counts from list prices-as on purchase of articles by carload, half carload lots, gross lots, etc.

Give practice problems in successive discounts. Find the given percentages by subtracting the rate of discount from 100 per cent and multiplying. Successively, after they have

found the net amount of the bills, find the total discount by subtracting it from list price. This total discount divided by the list price of the bill will give one single discount that will be equal to the successive discounts. Show this on $1 also by discounting for 20-10-5 etc.

The Monthly Numbering system as briefly outlined in the last study showed that the purchase invoices were numbered by commencing with a new series of numbers each month. Under the Yearly system the entries for the following month cannot be made in the purchase book until all invoices for the old month are entered, the entries for the new month may be delayed for several days. The delay would be caused by the fact that you would not know how many numbers to leave for the late invoices. Of course numbers could be reversed for them but this would always leave some numbers or you would not perhaps have reserved enough, in any event the system would be imperfect.

The reason for keeping the purchases for each month separate is to enable the owner of the business to know the amount of indebtedness he has incurred for merchandise and

expenses for any one month, it is also the basis of an analyzed statement of the purchases for a particular month.

Under the Monthly Numbering system, if, after the last day of the month you expect to receive more invoices for the old month, and you have received invoices for the new month, you merely start a new sheet for the new month commencing again with a new series of numbers for the new month, for instance, the last invoice entered for January was, we will say, number 1-265 and you expect to receive more invoices, representing January purchases, which should be entered in the January account to keep the record of purchases for January correct, and suppose it is now already February 4th and you have received many invoices representing February purchases, you merely begin to enter the February invoices on a new sheet commencing

with number 2-1 and continue, and leave the January sheet open until all the invoices for January are received.

Another advantage for the Monthly Numbering system lies in the fact that you can easily ascertain the month in which any invoice was entered without reference to the purchase book. The number 5-45 on an invoice would indicate that it was the 45th invoice entered in May, the 5th month.

It was formerly the practice to paste invoices in a large book, imagine a book packed full, perhaps, six or eight inches thick, of invoices. It was a nuisance to refer to any one invoice, for the fact of there being pasted in the book made necessary the handling of the unweildy thing and much time was lost in the office. There being many shapes, sizes, and styles of invoices added to the confusion as the large ones might be folded once or twice or might be left open covering the small ones.

The numbering of invoices either by the yearly or monthly systems is a great aid in finding them.

The numbering of invoices also facilitates the paying of them as the cash book entry of the payment need not particularize as to the items paid for.

While the purchase book is sometimes used only for purchases that are to be paid for at some later date, it is better to enter in it the invoices for all purchases, even for those for which payment is to be made upon delivery, as the book is then a complete record of all purchases.

When this form of the purchase book is used it is unnecessary to keep an account in the ledger for each creditor as the invoices are filed in a manner enabling the bookkeeper to readily ascertain the information

as to the total purchases from any one creditor.

Before this form of book may be used it is necessary to set aside certain pages in the ledger for each class of merchandise purchased or expense incurred, for instance, in the manufacture of clothing some of the materials are cloth, linings, trimmings, etc., and each of these classifications may be further divided. The classification of cloth may be further classified as broadcloth, serges, woolens, etc.; linings into coat linings, pant linings, pocket linings, etc.; trimmings into buttons, braid, etc. While all of the invoices representing these purchases might be charged into a merchandise account and the invoices for stationery, office supplies, advertising, etc. might be charged into a general expense account, the owner of the business will be kept better informed as to his purchases if the invoices are classified more definitely. It is also better to keep the accounts representing each department of the business near each other to facilitate the preparation of business statements.

After it has been decided the number of accounts you will have in the ledger a ready-reference index should be made showing the page number and the name of each account. When an invoice is entered in the purchase book refer to this index and you will find the page number representing the class of goods purchased and this number is entered in the "Account Number" column. By the end of the month, then, you will have in this column many different numbers, and perhaps the same number many times. In order to keep the detail of these many items out of the ledger a distribution book is sometimes used, but if the office has an adding machine this posting is unnecessary as

the items representing each account can be quickly taken off on the machine, when this has been done you will have the amounts to charge each account. For the purpose of a permanent record in the purchase book a summary of these amounts, showing the account numbers arranged numerically, should be entered on the last page for the month and the ledger posted from this summary.

