ONE:Leona Lalage held herself up talking bravely about the weather, whilst Prout was dumb with admiration of her audacity. Her very recklessness inspired his respect. He little knew of the deadly fear and suffering concealed behind that smiling mask. The last thing he saw as he closed the door of the brougham was an averted face and a small hand.To obtain a true understanding of the nature of power is by no means the difficulty for a beginner that is generally supposed [12]; and when once reached, the truth will break upon the mind like a sudden discovery, and ever afterwards be associated with mechanism and motion whenever seen. The learner will afterwards find himself analysing the flow of water, the traffic in the streets, the movement of ships and trains; even the act of walking will become a manifestation of power, all clear and intelligible, without that air of mystery that is otherwise inseparable from the phenomena of motion. If the learner will go on farther, and study the connection between heat and force, the mechanical equivalent of heat when developed into force and motion, and the reconversion of power into heat, he will have commenced at the base of what must constitute a thorough knowledge of mechanics, without which he will have to continually proceed under difficulties.
TWO:(1.) Into what two divisions can a knowledge of constructive mechanics be divided?(2.) Give an example of your own to distinguish between special and general knowledge.(3.) In what manner is special knowledge mostly acquired?(4.) What has been the effect of scientific investigations upon special knowledge?(5.) What is meant by the division of labour?(6.) Why have engineering tools been less changed than most other kinds of machinery during twenty years past?(7.) What is meant by machine functions; adaptation; construction?(8.) Why has the name "mechanical powers" been applied to screws, levers, wedges, and so on?(9.) Can power be conceived of as an element or principle, independent of mechanism?
