tioned. Care needs to be taken, however, that the pupil is really analyzing thought, at every step, and not simply pigeon-holing words and phrases in some mechanical diagraming device, intended to relieve the pupil from the labor of thinking.

But even more fundamental and essential than the formal analysis of sentences is the analysis and critical study of individual words. The etymological study of words, known in schools as Word Analysis, is an exercise of the utmost practical value, tending not only to a clearer comprehension of the force of individual words, through an acquaintance with their life-history, but also to a critical habit in the choice of words. The writer of this, back in boyhood days, was made acquainted with Salem Town's pioneer book on Word Analysis; and to this day he esteems it a happy fate that put him thus early on the track which led to Dean Trench's "The Study of Words" and Crabb's "Synonyms." He is firmly of the opinion that the intellectual habit engendered by those books has been, life through, of greater practical value, and intellectual satisfaction as well, than any other line of study in equal amount, which he can name.

The value of the study of formal grammar, the science of language as distinguished from the art, has already been touched upon in previous lessons. The several reasons for its study may be concisely summarized as follows:

1. As an instrument of self-criticism, in writing and in oral discourse.

2. As a standard of appeal, in the teaching of language and linguistic criticism.

3. As a mental discipline, the cultivation of the power of abstraction and classification.

4. As elementary logic, for the light it throws on the laws of thought.

In connection with the last statement, it seems not amiss to commend unqualifiedly the movement discernible of late among the makers of text-books in English. Grammar, in which the thought side of grammar is emphasized and the connection between logic and grammar recognized.

APPLICATION 2.—Language is abstract and has consequent limitations, of which one of the most serious is the danger that words may become substitutes for ideas. Another danger lies in the liability of the teacher to deceive himself as to how well he is understood.

Says Holman (Education, p. 316), "Words represent the content of concepts in their most abbreviated and condensed forms. They fix most clearly and permanently in mind the expression of ends, processes, and products of thought; and they tend to make ideas more vivid and definite. . . . At the same time, however, words often prove a serious stumbling-block to thought and communication. Since it would be practically impossible to have an entirely different word for every different concept, much less for all the various shades of difference in each of our concepts-for this would prove too great a burden for our memory-we have to use the same sign for several ideas, or things. . . . Great practical advantage is derived from this economy of language, but there is great danger of confusion and error if the inevitable ambiguity is not provided for."

In the same line, Sully remarks, "The fact that the child is hearing a highly developed language spoken about him, which embodies the finer distinctions of mature intelligence, must tend to bewilder his mind at first. He finds it hard to distinguish between closely related and overlapping words, 'healthy' and 'strong,' 'sensible' and 'clever,' and so forth." The teacher must therefore

constantly bear in mind the manifold liabilities to error, and apply to the pupil at every step the necessary tests for determining just what significance he is attaching to the terms used.

These limitations of language have been more fully dwelt upon in Chapter XXIV, to which the reader is requested to refer, and especially to the discussion of the danger that words may displace ideas. With this evil, as with physical ills, prevention is better than cure; and the chief means of prevention, the inductive procedure in teaching, has also been dwelt upon in Chapter XXVI.

A single supplementary thought may be added here. The secret of power in expression, of effectiveness in public address and in literature, lies largely in the choice of words. This happy, effective choice may be, to some extent, a sort of artistic gift, through quick appreciation of similitudes and the figurative force of words; but it is primarily a result of nice discrimination. Sentimental Tommy, lingering long for the precise word, even to the point of losing the prize, was on the way to a most valuable habit of mind. The teacher can do his "lad o' pairts" no greater intellectual service than to stimulate and direct, with all possible energy and patience, the power of clean-cut thinking involved in the nice and critical choice of words.

CHAPTER XLIV

THE LAW OF EXPRESSION

Principle XIII.A sensory stimulus or an idea is incomplete until its motor tendencies have found expression of some sort. This expression clarifies, intensifies, enriches, and makes concrete the original experience, giving it significance and permanence.

"All consciousness is motor" is a dictum advanced by many recent psychologists. The truth which it aims concisely to express is simply that all stimulation of the brain, whether by external or internal stimuli, tends, with greater or less force, to produce some physical result involving more or less of muscular contraction. The emotion of anger normally results in set teeth and clenched fists, if not in overt action; fear, on the other hand, is more likely to find its expression through the leg muscles or the vocal chords. This motor tendency, however, though real, may be so slight as to escape ordinary observation. It may produce results, as in the case of blushing or internal qualms, in which the muscular activity is not exposed to observation. Again, while the tendency is strong, the overt muscular activity may be counteracted, or inhibited, by internal stimuli, as in the control of the countenance exercised by a person of culture and discipline.

With children, as yet naïve and undisciplined, the power of inhibition is weak and the habit not yet established. We see them, therefore, reacting with great freedom to all sorts of stimuli, victims of sensory impression.

They have not yet learned the art of concealment or of self-control. There can be no doubt, moreover, that the free, unconstrained expression which they give to all impulses and emotions tends greatly to increase the intensity and tone, whether of pleasure or pain, of those emotions. In much the same manner, the enthusiasm, or hilarity, of a crowd becomes more and more pronounced and transporting in proportion as free rein is given to its motor expression. Emotion unexpressed is an abortive sort of thing; and the case is not different with ideas.

The general principle is quite aptly stated by Laurie, when he says, "There seems to be a general law in the universe that impression completes itself in expression, and that the former is incomplete without the actuality of the latter." But this must be taken as referring to more than muscular reactions. Expression in language must be included as, perhaps, the most important of all responses to stimuli.

APPLICATION 1.-The school must provide for adequate expression on the part of pupils, both in respect to time and variety. Expression through language, oral and written, is of the utmost importance, but is not sufficient of itself. Drawing, modeling, sewing, and other forms of manual training are necessary to give full scope to the child's love and need of expression.

To discuss these propositions here is only to reiterate statements that have been already advanced in various other connections. The school must continually demand expression from the pupil of some sort. "Say something that I may know you, was the demand of the ancient philosopher, and it should be no less the demand of the modern teacher. The great defect of the lecture system prevalent in our universities lies in its very limited demand for reproduction on the part of the students.