Am.  Jour.  Pharm  1 
Aug.,  1875.  / 
Unprofitable  Reading. 
359 
of  unprofitable  reading,  there  is  another  which  appears  closely  in  the 
track.  I  feel  sure  that  a  student  does  himself  injustice  who  follows 
too  implicitly  one  book,  because  even  a  many-sided  teacher  contracts  a 
mannerism  both  of  expression  and  of  thought ;  because  he  is  strong  in 
some  points  and  weak  in  others,  and  because  his  teaching  bears  more 
or  less  distinctly  the  traditional  impress  of  his  own  school.  It  is,  more- 
over, no  imaginary  danger  that  a  beginner  may  attach  undue  importance 
to  a  stereotyped  mode  of  explanation,  and  may  thus  unwisely  limit  the 
range  of  his  conceptions.  He  is  tempted  to  believe  in  no  other  prophet 
than  the  one  through  whom  he  first  learnt  the  rudiments  of  his  faith. 
It  is  manifestly  impossible  that  one  writer  should,  like  a  living  kaleido- 
scope, reflect  every  combination  of  light  and  color.  This  is  an  unrea- 
sonable expectation,  and  he  who  would  eschew  unprofitable  reading 
must  gather  his  information  from  varied  sources.  A  professor,  speaking 
from  an  academic  chair,  is  compelled  in  great  measure  to  be  the  expo- 
nent of  a  certain  curriculum.  He  acts  wisely  and  from  necessity,  for 
he  is  bound,  as  a  public  man,  to  present  his  young  audience  with  such 
a  classified  arrangement  of  facts  and  theories  as  he  may  deem  most  in- 
structive. 
Nothing  more  distinguishes  our  modern  period  than  the  simplicity 
and  excellence  of  these  prepared  discourses,  but  obviously  each  man 
■does  approach  his  subject  with  strong  individual  leanings,  and  that  is  the 
very  secret  of  his  strength.  One  reasons  lucidly  about  chemical  equa- 
tions ;  a  second  explains  the  theory  of  the  phosphorus  acids  in  an  un- 
equalled manner  ;  a  third  justifies  the  reputation  of  Owen's  College 
by  the  conciseness  of  his  descriptions  and  the  skill  by  which  so  many 
facts  are  presented  in  so  small  a  space.  Neither  one  man,  still  less  one 
book,  can  wander  into  these  different  paths  all  leading  to  a  common 
road,  but  the  learner,  while  exclusively  he  follows  none,  will  lessen  his 
labor  and  not  increase  it  by  comparing,  combining,  and  collating  the 
separate  instructions  which  men  can  give.  This,  which  I  have  often 
done  for  others,  I  devoutly  wish  others  would  accomplish  for  them- 
selves, a  sentiment  which  leads  directly  to  a  theory  long  and  conscien- 
tiously entertained.  Technical  study  has  three  stages  of  development, 
the  learning  or  the  storage  ;  then  the  storage  classified  ;  and  last,  the 
practical  application. 
To  enter  with  advantage  on  our  own  special  branch,  the  student 
should  have  done  with  his  preliminary  education,  and  not  be  hampered 
with  the  rules  of  English  composition,  his  decimal  fractions,  or  the 
