26 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [ 3 : ,-jan., 1907 



presentation of the subject, and the gross abuse of the "laboratory method" 

 (as in the introduction of living chickens, rabbits, cats and dogs into the 

 sehoolroom) — all these and more too — have made many thoughtlul educators 

 shake their heads, and wonder where it would all end. To this wrong tend- 

 ency in our teaching Dr. Hornaday very properly calls a halt. He is 

 emphatically right when he insists upon more work upon the part of the pupil. 

 The pupil should be able to give each fact in nature its place in a svstem ot 

 knowledge. He should have some idea of the relative standing of the things 

 he studies, — the green slimes, toadstools, mosses, ferns and flowering plants, 

 angle-worms, crawfishes, insects, snakes and cats. "Lower" and "higher" 

 must have definite meanings, as also "simple" and "complex" when applied 

 to living things. 



The University of Nebrask a C. E. BessEY. 



V 



With the central thesis of Dr. Hornaday's contribution we must certainly 

 take issue. The clearness with which his views are stated allows no miscon- 

 ception of his meaning. "The first need or the hour is a text-book;" "the 

 pupil should be required to memorize facts and definitions from his own 

 book;" "they must dig, or they will remain ignorant;" "animal and plant 

 classification" are "the bed-rock foundation" of nature-study ; "facts should 

 be set forth according to the svstem of nature, not by mixing up all living 

 things." "Any sensible children ten years of age can learn and remember 

 for use a certain number of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom. As 

 they grow in intelligence they can build on this foundation. Moreover, the 

 average teacher surely will enjoy teaching a rational, clear-cut, progressive 

 system." 



Could anything be more irrational than such a procedure ? The cart is 

 before the horse. The child is to begin where the specialist concludes. 

 When there is nothing in the mind to be classified, why classify ? Shall we 

 make a study of letter-files as a basis for learning to read and write ? So in 

 geography, the author argues that the child should begin "with a bird's-eye 

 view of the world and gradually come down to small details." "Forty years 

 ago geography was taught whollv from text-books and maps, and it was 

 learned far more thoroughly and successfully than it is today. Nature-studies 

 can be taught today from text-books and pictures just as well as geography 

 was taught in the 6o's." (If he had said "just as poorlv," we could agree 

 with him.) "Nature-studv teachers ignore the system of nature — the key to 

 all successful zoological work, great or small." 



It is scarcely conceivable that so able a man as Dr. Hornaday should utter 

 such statements as the above. Nothing could be more unpedagogical than 



