2306 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



very little good) in proportion, definition, and the relative importance of lines. 

 I do not believe that any boy, if permitted to go as he pleases, would ever learn 

 the important fact that the sum of the details makes the whole. One of the 

 most difficult things in teaching draughting is to lead the pupil to recognize the 

 importance of details as they contribute to the conception and representation of 

 the entire organism. It is a mistake for the teacher to draw on the blackboard 

 a diagram of an animal for the purpose of showing the pupils what he wants. 

 They can be told what he wants ; the execution of the task is something for 

 which they should be held responsible. The first attempt at scientific drawing 

 is likely to prove discouraging to a young boy if he feels the standard pressing 

 him closely. He is apt to say that he " never could draw anyway." I find it help- 

 ful to show the work of a good draughtsman in the class, as an example of what 

 can be done. The inefficient pupil can usually be convinced of the fact that his 

 failure is due to some particularly designated oversight in execution, and not to 

 a constitutional inability to draw. When the drawing is done, all the important 

 organs are indicated, best by numbers with an explanatory table written at the 

 left lower corner of the page. 



It is difficult, in the time we have, to find a suitable opportunity for demon- 

 strating dissections which the pupil is not skilled enough to investigate for him- 

 self. As a rule we use one period about every second week for reference read- 

 ing, at which time the pupils are supplied with books different from their regular 

 text-book, and required to read and abstract. During this period demonstra- 

 tions of dissections can be made to two or three pupils at a time till the entire 

 class has been called up. 



Two periods are given to the study of the activities of the locust. In the 

 country high schools this study could be undertaken independently by the pupils 

 outside the regular school time ; in the city it is of course impossible. Inverted 

 glass tumblers with a blade or two of grass is all the apparatus needed to make 

 satisfactory observations on the locomotion, feeding, and breathing oi any species 

 of locust, grasshopper, or cricket. An excursion to the country in September, 

 begun in the afternoon in the time that would otherwise be regular school time, 

 has always proved invaluable to us in making it possible for the boys to get 

 acquainted with things and conditions in general in nature. The difficulty of 

 accomplishing such an undertaking from the region of Fourteenth street. New 

 York city, is probably as great as one would find in any city in America. After 

 the work on the locust is completed, we devote a few periods to the butterfly 

 and the bee, or to the beetle, the method introduced with the locust being con- 

 tinued in abbreviated form. Recitations on the group of insects complete the 

 first five weeks' work. 



The crayfish is the form we take to represent the Crustacea. One prepared 

 specimen is issued to every two boys. The questions on the crayfish require 

 comparison with the locust, and introduce in a simple way the principle of homol- 

 ogy. Adaptations of form to function are plentiful in the crayfish, and are easy 

 for study. The drawing of the crayfish is probably more difficult to do than that 

 of the locust. One of the best drawings of the crayfish done this year in the 

 school is shown in Fig. 2. 



