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THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



"Study nature, not books." 



Write articles from your observa- 

 tions, not from what you have read 

 or some one has told von. 



Are you a warm weather, fair wea- 

 ther naturalist ? This month and a few 

 following will give the answer. 



house. Upon inquiry he explained: 

 "When it is fair weather, I don't 



need to, when it rains, I can't." 



And — there you are again ! What 



shall the poor man do? 



Which poor man ? - Which is the 



man to be pitied? The householder 



or the superintendent? Either. Both. 



Who will solve the problem? 



IF IT IS, IT ISN'T. 



In a city where there is no teaching 

 of nature in the public schools, I re- 

 cently inquired of the superintendent 

 (who, by the way, is personally inter- 

 ested in nature) why he did not have 

 nature study taught regularly. 



"Because I am a naturalist, like 

 you," he replied. 



"What!" I exclaimed. "You don't 

 teach nature because you are person- 

 ally interested in it. How's that?" 



"Well, you see, it comes about in 

 this way. If I require it, on certain 

 time and schedules, it is so perfunctory 

 and heartless that it isn't nature, for 

 it becomes sacrilegious. If I do not 

 require it, there is, as the slang ex- 

 pression puts it, 'nothin' doin'." 



"Oh, I see." But I didn't at the time 

 — only partly. But the more I have 

 thought of it since, the more I appreci- 

 ate that superintendent as a naturalist. 



If it is, it isn't ; if it i&n't, it is — and 

 there you are. Reminds me of the 

 mythical man who didn't shingle his 



HE WAS SURPRISED. 



In Brooklyn, New York, under the 

 auspices of the New York Board of 

 Education, I recently delivered a 

 course of three lectures, with the gen- 

 eral title of "Nature Study." The at- 

 tendance was fairly good, but surely 

 no more and perhaps not quite so great 

 as I had expected. 



But the local superintendent was de- 

 lighted, for it exceeded his expectations 

 At the close of the third lecture he 

 thought to please me and to say some 

 encouraging words, so he told me how 

 pleased he had been by the size of the 

 audience. 



"I'll confidentially confess," he said, 

 "that when I saw the announcement, 

 'Nature Study.' I was worried for fear 

 this center would 'go down' for three 

 weeks. Most persons have no interest 

 in bugs and snakes and I have been 

 surprised to observe you haven't said 

 much about the disagreeable things!" 



I'll confess to you, fellow naturalist, 

 as you perhaps surmise, that I might 

 have said some things along the lines 

 of entomology and herpetology that 



