1 6 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



tematic pursuit of a logical body of principles. 

 Its object is to broaden the child's horizon, not, 

 primarily, to teach him how to widen the boun- 

 daries of human knowledge. It is not the 

 teaching of botany or entomology or geology, but 

 of plants, insects and fields. But many persons 

 who are teaching under the name of nature-study 

 are merely teaching and interpreting elementary 

 science. 



Again, nature-study is studying things and the 

 reason of things, not about things. It is not 

 reading from nature-books. A child was asked 

 if she had ever seen the great dipper. ** Oh, yes,'* 

 she replied, *'I saw it in my geography." This 

 is better than not to have seen it at all ; but the 

 proper place to have seen it is in the heavens. 

 Nature-readers may be of the greatest use if they 

 are made incidental and secondary features of the 

 instruction ; but, however good they may be, their 

 influence is pernicious if they are made to be 

 primary agents. The child should first see the 

 thing. It should then reason about the thing. 

 Having a concrete impression, it may then go to 

 the book to widen its knowledge and sympathies. 

 Having seen mimicry in the eggs of the aphis on 

 the willow or apple twig, or in the walking-stick, 

 the pupil may then take an excursion with Wallace 

 or Bates to the tropics and there see the striking 

 mimicries of the leaf-like insects. Having seen the 

 wearing away of the boulder or the ledge, he may 

 go to Switzerland with Lubbock and see the 

 mighty erosion of the Alps. Now and then the 



