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7. It may be remarked that, instead of adding 1 to the next figure of the lower number in a case where a figure is larger than the one standing above it, it would be the same thing to subtract 1 from the next figure of the upper number.

OUR HOLIDAY.—II.

GYMNASTICS.-I. THE BAG AND THE RING EXERCISES. Ir is an old and undisputed truth, though one which has frequently The truth of this will appear from exhibiting the process of been lost sight of, that no system of education is complete unless subtracting 4789 from 5231, as follows:

5231 = 5 x 1000 + 2 x 100 + 3 x 10 + 1

4789 = 4 x 1000 + 7 x 100 + 8 x 10 + 9

it provides for the development and strengthening of the bodily powers as well as the mental faculties. Physical training is, in fact, of as much importance as intellectual culture; and, for the

The difference of these will be the same as the difference of real welfare of the individual, the two should go hand in hand.

4 x 1000 + 11 x 100+ 12 x 10 + 11 and 4 x 1000 + 7 × 100 + 8 x 10 + 9

It is evidently

4 x 100 + 4 x 10+ 2, or 442.

Knowing this, the Greek sought strength as ardently as he strove for wisdom, and the Roman expressed his idea of human perfection in the phrase mens sana in corpore sano-" a sound mind in a sound body." It is our design, in our papers on Gymnastics, to give the student some assistance in the practice studies, but also as a means of acquiring vigour to pursue them The process given in the first rule is the most convenient in with success. For the influence of the condition of the body practice.

Here we have not added anything to either number, but have of physical training, not only as a relief and diversion from his only arranged the upper one in a different form.

The learner is recommended to analyse the process he uses in the first few examples which he attempts.

8. Tests of Correctness.—(1.) Add the remainder to the smaller number; if the result so obtained be equal to the larger number, the work may be presumed to be correct; for it is evident that the smaller number and the remainder are the two parts into which the larger number is divided.

(2.) Subtract the remainder from the greater of the two numbers; if the difference is equal to the less number, the working may be considered to be correct.

EXERCISE 5.

8. From 96531768 sub. 873625 9. From 10000000 sub. 999999 10. From 99999999 sub, 100000 11. From 83567000 sub. 438567 12. From 34200591 sub. 8888888 13. From 95246300 sub, 9438675

upon the powers of the mind is well known, and it will frequently be found that one hour's physical effort in a right direction will do much to assist the scholar in his progress with his books.

Gymnastic training is designed to secure health and strength by the equal development and exercise of the limbs and muscles of the body. Some exercises are better adapted to this purpose than others, the best being those which bring the greater number of organs into play simultaneously; and the student should select for himself, or under the advice of an experienced friend, those which are best suited to his constitution and degree of physical strength. As in the present paper we shall describe only some of the simpler forms of gymnastics, we shall not have occasion now to mention any that may not be practised with advantage by all beginners; but the case may be otherwise with the more advanced exercises to be mentioned hereafter.

One never-failing principle to be observed in all these 14. From 76854313 sub. 59798109 pursuits, if real advantage is sought to be gained by them,

1. From 5843 subtract 2731
2. From 89879 sub. 78654
3. From 51903670 sub. 504089
4. From 9876102 sub. 1050671
5. From 4006723 subtract 5001
6. From 3601900 sub. 1000000
7. From 2035024 sub, 27040
15. From 123456789 subtract 12345678
16. From 2468759768 subtract 1123344567
17. From 1000000000 subtract 123456789
18. From 142857142857 subtract 42857142858
19. From 6764 + 3764 take 6500 + 2430
20. From 2890 + 8407 take 4251 + 3042
21. From 8564 2573 take 4431 1735
22. From 7561 -2846 take 1734 + 2056
23. From 9687 -3401 take 3021 + 1754

is that a violent or undue strain upon any portion of the body should always be avoided. The exercises should partake of the character of natural and graceful movements; they should proceed by easy gradations from the less to the more difficult; and when the gymnast is really fatigued they should cease at once. These principles we cannot too emphatically impress upon our readers. They should remember that more benefit is derived from moderate exertion than by excessive effort. The modern system of gymnastic training, which has

24. What number is that to which 3425 being added, the done and is doing so much to make physical education popular sum will be 175250 ?

25. A man having 55000 pounds, paid 7520 pounds for a house, 3260 pounds for furniture, 2375 pounds for a library. How much had he left?

