schools, or in great educational institutions, special classes (disciplinary classes), should be founded. Of late years a start has been made in this direction. _Rewards and Punishments._--In the public elementary school of to-day, sound methods and principles in the matter of rewards and punishments find but little application. Corporal punishment is freely used, and in many cases the children are grossly ill-treated. In the United States of America, the general experience has been that in schools in which corporal punishment is unknown, better results are obtained and a higher general level is reached than in schools in which corporal punishment is customary. The mere knowledge that they are liable to such degrading punishment suffices to lower the children’s morale, whereas, when they feel themselves absolutely secure from the risk of such punishment, they feel themselves from the first to be honoured and respected. In the better elementary schools of the United States corporal punishment is in fact unknown. _The Constitutional Element._--In the order of the modern school no constitutional element is recognised; the teacher is an absolute ruler, and the pupils are subjects without rights. But this system is not one fitted to prepare the children for democratic social and political life. In the United States of America some of the elementary schools have a method of government which is quasi-parliamentary in character. It is desirable to introduce this system into Europe, although certain modifications may be necessary. The relationship between teacher and pupil should be as follows. The teacher does not work solely by authority. He explains in all cases the reasons for his commands and prohibitions; he recognises and admits his own mistakes, treats his pupils as equals, and makes common cause with the well-behaved children to keep the ill-behaved in order; just as in the education of the individual we counteract the morbid elements in the disposition by cultivating the healthy elements, so in his school the teacher uses the good elements to counteract the bad ones. By making common cause with the well-behaved children against the ill-behaved, he induces the former to become unconsciously the instructors and educators of the latter. He endeavours to effect the growth among the children of a public opinion, which shall warn transgressors and prescribe their punishment. He must also utilise free discussion among his pupils as a means of stimulation and instruction. (Parents should employ much the same methods in the upbringing of their own children.)