irectors!

This sober scrutiny into any one's knowledge of the meaning of words in
common use, is one of the most reliable tests of his general
intellectual progress and cultivation. It is one of the means by which
in many city schools it is customary to test a candidate's fitness for
promotion. To show how little people generally, and even teachers, are
aware of the extent to which children misconceive the meaning of words
in common use, I have transcribed a few examples from an examination of
the kind which I once held. The definitions which I am about to quote
were not the work of oral confusion and haste, but were given in
writing, in circumstances of entire quietude and ample deliberation. The
average age of the candidates, on the occasion referred to, was fourteen
years and ten months, and no one of them was by law under thirteen
years.

_Stature_--A picture; "I saw a stature of Washington."

_Fabulous_--Full of threads; "Silk is fabulous."

_Accession_--The act of eating a great deal; "John got very sick
after dinner by accession."

_Atonement_--A small insect; "Queen Mab was pulled by little
atonements." Sound, [orthodox]; "They went to the church of the
Atonement."

_Auxiliary_--To form; "The gardener did auxiliary his garden."

_Ingredient_--A native-born; "Tobacco is an ingredient of this
country."

_Fragment_--Sweetmeats; "It was a fragment."

_Develop_--To swallow up; "God sent a whale to develop Jonah."

_Exotic_--Relating to a government; "Some countries have a very
exotic government." Patriotic; "He was exotic in the cause of
Independence." Absolute; "The government of Turkey is exotic."
Standing out; "The company were exotic."

_Circumference_--Distance through the middle. Distance around the
middle of the outside.

_Callous_--Something which cannot be effected; "That America should
gain her independence was supposed to be callous."

_Mobility_--Belonging to the people; "The mobility of St. Louis has
greatly increased."

_Anomalous_--Powerful; "His speech was considered anomalous."

_Adequate_--A land animal; "An elephant is an adequate."

_Transition_--The act of transcribing; "The transition of that book
was gaining ground in the public mind."

_Gregarious_--Pertaining to idols; "The Sandwich Islands worship
gregarious." Pertaining to an oak;