4 HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



has need of deep knowledge of some other kind to escape 

 the accusation of blindness and indifference. What oppor- 

 tunities of enlarging his knowledge of life has he allowed 

 to escape him ! 



A good method of Nature Study should exhibit some of 

 the following features : 



1. It should bring out the most remarkable properties of 

 the objects studied. How serious an oversight it is to 

 lecture on a plant or an animal, and somehow to ignore 

 the fact that it is alive ! Development, growth and 

 adaptation to surroundings should never be out of the 

 thoughts of those who guide others in the study of living 

 things. 



2. Common objects will be preferred to rare ones, partly 

 because they are more easily procured in large quantities, 

 and partly because the inquiries which they suggest are 

 more likely to be resumed in after-life. 



3. A good method of Nature Study will stimulate the 

 curiosity of the pupils. Too often the teacher is the only 

 person present who is at all interested. The class are 

 not likely to be interested unless their curiosity is now 

 and then moved. Nor is it easy to keep their interest 

 alive, unless we give them their full share of choice and 

 responsibility. Never tell your pupils things which they 

 can find out for themselves. Wherever you can, let them 

 make their own observations, and draw their own con- 

 clusions. Curiosity in the child may be the germ of love 

 of knowledge in the man, and what we call Science is, 

 more than anything else, the habit of putting and answer- 

 ing questions in an orderly way. Something that really 

 deserves the name of biological research may easily grow 

 out of the Nature Study of the schoolroom. " La plupart 

 des decouvertes consistent a dire : regardez ! " 



4. Various powers of mind and body will be exercised. 

 Nature Study should not only train the powers of observa- 

 tion and reflection, but find work for hand and eye as 

 well. Special gifts, such as mechanical ingenuity, or skill 



