34 NATURE STUDY. 



Even the kinglets sometimes vary their usual "zee-zee- 

 zee." 



As warmer weather approaches, the company grows smal- 

 ler and smaller, and the several species go off by them- 

 selves ; till, when the Redwings come singing from the 

 south, our little "Winter Friends" catch the impulse to be 

 gone, and part company till the cold shall come again. 



Brookline, Mass. 



Aids in Geography. 



A recent nvimber of the Boston Transcript has an inter- 

 esting article descriptive of the commercial museum at the 

 English high school in that city that is used in teaching 

 geography. Specimens of wool from different breeds of 

 sheep and various countries familiarize the pupils with that 

 valuable product. Cotton in all its varieties is there to be 

 studied. The many articles made from cork, the different 

 conditions of rubber, the various food plants and their 

 seeds are shown, and the high school students get their in- 

 formation first hand and do not depend upon books. 



This is a sample of the ways of the new geography and 

 modern methods of teaching. Pupils do not get all their 

 information from books, and both understand and remem- 

 ber it better. Such school museums are not confined to 

 Boston, however, but can be found in the grammar schools 

 here in Manchester. In the Hallsville school, for exam- 

 ple, can be found a collection of specimens to illustrate 

 geography that is continually growing and is already of 

 value to the pupils and teachers in school work. 



This collection was recently examined by a Uyiion re- 

 porter who had been wondering if Boston were alone in 

 this kind of work. In the modern geography the pupils 

 stud)' about the processes that are changing the aspect of 

 the earth today. To illustrate the weathering of rock is 



