directed, that they may become still more familiar to his mind In communicating to children the names of the various objects of nature and art, all improper pronunciations and diminutives ought to be avoided-such as doggie, cattie, horsie, chairie, instead of dog, cat, horse, chair. It should be considered as an important rule in infant education--that a child should never be taught any pronunciation, or any sentiment, opinion, or idea whatever, which he will afterwards be obliged to unlearn. Were this rule universally attended to, in connection with the hints now suggested, the path to knowledge would be rendered smooth and easyevery day would increase the ideas which tend to enlarge the capacity of the infant mind-the way for regular scholastic instruction would be thoroughly prepared-as the youth advanced towards manhood, his knowledge and perceptions, if properly directed, would increase with his growing years-and, as no limits can be affixed to the expansion of the human mind, he may go on to increase his perceptions and intellectual enjoyments to an indefinite extent, not only during the fleeting periods of time, but throughout the ages of eternity. But, in the present state of infant-training, a very considerable portion of our scholastic in. structions must consist in counteracting the impressions which have been previously received.

After various objects of nature and art have been presented to the view of a child, in conjunction with the names by which they are distinguished-their qualities should next be pointed out and illustrated. Objects are either animated or inanimated, vegetable or mineral, hot or cold, rough or smooth, hard or soft-black, blue, green, yellow or white-round, oval, square, triangularhigh, low, long or short, &c. Several properties such as these can easily be illustrated to children by familiar examples. To convey an idea to a child that fire is hot, he may be presented with a piece of iron, and caused to feel it; it may then be put into the fire till it become just as hot as a person may touch it without danger, and then desire the child to put his finger upon it, which will convince him of the nature of that property which resides in the fire-the epithet cold being applied in the first case, and hot, in the last. To illustrate the ideas of roughness and smoothness, he may be made to press his hand along an unhewn stone, and the top of a mahogany table. Seven small boards or pieces of card paper, painted with the seven primary colours of light, red, orange yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet-occa sionally exhibited for his amusement, in connection with these terms, would soon teach him to distinguish the prominent colours of natural and artificial objects; and, when he is led into the fields

and gardens, he should be induced to apply his knowledge of colours by naming the prominent colour of every flower or shru that may be presented to him. The qualities hard and soft may be illustrated by making him press his finger upon a stone or a bar of iron, and upon a piece of clay or a lump of dough. The property of light in enabling us to discover the forms and colours of objects may be shown, by closing the window-shutters, or putting out a candle under night, and then desiring him to name the objects and colours he perceives;-and the correspondence of the organ of vision to the rays of light may be impressed upon his mind by blindfolding him for a minute or two,-and accompanying such exhibitions with appropriate remarks level to his comprehension. The figures of objects may be represented by pieces of wood or pasteboard cut into the shapes of squares, parallelograms, triangles, trapeziums, circles, ellipses or ovals, and other mathematical figures, which would gradually impress the names and characteristics of such figures upon his mind, and tend to facilitate his progress in the scholastic instructions that may be afterwards imparted. His idea of length, measure, or distance, may be rendered somewhat definite, by presenting to him pieces of wood of the length of an inch, a foot, a yard, and a pole, and causing him to notice how many lengths of the one is contained in that of the other; and the idea of the specific gravities of bodies may be impressed, by causing him to lift a weight of brass or cast iron, and another, of nearly the same size and shape, made of light wood. The sonorous qualities of bodies may be exhibited by making him strike a small hand-bell with a key or a piece of thick wire, and immediately afterwards, an egg-cup, or any small dish made of hard wood. The various odoriferous smells connected with the vegetable kingdom may be communicated by presenting to his nostrils, in succession, a rose, a bunch of thyme, of balm, of peppermint and of southernwood. Such experiments and illustrations of the qualities of bodies may be varied and multiplied to an indefinite extent; and as they form the foundation of all knowledge, and may be rendered subservient to the child's amusement, they ought not to be considered as unworthy of our attention.

Many useful ideas might likewise be communicated to infants by means of engravings; especially in relation to objects which cannot be directly presented to their view. Foreign animals, such as the elephant, the lion, the buffalo, the camelopard, the monkey, the dromedary and camel, may be in this way exhibited -and also domestic animals, as the cow, the norse, the ass, the dog, &c. as children feel a considerable degree of pleasure in

being able to trace the resemblance between pictures and the ob jects they have seen, when accurately represented in engravings. Foreign scenes, as towns, churches, bridges, mausoleums, triumphal arches, rural landscapes, mountains, volcanoes, cataracts, lakes and other objects, when accurately delineated, may likewise tend to expand the conceptions of children, and give them an idea of objects which their own country does not exhibit. Various objects of art, as ships, boats, windmills, towers, spires, lighthouses, coaches, wagons, smiths' anvils, forges and hammers, weavers' looms, &c. may also be thus exhibited. One of the most pleasing and useful modes of exhibiting real objects by means of pictures, is that of viewing perspective prints of streets, towns, villages and rural landscapes, by means of the optical diagonal machine; of which 1 shall, in the sequel, give a short description. In exhibiting objects to a child through the medium of engravings, it may be proper, in the first instance, to present to him only one object, well-defined and disconnected with every adventitious circumstance, as a man, a horse, a mountain, or a tree, so that he may acquire a correct and well-defined idea of the particular object exhibited. Afterwards, a landscape in which these and other objects are embodied may be laid before him, and he may be desired to point out the individual objects of which it is composed, when their names are mentioned. It is almost needless to remark, that the pictures contained in most of our nursery and toy-books, are altogether unfitted for the exhibitions to which I allude. They are generally mere caricatures, and are little short of an insult to the young, both as to the objects they most frequently represent, and the manner in which they are represented. Engravings, calculated to convey instruction, should be on a moderately large scale-every part of the object represented should be accurately delineated-no objects should be placed in awkward or unnatural positions-and they should, in most cases, be coloured after nature, care being taken that they be not daubed with fantastic or too glaring colours—a fault which attaches to most of our pictures intended for children. A series of engravings exhibiting all the prominent scenery and objects of nature and art, on a cheap plan, and properly classified and arranged for the purpose now specified, is still a desideratum.

