.1'.. . . 
 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 LB"irn> 
 
 Chap. Copyright No... 
 
 Shelt._H._XL 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
SEP 8 1898 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/studyofchildOOhoga 
 
SPONTANEOUS EFFORTS WITH COLORS, 1894 TO 1898. 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 •mho, </ 
 
 LOUISE E. HOGAN 
 
 ^C^Auua) 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER 500 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS 
 BY THE CHILD 
 
 NEW YOEK AND LONDON 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 1898 
 
I 3628 
 
 WO COPIES RECEIVED. 
 
 Copyright, f898, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
 *4W right* reserved. 
 
 
PKEFACE 
 
 The interest awakened in America and Europe by 
 the child-study movement, the fascination that lies in 
 the sayings and the doings of children, and especially 
 the expressed desire of psychologists, physicians, and 
 teachers for opportunity to study individual child 
 records, both normal and abnormal, have led to the 
 preparation of this book, with the hope of entertain- 
 ing the general reader and of stimulating interest in 
 practical methods for mental, moral, and physical de- 
 velopment of the child in the nursery. 
 
 Professor Ladd, of Yale, says in a recent work {Out- 
 lines of Descriptive Psychology), that of six sources 
 of psychology, one is " observation of the mental 
 processes of infants and children. ... as necessary 
 to a better analysis of the mature mental processes 
 of man and to the detection of hitherto concealed 
 factors within them." Such understanding, he says, 
 is indispensable to the understanding of human men- 
 tal life as being, what it undoubtedly is, a develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, whose stand for the principles of 
 humanity in education is known throughout the world, 
 declared boyhood to be an inferior state, a dangerous 
 
PREFACE 
 
 time, when temptation is great and resistance exceed- 
 ingly small ; and he said that the change from boyhood 
 to manhood should be hastened, for the growth of his 
 character and for the development of the love of un- 
 selfishness and fear of God. More in keeping, how- 
 ever, with accepted educational theories of to-day, John 
 Corbin says, in this connection, in his study of School- 
 boy Life in England that since Arnold's day many 
 experiments have been made in bringing up boys, and 
 many thoughtful men have written on the subject, and 
 in consequence we are more likely to respect the state 
 of bo}rhood and sympathize with it, to regard it as 
 necessary and beautiful rather than dangerous, and to 
 believe that the more fully a boy learns to be a boy, 
 the more thoroughly he will be a man when the time 
 comes. He adds, forcibly: "In its way, boyhood is as 
 little to be avoided as old age. Both were ordained by 
 the Power that no one has ever understood ; they are 
 equally necessary for the fulness of life, and equally 
 beautiful." 
 
 " The history of the child Harold is given exactly as 
 it was originally written, with but few additional ex- 
 planatory remarks concerning the course taken to pro- 
 duce the results recorded. This plan has been followed 
 as most likely to attract the attention of the general 
 reader whose aid in furnishing child-diaries is asked 
 for by scientists ; yet the record, though unclassified, 
 will be of no less value to the student. As the re- 
 sults are obvious, the reader may draw his own con- 
 clusions. 
 
 A portion of the record and the introductory chapter 
 were sent to Dr. Preyer, and annotations to the manu- 
 script, which are duly noted, were received in reply, 
 
PREFACE 
 
 with several letters of singular charm, in one of which 
 he says : 
 
 " Since fifteen 37-ears, when the first German edition of 
 my book on The Mind of the Infant was published, I 
 have wished that a lady, after having studied the work 
 done, would let a child develop itself naturally and 
 without continually interfering with mother - nature. 
 I actually brought my boy up in this way, and he is 
 always happy. The boy you have observed seems to 
 have been educated in a similar way. I feel nearly sure 
 we are sailing carefully, but with energy, in exactly the 
 same direction. I think the wish I mentioned will soon 
 be fulfilled by you to my heart's content. Mind you do 
 not go too deep into psychology — controversies would 
 spoil the effect of your observations, which in many cases 
 may serve as a practical guide, without any commentary. 
 When some years ago I was often asked to write a popu- 
 lar nursery psychology with my pedagogical rules, I 
 always answered that such a manual must be written 
 by a mother who has not intrusted her baby to nurses, 
 but brought it up and thoroughly studied it lov- 
 ingly herself, and I added that I would help any lady 
 who would undertake the lengthy but very pleasant 
 work." 
 
 The recent and much lamented death of Dr. Preyer 
 adds special significance to these words, which illus- 
 trate so clearly the comprehensive character of the 
 work to which his life was given. 
 
 While the gradual development of an infant during 
 its first year may be of great interest to both scientist 
 and mother, the quaint and fanciful tangents of a child's 
 self - activity during the years following closely upon 
 infancy are the most absorbing to the general reader, 
 
PREFACE 
 
 and for this reason the following selections have been 
 made as illustrative of various stages of unconscious 
 growth, and as not altogether of simply scientific 
 interest. 
 
 Louise E. Hog an. 
 New York, June, 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Reasons for Child-Study in the Home 1 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Fragmentary First- Year Notes 15 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Second Year — Covering Development of Language, and, Inci- 
 dentally, the Cultivation of Obedience and Trust 22 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Third Year — Language and Other Incidental Development Con- 
 tinued 76 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Fourth Year — Record of Spontaneous Development After the 
 Child was Three Years Old, with Selections of Drawings and 
 Cuttings, all Mental Pictures, Done as a Result of Self- 
 Activity, and Accompanied by the Child's Explanations 140 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Fifth Year — Record Continued — Nature Stories — Training 
 Butterflies and White Mice — The Child's First Effort at 
 Relating a Story 149 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sixth. Year — Number-Work — Composition— Fancy — The Story 
 of Kitty — The Adventures of a Lady-Bug 167 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Seventh Year — Learning German, Writing, and Spelling through 
 Play — A Bedtime Question Talk — Comparison Questions and 
 Answers — The Child's Song to His Colors — Two Stories Told 
 by the Child 181 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Eighth Year — Efforts at Arithmetic — "A Story all Epsidedown" 
 and "A Wonderful Dream" Told by the Child — Memor}*- 
 Work — Conception of Fractions — Development in Drawing 
 and Designing 215 
 
ILLUSTKATIONS 
 
 SPONTANEOUS EFFORTS WITH COLORS, 1894 TO 1898. . Frontispiece 
 
 NO DATE DRAWINGS Facing p. 94 
 
 NO DATE DRAWINGS " 108 
 
 NO DATE DRAWINGS " 120 
 
 1892 AND 1893 DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS— THE CHILD'S 
 
 EARLIEST EFFORTS " 132 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 134 
 
 1893 AND 1894 DRAWINGS " 136 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS " 138 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES " 140 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — BOATS, TROLLEYS, ETC " 142 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES — THREE YEARS OLD ... " 144 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 144 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS " 146 
 
 1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD " 148 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS AND 1893 AND 1894 PRINTED LETTER 
 
 WORK " 150 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS— FOUR YEARS OLD " 150 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS OF ENGINES " 152 
 
 1894 ENGINE AND CAR CUTTINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD . " 152 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 154 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 154 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS " 156 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 156 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD . , " 158 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD " 158 
 
 DINNER FOR TWO " 160 
 
 THE BUTTERFLY'S BATH " 162 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 TriE BUTTERFLY ON THE CURTAIN 
 
 1895 AND 1896 DRAWINGS 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS 
 
 1895 ENGINE DRAWINGS— FIVE YEARS OLD .... 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 BOAT DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1895 CUTTINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS 
 
 GRADED EFFORT AT WRITING — COMPOSITION AND 
 
 EARLY EFFORTS AT NUMBERS 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD . . . 
 
 1896 CUTTINGS— SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 EARLY CUTTINGS AND WRITINGS 
 
 1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS 
 
 A LESSON IN ADDITION 
 
 A LESSON AND ITS RESULT : EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SUB- 
 TRACTION, DIVISION, AND MULTIPLICATION . . . 
 
 1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 
 
 1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 
 
 1897 DRAWINGS 
 
 1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN YEARS OLD 
 
 1897 AND 1898 DRAWINGS 
 
 Facing p. 164 
 16G 
 168 
 170 
 172 
 172 
 174 
 174 
 176 
 176 
 178 
 180 
 182 
 184 
 186 
 188 
 190 
 
 192 
 196 
 200 
 204 
 208 
 212 
 Page 215 
 
 216 
 
 Facing p. 216 
 
 216 
 
 218 
 218 
 218 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 INTKODUCTION 
 REASONS FOR CHILD -STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 Peofessoe Compayee says : " If childhood is the cradle 
 of humanity, the study of childhood is the natural and 
 necessary introduction to all future psychology." 
 
 Lowell says : " We were designed in the cradle, per- 
 haps earlier, and it is in finding out this design and 
 shaping ourselves to it that our years are spent wisely. 
 It is the vain endeavor to make ourselves what we are 
 not that has strewn history with so many broken pur- 
 poses and lives left in the rough." 
 
 Dr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, 
 says parents and teachers are directly concerned with 
 the aggregation of facts of value gathered by child- 
 students, and from which is being evolved a new edu- 
 cation, which deals in explanations which are the key- 
 note to infant development. 
 
 Perez says, in The First Three Years of Childhood: 
 
 " The business of psychological educators is much more 
 
 concerned with the habits that children may acquire, and 
 
 with their wills, which are also developed by habitual 
 
 a 1 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 practice, than with the development of their moral 
 conscience. The latter is the blossom which will be 
 followed by fruit, but the former are the roots and 
 branches." 
 
 Professor Sully says in his introduction to this work 
 that the cardinal principle of modern educational the- 
 ory is that systematic training should watch the spon- 
 taneous movements of the child's mind and adapt its 
 processes to these. It is in the first three or four years 
 of life that we have the key to the emotional and moral 
 nature of the young. He says, " if the study be deferred 
 to school-life, it will never be full or exact. The arti- 
 ficial character of even the brightest school surroundings 
 offers too serious an obstacle to the free play of childish 
 likings." He says, further, that nothing, perhaps, has 
 been more misunderstood than childhood; that few 
 have the disposition to seriously endeavor to think 
 themselves into the situation and circumstances of the 
 child, casting aside their own adult habits of mind and 
 trying to become themselves for the moment as little 
 children, and that the man to whom children will reveal 
 themselves is not he who is wont to look on them as a 
 nuisance or a bore, but he who finds them an amuse- 
 ment and a delight, who likes nothing better than to 
 cast aside now and again the heavy armor of serious 
 business and indulge in a good childish romp. He sug- 
 gests the father as an observer, because his masculine 
 intelligence will be less exposed to the risk of taking too 
 sentimental and eulogistic a view of the baby mind ; but 
 he says the father cannot, however, hope to accomplish 
 the task alone. His restricted leisure compels him to 
 call in the mother as collaborates, and " the mother's 
 enthusiasm and patient, brooding watchfulness are neecl- 
 
 2 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 ed quite as much as the father's keen, analytic vision. 
 The mother should note under the guidance of the 
 father, he taking due care to test and verify. In this 
 way we may look for something like a complete record 
 of infant life." 
 
 In his recent work, Studies of Childhood, he says 
 that the greatest desideratum to-day for practical re- 
 sults in child-study is the study of individual children 
 as they may be approached in the nursery; that en- 
 vironment, heredity, and methods of education should 
 all be noted in relation to the child in question if the 
 record is to be of the greatest value. In view of the 
 fact that children as well as their environments differ 
 very widely, he says we need to know much more 
 about these variations ; that there is no substitute for 
 the careful, methodical, study of the individual child, 
 and that the co-operation of the mother is indispensable, 
 as the knowledge of others never equals that of the 
 mother. He predicts that women will become valuable 
 laborers in this new field of investigation if they will 
 only acquire a genuine scientific interest in babyhood 
 and a fair amount of scientific training. He indicates 
 the necessity of careful training in observation, because 
 a child is very quick to see whether he is being ob- 
 served, and as soon as he suspects that you are specially 
 interested in his talk he is apt to try to produce an 
 effect. This wish to say something startling or won- 
 derful will, it is obvious, detract from the value of the 
 utterance. 
 
 Stanley Hall also points out that child-study is espe- 
 cially the woman's province of work, that all teaching, 
 especially of the very young, must alwaj^s be a work of 
 love to be really effective, and that child-study should 
 
 3 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 be so directed as to instruct concerning child-nature and 
 awaken child-love. He also says the love of childhood 
 and youth has always been one of the strongest in- 
 centives to high thoughts and noble deeds, and, quite 
 apart from its results, the study of children is good in 
 itself, enriches parenthood, and brings the adult and the 
 child nearer together. 
 
 To sura up authorities, the late Dr. Preyer, whose 
 work in child-study is known all over the world, says, in 
 Infant Mind: " But, after all, the observation in mental 
 development in the earliest years naturally falls to the 
 mother more than to any other person ; that other per- 
 sons also, teachers, both male and female, fathers, older 
 brothers and sisters, are to be induced to consider the 
 importance of the facts in this field, which has, indeed, 
 been lying open for hundreds of years, but has been 
 little trodden, and is therefore a new field." 
 
 He continues : " Although the little child shows him- 
 self to the observer always without the least dissimula- 
 tion, still there is great danger with the anthropomor- 
 phic tendency of most people in their way of looking at 
 things, that more will be attributed to the child than 
 actually belongs to him." He says, " new comprehen- 
 sive diaries concerning the actions of children are 
 urgently to be desired, and they should contain noth- 
 ing but well-established facts, no hypotheses, and no 
 repetition of the statements of others." 
 
 Following such suggestions as these, I began seven 
 years ago to observe systematically a healthy, happy, 
 and intelligent child, endeavoring to keep constantly in 
 view the fact that he was but one of many, and taking 
 no liberty of expression whatever beyond recording facts. 
 The record was taken at intervals under exceptionally 
 
 4 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 favorable circumstances, for lie was trained under what 
 might be called the Pestalozzian principle of letting alone, 
 with unconscious supervision in a carefully guarded en- 
 vironment which supplied a great number of centres of 
 interest that were full of indirect suggestion. Preyer 
 says in one of his works : " The more numerous the sounds 
 of interest imitated, the quicker the child will learn to 
 talk ;" he noted later, however, in one of the letters, be- 
 fore mentioned, " but their then mental development 
 may thus be disturbed." It was for fear of such disturb- 
 ance that no formal teaching of any kind was allowed 
 until the end of the sixth year, but all questions were 
 carefully answered, and effort was made to see that the 
 answers were clearly understood. Servants were in- 
 structed to refer the child to his parents for answers to 
 all questions they did not themselves comprehend, and 
 sufficient supervision was given to see that these direc- 
 tions were followed. All baby-talk was forbidden, and 
 great care was taken to enunciate distinctly. Surround- 
 ings were carefully planned to meet growing needs from 
 the moment he began to notice things. The record is 
 therefore one of spontaneous development of self-activ- 
 ity produced as a result : (1) of suggestion, based upon a 
 carefully considered environment ; (2) of accurate and 
 sympathetic explanation, given only when asked for; and 
 (3) of carefully graded steps that were taken one at a 
 time. (Dr. Preyer's annotation here was " Quite true.") 
 Edward Gardiner Howe says : " Restraint upon the part 
 of the parent or teacher is a necessity to prevent giving 
 more information than can be absorbed." He also 
 says : " There is no subject so profound but its central 
 truth can be taught to very small children, and a child 
 can be led to any height if the steps are made short 
 
 5 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 enough." (Dr. Preyer here added, " This is not the 
 case.") 
 
 The results recorded illustrate, however, very clearly 
 the practicability of Froebel's theory of inducing and 
 guiding in the nursery a self-activity which eventually 
 will develop power, cultivate observation and memory, 
 produce accuracy, teach a child to think — in short, de- 
 velop every faculty a child may possess, and enable it to 
 educate itself easily by giving it a technic, so to speak, 
 and a desire for study which will continue through a 
 lifetime if it is not dulled by routine method during 
 the period following nursery life, after which time only 
 must instruction become formal. This method of train- 
 ing also affords the parent an opportunity of discovering 
 inherent weaknesses and removing them by encouraging 
 and sympathetic influences ; for, as Mrs. Felix Adler 
 sympathetically says : " In the case of children, they are 
 sure to distress and discourage us, but we must not make 
 the mistake of overlooking the light parts that balance 
 the dark shadows. We must expect to find inconsisten- 
 cies, curious incongruities, paradoxes in the character. 
 If we study both good and evil traits, the good ones will 
 enable us to eradicate the evil ones." It is a well-estab- 
 lished fact that a child learns through playing and by 
 having opportunity to let nature assert itself spontane- 
 ously and without restraint, under watchful supervision 
 — of which, however, it must be unconscious — yet how 
 commonly we see nurses, and even parents, endeavoring 
 to attract the attention of an infant, perhaps with the 
 idea of amusing, when most probably its only require- 
 ment at the time is to he let alone to do what pleases it. 
 (Dr. Preyer here added " Yes," and underscored the 
 phrase). Instead of being quietly placed where the child 
 
 6 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 may reach it, a ball will be shaken to and fro, or up and 
 down so rapidly that the babe's eyes are unable to fol- 
 low it ; hands will be clapped so loud that the child be- 
 comes frightened; the nurse will keep up an eternal 
 jogging on the knee of the body of the child, with some 
 curious notion of the necessity for constant movement 
 as a pacifier. Some persons go so far even as to toss 
 baby up and down as if he were a ball, while the poor 
 little atom of humanity wants only to be let alone to 
 find out for himself what all the curious things mean 
 with which he finds himself surrounded. If the persons 
 whose business it is to take care of infants would, instead 
 of amusing themselves at the expense of the child's 
 nerves, practise sufficient self-restraint to watch the 
 efforts of a four-months' -old child when it is trying to 
 touch a ball or any object within its reach and line of 
 vision, as the one observed did when three and one-half 
 months' old, the immense possibility would be evident at 
 once of training a child to self-entertainment by simply 
 letting him alone to find out about things and do for 
 himself. (Dr. Freyer wrote in this connection : " Yes, 
 this is quite true. Need not be verified. Even the 
 shaking ot the cradle, of the baby in the nurse's arms, I 
 strictly forbid, on account of the disturbance of the 
 blood circulation of the brain.") A study of the record 
 of the child observed should be sufficient to convince 
 the most incredulous mother of the fact that she may 
 save herself much care and worry and do much better 
 for her child by shaping with a compelling hand the en- 
 vironment of her nursery from the very beginning of its 
 life, for it is at this time that a correct habit of body 
 may be laid with very little effort, and it is also the 
 time when many a child's life develops an impulse in 
 
 7 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 the opposite direction difficult to overcome in later 
 years. 
 
 If during the first six months a regular regime has 
 been established in regard to hours of feeding, sleep, 
 bathing, and letting alone, the mother will, by this time, 
 have leisure to consider the needs of the awakening 
 mind. Regularity in nursery routine, with its result 
 showing in the serenity of the child, will give opportu- 
 nity for study as to how best to meet the new require- 
 ments, and also to. take records of daily development for 
 reference as to future guidance and study. Compayre 
 says the better the child's health and the better he is 
 fed, the more activity he has to dispense and the more 
 active will be his motor faculty ; and inasmuch as 
 physical care favors intellectual growth from the very 
 first, that mothers shall provide intelligently for physical 
 needs and beware of restraining this motor faculty, if it 
 is not too great. JSTervous children must be restrained, 
 Preyer added. This restraint, however, must be wisely 
 exercised, or not at all. 
 
 Children are proverbially good when they are busy, 
 but constant diversion is necessary to keep them so, 
 because the child-mind is not capable of fixed attention 
 for more than a few minutes at a time. Herein lies the 
 value of the principle of suggestion in environment. It 
 is possible and very easy for a mother who has any com- 
 prehension of Froebel's inner meaning to prepare each 
 day in a very few minutes, after her child has gone to 
 sleep, a suggestive environment that will relieve her 
 almost entirely during the following hours of airy care 
 be} T ond the physical, and even this may, if necessary, 
 under proper direction and supervision, be delegated to 
 a faithful servant. It is in the constant supervision 
 
 8 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 with wise and gentle guidance that the necessary work 
 for the mother lies, not in the actual labor involved, 
 which may be regulated according to circumstances. 
 
 The usual attitude of the parent not versed in child- 
 study is sceptical and antagonistic to reform. A very 
 frequent excuse offered by such a parent for the careless 
 training of children, and the consequent arrest of their 
 physical, mental, and moral development, is that there 
 are too many other duties pressing upon them to al- 
 low of sufficient attention to these things. I have fre- 
 quently heard mothers and teachers say, in a tone of 
 scepticism, that child-study is productive of no practical 
 good ; that children have done well enough heretofore, 
 and that they will do so again. One of the greatest 
 results to be hoped from child -study is to show just 
 such parents and teachers how much easier it is to de- 
 velop good than evil in all children, and that letting 
 "well enough" alone will never yield the greatest de- 
 velopment of character, the true aim of education. The 
 practical application of child-study must begin in the nur- 
 sery and continue through the kindergarten and prima- 
 ry school, which must all be in touch one with the other. 
 
 Susan Blow says, pertinently, that notwithstanding 
 all that has been said and written about conforming to 
 the different stages of natural development, we still 
 make knowledge an idol, and continue to fill the 
 child's mind with foreign material, under the gratui- 
 tous assumption that at a later age he will be able, 
 through some magic transubstantiation, to make it a 
 vital part of his own thought. But glaring as are our 
 sins of commission, they pale before our sins of omis- 
 sion, for while we are forcing upon the child's mind 
 knowledge which has no roots in his experience, or call- 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 ing upon him to exercise still dormant powers, we refuse 
 any aid to his spontaneous struggle to do and learn and 
 be that which his stage of development demands. Thus 
 we kill the creative activity, the absence of which in 
 later life we deplore and endeavor again to recreate. 
 It is true that it is the exceptional mother and teacher 
 to-day who take up this question in any but a superficial 
 manner, but it is not too much to hope that the day will 
 come, and that very soon, when the practical results of 
 the science of child-study will have permeated every home 
 of intelligence, kindergarten, and school, and when moth- 
 er, nurse, hindergartner, and primary -school teacher will 
 work hand in hand, without stepping over the line for- 
 bidden for normal physical development. From a foun- 
 dation like this should arise a nation of people possessing 
 such marked individuality and productive capability as 
 would conclusively demonstrate the value of the work 
 that has been done by men like Comenius, Pestalozzi, 
 Rousseau, Froebel, Herbart, Preyer, and Horace Mann, 
 and is now being done by Sully, Harris, Baldwin, Stan- 
 ley Hall, and many others. 
 
 A great impetus has ^already been given by these 
 psychologists to those young parents, kindergartners, 
 and primary-school teachers who have been alive to the 
 true meaning of child - study ; and Froebel's love for 
 children and his desire for their happiness is understood 
 more clearly to-day than ever before. Much of the 
 physical restraint formerly in vogue among kinder- 
 gartners and teachers, and the too close attention to 
 method and the letter of his philosophy instead of the 
 spirit, have disappeared, and the freedom of spontaneous 
 play and self-activity have taken their place, to the mani- 
 fest improvement of the child. 
 
 10 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 "When we remember that Froebel did not expect his 
 philosophy to be thoroughly understood for two hun- 
 dred years, we can easily see how, after fifty years of 
 imperfect elucidation, there still remains a great work 
 for the kindergartner, and a still greater one for the 
 mother in the nursery, to produce the necessary adjust- 
 ment to educational methods which is required for spon- 
 taneous development. 
 
 Sympathy and suggestion must go hand in hand with 
 trained method — one is as necessary as the other — but 
 the mother's work must come first, for she has the first 
 opportunity. 
 
 She can prepare herself for this work by studying the 
 philosophy of Froebel — not necessarily his methods — 
 and then, by putting his principles into practice, she 
 will find that the child's development in the nursery 
 will be a sympathetic reflection of her own, and will 
 unconsciously follow her own plan of study, which 
 should lead directly into the hands of the kindergart- 
 ner. It is evident to the careful observer of children 
 in kindergartens and the primary schools that to-day 
 parents need direct teaching more than the child, to be 
 given in such a way as to influence children in the 
 nursery before the most impressionable period of their 
 lives has been passed. " This is very true," wrote Dr. 
 Preyer, who lamented, with reason, in Infant Mind, 
 that in cultivated families the children should be left 
 alone so much with uneducated nurses, maids, bonnes, 
 a,nd that no counterpoise, as a rule, is supplied by a close 
 personal contact with the child of the educated parents ; 
 that the fathers have other claims upon them ; the 
 mothers, in too many cases, are hindered by so-called 
 " duties " of society or by needless journeys. He says, 
 
 11 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 forcibly, that when a child grows up from the beginning 
 under the influence of the suggestions of cultivated 
 people, he must of necessity take with him into the 
 period in which the nursery is left behind forever a 
 considerably less number of naughty ways and a great 
 many more excellences, with the natural result of 
 being better fitted for progress than if undesirable 
 ways must be first forgotten, and excellences, such as 
 obedience, be bred in him after leaving the nursery. 
 He says the direction of attention through suggestion 
 never fails when used systematically. It is evident, 
 therefore, that the mother who will interest herself 
 in child -study and its results must find, by following 
 this course of sympathetic supervision and intelligent 
 suggestion, that she can easily and unobtrusively pre- 
 pare her child for satisfactory work in both kinder- 
 garten and primary school. The aid of a trained kin- 
 dergartner of inspiring personality, or of at least a 
 refined and educated nursery-maid, may be secured, if 
 possible, very early in the life of a child. One, how- 
 ever, should be selected who has learned the value of 
 repose in handling children, and who can subordinate 
 method as a means for the development of mental and 
 moral growth. Undoubtedly one of the greatest dan- 
 gers to be found to-day in the average kindergarten lies 
 in the absorption of method and the aggressiveness of 
 the teacher's personality to the exclusion of sponta- 
 neity, and the self-effacement necessary upon the teach- 
 er's part for the promotion of unconscious development 
 in the child. 
 
 We can all, no doubt, as Rousseau says, " sit rever- 
 ently at the feet of infancy, watching and learning." 
 
 Sully speaks of Rousseau's belief that the infant comes 
 
 12 
 
CHILD-STUDY IN THE HOME 
 
 unspoiled from the hands of its Maker, and is not born 
 morally depraved, to be made good by miraculous appli- 
 ances. The accepted belief of many psychologists of 
 to-day is that every child comes into the world loaded 
 down with inherited tendencies to evil, from which it 
 will eventually suffer unless they are counteracted by 
 opposing influences. The child is certainly unformed at 
 this period, hence may be moulded for good or evil, and 
 in consequence man's methods in training must be care- 
 fully adjusted so as not to brush away the bloom of the 
 "lovely grace of childhood." There is an instinctive 
 goodness and gladness in every child that, in spite of 
 evil heredity and depraved surroundings, will respond 
 to sympathetic treatment. But to treat children sympa- 
 thetically in order that we may obtain a clearer insight 
 into their mental processes and know better how to 
 guide them, we must certainly absorb the spirit of 
 Froebel, who begs us to live with our children, not only 
 for them, as so many do, and keep them happy. 
 
 I have never seen a child who was not happy and in- 
 clined to be good when well occupied. The letter of 
 Froebel's philosophy was simply meant by him to be an 
 aid in establishing a suitable environment to fit the com- 
 prehension of the children in question, and it is invalu- 
 able when properly used to keep them happily em- 
 ployed. But if a mother happens to be placed beyond 
 the reach of a kindergarten, or the aid of a kindergart- 
 ner, she need not despair of attempting the work unaid- 
 ed, for by studying Froebel's philosophy and reading his 
 meaning with the eyes of love, she will clearly see how 
 she may prepare for her child an environment of suggest- 
 ion, and formulate for herself a method that will grasp 
 the entire meaning of his play and occupations, with 
 
 13 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 their wonderful results. Then, when she sends her child 
 away to begin his life-work, she may feel that she has 
 given him power with which he can easily handle the 
 problems that Mall confront him daily, and that she has 
 not only given him power, but has done it in a manner 
 that has not hindered his physical development, the 
 soundness of which will determine largely his whole 
 future intellectual and moral life. Dr. Preyer here 
 added : " Therefore, the controlling supervision of the 
 physical development in childhood is the most important 
 task of all young mothers." Fathers may assist in such 
 work if they will but realize the importance of surround- 
 ing young mothers with the serene, happy conditions in 
 their daily lives that will impel them by their great con- 
 tent to live with their children, as Froebel begs them to 
 do, and watch over them w T ith that brooding mother- 
 love which should be the natural outcome of affection 
 and consideration not denied them in their own relations 
 of life. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 FRAGMENTARY FIRST- YEAR NOTES 
 
 The dated record of the spontaneous development of 
 the child in question began when he was fourteen 
 months old, and comparatively few notes were made 
 during the period covering the first year. The few 
 facts that were noted may be of greater interest, pos- 
 sibly, to psychologists than to the general reader. For 
 instance, the child's first sign of early adaptation to 
 surroundings, of which Compayre speaks, was possibly 
 given when he was found contentedly sucking his 
 thumb, after the fashion of many other infants, about 
 half an hour after he was born. Both nurse and phy- 
 sician dwelt frequently upon the importance of the fact 
 that when the child received his first bath he lifted his 
 head unaided from the lap in which he was lying, thus 
 showing to the popular mind an early inclination to 
 know what was going on about him, again following the 
 fashion of many other mortals, and to the psychologist 
 great promise of brain power. He showed on the second 
 and third days a decided disinclination to sleep in the 
 nurse's arms, but he would invariably fall asleep easily 
 when removed to his mother's arms. Receptiveness to 
 sympathy may probably here be traced, for the nurse 
 was unsympathetic. 
 
 The child noticed color when he was a little over 
 three months old. He was lying on a bed, near a hat 
 
 15 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 trimmed with stiff yellow flowers. lie put out his hand 
 and touched them. The rattling noise of the flowers 
 must have pleased him, for when the hat was moved a 
 little farther away from him, he stretched his body after 
 it so he could reach and rattle them again. Dr. Preyer 
 added an interrogation point to this incident, evidently 
 questioning the date, for it was at that part of the manu- 
 script that he pointed his question. When I wrote to 
 him the last time I explained how I knew the date to be 
 a fact, but his death intervened before I could receive a 
 reply. The child had noticed some colored balls of red 
 and white a few days before the hat incident. His nurse 
 hung them near him, and he played with them while 
 lying on a couch and kicking up his heels. He seemed 
 happiest always when he was let alone and treated like 
 a machine, and at even this early age he was fully able 
 to amuse himself, as nearly all well children are when a 
 wholesome regime has once been established. 
 
 He objected to a Raff concerto for violin and piano, 
 but tolerated Handel's Largo, although with a quiver of 
 his lip. This was before he was four months old. The 
 Raff music began just as he was going to sleep ; he cried 
 bitterly on hearing it, and he was taken to the music- 
 room to see if it would quiet him to see the performers. 
 He cried continuously, however, as if he suffered. Then, 
 as an experiment, the Largo was played. This seemed 
 to soothe him somewhat, but his parents concluded that 
 the violin was the trouble and laid it aside. (It is inter- 
 esting to note that a year later he developed a great 
 fondness for violin music, begging for it whenever op- 
 portunity offered.) 
 
 At this time a single voice singing would not quiet 
 him, if for any of the numerous reasons of early baby- 
 it) 
 
FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 
 
 land he was not inclined to sleep ; but two voices, sing- 
 ing in parts, would invariably have the desired soothing 
 effect. (The record shows, later on, great susceptibility 
 to rhythm and harmony.) The music of hand-organs 
 always seemed to attract him, even before he was four 
 months old. This he showed, at this early date, by 
 pushing towards the window and jumping in his nurse's 
 arms whenever the organs appeared. His eyes followed 
 his aunt across the room at this same age (three and a 
 half months), and he also looked at himself attentively 
 in the glass several times, leaning over and putting his 
 lips to his little reflection. 
 
 "When four months old he was taken to the shore. 
 (His first tooth had appeared before this, and soon after 
 his arrival several others made their appearance. He 
 had sixteen teeth when he was a year old, the result, 
 the physician said, of careful feeding and attention 
 to hygiene). During his shore experience he was noth- 
 ing more nor less than a little automaton, for by this 
 time he had become habituated to his nursery routine, 
 which was kept up undeviatingly. This automatic way 
 of living was so marked that for a week a person in 
 a neighboring room did not know there was a baby 
 near, nor would she believe it at first when told. This 
 serenity was undoubtedly caused by the thoroughly 
 regular life of the mother, the nurse, and the child. He 
 frequently took his morning nap within hearing of the 
 hotel musicians, one of whom was the proud possessor 
 of a trumpet ; even this could not conquer the child's 
 regular habit of sleep. I mention this as being of prob- 
 able interest to parents as well as to psychologists, al- 
 though it is far from wise to put a child to sleep irre- 
 spective of noise and light. 
 B 17 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 The child's early sense of humor, which is a marked 
 characteristic throughout the record, was shown by his 
 manner of receiving the visits of a very jolly-looking 
 physician who was an image of Santa Claus, and at 
 whom he would always laugh inordinately, even when 
 he was only five months old, whether he was ailing or 
 not. It grew to be so noticeable that once even the 
 physician, seeing him laughing, without knowing the 
 cause, shook his finger at him and said to the mother : 
 " You must make that child stop laughing," when the 
 child laughed more than ever, and the mother pleaded 
 her inability to control what seemed perfectly natural 
 and spontaneous. 
 
 In the same spontaneous way he reached out his arms 
 for the first colored servant he ever saw (a chambermaid 
 with a fresh white cap and apron on), and promptly 
 kissed her. (The record shows throughout a great lik- 
 ing for what he called " lovely white.") This won the 
 hearts of the entire hotel staff, for it was duly retailed 
 b} 7- the favored recipient, and after that both the child 
 and nurse were in no need of willing service at all hours 
 and places, and under all circumstances. At this time 
 the telegraph ticking and the washing of the waves were 
 his two absorbing amusements during the few hours he 
 was awake. Sailing had no terrors for him. The yacht 
 captains called him " our baby." His nurse held him 
 over the side of the boat, where he would contentedly 
 watch the water dash against it, even when out on the 
 ocean where the waves were high. (He always showed 
 the same content when watching the splashing of his 
 bath, and would look intently with much pleasure at the 
 water running swiftly from the faucets.) Once, during 
 a passing shower of rain, he settled down contentedly in 
 
 18 
 
FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 
 
 the stuffy little cabin of a sail-boat, where he apparently 
 took in all his surroundings very quietly, just as he had 
 done on the train when travelling to the shore, with 
 never a murmur nor a cry, but always eager to see or 
 do something. His wants were usually anticipated, 
 which, with his regular life, may probably have had 
 some influence in promoting this unlooked-for serenity. 
 
 The only time he was known to be guilty of putting 
 anything in his mouth after the fashion of children who 
 are continually doing so when they should not, was 
 when sailing one day he was discovered chewing a tarry 
 bit of rope by a family friend who declared the child 
 was only half fed and was hungry, this innuendo being 
 directed at the mother for her well-known insistence 
 upon regularity in feeding the child. The rope was 
 replaced by something that seemed equally desirable to 
 him, which method of removal may also contain a sug- 
 gestion for that parent who believes in early discipline. 
 
 "When, after returning from the shore, the child was 
 taken to the mountain, he showed a fancy for throwing 
 pebbles and green grapes, which he picked for the pur- 
 pose, while in his nurse's arms ; and all this was done, 
 presumably, from imitation of some boys who played 
 with him. in this manner. 
 
 He began to walk very early, stood up alone when 
 nine months old, and attempted to sing when placed on 
 a music-stool before the piano. He sang the music of 
 two lines of "Annie Eooney " correctly, from imitation, 
 when nine months old. His nurse-maid sang this song 
 daily. 
 
 At this time he showed a shrinking sort of fear when 
 he heard a noise like a hammer striking something in the 
 next room, and also when he heard a coal fall from the 
 
 19 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 orate. During an unavoidable absence of a day and a 
 night upon the part of his mother, he cried, and appar- 
 ently missed her. After her return, he would cry when- 
 ever she approached the door by which she had left 
 when she went away. 
 
 One evening, when he heard his father and mother 
 singing a duet, he joined in, in the most naive way, 
 singing up and down to the very end, as if he couldn't 
 help it. Every one about him was careful not to laugh 
 at anything he did ; consequently his spontaneity was 
 deliciously entertaining. 
 
 He would at this time recognize the voice of a favorite 
 servant when she passed the door on the outside, and he 
 would call loudly for her. He began to try to say a few 
 words at this period, as related in the dated record, and 
 succeeded in walking a few steps. He crept very little. 
 He seemed to give great attention to everything he did, 
 so no doubt he soon learned that he could do better than 
 creep, so far as locomotion was concerned. 
 
 Com pay re says the child's consciousness flashes forth 
 at first in gestures, later in his babbling. Hence the 
 particular interest which the observation of his outward 
 movement offers as the sincere expression of his mental 
 activity. (Compare an idiotic with a normal child — the 
 first quiet, the latter all motion.) Besides, these motions 
 which we can follow and note with exactness, however 
 slight may be the attention we may give them, are in 
 themselves psychic facts, and only to have described 
 them would be psychology in itself. M. Anthomie 
 speaks of the power of penetration that the mother's 
 eye acquires, fixed with a sweet determination upon one 
 she loves. The force of the tenderness creates between 
 the parent and the child relations so close, a moral inti- 
 
 20 
 
FRAGMENTARY FIRST-YEAR NOTES 
 
 macy so deep, that the faintest heart-beats of the child 
 re-echo in the ears of those that love him. Paternal and 
 maternal love carry with them a sort of divination. 
 Compayre says that the best psychologists of child- 
 hood are those who have followed carefully, from hour 
 to hour, the moral development of their own children. 
 He says if the journals kept by a mother or a father, in 
 which a careful hand registers from day to day the 
 smallest incidents of the child's existence, are really the 
 most precious sources of observation, all information, 
 wherever it comes from, is welcome. Mme. decker de 
 Saussure recommended these records fifty years ago, 
 saying: "I strongly urge young mothers to keep an 
 accurate record of the development of their children." 
 Much of the following dated record of the little life 
 which rolled along so serenely and pleasantly may seem 
 of slight value to the general reader, who is simply 
 charmed with the fascination of children's ways, yet 
 for reasons like the above none may be omitted, for 
 we are told that the key-note of the whole psychologi- 
 cal value of the work might prove to be found in those 
 facts that might be omitted by one who does not know, 
 yet hopes that herein is faithfully pictured the inner life 
 of a child. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 SECOND YEAR, COVERING DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE, 
 AND, INCIDENTALLY, THE CULTIVATION OF OBEDI- 
 ENCE AND TRUST 
 
 April 11, 1891. — Fourteen months old. I was reading 
 aloud from Punch and Judy, which is fully illustrated. 
 When I came to the place where Punch says, " Oh, my 
 nose ! my best Sunday nose !" Harold touched his nose, 
 then bent over and touched mine, and, placing his head 
 against my shoulder, he screwed up his face in a grin 
 and laughed loud twice in succession. The book was 
 given to him when he was a year old, and ever since 
 receiving it he has shown great delight when he sees the 
 ^picture where Punch and Judy are turning their faces 
 to each other, and Judy says, " Punchy, wunchy, dear 
 old Punchy !" Harold always laughs aloud when he 
 sees this, and at any time of the day or night I need 
 but say the words to make him laugh. Once I whis- 
 pered them to him in the middle of the night, when he 
 was restless, and he laughed loud, was diverted for the 
 moment, turned over, and fell asleep. (The record shows 
 to present date that he is keenly alive to fun, and ad- 
 vantage of the fact was often taken for diverting him 
 from what might otherwise have proved a source of 
 trouble.) 
 
 April 12th. — When putting away some of his blocks 
 to-day I inadvertently put some in a basket with other 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 toys, but he reached for the little wagon in which they 
 belonged, intimated that he wanted them all, and put 
 them, one by one, in the basket, sometimes, however, 
 stopping to build. I attempted to make a note of this 
 with a pencil, which he took from me, tried to write 
 with it, discovered that he had the wrong end of the 
 pencil, and turned it about. The same day he saw a 
 dog across the street. He looked intently at him and 
 said something that sounded like " wow ! wow !" He 
 frequently says it upon seeing a little boy. He did it 
 to-day, his manner showing distinctly that he meant it 
 for the boy. 
 
 One day this week, while in his coach on the street, 
 coming home, he began to throw kisses just before 
 falling asleep. He often does this when going out or 
 when going to bed, and, according to Dr. Preyer, some 
 association with farewell causes him to do it. 
 
 He occasionally has an egg for breakfast, of which he 
 is very fond. They are served to him in cups similar to 
 those used at table. On Sunday he was in the dining- 
 room, and as soon as he saw the egg-cups on the table 
 he cried, apparently for an egg, and could with diffi- 
 culty be diverted. 
 
 One morning last week, when watching some one 
 dress, he brought the shoes needed, one by one, from 
 a closet near by, and took the bath slippers back in 
 the same way. One day recently he voluntarily went 
 to a couch, under which stood a pair of shoes, and car- 
 ried them one by one to the shoe-case, set them down 
 before the curtain, and then turned and seated himself 
 on the floor before us, looking up as though he wanted 
 to be praised. 
 
 He often begs to be taken up into some one's arms to 
 
 23 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 watch the brushing of teeth. This suggested buying a 
 brush for him, which he gravely puts in water now and 
 brushes his own teeth daily. This morning, when watch- 
 ing his mother brush her teeth, he picked up a brush 
 lying near him and took it to his father, saying, ques- 
 tioningly, "hab 'em?" He has said "hab 'em?" and 
 " gib 'em," and " ups-a-dada " for over a month. He 
 says the latter when lifting anything, or when jumping 
 up and down. He often pretends to drop something 
 from his hand, and pulls it up quickly, saying "ups-a- 
 dada!" I think he learned this expression from his 
 nurse. When he says " hab 'em ?" he hands you some- 
 thing. He often picks up something from the floor — a 
 thread or a pin — and brings it to you, saying "hab 
 'em ?" If he wants anything he reaches for it and says 
 "hab 'em?" or "gib 'em." He often comes with his 
 hand closed, looking very mischievous, and says "hab 
 'em ?" and on opening it you find nothing. 
 
 About this time he learned what " no, no" meant. A 
 cover that was used for a water-pail in the room next to 
 "his seemed to attract him very much on account of a 
 hole in its centre, through which we would occasionally 
 find him poking his fists. One day he was found there 
 pretending to wash his hands. "We then began to take 
 him away from it and say " no, no," doing it quietly 
 but persistently. One day nurse and I followed him at 
 intervals no less than twenty times to do this, as a mat- 
 ter of experiment, to find out whether he could learn 
 what " inevitable " meant. Frequently he seemed to 
 understand what we were trying to do, for he would 
 often run away from us and go directly there, as if in a 
 spirit of mischief, look at us and laugh as he stood there, 
 while at other times he would walk up to it gravely, 
 
 24 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 stand there, shake his head, and say " ~No, no." We 
 had the same experience with a linen-closet, the lower 
 shelf of which had a little door which he could pull open 
 very easily, and the lock of which we often found him 
 examining very intently. (The record shows a keen 
 interest in mechanics.) We would find him sitting before 
 the closet, door open, and all the clean towels scattered 
 about him. He seemed to take a special delight in rum- 
 pling them. We took him away every time, saying: 
 " No, no ; they belong to mamma." He soon under- 
 stood that this too was forbidden ground. From this 
 date we began systematically to teach him to consider 
 the rights of others, and to touch nothing that did not 
 belong strictly to himself. 
 
 (The record shows that this was carried out unfail- 
 ingly, but without severity, in order to keep the child 
 fearless, and results recorded show complete success in 
 the effort.) About this time we noticed how fretfulness 
 would disappear upon sight of his hat and coat, appar- 
 ently in the hope of being taken out. 
 
 A few days after the first experience with " no, no," he 
 ran away from us through two rooms, going directly to 
 the water-pail, crowing all the way as though he thought 
 he would get there first before we could catch him. He 
 did get there, and laughing as if he had done it for fun, 
 stood waiting for nurse to take him away, and went 
 without a struggle. 
 
 One morning this week he found a bunch of keys at- 
 tached to a chain. He seized them instantly, took them 
 to an iron bedstead, and pushed the bunch between the 
 spring and the frame of the bed, holding on to the chain 
 and letting the keys move up and down as he pulled 
 the chain, saying " ups-a-dada !" taking great delight evi- 
 
 25 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 dently in the clinking of the keys against the iron frame. 
 He has been going repeatedly during the last few weeks 
 to a chiffonnier, where he would stand looking up intently 
 at the door of a little closet in it, which held a slender- 
 necked claret-glass, of which he is ver\>- fond. He some- 
 times would say " hab 'em?" when looking at the door. 
 "We regularly opened the closet and gave him the glass 
 to carry for a while, which he did with the greatest care 
 and pride. He would then return it, apparently satis- 
 fied, and we would replace the glass in the closet. One 
 morning this week he broke it accidentally, but for two 
 days he still went to the closet each morning in the 
 same way that he did before he broke the glass. We 
 opened the door each time to show him that it was not 
 there, and at last he seemed to understand, and never 
 went again. 
 
 He has shown for some time a desire to fit things 
 together, or to drop things into holes. To-day he was 
 playing in one room with part of a broken toy — a 
 pointed stick with a hole at one end, through which 
 he "could put his finger. He did this a number of 
 times, examining it intently where his finger came 
 through the hole, when he seemed to be suddenly 
 struck with some idea and started for the next room, 
 going as fast as he could walk. As we never interfered 
 with him unless we saw danger ahead, I followed quietly 
 and saw him go directly to the water-pail before men- 
 tioned and poke the piece of wood up and down in the 
 hole in the lid of the pail, saying " ups-a-dada !" He 
 came away without a murmur when I took his hand and 
 said, " No, no," dropped the piece of wood at once, and 
 took up another toy. 
 
 "We gave him some kitchen things to play with to-day, 
 
 26 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 as he seems to take especial delight in them, especially 
 the contents of the bottom part of the dresser — pots, 
 pans, etc. Among those given to him was a new salt- 
 box that looked like silver. Shortly after we gave him 
 the lid, and although it was gilt and the box silver, he 
 instantly fitted the lid where it belonged, selecting the 
 box from several things on the table. He was sitting 
 upon the table himself at the time. We then tried him 
 with a quart and a pint jar of glass, each having covers 
 to fit, which we gave to him at different times. He fitted 
 them correctly without a moment's hesitation. 
 
