92 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
, point, because it is one upon which even 
professionals often fail. A striking ex- 
ample is to be found in a recent work on 
. Mechanical Drawing, in which the author 
is very careful to caution us about having 
the blades of our T squares at perfect 
right angles with the stock! Now, to 
have them nearly at right angles, or 
square with the stock, is all right, but to 
spend any labor in securing great ac- 
curacy in this respect is, as we shall see 
further on, a great waste of labor. If the 
board is square the drawing will be all 
right, provided the stock and blade of the 
T square are firmly fixed together. 
It is not intended, by what has just been 
said, to belittle the study of Practical 
Geometry, as it is called. To do so would 
be to insist that the student shall solve all 
the practical problems for himself, and 
this would be manifestly absurd. Every 
good text-book of drawing contains the 
more important problems required, and 
these should be carefully and frequently 
worked over until the student is familiar 
not only with the printed directions, but 
with the actual manipulations required, 
for in drawing, as in everything else, 
finger-skill (handicraft) is quite as import- 
ant as theoretical knowledge. A sound 
knowledge of theoretical geometry is of 
great value to students of free-hand draw- 
ing, as well as to those who devote them- 
selves to mechanical drawing, and to all it 
is invaluable as a means of mental disci- 
pline. 
The instruments required by students of 
free-hand drawing are few and simple. A 
smooth board, some cheap but firm paper, 
and a few pencils of varying degrees of 
hardness are all that are absolutely neces- 
sary. The beginner must commence by 
copying simple lessons, never using com- 
passes, straight edges, strings, or other 
devices for laying down points or meas- 
uring lines, for to do this will be to de- 
stroy confidence in one's self, to weaken 
the power of estimating distances and 
directions, and to induce general laziness 
and inattention. Above all things, avoid 
those ingenious devices which are con- 
stantly being described in our popular 
scientific periodicals, such as sketch- 
ing frames, transparent slates, drawing 
windows, etc. By means of them you 
may be able to make a few worthless 
copies of engravings or drawings, but 
you will destroy your chances of being 
a draughtsman. 
But while we would urge the student 
to avoid the use of instruments in laying 
down lines and points, it will be of great 
advantage to him to test the accuracy of 
his work from time to time by means of 
rulers, compasses or strings. In this way 
he will easily see which way his errors 
tend, and will get a hint towards correct- 
ing them. He will also be encouraged hy 
seeing that practice and attention have 
enabled him to make perceptible improve- 
ment. 
Nothing but practice and faithful atten- 
tion will confer the necessary skill and 
power. Therefore make copy after copy 
of the lessons set before you ; after a time 
pass on to sketching from actual objects, 
whether models or natural objects, and 
keep practicing at this. For directions as 
to the actual practice of the art we must 
refer our readers to the text-books, and 
those who cannot devote much time and 
effort to this department will find a series 
of very simple and useful lessons in 
some of the previous numbers of the 
Young Scientist. 
For the study of mechanical drawing 
more elaborate instruments are required, 
though even at the best they are not very 
costly or difficult to procure. It is easy 
to find in the stores where artists' ma- 
terials are sold, cases of instruments cost- 
ing two or three hundred dollars, but 
these are more ornamental than useful. 
At the same time we must caution our 
readers against those cheap sets which 
are offered for sale by almost every sta- 
tioner. They are made, like the peddler's 
razors, to sell, not to work with, and it 
would be utterly impossible to make a 
good drawing with them. A very fine set, 
containing, however, no instruments but 
those which are absolutely indispensable, 
may be had for five dollars, or even for 
three and a half. 
The first step should be to acquire neat- 
ness in the use of the tools, and the most 
profitable way to attain this is to go care- 
fully over all the problems of practical 
