From Absurd to Beautiful Books. *

Dictionary, copyrighted in 1891, eighty-five years later. I present herewith photographs of the two dictionaries. The contrast is much greater in the books than appears in the picture, but it is sufficient here, showing as it does the growth of the dictionary in eighty-five years. . There has been no greater advance in the United States in 100, in fifty, or in twentv vears than in the schools.' , , There has been no greater improvement in the schools than in the text-books. Educational progress, in inception as well as in evolution, has been almost exclusively through educators, and almost never from outside. The change in school books in seventy years is as great as in any phase of American life. The automobile is no higher above the chaise of that day than is the geography above that of those times. The modern sewer system is no greater improvement over that of 1840 than the examples and problems are better than in those days. The electric light is no farther removed from the tallowdip than the best primers of to-day are from those of seventy years ago. THE HORRORS OF THE OLD ARITH;\IETIC. In arithrnetics, up to within seventy years, the problems were such as would not be tolerated today. Here are some taken at random from some oldarithrnetics, mostly in my own library, many of them in general use as late as the forties:Examples on lotteries are common. If 9 cats have killed 18 birds, how many. has each killed? If a cat divides 4 birds between 2 kittens, how manv will each kitten have? There are very many problems of cats killing birds! A skunk went into a barn, where he found 3 nests; one had 7 eggs, another 8, and another 3; from each nest he 'ate 2 eggs. How many did the skunk eat? It is an exceptional page that does not have problems on beer, ale, wine, rum, gin, or brandy. Every child had to learn the table of' "wine measure," also of "ale and beer measure." No other commoditl" was in such universal use in arithmetics as in oxicating liquors. But the worst eature of the arithmetics was the love of bloody i· cidents. There was a gruesome fondness for ghastliness with the school book makers. An arithmetic first issued in 1831 and in use long after has most of these problems:One hundred and nineteen persons died from drunkenness in New-York, and 137 in Philadelphia. How many in both? A man had 7 children; 2 of them were killed bv the fall of a tree. How man v had he left? . Threescore and ten kings had their thumbs and their great toes cut off and gathered under the table of Adonibezek. How manv thumbs and toes , were under Adonibezek's table?' A person was 17 years of age 29 years since, and suppose he will be drowned 23 years hence; pray, in what year of his age will this happen? A human body, if baked until all the moisture is evaporated, is reduced in weight .as 1 to 10. A