VII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND 



SKETCHES AFIELD, WITH 



EXAMPLES 



DURING walks afield something will always be found of 

 interest to study and ponder over, and on these occa- 

 sions it may be the means of directing the thoughts 

 into new channels of interpretation of nature. The 

 contact with nature should elicit a study of the behavior as 

 well as the structure of plants and animals. It seems to me 

 better to train one's eyes to know one department of plant or 

 animal life accurately before generalizing on many groups. 



The pleasures of life are greatly increased even to be able 

 to recognize the kinds of insects, birds, and other animals and 

 plants, and these pleasures are still more enhanced by knowing 

 their behavior, or habits. This knowledge is a stepping stone 

 to the understanding of evolution. It is generally conceded 

 that the natural way to a knowledge of nature is to come in 

 touch with the common live objects about us. This must be 

 gained by actually viewing them in their natural surroundings, 

 in all kinds of weather, whether in the pasture, meadow, 

 swamp, brook, or forest. Here the organism with its responses 

 to the environment can be better understood. 



Morgan ^ affirms : "That interest in collecting and recording 

 the results of observations, and in the artistic side of nature, 

 is much more widespread than interest in the study of problems, 

 or, if the interest is not lacking, the will to take the initiative 

 in the formidation and solution of problems seems to be less 

 cultivated in the biological sciences than the power to observe 

 and to describe." 



The many nature books now existing for the easy determina- 

 tion of plants and animals are a great help to the nature lover, 

 but it must be remembered that the identification of animals 

 and plants is but a superficial knowledge; the real object of the 



^"Experimental Zoology." 

 271 



