INACCURATE NATURE BOOKS 



In Everybody's Magazine for June, President Roosevelt, as reported by- 

 Edward B. Clark, expresses his indignation that, after all that has been 

 said of their inaccuracies, the books of W. J. Long should continue to be 

 used in schools for supplemental reading. 



After exposing some of Mr. Long's errors, Mr. Roosevelt remarks : "The 

 preservation of the useful and beautiful animal and bird life of the country 

 depends largely upon creating in the young an interest in the life of the 

 woods and fields. If the child mind is fed with stories that are false to 

 nature, the children will go to the haunts of the animal only to meet with 

 disappointment. The result will be disbelief, and the death of interest. 

 The men who misinterpret nature and replace fact with fiction, undo the 

 work of those who in the love of nature interpret it aright." 



Is it the undeniable literary charm of Long's books, or the dearth of 

 desirable nature stories, or the activity of his publishers which, in spite of 

 their proved perniciousness, still keeps them on teachers' lists? 



In the April [1907] number of The Nature-Study Review, a writer 

 speaks of the "fascinating tales of the wilderness, as told by Long, and the 

 delightful life-histories of Wabbles the Song Sparrow and Bismark the red 

 squirrel as recorded by Walton the hermit of Gloucester," and couples them 

 with the "Works of Burroughs and Thoreau," a grouping which we believe 

 will make truth-loving 'Oom John' envy Thoreau his resting-place in 

 Concord's churchyard. 



Discussion of this subject with one of the leading educators of the coun- 

 try brought from him the surprising opinion that in the city, at least, it is 

 of more importance that nature books used in supplemental reading should 

 be interesting than that they should be accurate ; it being argued that the 

 immediate object of such reading is to arouse the child's curiosity. 



Admitting that few children in our city schools have an opportunity to 

 test the accuracy of the information they receive in regard to animal life, is 

 it desirable that they be given as true that which is known to be false 

 merely because it is interesting ? 



Nature-study is designed not only to make the child familiar with the 

 commoner forms of life, but also so to train his powers of observation that 

 he will see more widely and more accurately ; and no form of nature-study 

 which has not science, and hence truth, for its foundation can be expected 

 to endure. [Editorial in June Bird-Lore.] 



The paragraph above copied from The Nature-Study Review occurs 

 in an article on "Nature-Study as an Education," by Mary P. Anderson, 

 and reads as follows (page 103) : 



"During the confusion in regard to the real province of nature-study, it 

 was the privilege of anyone to enter the game and pin a tail on the donkey. 

 The result was incongrous and ludicrous, for the tails were many and varied 

 and some did not even hit the donkey. There was the primitive life 



