154 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
the exact date when a king of any country came to the throne, or 
died. On the other hand, there is every use in his having his mind 
so trained by the study of books on geography, history and mathematics, 
that he may not be surpassed in the race of life when the time comes 
for him to start out on his own merits to take his stand in the world. 
Nature Study has much to commend it from an educational 
point of view. In education, no advance can be made until an in- 
terest is aroused in the subject taught, and Nature Study, above all 
things, stimulates mental activity. Its very essence is a spirit of in- 
quiry and a desire for knowledge — to want to know about everything 
seen, what it is, why it is there, how it got there, what are its uses. A 
thirst for knowledge is an instinct in every healthy mind, an instinct, 
too, which can be cultivated and developed to a wonderful extent, but 
also one which, if neglected, will soon fade and die. There is no 
pleasure in life to compare with that of acquiring knowledge and 
imparting it to others. The true and good teacher is that one whose 
ambition is not only to teach all he knows to his scholars, but to do 
that and leave them with minds fitted to soar to even greater heights 
of knowledge than he himself has ever attained. The best of teachers 
is that one who fits his pupils to rise highest above his own standard. 
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of Nature Study in educa- 
tion is that bond of sympathy which it creates between the teacher 
and the taught. The so-called “bad boy,” of which there are supposed 
to be so many, might, as a rule, more accurately be described as a 
misunderstood or badly managed boy. This so-called “bad boy” is 
nearly always of a restless, active, inquiring disposition, who cannot 
keep still or concentrate his thoughts on the routine work of the school- 
room. ‘This simply means his interest has not been aroused in that 
work. Perhaps his badness may show itself in playing truant ; how- 
ever, even this may not be from badness but is merely an indication 
that there is something of more attractive interest outside the school 
than in it. Each boy has his own individuality, and lucky is the boy 
and happy is the teacher when the latter can detect the weak and 
strong points of the boy and make use of them in moulding the char- 
acter of the future man. Natural objects are, I believe, attractive to 
all of us when we are young and a desire for knowledge about them 
may, I think, be developed in almost everyone into a passion. How 
fortunate is the child who during the inquiring age, when it first 
begins to see and think for itself, and when everything is new and 
strange, is associated with a wise preceptor who will have patience 
enough to answer the many earnest questions asked, instead of, as 
is often the case with some people, selfishly for their own convenience, 

