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it gradually grows more powerful. The result is that after a short time the individual has acquired the power of resisting the hydrophobia poisons. Before the incubation period of the original infectious matter from the bite of the rabid animal has passed, the inoculated individual has so thoroughly acquired a tolerance of the poison that he successfully resists the attack of the infection. This method of inoculation thus neutralizes the effects of the disease by anticipating them.

Adapted from CONN, "The Story of Germ Life”

Sometimes, as in the following paragraph, the conclusion comes from concrete experience, which is used as evidence.

The distracted oven-bird, feigning a broken wing as she crosses your path in the woods, invites pity or perhaps destruction, if only you will spare those speckled treasures which she thinks you know must be somewhere near, although, but for her frantic performance, you might not have discovered the well-concealed nest. Sir Christopher Wren, by the very exuberance of his bubbling, continuous song, betrays the precious secret that Jenny, by her excited scoldings, no better conceals. But the bobolink, swaying on the stalk of timothy in the meadow, and singing with rollicking abandon, is quite as clever as the ventriloquial yellow-throat in luring you from his nest hidden in the grassy jungle. How cleverly the birds have learned to guard nest secrets.

Adapted from BLANCHAN, "How to Attract the Birds "

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DEVELOPING TOPICS BY VARIOUS MEANS

Develop the following topic sentences by a short explanation followed by a contrast and illustration, or by any similar combination:

1. To-day a farmer may live like a king.

2. Though capable of great idleness, he never failed to be ready for all sorts of adventures and excursions.

3. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

4. Delays have dangerous ends.

5. A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees the farther of the two. 6. His bark is worse than his bite.

V. DEVELOPMENT BY PROOF

The topic of the paragraph, as has been noted, is usually stated near the beginning; but not infrequently, especially if the writer is trying to convince an opponent known to be prejudiced against the proposition, it is reserved until the end. "You agree with this; you cannot doubt that; therefore you must admit the proposition," is the way the argument runs.

EXERCISE 197 - Written

DEVELOPING TOPICS BY PROOF

Develop the following topic sentences by giving proof. Place the topic in the more effective place, either at the beginning or at the end of the paragraph.

1. The umpire, however honest, should not be a partisan of either side. 2. Regular term examinations are necessary in high schools.

3. It would be better to have the weekly holiday on Monday than on Saturday.

4. Truth is more important than physical bravery.

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VI. DEVELOPMENT BY CAUSE AND RESULT

The three following paragraphs are elaborated by statements of cause and result. In each, select the topic sentence and show how it is developed. Does each writer make out his case?

The Western Wood Frog is very awkward, because of the massive build and great length of its hind legs. When walking, it is ludicrous in appearance, and it is still more ridiculous when it

captures a fish from under the surface of the water and swallows it. The frog tries to brace himself on the long hind legs so as to use the hands, both at the same time to keep the fish away from the angles of the jaws and to push it into the mouth. To brace himself against slippery mud is not easy, and, besides, the frog loses his balance because both hands are lifted at once, so he makes a great kicking and splashing before he finally swallows the fish.

Adapted from DICKERSON, in "The Frog Book"

Dimmock convinced himself that a poisonous saliva is introduced by the bite of a mosquito. He noticed that if a mosquito punctures the skin without entering a blood-vessel, although it may insert its proboscis for nearly its full length, no poisonous effect is produced upon the skin; but when the proboscis strikes blood and the insect draws its fill, the subsequent swelling and poisonous effect are obvious. He argued that these effects indicate a constant outpouring of some sort of poisonous fluid during the blood-sucking process. - Adapted from HOWARD, " Mosquitoes"

Sometimes the day of the toads' final transformation from tadpoles coincides with the day of a gentle rain. They cover the sidewalks and the roadways. The same apparent deluge of toads may come if a warmer rain occurs shortly after the time of their change to land animals. They are so delicate at first, so used to life in water, that they travel only when the air is moist.

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DEVELOPING TOPICS BY CAUSES OR RESULTS

Develop the following topic sentences by giving either the causes or the results:

1. A student often has his hardest time just after he has turned over a new leaf.

2. An unexpected holiday is good (bad) for the school.

3. Mr. A has better crops (cows, business, chickens) than anybody else in the neighborhood.

4. Grandmother has better things to eat than any other housekeeper I know.

5. I know a man who believes in the old adage " Early to bed, early to rise."

6. Our school some time ago decided to

EXERCISE 199 - Oral

DEVELOPING TOPICS BY VARIOUS MEANS

Think over these topic sentences and decide what method of development would be best for each. Don't confine yourself, necessarily, to the combinations herein illustrated. Be prepared to develop orally in class any topic sentence.

1. For the first time the grandmother spent Thanksgiving Day all alone.

2. He was the most striking man I ever saw.

3. It is great fun to get up early and go down to see the circus unload. 4. The phrase " upwards of a hundred " is often misunderstood.

5. Saturdays and Mondays are for me very different days.

6. It would (not) be wise to have school six days in the week.

7. Occasionally the old miser would do something very generous. 8. Sunday newspapers should be prohibited.

9. Sunday newspapers are a necessity.

10. In the spring come the freshets.

11. I tried for fifteen minutes to get a look at the squirrel.

12. To make a child sit in church through a long, dry sermon is a common form of cruelty.

to

13. Lessie put her hair up for the first time and wore her long dress.

14. Last summer I tried to make some money by getting subscriptions

Magazine.

15. Only once have I been "scared stiff."

16. The new cook came yesterday.

17. Did you ever ride on a merry-go-round? I did 18. A bird in the bush is worth two in a hat.

19.

is a picture that I like very much.

20. Dickens entertains me more than Scott does.

once.

21. I went through the pockets in my small brother's coat.

22. At times I thought my father very severe, but usually he was lenient with my faults.

23. Our pastor argues that it is unwise to feed tramps.

24. The beggar looked through the window at the cheery glow of the fire.

25. I always get up mornings the same way.

26. I should like once in my life to hear a parrot really talk. 27. The long drought will be bad for the gardens.

28. Constant dripping will wear the hardest stone. 29. "Needles and pins, needles and pins " them all?

- what becomes of

30. I found an old diary of mine the other day.
31. There is a marked difference between bravery and daring.
32. There are several kinds of slang.

E. VARIETY IN TROPES

Clever writers often give variety to their compositions, and thus gain interest, by using tropes, or figures of speech; that is to say, for the sake of beauty or of emphasis, they use words with unusual suggestion. When Holmes wrote, for instance, "Good feeling helps society to make liars of most of us, not absolute liars, but such careless handlers of truth that its sharp corners get terribly rounded," he used words with their usual suggestion until he came to "handlers of truth," etc. There his words begin to take on unusual suggestion. We do not really handle truth, nor has its sharp corners to be rounded off; but the expression does actually make the thought clearer and stronger for us than an unadorned statement could do. The gain in interest that comes from the use of these comparisons or tropes has already been suggested (see Exercise 116).

Tropes are pleasing if they really add something of beauty or strength or clearness to the bare idea. This will follow

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