NATURE STUDY LESSONS. 55 



Nature Study Lessons. III. 



BY EDWARD J. BURXHAM. 



The attempts to "popularize" objects in nature by in- 

 venting or applying \vords that are supposed to be more 

 readily comprehended by children than the terms uni- 

 versally employed by scientists have been only partially 

 successful. The multiplicit}- of local names inevitably 

 causes confusion, while the absurd misconceptions which 

 led to the adoption of man}- of them are best avoided b}' 

 discontinuing their use. A June-bug is as likely- to be 

 found in May or July, and is not a bug anj'wa)' ; May-flies 

 are not flies at all, and one species or another ma}- be found 

 from March to September. 



Then, too, it often happens that the so-called common 

 term is inadequate and fails to express with even tolerable 

 accuracy the idea which it is intended to. " Feeler," for 

 example, is a word that has been so grievously over- 

 worked that it may mean almost anything. It is applied 

 indiscriminately to parts of plants and of animals. It may 

 represent, or be intended to represent, a tendril, an anten- 

 na, a palpus or a tentacle. It is possible, even, that a 

 snake's tongue may come to be called a "feeler," when 

 those who are now clamoring for easy words themselves 

 know more about snakes, in which case the much- abused 

 term will at least have been employed in its proper sense. 



The truth is that we sometimes attribute to children 

 characteristics that we have ourselves developed through 

 inertia or sheer laziness in our maturer years. It ought 

 to be understood and accepted as a fundamental principle 

 that no word is disagreeably formidable to a child, except 

 when it is unexplained or is made part of a dull task. 

 Children at play ever delight in attempting feats beyond 

 their strength, and this is as true of mental as of physical 



