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how great is the advantage of being able to discharge the representative symbol, of the various verbal terms, so that only the sentential structure shall stand out before the eye, and appeal to the attention. What this advantage is may be seen by considering how much more favorable would be the opportunity for judging of comparative staple, texture, and finish of different cloths, could they but be discharged of all differences of color or pattern, so that they could be compared under like circumstance, and with an attention undistracted by minor and unimportant accidents.

ADVANTAGE IN TEACHING COMPOSITION.

(b) Once more, this capacity of the diagrams fits them to be of great practical service in teaching elementary composition, particularly in the work of assigning exercises. One great obstacle in the way of the adequate performance of this work, is the labor and the length of time, required for the accurate verbal description of the required exercises. The diagrams, however, relieve the teacher of the larger portion of this demand, by the celerity and ease with which, through their use, all the major, indeed, all the necessary characteristics of the required exercise, can be symbolized. For example, how easy to determine the logical formation of the proposed sentences, by diagrams like the following, fixing, at pleasure, any leading verbal element, by its insertion in the proper figure, thus :*

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*Something of this the reader will find attempted in "Clark's First Lessons," only it is there less simple than it might be, from its effort to go beyond the logical into the etymological.

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By reverting to page 42, and comparing the symbolization of the sentence in the diagram, with the verbal description in its appended formula, the reader will easily see how vast will be the gain in case the exercise is extended to the construction of long, complex sentences like the following :*

* Several inaccuracies occur in the drawing, which should be

But of this use and advantage of the diagrams in composition, our space only allows a brief and imperfect illustration. We pass, therefore, to other considerations.

avoided in practice. For example, no such right line should compose the right of the predicate figure; the subsequent figure in the phrases is incomplete at the left; and the waved dotted line should have been continuous and firm.

CHAPTER IV.

MINOR, PRACTICAL UTILITY OF THE DIAGRAMS.

1. The diagrams save time in teaching analysis-2. They aid the teacher in holding the pupil to the performance of his workImportance in the case of exercises in analysis assigned for study-3. They adapt the study of grammar to the taste and capacity of young pupils-They add new interest to the study of grammar-They adapt grammar admirably to the use of "Object Teaching" — They furnish employment for young students.

THERE are certain subordinate, practical advantages which result from the use of the diagrams, that deserve a separate notice.

1.-The Diagrams save time in teaching analysis.

Of these, first, the diagrams greatly facilitate the practical work of giving instruction in analysis. Enabling the teacher, as they do, to exhibit rapidly and in brief, the entire logical structure of any element, they, not only, as has already been shown, present the desired facts more clearly, but they greatly reduce the time required in explanation, a matter by no means unimportant in the routine of class drill. How positive is their utility in this direction may be seen by referring to the diagram given on the 42d page, and comparing it with the corresponding verbal formula. The difference in the time required for the completion of the two respectively, is apparent.

It may further be seen by noting the fact that the analysis of the following sentence:

"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view;"

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may be represented in the appended diagram, in the brief space of a minute and a half; whereas the full verbal statement of the same will, even when condensed by the use of symbolic abbreviations, extend over a page and a half of printed matter.

2.-Aid the teacher in holding the pupil to the performance of his work.

Still further, secondly, they both enable the teacher to obtain satisfactory proof that the pupil has properly studied the analysis of the sentence, and that he correctly understands it; and this, not by following the slow process of a verbal statement, but by a simple inspection of the diagram itself. For example, let the sentence given above, be drawn in diagram as it there appears, and a simple glance is enough to show just what has been done. It is enough to show, that while, in the main, a correct analysis has been instituted, and the diagram carefully drawn, the pupil has, nevertheless, failed in several points. For instance, the subsequent figures in the phrases have been imperfectly finished at their left extreme, and the construction of the predicate is radically defective in both drawing and analysis. The omission of

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