OBSERVATION, KEENNESS IN
Numerous mistakes in life, in literature and in science are due to imperfect or erroneous observation. The following story from the Penn Monthly, which is quite apropos, is related of Agassiz, and it is sufficiently characteristic of this remarkably accurate observer to have the merit of probability:
Once upon a time the professor had occasion
to select an assistant from one of
his classes. There were a number of candidates
for the post of honor, and finding
himself in a quandary as to which one he
should choose, the happy thought occurred
to him of subjecting three of the more
promising students in turn to the simple test
of describing the view from his laboratory
window, which overlooked the side yard
of the college. One said that he saw merely
a board fence and a brick pavement; another
added a stream of soapy water; a third detected
the color of the paint on the fence,
noted a green mold or fungus on the
bricks, and evidences of "bluing" in the
water, besides other details. It is needless to
tell to which candidate was awarded the
coveted position.
(2225)
Observation Profitable—See Insect, a Model.
OBSERVATION, VALUE OF
Louis Agassiz, after he had spent fifteen
years as a teacher of science in this country,
when asked what was the best result of his
efforts, replied: "I have educated five observers,"
referring to the five senses. He
claimed that the noblest profession in the
world was that of teacher; and that especially
in science, the teacher's most important work
was to train the student in habits of observation.
Lowell called it a divine art—that of
seeing what others only look at.
Educate the five senses and you make
them fit teachers to educate you.
(2226)
OBSTACLES
Apparently some people are ignorant, and
others have forgotten, that we have no
sense that is capable of discriminating between
high and low speed, or even between
motion and rest, except by noting the
usual accompaniments of motion, such as
the apparent movement of surrounding objects,
the resistance of the atmosphere, or
the jolting due to obstacles in the path. If
our surroundings move with us and the
motion is smooth, our methods of detecting
it fail. Thus, we can not feel the great
velocity with which the earth is moving
through space. In like manner, a train on a
rough road seems to be going faster at forty
miles an hour than one on a smooth road at
sixty. The sensations of high-speed travel
depend largely, therefore, on the conditions
of that travel.
In the same way our moral progress
can only be measured by the obstacles
we meet and overcome.
(2227)
See Happiness; Rebuffs a Stimulant.
Obstacles Overcome—See Energy, Indomitable.
OBSTACLES, UNEXPECTED
Dr. Cecil Carus-Wilson described before
the Linnean Society in London recently some
singular observations concerning the inclusion
of stones in the roots and stems of trees.
Oaks growing in a gravel pit in Kent had so many stones imbedded in their roots that they resisted attempts to saw them. Some of the roots are described as consisting of "a conglomerate formed of flints inclosed in a woody matrix." In one specimen 67 flints were found, the largest weighing several pounds. In Norton churchyard, near Faversham, are three old yew-trees, in two of which flints and fragments of tiles have been seen at a height of seven feet above the ground. In Molash churchyard are other yew-trees which have flints imbedded in their trunks as much as eight feet above the ground. The tissues of the wood appear to have grown round the stones, which have been carried upward with the growth of the trees.
(2228)
Obstinacy—See Suggestion.
Obstruction—See Little Things.
Occasion, Equal to the—See Rank,
Obsequiousness to.
OCCUPATION AND HEALTH
There are some occupations that ought to be salvatory to those that engage in them, as that of the physician or the minister. Yet all occupations may so serve, if the man who works in them thus determines. As an instance
