And, then, how do they read? Is it in a listless, indifferent, careless sort of way, without any definite purpose or fixed aim, laying the matter aside upon every interruption and taking it up again only when accident brings it to mind, giving it, in the meantime, no thought or attention? We fear there are some who read just that way, and it hardly needs to be said that all such reading is worse than useless. There is absolutely nothing commendable in it. It affords neither entertainment nor profit; and time thus spent is really wasted.

We are almost afraid to press the third inquiry as to what they read. In every community there is afloat a great mass of stuff dignified by the catching title of "light literature," which, by reason of its cheapness in price and ease of transportation, is accessible to all, and sometimes it is all that is accessible. Then, too, there is the "last new novel," which somehow manages to find its way everywhere. It is no great wonder, therefore, if the reading of many teachers does not extend beyond the limits thus indicated. Their salaries are meagre, their opportunities for getting better reading matter are poor, and they find it difficult to accomplish what they really desire in this direction.

We know, and we are glad to know, that there are many teachers in Virginia who are not amenable to the charge implied in this article. But, we would have the number largely increased. We would have them all take some good educational journal and read it regularly, carefully, thoughtfully. We would have them engage in a regular course of professional reading--we had almost said study. And that is really what we mean by reading. There are many valuable books that can be obtained at a moderate cost, from which they may derive great profit, and the Virginia Teachers' Reading Association furnishes a cheap method for obtaining them.

Fellow teachers! you belong to a grand and noble profession-one which in its responsibilities and possibilities is not surpassed by any other. But, it is one in which there must be constant advance or else there will be retrogression; and he who undertakes to fulfil its requirements without professional training of some sort, without constant reading and study of the science, the art, the methods, and the history of education, will soon find himself left behind and out of employment.

-THE public schools of Albemarle seem to be in a flourishing condition. We learn from the Scottsville Courier that there are 130 schools in the county-81 white, 49 colored. There are three regular graded schools-two white and one colored. Eight are double schools-five white and three colored. Ninety-four pupils are enrolled at the Scottsville graded school.

The enrolment for December in the county was 31 per teacher of white schools and 40 of colored. The average attendance was 23 per teacher of the white schools and 33 of the colored.

-THE question of the location of "Summer Institutes" is already agitating some of our country friends, and Scottsville, in Albemarle county, presents itself as a candidate for one of them. The Courier, of that town, says:

"An effort will probably be made to secure one of the State Normal Institutes for Scottsville next summer. The idea is an eminently good one. Scottsville, by reason of location and climate, is a most suitable place. Comfortable homes can easily be secured for all comers, and the presence of so large a number of ladies and gentlemen from various parts of the State will be a very desirable thing for the community. Let the Normalites come." We are not sufficiently acquainted with the town to say whether it can furnish the necessary accommodations for three or four hundred teachers. But our Brother Hill ought to know. At any rate, we will take his word for it, and we very cordially vote aye on the question.

Book Notices.

THE INTERSTATE PRIMER SUPPLEMENT. Designed as a drill-book to supplement the Primer and First Reader in Primary Schools. By R. S. Winchell. Chicago: The Interstate Publishing Company. Price, 25 cents.

The aim of this book is to supply a still greater amount of reading without the introduction of many new words. It may accompany any other first book, because, the author says, it contains words common to the best primers and first readers now in general use. We find, however, a number of words which will furnish pretty hard work for the ave rage children of the First-Reader grade.

TALES OF CHIVALRY AND THE OLDEN TIMES. Selected from the Works of Sir Walter Scott. Edited with notes by William J. Rolfe, A. M., Litt. D. New York: Harper Brothers. Price, 36 cents. Received from J. W. Randolph & English. This is the initial number of the series of English Classics for School Reading. The editor's aim is to present certain selections from standard prose and poetry suited either for "supplementary reading," as it is called, or for elemetary study in English literature. The brief foot-notes and the longer notes at the end of the book will be found useful for oral instruction in connection with a reading lesson from the text, or for elementary study in literature. The editor gives a caution, however, that they are not designed to give systematic instruction in either grammar or rhetoric.

