INTEODUCTION 



The following pages contain the substance of lessons 

 given at the village school at Wye to the 4th, 5th, 6th 

 and 7th standards (mixed) and at St George's School, 

 Harpenden, to the 3rd fornL There is, however, an im- 

 portant difference between the actual lessons and the 

 book. The lessons had reference to the soils round about 

 the village, and dealt mainly with local phenomena, 

 general conclusions being only sparingly drawn ; while 

 in the book it has been necessary to throw the course 

 into a more generalised form. The teacher in using the 

 book will have to reverse the process, he must find 

 local illustrations and make liberal use of them during 

 the course ; it is hoped that the information given will 

 help him over any difficulties he may experience. 



This necessity for finding local illustrations con- 

 stitutes one of the fundamental differences between 

 Nature Study subjects and other subjects of the school 

 curriculum. The textbook in some of the others may 

 be necessary and sufficient; in Nature Study it is at 

 most only subsidiary, serving simply as a guide to the 

 thing that is to be studied ; unless the thing itself be 

 before the class it is no better than a guide to a 

 cathedral would be without the cathedral. And just 

 as the guide is successful only when he directs the 

 attention of the stranger to the important features of 

 the place, and fails directly he becomes garrulous and 

 distracts attention, so a Nature Study book succeeds 



