IN the gradual evolution of elementary courses of study the subject of geography has found a place befitting its present-day importance; and there has come to be a fairly general agreement as to what constitutes the science of geography, its proper aims and objects, and the subject matter appropriate, under given conditions, to the several grades. It may not be amiss, therefore, to state some of these principles which are matters of general agreement -not that they are permanent or infallible, but that they may, while serving as a guide for the teacher, be continually studied, tested, modified, and adapted to new conditions and new truth.

First. The Science of Geography:

1. Geography treats of the earth as the home of mankind.

2. Geography is a present-day science, dealing with the earth as it is to-day, with races and nations in their present state of civilization, and with their present social, industrial, and political environment.

3. Geography is a composite science, drawing its facts from mathematics, astronomy, physics, geology, botany, zoology, etc., but employing these facts only so far as they elucidate the relations which man bears to the physical world.

4. Geography as a science, is prevailingly inductive, leading from observed facts to general laws.

5. The divisions of geographical science commonly recognized are (1) mathematical, (2) physical, (3) political, (4) industrial, (5) commercial, and (6) historical geography.

Second. The Aims and Objects of Geographical Instruction:

1. To impart a knowledge of such geographical facts and principles as are essential features of the pupil's environment.

2. To cultivate a careful and thoughtful observation of geographic phenomena. 3. To develop the power to explain geographic phenomena by reasoning clearly from cause to effect.

4. To cultivate the imagination of the pupil, so that maps and pictures shall be of real assistance in comprehending the actualities for which they stand.

5. To make a practical application to the affairs of life of the facts and principles gained.

Third. Selection of Subject Matter: Geographic material, appropriate at any given stage of the pupil's progress, must conform to the following standards:

1. It must be such a part of man's environment as exerts an important influence on his life and activities; or it must be the result of man's contact with that environment that is, the activities themselves.

2. Subject matter that is essential to the future progress of the pupil, must be included in the work of the several grades.

3. Subject matter that is essential to the understanding of the affairs of life or which is a necessary part of the equipment of an intelligent human being, should be included.

4. An essential criterion for all subject matter is that it be adapted to the capacity of the pupil at any given stage. Fourth. Methods of Instruction:

1. The proper basis of geographical instruction is the present knowledge and immediate environment of the pupil. This basis must be utilized by the teacher in introducing new matter.

2. Geographical instruction begins with the pupil's home surroundings and proceeds outward, explaining the unknown and distant by what is familiar and near at hand.

3. Simple topics of a broad, general nature should first receive attention. Examples of such topics are food, clothing, shelter, occupations, travel and transportation, soil, land and water forms, etc., etc. A careful oral treatment in the classroom should stimulate the pupil to observation and research. In this way the foundations for future progress are laid. Later discussions growing out of the analysis of these simple topics will be more elaborate, developing causal relations, general truths, and, incidentally, relations to other subjects of the school curriculum. 4. The fundamental topics of geography will be constantly elaborated in subsequent lessons, through classification and comparison, and will serve as centers about which to organize the growing fund of geographical knowledge.

5. All geographical instruction, in order to be successful, must be clearly objective. Excursions for purposes of observation and study, maps, pictures, collections of specimens, models and drawings must be constantly employed to give clear and concrete notions of things.

6. The importance of books of reference should be taught in the earlier stages by having interesting and pointed selections read in the class; in the more advanced work, statistical tables, atlases, guide books, railroad folders, tourists' booklets, year-books, and other reference works may be utilized.1

The Foundations of Geography. Realizing the immensity of the geographic field and the proper functions of the textbook, the aim in the present series has been to lay the foundation, rather than to furnish a compendium of information;-to establish so thoroughly the habit of thoughtful observation and research that the course of study in geography shall be a delight to the pupil and a source of satisfac

1 For a more extended discussion of methods, see McMurry: Special Method in Geography. King: Methods and Aids in Geography. Geikie: The Teaching of Geography.

tion to the instructor; or, as McMurry puts it, "To throw the children into the midst of men's active employments and into nature's varied scenery, and in some suggestive way to anoint their eyes with the power of insight." The First Book, however, provides a complete course of study of elementary grade, in order that children who leave school in the middle. of the course may be fairly well equipped, geographically, for the business of life. The limitations of space have made it imperative to treat a few topics only at considerable length, but additional work has been suggested at the end of each lesson to be used as conditions warrant.

Special Features - A Pupil's Book. The chief aim has been to prepare a book which should call for a minimum of labor on the part of the teacher and a maximum of labor on the part of the pupil. part of the pupil. To this end the greatest care has been taken to make the requirements of each lesson intelligible. A special introduction has been written for the pupil, and in every case when a new kind of subject matter is taken up, its nature is fully explained in the notes on "HOW TO STUDY," placed at the foot of the first page treating of the new subject. Care has been taken in the Map Studies, Reviews, Observation Work, and Supplementary Reading, to use the simplest language and to make only such requirements as may reasonably be expected to fall within the experience or comprehension of the pupil.

Treatment of Home Geography. The theses laid down above, under "Methods of Instruction" have been rigidly adhered to, and more space has been given to "Home Geography" than in any other American textbook which has come to the attention of the author. After a series of introductory pictures on home life under various typical conditions, a somewhat extended discussion is presented, of the chief elements of human environment, including the more familiar forms of land and water, the elements of climate, and the occupations characteristic of both city and country. discussions apply to type forms, and abundant provision is made for observational and experimental work which shall bring home the facts and forms to the experience of the pupil, no matter where he may live. Exact and careful

These