We will not commence our instructions with the hackneyed “definitions,”
but give our readers full credit for the knowledge of what is a
_point_, _a right or straight line_, _a curved line_, _parallel
lines_—and so forth, and proceed at once to practice.
There are some persons who think that with a drawing-board and square,
they can, without fail, make all sorts of horizontal, perpendicular,
or parallel lines, and that therefore any geometrical rules for such
purpose are to them unnecessary. But, suppose the drawing-board, or
the square is absent, or that neither can be had. In such an emergency
the want of the following items of knowledge would be severely felt,
and, therefore, the acquirement and retention of them is something
desirable, and even highly necessary.