5i68 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



,to every boy and girl, every man and 

 woman — not schooly, not museumy, 

 but real fun, real uplift, real recreation 

 .and enjoyment after the regular 

 duties of life and the tense straining 

 and struggling for a livelihood. Let 

 the teacher of nature study and the 

 professor of science get all he can of 

 .education from the realms of nature. 

 We will gladly help him in his efforts. 

 Let the dime museum show the fat 

 baby and the snake charmer, and we 

 may go to see them, but for this de- 

 partment we are going to have the 

 tun of the Gammarus, and the real fun 

 of associating with the ordinary whole- 

 souled man, whom we are sure we 

 shall find as enjoyable as the freak 

 with the tattooed skin. 



A Parody of Certain "Nature Talks" 

 to the Young Folks. 



"Good morning, my precious 

 dears!" exclaimed Professor Snod- 

 grass as he briskly entered the class- 

 room and took his place on the plat- 

 form before his small pupils. 



"I am charmed beyond expression to 

 see so many bright faces looking up in- 

 to mine this transcendent autumn 

 morning — faces which are athirst for 

 knowledge, and yearning to explore 

 the great mysteries of nature. Now, 

 my little lambs, you will observe that 

 1 hold up before your gaze a common 

 goblet which, however, is not empty. 

 How many of you can tell me what is 

 in the goblet? Ah, I see four 

 chubby hands raised ! I w.i.H ask Wil- 

 lie to tell me what is in the goblet. 

 What's that? Willie says 'nuthin',' 

 which is wrong, and I may say in this 

 connection that there is no such word 

 in the English vocabulary as 'nuth- 

 in' ' ; 'nothing' is the correct expres- 

 sion. 



"Myrtle, you may tell me what is in 

 the goblet? Myrtle says 'water' which 

 is correct. Myrtle's aptness has been 

 a source of rare delight to me during 

 these lectures I will now ask Myrtle 

 to tell me of what water is composed. 

 Eh? Myrtle says it is composed of 

 drops, which shows a woeful ignorance 

 on Myrtle's part. I had in mind the 

 chemical ingredients of water, and it 

 is surprising to learn that any member 



of my class should not know tha: 

 water is composed of hydrogen, two 

 parts, and oxygen, one part. 



"We will now proceed to the uses 

 of water : Tommie may tell me what 

 water is good for. What's that? 

 Tommie says it is good to fish in ! Eh ? 

 He also says it is good to squirt out of 

 a hose, and a good thing for a boy not 

 to wash his face in ! That will do, Tom- 

 mie ; you need not mention any further 

 uses of water at this time, but instead 

 you may stand with your face in the 

 corner and reflect upon the ridiculous 

 things you have said. 



"Mary may now tell me what water 

 is good for. Alary says it is good 

 to wade in and to fall on umbrellas, 

 and to float boats on ! Mary may take 

 her place in the corner with Tommie. 

 Willie, you tell me what water is good 

 for. Willie says it is good to go 

 swimming in, and good to skate on 

 in the winter time! Willie may also 

 go into the corner. I am pained and 

 shocked beyond expression at the im- 

 becility of you young hoodlums who 

 sit before me ! Not one of you seems 

 to know that water is to drink! Drink, 

 I say! Do you hear? Drink! Now 

 go home and learn something!" 



Learning and wisdom are not iden- 

 tical, they are not always on speaking 

 terms. Learning looks backward to 

 the past. The word "learn" involves 

 the existence of some man as teacher. 

 Wisdom looks forward to the future. 

 In so far as science is genuine, it is 

 of the nature of wisdom. — David Starr 

 Jordan in "The Stability of Truth." 



Scientific pursuits are among the 

 highest that can occupy the attention 

 of men ; to the students of nature in 

 her several kingdoms the human race 

 owes a debt of which the imagination 

 can hardly estimate the value. But 

 when our teacher leads us, as we fol- 

 low his direction, from the considera- 

 tion of the works of nature to a rever- 

 ent and loving appreciation of the 

 glorious God of Nature, Possessor of 

 Heaven and Earth, the life of the stu- 

 dent seems to assume an almost ideal 

 character. — Reverend Morgan Dix, 

 D.D., Rector of Trinitv Church, New 

 York City. 



