254 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [i, 6, now 1905 



draw out from him the fact that these leaves so exposed are old 

 ones which have very little moisture in them and which have 

 practically finished their services to the plant the previous autumn, 

 while the young developing leaves of the hepatica have their 

 tender 'tissues protected from evaporation by a thick mass of 

 velvety hairs. 



The value of this twig study depends very largely upon the 

 extent to which the pupil is led to utilize it as a means of self- 

 expression. The wise teacher will see that there is abundant 

 opportunity for careful drawings that bring out the special char- 

 acteristics of the various trees and shrubs. She will also give 

 the pupils practice in accurate and rapid verbal and written de- 

 scriptions of these twigs and in this way let them get something 

 of the precision of the scientific method. She will also have them 

 mount neatly and artistically upon sheets of white or colored 

 card-board short lengths of the twigs, labelling - each with the 

 name of the tree and the initials of the pupil who does the work. 

 All this work will finally be incorporated into a booklet for each 

 pupil. 



After the twigs of a number of the trees of the region have 

 thus been studied by the pupil the time is ripe for a field excursion 

 in which the particular point of view is that of the appearance 

 and manner of growth of the trees with whose twigs the pupils 

 have thus become familiar. This is an obvious application of the 

 primarv law of apperception which must always be kept in mind 

 if field excursions for school purposes are to have their greatest 

 value. The pupils will be eager to find the trees they are in search 

 of and when they have recognized them they will notice with 

 interest the manner of growth of the tree, the character of the 

 bark of the trunk and the general color effect of the trunk and 

 branches. If during the autumn they have visited the same trees 

 when the leaves were upon them, they will notice the striking 

 differences between the leafy and the leafless branches. 



The winter season also is an excellent time to teach something 

 of the economic uses of the various trees. It is at this season 

 chiefly that wood-chopping and lumbering operations are taking 

 place, and in many localities the actual processes may readily be 

 seen by the pupils. The study of any tree should not be con- 

 sidered completed until the various ways in which it is of service 

 to man have been pointed out. 