While writing the above hints, I had an opportunity of trying the experiments now suggested, on a fine little boy, a friend of my own, about two years old. Little Tom was first presented with the plates of a book of Natural History, and desired to name the lion, the elephant, the camel, and about twenty or thirty other animals when their figures were pointed out, which he did with

out the least hesitation. The plates were then put into his hand, and he was desired to turn up any particular animal when its name was mentioned, which he accomplished with considerable facility. A sheet, containing about sixty engravings of birds, quadrupeds, and fishes, where the different kinds of animals were grouped without any order-was next laid before him, when he was requested to point out a particular animal, when its name was given, which he also did, in almost every instance, after casting his eye up and down, and across the engraving, and, when he had hit on the object, he pointed to it with exultation, saying, "There's the lion-there's the goat-there's the dromedary," &c. The figure of a compound microscope was next exhibited, which he readily named; and several hours afterwards, a microscope of the same construction as represented in the engraving, was placed before him, which he immediately recognized and named, and then turned up the engraving where its figure was delineated, marking the resemblance between the one and the other. The same experiments were made with a terrestrial globe, an orrery, a telescope, a clock, a watch, and various other objects. He was next desired to point to several articles in the apartment-the table, a chair, the tongs, the shovel, the poker, a map, a portrait of a friend whom he knew, and other objects, which he at once recognized and distinguished. Several engravings of landscapes were then presented to his inspection, when he was requested to point out the men, women, trees, ships, houses, &c. of which they were composed; which he did with pleasure, and without hesitation, pointing his little fingers to different parts of the scene, and saying, "There's a dog-there's a man-there's a housethere's a tree," &c. I next led him into the garden, and placed him in a proper situation for viewing the surrounding objects. I first asked him to point to a windmill-there being one, and only one in view. He looked around for a few seconds, and, after fixing his eyes on the object, and pointing with his finger, exclaimed with pleasure, "There's windmill"-and, looking at it with steadiness for a few seconds, said with a kind of surprise, "No going round;" which was actually the case, as there was no wind. He was next desired to point out a flower, a tree, a cow, a ship, and other objects, which he at once distinguished with the same facility.

The desire of this little boy for the exhibition of new objects, especially as represented by pictures, was almost voracious. After spending several hours in succession, in exhibiting to him several hundreds of plates of different encyclopedias, and books of travels he was still unsatisfied, called for more books, and seemed to for

get both hunger and sleep. He recollected, with considerable accuracy, the prominent objects that had been presented before him in these engravings; and, therefore, when a volume containing plates, which he had already seen, was again presented, he pushed it away, and requested another. Every morning, as soon as he was dressed, his first request was, " See more picturesyou please;" and, leading me into the room where the books were kept, pointed to the particular volumes he wished to inspect. Even his cravings for breakfast seemed to be forgotten, amidst the delight with which he contemplated new exhibitions of nature and art. The varieties of animated nature seemed to afford him the greatest degree of pleasure; but every striking and well-defined object, of whatever description, which he had never seen before, particularly arrested his attention. The exhibition of perspective views, through the optical diagonal machine, where the objects appear nearly as they do in nature, afforded him a high degree of gratification, while he described, in his own way, the different parts of the scene.-These circumstances evidently demonstrate the innate principle of curiosity, or desire for knowledge, implanted in the infant mind, which only requires to be judiciously regulated, and a series of interesting objects exhibited, in order to raise the human soul to the highest pitch of intellectual improvement. They also indicate the vast capacity of the mind for receiving an indefinite variety of ideas-the pleasure associated with their acquisition-and the boundless desires after new and varied scenes and enjoyments, which evidently point to a higher state of existence, where they will be fully gratified.

In stating the above circumstances-which to some readers may perhaps appear trifling-my intention is not to insinuate that the child alluded to is superior to others of the same age. Every child, whose physical and mental powers are in a sound state, is capable of making the same acquisitions, and feeling the same enjoyments; provided due care be taken to direct the principle of curiosity into a proper channel, and to supply it with proper objects. Some children, in consequence of their physical organization, may have more vigour of intellect than others; they may feel highly gratified with some objects and pursuits, and indifferent towards others; but they have all, substantially, the same faculties, and the same desire for the acquisition of knowledge, in one shape or another, when its objects are presented, in an interesting manner, to their view.-Such exhibitions as I have now described ought not to be viewed as mere amusements. While they gratify the mind of a child, and increase his enjoyments, they also embody a train of useful instructions, which lay the foundation of