising to present 
our readers with an engraving of this natural 
wonder before closing our Views in Western New 
York. This promiso wo now redeem. The Falls 
are near Trumansburgh, in Tompkins county, 
some ten miles from the head of tho lake, and 
about a mile from the lake shore. They may be 
approached through the dark ravine of the 
creek, which, unrrow at first, gradually widens 
into a grand amphitheater, with walls of rook 
varying from 360 to 400 feet in height. The 
ravine through which the torrent leaps ih 100 feet 
deep. When we saw it iu August last, the stream 
almost disappeared in mist before it reached the 
reservoir below. When more water falls it may 
he more grand, but cannot be more beautiful. 
Wb give an account of a visit to these Fulls by a 
correspondent: 
As our party crossed and re-crossed the serpentine 
river below, they appeared as Lilliputians to their 
friends on the towering banks above. Along this 
sublime, romantic dell, arc varied scenes like 
giant fortresses or ivied ruins of historio renown, 
formed by tho hand of Nature; beautiful ever¬ 
greens mingle their boughs with the rich foliage 
of line, large forest trees, beneath whose venerable 
trunks twine luxuriant vines and lovely ilowcrs, 
with tho finest mosses. Every step was fraught, 
with pleasure and delight until each tourist had 
passed behind tho snowy cloud of spray, and 
viewed the high, majestic column of water, as it 
descended. 
Retracing their course, they climbed a portion 
of the bank, and then ascended three hundred 
steps to the summit, and joined those who had 
oqually enjoyed the lovely prospect above. Some 
had ventured down across Table Rock where 
the groat fall descends, and stood waving their 
handkerchiefs to those in other directions, on 
varied points for view. Others had rambled to 
the Upper FuIIb, which descend iu miniature 
cascades until they make one grand plunge in u 
bowl-shaped basin of great depth aud regularity, 
appearing more like the effect oi'art than nature, 
the rocky piles looking like towenng battlement*. 
Language is inadequate to do justice to the scene. 
Tho deep, deep gorge inspires and entrances 
the beholder. On the loft, is the dancing waters 
of the lucid Cayuga, and its picturesque margin, 
on the right is the stupendous Falls, with its 
towering banka; beneath is the awful, yet beauti¬ 
ful chasm. In the background, like a beautiful 
frainc-work, is a lovely grove. 
At length the time of return compelled all to 
cast around a lingering look on the enchanting 
scenes, which had afforded so much delightfuT 
pleasure, aud with regret wo bade adieu to the 
almost fairy scene, and wearily descended tho 
mile-long hill, and soon the pulling steamer was 
bearing to their respective homes the gleesome 
party of the morning. 8. w. f. 
VISIT TO TAGHANIC FALLS. 
A party of buoyant-hearted excursionists, 
numbering about one hundred and fifty, set off 
on a refreshingly cool morning in early autumn 
to visit, the romantic and attn ctive Bcenery of the 
Tughanlo Falls. A boisterous wind the preceding 
night had lashed tho bright waters of tho beauti¬ 
ful Cayuga Lake in tumultuous agitation; but 
gaily the steamer rode the crested waves with its 
human freight. We gazed with admiring eyes on 
the lovely, fertile landscape, which adorns the 
margin of its sparkling waters, a distance of 
about twenty-six miles’ travel, when the merry 
party landed with bright anticipations of a feast 
for the eyes and appetite. A part ascended tho 
hill, while tbe others passed up tho ravine to the 
lower Falls, which descend two hundred aud six¬ 
teen feet iu a rocky basiD, the water almost lost 
in spray e'er it reaches it3 destination. The 
banks along this beautiful, yet fearful chasm, are 
four hundred feet high, and tall, venerable trees 
appear, from this height, like brushwood below. 
WHAT CAN I DOT 
Very, very often we hear persons, and undoubt¬ 
edly they speak with truthful sincerity, ask—what 
can I do? Have 1 not already done my duty? 
Nay, fellow traveler to the confines of the tomb, 
you have not done all you could. 
