busy saying, "I do not know". But they never lost confidence in me or in my knowledge; they simply gained respect for the vastness of the unknown.

The chief charm of nature-study would be taken away if it did not lead us through the border-land of knowledge into the realm of the undiscovered. Moreover, the teacher, in confessing her ignorance and at the same time. her interest in a subject, establishes between herself and her pupils a sense of companionship which relieves the strain of discipline, and gives her a new and intimate relation with her pupils which will surely prove a potent element in her success. The best teacher is always one who is the good comrade of her pupils.

NATURE-STUDY, THE ELIXIR OF YOUTH

HE old teacher is too likely to become didactic, dogmatic and "bossy" if she does not constantly strive with herself. Why? She has to be thus five days in the week and, therefore, she is likely to be so seven. She knows arithmetic, grammar and geography to their uttermost and she is never allowed to forget that she knows them, and finally her interests become limited to what she knows.

After all, what is the chief sign of growing old? Is it not the feeling that we know all there is to be known? It is not years which make people old; it is ruts, and a limitation of interests. When we no longer care about anything except our own interests, we are then old, it matters not whether our years be twenty or eighty. It is rejuvenation for the teacher, thus growing old, to stand ignorant as a child in the presence of one of the simplest of nature's miracles-the formation of a crystal, the evolution of the butterfly from the caterpillar, the exquisite adjustment of the silken lines in the spider's orb-web. I know how to "make magic" for the teacher who is growing old. Let her go out with her youngest pupil and fall on her knees before the miracle of the blossoming violet and say: "Dear Nature, I know naught of the wondrous life of these, your smallest creatures. Teach me!" and she will suddenly find herself young.

NATURE-STUDY AS A HELP IN SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

UCH of the naughtiness in school is a result of the child's lack of interest in his work, augmented by the physical inaction that results from an attempt to sit quietly. The best teachers try to obviate both of these rather than to punish because of them. Nature-study is an aid in both respects, since it keeps the child interested and also gives him something to do.

In the nearest approach to an ideal school that I have ever seen, for children of second grade, the pupils were allowed, as a reward of merit, to visit the aquaria or the terrarium for periods of five minutes, which time was given to the blissful observation of the fascinating prisoners. The teacher also allowed the reading of stories about the plants and animals under observation to be regarded as a reward of merit. As I entered the schoolroom, there were eight or ten of the children at the windows watching eagerly what was happening to the creatures confined there in the various cages. There was a mud aquarium for the frogs and salamanders,

an aquarium for fish, many small aquaria for insects and each had one or two absorbingly interested spectators who were quiet, well behaved and were getting their nature-study lessons in an ideal manner. The teacher told me that the problem of discipline was solved by this method, and that she was rarely obliged to rebuke or punish. In many other schools, watching the living creatures in the aquaria, or terrarium has been used as a reward for other work well done.

THE RELATION OF NATURE-STUDY TO SCIENCE

ATURE-STUDY is not elementary science as so taught, because its point of attack is not the same; error in this respect has caused many a teacher to abandon naturestudy and many a pupil to hate it. In elementary science the work begins with the simplest animals and plants and progresses logically through to the highest forms; at least this is the method pursued in most universities and schools. The object of the study is to give the pupils an outlook over all the forms of life and their relation one to another. In nature-study the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the pupil. It begins with the robin when it comes back to us in March, promising spring; or it begins with the maple leaf which flutters to the ground in all the beauty of its autumn al tints. A course in biological science leads to the comprehension of all kinds of life upon our globe. Nature-study is for the comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect or plant that is nearest at hand.

Nature-study is perfectly good science within its limits, but it is not meant to be more profound or comprehensive than the capabilities of the child's mind. More than all, nature-study is not science belittled as if it were to be looked at through the reversed opera glass in order to bring it down small enough for the child to play with. Nature-study, as far as it goes, is just as large as is science for "grown-ups" and may deal with the same subject matter and should be characterized by the same accuracy. It simply does not go so far.

