62 PROCEEDINGS OF TIIK 



many eminent men w ho were delighted to go down to Whitechapel 

 to lecture to her little gathei'ings. 



8ide by side with her work at the Museum, Miss Hall carried 

 on another enterprise that to-day gives the greatest pleasure to 

 thousands of children in the neighbourhood. It would have 

 pleased her to know that in the summer holidays of 1018, 300 

 children have every day visited the Nature Study Museum at 

 St. George-in-the-East. When she first went to Whitechapel, 

 this building was a disused mortuary. She cast longing eyes on 

 it, and never rested until in spite of all opposition, and with the 

 help of friends who realized her vision and the value of her 

 dreams, it was handed over to be transt'ormed into an Aquarium. 

 It stands in the church gardens behind tlie Cable Street School — 

 a fairy house in an oasis. Miss Hall's idea was to have only 

 living things there, and that classes should come regularly from 

 the schools to study with their own eyes. Two of its greatest 

 attractions were the sea-anemone tank, and the wonderful 

 observatory bee-hive with glass walls through which one could 

 study all ttie organization and achievement of the bee community. 

 The bees, which became famous far beyond the neighbourhood, 

 and which fed on honey from the garden flowers, syrup from 

 shops, or else spoil from the sugar ships at the docks, used to 

 attract working men from all parts of London. They would 

 stand for hours, watching and philosophizing; and they miss the 

 hive sadly since war conditions have necessitated its removal. 



All that Miss Hall saw here of the pleasure and interest which 

 the Aquarium gave her child visitoi's, strengthened her deep con- 

 viction that Nature Study should have its place in every school, 

 and that the important thing was that children should learn by 

 their own observation rather than from books. As Secretary of 

 the School Nature Study Union, she did a great deal by her two 

 books, ' Nature E-ambles in London ' and ' Common Animals,' 

 and by numerous papers, to bring about the revolution that is 

 taking place in this direction ; and she gave her whole time and 

 personal energy to the task of teaching all the children she could 

 reach. Not content with her average of forty or so lectures a 

 week, she used in her leisure hours to take pai'ties of children — 

 especially parties of boys — for rambles in the parks, woods, and 

 open spaces about London, showing them what seasonal changes 

 were taking place in the trees, and teaching them to know- the 

 birds and their habits and to recognize the flowers. 



There was nothing sentimental in her passionate love for 

 Mature; she could not have been so successful with the children 

 had there been. She had the true scientific mind. She was keen, 

 and critical, and above all she was practical. If she walked 

 tlirougli London parks in winter " on tenterhooks of anticipation," 

 watching for the first signs of spring, she was also noting how 

 badly the trees were injured by unskilful treatment; and she 

 was longing that the squares might be thrown open to the 



