Prev | Current Page 156 | Next

Tyler, John Mason, 1851-1929

"A Brief History of His Origin and Development through Conformity to Environment; Being the Morse Lectures of 1895"

This he in
time accomplished. At first he put the wrong end of the handle
into the hole, but turned it round and round the right way for
screwing. Finding it did not hold he turned the other end of the
handle and carefully stuck it into the hole, and began again to
turn it the right way. It was of course a difficult feat for him
to perform, for he required both his hands in order to screw it
in, and the long bristles of the brush prevented it from
remaining steady or with the right side up. He held the brush
with his hind hand, but even so it was very difficult for him to
get the first turn of the screw to fit into the thread; he worked
at it, however, with the most unwearying perseverance until he
got the first turn of the screw to catch, and he then quickly
turned it round and round until it was screwed up to the end. The
most remarkable thing was, that however often he was disappointed
in the beginning, he never was induced to try turning the handle
the wrong way; he always screwed it from right to left. As soon
as he had accomplished his wish he unscrewed it again, and then
screwed it in again the second time rather more easily than the
first, and so on many times. When he had become by practice
tolerably perfect in screwing and unscrewing, he gave it up and
took to some other amusement.


Pages:
144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168