120 HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT 



Let us have common plants, and more glorify- 

 ing of the commonplace, more of the spirit of 

 Rennie, the naturalist : 



"It can never be too strongly impressed upon a mind 

 anxious for the acquisition of knowledge, that the commonest 

 things by which we are surrounded are deserving of minute 

 and careful attention." 



If there is not room for all, set aside the gera- 

 nium, and substitute a squash vine ; set aside 

 the calla, and substitute a beet ; a turnip is as in- 

 teresting and a good deal more important than a 

 fuschia. There is much wisdom wrapped up in a 

 cabbage head, provided it comes from the field. 



Keep in mind that the object is to make the 

 child not a botanist, but a lover of natural beauty, 

 to develop his capacity to appreciate Nature's 

 commonplace things. As Professor Bailey puts 

 it: 



"The happiness of the ignorant man is largely the 

 thoughts born of physical pleasure ; that of the educated 

 man is the thoughts born of intellectual pleasures. One may 

 find comradeship in a groggery, the other may find it in a 

 dandelion ; and inasmuch as there are more dandelions than 

 groggeries in most communities, the educated man has the 

 greater chance of happiness. 



11 If one is to be happy, he must be in sympathy with com- 

 mon things. He must live in harmony with his environment. 

 One cannot be happy yonder nor to-morrow ; he is happy 

 here and now, or never. Our stock of knowledge of common 