We think the editor has succeeded well in the task he set himself.

We have from S. W. Straub & Co., Chicago:

"THE GRUFF JUDGE AND HAPPY SANTA CLAUS." A New Christmas Cantata for the Sunday School.

It contains a number of beautiful solos, duets, and choruses, with well-written and entertaining dialogues. We regret that it did not reach us in time to be noticed in our December or January issue.

THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL AND OTHER POEMS. By James Russell Lowell. No. 30 of the Riverside Literature Series. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston.

This cheap reprint of some of Mr. Lowell's best poems will be gladly welcomed by the general public.

A POPULAR MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY. Prepared from the latest and best authorities in Europe and America. By Katherine E. Hogan, Graduate of Columbia College Special Course. Published by A. Lovell & Co., New York.

This little book of sixty-eight pages is just what its title implies. It is an outline of the history of the earth, from its creation up to the present time. It avoids the technicalities of the regular text-books, and presents the subject in a style at once simple and charming, and easily comprehended by children.

Publishers' Notes.

-Ginn & Co., Boston, will publish about March 1st "A Course in Bench Work," embracing both study and practice, and designed for the use of schools and colleges, by W. F. M. Goss, Professor of Practical Mechanics, Purdie University, Lafayette, Ind.

The subject is considered in three divisions. Part I contains the essential facts concerning bench tools for wood; it describes their action, explains their adjustments, and shows how they may be kept in order. Part II presents a course of practice by which ability to

use the tools may be acquired; and Part III discusses such forms and adaptations of joints as will meet the requirements of ordinary construction.

The table of contents, published in advance of the book, indicates that the subject has been treated exhaustively.

-The publication of the December number of the Riverside Literature Series (published monthly, at 15 cents a number, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston) has been delayed until after Christmas. It will contain Oliver Wendell Holmes's "My Hunt after the Captain," "The Physiology of Walking," and "Trees,” and an introductory sketch of Holmes's writings. The fact that the "My" and the "Captain" of the first essay refer to Dr. Holmes and his son (now one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts) adds interest to this interesting reminiscence of the late war. All that need be said of the other essays is, that they are written by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

-An extra number of the Riverside Literature Series, entitled Portraits and Biograph ical Sketches of Twenty American Authors, will also appear shortly after Christmas. It will contain Portraits, with Biographical Sketches of Prof. Louis Agassiz, T. B. Aldrich, William Cullen Bryant, John Burroughs, J. Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Fiske, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry W. Longfellow, J. R. Lowell, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Horace E. Scudder, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Bayard Taylor, Henry D. Thoreau, C. D. Warner, Adeline D. T. Whitney, and John G. Whittier.

-In the January number of the Atlantic Monthly is an admirable article by Edward J. Lowell, entitled “A Liberal Education," which no parent, teacher, or young person in search of a liberal education should fail to read.

-Professor C. A. Waldo, of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Indiana, has just prepared a Descriptive Geometry, which may be called a laboratory guide in this subject. It contains a large number of systematically-arranged problems, and treats of several subjects of considerable descriptive value, as yet little used in this country. The work will bear the imprint of D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, and will soon be ready.

-The January number of the Riverside Literature Series (published monthly, at 15 cents a number, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,) is entitled Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech and other Papers. It contains, in addition to the famous Gettysburg Speech, James Russell Lowell's stirring, patriotic sketch of Lincoln, Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, Anecdotes about Lincoln, A Chronological List of the Events of Lincoln's Life, Programmes for the Celebration of Lincoln's Birthday (February 12), and other interesting, material, making a pamphlet of about 80 pages, which every one interested in Lincolnand who is not ?—should read. Teachers will find it invaluable for school use.

"The Second Son," the very interesting Atlantic serial story, by Mrs. Oliphant and Mr. Aldrich, will be published immediately by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

Dr. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, is a three-fold genius-a physician, a novelist, and a poet. He has just ready, at the Riverside press, a thin duodecimo containing “A Masque, and other poems," a limited edition printed from type.

