Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1899: Volume LIV, No. 3, January 1899Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1899: Volume LIV, No. 3, January 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
Thousands upon thousands of persons handle our silver dollar, but few
happen to observe the lion's head which lies concealed in the
representation of the familiar head of Liberty; frequently even a
careful examination fails to detect this hidden emblem of British
rule; but, as before, when once found, it is quite obvious (Fig. 2).
For similar reasons it is a great aid in looking for an object to know
what to look for; to be readily found, the object, though lost to
sight, should be to memory clear. Searching is a mental process
similar to the matching of a piece of fabric in texture or color, when
one has forgotten the sample and must rely upon the remembrance of its
appearance. If the recollection is clear and distinct, recognition
takes place when the judgment decides that what the physical eye sees
corresponds to the image in the mind's eye; with an indistinct mental
image the recognition becomes doubtful or faulty. The novice in the
use of the microscope experiences considerable difficulty in observing
the appearance which his instructor sees and describes, and this
because his conception of the object to be seen is lacking in
precision. Hence his training in the use of the microscope is
distinctly aided by consulting the illustrations in the text-book, for
they enable his mental eye to realize the pictures which it should
entertain. He may be altogether too much influenced by the pictures
thus suggested to his mental vision, and draw what is really not under
his microscope at all; much as the young arithmetician will manage to
obtain the answer which the book requires even at the cost of a resort
to very unmathematical processes. For training in correct and accurate
vision it is necessary to acquire an alert mental eye that observes
all that is objectively visible, but does not permit the subjective to
add to or modify what is really present.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Observe the appearance of these letters at a
distance of eight to twelve feet. An interesting method of testing the
activity of the mind's eye with these letters is described in the
text.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3_a_.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3_b_.]
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