The constant increase of defective eyesight among the pupils in our schools is an alarming fact. Dr. Agnew considers that our schoolrooms are fast making us a spectacle-using people. Nearsightedness seems to increase from class to class, until in the upper departments, there are sometimes as high as fifty per cent of the pupils thus afflicted. The causes are (1), desks so placed as to make the light from the windows shine directly into the eyes of the scholars; (2), cross lights from opposite windows; (3), insufficient light; (4), small type that strains the eyes; and (5), the position of the pupil as he bends over his desk or slate, causing the blood to settle in his eyes. All these causes can be remedied; the position of the desks can be changed; windows can be shaded, or new ones inserted; books and newspapers that try the eyes can be rejected; and every pupil can be taught how to sit at study. PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 1. Why does a laundress test the temperature of her flatiron by holding it near her cheek? 2. When we are cold, why do we spread the palms of our hands before the fire? 3. What is meant by a "furred tongue"? 4. Why has sand or sulphur no taste? 5. What was the origin of the word palatable? 6. Why does a cold in the head injure the flavor of our coffee? 7. Name some so-called flavors that are really sensations of touch. 8. What is the object of the hairs in the nostrils? 9. What use does the nose subserve in the process of respiration? 10. Why do we sometimes hold the nose when we take unpleasant medicine? 11. Why was the nose placed over the mouth? 12. Describe how the hand is adapted to be the instrument of touch. 13. Besides being the organ of taste, what use does the tongue subserve? 14. Why is not the act of tasting complete until we swallow? 15. Why do all things have the same flavor when one's tongue is "furred" by fever? 16. Which sense is the more useful--hearing or sight? 17. Which coat is the white of the eye? 18. What makes the difference in the color of eyes? 19. Why do we snuff the air when we wish to obtain a distinct smell? 20. Why do red-hot iron and frozen mercury (-40°) produce the same sensation? 21. Why can an elderly person drink tea which to a child would be unbearably hot? 22. Why does an old man hold his paper so far from his eyes? 23. Would you rather be punished on the tips of your fingers than on the palm of your hand? 24. What is the object of the eyelashes? Are the hairs straight? 25. What is the use of winking? 26. When you wink, do the eyelids touch at once along their whole length? Why? 27. How many rows of hairs are there in the eyelashes? 28. Do all nations have eyes of the same shape? 29. Why does snuff taking cause a flow of tears? 30. Why does a fall cause one to "see stars"? 31. Why can we not see with the nose, or smell with the eyes? 32. What causes the roughness of a cat's tongue? 33. Is the cuticle essential to touch? 34. Can one tickle himself?