A new book by Bret Harte will be published in a few days, with two characteristic new stories, "A Phyllis of the Sierras" and "A Drift from Redwood Camp."

Stuart Sterne, whose "Angelo " and "Giorgio" have found a good circle of readers, will shortly publish, through Houghton, Mifflin & Co., another little volume, “Beyond the Shadow, and other Poems."

-National Bureau of Unity Clubs.-Plans of Study and Work for the Season.-This Bureau was born in Boston during the anniversary week of the American Unitarian Asso

ciation, and had its christening on the 26th day of May, 1887. It was organized with Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D. D., as President, and with a Board of Directors of twelve men and women, residing east and west. It has at present two head centres-at Chicago and Boston. Its object is to render assistance in the social, literary, philanthropic and religious work of churches and communities. It is divided into thirteen sections, viz: Art, Biography, History, Fiction, Poetry, Science, Charity, Social and Political Science, Religious History and Thought, Music, Dramatics and Lectures, Amusements, and Organization and Method, with a gentleman or lady at the head of each section, some of whom are preparing Plans of Study for the season.

Professor W. F. Allen, of Wisconsin University, is the first to present his plan, which has been carefully prepared, on the History of Ireland, adapted to classes or clubs desirous of pursuing an elaborate course, and to younger readers who need something more simple. The list of reference books is valuable, and no less useful will be the hints on the study of history and of reading in the preface. This leaflet will be mailed to any address for 10 cents, by the Unity Club Bureau's publishers, Charles H. Kerr & Co., 175 Dearborn street, Chicago.

The same publishers announce the third edition of Aphorisms of the Three Threes, by Edward Owings Towne, soon to appear.

-The announcement is made by Chief Justice Waite, Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C., that Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley, LL.D., Assistant Secretary, has been duly elected Secretary, to succeed the late Professor Spencer F. Baird. -We have received the first number of "The Normal Adviser," a new school journal, published at Fenton, Michigan. It is edited by J. M. Pile, Principal of the Fenton Normal School, and President of its Board of Trustees. Its main work is, of course, Normal Instruction, but it contains much of interest and value to common schools; and if its suc ceeding issue shall fulfil the promise of this initial number it will prove a valuable addition to the ranks of educational journalism.

The Magazines.

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.-Contents for February: New Chapters in the Warfare of Science, IV-Geology-by Andrew Dickson White. Progress at Panama, by Lieutenant Charles C. Rogers (illustrated). The Economic Outlook-Present and Prospective; Economic Disturbance Series, No. VIII, by Hon. David A. Wells. The Moon and the Weather, by John Westgood Oliver. Animal Agency in Soil-Making, by Prof. N. S. Shaler. The Time it Takes to Think, by J. McK. Cattell. What American Zoologists Have Done for Evolution, by Prof. Edward S. Morse (concluded). Emotions Versus Health in Woman, by Mary T. Bissell, M. D. Astronomy with an Opera-Glass: the Stars of Winter, by Garrett P. Serviss (illustrated). The Adulteration of Milk, by Prof. C. Hanford Henderson (illustrated). Recent Views Respecting Cancer, by Robert T. Morris, M. D. The Interstate "Long and Short Haul," by Henry Wood. Vegetable and Animal Albumen, by W. Bernhardt. An Outcast Race in the Pyrenees. Sketch of Sir Joseph Whitworth (with portrait). Correspondence. Editor's Table: The "Act of God” and “ Human Responsibility." Literary Notices, Popular Miscellany. Notes.

Professor W. T. Harris discusses "Our Public School System" in the February issue of THE CHAUTAUQUAN. Among the many good things he says is this one: "As to moral lessons in school it is better to have less of mere discussion and more of pure will-training. This is secured in the welldisciplined school. The cardinal virtues of the school lie at the basis of every true moral character. They are regularity, punctuality, silence (self-restraint), industry, and truthful accuracy. Every welldisciplined school inculcates these things. But the higher virtues-the 'celestial virtues,' faith, hope, and charity-must be taught by example rather than precept, and by the general demeanor of the teacher-the spirit of his work-rather than by any special training imposed on the pupils."

