I awaited the commencement of what I had often termed hostilities; but as the routine of examination progressed I found that I was greatly mistaken in the appellation I had given it, and in reality I felt much better mentally than I had since the adoption of the County Superintendency. Orthography, Reading, Arithmetic, and Geography followed in succession, and judging from observation, the candidates for teachers made some splendid charges into their columns, gaining an almost complete victory on our side. Grammar was torn in pieces, word by word, and sentence by sentence. The fortifications and buildings of Arithmetic were literally overthrown, and their foundations moved at will. In Geography kingdoms and empires were seized with avidity and ease; nation's capitals commanded at will; and the seceded states taken, and bounded within the Union. There was nothing proposed that was not accomplished by the perseverance of the ambitious teachers.

A deficiency of teachers, however, seems to be manifest, not from a large percentage being found incompetent, but from the timidity of members who thought that the test in qualifications was more severe than they could bear, and that a failure to procure a certificate would be a great mortification. I have attended examinations in two counties, and from what I saw in regard to their efficiency and the manner of conducting them, I feel confident in saying that there is nothing serious to be dreaded; nothing demanded of teachers but that which every true teacher will acknowledge to be not only important but essential qualifications. I must confess that for weeks before the examination, my mind was filled with all sorts of Grammatical specters and Arithmetical giants, arranged in every variety of form to perplex the mind of the aspirant; but this was only a picture of imagination, which like many others from that source, was but deception. The visions of those hideous Mathematical monsters and Grammatical phantoms,

"That had of late so often filled my head,

Leaving work undone and prayers unsaid,
And had almost stopped my daily bread,"

were entirely banished, leaving me in the enjoyment of most salubrious mathematical weather.

Now, teachers, by all means encourage the new system; go to the annual examination in your vicinity, for by doing so you will afford the Superintendent a wider scope for selection; and each of you by a proper exertion on your part, will tend to elevate our depreciated standard of qualifications, thereby hastening the time when our common schools shall be the philanthropist's boast and the country's pride. We must rally around our exalted flag, bear it triumphantly on high; and although we cannot all be generals, wearing the brilliant epaulets of classical lit

erature, and the flaming swords of linguists; yet we can at least become thoroughly disciplined soldiers, in all respects fully capable of wielding the mighty weapon of popular education.

"O, rouse thee then! nor shun the glorious strife
Improve, extend, enjoy the hours of life;

Assert thy reason, animate thy heart,

And act through life's short scene the useful part."

Osceola, Wis.

THOS. W. KEYES.

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS.

The following Questions were those used in the last examination of Normal classes in this State. They may be regarded perhaps as approximating to the grade of questions that would be used in examinations for a Second Grade Certificate. Following the Questions, is a table of the results in the classes examined:

INTELLECTUAL ARITHMETIC.

(Write your solutions in full, as you would have them given by a class.)

1. How many cords of wood at $4 per cord must be given for 4 4-5 yards of cloth at $5 per yard?

2. If a pole 8 feet long cast a shadow of 12 feet at a certain time of day, how lohg must the pole be that will cast a shadow 32 feet at the same time of day?

3. What number is that whose exceeds its by 7?

4. A can perform a piece of work in 5 days, and B can do the same work in 8 days; in how many days can both perform the work laboring together?

5. 20 is 5-7 of how many times 2-3 of 9 ?

WRITTEN ARITHMETIC.

(Write your operations and reasons in full.)

1. Define Parts, Factors, Roots, Powers, Multiples and Divisors. 2. Find the difference (without reducing to inches,) between 39 rds,

3 yds. 2 ft. and 11 in., and 26 rds. 4 yds. and 8 in.

3. Between two places, situated on the same parallel, where a degree of longitude is 40 statute miles, the difference in time is 1 hour and 30 min., how far, in statute miles, are the places apart?

A

4. Two men start from the same corner of a square 10 acre field. goes around by the fence; B takes the diagonal to the opposite corner, and then turns to meet A by the fence. If they travel at the same rate, how far from the corner where B turns will they meet?

5. If 100 cubic inches of air weigh 31 grains, Troy, how many pounds of air, Avoirdupois, in a room 70 feet long, 40 feet wide and 20 feet high? ANALYSIS OF WORDS.

1. Define the following prefixes: anti, ante, col, dia, ex, il, preter, sub, trans, uni.

2. Define the following suffixes: ance, fy, less, ness, ing, ure, ize, ic,

ly, ory.

3. Define, giving the root, prefixes and suffixes, the following words : controverting, magnificent, prevaricate, internecine, substance.

1. What is Composition?

COMPOSITION.

2. Give five of the rules for the use of the Comma.

3. Contrast Wit and Humor.

4. Define Pleonasm and give an example of its use.

5. Define the following figures of speech and give examples: Metaphor, Hyperbole, Vision.

Make your paper in spelling, punctuation and the use of capitals a good specimen of composition.

GRAMMAR.

1. Analyze and parse the following sentence :

Be Thou, O God, exalted high.

2. Write a synopsis of the verb lie, (to recline) in the first person singular, through all the modes and tenses.

3. When should the subjunctive form, if I be, and if I were, be used, instead of if I am, and if I was?

4. Give the rule for the use of shall and will.

5. Write the principal parts of the following verbs: fly, flow, sit, throw, drink.

PHYSIOLOGY.

1. Say what you can of the structure of the ear.

2. Describe the arrangement of the bones and joints of the lower or fore-arm, showing how a rotary motion is obtained.

3. Physiologically speaking, what is it to "take cold?"

4. How are pupils most liable to take cold, while attending school? 5. From what causes is the health of the teacher most likely to suffer, and how may they be avoided?

GEOGRAPHY.

Name the five largest cities (in the order of their size,) in the United States, give their location, and tell to what they owe their importance.

2. Name the five States of the Union nearest the size of Wisconsin. 3. Which is farthest north, Paris or New York, and about how many degrees?

4. Name the five most populous counties in Wisconsin.

5. Draw a map of the Ohio River, locating the States on both sides. ALGEBRA.

3. On comparing two sums of money it is found that 2-5 of the first is $96 less than 3-4 of the second, and that 5-8 of the second is as much as 4-9 of the first. What are the sums?

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.

1. State what you know of the "Stamp Act."

2. Give an account of Braddock's Defeat.

3. Describe Penn's settlement of Pennsylvania.

4. Tell what you can of the "Missouri Compromise.”

5. When, where, and by whom were the first settlements in Wisconsin made?

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. What general fact can you state in regard to the great peninsulas of the Globe?

2, State the physical causes why rain seldom or never falls in some parts of Peru.

3. What are the three great physical divisions of the United States ? 4. About how much water evaporates from a square foot of the surface of bodies of water in the Temperate Zone, in a year?

5. State what you can of volcanes, and their supposed causes. [The following Questions are added both to fill the page, and more nearly complete the circle of subjects.]

GEOMETRY.

1. Prove that the sum of the squares of two lines drawn from the extremities of a chord to any point in a diameter parallel to it, is equal to the sum of the squares of the segments of the diameter.

2. If every two alternate sides of a heptagon be produced to meet, how many right angles will the sum of the salient angles, thus formed, be equal to ?

NORMAL

CLASSES.

SUMMARY OF AVERAGES.