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Entelligence.

UNITED ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLMASTERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. THE following donations have been received since the date of the last printed report :—

Mr. W. Hammond, Head Master of the Upper School, St.

Thomas, Charterhouse

John Turner, Esq., 2, North Bank, Regent's Park
Miss L. Hounsell, Lawbridgeworth, Herts

Mr. G. F. Varty, Tenterden National School

£1 1 0

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Mr. P. Brand, Priory National School, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 0 5 0

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The proposal to pay off the debt of the Association by a combination of twelve or twenty of the members has not met with success.

The following are the new officers of the Kent and Sussex Schoolmasters' Association :

President.-Mr. J. Wallis, British School, Deal.

Treasurer.-Mr. Roberts, British School, Dover.

Secretary.-Mr. T. Gortley, British School, Ashford, Kent.

The following teachers have recently joined the Association :-
Mr. T. Bodley, B.A. Vice-Principal, Training College, Highbury.

Mr. T. Dexter, Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea.

Mr. T. P. Dexter, St. Thomas's National School, Woolwich.

Mr. J. Diggens, Model School, Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea.

Mr. F. W. Dunn, Head Master of the Bengal Military Normal School, Sarrawur, near Kussowlie, North-West Provinces, India (per Mr. A. E. Dunn, Trowbridge). Mr. J. Sundy, British School, Windsor.

Mr. C. E. Marks, National School, Onslow Street, London.

Mr. R. Marks, Trade School, Wandsworth.

Mr. T. St. Clair MacDougal, City of London School, Cheapside.

Mr. A. Morely, Children's Establishment, Limehouse.

Miss Poulter, Pentonville British School, Denmark Terrace.

Mr. A. E. Rieley, Corbridge National School, Gateshead.

Mr. Edwyn H. Rogers, Head Master of the Lawrence Military Asylum, Sarrawur, near Kussowlie, North-West Provinces, India (per Mr. John Rogers, No. 65, Moorgate Street, City, London).

Mr. J. M. Stewart, City of London School, Cheapside.

Miss S. Wade, St. Anne's National School, Limehouse.

Mr. W. F. Westwood, Hollingbourne House School, Norwood, Surrey.

Members who have not yet paid the subscription for the current year, are reminded that it became due on the first of January, and are requested to transmit the amount by money-order, at their earliest convenience, to the Corresponding Secretary.

J. TILLEARD, Corresponding Secretary,
17, Scarsdale Terrace, Kensington.

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS.

THE following list of the subjects of examination for admission to each of the chief public offices will, we trust, be useful to several of our readers :

INDIA BOARD.—(Candidates must be between 18 and 25 years of age.)—1. Writing. -2. Orthography.-3. English composition.-4. A sufficient capacity for analyzing and condensing into a small compass, a subject, the matter of which is spread through many documents.-5. Arithmetic.-6. Geography.

INLAND REVENUE.-(Candidates for Clerkships must be between 16 and 25 years of age; and surveyors of taxes, between 19 and 25 years of age.) Offices of Receipt and Account; and Surveyors of Taxes.-1. Good writing.-2. Writing from dictation.— 3. Correspondence.-4. Arithmetic up to and including vulgar and decimal fractions, -5. Book-keeping by double entry.-6. Geography.-7. History of the British Empire.-8. Reading. Clerks in Offices not of Receipt and Account.-1. Proficiency in writing.-2. Writing from dictation.-3. Proficiency in correspondence.-4. Arithmetic to the fullest extent.-5. Geography thoroughly.-6. History good.-7. Latin (in the Solicitor's office only). The examination as regards history, geography, correspondence, and the other heads, would extend much further than is thought necessary in the cases of clerks in offices of account or receipt, and would be such as to ascertain whether or not the person had received such an education as would qualify him, after experience in the various business of the office, to be employed in duties of a superior description. In the office of the Solicitor some legal attainments are required; but the proficiency of the party in that respect would not be tested on his admission, but during the probation of three months. Lieutenants of Revenue Police.(Candidates must be between 20 and 25 years of age.)-1. Fluent and correct writing. -2. Arithmetic, up to and including the four first rules of vulgar and decimal fractions. At the time of entering the service must be unmarried, and without family. Expectants of Excise.--(Candidates must not be under 19 years of age, and unmarried at the time of entering the service.)-1. Good writing.-2. Writing from dictation.— 3. Arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions.-4. Book-keeping by double entry.

JOINT STOCK COMPANIES REGISTRY.-The same as for "Supplementary Clerks in the Board of Trade. (See No. 147 of the "Monthly Register.")

JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S OFFICE.-1. Good writing.-2. Accuracy in copying. ---3. Must appear to have such an amount of capacity as will enable him in course of time to discharge higher duties in the office.

LAND REVENUE RECORD OFFICE.-Nothing yet fixed.
LORDS, HOUSE OF.---Nothing yet fixed.

LUNACY COMMISSION.-Nothing yet fixed.