LIPPINCOTT.-Contents of February number: "The Spell of Home," Mrs. A. L. Wister; "My Efforts to Become a Lawyer," Belva A. Lockwood; "Sere Wisdom" (a sonnet), Helen Gray Cone; "Our Old Maids"; "Life at a Working-Woman's Home," Charlotte L. Adams; "The Night Cometh" (a poem), Sarah M. B. Piatt; "The Man of the Golden Fillet," Amelie Rives; "Fancy in the Mist" (a poem), Edith M. Thomas; "Modern Word-Parsimony," Agnes Repplier; ‘Unrest (a poem), Ella Wheeler-Wilcox. Our Monthly Gossip. Book Talk.

WIDE AWAKE.-Contents for February: Frontispiece, John Quincy Adams at Sixteen, Schmidt. "Heigh-ho! The Days of Chivalry" (poem), Mary C. Crowley. Ruth's Valentine," Belle Campbell. Princess Rosanlinda's Lamb" (verse), Mary E. Wilkins. "About Rosa Bonheur," Henry Bacon. "The Little Word That Was Lost" (verse), Alice Wellington Rollins. 'My Uncle Florimond," chapter III, serial story, Sidney Luska. "A Drum-Major," picture verse, L. J. Bridgman, "The Great Wall of China," Olive Risley-Seward. "The Story of an Ambuscade," a Border Ballad, Paul Hamilton Hayne. 'Paul H. Hayne's Childhood," Magaret J. Preston. "The Burglars of Calais," ballad, Emily A. Braddock. 'The Children of John Adams," Harriet Taylor Upton. "Those Cousins of Mabel's," chapter III, serial story, M. Ě. W. Sherwood. "Such a Mistake." poem, Katherine Pyle. "The Life-Trail," Felix L. Oswald. "A Long Time Ago," picture, E. H Garnett. "The Contributors and the Children." Tangles," F. E. Saville. "Esop," Oscar Fay Adams. "With a Diamond Collector," Susan Power. "Snow Houses and Forts," L. C. de Tracy. "The Parsees, or Fire-Worshippers," Mrs. A. H. Leonowens. "The Samnite and Punic Wars" (Search-Questions in Roman History), Oscar Fay Adams. Wide Awake Post office. C. V. F. R. U.

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SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE for February.-Contents: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Frontispiece, Engraved by G. Kruell. Mendelssohn's Letters to Moscheles, from the manuscripts in the possession of Felix Moscheles-1, (to be concluded in March number). by William F. Apthorp, with portraits and reproductions of drawings by Mendelssohn. Ballade of the King's Way, by Andrew Hussey Allen. First Harvests, Chapters IV-VI, (To be continued), by F. J. Stimson. Ephemeron, by Mrs. James T. Fields. The Man at Arms, II, (Concluded), by E. H. Blashfield and E. W. Blashfield, illustrated by E. H. Blashfield. Love's Ways, by Henrietta Christian Wright. Natural Selection, A Romance of Chelsea Village and East Hampton Town, In Three Parts-Part II-By H. C. Bunner, with illustrations by Carl Hirschberg. The Law and the Ballot, by Joseph B. Bishop. Volcanoes, by N. S. Shaler, with illustrations by J. D. Woodward, Julian Rix, O. H. Bacher, Frank Day and C. S. Robinson. The Last of the Ghosts, by Barrett Wendell, with illustrations by W. P. Bodfish and others. What the Will Effects, by William James. Upon a Winter Morning, by Maybury Fleming. The Lantern-Bearers, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The following is the table of contents of THE CHAUTAUQUAN for February: The Skin and Baths, by C. Fred. Pollock, M. D., F. R. S. E., F. R. C. S. E. Winter Sports and Pastimes, by Maurice Thompson. Our Oil Fields, by Charles Albert Ashburner, M. S., C. E. Sunday Readings. Seeds and How They Travel, by Byron D. Halsted, Sc. D. Our Public School System, by Prof. W. T. Harris. Literatures of the Far East, by Justin A. Smith, D. D. Scandinavian Literature, by Hjalmer Hjorth Boyesen. The Homes of Some Southern Authors, by C. W. Coleman, Jr. Harriet Beecher Stowe at Home, by Frances E. Willard. Defects in the Education of American Girls, by Julia Ward Howe. A Ride Across the Balkan Mountains, by Bishop John F. Hurst, LL.D. Economic Effects of the Saloon, by Hamilton W. Mabie, Senator J. J. Ingalls, Bishop S. M. Merrill, President J. H. Seelye, Dr. William Hayes Ward, Bishop E. R. Hendrix, Lewis Miller, Esq., Joseph Cook and Prof. Edward J. James. The Rest and Work of Reading, by J. M. Buckley, LL.D. Life in the Amana Colony, by Albert Shaw, Ph. D. The Scotch in America, by the Rev. J. G. Carnachan, LL.D.

