I next visited the Normal School at West Chester, which was started in 1871. Its buildings are on much the same plan as those at Millersville, with the two wings for men and women students, and the dining and recitation rooms in the centre. The Principal, with pardonable pride, drew my special attention to the gymnasium building, which, with the single exception of the new Yale Gymnasium, is believed to be the most complete connected with any school or college in the States. It contains a full supply of the best apparatus, running tracks, bath-rooms, large swimming-pool, bowling alleys, ball cage, etc. A thoroughly trained physician[4] and his wife are in charge of the gymnasium, and all exercise is taken under their supervision. I was able to attend several of the classes--one on School Method, which took the form of a discussion of such points as the following: “What degree of quiet is necessary in a school?” “On what does ability to govern depend?” “Can ability to govern be acquired?” I was much struck here, as in other American schools and colleges, with the ease in speaking, and the keen interest shown by the students in taking part in the discussion. A lesson in Arithmetic, in which the students made excellent use of that distinctive feature of an American recitation room--the continuous blackboard, one on United States history, and a lesson on physiology given in the Model School, helped to fill up a most interesting morning. _CONNECTICUT._ There are two State Normal Schools in the State of Connecticut--one at New Britain, started in 1850, and the other at Willimantic, opened in 1889. These schools have for their object the definite preparation of teachers for work in the State schools, and no encouragement is given to other students to enter. They thus differ from the Pennsylvania Normal Schools, which are often attended by those who do not intend to become teachers. This difference appears to produce one curious and instructive result--namely, that while a large number of men students are to be found in the Pennsylvania Normal Schools, they are conspicuous by their absence from those in Connecticut. This is easily understood when one remembers that an overwhelming majority of the teachers in the Common Schools are women, and that as few men intend to take up teaching as a permanent profession, they are not likely to be found in those Normal Schools, the courses of which will not serve as stepping-stones to a future college or other career. Neither of these two Schools are residential, but the Principals undertake to assist students in finding comfortable accommodation. Board and lodging can usually be obtained from $3 to $4 (14_s._ to 17_s._) per week. Candidates for admission must either (1) pass an entrance examination held at certain centres in the State, or (2) present a certificate of graduation from a High School or State Teachers’ Certificate, or (3) have taught successfully for three years.