E.—le

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operation till a certain mechanical knack is acquired; whereas in the other case the pupil will at each stage have, as it were, a new problem set him, the solution of which exercises the intelligence and requires forethought and concentration of mind. Ido not at all mean to contrast these two methods of manual training as good and bad respectively. It is conceivable, for instance, that in trade-schools, if such were established, designed as a substitute or partial substitute for an apprenticeship, the former method might be the proper one, but it is entirely out of place in an elementary school. To distinguish these two kinds of manual training it may be convenient to use the term "sloyd," which has no previous connotation in English, to denote that form of manual training in which the educational rather than the technical aim is predominant. In this sense the term "sloyd" will be simply a convenient shorthand expression for educational manual training, and I propose so to use it. We may thus apply the term not only to that system of working in wood which is distinctively known as " sloyd," but to any system of exercises in any material (wood, iron, cardboard, or clay) which can be clearly shown to be educational in its objects and methods. As to the various ordered collections of models and exercises commonly called "systems" or "series," I would deprecate the blindfold adoption or transplanting of any one of them. The circumstances of the school are to be considered. Moreover, as one of the great functions of sloyd is to develop individuality in the pupils, there must be a corresponding individuality on the part of the teacher. He will accomplish better results with a system which he has worked out for himself, and which he thoroughly believes in, than if he were blindly to adopt the best of all possible systems. On the other hand, of course, it would be mere foolishness to refuse to profit where possible by the experience of others. Let us turn now to the exercises commonly practised in schools under the name of kindergarten occupations. An ardent Froebelian would perhaps say that there is very little of the kindergarten about them, and would doubtless contend for the system and nothing but the system. But the elementary school must take its goods where it finds them, and experience clearly shows that these exercises can be so arranged and conducted in ordinary schools as not merely to afford a welcome relief from other school studies, but to be in themselves a valuable means of education. The general public, I am afraid, and occasionally teachers as well, are apt to regard these occupations as mere amusements, which may be conducted anyhow, and which serve their purpose if they keep the children out of mischief. As a matter of fact, they are, if properly made use of, identical in purpose and effect with the sloyd occupations already referred to, and may be included under the wider designation. They differ only in the greater simplicity of the exercises, in employing a less obstinate material, and in being less susceptible of accuracy and finish. But the educational reasons which justify the introduction of either into schools are precisely the same, and the educational advantages to be reaped from them are the same in kind. Sloyd, as Herr Salomon has expressly recognised, is the application of certain kindergarten principles to the work of the juvenile school; and it would be interesting, were this the place, to trace back step by step the present form of sloyd instruction in Sweden to its origin in the work of Froebel. It may perhaps serve to give greater concreteness to what I have to say if I now proceed to enumerate a few of the various occupations which I have in view, stating at the same time the stage of school-life to which they seem to be appropriate. I. There are, first of all, the various kindergarten occupations suitable in various degrees for infant departments or for children under eight. They comprise such operations as the use of the gifts, stick-laying, pea-work, paper-folding and cutting, mat-weaving, basketwork, kindergarten drawing, colouring, and brushwork. It is obvious that some of these are more difficult than others, and are in consequence suitable for different ages ; that some of them in themselves admit of a certain amount of gradation; and that there is such a variety of them as to make it unnecessary to repeat the same exercise in successive years, or, indeed, to continue it for a moment after the interest of the children begins to flag. Of these various exercises each infant-school will naturally make its own selection, but in each the exercises selected should be so arranged that there is something like orderly progress from the simpler to the more difficult, while at the same time care is taken to secure clue relief and variety. 11. Clay-modelling. This occupation affords exercises of a very wide range. It may be used in rude fashion in comparatively young classes in the infant-school, particularly as a sequel to object-lessons, and it is at the same time capable of delicate and refined manipulations such as will make sufficient demand on the capacities of even the most advanced scholars. In the schools of Paris, for example, it is an exercise for the highest classes. On the whole, it is probably in Standards 1., 11., and occasionally 111., that this occupation can be best turned to account. 111. Cardboard-work, which is capable of, or, rather, demands, the utmost exactness, and yet is within the capacity of the average child in 111., IV., and V. This exercise has a special interest for children on account of the usefulness of many of the articles made, and is also most helpful in the teaching of drawing. IV. Woodwork. This, as admitting of the greatest variety of form and manipulation, and also of the utmost exactness, is probably the sloyd occupation par excellence. It is best calculated to secure the immediate result—viz., development of general dexterity of hand—and at the same time affords ample field for the exercise of the special sloyd discipline. It is specially suitable for the highest classes. V. Ironwork, with or without the forge, might be an alternative for the oldest pupils, and I have no doubt that other suitable sloyd occupations exist, or may be invented. All these, if suitably graduated and properly taught, may be regarded as sloyd occupations, employing the word in the wider sense which I have endeavoured to give it. In the above list I have made no mention of a very important subject—viz., drawing—-which is essentially a sloyd occupation. It develops dexterity of hand in a certain direction, and may at