188 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [ s : 7 — oct., 1909 



the subjects to children. Students kept note-books in which 

 were outlines of the lectures and notes on field and museum work. 

 The first subjects were domesticated animals, the common trees 

 and the common birds. Before field work became practicable, 

 the University collection of birds and the herbarium specimens 

 of trees were examined. Field trips were made to several points 

 to familiarize the students with the material to be obtained all 

 about them; the attempt was made to have some definite object 

 for each trip. A herbarium collection of twenty-five trees, and a 

 list of fifty birds identified was required. (The last list had to be 

 cut down.) 



Before field work was begun, each student made an aquarium 

 (the frames furnished by a tinner), after the models in Hodge's 

 "Nature-study and Life." The stocking and keeping of the 

 aquaria constituted part of the work during the course. When 

 the subject of insects was reached, students began to make col- 

 lections representing the chief orders, and a few were mounted in 

 frames between glass. Opportunity was lacking for the carry- 

 ing out of all the work on insect rearing which was planned; 

 this was more successfully carried out in the summer course. 

 Then followed the subjects of some common flowering plants 

 and common plant families, weeds, and a little time for flower- 

 less plants. Other subjects were the toad and the earthworm; 

 here again much of the observational work planned could not 

 be carried out. Frogs' eggs were collected by every student, and 

 the developing tadpoles kept in the aquaria under observation 

 until the end of the course. The summer class found and kept 

 the tadpoles. 



From time to time, reports were made upon assigned readings. 

 These included White's "Selborne," Thoreau's "Walden," Bur- 

 rough's "Wake Robin," and short selections from a few of the 

 prominent recent writers, including some of the so-called 

 "nature fakers." An attempt was made to lead the student to 

 see what consitutes good nature literature, and its place in the 

 elementary school. Each student, moreover, made at least one 

 visit to an elementary school to observe some nature lessons. 

 And finally, there was an examination of the courses in nature- 

 study of several cities, and the framing of a course of study by 

 the students themselves suited to local conditions. 



