SMMMMI

AMERICA.  159
The  same  is  true  of  the  G-ramrnar  Schools  of  New  York,  in
which  only  landscapes,  animals,  flowers,  &c.,  are  drawn.  The
attempt  to  delineate  geometrical  bodies  from  nature  is  made  only
occasionally,  and,  in  view  of  the  inefficient  preparation  of  the
pupils,  showed  but  little  success.  Some  of  the  higher  schools  in
New  York  exhibited  framed  drawings  (bj T  pupils  of  from  twelve
to  fifteen  years)  of  vessels,  Utensils,  &c.,  as  well  as  copies  of
heads,  landscapes,  and  animals  (after  Hermes  and  Julien),  which
were  of  somewhat  better  execution;  but  these  specimens  were
treated  rather  as  “pictures,”  than  as  illustrations  of  the  course
of  instruction.  A  number  of  Ornaments  (from  Bauer’s  examples),
  were  so  evenly  copied  that  it  appearedr  doubtful  whether
the  different  names  with  which  the  drawings  were  signed  represented
  also  different  hands.  In  Chicago  it  is  the  same;  mapdrawing
  is  carried  on  extensively  here,  but  the  main  stress  appears
to  be  laid  upon  the  colored  borders  surrounding  the  oceans.  The
regulations  for  drawing-instruction  in  this  city  (paragraph  sixteen)
  emphasize  only  the  importance  and-the  value  of  the  subject
in  its  relation  to  the  various  branches  of  industry,  but  contain  no
definite  programme  for  the  several  stages  of  instruction.
The  Common  Schools  of  Cincinnati  exhibited  the  work  of  their
scholars  in  truly  magnificent  bindings,  one  subject  having  been
drawn  by  the  whole  dass,  so  that  the  same  volume  frequently
showed  the  same  figure  fifty  to  sixty  times. 1  The  drawings  consisted
  mostly  of  small  geometrical  figures,  stars,  &c.,  executed
tolerably  evenly,  and  there  was  at  least  ä  certain  principle  in
tliem.  Among  the  work  of  the  Teachers’,  Normal,  and  High
Schools,  on  the  contrary,  sins  against  every  tliing  like  good  taste
were  to  be  met  with,  that  made  one’s  hair  stand  on  end.
As  aids  for  instruction  in  drawing,  Spencer’s  Drawing-books
were  exhibited  in  the  schoolhouse,  the  subjects  being  represented
on  the  left  half  of  the  paper,  while  the  right  is  left  blank  for  the
copy  by  the  pupil.  The  various  stages  proceed  tolerably  systematjcally
  from  simple  geometrical  forms  to  the  representation*  of
vessels,  Utensils,  &c.
To  judge  from  the  specimens  exhibited,  drawing  is  best  taught
1  Tliis  had  been  done  by  Order  of  tbe  autboritiea.