AMERICAN STATISTICAL ARITHMETIC; DESIGNED FOR ACADEMIES AND SCHOOLS. BY FRANCIS H. SMITH, A.M. SUPERINTENDENT AND PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE VIRGINIA THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY, WEST POINT. AND R. T. W. DUKE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN VIRGINIA THIRD EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & Co. HARVARD Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO., in the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN. (2) PREFACE. THE characteristic feature of the following Treatise is simple but peculiar. It has been the design of the author to illustrate the various rules of Arithmetic by examples selected, as far as practicable, from the most prominent facts connected with the History, Geography, and Statistics of our country. Multiplication of simple numbers is illustrated by such examples as the following: "The Congress of the United States is composed of a Senate, consisting of 2 members from each of the 26 States, and a House of Representatives of 242 members; each member receives $8 per day during the session of Congress: what is the daily expense to the Government for the pay of the members?" Here is a simple example in multiplication, and yet what valuable information does it convey! The constitution of Congress the number of States. the equality of their representation in the Senate the number of members in the House of Representatives their pay, &c. How many citizens are there who exercise the elective franchise who are ignorant of these facts! It will readily appear, how, by extending this principle so as to embrace questions relating to the Commerce, Manufactures, Agriculture, &c. of the several States, the interest in the study of this essential branch of human knowledge may be increased. Arithmetic thus becomes a medium for communicating much important information, which will be readily apprehended by the youthful mind, and impressed upon it through life. If the study of the American Statistical Arithmetic shall be an instrument in imparting to the American youth, in any degree, an appreciation of the greatness and resources of their country, and of the bounty of Providence towards it, the labour of its author will not have been in vain. |