The southern press., 1851-06-14
MECHANISM. No. Wy Josiah Holbrook.

SQUARE in the "measurng unit" The
amount of all surfaces is determined by square
measure. This amount may be expressed in
miles, furlongs rods, yards, feet, inches, or any
other specified measure. No matter what the
shape of quantity Of land, boards, cloth, paper,
glass, or any other article the amount Of surface
is always ascertained and expressed by the num-
Der of squares AMI parts of squares it contains,
either in miles, feet, or some other known mea-
sure. The properties and uses of this most
simple of all figures, save one, are OF course
important to be understood most Familiarity by
every person. No one thing, probably is at
once so important and so little understood as
the figure with four equal sides and angles
Very MANY of the most intelligent members Of
society have no clear apprehension of the differ
ence between six miles square and six square
miles. A person Of much intelligence contended
n few DAYS ago that in the District of Columbia,
in its original dimensions, there were only ten
square miles, and could not be convinced OF his
error until shown il by checker board Not
long since n painter Of some twenty years, ex-
perence named price per sheet for painting
paper. On being asked what would be his price
for sheets of double the length AMI breadth,
replied, double the price; offering, of course 10
do four.times the work for twice the money.
Cases of a similar character might be named
almost without number, of intelligent, expe
rienced business men making biunders, attended
with far greater Inconvenience and loss than
working at half price, and simply from the want
of little knowledge, entirely within the COM
prehension Of every child Of five years old, at
tended with high degree of pleasure in acquir-
ing.
If children should occupy the first hour ever
spent i'm shool-room by drawing upon their
II -u....a ,,;,b ;fa d,Horapt diUiSione they
might have proof positive that in an inch square
arc four halfinch squares; that in ten miles
square there are one hundred square miles
They would also come TO proof positive that
by the diagonal division of a SQUARE, they would
form two right angle isosceles iriangles, or
figures with one right angle and two equal
sides: they would thus acquire at this early age
positive practical knowledge which would
greatly aid them in "sguaring their tcork"
during the whole of their future lives, whatever
might be their pursuits. Those becoming ed :
tors would not be likely 10 make the mistake
of one of the most able editors in the country,
who, in speaking Of fire in Boston, stated
that il burnt about one hundred and fifty square
feet that is, a surface equal to room OF nifty
feet by ten. IL the space burnt was one hun
dred and fifty feet square, it contained more
than twenty Thousand square feet--rather a
mistake for an intelligent and able editor in
the literary emporium of our Union.
EXPERIMENT. the schools Of New York
and Washington and all other places 50 dis
posed, should have their attention directed, for
the few weeks before the August HOLIDAYS, to
some practical lessons on the properties and uses
of the square, they would doubtless prepare
many instructive and beautiful illustrations in
one Of the most important branches OF know
ledge, rendered more instructive by exchanges
between different schools or being distributed
through this and other countries for the diffusion
of scientific light and the propmotion OF gene
rous and patriotic feelings. National function
aries. both of our own and Of foreign govern.
ments, have in large numbers expressed high
degree Of pleasure in opportunities for distrbu-
ting such knowledge for such purposes Mum.
erous specimens Of Juvenile Improvement, pre-