The coming Congress will most likely make perfect the original plans, by appropriating the full amount necessary; then we will soon see the national capitol building surrounded by grounds, on all sides, in harmony with its present partial surroundings, and more appropriate for that magnificient building which contains the legislative halls of the nation.

This being accomplished, it will in all probability prompt private parties to improve their estates down New Jersey avenue, in the vicinity of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad depot.

The new railroad company, the Baltimore and Potomac, have a much more central and better location for, their depot than the Baltimore and Ohio. By making a short circuit, and tunneling a short distance under a narrow portion of capitol hill; and then running their track through the back streets, which are at present very little built upon, they have terminated their road at once in the very heart of the town, yet in a part where it cannot be of any serious disadvantage to the streets of the city.

This was a fine and masterly movement on the part of the railroad company; and we do not see how they can help but make it beneficial to themselves and the traveling public. Their work is only begun; at present they have only temporary depot buildings— mere sheds put up for the present, till they get ready to build their new depot, which we understand will be a grand affair; they certainly have ample grounds, and a fine location; and when completed cannot help but be the most attractive depot and railroad connection for the traveling public, and one which will prompt the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in their turn to make improvements in keeping with later ideas.

Improvements in railroads and depots, and the improvements in cities, act and react upon each other. These improved railroad conditions will have a good effect upon the City of Washington; and tend to make it more and more what it should be, the great headcentre of the nation, rather than what it has been in the past, a mere country village where the public men only gather for a few months in the year.

Transient residents do not lift a place much. It is the permanent residents who improve and refine. For this latter class, the whole American people are to be thankful; their influence has, in a high manner, been beneficial to the national capital.

I. P. N.

HOW PLANTS PURIFY THE AIR.

PLANTS gain their nourishment by the absorption through their roots of certain substances from the soil, and by the decomposition, through their green portions, of a particular gas contained in the atmosphere-carbonic-acid gas. They decompose this gas into carbon, which they assimilate, and oxygen, which they reject. Now, this phenomenon, which is the vegetable's mode of respiration, can only be accomplished with the assistance of solar light.

Charles Bonnet, of Geneva, who began his career by experimenting on plants, and left this attractive subject, to devote himself to philosophy, only in consequence of a serious affection of his sight, was the first to detect this joint work, about the middle of the eighteenth century. He remarked that vegetables grow vertically, and tend toward the sun, in whatever position the seed may have been planted in the earth. He proved the generality of the fact that, in dark places, plants always turn toward the point whence light comes. He discovered, too, that plants immersed in water release bubbles of gas under the influence of sunlight. In 1771, Priestley, in England, tried another experiment. He let a candle burn in a confined space till the light went out, that is, until the contained air grew unfit for combustion. Then he placed the green parts of a fresh plant in the enclosure, and at the end of ten days the air had become sufficiently purified to permit the relighting of the candle. Thus he proved that plants replace gas made impure by combustion with a combustible gas; but he also observed that at certain times the reverse phenomenon seems to result. Ten years later, the Dutch physician, Ingenhousz, succeeded in explaining this apparent contradiction. "I had but just begun these experiments," says that skilful naturalist, "when a most interesting scene revealed itself to my eyes: I observed that not only do plants have the power of clearing impure air in six days or longer, as Priestley's experiments seem to point out, but that they discharge this important duty in a few hours, and in the most thorough way; that this singular operation is not due at all to vegetation, but to the effect of sunlight; that it does not begin until the sun has been some time above the horizon; that it

ceases entirely during the darkness of night; that plants shaded by high buildings or by other plants do not complete this function, that is, they do not purify the air, but that, on the contrary, they exhale an injurious atmosphere, and really shed poison into the air about us; that the production of pure air begins to diminish with the decline of day, and ceases completely at sunset; that all plants corrupt the surrounding air during the night, and that not all portions of the plant take part in the purification of the air, but only the leaves and green branches."-"Light and Life," in Popular Science Monthly for January.

