From the INTRODUCTION. THE tendency of the American people to study art marks an era in our intellectual life. Students of art multiply rapidly: art-schools are well filled, and private teachers are in great demand. All branches of art are receiving attention, and especially the industrial department. There are two sources of art-instruction, - the teacher, and nature. There are also two methods of practice, - working from copies, and working from nature. Multitudes of private pupils do nothing but copy the work of others, and consequently they never acquire the power to produce original work themselves. The two methods may be combined, but nature must always be regarded sis the great instructor. We can do no greater service to our pupils than to prepare them to learn from nature, to open their eyes and minds to the harmonies and melodies which she has in ample store for them. There is no department of public instruction better adapted to the development of the powers of observation than drawing from objects. The art-student, in progressing through the various branches of his study, is soon confronted with the necessity of making for himself original drawings from objects. He cannot long follow copies, and depend upon them for guidance: he must read forms independently, as he would read a book; and he must give his own rendering of them. At this stage he is presumed to have acquired a ready hand in drawing from the copy, and to be in possession of some knowledge of Plane Geometry. Thus prepared he enters upon a tour of investigation, not unlike the explorer of a new country. He must note all the facts presented to his observation, and deduce all the laws discoverable by his understanding.