The Method of the Recitation

ted; some teachers would begin with the general notion or rule, and furnish the individual instances later, as the rule for the plural of nouns ending in s, x, sh, etc., while others would take the opposite course. Since these two kinds of notions are of vital importance, it is well to have a clear understanding of the meaning of each. Sources of The notions that are furnished apparently through individual . ,,..,.. notions. the senses alone are individual notions. For instance, the images of the many things about us gained through the sense of sight belong to this class. I have an individual notion of the penholder with which I am now writing, of the room in which I am sitting, and of the meadow that I see from my window. Touch, without the aid of sight, gives a similar kind of notion ; blind men getdefinite mental pictures of the objects about them by the use of their hands. It is an individual notion that one receives when he perceives the color of a flower, the odor of an apple, or the chirp of a bird. Thus each sense may be the source of individual notions or percepts, without the aid of the others. Usually, however, they work together, giving a combined result, as when one determines through the senses of sight, smell, touch, and taste that a certain object is an apple. In this case the idea is certainly very complex, but since it must be referred to one definite object it is called an individual notion. Further than that, individual facts and rel...