26. A man worth 163250 pounds bequeathed 15200 pounds apiece to his two sons, 16500 pounds to his daughter, to his wife as much as to his three children, and the remainder to an hospital. How much did his wife and how much did the hospital receive?

27. A man bought three farms: for the first he paid 5260 pounds, for the second 3585, and for the third as much as for the first two; he afterwards sold them all for 15280 pounds. How much did he gain or lose?

28. A jockey gave 150 crowns for a horse, and meeting an acquaintance, changed horses with him, giving 37 crowns to boot; meeting another he changed again, receiving 28 crowns to boot; he finally changed again, giving 78 crowns to boot, and then sold his last horse for 140 crowns. What did he lose?

29. Find the difference between every two successive numbers in the squares contained in Ex. 3 on Addition (page 23), taking care always to place the larger number uppermost-that is, for the minuend.

and useful, is one of light gymnastics chiefly. Some of these exercises we proceed now to describe. We commence with that class of exercises which may be practised without implements or training of any kind. For these as well as for the higher gymnastics the best form of dress is a pair of loosely-fitting trousers or knickerbockers, fastened round the loins by a belt, and a flannel shirt. It is an advantage for the trousers as well as the shirt to be of flannel.

1. The first thing to be done is to acquire the habit of standing in an erect position. Place the legs close together, the heels touching, and the toes turned out at right angles. Hold the head well up, with the eyes looking straight in front; throw the shoulders back, and the chest well forward. Let the arms hang down the sides, the elbows and the little fingers touching the body, and the palms open to the front. Practise this position until it becomes easy and natural.

2. Next, from this position, bring the arms gradually forward, without bending the elbows, until they are level with the chest, and the points of the fingers meet. Then raise the extended arms above the head as far as you can in the form of a semicircle, bending the elbows as little as possible in the movement. Reverse these actions, bringing the arms back to the body as

30. Find the difference between a million and a thousand before. and one.

31. From 4850902 subtract 98998; from the remainder subtract the same number; and from every successive remainder subtract the same number, until a remainder at last be obtained from which it cannot be subtracted; and then, tell how many times the subtraction has been performed.

32. What is the difference between a hundred thousand and ten millions one thousand, and a hundred millions ten thousand and one?

3. Raise the arms until they are level with the shoulders; then bring them forward until the thumbs meet, and extend them somewhat rapidly back as far as possible, still without bending the elbows. The constant practice of this simple exercise will do much to expand the chest.

4. Practise the same movement, making the palms of the hands meet behind the back each time.

5. Starting from the erect position, bring the arms together with the fingers pointing to the ground; then, keeping the arms

and legs perfectly straight, bend the body forward, with the head towards the ground, and touch the feet with the points of the fingers. When this can be done with ease, touch the floor in the same position. This will be difficult at first, but it will soon be accomplished with a little practice.

6. Place the arms "akimbo;" that is, with the elbows out and the hands resting on the hips. Sink down to the floor until you sit upon your heels, and then rise to the erect position. Repeat this several times in succession.

7. Bring the right arm level with the shoulder; then throw it back, and whirl it round at full length from the body. Exercise the left arm and shoulder in the same way. Then begin by throwing the arm forward, and whirl it as before. Practise the same movements with both arms simultaneously.

8. With the hands on the hips, raise each knee as high as you can, keeping the other leg perfectly straight. Then extend each leg sideways as far as possible, remaining a few seconds in that position.

9. Hop on one foot several times successively, then on the other, keeping the body erect.

These exercises will do much for the beginner in gymnastics, and will also suggest others of a similar description which he may practise with advantage.

We would remark here that the importance of regular walking exercise as a means of strengthening the frame and keeping the system in health must not be lost sight of, in the attention given to purely gymnastic pursuits. No exercise is more salutary in its effects, and it has the additional recommendation of taking the pedestrian into the fresh air, which is as necessary to the preservation of life and health as a proper supply of food.

through which the bags may be thrown. This, however, is not necessary, although it tends to increase the interest of the players in the exercise.

