48 



THE BLACKBOARD. 



The blackboard is perhaps the most useful and convenient form of illus- 

 trative teaching that we have, provided the lecturer is fairly skillful in the use 

 of crayon and has made judicious selection of the subjects to be presented. 

 The gradual development of the diagram or picture under the lecturer's hand 

 holds attention and gives time for the audience to study the details and hear 

 the explanations as the work progresses. By this method the lecturer can 

 withhold any part that he sees tit until the appropriate time for its presentation 

 arrives, when, by a stroke or two, the comjilete outline sets forth the point to be 

 illustrated with increased effect. Every institute platform should be ecpiipped 

 with a good blackboard, a stock of colored crayon, and an eraser, and every 

 institute lecturer should acquire the art of using the blackboard with facility 

 and comfort to himself, and with interest and ])rotit to his audience. 



THE LIVING OBJECT. 



By far the most effective illustrative material is the living object. A live 

 animal on the platform will furnish a text and hold attention as no other sub- 

 ject can. In many cases it furnishes both the material for the lecture and its 

 illustration as well — in sliort, supplies a perfect subject in itself. 



Who that has seen the famous horse .Jim Key in the hands of his trainer, 

 adding, substracting, and multiplying numbers, was not impressed to an extent 

 that he can never forget : or that, as a child, saw the wonderful feats of the 

 little canaries exhibited l>y Signor Blitz, was tired for a moment or has lost the 

 delightful impression tluni received and has not had a greater regard for l)ird life 

 ever siiiceV A horse, a beef animal, a dairy cow, a well-bred rooster, or a prize 

 hen, exhibited by a lecturer qualified for the work, will hold any audience for 

 an hour as effectually as the most attractive play that the theaters present. A 

 living model impresses one with the feeling that the lecturer is dealing witli 

 problems that are real instead of mere theories, with the feeling that we are 

 in the presence of a most wonderful macliine, whose marvelous properties the 

 lecturer is endeavoriug to explain, and not that of a mere inert and senseless 

 form. The difference in interest between the living thing and the representa- 

 tive of that thing is that of the difference between the thrill one feels wlieu 

 going at a gallop njion tlie back of a well-])red and finely gaited liorse, and the 

 sensation of a ride on a wooden model in a merry-go-round. 



THE USE Oi" SPECIMENS. 



The next most effective method of illustration is i)erhaps that of the use of 

 specimens of the article, duplicates of which, when they are of moderate size, 

 can be passed around through the audience for examination as the subject is 

 discussed. This handling and personal examination fixes the points in the 

 hearer's mind in a way that he can never forget, and at the same time makes 

 him confident that he will lie aide to recognize the article, whether it be an 

 insect, fungus growth, variety of fruit, or other object, wherever he may meet 

 it in the future. A balanced ration exhibited by using the forage itself in its 

 proper proportions will be remembered nuich hmger and be l)etter compre- 

 hended than the presentation of the subject by giving the mere names of the 

 ingredients, with figures to show the percentage of each. 



There is a value in the use of the real thing that is peculiar and which is not 

 approached when pictures or models are substituted, no matter how skillfully 

 they may be made. There is always a suspicion that the model is not true to 

 the facts, which is, of course, altogether absent when the natural object is held 



