ulum that the principle of feeling has been recognized as a controlling factor, but if we lift our eyes to the masterpieces of civilization, we shall find that these great achievements have been wrought in a large solvent of feeling. What feelings must have stirred the soul of Michael Angelo when he remarked while gazing on a huge block of marble, "There is an angel imprisoned, and I am going to liberate him." How well these feelings gave way to action is confirmed by the great work of his chisel.

The Church, the great teacher of mankind, has in all ages employed this powerful agent to bring out the best in man, not that his works may immortalize his memory, but that the very best the creature is capable of achieving may be given to the service of the Creator; and even in our own time as well as in the past, consider the vast number of her children, who being moved by a strong religious feeling are not only giving the best that is in them, but their very selves for the enlightenment, the relief and the salvation of their fellow creatures.

Let us, then, utilize to the full this important principle of feeling, let us not confound it with mere sentiment which does not realize itself in motion; nor must it be asserted that to adopt this mode of action in education is taking the burden from the pupil's shoulders. In adopting such a method as our principle implies, we are setting free the child's potentialities; we cannot lift one thought into his growing mind any more than we could add one inch to his stature; nevertheless, as we can promote physical growth by proper nourishment and care, so, in like manner, may we contribute to the mental growth of the child.

How many of our children after their first years of school life begin to look forward to the day when they may leave school; and if we trace the evil to its source, we shall find, with but few exceptions, that such a condition of affairs is owing to a dislike for school work; children of this type never were interested in their work; they never tasted the keen enjoy. ment which arises from mental awakening.

It is our business as educators to do the greatest good to the greatest number, and if this is to be realized our methods will be in proportion to our aim. True, there is no flowery

path to knowledge; all the more reason why we should scatter occasional petals to brighten the way. We must be up and doing, displaying as much energy and unwearied effort as the moving-picture man, the play-house manager and the numerous other votaries of the world with whom we must contend.

SENSE TRAINING

All forms of life are capable of responding in some measure to the objects in the external world in which they exist; such responses become possible because of the sense-organs with which the organisms are provided.

The nature of sensitivity varies in the different orders of life, the crudest being able to receive stimuli and make responses to light, sound, taste, smell, without possessing a specialized sense-organ for such sensations. It would seem that such sense experiences in the lower orders of life are similar to the cutaneous sensations in man, which make him aware of tactile and temperature experiences and pain.

The human being is provided with a set of sense organs, each adapted to receive stimuli peculiar to itself. The child comes into the world in full possession of these organs, but they remain dormant until exercised. Instinct and environment will be the leading factors in this exercise if the child is left to himself; but, since instincts need cultivation, and environmental conditions are not always desirable, the individual who is the victim of these sole factors will not rise to a high degree of culture. Hence arises the necessity of sense training.

To train the senses is to exercise the sense-organs in such a way as to gain clear and accurate ideas of things. All scientific researches into the psychophysical organism tend to emphasize the fact that too much importance cannot be given to the cultivation of the senses.

The sense organs are, as it were, channels to convey knowledge of the external world to the mind; this intelligence which the senses bring of the outside world is the raw material which, being worked up by the faculties of the mind, becomes a product for future utility. If the sense organs are not carefully trained, the knowledge brought to the mind will be inaccurate or faulty, thereby resulting in wrong ideas and impeding subsequent reasoning. The intellectual edifice, then, must be erected on a strong foundation of sense training.

One cannot gain a better insight into the value of the proper use of the senses than by studying children while at play with their toys. The boy will beat on his drum, examine every external feature of it, thus exercising the visual, auditory, tactile and muscular senses, which exercise finally leads him to reason that the noise is from within. The little girl will treat her doll in the same manner. When the novelty of the toy begins to diminish, it is subjected to the application of all possible senses, and very often the little one is not satisfied until she has sacrificed her treasure to the innate yearning for further inquiry.

Touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell seem to be the natural order of sense development; and in the training of young children it should be the teacher's constant endeavor to appeal to these senses. One gains a better knowledge of an object by receiving as many different impressions as possible in regard to the object; and these impressions are interpreted more readily when the senses bring the knowledge simultaneously.

