42. The chapter, 59. The paragraph, 60. The sen- Order of clauses, 64. Suspension, 70. Split infinitive, 74. Chopping sentences, 77. Order of words, 79. Choice of words, 84. Etymology, 85. Parts of speech, 87. Feeble verbs, 87. Exuberance of adjective, Meagre vocabulary, 89. Tags and mannerisms, Misused words, 93-114. Superfine words, 115. Misused Latin words, 117. Tautology and redundancy, 118. Emphasis, 126. Metaphor, 130. Abstract style, 91. Little counsels, 147. Models of 40 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Ir is in no desire to curtail my conversation with candidates for degrees in Medicine that I publish • a few notes or hints on the composition of scientific papers. The larger conditions of method and material cannot be reduced to notes; they will always be with us for counsel and inquiry: but there are many conditions in the economy of argument, in the handling of common knowledge and ideas, in the use of authority, in the forms and aids of expression, which must be observed in all exercises of the kind. My present purpose is to instruct the candidate on minor points, that he may be spared the smaller corrections which occupy some of the time and pains which are better spent upon the weightier contents of theses submitted for the Acts for M.B. and M.D. degrees, and of other academic essays. It is one of the duties of a University to give instruction, and much of its instruction may be tested by suitably devised exercises, even by some kinds of examination; but it is our higher B : function to teach our students to think, and of this accomplishment the thesis or essay is the chief evidence. Thus it is that the Faculty of Medicine in Cambridge regards the theses as necessary parts of the exercises for degrees; their use being twofold to train the mind, and to show how far it has been trained. The theses for M.B. are on the whole remarkably good; some of them indeed reveal no inconsiderable power of thought and research if at this stage, however, we are content with a fair measure of industry and intelligence, from the candidate for M.D. or D.Sc., for a Fellowship or Studentship, for one of the larger University prizes, or for the graduation of an Advanced Student,' more is expected; from such a candidate we expect some maturity of thought, some wealth of personal experience, something of the art of putting his thoughts; and indeed some originality. He must have made the subject his own; his treatment of it must bear the characters of personal observation and reflexion which raise an essay above the level of ordinary compilation, and the powers of handling ideas and principles which distinguish, or should distinguish, University training as contrasted with technical instruction. "A man," says Sir Thomas Browne, "should be something that all men are not, and individual in somewhat beside his proper name." If in such essays we find the cardinal qualities, we are lenient in respect of some slovenliness of arrangement, or some inaccuracy of language, unbecoming as such faults may be. That we do not always succeed in teaching the student to think is but too evident in his bewilderment when he has to find a subject for an essay. Now, it is true that the proper choice of a subject is a difficult matter, one in which few candidates can be independent of the assistance of their elders; yet too often the student is bewildered, not in his choice of one among the infinite number of subjects calling for inquiry, but in his contentment with current formulas, in his lack of perception of the immaturity of our science, the hollowness of much of our knowledge, and the solidity of much of our ignorance. Students who have attended my lectures may remember that I try not only to teach them what we know, but also to realise how little this is: in every direction we seem to travel but a very short way before we are brought to a stop; our eyes are opened to see that our path is beset with doubts, and that even our best-made knowledge comes but too soon to an end. In every chapter arises problem after problem to beckon us on to farther investigation; yet this way and that we are so baffled by darkness and ignorance that to choose one of these problems for attack, one which is likely to repay his labour, is often beyond the scope of a junior candidate, of a candidate for the degree of M.B. for example; and it is not easy for me to help him, as I may help a candidate for M.D. The subject for M.B. and like junior exercises must be comparatively simple, the materials easily accessible, and the research straightforward. In |