To illustrate: If we are teaching the science of ornithology, we take first the Archaeopteryx, then the swimming and the scratching birds and finally reach the song birds, studying each as a part of the whole. Naturestudy begins with the robin because the child sees it and is interested in it and he notes the things about the habits and appearance of the robin that may be perceived by intimate observation. In fact, he discovers for himself all that the most advanced book of ornithology would give concerning the ordinary habits of this one bird; the next bird studied may be the turkey in the barnyard, or the duck on the pond, or the screech-owl in the spruces, if any of these happen to impinge upon his notice and interest. However, such nature-study makes for the best of scientific ornithology, because by studying the individual birds thus thoroughly, the pupil finally studies a sufficient number of forms so that his knowledge, thus assembled, gives him a better comprehension of birds as a whole than could be obtained by the routine study of the same. Nature-study does not start out with the classification given in books, but in the end it builds up a classification in the child's mind which is based on fundamental knowledge; it is a classification like that evolved by the first naturalists, it is built on careful personal observations of both form and life.

NATURE-STUDY NOT FOR DRILL

If nature-study is made a drill, its pedagogic value is lost. When it is properly taught, the child is unconscious of mental effort or that he is suffering the act of teaching. As soon as nature-study becomes a task, it should be dropped; but how could it ever be a task to see that the sky is blue, or the dandelion golden, or to listen to the oriole in the elm!

THE CHILD NOT INTERESTED IN NATURE-STUDY

HAT to do with the pupil not interested in nature-study subjects is a problem that confronts many earnest teachers. Usually the reason for this lack of interest, is the limited range of subjects used for nature-study lessons. Often the teacher insists upon flowers as the lesson subject, when toads or snakes would prove the key to the door of the child's interest. But whatever the cause may be, there is only one right way out of this difficulty: The child not interested should be kept at his regular school work and not admitted as a member of the nature-study class, where his influence is always demoralizing. He had much better be learning his spelling lesson than learning to hate nature through being obliged to study subjects in which he is not interested. In general, it is safe to assume that the pupil's lack of interest in nature-study is owing to a fault. in the teacher's method. She may be trying to fill the child's mind with facts when she should be leading him to observe these for himself, which is a most entertaining occupation for the child. It should always be borne in mind that mere curiosity is always impertinent, and that it is never more so than when exercised in the realm of nature. A genuine interest should be the basis of the study of the lives of plants and lower animals. Curiosity may elicit facts, but only real interest may mold these facts into wisdom.

WHEN TO GIVE THE LESSON

HERE are two theories concerning the time when a naturestudy lesson should be given. Some teachers believe that it should be a part of the regular routine; others have found it of greatest value if reserved for that period of the school day when the pupils are weary and restless, and the teacher's nerves strained to the snapping point. The lesson on a tree, insect or flower at such a moment affords immediate relief to everyone; it is a mental excursion, from which all return refreshed and ready to finish the duties of the day.

While I am convinced that the use of the nature-study lesson for mental refreshment makes it of greatest value, yet I realize fully that if it is relegated to such periods, it may not be given at all. It might be better to give it a regular period late in the day, for there is strength and sureness in regularity. The teacher is much more likely to prepare herself for the lesson, if she knows that it is required at a certain time.

THE LENGTH OF THE LESSON

HE nature-study lesson should be short and sharp and may vary from ten minutes to a half hour in length. There should be no dawdling; if it is an observation lesson, only a few points should be noted and the meaning for the observations made clear. If an outline be suggested for field observation, it should be given in an inspiring manner which shall make each pupil anxious to see and read the truth for himself. The nature story when properly read is never finished; it is always at an interesting point, "continued in our next."

The teacher may judge as to her own progress in nature-study by the length of time she is glad to spend in reading from nature's book what is therein written. As she progresses, she finds those hours spent in studying nature speed faster, until a day thus spent seems but an hour. The author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and months with the birds, bees and flowers with no obligation for telling what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus spent. Lowell describes them well when he says:

"Those old days when the balancing of a yellow butterfly o'er a thistle bloom Was spiritual food and lodging for the whole afternoon."

ness.