 He has begun dancing now when he hears street- 
 organs, but only when there is a suitable rhythm. If he 
 hears the music at a distance he drops his toys, runs to 
 the window, and cries to be lifted up to see. The organ- 
 grinders know him so well that he has them here daily. 
 (When seven years old he showed a marked sense of 
 rhythm, and a] though he had received very little musical 
 instruction, he then picked out very pretty harmonies.) 
 He is beginning to imitate the rag-and-slop man, giving 
 a very fair imitation, as he runs through the rooms, gen- 
 erally carrying under his arm, in imitation of the rag- 
 man's bag, a journal full of mechanical illustrations, 
 which is his pet book. 
 
 He comes to my bed in the morning after having been 
 dressed by his nurse, hands me my shoes and gown, say- 
 ing "hab 'em?" and then hands me all the clothes he 
 can find that he knows belong to me. When at last, 
 after much of this sort of persuasion, I get up, he can 
 hardly wait to call his father, which he does by going to 
 his bedside and saying " ba " ; sometimes " baba." He 
 has had a great fashion lately of kissing me at odd mo- 
 ments, often on each eye successively, especially when 
 
 27 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 I am lying clown face upward. This evening he kissed 
 his father in the middle of a song, while he was holding 
 him in his arms and singing. If we say " Sing, Harold," 
 he will hum a few notes. He did it this afternoon when 
 out in his coach, and also this evening when his father 
 was playing a song. 
 
 April 16th. — Harold picked up my thimble to-day and 
 brought it to me, took up my hand, and fitted it on my 
 finger. 
 
 April 18th. — Since the 16th inst. he has himself used 
 the bottle of lotion that was given by the physician to 
 ease his gums during teething. He takes the bottle in 
 one hand, puts his finger on its mouth, turns it enough 
 to wet his finger, and rubs his gums. 
 
 His coach parasol was used to-day for the first time 
 since last summer, and he showed fear when placed 
 under it. He looked up at the cover as if afraid to sit 
 under it, and cried bitterly. I soothed and diverted him 
 until he reached the street, when he seemed to forget it. 
 To-day I took a dime from him to put in his bank, and 
 when he saw it about to disappear he cried. 
 
 April 17th. — "We tried to use an atomizer to-day, but 
 he showed fear as soon as he saw it, although he had 
 never seen one before, and he cried bitterly when I in- 
 sisted upon using it in accordance with the physician's 
 directions. He seems to show fear of some things that 
 work in any way that he cannot understand, or where 
 he cannot find the motive power. 
 
 April 18th. — I brought out the atomizer again, in- 
 tending to use it. As soon as he saw it he left my 
 knee, where he was standing, and walked very quickly 
 into the other room, as fast and as far as he could go, 
 and stood there and cried. I gave up all attempt to use 
 
 28 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 it from that time for fear of making him nervous, and 
 because force was never used if it could be avoided. 
 When his teeth seemed to hurt him I gave him the bottle 
 of the lotion we used and told him to apply it himself, 
 which he did in what seemed to me to be a very grateful 
 way. (The record shows that when he was five years old 
 his mother felt that something should be done to habitu- 
 ate him to the use of the spray, if only as a precautionary 
 measure for probable need during illness. It took her 
 longer than a year, making the effort at intervals of 
 probably a month, to teach him gently and without 
 bribing or straining his nerves by using force, to use 
 both atomizer and vaporizer. At seven it is still very 
 evident that he dislikes them, yet he uses them bravely, 
 showing how a victory of mind over matter may be 
 brought about by patience and gentle treatment, and 
 also how moral courage may incidentally be cultivated 
 in a very young child.) 
 
 About a week ago he walked to the wash-stand, and 
 pointed to the pitcher and cried. I gave him some water 
 to drink, and he took a great deal, apparently being very 
 thirsty. When offering him his bottle of milk this 
 morning, he shook his head, said " No, no," and walked 
 away. He seems to be strong-willed and self-reliant, 
 but not capricious, perhaps because he trusts us. 
 
 Last night he had two bottles in his crib. One con- 
 tained sterilized water for use during the night ; the 
 other was a small, empty bottle, with an unpunctured 
 nipple tied on securely. We gave him the latter to bite 
 on during teething. He was very fond of it, was rarely 
 without it, and took it to bed with him every night for 
 a long time, where he would hold it tight in his hand 
 until he fell asleep. About midnight he was restless, 
 
 29 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 and I gave him the water-bottle. He took a long drink, 
 and when he had enough, compared the bottles in the 
 dim light, shook the water-bottle, held it up, and looked 
 first at it, then at the little one. At last, after doing 
 this several times, he lifted up the little one, shook it, 
 looked at it very closely, laid away the water-bottle, 
 turned over, and fell asleep with the little bottle in his 
 hand. 
 
 Quite recently, when visiting his grandparents, they 
 had an amusing experience with the little bottle. It was 
 mislaid during the excitement of his arrival, and when 
 bedtime came it could not be found. He refused to 
 sleep. The entire household took part in the search, 
 and at last it was found under the bed, given to him, and 
 he soon fell asleep. It may not seem wise to be so de- 
 pendent upon accidental circumstances, but his mother 
 cannot quite make up her mind to deprive him of the 
 comfort he takes in his " bot," as he calls it. (The record 
 shows how he gradually dropped the habit himself as 
 other interests developed.) 
 
 Since January, when he was eleven months old, he 
 has shown fear whenever he sees a wire dress-form that 
 is in the sewing-room, and all our efforts to familiarize 
 him with it seem to be useless. 
 
 April 16th. — He began to build with blocks to-day, 
 placing five or six on top of each other with great care 
 and precision. 
 
 The words he has learned since November, when he 
 was nine months old, are as follows, given in the order 
 of acquirement: "Oh, mammam," "hab 'em," "gib 
 'em," " ups-a-dada," " wow wow," " bow wow," " ba " 
 and " baba " for papa (he generally says " ba "), " by- 
 bye." 
 
 30 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 April 27. — " Ssss " (which he says to dogs, cats, etc., 
 pointing his finger). The first week in April he said 
 "button" and "dollar." 
 
 April 30th he said " cock " for clock, on seeing a very 
 large clock at his grandfather's. He said, the same 
 week, " ga " for cat, " rub-a-dub-dub," " eene, eene, mine 
 mo," and " oo-oory-oooo " to a rooster in the immediate 
 vicinity, which answered every time he did it. He was 
 behind a fence, where he could not see the rooster. He 
 had never seen or heard one, but on hearing this one 
 crow he imitated him so accurately that the two kept 
 it up for some time, and it was his favorite amusement 
 during his week's visit. Said " dere " for there. 
 
 May 8th.— Said " tick-tick-tick" and " cock " for clock 
 for the second time, upon seeing a large picture of a clock 
 similar to the one he saw April 30th at his grandfather's. 
 After he was dressed this morning he ran just as fast 
 as he could toddle to his father, who was still asleep. 
 He stood by him for a few minutes and said " up, up " 
 several times, and looked very much disappointed be- 
 cause this did not waken him. He stood quietly for a 
 moment looking at him, and no doubt puzzling what to 
 do, when he went to the other side of the room to the 
 shoe-closet and very deliberately took out a bath-slipper, 
 which he carried to his father, saying, as he put it on the 
 bed, " up, up." Then he returned to the closet for the 
 other one, and repeated " up, up " as he was bringing it. 
 He had to make two trips, for it took both hands to 
 carry each slipper. By this time his father was awake, 
 and Harold seemed very eager to begin his morning 
 romp without more delay. 
 
 On May 10th (fifteen months old) he said "hark"; 
 also, "boo" for book, and the word "up." 
 
 31 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 On May 15th he said " goo " for good. He frequently 
 repeats the following words to himself, as if trying 
 them: "hark, 1 " "dere," "rub-a-dub-dub," "bow' wow," 
 "by -bye," "ups-a-dada," "up," "hab 'em," "ssss." 
 He said "now" for the first time. 
 
 On June 14th (sixteen months old) he called a boy 
 by name (Paul), and on June 15th said "Bidyet" 
 for Bridget. At this date he gabbles a great deal, 
 making all sorts of sounds, and seems to understand 
 when he is told ko shut the door, kiss the cheek, bring 
 mamma's shoes, bring Harold's shoes. He points to 
 his eyes and his nose, or to mine, when asked where 
 they are. 
 
 On July 16th he said "Judy," and kissed the wire 
 form of which he was afraid in January. Since July 
 1st he has seemed to grow accustomed to, and even be- 
 come fond of it, saying " Lovely Judy." "When we 
 speak to him of it we say " Lovely Judy," etc., and 
 pat it kindly, and in various ways we have tried to get 
 him over his fear of it, with the above result. 
 
 July 18th. — To-day he said "bavy" for baby, and 
 repeated it upon looking at a picture of one. He also 
 pronounces "1" in clock now. 
 
 July 19th. — He walked up to the baby picture which 
 hung on the wall, and repeated "baby" in a loving 
 tone. He also said " out " distinctly to-day. He has 
 said " outs " for a long time, but w^e could not discover 
 what he meant until this month, w T hen we heard him 
 say it when he pricked himself with a pin. We then 
 traced the connection between his expression and a 
 word used by one of the servants — " ouch" — and had a 
 practical demonstration of the influence of an unedu- 
 cated servant upon a child learning to talk, for it took 
 
 32 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 a long time and much patient effort to teach him to 
 drop this word. 
 
 He opens his mouth and shows his tongue now when 
 asked where it is, but he makes no attempt to say the 
 word. 
 
 He calls pussy " psss," drawing out the sound of s. 
 Later in this month he called pussy "putty," and said 
 " braw" for " broth." 
 
 The words acquired from July 1st to 12th are " light," 
 "bye," "how do," "coat," "cap," "stove," "door," and 
 "shoes." He said "fire" one day recently, when he 
 saw a lot of stoves at a hardware store. 
 
 July 23d. — To-day he tried to say, "Peep, Bidyet," 
 peeping around the wire form. He now says, distinctly, 
 " rock-a-bye " as he rocks himself to and fro. 
 
 July 24th. — To-day he tried to say " potato," and he 
 said "go away" when some one was teasing him. He 
 frequently says " no, no," shaking his head as he says it. 
 He understands when we tell him to " sit on the floor," 
 or to shut or open the door. He sings himself to sleep 
 very often. He has one favorite that I play (one of 
 Heller's Studies on Rhythm), which he tries to sing 
 whenever he hears it. 
 
 New words on July 26th and 27th are "bread," 
 "blow," and "door," which he says very distinctly. 
 
 Since July 1st he has said something that sounds like 
 "a-a-a-h," drawing it out between ah and oh, and mak- 
 ing it slightly nasal. He says it very lovingly to his 
 pussy, or anything in the way of pets that are alive. 
 He will take his pussy in his arms, smooth her fur affec- 
 tionately, and say it in the most loving manner possible. 
 He has always shown great love for kittens or any live 
 pet. 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 To-day, during the visit of a friend, he tried to occupy 
 my entire attention. Hardly thinking he would do so, 
 I told him very suggestively to go to the piano and play 
 and sing. He went at once, put his fingers on the keys, 
 and tried to sing for about a minute, which served to 
 divert him for the moment and gave me the freedom I 
 wanted. 
 
 A servant said to him to-day, " Peep, Harold !" when 
 playing " peek-a-boo " with him. He instantly replied, 
 "Peep, Bidyet!" although he had never said "peep" 
 before. He always says " y " for " g " in her name. He 
 imitates words very quickly and correctly for a child of 
 seventeen months, and seems to understand the meaning 
 of many more words than he says. 
 
 July 20th. — When building with blocks, pennies, or 
 anything that he can place one above the other, he lifts 
 both hands and exclaims, " o-o-o-o-o-o-o-e !" drawing out 
 the long " e " indefinitely, as if very much pleased with 
 his building. We let him amuse himself in this way for 
 a long time, changing his materials as he seems to need 
 them. We never change until he begins to show a little 
 restlessness, for so long as a child is content it is folly to 
 disturb it. In time this policy secures serenity for the 
 child and peace for those about him. 
 
 He now helps undress himself for his bath every even- 
 ing, lifts each arm or foot when told to help remove 
 each garment, and he evidently takes great delight in 
 the whole process and is always eager for it. 
 
 For a long time he has given an expression of distaste 
 (sounds like " ugh !") when obliged to take medicine that 
 he does not like, and he follows the sound with a shake 
 of his head. 
 
 When finished taking his bottle of milk, no matter 
 
 84 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 where he is, whether just about going to sleep or if 
 reacty for play, he first hands the empty bottle to some 
 convenient person, saying, "hab 'em." He does this 
 every time, and we encourage the habit in the hope of 
 inducing method in his actions. (The record shows that 
 at seven he gives evidence of the results of this plan 
 of action, for he invariably shuts doors when passing 
 through them, replaces articles he may have used to 
 where they belong, and in many ways shows a methodi- 
 cal manner of action, even in his play.) 
 
 He often leaves an ounce or more in the bottle. Noth- 
 ing can induce him to take this when he reaches the 
 point which to him seems final. 
 
 July 28th. — He said " baba " for papa to-day, for the 
 first time for a long while. He has said " ba " only, with 
 one or two exceptions, before this time. 
 
 He now says " door" frequently, and says " bruh " for 
 brush. 
 
 Since August 2d he has said "birdie" distinctly, 
 " bre " for bread, " bat " for bath, and " wa " for water 
 on seeing a tub filled with it. A week ago he saw it 
 rain very fast, and said " vvat." When he sees a glass 
 he says "wat," and will take a drink if we will offer 
 water in the glass. He also saj^s "wat" when thirsty, 
 without seeing a glass to suggest it. 
 
 On August 13th he pointed to the gas-fixture and said 
 "li" for light. 
 
 The next day he went to two gates in the yard, one 
 after the other, and said " ga " at each one. The same 
 day he saw a bird from a window in the nursery, and he 
 went from one window to the other to see it as long as 
 he could, saying "birdie," showing clearly how he reason- 
 ed about seeing farther from one window than the other. 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 I took up a clothes-brush of his father's to-day as I 
 stood at the dressing-case with him in my arms. He 
 took it from me and said, " baba, bruh." I smiled, and 
 he said it again and kissed it. He is very affectionate, 
 and we all try to be as responsive as it is possible for 
 older persons to be. Children are really made very un- 
 happy at times by the chilling manner with which their 
 affectionate outbursts are sometimes met. Snubbing 
 and unkind criticism should have no place in a child's 
 education when spontaneity is desired. 
 
 On the 7th of this month (August) his father brought 
 him a fox-terrier, called Jack, that had just arrived 
 from England. Harold was delighted with him, and 
 the dog seemed to be equally delighted with the child. 
 He cried the first time the dog licked his face. "We 
 could not punish nor train the dog to do an}^thing in the 
 child's presence b} 7 showing severity, for every time any 
 one spoke sharply to the dog, Harold would cry. (The 
 record shows this trait throughout. "When only four 
 ^months old he would cry if he saw another baby cry. 
 "When seven years old he confided to his mother, one 
 night before going to bed, what a little girl had told him 
 in the day about her intention of drowning a family of 
 young kittens. "With tears in his voice and eyes, he 
 said: "Oh, mamma, I cannot bear to talk about it! 
 "Will she do it ?" His mother said no, and further as- 
 sured him she would not allow it. He then said : " If 
 she does, I'll drown the mother kitty myself; if she 
 wants to drown the babies, she ought to drown the 
 mother, too." Then he said : " Mamma, it nearly makes 
 me cry to even tell you." So she diverted him with 
 a funny remark, which he is always quick to appre- 
 ciate.) 
 
 36 
 
SECOND YEAE 
 
 He follows his dog all over the house, plays with him 
 happily, and loves him very much, but he tries to pre- 
 vent him from touching him with his tongue. He often 
 says to him in the most loving tone, "o-o-o-h," drawing 
 it out at great length. 
 
 He now goes to sleep regularly in his crib. Before 
 this he was frequently held in arms while being sung 
 to sleep, after which he would be quietly placed in his 
 bed, and no trouble was experienced in making the 
 change. He seems to trust us so entirely that he will 
 do whatever we can make him understand is for his 
 good. This trust is cultivated by never asking him to 
 do anything simply for the amusement of others, or to 
 show their authority, and he always gets a reason that 
 he can understand when he is directed to do anything, 
 unless instant obedience is required, as in case of 
 danger, when the reason for the command is carefully 
 explained after he has obeyed. (This may account to 
 some extent for the reasonableness of his disposition as 
 it develops later on.) 
 
 August 14:th. — To-day, when giving him his nap, I for- 
 got to pull down the mosquito-netting that was hanging 
 over his crib. He pulled at it, saying " h'm," whether 
 in imitation of the hum of a mosquito or not I cannot 
 say. He seems to understand all we say to him, but we 
 are careful to use words that we think he will under- 
 stand. If I say : " Take this to papa, please," or, " Take 
 this to Sarah, please," he distinguishes, and does it cheer- 
 fully. He is always willing to do things for us, to run 
 little errands, and if he sees anything drop from my lap 
 when I am reading or sewing, he invariably stops his 
 play and comes to pick it up for me. In this way he 
 shows all the time what seems like a loving wish to 
 
 37 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 help, which we are encouraging, for it is the kej-note of 
 self -activity, and promotes unselfishness. 
 
 Sometimes I say : " Do you want your bottle ?" He 
 understands, and says " Yes." When either the nurse 
 or I must leave the room for a moment we say : " Harold, 
 will you please sit still on the chair until I come back ?" 
 He always says "Yes," and sits there, many a time 
 singing to himself until we return. This plan was fol- 
 lowed so as to be sure he would not get into mischief 
 from undue temptation, for he is too young yet to resist. 
 We always found it more effective and more pleasant 
 to say " do this," or " do that, please," instead of say- 
 ing " don't." 
 
 August 17th. — When he awoke this morning he said 
 " door," pointing to it. Then he pointed to the bell and 
 said : " Bridyet, door-bell ringing." This was his first 
 attempt at connecting a sentence of any length. He is 
 now eighteen months old. 
 
 He now calls his dog by name, adding a " y " to it, 
 .however, saying " Jacky." He also tries to make a 
 sound with his lips to call the dog, in imitation of his 
 father's method of calling the dog to him. 
 
 August 21st. — When I was showing him his "Piggy 
 Book " to-day, he put his finger on each picture and then 
 put it in his mouth and looked very knowing. Upon 
 looking into the matter we found that yesterday his 
 nurse wet her finger to turn a leaf and he imitated her 
 to-day, but his action looked as if he thought he was 
 eating from the book. He tasted his medicine to-day 
 by putting his finger in it before he would take it. He 
 had two bottles of medicine that looked alike. He liked 
 one, and objected decidedly to taking the other. After 
 finding out, by putting his finger in it, that I was offer- 
 
 38 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 ing him the one he liked, he took it without a word. 
 When using vaseline for a head cold, he always helps 
 put it on. He will put his finger in the bottle very 
 daintily and rub the bridge of his nose and forehead 
 thoroughly, but he often puts little dabs all over his 
 face too, as if he enjoys it. 
 
 He tried to help me push a piece of sewing through 
 the machine this morning when I was stitching. He 
 placed his hands on the work as he saw the seamstress 
 do yesterday. He was on my lap at the time, where I 
 often allow him to sit as I sew. He enjoys watching 
 the machine go so very much that he will sit motionless 
 so long as any one will hold him, maybe five minutes at 
 a time gazing at the same thing. For three months he 
 has pulled the strap of the machine voluntarily, look- 
 ing up at the same time to see the needle move. (This 
 interest in mechanics was allowed to grow spontane- 
 ously by providing the right environment for it, and at 
 seven he shows remarkable ingenuity and mechanical 
 skill.) 
 
 August 22d. — Some little girls who live next door came 
 home yesterday, and nurse asked Harold to call to one 
 of them, saying, " Call Mamie," which he did distinctly, 
 and, although he had never said Mamie before, to our 
 knowledge, he repeated it several times afterwards. He 
 always does this with new words, as if trying them. 
 (The record shows that he did this without any acquire- 
 ment of language up to seven years, and does it still, his 
 favorite time for practice being after he wakes in the 
 morning.) She also told him to call Alice, the sister. 
 He tried to do so, but succeeded only in saying " Ell." 
 
 His father has been away for a few days, and to-day 
 he called " papa " after a man going by, and cried bit- 
 
 39 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 terly because the man did not stop. I did not notice 
 whether the man resembled his father or not. The 
 father of the little girls next door resembles him, and 
 this afternoon when Harold saw him he wanted to go to 
 him. The gentleman took him for a while, and Harold 
 cried when he was taken away. He evidently misses 
 his father very much. About a week after this he was 
 taken to the house of a friend where he saw a cuckoo- 
 clock for the first time, and learned to say " cuckoo." 
 Afterwards when asked what birdie said, he replied, 
 " cuckoo." 
 
 He has said " bi " for bite for some time. He heard 
 it in connection with some conversation about mosqui- 
 toes about the middle of August. He says "bavy" to 
 me in the most loving tones. He will lay his head 
 against me in the morning and say it when he wants to 
 wake me. His head just reaches my pillow as he stands 
 by the bed. He says it too, in the same loving way, 
 when he thinks he has received a special favor. When- 
 ever I do anything that pleases him very much — smile to 
 him, give him a kiss, or gwe him a trifle to play with 
 that shows him that I thought of him when he wasn't 
 there — I notice what seems to me to be an attempt to 
 show his appreciation. (The record shows that later on, 
 when he could talk, he invariably said on similar occa- 
 sions to his mother, either " Lovely mamma," or " Good 
 mamma," or " Why are you so good ?" or he would kiss 
 her and fondle her and say nothing, and at seven he 
 still has the same habit.) 
 
 September 8th. — This morning I killed a mosquito on 
 the wall by slapping it with my hand. He promptly 
 imitated me, and also looked about the room and up at 
 the ceiling to see if there were more of them. He 
 
 40 
 
SECOND YEAS 
 
 walked about with his head back, imitating every move- 
 ment of mine. 
 
 September 8th. — He tried to say "girl" to-day on 
 seeing a picture of one in the nursery song-book. I read 
 " Mistress Mary, quite contrary," to him this morning. 
 "When I said " Mary " he said " Mamie," evidently recog- 
 nizing the similarity in Mary to the name " Mamie " that 
 he had learned a few days before. When he wants to 
 go anywhere or to get something, he now comes to one 
 of us and says " hand," and tries to lead us to what he 
 wants. A few minutes ago he said to his nurse, " hand 
 — stair," leading her to the stairs that go down. 
 
 He heard a person on the street say " wait " yester- 
 day, and he called " wait " after him. 
 
 To-day he called " papa " after a man on the street 
 who resembled his father. There were other men in the 
 vicinity, and he singled out this one. 
 
 On September 5th his father took the dog away and 
 remained over Sunday. Harold missed the dog at once 
 when he woke from his nap; he called and looked all 
 over for both his father and the dog. A few days after, 
 when I said to him : " Call the dog," he looked under 
 the bed and called " Jacky " distinctly. 
 
 He has said " pease " for please since the middle of 
 August ; also " ang you " for thank you. From the be- 
 ginning of August he has said " hot " when near any- 
 thing warm — as, for instance, a stove, a fire of any kind, 
 a dish of hot food, etc. He also says " flies " distinctly, 
 and " band," meaning the knit band he wears. 
 
 On September 11th he said " hugar " for sugar. He 
 has said it several times lately, but we did not under- 
 stand until to-day what he meant by it. He also said 
 " gas " and " bites " distinctly to-day instead of saying 
 
 41 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 " ga " and " bi," as he used to do, pointing to the gas- 
 fixture when he said " gas," and to some marks of mos- 
 quito-bites when he said " bites." 
 
 While driving with Mrs. 1ST this afternoon he put 
 
 his face to his mother's, patted her cheek with his hand, 
 and said, in a loving tone, "mamma." Later in the 
 day some one said "mam-ma." He immediately said 
 " ma-ma," which is the way he always accents the word. 
 
 He leaned over to Mrs. N in the carriage to-day and 
 
 put his hand up towards her cheek, saying, very affec- 
 tionately, " o-o-o-h !" This is a very usual expression for 
 him when he wants to show liking for any one. He 
 always says it when he pets a dog or cat. He shows no 
 fear of any one, and a liking for nearly everybody. To- 
 day I showed him a picture of a dog. He said " o-o-o-h !" 
 kissed the picture, and put it to my lips to be kissed. 
 When I said " Call bow-wow," he called " Jacky." 
 When he heard an engine go by to-day he said " choo- 
 choo " for the first time. 
 
 ; This evening we were looking at some pictures when I 
 said, pointing to one that only resembled a rooster : " Is 
 that an oo-oory-ooo ?" (his name for one). He shook his 
 head and said " JSTo." 
 
 Yesterday Mrs. N offered him a piece of sweet 
 
 chocolate. Her little boy is fond of it. Harold tasted it 
 and returned it, showing by his manner that he didn't 
 like it. I gave him a taste of something I had at the 
 time and asked him if he liked it. He made a face, 
 shook his head, and said " No-o-o." He always shows 
 likes and dislikes very plainty, especially in connection 
 with food. 
 
 He saw a roulette-wheel to-day for the first time. He 
 and N (a boy of the same age) were playing with it. 
 
 42 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 N" pushed it by the spokes ; Harold took hold of it 
 
 in the middle and twirled it with thumb and forefinger 
 in the regular way. 
 
 One evening this week he was allowed to remain up a 
 little longer than usual. After his bath he was placed 
 in his crib, the gas was lighted, and he was given his 
 " Mother-Goose " book and a copy of a weekly journal 
 of mechanical illustrations, of which he is so fond that 
 whenever he sees one he recognizes it and tries to get it. 
 The next night, when being put to bed at the same hour, 
 he asked for the book, pointed to the gas, said "gas," 
 and kept repeating " book " as he went to his crib. He 
 was again allowed to wait and to have the books. The 
 third evening he showed that he expected the same thing, 
 so he was put to bed as usual, just as if he was expected 
 not to protest, tucked in, kissed "good-night" as usual, 
 after having had his bottle of milk, the netting was 
 pulled down, the room was darkened, and " good-night " 
 was said. He evidently accepted the intended suggestion 
 of " no books or gas-light to-night," for he fell asleep 
 without a protest. He is trustful and very docile, and 
 although naturally self-willed, he generally does just as 
 we direct. It never seems to dawn upon him that he 
 should oppose any one. For this reason care is taken 
 not to provoke opposition, in order to preserve this spirit 
 for future need — when absolute and instant obedience 
 might be required. (The above portion of the record 
 shows very clearly how easily a bad habit might be 
 formed by unwise indulgence. Bad in the sense of 
 being unwise from a hygienic stand-point, for the neces- 
 sity of freedom from mental excitement during the last 
 hours of a child's day, and also of a regular hour for its 
 bedtime, must be fully realized. It is through little 
 
 43 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 things like this that one gains the control that, later on, 
 ■will bring loving obedience.) 
 
 While we were out driving to-day Harold saw a lady 
 riding by ; he opened his eyes wide and looked after her 
 until she disappeared, for he had never seen a woman in 
 the saddle before. 
 
 I gave him some sugar on the tip of my finger at 
 luncheon. He enjoyed pecking at it for some time, and 
 then he tried to bite my finger, laughing heartily each 
 time I snatched it away to escape being bitten. 
 
 Last night I found that the key of my bedroom door 
 was missing, and I felt certain that he had taken it, for 
 every morning he is in the habit of carrying it to another 
 room to open a door of which we have lost the key. 
 To-day we found it in the corner of a drawer in the 
 room to which he went daily with the key. I have 
 often wondered whether he intended to save himself the 
 daily trip, for he is a sagacious little chap. 
 
 To-day, when making up his crib, I said, " Harold, 
 •• bring me the sheet." He looked all about for something 
 to bring but didn't know what I meant. I touched the 
 sheet without saying anything, and he instantly pulled 
 it from the chair and brought it to me. (A quick com- 
 prehension can easily be cultivated in children by self- 
 restraint upon the part of the mother.) 
 
 September 14th. — To-day he is nineteen months old. 
 I said "moon "to him, pointing to it, and he repeated the 
 word distinctly several times. Afterwards I returned to 
 the window and looked out. He followed me and said 
 the word again, remembering it clearly after the short 
 interval. Just before going to bed he saw some of his 
 books. He said " book, book," and " gas " as I lighted 
 it. We then looked at the pictures. Every clock he 
 
 44 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 called by name, and put down his ear to listen. He 
 kissed all the pictures of cats and dogs, and said " pud- 
 dy" to the pussy pictures and " wow-wow" to the dogs, 
 also saying " o-o-o-h " affectionately to each one, as he 
 always does to pet animals. 
 
 When it was time, this morning, he was told to call 
 his father. He went to his room, as he always does, and 
 wakened him in a very gentle, loving way by going to 
 his side and saying " hm-m." This morning he made 
 a great romp of it, alternately kissing and petting him, 
 and then running away. He would then return again 
 to the bed, put his head on his father's pillow, then say 
 " bye," and run away again. 
 
 He sleeps soundly, and does not want to wake, it ap- 
 pears, until his hour for rising, for whenever he is dis- 
 turbed he seems annoyed, and falls asleep again as 
 quickly as he is let alone. At eleven last night I gave 
 him his milk, for which he wakes voluntarily at the 
 exact time. I placed him on my bed after turning up 
 the light, shook up his pillows, and rearranged his crib. 
 I then placed him in the crib, kissed him, said "good- 
 night," and drew down the netting. He looked at me 
 sleepily, laughed, turned over, and was asleep before I 
 had time to open the window and turn down the light. 
 "When I go to my room late at night he does not stir. 
 I have noticed that when he is well, and eats a light, 
 early supper (at five o'clock), he sleeps soundly. The 
 least indiscretion at his supper -time, or too much ex- 
 citement after five o'clock, invariably causes restless- 
 ness. (The record shows the same result throughout.) 
 
 Every morning now he wakes about six, pulls away 
 the netting that is over him, and calls me. I ask him 
 if he wants some milk. He says "yes," invariably. 
 
 45 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 "When I give it to him, he takes it himself in his usual 
 fashion, holding up the bottle with both hands, so that 
 the neck is full all the time. When he has had all he 
 wants, he hands it back to me, generally saying " hab 
 'em." He sometimes goes to sleep again without a 
 word, but generally he wants to get up ; if so, he calls 
 his nurse, who takes him to the nursery and dresses him. 
 He seems to understand that for another hour I am not 
 to be disturbed, for he remains with her contentedly 
 until it is time to call me, when he is all eagerness, first 
 to get me up and dressed, and then to go to his father, 
 who usually has a romp with him while he dresses. (It 
 is very interesting to note how he accepted the habits 
 of the household and adapted himself to them, as, for 
 instance, he was quiet for an hour after he was up, and 
 then he evidently thought it was time for others to rise, 
 for he was heard everywhere. Habit had a great deal 
 to do with this, and every one was careful not to disturb 
 it by irregularity in his life. The mother claimed that 
 he was at any rate much happier by being taught to 
 consider others than he would have been had he been 
 allowed, perhaps unwittingly, to be a disturber of the 
 peace of every one around in the early morning hours.) 
 This morning he discovered that he could slide his feet 
 on the carpet and sit down suddenly by holding to me 
 as he leaned against me. He did it repeatedly with 
 great glee. Yesterday he climbed all alone up and 
 down the steps on the porch, and he is becoming quite 
 venturesome. This week he said " wagon " quite dis- 
 tinctly when he saw one of his toy wagons. He also 
 says " ice" now whenever he wants us to give him some, 
 and broadens the same sound for " eyes." He still sa} r s 
 " wat " for water. 
 
 46 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 He says "mamma" and "papa" correctly, but he 
 still says "bavy" for baby, "hugar" for sugar, "bock" 
 for block, " bot " for bottle. 
 
 For a few days past he has shown temper, kicking and 
 screaming when not pleased. I paid no attention to him 
 each time that he did it beyond saying "good-bye," and 
 going towards the door as he lay on the floor kicking. 
 He got up at once and came after me every time, evi- 
 dently forgetting all about the disturbance in his fear 
 that I would leave him alone. 
 
 He still says "puddy" for pussy. He often says 
 " peep, oh !" and plays it on the slightest provocation. 
 He claps his hands and tries to clap on mine. He puts 
 his finger in his mouth and then offers it to me. He did 
 the same thing once when eating sugar with his finger. 
 He grows more affectionate every day — runs up and 
 touches us, lays his head or hands against us, saying 
 "bavy" — meaning himself — in a long-drawn-out, loving 
 tone that is indescribable. He frequently kisses little 
 Mamie next door. He has selected her as his favorite 
 out of a family of six children. 
 
 September 22d. — To-day he said " po-book " for pock- 
 et - book, " toes," " pins," and also " water " instead of 
 " wat," and " Tottie " for Topsy, his new dog's name. 
 Two weeks later he said "han," then "fan," for fan. 
 
 October 18th. — He wanted to sit on a chair that had 
 a towel on it. He evidently did not want to sit on the 
 towel, so he brought it to me, saying "towel" dis- 
 tinctly for the first time. It is curious to hear him use 
 words as occasion suggests that we never supposed he 
 knew. 
 
 From October 1st to the 21st he has said " goose," 
 "cushy" for cushion, and "neeze" for sneeze (imitating 
 
 47 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 a sneeze he heard) ; " baa-baa " when looking at a picture 
 of sheep ; " choo-choo walk carry papa " all in one sen- 
 tence, when his father went to town one morning and he 
 seemed very anxious to go with him ; " scissors," " fork," 
 "poon" for spoon; "Gacky" for Jacky, "Tossy" in- 
 stead of " Tottie," as at first, for Topsy, and "Bahdee," 
 the name of a friend's cat, which we were taking care 
 of at the time. 
 
 He also said " hat " and " cuckoo " in one sentence on 
 
 seeing a picture of the child N , who lived in the house 
 
 containing the cuckoo-clock. N had his hat on in 
 
 the picture, which he noticed instantly. He also said 
 " hanger " for hammer, and " wet " for the first time. 
 
 October 20th. — He said "winnow" for window, 
 "coach," and "horsey moo"; said "moo" to a cow 
 also. Whenever he hears the door-bell ring now he 
 says "bell." One day recently the electrician was 
 here to repair the bell. He was very much interested, 
 and watched him closely. Later in the day he said to 
 Bridget, " Bishy, stairs bell wats " (meaning he wanted 
 'to go down-stairs and watch). This morning he reached 
 for his tooth-brush, and said " toot-broush." He now 
 says "broush" instead of " bruh," as he did at first. 
 Said "baksy" for basket, "pitty" for pretty. 
 
 When he gets cross and cries, we say " JSTo, no, pretty," 
 and he repeats " pitty," and clears his face at once, many 
 a time looking up smiling with tears still in his eyes. 
 
 He pointed to the moon and said " gas." He also sa} T s, 
 now, " buttony " for button, and "knife" and "fork." 
 He seems to enjoy saying knife lately, when he sees a 
 picture of a fork. He waits for us to correct him, and 
 then does it again with the next picture of a fork in his 
 pet book, his eyes full of fun. 
 
 48 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 He says " banket " for blanket, and " hummer " when 
 he wants to open things. "We cannot find out what 
 word he wants to use. We thought it might be " under," 
 as he says it when he tries to lift the lid of a jewel-case 
 or of a box on the table. 
 
 Recently he said "hair," brushing it at the same time ; 
 also "table," lifting the lid of a side-table when saying it; 
 and"Bishy," when he saw a picture of a coal-scuttle, 
 associating her with the fires she tends. When he saw 
 a picture of a stove-lifter he said " hot." 
 
 One night lately, before going to sleep, when alone in 
 the dark, he said " Popper, popple — I see you, poppee. 
 Bishy, Bahdee, poppee, poppee." We were away from 
 home at the time for a few days' visit, and he seemed to 
 miss them all. He pronounced " 1 " to-day in clock for 
 the first time, and then said it only once. Said " tree '' 
 for the first time when out walking. He always says 
 "thank you" when we give him anything. A short 
 time ago I took something; from a servant without 
 thanking; her, and he did it for me. He often does this 
 when he notices the omission. 
 
 He says " mell " for smell when he sees my smelling- 
 salts. 
 
 Says "pins" and "pail"; "wing" for ring; "dum" 
 for drum, and "schlissel" and "key" whenever he 
 sees one either in the door or in his beloved journal of 
 mechanical illustrations. The latter has a page full of 
 pictures of various sizes of keys. We told him a key 
 was a "schliissel" in German, and he has called the 
 book his " schlissel book " ever since. 
 
 He said "wide, Mamie," the other day, for "ride, 
 Mamie," when he saw a girl on a tricycle. He is accus- 
 tomed to seeing Mamie P on one when he is at home. 
 
 D 49 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 This month some one gave him a pack of cards with 
 a picture of a dog on the back of each one. He will say 
 "good-night" and kiss each dog as he puts the cards 
 aside when he is done playing with them, sometimes 
 kissing every dog in the pack. 
 
 He says " pool " for spool, and repeats many words 
 after us very distinctly. One morning he heard a clock 
 strike, and said " cuckoo," recalling the cuckoo-clock we 
 saw last summer. We are still at his grandma's, and he 
 says " ganma " for grandma. 
 
 November 1st. — We are home again. To-day I told 
 him to come to the nursery window to see the sunshine. 
 He came, saying "tuntine," and all day he said it at 
 intervals, lifting the curtain and looking out at the same 
 time. He also said it when he saw some tin-foil with 
 which he was playing. (For many months he called 
 tin-foil sunshine.) 
 
 November 2d. ■ — He counted three, four, five, six, 
 nine to-day voluntarily. Some time ago his nurse 
 counted a few cards for him, saying, one, two, three, 
 "four; he at once picked up three and four, saying 
 " fee " for three, and ever since he has called his cards 
 "fee -fours." When we count them for him he says 
 six as soon as we say five ; also ten after we say nine. 
 
 November 3d. — Instead of repeating or counting with 
 us, he said the above numbers himself. (The record 
 shows exceptional interest in numbers later on.) 
 
 When hearing a baby cry, he says " poor bavy." 
 
 Hearing the question, " Have you used Pears' soap ?" 
 suggested to him to say " Sares' soap," and during the 
 day he often comes to me, saying " good - morning " 
 and " Sares' soap " without waiting for my answer or 
 question. 
 
 50 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 He now says " tsain " for chain, " wain " for rain, 
 "cacker" for cracker. One day he tore his dress, and 
 pointing his finger at it, said " o o-o-h." 
 
 To-day — November 4th — he said, "seepy" when 
 yawning ; also " seepy boy," and " here it is." 
 
 He said " there it goes " when eating something, and 
 when holding up an envelope he said " paper." 
 
 November 6th. — Said " house " to-day, while building 
 blocks. He also called " Carrie " (a visitor) when he 
 woke up, and looked in the next room for her. It is 
 very amusing to watch him running to her with open 
 arms, saying " comes," meaning " here he comes." This 
 morning he said " here he comes " when pushing his 
 foot through his clothes when dressing, and he also said 
 "here it goes" when eating some stewed celery at dinner. 
 
 November 7th. — He said "foot clock" to-day, point- 
 ing to the feet of a clock ; " apple-butter "; and he said 
 " seepy " again when yawning. 
 
 On Monday, when looking at the picture of the " pig 
 who had roast-beef," he said " dinner — funny." 
 
 This week he has acquired the following words, in 
 the order given : " say so" ; " rats " ; " cheek " ; " cake" ; 
 " cook," for crook, in " Little Bo Peep " ; " bucket " ; 
 " whistle " ; blowed. "When he saw a gentleman's comb 
 to-day he said "papa." He said "papa's room," on en- 
 tering it when returning home after a week's absence ; 
 said " crib " when going into his own room ; and called 
 " Bishy " when he saw her. Said to Bridget, " Bell 
 bwoke, fix it." When I told his nurse he had gained 
 half a pound, he repeated " half a pound." 
 
 November 12th. — To-day he said " stick through," put- 
 ting a stick through a hole, and he said "shovel" vol- 
 untarily. When bathing him this morning in the large 
 
 51 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 bath-tub, I took his head and nurse took his feet and 
 we floated him. He showed no fear, but let himself rise 
 to the top of the water. Next time he took his bath I 
 took his head, meaning to do it again, but before nurse 
 could help me he said " hand — foot " to her, intimating 
 that he was ready for it again. 
 
 November 13th. — He said "finger" to-day, for the first 
 time, taking mine in his hand and examining it while in 
 bed this morning. He put his head on m} T pillow also 
 and said "pittow." Later in the day he said " wats 
 (watch) sand goes." As he said it he picked up some 
 sand in a glass and poured it in a basket. I had just 
 come in from a walk, and after showing me the sand 
 he turned to the table and said " table." 
 
 November 14th. — New words to-day were : " Knock, 
 Bishy"; "Sit down, Bishy." He begged for "crook" 
 when going to sleep, thinking of "Bo -Peep"; also 
 begged for my " hand," and said " find," " get," and 
 " skate," " show it," " corn," " beans," and " take." 
 ; November 15th. — He said "sweetheart" to-day, pro- 
 nouncing it " sootheart." He says it to his mother 
 when going to sleep; for instance, he will say, "mam- 
 ma's sootheart," in a loving tone. To-day he said 
 "play — sing" to his father, pulling him to the piano, and 
 he laughed as if pleased when he sang for him. He is 
 always eager to hear him sing. 
 
 November 16th. — He said "pittow" again to-day for 
 pillow when reaching for one. After breakfast he said 
 " Dear papa, good luck," when his father left for town. 
 Afterwards he said "Dear papa, good papa" once, and 
 the next time when he came to "good" he hesitated a 
 moment, and then said " luck," and he has said it vol- 
 untarily in this way ever since when his father leaves in 
 
 52 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 the morning. He always shakes his head up and down 
 when he says " luck." He also said " knock" to-day and 
 " oh, my !" 
 
 On November 17th he said " tummer - glass " for 
 tumbler. 
 
 On November 19th he said " ladyle" for lady, when 
 speaking to Claudia, a visitor. He has also said " well, 
 well" ever since her arrival, which is a frequent expres- 
 sion of hers. He said " come " to me after taking his 
 bottle of milk, indicating at the same time that he want- 
 ed to go to bed. He awakened in the evening and said, 
 on hearing his father play, "play — papa," instead of 
 saying " papa is playing." 
 
 November 20th. — His new words to-day were " mu- 
 sic," "yard," "nice boy," "ah," "ma-am," "say what," 
 " what's that." For some time he has said " nice — good 
 — ah !" when eating something he likes. He shakes his 
 head when he does this. 
 
 This morning, when in the dining-room, I handed him 
 a little cloisonne plate that belonged in a certain place 
 on the table in the next room. As I handed it to him 
 I said, " Take it and put it where it belongs," which, 
 he did very carefully, and then returned to his toys. 
 He seems to understand many more words than he says, 
 and uses them only as occasion requires. I often try 
 him in this way, to keep him in the habit of obeying 
 cheerfully, not because I want the thing done. 
 
 November 21st. — This morning he took his doll and 
 hugged it, saying all at once, " seep " (sleep), " eye " 
 (pointing to the eye), "hand" (taking it up in his), 
 "foot" (taking it up), "ear" (touching it), "mouf" 
 (touching it), " head " (laying his hand on its head). 
 Then I put a feather in its hair, but he put it away and 
 
 53 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 said " no." Later on he put it in himself. Yesterday 
 he found this same feather among his toys, and, recog- 
 nizing it as belonging to his stuffed owl, he lifted it up 
 and said, in a very lugubrious tone, " oh — owl." 
 
 November 22d. — He said "fwend" twice to Claudia 
 to-day. She often saj^s to him, ""We are great friends, 
 aren't we, Harold ?" He evidently appreciates her cour- 
 tesy, which she always shows delightfully to little chil- 
 dren. 
 
 When he awakes in the morning he often lies still 
 and amuses himself by looking around the room and 
 repeating the names of ail the things he knows, as "but- 
 ter" (shutter), "gas," "door," "picture," "bed," "crib," 
 pointing to each one as he says the word. His capac- 
 ity for self-amusement when he has the right materials 
 is increasing every day, and his physical development 
 is quite normal — a little beyond the average in height 
 and weight. 
 
 One day he saw a picture of a chair tumbling, and 
 children falling from it. He pointed to the chair, which 
 stood on one leg, and said, " rock, rock." He took 
 hold of one of the leaves of a screen soon after, moved 
 it, and said, " Swing — go." 
 
 November 23d. — He said " papa " to-day for the first 
 time, having always said "baba" before. He also said 
 " fix-pence " when he saw the song " Sing a Song a Six- 
 pence" ; he said " tar" to "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" ; 
 " seesaw," when we reached "Margery Daw "; " Horner, 
 plum-pie" for "Little Jack Horner"; and he often says 
 " son " only for " Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son." "When 
 in looking over the book he comes to "Ride a cock- 
 horse to Banbury Cross," he says, " "Wo, get up ; rings, 
 fingers, toes, cross." He always says "girl — naughty " 
 
 54 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 for " Dolly, you're a naughty girl," as if that fact im- 
 pressed him most. 
 
 For " Little Bo - Peep has lost her sheep " he says 
 "Peep, crook," and he sings out "Dolly — wow-wow" 
 for " I had a little doggy." 
 
 He said "lose" for the first time recently, when some 
 money was dropped, as if he wanted to say it would 
 be lost. Something with which he was playing rolled 
 under his toys, and when he hunted for it he said 
 "find." He also said "mouthful" for the first time. 
 When he heard a cornet and chorus singing one morn- 
 ing from a mission Sunday-school near by, he looked 
 up to me and said, for the first time, very distinctly, 
 " moosic." 
 
 He found a shoe-button among a lot of buttons with 
 which he was playing, and he tried to put it on his shoe 
 where the buttons are, saying " shoe" as he did it. 
 
 When later in the day he heard a child singing, he 
 looked up and said " moosic " for the second time. An 
 unusual noise outside of his room caused him to stop his 
 play and say, "What's that?" as if startled. One day 
 recently he repeated after me " body busy," when I said 
 " You keep a body busy." 
 
