100 miscellaneous observations. Sept. i«* 



provements might be made by each in his proper de- 

 partment. When a man is engaged, however eager- 

 ly, in a particular pursuit, ideas will sometimes dart 

 into his mind, which thongh but slightly related to 

 the present subject, may be striking in themselves,, 

 and may lead to important discoveries. Of these no 

 immediate use can be made, because a wise man will 

 never interrupt a regular train of thought in order to 

 trace detached ideas through all their pofsible conse- 

 quences. They must therefore be thrown aside till a 

 time of. more leisure ; and if they be not committed 

 to a safer repository than the retentive memory, they 

 are not likely to be found when they (hall be next; 

 wanted. 



Thus evident is the advantage which would result to^ 

 every individual from the practice of committing such 

 thoughts to writing ; but instead of recommending 

 the general use of common place books, which when 

 properly kept are indeed valuable companions, I could 

 wilh that THE BEE were occasionally employed for this 

 purpose. The man of science, the farmer, the manu- 

 facturer, or the mechanic, who Ihould send to your 

 miscellany such plausible hints as at the time of 

 their occurring to him he was not at leisure to pur- 

 sue, might afterwards, by means of your accurate in- 

 dexes, find them as easily as if they had been reposi- 

 ted in his own manuscript. He would thus fully 

 obey the profefsor's excellent directions for his own 

 Improvement, and would at the same time contribute 

 to" the improvements of others. By making his com- 

 mon place book public, he would render it more use- 

 ful even to himself, than it could be if exposed to no 

 eye but his own. To you, Sir, I need not say how 