THE SCHOOLMASTER.-Now what the law did for the race, the schoolmaster does for the individual. He imposes rules, assigning a penalty for disobedience. Under this rule the pupil grows up, until order, punctuality, industry, justice, and mercy to his school fellows become the habits of his life. Then when the time comes, the strict rule relaxes, the pupil is taken into the master's confidence, his obedience becomes reasonable, a living morality. If the teacher be one whose own morality attains the standard of Christian enthusiasm, the pupil is more likely to be initiated into the same supreme mystery than if he stood in any other relation to him. There is no moral influence in the world, excepting that occasionally exerted by great men, comparable to that of a good teacher; there is no position in which a man's merits, considered as moral levers, have so much purchase. Therefore the whole question of education--what the method of it should be, what men should be employed in it-is preeminently a question in which Christians are bound by their humanity to interest themselves."-Ecce Homo.

The brother of Beethoven signed his name, to distinguish himself from his landless brother, "von Beethoven, land-owner." The other signed his name, "Beethoven, brain-owner," to be equal with him.

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.

[This paper was read at the last meeting of the Superintendents of this State, held Saturday, December 7, by Rev. F. C. Newell, in behalf of a committee previously appointed to consider this subject.—ED.]

A republican form of government can only reach its brightest standard of excellence and true greatness through the morals of its people. When a majority of its voters become persons of corrupt passions and appetites, the republic is fast approaching its end. All thoughtful minds will seek to provide means to prevent such a catastrophe. The object and end of all true and wise legislation is to provide for the intellectual and moral wants of the people. Any legislation that does not have this object in view will fail of securing the end of good government. The true wealth of a nation is found in the brains and hearts of its people.

Material wealth is confined to the few, while opportunities to cultivate the heart in principles that tend to develop true manhood are open to all; yet, because of the transgression of the first representatives of the race the whole world lieth in wickedness and is only lifted out of this by the influence and powers of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find every person at birth placed under the influence of two laws, the law of sin and the law of grace. The tendencies of every child are largely influenced by the elements of character prominent in its parents, and by a long train of influences connected with its ancestry. These facts cannot be ignored by those who seek to provide for the strength and permanency of our institutions. So long as the generations of men continue on the face of the earth, there will always be found two antagonistic principles, and forces constantly operating against each other. The one will build up, the other pull down. The one will seek to elevate mankind, the other will prey upon virtue, draw upon the material wealth of the nation, and subtract very largely from the general influence of morality upon mankind.

The present state of morals in certain directions certainly should awaken a great deal of interest in the minds of all who are seeking to provide for the future of a Republic, so large as ours is destined to be. The effects of intemperance and the non-observance of the Sab

bath is to blunt the moral sensibilities of the people, causing them to ignore the marriage relation and seek the gratification of their passions through illegitimate channels, and throw upon society a large number of children for whom there is no true natural affection. These are here by no fault of theirs, are not responsible for the influence of their surroundings. If left to themselves they will be educated in crime, and reproduce in their lives other evils still greater.

To the thoughtful these questions are presented. First, What shall be the character of the majority of the law-making citizens of a Republic, planted and reared under the guiding hand of heaven, whose record has been one of glorious deeds, and whose future shall be more glorious than its past if right principles shall prevail?

Second, What shall be done with that class of unfortunate children for whom no true homes are provided, of whom a very large percentage will grow up profligate, licentious, thieves, incendiaries, and murderers, if left to themselves, but if removed from evil surroundings and placed under the influence of christian discipline may be saved to bless the world?

The nearest approach to the true ideal of a home for a class who have no one specially interested in them is found in an Industrial school. This places a farm at the disposal of the inmates of the institution. The orchard, the meadow, the seed time and harvest, the flocks and herds, the natural educators of man, are ever before them. Added to this, we have at its head wise and judicious educators and disciplinarians who are constantly placing before the mind objects of attraction leading to a virtuous and useful life. Manual labor is insisted upon as dignified and elevating, having a beneficial effect upon the morals.

The first question in the form of an objection is, Will the results justify the experiment to be made, and will it balance the expense? Answer: Statistics show that it is cheaper to take measures to pre. vent crime than it is to punish it after it has been committed.

To assist us in an answer to the question, will it pay, let us inquire what has been accomplished by such schools in other States where they have been established. The universal verdict of those competent to judge of Industrial Schools provided for girls, is that nearly all must have led a life of shame but for this wise provision of