i4G 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Mahch 9, 1883. 



LEARNING LANGUAGES. 

 By Richard A. Proctor. 



(Cnnlinued/rnm i>. 100.) 



rpHE method applied in my last paper to Latin is, in the 



I foUowinc; passage, taken from one of the excellent 

 works on the Hamiltonian method (now published at a very 

 moderate rate— see our advertisement columns) applied 

 to German. 



I do not give the Hamiltonian translation this time, 

 leaving the student to look for it in the little book itself, 

 " Robinson der Jiingere." What follows is the German 

 passage, unaltered in arrangement, with my own absolutely 

 literal translation, placed word for word under the German. 

 After that, a free translation is given — in which the sense 

 is carefully rendered, so that of necessity the Englisli is 

 not quite as an Englishman would write it. 



Der Tiegel zersprang nicht, aber er wollte doch 

 Tfi^ pipkin otUsprang not, hut it would though 

 auch nicLt iiberglaset werden. — Und warum denn 

 also not over glazed become. — And where/ore then 

 nicht? dachte Robinson wieder. Das Feuer, meine 

 not? thatyht Robinson further. Tlvi Fire, think 

 ich, ware doch wol stark genug gewesen ; was 



/, V30%dd though- well strong enoitgh have been ; what 

 mag denn nun doch fehlen ? Nachdem er lange 

 may then now yet fail 1 After-that he long 



dariiber nachgedacht hatte, glaubte er endlich den 

 ther^eover (owards-thoitghf had, believed he lastly the 

 rechten Fleck zu treffen. Er hatte, niimlich, den 



right FJavj to hit. He had, namely, the 



Versuch in einem Feuer gemacht, welches in keinem 



Trial in a Fire made, which in no 



Ofen eingeschlossen war, sondern in freier Luft brannte. 

 Oven inclosed was, but in free Air burned. 



Aus diesem ver-flog die Hitze viel zu schnell, 

 Oiit-of this off-fletv the Heat much too quickly, 

 und -breitete sich zu sehr nach alien Seiten 

 and -spread self too much to all Sides 



aus- als dass der Thon dadurch hUtte 



out- as that the Clay that-through [could] have 

 kiinnen bis zum Verglasen gliihend werden. Seinem 

 he.en-able up to-the Glazing glowing to-become. To his 

 Grundsatze, " nichts unvoUendet zu lassen," getreu, 



principle, " naught uncompleted to leave," true, 

 beschloss er also, eiuen ordentlichen Schmelzofen 



resolved he so, one [a] regular Melting Oven 



anzulegen. Aber zu dieser Arbeit musste er eine 



to-lay-out. But to this labour must he one 



bequemere Witterung abwarten. Es regnete, niimlich, 



more-convenient Weather avmit. It rained, namely, 



noch immer fort, und erst nach zwei Monaten -fing der 



yet ever forth, and frst after two Months -took the 

 Himmel endlich wieder an- sich auszuklaren. Nun, 



Heaven lastly again oiv- self to-clear-up. Now, 



dachte Robinson, werde der Winter angehen-; und siehe ! 

 thought Jiohinson, loill the Winter on-go ; and see I 

 der Winter war schon voriiber. Kaum trauete er 

 the Winter was already over.' Scarcely trusted he 

 seinen eigenen Augen, da er sah dass die allbelebende 

 his oum Eyes, when he saw that the all-enlivening 



Friihlingskraft schon wieder neues Gras, neue Blumen, 

 Spring' s-poirer already again -iiew Grass, new Flowers, 



und neue Kriiuter hervortrieb ; und doch war es wirklich 

 and nevj Herbs, forth-drove ; and yet was it really 

 so. Die Sache war ihm unbegreiflich, und gleichwol 

 so. The Thing %cas to-him ungraspable, and equally^eell 

 sah er sie vor Augen. " Das soil mir, dachte 

 savj he it before [the] Eyes. " That shall to-me, ilioiight 

 er bei sich-selbst, eine Lehre sein, dass ich kiinftig nicht 

 he by himself a lesson be, that I in-future not 



gleich Etwas liiugne, was ich nicht begriefen kann !" 

 straight something deny, vMch I not hegrip can /" 



Free Translation. 



The pipkin did not burst, but it did not become glazed. 

 And why not 1 thought Robinson next. The fire, I think, 

 must have been hot enough — what can be still wanting? 

 After he had long reflected about this, he Ijelieved he had 

 found what was amiss. It was that he had made the trial 

 in a fire which was not enclosed in any oven, but burned 

 in the open air. The heat escaped from this much too 

 quickly, and was dispersed all round too freely to be able 

 to heat the clay to the glazing point. True to his principle 

 that nothing should be left untried, he resolved to build a 

 regular oven. But for this work he was obliged to await 

 better weather, for it rained continually, and only after 

 two months did the sky begin to clear. Now, thought 

 Robinson, we shall have winter ; but, lo ! winter was 

 already over ! He could scarcely trust his own eyes, when 

 he saw that the all-vivifying power of spring already 

 brought forth new grass, new flowers, and new herbs ; yet 

 so it was. He found the thing inconceivable ; yet there it 

 was before his eyes. " This shall be a lesson to me," he 

 thought to himself, " not forthwith to deny what I cannot 

 understand." 



THE ROYAL AQUARIUM ELECTRIC 

 EXHIBITION. 



THAT the management of the Westminster Aquarium 

 should undertake the formation of an electric exhibi- 

 tion so soon after the in-one-sense successful essay on the 

 part of the Crystal Palace Company, was, on its first 

 announcement, regarded as a very risky experiment. The 

 repetition of a success rarely satisfies anybody, and perhaps 

 least of all those most directly concerned. The truth of 

 this has been fully exemplified at Sydenham. Nevertheless, 

 considering the eminently central position occupied by the 

 Aquarium, and the fact that the building is not compelled to 

 close at so early an hour as the Crystal Palace, it gradually 

 began to be hoped, almost expected, that the venture at 

 Westminster would contradict the verdict on its com- 

 petitor. So much was this the case that nearly two hundred 

 intending exhibitors sent in their names. The date for 

 opening was originally fixed for the first of last November, 

 but it soon became clear that a postponement would be 

 necessary. The opening was accordingly put off from time 

 to time, and it was only on Saturday last that the Exhibi- 

 tion was declared to be ready for public inspection. With 

 very great regret, however, we have to record that the old 

 lesson is again forced upon us, and that great as was the 

 prospect of a first-rate display, the realisation falls short of 

 the least sanguine anticipations. What is at present to be 

 seen is, generally speaking, good ; it only lacks diversity 

 and quantity. There is little doubt but that many more 

 exhibitors will put in an appearance now that the opening 

 has become a fait accompli, although it is probable that 

 several intended exhibits have already gone the way of all 

 things, few having survived tlie trying period which has 



