18 THREE KINGDOMS. 



names of many fathers and mothers, teachers and pro- 

 fessors. Several of our chapters are composed wholly 

 of adults; many of old and young working 1 together. 

 Family chapters areamongonr most successful branches. 



SCHOOL SOCIETIES. 



As the A. A. has become better known, it has found a 

 wide field of usefulness in connection with schools, both 

 private and public. Many teachers who have not been 

 able to find a place for natural science in the ordinary 

 curriculum, and who have yet felt that their pupils should 

 not grow up strangers to the flowers, trees, birds, and 

 butterflies, have been glad to devote an hour once a fort- 

 night to the guidance of a meeting devoted to these stud- 

 ies. In almost every school may be found, at the least, 

 six of the more intelligent boys and girls who will will- 

 ingly spend an evening now and then in united study 

 and discussion. The young are naturally fond of collect- 

 ing. Most school committees will cheerfully grant the 

 use of a room for the meetings, arid many will even pro- 

 vide suitable cases for the specimens. In each of the 

 several hundred schools in which branches of the Agas- 

 siz Association have been organized, the resultant work 

 of personal observation has had a marked tendency to 

 counteract the evils of rote-work and routine. In most 

 cases cabinets have been secured and have been filled 

 with specimens collected by the pupils themselves within 

 a radius of five miles of the school-house door. Visit such 

 a society and ask to be shown representations of the local 

 fauna, flora, or mineralia. The young men and women 

 will show you collections carefully prepared, accurately 

 labeled, diligently studied, highly valued, and exceed- 

 ingly valuable. The Agassiz Association does not so 

 much care for rarities or monstrosities. Our cabinets 



