MEANING OF NATURE-STUDY 27 



and the fern are sheltered in the nooks. It comes 

 from one knows not whence : it flows to one 

 knows not whither. It awakens the desire to 

 explore. It is fraught with mysteries. It typifies 

 the flood of life. It " goes on forever." 



In other words, the reason why the brook is 

 such a perfect nature-study subject is the fact that 

 it is the central theme in a scene of life. Living 

 things appeal to children. To relate the nature- 

 study work to living animals and plants is the 

 fundamental idea in Hodge's ideal, as expressed, 

 for example, in his book, ** Nature-Study and 

 Life.'' He holds that the appreciation of inani- 

 mate things is a later development in the child-life 

 than an appreciation of objects that are living. He 

 would, therefore, not begin with weathering of 

 rock and formation of soil, combustion and the 

 like, although he would " not wish to insinuate that 

 the study of living things is all of nature-study." 

 With this I agree for the very young, and I would 

 study a brook or a fence-corner or a garden-bed 

 or a bird or a plant. However, the teacher and 

 the way of teaching are more important than the 

 subject matter, and there are good nature-study 

 teachers who are better fitted to teach inanimate 

 than animate subjects. 



One of the first things that a child should learn 

 when he comes to the study of natural history is 

 the fact that no tw^o objects are alike. This leads 

 to an apprehension of the correlated fact that 

 every animal and plant contends for an opportunity 

 to live, and this is the central fact in the study of 



