1903] Nature Study — No. 5. 113 



NATURE STUDY—No. V. 



Summer Course at Norway Beach. 

 A. E. Atwood, M.A. 



Norway Beach Park is situated on Norway Bay, an arm of 

 the Ottawa, about forty miles up the river from the capital. During 

 the past two summers, short courses of recreative nature study 

 have been g-iven at the Beach. This sketch is intended as an 

 informal record of a few features of the free-and-easy two weeks' 

 course during last July. 



The work was characterized by earnestness without serious- 

 ness ; it was scientific without being technical ; it was practical, 

 yet not exacting. The true, the beautiful, and the good constituted 

 a guiding trinity. Any truth that illustrated the unity of nature, 

 any beauty of form and especially beauty of adaptation that re- 

 vealed itself, and Nature's lavish bounty in the endless variety of 

 her gifts to man, were emphasized whenever an instance occurred. 



With the object of leading the students to appreciate scien- 

 tific nomenclature, they were asked to submit from time to time 

 specimens of plants whose popular names are misleading. The 

 response to this request is indicated by the following list, in which 

 the unscientific part of each name is italicized : sweety^;'«, reir^ 

 deer inoss, prince's pi7te, club 77ioss, Catiada thistle, mountain ash, 

 and evening pmnrose. In this connection it is surely pardonable 

 to remark that knot grass is not grass. 



The boys and girls who attended, were requested to remember 

 the scientific name when easy and etymologically suitable. In a 

 review a boy was asked to name the genus to which the clovers 

 belong. There was no reply. "Try," prompted a clergyman en- 

 couragingly. " Trifolium," was the immediate response. 



" Do you know the classical name for the maple ? " " Ay, 

 sir." " Give it please." '* Acer.' 



In his opening address the leader expressed the opinion that 

 it would be possible to find five species of maple in the locality and 

 he offered to compete with the rest of the school in finding them. 

 One young woman submitted a spray of the Maple-leaved \'ibur- 

 num Her attention was directed to its fruit, and thus she was 



