The inkstands need be nothing more than a small cup, fitted into a hole bored through the wood, but so loosely as to be easily taken out for the purpose of filling. They may be covered, as in Mr G. F. Thayer's School, with wooden slides, or, as in the Boylston School, with a metallic lid resembling a common butt hinge.

The desk may either have a shelf beneath, or it may be a box, of which the lid is the cover. By the former modes much noise is prevented, while the latter is more favorable to neatness and good order in depositing the books. Locks and keys are unnecessary, and the frequent losing of keys is found to cause much trouble. The noise of desk-lids may be diminished by nailing list under the edges. Through the highest level of each desk a groove should be cut, forming a deposit for the slate, which, when thus placed, is always at hand, yet takes up little space, and is out of the way.

It remains to add some remarks upon SCHOOL APPARATUS. For many a generation, this was simply the book and the ferule. Wisdom has at length listened to Philosophy, and borrowed from her various other implements, which she now substitutes occasionally for both. Sensible objects, judiciously selected, and properly exhibited to the young student, are found to contribute wonderfully to his advancement in all good learning. In fact, books and lectures, without these means of illustration, are precept without example; theory without practice; uninteresting, hard to be understood, and soon forgotten. The ruinous practice of requiring the assent of children to abstract truths before they have been made acquainted with particular facts, is happily going into disuse. Children are now permitted, to some extent, to gather knowledge as men do. Let us encourage this reasonable revolution. Let children have opportunity to see, think, and judge for themselves, and their increased vigor of mind, and early force of character, will doubtless raise them, under judicious guidance, to the rank designed for them by their Creator. The world is full of apparatus ;-but the teacher, in times past, has been too slothful,

or too dogmatical, even to point to it. If unprovided with an artificial globe, he could not think even to buy an orange, and draw upon it with his pen an outline of the continents;-much less, besides this, to take off the rind, and illustrate the projection of maps. If the boy had to learn geographical definitions, he could not guess their meaning, or perhaps he entirely misapprehended it. The earth is spherical,' said the pupil, 'i. e. round,' said the master,-(if he said anything at all,)and the child readily assented, all the time understanding by this globe, a circular plane,—or, to mention the writer's own early experience, a hollow ball,-half filled with earth, upon the level surface of which, he himself was standing, while the shell above him formed the sky!

Infant schools, particularly, require much apparatus. The room should abound in specimens and pictures,-exhibiting the various trades of men, the costumes of nations, the habits of animals, and illustrating all the simpler laws of the uni

verse.

To proceed to schools of a higher grade, still keeping within the range of things practicable in what are called common schools, I shall conclude with mentioning the most essential articles :

1st. A Time-piece,-placed so as to be easily seen by the whole school. The advantage thus gained consists in the tendency to produce habits of punctuality and dispatch.

2d. Maps and Globes,-and in general, any other apparatus, provided it be simple and cheap, which helps to explain the great phenomena of the earth. Many valuable articles of this kind, designed for common schools, have been made under the direction of Mr Holbrook, and are for sale in this city.

3d. The Black-board.-One or more of these should be found in every school. For the facility it affords the teacher in making illustrations and in exhibiting the proficiency of pupils, this piece of school-furniture is almost invaluable. In some schools, it has been deemed so important as to form part of the wall, all round the room, Its uses are not confined to

arithmetic and algebra, but are important in geography, astronomy, grammar, translation, drawing, penmanship, and almost every

other branch.

4th. The Abacus, or Numeral Frame.-This 'consists of a square frame, divided by ten strong wires, each of which passes through ten painted wooden balls, easily moveable from one end to the other.' This instrument is highly useful in illustrating the various combinations of numbers. Its use is, nevertheless, found injurious, if continued beyond a certain period, and should be occasionally dispensed with, from the first.

It is not my business to speak of all the conveniences desirable in schools conducted in peculiar modes. Infant schools, and monitorial instruction, require their appropriate apparatus ; and are topics so extensive, as justly, in the opinion of our Committee, to demand a distinct consideration. Neither is it within the limits of this lecture to mention all the apparatus proper for schools of the highest grade. It is not our colleges, so much as the common schools of our country, that claim the earliest care of this association. I feel justified, therefore, in having solicited your undivided attention, for the present, to this latter and far wider field. Beyond this I shall go no farther than to call your attention to the optical instruments manufactured by Pike, of New York; the air-pumps, by Mason of Philadelphia, and to the originality and surprising simplicity exhibited in the pneumatic apparatus and steam engine, made by Messrs Codman and Claxton of this city.

In laying these suggestions before the association, I feel much diffidence, when I consider that many who have heard them, are quite as familiar with the subject as myself. Yet I offer no apology,-feeling assured that Science will not frown on the humblest attempt to enlarge and beautify her temples,

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

AMERICAN INSTITUTE

OF

INSTRUCTION.

PREAMBLE.

WE, whose names are hereunto subjoined, pledging our zealous efforts to promote the cause of popular education, agree to adopt the following Constitution, and to obey the By-Laws made in conformity thereto.

ART. I.-NAME AND OBJECT.

THE Society shall be known by the title of the AMERICAN INstitute of InstrUCTION. Its object shall be the diffusion of useful knowledge in regard to education.

ART. II.-MEMBERS.

1. Any gentleman of good moral character, interested in the subject of Education, may become a member of this Institute, by signing this Constitution, and paying, at the time of his admission, a fee of one dollar.

2. An annual assessment of one dollar, shall be laid upon each member; by neglecting to pay which, for more than one year after due notice from the Treasurer, he shall cease to be a member of the Society.

3. Any gentleman, by paying at one time the sum of twenty dollars, shall become a member of the Institute for life, and be exempted from all future assessments.

4. Honorary members may be elected by the Institute, at the recommendation of two thirds of the Directors present at any stated meeting of that Board.

5. For dishonorable or immoral conduct, a member may be dismissed from the society, by a vote of two thirds of the mem bers present, at any regular meeting.

6. Ladies, engaged in the business of instruction, shall be invited to hear the annual address, lectures, and reports of committees on subjects of Education.

ART. III.-MEETINGS.

1. The annual meeting of the Institute shall be held at Boston, on the Thursday next preceding the last Wednesday in August, at such place and hour as the Board of Directors shall order. 2. Special meetings may be called by the Directors.

3. Due notice of the meetings of the Society shall be given in the public journals.

ART. IV. OFFICERS.

1. The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice Presidents, a Recording Secretary, two Corresponding Secretaries, a Treasurer, three Curators, three Censors, and twelve Counsellors, who shall constitute a Board of Directors.

2. The officers shall be elected annually, in August, by ballot.

ART. V.-DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

1. The President, or, in his absence, one of the Vice Presidents, or, in their absence, a President pro tempore, shall preside at the meetings of the Institute.

2. The Recording Secretary shall notify all meetings of the Society, and of the Board of Directors; and he shall keep a record of their transactions.

3. The Corresponding Secretaries, subject to the order of the Board of Directors, shall be the organs of communication with other Societies, and with individuals.