 This morning he said, " Bangy boy, Bishy dear, 
 poppee kill kito." JSTo doubt trying to show Bridget 
 how his father had killed a mosquito, with what he 
 called a " bang." At another time during the day he 
 said "Well, well!" then, "Porch, head, hat," pointing 
 to my head; as if he wanted me to take him on the 
 porch. This evening when he saw the button-box he 
 asked for it twice, saying " buttony." I said " No," 
 and gave him a box of bottle-tips. He put these aside 
 and said "No, buttony." He cried and stamped a lit- 
 
 55 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 tie, but I took no notice of it, and presently he took his 
 little wagon and showed it to his nurse as placidly as if 
 nothing unusual had occurred. A few days ago he took 
 up a small clock and looked at me questioningly as he 
 did it, because he had been told not to touch it. I said 
 " No, no ; put it down." He did so, and as he came away 
 he said " Nice boy" emphasizing boy. I frequently tell 
 him he is a good boy, when he obeys pleasantly. He is 
 evidently able to draw his own conclusions. 
 
 For the last few days he says " Thank you, mommy " 
 — to his mother — instead of " Thank you," as he used to. 
 He looked at a picture of some children tumbling from 
 a chair to-day and said " fall." He has learned to drink 
 from a glass without assistance, and he does it very well, 
 but with great care. He is accustomed to seeing me 
 pour drinking-water from a carafe into his glass. This 
 morning I found him at the table with a glass before 
 him and the carafe in his hands. He had removed a 
 temporary cover, and had poured some water into his 
 glass, and seemed very proud of the achievement, just 
 as in the instance above, and he rarely comes to grief. 
 
 November 2ith. — He said "chappie shobel" when 
 asking his father for the grate shovel this evening to 
 play with his beloved buttons. He delights in shovelling 
 them up as if they were coals. "When I took him up to- 
 day from his nap and rocked him a while, he said to me 
 " Kock-a-bye baby on top." He also said " Well, well !" 
 again. 
 
 When I came in this morning to see if he had finished 
 his nap, he said " wake," as if to tell me that he was 
 awake. He had been lying there quietly waiting for 
 me. He shows this serenity always when well. When 
 he was going to sleep to-night he said, in his usual retro- 
 
 56 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 spective manner, " I see you, poppee ; I see you, ladyle 
 (meaning Claudia) ; I see you, gamme (grandma) ; I see 
 you, Carrie ; I see you, mommy," etc. Then he asked 
 for his milk, took it, and said " nice boy." Before com- 
 ing up-stairs to go to bed he was at table with some one 
 who amused himself by saying " Ach, himmel !" to the 
 boy and hearing him repeat it. After a time he repeated 
 it three times to himself, just as he always does with new 
 words, and it was amusing to hear his efforts with "ach," 
 which word he said correctly. 
 
 To-day he said "N " when he saw some poker- 
 chips for the first time since the summer, at which time 
 
 he saw them at the house of N 's father. He heard 
 
 me tell his father this evening that he had said " top " 
 to-day. He instantly said " tree-top." He says to him- 
 self sometimes " naughty boy," as if he thought he was 
 doing, or being tempted to do, something forbidden. 
 
 November 25th. — To-day he said " all gone " when he 
 reached the end of something he was eating. His new 
 words were " piece of corn," " come, Harry," " did he ?" 
 "hoop!" And to-night when going to sleep, he said, 
 " I see you, poppee; I see you, toys; I see you, fee-fours 
 (cards) ; I see you, Bahdee ; I see you, Bishy ; I see you, 
 goose." It is very curious to hear him go over the day's 
 amusements just before he falls asleep. 
 
 November 26th. — Twenty -one months old to-day, 
 when some one said, "low — high or low," he came run- 
 ning to my room, and called " Lou ! Lou!" confusing low 
 with Lou. He brought a screw -driver that he found in 
 the sewing-machine drawer in the nursery, and he did 
 not want to give it up when I asked for it, so I simply 
 said, quietly, but as if I expected him to do it, " Take it 
 back, and put it where you found it," for we always 
 
 57 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 tried to avoid forcing an issue when a disposition to ob- 
 stinacy showed itself. He went to the machine at once, 
 put the screw-driver in the drawer, and took out a knit- 
 ting-needle, but as he did it he looked at me as if to ask 
 whether he might take it. I said " No, no," and he in- 
 stantly pushed it back, shut the drawer quickly, and ran 
 away just as if he didn't trust himself near temptation. 
 I have noticed this trait frequently. (The record shows 
 that when he could talk and tell how he felt under simi- 
 lar circumstances, he thought it best to go away from 
 temptation.) 
 
 Several days ago he discovered a door to a closet in 
 a writing-desk. He opened it and saw ink-bottles on a 
 shelf that he could reach. He wanted to take them, but 
 I said " No, no ; shut the door," which he did. This 
 morning he opened the door again, and his father feared 
 he would take up the bottles and spill the ink. I said, 
 "I think not. Just watch him." So I said, very quietly, 
 but suggestively, " Shut the door, dearie, and go away." 
 Jle did it at once, very much, to his father's surprise, 
 saying, as he went, " Nice boy." 
 
 One day he picked up from the desk a closed box of 
 cigarettes. As he held it he accidentally let it fall, 
 and the cigarettes fell out, thus letting him see what 
 the box held. He then took up another closed box of 
 them, and wanted to pull the cigarettes out one by one. 
 I said "No, no, dear," but he tried to get my consent 
 two or three times 'by touching them as he held the 
 box, looking inquiringly at me. Each time I quietly 
 said " No, no," as if I knew he wouldn't do it, and 
 the last time I said " Put them on the desk," which 
 he did. He obej^s us at all times, but we must give 
 him time to adjust himself to what he is to do, and 
 
 58 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 we must speak very quietly, as if we expect obedi- 
 ence to be the most natural thing to happen. I had 
 a little trouble to teach him not to touch things in the 
 dining-room, and for a time we seriously considered 
 placing things out of his reach, but eventually concluded 
 it would be better to stand some loss of valued articles, 
 if necessary, than lose an opportunity of showing him 
 in every direction in his life that he must learn to re- 
 spect the rights of others. The servants and I therefore 
 kept following him up, saying " No, no " whenever he 
 touched anything, and offered some pleasant diversion 
 each time as the next thing for him to do when we led 
 him away. It was really very amusing. The shining 
 glass and silver seemed to possess a great fascination for 
 hhn, and we frequently found him standing before a tea- 
 set of highly colored china, each piece of which repre- 
 sented a piece of fruit. The teapot was shaped like an 
 apple, the handle looked like the branch. This piece 
 seemed to attract him in spite of his evident effort to 
 keep away from it. He would stand before it and touch 
 the lid in a very cautious manner, lift it up gently, and 
 put it down again, and then go away. I watched him 
 do this several times. Once I found him out after he 
 had been there alone, for later in the day I discovered 
 the lids interchanged. Eventually we succeeded in 
 teaching him to keep from touching anything that 
 didn't belong to him, but the collisions of will were 
 sometimes diverting. 
 
 An effort was always made to refrain from speaking 
 sharply to him, nor was any one knowingly allowed to 
 do so, consequently he trusted all who were about him. 
 (The record shows how, when he was eight years old, he 
 attempted to conceal some of his actions that did not 
 
 59 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 meet his own approval, and when gently led to tell his 
 reasons, he said, with a burst of tears, " I am afraid of 
 them all !" meaning those who were about him at the 
 time, and who noticed and criticised his actions — with 
 the natural result of reaction on the child. Before this 
 he had usually confided even his smallest faults to his 
 mother, not fearing her.) His nurse is very gentle in 
 her manner, and she succeeds wonderfully in diverting 
 him quickly from what she anticipates will be likely to 
 give the little fellow trouble. She possesses faithfulness, 
 intuition, and quick comprehension, and although not 
 an educated person, she has many qualities that are 
 valuable for assistance in nursery-training. She is per- 
 fectly truthful, mild in manner, always cheerful, tidy, 
 and playful, and understands perfectly how, and is will- 
 ing, to carry out directions just as they are given, which 
 quality is absolutely necessary in a person to be trusted 
 with the care of children. This morning she put him in 
 his crib for his nap, with an exact imitation of his 
 , mother's manner of handling him, gave him some milk, 
 and then turned to do something else. He drank the 
 milk and then turned to watch her for a few minutes. 
 She paid no attention to him, but finished what she was 
 doing and left the room quietly. He turned over, and 
 no more was heard of him until after nap -time. Had 
 she spoken to him he would have tried to keep awake, 
 as he often does, and in all probability he would have 
 missed his nap. This plan was invariably followed, the 
 mother interchanging with the nurse, in order to keep 
 him equally accustomed to both. Thus the mother could 
 be given the freedom required in the evening at dinner- 
 time, without disturbing the child in the least, and he 
 was as well satisfied with the nurse, when sleepy, as 
 
 60 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 with the mother. (It may mean self-sacrifice, many 
 times, to reach this end, for it is very dear to any mother 
 to feel that her child prefers her ministrations to those 
 of any one else, but, for the child's sake, this feeling should 
 not be indulged in to too great an extent. When a nurse 
 loves her charge, she should also have some of the hap- 
 piness incidental to the care of the child, and be able to 
 win its love, that, in case of illness of either child or 
 mother, her assistance may be of value.) 
 
 He said, this morning, " Mommy, Bishy lof," meaning 
 he loved her. He hugged her as he said it. He shows 
 daily how much he loves her. (I have always found it 
 safe to judge a nurse's manner during the absence of 
 her mistress by the evidence of affection given by the 
 child. It will invariably be a reflection of the surround- 
 ings, for a fearless child is always a mirror of others.) 
 
 To-day, when he saw the illustration of the fat spider 
 in the " Spider and the Fly " song in his nursery-book,* 
 he said " Sider, fatty, ha-ha." He seems to enjoy in- 
 tensely anything that will provoke laughter, and he is 
 usually a merry little soul. 
 
 Recently he took a number of things out of the draw- 
 er of the kitchen-table, saying " What's that ? What's 
 that?" to everything he didn't know, but said "spoon," 
 " fork," " knife," etc., to those he did know. At last he 
 found an old steel that was used some months ago to 
 crack ice. He remembered this at once, and said, when 
 he saw it, " Bishy, cack ice." 
 
 This evening he did not feel very well, and he begged 
 his mother to stay by him. She remained, lying down 
 beside him and holding his hand while singing to him. 
 
 * Elliott's Mother Goose. 
 61 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 He kept asking for his pet songs, one by one. "When she 
 thought he had had enough to quiet him, she said " good- 
 night," and stopped singing, still lying quietly, however. 
 He soon said to himself, "Mommy seep," turned over, 
 and fell asleep. 
 
 November 27th. — His new connections of words to- 
 day were "knock, Bishy," and "piece of buttony" (for 
 button). This afternoon he knelt by his mother who 
 was lying on a couch, and said, "Ah, mamma's sute- 
 heart" in a very winning way. These voluntary tokens 
 of love are quite usual with him. 
 
 November 28th. — At midnight last night, when rest- 
 less, he said to his father, " Poppee stay, carry boy." 
 
 November 29th. — As he put something in a hole to- 
 day he said, " Stick it in." He constructs sentences very 
 often now. When his nurse came in he said, "Carry 
 boy." He said to me to-day, "apple — fork," and showed 
 them to me. When I asked him where he got the 
 fork, he said, " tappie (chappie) — table " — meaning on a 
 ^table in his father's room, where I remembered it had 
 been left last night. 
 
 November 30th. — To-day the new words were " pretty 
 well," " smart," " shadow." 
 
 December 1st. — New words were "pull up sleeve," and 
 "wing" (of a bird). 
 
 December 11th. — " Come, Bahdee (to his pussy) ; Bishy 
 bring Bahdee." He said " big ring, noder one," to some 
 one who was making smoke rings for him when smok- 
 ing a cigar after dinner. At one o'clock in the night 
 he waked and said immediately, " big ring, noder one," 
 as if there had been no interval. 
 
 He said to-day, December 12th, while playing, refer- 
 ring to one of his nursery songs, " Taffy — tief — beef — 
 
 62 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 home." He seems to think of these things while he is 
 doing other things. 
 
 Said " o" and " d " (from letter-blocks) to-day, and also 
 said " lap," " lappie — bangie — boy." We can't find out 
 what he means by " bangie." 
 
 From December 14th to end of the month he has 
 said "pencil"; "gettie pencil"; "find more"; "ice- 
 Avagon " and " street car," when seeing pictures of the 
 same ; " Santa Caus," omitting the " 1 " ; " bottles," for 
 nine-pins; "pick it up"; "put it away"; "picture"; 
 "pipes," when he sees any one smoking, or if he sees a 
 pipe in any one's mouth ; " letter," " letter-man," when 
 he hears the door - bell ring ; " pinage " for spinach ; 
 "masala" for celery; "teakettle — coffee," when he 
 sees a picture of a teakettle ; " put it down " ; " Ger- 
 mantown"; and "my name is Harold." When I say 
 
 " You live at No. ," he instantly says the name of 
 
 the street. He speaks of me as Mrs. H , and uses 
 
 my name correctly. We always teach him any change 
 of address by direct teaching, that he may, if lost, tell 
 where he belongs, and we have always impressed upon 
 him the fact that all policemen are his friends and are 
 meant to help people, especially when they get lost. I 
 often hear him try to persuade a little friend who is 
 afraid of policemen to like them. 
 
 To-day he said, " Tom, Tom, saw pig run, eat beat how- 
 ling steet" for (street). He was evidently thinking of 
 
 "Tom, Tom, the piper's son, 
 Stole a pig and away he run," etc. 
 
 Other words that are new are " hello," " hello, dear," 
 " gamme boy," " screw," " Bahdee scatch " (when pussy 
 scratches), " ach himmel," " gesundheit." He still says 
 
 63 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 "neeze" for sneeze; "down-tairs, Bishy "; says "bot- 
 tle — seepy," when bedtime comes ; " get a coach," when 
 he wants to go out-of-doors; "gamma — choo-choo," in- 
 timating that he wants to go to gamma's (grandma) on 
 the choo-choo. He remembers that he went on the train 
 some months ago on a visit to her. 
 
 January 14th, 1892. — To-day he said " Happy Xew- 
 year" three times when looking at a holiday-book. He 
 then turned to his mother, kissed and hugged her, and 
 said " lufly mamma." 
 
 He sa^ys " Santa Claus " now, pronouncing the "1." He 
 takes his Santa-Claus book and explains all the pictures — 
 as, for instance, when he reaches the one where Santa 
 is sitting reading the names of children, with pen and ink 
 on the desk before him, he says, " Santa Claus reading, 
 desk, gif me pencil," holding out his hand to the picture. 
 He often asks for "pencil — write" (pencil to write), 
 and makes an O. He calls a big O a " fatty O." He 
 knows W, X, H, I, O, Q of his block-alphabet, and he 
 says X, Y, Z from repetition, but does not know them 
 when he sees them. 
 
 He saw sleighs to-day for the first time. He heard 
 his nurse say "sleigh" in the morning, and when out in 
 his coach later in the day he said " sleigh, noder one," 
 as they passed him. Since the above date he has picked 
 out pictures of sleighs in his books, saying "sleigh, noder 
 one," whenever he finds one. 
 
 January 15th. — His new words to-day were "here 'tis," 
 " kitchen — outside," " missee morning " (for misty morn- 
 ing), "how do, sir?" "shut ee eyes." "When he stum- 
 bled he said " fall." 
 
 January 18th. — Last night, after he had waked and 
 taken his last bottle of milk, he said, " Mommy's pwe- 
 
 64 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 cious boy," rolled over, and fell asleep. He is at his 
 grandma's. He took her hand to-day, and pulled her 
 into the next room, saying, "hand — gamme's hand." 
 Last evening, as he was finishing his six-o'clock meal of 
 milk, he discovered letters on the bottle when he held 
 it up between his eyes and the gaslight. One of the 
 words had two o's in it. He pointed to one and said 
 " o," then pointed to the next and said " noder one," 
 then cried out in delight, "dubble u," meaning "w." 
 He said it as if he was very much surprised. He then 
 found D, S, K, and I, and repeated them over and over, 
 as if glad to see them, first of all, however, pointing out 
 each one to me with his little finger. As I am writing 
 this he is in the kitchen, and I hear him at the knife- 
 drawer saying "fee — fee knife," meaning three. He 
 always says "fee — fee" when he means to say there 
 are more than one. He often counts correctly from one 
 to fourteen. I can hear him now as he is going around 
 the rooms exploring, saying " window, parlor window," 
 and no doubt he has met a rocking-chair, for I hear him 
 say " rock-a-bye, rock." 
 
 When he reached the station he met his cousin and 
 called him by name, although he had not seen him for 
 four months. Later he said " gamme " when he met her, 
 knew his cousin's father at once, calling him by his first 
 name as he hears others do. After a little investigation 
 he said " Carrie " to one member of the family, and after 
 quite a while he said " Alus," for Alice, to another. He 
 said " fraid dat," pointing to a rolling-top writing-desk. 
 (Here following out indications given before of being 
 afraid of some things that work with a motive power 
 that is to him incomprehensible.) 
 
 The plumbers were at work in the kitchen this morn- 
 e 65 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 ing. He heard the puffing of the Bunsen burner when 
 he awakened from his nap, and said, " See ee choo-choo 
 in ee kitchen," and could hardly wait to get there. He 
 amused himself for a time to-day by pushing his coach 
 around the room, but first he moved two chairs very 
 carefully out of his way in order to have the entire 
 length of the room open for the coach. 
 
 When he was asked if he wanted a piece of bread, he 
 said " Yes," and voluntarily went to the pantry, opened 
 the door and bread-can, took out a loaf, and brought it 
 to the person who asked him, who cut a piece from it, 
 and returned the loaf to him without a word. He re- 
 turned it to the can, closed both it and the door, and 
 returned, when he was given his piece of bread. 
 
 January 19th. — To-day he heard something fall with 
 a loud noise. He said, "Break ee house down." Two 
 new sentences were : " Pull down ee sleeve, mommy," 
 meaning his own ; and " Please, Carrie, take out ee 
 key." When he awoke this morning he said, " Kitch- 
 en, gamme," meaning he wanted to go there, where he 
 was allowed perfect freedom every morning. 
 
 He uses all sorts of expedients to get his mother up 
 mornings as soon as he wakes. Says, " Get up, mom- 
 my — dess, dess Harold, mommy"; "want ee dink"; 
 " mommy up, kitchen "; " see gamme "; and then he 
 calls " Carrie, come," as loud as he can, for she generally 
 comes in at this time and romps with and dresses him. 
 When at last his mother does get up and dress, he sits 
 contentedly awaiting his turn. He says, trying to do 
 it at the same time, " Put ee shoes on, Harold — put ee 
 shoes on." Then he says " petticoats," when they are 
 put on; "Put on dess" next; then, "Brush ee teeth," 
 " Brush ee hair," "Wash ee mouth," and at last he turns 
 
 66 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 up his face for a kiss, saying " Clean enough ?" He takes 
 the greatest interest in every little thing relating to the 
 care given him. 
 
 January 20th. — To-day he wanted to take the dust- 
 pan to bed with him when he took his nap. I took it 
 away, saying " No, no." He kicked and screamed, but 
 I took no notice of it. At last he said, " Too bad ; 
 shame !" — repeated it several times, then took my hand 
 and fell asleep quietly, with only one more cry for the 
 dust -pan, following it immediately with "Too bad; 
 shame !" 
 
 January 21st. — To-day he said, "Dance a baby diddy" 
 (from nursery song) ; also said "spider," when he saw the 
 inside of a big clock ; and then he said " Fatty clock, see 
 clock ticking." No doubt he associated the big clock 
 with the big spider he called " fatty spider" in the nurs- 
 ery song-book, for he calls a big O a fatty O. 
 
 January 22d. — To-day he picked up a tin bread -can 
 that was standing on the pantry floor, carried it about, 
 and suddenly began to turn his hand around, as if turn- 
 ing a handle, and say " musilay," meaning music, and that 
 he was imitating 1 a hand-organ. 
 
 January 23d. — We came to town for the winter a 
 few days ago. Harold and his nurse came in on a later 
 train. Ever since he has said, repeatedly, " Sarah, take 
 Harold lufly choo-choo"; "bell ring, choo-choo"; and 
 every time he sees a possible chance of going out he 
 says, " See a choo-choo ?" He was given a very com- 
 plete toy locomotive last month, because he has shown 
 such great interest in engines of all sorts. He instantly 
 detected various differences between his engines and 
 those he saw about him in his daily walks,, and he did 
 not hesitate to mention them. He asked questions about 
 
 67 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 every part he observed after this, wanting to know the 
 names of all of them. In a very short time he was heard 
 saying to his nurse, " This is a piston-rod," or " This is 
 a cylinder," or " This is an eccentric," etc. He was told 
 each name once only in answer to his questions. 
 
 He was taught, in Germantown, when asked where he 
 lived, to give his name and his street-number. Last even- 
 ing we began to teach him his new address, his name, 
 and street in Philadelphia, and he repeated it several 
 times. This evening we asked him where he lived and 
 what was his name. He said, "Harold — Gimmintown," 
 and then, as if a new idea had struck him, he said in 
 one sentence, "Fil a duffia, Locust Street — choo-choo — 
 Filaduffia." 
 
 A few days ago he began saying "Use Pears' soap," 
 instead of just " Pears' soap," as before. "We often ask 
 him, for fun, " Have you used Pears' soap?" 
 
 To-night he said, "Papa, play — play 'Annie Eooney.'" 
 He speaks very distinctly for so young a child. 
 
 January 24th. — To-day, when playing with his toys, 
 ne voluntarily counted one, two, three, four, five, six, 
 seven, eight. 
 
 Later in the day, when taking off my street shoes, I 
 asked him to please bring my shoes, without specifying 
 which pair he should bring. He went to my closet and 
 selected a pair of low russet shoes that I frequently wear 
 when at home. He certainly observes much that one 
 ordinarily considers unnoticed by a child. 
 
 This morning when I came into his room before he 
 was out of bed, I found him playing with a toy " choo- 
 choo" that could be wound up to run. He had no 
 string with which to wind it up, and he evidently 
 wanted one, for he had untied the ribbon at the neck 
 
 68 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 of his night-gown, and was trying to wind it up with 
 that. 
 
 He has begun to say a few French words : " bon soir, 
 bon nuit," from imitation, but he knows what they 
 mean, and his pronunciation is very good. 
 
 January 25th. — To-day he begged me to " carry down 
 cellar to kitchen to Annie," meaning the colored janitress 
 in the basement. She has a bird with which he is de- 
 lighted, and which he evidently wanted to see. He 
 often asks for something that we find later on brings 
 him something else that he wants but doesn't ask for. 
 It seems hardly probable that he does it designedly, yet 
 it is a curious coincidence at times. 
 
 January 26th. — To-clay we were out walking. As we 
 neared Broad Street the wind blew hard, directly in his 
 face. I said, " Turn around, Harold, and walk back- 
 ward." He did it at once, much to the amusement of 
 some passers-by, who stood still and watched him. He 
 seems to comprehend very quickly that I have a good 
 reason for asking him to do certain things, and even if 
 they may appear a little unusual at the time to another, 
 to him they seem to appear to be natural. 
 
 January 29th. — -To-day he said to his nurse (who is 
 not the one to whom he has been accustomed, but an 
 old colored mammy), " Good-bye, honey." Other sen- 
 tences were, " Mannie sit down, showee schlissel book ;" 
 
 " See ee mannie ;" "Mommy, good boy;" "Harold 
 
 good boy" (saying his whole name); "Carry, Bishy, (to) 
 lovely choo-choo." He said "Geen choo-choo" to-day, 
 saying "geen" for green — the first time for this word. 
 He was hunting a little green engine at the time and 
 couldn't find it. Other sentences were, " Where's ee 
 dram?" "See ee musee-man, winnow." 
 
 69 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 January 30th. — To-day, when in the bath-room, he 
 said, " Baf pitty soon," no doubt anticipating his even- 
 ing bath. As we passed the bath-room door he said, 
 " Baf-yoom ; wash ee hands." He also said, " Fraid ee 
 
 doctor," when he saw Dr. , who lives next door. 
 
 He said it at intervals all day. (The record shows that 
 he never learned to like the physician mentioned, cried 
 when he approached, and could not be induced to even 
 talk to him. He was a very stern man, and cruel to 
 children, as later developments proved. A curious thing 
 about the child shows clearly all through the record 
 that he knew instantly when meeting persons whether 
 they liked him or not. Servants could not be kept with 
 comfort to the little fellow when he had shown that he 
 thought they didn't like him, and it was always found 
 advisable when engaging a servant in any capacity to 
 first have him see the person, and watch his manner 
 before engaging them. In this way some exceptionally 
 faithful servants were secured. His usual expression in 
 this connection, as he grew older, was either " I don't 
 like her face," or " Has she a smiling face ?" One day 
 in a store he begged me to ask a certain cash-girl, with 
 " such a lovely face," to come home to him. (His own 
 words.) He couldn't understand at first why I couldn't 
 do it, for it was his mother's habit at the time to regu- 
 larly engage a child to play with him daily, to keep 
 him from becoming selfish — a fault easily acquired by 
 an only child. 
 
 To-day some one spoke very suddenly to him when 
 he was playing, to check him instantly in something he 
 was just beginning to do. He looked up with a start 
 and said, " scairt." 
 
 January 31st. — He still says his name instead of say- 
 
 70 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 ing I, when speaking of his own actions. He said to 
 himself to-day, as if trying to recall something, " What 
 name ? — Harold — in Gimmintown." 
 
 When out walking the other day we passed some bill- 
 boards on Broad Street that were covered with pictures 
 of engines. He was delighted with them, went up to 
 them, touched them, and admired them to his heart's 
 content. He didn't want to leave them, but I induced 
 him to come on to something else that appeared to at- 
 tract him. He kept on talking about them, however, 
 after we had left them, and to-day, when I took him out 
 on the balcony for an airing, he objected at first and 
 said, "Out choo-choo fence." This is the first time I 
 have heard him say " fence." 
 
 His new words to-day were "cellar," "kitchen," "Ba- 
 vinia" (for Lavinia — a servant down-stairs), "clothes- 
 pins"; and this afternoon, when his mother attempted 
 to feed him some ice-cream, he said, "Mommy way, 
 George feed." (George was a servant.) 
 
 February 1st. — He used I for the first time to-day. 
 He is almost two years old. He said, " I use Pears' 
 soap"; "I see choo-choo out." Then he said, "Hug 
 mamma, oh," squeezing her hard as he said it. He also 
 said " I want you, baby," in his play to-day. 
 
 February 3d. — He began making funny faces a few 
 weeks ago when he said, " Hoop a loop, who's in the 
 soup V Now he makes the faces at me and laughs. He 
 often looks laughingly at me and winks one eye. He is 
 always very jolly. This morning he begged me to " go 
 out and see man carry leg." I couldn't think what he 
 meant, but discovered later that he had seen a man on a 
 crutch yesterday, and was very much interested. 
 
 He now uses a great many words very intelligently — 
 
 71 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 as, for instance, when he says the words, " coming," 
 " won't come," " here it goes," " here it is." There is 
 always an intelligent application. To-day he found a 
 doll that he calls "Tommy" lying in a box of toys 
 and covered with a cushion. He said at once, in what 
 seemed to be a tone of reproof, " Tommy seep all day 
 in box." 
 
 This morning he said,"Poppee, get up— eight o'clock;" 
 and at breakfast he turned to his father and said, " Papa, 
 shame !" We couldn't find out what he meant, but he 
 very often says, "Too bad, shame!" when anything goes 
 wrong. I recognize the words as used occasionally by 
 his nurse, from whom he has no doubt learned them. 
 
 Late this evening, when he woke for his milk, he said, 
 " Too early," evidently meaning it was not time to get 
 up, for I sometimes say the same words to him, if by 
 chance he wakes in the morning before daylight. It is 
 probable that his first thought on waking was that it 
 was time to get up — and seeing it was yet dark, he con- 
 cluded it was " too early." 
 
 February 4th. — He said to-day, " I love ee choo-choo," 
 while he was hunting in Puck for a picture of one — 
 which he found eventually, having seen it there before. 
 
 He was given recently a book containing pictures of 
 various kinds of locomotives. At first his comments were 
 not noticed, but gradually we became impressed with the 
 fact that he was saying, as he turned from one page to 
 the other, "This one hasn't any bell" ; " This one has a 
 bell"; "This one hasn't any cow-catcher" (it was an 
 English engine) ; " This one hasn't any bell " — noticing 
 the differences right through the book between the 
 American and the English engines pictured there. At 
 last he closed the book, turned to his mother, and said, 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 " Mamma, I want an engine without any book." He 
 wanted the object instead of the picture. 
 
 February 5th. — He put a ribbon round his neck and 
 said " necktie " to-day. He is constantly acquiring new 
 words, with no teaching whatever. For about two weeks 
 he has said, " Show me book," show me this, or that, as 
 the case may be, instead of saying, as before, " book," 
 etc. This morning he called to his father, " Poppee put 
 on clothes — poppee, please put on clothes." (The record 
 shows that he was always eager to be up himself and get 
 every one else up, and later on he wished a number of 
 times that there wouldn't be any night, because the days 
 were not nearly long enough for what he wanted to do.) 
 
 To-day I brought his coat and cap, and prepared to 
 take him out. He ran away from me. I asked him if 
 he wanted to go. He said "JSTo," went to the sewing- 
 machine, and said, " Want to see machine go." He had 
 not seen it open for several weeks. He shows indica- 
 tions now of preferring in-door play, which we are trying 
 to counteract by finding inducements to keep him in the 
 open air a certain portion of the day. 
 
 February 6th. — This evening he was playing with his 
 father when his bedtime came. He said, pleadingly, to 
 his mother, who came to take him to bed, " Mommy, go 
 away," but he said it as if he did not expect it, and went 
 with very good grace, as he always does when accept- 
 ing the inevitable. We always give him a little time to 
 get over the disappointment of a refusal before exacting 
 obedience. 
 
 Last night he wanted his bottle of milk, to which he 
 has been accustomed, but which for the last few nights 
 we have withheld. He cried a little, saying " What's 
 the matter?" rolled over, and fell asleep. 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 He said " I think so " to-day, when answering a ques- 
 tion. 
 
 February 7th. — To-day he said, "Mommy, get the 
 bottle ready"; "won't come" (meaning the milk won't 
 come. There was good reason for this, for the bottle 
 was empty, he had taken it all). He then said, " Never 
 mind," and went about his play. He always seems to 
 accept the inevitable in a cheerful manner. When his 
 father came in to-day, Harold said to him, in an effort 
 to induce him to play with him, " Poppee, make chains 
 (of paper rings, with which he and the nurse often 
 amuse themselves) ; poppee, sit down floor, cushion, 
 make big dubble-u (W) ; poppee make big X." 
 
 February 8th. — I heard him say to himself to-day, 
 " Cry it out. Behave yourself." He has often heard 
 me tell him to " cry it out on my lap," when he is 
 grieved, and he must have heard some one tell him 
 to behave himself, and he put the two together to-day 
 when he thought he needed the admonition. 
 
 He also said to one of us this morning, " Poppee use 
 Pears' soap ? hear dat." These little sentences pop out 
 at us at all sorts of unexpected times, and they amuse 
 us very much. 
 
 "When going to New York this week he said on the 
 train, " Choo-choo, lovely choo-choo. I love choo-choo." 
 
 February 9th. — Yesterday for the first time he said 
 " you " instead of saying " mommy," as usual when 
 speaking to her. He said " Mannie talk to you," in- 
 stead of saying, as he did formerly, " Mannie talk to 
 mamma." Sometimes he calls himself " mannie," some- 
 times " man." 
 
 February 10th. — As his mother was taking off her 
 street dress to-day he pulled her to the closet and said, 
 
 74 
 
SECOND YEAR 
 
 " Put ee cless on." "When she puts an apron on he al- 
 ways objects, and begs her to " take off apron." About 
 a month ago he cried because she put a jacket on over 
 her house dress on a cold morning. He said, " Take ee 
 sacque off, mamma," and persisted in it. He must have 
 some idea for this, but I have not found out yet what 
 it is. 
 
 "We are still in New York ; arrived yesterday, and the 
 long trip must have tired the little fellow, for he said on 
 his arrival, " I'm so glad to go to bed." "When half-way 
 over he said on the train, " Express-man take away trunk 
 to-day," and when, on our return, he saw it brought 
 back, he said, " Express-man bring ee trunk." 
 
 To-day when sitting on a bed he intimated that he 
 had disturbed it. I said " Oh no." He said " Yes, nice 
 boy ?" (interrogatively). I said " No." He said " Nice 
 boy, / sink (think) so." (The record shows how he of- 
 ten said, when a question of opinion would arise, " I 
 think so," as if that settled it in his mind. Such a char- 
 acteristic, if properly guided, should develop into a sturdy 
 self-respect and strength of individual opinion, without 
 in the least encroaching upon or antagonizing the opin- 
 ions of others.) 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THIRD YEAR. LANGUAGE AND OTHER INCIDENTAL 
 DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED 
 
 February 15th (at home). — Harold is two years old. 
 He just said " See ee Lollie (meaning Mollie) sew dess, 
 nice dess." She made a dress for him some time ago 
 that pleased him very much and which he seems to 
 prize very highly. He begged me to-day to "take 
 down-tairs see big clock tick -tick." He saw one in 
 New York, and is confused about it, for there is no 
 " big clock" here. He called " Delia" several times to- 
 day (a house-maid he saw in New York), and he also 
 called for his aunt, as if he could not quite reconcile 
 himself to the fact that he was no longer there. On the 
 way home he saw a lady on the train who resembled 
 his aunt's mother and he called her " grandma " several 
 times. For many days he has asked questions about 
 how there could be another grandma, for hitherto he 
 has only known of his maternal grandmother, and he 
 could not understand for a long time that his aunt's 
 mother was his cousin's grandma and not his. He is al- 
 ways very friendly with strangers when travelling, and 
 appears to fear no one when their faces please him. He 
 invariably smiles or speaks to some stranger when out- 
 of-doors or when travelling. He said this morning, 
 " See ee Lollie take ee coffee next yoom." He had seen 
 
 7G 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 his aunt have coffee in the room next to his when he 
 was in New York, and he evidently thinks he is still 
 within reach of her. 
 
 February 16th. — When he saw a picture of a coffee- 
 mill to-day in his "schliissel book," he said "ganma." 
 He had seen one for the first time at his Grandma 
 
 S 's. He sometimes says " ganme" and at other 
 
 times "gamma." When he said "ganme" to the cof- 
 fee-mill, I asked " Is it Ganme H ?" alluding to his 
 
 cousin's grandma. 
 
 He repeated her name and looked doubtful, then said 
 again, " Ganme, ganme put ee coffee in." I then said 
 
 " Ganme S ?" questioningly. He looked relieved 
 
 and repeated it. He is evidently still puzzled over hear- 
 ing of two grandmas. His maternal grandmother only 
 is living, and until he heard his cousins speak of their 
 grandmother he had heard of one grandmother only. 
 (He was very curious, when a little older, about the de- 
 grees of relationship in one family, and I had many 
 questions to answer.) 
 
 Yesterday he said, " See a Mary go — winnow — da- 
 da," shaking his hand to her from the window as she 
 went away. 
 
 After having had a crying -spell to-day he said 
 " Shamed himself." 
 
 February 17th. — To-day, when he saw a man from 
 the window, he said "Uncle Hed" (meaning Ed). I 
 looked out and saw a man resembling his uncle very 
 greatly. 
 
 Yesterday I took him to see Dr. A . He had not 
 
 been there for two months. When we reached the 
 street door of the physician's house his face changed, 
 and he said, crying, " Harold fraid, hurts me." He kept 
 
 77 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 repeating " f raid, hurts " all the time he was there, and 
 cried until he reached the street again, when he in- 
 stantly became serene. About thirteen months before 
 this date this physician lanced his gums, and ten months 
 ago he vaccinated him. He remembers one or the other 
 occasion, probably both. 
 
 February 18th. — To-day I showed him an illustration 
 with the song " Twinkle, twinkle, little star." He in- 
 stantly said " Dr. Tar," meaning Dr. Starr. 
 
 This morning he said to his father, " Good-morning, 
 glad to see you." He said to me yesterday, immediately 
 after his nap, " Feel tired, rock a bit," and snuggled up 
 in my arms and let me rock him. He is not very well 
 to-day. This may have had something to do with his 
 desire to be rocked yesterday, for he rarely asks for it. 
 
 He has always shown a great willingness to put away 
 my shoes. I never thought of it before, but I remem- 
 ber now that he is always ready to put away my street 
 shoes and to get my house shoes. I have concluded 
 this is because he knows I will stay at home when I 
 wear the latter, for to-day he refused to put away my 
 house shoes when he saw me put on my street shoes. 
 When I came home he called me at once to the closet 
 and pointed to my house shoes. I took them out and 
 placed them by the couch, then turned to do something 
 else, forgetting to put them on. He took me by the 
 hand, led me to the couch, and said, " Sit ee down bed, 
 put ee on shoes," as if afraid I would go out again. I 
 did so, and before I had said a word he took away my 
 street shoes and put them in the closet. He has evi- 
 dently reasoned out for himself that when I wear street 
 shoes I am likely to go away from him. 
 
 February 19th. — This morning when he awoke he 
 
 78 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 said immediately to me, " Wait for poppee last night." 
 So he had. It seems to be his greatest pleasure. To- 
 night, when ready for bed, and after having taken near- 
 ly all of his milk, he handed me the bottle and said, 
 very insinuatingly, "Put away ee bottle, see ee poppee." 
 I paid no attention to this, so he went to sleep. Last 
 evening when he began taking the milk, he said, " Put 
 in hot water." I thought the milk wasn't warm enough, 
 probably, and was about to do as he asked when he sat 
 up and said, " See ee poppee." I knew then that he was 
 trying to get me to let him wait for his father, so I 
 gave him the bottle, told him quietly to take it and go 
 to sleep, as if I expected obedience, and he did it con- 
 tentedly. 
 
 February 20th. — He said this morning when his father 
 left for town " Fraid ee papa take ee choo-choo go to 
 
 see Aunt M ." This evening, when his mother was 
 
 lying by him as he went to sleep, he said, " Get up, mom- 
 my, too busy." I suppose he remembers hearing her 
 say at some time that she was too busy to lie down by 
 him while he took his nap, for he often asks her to do so. 
 
 February 21st. — To-day he wanted to go out and, as 
 he said, to " see a mannie frow a bricks away." 
 
 Two weeks ago he said, " Go ee out see ee choo- 
 choos on ee fence." This morning he said, as he put a 
 picture of an engine on a chair before him, " Sit on ee 
 chair, talk to choo-choo." He also said, to-day, " Tell 
 me what's it." He says, at times, " Mommy like ee boy 
 squeal," when he makes the noise he calls " squeal." 
 
 He loves to hear his father play the violin. He said 
 to him this evening, " Poppee play ee violin — please pop- 
 pee play ee violin." When his father took the instru- 
 ment out of the case and began, he said, " Shut ee box, 
 
 79 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 poppee," reached out and shut it with a bang, saying, 
 " Harold shut ee box," as if glad it was shut. It looked 
 very much as if he were afraid his father would put the 
 violin away too soon. 
 
 February 22d. — He said to-day, " This is a knuckle,*' 
 closing his hand and pointing to the knuckle. Two 
 days ago he pointed to a knuckle on his father's hand 
 and said, "What's dat?" He was told it was a knuckle, 
 when he promptly made a fist and pointed to his own. 
 
 He asked me to go down-stairs, saying, " Carry Har- 
 old down to Bavinia, see ee bird cellar." Another 
 new effort for to-day was when he tried to hang a 
 thermometer up above the mantel and said, " Hang ee 
 up mantel-piece." 
 
 February 23d. — When he heard a neighboring fac- 
 tory-whistle this evening he said, " Hear it whistle six 
 o'clock." 
 
 When talking of a clock he said, "I go see it six 
 o'clock " (his usual bedtime). When he was screaming 
 to-day he said, " Mannie make a noise." 
 
 He was trying to find a big ring carved in the mantel 
 this morning. The mantel was draped recently, so the 
 ring was covered. When hunting for it he said, " Find 
 big O. Harold find it. Big O go to sleep," and then 
 when he had discovered it he said "I find it." Then 
 he dropped the curtain and said, " O gone to sleep." 
 
 He is very fond of his new nurse, Annie — an old 
 colored mammy. To-day he said to her, " Open closet, 
 build a house." His blocks are in the closet. A few 
 days ago, when asking for a drink, he said, " Drink fresh 
 water." 
 
 He is very fond of Mrs. A , who is a neighbor at 
 
 present. This morning when she came in he climbed 
 
 80 
 
THIED YEAR 
 
 on the chair before her, dangled his legs, and said, 
 " Harold sit on chair, talk ee lady." She began to talk 
 to him and asked him what he wanted to say. He 
 looked at her very shyly and said, "Lof lady." He 
 calls her " ee lady up - tairs," and often begs to go to 
 see her. 
 
 February 24th. — To-day he said at various times, 
 " Did she take 'em out ?" (alluding to some action of 
 his nurse in regard to some toys) "lufly wheel," and 
 "lof Dr. T ," meaning a physician who called re- 
 cently to see him. 
 
 He wanted a book of photographs this morning, 
 which he called " Uncle Henery's book," because it con- 
 tained a picture of his uncle. He said " Mamma, give 
 Harold pictures," then said to himself, " Ash mamma 
 gib Harold pictures," as if approving of his method 
 for getting them. 
 
 He said to Annie to - day about a broken toy, " I 
 thought you fixed it." He also said, " Hang it up on a 
 nail," pronouncing the " g " hard when saying hang. 
 
 Another sentence was "Bring ee chair see ee mom- 
 my sew." 
 
 This afternoon he was very much interested in watch- 
 ing a fox-terrier over the way while its owner was teach- 
 ing it to jump over the fence. He said, " See mannie 
 jumpit dog." When I directed his attention to the dog, I 
 said, " What is his name ?" He said " Germantown dog," 
 remembering his own fox - terrier which he had at 
 Germantown six months ago. 
 
 February 25th. — He saw the reflection of the gas- 
 light to-night on a dark-colored bottle, and he called out 
 instantly, " Gas on bottle." 
 
 His mother wanted to use something to-day to which 
 F 81 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 be objected, and he said, " Mommy no use dat, put 
 away on mantel-piece, mommy go away." 
 
 His new words and sentences to-day were : " No, I 
 like piggy slippers " ; " See him put a bread out " ; 
 " Mommy write " ; " I got it " ; " Harold hold it — glass- 
 water," when holding a glass of water, of which he 
 seemed very proud. 
 
 February 28th. — This morning on waking he said, 
 " What time is it, mommy ?" "shave," " poppee shave," 
 "is gone to shave." Later he said, "I must fix it; too 
 bad break teakella (kettle) again" (alluding to a toy- 
 teakettle). 
 
 When we say " Do you like Dr. E ?" he says 
 
 " No." " Do you like Dr. A ?" " No." He has 
 
 unpleasant recollections of both of them that could not 
 
 have been avoided. " Do you like Dr. F ?" " Yes." 
 
 He (Dr. F ) has been very pleasant with him during 
 
 a recent slight illness. " Do you want to see him V 
 " No." (Because he fears he may have to do something 
 unpleasant when he comes. If convinced that nothing 
 of this kind is to be asked of him, he is alwa} r s ready 
 for a chat and a romp with him.) He sometimes says, 
 as if to reassure himself, "Mommy won't hurt you, 
 poppee won't hurt you, doctor won't hurt you." 
 
 To-day he said, while playing and puzzling over some- 
 thing he did not understand, " On odder side. What's 
 dat? I can't find it— on odder side" ; " I think so " ; " Did 
 you fix it ?" " Did you stick him ?" " Whack, piggy," 
 when hitting his wooden pig. He also said, " Shoot 
 Tommy " to-day to his doll. Said to me, when going to 
 bed, "Take it off— the shoes"; "Take it off— the slip- 
 pers " ; " Poppee put on shirt, put on trousers, an' take a 
 baf " ; "Annie, take it off." 
 
 82 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 Before going asleep he said to me, " Glad to see you," 
 " Sweet enough to kiss," which I often say to him after 
 washing his face. He also said " Good-afternoon," and 
 this evening he said " Just one light burning " when he 
 saw the other lights lowered that he might sleep. We 
 asked him how many gaslights were burning in the 
 room. He said, correctly, " One, two, three gases." 
 When carried through the next room he said, again cor- 
 rectly, " Just one gas burning." Afterwards he noticed 
 the light of the Bunsen burner and said, " One — two 
 gases." We asked him if there were any more. He re- 
 plied, " I don't see it." There were none. He is evi- 
 dently going to be cautious in reaching conclusions. 
 (The record shows this is true.) 
 
 When his father was ready to leave for the day, with 
 coat, hat, etc., he said, " Good-bye, papa, go out steet." 
 He always says " steet " for street. To-day he said, 
 " Bring out the cars." He said " the " twice to-day, in- 
 stead of " ee " as usual. He also said to himself, " Is 
 dat funny ? Dat is funny." 
 
 He said to Annie, before she put him in his crib, 
 " Annie, lie down on mommy's bed and hold Harold's 
 hand." His mother often does this when he is falling 
 asleep, and as she was not there at the time, he tried to 
 induce Annie to do it. He said, to-day, " See clock on 
 wall tick-tock-ticking." Also, " Listen to the gas," as it 
 flared, and to his father, " Poppee, smoke pipe, make 
 rings." When on his father's lap watching him making 
 rings, he discovered cigars in his waistcoat-pocket. He 
 grew alarmed, said, "/ not near them," and insisted on 
 sitting on his mother's lap to see the smoke rings, glanc- 
 ing from time to time, as if afraid, at the pocket holdiDg 
 the cigars. 
 
 83 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 To-day, pointing as if with a gun, he said, " Bing, 
 shoot bird." When Lavinia's canary was brought up to 
 amuse him he said, " Poppee, buy new bird." Then he 
 asked me to sing "Moller Goose — fol — la — three — birds," 
 meaning the song of 
 
 "Three crows there were once 
 Who sat on a tree, 
 Fal-la-la-la-la-la," etc. 
 
