330 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



These are common "sayings 

 Fill in the missing words. 



." Name one economic fact 

 about each animal men- 

 tioned. 



Bees 



Owls 



Bats .... 



Loons 



Adders 



Peacocks 



Mice 



Crows 



Hawks 



Hornets 



a as a bee ; 



b as an owl; 



c as a bat; 



d as a loon; 



e as an adder; 



f as a peacock ; 



g as a mouse ; 



h as a crow ; 



i like a hawk; ■ 



j as a hornet; 



Many of our "old sayings" are anything but true. "Busy as a 

 Bee" is the most familiar. 90%-100% of the pupils in the various 

 schools examined remember the old adage. Yet a bumble bee is 

 the antithesis of thrift and does not store enough honey to keep 

 the colony over winter. Only the queens survive the rigors of 

 winter. If by the "busy bee" is meant the honey bee we have but 

 to recall that the community is noted for its drones. The queen 

 and drones do none of the work of the hive, have no pollen baskets, 

 cannot sting, and cannot secrete wax. All the members of the 

 hive loaf or hibernate during the winter. It would be far more 

 appropriate to say as "Idle as a Bee." 



A naturalist does not need to be reminded that bats are not 

 blind; owls are not wise; loons are not crazy; adders are not 

 deaf; peacocks are not proud; crows are not black; and hornets 

 are not mad. The results show, however that people are more 

 apt to remember an old saying which is an untruth (prosaic 

 ignorance) than even one economic fact about an animal. Is 

 this because of or in spite of our education systems? The results 

 of this test are as follows: 



Kind of School Examined 



Number Examined 



State Agricultural College — Seniors 14 



Normal School Graduates (Taught one term) .... 14 



Normal School Seniors 9 



College Freshmen (Males) 50 



College Freshmen (Females) 50 



% of Sayings 

 remembered in 

 Proportion to J 

 Economic fact. 



.95 

 1.3 

 2.9 

 1.02 

 2.7 