The design of the exercise is to give freedom to the muscles of the chest and arms, and promote a healthy movement of the body generally. For this purpose the bags are thrown from one player to the other, in a variety of positions, which may be left in some measure to their own taste and inclination, provided it be remembered, as a rule, to keep the legs perfectly straight, the body upright, and the chest well thrown forward. This position is exemplified in Fig. 1. Standing thus, the bag may be thrown first with the right arm, then with the left, then with left and right alternately; now, with both hands brought back behind the neck, throw the bag over the head; or, with the bag in the right hand, throw it from behind round the left arm, which is kept straight to the body; throw with the left hand in the same manner; and so on. Fig. 2 represents a more difficult position, from which the bag is thrown over the head. This will come easy to the learner with a little practice.

Fig. 3.

This

We pass on now to the Ring Exercises, which have received very high eulogium, and prove highly amusing as well as beneficial to the players. The ring is made of wood, usually cherry, and is one inch in thickness and six inches in diameter. is sufficient to enable two persons to grasp it and use it with freedom. All the ring exercises are for two players, who should We now come to be of equal or nearly equal strength. Two rings are required the various kinds of in the course of the exercises, each player grasping one in gymnastic exercises either hand. The rings should be well polished. They are which are practised inexpensive articles, being sold occasionally as low as one shil. with the aid of appa-ling per pair; and any wood-turner will supply them at a little ratus, and will men- more than this sum. tion first those which require only the simplest appliances, but are still of high utility. For the introduction of two of these Fig. 2. we are indebted to an American physician, Dr. Dio Lewis, who has bestowed great attention on gymnastics from a physiological point of view, and whose teaching and principles are being widely adopted in Europe as well as in America. These are the Bag and the Ring exercises, which we shall now describe.

Fig. 1.

The Bag Exercises, which may be used in families with great benefit, are practised simply with bags filled with beans, the directions for making which are given as follows by Dr. Lewis:The material is a strong bed-ticking. Bags for young children should be, before sewing, seven inches square; for ladies, nine inches; for ladies and gentlemen exercising together, ten inches; for gentlemen alone, twelve inches. Sew them with strong linen or silk thread, doubled, nearly three-quarters of an inch from the edge, leaving a small opening at one corner to pour in the beans. Fill the bags three-quarters full, and they are ready for use. If used daily, once in two weeks they should be emptied and washed. To allow them to be played with after they are soiled is pretty sure to furnish much dust for the lungs of the players, beside soiling the hands and clothes. There cannot be too much care exercised in regard to this point of cleanliness. Before the beans are used the first time they should be rinsed with water until it runs from them quite clean, when they must be dried; and every month or two afterwards this cleansing should be repeated.

The Bag Exercises should be performed by two persons practogether; and it is an advantage, when the practice is to have suspended from the ceiling a hoop or rings,

We give two figures as examples of the exercises that may be practised with either one or both hands. In the first, the players, standing in the position shown in Fig. 3, both pull hard with the right hand, and draw the right arm from right to left and from left to right; afterwards performing the same movements with the ring held in their left hands. Remember to keep the head well up and the shoulders back, with the feet placed at right angles, in all these movements. In the second example, the players first stand back to back, with the rings held downwards; then each lunges forward with the right leg, and the hands are raised over the head, as shown in Fig. 4. They return to the back-to-back position, and step forward with the left leg in the same manner.

Fig. 4.

Among other ring exercises may be mentioned the following: The players, standing face to face, and with one foot well advanced, the other thrown back, both pull with one hand and push with the other, alternately; one arm thus being extended to its full length, and the other drawn back as far as possible, at each movement. Then, standing in the same way, draw back with both arms, your partner pushing his as far forward as he can, and each doing this alternately. Standing in an erect position, each raise one hand and lower the other as far as possible, being careful not to bend the elbows. Raise and lower the arms alternately from the position represented in Fig. 4.

ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY.—I.

THE EYE.

THE eye is the instrument by which the mind becomes acquainted with external and distant objects by means of the light, which is one of the most subtle and delicate forces in nature, and needs a correspondingly delicate and complicated organ to appreciate its effects.

Without inquiring into the nature of light, it is sufficient for our subject that we know some of its constant qualities, or laws, as they have been called.

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The first effect is called absorption; the second, refracand the third, reflection. Reflected light concerns us most. The eye occupies itself with reflected rays.

a,

that the problem of how to make a serviceable eye is a difficult one.

