VALUE OF NAMES 201 



nature-study, because that phase of study of natural things is 

 untechnical. When the child is i 11 f rod need to a new flower, bird, 

 or fish, he wishes to know its name. After that he feels ac- 

 quainted. 



Winfield S. Hall. 

 Northwestern University. 



Is there value in knowing the names of common natural ob- 

 jects? On this question I have already published my views in 

 my book " Education Through Nature." I have found no reason 

 to change my opinion since. A name is a label by which we 

 identify bundles of facts, conveniences of which the teacher at 

 least cannot afford to be ignorant. The president of a Chicago 

 medical school said once in addressing his graduating class : 

 ' If you ever encounter a disease which you are unable to identify, 

 by all means give it a name.'' This certainly expresses a shrewd 

 man's opinion of human nature. Many patients feel a sense of 

 relief as soon as their ailment has received a name. So we never 

 feel that we have been properly introduced to a person till we 

 have been made acquainted with his name. Indeed we are often 

 made to assume that we know a man when his name has been 

 presented. Whether the name is Latin or Greek, Italian or Ger- 

 man matters little. In nature-study we cannot fail to note the 

 same tendency in pupils — a desire to know the name. Any " old 

 thing " of a name seems to satisfy. Too often we are satisfied 

 with the mere name ; and if care is not taken, nature-study is apt 

 to degenerate into a mere learning of names. If this tendency is 

 properly counteracted, I consider it very desirable to teach pupils 

 how to find the names of objects by proper use of reference- 

 books — the most convenient often being the unabridged diction- 

 ary and encyclopedias. 



J. P. Munson. 



State Normal School, 

 Ellensburg, Wash. 



In regard to your question, " Is there value in knowing the 

 names of common objects," it seems to me there can be but one 

 answer, which is very obvious. We should know the name of 

 things for the same reason we like to know the names of people 

 with whom we have to deal. There is nothing in a name that is 

 to be worshipped, but it is a very convenient thing to have at 



