76 APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 



The object of lectures is, in the first place, to 

 awaken the attention and excite the enthusiasm 

 of the student ; and this, I am sure, may be effected 

 to a far greater extent by the oral discourse and 

 by the personal influence of a respected teacher 

 than in any other way. Secondly, lectures have 

 the double use of guiding the student to the salient 

 points of a subject, and at the same time forcing 

 him to attend to the whole of it, and not merely 

 to that part which takes his fancy. And lastly, 

 lectures afford the student the opportunity of 

 seeking explanations of those difficulties which 

 will, and indeed ought to, arise in the course of 

 his studies. 



What books shall I read? is a question con- 

 stantly put by the student to the teacher. My 

 reply usually is, "None: write your notes out 

 carefully and fully ; strive to understand them 

 thoroughly ; come to me for the explanation of 

 anything you cannot understand ; and I would 

 rather you did not distract your mind by reading." 

 A properly composed course of lectures ought to 

 contain fully as much matter as a student can 

 assimilate in the time occupied by its delivery ; 

 and the teacher should always recollect that his 

 business is to feed and not to cram the intellect. 

 Indeed, I believe that a student who gains from 

 a course of lectures the simple habit of concen- 

 trating his attention upon a definitely limited series 

 of facts, until they are thoroughly mastered, has 

 made a step of immeasurable importance. 



However good lectures may be, and however 

 extensive the course of reading by which they 