 I think I sang it over at least two dozen times. He 
 kept repeating, " More — birdie listens" pointing to La- 
 vinia's bird, and kept time with his finger, sometimes 
 singing with me. It had not occurred to me that he 
 wanted me to sing for the bird. He was ill at the time, 
 and I sang because I thought I was pleasing him. 
 
 To-day he said " Oh, mercy !" twice, at intervals. He 
 heard his colored nurse say it. He also said to me when 
 I was at the piano, facing him, however, " Turn around 
 and play good moosic.'' He says " Mommy's precious 
 boy," " mommy's pettie boy," " poppee's darlin'," when 
 asked whose boy he is. 
 
 When he wants me to sing he specifies now, saying, 
 
 " Sing ' Jack and Jill,' " or " Sing ' Little Bo Peep.' " 
 
 When we go over "Mother Goose" together, he says 
 
 some of the words and I say the rest, and wait for him 
 
 to say his. In this way we go over the entire book. 
 
 He seems to know them all very well, although he is just 
 
 two years old. The following are his words for " Jack 
 
 and Jill": 
 
 " Jack — Jill — hill — water, 
 Down — crown — after 
 Got — trot. 
 
 "Caper — bed — head — paper 
 In — grin — plaster 
 Vexed — next — disaster. " 
 84 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 He waits for me to say some words, just as if he 
 wanted me to have a turn — not as if he didn't know 
 them all. 
 
 This evening he said, " Dink water, baf — sim (swim) 
 baf-yoom." 
 
 "When he hears the door-bell at breakfast - time he 
 says, " letter-man," and " gib ee letter." He says to me, 
 questioningly, " Want ee coffee ?" He also says " bread- 
 and-butter." Once he asked for " nice bread-and-butter." 
 When he has junket for dessert for dinner he says, 
 " Junket, lufly junket." When he gets rice-pudding he 
 says, " Kice-pudding day." 
 
 He says " tomach " for stomach, " kib " for crib ; and 
 says, distinctly, "medicine," "piano," "violin," "work- 
 ing," " stocking " (although he often drops the s), " Santa 
 Claus," " tongs," " sugar-tongs," and " spoons." He says 
 " pockee-book " now, instead of " po-book," as he used to. 
 
 March 1st. — To-day, while he was trying to go to 
 sleep, he said to me, as I came into the room to get 
 something, "Shut the door; Harold go asleep." I left 
 quickly, and he was soon asleep. Later in the day his 
 mother sat down to darn some stockings, when he said, 
 " Mamma, don't sew papa's stockings ; hang it up." 
 
 To-day I let him look at a photograph of himself that 
 was taken in July last with his dog in his arms. He 
 looked at it intently, suddenly turned, and said, " Where's 
 the bell ?" I remembered then that six months ago, in 
 October, we had tried to get a good picture of him, 
 but failed, and one only was finished, in which he held 
 a bell. Harold saw this bell in the one finished pict- 
 ure, which we sent away at the time it was taken. He 
 hasn't seen it since, yet asked for the bell to-day, when 
 looking at a different picture. 
 
 85 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 To-day he called to his nurse, " My nice Annie." 
 
 This afternoon he was busy playing with a little play- 
 mate. I thought I could steal a nap, and threw myself 
 down on the couch. He said, instantly, " Open ee eyes ; 
 no shut eyes." I was so sleepy that I closed them un- 
 consciously, but every time he would call out, plead- 
 ingly, " No shut eyes." 
 
 This evening he said to his father, " Papa, play violin " ; 
 " Papa sit down eat ee supper." To Annie he has said 
 for over a month, " Annie, build a house wi matches." 
 (This is a favorite occupation of his with safety-matches. 
 He will amuse himself a half -hour at a time with them). 
 
 This evening we asked him if he loved Dr. A . He 
 
 said " Luf Dr. A ." "We asked him again, and he 
 
 said " No." Then we asked him if he loved Dr. T . 
 
 He said " Yes, love Dr. T ." We are trying to get 
 
 him to forget his unpleasant recollections of Dr. A , 
 
 but he seems to remember too vividly to forget easily. 
 To-day his mother wanted to dress a cut with antiseptic 
 lint, and he said, " Mamma, put ee cotton way." When 
 she picked it up again he said, " Put it on Annie fin- 
 ger," as if his finger was to be spared. Then he said, 
 as she took the salve, "Mamma won't hurt Harold wi 
 grease ; papa won't hurt Harold ; doctor won't hurt 
 Harold ; doctor put satchel way. Doctor come in, see 
 soldier picture," which he thinks is a great pleasure (one 
 of Detaille's). 
 
 At dinner this evening he said " Papa, gib some 
 pease " ; " Papa, gib Harold crust " ; " piece of crust " ; 
 " good crust" ; " nice crust." To-night he said, " Put ee 
 stockings on, go see papa in next yoom," when I took 
 them off to get him ready for bed. He is full of little 
 ways of pleading to stay up at night with "papa." 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 "When going to bed to-night he said, in his usual 
 pleading way, " See papa eat oysters next yoom." This 
 afternoon he said " I must find it," emphasizing must. 
 
 March 2d. — He said, to-day, "Harold sneeze"; also 
 " Too bad ; Harold broke it." 
 
 I gave him a small music-box that had a handle simi- 
 lar to a winding tape-measure, and at first he called it 
 a " tape-measure." 
 
 March 3d. — His new sentences to-day were, "Put 
 this on the top," and " Stand up and look at Bridget," 
 to a picture he saw in a fashion paper that he called 
 Bridget. 
 
 He made H, X, and A with matches, and told me 
 what letters they were. We sometimes give him a box 
 of safety-matches to build letters with, and it pleases 
 him very much. At times he asks for them, but does 
 not get them. This evening when he received the box 
 he took out all the matches, shut the box-slide, hit it to 
 make sure it was shut, and set it aside in a very decided 
 way, as if to say, " Now I have the matches, I shall do 
 as I please with them." He then built houses, letters, 
 and engines, and amused himself for a long time. 
 
 A short time ago he saw a picture of a screw-top glue- 
 pot in a journal, and said at once, in an excited way, 
 pointing to it, " What's dat ?" I said " A glue-pot." He 
 looked at it doubtingly for a while, then said, very de- 
 cidedly, "That's the doctor's; doctor won't hurt you; 
 don't like bottle doctor." I then noticed that the bottle 
 resembled an ether-bottle used once when etherizing him. 
 When I asked him where he had seen a doctor's bot- 
 tle, he looked at the end of the mantel where the one 
 used had been standing. He then said, although it was 
 his beloved "schlussel book," "Put the book away; 
 
 87 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 don't like the doctor's bottle." He asked for it again, 
 however, after a while, as though it had a fascination 
 for him, yet he showed apprehension when he saw the 
 picture. 
 
 When he heard some one moving in the hall later on 
 in the day he started and said to me, " Doctor won't 
 hurt you." Had his mother thought he would notice 
 and remember so much she would have cautioned the 
 physicians and have saved him much nerve-strain. It 
 is a mistake no doubt often made, for knowledge so 
 often comes too late, and children suffer. (The record 
 shows that it took more than a year for the child to re- 
 cover from the nerve-strain, which could all be traced to 
 the fact that he was allowed to be in the room while 
 preparations were being made to etherize him. These 
 facts may serve to illustrate where physicians and sur- 
 geons may make a few practical deductions from child- 
 study.) 
 
 He said, to - day, to his mother, " See birdie sleep, 
 mamma; hang it up, gas"; "Tommy kiss O's, kiss choo- 
 choo," putting the letters and engine to Tommy's mouth. 
 (Tommy is a stuffed rag doll). He then said, in a reflect- 
 ive tone, " Tommy's face very dirty." Dr. A had said 
 
 the same a few days before, and Harold said it as if, now 
 
 that he came to think of it, Dr. A was right. He 
 
 then said, " Tommy sit up," trying to make him sit. He 
 accomplished it, and eagerly said to me, " Harold made 
 Tommy sit up." This evening when he saw a picture 
 of a tape-measure he thought of the music-box he had 
 received recently, for he asked at once, " Mamma, gib 
 Harold musila-box." She gave it to him, turning over 
 another page of the book as she did so. He turned the 
 handle of the music-box and said, " Find tape-measure." 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 She turned back one page again to the tape-measure 
 picture, and he looked for and saw that it had no handle, 
 so he looked about the room and said, " Mamma, find 
 other tape-measure," signifying he wanted the one we 
 used that had a handle. He saw the points of resem- 
 blance, yet knew each thing for what it was. 
 
 He has said " sterilized " distinctly for several weeks. 
 
 He said to-day, " Soldier picture ; sing to soldier pict- 
 ure," the one of Detaille's alluded to before, of which 
 he is very fond. 
 
 He spoke of snow the other day when he saw it fall- 
 ing. 
 
 This evening he asked, " How many gases burning V 
 When we reached a picture in the Iron Age of a large 
 stationary engine, he said " What's dat ?" I said, " Ma- 
 chine." He repeated the word, looked at me, then said 
 " machinery " twice. How he learned it I do not know. 
 He must have heard some one say it in this connection. 
 
 For several days he has said a number of times, " Mam- 
 ma, take him arms." He does this when he does not feel 
 very well, and it always makes her watch him closely 
 that she may try to correct any disturbance before it 
 goes too far. 
 
 He wanted his " schliissel book" this evening, and when 
 his mother gave it to him she said, " Tell mamma you 
 are her darling boy." He hugged her, and said in a tone 
 of great affection, " Mamma's darlin', preciotcs boy." 
 
 March 4th. — He said to-day, " This is a knife to cut 
 some bread," pointing to bread -knife. He also said, 
 " Papa dress too" the first time he has said too. Said 
 " bing " for bring. 
 
 He said to Kate, a visitor, " Love Kate, sit down on 
 Kate's lap, tired of sitting on Annie's lap." 
 
 89 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 Other sentences at this date were: "Mommy's good 
 boy"; "Stella (a playmate) not here to-day"; "Bring it 
 up the spoons, Stella;" " I love it, the boy," alluding to 
 little Walter, with whom he played occasionally ; " Shut 
 this window." 
 
 He put one of his father's bamboo canes in a hole in 
 a chair this evening, and amused himself for a long time 
 making it go up and down and bend. 
 
 He said to Annie to-day, " Annie write to Susan, gib 
 ee dis one pencil, write to Susan." She told him a few 
 days ago that she must write a letter to some one called 
 Susan. He said to me to-day, " Thank yon, put away 
 nice little gas-light," returning to me a gas-burner I had 
 given him to play with. Then he said, " Mamma, try to 
 reach it, mantel-piece." 
 
 As soon as he hears a piano, even if it is next door, he 
 asks for his toy piano, and begins to play. 
 
 March 6th. — A new sentence to-day was " Stand up 
 and wind the tick-tock up." 
 
 One day recently, when not well, he said, "Just a 
 while lean on here" (meaning my shoulder), "Annie's 
 arms break." She must have complained in his hear- 
 ing of her arms being tired or being ready to break. 
 
 To-day he had spinach for dinner, the first time for a 
 month. He recognized it, and called it " pinage." 
 
 His new sentences to-day were: "Write Baby Mc- 
 Kee"; "Where's it?" and "No, got enough," when asked 
 if he would have more of something. 
 
 He also said again to-day, " Doctor won't hurt you, 
 table." 
 
 An old servant called Bridget brought him a balloon 
 to-day. He seemed afraid of it, and said, " Don't ee like 
 ee Bridget ball. Needn't go near it. Hang it up." He 
 
 90 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 has not seen her for six weeks. At first he looked shy 
 and turned away, but turned back again, and looked at 
 her as if glad and surprised, sa}ang " Bridget."" 
 
 He said to his father to-night, when he went to bed, 
 " Good-bye, papa, until to-morrow, see you again." 
 
 This evening as I sang about " Good-night to birds," 
 he sang " Good-night, Bavinia's bird." 
 
 March 7th. — To-day he said, " Got a pain in tummach, 
 mamma." At night he begged to lie in " mamma's 
 bed," and was ill all night. He cried constantly, " Take 
 him, carry him in mamma's arms, walk floor." 
 
 March 9th. — This evening at dinner he picked up a 
 piece of cr.ust lying by his father's plate, tasted it, said, 
 " Don't ee like ee papa's crust, want a drink," and said, 
 also, " Get a spoon and feed him " ; " Harold feed him- 
 self "; "Want some meat"; "Want some juice" (roast- 
 beef dish gravy) ; " Want some tato," and so on, as 
 each dish appeared. As he grew sleepy he said, as if 
 afraid she wouldn't do it on account of dinner, " Mam- 
 ma, take me ; lie on mamma's bed, hold hand." 
 
 He began lately to say, in a conscious way after mak- 
 ing a remark, " Hear dat, papa?" Every one began at 
 once to be more careful, and the servants were cautioned, 
 for fear he would lose his unconsciousness, and results 
 justified this care. He has now no thought as to how 
 his words appear to others. 
 
 He said to-day, " Fraid ee mamma sew, put ee down 
 ee needle." Also, " Fraid ee mamma go away ; fraid ee 
 
 papa take a choo - choo go to see Aunt M , New 
 
 York." 
 
 He goes over a pet journal of mechanical illustrations 
 in a curious way. He has some association with each 
 picture. When he saw a poker, the name of which he 
 
 91 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 did not know, be said " Bishy," meaning a servant he 
 had seen using a poker ; when he saw a stove - lifter, he 
 said " hot " (he may have found that out by experience, 
 for he sometimes gets into the kitchen). His favorite 
 illustrations are a page of screws, one of keys (after 
 which he calls the book his " schliissel book," for we told 
 him the German word for key), and a very complete il- 
 lustration of a locomotive, but he will sit contentedly, 
 turning over page after page, and talk to himself about 
 all the pictures. He does this also with Mother Goose, 
 and seems to know nearly all of it, sometimes humming- 
 snatches of the melody, but he prefers the " schliissel 
 book," and finds something new in it every time he looks 
 it over, and is always eager to show me his discoveries. 
 It is astonishing to see how he amuses himself from 
 morning to night when we do not confuse him with too 
 many things. One time we give him blocks, another 
 time take him to the kitchen and let him reign until nap- 
 time, when cook gets a chance to tidy up again. "When 
 there, he will go from one utensil to another, point to 
 them, and say " What's dat ?" 
 
 Every evening now he sa} T s to his father as soon as 
 he is in the house, " Papa, play ee violin," and while he 
 plays he will rest quietly in his nurse's arms. When 
 his father stops playing, to go to dinner, he says, " Put 
 ee violin seep." He found somewhere a fan shaped 
 like a violin, and an egg-beater that he uses as a bow. 
 He calls these " my violin," and goes about the house 
 playing and singing at the top of his voice. 
 
 Yesterday I held him up at the window to see a chute 
 coal-wagon. He looked at the men taking out the coal 
 for a while, and then said, " Make ee wheel go round." 
 I didn't know at first what he meant, but afterwards I 
 
 92 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 saw them lower the cart, and understood. I had not 
 noticed the wheel before. 
 
 This evening I gave him a bottle of milk that was a 
 little bit warmer than he is accustomed to. He instant- 
 ly handed back the bottle after touching it, and said, 
 " Put his bottle in the cold." He often says " his " now 
 for " ee." 
 
 To-night, when giving him a mustard foot-bath, he 
 protested, and lifting his feet out of the water said, 
 "Don't like ee mustard." He heard me tell nurse to 
 put the mustard in. Probably if he had not heard this 
 he would not have noticed the difference, especially if I 
 had diverted his attention when doing it. 
 
 March 11th. — This evening he said, in about one hour 
 after receiving a toy violin, " Daden's bow ; poor bow 
 fell!" (to his own when it fell). "Mommy sing 'A 
 Maggie pet.' Poppee don't want to play violin." Then 
 to his own, "Sweet violin, nice violin, lovely violin; mam- 
 ma kiss violin, Harold kiss violin " (doing it). " Don't 
 
 want Dr. A to play violin." (This doctor lanced 
 
 his gums when he was teething.) When told he was to 
 go to bed, he said, " No ; Harold must play violin. Go 
 clock " (meaning go see clock). " Harold go to bed ? I 
 t'ought so. Pretty violin. Oh-h-h, is it broket again ? 
 Where is the oder piece ?" (when a peg fell out). His 
 mother said, "Can't you find it ?" He said "No. Come 
 find it, mommy ; come find it, mommy ; find tick to 
 Harold's violin." Then he said, meditatively, " Poppee 
 don't play piano. Mommy don't play violin" (noting 
 difference, as usual). " Poppee's violin in big box." 
 Then, after seeing something about the violin that made 
 him point and exclaim " W " very eagerly, he went to 
 bed as if he had to go but did not want to. 
 
 93 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 This evening he said, "Feed children supper. Poor 
 children cry; I get it. I get Moller Goose" running to 
 the next room to get the book to bring it to me. I never 
 looked to see to which song he alluded. He broke his toy 
 violin after dinner and said, " Poppee fix it." When his 
 father returned it to him he said, voluntarily, " Thank 
 you, papa. Harold play violin." 
 
 March 12th. — This morning he said to his father when 
 he left, " Good-bye, poppee ; see you soon again " ; then, 
 " Mommy, get violin " (meaning his own) ; " daden's bow 
 next yoom; fraid ee poppee put it seep next yoom" 
 (again meaning his own, fearing his father had put his 
 away with his own). 
 
 To-day, when looking over a puzzle-block game that 
 had a large picture of an engine on the box-cover, he 
 found a small piece of the engine inside, which he 
 promptly called " little choo-choo," pointing to the bell 
 on the piece at the same time, and saying " ting-a-ling- 
 a-ling." He then said, eight times in succession, " big 
 choo-choo, little choo-choo," again noting difference. 
 
 When dressed in the morning now he goes to the 
 door and calls, " Annie come and talk a you." She asked 
 him who gave him the engine. He said, " Mamma bing 
 it this muding," (morning). Sometimes he says words 
 correctly, and at other times he does as above — i.e., say- 
 ing " muding " for morning. He is not corrected, for we 
 want him to find out for himself from observation the 
 correct way to pronounce words. When he asks the 
 names of things he is told carefully, and we see that 
 he says the word correctly, but what he learns himself 
 we let alone. We want to find out how much he can 
 absorb from surroundings without direction. So far he 
 has learned a great deal through his own activity. He 
 
 94 
 
NO DATE DRAWINGS 
 
 A, stand-pipe ; B. folded paper frame for drawing of boat ; C, machine-stitching for frame : D, 
 stationary wash stand ; E, flag-man ; F, wheel turning round. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 is never at rest, brain or body, and it keeps us busy to 
 see that be has sufficient diversion without confusion to 
 occupy him from morning to night. So far as is possi- 
 ble, routine is depended on for all that must necessarily 
 be done — i.e., feeding, naps, going out, bathing, and bed- 
 time — and we find that he takes all of them as incidental 
 to what appears to him to be his great occupation — i.e., 
 play. (The records show that he was never happy unless 
 occupied — always asking, " What may I do V when he 
 could find nothing himself, and but a few words of sug- 
 gestion were necessary, as a rule, to send him at once to 
 a new occupation.) 
 
 When he awoke to-day from his nap he was fretful 
 until he thought of his violin. Then he was happy, and 
 wanted to stay home with it instead of going out in his 
 coach. His mother let him take it down to the door 
 with him, and diverted him sufficiently to take it away 
 when he left. It might have been wiser to have openly 
 taken it away, offering something in its place, for he 
 cried as soon as he missed it. As soon as he came home 
 he asked for it, and said, " Fraid a mommy take it way, 
 violin." He then asked me to " play it and sing fiddle," 
 meaning " Hey diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle." 
 
 To-day he said he had a pain in his " tummack," and 
 asked for his medicine (soda-mint). When he had fin- 
 ished taking it he took the spoon and said " More ; 
 Harold feed himself." He evidently likes the sugar in 
 it, and I fear the pain is imaginary. He has shown an 
 inclination several times to use sophistry in getting me 
 to do something he wants very much, so hereafter I 
 shall try to let him know that he can have things for 
 the asking only, and trust that he will ask for what 
 may reasonably be granted. (The record shows that 
 
 95 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 this method corrected his sophistical efforts to a great 
 extent. Some one may have said something in his hear- 
 ing to impress him with the fact that an inducement 
 must be offered to get certain things, but I think he has 
 reasoned it out for himself that he gets certain things 
 under certain conditions — as, for instance, the soda-mint 
 sweetened when he says he has a pain. The only other 
 times we have noticed this inclination have been in the 
 morning, when he tries to induce us to get him up very 
 early, or at bedtime, when he wants to stay up longer 
 than his usual hour. We are generally deaf to his en- 
 treaties at each time, but we are quite accustomed to 
 hear him say in the morning that he wants all sorts of 
 things, each one calculated to make one rise — as, for in- 
 stance, "Want a drink," which he knows he will get, or 
 "Harold hungry," etc. He is not allowed to get up 
 before seven, for we want him to have the habit of 
 waking and rising regularly, and his hour of waking 
 has gradually been regulated from five to half-past six 
 in this way, and we will soon reach seven, by simply 
 chatting and playing with him and giving him a drink 
 of milk and his toys, but insisting on his remaining in 
 bed until seven. Such training is of value, especially 
 when travelling, for he will sit contentedly and amuse 
 himself without disturbing his neighbors. 
 
 To-day he had two pitchers to play with, and poured 
 a little water from one to the other. He said to me in 
 a tone of great delight, " Harold pour." We risked his 
 getting wet to give him the pleasure — and, as in every- 
 thing he does, he showed care. 
 
 This morning we went out for a walk. Before we 
 started he asked to go to see the " choo - choos on ee 
 fence." I promised to take him there, but allowed myself 
 
 96 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 to be diverted from doing so at once. When we were sev- 
 eral blocks beyond the " choo-choo " street, he evident- 
 ly realized that we had gone too far, for he turned 
 about and said, " See choo-choos !" When we returned 
 and reached the place, we found that the posters had 
 been covered with others, much to his disappointment, 
 which I tempered by directing his attention to some- 
 thing attractive beyond ; and as we passed a provision- 
 store he was delighted to see some dressed turkeys 
 hanging there, and called them " roosters." 
 
 This afternoon he crept down half a flight of stairs, 
 unaided, when following his nurse to the bath-room. 
 As he did it he no doubt remembered that he had been 
 told not to do so, for he called, in a very insinuating 
 way, " Good-bye, mamma," as if he wanted very much 
 to go, yet felt it was not quite right. His mother hon- 
 ored this feeling in him and let him alone. 
 
 This evening he asked for a piece of candy. I sup- 
 pose he calls "flake manna" candy because it tastes 
 sweet ; yet I do not know how he can have any con- 
 ception of candy except from hearsay, for he has never 
 eaten any. I gave him a piece of the manna and he ate 
 it, then asked for more. I said "No." He then took up 
 a quinine-chocolate that he had refused to take before, 
 and asked to lie on mamma's bed to eat it, and ate it 
 all. Then he came to me and asked again for " more 
 piece of candy," as if he thought I would be so pleased 
 to see him eat the chocolate that he would get the man- 
 na as a reward. Hard as I found it to deny him, he did 
 not get it, for he must do what is right without being 
 bribed, and he must learn that he must not attempt 
 to bribe. (This is a great evil in training children, both 
 at home and in school. Using bribes, marks, honors, or 
 
 a 97 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 anything of the kind, should not be allowed until a child 
 has reached years that bring with them some judgment 
 as to the real value of things. A child should learn to 
 do a thing because it is right in itself to do it, not be- 
 cause some one else wants him to do it, and he should 
 see by example that those about him follow the same 
 rule, then doing right will become a life-long habit.) 
 
 March 13th. — This morning when dressed he said, 
 "Mamma draw the curtain las night six o'clock ; Harold 
 go asleep. Hear dat, papa?" as if proud of going to 
 bed so early. To-day it snowed, and he said, " See — 
 the snow falling down !" He put his finger on the re- 
 flector of a speaking-tube to-day, moved it, and called 
 Lavinia so that she heard it. 
 
 "When his father was dressing this morning he said, 
 " Papa, put clothes on ; what coat, trousers ?" opening 
 the door of the closet and looking in as he spoke, as if 
 he wished to know which to get for him— showing, as 
 usual, his desire to help others. 
 
 March 14th. — Said " Fool ee Annie dat time " to his 
 nurse. She often says to him, "Fool Harold !" when she 
 plays with him. 
 
 One morning when he was trying to get his mother 
 to rise, she showed a strong disposition to lie down again 
 after having risen. He called out to his father, in a 
 tone of great apprehension, " Fraid ee mamma lie down, 
 papa." Poor little chap, he seems to feel the responsi- 
 bility of getting us up in the morning, and, as every one 
 but himself is up late at night, it is pretty hard work. 
 
 March 15th. — This evening at dinner his father said, 
 jokingly, "Will you have some of the edibles?" He 
 replied, " Don't like edibles." 
 
 March 16th. — To-day he said, " Mamma, lift ee in ee 
 
 98 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 arms see horsy, see bird-cage." Also, when his father 
 left with a travelling-bag, "Papa, steet, New York, 
 
 Aunt M y." He evidently thinks that every time 
 
 his father goes out of the house with a bag he goes to 
 ]STew York to see Aunt M y. 
 
 March 18th. — When his father came in this evening- 
 he ran to him and said, "Iss, papa," kissed him, brought 
 his little violin and bow immediately, walked up to 
 where the big one was, stood there, and said, repeated- 
 ly, " Papa play big violin." When at last his father 
 did play, he walked around the room as usual, playing 
 his. It is a very quaint sight, for he holds both violin 
 and bow correctly, for his father found it was just as 
 easy to show him the right way as the wrong. It is on 
 this principle that he is shown correctly how to do any- 
 thing that he is likely to use in later life. One evening 
 recently, when amusing each other with their violins, 
 Harold's father used his bow on Harold's violin, nat- 
 urally with increased sound. Harold instantly cried for 
 "big bow" to use it himself on his violin, and it took 
 a long time to restore his content with his own bow. 
 (This shows how readily a child may be made unhappy 
 by comparisons.) 
 
 This evening at early dinner he was allowed to sit at 
 table. He had bread-and-milk, and asked for a spoon 
 to " feed himself." I spoke incidentally of Mary (a 
 former servant). He said at once, " Did you see Mary ? 
 Did you see George ?" (Mary's husband, of whom he 
 was very fond). He had not seen nor heard of them for 
 some time. 
 
 This morning he found a picture of a clock in his pet 
 journal which looked not unlike one in a friend's room. 
 He called it "lady's clock," and handed me another 
 
 99 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 copy of the journal, begging me to " Find noclder lady's 
 clock." I did so, and he was delighted, repeating many 
 times " Find nodder lady's clock." Then he looked 
 closely at them, said " Won't go," then looked up at the 
 clock on the wall and said, " Ganma's clock ; don't 
 touch." 
 
 One morning before I had risen he was yery quiet, 
 and we discovered him on my desk pulling at the pen- 
 dulum of a clock which he calls "ganme's clock" be- 
 cause she gave it to me. 
 
 March 19th. — When his father kissed him good-bye 
 this morning he said, " See papa out er winnow on steet." 
 I held him so he could see him for a moment as he passed 
 out of sight. He said, " There he is — gone,'" and turned 
 away as if ready for something else. He is a very 
 philosophical little fellow. 
 
 This evening he said to us, " See Mrs. Pancer." We 
 asked him where. He said, " On ee steet at ee corner." 
 We found out afterwards that he and his nurse had 
 passed a Mrs. Spencer at the corner of a street in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 The other evening when in his own room he lost a 
 peg of his violin, one that came out very easily. We 
 all went out to find it for him. Since then he begs us 
 every evening to come out and find it, leading each one 
 of us to the same place, because he still misses it. We 
 really found it the first evening, but put it away, un- 
 known to him, for we thought he would soon be satis- 
 fied without it, and it was so loose that he was constant- 
 ly losing it. I suppose it would have been kinder to 
 the little fellow to have fixed the peg in so that it 
 would stay. 
 
 To-night he said at dinner, "Want some oysters. 
 
 100 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 Papa want some water? Harold pour it out." He 
 always wants to help wherever he is, and he is still en- 
 couraged in it, although at times it is trying to wait 
 until he has done what he is aiming; at. 
 
 He saw a bird go down a chimney to-day, and said, 
 " See little bird go down hole." He never saw a chim- 
 ney from the top, so he must have reasoned that there 
 was a hole because the bird disappeared. When he saw 
 flowing water and sleet on snow to-day, he said, ap- 
 ropos of each subject, " See water run," and " See water 
 on snow." 
 
 He was very sleepy when he was put down for his 
 nap, and as soon as his head touched the pillow he said, 
 very decidedly, " Draw curtain, mamma." It sounded 
 as if he could hardly wait to go to sleep. When he 
 saw her lying on a couch later in the day he said to 
 himself, " Mamma resting." 
 
 When he went to see Mrs. A to-day he asked for 
 
 " birdie." She has a stuffed bird that she gives to him 
 occasionally to amuse himself with while we chat. To- 
 day, after receiving the bird, he said, "Put birdie on ee 
 trunk." We did so. Then he looked at it and said, 
 " See birdie on ee trunk," then took it up and caressed 
 it, asking me to kiss its eyes and its tail. As he said tail 
 he pointed to the branch upon which the bird's feet were 
 resting. I then showed him where the tail was. 
 
 When looking out of the window to-day he said, 
 " See ee bird in cage," indicating that he wanted to 
 move so he could get something in his line of vision. I 
 did as he wanted, and found that from a certain part of 
 the window-ledge he could see a bird in a cage in a 
 house across the street. He had evidently discovered 
 this before, but had said nothing about it, for we were 
 
 101 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 not aware of its being the case. He is constantly sur- 
 prising us in this way. 
 
 A violinist and harpist played before the house one 
 day recently, and he insisted on having his violin and 
 being put on the window-ledge, where he stood and 
 played for a long time, much to the amusement of the 
 musicians outside. 
 
 "When he was being dressed to-day to go out with his 
 nurse he said, " Take the chair away." It appears she 
 has to remove a chair in the down-stair's hall in order 
 to get the coach out of the door, and he meant that she 
 should get it ready while I was dressing him. 
 
 He began running up and down before his father this 
 evening, saying, " Boom, boom, bumpety boom ; shoot 
 papa, bing !" pointing his finger as he did it. 
 
 March 20th.— To-day he said, "Call papa"; "King" 
 
 bell"; "Mamma resting"; "Papa, play big violin"; 
 
 " Call papa ; papa, come home, play big violin." "When 
 
 he came in from his airing he said, " Had good time on 
 
 -steet." 
 
 This morning to amuse him I suggested that he go 
 
 to the door, call Mrs. A , and say " Good-morning " 
 
 to her. He called "Mrs. A " four times, waiting 
 
 until she answered; then he said " Good - morning;." 
 This occupied him for quite a little while, and I had a 
 few minutes' freedom until he was ready for something 
 else. Yesterday when I heard Mrs. A going down- 
 stairs I said to him, to divert him for a moment, " Call 
 
 good-bye to Mrs. A ." He did so, and added, " Frow 
 
 a kiss to Mrs. A ." He loves her very much, and it 
 
 pleases him to do these things, at the same time it culti- 
 vates a kindly feeling to others. He appears now to 
 love nearly every person he meets. 
 
 102 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 To-day he said, " Mamma tore her dress. Too bad !" 
 
 He heard us say alcohol, and said, instantly, "Don't 
 like alcohol bottle on ee mantel." He is rubbed with it, 
 and doesn't like the smell. He says the word very 
 distinctly. 
 
 For several months now he has said, when eating, 
 " Put away, got enough," and he will take no more. 
 
 To-day he said, " Make a tick-tock. Harold make a 
 tick-tock." He has stopped saying I, except occasion- 
 ally, and uses his name (Harold) instead. He told me 
 to-night to " Make lamp light again ; make gas - pipe 
 light." He also asked to go out this afternoon by say- 
 ing, " Mamma, get ee coat and cap and take Harold 
 bye," following it up with " Annie no Harold bye " 
 (meaning he preferred that his mother should take him 
 out instead of his nurse). 
 
 When his mother tried to cover his bare feet this 
 evening with his night-coat, while holding him on her 
 lap before placing him in bed, he said, " Mamma, coat 
 no on feet." He always shows a desire to have them 
 bare at this time, and it is curious to hear him say "no" 
 for not. 
 
 March 21st. — "Hello, Alfred!" he said, to-day, looking 
 in the next room to see if it was an errand-boy he 
 knew, for he heard some one moving about. He saw 
 it was his nurse, however, and then said, " Oh, that's 
 Annie !" 
 
 This evening he said to his father when he came in, 
 " Take off gloves, poppee ; take off fingers." 
 
 His mother had a headache and he said, "Annie's 
 forehead, mamma's forehead — poor mamma's forehead !" 
 He said " Big pin, little pin " repeatedly to-day, to two 
 safety-pins of different size. 
 
 103 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 On March 22d he said, " Now, Tommy, sit up ; now, 
 Tommy, eat some breakfast " ; " Tommy like boy 
 squeak." Tommy is his pet rag doll, and he talks to 
 him a great deal. He also said that " Tommy go in a 
 hole." We couldn't find out what he meant. 
 
 March 23d. — As I poured all the water from a carafe 
 into a large basin this morning he said, "Big water, 
 little water ; little water gone out." 
 
 March 24th. — New sentences to-day were " Lots of 
 good times " ; " Lots of good fun." 
 
 March 25th. — He asked me to " Sit on ee knees." This 
 is the first time for the word knees. 
 
 March 26th. — He said to-da}?- to himself, " Papa says 
 no, no, Harold; papa says turn those pins around" 
 (meaning pegs in violin). He said later to me, " Harold 
 want to write." He has never asked for this before. 
 He has a great notion of comparing — i.e., "big vio- 
 lin, little violin " ; " big cup, little cup " ; " big pin, little 
 pin," etc. 
 
 ' March 27th. — He was delighted to sit up to early 
 dinner this evening, and said, " Harold see papa eat 
 supper. Harold see mamma eat supper too. Harold 
 eat too. Lots of fun. Lots of good times." 
 
 March 28th. — I washed "Tommy" to-day, and when 
 he saw him he noticed it at once and said, " New Tom- 
 my, nice new Tommy. Tommy clean." But first he 
 rubbed him with his hand and said, " Tommy wet." The 
 doll was not yet dry. 
 
 March 29th. — He said to-day, "Fraicl mommy lay 
 down herself." This is the first time he has said "her- 
 self." When he came in from his walk, Annie asked 
 him what the gentleman said to him. He replied at 
 once, " Shake hands." 
 
 104 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 He is very much interested in clocks, and insists on 
 stopping to see every clock he can find in the windows 
 as we go along. He rarely misses one, and keeps on 
 the lookout for them during the entire time we are out 
 walking. In consequence, we take quite a long time to 
 walk a very short way, for nearly every window has a 
 clock. I fear it will soon be a question as to which one 
 of us is the more clever in selecting a route — whether it 
 be one minus clocks, or almost so, at any rate, to suit 
 me, or full of them, to suit him. 
 
 Every evening when his father comes in it is still the 
 same old story, " Poppee, play big violin ; Harold play 
 little violin " ; and, " Poppee, put rosin on bow, mamma 
 dance, Harold play — lift dress and dance, mamma." She 
 has danced for him several times, to show him the mo- 
 tion of her feet when waltzing. 
 
 His mother was ready to take him out this afternoon, 
 but had not yet taken up her gloves. He said, " Mam- 
 ma, get gloves." He seems to observe every little thing. 
 We need make no effort to influence him to notice 
 things. He misses very little, and seems to remember 
 everything he once sees or hears. 
 
 (The record shows that when he was old enough to 
 ask questions about things that puzzled him, he remem- 
 bered every answer he received with but one telling. 
 His usual form of questioning at this age — two years — 
 was " What's dat ?") 
 
 When he had his bath this evening he soaped his 
 hands, washed them, and dried them with a towel I gave 
 him. Then he held them out to me and said, as if ask- 
 ing me if it were so, "Harold's hands dry?" touching 
 each one as he said it. 
 
 Yesterday he saw a baby in the window across the 
 
 105 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 street. He said, " Baby has white dress on." I asked 
 him if he wanted to have a w r hite one on. He said, " Xo ; 
 Harold has Aunt Mollie's dress on." This is the colored 
 gingham he prefers to all his other dresses. He is a 
 sturdy little fellow. It never makes him unhappy to 
 see others have what he has not. (The record shows 
 this to be the case right through, and he was always 
 content when told he would receive things he asked for 
 " some day," because he was given reason to trust those 
 who promised him anything. The record shows also 
 that it was always found to be the best plan to buy his 
 presents when he was not along, for he soon reasoned 
 out for himself that his part was only to select what he 
 wanted to have " some day," and care was taken to see 
 that he frequently received the things he selected. For 
 this reason he never gave any one trouble about biding 
 when taken about to see things.) 
 
 He has never mentioned color in this way before. 
 He notices when his mother has a black dress on, say- 
 ing, " Mamma has black dress on." He also asks for 
 his "red cap." or "white cap," as the case may be. 
 
 March 31st. — This morning, when Mrs. A and I 
 
 were engaged, he walked up to his father's violin with 
 his own in his hand, and began to laugh aloud, pajnng 
 no attention to us. As he laughed he said, in a low 
 voice, " Papa come home, play big violin. Papa mill 
 come home this evening, play big violin," followed by a 
 long-drawn-out "Oh," and laughing to himself quietly. 
 At last he turned to us and repeated the whole perform- 
 ance in a very comical manner. His laughing was all 
 pretence, quite noiseless, and not at all like his sponta- 
 neous laughter, but as if he were trying to prolong his 
 enjoyment. 
 
 106 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 April 3d. — He wanted to go to sleep at once this 
 evening when put to bed, and called out, " Papa, bet- 
 ter shut the door." There was a slight delay, and he 
 said, " Mamma, shut the door !" emphasizing shut in a 
 marked manner. 
 
 He saw Annie throw a kiss to him with her hand, and 
 said, " Annie put a hand on a kiss." 
 
 April 4th. — To-day he stroked my face, kissed me, 
 hugged me, and said, very lovingly, "My darlin' 
 boy!" He also said to his nurse, "Annie, Harold's 
 darlin'." 
 
 April 7th. — When we took a walk to-day, he saw a 
 pussy in a yard across the way. He stopped, bowed 
 his head, and said, "How do, pussy? Glad to see you, 
 pussy. Pussy come and take a walk." 
 
 To-day he said to himself the whole of the nursery 
 song "Ding dong dell," without any assistance. I asked 
 him this morning where his father was. He answered 
 at once, " Gone to Filaduffia." 
 
 April 10th. — When out walking this morning with his 
 mother it grew very windy, so they hurried home. As 
 they went along he pulled at her hand and said, "Hurry 
 up fast, mamma " ; then, " Walk hard, mamma, windy," 
 running as he said it. 
 
 To-day he said, " Sit hard, Aunt C ." I couldn't 
 
 find out what he meant. He sat down on the floor 
 then to try to button his shoes, and as he did it he 
 leaned over them very closely and said, " This is the 
 
 way Aunt C does." I recognized the position at 
 
 once. He is very imitative. 
 
 April 12th. — He amused himself to-day by watching 
 a sprinkling-wagon go up and down the street. I heard 
 him say to himself several times "Here it comes again." 
 
 107 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 He also said to a sleeping dog, " Get up, dog," and to 
 one he met, " How do, dog ?" 
 
 April 15th. — "When at dinner to-day he looked around 
 and said, "I see no apple - sauce." He likes it very 
 much, and has it nearly every day for dinner, but this 
 day it had been overlooked. 
 
 This morning, when he went to the window to see his 
 beloved choo-choos pass by, we heard him say, " Good- 
 morning, Mrs. Y ," saying the name of a neighbor 
 
 whom we thought he would not remember from his 
 previous visit (he was away from home). We then 
 
 saw that Mrs. l r was at her window. He knew 
 
 her at once, although he had not seen her for four 
 months. 
 
 Last night his mother put him to bed after having 
 dressed to go in the rain to a concert. He said to her, 
 "Fraid mamma go away. Mamma got rubbers on. 
 Mamma got shoes on. Take hat off, mamma ; tay with 
 Harold." All this was said in a very pleading tone. 
 She removed her hat and rubbers, and he fell asleep 
 contentedly. As he invariably sleeps until eleven, after 
 once getting asleep, he can be left without trouble if 
 no sign of going is given while he is awake. 
 
 (The record shows that when he was old enough to 
 understand, he was told every time that his parents ex- 
 pected to be away when he was asleep. This was done to 
 keep him free from any knowledge of deception. Minot 
 Savage tells a stor3 r of a boy in Boston who said of his 
 father and mother, who promised him a ride daily but 
 never took him, " There go two of the biggest liars in 
 Boston." I have also heard of a child who evidently 
 met deception somewhere, who said that since liars 
 wouldn't go to heaven there wouldn't be many people 
 
 108 
 
NO DATE DRAWINGS 
 
 A, "a disappearing cannon"; B, "a man having his hair cut — the boy is pulling the longhair 
 of the woman who is cutting the man's hair"; C, "ostrich looking back as he runs"; D, re- 
 versible picture. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 there ; maybe grandma, but she was sure there wouldn't 
 be any men there.) 
 
 To-day he saw one of his white dresses lying on the 
 grass to bleach. He became very cross and said it 
 would get dirty, not understanding the process. He 
 saw his beloved colored gingham on the line and said, 
 "Aunt Mottle's dress get clean." 
 
 He has been watching his cousin prepare a bed for 
 planting tomatoes. He was allowed to dig in the ashes 
 that were used. Next day he said, "Mamma, get 
 shobel, dig powder," meaning the ashes, which to him 
 seemed like powder, yet we do not know how he learned 
 anything about powder. 
 
 April 16th. — This morning John S came in. Har- 
 old knew him at once and went to him very soon. They 
 were very friendly about four weeks ago, at which time 
 Harold was very much pleased with my explanation of 
 
 a metronome to John S and J 's cousin who 
 
 called on us at the time. John S asked him 
 
 where the clock was (Harold called the metronome a 
 clock). He replied, " Clock asleep." We had put it 
 
 out of sight after John S left, because we could 
 
 not easily control Harold's desire to have it while 
 he could see it, hence his own conclusion of " clock 
 asleep." 
 
 The engines pass and repass all day on the railroad 
 back of his aunt's house, and he stands at the window 
 at intervals all day long. He shows that he reasons, for 
 as an engine passes out of sight at one window he 
 crosses the room quickly and looks for it from another 
 window, from which the engine may be seen as it turns 
 a curve in the track. 
 
 To-day I asked him if he wanted to go to see his father 
 
 109 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 on Friday. He said, " Don't like Friday." Then I said 
 Saturday. He said, " Yes, go to see papa, Saturday." I 
 then said, " Papa will play the big violin." He smiled 
 and said, " Harold play little violin." 
 
 April 17th.— This morning, as he was lying in bed for 
 a moment with his mother, he said, " Mamma, put head 
 on Harold's dry pillow." Some milk had just been spilled 
 on the end of the pillow towards her. He shows quite a 
 great deal of consideration for her in many ways. To en- 
 courage him in this he is always given some kind word 
 or a kiss in return, and care is taken to let him see that 
 it is appreciated. He said, afterwards, " I don't want to 
 go to sleep, mamma. Get up and dress Harold." His 
 sentences now are rapidly becoming fuller, and he often 
 uses every word necessary to form a complete phrase. 
 Since his mind is not so much occupied with the big 
 words — having acquired a considerable vocabulary — he 
 is beginning to notice the connections more, and also 
 the little niceties of accent and pronunciation, yet his 
 attention is not directed to this. He takes it all very 
 naturally and easily, without the least sign of pl^sical 
 or mental strain. By nurturing the physical, he runs 
 along mentally so rapidly that no doubt he will soon 
 have to be repressed a little in suggestion in order to 
 keep things even, for uneven development is always a 
 cause for alarm. 
 
 When he looked out of the window this morning and 
 saw the snow, he said, " Snowing, mamma," pronouncing 
 the "g " distinctly. He put his violin between his knees 
 to-day in quite a professional manner, and said, " I want 
 to wind it up," then turned a peg and touched a string. 
 Then he took his bow and drew the rosin over it to the 
 very end, saying, "This is the wa} T that papa does." 
 
 110 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 Then he drew the bow across the violin, and because it 
 made no sound he said, " Eosin no good." 
 
 He asked me to-day to sing "Baby, baby, oh, my 
 darling bab}''" (Emmet's song, which he heard for the 
 first time about a week ago, when his father sang it for 
 him). 
 
 "When out walking with me this afternoon he saw a 
 clock on a steeple fully a quarter of a mile away, and 
 said, pointing to it, " There's another clock." (He gives 
 frequent evidence of being far-sighted.) 
 
 "We called on some one to-day who gave to him for 
 amusement a board of marbles used for solitaire. The 
 centre hole, as usual, had no marble in it. The in- 
 stant Harold saw the board he said, " Want anoder one," 
 went to the closet from which the board was taken 
 and said it again, looking for the marble he thought 
 was missing. He observes very quickly. When we 
 returned from there we stopped in to see his metro- 
 nome friend, John S , who showed him a gui- 
 tar. Harold said at once, "John's violin got no 
 bridge on." 
 
 April 18th. — This morning when he waked he hugged 
 and kissed his mother, saying " Mamma " — very lovingly 
 — "have lots of good times wif mamma," She asked 
 him if he wanted Annie (his nurse). He said " No — 
 mamma," dwelling on mamma, and by his tone intimat- 
 ing that he preferred to have her. (He always seems 
 so glad to have her instead of the servants that she 
 gives him much more time than was originally planned 
 for. It is evident that it is better for him. With even 
 the most faithful service there is constant need for in- 
 telligent and sympathetic supervision at very short in- 
 tervals, to watch the gradual unfolding of a child's 
 
 ill 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 mind, and to nurture to the best of one's ability its 
 physical development.) 
 
 April 20th. — "We have returned home again, and to- 
 day when Annie left the room for her coat and hat, 
 while Harold was waiting, ready for her to take him 
 out, he said, " Fraid Annie go out herself," for she was 
 rather slow in returning. Then he said, " See an ah-ah- 
 ah-ah-ah," meaning a derrick, imitating the noise of one. 
 For a long time afterwards he called a derrick by this 
 sound. I think his nurse said it to him the first time, 
 but I do not know. Probably he tried to imitate the 
 sound of the creaking. His father protested at last, 
 thinking the child should always be told the correct 
 name of anything he noticed, and he was then taught 
 the word directly. 
 
