AN EASTER MORNING. 113 



work. A sand bar showed above the low water. It was 

 also a peninsular, while the part nearest the bank was an 

 isthmus. A little wa}- back from the water was a terrace, 

 or bluff, made by the river in the Champlain period. 

 Here the layers of sand and clay showed water deposition 

 in past ages. Other things of interest and value were ob- 

 served and the class learned more in the two hours trip 

 than could have been absorbed in a week from books. 



This was one teacher and the objects of observation were 

 local, but they are typical of what can be studied in almost 

 every locality. If Nature Study has a mission it is 

 what its name implies. It is to plead for a study of nature 

 itself and not through books. Books are all right in their 

 place. They are necessary when we can not get knowl- 

 edge first hand, but those in charge of the education of 

 children have too long made a fetich of books and robbed 

 children of their best legacy, the enjoyment and study of 

 nature. We have all out doors for a school room. The 

 strongest barrier, next to a conservative committee, is the 

 teacher herself. 



Nature Study goes into the hands of many teachers, 

 and to them we would say, and intend to keep on saying, 

 " Get out of doors with your children." 



An Easter Morning. 



BY EARLE STAFFORD. 



PART I. THE AWAKENING. 



Early in the morning of Easter Sunday, I cast aside ray 

 blanket in the cool, dark pine grove, arose from my bed of 

 needles, and made my way slowly through the ranks of 

 lofty tree trunks, to the margin of the woods. The deep 

 blue sky was still begemmed with stars, from which a 



