132 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [1, 3, may 1905 



tions dribble away at the ends of their tongues without having 

 an idea behind. The child's attention must be held to what he 

 can see, not to what he can say, if he is to get a clear-cut mental 

 image." 



Concerning original observations by pupils, the author gives 

 this sensible advice which many teachers will do well to follow : 

 " Another thing a teacher ought scrupulously to avoid is letting 

 the child get the notion that he is making new discoveries except 

 for himself. This thought may stimulate him for the moment, 

 but in the long run it is injurious to his intellectual development. 

 To-day it is almost beyond the bounds of human possibility that 

 a child should discover an unknown fact in the sciences, and the 

 thought that he can do so will either engender in him an arro- 

 gant self-conceit, or it will entail a cruel awakening which may 

 convince him that all effort on his part is useless. The ideal to 

 hold before the young student is the desire to see and learn for 

 himself all that others have seen and learned before, and then 

 more if he can." 



Altogether the book impresses the reviewer quite favorably. 

 It seems certain that most schools would strengthen their nature- 

 study as a whole by following, in the fourth or fifth grades, this 

 guide through its seventeen lessons. Many educators are far 

 from being convinced that any observation not directed towards 

 obtaining useful knowledge is best ; but at present this is inter- 

 esting theory and not capable of rigid practice, and in much of 

 our nature-study we can do no better than lead pupils to see 

 observable things and trust that the practice of observing may 

 in itself be ample justification for the work. Until some one 

 arranges a similar book taking account of both training in obser- 

 vation and useful knowledge Miss Carter's book will fill an 

 important place, especially in schools where the teachers require 

 definite guides in their nature-study teaching. M. A. B. 



Mosses with a Hand Lens. By A. J. Grout. Second edition 



with Hepatics. Pp. 16-208. 8vo. Illustrated. New York, 



The O. T. Louis Company, 59 Fifth Avenue. $1.75. 



There is far too little appreciation of the mosses and liverworts 



as objects of natural-history study. To be sure many of these 



beautiful plants are much too small for the younger pupils of 



the elementary school, but they may at any rate be studied en 



masse, while for the older pupils the larger forms, of which there 



