372 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



In the same way the botanist calls certain leaves heart-shaped or 

 cordate. The heart is sometimes spoken of as pear-shaped. 



Other early notions referring to the heart have been passed on 

 by certain words and expressions, such as — sweetheart, heart- 

 breaker, hard-hearted, hearty, heartless, and heart-strings. 



It may be surprising to know that many people think of the 

 heart as cordate. This is true of 21% of those examined in an 

 agricultural college; junior high school, 21%; high school fresh- 

 men 39%; high school seniors 35%; normal school freshmen 

 45%. The latter are our future teachers. They no doubt will 

 learn much about the shape of the heart in physiology and it is 

 to be hoped that they at least will not pass on the mistaken ideas. 



Is the Fear of Snakes "Inborn" or due to Education? 



Snakes have played an important part in the delirium tremens of 

 literature. With a scriptural foundation aided by the old time 

 immunity of Ireland the fear of snakes is exhibited at a very 

 early age. Amongst college and normal school students 38% 

 believe this fear is due to being inborn; 33% believe it is the 

 result of education or attitude of adults; and 6% say that it is 

 due to both. There exists an undoubted gullibility as to the 

 evil doings of snakes. From this belief it is very easy to manu- 

 facture a fable as the hoop snake which is supposed to take its 

 tail in its mouth and roll like a hoop. Superstition and fear is a 

 tax on intelligence. We should in no way more especially by 

 that of awe — subjugate the reasoning powers. Dickens once 

 said, "What a beautiful thing human nature may be made to be." 

 He might have said in this connection : What a fearful thing human 

 nature may be made to be. 



A little investigation indicates that the fear of snakes is due 

 to the attitude of parents, teachers, and other associates of the 

 child. Professor John B. Watson of Johns Hopkins University 

 has carried on some experiments to test out the truth of the older 

 statements which maintain that violent emotions appear at the 

 child's first sight of animals. His results are published in "Kinder- 

 garten and First Grade" for January, 1920. He concludes that 

 babies have fear but that there are few positive results in the re- 

 action of children to their first sight of animals. I once took a 

 baby rat and a garter snake into the first grade. The children 

 were told that one of the animals was warm and the other cold. 



