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EDUCATION of handicaps. They were handicapped, first of all, by a lack of textbooks. Often half the members of a class would lack a book, and often the same book would be used in three or four successive grades. And many of the textbooks were even duller than some modern ones, as the following extracts from "The Third Book of Lessons", used by William James Mitchell of Paris, show: The tiger is one of the most beautiful, but at the same time, one of the most rapacious and destructive of the whole animal race. It has an insatiable thirst after blood, and even when satisfied with food, is not satiated by slaughter. The wolf, in its external form and internal structure, exactly resembles the dog tribe, but possesses none of its agreeable dispositions and useful propensities. It has, accordingly, in all ages been much detested, and universally considered as one of the most savage enemies of mankind. The exquisite melody of the nightingale compared with the plainness of their appearance is an impressive proof of the good- ness of the Creator in the impartial distribution of his benefits to the feathered tribe. The potentially efficient teachers were handicapped, too, by a lack of equipment. In 1862, the board paid only $6.oo for "maps, apparatus, prize books and library books"; and in 1875, Inspector Henderson had to recommend that a blackboard brush be bought for the South Ward School. Moreover, they were handicapped by having classes with more than 80 pupils. In South Ward School, in 1872, one teacher was trying to instruct i12 pupils. The board's solution was to place a second teacher in the same room. And they were handicapped by the irregular attendance of pupils. Before 1871, attendance at school was not compulsory, and many parents either put their children to work or sent them only occasionally to school. For some years after 1871, regular attendance was required only during four months of the year, and a truant officer was not appointed until 1889 - at which date, the board stated that "many children remain away from school with the knowledge of their parents, and it is expressly advisable that boys be not allowed to loiter around livery stables or other public places during school hours". How could a teacher be efficient in 1862, for example, when with a total common-school enrolment in Paris of 422, the average daily attendance was 264? In general, the morale of the teachers was low. Harassed by poverty and endless conflicts, they escaped to other work when they could. According to a government report, the average teacher in the province taught only three and one-half years, and during that time might have been in as many as four schools. Since teachers could resign with two weeks' notice, and held their positions "at the pleasure of the Board", they often left during the middle of a term with, one would imagine, serious results to the progress of the pupils. Until after i9goo, the board of education exercised a much closer 161