378 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
che piano. Dr. Stanton Coit, now in London, told the writer that he had 
dancing parties, in which he showed young men how to dance properly 
and how to escort their young lady friends like gentlemen. If we want to 
keep our children out of the street, new and attractive avenues must be 
opened to them. The same room may be used for another class of 
children, having the work-tables hinged upon the walls. Success or non- 
success depends on making the hours of work attractive. No doubt the 
State normal schools will train their teachers in this twofold capacity. As 
regards method, the material to be chosen, the workmanship desired, and 
:he curriculum of art culture, America will judge for herself. Professor 
Hirschfelder, of the University of Leipzig, said : 
‘« Instruction in manual dexterity is a very praiseworthy means of culti- 
vation of the senses as the tools of the mind. It completes that part of 
instruction by which the development of those parts of the brain which 
serve for the higher mental faculties are excited, while, by methodical 
sxercise in the elaboration of the impressions of the senses, it reacts in 
favor of a harmonious cultivation of the mind. 
i“ Instruction in manual dexterity promotes sound bodily development 
when a suitable choice of work is made. It serves as a counterpoise to 
she influence of study-work, which is connected with mental strain and 
continuous sitting, while by the activity of the senses and nerves it has a 
liverting and unburdening effect; and, at the same time, excites the ac- 
tivity of the muscles as a lighter form of gymnastics, which certainly does 
not make athletics superfluous, but supplements them in a desirable way.” 
Not less vital changes should meet our present teaching of natural 
history, of object lessons, and horticulture. Based on the child’s known 
experimental activities, the material used and handled by it should serve 
the teacher to guide the child to the desired information, partly given by 
his class instruction, but mostly gained by the child’s own investigation 
and comparison of the products of nature, —their uses, how manufact- 
ared, and their final sale and consumption. The whole knowledge gained 
should be brought forth in individual discussion, well spoken, criticised, 
and in writing. Hence, to accomplish this, a corresponding building 
must be erected, of which I presented a well-received plan to President 
Garfield, when trusting his three children to the effect of the New Edu- 
cation at Washington, D. C., 1872. 
The building and annex to our State normal schools, or university, 
should be of a round structure, sixty feet in diameter, divided through 
“he center into four parts ; two quarters of this division, on the sunny side, 
should serve for the school garden in practical and theoretical instruction, 
also in botany, analysis of soil, grafting, destruction of insects, etc.; one 
quarter being used for gymnastic exercises and games, thus enabling 
teachers, as in the German Handfertigkeitsverein, to play out-door games 
and the graceful Greek ball games with the children ; while the last fourth