62 The Nature-Study Idea 



because roots do not "go." Seeds do not 

 "travel." Plants do not "prepare" for winter. 

 I wonder, then, whether water "runs" or winds 

 "blow." This verbal preciseness forgets that 

 words are only metaphors and parables, their 

 significance determined by the use of them, and 

 that the essential truth, or the spirit, is what we 

 should search for expressing it, when found, 

 in language that is alive, unmistakable, and con- 

 formed to best usage. We must measure the 

 value of any statement to the child in good part 

 by the strength and vitality of the picture that 

 it raises in the mind (p. 159). 



The Integument-Man insists on "methods." 

 The other day a young man wanted me to 

 recommend him as a teacher of one of the 

 sciences in a public school. He explained that 

 he had had a complete course in this and in 

 that; he could teach the whole subject as laid 

 down in the books; he knew all the methods. 

 It was evident that he was well drilled. He 

 had acquired a repertory of facts. These facts 

 were carefully assorted and ticketed, and tucked 

 away in his mental cupboard as embroidered 



