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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



"WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS '< 



Give Me Your Attention. 



A Stump Speaker declaiming there is a lot of fun in 



seeing things in the forest. 



Cut by courtesy of the Ansco Company, Binghamton, 



N. Y. 



The Chief Value of Nature-Study. 



The chief value of nature-study in 

 •character-building is that, like life it- 

 self, it deals with realities. The ex- 

 perience of living is itself a form of 

 nature-study. One must in life make 

 his own observations, frame his own 

 inductions, and apply them in action 

 as he goes along. The habit of finding 

 out the best thing to do next, and then 

 doing it, is the basis of character. A 

 strong character is built up by doing, 

 not by imitation, nor by feeling, nor 

 by suggestion. Nature-study, if it be 

 genuine, is essentially doing. — David 

 Starr Jordan in "The Stability of 

 Truth." 



"Not 'Schooly;' Not 'Museumy.'" 



Perhaps neither of these words is in 

 the dictionary ; but by analogy the 

 reader will readily understand the 

 meaning of the terminology. I firmly 

 believe that these two newly coined 

 nondescript words describe two of the 

 greatest obstacles to a heartfelt inter- 

 est in nature as recreation, uplift and 

 real benefit. I do not know of any 

 other words or of any combination of 

 words that expresses exactly the 

 meaning of schooly and museumy. If 

 the reader can suggest one we shall be 

 glad to have him do so, but until he 

 does, we shall say of the new depart- 

 ment, "The Fun of Seeing Things," 

 that is neither schooly nor museumy. 



From thirty to forty years ago, in 

 the early days of The Agassiz Asso- 

 ciation, Chapters sprang up in every 

 city and little country village. Boys 

 and girls gathered together for the 

 real fun of seeing things. To them it 

 was play. In later years, the educators 

 were attracted and said, "If this is a 

 good thing, let us give them plenty 

 of it. It arouses their interest." Then 

 these learned persons took hold and 

 so saturated the whole thing with the 

 school system that it soon became 

 schooly. They took from the child 

 much of the original spontaneity and 

 especially the vital element of plea- 

 sure. They made it a task. Chapters 

 of The Agassiz Association still exist 

 in all parts of the country and many 

 of the Chapters are doing good work, 

 but it is to be regretted that so large 

 a number do it in the schooly spirit. 

 They have lost the fun of seeing 

 things, and it is that departed but es- 

 sential element that this new depart- 

 ment is trying to restore. Large num- 

 bers of our Chapters at the present 

 time are in schools, some in the kin- 

 dergarten, others in the university, 

 and usually they are presided over by 

 the teacher of nature study or by the 

 professor of natural science. Nature 

 has an educational value. It is well 

 to develop the work along those lines. 

 All honor to the faithful teachers of 

 nature study and the hard-working 

 professors of science, who are not 

 only bringing out the educational 

 value but in addition much of real en- 

 joyment and real satisfaction. An out- 

 ing from the most systematic univer- 

 sity in the land under the leadership 

 of an enthusiastic professor of natural 