VICK'S FLORAL GUIDE.-With the short dull days of early winter comes Vick's beautiful annual, and lo! spring already appears not far distant. In the way of Catalogue, Vick's Floral Guide is unequaled in artistic appearance, and the edition of each year that appears simply perfect, is surpassed the next. New and beautiful engravings, and three colored plates of flowers, vegetables and grain, are features for the issue for 1888. It is in itself a treatise on horticulture, and is adapted to the wants of all who are interested in the garden or house-plants. It describes the rarest flowers and the choicest vegetables. If you want to know anything about the garden, see Vick's Floral Guide, price only 10 cents, including a certificate good for 10 cents worth of seeds. Published by James Vick, Seedsman, Rochester, N. Y.

WIDE AWAKE.-It would be difficult to imagine a more agreeable, varied, instructive and lasting provision for January reading than comes in WIDE AWAKE Of stories there are: Sidney Luska's "My Uncle Florimond;" Mrs. Fremont's "Cruise of a Coverlet ;" and Mrs. Sherwood's "Those Cousins of Mabel's." Adventure: How Professor Roberts beat the bull. Comedy: "Cat Isabell." About Countries: "Journey to Peking;" "More about the Hindoos;" and "High-Caste Sweetmeats." History: Foster-Children of Washington;" "Christmas Mince-Pie;" Patrician and Plebeian." Ways to Do Things: "Cocked-Hats," and "Home-made Jig-saw." Animals: 'My Friends, the Dogs." Science: "When does Spring Begin?" and "About Crystals." Art: "Warwick Brookes in his Pencil Pictures." Poetry: "The Organ-Man and I;" "When Piping Winds Do Blow;" ;" "My Owlet;" "Arithmetic;" "Two Little Birds in Blue;" "Retort;" and "Jack Frost." Criticism: "Arabian Nights." But how little the titles tell of the feast of good things!

We have received the first number of THE HEALTH AND HOME LIBRARY, published quarterly by the Health and Home Publishing Company, Chicago. It contains a "Literary Department." "Health Department," and "Home Department," in each of which there are a number of useful recipes and valuable suggestions. As to the more pretentious articles of the "Literary Department,' we are not prepared to offer any very decided opinion, for the reason that we have not been able to give them the necessary thought and attention The general scope of the work, however, seems to be good, and it promises to be helpful to the family circle.

JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, edited by C. O. Whitman, Director of the Lake Observatory, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. Ginn and Company, Publishers, Boston. The Journal is devoted to the presentation of original research in embryology, anatomy, and histology, and will be issued in numbers, each containing from 150 to 200 pages, and from eight to ten lithographic plates. The first number appeared in September, and the second in December. The plan has been adopted of publishing numbers as often as the requisite material is furnished. The subscription price may, therefore, vary somewhat from year to year, but will probably not exceed the rate of $3 for each number.