162 SEVENTH REPORT. 



have something to do with tlie fonuatioii of this iimsenin/' There was a 

 great deal imore to this talk and as the young man develojied his idea he 

 became enthusiastic, and while the older scholars looked rather incred- 

 ulous the youngest Avere ready to start out at once and find something 

 that was worthy of a place in the museum. 



The experience of the next day was not altogether reassuring. The 

 conglomeration of material that was )!iathered upon the piazza w^as some- 

 what disheartening to the young teacher, for if the truth must be told, a 

 good many of the older boys were inclined to poke -fun at the whole busi- 

 ness, and their contributions had been of a character to throw cold water 

 upon the scheme rather than to support it. There were boulders as large 

 as two boys could lift ; there were sticks of cordwood and bundles of 

 grass, live mice, a chipmunk, a dead woodchuck. and, worst of all, a dead 

 black cat. The teacher was good natured through it all and during the 

 noon hour made his classification, arranging with the aid of the larger 

 boys, all of the heavy material where it could be seen by the school; the 

 dead cat was slung over the fence, but the mice and the squirrel and the 

 woodchuck were utilized. The school was all expectation. Lessons were 

 never more glibl}' recited, and at three o'clock ever^'body was on a quiver. 



You must remember the teacher was only a mere lad ; he had not any 

 very great amount of knowledge along natural history or scientific lines, 

 but he did know enough to classify all of the things into the three king- 

 doms. He had an interested and enthusiastic audience. He told them 

 something about how these boulders got into this region and gave them a 

 little account of the wonderful ice period, in which our drift was ground 

 up and landed here. He told them something about how they could add 

 to the museum by finding all sorts of specimens in the sands and gravels 

 of this drift in their own neighborhood that would add great value to the 

 collection. From the specimens of wood and l)ark and twigs he awakened 

 an interest in them to know the names of all the trees in the neighbor- 

 hood. From the bunches of grass and grain he had assorted a little 

 collection and outlined to them a plan of making this part of the museum 

 attractive. There were numerous bugs and butterflies of which he knew 

 very little, but he explained to them the Avay in which they could be pre- 

 served and mounted, and gave them also a lesson in taxidermy, very 

 simple, to be sure, but interest-awakening in its purport. 



The hour passed swiftly away, and as the little i)eople were dismissed, 

 for a wonder, they did not grab their dinner pails and run for home, but 

 they almost all of them lingered and wanted to know more and wanted 

 to know what kinds of things to bring; the boys who had brought the 

 big boulders even stopped and begged pardon for bringing such large 

 stones when smaller ones Avould have answered the purpose. There was 

 a good feeling and wholesome interest that was inspiring to the teacher. 



The next morning when the children came, the museum had been star- 

 ted. It was organized along scientific lines, and there were a lot of other 

 things to be added to it from the second day's gathering. In the course 

 of a week the whole neighborhood was talking about the school museum. 

 The record of visiting attendance Avas extraordinary. I have had occa- 

 sion Avithin the last few days to look up a little book having that record, 

 and the average number of parental visitors dtu-ing the last half of that 

 term Avas eleven per day. It Avas a pretty crowded place to entertain vis- 

 itors, but they were interested, and every day there Avas some factor in 

 this museum Avliich Avas used in connection with the school Avork. The 