The senses, then, should be exercised together as far as it is possible to do so; and, as most objects appeal to more than one sense, such a mode of development is not only easy but natural. When the object to be considered is not a familiar one, it then becomes necessary to apply the senses successively, and sometimes it is found advisable to exercise particular ones separately; as, for example, the organs of taste and smell which are not as highly developed in man as those of other senses. The sense of touch, as has been said, is the first in the order of development; this being very noticeable in infancy, when the child begins to explore with the hand objects with which it comes in contact. This sense, which is instinctively active in infancy, gradually loses its predominance and the eye becomes the leader; however, the tactile sense should not be allowed to deteriorate; for although the eye and the hand work coordinately, nevertheless, the sense of touch must often be called into action when the eye fails to render all the information that is desired. How often we hear people remark in the case of the blind that the deprivation of the sense of sight has strengthened that of touch, when in reality the dependence on this sense exercised it to the extent of display. ing its full power. Ordinarily it is the visual and the auditory

organs which receive most attention in sense training, no doubt because the material supplied by these senses may easily be elaborated by the higher activities of the mind.

The senses being, as it were, the gateways of the mind, the teacher should make use of all these means of entrance in order to arrive at the inner castle. If a traveler, that he may gain a point of interest, traverse the same road in his visits to the spot of his explorations, how far less will be his appreciation of the place in question than that of one, who at each repeated visit, seeks out a new road to the object of his research. Just so with the information acquired by the child who is taught to apply all his senses to the object he is studying. The teacher who fully appreciates the value of a proper use of the senses will neglect no opportunity of exercising them; her pupils will learn to be observant and the flood of material which is flowing into the mind from different sources will give to barren facts a warmth and color which will insure their permanency.

It is evident, then, that by constant and systematic exercise of the organs of sense the power of observation will become keener. Training for special aptitudes will often necessitate the exercise of one faculty more than another; but such training should occur only after a solid sensory training during the plastic stage, otherwise we are confronted with an individual only capable of interpreting ideas in the light of experience obtained through particular senses.

To summarize what has been said, we cannot do better than finish with a passage from Halleck which treats of sense development:

"Everyone ought to know how Shakspere's senses were trained, for in his sensory experience is to be found the foundation of all those imperishable structures given to humanity by his heaven-climbing genius. Two things are true of Shakspere -his senses had magnificent training; the stimuli of nature also had in him a wonderful central nervous system to develop. We shall not reach his heights, but if we have the proper training, we shall ascend far higher than we could without it. A study of mathematics will not make Newtons out of all our pupils, but it will render them more capable in the battle of life."

SISTER M. R. RAYMOND.

CURRENT EVENTS

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

The Twenty-seventh Annual Commencement and Conferring of Degrees took place at the Catholic University on June 13 at 10 a. m., in the Assembly Room, McMahon Hall. The Apostolic Delegate, Most Rev. John Bonzano, presided, and the address to the graduates was made by the Right Rev. Rector, Bishop Shahan. Degrees were conferred as follows:

In the School of the Sacred Sciences

For the Degree, Bachelor of Canon Law (J.C.B.):

Rev. Aurelius Borkowski, O.F.M., College of the Holy Land; Rev. John Joseph Boylan, Des Moines, Iowa; Rev. Thomas Patrick Curran, Halifax, N.S.; Rev. Henry Francis Hammer, New York, N. Y.; Rev. William John Kubelbeck, Superior, Wis.; Rev. Lawrence Peter Landrigan, S.S.J., Baltimore, Md., A.B. (St. Mary's University, Baltimore, Md.), 1912; Rev. Carl Johann Edward Liljencrants (Baltimore, Md., A.B. (University of Stockholm), 1903; A.M. (Loyola University, Chicago), 1913; S.T.B. (The Catholic University of America), 1915; Rev. John Joseph Lynch, Boston, Mass., Ph.B. (St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass.), 1911; Rev. Martin John Spalding, Peoria, Ill.

For the Degree, Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.):

Rev. Nicholas Joseph Berg, Rockford, Ill.; Rev. John Joseph Boylan, Des Moines, Iowa; Rev. James Henry Carr, Fall River, Mass.; Rev. James Aloysius Coyle, Fall River, Mass.; Rev. Thomas Patrick Curran, Halifax, N. S.; Rev. Robert Henry De Vriendt, Alexandria, La.; Rev. Joseph Michael Egan, New York, N. Y.; A.B. (Cathedral College, New York City), 1912; Rev. Henry Francis Hammer, New York, N. Y.; Rev. William John Kubelbeck, Superior, Wis.; Rev. Lawrence Peter Landrigan, S.S.J., Baltimore, Md., A.B. (St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md.), 1912; Rev. John Joseph Lynch, Boston, Mass., Ph.B. (St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass.), 1911; Rev. Ward Gerald Meehan, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Rev. Joseph Malloy, C.S.P., College of St. Paul,