During the greater part of my professional life, it has been a part of my duty to examine candidates for the office of teacher in the public schools. Out of ninety-eight candidates for the office of assistant teacher, whom I examined on one occasion, only one knew the meaning of the word "sumptuary," although in the public discussion then going on about the license law, the word was in daily use in the public papers; in fact, I took it out of the newspaper of that morning. On another occasion, out of fourteen candidates for the office of Principal teacher of a boys' Grammar school, four defined "friable" as that which can be fried; several did not know at all the meaning of "hibernating," and one, the successful candidate, said it meant "relating to Ireland." By "successful" candidate, I mean the one who got the vote of the Directors! This sober scrutiny into any one's knowledge of the meaning of words in common use, is one of the most reliable tests of his general intellectual progress and cultivation. It is one of the means by which in many city schools it is customary to test a candidate's fitness for promotion. To show how little people generally, and even teachers, are aware of the extent to which children misconceive the meaning of words in common use, I have transcribed a few examples from an examination of the kind which I once held. The definitions which I am about to quote were not the work of oral confusion and haste, but were given in writing, in circumstances of entire quietude and ample deliberation. The average age of the candidates, on the occasion referred to, was fourteen years and ten months, and no one of them was by law under thirteen years. _Stature_--A picture; "I saw a stature of Washington." _Fabulous_--Full of threads; "Silk is fabulous." _Accession_--The act of eating a great deal; "John got very sick after dinner by accession." _Atonement_--A small insect; "Queen Mab was pulled by little atonements." Sound, [orthodox]; "They went to the church of the Atonement." _Auxiliary_--To form; "The gardener did auxiliary his garden." _Ingredient_--A native-born; "Tobacco is an ingredient of this country." _Fragment_--Sweetmeats; "It was a fragment." _Develop_--To swallow up; "God sent a whale to develop Jonah." _Exotic_--Relating to a government; "Some countries have a very exotic government." Patriotic; "He was exotic in the cause of Independence." Absolute; "The government of Turkey is exotic." Standing out; "The company were exotic." _Circumference_--Distance through the middle. Distance around the middle of the outside. _Callous_--Something which cannot be effected; "That America should gain her independence was supposed to be callous." _Mobility_--Belonging to the people; "The mobility of St. Louis has greatly increased." _Anomalous_--Powerful; "His speech was considered anomalous."