THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 23 



lation tennis net, and upon the line were painted 

 a number of disks about ten inches in diameter. 

 Standing at a distance from the wall equivalent 

 to the distance of the base-line of a regulation 

 tennis-court from the net, the player would 

 return the ball on its rebound from the wall, 

 striving each time to so place it that it would 

 strike just above the line. The accomplish- 

 ment of a satisfactory score after a succession 

 of drives would convince the player that he had 

 good control of his stroke, and he would then 

 turn his attention to the disks, against each of 

 which he would drive twenty or more shots, 

 taking them in turn and keeping a record of 

 hits in each case. The accuracy developed by 

 such practice was truly remarkable, and I hes- 

 itate to mention the number of times in succes- 

 sion one expert made clean hits it seemed an 

 incredible number. 



I have seen golfers practising the weak places 

 in their game for hours with as much zeal and 

 earnestness as if they were playing a match, 

 and a polo player of my acquaintance practises 

 his strokes upon a field at his home, riding 

 his ponies as daringly and recklessly as though 

 a championship depended upon his efforts. 

 The devotees of these and similar active sports 



