DISREGARD OF THE TEACHING OF EXPERIENCE.

Western Star, Issue 1, 15 November 1873, Page 3

DISREGARD OF THE TEACHING OF EXPERIENCE.

You rise in the morning, and, while dressing, take up a _ phial, of which a little has been prescribed for you ; but, after the first few drops have been counted, succeeding drops run down the side of the phial—all because the lip is shaped without regard to the requirement. Tet millions of snch phials are annually made by glass-makers, and sent out by thousands of druggists—so small being the amount of sense brought t 0 bear on business. Now, turning to the looting glass, you find that, if not of the best make, it'fails to preserve the attitude in which you put it; or, if what ‘ijsyv. ” i/'t'king glass, you see that the maintenance of its position is ensured by aii expensive appliance that would have been superfluous had a little reason been used. Were the adjustment such that the centre of gravity of the glass came in the line joining the centre of support (which would be quite as easy an adjustment), the glass would remain steady in whatever attitude you gave it. Yet year after year tens of thousands of looking glasses are made without regard to so simple a need. Presently you go down to breakfast, and taking some Harley or other sauce with your fish, find the bottle has a defect like that which you found in the phial ; it is sticky from the drops which trickle down and occasionally stain the table-cloth. Here are other groups of traders, similarly so economical of thought that they do nothing to rectify this obvious inconvenience. Having breakfasted, you take up the paper, and before sitting down, wish to put some coal on the fire, But the lump you seize with the tongs slips out of them, and if large, you make several attempts before you succeed in lifting it—all because the ends 'of the tenge’ are Smooth. Makers and vendors 0 f fire-irons go on, generation after generation, without meeting this evil by the simple remedy of giving to these smooth ends some projecting points, or even roughening them by a few burrs with a chisel. Having at length grasped the lump and put it on the fire, you begin to read ; but before you have got through the first column, you are reminded, by the changes of position which your sensations prompt, that men still fail to make easy chairs.—Herbert Spencer. -