committee of the school where such extension is proposed. This, however, does not seem to be a step in advance, as the effect was to tie up the hands of the board, whereas, previously, the board had been free to extend sewing into the upper classes without such limitation. In 1877 the standing committee report that the total number of articles made in all the schools during the year amounted to 72,721, and remarked: "But only those who have inspected the work shown at the various exhibitions of sewing can appreciate fully how much reason we have to be pleased with the results accomplished in this direction. The neatlyset stitches, the nice and exact finishing, and the variety in the kinds of work done bear testimony both to the faithfulness of the teachers and to the attention and interest of the pupils." It is a curious fact that the number of articles made each year since has varied but slightly from the figures above stated. It appears from the latest report (September, 1883) of the standing committee on this branch that the work accomplished not only furnished satisfactory materials for the annual exbibitions at the various schools, but that it is also thoroughly appreciated in the homes of the children, where the practical value of such instruction to girls of all classes is often very obvious and its assistance to the many to whom needlework affords a livelihood is inestimable. It appears that the exhibitions have lost none of their attractions by repetition; on the contrary, interest in them increases from year to year; more persons visit them and much satisfaction is expressed by the parents and friends of the pupils and visitors generally with the results there presented for public inspection.

Interesting proofs of the practical value of this industrial training are abundant. By the skill of the needle thus obtained, young girls fresh from school are enabled to find steady and remunerative employment. Many, while yet in school, are rendered capable of keeping their own garments and those of younger sisters and brothers in good repair, where before there had been rents and rags.

Many graduates of the schools, now occupying advantageous positions, attribute their skill in fine needlework entirely to the teaching received at school.

The progress realized during the last eight years may be summed up in two items: (1) The removal of the restrictions of this branch to the six lower divisions, which had kept it out of a few divisions in the larger schools; (2) an improvement in the average quality of the work. It is discouraging to be obliged to report that so little ground has been gained in carrying needlework into the three upper classes, only one school added during the last ten years, the number standing three at the present time. If, therefore, during these thirty years of effort and experiment a good work has been accomplished, much still remains to be done. The number of sewing teachers employed is twenty-seven, the salary varying with the number of divisions taught: for the first division, $108; for over eleven divisions, $744.

The following account of the order of instruction and practical management in the school where it was first carried up through all the classes will be, it is believed, especially valued by those who are interested in propagating this branch of education.

Instruction in sewing for the last ten years has been given throughout the Winthrop School by a teacher employed for that purpose, who devotes the same time as the other teachers and receives similar compensation.

The divisions of the sixth, fifth, and fourth classes have two lessons of an hour each per week; the third and second, one lesson of an hour. The girls of the first class are taught to "cut and fit" by measurement and draughting.

The material is brought from the homes; the work is prepared by the teacher and is kept at the school in a large work basket (one being supplied for each class). When completed it is examined by the regular teacher of the class, and, if satisfactorily done, is given to the child to take home. If from any cause a scholar is without the proper material, it is furnished from a supply procured from a charitable society; but in such cases the garment is not given to the maker, but is returned to the society. With this rule there is no difficulty in procuring material without expense to the city, except some thread, needles, and thimbles for emergencies. Cases frequently occur where very poor children save their pennies and thus procure the needed work.

The following is the order of instruction:

Back stitching, hemming, top-sewing, overcasting, running, felling, gathering, stroking gathers, hemming on gathers, button holes, sewing on buttons, mending, daruing, basting, flannel stitch, herring bone stitch, feather stitch, cutting.

As it is desirable that the instruction shall be such as to accomplish the most good, not only to the children, but also in the homes whence they come, the pupils are encouraged to bring garments and other large pieces that can be utilized in the family, thus relieving the mothers from many weary hours of night work and at the same time giving opportunity for the best quality of instruction.1

The present regulations for the department of sewing in the public schools are as follows:

(1) Two hours a week, as appointed by the regulations of the school committee, shall be given to each scholar of the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes of the grammar schools, one hour at a time, for instruction in sewing. This time should not be shortened for other studies or examinations, or any other purposes, without the consent of the committee on sewing especially obtained.

