Excerpt from A Complete Treatise on Practical Land-Surveying, in Seven Parts: Designed Chiefly for the Use of Schools and Private Students The various works which so imperfect a being as man is able to perform, and the great advances which he is capable of making in the arts and sciences, are astonishing. He comes into the world devoid both of strength and of reflection; nor are the powers of his body more rapidly developed, than those of his mind. But however ingenious and active the individual may prove, when arrived at maturity, his efforts would generally be unavailing, if they were not combined with those of his fel lows. His first improvements he acquires from the suggestions of his contemporaries, or from the works of his predecessors, whose rules and demonstrations have been the labour of ages. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.