196 The Nature-Study Idea 



est the child in all living things, including other 

 human beings, leading him to see their lives 

 as they live them and enabling him to under- 

 stand them. He then would have a reason for 

 caring for them, and instruction would not be 

 mere preaching (pp. 32, 143). 



Of course, it does not follow that an under- 

 standing of the habits of animals and plants 

 always insures humane feelings towards them, 

 but if sympathy and spirit are a part of the 

 teaching, it must inevitably lead in that direc- 

 tion. All first-hand contact with the verities 

 of nature makes for ethical development of the 

 individual. 



Would you tell the child the names of the 

 things? 



Certainly, the same as I should tell him the 

 name of a new boy or girl. But I should not 

 stop with the name. Nature-study does not 

 ask finally "What is the thing?" but "How does 

 the thing live?" or "What does it do?" or 

 "How did it get here?" or "What can I do 

 with it?" The name is only a part of the Ian- 



