SCHOOL EQUIPMENT AND ITS MANAGEMENT. 337 



METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



The school should certainly be supplied with a good baro- 

 meter with thermometer attached, a wet and dry bulb 

 thermometer, and rain gauge. A maximum and minimum 

 thermometer will also be found useful. The barometer 

 should be placed in a secure position about five feet from 

 the ground, away from any source of artificial heat likely 

 to affect the readings unduly. The thermometer should 

 be fixed at a convenient height for reading facing the 

 north out of doors. The rain gauge must be placed in an 

 open space, clear of all buildings, and fixed in the ground 

 so that it cannot be overturned. A useful and attractive 

 adjunct is a series of water-colour drawings of the typical 

 cloud forms. These should be of a good size and hung in 

 a good light in the school-room. 



THE TEACHEE. 



There are some rare individuals, generally spoken of as 

 born naturalists and teachers, whose presence and conver- 

 sation are sufficient to impart to their pupils an interest 

 in the subject of their discourse. They carry with them 

 all the charm of nature. They may not really be born 

 naturalists : only a few of them are. But they have pon- 

 dered much over Nature's ways, they have drunk of her 

 spirit, they have probed her secrets, and have fought their 

 way to a clear understanding of them. With leaf or 

 flower, insect or pebble in hand, out of a mind enriched 

 with nature lore they can attract attention, quicken the 

 intellect, impart knowledge, create abiding interest. 



In treating of school equipment it is well to emphasise 

 the importance of the attitude of the teacher to his subject. 

 Enthusiasm is essential to the highest success in teaching 

 generally ; without it " Nature Study " is in danger of be- 

 coming " stale, flat, and -unprofitable." Let the teacher 

 N. s. 22 