The analogy of the mirror, however, must not lead the reader to suppose that a plane surface, sensitive to light, would be conscious of distinct images, or that it would see objects as we, by the aid of the eye, see them reflected on its surface. For distinct vision, it is necessary that many divergent rays proceeding from each point in an object should be collected together again in a point, and that point must lie exactly on the retina, or sentient mirror. Thus, the instrument known as a camera, which has a lens set into the side of a box, and a surface at the other side to receive the image, is a more perfect simile for an eye.

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We will now describe the structure of one of the most perfect instruments for taking note of the impression produced by light with which wo are acquainted the human eye.

The human eye is globular; differing, however, from a perfect sphere in some slight but important particulars. The thick, tough capsule, which maintains the shape of the eye, and contains all the other parts necessary to perfect vision, is about one inch from front to back, and a little more from side to side and from top to bottom. This is called the sclerotic, or hard coat of the eye. This hard coat, which forms the eyeball, differs from a true sphere also, in that its front part, occupying about one-sixth of its circumference (in section), bulges forward far more than it would do if it were only a part of the larger globe; and this part differs from the other in texture also, for while it is equally strong and tough, and even harder, it is purely transparent, while the rest of the eyeball is opaque and white. This front clear portion, which is let into the hinder part as a bay-window is put into the wall of a room, or as an old-fashioned watch-glass is

1. VERTICAL SECTION OF THE HUMAN EYE IN ITS SOCKET.
sclerotie or hard coat of the eye; b, choroid; c, retina or nervous
mirror; d, membrane holding the vitreous humour; e, vitreous
humour; f, cornea; g, aqueous chamber and humour; h, crystalline
lens; ii, iris; kk, ligament to hold lens; 1, meibomian glands; m m,
muscles to wield the eye; n, muscle to lift the eye-lid.

If light were incapable of being reflected, the sun would appear as a sharply-defined dazzling erb in a pitch-dark universe, and eyes would be of no use; for though poets tell us so, not even the eagle spends its time in so profitless and injurious an employment as gazing on the sun.

Now, as reflected Fight travels in straight lines from the object upon which it is reflected, it is to the eye, in all respects, the same as though that object were itself kuminous. As light proceeds from all parts of an object, and travels in straight | hines, we have only to let the rays fall upon some surface which shall receive them without derangement, to get an image which will give the colour, form, and, by a little inferential reasoning, the size and distance of the object.

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2. DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW OBJECTS ARE IMPRINTED ON THE RETINA.

The first requisite in an eye, then, is a sentient mirror, which shall receive the images of objects and feel them.

This mirror must be of moderate and portable size, and well under control, so that it can be turned about.

All mirrors are perishable and delicate articles, liable to fracture; but when we conceive of a mirror whose surface and backing, and even its very frame, must be made not of hard glass, imperishable quicksilver, and durable wood, but of soft renewable tissues, and think how indispensable it is that it should be protected and kept in a state of repair, we must admit

VOL. I.

set into the rim of the watch-case, is called the cornea, or horny structure. Its greater projection or convexity is not a matter of accident, but highly important, for if it were not so, no near object could be seen distinctly.

Lining the inner

surface of the sclerotic is a thin membrane, which supports
in its outer layers the larger arteries and veins which carry
the blood to and from the front and inner parts of the eye,
while it has on its inner surface a very thin pavement of
flat, six-sided cells; each cell filled with black grains. The
grains, and even the cells which contain them, are so small and
so closely set as to form what appears to any but a high mag-
nifying power, a continuous thin black sheet, perfectly opaque.
This membrane papers the inside of the eye as far forward as
the place where the sclerotic joins the cornea, and is there con-
nected firmly with this outer jacket by a strong ligament and
muscle. Before it reaches this point, however, it is pucker
into somewhat irregular fore-and-aft folds. Beyond this p
the choroid, as this membrane is called, is continued as a
hanging curtain, shaped like a quoit, that is, round and

3

vth a hole in the middle of it, which is opposite the middle of the corned, or window of the eye.