METROPOLIS ROADS COMMISSION.-Nothing yet fixed.
METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS OFFICE.-Nothing yet fixed.

METROPOLITAN POLICE COURTS.-(Candidates must be between 19 and 25 years of age, unless the nominee shall be a certificated attorney of one of the Courts of Law at Westminster, or shall have acted for at least seven years next before his application for such office as clerk to the justices of any petty session).--1. Writing, rapid, clear, and legible.-2. Spelling and punctuation.-3. English grammar.-4. Arithmetic, the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, reduction, single rule of three, practice, simple interest, and vulgar fractions.-5. Modern geography. -6. English history.-7. Latin, German, French, Italian, or Spanish, if the candidates require it; but a knowledge of any of these is not to be considered as indispensably necessary.-8. Must read well. A candidate who shall be a certificated attorney or justice's clerk at petty sessions, shall, over and above the said qualifications, possess a tolerably sound knowledge of Criminal Law.

METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICE.-(Candidates must not be under 17 years of age.) ---1. Good and expeditious writing.-2. Writing from dictation, spelling, and punctuation.-3. English grammar.—4. Arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions. -5. Book-keeping, elements of.-6. English geography.-7. History of the British Empire.-8. A competent knowledge of French is desirable. Before the junior clerks reach the post of chief clerk, they should further acquire some knowledge of the principles and practice of criminal law; otherwise this appointment would be better filled by the selection of a person who has qualified as a solicitor.

MINT.-Nothing yet fixed.

NATIONAL DEBT OFFICE.-(Candidates must be between 16 and 25 years of age.)— 1. Writing easy and legible.-2. To copy in a correct manner from MS., or print, or MS. accounts.-3.-A complete master of arithmetic, up to and including vulgar and decimal fractions.-4. Geography, a fair knowledge of.-- 5.-History, a fair knowledge of. It is not really important that the candidate should be deeply read in history and geography, although, no doubt, such knowledge is very valuable, as a test of general education.

ORDNANCE OFFICE.-See "War Department," next month.

PATENTS OFFICE.-Nothing yet fixed.

PAYMASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE.-(Candidates must be between 16 and 25 years of

age.)-1. Good writing.-2. Orthography.-3. Writing from dictation.-4. Précis, or abstract of official papers.-5. Arithmetic: practice, rule of three direct, rule of three inverse, rule of three double, fractions, vulgar and decimal, interest, purchase of stock, exchange, and facility of making long additions.-6. Book-keeping.— 7. Reasonable proficiency in one dead or modern language (suggested). The examination will probably be carried to a little beyond what it is at present, for the purpose of testing the general intelligence and acquirements of the candidate.

POOR LAW BOARD.-(Candidates must be between 18 and 25 years of age.)— Superior Clerks.-1. A general familiarity with the rules of English composition.2. Arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions.-3. Some acquaintance with the general principles of law will be an undoubted recommendation to those who look for promotion in this branch of the public service.-4. Must have received a liberal education, and be personally intelligent, but the examination will depend upon the nature of the candidate's previous studies. Supplementary Clerks.-1. Writing. 2. Familiarity with the ordinary principles of English composition.-3. Arithmetic, the first rules.-4. General intelligence in deciphering what is given to copy. (To be continued.)

REFORMATORY AND RAGGED SCHOOLS.

MINUTE OF THE COUNCIL ON EDUCATION.

"Minute of the Committee of Council on Education, offering grants for the Promotion of Schools wherein Children of the Criminal and Abandoned Classes may be reformed by Industrial Training; dated 2nd of June, 1856.

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"At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 2nd day of June, 1856, by the Lords of the Committee on Education of her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, their Lordships resolved to continue the grants at present made in aid of field-gardens and workshops annexed to common elementary day-schools, but as regards ragged or reformatory schools,' to cancel all existing minutes, and to provide as follows (no school being admissible to aid under this minute, unless it be industrial in its character, and unless the scholars be taken exclusively from the criminal or abandoned classes) :

"1. To pay half the rent.

"2. To pay one-third of the annual cost of tools and of raw materials for labour. "3. To make grants towards the cost of books, maps, and apparatus, upon the same terms as to other schools.

"4. In order to encourage the preparation of suitable schoolmasters for employment in such institutions, to grant the sum of £35 to the treasurer of any reformatory school in respect of every person qualified as next undermentioned who shall have been boarded, lodged, and trained as a master in such reformatory school during a period of twelve months, viz. :— (a) All teachers of common elementary day-schools holding certificates of merit, or registered.

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"(b) All teachers of workhouse schools holding certificates of efficiency. (c) All students in normal colleges under inspection, who shall have resided therein not less than one year, and shall have successfully passed the examination at the end of the year before her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. "Their Lordships also resolved to reimburse to the said treasurer any sum, not exceeding £6, which it may have been found necessary to advance for the purpose of travelling or personal expenses to such persons in training.

The condition of such grants to be

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(a) That the reformatory contain at least forty inmates, and be sanctioned or certified by the Secretary of State, under the Acts 17 & 18 Vict., c. 74, and c. 86.

