THE

PUPIL'S ARITHMETIC.

WHEREBY THE

PRACTICAL USE OF FIGURES

IS DEMONSTRATED IN

A SERIES OF ORIGINAL QUESTIONS.

ADAPTED TO THE CAPACITIES OF YOUTH.

BY SETH DAVIS,

TEACHER OF YOUTH IN NEWTON, MASS.

Second Edition, enlarged.

Boston:

LINCOLN & EDMANDS.

No. 59 Washington-Street.

1830.

18.26.4

1855 Aug 14

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit:

District Clerk's Office.

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the third day of August, A. D. 1826, and in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, SETH DAVIS, of said district, has deposited in this office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:

"The Pupil's Arithmetic. Whereby the Practical Use of Figures is demonstrated in a series of Original Questions. Adapted to the Capacities of Youth. By Seth Davis."

In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an Act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned: and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etching Historical and other prints."

JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

IT needs no argument to prove to those accustomed to instruct the young, that much of their precious time is comparatively lost in consequence of not perfectly understanding the first principles of the various branches they attempt to learn; but these remarks are perhaps more ap plicable to Arithmetic than to any other science.

How far the following pages will serve to accomplish the object of rendering the attainment of a practical knowledge of Arithmetic a pleasing and easy pursuit, the public must judge. As a second edition is called for, no pains have been spared to render the work both pleasing and useful; and although not so voluminous as many other works, yet it is presumed upon examination it will be found to contain much more than is understood by scholars generally, and all that is necessary to be taught in our common schools, and is particularly recommended to the attention of teachers in Female Seminaries.

Most of the questions are original, and embrace those of an Historical, Philosophical, and Astronomical nature, which, while the scholar is acquiring a knowledge of his Arithmetic, will be the means of indelibly fixing in the mind certain facts necessary to be remembered.

For reasons obvious to teachers all the answers are omitted in the former part of the work, and many of the answers in the latter part are so arranged by a combination of characters and numbers as that each answer becomes a practical question.

The work is designed to be taught in Classes, when convenient. More than twenty years' experience has fully demonstrated to the Author, that this mode possesses a decided superiority over the one usually adopted. By giving out a certain question, designating the page and number, and permitting the most expeditious scholar to take the head or even rise up, such a lively interest will instantly be manifested as to demonstrate the utility of the mode. Children at a very early age will upon trial be found to begin the study with advantage by adopting the above method.

Much pains have been taken so to arrange the questions as that a constant recurrence to what precedes must be had, until the same is perfectly understood. This will appear obvious by examining the sixteenth page. It will there be seen that a reference must be had to the preceding page. The same will apply to the whole work.

Questions in the Rule of Three, Alligation, Position, Progression, &c. are solved by the rule of reason, and rendered plain and intelligible. Newton, Feb. 1830.

In obtaining the answers to the questions in this work, figures of a less value than thousandths have been rejected in most cases.