_Definitions._
1. In the last lesson, I gave you a word which you had not seen before,
to find out the meaning of it, without looking in a dictionary.
2. I told you, in a former lesson, how the little Spanish girl found out
the meaning of words which she did not know; and afterwards informed you
how the infant child was taught to speak.
3. Now, I doubt not that you can speak a great many words, and know what
they mean when you use them; but I do not think that you ever thought
much about the way in which you learned them.
4. Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that everybody learns to talk
and to use words in the same way that the little Spanish girl and the
little infant learned them; that is, by hearing others use them in
different ways, just as the word _hippoi_ was used in the last lesson.
5. Nobody ever told you, probably, the meaning of a great many words
that you know; and yet you know them full as well, and perhaps better,
than if any one had told you about them.
6. Perhaps you have a brother whose name is John, or George, or James,
or a sister whose name is Mary, or Jane, or Ann, or Lucy. You have
always heard them called by these names, ever since you, or they, were
quite young; and have noticed that when John was called, that the one
whose name is John would answer; and as each one answered when spoken
to, you learnt which was John, and which was Mary, and which was Lucy.
7. So also, when a certain animal, having two large horns and a long
tail, and which is milked every night and morning, passed by, you heard
some one say _cow_; and in this way you learned what the word _cow_
means.
8. So also, when water falls from the sky in drops, little children hear
people say it rains; and thus they find out what _rain_, means.
9. Now, when anybody asks you what any word means, although you know it
very well, yet it is a very hard thing to tell what it means,--that is,
to give a definition of it,--as you will see by the little story I am
about to tell you.
10. A teacher, who was very anxious to make his scholars understand
their lessons, once told them he had a very hard question he wished to
ask them, and that he would let the one who answered the question best
take the head of the class.
11. This teacher never allowed any of his pupils to speak to him without
first raising his right hand above his head, to signify that the child
had something to say; and when any child raised his hand in this way, if
he was not busy, he called upon the child to say what he wished.
12. In this way he prevented the children from troubling him when he was
busy; and in this way he also prevented them from interrupting each
other, as would be the case if several of them should speak at once.
13. On the day of which I am about to speak, he said to them, Now,
children, I have a very hard question to ask you, that does not require
you to study, but only to think about it, in order to answer it well;
and the one who gives me the best answer shall go to the head of the
class. The question is this: _What is a bird?_
14. Before they heard the question, they looked very sober, and thought
their master intended to puzzle them, or to give them a long sentence to
commit to memory. But as soon as they heard the question, they began to
smile among themselves, and wonder how their teacher should call that a
hard question.
15. A dozen hands were immediately raised, to signify that so many of
the children were ready to answer it.
16. Well, John, said the teacher, your hand is up; can you tell me _what
a bird is_?
17. John immediately rose, and standing on the right-hand side of his
seat, said, A bird is a thing that has two legs.
18. Well, said the teacher, suppose some one should saw off two of the
legs of my chair; it would then be a thing that has two legs; but it
would not be a bird, would it? You see, then, that your answer is not
correct.
19. I will not mention the names of the other children who raised their
hands; but I will tell you what the answers were which some of them made
to the questions, and what the teacher said about each of their answers.
20. One of the children said that a bird is an _animal_ with two legs.
But, said the teacher, all little boys and girls, and all men and women,
are animals with two legs; but they are not birds.
21. Another child said that a bird is an animal that has wings. But the
teacher said there are some fishes that have wings, and that fishes are
not birds.
22. A bright little girl then modestly rose and said, A bird is an
animal that has legs and wings, and that flies. The teacher smiled upon
her very kindly, and told her that it is true that a bird has legs and
wings, and that it flies; but, said he, there is another animal, also,
that has legs and wings, and that flies very fast in the air. It is
called a _bat_. It flies only in the night; but it has no feathers, and
therefore is not a bird.
23. Upon hearing this, another bright-eyed child very timidly rose and
said, A bird is an animal that has legs, wings and feathers. Very well,
said the teacher; but can you not think of anything else that a bird
has, which other creatures have not?
24. The children looked at one another, wondering what their teacher
could mean; and no one could think what to say, until the teacher said
to them, Think a moment, and try to tell me how a bird's mouth looks.
Look first at my mouth. You see I have two lips, and these two lips form
my mouth. Now, tell me whether a bird has two lips; and if he has not,
what he has instead of lips.
25. One of the children immediately arose and said, that a bird has no
lips, but he has a bill; and that bill opens as the lips of a man do,
and forms the mouth of the bird.
26. Yes, said the teacher; and now listen to me while I tell you the
things you should always mention, when you are asked what a bird is,--
First, A bird is an animal.
Secondly, It has two legs.
Thirdly, It has two wings.
Fourthly, It has feathers.
Fifthly, It has a hard, glossy bill.
27. And now, said the teacher, you see that I was right when I told you
that I had a hard question to ask you, when I asked What is a bird?
28. Now, if you will join all of these things which belong to a bird in
the description which you give in answer to my question, What is a bird,
you will then give a correct definition of a bird,--that is, you will
tell exactly what a bird is, and no more, and no less.
29. A bird is an animal covered with feathers, having two legs, two
wings, and a hard, glossy bill.
30. When you are asked what anything is, recollect what I have told you
about a bird, and try to recall everything that you ever knew about the
thing, and in this way you will be able to give a satisfactory answer.
31. This will also teach you to think, and that is one of the most
important objects for which you go to school. It will enable you also to
understand what you read; and you can always read those things best
which you understand well.