The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-07-31
EDUCATIONAL.
THE SUMNER NORMAL SCHOOL
syllabus For Failures Accounted
for - Music - Maihsmutic. within
Ordinary Mentality - Gold
smiths Opinion, Etc.


many of the teachers, now that the time
draws near i,i the close Of the institute,
look forward with increased pleasure Ia
one month of good home rest before the
duties of the coming season.
The examination for the state Normal
school at Huntsville Is set for to-mor-
row. Prof. Mcclure appointed COM
mittce of two examiners 20 serve with
him on that occasion. Prof. tombstone,
late of the State Normal, and Mrs. j. Is.
Montgomery, Of Dallas.
The syllabus for physics-Mrs. Mont.
gOmery in the chair-was concluded
this afternoon, and the remainder of the
studies assigned will be closed to-mor-
row. "Wednesday, Thursday and Fri
day will be devoted TO the examination
of the pupils of the summer Normal.
The programme of the morning OPP
ened with Mr.. Grove, who leads the
spelling class. This half hour has been
one of special interest to the entire
assembly and every day furnishes some
fresh photographed surprize; brings to
light some new mode Of pronunciation
sanctioned by custom.
Following this came areading by Mrs.
Montgomery. Subject: "Arithmetical
Failures" The gist of her remarks were
rs follows:
ave do not often hear those who de-
clare that education does not educate
trying to account for the failure charged
against existing school systems. AIe
[ alleged defects to he found in the UNI
ut nature of the things studied or in
methods of study, or both? One of the
chief Xcrcises-indeed the chief in COM
mon schools-depended upon for mental
development, is numbers.
Is the study of arithmetic worthy the
place it holds in that regard? Does IL
do more than cultivate special faculty?
Is that faculty one of the most impor-
tant to to the human mind? Is IL related
intimately to the understanding. and
does its culture imply stimulation Of
the reasoning powers?
Answers to these questions would
doubtless be colored by the mental
characteristics or experience of the indi-
vidual answering. To some minds
mathematics is a general stimulant; to
others, onlya useful tool; to still others, a
stumbling block and an otlense.
Some one has declared that
while all specialties followed exclusively
are narrowing in their influence on the
mind, the Two specialties that lead
straightest to imbecility are music and
mathematics. This was probably the
conclusion of Il mind which could not
master the extraction of the cube root
and did not know "Iankce Doodle"
from sold Hundred"
Oliver Goldsmith said "Mathcmatics
is study to which the mcanest intellect
is competent" He remembered many
tiogginps because of the multiplication
table, and hardly had patience 10 count
change for sovereign.
If you appeal to tirst-rate examples of
achievements in music and mathematics,
say to q Mozart or a Newton, we shall
find well-balanced minds, but on the
other hand we may be COMPOUNDED by
possess mean intellects otherwise.
Blind Tom and Ierah Colburn will
serve for illustration.
Colburn was born in 1901, of poor, ig-
norant, selfish parents, his mother
shrewd at trading.
At six years of age he flashed forth
mathematical prodigy, repeated the en-
tire multiplication. and answered with.
out hesitation such questions as these:
How many seconds in 1000 years? 3d.
072,0OO, 900.
What is the square Of LAO? Like a
flash came the reply, 2,OH,6Ol. More in
tricate calculations based on concrete
facts were equally as easy, i. e.: Sup
pose have corntield, in which are !
acres, having IL rows to each acre, "a
hills to each row, s ears on Il hill, how
many kernels in the corntieid? Withouta
moment : delay came the reply, 8, l39, 200
kernels. Being asked what are the fac
tors OF 2i7 ,iS3, he made this answer, Oh
and 263, and these are the only factors.
At 8 years of age how could he know
this?
The father made show of his wonder
full boy refused offers large sums for his
education under specia! instructors for
some time, but finally conceded the
point in order to develop and enlarge
his mathematical powers. twas found
to be impossible, the child was only
fretted by inquiries as to how he worked
his prodigious calculations.
Attwenty years of age he declared his
peculiar rift IA painful circumstance,
retired from his show life and took the
position of usher in a school; from that
to teaching Il country school for a living,
and at last sought the safe retreat of II
minister of the gospel, though on his
own modest representation he did not
excel as preacher
His last venture was to become pro-
fessor, not Of mathematics, but IAN
singular gift may furnish Jug est )nS to
those who think upon educational mat
ters.
His peculiar faculty was arithmetic l,
not generally mathematical. He had
little or no taste for higher mathematics.
Those which, like geometry and survey
ing, appeal to the perceptions, those
which, ike algebra, appeal to the imagi-
nation, and those which, like pure
mathematics, appeal to the analytical
reasoning powers, he disliked.
His gift was natural, rudimentary and
unreasoning, and as he reached adult
life it passed from him-he Out-grew ii
or lost it by overuse-or disuse. 1t
brought him neither intellectual growth,
nor better capacity for mental applica-
tion-in fact the more he used it the
May we infer from this that ARITHMETIC
is a primitive, rudimentary, and
low branch of mathematics?
His whole process was that Of multi
plication and its MISREPRESENTATION.
He seems not to have practiced addition,
which is, in reality, the rudiments of
multiplication, or its converse, subtrac-
ton, which Is only the long process OF.
division. Int multiplication OF large
numbers, which so astonished people,
both in America and Europe, he per-
formed mentally several operations to
get the result.
May we infer from this analysis
arithmetic being assumed to DO the most
uninteresting form of mathematics
that multiplication is the least valuble
part of arithmetic?
If psychologists should grant these in
ferences to be sound,i remains the duty
of teachers to address themselves to i'm
proving the method for teaching the
multiplication table, as the weak spot in
the primary education of numbers.
Something can be done perhaps to
idealize the multiplication table, aud to
make instruction in it concrete, Oh
iective, rational. Cannot a child be
shown how or why six times seven
make forty-two?
If arithmetic is so abstract, arbitrary
and barren of ideas That this cannot he