48 The Nature-Study Idea 



learn when he comes to the study of natural 

 history is the fact that no two objects are alike. 

 This leads to the correlated fact that every 

 animal and plant contends for an opportunity 

 to live, and this is the central theme in the study 

 of living things. The world has a new mean- 

 ing when this fact is understood. This is the 

 key that unlocks many mysteries, and it is the 

 means of establishing a bond of sympathy be- 

 tween ourselves and the world in which we live. 

 It is a common mistake to attempt to teach 

 too much at each exercise; and the teacher is 

 also appalled at the amount of information that 

 he must have. Suppose that one teaches two 

 hundred and fifty days in the year. Start out 

 with the determination to drop into the pupils' 

 minds two hundred and fifty suggestions about 

 nature. One suggestion is sufficient for a day. 

 Let them think about it and ponder over it. 

 We stuff our children so full of facts that they 

 cannot digest them. I should prefer ten min- 

 utes a day of nature-study to two hours; but I 

 should want it quick, sharp, vivid and spon- 

 taneous. I should want it designed to develop 