After this has been done you have made but one of the entries required by double entry bookkeeping, i.e., the charge, now the credit must be made representing the same amount as charged, to balance with the charge, and as you are not going to keep an account with each creditor when using this form of purchase book the question will arise in your mind HOW SHALL I BALANCE WITH THE CHARGES I HAVE MADE WITH THE DIFFERENT CLASSIFIED ACCOUNTS?

The addition of the "Amount of Invoice" column which represents

the total of the amounts to be charged each class of purchase will be found to correspond with, or should correspond with the total of the summary of the classified amounts, this being a proof of the correctness of the summary. This total is the one you should post to the credit of some account to make the double entry required by the double entry system of bookkeeping.

An account is kept in the ledger to which this amount must be posted, this account is called "Accounts Payable" and takes the place of the individual accounts of the creditors. This is called a Control Account. must remember that only the total and not the individual invoice amounts must be posted to this account.

You

The foregoing will suffice to show how the owner of the business may know how much of each class of merchandise or expense he has purchased during the month, the total amount of all purchases and the amount of indebtedness he has incurred.

Advisory Board.

Thomas W. Churchill, former President New York City Board of Education-W. C. Durand, President State Federation of District Boards of Education of New Jersey-Frank H. Sommer, Dean of New York University Law School, President, Newark, N. J. Board of Education. Executive Secretary, Henry Sterling Chapin. Counsel, George W. Harper, Jr.

Official Publication Educational Foundations

The material planned for this department in this issue has not been received in time so we are compelled to go to press without it.

The utility of Educational Foundations as as the mouthpiece for the

School Board Members Association depends on the activity of the members and also upon their promptness in sending their material in time for publication.

We hear from all parts of the East that many school board members are devotedly spending their own time in the effort to secure sufficient coal to heat the buildings in their charge and it is realized that the changes of plans caused by the abnormal conditions are keeping every school board member who does

his duty to the community unusually busy. Time is being demanded that many members cannot properly spare from their own affairs and it is clear that such public spirited men are the very ones whose material will be of the greatest value in this department, so the conductor

of the department is more than ready to forgive them and trusts that the other members will do the same and that they will make possible an increased value in subsequent issues that will make full amends for the lack of practical suggestions this month.

BEHIND THE GERMAN VEIL, by J. M. de Beaufort. Price $2.00.

J. M. de Beaufort, a Hollander by birth but an American by choice and a trained journalist has written a very entertaining book called "Behind the German Veil," published by Dodd, Mead & Co.

The author without military passes and apparently with nothing more tangible than his nerve, wanders all over Germany interviewing every one from Hindenburg down to the Russian prisoner working on the roads. His chapter on German Psychology is especially good. He has several chapters on the Navy, and a very illuminating chapter on the German-Turkish Alliance.

For one who likes a chatty book, dealing with little details that makes its pages very much alive, he will enjoy "From Behind the German Veil."

"ALSACE-LORRAINE UNDER GERMAN RULE, by Charles Downer Hazen. Published by Henry Holt & Co. Price $1.25.

Americans are vague regarding their knowledge of the provinces of AlsaceLorraine, but Charles Downer Hazen has given us a very clear readable history of that country from the time of the conquest by the Romans down to the present day. He shows the protests of the people against the germanization of their country and gives a full account of the "Zabern" incident, which reveals the spirit and methods of German Rule, the power and dominance of the Prussian militaristic party, and the German method of treating the conquered.

THE MAJOR, by Ralph Connor. George H. Doran Co. Price $1.50.

Mr. Connor deals with the country

he loves and understands, Canada, in his new book, and his descriptions of that great North West make fascinating reading. It is a tale filled with love and romance and high ideals, and more than that it is the story of Young Canada rising at the call of its mother country. We hear much of the disloyal attitude of many of the Canadians towards the war, but this book shows us the other side of the shield, shows the spirit that made Canada, when the call came, send her best, men who have shown the world what valor and loyalty can do when their country needs them. One can understand the bravery of the Canadians in the trenches, and the almost impossibility of their defeat, after becoming acquainted with "The Major" and his friends.

