236 THE NA TURE-STUDY REVIEW [ 2 : 7 -oct., , 9 rf> 



ten and the lower primary grades may well consist largely of learning 

 the names of plants and animals and their more important parts. 

 The names of birds and of the most conspicuous insects and flowers 

 will prove interesting even at the high-school and college age. Names 

 must be learned, for we can as readily talk about things we cannot 

 name as we can express ideas without words. Until this teaching of 

 names is more generally done in the lower grades than it has been in 

 the past, it will-be necessary for the upper grades to have a larger 

 amount of this instruction than rightfully belongs to them. Animals 

 are of greater natural interest than plants. Children like action. 

 No toy so pleases as the mechanical toy that " goes of itself " or the 

 doll that can cry and shut its eyes. The mother- bird feeding her young, 

 the insect visiting the flower, the caterpillar changing to a butterfly, 

 the tadpole changing to a frog, are all objects of perennial interest te 

 the child. In country schools such observations are readily made 

 on wild animals in their natural habitats. In city schools pets in con- 

 finement and visits to parks and zoological gardens offer a substitute, 

 poor by comparison, yet of great value. 



In watching the actions of animals and indeed in all nature-Study 

 dealing with action we must remember that repetition is not distasteful 

 or uninteresting, if the child be naturally interested. It is a common 

 thing to have a child ask for the same story or the same trick, time 

 after time for many days. To know how the story or act is " coming 

 out" does not apparently detract from the interest of young children 

 but rather adds, as it gives a pleasurable feeling of power to be able 

 to forsee the next event. The tenth butterfly coming out of its chry- 

 salis will be watched with almost as much eagerness as the first. 



Plant life also has its motions and these always appeal to chil- 

 dren. The closing of flowers and the drooping of leaves at night, the 

 explosive dispersal of seeds, the turning of leaves towards the light, 

 and most of all the beautifully marked actions of the sensitive plant 

 (Mimosa pudica) never fail to arouse interest and hold attention. 

 The seeds of the sensitive plant can be bought of any large dealer in 

 seeds and will grow readily in gardens from late spring until frost. 

 I have disposed of dozens of packets of the seed for this purpose. 

 Not all succeeded with them, but neither would they all succeed with 

 radishes or corn. 



One reason that the actions of the sensitive plant arouse so much 

 attention is that motion is an unsuspected power of plants and 

 also quite unusual. Unusual things and little known facts about 



