connections. We have to do now not
with the acquisition but with the _elaboration_ and _assimilation_ of
knowledge. The _acquisition_ of knowledge in the ordinary sense is one
thing; its _elaboration_ in a full sense sets up a standard of progress
which will put life into all school work and reach far beyond it, and
in fact is limited only by the individual capacity for thought. In
school, in reading and study, we have been largely engaged in acquiring
knowledge on the principle that "knowledge is power." But no practical
man needs to be told that much so-called school knowledge is not power.
Facts which have been simply stored in the memory are often of little
ready use. It is like wheat in the bin, which must first pass through
the mill and change its entire form before it will perform its
function. Facts, in order to become the personal property of the
owner, must be worked over, sifted, sorted, classified, and connected.
The process of elaborating and assimilating knowledge is so important
that it requires more time and pains than the first labor of
acquisition. Philosophers will admit this at once, but it is hard for
us to break loose from the traditions of the schoolmasters. The mind
is not in all respects like a _lumber-yard_. It is, to be sure, a
place for storing up knowledge, just as the yard is a deposit for
lumber. But there the analogy ceases and the mind begins to resemble
more the contractor and builder. There is planing, sawing, and
hammering; the materials collected are prepared, fitted, and mortised
together, and a building fit for use begins to rise. Knowledge also is
for use, and not primarily for storage. That simple acquisition and
quantity of knowledge are not enough is illustrated by the analogy of
an army. Numbers do not make an army, but a rabble. A general first
enlists raw recruits, drills and trains them through a long period, and
finally combines them into an effective army. Many of our ideas when
first received are like disorderly raw recruits. They need to be
disciplined into proper action and to ready obedience.

In connection with assimilation the analogy between the _stomach_ and
the mind is of still greater interest. The food received into the
stomach is taken up by the organs of digestion, assimilated and
converted into blood. The process, however, takes its course without
our conscious effort or co-operation. Knowledge likewise enters the
mind, but how far will