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and accuracy of observation, cautiousness in drawing conclusions, and 

 in generalization, qualities most desirable in business life, are exercised, 

 and become valuable mental discipline. Then, too, there is that forget- 

 fulness of self, our natural selfishness is forgotten or laid aside 

 when our thoughts are carried upward, and we become wiser and 

 better. 



The study of Nature tends to make us more social, in bringing to- 

 gether the different ranks and uniting them bv a bond of common in- 

 terest. Nature makes brotherhoods, and when banded to fish, to hunt, 

 or in some common pursuit, men become fellows ; caste and society's 

 distinctions are ignored — man becomes the genus man ; snobbery has 

 no encouragement from Natui*e. 



The right impressions of Nature and a cultivation of a taste for 

 some branch of Natural History, may be made a recreation of childhood 

 before life's more serious duties engross the energies and turn the 

 mental, as well as the physical eye from our natural surroundings. 

 Entomology, or the study of insects, proves particularly fascinating to 

 the opening curiosity of children. Too often, children are taught to 

 treat all insects as dangerous or horrible, and meriting avoidance or 

 destruction. The sensible mother can, by her own demeanor and influ- 

 ence, avoid giving any such prejudice against harmless insects and 

 easily explain why the hurtful kinds must be avoided. What ideas of 

 beauty, of form, of coloring, of skill, of speed, of industry, and of char- 

 acter, can be developed from our common insects. The common fly 

 which walks on the smooth ceiling by means of tiny suckers upon its 

 feet ; the household spider with its silken snares ; the earthworm 

 of our pavements and gardens, which turns over the soil and enriches ic 

 for man's use ; the ants, many of which oppose barriers to the progress 

 of civilization in some parts of the tropical regions, and the termites which 

 have destroyed the written history of some provinces of South America ; 

 again the lovely butterfly that so gracefully flits about our gardens and 

 fields — all furnish topics delightfully novel and attractive for our little 

 ones, when wearied limbs bring them to our knee for mental refresh- 

 ment. Make such a true story from Nature's fairyland of wonders, 

 and the kindling, interested eyes, which regard you with so much 

 pleasure, will soon make the discoveries necessary to verify your lessons, 



