HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT 5 



ha-ed, the girls tittered, and even the Visitor 

 chuckled, and took off his glasses and wiped 

 them in a deliberate way. Then he continued : 



"Well, you're a happy lot, I see; youth is the 

 time to be happy. I was just as happy as you 

 are, at your age — and — and — well, I don't know but 

 I've had some pretty good times since then." He 

 looked at the Deacon, and we boys noticed that 

 the Deacon's twinkle turned to a grin, and we young 

 folks laughed again, but not so loud ; we were not 

 quite sure that we could laugh on the Deacon's 

 grin. The teacher's dimple showed a little, then 

 she looked solemn, and the Visitor proceeded : 



" As I was saying, you must first see the thing — 

 and yet, one thing isn't enough. Your definition 

 is apt to be one-sided, if you don't take into con- 

 sideration many specimens of the class. For ex- 

 ample, there's Frank's boat. He keeps it for use ; 

 always has a good string of fish when he comes 

 home ; and I don't suppose he cares so much 

 about the appearance of the boat as does the 

 owner of that one beautifully painted, with the 

 name 'Lily' on it. But you young folks know 

 that these small boats are not all. A definition 

 that would apply to them might not apply to other 

 boats. There's the mass of logs that the boys 