 April 21st. — This morning he said, ""Want to see Aunt 
 
 M e taking coffee in next yoom," remembering his 
 
 visit to New York two months ago. 
 
 To-day I cut some paper engines for him. The mo- 
 ment he saw them he said, " Harold's choo-choo." Last 
 Christmas his cousin Harold sent him one cut out of 
 paper, and the last week of our recent visit there he also 
 cut some for him. 
 
 April 22d. — To-day I had the little fellow with me all 
 day long. He was very docile and loving, and appeared 
 to be perfectly happy. He came to me constantly in 
 between his play, to hug and kiss me. I gave him a 
 scissors and paper for the first time. He is twenty-six 
 months old now. He took up the scissors to try to cut. 
 He knew it had to be parted at the blades, but he did not 
 know how to do it, so I showed him the place for his 
 thumb and fingers. He didn't need a second showing. 
 For some time he tried and tried to cut, without success. 
 
 112 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 I let him alone, watching, however, to see that he did 
 not stick or cut himself, for the scissors was a small, 
 sharp - pointed one. The blunt scissors made are too 
 heavy and too clumsy for the delicate work of a child. 
 I therefore gave him a small embroidery scissors, wish- 
 ing, however, I had a blunt yet equally delicate scissors. 
 (It would no doubt be possible to have the regular em- 
 broidery scissors blunted.) 
 
 After he had struggled for a long time with the scis- 
 sors and piece of paper, he announced in a tone of 
 triumph, " Cut a piece !" and showed me a piece like this, 
 -=cd3 that he had succeeded in cutting off. He was 
 very much elated, and at last he started in to cut off all 
 the projections on one of the paper engines I had cut 
 for him. He cut one after the other, saying as he went 
 along, " Harold cut off whistle ; Harold cut off bell ; 
 Harold cut off wheel," etc. When he reached the pilot 
 he looked up at me interrogatively, and I said, " Cow- 
 catcher." He did not repeat the word after me. He 
 went right on with his sentence, " Harold cut off cow- 
 catcher." His memory seems to be very good. He often 
 repeats a word of three syllables correctly after hearing 
 it only once. After he had cut away all the parts, he 
 held up the body of the engine and said to me in a tone 
 of pity, " Harold cut off whistle ; engine all torn." I 
 asked him if he wanted another. He said "Yes," so I 
 gave him one similar to the one he had cut. I often 
 folded paper fourfold before beginning to cut them out 
 for him, because it pleased him very much to see me 
 hand four engines to him instead of what appeared to 
 be only one. He took up the paper engine I gave him, 
 took his scissors in his other hand, looked at them both, 
 looked at me, held the scissors to the whistle, and to 
 
 H 113 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 each part, and said, " I don't want to cut off whistle ; 
 I don't want to cut off bell ; I don't want to cut off 
 wheel ; I don't want to cut off cow-catcher," and he 
 didn't do it either. All this occurred without my say- 
 ing a word. He evidently did not want to see the en- 
 gine destroyed, and although he wanted to have the 
 pleasure of cutting, he desisted that he might not de- 
 stroy it. (For a child two years and two months old, 
 this appears to be an exhibition of the self-control one 
 should endeavor to cultivate in children.) 
 
 I then gave him as a reward (without saying it was 
 such) long strips of paper to snip, in order that he might 
 enjoy the cutting without feeling that he was destroying 
 something. He also had to-day some large-eyed buttons 
 and a long string threaded in a bodkin. He found one 
 button that stuck on the extreme end of the bodkin. 
 He held it towards me and said, " I make a chimney." 
 
 Later in the day we called on Mrs. A , his " lufly 
 
 lady." He saw a chimney from one of her windows, 
 and said, instantly, "Harold make a chimney," refer- 
 ring to the button. 
 
 He also had some large screws during the day. (His 
 mother keeps on hand a supply of the things likely to 
 amuse him, for he appreciates each one very much, and 
 is often diverted from crying by the production of a new 
 set of toys.) He played with the screws for a long time, 
 comparing them to the pictures of the screws in his 
 " schliissel book." Then he put one in and out of his 
 mouth as if it were a cigar, saying, " This is the way 
 papa mokes." 
 
 He had beans next. These he put one by one in his 
 mouth. I said, " No, no." He blew them out of his 
 mouth in a very funny way, and said, " I don't want to 
 
 114 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 eat beans.'-' His mother kissed him and said, " Mamma's 
 good boy," for he always expects this when he obeys. 
 Several times to-day he fretted for what was denied him. 
 Each time his mother said to him, as she often does, 
 " Put your head on mamma's lap and cry it out," which 
 he did every time, crying quietly for a moment, when 
 he would say, "I don't see Harold." Then she says, 
 " Here he is," when he looks up smiling, many a time 
 with tears still lying on his cheeks. The storm is then 
 over, and he will go on with his play. He is very per- 
 sistent and strong-willed, but if care is taken not to 
 oppose him openly, guiding him only by suggestion, he 
 shows a willingness to do right at all times. It ap- 
 pears as if he might become obstinate if he were treated 
 harshly or with less regard for his feeling of individual 
 right, of which he shows a strong sense. (The record 
 shows all through that he has a keen sense of injustice 
 and a strong belief in his own rights, but it shows also 
 that he believes in the rights of others as much as his 
 own, for he tries very hard for a little fellow to show 
 that he respects them. If any question ever does come 
 to an issue, which his parents try hard to prevent, they 
 keep on patiently until he obeys. This is usually very 
 soon, but before compelling obedience they satisfy them- 
 selves that he is perfectly well, in order to avoid nerve 
 strain. If ill or restless from causes for which he is 
 not responsible, they lay aside all rules until he is him- 
 self again, and effort is made to hold only sufficient 
 control to exact instant obedience in case of illness or 
 immediate danger. It would seem that this is all that 
 any parent or person in charge of a child has the right 
 to exact in absolute obedience, and all so-called discipline, 
 breaking of the will, etc., is to be deprecated, as breeding 
 
 115 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 obstinacy, deception, nervous conditions, and many un- 
 desirable qualities. I have frequently found that even 
 bad children — many times mistakenly called so — will 
 respond delightfully to treatment that is kind and sym- 
 pathetic, yet perfectly just. The record also shows that 
 Harold had several playmates at times who were con- 
 sidered almost unmanageable at home, yet in his nursery 
 they were perfectly well-behaved, probably in part owing 
 to the opportunities open for diversion by the surround- 
 ings offered, but equally, no doubt, to the invariable rule 
 of sending home all the children when one quarrelled, 
 no matter whether it was Harold or one of his visitors. 
 Decisions were absolutely impartial, and the children 
 all felt as if there was an appeal made to their honor, 
 for they saw that all suffered when one disobeyed. In 
 this way they learned to play together for hours without 
 dissension. A curious fact, noted in connection with the 
 entire record, is that the children who were fed properly 
 and received proper hygienic care were the most docile. 
 Those who gave evidence of careless handling or of nag- 
 ging by servants were invariably the most difficult to 
 impress with consideration for others. Social reformers 
 may find this of interest.) 
 
 One day recently I cut some large paper engines and 
 cars for him, making them about a yard long, by using 
 long pieces of newspaper. I did not fold the paper 
 double, as I did before, but cut each train separately. He 
 took up two in the most critical style without saying a 
 word, and looked first at the smoke-stack of one, then 
 the other, and so on with each part of each train. He 
 seemed satisfied, and put them down without a word. 
 Fortunately I had cut them very nearly alike. He is 
 very quick to note differences. 
 
 116 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 "When it was raining one day he looked out of the win- 
 dow, and said, "I don't see the sunshine." Then he said 
 to a servant in the room, " Maggie, look out and see the 
 rain." Just before that he had said, "It's raining again" 
 Yesterday he used " again " in the same way. First he 
 said, " Here it comes" ; then a little later, " Here it comes 
 again." He came to his mother to-day and said, " Sit 
 on mamma's lap." She lifted him up. He then said, 
 " Sing, mamma." She sang a song from Elliott's Mother 
 Goose, which was always used, because the harmonies 
 are sufficiently beautiful to cultivate a taste for good 
 music. He then said, " Harold sing," and he joined in 
 her song, piping up his little voice as high as he could 
 get it, singing all the words of the song she was singing. 
 He appears to know the words now of all these songs. 
 She then sang a dance song, and he stood up on his bed, 
 held his skirts with both hands, and swayed back and 
 forth, saying, " See Harold dance." He did not move 
 his feet, but kept perfect time with his body movement. 
 
 He heard Mrs. A play a waltz later in the day, and 
 
 he beat time correctly with his hands, never missing 
 the rhythm as she changed from one part to another. 
 
 Mrs. , who plays exquisitely, was here the other 
 
 day, and while she was playing something with marked 
 rhythm he begged to go near to her. He had previous- 
 ly refused to go to her, and no amount of persuasion 
 would induce him even to look at her at first. He was 
 carried, however, to the next room, and he showed inter- 
 est in the music when he was placed by her side. He 
 closed his eyes that he might not see her, but moved 
 his body in his mother's arms in perfect accord with 
 the music, and said, " Mamma, dance." At last he 
 begged to go into the next room and be rocked and 
 
 117 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 soothed. It appeared as though he needed to be 
 soothed because he had been under two opposing in- 
 fluences — his love for the music, and his feeling against 
 
 the performer. When Mrs. had finished playing 
 
 she spoke of his keen sense of rhythm. He begged 
 his mother to hold him for a long time, which is unusual, 
 and then said, " Mamma, sing a song of fixpence," and 
 seemed to be himself again. 
 
 (Compare this experience with his different action at 
 four months in Chapter I., page 16, when Handel's Largo 
 and Raff's concertos were played in his hearing.) 
 
 One day I gave one of my visiting-cards to him. He 
 has had none since we gave him one two months ago 
 
 with Dr. T 's name on it, which we read to him at the 
 
 time. He kept Dr. T 's card at that time among his 
 
 toys for several days, always calling it by name. The 
 card I gave him to-day was larger than the original 
 size he first saw, yet he noted the resemblance at once, 
 for he said " Dr. T 's card." "When I gave him an- 
 other of mine he said the same thing. 
 
 When he doesn't feel very well now he sa3 T s, " Harold 
 has a pain, poor dearie; mamma's dearie. Pain soon 
 all over," in the most compassionate tone. He is very 
 brave about bumps. He always s} T mpathizes with the 
 thing bumped into instead of thinking of himself. We 
 have encouraged this in order to get him into the habit 
 of looking away from himself at the world about him 
 instead of becoming introspective and self-conscious. 
 He even goes so far as to kiss the pavement, if he falls 
 on the street, and say " Poor pavement !" We never 
 check him in this even, for fear of starting the tide 
 the wrong way. It seems that it is in just these tri- 
 fling things that the great value of the " letting alone " 
 
 118 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 with supervision system becomes apparent. Evidently 
 the nearer one can get a child to a regular habit of ac- 
 tion under certain circumstances, taking it for granted 
 that the habit aimed at is a desirable one, the easier 
 it is to take care of that child physically, morally, 
 and mentally. (The record shows that the effort of 
 trying to establish a regular habit of action for body, 
 mind, and spirit resulted in a remarkable happy life 
 for the little fellow. He thinks everybody loves him, 
 and with rare exceptions he loves everybody.) 
 
 Last week, after having let forbidden things alone for 
 a long time, he touched the little tea-set in the dining- 
 room that had first attracted him. His mother followed 
 him and said, "No, no," doing just as was done before. 
 He persisted, however, in taking off the lids that pleased 
 him so much. She then said, " Shall mamma tie Harold's 
 hands up ?" He said " Yes," not really knowing what 
 she meant. She did this very lightly and gently with 
 her handkerchief, but more in fun than for discipline. 
 He was very much surprised. He had no idea what tie 
 meant, or else he thought it wouldn't be done, for if it can 
 be avoided he is not punished in a way to make him feel 
 that he is punished. He is allowed to reason out cause 
 and effect when he has done wrong, and he is, conse- 
 quently, very reasonable when he understands matters. 
 When he saw his hands tied he began to cry, and said, 
 "No tie Harold's hands up." He nearly always says 
 "no" at the beginning of a sentence, instead of saying, 
 for instance, " Do not tie," etc. His mother said, " Well, 
 go to papa, and tell him you are sorry and Avill not do 
 it again, and ask him to take it off." He did so, saying " I 
 sorry," when his father, with a kiss, removed the hand- 
 kerchief. I suppose he didn't even know what sorry 
 
 119 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 meant, but, once begun, even if in pla} T , the affair had to 
 be carried out to the end, although his mother really did 
 not mean at the time to teach him instantly and in this 
 way that he must not touch the china. It was her in- 
 tention when she saw him touch it to let him handle it 
 carefully in her presence and appeal to his love for her 
 to let it alone when she was not there, which he would 
 have done, for he is always amenable to treatment of this 
 character. Unwittingly, however, this lesson was learned 
 in another way, and probably no harm was done, but 
 care is taken that even in play nothing is done to 
 make him afraid. He now walks to the china set, 
 looks at it, and says, "No, no, mamma tie Harold's 
 hands up," and it hurts her every time he does it. She 
 often goes to him and kisses him and says, " No, no, 
 Harold is mamma's good boy who doesn't need to have 
 his hands tied up." 
 
 (The record shows that about a year later she chas- 
 tised him, very lightly, it is true, but still she laid her 
 Jiand upon him in a moment of vexation, evidently as 
 much to her own surprise as to his, for she realized her 
 mistake, and promised never to do it again. The little 
 fellow seemed to love and trust her more and more from 
 that day on, and what appeared to be his proudest 
 boast afterwards to his playmates was, " Mamma never 
 whips me." He never knew what whip meant until he 
 heard other boys use the word. Nor did he ever hear 
 the word " naughty," to know what it meant, except in 
 the one instance mentioned (page 54), until he began 
 playing with outside children. To control matters like 
 these it was a well -understood thing that if servants 
 spoke of forbidden subjects in the hearing of the little 
 fellow, it would be considered sufficient cause for dis- 
 
 120 
 
* __,.■. 
 
 
 — '■■-■ *" 
 
 
 
 
 
 • w 1 r - * 
 
 G ! 
 
 •/ 
 
 a , s 
 
 Db 
 
 NO DATE DRAWINGS 
 
 A, man looking through telescope; B, naptha launch; C, cannon — a, explosion, b, ball; 
 D— a, Harold's copy of b ; E, hospital, doctor, nurse, patient, nnd visitor ; F. gun shooting a man ; 
 G, ''boys sledding by moonlight— a is hill they had to go over"; H, pussy's face ; I, figures for 
 his toy theatre ; J, steamboat, and two negroes in a rowboat ; K — a, gun with bayonet ; b, ham- 
 mer of pistol ; L. his idea of a machine for generating electricity to run trolley-cars — a, engine 
 making it ; b, trolley ; c, c, wires from engine to switches and batteries ; d, d, conductor of power 
 to car ; e, switches and batteries ; M, sea-serpents after fish and boat. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 charge. As a counterpoise to the care and gentleness 
 required of the servants, many unexpected privileges were 
 granted them through the medium of the child, with 
 whom they naturally associated these pleasures, thus 
 keeping a kindly feeling for him in spite of the extra 
 care required of them for his sake.) 
 
 Diversion is a great aid in getting Harold out of 
 little tempers. He is keenly alive to anything that is 
 humorous or that possesses the least element of fun. 
 "When any one succeeds in making him laugh he forgets 
 his anger. I notice that he laughs quicker at an attempt 
 to do something and missing it than at anything else. 
 When putting on his overshoes, for instance, his nurse 
 has a habit of pretending that she has pushed so hard 
 that the rubber flies to the other end of the room. This 
 always brings a peal of laughter. Once in a great while, 
 when he is ailing or fretful, and we have a hard time to 
 bathe or dress him, she will pretend to hang something 
 on a nail that is apparently just a little too high for her 
 to reach. She will jump at it and miss it at the most 
 important period of my work, and will do this possibly 
 two or three times while I am getting him ready for 
 bed. She thus gives me the greatest possible amount 
 of comfort by her faithfulness and quick comprehen- 
 sion, and has given a bridge many a time for getting 
 over troublesome places by her quick adaptation to the 
 little needs constantly arising. This is the true spirit 
 of Froebel, and she lives with the child in his play, for 
 she has leisure and aptitude and enjoys the fun as much 
 as he does. He is very quick to see when the spirit 
 is lacking, and he will not suffer any attempt at a make- 
 believe liking of play. He wants the genuine love for 
 it every time. 
 
 121 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 We never let him cry if we can help it. A well- 
 trained and healthy baby does not want to cry, for he is 
 sufficiently occupied in trying to find out the meaning of 
 the world about him. Experience has shown what his 
 cry means at different times. When he is angry we keep 
 away, and then go to him as if nothing had happened 
 when it is over. He always wants us for " lots of good 
 times," as he calls them, so he quickly dries his angry 
 tears. If he is hungry, we give him his food if it is 
 near his regular time, or, if not quite near enough, we 
 prepare it in his presence very deliberately, gaining all 
 the time we can by the interest he shows in the work as 
 we go along, and which has a tendency to stop his cry- 
 ing. He rarely gets hungry, however, between meals, 
 for he is accustomed to method as to time and quan- 
 tity in the way of feeding. When he is ill and cries, we 
 can always tell it at once, and we find that this cry 
 means that instant relief of some kind is needed. He 
 has a peculiar little cry, almost a gasp, it might be 
 called, when he is giving up the battle after he has been 
 crying from anger. It often comes just when we are seri- 
 ously considering whether we might not in that instance 
 give up to him, and it always brings relief. It is certainly 
 true that a mother has as much occasion for self-disci- 
 pline as has her child. He is very quick to see a chance 
 of gaining a victory, and he sometimes uses it merci- 
 lessly, when I leave him alone to keep myself strong, 
 and he will then yield gracefully and very lovingly, 
 coming after me at once. I notice that when I keep all 
 sound of coercion out of my voice in giving him direc- 
 tions, he is willing to do as I say. Were I to command 
 him, he would become antagonistic at once, and be hard 
 to control. I found this out by an experience that need 
 
 122 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 not be repeated if his rights to consideration will be 
 respected as being equal to my own. Because any one 
 happens to be in authority is no reason why it should be 
 exercised unnecessarily. The strongest character is the 
 one that does not take an unfair advantage of oppor- 
 tunity. It is hard to comprehend why so many parents 
 think it necessary to scold children when they are, as 
 they suppose, training them. It inclines too much to 
 the methods used when training animals to act in the 
 circus-ring to appeal to wisdom. Intelligent and loving 
 obedience to the wishes of considerate parents is a 
 beautiful thing to witness, and it must be productive of 
 great good in the development of character. Abject 
 obedience, however, in response to commands that are 
 given without rhyme or reason, by parents or servants, 
 just as it may happen, is something to be banished 
 completely from nurser} 7 training, if the moral de- 
 velopment of the child is desired. Let mothers beware 
 of giving absolute authority into the hands of any 
 one. 
 
 (The record shows that no one but the parents were 
 allowed to use any authority over Harold, and even his 
 father frequently sent the little chap to " ask mamma," 
 in the mutual effort to keep authority in one direction 
 only, for the purpose before stated — of possible future 
 use. There seemed to be very little occasion for the 
 exercise of this authority in his ordinary life, for a 
 suggestion or an expressed wish was usually sufficient. 
 "When that failed, an appeal to his reason or love in- 
 variably ended the matter. He always seemed to feel 
 that he was expected to do right.) 
 
 April 23d. — This morning at breakfast Harold said, 
 "Papa, eat her egg." I said, "No, papa eat his egg." 
 
 123 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 He repeated it after me, and some time afterwards said 
 it over twice, very carefully, emphasizing his. 
 
 He is beginning to say "I" much more frequently 
 than before. When he waked this morning he crept 
 over into his mother's bed as usual, hugged her, and 
 said, " Have lots of good times wif mamma." 
 
 April 29th. — To-day, when in Mrs. A 's room, he 
 
 suddenly dropped his toys and came to me in an excited 
 way, beggiug to be held and rocked. As I rocked him he 
 kept saying, "Dont like it; go down-tairs. Don't like 
 it ; go down-tairs." We couldn't understand what the 
 trouble was until I saw a screw-top bottle standing on 
 the dressing-table, and then I understood it all. The 
 poor child cannot get over the recollection of the ether- 
 bottle. It took some time to pacify him, and it could 
 not be done until I took him out of the room. As we 
 left he looked excited, his face was flushed, and he said 
 again, " Don't like the bottle." 
 
 Ever since, every time he hears the door-bell, he puts 
 r his hand to his face and says, "Doctor won't hurt 
 you." 
 
 April 30th. — To-day he told me, without crying or 
 showing any disturbance whatever, that he had hurt 
 himself at the door. I discovered that he had done so 
 some time earlier in the day. He often bears suffering 
 without flinching, but yesterday when he rolled down a 
 few steps, he came to me crying and said, " Harold fall 
 down ee steps and hurt hisself." Later he told me this 
 again. I then said, " Harold should have sat down be- 
 fore trying to creep down the steps." He promptly sat 
 down on the floor and looked up at me, evidently not 
 understanding my meaning, and I do not wonder that 
 he did not when I analyze my sentence. 
 
 124 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 May 4th. — To-day, as we passed a toy-store, I let him 
 go in and select a toy for himself. He took a calliope 
 on wheels, and pushed it all the way home, a distance 
 of about four blocks. When we reached home he sat 
 on the floor and held the toy so that he could turn the 
 wheels to make the music. He had evidently studied 
 out for himself on the way home, by alternately mov- 
 ing and stopping the toy, that the moving wheels caused 
 the music, for he had never seen one before. He then 
 went to the machine-drawer for a screw-driver, returned 
 to his toy, and tried to take out the nail that held the 
 handle which was in his way when turning the wheel 
 in his lap. He asked me to do it when he found he 
 couldn't manage it. A curious thing I notice about him 
 is that he does not care for toys simply because they are 
 toys. He has frequently refused them, one after the 
 other, when offered any from a selection in a toy-shop. 
 "When he finds one that to him seems to have a purpose 
 he will gladly take it. He has often surprised shop- 
 keepers by leaving without taking anything that he 
 could have within his limit. He usually has the amount 
 limited before he goes in — as, for instance, " Harold, you 
 may have a quarter, a half-dollar, or a dime to-day," 
 and he is content to keep within his limit. (The record 
 shows that when he was older he would save until he 
 had enough money to buy something of importance — as, 
 for instance, a tool-chest, a tricycle, or an express-wagon, 
 and it was always for something that he could make use 
 of. He was never allowed to receive money from any 
 one but his parents.) 
 
 He is allowed to choose for himself as often as pos- 
 sible in matters that relate to himself only as an 
 individual, but care is taken to indicate to him the 
 
 125 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 probable result if he should make a wrong selection. 
 The greater part of his regular amusement comes 
 from finding out and playing with the things he finds 
 about the house — i.e., clothes - pins, blocks, pictures, 
 kitchen utensils, etc. Very few toys are purchased for 
 him that have no purpose, and he never receives many 
 at a time. 
 
 Last evening I heard him sing " Ding Dong Bell " all 
 the way through, using the right words and singing the 
 melody correctly. 
 
 He heard us speaking of a cat to-day. He instantly 
 said, " Crumpety and lame," associating cat with Moth- 
 er Tabby Skins in Mother Goose. He often tells his 
 mother to " Look (at) sunshine, mamma." He evidently 
 loves it very much. 
 
 May 8th. — To-day when he saw me take up his gold- 
 link dress buttons, he said " Hadn't for a long time," and 
 repeated it to a little playmate. He has not seen them 
 for a long time. He heard the door-bell ring. The ser- 
 vant clown-stairs had forgotten to turn off the connec- 
 tion, and the bell outside of the nursery door rang too. 
 This happens frequently, and annoys us very much. He 
 said, "Did you hear dat bell ring? Maggie, turn dat 
 bell off." 
 
 His first greeting to any playmates coming in is, 
 " Come, build a house," taking their hands and leading 
 them to his toys. 
 
 May 10th. — To-day he found his little photograph- 
 book, which he has not had for some time. He seized 
 it eagerly, and said, " Have it for a long time," meaning 
 that he didn't " have it for a long time." 
 
 May 14th. — To-day he was out all the afternoon. We 
 took a long ride on the street-car, to an extreme end of 
 
 126 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 town. He gave a sigh of satisfaction and said, " Had 
 a lovely ride on the treet-car." He now says " treet " 
 sometimes, instead of "steet," as formerly. Evidently 
 he cannot manage the r and s together. He then drew 
 me in the right direction and said, " See the choo- 
 choos." We had been to this place about a week before, 
 when he saw some large engines, and remembered it. 
 
 May 15th. — To-day he went to the sewing-machine 
 and touched every moving part. He touched no part 
 that was stationary. 
 
 May 16th. — We returned to the country to-day for 
 the summer. As we crossed the bridge leading to our 
 street he kept saying, " Want to see Bahdee, Bahclee, 
 Bahdee." (The name of the cat he left behind when he 
 went to town, four months before.) 
 
 May 17th. — He said to his father this morning, "I see 
 a little baby in papa's eye," meaning his own reflection. 
 
 I gave him some water to pour from cup to cup. He 
 then asked for a little pitcher belonging to him, evi- 
 dently preferring to pour from that. When I gave it to 
 him he said, " Dear little white pitcher." He still shows 
 a great liking for white things. 
 
 He now helps me put away one set of playthings be- 
 fore bringing out another. If I help very little and 
 loiter, to try him, he will do much more than his share 
 of the work without seeming to notice that he has done 
 nearly all himself. 
 
 In June he took up a postal-card and said, " I want to 
 write a postal- card. Write a postal -card to Annie." 
 (The nurse we had in town, who has gone away.) 
 
 When we were walking along the street to-day he 
 picked up a stick shaped like this, .^-"""V and called it a 
 " tick, tack, too." He found another, and said, " Here's 
 
 127 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 another tick, tack, too." Later, when we were looking 
 at a scrap-book, he saw some cards with crosses like this, 
 
 1 — , and he said, " Tick, tack, too, again," and said, 
 
 " Want to see more tick, tack, toos." lie picked out 
 every picture that had a cross. He also picked up a 
 half-broken match that looked like this, ^^^\ and he 
 said, " Tick, tack — " Then he stopped and said, " That's 
 a hammer." I then noticed his association with the 
 illustration of the nursery song : 
 
 "Is John Smith within? 
 Yes, that he is. 
 Can he nail a shoe ? 
 Aye, marry two. 
 Here's a nail, there's a nail, 
 
 Tick, tack, too. 
 Here's a nail, there's a nail, 
 
 Tick, tack, too." 
 
 The illustration to the song represents a man holding a 
 hammer that is not unlike a picture of a cross, and he 
 noticed the resemblance to all the things he had just 
 called " tick, tack, too." 
 
 August 4th. — To-day, while I was reading, I heard 
 him say to himself as we lay on the floor : 
 
 "He brushed his teeth with carpet tacks, 
 Polly, wolly doodle all a day." 
 
 He heard it in June, when in New York, two months 
 ago. 
 
 Day before yesterday he said, " Dr. come to see 
 
 Baby (a little friend of his) ; put him on table. 
 
 Baby see what in Dr. 's satchel. What did Dr. 
 
 (mentioning another physician) do with satchel? 
 
 Dr. (mentioning the first one) has choo-choo in 
 
 123 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 satchel for Baby ." It was said to himself in a very 
 
 meditative manner, with no apparent fear or excite- 
 ment, more than a year after the time he was so im- 
 pressed with the ether-bottle. 
 
 (From now on all records other than cuttings and 
 drawings were taken at longer intervals than before, 
 yet they serve to show the growth made during the 
 time no record was taken. It was during this period 
 that the child was busy with scissors and pencil, giving 
 concrete results of a method of training that evidently 
 excited self -activity to a great degree.) 
 
 September 23d. — This morning I directed Harold's 
 attention to half a dozen sparrows on a roof near by. 
 They flew away one by one, and left only two, then one, 
 then the last one went. He turned to me and said, "He 
 got too much alone, he flew away," recalling the song of 
 
 " Three crows there were once who sat on a stone, 
 
 Fal-la, la-la, la-la ; 
 But two flew away and then there was one, 
 
 Fal-la, la-la, la-la. 
 The other crow felt so timid alone, 
 
 Fal-la, la-la, la-la, 
 That he flew away and then there was none, 
 
 Fal-la, la-la, la-la." 
 
 This morning he told his father he had cried last night. 
 His father asked him why. He said he wanted to see 
 him take doggie out walking, which was the true state 
 of affairs. He has not the slightest fear of his father, 
 and looks upon him in the light of a delightful playmate. 
 He has often begged his mother during the day to 
 promise to let him have him " all alone " until his bed- 
 time. If she promises, and forgets to allow him his 
 father's undivided attention, he invariably reminds her 
 i 129 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 of it in a very much injured tone. lie seems to feel that 
 he never has enough time with him, and he counts Sun- 
 days from the Monday previous, saying, " How many 
 days, mamma, to Sunday ?" 
 
 This morning he tripped over a newspaper, and said 
 to his mother, " I didn't mean to do that, mamma." 
 When being dressed he waved his foot with a long white 
 stocking partly on, and said, " This is a boat with a 
 sail." He looked out of the window and saw a grocer 
 boy coming in. He called, "Hello, Gordon!" then said, 
 " Must go down to see Gordon." This same boy draws 
 pictures of some sort for him every morning. He be- 
 gan it voluntarily, and after that Harold insisted upon 
 having one daily. He generally asks for an engine. 
 
 September 24th. — This morning, when he showed me 
 his father's watch, I said, in a tone of surprise, " Is it 
 twenty minutes of nine?" He dangled the watch a 
 minute, and then returning to his father, he said, in a 
 very sedate way, " This watch is slow, papa." 
 
 November 6th. — This morning when I was putting 
 him to sleep at nap-time, I placed him on the bed and 
 left. I returned a moment later, when he evidently did 
 not expect me, for he was creeping back to bed and say- 
 ing to himself, " I promise you I won't creep off the bed 
 again ; that's right ; that's a good boy. You will for- 
 give me." He seems to know as well as we do when 
 he is doing wrong, and if we give him half a chance he 
 rights matters himself. 
 
 (The record shows that as he grew older he took 
 great pains to tell his mother several times that he 
 wanted to do right because it was right to do so. One 
 time he was found crying because he had transgressed. 
 She said, " Never mind, Harold, you were a little bit care- 
 
 130 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 less this time; do better next time." And he replied, 
 between his sobs, " But I don't want to be careless.'''' 
 He could not be diverted until his sense of fun was 
 aroused. Then he had a romp, and forgot all about it.) 
 
 Yesterday he couldn't at first take upon his spoon 
 some cranberry-sauce that he was eating. He carefully 
 scraped it to the middle of the dish, and taking a crust 
 of bread pushed it on the spoon. He shows himself 
 equal to the occasion many times, and he always pre- 
 fers to help himself if he can do it. We do not offer to 
 do anything for him that we see he is equal to, for he 
 is very ready to come to us for assistance when he wants 
 it, for we never turn him away, and thus we gain leisure 
 and he strength by letting him do for himself. 
 
 He has shown a disposition lately to get out of his 
 crib at nap- time, with the hope of inducing me to let 
 him off, so I resort to pulling the crib away from every 
 piece of furniture in the room upon which he can pos- 
 sibly step as he tries to get out. To do this I pull it 
 down into the middle of the room before putting him 
 in, when he says, " Pull crib down the middle because 
 Harold was bad boy to get out of bed." He howls 
 sometimes when he sees me do it, but he always goes 
 to sleep at once when it is done. It is really very amus- 
 ing. I wonder if he thinks he can't get out. He climbs 
 all over it in every way during the day. Maybe it is 
 "moral suasion" that influences him, or he may realize 
 that I intend that he shall go to sleep, and accommo- 
 dates himself to circumstances. But I often wonder 
 why he doesn't get out, for he could easily do it. 
 
 Some time ago he saw two of his engines heading in 
 opposite directions. He pointed to one and said, " This 
 
 one is going to C n Avenue Station, and this one to 
 
 131 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 G e Avenue Station," mentioning the two stations 
 
 between which we live. He pointed in the right direc- 
 tion each time. He also knows in which direction to 
 look for " papa's train from town." 
 
 December 3d. — To-day, for the first time, he drew a 
 "choo-choo" himself. (See illustration opposite.) As 
 he drew it he explained each part, as noted, and handled 
 his pencil very rapidly. He is just two years and ten 
 months old. 
 
 February 1, 1893. — This morning he said to me, 
 " May I walk over to call papa?" I said " Yes." He 
 jumped out of bed, and, carrying his pencils and his be- 
 loved "schlussel book" under his arm, he went through 
 the hall, singing out at the top of his voice, " Old rags, 
 old rags, any old rags to-day?" When he had called 
 his father he ran away from him all around the room, 
 as if in mischief, and wouldn't even allow him to lift 
 him upon the bed, where he usually sits and watches 
 him dress, and keeps up a running fire of comments 
 and questions that are very amusing. As soon as he 
 saw his mother come he let her place him on the bed 
 and cover him. He evidently looks to her for discipline 
 and to his father for pure fun, which is as it should be. 
 He loves her dearly, but as he sees her so much more 
 frequently than he sees his father, it seems a pity to 
 spoil one minute of the time they are together by an 
 attempt to assert authority. 
 
 (The record shows that as he grew older he often 
 spoke of the good times he would have with mamma 
 and papa when he got big enough to take care of them. 
 He once told me, after having heard fairy-stories about 
 princes and marriage, that when he got married he 
 would live with mamma, as he would never want to 
 
 132 
 
THE FIRST CHOO-CHOO 
 
 1S92 AND 1893 DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS THE CHILD S EARLIEST EFFORTS 
 
 His explanation of "the first choo-ohoo " was : A. smoke-stack; B, sand-box ; C, 
 steam-drum; D, cab; E E, one line for boiler; F F F F, wheels. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 leave her. One of his greatest anticipated delights was 
 that when he would be ten years old he could go to 
 "papa's office" and take the letters to the post-office. 
 This wish on his part gave rise to a story that I told 
 
 him — " When H is ten years old, what will he do ?" 
 
 — and which he demanded repeatedly. It is worth not- 
 ing that his greatest pleasure seemed to be that he could 
 then help papa, just as he was now learning to help 
 mamma. Who will dare to say that Froebel did not 
 understand children when he urged mothers to let them 
 make their hearts glad by allowing them to give pres- 
 ents and by helping them to help others.) 
 
 To-day I sat down for a moment in the kitchen, and 
 as I was giving directions I took up and looked into a 
 cook-book that was lying on the table. He passed by, 
 looked at me, and said, "Are you looking what Mrs. 
 
 R r says ?" mentioning the author's name correctly. 
 
 I do not know how he found out her name. He is 
 constantly surprising us by knowledge of this sort. We 
 go along blindly when we think that children do not 
 see things. I have no doubt at all of the fact that 
 children know us far better than we know them, and 
 were they able to express themselves in terms that we 
 in our self-assumed strength could understand, I think 
 we would be glad to change some of the cruel methods 
 of training children that prevail at present. The pity 
 of it all impresses one when one thinks of the opportu- 
 nities that are wasted. Child-study is a work for all, 
 but parents have the Jirst opportunity. 
 
 Last Thursday, at the C n Avenue Station, Harold 
 
 was properly introduced to a very good friend. He 
 was very shy, would not speak to her when I told him 
 to say "good-morning," and apparently took no notice 
 
 133 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 of her. "When we reached home he said, " I was scairt 
 
 of Mrs. ," saying her name correctly enough to let 
 
 any one know of whom he was speaking, although it 
 was a peculiar name, and I hadn't the least idea that he 
 would remember it. In the evening he told his father 
 all about it, and mentioned the name several times. In 
 spite of his peculiar accent his father knew whom he 
 meant. 
 
 He has been going around lately saying, " I'm a 
 little girl. I am six years old to-day." This is clearly 
 imitation. A little girl said it to him a few weeks ago, 
 and he himself is only three. He gives constant evidence 
 of a retentive memory. He tells me constantly of little 
 things that occurred a year and a half ago, personal 
 matters that he recollects clearly. 
 
 February 2d. — He said to-day, "Doctor won't put 
 medicine on my face ; my cheeks are well," referring to 
 the ether-bottle again. He asked the other day, in ref- 
 erence to this same event, " And did they all go away? 
 
 -and did Dr. go ? and did Dr. go ? and did Dr. 
 
 take his satchel ? and did the one doctor come back 
 
 next day?" Then, "What did he do, mamma?" She 
 always replies to this question, " He said, ' Good-morn- 
 ing,' " and tries to divert him. The other day he asked 
 his father if he had been laid on the nursery-table, and 
 if he had had a blanket and a pillow, etc. He evidently 
 realizes that he can get no information from me, and he 
 is now trying to get his father to tell him. He always 
 says "Ask mamma," so eventually the child will have 
 to give the matter up, as he would have done long ago 
 had more care been taken in regard to his impressions 
 at the time. (Ignorance is responsible for many evils, 
 but who is responsible for this ignorance ? "Will women 
 
 134 
 
1893 DRAWINGS — THREE TEARS OLD 
 
 A, a boy flying a kite ; a, man in moon ; b, sky ; c, kite ; d, big knot in string ; e, hat ; f, curly 
 hair ; g, "shoulder ; h, foot turned over ; i, watch ; B, a boy in front of an engine — frightened ; 
 C, first attempt at drawing a clock ; D, " he has his hand in his pocket " ; E, " a boy crying because 
 his mother is lame "; F, inverted letters ; H, kitchen dresser ; I, telegraph pole. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 ever be taught in the future, that looks so promising, 
 that which they should certainly know? How few even 
 understand the questions of hygiene or food, not to 
 speak of their connection with the promotion of moral 
 and mental development. Might it not be well for all 
 reformers, educators, and philanthropists to follow the 
 method adopted by some to-day — i.e., beginning at the 
 foundation and seeing that children are treated as they 
 should be? and might they not better utilize hereafter 
 the vast sums of money they now expend for the cure of 
 much that might be prevented by helping to educate 
 the mothers of the future as well as those of the present, 
 taking up the work in a forceful manner in connection 
 with existing schools as well as in a scattered, general 
 way, as is now being done ? This is so truly a national 
 question that even the various governmental powers 
 might wisely concern themselves with its practical ap- 
 plication, in which lies the key-note of social and politi- 
 cal reform. 
 
 February 3d. — To-day Harold saw some photographs 
 of two cousins, who are totally unlike in appearance, 
 each representing a distinct type. He had not seen the 
 girls for nine months, but he knew the pictures at once. 
 After having designated them correctly once, he pre- 
 tended ever after — for mischief, evidently — that one was 
 the other. 
 
 He knows ail the nursery songs now, words and tunes, 
 and if we make mistakes when repeating them he always 
 corrects us. 
 
 He blew soap-bubbles successfully for the first time 
 to-day. When he began he couldn't find his clay pipe, 
 so he ran away, and soon returned with a beautiful 
 one, and said, doubtingly, " Is this Harold's V He 
 
 135 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 feared it wasn't, for good reason. I went with him to 
 see where he had found it. He led me to a drawer 
 devoted to his father's pipes, which he had never 
 attempted to disturb before. I did not want to disap- 
 point the little fellow, so I said he might have it, 
 although he has been taught not to disturb another's 
 belongings. He then amused himself by blowing bub- 
 bles for a very long time — blowing them along the floor 
 and stamping upon them. 
 
 The other day, when in a sleigh, the driver touched one 
 of the horses with the whip, and Harold said, " He has no 
 business to whip the horse." (The record later on shows 
 how he always had great sympathy for horses — once, when 
 six years old, going so far as to persuade a neighboring 
 green-grocer to promise never to dock his horse's tail.) 
 
 Yesterday he said to me about a little playmate whom 
 he loves, " Mamma, isn't Christine a lovely girl ?" He 
 saw some little girls on the street a few days ago, and 
 he admired them very much. As he directed my atten- 
 tion to them he said, "I like little girls to come home to 
 
 me." Mary T , an old playmate, who used to come 
 
 regularly to play with him, came to see him a few days 
 ago. He was so delighted to see her that he hovered 
 over her all the time she was with him. He paid no 
 attention whatever to me. He said to her once, " I love 
 you, Mary." He had not seen her for a year. He 
 remembers the names of three servants and a laundress 
 who were with us during the last year. He calls his 
 present nurse " My Mar} 7 ," as some of the other incum- 
 bents possessed the name of Mary also. He never for- 
 gets his first nurse, and often asks for her. When she 
 comes to see him, at intervals of possibly six months, he 
 always knows her. 
 
 136 
 
AN EFFORT AT DRAWING A ROUND FRONT FOR AN 
 ENGINE 
 
 APGP/S ^OHleiKJMUPp, 
 
 HIS PET BUTTERFLY FEEDING ON 
 HIS FINGER 
 
 EARLY PRINTING 
 
 M-^ 
 
 vim 
 
 
 AN EFFORT AT THE HORIZON 
 
 AN ENGINE AND TENDER 
 
 1893 AND 1S94 DRAWINGS 
 
 1893— Printed letters ; an engine and tender. 1894— An effort at the horizon ; a pig ; 
 an effort at drawing a round front for an engine. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 He has taken to winding string lately. To-day I was 
 very much amused to see him place a small paper-box 
 upon a chair, in which he dropped a spool of thread, 
 letting the end dangle outside. He covered the box 
 with a small drawing - slate, to keep the spool from 
 jumping out as he wound the thread. I do not know 
 how he discovered that the spool would jump out 
 when winding briskly, but I suppose he must have tried 
 it when I was not looking. He pulled his little chair up 
 to the larger one holding the box with the thread, and 
 began pulling out the thread hand over hand. This he 
 did for a long time. Then he came to me and said, 
 " I got myself stuck," meaning he had become entangled 
 in the thread, which, although a natural sequence, was 
 of no importance, when one considers that he had pro- 
 vided for himself a satisfying occupation for the time 
 being. He plays in this way by the hour, chatting with 
 me all the time, but going on with his play as if it were 
 a work to be finished with the end of day only. He 
 comes to me occasionally for a suggestion, saying, " What 
 may I do ?" But he usually finds occupation for him- 
 self for the whole day when I provide sufficient mate- 
 rial for diversion, telling him that it is all for his amuse- 
 ment throughout the day. The kitchen-maid frequently 
 lets him " clean the dresser," as he calls it. He takes 
 out all the pots and pans, attempts to sweep the floor 
 with a brush, and then he hangs the utensils up again 
 where he thinks they belong. This amuses him im- 
 mensely, and it occupies him long enough to give others 
 a considerable time for rest from supervision. 
 
 February 4th. — To-day he said, "Cousin Eddie be a 
 boy, mamma. Why doesn't papa be a boy ?" 
 
 Last month he said, " I played fall up and down the 
 
 137 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 stairs several times." This was the first time he said 
 " several." 
 
 February 5th. — To-day when he said" where," he em- 
 phasized the wh by blowing it out of his mouth very for- 
 cibly. He told nurse that she must not say " me face," but 
 "my face." He told some one else not to say "ain't" but 
 " isn't." He frequently asks me to tell him if it is correct 
 to say certain words in a certain way, and he evidently 
 thinks of it himself between times. He told me to-day 
 that he would go to God when He was ready for him. 
 He said God would give him wings to fly to Him. He 
 has evidently drawn these conclusions from answers that 
 he has received from some one beyond our control. I 
 mentioned God quite unintentionally in his presence 
 recently, and ever since he has kept up asking questions 
 about Him — " whether He is a man, has a gown, a bath- 
 tub, where He lives," etc. He was told at this time of 
 God being over all the world, caring for it, as his 
 father and mother were over him and the family. His 
 love and power were spoken of. Harold now calls to 
 Him in a very original way. The other evening he 
 walked to the window in his night-dress, pulled down 
 the slats of the shutters, and peeped through to the sky, 
 calling loudly, "God, God, come down and bless papa, 
 and bless mamma, and bless Harold !" He shut the 
 shutters then and went to his crib, saying he heard God 
 say He would come. (To the present date he shows the 
 same belief in hearing an answer to any prayer he 
 offers. He says his " think " tells him.) 
 
 February 7th. — He said to-night, in connection with 
 some kindergarten songs, " Mamma, will you and I go 
 to New York and buy a new book of songs, and I can 
 read and bead and EEAD ?" When we sang the kin- 
 
 138 
 
EARLY CUTTINGS 
 
 EARLY CUTTINGS 
 
 LOCOMOTIVES, A BAGGAGE-CAR, AND A STEAMBOAT 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS 
 
 Among the cuttings not designated, the one on the lower left hand of the group is 
 intended to represent a mule, and on the lower right hand an ostrich turning his head. 
 
THIRD YEAR 
 
 dergarten song of exercise to-day, he tried to imitate 
 my movements the second time. The third time he did 
 it correct^, and he often repeats the whole song now. 
 From time to time I give him memory exercise in this 
 way, but I do it very gradually. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 FOURTH YEAR. RECORD OF SPONTANEOUS DEVELOP- 
 MENT AFTER THE CHILD WAS THREE YEARS OLD, 
 WITH SELECTIONS OF DRAWINGS AND CUTTINGS, 
 ALL MENTAL PICTURES, DONE AS A RESULT OF 
 SELF-ACTIVITY, AND ACCOMPANIED BY THE CHILD'S 
 EXPLANATIONS 
 
 February 14, 1893. — To-day Harold is three years old. 
 He awoke at seven, asked for his books and to have the 
 blind raised, and sat up to amuse himself, as he does 
 every morning, if he wakes before it is time for him to 
 be dressed. This is when he does most of his cutting 
 and drawing, after having been fed. It is a regular 
 habit to place his material at the foot of his bed every 
 .night, and in the morning we have a serious time of it 
 picking up papers and throwing out what he allows us 
 to call trash. 
 
