No. 4.] NATUKE STUDY. 209 



school-room use? I shall have time to quote to you but one 

 teacher's opinion of it. After reviewing the hook before a 



class of teachers, one of them said: "I was in the 



normal school when this plan was being worked out, and I 

 know all about it.*' " We should all be glad to know how 

 it worked," I said. "Well," she replied, "the children 

 were simply bored to death with it. They fairly loathed 

 the stuff, and the poor teachers were worn to the bone with 

 it. I often used to tell Dr. that I could do much bet- 

 ter teaching without any nature study at all." 



I have one more book with me. Let us glance at it a 

 moment, and then I shall try to tell you why I have come 

 to talk to you about nature study ; why, in fact, I have felt 

 compelled to take a hand in this matter of elementary in- 

 struction, which is something quite aside from my regular 

 work. This book is not called nature study, but is more 

 consistently entitled " Systematic Science Teaching : a Man- 

 ual of Inductive Elementary Work for All Instructors." It 

 hails from the State of Illinois. The author's thesis is, in a 

 word, that we can teach anything and everything to any and 

 every child. As he puts it: "A child can be led to any 

 height [and he should have added to any depth] if the steps 

 are made short enough." 



Here is a sample of his method : — 



Step V. — Animals. Acquaintance with a Few Home Animals. 

 The Boy. — Children know more about their own organs than 

 those of any other animal. Hence begin here, and bring out the 

 following points in preparation for following work : — 



1. AVhere do boys live? (On land.) (All for this time.) 



2. Can a boy feel? Where best? (Make tests on exposed 

 parts.) 



Here we jump from abysmal inanity to university psy- 

 chology at a single bound. 



3. Can boys hear? What with? How many ears? Where are 

 they placed? 



4. Can he see? What with? Where are the eyes placed? 

 How many? What shape is the pupil? How is the eye. closed? 

 How many lids to each? Which way do the lids move? Any 