(2) Each scholar shall be requested to bring work from home prepared as far as possible. But in any case where it is not so provided the sewing teacher will be expected to have work on hand, that there may be no excuse for an unoccupied hour and that time may not be wasted in sending home for work.

(3) A sufficient supply of needles, thread, and thimbles shall be kept on hand by the sewing teacher to furnish to any child who is without them, from carelessness or inability to supply them, or who has not the proper needle or thread for her work. (4) The sewing teacher is requested to make all preparation and fitting of work out

'From information furnished by Mr. Robert Swan, master.

of school, that she may give the whole of the hour to the oversight of the work. Any fitting that requires time should be laid aside, to be attended to out of the hour, and other work supplied in its place.

(5) Every effort should be made to vary the instruction, that every girl may learn thoroughly the varieties of work. If she has learned one kind of work, the sewing teacher is requested to furnish her with some other variety of work, that she may be made efficient in all kinds of work. In this way patchwork should be discouraged after a scholar has learned thoroughly what can be learned from it. Every effort should be made for promotion in work from plain sewing, through the darning of stockings, to nice.stitching and button holes, from the simpler to the more difficult, in order to give an interest and desire for perfection in such work. It is a good plan to keep pieces of cloth for practice in making button holes, stitching, or any other special work which can be given wherever there is want of work, or if other work has been completed in the course of the hour, or to carry out the idea of promotion.

(6) The sewing teacher may find assistance from any charitable society with which she is connected which would willingly furnish garments prepared and fitted, to be returned to the society when completed; or she can suggest to any scholar who has not provided material for her work that she may show to her mother the garment she has finished at school and offer it to her for the price of the material. Many a mother would like to buy such a garment for its use or for a specimen of work, if it is well done.

(7) The regular teacher of the class is expected to take entire charge of the discipline of the class, as she is more thoroughly acquainted with her scholars; also, to see that the work is distributed promptly at the beginning of the hour, either by herself or through monitors, and to assist in keeping each scholar diligently occupied through the sewing hour. It is recommended that she should give credits or marks for efficiency or inefficiency in sewing, in the same manner and according to the methods pursued in other lessons in her class.

In the mixed schools, when girls are taken from one or more classes to form one division, the boys of these classes can be put under one teacher, while the other takes charge of the class in sewing, and these teachers can alternate in their duties.

In presenting thus fully the main facts relating to the progress and development of sewing in the only one of our cities where it has been generally and thoroughly taught in the public schools, it is intended to emphasize the importance and utility of this branch of elementary instruction, which is so strangely ignored in the current pleas for a practical education, while at the same time making more easily accessible such information on the subject as may be desired by those who may engage in its investigation.

But we must go to foreign countries if we would learn the true place and the utility of needlework as an element in female education. If we go to Berlin, or Vienna, or Paris, we shall find that every girl in the elementary public school is systematically taught sewing, not in a part of the classes but in every class. From these great capitals down through all grades of municipalities to the humblest village on the continent of Europe, where girls are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, as a rule they are taught sewing equally well. In the noble high schools for girls, which I visited ten years ago in Hanover and Berlin, the girls were required to give to needlework four hours a week; and at the fine normal school for girls, installed in an ancient palace in the beautiful capital of Hungary, there was a plentiful supply of American 10153-No. 1-7

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sewing machines and the directors showed the handwork of the pupils with no little pride.

It is safe to say that all the graduates of the female seminaries in all German-speaking countries are perfectly able to do their own sewing, knitting, embroidery, &c., and to successfully conduct a class in these branches.-(C. H. Pluggé, in Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1879, p. cexiv.)

