which the limbs of any animal are divided, the more complex will be its movements, as we can see if we compare a horse with a snake. In the same way a tree stands more firmly and is more picturesque if its branches and roots spread out well and stand away from one another.
30. Imitation.—In the education of the young, care should be taken that everything that is taught be carefully defined and kept in its place, so that not only the teacher, but the pupil as well, may know exactly what progress he has made and what he is actually doing. It will also be of great assistance if all the books that are used in schools follow nature’s example in this respect.
Seventh Principle
31. Nature never remains at rest, but advances continually; never begins anything fresh at the expense of work already in hand, but proceeds with what she has begun, and brings it to completion.
For instance, in the formation of the embryo, it is the feet, the head, and the heart that come first into existence, and these organs are not discarded but are perfected. A tree which is transplanted does not cast the branches that have previously grown upon it, but continues to provide them with sap and vitality, that with each successive year they may put forth more shoots.
32. Imitation.—In schools therefore
(i) All the studies should be so arranged that those which come later may depend on those that have gone before, and that those which come first may be fixed in the mind by those that follow.
(ii) Each subject taught, when it has been thoroughly grasped by the understanding, must be impressed on the memory as well.
33. For since, in this natural method of ours, all that precedes should be the foundation of all that comes after, it is absolutely essential that this foundation be thoroughly laid. For that only which has been thoroughly understood,
