en the word will be
repeated attentively until it can be spelled without effort. In a
language lesson on the correct use, say, of "lie" and "lay," the pupils
will first be called upon to observe the forms of each, "lie, lay, lain,
lying," and "lay, laid, laying"--as used in sentences on the
black-board, and the meaning of each group--"lie" meaning "to recline"
and "lay" meaning "to place." The pupils will then repeat attentively
the correct forms of the words in sentences, until they finally reach
the stage when they unconsciously use the words correctly, or as habits
of speech. The same principles apply in learning the addition and
multiplication tables, and the tables of weights and measures in
arithmetic; in the memorization of gems of poetry and prose; in the
learning of dates, lists of events, and important provisions of acts in
history; and in the memorization of lists of places and products in
geography, where this is desirable. In all the cases mentioned, it must
not be supposed that a single drill lesson will be sufficient for the
fixing of the desired knowledge or skill. Before instant and unconscious
reaction can be depended upon, repetition will be needed at intervals
for some time.

=Danger in Mere Repetition.=--In connection with the repetition
necessary in the second stage of the drill lesson, an important
precaution should be noted. It is impossible for anybody to repeat
anything _attentively_ many times in succession unless there is some new
element noted in each repetition. When there is no longer a new element,
the repetition becomes mechanical, and hence comparatively useless so
far as acquisition of knowledge or even habit is concerned. To ask a
pupil who has difficulty with a combination in addition, or a product in
multiplication, or the spelling of a word, to repeat it many times in
succession, may be not only waste of time, but even worse, because a
tendency toward mind-wandering may be encouraged. The practice of
requiring pupils to write out new words, or words that have been
mis-spelled in the dictation lesson, five, ten, or twenty times
successively, cannot be too strongly condemned. The attention cannot
possibly be concentrated upon the work beyond two or three repetitions,
and the fact that pupils frequently make mistakes two or three words
down the column and repeat this mistake to the end, is sufficient proof
of the mechanical nature of the process. The little boy who had
difficulty wit