it is the only vehicle for the conveyance of free thought to their cultivated but ignorant minds. It treads upon an avenue which tyrants dare not, cannot obstruct. Let us fill this vehicle with all that makes our country, our institutions, our history, grand and glorious. Let us have a new school of art, "an American school," which shall be as grand as our prairies, as free as our institutions, as progressive as our history. Let us but do our duty to and through art, and we shall send an earthquake wave under the propped up monarchies of Europe, which shall topple them into oblivion, that eternal prison house of the past.

There is dawn upon the horizon as well as darkness. The sad privation of Ruskin should be transposed. There is the dawning of a brighter day. I see it in the last great work of "the great Church." I behold it in some of the works of the American sculptors. I hear in the lovely psalm of the Quaker poet:

"And so the shadows fall apart,

And so the west winds play,
And all the windows of my heart
I open to the day."

G. B., ARCHITECT.

Superintendent's Department

OPINIONS, &C., FROM THE OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT.

(Continued from the January Number.)

Q. In the division or alteration of districts, can the Town Superintendent draw an order upon the Treasurer of the District whose territory has been diminished, in favor of the District formed by him?

A. He can not. The law provides that, when a new district is formed in whole or in part from one or more Districts possessed of a school-house, or entitled to other property, the Town Superintendent shall, at the time of forming such new district, ascertain and determine the proportion of the value of the school-house and other property justly due to such new District. Deducting from this amount the same proportion of any just debts due from the old District, the Town Superintendent must certify to the District Board of the old District the balance, as the amount justly due from it to the new District. Upon receipt of such certificate,

it is the duty of the District Board to assess and collect, by tax upon the taxable property of the District, the amount certified by the Town Superintendent, in the same manner as other District taxes are collected. As soon as collected, the money must be paid over to the new District.

Q. How must the money, collected and paid over as above, be used by the new District?

A. It must be used in building a school-house, and for no other purpose. The amount received on account of each individual tax-payer, ascertained by determining his proportion of the taxable property set into the new District, may be passed to his credit in abatement of any tax levied for building a school-house.

Q. If the amount received on account of any individual tax-payer exceed his proportion of the tax levied for the purpose of building a school house in the new District, can he draw the balance in money from the Treasury of the new District?

A. He can not. The money paid to the new District on his account can be used for no other purpose than for building a school-house.

Q. Has any person, set from one district into another already organized, any claim upon the district from which he was set, on account of his interest in the property in his former district?

A. He has not. It is presumed that interest acquired in the District to which he is attached will balance any loss of interest in property in the District from which he is removed.

Q. Does Section 54, School Code for 1859, or Section 54, Chapter 23, Revised Statutes, refer to apportionment made by State or Town Superintendent? A. Evidently to apportionment made by by Town Superintendent, as the State Superintendent apportions only to Towns and not to Districts.

J. L. PICKARD,

State Supt. Pub. Ins.

NOTICE.

As it is my purpose to visit, so far as possible, the several counties of the State, I hereby invite correspondence upon the subject with officers of County Teachers Associations. Address,

J. L. PICKARD, Madison, Wis.

y'

y the third, and

the fourth number; then from question -x=24.

x

Clearing of fractions, y-x2=24x. From another condition of the

3x2

y

y

3y1

x+y::7:3; which converted into an equation equals

+ =7x+7y.) Clearing of fractions and dividing by x+y,

3x2-3xy+3y=7xy. Transposing, 3x+3y=10ry; multiplying equation first (y-x2=24x) by 3, and subtracting the product from equation second (3x2+3y=10xy) 6x2=10xy-72r; dividing by 2x, 3x=5y-36,

x=

5y-36 3

; substituting this value of x for x in equation first, and clearing of fractions, 9y2-25y2+360y-1296=360y-2592; Transposing, 16y=1296. Then y'=81, y=9. From equation first x2+24x=81. Adding 144 to both members x2+24x+144=225. Extracting square

Solution of Problem No. 17.-Let x be the first number, xy the second, xy' the third, and xy3 the fourth. Then, by the question,, x+xy3: xy+ xy::7 3. Therefore, 3x+3xy=7xy+7xy'. Dividing by x, transposing and factoring, gives (y-3)(3y2+2y-1)=0; from which we find y=3. According to the problem, xy'-xy-24. Substituting in this equation, the value of y gives x=1. Hence the required numbers are readily found to be 1, 3, 9, and 27. L. CAMPBELL.

