138 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



months' work on the cell was a mere smattering. 

 Men spend their lives in studying the cell, and 

 then do not understand it. What most school- 

 teachers mean by thoroughness is only drill in 

 details. In its proper time and place, I believe in 

 this kind of drill in mere detail, but its place is 

 not with youngsters. 



But the great objection to my teacher's work 

 on the cell, as I see it, is the fact that it means 

 little or nothing to the pupil's life and is a mere 

 acquirement. I have little sympathy with what is 

 known as '^practical" knowledge as a means of 

 training youth — for that spirit which would teach 

 only those things that can be turned into direct 

 use in money-getting; but I would put the child 

 in contact with its own life, and the teacher who 

 does this teaches with thoroughness whether he 

 teach much or little. 



But will not this nature-study be called superficial ? 



No doubt. A botanist told me that I was doing 

 superficial work. Judged from the view-point of 

 science-teaching, he was right ; but I was not 

 teaching science. Judged from the view-point of 

 the child, I hope he was wrong. One is not 

 superficial merely because he does not delve deep 

 into subject-matter. He should try to be accurate 

 so far as he goes. What is superficiality in the 

 specialist may be commendable thoroughness in the 

 layman. Even the specialist is satisfied with the 

 most superficial knowledge in subjects outside his 

 specialty. It is notorious that his knowledge of 

 men and of business, for example, is superficial. 



