Our most valuable successes usually are achieved on the principle
followed by this dog:
In his “Introduction to Comparative Psychology” (1894), Dr.
Lloyd Morgan told the story of his dog’s attempts to bring a
hooked walking-stick through a narrow gap in a fence. The dog
“tried” all possible methods of pulling the stick through the
fence. Most of the attempts showed themselves to be “errors.”
But the dog tried again and again, until he finally succeeded.
He worked by the method of trial and error. (Text.)
(998)
* * * * *
We doubt many theories that are recorded by others, but when we
see them proved for ourselves we doubt no longer. A writer, after
describing Franklin’s first disappointment in investigating the action
of oil on water, records his later experiments:
Franklin investigated the subject, and the results of his
experiments, made upon a pond on Clapham Common, were
communicated to the Royal Society. He states that, after
dropping a little oil on the water, “I saw it spread itself
with surprizing swiftness upon the surface, but the effect of
smoothing the waves was not produced; for I had applied it first
upon the leeward side of the pond, where the waves were largest,
and the wind drove my oil back upon the shore. I then went to
the windward side, where they began to form; and there the
oil, tho not more than a teaspoonful, produced an instant calm
over a space several yards square, which spread amazingly, and
extended itself gradually till it reached the lee side, making
all that quarter of the pond (perhaps half an acre) as smooth as
a looking-glass.”
(999)
* * * * *
About all of the great enterprises of mankind are built on earlier
experiments that seemed to fail. Hiram Maxim and S. P. Langley each
spent laborious years constructing flying-machines that would not fly.
Yet those who later succeeded made use of all the important devices
that these earlier experimenters had invented.
Some years since it was seen that by damming, controlling,
and releasing the waters of the Colorado River in southern
California and Mexico a vast tract of land, which was hot, arid,
and uninhabitable, might become a fertile valley, giving homes
and sustenance to millions. The opportunity was great, the power
to be controlled and regulated was as great as the opportunity,
but a failure came in the mind and executive ability of the men
who were drawn to this great task. The waters escaped their
control, and, where they intended to irrigate flowering gardens
and fruitful plantations, they let loose a devastating flood,
which burst all barriers, and threatened to establish in place
of the desert an inland sea. In time the intellect of man solved
the problem, met the opportunity with due achievement, and now
the original promise is in the way of fulfilment. (Text.)
(1000)
* * * * *
The insect (a butterfly) flutters its wings as if to test their
power before committing itself to the air; and frequently,
after only a few seconds spent in this preparatory exercise,
off it darts with astonishing rapidity. But others seem far
more cautious. They vibrate their wings, sometimes with such
rapidity that they are lost in a kind of mist, and with such
power that their bodies would be carried suddenly into the
air were they not firmly anchored by three pairs of hooked
claws. Then, continuing the rapid vibration, they move slowly
along, always holding on firmly by one or more legs, as if to
still further satisfy themselves concerning the efficiency
of their wings. Then they venture on a few short trial trips
from one neighboring object to another, and at last gain
sufficient confidence for a long voyage.--W. FURNEAUX,
“Butterflies and Moths.”
(1001)
=Experiment as Proof=--See COMPROMISES IN GRAVITIES.
=Experimentation=--See SUCCESS BY EXPERIMENTATION.