46 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May 



been made in the public schools for imparting to the pupils as 

 part of their regular instruction some knowledge of the common 

 objects which surround them on every side, and this has been 

 found successful to a marked egree in stirring up that interest in 

 all their school studies, which is so essential to advancement. 



In education, no progress can be made until an interest is 

 I roused in the subject taught, and nature study, above all things, 

 stimulates mental activity. Its very essence is a spirit of enquiry 

 and a desire for knowledge — to want to know about everything 

 seen, what it is, why it is there, how it got there, and what are 

 its uses. A thirst for knowledge is an instinct, too, which can be 

 cultivated and developed to a wonderful degree. An illustration 

 of the practical value of these studies is to be found in the North- 

 West Territories and Manitoba, where remarkable results are now 

 very apparent in the improved condition of the whole country as a 

 direct outcome of the simple instructions on plant lite (illustrated 

 by the commonest plants found in each locality), which have been 

 given in the rural schools during the past five or six years. 

 This has been in connection with the vigorous campaigns 

 which are being annually waged against noxious weeds. Good 

 work has also been done by teaching the boys and girls of the 

 country what is the true nature of hawks and other birds of prey, 

 and how important a part they play as friends and not, as is 

 generally supposed, as enemies of the farmer. 



The usefulness of nature study has been recognized not only 

 by the teaching profession, who are making use of it in schools, 

 but also by those important educational institutions, the Exhibition 

 and Fair Associations, which have done much, by offering small 

 prizes, to draw the attention of farmers and their children to the 

 value of a knowledge of the common, beneficial, and injurious 

 plants, insects, birds, and animals of the country. 



Let us then consider briefly what Nature Study is. Prof. 

 Bailey, of Cornell University, one of the best known leaders in this 

 work, says that it is " training the eye to see correctly what it 

 looks at, and the mind to draw the right conclusions from what is 

 seen." It is, in fact, a means of bringing about an equal and 

 simultaneous working of each one of our senses — sight, hearing, 

 taste, smell, and touch — with our minds, by which the perceptions 



