106 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 



What curious claws, like forks, this fellow has to enable him to 

 hold on securely. What stout jaws. You see they open side- 

 wise, instead of up and down, like all the large animals. There 

 too is the butterfly that flutters on the garden flowers, suck- 

 ing with its long tongue, the sweets of the blossoms. It has 

 no pincers; like the ant and bee it cannot bite. What large 

 beautiful wings, four in number. See the long "feeler," with 

 a nob on the end. The spider, that spreads its lace trap, to 

 catch heedless flies, the grasshopper that springs up from the 

 grass. All, these thing should be a subject of thought, obser- 

 vation, and comparison ; for it is by comparison that we form 

 ideas of the differences which exist between things ; by com- 

 parison alone that we reach conclusions the most valuable for 

 the developementof mind and the acquisition of knowledge. 



How common the mistake parents and, I am sorry to say, 

 teachers often make, in impressing the young and sensitive 

 mind with horror and alarm, at the sight of the more harm- 

 less, and in all cases, beautiful works of God. Impressions 

 thus made in youth, are very permanent and should be care- 

 fully avoided. We should be ever watchful that nothing 

 prejudicial finds a lodgment in the minds of our children. 



There is nothing farther from the truth, than that " any 

 one is qualified to teach primary schools." It is far more diffi- 

 cult to teach the rudiments with profit than the more advanced 

 branch of any subject. Especially is this true of Natural His- 

 tory. I am aware of the difficulty, the lack of qualified 

 teachers; but let the demand be made with sufficient 

 emphasis and the supply will be furnished. The law of de- 

 mand and supply is as good in education as in commerce. 