From the same circle of attachment, but internal to the qurtain before-named, is suspended, or rather held, by a ligament, a perfectly transparent body shaped like a lentil, that is, with two convex but flattened surfaces. The quoit-like curtain is called the iris, and the disc the crystalline lens. The lens is siung at some little distance from the cornea, leaving a chamber, which is filled with watery fluid, which bathes both sides of the iris. Behind the lens, and occupying the larger part of the hollow of the eye, is a denser liquid, contained in a thin, perfectlytransparent membrane, which not only encircles it, but sends in partitions from its outer wall to divide the liquid into compartments, so that when the eye is cut into, the humour does not run out, but seems to be of the consistence of clear jelly. Both the liquid and capsule are so transparent that they are called the hyaloid membrane and vitreous humour, or the glassy membrane and humour.

All the main parts of the eye have now been described except the essential one for which all the others are made, namely, the retina: that wonderful stratum of nervous matter which receives and transmits to the brain all luminous impressions, the glories of colour, the splendid imagery of the earth, and the soft radiance of the sky.

The retina lies between the choroid and vitreous humour. It lines the choroid as closely as that membrane lines the sclerotic, and so covers the whole back part of the eye.

The retina (or sentient mirror), thin as it is, has been found under the microscope to consist of many layers of diverse structure. Not to descend into great minuteness, it may be said to consist of an outer layer of cylindrical bodies, called, from their shape, rods and cones, which run perpendicularly to the surface of junction between retina and choroid. These bodies are the instruments by which the rays are noted. It would seem that esen rod or come conveys but one impression, so that while the image of an external object may be made very small on the retina, and yet distinctly seen, because of the minuteness of ture borbes, yet the image must cover a certain number of them to be an image at all. In other words, if it only covered one, • unpression would be that of a single point of light. Next comes the granular layer, the office of which is no further known than that similar structures are found wherever impressona marred by the senses are modified. The innermost layer ernesta of nerve-fibres, which convey the impressions in some way as the telegraph wires convey their messages. These rm to one point in the back part of the eyeball, a little on fen anser or mose side of the axis, and there pass through the Anord and sclerotic, which are pierced by a great many holes, and are united behind into the optic nerve, and this runs to the was fnt however, being joined by its fellow from the other ** aut them separating from it again, having received some of dus encens of this nervous cord, and given up some of its own

Let us now trace the course of a number of rays reflected from & auge point in an object, before they reach the retina (see Fig. These rays as they come from a single point are, of course, Gerging. They strike, therefore, all over the surface of the core, and as they pass through it are gathered somewhat www.uer. They then pass the aqueous humour with a slightly red course. The outer ones are cut off by the opaque iris, or the central ones pass through the lens, which rapidly gathers together, and they are then transmitted through the «1eous humour, all the time converging until they meet at a y exactly in or on the retina.

As saying that they meet exactly on the retina, it is meant Buss: Suey will do so if the adjustment is perfect. If it be imsenting tlust the rays unite in a point either before the retina, unite benind it if they could traverse the choroid, the rood and indistinct

of how to get a distinct image, of course, is when the points from which the light proceeds us from any object of appreciable form. To obsarians of the cornea, the hind and front face of ue fans of the retina, must all be of definite and »or the figure would be distorted. If the cornea such, the object can only be seen at a short disfrom this case some persons have to lay their na the page before they can read print. If it bulges

too little, distinct images of near objects are impossible. If the crystalline lens is too dry, or too moist, it becomes clouded with hard or soft cataract. If the pigment be not of sufficient quantity in the choroid, vision is interfered with; and from this cause albinos, or persons whose hair and skin are deficient in colouring matter, are dazzled in ordinary daylight.

Further, if the retina, or part of it fail, as it sometimes does, from some cause too subtle to be found out, the object is seen only in part; thus, some persons have this peculiar affection of half the retina, so that when they look directly at an object, they only see the half of it.

The retina, perfect in all its ether functions, may not discriminate colour. The writer once played a game at croquet with a gentleman, who disclosed his infirmity thus: Two balls were lying together-one red, and the other green. He asked which was his, and being told the red one, asked which red one? On another occasion the writer was looking at a brightlycoloured geological map. A stranger who looked with him soon showed that he was quite unaware that it was other than the ordinary ordnance map.

These defects of vision call marked attention to the perfection of the instrument of vision, when perfect, as it is in most cases.

It would be difficult to determine whether the eye were made for light, or light for the eye; but that the Creator of the one was cognisant of all the wonderful qualities of the other, admits of no doubt; and this goes far to prove that the Creator of the one must have been the designer of the other.