Your name may he associated with the com¬ 
prehensive philanthropist. You may have be¬ 
stowed thousands upon some institution of 
learning, und thereby benefited murikiud; or con¬ 
tributed liberally toward the erection of some 
lofty monument, whose towering spire shall ever 
point heavenward; but do you, man of liberal 
pretensions, ever descend Into the poor man's 
house, beside whose lonely hearthstone perhaps 
an attenuated form lies upon a scantily covered 
couch, drawn bet’oie the expiring coals collected 
in the grate, that the struggle may he as comfort¬ 
able as “things of earth” can make it? Have 
you been there and softened the pillow of the 
dying, replenished the expiring coals, and spread 
before the half starved occupants a bountiful sup¬ 
ply ? If not, never ask again, what can I do? 
In every walk of life,— in the mansions of the 
wealthy, the halls of the learned, and iu the hut of 
the poor, there are those we can comfort by gentle 
words, and by kind and noble deeds. We can 
spread the truths of the Bible or speak to all that 
have never heard of its comforts. Each one of 
us can, at least, do some little good,— can lift 
some brother or young friend from sin- There is 
open a way to each and all that will mitigate the 
anguish of those that are around us; for every 
city and every country town has its poor and 
erring. 
Then, let ub never reiterate, what can I do? but 
look around and about us, — endeavoring to 
perform some little act of kindness—some little 
deed of good — that when we shall be summoned 
to join those that have gone before us, we may 
not regret a life-time wherein no usefulness has 
been accomplished; hut rather exclaim, I have 
endeavored to perform my duty here, and hope to 
enjoy a life of blissful reward through the long 
cycles of eternity. C'larknck Lee. 
Minion, N. Y., 1860. 
lime, in the bones of animals. The jihospbate of 
lime sells at a high price, as a fertilizing agent, 
simply because it is a substance difficult to obtain 
in largo quantities. Unlike sulphur and lime, 
which arc obtained most abundantly from the 
mineral world, all our phosphorus is obtaiued 
from organic creations .—Scientific American. 
PHILOSOPHY OF RAIN. 
PHOSPHORUS-ITS SOURCE AND NATURE. 
To understand the philosophy of this beautiful 
and olten sublime phenomenon, so often witness¬ 
ed Binco the creation, and essential to the very 
existence of animals, a few facts derived from oh 
servation and a long train of experiments must 
be remembered: 
1. Were the atmosphere, everywhere, at all 
times, at an uniform temperature, we should never 
have rain, or hail, or snow. The water ubsorbed 
by it in evaporation from the sea and the earth’s 
surface, would descend in an imperceptible vapor, 
or cease to be absorbed by tho air when ouce 
fully saturated. 
2. The absorbing power of the atmosphere, und 
consequently its capability to retain humidity, is 
proportionally greater in cold than iu warm air. 
3. The air near the surface of the earth is warm¬ 
er than it is iu the region of the clouds. The 
higher wc ascend from tho earth, the colder do 
we find the atmosphere. Hence the perpetual 
snow on very high m aintains iu the hottest cli¬ 
mates. Now, when from continual evaporation 
the air is highly saturated wi'.h vapor, though it 
be invisible and the sky cloudless, if its tempera¬ 
ture is suddenly reduced by cold currents of air 
rushing from above, or from a higher to a lower 
latitude, its capacity to retain moisture is dimin¬ 
ished, clouds are formed, and the result is rain. 
Air condeuses as it cools, and like a sponge filled 
with water and compressed, pours out the water 
which its diminished capacity cannot hold. 
How singular, yet how simple tho philosophy of 
rain! What but Omniscience could have devised 
such an admirable arrangement for watering the 
earth ?—Scientific Journal . 
I’ito.eeuo rus is bat sparingly diH'used aa a com¬ 
ponent of minerals,— it is to the animal kingdom 
that we turn for our supplies — tu bones and the 
fluids of the body. Theao are our magazines of 
phosphorus, from which it is extracted in the 
large quantities now required for matches and 
the other manufactures into which it enters. 
The leading characteristic of phosphorus is its 
extreme combustibility. Place a small fragment 
of it in an open tube, apply beat and ignite it — 
when, on impelling a current of air through the 
tube the phosphorus bums with great rapidity.— 
Tho combustion having terminated, two different 
residues are produced, one a red colored sub¬ 
stance, the other white. The latter, or white, is 
an acid compound of phosphorus with oxygen.— 
The former was long imagined to be a combina¬ 
tion of phosphorus with oxygen also, but in a 
lesser ratio than uecessaiy to constitute an acid. 