An interesting feature of the girls' schools (Paris) is the manner in which the various branches of the art of the seamstress are taught. Two and three hours a week are devoted to progressive exercises in sewing through the course of three years. In the superior course the girls are obliged every Thursday to follow a regular course of instruction, given by special mistresses, in cutting and fitting. Each lesson is for three hours. The girls are very bright at these exercises. One is called out to measure another, as for a dress; she gives the proper numbers to a third, who writes them on a slate or blackboard. A fourth glances at these figures and immediately begins to cut a pattern. A fifth girl then takes the pattern and fits it to the person for whom it was intended. The rapidity of the action and the accuracy of the result are quite interesting to witness. There can be no hesitation in speaking of this branch of education for girls of every station in every community with the highest commendation.—(From the very valuable official report on education, as United States commissioner at the Universal Exposition at Paris, 1878, by General Joshua L. Chamberlain, ex-president of Bowdoin College.)

By "superior course" in the above extract is meant the upper third of the elementary school program. The instruction in cutting and fitting was given in this course on the weekly holiday, Thursday. The expense was at first defrayed by contributions from friends of the schools. So great was the favor with which this instruction was received that children were allowed to remain another year in school in order to secure the advantage of it.

The success of this experiment in advanced needlework was such that the administration organized central classes for giving this instruction in each of the twenty arrondissements of the city, where on each Thursday, either in the morning or the afternoon, girls belonging to the superior course could receive a weekly lesson of three hours. The instruction is at once theoretical and practical; the rules upon which it rests are illustrated upon the blackboard. The measures for the cutting of the garment and the arrangements for the fitting are the object of a mathematical diagram or a demonstrative explication. The pupil proceeds to the execution of the work only after the preparation has been reasoned out and understood. These central classes were established in 1878, and the director of the city schools, in his report of that date, expresses the opinion that it will be necessary to establish a class for this advanced work in each school.

The public school system of Great Britain, which has made such rapid strides since its establishment (1870), has followed the example of the Continent in respect to this branch, Professor Huxley setting the example in placing "plain needlework and cutting out" on the list of essential subjects for girls' schools in his scheme for studies submitted to the London school board.

The most important practical conclusions on this subject arrived at by the writer are formulated in the following propositions:

(1) No girl can be properly educated who cannot sew. It would be a waste of time to demonstrate the importance of this part of a girl's education.

(2) If this education were left to the homes it would be imperfect or wholly neglected, especially in the homes where it would be of the greatest practical utility.

(3) That sewing should be an obligatory branch of instruction in all elementary public schools where girls are taught is both desirable and practicable.

(4) The instruction should begin with girls when about eight years of age and continue throughout the elementary course, from one to three hours a week being given to the lessons.

(5) The course of instruction should be graded, beginning with plain sewing and mending and advancing to cutting and fitting.

(6) The regular teachers might give the instruction in the lower grades, the employment of special teachers being limited to the upper classes.

(7) Ability to teach sewing ought to be reckoned among the essential qualifications of a teacher of girls in the lower classes of elementary schools.

(8) In large cities regional classes should be established, after the plan in Paris, for instructing in advanced needlework girls who have graduated from the elementary schools and others qualified for admission.

(9) In cities of the first magnitude, and perhaps those of the second also, the system of instruction in sewing should culminate in a central school for teaching the most advanced stages of practical needlework, including dressmaking and millinery.

GYMNASTICS.

Within the last twenty or twenty-five years the physical exercises commonly called free gymnastics have been introduced into a great number of city schools. By free gymnastics is meant such exercise of the muscles of the limbs and trunk as is practicable without the aid of any apparatus whatever. These exercises are taken by pupils either in their seats or in a standing posture; and marching, which may be regarded as an exercise in free gymnastics, is much practised. To a certain extent simple apparatus, such as wands and dumbbells, mostly of wood, are used. In some cities use has been made more or less extensively of a system of vocal gymnastics. This system comprises the special exercise, development, and training of the muscles employed in respiration and the production of vocal sounds. It aims particularly to promote expansion of the chest and the habit of fully inflating the lungs in breathing. All these physical exercises are good in theory and good