Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/526

 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.

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 ;.

Obstacles Overcome—See.

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.

Obstruction—See.

Occasion, Equal to the—See.

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