THE NATURE-STUDY LESSON ALWAYS NEW

A nature-study lesson should not be repeated unless the pupils demand it. It should be done so well the first time that there is no need of repetition, because it has thus become a part of the child's consciousThe repetition of the same lesson in different grades was, to begin with, a hopeless incubus upon nature-study. One disgusted boy declared, "Darn germination! I had it in the primary and last year and now I am having it again. I know all about germination." The boy's attitude was a just one; but if there had been revealed to him the meaning of germination, instead of the mere process, he would have realized that until he had planted and observed every plant in the world he would not know all about germination, because each seedling has its own interesting story. The only excuse for repeating a nature-study lesson is in recalling it for comparison and contrast with other lessons. The study of the violet will naturally bring about a review of the pansy; the dandelion, of the sunflower; the horse, of the donkey; the butterfly, of the moth.

NATURE-STUDY AND OBJECT LESSONS

CHE object lesson method was introduced to drill the child to see a thing accurately, not only as a whole, but in detail and to describe accurately what he saw. A book or a vase or some other object was held up before the class for a moment and then removed; afterwards the pupils described it as perfectly as possible. This is an excellent exercise and the children usually enjoy it as if it were a But if the teacher has in mind the same thought when she is giving the nature-study lesson, she has little comprehension of the meaning of the latter and the pupils will have less. In nature-study, it is not desirable that the child see all the details, but rather those details that have something to do with the life of the creature studied; if he sees that the

game.

grasshopper has the hind legs much longer than the others, he will inevitably note that there are two other pairs of legs and he will in the meantime have come into an illuminating comprehension of the reason the insect is called "grasshopper." The child should see definitely and accurately all that is necessary for the recognition of a plant or animal; but in nature-study, the observation of form is for the purpose of better understanding life. In fact, it is form linked with life, the relation of "being" to "doing."

M

NATURE-STUDY IN THE SCHOOLROOM

ANY subjects for nature-study lessons may be brought into the schoolroom. Whenever it is possible, the pupils should themselves bring the material, as the collecting of it is an important part of the lesson. There should be in the schoolroom conveniences for caring for the little prisoners brought in from thefield. The terrarium and breeding cages, of different kinds should be provided for the insects, toads and little mammals. Here they may live in comfort, when given their natural food, while the children observe their interesting ways. The ants' nest, and the observation hive yield fascinating views of the marvelous lives of the insect socialists, while the cheerful prisoner in the bird cage may be made a constant illustration of the adaptations and habits of all birds. The aquaria for fishes, tadpoles and insects afford the opportunity for continuous study of these water creatures and are a never-failing source of interest to the pupils, while the window garden may be made not only an ornament and an æsthetic delight, but a basis for interesting study of plant growth and development. A schoolroom thus equipped is a place of delight as well as enlightenment to the children. Once, a boy whose luxurious home was filled with all that money could buy and educated tastes select, said of a little naturestudy laboratory which was in the unfinished attic of a school building, but which was teeming with life: "I think this is the most beautiful room in the world."

NATURE-STUDY AND MUSEUM SPECIMENS

HE matter of museum specimens is another question for the nature-study teacher to solve, and has a direct bearing on an attitude toward taking life. There are many who believe the stuffed bird or the case of pinned insects have no place in nature-study; and certainly these should not be the chief material. But let us use our common sense; the boy sees a bird in the woods or field and does not know its name; he seeks the bird in the museum and thus is able to place it and read about it and is stimulated to make other observations concerning it. Wherever the museum is a help to the study of life in the field, it is well and good. Some teachers may give a live lesson from a stuffed specimen, and other teachers may stuff their pupils with facts about a live specimen; of the two, the former is preferable.

There is no question that making a collection of insects is an efficient way of developing the child's powers of close observation, as well as of giving him manual dexterity in handling fragile things. Also it is. a false sentiment which attributes to an insect the same agony at being