84 PROCEEDINGS Of' THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



that have been made all over the world, invent his own apparatus, and 

 draw his own inferences ? Or shall he go to some learned physicist and 

 ask him to explain all he knows about his science ? Occasionally this 

 would be very pleasant for both parties, — if the engineer did not want 

 to know too much or too often, or if he paid enough for the advice. 



These methods all have their advantages, but they will require modi- 

 fication or perfection hereafter. A great deal that is now hidden in 

 symbols can be expressed in plain intelligible language, but language can 

 no longer be the only means of communicating thought. Graphic 

 methods are already employed on a small scale to represent mechanical 

 and physical principles ; so are synoptical tables, charts, etc. But these 

 methods and their applications should be much extended, and in con- 

 nection with them the very hieroglyphics employed by the specialists can 

 be turned to good account. 



We must use our eyes as well as our ears. Speech is addressed to 

 the ear which receives but one impression at a time. We must avail 

 ourselves of two dimensions of space instead of one. Suppose the 

 problem were to find a needle in a dark room. AVe could find it much 

 quicker by lighting a lamp than by feeling about in the dark until we 

 had brought our fingers in contact with every part of the surface. We 

 do indeed use our eyes in reading, but we read only words, words, words, 

 that are addressed to the ear through the eye and convey only a single 

 train of thought. We use our eyes like a blind man, and we follow 

 King Lear's advice to Gloucester: " Look with thine ears . . . and, like 

 a scurvy politician, seem to see the things thou dost not." 



There is always more or less opposition to new methods. It is 

 claimed by some that the labor spent in acquiring knowledge is neces- 

 sary to improve the mind. One of the advocates of this doctrine com- 

 manded a flat-boat on the Mississippi River and combined this function 

 with that of a preacher of the Gospel. He declined to tell his congre- 

 gation where the text was to be found, because, he said, if they would 

 search the Scriptures as he had searched them, they would find there 

 not only his text, " but many other texts as would do 'em much good to 

 read 'em." 



Everything must be put in synoptic or cartographic form if possible. 

 If we do not make such charts on paper, we must make them in our 

 brain. By the present system the mind is overtaxed with the effort. If 

 the charts are first made on paper, they are quickly photographed on the 

 mind, and then the old methods can be applied in connection with them. 

 If you have a map of the country, the guide-book will help to make it 



