ubject and of calling
attention to some rules for proper study, that this article has been
written.

In its broadest sense, the question to be considered is, "How to
Investigate a Problem." In doing this the first step is to get
together all available information regarding the problem, including
books, experimental data and results of experience, and to consider and
digest this material. Personal investigations and inquiry, {5} further
experimental research, correspondence, travel, etc., may then be
necessary. This will be based, however, in general, upon a study of
books, and with this part of the subject we are here particularly
concerned.

Let us, therefore, consider the elements requisite for a proper method
of study.

{6}

I

THE PROPER MENTAL ATTITUDE

The first essential is that _the student should have the proper mental
attitude_. That attitude should not be one of subservience, of blind
believing, but should be one of mental courage and determination. His
object is to understand the subject, not simply to read a book. If the
book is a proper one for him to read, that is to say, if he has the
proper preparation, and requisite mental power, then he is capable of
mastering it. He is to master the book, the book is not to master him.
He is to learn what the writer of the book thinks in matters of
opinion, but he is never to accept such views blindly, and is to
believe them only when he sees them to be true. Many students accept
blindly as truth whatever they see on a printed page that they are
required to read. To do this, even if what is read be remembered, is
to study by rote; it makes a routine, rule-of-thumb man, who merely
imitates or copies. He should realize that nothing is true simply
because it is in a book, but should accept it only when it passes the
test of his own understanding. Mental courage, therefore, is essential
for a proper {7} method of study, without which the student will become
little more than a parrot. He must possess self-confidence, a
consciousness of his power to master the subject, and a firm
determination to master it. Of course, nobody should read a book that
he is incapable of mastering or unprepared to understand. A suitable
preparation and sufficient mental power are of course essential, and
are here assumed. The point is that the sense of his own power and the
determination to use it should be constantly in his mind.

Students are of course frequen