6 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [i, i, jan. 1.905 



of storm, and of the dangers which lurk about him. Experience 

 sharpens his senses and gives him a working knowledge, which 

 although not consciously reasoned out, or systematized in any 

 way, yet serves him in time of need. 



The children of civilized races are shut away in too many in- 

 stances from a free contact with nature ; their needs are so pro- 

 vided for and dangers guarded against, that they grow up with 

 undeveloped capacities and in almost total ignorance of the world 

 of nature. How much more they would make of their surround- 

 ings, and how much more these surroundings would heighten their 

 interest and zest in life if they were able to appreciate them in 

 even a very simple way. 



Nature-study should lead the child back to this natural intimacy 

 with nature and to delight in her company. This cannot be done 

 by feeding him upon courses of study made up of scientifically 

 arranged facts, but by fitting him in a broad way through the 

 exercise of his observational and reasoning powers so that he not 

 only takes pleasure in the world around him but is able to use 

 it more fully to his material advantage. 



II 



BY C. F. HODGE 



Clark University 



" I doubt not but ye shall have more ado to drive our dullest and laziest 

 youth, our stocks and stubs from the infinite desire of such a happy nur- 

 ture, than we have now to hale and drag our choicest and hopefullest wits 

 to that asinine feast of sow-thistles and brambles which is commonly set 

 before them, as all the food and entertainment of their tenderest age." 

 — John Milton, "Tractate on Education," p. 8. 



There is a suggestive analogy between eating and learning. In 

 the one process food is built into the bodily life, in the other truth 

 is assimilated to the mental life. Both functions are equipped 

 with a complicated set of organs and both require a certain 

 amount of effort or work. " Dc gustibus 11011 est disputandum " ; 

 and still it is interesting to inquire why it is that eating or learn- 

 ing some things is pleasurable and wholesome, while learning or 

 eating something else may be distasteful and injurious. In gen- 

 eral, if the physical appetite is sharp enough, the taking of food, 

 however plain, is agreeable ; and, if food is not to be had, I sup- 

 pose a Digger Indian may derive some satisfaction from eating 