 This morning, instead of cutting, he read " A Froggie 
 "Would A-wooing Go." He knows every word of it 
 from memory, turns the pages at the right time, and 
 takes great delight in using various tones and gestures 
 to illustrate each phase of the story. When he had fin- 
 ished reading it and I said it was time to rise, he 
 called to his father in another room, as he usually does, 
 saying to me, " Is that loud ?" Receiving no reply, he 
 shook his head, said " He won't hear," and went on with 
 his play until the maid came to dress him. Shortly 
 after his father had left for his regular train, rather more 
 
 140 
 
1893 DRAWINGS — ENGINES 
 
 A, "This is a man raking the fire, mamma" ; B, round front to engine ; C, "engine out at 
 night time— a, is the moon"; D, "envelope and stamp"; E, "pictures on the wall." 
 
FOURTH YEAR 
 
 leisurely than usual, Harold heard one go by and said, 
 " That's papa's train ; he didn't miss that one." 
 
 I took him out to-day to buy a birthday present. As 
 we walked along he told me he loved to go out, asked 
 if he was going to the barber -shop, and when I said 
 " No," he said, " Then where are we going ?" I said, " To 
 buy a present." This delighted him. He is always so 
 reasonable about buying things for himself that we take 
 pleasure in giving him little surprises of this kind. When 
 he asks for anything beyond his limit, he is always per- 
 fectly satisfied if we tell him that some day he will pos- 
 sibly get it. He seems to enjoy the anticipation, and 
 many an hour have we spent looking at "possible" 
 future gifts, while he was incidentally learning to con- 
 trol his desires. (Sometimes I am able to give an order, 
 unknown to him, to have something that he has just 
 admired sent home next da}'', and he thinks it a won- 
 derful thing, next day, when he receives what he saw 
 and admired the day before. In this easy way, by 
 thinking ahead, we keep him happy all the time, and 
 also very busy, for his toys all require work or motion 
 upon his part. When he was five, and using tools, his 
 mother at Christmas-time spent two hours in a hard- 
 ware-store hunting out various little odds and ends that 
 would please him — different sizes of nails, screws, pul- 
 leys, hinges, rings, silver wire, a gimlet, etc. — and of all 
 the Christmas presents received this one pleased him 
 most, and the whole lot cost forty-nine cents.) 
 
 While we were walking along I told him he was three 
 years old, and his father thirty-three ; he promptly asked 
 me how many threes his mother was old. He saw some 
 rabbits for sale and thought he would like to have one 
 for his birthday present, so I allowed him to choose one 
 
 141 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 and take it home himself. He picked out a black and 
 white one, and wanted to come home at once " to build 
 a house for it." When we reached a bridge on our way 
 home, on which he invariably stops to see the " choo- 
 choos," he wouldn't wait a moment, although I sug- 
 gested it. He said he didn't want to, he wanted to go 
 home and build a house in his nursery for his rabbit. 
 Home we went and built a house out of a store- box. 
 He was happy for the whole day, feeding and caring for 
 his pet. He talked to it as if it could understand him, 
 and at bedtime he bent over the door of its house and 
 said, " Good-night ; I'll call you in the morning." 
 
 He was so sleepy he could hardly keep awake long 
 enough to ask where his paper choo-choos were. "When 
 I told him, he was content, nestled up against me, and 
 fell asleep. He hadn't quite forgotten them, but it was 
 evident that his engines will have rivals in live pets. 
 
 (The record shows a love of nature and animals that 
 is fully equal to the evidence given further on of a 
 strong bent for mechanics. He had at various times as 
 pets — mice, kittens, dogs, butterflies, rabbits, snails, tad- 
 poles, spiders, frogs, crabs, etc., and he seems to have 
 learned in this way to be gentle with anything alive, 
 having been known to lift even a worm out of harm's 
 way when digging in his garden.) 
 
 He received his first locomotive a year ago, when he 
 was two years old. To-day (three years old) we dis- 
 covered him very busy with a string and one of his 
 present stock of locomotives. He soon called to his 
 mother to come and see what he had done. " See the 
 connecting-rod, mamma; see how it works," and so it 
 did. He had fastened the string to the centre of the 
 driving-wheel, connected it with the c} T lmder, and was 
 
 142 
 
1893 DRAWINGS — BOATS, TROLLEYS, ETC. 
 
 A, street-car ; B, fire-engine — engine going over a bridge; C, stationary engine; D, the child 
 recognized an old Philadelphia traction-car ou a country electric road, and called it a cable-car going 
 by electricity, then made the drawing. 
 
FOURTH YEAR 
 
 delighted with the result, possibly because he felt that 
 he had replaced to his satisfaction the connecting-rod 
 that had been inadvertently broken off a day or two be- 
 fore, but just as likely because he felt he had achieved 
 something, which characteristic seems to be distinctly 
 noticeable in all children that are not feeble-minded. 
 
 During the afternoon he was singing " Little star that 
 shines so bright . . , when I my homeward journey 
 take," etc. When he reached the word journey he sang 
 on, " When papa goes to town he takes a journey, 
 when papa comes back he takes a journey," and went 
 on with his play, not noticing that I had heard him. 
 He doesn't seem to mind my presence — for when busy 
 he apparently forgets all about me — yet if I leave he 
 misses me at once. So I usually attend to my duties 
 and read a great deal when sitting in the same room 
 with him while he plays. Last night, when he woke 
 for a drink, he saw his mother writing a letter, said 
 " Don't write, mamma," turned over and fell asleep. 
 
 February 15th. — To-day he had some yellow-jack candy 
 for the first time. When about taking him out-of-doors, 
 his mother put a piece of it in her mouth, unknown to 
 him. As she put on his coat he looked at her quizzically 
 and said," I want a piece of yellow-jack; I smell it ; mam- 
 ma, open your mouth." She did so, but only partially. 
 He said " Wide"; so she let him see that she had taken a 
 piece. He smiled and said, " I smelled it." She then told 
 him he could have a piece when he came in. He remem- 
 bered this, and she had no trouble to get him to come in 
 when it was time. This was not done to bribe him, but 
 simply because it would be the most natural time for 
 him to receive it, after going in again, instead of send- 
 ing some one back to get a piece for him when he 
 
 143 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 spoke of it. He was never waited on to the exclusion 
 of every one else's comfort, although all his wants 
 were attended to, and often even anticipated ; but this 
 was done without his being conscious of it, and he was 
 allowed to help himself and others so far as possible. 
 "When he began at this date, as he did, to demand service 
 from the servants as if it were his right — politely, it is 
 true, yet authoritatively, as if he recognized their posi- 
 tion — he was taught, by examples that were pointed out 
 to him, why a servant should be treated gently and 
 courteously, as well as any one else with whom he had 
 to do, and how, by not demanding, he would receive 
 loving service. (The record shows clearly, later on, 
 how he became uniformly gentle and kind with people 
 who were not harsh, no matter in what condition of life 
 he found them. And one of the greatest problems now 
 before his mother is how to fully explain to him how 
 he shall kindly adapt himself to the people about him 
 without losing his own rights.) 
 
 To-night he asked me if his rabbit had teeth, and if it 
 would bite or kiss. 
 
 February 18th. — Before going to sleep to-night he 
 said, " Mamma, I want to talk to Katie a few moments" 
 This is the first time he has said " moments." He is con- 
 stantly saying words that are unusual for so young a 
 child, and his understanding of their application is some- 
 times ludicrous, but generally surprisingly correct. 
 
 February 20th. — He heard the word peacocks to-day, 
 and said, " Mamma, do peacoucks couck ? Do peacoucks 
 eat pease ?" 
 
 February 21st. — He said, to-day, after the severe wind- 
 storm, bitter cold, and frosted windows of yesterday, 
 " Mamma, it isn't cold to-day, the windows don't rattle." 
 
 144 
 
1893 DRAWINGS ENGINES THREE YEARS OLD 
 
 A, elephant, and children taking a ride ; engines and trolley cars. 
 
1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD 
 
 A, effort at writing "Thank you," after asking how to spell it ; B, b, b, early efTorts at engine, 
 pussy, and steamboat ; C, called if, "writing bis name/' and the frame, ho said, was a pipe with 
 smoke curling around ; D, "man in the moon"; E, "man in the rain"; F. head and hat ; G, "a 
 man without any arms— they were cut off, like the music man's legs"; H, effort at horizon ; I, 
 engine and man 'in the moon ; J, his stuffed kitty ; K, house and woman 
 
FOURTH YEAR 
 
 March 22d. — As we crossed the ferry going to New 
 York to-day, he said to his mother as we came in the 
 slip, " Oh, mamma, why does it make soap-water ? See, 
 the water is all soapy." 
 
 At the station he heard torpedoes on the track and 
 said, " Is that thunder ?" (This is the time that he first 
 observed the differences in boats, and his constant ques- 
 tions during a week's visit and much ferry-crossing were, 
 "What's that?" and "Why is that?" Every question 
 was answered so that he could understand, by building 
 up from what he already knew, and he carried home 
 with him a vast increase to his fund of information 
 that is being acquired by persistent questioning.) 
 
 November 23d. — He said, to-day, " Lorenzo learned me 
 to cry." I said, "No, he taught you." He then said, 
 " It is / that learns, isn't it ?" He is three and a half 
 years old now. 
 
 December 25th. — His prayer, as follows, on Christmas 
 evening, was voluntary, for we let him pray just as and 
 when he feels like it. He said, " God bless papa and 
 mamma, and God bless Harold and Katie (his maid), 
 God bless my Christmas-tree, God bless Santa Claus, 
 and everybody you can find in your house in the sky." 
 
 To-day — Christmas — he said he felt so happy and 
 pleased with Santa Claus for giving him such a nice 
 Christmas-tree. He selected voluntarily enough toys to 
 fill a large portmanteau — taking books, old and new toys, 
 fruit and candy — " to take out," as he said, " to some poor 
 little boy who hadn't any papa." He has divined or 
 heard in some way that Santa Claus comes where there 
 is a " papa." When he asked me in such a way that I 
 could not escape answering, I explained to him that 
 Santa Claus represented the spirit of love abroad for 
 k 145 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 everybody at Christmas - time, and, like the Brownies, 
 we couldn't see him. I have not explained to him yet 
 about Christ, so I could not go on with the idea, but he 
 accepted the suggestion, and seems to revel in the fanci- 
 ful thought of Santa. We went out to find the poor 
 little boy, and we had a difficult search, after a long 
 walk, during which he said to himself, " I will be the 
 little boy's Santa Claus. I pity the poor little boy 
 without any papa." 
 
 We found a mother with three little tots in rags. 
 They had no tree, no toys — in fact, hardly enough to 
 eat. Harold is very shy, and I had to persuade him to 
 hand his toys himself. I wanted him to taste the pleas- 
 ure of giving. He did it very shyly, and it was a pretty 
 sight to see the ragged urchins crowd about him, each 
 to take what he offered without any question as to 
 which would get the most. When we returned he was 
 ■well content and happy all day through, although he 
 had given away many treasured toys. The chief beauty 
 'of the act was that no one would have found it out, 
 not even his parents, if it had depended upon him for 
 the telling, for he never spoke of it again, and seemed to 
 have forgotten all about it, nor did any one else ever 
 mention it in his presence. 
 
 When he was nearly four years old his uncle and 
 
 Aunt C came to see us, and while I was engaged 
 
 with his uncle he took up a new book that he had just 
 received and brought it to me, begging me to read to 
 him about the pigs in it. The book had a number of 
 illustrations, and nearly every one had the picture of a 
 pig in it. To divert him, his aunt called him to her, 
 sa}dng she would read to him. As it was twilight she 
 could not see to read, so improvised the following verses 
 
 146 
 
1893 DRAWINGS 
 With the exception of the horse mid wagon, drawn in May, 1894. 
 
FOURTH YEAR 
 
 to catch his interest and keep him from disturbing our 
 conversation. It was the first time that Harold had 
 heard any of us use " baby talk " ; 
 
 "A piggie, wiggie, wiggie, 
 Went to beddie, beddie, beddie. 
 On his pillow willie, willie, 
 He laid his headie, headie, headie. 
 
 " But piggie, wiggie, wiggie, 
 Couldn't sleepie, sleepie, sleepie, 
 So out bis beddie biggie, 
 He creepie, creepie, creepied. 
 
 " He jumped, he hopped, he trotted 
 Across the floor so bold, 
 To reach the shining faucet, 
 With water, oh, so cold ! 
 
 "He splashie, splashie, splashied, 
 He dashie, dashie, dashied, 
 The water, water, water, 
 On his facie, facie, face. 
 
 "He wet his eyesie eyes, 
 His cheekie, cheekie, cheeks, 
 His nosie, nosie, nose, 
 His headie, headie, head. 
 
 "Oh, the water, water, water, 
 Was so cold, so cold, so cold, 
 But he laughie, laughie, laughied, 
 For it felt so good, so good, so good. 
 
 " Then back to beddie, beddie, 
 Went piggie, wiggie, wiggie ; 
 He slept, you may believe it, 
 Like any piggie wig." 
 147 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 He was very much amused, and begged her to tell it 
 again. Then he went for his engine-book (one that was 
 full of illustrations of English and American engines), 
 and said, entreatingly, " Aunt C , read the engine- 
 book funny — puffy, puffy, puff." 
 
1893 DRAWINGS — THREE YEARS OLD 
 
 A, kitchen utensils ; B, kitchen chairs, table, etc. ; C— a. kitchen stove ; b, inverted letters : 
 c, dog with bell in his nose ; d, elephant with bell in his nose ; D, windmill. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 RECORD CONTINUED — NATURE STORIES — TRAINING 
 BUTTERFLIES AND WHITE MICE— THE CHILD'S FIRST 
 EFFORT AT RELATING A STORY WHEN HE WAS 
 FOUR YEARS OLD 
 
 FEEteuAHY 14, 1894. — To-day I was trying to draw a 
 pussy for Harold, and when I drew the whiskers I said, 
 " Doggies don't have whiskers." He said, " ISTo, they 
 have only fleas." 
 
 February 19th. — He was looking at a large picture 
 of a naval review, and pointed to a three -mast vessel 
 and said, "I never saw one like that before." Then 
 pointing to two walking -beams, one at each end of 
 the picture, he said, " There are two ferry-boats like I 
 
 saw on the ribber when I was at Baby N 's house. 
 
 There's a sail-boat. There is no tug-boat here. What's 
 that ?" pointing to a cannon. I said, " Don't you remem- 
 ber seeing a cannon over at the square where there is a 
 statue ?" He said " Yes," and asked what the wheel 
 under it meant, and the tracks. His father then explained 
 about its being a carriage to wheel around the cannon. 
 He instantly asked whether there was a hinge there to 
 make it go around. 
 
 February 20th. — He told his mother the following 
 story very seriously to-day, without a break from begin- 
 ning to end. 
 
 About a month ago I told him about " The Brownies 
 
 149 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 and the Eain-drops," making it up for him as I went 
 along. He was very fond of it, and asked for it repeat- 
 edly, so I wrote it down. The one story may have sug- 
 gested the other, but he has heard of the Brownies and 
 had their books for a long time, and he has also heard of 
 " Jack and the Bean-stalk " independently of my story. 
 (At seven he still begs to hear both stories from time to 
 time.) 
 
 HAROLD'S STORY TO HIS MOTHER 
 
 " Harold saw a house, and what do you suppose he 
 saw right by it?" 
 
 His mother said, " I don't know." 
 
 He said, " Why, a great big bean-stork " (stalk), " and 
 Harold climbed up the steps to the top of the house ; 
 and what do you think he saw there?" 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Why, a little Brownie. He said, ' Why, how do you 
 do, Master Harold ?' and Harold said, ' How do you do, 
 , Master Brownie ?' " (He then said to me in an aside, 
 " His name was Mustard Brownie.") " ' Won't you come 
 down with me, Mustard Brownie ?' " Then Mustard 
 Brownie climbed down on one side of the steps, and 
 Harold on the other, and when they got down to the 
 ground Mustard Brownie took Harold's hand, and they 
 walked and walked and walked until they came to 
 Harold's house. 
 
 "Harold said, 'Won't you come in this beautiful house 
 and live with me, Mustard Brownie?' and he said he 
 would, and went in with Harold. And what do you 
 suppose Harold's nurse said to Mustard Brownie, hop- 
 ping on the floor?" 
 
 ■" I don't know." 
 
 150 
 
\, G 
 
 ~T O 1 i J 
 
 1 T U 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 \y 
 
 1 v 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 1894 CUTTINGS AND 1893 AND 1894 PRINTED LETTER WORK 
 
1894 CUTTINGS — FOUR TEARS OLD 
 
 A, shoe ; B, elephant ; C, a range with lots of fire- holes ; D, "a VeDico boat," he called it, 
 with a ventilator and window ; E, bell. 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 " 'Why, where do you come from, Mustard Brownie?' 
 And he said : 
 
 "'Harold saw me on top of the roof of a house and 
 brought me here.' And what do you suppose he did 
 then ? Hopped around on the floor and played with 
 Harold's toys ; and that's all." 
 
 The following is the story supposed to have sug- 
 gested the preceding one of the child's : 
 
 THE BROWNIES AND THE RAINDROPS 
 
 One moonlight night a wee little Brownie met an- 
 other little Brownie, who was much older than himself, 
 and he asked him a question that had been bothering 
 him all the long, long day : " Have we mammas and 
 have we papas ?" 
 
 " No, we are only Brownies — make-believes, the chil- 
 dren call us. Come, let us go up to the sky and see the 
 rain-drops." 
 
 " But how will we get there ?" 
 
 " Oh, upon a butterfly's back. I think there is a field 
 full of them here." 
 
 So away they went to the field, where they found 
 many beautiful butterflies asleep amid the flowers. 
 Brownies always travel at night and know just where 
 to find what they want, for they are very wise. To 
 the first butterfly they saw they said, " Please wake up 
 and take us to the sky to see the rain-drops." 
 
 " Certainly I will. We want them here, we are so 
 thirsty." 
 
 So up the Brownies jumped, but, alas ! they found the 
 butterfly's back was too small to hold them. They 
 
 151 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 asked another. He said, " Oh yes ; I will gladly go, 
 I am so very warm. We want the rain-drops here." But, 
 alas! he was too broad. The next was too thin' the 
 next too fat. Another was so soft that the Brownies 
 feared that they would go right through him. The last 
 one they tried was, oh, so hard ! His back was as sharp 
 as the edge of a knife. 
 
 The butterflies couldn't take them, yet wanted so 
 much to have the rain -drops, and the Brownies, too, 
 wanted very much to learn how and where the rain- 
 drops lived. The poor flowers in the field, also, were 
 so very thirsty. What could they all do \ 
 
 Well, the Brownies walked along, wondering and 
 wondering, when they chanced to see what looked like 
 large, beautiful trees, with steps running up the sides of 
 the trees. Now these wise little Brownies knew all about 
 the story of Jack and his Bean-stalk, and they thought 
 that perhaps they had found a fairy bean-stalk. They 
 picked out a tree that seemed higher to them than all 
 ^the others, and then they began to climb — high, higher, 
 and yet higher, for every time they thought they were 
 near the top up would seem to go another lot of steps. 
 They kept on, however, pufiing and panting, until at 
 last what do you think they saw ? (Here Harold al- 
 ways says, "I don't know," waiting expectantly.) A 
 beautiful white cloud, floating very near the highest 
 step, and sitting upon the cloud was another little 
 Brownie. How did he get there? They looked and 
 looked, but after so hard a climb they hadn't any breath 
 left to ask him how he came. Yery soon, however, 
 after they had rested a little, they turned to find out 
 all about it, when what do you think they saw ? (Har- 
 old again says, " I don't know.") They saw he was go- 
 
 152 
 
1894 CUTTINGS OF ENGINES 
 
1894 ENGINE AND CAR CUTTINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 ing down, down, down, far away from them and the 
 cloud. "What could it all mean ? They soon found out. 
 First they saw some rain-drops, like great, big, lovely 
 drops of dew, all gathered together in this beautiful 
 white cloud, one close against the other. They shone 
 and glistened, and were almost too beautiful to look at. 
 The little Brownies were quite afraid to speak to 
 them, but they did try to say in a whisper : 
 " The butterflies and flowers are very thirsty." 
 The big drops heard them, and answered, saying : 
 " Yes, we know, and we all are ready to give them 
 a drink. Now sit very still and watch us." And just 
 think of it ; the big cloud opened very gently, and the 
 drops all rolled out, one by one at first, but very soon 
 tumbling one over the other, just as fast as they could 
 go, flashing and splashing, and whispering gently all 
 the way down to Mother Earth, because they were so 
 very glad to give a drink to the poor thirsty butterflies 
 and flowers. As they were tumbling out, two of the 
 last big drops turned very quickly to the Brownies and 
 said : 
 
 " Tour ladder is gone. Jump upon our backs if you 
 want to get home before daylight comes." 
 
 Now we all know very well that Brownies are good- 
 natured little things, but they never let any one see 
 them, so they knew very well that home they must go, 
 and that very quickly. Their ladder was gone. They 
 felt a little bit afraid to ride down to the earth on the 
 rain-drops, yet what could they do? The big drops 
 promised them they would go very gently, so each 
 Brownie jumped up upon the back of a beautiful shin- 
 ing drop, and sailed away, down, down, down, in the 
 most delightful way, and where do you think they found 
 
 153 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 themselves when they reached the end of their journey ? 
 (Harold says, "I don't know.") 
 
 "Why, one was upon the back of the fat butterfly, and 
 the other was upon the back of the thin butterfly, and 
 they heard both butterflies making a quiet little noise 
 of pleasure because the rain had come. They did not 
 see the Brownies, though, for the sunshine too had come. 
 
 December 25th. — Me said, voluntarily to-night for his 
 prayer, " I love you, God, but I can't always do what 
 pleases you." The last was not suggested. He had 
 been told that God liked to know that little boys loved 
 Him, so he folded his hands, buried his face in his pil- 
 low, and whispered the words. Afterwards he said he 
 had something else to tell God, and repeated, " Please, 
 God, tell mamma to bring, next Christmas, for my kitty" 
 (said kitty is a stuffed cotton - print one) " a pair of 
 crutches and a bed." He told me to - day that she 
 was lame. All imagination. He idealizes her — she is 
 everything to him. He takes her to bed with him 
 every night. 
 
 December 26th. — To-day when I read to him, " So 
 Tray put his fore-feet in the milk," he asked, " Do 
 two and two make four ?" thinking I meant four feet. 
 Knowing there were two front and two hind feet, he 
 made his first attempt at adding. I said, " Yes, just 
 this way," holding up my fingers; "two fingers and 
 two fingers make four fingers." He held up his little 
 hand, separated the fingers in twos, and said, " This 
 way- — one, two; one, two," counting each group. I said, 
 "Yes; now how many altogether'^" He counted "One, 
 two, three, four," and was satisfied, Which he is only 
 when he understands the replies he receives. He never 
 gives up questioning until he understands. I have often 
 
 154 
 
1894 DRAWINGS— FOUR TEARS OLD 
 
 A, duck ; B, trolley car going round a track ; C. " Harold lame on crutches and mamma looking 
 out of the window"; ;>_a, is copy by child, reversed, of b, done bv another person ; E, scenes at 
 a country fair— a, band-stand ; b. merry-go-round ; c, swing ; d, e'lephant-keeper with goad; F, 
 faucets aud pipes ; G— a, bird on cherry-tree ; b, boy with bow and arrow shooting bird on apple- 
 tree ; c, bird flying away. 
 
1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR TEARS OLD 
 
 A, engine from copy, February 25, 1894 — as Harold's interest increased in engines his father 
 would draw one for him, as above, probably once a fortnight— Harold alwavs made additions to his 
 own copy ; B and D. early pen efforts ; E and C, first attempts at a round front for engines— he 
 seemed never to have observed this feature before. 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 heard him say, "What? What did you say?" meaning 
 that he did not understand — not that he did not hear ; 
 but until I would explain to others they would frequent- 
 ly answer in the same words, over and over again, to 
 every " what " he gave. He did not know how else to 
 ask, and because I always understood what he meant 
 by " what," he thought others did. 
 
 I did not explain to him at this time about fore-feet 
 meaning front feet, for he had enough to consider with 
 his " two and two make four." 
 
 We usually find out some way of making things clear 
 by going from what he knows to the unknown— as, for 
 instance, he asked once what a " calf " was, and I said, 
 "A little cow." He said, "Oh, is that the way?" and 
 asked no more. We can always trust to his asking ques- 
 tions when he observes anything new, for he knows that 
 he will be answered. He now possesses a fund of in- 
 formation, acquired by questioning and from surround- 
 ings, that is equal to that of a much older child, yet 
 he has gained it all without the slightest effort beyond 
 self-directed amusement, with no sign of precociousness, 
 and without sacrificing in the least degree the oppor- 
 tunities that were needed for correct physical develop- 
 ment. 
 
 He asked me this evening why we were not made to 
 eat everything. I said things were made for different 
 uses ; grown stomachs, if well cared for when little, 
 could digest almost anything. Then he said, "But no 
 — listen : why don't we eat vaseline instead of using 
 it outside ?" I said we could, but we wouldn't like it. 
 He is no doubt puzzling over internal and external uses 
 of things. He asked me to-night how to spell " gan," of 
 the word "Hogan." I said, "g-a-n." He then said, 
 
 155 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 "Hello, Harold, here you are again. How do you spell 
 that?" I said, "a-g-a-i-n," and he was satisfied. 
 
 He is very fond of Slovenly Peter. "When asked 
 what kind of a book it was, he said, very emphatically, 
 "Slovenly Peter was made for naughty boys. You 
 could read it to good boys to make them happy, and 
 to naughty boys to make them good ; that's what it's 
 made for." (An incipient reviewer.) 
 
 The following story, which I wrote for Harold when 
 he was about four years old, gives our experience with 
 some pet mice, and shows, incidentally, how he was 
 taught to be gentle with live creatures. He asks for it 
 again and again : 
 
 TWO WHITE MICE 
 
 " TVhitey " and " Squealy." This is what Harold calls 
 them. Whitey is the dearest little ball of fluff when sit- 
 ting on her haunches cleaning her coat with fists made 
 *of the smallest pair of hands you ever saw, for her front 
 feet looked like little hands that have only four fingers 
 and no thumbs. They are ever so much smaller than 
 the hind feet, that have five toes that look like a thumb 
 and four fingers. These hind feet are very strong, and 
 Whitey often stands up on them like a kangaroo, lifting 
 her nose high up into the air to sniff at something 
 which she doesn't quite understand, but knows is there. 
 Harold says she has only four fingers for each front 
 foot, with no thumb to get in the way, because she can 
 roll them up into fists more easily, which mousie always 
 does when cleaning her fur, making them go so fast 
 that you can only see something pink that is moving 
 but has no distinct form. Harold also says mousie has 
 
 156 
 
1804 DRAWINGS 
 
 A, copy of a picture of an old English engine— clone from memory ; B, he drew a, a man before 
 the engine which some one else drew — he also drew b, an engine to run over the figures in front, 
 which were also drawn by some one else ; C, fire engine ; D, engine pushing a car ; E. he said, 
 "Aren't they funny smiling little boys! I think I'd rather look at those than anything." 
 
1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 
 A, "a man shooting an ostrich"; B, "baby-coach. 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 five toes on her hind feet so she may spread them out to 
 stand on. Whitey's sense of smell, as is true of all 
 mice, is wonderful. We often place a bit of cheese 
 within several feet of her, just to see her drop every- 
 thing instantly and run straight to the tempting morsel, 
 where the least little bit of a nibble seems to satisfy her. 
 
 She is a very dainty eater. She lives chiefly upon 
 canary-seed, and to see her sitting beside us so fearlessly, 
 holding a very little seed in her fore-paws, nibbling away 
 to her heart's content, with a most knowing expression, 
 is a sight worth working for. It takes only a little 
 patience and kind, treatment to secure this result. 
 
 Squealy was not so easy to teach as Whitey was, and 
 he gave us a great deal of trouble. He squealed every 
 time we touched him, which gave him his name; he 
 would climb out of his box and run away. One night 
 he gave us a half-hour's chase before we caught him. 
 He would nibble holes with his sharp little teeth through 
 the bottom of the box or in the cover on the dressing- 
 table, where we tried to keep him for a while, thinking he 
 wouldn't try to jump off. He would chew at the edges 
 of any books or papers he could reach ; in fact, he never 
 seemed satisfied except when in mischief. Whitey, on 
 the contrary, showed a genuinely sweet disposition, never 
 squealing when we took her up, and never giving trouble 
 of any kind. 
 
 We took them with us to the country one day when 
 making a visit, and had a most exciting hunt for 
 Squealy the first night, just about bedtime, when we 
 discovered that Whitey was alone in the box, which 
 had been set very carefully in the middle of the floor, 
 far enough away, so we supposed, from anything that 
 could be reached. As we knew the roving disposition 
 
 157 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 of Squeal} 1- , we took this precaution, but we were not 
 sufficiently foresighted, as events showed. We hunted 
 under beds, bureaus, and chairs, up -stairs and clown, 
 with candles and without, and at last gave up in de- 
 spair when we happened to spy him upon the curtain- 
 pole near the ceiling, his little white head with his pink 
 eyes almost invisible, peering over the top of the equally 
 white curtain. His eyes were shining as if he enjoyed 
 our worry. He sat still, watching us, and it took but a 
 moment to get him and place the box in a safer position, 
 farther away from the curtain, to which he had evident- 
 ly jumped ; but we did not feel secure so long as we had 
 him visiting, for we never knew where we would find 
 him. We did not mind this very much when at home, 
 as we were careful to keep doors closed, and all articles 
 of value away from him. 
 
 When he began to fight, however, we thought it best 
 to do without him. The scampering and squealing that 
 we heard at night was, to say the least, disturbing, es- 
 - pecially to those who wanted to sleep and were not ac- 
 customed to noise of this sort. We had grown so used 
 to little things of this kind in our nature-studies, that 
 we were entirely unmindful of the fact that our little 
 family did not live very happily when together ; but one 
 night, after a particularly noisy time, we surprised a 
 little dark mouse on a visit to the white ones. He 
 disappeared very quickly, but evidently returned again, 
 for the racket was astounding. Finally there was a 
 terrific squeal and a big thump. Upon springing up 
 and striking a light we discovered poor Whitey on the 
 floor with blood on her back, where either Squealy or 
 the brown mouse had evidently bitten her. She had 
 fallen or been pushed from the top of a large trunk, 
 
 158 
 
1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YEARS OLD 
 
 A. "a man out walking in the wind, whicli blew his hat-string from his coat button"; B, "two 
 men on a boat"; C, " cannon, and man shooting": D, "boy, and his mamma telling him not to do 
 something"; E, "frightened girl"; F, "man walking in the rain"; G, Chinaman; H, windmill 
 to work machinery below; I, "girl out walking"; J, New York fire-boat ; K. "baggage man at 
 depot"; L and M, engines running over men ; N, effort at horizon ; a, sun ; b, steamboat; c. cap- 
 tain on sail ; d, ship with four sails ; e, ship with two sails ; f, cannon on war-ship ; g, big sail-boat. 
 

 
 
 
 1 ! M 
 
 i ' 1 — 
 
 
 
 l.;y 
 
 IT 
 
 
 ill 
 
 1 P 
 
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 «B3fe^- 
 
 j I K -L 
 
 
 
 iVBprv 
 
 1894 DRAWINGS — FOUR YKARS OLD 
 
 A, cat ; B, man with wheelbarrow ; C, man to wind clock ; P, New York fire-boat ; E. house, 
 horse, and wagon ; a, balloon ; b. little man looking out of the window ; c. "rope to let the heat 
 out or in of the chimney " ; d, front door ; F— a. cherries on stem ; b, letter-box ; c, mortar carrier : 
 d, bells ; e, door ; f, hill with somebody looking over it. 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 upon which they were living at the time. Mice always 
 fall on their feet like cats. Squealy's condition, upon 
 examination, showed that he, too, had received his share 
 in the battle royal that had just taken place, for his ears 
 were covered with blood. I reached out to pick him 
 up, to put him alone for the night, when he bit me, a 
 very sharp little nip, which hurt and brought blood. 
 This sealed his fate. We concluded that he was not 
 of sufficiently gentle mouse-birth to live among gentle- 
 folks, and we returned him next day to the fancier from 
 whom we had bought him. 
 
 Since that time there has been peace and quiet, day 
 and night, and Whitey has shown the most delightful 
 habits. She is sitting now, as I write, within two inches 
 of my pen, lifting her nose in the air in the dainty fash- 
 ion she has, as if she smells cheese, or possibly ink, for 
 I frequently have to rescue her from the fascination of 
 the ink-bottle. She will lift herself up and look into 
 its inky darkness in the most knowing way. Some- 
 times she comes up to my hand as I write, when every- 
 thing is very quiet, and puts her little cold nose against 
 my fingers, as if to pet me. Then she scampers away 
 for a run in and out among the books and papers on 
 the table, which is her nightly treat. She spends all 
 her days in a home she has made her own. It is a 
 newspaper- basket on a stand, and is lined with wad- 
 ding which is covered with red plush. She has been 
 bright enough to nibble a hole in the plush and pull 
 out a large handful of wadding, which she has made 
 soft with her little teeth, making the loveliest bed im- 
 aginable, upon and under which she sleeps, having at 
 the same time given herself a hiding-place under the 
 plush, to which she often runs. 
 
 159 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 Like some human beings, she has a way of making 
 herself very comfortable. One thing she does that is 
 rather queer for a white mouse. "We often put her up 
 high, in some place where she feels uncomfortable or 
 not safe, and she jumps at once, always towards me, 
 landing upon some part of my body. We found she 
 would do this by one time placing both mice, heads 
 down, upon the straight back of a sofa, down which 
 Squealy would crawl every time ; but Whitey did it only 
 once, jumping every time afterwards. 
 
 "When running about, she is very independent in 
 her movements, and uses her front feet exactly as a 
 kangaroo might. I have often seen her hold on with 
 her hind feet, or stand up on them and reach her head 
 and forefeet away out, as if to reach something. Then 
 she will settle back again and scamper along. "When 
 wide awake and running, her body is raised fully half 
 an inch from the floor ; but when lazy, she drags her 
 body, feet, and tail, along on the same plane, in the lazi- 
 -est possible way, her body touching the surface over 
 which she is crawling. 
 
 Harold frequently gives "Whitey a ride upon one of 
 his toy-engines, or he will put her in a block-house as 
 he builds it, and in either case, or, for that matter, wher- 
 ever he puts her, if contented, she will cuddle up into 
 a little ball and go to sleep. Sometimes she will play 
 peep with him in a very fascinating way. "We took 
 Whitey with us to our summer home, where she lived 
 contentedly in my study, exploring eveiy nook and 
 corner she could reach. Occasionally we would let her 
 go about the house. One time we found her down- 
 stairs in the pantry, possibly looking for cheese. 
 
 About three weeks after our return she had a family 
 
 160 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 of seven brown mice, which delighted Harold. He fed 
 the mother every day, and watched the curious move- 
 ments of the little ones. As they grew they got away. 
 It was impossible to tame them, and "Whitey did not 
 seem to care for them as Harold expected she would. 
 She would run away from the nest we made for them, 
 and would try to keep away. And the little " Brownies," 
 as Harold called them, disappeared one by one, to be 
 caught later, no doubt, in the mouse-trap down-stairs. 
 Whitey then seemed to become playful, as she had been 
 at first, but a cruel fate overtook her. One day a young 
 kitten belonging to Harold got into the study by acci- 
 dent. We found kitty seated comfortably in the corner 
 of a closet that mousie favored, and we thought she 
 looked as if she had been enjoying a very good meal. 
 But we hoped against hope, and for days we looked 
 for Whitey to come back. She never came, but we 
 often find kitty in the same corner of the closet look- 
 ing very watchful. As Harold cries bitterly whenever 
 he hears of anything being hurt or killed, we have 
 let him think that Whitey has gone away on a visit, 
 from which she will no doubt return. 
 
 A white mouse is a dainty little pet, very interesting, 
 and giving little trouble — that is, if you can find one 
 that does not bite, as we have done. 
 
 The following is a favorite story of Harold's, embody- 
 ing our experience with training butterflies when he 
 was four years old, which I wrote and had published in 
 /St. Nicholas: 
 
 BUTTERFLY PETS 
 
 It may seem very strange to hear of butterflies as 
 pets, but there is now in New York City a little boy 
 
 L 161 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 who had as pets, during September and November of 
 last year, four Archippus butterflies, and the illustra- 
 tions to this article were taken from these real models. 
 
 The Archippus is one of our largest butterflies, meas- 
 uring from three to four and a half inches across its 
 outspread wings. It appears in the latter part of July, 
 and lives all through September, and sometimes into 
 the early part of October, if the weather is mild and 
 warm. It loves the sunshine, and has a very leisurely 
 and graceful manner of flying about from flower to 
 flower, as if it were enjoying everything to the utmost. 
 Helen Conant tells us truly in her charming little book, 
 The Butterfly Hunters, that there is no butterfly that 
 takes such strong hold of one's fingers with its feet as the 
 Archippus. It is not so bright in color as some others, 
 but the wings are tawny orange, and are beautifully 
 bordered with black dotted with white. Fine black 
 veins cross the wings, and on the tip of the fore wing 
 are several yellow and white spots extending up on the 
 front border. The under sides of the wings are a deep 
 yellow, bordered and veined like the upper sides. The 
 head and the thorax, or chest part, are black, spotted 
 with white, and the slender feelers or antennae end in a 
 long knob. 
 
 The little boy referred to above, whose name is Har- 
 old, was out in the fields near Bayonne, New Jersey, 
 one sunny morning in September, playing with his usual 
 companion, when they happened to meet two small 
 " butterfly hunters " who had caught three very large 
 Archippus butterflies. 
 
 Harold was charmed with the pretty creatures, and 
 stood quite still, gazing eager -eyed and wistful. The 
 older boy suggested that the boy who held the butter- 
 
 162 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 flies should give one to him, which was instantly and 
 kindly done, and Harold heartily thanked them and 
 took home his prize very carefully. 
 
 The idea then occurred to me to find out how long 
 the butterfly would live if tenderly cared for; as re- 
 cently a writer, in describing some captured butterflies, 
 spoke of their short life, saying that from ten to four- 
 teen days was the average. 
 
 Harold's first butterfly escaped, after a week, through 
 an unnoticed crack in the window ; but he had been 
 taught to feed quietly from his finger, a glass, or a 
 flower. He said at once, " "We must go to look for 
 another, or I will have to cry !" You must remember 
 that he was only four years old. 
 
 He went into the fields again, and though he saw 
 several small butterflies, found no Archippus, and met 
 no boy -hunters. For a week the loss of his pet was 
 mourned, and then a beautiful specimen was spied in a 
 neighboring yard. Harold watched it from a window 
 until it disappeared, and then begged his mother to go 
 with him in search of it. On the way he interested 
 several small boys in his quest, and they found the but- 
 terfly, secured him, and gave him to Harold, who brought 
 him home in triumph. At home he found awaiting his 
 return another Archippus, which had been caught by a 
 boy who had heard he wanted one. Evidently all the 
 boys in the neighborhood were interested, for the next 
 day still another was brought. It took only one day to 
 teach one of the new butterflies to eat the sugar syrup 
 with which they were fed. The others waited several 
 days before they seemed to understand what was being 
 done. 
 
 In teaching them it was necessary to handle them 
 
 163 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 very gently, always closing the wings, and holding the 
 butterfly by them near the head, releasing the feet very 
 carefully at the same time with the other hand, as the 
 Archippus clings very tenaciously, the feet having two 
 fork-like claws which take a very strong hold of any 
 rough surface. The butterflies slept on the lace cur- 
 tains by the windows, and therefore, when lifted, had to 
 be moved very cautiously. By putting a finger in front 
 of the butterfly's antennae, and touching one of them 
 very lightly (as if to let the little creature know the 
 finger was there), the butterfly would in almost every 
 instance creep upon the extended finger, where, after 
 one or two trials, he would sit contentedly, sipping his 
 sugar-water. 
 
 One of Harold's pets used his front feet in a very im- 
 patient way, kicking out right and left, as if hunting for 
 the finger which was usually there when he was ready to 
 pay attention to cleaning his wings, body, and feet, after 
 a meal of thick and sticky sugar-water. His washing 
 was done very daintily, in a basin or bowl in which 
 there was about a gill of water. At the same time he 
 alternately projected and drew in the trunk-like probos- 
 cis with which he fed — which is altogether a remark- 
 able and very interesting feature. When not in use, 
 this organ is coiled up very closely, and when the but- 
 terfly is asleep the coil is so small that it can scarcely 
 be seen. When feeding or taking his bath the butterfly 
 frequently rolled his proboscis up half-way, and then 
 opened it again and went on with what he was doing. 
 
 It was very curious to note the degree of intelligence 
 shown by this butterfly during the six weeks of his life 
 as a pet. It was a very pretty sight to see him sit in 
 the bowl of water, now lapping, then picking all over 
 
 164 
 
THE BUTTERFLY ON THE CURTAIN 
 
RECORD CONTINUED 
 
 his coat and wings, again taking a sip, and so on, until 
 lie seemed well satisfied with his condition, and flew 
 away. He would alight upon the curtain, over which 
 he crawled slowly, very likely to dry the under side of 
 his body, which had touched the water ; then he would 
 close his wings, and take his usual afternoon nap. Be- 
 fore eating he was very active, fluttering about in the 
 sunshine, up and down the curtains and about the 
 room, and occasionally resting upon Harold's shoulder 
 or hand, or on the floor, where he would bask in the 
 sunshine with wide-open wings. Sometimes we would 
 find him on the under side of the head of the sofa. 
 
 This butterfly's companion lived with him, feeding 
 from the same glass and sleeping near him, in the same 
 closet or on the curtain, for nearly three weeks, when, 
 through inadvertence, the poor creature was left in a 
 room for a moment where the gas had been lighted, and 
 he sealed his own doom by flying through the blaze. 
 He fell to the floor, apparently unhurt, but we soon 
 learned that he could not live. 
 
 The third butterfly brought to Harold escaped through 
 the same space between the windows that gave liberty 
 to the first one. They would flutter up and down the 
 windows in the sunshine, except when resting upon the 
 curtains, and in this way two of them got between 
 the sashes — the lower one having been raised to give 
 room for the window - screen — and escaped. A week 
 after the first three were brought, another boy came 
 with a fine Archippus, which eventually broke his wing. 
 We brought Harold's pets to New York, in a covered 
 and well -ventilated box, where a compassionate drug- 
 gist etherized the broken - winged butterfly. Harold 
 feared he was suffering, and was glad to see him die. It 
 
 165 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 was soon after this that the other butterfly flew through 
 the gas, and then we had only one, and the season was 
 too far advanced to catch any more. This butterfly 
 was fed once a day with honey, and was allowed to fly 
 about in the sunshine whenever that was possible. He 
 was also put away very carefully at night in a dark 
 closet, where he liked to sleep resting upon some soft 
 material. If put down upon the shelf, he would flutter 
 about in the dark until he found something soft. At 
 one place, during their travels, the three butterflies slept 
 on the window, behind the curtains, and in the morning 
 they would begin their fluttering as soon as the sun- 
 shine came. The life of the last butterfly was prolonged 
 for several weeks by great care, but eventually he suc- 
 cumbed to three days of rain while we were travelling, 
 and he had no sunny curtain upon which to bask. 
 Harold mourned the loss of his pet for a long time. 
 
SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 
 
 L£2 
 
 ' TWO TIMES TWO " 
 
 M- HI /Ml* ft. 
 
 
 A FAMILY PORTRAIT 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF A NAVY 
 
 1895 AND 1S96 DRAWINGS 
 
 1895 — Printed work from memory ; working out the two table ; music from memory ; 
 free-hand efforts ; two views of a war boat. 1890 — The Valkyrie. 
 
CHAPTEE VI 
 
 NUMBER - WORK — COMPOSITION— FANCY — THE STORY 
 OF HIS STUFFED KITTY — THE ADVENTURES OF A 
 LADY-BUG 
 
 May 23, 1895. — Harold is now five years old. He 
 works at numbers in a very curious way. He just sang 
 to himself : " I wonder how many thumbs there are in 
 the world. But / know. Mamma doesn't know. She 
 has two and I have two, and that makes four in this 
 room." Then he said, " And that's all we know." Then 
 he counted up fourteen thumbs in the house, for seven 
 people. 
 
 A few days ago he wanted to find out how many 
 pennies he needed to make a dollar. He had seventy- 
 four cents. He marked on a slip of paper from 70 to 
 100, and then beginning at 71 as 1, he counted up to 
 100, putting down each number from 1 to 15, then 
 counting verbally, as if he had found it was not neces- 
 sary to write out each number (see illustration facing p. 
 182). He then announced triumphantly that he needed 
 twenty-six pennies to make a dollar. There were two 
 persons in the room to whom he could have applied had 
 he cared to ask, but he seems to prefer to help himself 
 when he can, and we do not interfere. He does not sus- 
 pect that he is doing anything unusual, therefore he is 
 always ready to explain. 
 
 He said the other day, "Is the sun Jesus's light?" 
 
 167 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 To-day we heard him say, " Six and three are nine ; six 
 and four are ten." His aunt asked him how he knew 
 it. He replied, "I know that six and three are nine, 
 and four is one more than three, and ten is next to nine, 
 so it must be so." Then he turned to his mother and 
 said, " Mamma, when you get me a rule again, get me 
 a five-inch or a ten-inch rule" (instead of the regular 
 foot-rule, which puzzled him), "because I can count 
 then 5—10—15—20—25." 
 
 The following is an effort at composition : 
 
 New York, November 26, 1895. 
 
 "West Street. 
 
 Dear Papa, — I am in bed, and mamma is writing this for me because 
 I want to write you a letter. I told her to put the date and all, the 
 place where we are, and to tell you all about what I am doing, so you 
 can know just what your little boy is doing all the time. 
 Good-bye, dear papa, with my love, 
 
 Your dear little boy, 
 
 Harold. 
 
 Some time between October and December we found 
 among his papers the accompanying efforts at numbers 
 (see illustration facing p. 166). He is evidently work- 
 ing out the two table for himself. 
 
