CHAPTER IV. 



LABORATORY WORK: FORMS OF MATTER. 



36. The Spirit of the Laboratory. The student cannot 

 gain the best results from his course in Zoology without 

 appreciating the part that the laboratory may have in 

 the work. The chief purposes of the laboratory are as 

 follows : 



1. To serve as a foundation and illustration of the 

 work of the text-book and the lecture- room. Any de- 

 scription is always more full of meaning if the student 

 has something in his own observation and experience 

 with which to associate it. 



2. As related to the field work, the laboratory is in- 

 tended to bring the student into a closer relation with 

 the objects studied. The materials are in more natural 

 condition in the field, but they are less under the control 

 of the observer. The laboratory work is of a more inti- 

 mate type. The student can also control the conditions 

 of all his experiments better in the laboratory. The 

 field and the laboratory must be looked upon as supple- 

 menting each other. 



3. The laboratory should also be used by the pupil 

 and by the teacher to test and consciously to develop 

 the mental processes of the student. The purpose of the 

 laboratory is to produce effective students, and for this 

 reason the student should not only become interested 

 in animals and .their structure, powers, and reactions, 



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