OBITER DICTA 



and attainments of others. For a general 

 view of the subject, study the history of the 

 sciences. Broad knowledge of all nature has 

 been the possession of no naturalist except 

 Humboldt, and general relations constituted 

 his specialty. 



Select such subjects that your pupils cannot 

 walk without seeing them. Train your pupils 

 to be observers, and have them provided with 

 the specimens about which you speak. If you 

 can find nothing better, take a house-fly or a 

 cricket, and let each hold a specimen and 

 examine it as you talk. 



In 1847 I gave an address at Newton, Massa- 

 chusetts, before a Teachers' Institute conducted 

 by Horace Mann. My subject was grass- 

 hoppers. I passed around a large jar of these 

 insects, and made every teacher take one and 

 hold it while I was speaking. If any one 

 dropped the insect, I stopped till he picked it 

 up. This was at that time a great innovation, 

 and excited much laughter and derision. There 

 can be no true progress in the teaching of natural 

 science until such methods become general. 



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