II 



Science for Science's Sake 



A DEMURE little woman at the teacher's 

 convention told of the enthusiasm with 

 which her pupils had collected butterflies and 

 plants, and she described the museum that they 

 had made. She showed a folio of mounted 

 plants, and a cigar-box containing insects. I 

 admired the specimens, and mentally I com- 

 plimented her judgment in finding so good use 

 for such a box. The tobacco odor kept the 

 carnivorous bugs away, and I also commended 

 the judgment of the bugs. There was genuine 

 enthusiasm in the little woman's manner, and I 

 wanted to be a young naturalist. When she 

 was talking, I strayed far in the fields and picked 

 a dandelion. 



But there was a man in the audience who 



squelched the little woman. Her methods were 



all wrong. They were worse than wrong: the 



children must unlearn what she had taught 



117 



