The Portland daily press., 1872-03-08
Asking Questions--A Story for Most Peo-


promised to give some examples of the
manner in which old farmer Smith trained
MS son John in the art of asking uues-
tions. John was naturally inquisitiye, like
most boys, and, like them also. he was ant IN
run to his father for information, in the usual
belief of children that their parents know
everything. Now, strange to say, one of the
old gentlemau's first steps in teaching his son
consisted in refusing to answer many of his
questions.
For instance, one day John said: Father
what makes wood swim on the water?p
"How should l know?" said his father.
why, suppose you have found out"
"Well, then, you must find out"
This problem cost John a great deal OF
perplexity He did not see how to 20 to
work. His father watched him silendy for
several days before offering to help him; but
one evening, after work, as John sat on the
doorstep with pail OF water in front of him
in which he put several chips Of different
forms and sizes, farmer Smith said: ''Well,
my boy, how do you get along"
l have found out one thing" said John,
1T IS not the shape nor the size. These lit
tie chips swim just as well as the big ones.'
Perhaps it is in the color" replied his IA
ther, ''try red cedar"
So John got piece of cedar, and was dis
gusted to find it floating as well as the rest.
You mustn't feel so," said his father, "a
fact is a fact; and it is just as well to know
that thing is not so as to prove a thing to
be true. Besides, good way to find the
cause why anything takes place is to find the
circumstances under which it will not take
place; and that you can only do BY irving"
oh! can find plenty Of things that will
not SWIM, said John; "stones and nails, and
bullets" But his father made no further re-
mark and he went on thinking
AT last he came TO the conclusion that nei-
ther color nor shape had anything to do with
1t, but that heavythings would sink and light
ones would swim. When he told this all the
reply he got was, (which is the heaviest
ship or a bullet?''
This puzzled him exceedingly, and he had
to go back and admit that size had something
to do with the matter, after all Finally he
said: when l talk about heavy things |
don't mean things that are heavy because
they are large, but things tlat are heavy any
how"
Il guess you must mean what they call
specific gravity" said his father. ''Let us
say, then, that wood floats on account of its
small specific gravity. 1t is comfort to be
sure OF thing, isn't it? Now take this piece
OF wood and put it on the water, and you will
be able to give scientific explanation. A
scientific explanation is a great thing" With
that old Smith chuckled little to himself
and went to milk the cows.
John felt quite proud at first with his new
phrase, but he was little uneasy besides for
he suspected that he was, after all, not quite
master OF the subject, and the chuckle troub-
led him. However, he got the pail of water
and called his mother to hear his explana-
ton. Mrs. Smith was very good auditor.
She thought John was very smart, and when
he displayed any newly-acquired knowledge
she usually raised her hands and said do
tellP'
So John made ready his apparatus, and was
just beginning. "You see, mother, it's all
specific gravity; now this chip'-when the
chip suddenly went to the bottom of the pail
Such stunning contradiction would have
embarrassed any lecturer, and it quite took the
breath out of John. Mother" said he, try
ing to make the best of it, ''the exhibition is
postponed"
One of the farm hands coming by he took
up the chip and said it was water-logged, and
when John asked him what that meant, he
said it meant ''wet inside" By this time
John had got very much interested in the
subject and resolved to find out as much as
he could without going to his father for help.
He noticed that any empty dipper or tin cup
would float, though single piece of tin sank
at once, and the cup itself, if filed with wa
ter, went to the bottom promptly. ''That
cup is water-logged," said he to himself; and
his father coming in just then, remarked mys-
teriously, "The specific gravity of dipper
and the specific gravity OF tin are two differ
ent things"
But cannot afford to describe all the steps
in Johns progress in studying this subject
1t is easy from what have told to see that
his fathers system was to make him ask ques-
tiOns of things rather than men-to train him
in observation as well as reflection. He made
him keep record of all his Investigations
and the history of this particular matter was
inscribed in struggling schoolboy hand in
Johns journal as follows:
WHY DOES WOOD SWIM?
June Chips will always swim in water.
Round chips will SWIM like square ones, and
big ones like little ones.
June 2.-Red cedar is Just the same.
June 3.-Bullets will not swim, nor any,
thing else that is too heavy.
June 4.-Heavy things will swim If they are
only heavy because they are big, and would
not be heavy if they were small. This is spe-
cific gravity.
June A, p. m.-Water logged chips will
sink. do not know what specific gravity is.
June GA water logged chip is like dip
per full of water. Specific gravity must be
the weight of anything in proportion to its
size.
June Wood is heavier than it looks
'but when it is not water-logged, it is full OF
air like an empty dipper; and when it gets
full Of water, it is too heavy to swim.
June 10.-I have found piece of mahog-
any that will not float.
June 30.-Table of things that will and
will not swim. A piece of each was taken,
three inches long, three inches wide, and an
inch and half high.
Butter weighs seven and half ounces, and
will swim.
Clay weighs sixteen ounces, and will not
swim.
Tin weighs fifty-nine ounces, and will not
swim.
Dry hard wood weighs FIVE to six ounces,
and will swim.
Water-logged hard wood weighs 8 to 0
ounces, and will not swim.
Dry pine weighs 81 ounces and will swim.
Water-logged pine weighs ounces, and
will swim.
Brick weighs IL ounces, and will not swim.
If anything three inches long, three inches
wide and an inch and half high weighs
more than eight ounces, it will not swim.
July 4th-Eight ounces is just the weight
Of water, that is, of as much water as will
fill square pan Of the size above mentioned.
Therefore, everything will swim that has less
specific gravity than water, and sink if it has
more. But do not understand why some
things swim on the top of the water, and 9TH
ers sink halfway into it.
You see by this that John made good pro-
gress in the art of asking questions of nature.