152 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

A FAIRY TALE.1

BY ZOE FERGUSON,Central High School, St. Joseph, Mo.

Once upon a time there was a Boy who was a Freshman in HighSchool. One dark night he became lost in the Algebra woods. It wasvery dark, and he was much afraid. Finally he thought ’he saw a littlepath and started to follow it.

He had not gone far when he saw a fearful looking creature approach-ing. He was so frightened he could scarcely stand, but he asked in

trembling tones, "Who are you?""My name is Factor Theorem," the creature replied in a gruff voice.

"I have long wanted to become acquainted with the Factor Theorem,"said the Boy, with rising courage; "I am glad I met you. Won’t you’please help me to get acquainted with some more of the Algebra people?""With pleasure. Here comes Theory of Exponents," said his new

friend. "He is a very ugly looking person," said the Boy. "He is a veryclever fellow, and I am sure you will like him when you know himbetter."’ They went on through the woods, and the Boy began to feel that it wasgrowing lighter. They. saw a number of Algebra folk as time passed, andall of them seemed to be going in the same direction. The boy be-came much interested, and at last plucked up courage to ask where theywere going."We are going to a Mathematical Feast," cried Ratio, Proportion and

Variation in one breath. "Won’t you come?" "Sure!" said the Boy."I’d like to see what you eat."Soon they came to the place where the feast was to be held. The cloth

was laid on the Multiplication Table, and was decorated with a series ofProgressions.All of the Algebra people sat at this table except the Logarithms who

had a table to themselves, and the Harmonical Progressions who fur-nished the music for the occasion.On the large table the centerpiece was of Quadratic Equations, neatly

arranged.The Boy was given the seat of honor, and as a favor he found in

front of his plate a curious mechanical toy. He. asked Theory of Limits,whom he had seen put it there, what it was,, and was told that it was a"Variable-approaching-a-limit." "Well, if that isn’t the limit!" said theBoy.He then asked Factoring, who sat on his right hand, why the Log-

arithms had a table to themselves. "They can do so many things thatthey are quite stuck up and don’t care to associate with the commonherd. As far as I am concerned, I can get along without their help," wasthe reply.

Just then a small army of waiters appeared. There was a good deal ofsameness in their appearance, and the boy asked one of them his name."I am called Things-equal-to-the-same-thing," said the waiter. "You seewe are the Axioms. They are self-evident, and it is our duty to help thesepoor Theories. iSome of them would have a hard time to prove theirdemonstrations without us," he added, swelling out his chest.

^Phe writer has found this little story useful in "vitalizing’^ high school mathe-matics.

GREAT TEACHER’S VOW 153

Then the feast began. The Boy found the courses of Addition, Subtrac-tion, Multiplication, and Division tasted very much like his mother’ssugar cookies, only they were cut in different shapes.The Square and Cube Roots he found very palatable, as well as Equa-

tions served in several different styles. At one side of the table undersome trees, a platform had been erected, and Hindoo Method told theBoy that it was the custom for the people to give Demonstrations on thisfor the entertainment of their guests.Factor Theorem and (Factoring gave a sleight of hand performance,

and the way they juggled Binomials, Trinomials, and Polynomials al-most took away the Boy’s breath.Binomial Theorem gave a very complicated exhibition of his powers,

and praised Sir Isaac Newton so much that the Boy began to wonderwho Sir Isaac was.Two curious looking little creatures mounted the platform and an-

nounced themselves as the Incommensurable Ratios, but what they saidand what they did the Boy could not understand. The next was acharacter sketch by Square and Cube Root. The Boy was much inter-ested, and leaned forward with eyes and mouth wide open. Cube Rootlet a decimal point fly out of his hand. The Boy thought it was a paperwad and jumped. Then he heard his mother say, "Have you your les-sons? You. have been asleep an hour.""Gee!" said the Boy, "I wish I could put in an hour a day that way on

Algebra every day."

A GREAT TEACHERS VOW.We were recently reading in the Bostonia, a quarterly publication of

the Boston University, the sentiments expressed below, by that prince ofteachers, Lyman C. Newell, of Boston University. They hit the nail squarelyon the head, and. if teachers would abide by the ideas given, the qualityof their work would be greatly enchanced. This Journal considers it anhonor to have the author of these sentiments on its Board of AssociateEditors..

’T will see the good in all pupils and lead them on to higher at-tainments.

"I will be patient and forbearing, confident in the belief that kindnessand generosity will ultimately triumph.

"I will scorn error, deceit, and all forms of falsehood, persistently fore-going sarcasm and injustice.

’T will claim all nature as my heritage, and spend a portion of eachday quietly in God’s open air.

<<! will hold daily communion with my own soul."I will accept my remuneration, however small, without envy, com-

plaint, or discouragement, never forgetting that a teacher is a leader intothe higher life, and not merely a wage-earner.

"I will work each day in unshaken assurance that peace and power comein full measure to all who are ready for the truth."

ERRATUMIn the January number a mistake was made in the

Eimer and Amend advertisement. The third office shouldbe OTTAWA, CANADA, instead of ATLANTA, GA.