APPRENTICE TOOLMAKERS AND MACHINISTS I2g 
consequently the difficulty of discovering the value of a 
certain group of tests. 
Some apprentice shops take it upon themselves to give a 
test to those who wish to enter. The test usually is one 
M the essentials of arithmetic. Naturally, a prospective 
toolmaker should be able to perform certain mathematical 
derations before he is allowed to enter the course, and 
the best way in which to determine this is by an actual 
Mathematical test. (See Appendix, test number 47.) 
_ The results of this experiment indicate a very decided 
S1 gnificance in the tests applied. One of the most im 
portant facts about these tests is that they have nothing 
whatsoever to do with the acquired ability or education of 
an individual in the work of toolmaking. The foreman- 
In s true tor of the first shop, for instance, an expert tool- 
Maker, was excelled in the tests by more than a third 
his men including the sixteen-year-old boy. The pur 
pose of these particular tests, as distinguished from the 
trade tests which will be described later, is to detect a 
person’s innate ability, the faculty for thinking in ways 
Which will be of value when applied to the work of a 
Machinist or toolmaker. As has been stated at the 
° u tset, they are intended to serve as a forecast of what an 
a Pprentice will be able to do after he has been trained for a 
c °nsiderable length of time.