Problem No. 34.-A cone 3 feet in diameter at the base, 150 feet altitude; required the length of a rope 1 inch in diameter commencing at the base and coiled around so as to cover the entire surface of the cone. DARWIN Woodward.

Problem No. 35.--Required the greatest rectangle that can be cut from a semi-ellipse, the greater diameter of the ellipse being 10 inches, and the less 6 inches.

Problem No. 36.—The number of cubic feet in a certain globe added to the number of square feet in a circle of the same diameter is equal to 1000 diminished by twice the diameter of the globe. Required the diameter of the globe and the area of the circle.

ED. JOURNAL.—I send the following rule, found in Geometrical Progression in Adams' New, and other arithmetics, requesting an explanation of the reason of said rule: “When the first term, the ratio, and the number of terms are given to find the sum or amount of the series, raise the ratio to a power whose index is equal to the number of terms, from which subtract 1, divide the remainder by the ratio, less 1, and the quotient, multiplied by the first term, will be the answer." We know that the above rule will give the required result, but why? Why do we raise the ratio to a power whose index is equal to the number of terms? Why do we subtract 1? Why do we divide the remainder by the ratio, less 1? Why multiply by the first term? It is too common a practice to be satisfied with getting the pupil so that he can perform the examples by the rule, and leave the reason of the rule unexplained, when the reason is what is most wanted. W. R. PATCHIN.

[We are obliged to omit a number of problems and solutions on account of delay in obtaining the necessary cuts.-ED.]

Words are

MUSIC.-There is something very wonderful in music. wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do: it speaks straight to our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up; it puts noble feelings into us; it melts us to tears, we know not how; it is a language by itself, just as perfect in its way as words: just as divine, just as blessed.-Kingsley.

Editorial Miscellany.

PERSONAL-Having received an appointment to the office of "Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction," the undersigned has tendered to the Board of Editors his resignation of the position of Resident Editor of the Journal, and his connection with it will cease upon the selection of his successor. Until such selection, he will continue to exercise a general supervision over the publication of the Journal, and will employ competent persons to perform the necessary labor. All communications relating to the Journal may be addressed as heretofore, "Journal of Education, Madison, Wis.," and the private address of the undersigned will, until further notice, be "Madison," instead of "Palmyra," as hereto. fore. A. J. CRAIG.

MADISON, Jan. 10th, 1860.

BURLINGTON, Racine Co.-We learn from the Gazette that the Union School opened for the winter term on the 9th ult, with two hundred pupils, and more in prospect.

LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY.-The winter term of this excellent University com. menced on Thursday of the present week. We are informed that the University has never before opened with so large a number of students as the present Term. Parents! Appleton is the place to send your children.-Appleton Crescent.

DANA P. COLBURN.-In our last issue we noticed the sudden death of this gentleman, and we now quote the following brief notice of his career from the New Hampshire Journal of Education:

"Mr. Colburn was born in West Dedham, Mass, in 1824. At the public schools he was marked for his earnestness in study, and his fondness for mathematics. At the Normal School in Bridgewater he attracted the attention of the Principal, the late Mr. Tillinghast, and of Mr. Mann and Dr. Sears, by both of whom he was employed to instruct in the Teachers' Institutes of Maccachusetts. In 1855, when only thirty-one years of age, he was appointed principal of the R. I State Normal School, which, although a new institution, had already, under his management, taken a high rank, and attracted to itself many pupils from other States. He had prepared several text-books upon Arithmetic, all strikingly marked with the characteristics of his own felicitous method of instruction. His mind seemed to reach conclusions with the rapidity of intuition; and yet the reasoning process was always there, and he could trace it out, and lead the charmed and wondering pupil through it. And yet, he was not a mere mathematician. Hearing him in