JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 6l 



rated and stored in the mind before its record is begun. This 

 elaboration extends to the division of the subject into distinct prop- 

 ositions and the arrangement of these propositions in a logical or- 

 der. It does not ordinarily extend to the framing of sentences, but 

 the ideas to be expressed have passed out of the haze of suggestion 

 into the clear light of full perception before dictation is attempted. 

 Thus in a second way it results that close attention is given to the 

 selection of words and phrases and the framing of sentences. With 

 many writers the employment of a shorthand amanuensis leads to 

 a diffuse style, characterised by long and involved sentences, but in 

 Powell's case such employment is coincident with a concise style 

 and the prevalence of short sentences, a difference which I con- 

 ceive to be due to the fact that his subject is thought out in advance. 



During the period of mental elaboration, while the subject is 

 undergoing classification and arrangement, it is often rehearsed to 

 friends in the guise of a topic of conversation j and while it is thus 

 fully at command, it is apt to be drawn on as material for post- 

 prandial speeches and other occasional and extempore remarks and 

 especially for discussions in scientific societies. In such ways he 

 tests in advance the reception of the results of his cogitation before 

 committing them even to the private record of the written page. It 

 has occasionally happened that the thoughts thus set afloat have 

 received publication in the writings of others before they appeared 

 in his own. Probably the appropriation has usually been uncon- 

 scious, but whether so or not the matter is of little moment, for a 

 mind fertile as Powell's need not be a stickler for priority of 

 thought, and the world need not care from what source flow the 

 ideas that constitute its progress. 



During dictation his mental activity is correlated with a cer- 

 tain amount of muscular action, as is the case with many authors. 

 Sometimes he sits in a pivoted chair, swinging it one way and an- 

 other, and accompanying emphatic passages by gesture. More 

 frequently he paces the floor, with a cigar, lighted or unlighted, in 

 mouth or hand, raising his voice and gesturing with hand and 

 body as though addressing an audience. 



Despite the thoroughness of his mental preparation, the manu- 

 script of a scientific article is rarely complete at first writing, but 

 is in that stage criticised in all respects, from its verbiage to its 

 general logic. It is brought under view from time to time for sev- 

 eral days, and if possible for several weeks, and is again submitted 

 to friends conversant with the subject for the purpose of eliciting 

 discussion and criticism. 