(b) That her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools recommend the school, from year to year, as a suitable place, in its character and arrangements, for receiving masters into training for reformatory schools.

"(c) That payment of the grant be made by quarterly instalments; and that the same certificates of good conduct be required from the principal of the institution on behalf of each person in training as are now required in the case of Queen's scholars.

5. To grant half of the salary agreed to be paid by the managers to every master, and to every master and to every assistant master in any ragged or reformatory school, in the following ratio :

"For any number of inmates not exceeding 25, 1 master. "Between 25 and 50, 1 master, 1 assistant.

"An additional assistant to be allowable for every 25 additional inmates above 50; and an additional master (instead of an assistant) for the first 25 inmates after every 100; these allowances giving 1 master and 3 assistants as the ordinary staff for every 100 inmates.

"Every master, if untrained, must be upwards of twenty-five years old, and every assistant upwards of eighteen years old. Industrial instructors may be counted as assistants.

"If the salary agreed by the managers to be paid to an assistant exceed half of that of a master in the same school, the excess will not be reckoned in calculating the sum to be reimbursed by the Committee of Council on Education.

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"Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools must report favourably in each year for which the grant is paid, with especial reference to the following points :(a.) That the ability and character of the master and assistants are satisfactory. (b.)_That habits of obedience, cleanliness, and order are enforced in the school. "6. To grant, as capitation, upon every child (according to the number in average attendance during the year preceding the annual inspection) who is not paid for by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, under the Act 17 and 18 Victoria, c. 86, the sum of 50s. per annum, provided that such child be fed at the school."

THE Inspection of the Reformatory and Ragged Schools is to devolve on H.M.'s Inspectors of Union Schools.

THE Bill has passed for appointing a Vice-President of Education. The salary is £2,000 per annum, and it is not improbable that it will, as we originally suggested, be accepted by Lord John Russell.

Notices.

REDUCED CHARGE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS.

Orders and Advertisements must be sent ONLY to MESSRS. GROOMBRIDGE, 5, Paternoster Row; the latter, from strangers, must be accompanied by a remittance, according to the following scale :-If under 40 words, 38. 6d. ; for every additional ten words, 6d. ; a whole page, £2. 2s.; a half-page, or one column, £1. 5s. Ten per cent. discount on all Advertisements inserted more than twice.

The JOURNAL will be sent, free of postage, for one year, on receipt of 6s. 6d. in advance.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

"T. Jones."-We are obliged to decline parsing sentences. It is not useful to our readers.

A RATIONAL METHOD OF TEACHING FRACTIONS.

BY CHARLES DACUS HERMANN.

HIS system is founded upon the principles established in Germany followers, and progressively introduced for all objects of instruction and handbooks referring thereto. But as there is, in this country, an absolute want of similar guides for teachers, it appears that the said principles, although universally acknowledged in many countries, and continually extending their influence, are not yet in England, amongst persons concerned or actually engaged in instruction, as generally known or appreciated as they deserve, for being so simple and evidently conformable to a natural development of the mind. I have now had, for several years, many opportunities, in schools as well as in private families, to observe the mere mechanical way in which Arithmetic, as well as many other sciences, is usually treated; but as Mathematics were not the particular department in which I was engaged, I had no occasion to try a more natural method; and persons interested in a showy progress of the pupils generally objected to the risk of deviating from routine. Since I established independently, I became more interested in the general and real proficiency of my pupils, and again perceiving that all their skill and knowledge in Arithmetic rested on some given rules kept in memory, mechanically applied with little reasoning, and generally without a perception of their necessary correctness, I resolved to try, in one branch of common Arithmetic at least, the more rational way in which I had been taught myself, and which I afterwards, in another country, had successfully followed with my pupils. The chief points of the method here alluded to, which guided me in my lessons, are:-Always start from something already known, visible or evident; induce the pupil by suitable questions to find out for himself the truth or rule you want him to learn; frequently make use of illustrations to assist his exertions to this effect; never suffer your pupil to rely on a rule learnt by heart without being able to prove the correctness of the rule in each particular case, and going back to its last reason; always engage him to express his ideas clearly and properly. The difference between doing sums by mechanical rules only, and reasoning about them according to our system, will best appear from an example. If we have, for instance, to multiply two fractions together, instead of giving the mechanical rule, "Multiply the numerators together and then the denominators,"— a rule which is indeed easily applied, but if, perchance, lost out of memory, is gone for good,-we want our pupil successively to understand the following separate considerations about such a problem :-To multiply by a fraction really means a division; and if the numerator be greater than one, a division and multiplication combined; we divide a fraction by making its parts smaller, or multiplying the denominator; we multiply a fraction by increasing the number of the parts, or multiplying the numerator-which reasonings not only show how to operate, but also to bring us to a conviction that we are right in doing so. pupil may have done such sums before he ever heard of the above rule VOL. X. NO. 117, n.s. 3 E

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