8 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



things represented mere intellectual ideals and 

 school "methods." Dr. Piez, of the Oswego 

 (N. Y.) Normal School, makes the following 

 comment on the pedagogical origin of the nature- 

 study idea : " I have come to the conclusion 

 that nature-study in spirit, if not in name, is the 

 direct descendant of object teaching. Object 

 teaching aimed at the use of the senses in acquiring 

 knowledge, and was introduced to displace the 

 mechanical * memory ' method current in the 

 schools. It was responsible for raising the prob- 

 lem of method among thoughtful teachers. But 

 the ' lessons on objects ' were justly deserving the 

 criticism that they were disconnected, and that the 

 knowledge resulting from them was a knowledge 

 of isolated facts not organized into a comprehen- 

 sive whole.'* I will mention a few persons who 

 were early in the field, for the purpose of showing 

 something of the geography and motives of the 

 movement. 



Although the teaching of Agassiz may not 

 have been nature-study, as we understand the 

 term, it is undoubtedly true that the present 

 nature-study movement is a proximate result of 

 the forces that he set in motion. A strong appli- 

 cation of this influence to school-life was made in 

 Boston by Alpheus Hyatt and Lucretia Crocker. 

 In various places, others of Agassiz's followers 

 carried his spirit into the schools. One of the 

 most powerful early adaptations of his teach- 

 ing to the common-school work was made at the 

 State Normal School at Oswego, N. Y. There 