Within tbe last few years, however, >1. Sohrotter, 
of Vienna, demonstrated that the red compound 
in question was merely phosphorus. No combina¬ 
tion has taken place to form this red compound, 
but tho phosphorus has assumed a second, or ajlo- 
tropio condition, just as sulphur, under the opera¬ 
tion of heat does. 
Common phosphorus has to he kept in water, 
for the purpose of guarding against spontaneous 
combustion; allotropic phosphorus, however, may 
be kept unchanged in atmospheric air; indeed it 
may be wrapped up in paper, and carried in the 
pocket even with impunity. Common phosphorus 
readily dissolves in the su ohuret of carbon, 
whereas allotropic phosphorus does not 
Phosphorus exists iu all grains, and it forms a 
minute portion of every loaf of wheat bread that 
we eat. It exists in the human brain, but the 
greatest quantity of it is found, combined with 
MONOTONY OF SCHOOL EXERCISES, 
All teachers have felt the creeping shade of 
depression and enervation, which naturally re¬ 
sults from a regular order of exercises in the 
school-room. The teacher is not alone the sharer 
of this incubus of monotony; the same is both 
felt and acted in the person aud spirit of the pu¬ 
pil This is the rock upon which so many of the 
craft are ruined. This with that other, and not 
less dispiriting emse, the departure of a class of 
mind that held the front rank in the school room, 
upon whose characters the teacher has given the 
last stroke of his skill, ere crossing the threshold 
to struggle in life’s battle. With them too often 
goes the life, the energy and the courage of the 
teacher. Having smoothed the rough boards of 
their minds, and fitted them for their position in 
the social fabric, he lee's disheartened as a new 
supply of the rough material rolls itself up before 
him for the same care, handiwork, and burnishing 
process as before. 
I he mind, upon which any one of these causes 
so operates as to discourage and unfit it for labor, 
needs to look well to the nature of things, aud 
see if there is not a remedy for this evil, which 
loses to the profession many of the noblest and 
most successful of workmen. We think that the 
cause lies in the fact, of keeping within the nar¬ 
row limits of instruction, and not enriching and 
amassing intellectual wealth—current truths con¬ 
nected with every brauch we teach—to be impart¬ 
ed as freely as obtained. Iu so doing, we invigo- 
rate our own thoughts, keep in constant expec- 
tancy the minds of those we instruct, aud dispel 
" holly that appalling cloud of monotony, so be¬ 
grimed with gloom and despair. Every task 
The Verb “To Get.” — Worcester’s new Dic¬ 
tionary gives the following passage in illustration 
of the amount of hard labor that is required of 
the convenient little verb to get; 
I got on horseback within ten minutes after I 
got your letter. When I got to Canterbury f got 
a chaise for town; but I got wet through before 1 
got to Canterbury, and l got such a cold that I shall 
not be able to gel rid of it In a hurry. I got to 
the treasury about noon, bnt first of all I got 
shaved and dressed. I soon got into the secret of 
getting a memorial before tlie board, but I could 
not gel an answer; however, I got Intelligence 
from the messenger that T should most likely get 
one next morning. As soon as 1 got back to my 
inn, I got my supper, and got to bed. It was not 
long before I got to sleep. When I got np in the 
morning I got my breakfast and got myself 
dressed, that I might get out in time to get an 
answer to my memorial. As soon as I got it, I 
got into the chaise, and got to Canterbury by 
three, and about four I got home. I have got 
nothing for you, so adieu. 
Pater for Taking Impressions of Leaves.— 
Allow me to inquire of your numerous readers, 
the recipe for making, or information where I can 
obtain a kind of paper for taking the impressions 
of leaves. The information will be gratefully 
received. m. r. s. 
The paper spoken of could, a few years ago, be 
obtained at most of the book stores. Of late 
years it baa not been much sought for, and per¬ 
haps is not manufactured. 
It is more easy to be wise for others than for 
ourselves. —La Rochefoucauld. 