VAGABONDING DOWN THE ANDES, by Harry A. Franck. Published by The Century Co.

When tired of reading war books one should turn to Mr. Franck's latest book, "Vagabonding down the Andes." Mr. Franck takes the reader with him through the wilds of Columbia, Peru and Bolivia, stopping at the mountain inns, meeting the Indians, seeing the life about him with unhurried eyes. The great charm of the book is that one feels that the author is not a tourist who spends three weeks in the country and then writes about it. Mr. Franck takes time, unlimited time, and he understands the people and tells about them in a frank, clear, sympathetic manner that holds the interest of the reader from the first to the last page.

The book is filled with photographs taken by the author and they add to its charm.

THE EXCEPTIONAL CHILD, by Maximilian P. E. Groszman. Charles Scribner's Sons. Price $2.50.

The purpose of Dr. Groszman in his book is to give a perspective of the entire situation regarding the types of children who deviate from the normal. He goes into the question of heredity and family history, of environment and social economic conditions, of child hygiene and public sanitation, of medical inspection and clinical work and of psychologic and psychopathic investigation.

He divides the book into three parts. The first deals with the problem of the individual child and with the educational problem in general. The second deals with clinical research and diagnosis and the determination of exceptional development in children. He goes very thoroughly into the question of the Binet tests of whose value he is in doubt, feeling that some system should be found that goes deeper into the matter, showing not simply that the child is defective, but why that is the case. The third part deals with the problems of prevention, adjustment and organization, with an especially good chapter on the training of teachers.

In conclusion Dr. Groszman says, "It must become evident to the careful reader that the problem of the exceptional child is really a problem of civilization itself— that it goes to the very root of the tree of human life; that upon its solution depends the progress, yea, the very existence of the race. If it is not solved in a sane and constructive manner our present civilization will be swept away as other civilizations have perished in the past, to give way to new, raw attempts by untried races, to build up a better human society than it was before."

If any one can help solve this problem it is Dr. Groszman as he has dedicated his life to the service of aiding the child who is generally called "defective."

The book will help parents in the education and understanding of their children, and it is invaluable to the teacher who is striving to save these human derelicts. It will aid the instructor to recognize the existing conditions so that he may be able to apply the remedy with intelligence.

The book should be thoroughly studied by social workers, by the makers of laws, and by the men who execute those laws, as the abnormal child is apt to

grow into the criminal man or woman.

The book has covered a large field and it cannot be expected that it has covered every detail exhaustively, but it is a very thorough, scholarly summary of the whole matter, written by a man who has given many years to the study of his subject.

MY ADVENTURES AS A GERMAN SECRET AGENT, by Horst von der Goltz. Published by Robert McBride & Co. Price $1.50.

Horst von der Goltz was for many years a secret diplomatic agent for Germany, and his book is as fascinating as a novel. He begins the tale with the finding of a letter that casts a doubt upon the legitimacy of the German Emperor, and from that time on the book is filled with a series of flights, intrigues, plots and counter-plots that makes one forget that he is reading history. It seems all romance, one of those exciting kind that come serially in the magazines and that keep the reader anxiously waiting the next installment. Yet with its seeming improbability, it is the history, authenticated in innumerable details, of German's plot against the peace of the world. It is very instructive and most entertaining.

NEW WORLD HEALTH SERIES PRIMER OF PHYSIOLOGY, by John W. Ritchie. World Book Co., Yonkers, New York.

The author in this last volume of a series of elementary school texts has attempted to give the pupil a general idea of the plan and working of his body; to make plain to him the possibility of his health; and to point out the paths that lead to the realizations of these possibilities.

Mr. Ritchie believes that modern hygienic knowledge is able to free our people from most of their illnesses and that this knowledge ought to be given to the people by the schools that have been founded for their instruction, consequently he has written this text book which teaches hygiene through the modern physiology that lies behind it.

At the end of each chapter are suggestions to the teacher which are most helpful, and if followed, the lesson in physiology will not be the bug bear it is ordinarily to the average healthy child, as the book is made interesting as well as instructive.