 He has learned to count to a thousand with very little 
 effort, by simply asking questions. "We taught him 
 numbers by direct teaching from one to ten ; the rest he 
 reasoned out for himself by asking occasional questions. 
 At first he thought of numbers as meaning only one to 
 nine ; then he wanted to know what came next. We 
 counted with him to twenty, and I explained that after 
 he reached ten it was the same thing over again, only 
 he must say ten instead of one and naught, and eleven 
 instead of one and one, and so on. I did this because I 
 
 168 
 
If 1 
 
 1 — ~-J 
 
 fr 12 % )J 
 
 HIS EXPLANATION OP THE PARTS OF AN ENGINE 
 
 V 
 
 
 &-^yi 
 
 
 HIS DEVELOPMENT DURING HIS FIFTH YEAR IN 
 FREE HAND DRAWING — FROM A COPY 
 
 NEARLY PRINTING — HOW HE ASKED FOR A DERRICK 
 
 HIS PET BUTTERFLY 
 
 a e. c. v. i 
 r~\ , d. e. 
 
 " xv 
 
 3 
 
 &. H. f, ,-_.-■ : 
 
 
 ! 
 
 J. K- L - 
 M, N- Q> ■ 
 
 . p. a r, - - 
 
 
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 »^Ji s& - 
 
 UV . 1 
 
 , 
 
 m*w<.* - 
 
 
 i " 
 
 EARLY PRINTING 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS 
 
 Parts of an engine. Free-hand drawing of clock and ducks from copy. How the child 
 asked for a derrick. The child's drawing of his pet butterfly feeding. Early printing, 
 from copy. 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 feared he was too young to attempt to teach him about 
 units, tens, and hundreds by name. I also told him that 
 when he reached nineteen it began in the same way 
 again, only with two instead of one, saying he must use 
 twenty, then twenty-one, etc. He then asked what 
 came after twenty-nine. I said he should use three, 
 four, and five, and so on in the same way as he had 
 used two in twenty. He then began by himself, count- 
 ing up to ninety-nine, but saying three-ty and five-ty for 
 thirty and fifty, until I corrected him. For a long time 
 after this he thought only of numbers as consisting of 
 one or two figures — as, for instance, 8 or 24, and he was 
 perfectly satisfied to go no further than ninety -nine 
 when counting for his own amusement. It was at this 
 stage of his number-work that I found him interested in 
 copying printed numbers. He asked me one day for a 
 book that began at page 1. After a long search I found 
 an old paper novel that began with page 1 on the open- 
 ing page of the story, instead of beginning, as books usu- 
 ally do, with, page 5 or 6. This book I gave to him for 
 his own. For two weeks I saw him at various times 
 lying upon the floor with it, a pencil, and also his Slov- 
 enly Peter book. I did not trouble to look into what he 
 was doing, for he seemed content ; and when at the end 
 of this time he came to me and said that Slovenly Peter 
 had forty -four pages, I was very much surprised. I 
 thought he might have guessed it, so I turned to page 
 33 and asked him what page it was. He answered cor- 
 rectly at once. Then I looked into the matter further, 
 and found that he had taken his pencil and had copied 
 from page 1 to 44 in the novel, and had put the num- 
 bers at the foot of the page in Slovenly Peter. By doing 
 this, counting and comparing with the printed number 
 
 169 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 above, he had learned the appearance of numbers. I 
 said nothing more about the matter at the time, but 
 from this on I noticed that he always knew numbers 
 when he saw them. One day when on the train he 
 saw a passing car with the number 321 on its side. He 
 instantly asked what three numbers together meant. I 
 told him then about hundreds, explaining that after 99 
 came 100, 101, and so on the same way up. This satis- 
 fied Him for a long time ; but one day, when on the 
 street, he noticed a house numbered 2105, and asked 
 me what four numbers together meant. I then ex- 
 plained about a thousand coming after 999, and so on 
 up to millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions, etc., and 
 about adding three more naughts to each one. These 
 terms seemed to take his fancy, and he often asked 
 about their order; and one day he came to me and 
 exclaimed : " I could count to quadrillions if I had time 
 enough, couldn't I ? A quadrillion has fifteen ciphers." 
 This was before he was six years old. 
 „ Dr. Preyer thought the child was mistaken in the 
 number of ciphers, and wrote: " If the child exclaims at 
 this age that ' A quadrillion has fifteen ciphers,' this 
 wrong statement should not be mentioned. ... If he 
 had worked it out by threes, then he would have found 
 twenty-four ciphers ; a million having six, a thousand 
 millions nine, a billion twelve, a thousand billions fifteen, 
 a trillion eighteen, a thousand trillions twenty - one, a 
 quadrillion twenty-four. It would have been rather 
 remarkable if he had found this by himself." 
 
 Dr. Harris explains, however, that the child was right, 
 for Dr. Preyer counted by the Continental method, and 
 the child referred to in the record had his questions 
 answered according to American counting. (The record 
 
 170 
 
ru 
 
 i\ ■ .P.R.R ;: : 
 
 y~k 
 
 1895 ENGINE DRAWINGS FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 also shows how at six years of age he found out for him- 
 self that he could count to hundreds on the type-writer 
 by using the figures 1 to 9 and the letter o.) 
 
 He took up printed letters in the same easy way that 
 he worked out numbers, and thus learned the alphabet, 
 as may be seen from the various illustrations relating to 
 this phase, learning to read and spell, eventually, by the 
 aid of memory and by comparison of the words he knew 
 from memory with the printed words before him. (See 
 illustrations facing p. 166.) His illustrated books of pigs, 
 cats, and dogs, etc., furnished him with sufficient material 
 for this sort of work, and his interest was kept up by the 
 illustrations, and sufficient admixture of out-door play to 
 create a desire for in-door amusement. 
 
 His efforts at figure-drawing (free-hand) in his fifth 
 year show steady improvement, as may be seen from 
 illustrations facing p. 168. 
 
 His continued interest in mechanical work, boats, etc., 
 may be seen from illustrations facing p. 168. The cut 
 was given just as represented, in response to the request 
 of a playmate of five, who said he did not know the parts 
 of an engine, whereupon he drew the parts and gave 
 the name of each part as noted, giving at the same time 
 a graphic description of how each part worked. 
 
 December 10. — This evening Harold was very anx- 
 ious to use my type- writer. My stenographer cautioned 
 him not to touch it — this was before he had learned 
 to use it — and we heard him say to his playmate, 
 another little boy, " Come away, Leo ; when you keep 
 looking at it, it tempts you to touch it, and it is bet- 
 ter to go away." We allowed him shortly after to 
 try, and he soon mastered the intricacies of the ma- 
 chine. He asked this evening about seeing faces go- 
 
 171 
 
A STUDY OF A GUILD 
 
 ing up and down when going to sleep ; he described one 
 as round, with two dots for eyes, and a straight nose and 
 mouth, that all changed to two marks across each other 
 
 like this qk=fc, illustrating by crossed fingers. Miss B 
 
 said to him to-day in the basement of a toy-store, "Come, 
 Harold, let us go, it is so close in here." He replied, 
 " Close to what ?" 
 
 He is full of fancy, and he invests his stuffed kitty 
 with every loving attribute he can think of. To- 
 day he said to her, " Step over yourself, kitty." Then 
 he went on : " There are two ways of walking over 
 yourself. I can step on myself, step one foot on the 
 other, that's touching myself." Then he said that kitty 
 replied, " I can't, unless I put my feet over my head, and 
 that would hurt my nose and eyes." This same kitty 
 was his " darling " for nearly four years (until he was 
 seven years old), and at the end of that time she was not 
 discarded because of lack of love, but because a boy 
 visitor broke her neck and back and she had to go to 
 the hospital. He sent the boy home, and wrote him a 
 note telling him to never come again. On kittj^s back 
 I found a handkerchief bandage with a slip of paper 
 pinned to it on which was written the fact that kitty 
 had been hurt (see illustration facing p. 192.) 
 
 She was taken to bed with him every night during 
 this entire period of devotion ; when in trouble he would 
 go to her, clasp her in his arms, and say, in heart-rend- 
 ing tones, " Oh, my kitty !" No one was allowed to 
 speak slightingly to her, and he even begged his mother 
 not to let the boys laugh at her. When the cotton 
 in her neck became displaced he instantly seized upon 
 the idea that the limp condition allowed her to bend 
 her head and say good-morning, which he would cause 
 
 172 
 
1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 a. stationary engine ; b, windmill worked by cylinder connecting with a ; A, a dredger ; B, 
 "stationary engine attached to a dredger"; C, upper part of a sewing-machine ; D, alcohol engine ; 
 E, man wheeling a baby in coach. 
 
.& 
 
 
 ft 
 
 '3*? 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 ( 
 
 is 
 
 Tp ■ 
 
 
 1 
 
 \ 1 
 I \ 1 
 
 
 
 7 \U 
 
 suiipi 4 
 
 
 iUH 
 
 •^ 
 
 ,h~ (pi 
 
 MM 
 
 1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE TEARS OLD 
 
 A, " the way to hung a bell on an engine" ; R, boat going over sand-bar ; C, boat going between 
 two mountains ; P, boat with anchor (note size of anchor) ; E, "this is a pump, and the water 
 pulls down the weight to make the clapper hit the bell." 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 her to do every morning. His conversations with her 
 at night and early morning were frequent and very 
 charming. He always pretended that she was an- 
 swering him in a squeaky voice. She grew very dim 
 about the face from much hugging, and her neck event- 
 ually gave way from many "good-mornings;" so in- 
 numerable " stitches " had to be taken, until at last even 
 Harold saw that no more could be taken. Then for a 
 long time he submitted to a great break in her body 
 from the neck down, about two inches in length; but 
 even this was for a purpose, for he frequently showed 
 me through this break how her " heart " would move. 
 (A piece of the cotton inside did move every time he 
 made kitty move a certain way.) As the features faded 
 out, he kept appealing to me to say whether I did not 
 think she looked "so gentle," "so smiling," and when- 
 ever any one of his numerous friends presented him with 
 a new stuffed kitty — no doubt because the old one sug- 
 gested the gift — he invariably re-presented the new kitty 
 to some one else and clung to his " darling," as he called 
 her. At last it seemed to dawn upon him that she was 
 failing, and he suggested that I take him to see some 
 covers for stuffed kitties, and find out whether he could 
 get a " smiling " one. I remember he comforted him- 
 self afterwards with the thought that if kitties had 
 nine lives he could use nine covers. We found a cover 
 that to him seemed smiling. It was in a country store, 
 where goods are likely to be shop-worn, and this kitty- 
 cover had seen its best days before he bought it. I pre- 
 pared to cover the old kitty, but I had to compromise 
 on closing the lower edges with a large safety-pin in 
 such a manner that he could uncover his "darling" 
 whenever she wanted to talk to him. For several weeks 
 
 173 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 lie fancied that she couldn't hear him when he talked 
 to her, but I assured him she could ; so eventually he un- 
 covered her very seldom, but the safety-pin was a fixture 
 to the end of her existence as a comrade. "When we 
 were ready to travel anywhere, kitty always went 
 along, and if there was no room in the travelling-bag, 
 he would kiss her good-bye and place her on top in one 
 of the trunks, in order, as he said, that she could breathe 
 and would not be squeezed. Once he carried her in his 
 arms on a long journey and showed her everything he 
 thought of interest. During the day, while he was at 
 play, she was propped up in his crib and told to wait 
 for him, that he would come back again at night, etc. 
 "When he wanted to find her for consolation, he knew 
 just where to go every time, and woe betide the person 
 who couldn't find " my kitty." I well remember a trip 
 by candle-light to bring her in from the fence at the 
 extreme end of the garden, where she had been placed 
 during the day to watch Harold " dig at his reservoir," 
 that occupied him three years, and amused not only him 
 but all his numerous playmates. Once it would be a res- 
 ervoir, another time a cellar to a house, once a sand-pile 
 — for which he bought two loads of sand — again a gar- 
 den, once even a cemetery, where a funeral over Dollie 
 was held in great state. To us it always seemed to be 
 a great big hole, to be refilled in time. Kitty had to 
 superintend all these operations, and indeed his entire 
 little life seemed divided in its interests between kitty 
 and himself, and no amount of badinage, to which he 
 was often subject from those who were beyond oar con- 
 trol, would disturb this loyalty to his " darling kitty." 
 
 The following is a favorite story of his that I told to 
 him just before the election of President McKinley, 
 
 174 
 
1895 DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 A, elevated railroad from South Ferry— a, Grand Street ; b, Bleeoker Street ; c. Eighth Street ; 
 d. Fourteenth Street. Note curve between Eighth Street aud Bleecker Street, as it should be. 
 When four years old the child could tell all the stations from South Ferry to Fifty-eighth Street 
 from memory ; B, windmill to work the pump from which the water, a, is pouring. 
 
1895 DRAWINGS — FIYE TEARS OLD 
 
 nAn^ 6 * Str f et Car in Philadelphia ; B, tools, and a man shooting ; C, well-trapped wash stand 
 poorly trapped wash-stand ; D, hoisting-engine for derrick. "appea wasti-stand 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 when he was very much interested in the remarks he 
 heard so frequently about gold and silver. The story is 
 based upon our experience, and is one of many that I 
 used to interest him when I could not find printed 
 stories that were simple enough to suit my purpose. 
 His constant plea was to read to him stories that he 
 could understand, and to read them understanding^, 
 even if they were not printed thus ; but he begged me 
 to do so quickly and not stop and explain. He wanted 
 the simple words, but if compelled to choose, preferred 
 to hear the difficult words without a break in his listen- 
 ing, to hearing simple words with explanations. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF A LADY-BUG 
 
 [ Told by herself to Mrs. Fly, on the window-pane] 
 
 I was creeping along the pavement last Friday after- 
 noon, very quietly, and quite intent on my own business, 
 on my way to see Mrs. Gold-bug and her little daugh- 
 ter, when I felt myself lifted, carefully, it is true, but 
 still lifted, away up into the air. It seemed to me as if 
 it might be as high as up to the sky. But it couldn't 
 have been, for after hearing myself admired I was put 
 into a house of some sort that was made of paper, for 
 I know what paper is, having heard it rustle many a 
 time. This paper house had four corners, and one corner 
 was torn off and folded crosswise so as to give me some 
 air. I happen to know this, because while I was being 
 admired I heard what must have been a little boy's 
 voice say, " Oh, mamma, let us keep it and take care of 
 it like we did the butterflies," and I suppose the person 
 who picked me up must have been his mamma, for I 
 
 175 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 heard some one say, " I don't see how we can, for we 
 are going to the park, and what can we do with her, 
 dear little lady-bug. Oh, I see ; I will tear off a corner 
 of the envelope of this letter I intended to post, and we 
 can carry her nicely in this until we reach home again. 
 See, Harold, she can get air through this corner even 
 when I hold it shut, this way." So that is how I 
 knew it. 
 
 "What I thought to be rooms of a paper house was 
 really the folded letter. I do not think that I was very 
 foolish in believing this, Mrs. Fly, although you may 
 think so ; yet, after all, it was only a letter in a common 
 envelope. "What a queer world this is! And then the 
 distance, too, that I supposed I was being carried when 
 I was lifted from the pavement ! Instead of its being 
 very, very great, as I supposed, it was only about half the 
 length of one of those queer-looking creatures I used to 
 see walking along the streets every day, and that I heard 
 one day were called men and women. That's what 
 comes of being so little — everything seems so very big. 
 Since I am to live here, now, I suppose I will never see 
 many more of those queer creatures ; still I may have a 
 happier time of it than I have had lately. I heard 
 voices everywhere, some time ago, talking about silver 
 and gold and about hard times. I'm sure there must 
 be some very queer reason for my trouble in finding the 
 little I need to eat — a thing that has never happened be- 
 fore in my long life of almost a hundred days. 
 
 "When I was carried to the park to - day (I wonder 
 what park means?), I heard the little boy say to his 
 mother a great many curious things that I could not 
 understand at all. I have a pretty good memory (that 
 is how I know I have lived a hundred days), and I 
 
 176 
 
1895 BOAT DRAWINGS — FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
1895 DRAWINGS FIVE TEARS OLD 
 
 A, he said, was a picture of a playmate— T can trace a resemblance in the face ; B, Satan ; C, 
 well-trapped wash-stand ; D, dominoes, which he frequently drew and cut out for use in play. 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 think I can tell you some of the sentences he said. 
 Maybe you will know what they mean. He began by say- 
 ing " Mamma !" with a shriek — so he could be heard, no 
 doubt, as the noise of the trains and other things was 
 terrible — "Mamma, will we go up in the elevated? 
 Have you the lady-bug? Isn't it a dear little thing?" 
 (I understood that.) " Oh, mamma, here's Fifty-eighth 
 Street; will we go to see the animals?" (That made me 
 shudder, for I knew what some animals do who like to 
 eat insects.) " Oh, mamma, there's the swan-boat ; can't 
 we take a ride ? Let me pay. I have money. Can't 
 we, mamma?" (I wonder what a swan -boat is.) I 
 heard the mother say, " Yes, dear," and pretty soon I 
 felt that we were gliding along as gently as I have 
 often sailed on a leaf on a pond, and it was really de- 
 lightful. I imagine this was somewhere in the park 
 spoken of, which the little boy (whose name seemed to 
 be Harold) once called Central Park. There must have 
 been a baby sitting beside me, for I heard Harold's 
 mother tell him to look at a kitten on the bank, and 
 the mother of the baby said, " Look at the kitty, daugh- 
 ter," and Harold laughed loud because the baby looked 
 straight up to the sky. I heard him say, laughing loud, 
 " Kitty isn't up in the sky, mamma." The baby's mam- 
 ma laughed too, but Harold's mamma said, " Never mind, 
 baby." 
 
 Pretty soon I heard somebody ask to be let off at the 
 upper end of the lake, as they called it. ("What is a 
 lake ?) Some one said, "If we can make a landing." 
 Then we had a good shaking up, and I was a little bit 
 frightened, for I felt we were getting out of the boat 
 very cautiously. I happen to know what it means to 
 be upset in water. One day, when I was sailing on the 
 m 177 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 pond, the wind turned over the leaf I was on, and I 
 thought I was going to drown. Fortunately I struck 
 a stick of wood in my struggles to save myself, and 
 crawled up on top of it, and stayed there until a big 
 leaf came floating by near enough for me to fly to it, 
 which I did very quickly. "When I reached the bank of 
 the pond I made up my mind to stay away from the 
 water — for a while, at any rate, much as I like sailing 
 on a leaf — for I now think it is dangerous. 
 
 Soon after we landed we heard terrible noises, and 
 Harold said, " Oh, mamma, see the baby hippopotamus ! 
 Isn't it a dear little thing ?" (I thought they were big — 
 / am little.) " Isn't it too sweet for anything ? See its 
 feet and its eyes. Oh, mamma, see its mother helping 
 it get into the water ! Isn't she a good mother ?" and so 
 he went on. He was talking all the time. I couldn't 
 understand what he meant half of the time, and I wished 
 so much I could see it all. Once he said, " Oh, mamma, 
 see the baby tiger winking to me ! Isn't he beautiful ?" 
 (I wonder what winking means.) 
 
 I heard him talk of polar-bears, grizzly-bears, prairie- 
 dogs, and hyenas, camels, and dromedaries, and I really 
 can't remember what all. I remember he said, " Mam- 
 ma, don't you think the camel is beautiful ? I do. See 
 the way he moves." He seemed to pity the animals 
 that were in cages. He couldn't understand why they 
 had to be brought away from their homes just to let 
 people know what they look like. I heard his mamma 
 say that she didn't believe God meant it to be so, and 
 I believe she is right. I felt sure she would be good to 
 me and feed me after hearing that. 
 
 When we came here she let me out very carefully, 
 and I have had a lovely time for several days, going 
 
 178 
 
1895 DRAWINGS FIVE YEARS OLD 
 
 A, policeman ; B, dining-room, table, dishes, and picture on the wall ; C, inverted 9 in 1895 — 
 pictures of papa, mamma, and Harold ; D, inside of a house ; E, outside of a house ; F, weather- 
 vane. 
 
FIFTH YEAR 
 
 about the rooms. Every day she hunts me up and gives 
 me something to eat and drink. At first I felt afraid 
 she would drown me with the water, but she seemed to 
 know I couldn't take much, for she poured a few drops 
 quite near to me on the window-sill, and I went close 
 and sipped all I needed. The water looked like a wall, 
 almost as high as I was, but it didn't come tumbling 
 over me as I expected it would. I wonder why ? 
 
 When I was fed she put me on a plate of fruit. I 
 heard her tell Harold it was fruit, and I had the most 
 delicious dinner. I found it inside of a grape-skin. I 
 knew it was that, for I heard her say to Harold, " You 
 should have seen the dear little lady-bug eating her 
 dinner." 
 
 He said, " Where did she get it ?" 
 
 She said, " I put her on a plate of fruit, and I found 
 her eating inside of a skin of a grape that I put there 
 for her." 
 
 A little girl was here the other day who must have 
 been very wicked, for she said she would kill me. Harold 
 took me up gently and ran away down-stairs to his 
 mamma and told her all about it. She took me from 
 him carefully and told the little girl how wicked it was 
 to hurt airy living thing. The little girl seemed to be 
 soitw, and said she didn't mean it, but I hope she will 
 never come here any more. It isn't nice to have per- 
 sons like that about one. It makes one frightened. 
 
 Harold seems to like to watch me when I clean my 
 feet and wings every morning. To-day I showed him 
 how I reached up on my back with my foot and rubbed 
 off any specks of dust that might happen to be there. 
 I also cleaned my head with what he calls the forks on 
 the ends of my front feet. He likes to watch me get 
 
 179 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 ready to fly, too, which I do sometimes just to please 
 him and to keep in practice. I push my hind wings far 
 out at the back of my body, and he says they look like 
 a little pointed tail before they are spread ; then I 
 spread them at the same time that I spread the front 
 ones that make my shell -cover, and away I go. I 
 hear him say every time, " Oh, see, mamma ! Isn't that 
 pretty? Isn't she sweet?" He often speaks of the 
 beautiful black spots that I have on the back of my 
 shell wings. He says, " Two on each side, and one where 
 the split is." (I wonder what he means by " split.") 
 
 To-morrow I am going to fly up on the window and 
 see the sunshine that I love so much. Yesterday I 
 saw the window was open, and I might have flown 
 away, but I didn't want to do it. There is so much 
 to see and learn here that I like to stay. Maybe to- 
 morrow I will go and ask Mrs. Gold-bug what all the 
 voices talking about silver and gold mean. She ought 
 to know. 
 
1895 CUTTINGS — FIVE TEAKS OLD 
 
 ^ilriP^nori^niT ff h' 8 ; ?' V r° lin case - colored S^en in the original ; C, c, two sides of bell- 
 gilded in original ; D. d, parts of an engine— cut work to fold and place. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 SEVENTH YEAR — LEARNING GERMAN, WRITING, AND 
 SPELLING THROUGH PLAY — A BEDTIME QUESTION 
 TALK — COMPARISON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS — 
 THE CHILD'S SONG TO HIS COLORS — TWO STORIES 
 TOLD BY THE CHILD 
 
 July 29, 1896. — His prayer : " Dear God, I want you 
 to keep the good good, and make the bad good, and I 
 thank you very much for bringing papa back safely, 
 and I want you to take care of me in the night-time, 
 and I thank you very much for letting me pass all the 
 day so happily." 
 
 He was taught the Lord's Prayer by rote, in order that 
 he might not feel chagrined if he ever had occasion to 
 join others in saying it in kindergarten schools. The 
 third time of repetition he had to be helped once only 
 by supplying " on earth." He insisted on having each 
 phrase of the Lord's Prayer explained to him. 
 
 August 1st.— To-day Harold said, as is usual under 
 similar circumstances, " The step made me go up." He in- 
 tended going around the side of the house with a play- 
 mate, but from habit he stepped up on the front porch as 
 he passed it. He instantly stepped down again and went 
 with her, but she teased him about it, and he replied 
 in a usual fashion that "it made him do it." I never 
 understood this remark before, but now I see clearly 
 what he meant when he said, as he often did, that some- 
 
 181 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 thing made him do thus or so — he means his usual habit 
 leads him one way when he wills another way. 
 
 August 7th. — To-day he came in fretting about hav- 
 ing no one with whom to play. It was intensely 
 warm. I had been reading about the Herald Ice Fund, 
 and I read to him about the sick babies in the slums, 
 and said he should be happy by contrast with his happy 
 home. I inadvertently roused a great storm of sym- 
 pathy. He cried bitterty, ran crying audibly to the 
 other end of the house, to the nursery, and back again, 
 when he handed me a penny, saying, between his sobs, 
 " Send it to the babies." It was half of all he had at the 
 time. I tried to pacify him, and told him of all the 
 good people who helped take care of the poor children ; 
 but he cried for a long time, and wondered pitifully 
 why God let them suffer. 
 
 He said to William, a playmate, " You know God, 
 who lives up in heaven ; well — part of him is a spirit, 
 called the Holy Ghost. There is such a thiug as a spirit 
 that isn't a ghost." 
 
 September 9th. — He said to me just now, " Plated 
 silver is nickel washed in melted silver, isn't it ?" 
 
 September 11th. — Harold asked me to-day what 
 " absorb " meant, and how frogs absorbed moisture. I 
 had just been telling him that frogs came out on rainy 
 days for a drink, when they would absorb the rain 
 through little holes in their bodies. He listened intent- 
 ly to my explanation, then said, as he was eating some 
 bread and milk, " See, my bread absorbs the milk." 
 
 September 16th. — When going to ISTew York to-day 
 he said, as he stood in the aisle, " Mamma, the faster the 
 train goes the easier it is to stand ; it goes over the 
 bumps quicker." Then, pointing to the sign "Drinking- 
 
 182 
 
1896 DRAWINGS 
 
 A— When telling me what this was, he said, "I don't like to say that out loud — when I drew it, 
 I used to read fairy stories — it was drawn for a ghost " ; B, b, pages of music-book ; C, horse-rar — 
 when drawing it, he asked me whether it wasn't the best horse he had ever drawn ; D, "a deaf man 
 who is lame — lie is supposed to be listening through ear-trumpets to a and b, and he is standing on 
 c, which helps him move about by machinery inside." 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 water," he said, "Don't they know it's drinking-water?" 
 She said, " Yes." Then he said, " Why do they put the 
 sign up?" 
 
 His questions to-day were chiefly about words. He 
 came to me at different times with the following, asking 
 what each meant: "saliva," "materials," "natural his- 
 tory," " boast," and " indestructible." He cannot under- 
 stand why some of his toy-books are called " indestruc- 
 tible " when they can be destroyed. He often asks me 
 about it. 
 
 October 2d. — He said to-night, when in bed, " I put 
 my hands over my eyes, and I see the loveliest colors ; 
 and I say, colors, please come back until I go to sleep." 
 Then he began to sing : 
 
 "Dear colors, please come back, 
 Until I go to sleep. 
 I -will never see you again, 
 Until I eat a big ben. 
 
 "Dear colors, please come back, 
 I'll never disturb you again, 
 Until day dawn brings the light. 
 
 "You darling little colors gay, 
 Make the prettiest ones you ever had." 
 
 Then he fell asleep. 
 
 The following is a song of Harold's when falling asleep 
 after a day of mental pressure in a primary school — 
 before he was seven — where he was placed against his 
 mother's better judgment, but in deference to the opinion 
 of an educational authority, who saw and acknowledged 
 the error after two days' experience with the child. 
 At the end of each day he seemed intoxicated with the 
 charm of learning, and was very much excited — too 
 much so to fall asleep until several hours after his usual 
 
 183 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 bedtime. The second night he began singing to himself 
 about his colors, as he calls them, as follows, singing 
 every word in a very pretty manner : 
 
 "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple;" 
 
 then, in a very unconscious, sleepy way : 
 
 " Oh, you darling little colors, come back, come back, 
 Until I go asleep, 
 And make another picture. 
 Tra-la, la-la, la-la. 
 
 "Come red, come orange, come yellow, come green, 
 Come blue, and purple ; 
 Oh, make another diamond of purple and of blue. 
 
 "Oh, colors, come from your little coaches, 
 You darling little colors ! I am sorry to say, 
 You get in your cabs and drive right home. 
 • I hope you will have happy days. 
 
 Good-bye, good-bye, my colors dear, dear, dear, dear." 
 
 Between the last two stanzas he sang : 
 
 " Tra-la, la-la, la-la, 
 My pussy-cat lies down by me. 
 Oh, you dear pussy-cat, I like your hat ! 
 Tra-la, la-la, la-la." 
 
 Then he fell asleep instantly. 
 
 Another night, apropos of the color song, he said : 
 " Black turns to navy-blue ; then there came red and 
 light-blue and pink, and now it is so many I can't tell 
 you all, but it is beautiful ; now it is red and green, a 
 red spot with green about it ; now it is green with red 
 dots in it running through the black ; then black ; now 
 it is white and brown, gray and white, black with white 
 dots ; now it's green, with blue in it ; now all green." Then 
 he slept, but first he said, after ceasing his remarks 
 
 184 
 
1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 A, filtermg-machine ; a, pump ; b, one of series of filters ; c, screws to open or shut off water; 
 d, water-tank to heat and Pasteurize water by lamp e, below ; f, faucet to tap water ; B. parts of 
 engine ; a, sliding of the cylinder ; b, steam drum ; c. safety-valve ; C^a, door ; b, hinges ; c, 
 screws i; d, lock ; e, key ; D, reversing lever on train ; a, "engine goes forward"; b, "engine 
 stops"; c, "engine goes backward when this way"; E, plan for theatre stage , F, parts for the 
 theatre — hose playing on house on fire. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 about the colors, "Oh, isn't it funny? I saw lots of bub- 
 bles when I opened my eyes, and I couldn't see you 
 through them." 
 
 One of his rhymes at this time was, " She gathers the 
 trees as if they were bees, and takes her ease so good, 
 so good." Another rhyme I heard the other day 
 was, " Put the magical corn on your head, and that will 
 make you dead." 
 
 One night, when singing to himself "Dies' ist die Mut- 
 ter lieb und gut" he sang it in German first, then in Eng- 
 lish ; then he tried to say the words without the music, 
 and succeeded with the German, but when he reached 
 the third line of the English words he had to sing it to 
 get it ; then he repeated it again and again until he felt 
 sure of it. In this way he goes over his day's acquire- 
 ments while falling asleep — sings, talks, and counts to 
 himself — and occasionally tries to get me to answer a 
 question. Not many days ago, when I supposed he was 
 asleep, we heard him call out, " How much is twice 
 thirty-four ?" I told him. He repeated my answer, and 
 soon fell asleep. I never knew what led up to the ques- 
 tion, but he often asks disconnected questions like the 
 above, after a period of quiet, during which his brain is 
 apparently at work over something that puzzles him. 
 He has taken a fancy lately to have me spell words that 
 are new to him, without pronouncing them, in order 
 that he may guess at them by the sound of the let- 
 ters. 
 
 One day I gave him " s-h-o-e," and told him oe was pro- 
 nounced like oo in too, and to put the sound sh in front. 
 He tried it several times before he got the word right, 
 and was then very much pleased to find he could spell 
 shoe. We then tried "p-1-e-a-s-e" in the same way, which 
 
 185 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 at first he got as " place." In this way he is learning 
 how to spell many words while he pla} r s, and he now 
 reads a number of short easy sentences. lie has a 
 fashion now of spelling all the words he knows how to 
 spell when telling us something — as, for instance, "M-a-m- 
 m-a, come t-o d-i-n-n-e-r." Then she spells "come" 
 for him, and he has one word more. Sometimes I take 
 up a word like "grew," for instance, give him the 
 sounds, and ask him for the word. He first called 
 grew " ga-rew," then tried it faster, and eventually was 
 delighted to find it was a word of which he knew the 
 meaning. This knowledge he gains very easily with 
 play that he enjoys. 
 
 Once he asked me what " a-p-e-n " spelled. I said it 
 was no word; then he tried again, and said "a-p-r-n." 
 I said again it was no word, although I knew what he 
 was trying to spell. Then he said, impatiently, " Well, 
 how do you spell apron ?" Then I told him. 
 
 He will take a word like " old," or any simple word he 
 knows, and, beginning with the first letter of the alpha- 
 bet, he will spell to himself and try to pronounce each 
 combination, thus : a-o-l-d, 5-o-l-d, c-o-l-d, cZ-o-l-d, e-o-l-d, 
 y-o-l-d, etc., all the way through to z. He tells me this 
 is how he is learning all by himself how to spell new 
 words. He often does this before falling asleep, and 
 often asks me some such question as whether " e-o-l-d " 
 makes a word, not recognizing it as such from the sounds 
 of the letters. 
 
 October 4th. — " Mamma, you wouldn't sa} 7- a Ecke — 
 but, das ist ein EckeP I heard him saying to himself to- 
 day, " boa-constrictor," then " hug," and " bones," as if he 
 were puzzling about them. He is always inquiring about 
 words, why they are called thus and so. He asked 
 
 186 
 
1896 DRAWINGS — SIX TEARS OLD 
 
 A, "an engine facing you on the track," with the child's explanations ; B, a key-stone. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 to-day, "What does hemisphere mean — half round?" 
 The circle of his engine track suggested it. He set 
 the track upon the edge of two chairs to make an 
 elevated railroad, after having run it contentedly on 
 the table for a long time. He is fertile in invention 
 and adaptation. To-day he repeated the entire story 
 of "The Old Woman and her Crooked Sixpence" 
 without a pause, and when he reached the part 
 where, after the cat had " drinken " the milk (as he 
 said), " the cat began to kill the rat, the rat began to 
 gnaw the rope," etc., etc., he grew breathless and ex- 
 cited and could hardly say it fast enough, it seemed. 
 He called the pig a " piggie wiggie," and omitted the 
 word " yonder," explaining that he feared the little chil- 
 dren wouldn't understand what it meant. He always 
 has so much trouble himself to find stories that he can 
 understand from beginning to end that he sympathizes 
 with others in this respect. He has had no phonic 
 lessons, but has had his attention directed to sounds of 
 letters. Many words that are new to him he pronounces 
 correctly from the sound of the letters. I tried him with 
 " s-o-o-n," but it took him some time to get it ; first he 
 said " sss-oo-en," then he tried it quickly, and recognized 
 the word. He sometimes reads whole sentences of new 
 words by spelling them and following the sounds, fre- 
 quently asking me the meaning of the word he may be 
 pronouncing correctly. 
 
 In the Andrew Lang Fairy Keaders, where the words 
 are divided in syllables all through the reading-matter, 
 he has very little difficulty with words even of three and 
 four syllables. 
 
 To-day he spelled saliva from sound, asked its meaning 
 first, then said of some water which he had just used to 
 
 187 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 brush his teeth, " This water has saliva in it, I will 
 throw it away." 
 
 He asked me how to spell " "Willie " — pronouncing 
 it "Will-lee." When I said " TF-^-1-i-e," he seemed 
 cross, and said " I mean Will-^e," then he said, " W-i-1-1 
 spells Will, now spell ee ;" so I said " ie," and he was sat- 
 isfied. 
 
 He then said, " P-a-p spells papee." Isaid"]S"o." He 
 said, " I thought it spelled pa for pa, and the last p was 
 said pee, so it would make papee." He couldn't under- 
 stand why it should spell pap at first. Then he said, 
 " How do boys spell poppy, when they say it instead of 
 papa ?" 
 
 October 5th. — I found out yesterday about his so- 
 called April-fool letter to me — sent a short time ago 
 by mail. He really gave it to the postman on Satur- 
 day to have it delivered on Monday, and didn't tell me 
 for two days. It came in the usual mail, and he enjoyed 
 my surprise immensely. He addressed me as "Dear 
 
 Mrs. H , will you please send me a copy of your 
 
 book at once?" and signed it "Yours truly, Dlorah." 
 (Here he used his own name reversed, which puzzled me.) 
 
 He is learning German in play. This evening, after 
 his first lesson (given yesterday), he gave me a lesson in 
 play. I encouraged it, to find out what he remembered, 
 with the following result : He told me that " No " was 
 Nein; "Yes" Yah; "Boy" Knabe ; " Girl" Madchen ; 
 " Bread" Brod; "A" Em; "I" Ich; "With" Mit; and 
 counted in German up to fifteen. 
 
 October 8th. — To-day he asked, " What is meant to 
 die a painful death ?" I said, " A wagon running over 
 and killing you would be a painful death." He then 
 said, " And if they dagged a sword in you f 
 
 188 
 
1896 DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 A, parts for a Brownie ; B, parts of the moon, as it grows ; C, effort at perspective ■ D, copy 
 of the block engine he often built ; E— a, cat from model ; b, "This," he said, "is how I used 
 to draw a pussy "; F, f, comparison drawings— F, Harold's ; f, copy by a playmate a year younger 
 than Harold ; G, a gate ; H, two sides to a watch. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 He said to me to - day, when I told him that after 
 being dressed he might play in the room in which I was 
 trying to sleep, " You tell God to keep me out of temp- 
 tation " (alluding to the Lord's Prayer), " but if you 
 dress me and let me play in there while you want to 
 sleep, it will tempt me to talk to you." 
 
 October 11th. — When reading to Harold to-day he in- 
 sisted on having the book about " bones, muscles, and 
 blood." I explained to him with a long tube how water 
 seeks its level, and he busied himself for a long time 
 with the tube and his pump (one that works satisfac- 
 torily). He is very quick at contrivances, self-reliant, 
 and self-helpful. He rarely allows or asks us to do any- 
 thing for him that he can do for himself. 
 
 On our way to the park this afternoon he said, " What 
 does b-u-r-n-s spell?" He had caught but a glimpse of 
 the word as we went by on the elevated train. This 
 suggests Catharine Aiken's experiments in "glance- 
 work." 
 
 He said, a short time ago, " What does s, f , t, p, o, c, t, a 
 mean?" I asked him where he had heard it. He re- 
 plied, " Maud sings it ; she says, ' If they won't feed the 
 horse good food the s, f , t, p, o, c, t, a will get after them.' " 
 I told him then about the Society for the Prevention 
 of Cruelty to Animals. He is very much interested in 
 the docking of horses' tails. He says he will try to help 
 prevent it, because it is cruel. He explained to me about 
 using a red-hot iron wire to do it. I do not know where 
 he could have heard of this. Some playmate no doubt 
 has told him. 
 
 He is now playing that he has a restaurant; he wrote 
 to his father that he was happy because he had one (see 
 illustration facing p. 208.) He brought to a chance vis- 
 
 189 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 itor, on a tin-box lid for a tray, a little bucket from his 
 pump, filled with water for a drink, making believe the 
 bucket was a glass ; a piece of bread, and a round piece 
 of apple that was very thin and had skin on one side ; 
 it was the shape and size of a dollar. We were puzzled 
 as to how he cut it in that shape, and asked him about 
 it. He then showed us what he called his knife. It 
 was a circular piece of tin, sharp on the edge, that 
 had covered a bottle, and by turning it a certain way 
 he cut a perfect circle of apple, which gave him great 
 delight. 
 
 October 12th. — He said to-day, " How would it feel if 
 I had eyes in the back of my head ?" I replied, " I 
 don't know." Then he said, " Well, suppose I cut a 
 rat in two pieces, and then cut one of the pieces in two, 
 would that piece feel it ?" I said " No." He wondered 
 why. I said because it was separated from the head. 
 Then he wondered why again. I said there were nerves 
 going to the brain (his "think," as he calls it) telling 
 when anything hurt. I told him also about the sensi- 
 tiveness of the finger-tips. He experimented, then said, 
 " Are there nerves in the nails, too ?" I was not quite 
 sure, but I said " Yes." He looked at them, then said, 
 " How can one see through the nails and not see any 
 nerves ?" I was forced to divert him then, and I must 
 study up physiology. 
 
 When walking along the street some days later he 
 said to me, " I suppose if we had no nerves, and we 
 shut our eyes, we wouldn't know we are walking." 
 
 October 17th. — He evidently puzzles about two, too, 
 and to. I just heard him saying to himself, as he is 
 lying in bed trying to fall asleep, "I am going at two 
 o'clock. Are you going to town ? Yes, I am going, too" 
 
 190 
 

 7C~7&~? 7 '\- ^';'Ni( 
 
 A 
 
 HOW MANY PENNIES HE NEEDED TO HAKE A DOLLAR 
 
 J^=r^ 
 
 / i g I ^S ^^l^^rxti^ 
 
 \i0f6£ o A l^mOSL 
 
 HORSE AND WAGON 
 
 A GL'NBOAT 
 
 mOin£oz. \t> iv* tr &&$^&^W> 
 
 
 OZaSz. „^^D ' 2 
 
 
 StWtoa «2 
 
 Ufant 
 
 «*, /5o£tU** #**> «*juL <*- 
 
 'TYiAfiiC' 
 
 t<vn*&*zsn. c^uC ■»• &e~x. <-£ -<uvju*y 
 
 tetsr^d- «- -X-*m~4 JCfatc 'OvmL&an**' • 
 
 lit&A. 
 
 A<tyu+- -—<yo<xL>-iyuZ,. 
 
 
 n } J\ >/ ___ I 
 
 SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 
 1896 DRAWINGS 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 accenting each one. Then he said, " One, t-w-o " (spell- 
 ing the words), " one t-o-o, and one t-o," turned over, and 
 began whistling a tune he heard a band play to-day. 
 Afterwards he asked me what a hard g and soft g meant. 
 I explained ; then he asked for a hard a, h, c, and I 
 explained that not all letters had hard sounds and soft 
 sounds ; then I said " cake " and " cent " for him, to show 
 the difference in the c's. He said, " How about knife ? 
 I should think n stood for knife." I said, " No, it is k, 
 but it is a silent letter." He was satisfied with this, 
 and asked next, "What is whiney or fretty — letting 
 your voice drop down like this ?" giving an illustration 
 of it. Then he fell asleep. 
 
 To-day he said, "Isn't twice twenty, forty?" I re- 
 plied, "Yes. How much is twice nineteen?" He said, 
 "I don't know unless I go straight up." I asked, 
 " How do you do it ?" He replied, " Why, twice twelve 
 is twenty-four, twice thirteen is twenty-six, twice four- 
 teen is twenty-eight," and he went on until he reached 
 twice nineteen is thirty -eight, evidently having found 
 out that the two-table up to twelve was made by add- 
 ing two each time ; so he experimented up to forty, 
 and asked me as above. This is the way he has ex- 
 perimented, and found out much that he knows about 
 numbers. 
 
 The notes opposite p. 192 show how he tried to learn 
 to write. A vertical-writing chart was placed above his 
 little table, and we saw that paper and pencils and his 
 chair were always ready for him, should he want to try 
 it. He wrote a letter to a favorite kindergartner the first 
 day he received it, asking me how to spell the words he 
 did not know, but hunting out the letters for himself by 
 repeating the alphabet as he looked for the letter he 
 
 191 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 wanted. Before six weeks had passed be knew the 
 whole chart from memory, yet he never received direct 
 teaching from it, nor did I tell him to join the letters 
 together when making the words. He did this from 
 the beginning, for the chart he used was carefully pre- 
 pared to meet this need. One day I saw him slip a cover 
 over some of the letters on the upper row of the chart, 
 by hanging an envelope by its flap on the upper edge 
 of the chart. I asked him why he did it ? He replied, 
 " I wanted it so I can learn the letters without seems- 
 them — so," illustrating by first covering a and h and 
 then writing the letters, and moving the envelope along 
 over o and d, and so on. 
 
 To-day he said, in my hearing," Yertical- writing chart." 
 I then said, " You should write a letter to your papa." 
 He replied, " You wouldn't have told me to, if I had not 
 said, ' Yertical-writing chart,' " which was true. When 
 speaking of the chart, he said, " Why do they make 
 their letters so decorated ? They are more decorated in 
 capitals than below" (meaning the small letters). "You 
 see, they might make the 1 straight at the top — this 
 way : /V' Then looking at 7 on the chart, he said, " I 
 should think it is vertical. I know some people who 
 make the 7 this way : ^-^ == * '. This is the way it should 
 be : 7- Which way do you think is right ? Is this hori- 
 zontal: "^-^J?" 
 
 He heard some one say purty for pretty to-day ; he 
 came to me and said, " I've always heard of pretty soon ; 
 never heard of purty soon." 
 
 October 24th. — I said to him when he heard his aunt 
 play Mendelssohn's " Rondo Capriccioso," " Isn't that 
 beautiful that your aunt is playing ?" He replied, " Yes, 
 I don't see how she can play such music." I said, " She 
 
 192 
 
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 \t ry\, 
 
 Bee. 3 \%n 
 |fk». 
 
 J WW, (IT, it) 
 
 A****/ ***** y **•' i 
 
 tZKK 
 
 
 
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 <vn^ ajgf a-n.d. 
 
 | c KITTY 
 
 ^o i>- 
 
 — S-^ v,, j~ »irj ^"/ "'us: 
 
 
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 If. 
 
 
 ISpi-HI^I 
 
 
 0. 
 
 '-4 V a^r.^ 
 
 
 y^-v 
 
 GRADED EFFORT AT WRITING — COMPOSITION AND KARLY EFFORTS AT NUMBERS 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 is studying it all the time." Then he replied, " I suppose 
 it isn't hard for her." 
 
 October 25th. — He said at tea, to-day, "I like the 
 raisins in this cake. I don't like them in most cakes. I 
 
 like them in Mrs. L 's cakes too. I wonder why 
 
 these are so good. Don't you suppose, mamma, that the 
 grapes were properly dried to make them so good? 
 Maybe too the baker used" (then he whispered and 
 spelled) " c-1-e-a-n hands." 
 
 October 28th. — He saw the word "you" upsidedown, 
 thus — novf. He said, " I was puzzled what noi! meant, 
 then I saw it was ' you ' upsidedown." He has always 
 been able to read letters from any side presented. To- 
 night he could not fall asleep easily, because he had too 
 much excitement just before bedtime. He said, "If 
 anybody could see the pretty things I am seeing — all 
 sorts of pretty colors, green, red, purple. I close my 
 eyes and it gets dark — very dark — and all of a sudden 
 it cheers up and gets beautiful colors. I am going to 
 have one in a minute, I think," were the last words I 
 heard. When I looked again he was asleep. 
 
 I asked him this week to tell me a German sentence, 
 if he had learned any. He promptly said, " Zwei augen 
 hob eich" 
 
 When he sings, " Good-morning, Merry Sunshine," the 
 kindergarten song which he learned after hearing it 
 twice, he always prefaces the last verse with the words, 
 " This is what the sunshine says now, mamma, that I 
 am going to tell you." 
 
