THE PI.ANT WORIvD 87 



attacked some ranches which the natives had built in the midst of the 

 forest, as they dared not inhabit their former villages. Don Joseph de 

 Tapia killed one and the rest escaped. Don Damian wished to punish 

 other villages, but desisted owing to the prayers of some Indians and 

 hoping that these chastisements would suffice to move them to peace. 

 In these wars, besides the hope of copious fruit in the future, the Ivord 

 gathered some in the present time in baptisms of children performed by 

 Padre Thomas Cardeiioso, who accompanied the Mariano squadron. 



"A new temple was built in the village of Tupungan ; and on ac- 

 count of the devotion of the Sargento-mayor it was dedicated to Santa 

 Rosa, from whom he had received particular favors. More than three 

 hundred persons assisted at this church with notable benefit from the 

 Doctrine ; and with this work was brought a close the year 1674, which, 

 though very bloody at the beginning, was very happy at the end, many 

 baptisms having been performed during its course, and a greater harvest 

 being promised for the year to come." 



[to be continued.] 



Nature Study as a Training for Life. 



By Jean Broadhurst. 



The duty of the school to prepare the child for life is now questioned 

 by no one. It is therefore somewhat surprising to find that the subjects 

 best fitted to do this are either ignored or handled in the way least likely 

 to secure such a result. 



Success in life depends primarily upon the power to think. This in- 

 cludes the ability and the willingness to see things as they are, to compare 

 them, to eliminate the unnecessary details, to estimate correctly the in- 

 fluences exerted by or upon them, to interpret and to forecast results. 



Educators have claimed that arithmetic offers the best training for all 

 this and that the solution of arithmetical problems insures competency in 

 solving the problems of life. Can this be true when in no department of 

 life — whether commercial, professional, or scientific — are the problems 

 that confront us capable of being stated so explicitly, dependent on so 

 few conditions, and never influenced by forces not included in the initial 

 data ? In life, can deduction be safely made from so few instances ? 

 Are the results ever so easily and definitely predicted or so readily and 

 truly interpreted when attained ? Real problems are rarely settled defi- 

 nitely and quickly ; questions must be held in the mind, new evidence 

 must be gathered and judgments must be revised. 



No subjects are better adapted to accomplish this than the natural 

 sciences. Here we find an abundance of material. Because of its abun- 

 dance, its very complexity, the ease with which varying conditions may 