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THESE two words form what is called a proposition; they form a simple proposition. Proposition is a word of Latin origin, signifying something that is put before you. As being something that is put before you, it is a statement; it is a statement of a fact or a thought; a statement of something in the mind, or something out of the mind. Here the statement is that Alfred reads. Such a statement is also termed a sentence. Sentence is also from the Latin, and signifies a form of words comprising a thought or sentiment. These words, then-namely, sentence, proposition, and statement, have the same signification; and they each denote an utterance, the utterance of a fact, an idea, an emotion. Observe that both words are essential to the proposition. Take away Alfred, you then have reads; but reads is no proposition, for nothing is stated. Take away reads, you leave Alfred; but Alfred by itself says nothing, makes no statement, and therefore forms no proposition or sentence. The two words must concur to make a proposition. If so, less than two words do not make a proposition; and a proposition or sentence may consist of not more than two words.

In these simple statements you have in the germ the substance of the doctrine of sentences. If you understand what I have now said, you have laid the foundation for a thorough acquaintance with language in general, and with the English language in particular; for to a form of words similar in simplicity to that which stands at the head of this lesson is all speech reducible; and that model presents the germ out of which are evolved the long and involved sentences of our old English divines, and the full and lofty eloquence of Milton's immortal essay on behalf of the liberty of the press.

The sentence as it stands is what is called an affirmative proposition; that is, it affirms or declares something it affirms or declares that Alfred reads. The term affirmative is used in opposition to the term negative. Negative propositions are those in which something is denied. An affirmative may become a negative proposition by the introduction of the adverb not; thus, Alfred reads not. In English it is more common to employ also the emphatic does, as Alfred does not read. You thus see that the words does (do, or dost, as may be required) and not convert an affirmative into a negative proposition. Sentences in which a question is asked we term interrogative; as, does Alfred read? Here by the help of the emphatic form does, and the inversion of the terms does and Alfred, we make an affirmative into an interrogative sentence. If into this last sentence we introduce the negative not, we have an interrogative negative

FORMS OF A PROPOSITION.

1. Afirmative.

2. Negative.

3. Interrogative.

4. Interrogative Negative.

Alfred reads.

Alfred does not read.

Does Alfred read?
Does not Alfred read?

sentence, as Does not Alfred read? We put these four forms of other qualifications might be stated; but here, at least, instead a proposition together. of entering into them, it will be better to put the statement in its most general form, a form in which it will embrace all particular cases, and render qualification unnecessary. I say, then, that in every sentence there must be a subject and a verb. I have thus set before you a new term. That term I must explain. Subject is a Latin word, and denotes that which receives, that which lies under, is liable or exposed to; from sub, under, and jacio, I throw, I place; in the passive, I lie. Accordingly, the subject of a proposition is that to which the action declared in the verb is ascribed. Hence, the subject of a proposition is the agent, the actor, the doer. The subject of a proposition answers to the question who? or what? as, who reads? Answer: Alfred reads. The term subject is used with special reference to the corresponding term, predicate. predicate of a proposition is that which is attributed to the subject. What is attributed in our model sentence? This, namely, that Alfred reads. "Reads," then, is here the predicate, or that which is ascribed to, or asserted of Alfred. Hence you see the propriety of the term subject, since Alfred is subject to the averment that he reads. Now, in the grammatical construction of the sentence, it matters not whether you say Alfred reads, or he reads. In both cases you have a subject and verb, or predicate; and consequently you have a complete enunciation of thought, or a perfect sentence.

You thus see an example of the ease and extent with which the original form may be changed and multiplied. The proposition, Alfred reads, is a simple proposition. Propositions are either simple or compound. Compound propositions are made up of two or more simple propositions. Of compound propositions I shall speak in detail hereafter. Here only a few words may be allowed, in order to illustrate what is meant by a simple proposition. If I were to say, When Alfred reads, he is listened to, I should employ a compound proposition. In these words there are two statements, and consequently two sentences. These two statements are, Alfred reads, and Alfred is listened to. The two statements, united by the term when, constitute a compound sentence. In one form, at least, a compound proposition may easily be mistaken for a simple proposition; namely, in this-Alfred reads and writes. Here, in reality, we have a compound sentence, for, when analysed, these words are equivalent to these two statements-Alfred reads, and Alfred writes. There being in the sentence these two statements, the proposition is compound.

