A CHEMICAL PROLOGUE. 669 



each other ; or, as we are apt to say, the child begins to take no- 

 tice. Then it is that the birth of the human soul into the little 

 body becomes apparent. The child is observed to fix its gaze 

 upon objects. It begins to recognize faces ; it begins to see ; it 

 begins to hear; it begins to feel. In a word, intelligence has 

 dawned. 



The years succeeding infancy are full of incident. Each day 

 is crowded with new experiences and new sensations. Years pass 

 before the most obvious of these are exhausted of their interest. 

 The child reaches out its hand for the moon ; it finds delight in 

 the glancing sunbeam ; it is surprised by its own reflection in the 

 glass ; it is charmed by all forms of rapid motion ; it dances glee- 

 fully before the fire ; it is made curious by the rustling of a leaf, 

 The little man is full of the spirit of investigation. He is a true 

 experimenter. He is constantly putting questions to Nature, and, 

 after a fashion, he is finding answers. He awakens to conscious- 

 ness in a world that is for him full of wonders and surprises. 

 There is no truer fairy-land than that in which he daily moves. 

 The ever-present mystery ; the delightful sense of anticipation ; 

 the persistent belief in the impossible, make childhood in spite 

 of its little worries and absurd fears a veritable paradise, from 

 which advancing years, like the angel with the flaming sword, 

 casts us out all too soon. 



The activity of the child is exceedingly interesting in the ab- 

 stract ; perhaps a little inconvenient in the concrete. He throws a 

 goblet on the floor, and is as much amazed that it should break as 

 the owner of the goblet is annoyed. It is a destructive age, and is 

 apt to meet with but little sympathy from older persons who for- 

 get that they have gained their own store of knowledge from just 

 such a series of adventures. Children willingly sacrifice a toy to 

 learn what it is made of, and I am disposed to think that the 

 knowledge so gained is worth more thanflt-he plaything. And so 

 the first years of life are spent in becoming acquainted with sur- 

 rounding objects. The days are very full of pleasure when one is 

 acquiring knowledge in this simple and natural fashion. All of 

 us have gone through these experiences. By hundreds of tests 

 pleasant and otherwise we have learned that certain substances 

 are brittle or tough ; are hard or soft ; are rigid or flexible ; are 

 light or heavy. By repeated falls we have gained some notion of 

 gravitation that bodies unsupported will fall to the ground. 

 Burned fingers have taught us that flame and fire are hot. Torn 

 jackets have shown us that there is a point beyond which we can 

 not go and expect cloth to resist strains. It is in this way that 

 we have gained our stock of common knowledge. Experience is 

 undoubtedly the best teacher. When maturity is reached, all 

 have gained the greater part of this common stock, and the 



