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SPANISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. chair of Spanish-American literature has been established in Yale University. In the graduate school two full-year courses are given, namely, "A general survey of Spanish-American literature," and "A seminary course in Spanish and Spanish-American lyric poetry," and two in the undergraduate schools, "The modern novel in SpanishAmerica," and "Spanish-American literature." Except in the course in Spanish literature, the instruction is given from the SpanishAmerican point of view, using materials dealing with Spanish-America. In two other universities similar courses have recently been developed, a chair of Latin-American literature in the University of Texas, and a chair of Spanish-American literature in Stanford University, California. Courses in Latin-American literature have recently been introduced in connection with the study of Spanish in a number of colleges.

NEW YORK CITY BARS SECRET SOCIETIES. Ban on secret societies in high schools of New York City will be strictly enforced under the provisions of by-laws adopted by the Board of Education, which took effect February 1. These specify that high school students who are members of secret societies shall be debarred from participation in school elections, from receiving honors, and from representing school groups in any capacity whatever. Diplomas will be withheld from students who are proved to be members of secret societies after having voted or accepted any post closed to fraternity or sorority members.

Book Reviews

THE NATURE ALMANAC. A Handbook of Nature Education. Edited by Arthur Newton Pack and E. Laurence Palmer (of The American Nature Association). Address Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

The following are recent editions from the Macmillan Company's lists:

THE TECHNIQUE OF CURRICULUM MAKING. By Henry Harap, of the Cleveland School of Education. An interpretative as well as an expository book, the author says. The Chapter headings in the Table of Contents are suggestive. They will aid the busy teacher to get at just the point he is desirous to clear up. The author has himself traversed the paths along which he would lead his readers. He says that there is not a single step in the technique proposed in his book for which a pragmatic illustration cannot be found.

MAKING A LIVING. The Individual in Society. By Leverett S. Lyon The author is a Professor of Economics, Robert Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government. This book is one of the Junior High School Series. It touches a momentous subject that the majority of young people must face at or about the end of their High School course.

HOW TO MEASURE. By Guy M. Wilson, Ph.D., Professor of Educa tion, Boston University, and Kremer J. Hoke, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of William and Mary. A thorough presentation of the status and technique of diagnostic tests as applied in regard to all sorts of school subjects. 597 pages, carefully presenting the theory and results of this interesting and rapidly extending practice in the schools and colleges.

THE UHL-HATZ PRACTICE LESSONS IN ENGLISH. By Willis L. Uhl and Luzia E. Hatz. Tests on grammatical correctness in finding the right word, using negatives correctly, when to use I and Me, etc., etc. Must be seen to be appreciated.

SIDE LIGHTS ON AMERICAN HISTORY. Two volumes (revised edition) by Henry William Elson, A.M., Litt.D. The period covered is the first seventy years of our nation's history. The bearing of different great events upon other events, their causes and effects, are shown in developing civilization and making the United States what it is in World history. A book that will find its place in the upper grammar grades, and beyond.

PENNIE. By Bertha B. and Ernest Cobb. With Paintings by L. J. Bridgman, and a Frontispiece by Mary Louise Parker. The Arlo Publishing Company, Newton Upper Falls, Mass.

The Arlo Books are the result of Mr. Cobb's genius and experience. He has made a wonderful reputation for them,-ably aided and abetted by his able and sympathetic wife and daughter. The Editor of Education knows them all; they have been indefatigable in the making, printing, copyrighting and selling the products of their books, and success has crowned their efforts. They are known and loved on both sides of the Atlantic. While simple in the subject-matter, these books are profound in their appeal to the child. They do far more than preach,-in fact, that is carefully avoided; they clarify and stimulate the child's mind and emotions. The illustrations show normal children engaged in children's situations. The books' children are lovable children. Author

and Artist have coöperated to make them so. These books are praiseworthy from every point of view.

SELF-EXPRESSION THROUGH THE SPOKEN WORD. By Allen Crafton and Jessica Royer, the University of Kansas. T. Y. Crowell Company. $1.75.

Here is a book that every human being should read and study. Who is there who does not wish that he could express himself better in the daily life of his entire career, from the cradle to the grave? It is a book that the college student, or the college graduate, or the business salesman, or the "beau" at a party, or the emissary to a foreign government, or a beggar by the roadside might covet. It is an excellent text for the classroom. At the same time it may well be used in the home and room of the individual. It will be especially valuable to the ambitious salesman who has, perhaps, found that talking to a customer is somehow different from conversation on the playground, or even on the bus or train in getting to his place of business. His sales will increase if he follows the suggestions given.

THE PASSING OF THE RECITATION. By V. T. Thayer, Professor of Principles and Practice of Education at the Ohio State University. Every teacher should study this book, because it exposes the weakness of the recitation as we older ones practised it. Instead of memoriter method, this volume advocates such an acquisition of the subject as will make the student able to discuss the given subject intelligently in its various bearings. This is the growing tendency in teaching and learning. One has only to catch the idea and he will vastly approve the new viewpoint and practice. Thank you, Professor Thayer, for this new vision. The book is published by D. C. Heath and Company, New York or Boston.

THE NATION'S HISTORY. By Arthur R. Leonard, Head of the Department of History, Central High School, and Bertha E. Jacobs, North High School, Columbus, Ohio. Maps by Max Mayer. Henry Holt and Company, Publishers. An exceptionally interesting and inclusive History brought down to the present time. Adapted to seventh and eighth grades. 648 pages, besides biographies, appendixes, indexes, etc. Problems and self-tests are given at the close of each of the main chapters. There are numerous excellent illustrations, some of them in colors. The frontispiece is a striking picture of an airplane in the clouds above a tumultuous ocean.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1927. United States Government Printing Office. Also, from the same source, CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOX ETHNOLOGY. By Truman Michelson. The latter is an account of the ceremonial runners of the Fox Indians. Of special interest to Ethnologists.

FUNDAMENTALS IN VISUAL INSTRUCTION. By William H. Johnson, M.A., Ph.D. And also, COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOME VISUAL AIDS IN SEVENTH GRADE INSTRUCTION. By Joseph J. Weber. Both books are published by The Educational Screen, Inc., at 5200 Harper Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. In these books careful experiments are reported to determine the value of visual instruction as aids in instruction and education. These experiments deal with visual aids in geography, history, music, art, science and household arts, reading and writing, etc. Scores were obtained mainly in 7A-grade pupils, by various tests; Professor Webber (of The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas) signs the following "WARNING": "In view of the fact that the question of visual aids is arousing considerable interest among the educators of the world, and the further fact that the findings embodied in this treatise are likely to be misconstrued by certain commercial interests to their own advantage, the following reservations are specifically made: 1. The conclusions after various experiments hold only for these same experiments as performed under the conditions described. 2. In venturing to state the general value of visual aids, we can go only by inference now. 3. The results of this study indicate a distinct value for pictures only as aids, not as substitutes. 4. The problem of economy yet remains to be solved, for the cost of some visual aids still outweighs their educative value."

Twenty-second and also the Twenty-third Annual REPORTS OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK for the years ending July 31, '25 and '26. Published by the University, at Albany. Two separate volumes, interesting, and suggestive to officials of similar institutions.