course of mechanical drawing serves as a
means of developing that skill in freehand execution which is so
necessary in rendering the freehand features of a mechanical drawing.
When this type of skill is acquired before the mechanical work is
started, the mechanical and freehand technique may be simultaneously
developed.

The organization of an elementary course composed largely of a
progressive series of working drawings necessitates the giving of
considerable attention to the selection of problems involving the use
of the above-named fundamentals to make the course increasingly
difficult for the student. The drawing of views involves geometrical
constructions and conventions, while the dimensions, notes, and title
invoke the making of arrowheads, letters, and numerals. In such an
elementary course the student receives not only the training in the
fundamentals, but also in their application in working drawings which
furnish complete and accurate information in the desired form.

=Descriptive geometry=

The modern methods of teaching descriptive geometry apply the theory
of the subject to applications in problems taken from engineering
practice. The introduction of practical applications adds interest to
the subject and makes the theory more easily understood. The number of
applications should be as great as possible without interfering with
the development of the theory. Such a treatment of descriptive
geometry, following a thorough course in elementary drawing, should
make it possible to deal with abstract principles of projection with a
few well-chosen applications.

Descriptive geometry aids materially in developing the power of
visualization which is so essential to the training of the engineer.
The graphical applications of the subject in the solution of
engineering problems may be used as a means of testing the student's
ability to visualize.

There is now very little discussion relative to the advantages and
disadvantages of the first and third angle projection. Since the third
angle is generally used in the elementary course as well as in
engineering practice, it seems logical that it should be emphasized in
descriptive geometry. Recent textbooks on this subject confirm the
tendency toward the use of the third angle.

The use of the third angle presents new difficulties, such as that of
locating the positions of magnitudes in space in relation to their
projections. Magnitudes must be located behind or b