lV( „,„] DEVICES FOR OBSERVATION IX NATURE STUDY 135 



any one of the topics can be followed out in just as small or as great 

 detail as is desirable. This gives an underlying purpose for the 

 observation in any case and thus at once captures the interest oi 

 either teacher or child. (For an elaboration of this method the reader 

 is referred to the Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 12, No. 1). 



In the training course the teacher is brought face to face with as 

 many forms as is consistent with thorough work. While the question 

 of activities and life relations is emphasized through discussions and 

 field work, still in the training of adults the writer has found nothing 

 that can give a secure foundation for an adequate understanding of 

 the activities of living organisms but intensive study of types in the 

 laboratory, where the student can get concentrated and directed 

 training in observation and deduction. For this reason, a liberal use 

 is still made of "comparative anatomy" which, it seems, it has 

 become fashionable to decry at present. However, in the study of 

 any organ, the question of its function or " adaptation " is always kept 

 foremost. 



As regards the emotional phase of nature-study, no efforts are 

 made toward inculcating sentiment beyond what the personal enthu- 

 siasm of instructors may impart. The student is given references, 

 however, to a few of the nature poets and to some of the more inspir- 

 ing and truthful accounts of our so called literary naturalists. 



Michael F. Guyer. 



DEVICES FOR OBSERVATION IN NATURE STUDY 



By D. R. WOOD 

 State Normal Schooi, San Jose, Cal. 



[EDITORIAL Note. — The following article ought to suggest to many teachers 

 in normal, secondary, and elementary schools, that some of their own devices for 

 facilitating study of living things in the school may be new and interesting to 

 very many readers of this magazine. You are again invited to write to the 

 Managing Editor concerning any special devices which you have found successful, 

 but which you believe not to be in common use. ] 



The Window Cage for Schoolroom Observation 

 Unless observed under natural conditions, animal life in nature- 

 study presents many difficulties; the principal one among these is the 

 bringing of the live animal into the schoolroom. For example, if a 

 bird is brought in a cage, it must necessarily be so small that the 

 animal cannot act normally, and the children are unable to see its 

 characteristic movements. Birds may be observed temporarily in 



