152 Second Conference 



feet are set in a vast room, and it is not for us to 

 cramp them, it is not for us to say what portion of 

 knowledge, these heirs of all the ages should be de- 

 prived of. They have affinities stretching towards 

 every relation, and surely not the least towards nature. 

 Believing, as I do, that it is in the parents' hands to 

 do much to prepare the way for the teaching that the 

 children will afterwards get in the schools and to help 

 them to know and love nature, I should like to give 

 a few practical hints as to the way I feel this may 

 best be done. To begin with, one must have enthusi- 

 asm and love for nature, and this need not be forced 

 or put on, for I hold that there is hardly anyone who 

 definitely tries to come into touch with nature who 

 does not become an enthusiast and a true nature- 

 student. Such enthusiasm is not sentimentality; it is 

 a reverent admiration of what is outside and beyond 

 us, and there is nothing which is so easily caught by 

 the children and which can give them greater joy. 

 Then I think we should be prepared to give the 

 children the common names of the flowers and birds, 

 &c., they meet. I was glad to hear Professor Lloyd 

 Morgan emphasize the desirability of not going round 

 a name, but giving the children the actual name when 

 asked for. The names of flowers, and even the 

 scientific terminology, are not more difficult than 

 "Elizabeth" and "Caroline", the names of many of 

 the people the children meet. 



I know there are people who consider that if we 

 readily give the children the names of natural objects, 

 they will be satisfied and remain content with know- 

 ing nothing more. But is this found so in experience? 

 We are always anxious to know the names of the 



