Professor Thomson's Address 127 



water-babies, like tadpoles and larval gnats, and land- 

 babies, like caterpillars. They should see, if possible, 

 the re-population of the shore-pools and the ponds; 

 they should hear, and have specimens to illustrate, the 

 story of the elvers and the niners. It is not in the 

 least difficult to hatch the eggs of the salmon and to 

 watch the growth of the young fry from week to week. 

 In a hundred different ways the fundamental fact of 

 growth can be made real, though its mystery must 

 remain unsolved. I may refer, for instance, to the 

 exhibited drawings of the mouse or the bean-plant 

 day after day. 



Then there is the spring study of birds, recording 

 the arrivals of the many migrants, getting to know 

 them better before they become very numerous, the 

 observation of nesting industries, the recognition of 

 some of the songs, and the study of the habits of 

 chicks and other young birds which can be got and 

 kept without any cruelty. There are several good 

 bird-records in the exhibition. 



The objects of convenient spring study are prac- 

 tically endless, and there are problems at every turn; 

 so that each lesson remains not as something finished, 

 but only as a beginning capable of great development, 

 one of the most important psychological conditions of 

 successful teaching. 



At all costs there must be some realization of the 

 appropriate emotional tone. In our northern climate 

 winter sets a spell upon life; but is not April the 

 month of reawakening and rejuvenescence? The 

 earth opens and the seedlings lift their heads, drowsily 

 nodding (see some charming drawings in the exhibits); 

 the buds open and the leaves unfold (see many credit- 