 As we neared Hanover Square, on the Third Avenue 
 Elevated, after an absence of a year, he turned at a cer- 
 tain place and said, " Let me see — this is the place we 
 saw the cannons," and he showed one to me. He then 
 n 193 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 amused himself all the way to Thirty - fourth Street 
 with making and pulling a slip-knot — with a string 
 he found on the floor — saying at last, "This is 
 the way to hang a man, 1 ' putting nry purse in the 
 loop. Some one must have indiscreetly told him 
 about it. 
 
 October 29th. — A " question talk " to-day with pussy. 
 " Did there be, a long time ago, an idol — an ugly thing 
 made of stone — that little boys prayed to — do they ?" 
 He said this as if he thought it couldn't be so. He then 
 told me he heard it in a Sunday-school he visited once. 
 He then began talking about the matter to his stuffed 
 kitty. Saying, " You wouldn't pray to idols, would 
 you ?" Then he turned to me and said, " Did you hear 
 what pussy said ?" I said, " No." He replied, " Why, 
 she said, ' No, I wouldn't do it for the world.' ,; Then he 
 went on, " You precious little pussy, you precious pussy 
 darling, you're the sweetest little pussy in the world ; 
 no, you're not little, you're big — only not so big as me. 
 I wish you'd grow — don't you?" Then he changed his 
 voice to represent kitty speaking, and said, " Yes, I 
 does, I does, I does," turning to me at the same time 
 and saying, "Do you hear her ?" " You wouldn't pray to 
 idols, would you, kitty ?" Then the changed voice came 
 again in reply, " No, I'll kill every one I get near." 
 Then Harold said in a very wise way, " But, pussy, they 
 are not alive, they are made of stone." Then he turned 
 to his mother and said, " Mamma, I know what dragons 
 are ; they are idols. Don't you believe it ? Maybe a one- 
 headed dragon is an idol in Africa — hut it couldn't breathe 
 and spit fire? The above is a fair sample of his con- 
 versations with pussy before he falls asleep. He is now 
 singing to himself : 
 
 194 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 "The diddy pawn lies on the dry land there, 
 Sitting there, sitting there, sitting there. 
 He sits there and eats a pear, 
 Tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la." 
 
 November 1st. — I placed some books on a shelf above 
 his bed, and he asked me not to put them so near the 
 edge, for fear they might fall on him in the night-time. 
 He has always shown forethought and caution — yet is 
 reckless in play. 
 
 November 3d. — He has taken to German very kindly. 
 He has had, in play with Fraulein, a half-hour lesson, 
 for three weeks, five days each week. He comes to me 
 at times to teach me his lesson. His second lesson was 
 as follows — he first said : 
 
 "Zwei Augen hab eich — two eyes have I." 
 
 Then he repeated from memory : 
 
 ' ' Die Uhren, liebe Kinder, 
 Sie haben keine Ruh' 
 Iro Sommer wie im Winter, 
 Sie gehen irnmer zu — 
 Tic-toe, tic-toe, tic-toe." 
 
 Then he said, " I don't know what this means, but die 
 Uhren means the clock." Then I said, " It means that 
 it goes winter and summer," and he replied, " Oh yes, 
 it says tic-toe, tic-toe, and it means that the clock al- 
 ways goes — in winter and in summer." 
 
 Then he repeated from memory : 
 
 " Dies' ist die Mutter lieb und gut, 
 Dies' ist der Vater mit frohen Muth ; 
 Dies' ist der Bruder lang und gross, 
 Dies' ist die Schwester mit Pilpchen im Schoss ; 
 Dies' ist das Kindchen, klein und zart, 
 Und dies' die Familie von guter Art." 
 195 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 Then he repeated it in English. 
 
 Another lesson was as follows : 
 
 "Mamma, how do you say soldiers in German?" 
 She replied, "Soldatm." He smiled, and said, "Yes. 
 How did you know it ?" 
 
 Then he counted to one hundred in German correct- 
 ly ; then said each hundred to a thousand, calling that 
 " zehn hundert " first, because he didn't know the word 
 thousand in German. The only question he asked while 
 doing it was when he reached twenty -five. He then 
 asked if "finf" was five. At thirty he said first 
 "zehn und zwanzig" then corrected himself, and said, 
 " dreizig." 
 
 When singing to himself to-day, in spite of a cold, and 
 keeping time and showing expression, he sang first the 
 song, " Good - morning, Merry Sunshine," which is a 
 favorite ; then he began : 
 
 "Good-morning, good-morning, kind teacher so dear, 
 How gladly we greet you, till all doth appear ; 
 Our playmates we welcome, each one with delight — " 
 
 (Here I asked him what delight meant. He said, "With 
 happiness — very glad.") Then he went on — 
 
 "Our hearts are so happy, because we do right." 
 
 (Here he turned to me and said, " It isn't write, but be- 
 cause we do right — do the right thing.") Then he com- 
 pleted the song — 
 
 "Good-morning, good-morning, our dear little school, 
 How happy we are in obeying each rule ; 
 For love is our motto in work and in play, 
 So let us be thankful for each happy day." 
 
 We followed nature - work and science stories with 
 fairy stories at six, instead of giving fairy stories first. 
 
 196 
 
B ItflO i "t fj # | H 
 
 1896 DRAWINGS — SIX TEARS OLD 
 
 A, harp ; B, stationary, drilling, and stone-cracking engines, and a horse with a steam engine 
 inside with a handle, a, to make his legs work ; C, birds on a telegraph wire ; D, "side and 'top 
 of a war boat"; E, "Mrs. Fan crying"; F, heater; G, "This is the way a flying ship looks, 
 mamma"; H, "a little boy on his sled — he is lost and so far away from his house that you can 
 hardly see it"; I, shell - thrower — a, "here's the explosion" — b, "here's the end of the shell"; 
 J, electric fire-engine — "the wheels are turning so fast that you can't see them"; K, cable car 
 on bridge. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 I find be lias therefore no fear of goblins, because he 
 knows they are myths; yet he loves the make-believe 
 part, and, for so young a child, he has developed great 
 power in creating fairy stories. 
 
 November 6th. — He said to-day, " Mamma, what does 
 atmosphere mean ?" She said, " The air around us." 
 Then he said, " Does the air mean atmosphere, or does 
 atmosphere mean air ? I thought atmosphere meant a 
 kind of sickness. Oh, it's esterics (hysterics) I meant 
 what I was thinking of, mamma. Why do they call it 
 ' esterics ' ? They might call it ' Can't stop it.' " (He 
 had asked before this for the meaning of hysterics, 
 and evidently deduced his own explanation of " Can't 
 stop it.") 
 
 I heard him say to-day to a little girl whose word he 
 doubted, " Honest and truthly V 
 
 November 10th. — To-day he told me that Miss H 
 
 had given them copy for writing in the kindergarten, 
 and it was a little bit slanting. He said in great surprise, 
 " When mine was done, I saw it was vertical.'''' I replied, 
 " So it should be." He is being taught the vertical hand, 
 but he evidently tried to write slanting, after the copy, 
 and was surprised to find he had not done it. 
 
 November 21th. — To-day he asked his mother whether 
 the germs of whooping-cough got it themselves (meaning 
 the cough by " it "). She said, " No." He said, " Then 
 how do they give it to us ?" 
 
 We have been reading a story in which the giants that 
 were killed were a number of bad habits and character- 
 istics, and those who helped to kill them were the good 
 fairies. The questions are mine, and the answers his 
 — and his understanding of his own nature is pretty 
 accurate : 
 
 197 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 Bad temper ? Half dead. 
 
 Carelessness ? Nearly dead. 
 
 Selfishness ? Half dead. 
 
 Laziness ? Dead. 
 
 Disobedience ? Dead. 
 
 Lies ? Dead. 
 
 Untidiness ? Half dead. 
 
 Exaggeration ? Pretty nearly dead. 
 
 Fear ? Half dead. 
 
 Love of praise ? T ^ left to kill. 
 
 Boastfulness ? Dead. 
 
 Concealment (which he called 
 
 Sneakfulness) y^, to kill ; nearly dead. 
 
 Bitter words ? x^ to kill. 
 
 Hate ? Quite dead. 
 
 Anger ? ■£$ to kill. 
 
 Cruelty ? Dead. 
 
 I can't ? TTFinrtrWflUTr t0 km - 
 
 Delay not ? Pretty nearly dead ; half 
 
 to be killed. 
 
 Bashf ulness ?. Nearly dead. 
 
 Proudfulness (his own term) ? Dead. 
 
 He said, from memory, that the fairies to help you 
 kill the giants were lovefulness, courage, self-control, 
 obedience, honesty, patience, good -temper, kindness, 
 diligence, courtesy, gratitude, and perseverance, which 
 he said meant " Try, try again." 
 
 November 28th. — Harold's prayer. After sa} T iDg the 
 Lord's Prayer, he added, as usual his voluntas prayer, 
 this time saj^ing, " God bless me, all the animals, in- 
 sects, birds, and everything. Bless me, and make me 
 a good boy. Good-night. A/i-men" Then he got up, 
 and as I began brushing his hair he suddenly dropped 
 on his knees, and said, "Dear God: I'm going to bed 
 now. Excuse me a minute until I see what time it is." 
 Then he turned his head, looked at a clock in the 
 
 198 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 hall, put down his head again, and said, " It's just ten 
 minutes past eight, and I think I'd better go to sleep 
 now. So good -night, dear God. .AA-men." As he 
 started for his bed I said, " Wait, let me brush your 
 hair." He replied, " But I told God I would go to sleep 
 right away." So I said, " Well, run along then," and he 
 was asleep before I could write this down. It is curious 
 to note that he has said " aA-men " ever since he heard it 
 the first time when visiting a kindergarten, although he 
 originally heard it pronounced amen. It must be from 
 choice, for he still says " forgive us our trespasses as we 
 forgive those who trespass against us," although he heard 
 during the same visit, " forgive us our debts as we forgive 
 our debtors," and told me of it, asking me which I liked best. 
 
 I just discovered that he has for some time thought 
 the words " Jesus, Saviour, Son of God," in a little prayer 
 he says, meant " Jesus, save your Son of God." He said, 
 " Oh, it was the Son of God's Jesus, Saviour." First he 
 asked what it meant, and that was how I discovered 
 his error. 
 
 November 29th. — When going up the Sixth Avenue 
 Elevated one day recently he saw the girders, and was 
 very much excited, as he was once before, when I told 
 him what they were. He told me that he used to think 
 they were derricks. I asked him how he found out his 
 mistake. He said, " I think 3^ou told me girders were to 
 hold up things. I know it by this time. I don't know 
 how I found it out." Then he said, " See how the train 
 curves slowly." 
 
 A BEDTIME TALK 
 
 "Doesn't w-o-l-d spell world?" (He was thinking of 
 the sentence, " God so loved the world," which he had 
 
 199 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 learned that day from a calendar, in his usual question- 
 ing fashion of saying, " Mamma, what does that read ?") 
 
 I said, " Isn't there a sound of r in world ?" 
 
 H. "Oh yes; w-o-r-l-d, world; doesn't w-o-r-d spell 
 word ?" 
 
 I said, " Yes, and w-o-l-d spells wold — ■ a word not 
 used very often, and I am not quite certain of its exact 
 meaning." 
 
 H. " Can't you tell me what you think it means ?" 
 
 "Yes, but I will look it up and tell you to-morrow 
 night. See how easy it is to learn a word every day, 
 and soon you will know enough words to read." 
 
 H. " I can read now a little. I can tell } T ou three 
 wa} 7 s to spell too — t-w-o, t-o-o, and t-o." 
 
 I said, " Can you tell me what they mean ?" 
 
 H. " I don't know — oh yes, t-w-o means one, two, 
 three. I don't know the others." 
 
 Then I said, " Well, if you go to bed, will mamma go 
 too?"- 
 
 II. " Oh, too means that ?" 
 
 I said, " Yes." Harold said then, " Now what is t-o ?" 
 I said, "To bed?" 
 
 H. "Oh, is that it? I can tell you something with- 
 out the book." 
 
 Then he repeated, " A, B, C went out to tea, D, E, F 
 didn't feel very well," etc., to the end of the nursery 
 rhyme. Then he said, " I can tell you something else : 
 ' Here's fun — a little fat piggy- wig trying to run.' 
 Doesn't t-i-c spell something like tick ?" I said, " Y^es, 
 and t-i-c-k spells it also." Then he said, " Is t-i-c tic of 
 tic-a-toc?" I said, "Yes; and what sound makes toe? 
 What sound is in God and dog?" (words he knew). He 
 said " wait " (whispering d-o-g, t-o-c) ; then he said 
 
 200 
 
1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS — SIX YEARS OLD 
 
 A cnt and folding work-a kitchen with closet, a, and stove, b ; B, door and hinges ; C-c c c c 
 parts for toy theatre— a, Devil's cave ; b, Satan ; c, giant's cave (note spelling); d, giant holding a 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 "now" (as if he bad it), and began to spell, in great 
 delight, " t-i-c tic, a, t-o-c toe," three times over. Then 
 I said, " Now, dear, go to sleep, for I must write to finish 
 this book for the publisher." He said, "Why?" at once. 
 I replied, "It must be finished this week." He said, 
 " Can't he write it himself ?" I said, " No. He didn't 
 know how, so that was why I had to do it." " Can't 
 you tell him how ?" I said, " That is what I am doing 
 by writing it." 
 
 H. "What is it about?" 
 
 I replied, " About how to fix milk for babies " — think- 
 ing to give him a familiar subject, for I was writing 
 about Pasteurization. 
 
 H. (expectantly). "Mr. " (mentioning the pub- 
 lisher) " is going to send one to every mamma who has 
 a sterilizer." 
 
 I said, " Yes ; but how did you know it?" 
 
 H. " Why, I know they sell sterilizers, and I know 
 babies' milk must be sterilized, and I know what you 
 are writing tells how to fix milk for babies, and it is for 
 
 Mr. , so I think it must be the directions." (The 
 
 last word he said in tones of triumph.) 
 
 I said, " You have a busy little head." 
 
 H. " Yes, and I told you this morning the plate was a 
 picture of a baby's stomach." (He saw a cut of one in a 
 medical book.) 
 
 I said, " Yes ; go to sleep now, dear." 
 
 IT. "Couldn't the pipes" (he always calls intestines 
 pipes) " go straight, instead of being all around ?" 
 
 I said, " No ; they are too long." 
 
 He then asked, " How could I measure yours?" 
 
 I said, " You couldn't unless I were dead and you 
 would do like they do in hospitals, where they teach 
 
 201 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 doctors how to help live people, by learning the parts of 
 the body from dead bodies, that might as well be used 
 as go to dust." (I gave the suggestive answer for the 
 purpose of familiarizing him with the idea of the impor- 
 tance of the soul and the indifference to be felt for the 
 lifeless body, to which he has been carefully trained, 
 and also for the purpose of doing away with any idea 
 of cruelty he might gain in the future from indiscreet 
 remarks about hospital-work that might inadvertently 
 reach him. Many unnecessary things must be told to 
 a child to prepare him for what he will inevitably meet, 
 or he will be unfitted for the world as he will invari- 
 ably find it.) 
 
 H. " Do our bodies go to dust ?" 
 
 I said, " Yes, after the ' think ' " (his idea of soul) " has 
 gone to God. Don't you think they might as well ?" 
 
 H. " Yes ; and do crabs go to dust too when they 
 are dead?" (Probably thinking of their hard shells, 
 with which he often plays.) 
 
 I replied, inadvertently, " Yes — dust, gas, etc." 
 
 H. " What is gas ?" 
 
 " Something that you can smell." (A poor answer, 
 but the best I could think of at the time.) " Everything 
 goes into something else. God made the world so when 
 he made Adam and Eve out of dust." 
 
 H. "Who's that?" 
 
 I replied, " Adam the first man and Eve the first 
 woman. God made them out of dust — you know he can 
 do anything if he sees fit — and put life into them. God 
 made the world and tried to keep it good." 
 
 H. " How can the dust go into something else ?" 
 
 I replied, " By being the earth, to help wheat grow to 
 be made into flour to make bread, etc." 
 
 202 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 H. "And then bodies can be made over into other 
 bodies f" (Thinking of eating to make tissue, blood, etc., 
 in which he has always been greatly interested.) 
 
 I then said, " Good-night, dear. You have enough 
 to think of now to go to sleep pleasantly," and he fell 
 asleep in a few minutes. If indulged, this would be a 
 daily, or rather a nightly, occurrence, or whenever the 
 notion seizes him to begin asking questions, and it 
 could be kept up for hours without apparently tiring 
 the little fellow ; but effort, as a rule, is made to keep all 
 suggestion from him that has a tendency to excite his 
 brain. It is sufficiently perplexing to answer his ordi- 
 nary questions, without giving him more food for 
 thought. The above answers were more than usually 
 suggestive, because he was wide-awake, and it was nec- 
 essary to tire him a little to get him asleep quietly. 
 We answer his questions truthfully but restrainingly — 
 to keep physical poise. 
 
 One night when ready for bed he begged for a 
 romp. While jumping up and down on a spring-bed he 
 began banging his beloved stuffed kitty — something very 
 unusual, for he has always treated her with tenderness. 
 I couldn't understand his action, but said nothing ; at 
 last I heard him say to his nurse as he banged her again : 
 
 " That's Jesus in the hard times of 1896 years ago." 
 Then I remembered that in 1895 he had been told a 
 story, during my absence, about Jesus and his crucifix- 
 ion, his cruel treatment, and other unnecessary details 
 that are beyond a child's comprehension and should 
 never be told to them. He came to me for an explana- 
 tion of the cruelty, and it took a long time for me to 
 undo the impression that had been created. I did it at 
 last by giving him a loving story of how God in his 
 
 203 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 goodness sent Jesus, but he often said afterwards, when 
 reverting to the story, that whenever he thought of 
 Jesus it made him " so sad." 
 
 When I asked him what he was doing to kitty, he 
 said, " Banging kitty." Then I said, " Poor kitty !" He 
 replied, " Well, wasn't Jesus banged by the wicked peo- 
 ple ?" Then he suddenly changed and said, " Poor kitty !" 
 petted and kissed her, and took her to bed with him. 
 
 One clay he said, " Won't you tell me that story that 
 you told me last year, about some one, I don't know 
 whether it begins with a J or a G " (meaning Jesus), 
 " but he is way up in heaven, you know ?" He has al- 
 ways shown a great desire for any story about God or 
 Jesus. 
 
 Professor Barnes of Leland Stanford University di- 
 rected attention some time last year to the value of 
 records of different children's replies to the same set 
 of questions, in regard to what certain words meant. I 
 selected three boys of very different temperament and 
 environment — playmates of Harold's — and asked each 
 one, also Harold, the meaning of the same set of words, 
 as follows — I did it in such a way that none of them 
 knew what was being done. It took me several days 
 to divide and ask the questions, in order not to arouse 
 consciousness : 
 
 e 's LIST 
 
 A boy with a kind step -mother. He was a little 
 over Harold's age : 
 Arm-chair — Wood. 
 Hat — Some are cloth. 
 Garden — Vegetables. 
 Mamma — A person. 
 
 204 
 
1896 CUTTINGS — SIX TKARS OLD 
 
 A, a, doll and dress ; B, fairy godmother in Cinderella toy theatre ; C, calendar made to slide 
 up and down to show dates ; D, kindergarten weaving— materials made and colored by the child ; 
 E, design by folding and cutting. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 Potatoes — Vegetables. 
 Bottle — Glass. 
 Flower — Something pretty. 
 Snail — Little animal. 
 Mouth — Something to chew with. 
 Lamp — Something to make a light. 
 Earthworm — Something to dig the earth. 
 Shoes — Something to wear on your feet. 
 Finger — Something to take hold of things with. 
 Clock — Something to tell time. 
 House — Something to live in. 
 Wolf— Something to eat you up. 
 Omnibus — Something to take your rides in. 
 Piece of Sugar — Something to eat, put in tea or coffee. 
 Thread — Something to sew with. 
 Horse — Something to give you rides. 
 Table — Something to eat off. 
 Bird — Something to sing. 
 Dog — Something to bark. 
 Carriage — Something to ride in. 
 Pencil — Something to write with. 
 Balloon — Something to sail in the air. 
 Village — Something to live in. 
 Box — Something to put things in. 
 Handkerchief — Something to blow your nose on. 
 
 B 'S LIST 
 
 Same age as Harold, but a very nervous child, and 
 subject to very variable training : 
 Arm-chair — To sit in. 
 Hat — To wear on your head. 
 Garden — To grow things in. 
 Mamma — To whip the naughty boys. 
 
 205 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 Potatoes — To eat. 
 
 Bottle — To put medicine, water, or anything in. 
 
 Flower — It looks pretty. 
 
 Snail — I don't know — oh yes, I know now — oh no, I 
 don't; oh, don't I forget quick! Oh, I got it again — to 
 crawl up things. I got that. 
 
 Mouth — To eat with. 
 
 Lamp — To light. 
 
 Earthworm — To crawl. 
 
 Shoes — To wear. My ! these are easy lessons. 
 
 Finger — To touch things with. 
 
 Clock — To tell time. 
 
 House — So people can live in it. 
 
 Wolf — To bite people. 
 
 Omnibus — To get a ride in. 
 
 Piece of Sugar — To make milk and everything sweet. 
 
 Thread — To sew. 
 
 Horse — To take out riding with. 
 
 Table — To stand things on. 
 
 Bird— To fly. 
 
 Dog — To bark. 
 
 Carriage — For people to get in. 
 
 Pencil — To write with. 
 
 Balloon — To take people up in the air with. 
 
 Village — So people can live in it. 
 
 Lamb — To give you nice wool to wear. 
 
 Handkerchief— To wipe your nose on. 
 
 w 's LIST 
 
 A year younger than Harold — His mother is dead : 
 
 Arm-chair — To sit in. 
 
 Hat — To put on. 
 
 Garden — To make things grow. 
 
 206 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 Mamma — I donH know. 
 
 Potatoes — To eat. 
 
 Bottle — Put things in. 
 
 Flower — To smell. 
 
 Snail — To look at. 
 
 Mouth — To eat out of. 
 
 Lamp — To walk along with. 
 
 Earthworm — To look at. 
 
 Shoes— ^ To put on. 
 
 Finger — To get a hold of things. 
 
 Clock — To hear of. 
 
 House — To live in. 
 
 Wolf— I don't know what that is. I've heard of story- 
 ones, but I've forgot. 
 
 Omnibus — To get a ride in. 
 
 Piece of Sugar — To put in things. 
 
 Thread — To sew with. 
 
 Horse — To pull you with. 
 
 Table — To eat off of. Didn't I tell you that once ? 
 (Yes.) Then why did you ask again ? 
 
 Bird — Tell it was nice — to bite you. (He had an idea 
 that a bird once tried to bite him.) 
 
 Dog — To look at. 
 
 Carriage — To sit in. I told you once. 
 
 Pencil — To write. 
 
 Balloon — To look at. 
 
 Village — To look at. 
 
 Box — To put things in. 
 
 Handkerchief— To wipe your nose on. 
 
 harold's list 
 Arm-chair — Something to sit in, chair with place to 
 put your arms on. 
 
 207 
 
A STUDY OF A CUILD 
 
 Hat — To put on your head. 
 
 Garden — To plant things in. 
 
 Mamma — Somebody to take care of you. 
 
 Potatoes — Something to eat. 
 
 Bottle — Something to put things in. 
 
 Flower — Something to look pretty, smell nice, and to 
 pick. 
 
 Snail — To dig up the garden. 
 
 Mouth — To eat with, talk with, open with to get 
 things in to eat. 
 
 Lamp — Something to make light. 
 
 Earthworm — To dig up the earth, to make holes, to 
 make flowers grow. I asked " How ?" He said, " Keeps 
 the earth soft for them b}^ going through it." 
 
 Shoes — To wear. Why? To keep your feet from 
 treacling on tacks and everything. 
 
 Finger — Something to point with — depends on which 
 finger it is — to help pick up things. 
 
 Clock — To tell you what time it is. 
 
 House — To live in. Why ? So you can live. Couldn't 
 you live in air? You have houses to keep you from 
 all animals and things — to live in, sleep in, eat in. 
 
 Wolf — Something tries to eat you, get after you ; kills 
 goats, kills people. 
 
 Omnibus — Something to carry you in. 
 
 Piece of Sugar — Something to eat, to put in your 
 coffee. Why ? To make it taste sweet. 
 
 Thread — To sew with ; to make cloth with. 
 
 Horse — To pull carriages and to ride in — to pull old 
 wagons. 
 
 Table — Something to eat from, to lay things on. 
 
 Bird — Something that la}^s eggs and sings. 
 
 Hog — Something that chases cats, barks, chases peo- 
 
 208 
 
/7 Yo,!\ 
 
 M L 1 
 
 ^js 
 
 
 W 
 
 EARLY CUTTINGS — TOOLS 
 
 VARIOUS POSITIONS OF AN ENGINE 
 BELL RINGING 
 
 SPONTANEOUS WRITING FROM MEMORY 
 
 Various 
 memory. 
 
 1YU7W f SlidjSrttl 
 
 WRITTEN SPONTANEOUSLY FROM MEMORY, AFTER 
 SIX WEEKS' STUDY AND PRACTICE 
 
 positions of .an engine-bell ringing. 1896 cuttings, writing, and drawing from 
 A sketch of "Tommy," which was drawn in 1897. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 pie away from houses, plays with you, shakes hands, and 
 whatever you train him to do — does lots of things. 
 
 Carriage — Something to take rides in. 
 
 Pencil — To write. 
 
 Balloon — To sail up in the air. 
 
 Village — A little place to live in, a little kind of a 
 street up in the mountains. 
 
 Box — Something to put things in. 
 
 Handkerchief — Something to wipe your nose with 
 and to do lots of things. What? To keep in your 
 pocket, and I don't know all of them. 
 
 " The Haunted Castle " is a fairy story that he told 
 me, so that little children could, as he said, understand it. 
 He was six years old at the time. He selected the title, 
 printed it, began to write, then said to me," You write 
 the rest." He sat before me and told the story as fast 
 as I could write it. It was just before his bedtime, 
 when his brain seems always to be unusually active — 
 an inherited characteristic that can be readily traced. 
 His idea in trying to tell fairy stories is always to tell 
 the stories he has heard in more simple language for his 
 playmates, remembering how I must " read them down " 
 to him. He would beg me to " say the meaning quick- 
 ly " as I read along, so as not to interrupt his enjoy- 
 ment of listening to an unbroken story. 
 
 THE HAUNTED CASTLE 
 PART I 
 
 Once there was a king who had but one daughter, 
 and there was a castle which ghosts lived in, and the 
 o 209 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 king offered his only daughter in marriage to whoever 
 would stay in the castle three nights ; and there was a 
 house in the forest, and there was a youth there that 
 wished very much to learn what it was to be afraid. 
 One day he was walking along the street, saying, " Oh, 
 how I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" And a 
 wagoner came by, and he heard the boy saying to him- 
 self, " How I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" 
 So the wagoner (I suppose they might not know what a 
 wagoner is, but they will ask their mamma, and she will 
 tell them it is a man who drives a wagon — isn't that 
 what it is ?) said to him, " Do you wish to learn to be 
 afraid?" And he said, "If you want to learn to be 
 afraid, come with me." So he took him and led him to a 
 gallows, and said, " Stay here till midnight, and you'll soon 
 learn to be afraid. The rope-maker has married seven 
 men ; sit under this tree till midnight, and watch under 
 it. You will soon learn to be afraid." So the boy said, 
 " You come to me early to-morrow morning," and said, 
 " You will get a fine cow that gives golden milk and 
 golden butter," and then the wagoner left the boy. And 
 then he sat down under the tree and waited till midnight, 
 and he saw just at midnight six black dogs come running 
 around the tree barking, and then each dog settled around 
 him and could speak our talk. So then they had a good 
 talk with him, and then there came afterwards two ugly 
 black men with dirty eyes and crooked toes as crooked 
 as a spring, and their ears went like cat's ears, and they 
 had tails with points on them, and the seven black dogs 
 jumped up at them ; one pulled out its tail, one pulled out 
 its eyes, and one (how many black dogs did I say ?) 
 pulled out his teeth, and one his tongue, and the other 
 took care of the boy. In the morning the man came to 
 
 210 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 the boy and said, "Now I hope you have learned what 
 it is to be afraid." The boy said nothing came but 
 seven black dogs that could talk, and two men with 
 pointed tails, cat's ears, and curly toes. So the man 
 went off and didn't get the cow after all. So he went 
 to a tower, and the landlord heard him say, " Oh, how 
 I wish I knew what it was to be afraid !" and he said, 
 " Go to the castle two blocks away, and there you will 
 soon learn to be afraid." So he went to the king and 
 said, " I will sleep in the castle for three nights," and 
 the king said, " You may ask for three things without 
 life to take with you." He said, " All I want is a turn- 
 ing-lathe, a fire, and knife." So the king had these 
 articles taken in at the day, so the youth went right in 
 and slept in the castle. Just as the clock struck twelve 
 he saw the devil, or Satan, coming in with a pitchfork 
 in his hand, and the boy had a shield on or a armor. 
 So when Satan went to hit him with the pitchfork it 
 didn't hurt him. So he began to throw fire at the boy, 
 and the iron only sent it back into his own face, which 
 made him very angry, and he said, " Be off with you, 
 boy !" And then the cock crowed and Satan vanished 
 from his eyes. (Do you think they know what vanished 
 is? It means disappeared.) Aren't you writing more 
 than I say ? — you write so long. He asked this when I 
 put in his interpolations. And then the king came and 
 found him sitting on the floor by his fire. So then the 
 boy went to go away, and then the next night he came 
 and sat down again by his old fire, and just as the 
 clock struck twelve he heard a rumbling, crumbling, 
 squeaking noise in the corner of his room, and he saw 
 a black cat coming with a little yellow dwarf on its 
 back, and the yellow dwarf said, " I will do you no 
 
 211 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 harm, but come every evening at ten o'clock while you 
 are here, and keep ever} 7 thing away." And then he rode 
 around the room six times on his black cat and then 
 vanished. But the little yellow dwarf was telling 
 stories. He wasn't coming every night. So then he 
 fell asleep on the floor, and then the king came, and 
 then he went away and came back to his old lire once 
 more, and then seven little men came tumbling down 
 the chimney with leg-bones in their hands and skulls 
 for balls. They stood the leg-bones up for tenpins, and 
 began to play tenpins. And then the boy said, " Can I 
 play with you ?" and he said, " Yes, if you've got any 
 money." And he said, " I've got money enough, but 
 your balls are not round enough." So he took the skulls 
 and put them in his turning-lathe until they were quite 
 round, and " Now," he said, " they will roll better." 
 Then he began to play with the funny little men ; so 
 then the cock crew and they all vanished from his eyes. 
 Then the king came for the last time and said, " I hope 
 you have learned what it is to be afraid now," and he 
 said, " I haven't learned such a thing." Then the king 
 said, " Everybody that has come here has been killed by 
 the ghosts, and you have lived, and you shall have my 
 daughter in marriage." So he was not quite happy, 
 because he did not know what it was to be afraid. So 
 her chambermaid said, " I will help you out in this mat- 
 ter if you give me a cup." So she went to the brook 
 and filled the cup with water with little minnows in it 
 (first he said gudgeon), and then she brought the cup up 
 to the house and gave it to the king's daughter and said, 
 " To-night when he is in bed you must throw this over 
 him." So that night when the youth was sleeping she 
 threw the water over him, and the little gudgeon wig- 
 
 212 
 
1896 CUTTINGS AND DRAWINGS 
 
 A. cut work— circus amphitheatre and box-office ; B— b, b, b, pussy's soldier set ; C, lighthouse ; 
 D, eight different kinds of hats, with prices, for playing store ; E, mental pictures of kindergarten 
 models ; F, f. large and small umbrella, half closed ; G, toad-stool ; H, house with screen doors - 
 I, calendar ; J, compass ; K— k, k, k, parts of figure 2 for kineioscope. 
 
SEVENTH YEAR 
 
 gled about. He awoke and said, " Oh, how I am afraid ! 
 Oh, how I am afraid !" And then they lived happily 
 all the time afterwards. 
 
 The following story he told me at bedtime, without 
 effort, as rapidly as it could be written, when he was 
 six years and a half old. It is entirely original : 
 
 THE SAILOR AND HIS MONKEY 
 
 There was once upon a time a sailor who was work- 
 ing on a ship, and he had a monkey that did all sorts of 
 tricks. The monkey would stand on its head and turn 
 a somersault and dance so high that you wouldn't know 
 what he was doing. The monkey's name was Tommy, 
 and the sailor was very fond of this funny, mischievous 
 monkey. 
 
 This was a very large ship, and they had an organ in 
 the dining-room, and the monkey was tied to the organ. 
 At every meal the sailor would come in with his mon- 
 key, put a little cushion on the floor, and put the little 
 monkey's clothes on. The clothes for the monkey were 
 two little black shoes, a little hat, and a little coat with 
 two little pockets in it ; and so the sailor would tie his 
 monkey to the organ and begin to play. The monkey 
 would run over to the little cushion and begin to dance 
 all around the little cushion. It would dance, and in 
 the middle of every tune that he played on the organ 
 the monkey would turn a somersault, and at the end of 
 every tune the monkey would take off his little hat, and 
 then when everybody had finished their meals the sailor 
 would stop playing on the organ. The monkey would 
 get off of the cushion, take it up in its mouth, and bring 
 
 213 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 it over to the sailor, and the sailor would unfasten the 
 monkey from the organ, and then the monkey would 
 jump up on the sailor's shoulder, and he would go out 
 of the dining-room of the ship. One day when the 
 sailor had finished playing on his organ they heard a 
 loud noise — bang ! (he told me to " use " an exclamation 
 mark) — right under the ship, and what do you suppose 
 happened? — the ship shook like everything. So the sail- 
 or and his monkey heard another noise — bang! so they 
 heard that same noise bang ! again, three more times, 
 and at the last time the ship went crang ! — right over on 
 its side. So the sailor got a tub, put his monkey in it, 
 and got in himself — a wash-tub. So he took two brooms 
 and stuck them through the holes in the handles on the 
 wash-tub and began using the brooms like oars, and the 
 monkey and the sailor went spinning through the water ; 
 but at last the tub tipped over and they went ploom ! — 
 right down to the bottom of the sea, and said, " Oh, 
 dear me !" 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 EIGHTH YEAR — EFFORTS AT ARITHMETIC -" A STORY 
 ALL UPSIDEDOWN" AND "A WONDERFUL DREAM" 
 TOLD BY THE CHILD— MEMORY- WORK— CONCEPTION 
 OF FRACTIONS — EIGHTH -YEAR DEVELOPMENT IN 
 DRAWING AND DESIGNING 
 
 Apeil 23, 1897. — He said to his mother to-day: 
 "Mamma, I am like a little tree growing: bad boys 
 pull me over crooked, and you straighten me. If moth- 
 ers didn't do this the boys couldn't grow straight when 
 they get older, but would be crooked." He asked me 
 repeatedly last night what I 
 wanted, so he might pray 
 for it for me. When I told 
 him I intended going to sleep 
 when he did, he said, " Oh, 
 won't that be lovely !" 
 
 April 24th. — To-day he 3 2-rJZ 
 wanted to know what adding •AcSlT^' 
 meant. I wrote some num- ,1 n . • 
 bers (as shown in the accom- * v£l lll 5$7 
 panying illustrations, a and b) ^W^Fft] 
 
 and explained to him how to A LESS0N IN ADDITI0N - 
 
 carry 1, by placing a figure 1 over the next column to 
 the left when he had counted beyond 10, and put down 
 the remaining number underneath the column he had 
 just added. He needed but one telling, and the figures 
 
 215 
 
 i 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 underneath with the l's are his own. The illustration 
 marked h is his own altogether. 
 
 July 21st. — The illustration c is one of his efforts to 
 understand the principle underlying addition, subtrac- 
 
 6 
 
 03 
 
 / » 
 
 of 
 
 m 
 
 
 tion, multiplication, and division, after I had explained 
 to him with the aid of the following figures : 
 
 234 
 234 
 
 468 
 234 
 
 234 subtraction. 
 
 468 addition. 
 
 234 
 
 2 
 
 2) 468 multiplication. 
 234 division. 
 He experimented then for himself for a long time, 
 using his own numbers, and using them correctly, as 
 indicated : 
 
 A LESSON AND ITS RESULT : EARLY ATTEMPTS AT 
 SUBTRACTION, DIVISION, AND MULTIPLICATION. 
 
 216 
 
1897 DRAWINGS— SEVEN YEARS OLD 
 
 A. a, a. gobelinks ; P.. b, copy, with pen. from printed T ; C, c, line work from memory of kinder- 
 garten lessons ; D, train on grade ; E, efforts at drawing a glass— the one not numbered was his 
 copy ; F. engine and coupler— a, b ; G, plan for a school— d r, dining room ; p g playground ■ 
 x x, theatre for amateur work ; b to b. bedrooms; H, plan for a comfortable Pullman car which 
 be proposes to build when he is big—he still uses inverted letters ; I, mechanical work— plans for 
 a locomotive he was trying to make. 
 
1897 DRAWINGS SEVEN TEARS OLD 
 
 A. For a theatre. Note spelling of "directions." The child learned all his spelling from observa- 
 tion or sound. He was never told when he spelled a word wrong, but if he asked how to spell a 
 word, he was told correctly. 
 
EIGHTH YEAR 
 
 I heard hini say to himself the other day : 
 
 "This is the mighty dragon, 
 His home is in a cave, 
 And still he does not 
 Know how to behave." 
 
 February 23d. — The following original story was told 
 very rapidly by the child, when seven, to his mother, just 
 before going to sleep. He called it — 
 
 A STORY ALL UPSIDEDOWN 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Once upon a time, in olden days, they had men turned 
 into monkeys, and fishes were turned into dragons, and 
 elephants were turned into fishes, and people walked on 
 the sky. All the rocks and stones and pebbles were 
 alive, and everything was turned upsidedown — every- 
 body walked on their hands, and curtains were turned 
 into people's coats ; so there was a boy that wasn't 
 changed into anything. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 And this boy will tell you where he was. He was 
 once living in a little cottage in a dark woods (wood — 
 his correction) ; so one day he went out of his cottage, 
 dressed up as a soldier, and locked up his cottage; so he 
 went and walked and walked and walked until he came 
 to a mountain, and he saw two little men fighting ; so he 
 went up to them and said," What's that ring lying down 
 there?" So they said, "That is a wishing-ring, and we 
 are fighting to get it." So he went off about a quarter of 
 a mile and stuck a spear into the ground, and then went 
 
 217 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 back to them and said, " "Whoever gets that spear first 
 shall have the ring." So off went the little men at full 
 tilt, and he picked up the ring while they were running, 
 and then called to them and said, "Now neither of you 
 have got the ring ; I have got it myself." So he wished 
 himself up at the top of the mountain he had come to, 
 because he could not climb up it ; and when he was up 
 at the top of the mountain he saw a man that had don- 
 key's ears and a cat's tail, and crooked toes, as crooked 
 as sprigs ; and so the funny man said to the soldier with 
 the wishing-ring, " Now I will kill you." So they are 
 fighting yet, I suppose. 
 
 The following was told by Harold without a pause, 
 September 17, 1897, when seven and a half years old: 
 
 A WONDERFUL DREAM 
 
 Once upon a time there was a little girl and a little 
 boy who lived all alone in a tree, and somebody found 
 them and took them home to his house and gave them 
 a little room, and they got in bed and went to sleep, and 
 at night-time the man came in and looked at them and 
 said, " Those children look as if they were going to sleep 
 nicely." And they went asleep so coseyly and slept so 
 snug and warm that he didn't disturb them. And one 
 night the children heard him saying in the other room, 
 "If you are not out of this house by to-morrow morn- 
 ing you will have to go away and live out in the woods." 
 And they didn't hear him at first, and so they got up 
 and got dressed and went down-stairs and took their 
 fishing hook and line, and went out to fish. They found 
 
 218 
 
1897 DRAWINGS 
 
 A, Washington car on Fourteenth Street; B, disappearing cannon ; C, curved track; D. d, originn 
 designs of track for his engine ; E, jail ; F, plan for first floor of a house. 
 
1897 DRAWINGS — SEVEN TEARS OLD 
 
 A, two boys on sleds going to the opening in the ground leading to the fairy's home under- 
 neath ; a, chairs tor the king and queen of the fairies ; B, cut work for toy theatre. 
 
1897 AND 1898 DRAWINGS 
 
 A, tents and war boats ; B, American flag ; C, "Spain getting licked," the child said— a, "U. S. 
 shells hit"; b, "Spain shells have no force and fall to c"; D, memory work ; E, concept of 
 fraction work ; F, writing from memory ; G, Disappearing cannon ; H, h, giant and the beanstalk. 
 
EIGHTH YEAR 
 
 some clams lying along the side on the sand in their 
 shells, and they found a nice new penknife lying in the 
 grass, and they took that and opened the clam-shell, and 
 put a piece of clam on their fishing-hook; they threw 
 the line in, and by-and-by they had a great big fish on 
 the end of their line, and they pulled and pulled and 
 pulled and they couldn't get it up ; but at last they got 
 it up, and then it was only a little bit of a fish about as 
 big as a small alarm-clock. There it was on the line, and 
 it began talking, and all of a sudden it jumped and went 
 back into the water, and they went off and went asleep 
 near a tree, and when they awoke they saw they were 
 close by a deep pit, and all of a sudden it began to rain 
 dirt right over the pit until the pit got filled up, and 
 then they saw a beautiful fairy with a long train on 
 her skirt, and a thousand little brownies were lifting it 
 up in their hands, walking along behind her, a foot away 
 from each other, and so they walked after the pretty 
 fairy right straight up to the little girl and boy. The 
 boy's name was Tommy, and the little girl's name was 
 Jennie, and the fairy said, " Here's a ring," and she pulled 
 two pieces of grass up out of the field (wood), and tied 
 it together and touched it with her wand and said, 
 " Here's a ring, Tommy, and here's a ring for you too, 
 Jennie ;" and she said, " Just turn this ring around on 
 your finger for what you want and you will have it im- 
 mediately before you." And so Jennie and Tommy said 
 " Thank you " to the fairy, and they wished for a house 
 and things to eat in it, and they got it, and a river was 
 in front of the house, about one-eighth of a mile away 
 from it, and a little dock-place, with a naphtha-launch 
 outside tied fast, and five cans of naphtha in a little room 
 in the dock, and they got in this little naphtha-launch 
 
 219 
 
A STUDY OF A CHILD 
 
 and went sailing up and down, and at night a great big 
 castle grew up out of a hole, and the naphtha-launch and 
 everything burned up, and the little girl got awake and 
 found herself in bed, and it was only a dream. 
 
 The record above shows clearly how the child's spon- 
 taneously developed self-activity is enlarging the boun- 
 daries of his knowledge ; and the more he acquires, the 
 greater is his desire for study. He is keen to observe, 
 quick to comprehend, and has an excellent memory, 
 which, with his indicated self-control, will make all fut- 
 ure work easy. He shows no sign of physical strain ; 
 he is only a romping, hearty, obedient boy, and full of 
 fun, when not repressed by unsympathetic surround- 
 ings ; and instead of thinking of lessons as a task, he is 
 always more eager to learn than his parents are willing 
 to have him taught. His mind is thus rapidly expand- 
 ing without endangering his physical equilibrium. 
 
 THE END 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY TEST 
 
 Miss Aiken's methods for cultivating powers of 
 quick perception, attention, and memory are summed 
 up by Dr. G-. Stanley Hall, President of Clark Uni- 
 versity, as follows : 
 
 " Wishing to test the exact extent to which attention 
 and memory could be cultivated in children, and also 
 in older students, I wrote a simple story containing 
 one hundred items, and which could be read aloud in 
 three minutes. This story I caused to be read by a 
 stranger to the scholars in hundreds of schools — gram- 
 mar and high schools, college-preparatory schools, col- 
 leges, and universities — in this country and in England. 
 The results have been tested by psychological experts, 
 and Miss Aiken's school stands six per cent, letter than 
 the oestP 
 
 \ The simple methods employed by Miss Aiken are fully de- 
 scribed in the following recent publication, which has already 
 excited much interest in the educational world : 
 
 METHODS OF MIND - TRAINING, CONCENTRATED 
 ATTENTION AND MEMORY. By Catharine Aiken. 
 pp. 110. Ten Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 00. 
 
 HARPEE & BROTHEES, Publisheks, 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
BOOKS FOE TEACHERS 
 
 GENTLE MEASURES IN THE MANAGEMENT 
 AND TRAINING OF THE YOUNG; or, the Prin- 
 ciples on which a Firm Parental Authority may be 
 Established and Maintained without Violence or An- 
 ger, and the Right Development of the Moral and 
 Mental Capacities be Promoted by Methods in Har- 
 mony with the Structure and the Characteristics of 
 the Juvenile Mind. By Jacob Abbott, pp. 330. Il- 
 lustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25. 
 
 THE TEACHER. Moral Influences Employed in the 
 Instruction and Government of the Young. By 
 Jacob Abbott, pp. 354. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, 
 
 $1 00. 
 
 AN EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION; also, the 
 
 Ideas which Inspired It and were Inspired by It. 
 
 By Maky R. Alling-Abeb. pp. x., 245. Post 8vo, 
 
 Cloth, $1 25 ; by mail, $1 37. 
 
 Ought to be in every teacher's library, and will be very soon in 
 the libraries of multitudes of the best teachers. — Boston Advertiser. 
 
 I am struck with the direct, straightforward, and fundamental 
 hold which you have upon educational principles. — Professor John 
 Dewey, University of Chicago. 
 
 CHILDREN. Their Models and Critics. By Aueetta 
 
 Roys Aldeich. pp. vi., 158. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. 
 
 Chapters on the needs and best interests of children. An aid to 
 consistent and successful character- building. 
 
Books for Teachers 
 
 BLAIKIES HOW TO GET STRONG. How to Get 
 Strong, and How to Stay So. By "William Blaikie. 
 New Edition. Rewritten and Enlarged, pp. 510. 
 Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth. 
 
 BLAIKIE'S SOUND BODIES FOR OUR BOYS 
 AND GIRLS. Sound Bodies for Our Boys and 
 Girls. By William Blaikie, Author of " How to 
 Get Strong, and How to Stay So." With Illustra- 
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