Let us now consider the two words in their own individual character-Alfred reads. The first obviously represents a person, the second as clearly represents an act. Now, in grammar, words which represent persons and things are called nouns ; and words which represent acts are called verbs. Noun is a Latin term, and signifies name; hence you see the noun is the name of any person or thing; and were we as wise as were the Latins, we should not employ a foreign word, but call nouns simply names. Thus Alfred is the name of a person. Book, also, is a name; so is house; so is pen, so is paper; these are each the name or vocal sign by which Englishmen distinguish and agree to call these objects severally. Nor is there any mystery in the term verb. Here, too, we have a Latin term which signifies simply word. With the Latins the verb was the word; that is, the chief word in a sentence. By us the verb might be termed the word. Had English grammarians employed as their scientific terms words of Saxon origin, the study of English grammar would have been very easy. We shall endeavour to simplify it by translating the Latin terms, unhappily now become indispensable, into their English equivalents. That the verb is the word, the chief word of a sentence, you may learn by reflecting on the proposition, Alfred reads. It is reads, you see, that forms the very essence of the statement. Reads, too, distinguishes this statement from other statements, as Alfred runs, Alfred sings.

Now let the reader look back on the several instances of propositions I have given, and endeavour to ascertain what is the quality in which they all agree. They have a common quality. That quality is averment. They all aver or declare something; This they do by means of their verbs. Accordingly, averment is the essential quality of the verb. Every verb is a word which makes an averment. Here, then, we learn that the noun names, and the verb avers. By these tokens may all nouns and all verbs be known. Whatever names is a noun; whatever avers is a verb. Chair is a noun, because it is the name of an object; stands is a verb, because it avers or declares something of chair; and the union of the noun and the verb, as chair stands, forms a proposition.

Sentences, then, in their simplest form consist of a noun and a verb. A noun and a verb are indispensable. Whatever more you may have, you cannot have anything less than a noun and a verb in a sentence or proposition. As a substitute for the noun you may have a pronoun. Pronoun, again, is a word of Latin origin, signifying a word which stands instead of a noun. Thus we may put the pronoun he instead of Alfred; e.g. (these are the initials of two Latin words, meaning exempli gratiâ, for example):

Alfred reads,

He reads,

where he holds the place of Alfred. We must accordingly qualify our statement, and say that sentences, in their simplest form, consist of a verb and a noun or pronoun. One or two

The

The sentence thus analysed and explained may be set forth in this form

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As the subject undergoes a change by passing, when neces-
sary, into he, so may the predicate be modified. Instead of a
predicate in one word, you may have a predicate in two words,
or by substitute a verb and an adjective; as
Alfred is good.

the meaning of adjective? Adjective in Latin signifies that
Another new term demands another explanation. What is
which is added to, or thrown to (ad, to; and jacio, I throw). To
what are adjectives thrown or added? To nouns, as in this
stand alone. They perform their office in being added to or
instance. Adjectives, therefore, in their very nature, cannot
connected with nouns. They are connected with nouns in order
to qualify the meaning of those nouns, and to answer to the
he is a good boy." An adjective, then, is an epithet (a Greek
question of what kind. What kind of a boy is Alfred? Answer,
word, which denotes that which is attributed to a noun or a
person); e.g., green fields, tall men, hard rocks, where green, tall,
and hard are epithets, or adjectives, inasmuch as they assign the
quality of their several subjects. Now, what we call qualities
we call also attributes. The attributes of a body are its qualities.
Attribute is a word from the Latin, denoting that which is
describe the qualities or attributes of the persons or things they
attributed or ascribed to an object. Adjectives, therefore,
attribute of the proposition; thus,
are connected with. In the instance given above, good is the

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you observe that reads and is good hold the same place and
perform the same function in the two propositions. They in
each case form the predicate of the sentence. The predicate is
that which is predicated, declared, or averred of the subject of
a proposition. In the former instance, reads is that which is
averred; in the latter, is good is that which is averred. Mark
that neither is nor good alone forms the predicate, for what is
asserted is not that Alfred is—that is, exists-but that he is good.
Accordingly, the predicate here consists of two words-namely
is good; but in the former example it consists of merely
word—that is, reads. Of these two words, good, we have
the attribute. It remains to state that the word is for
is called the copula, a Latin term which may here be r

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