schmucker) SPONTANEITY IN NATURErSTUDY V) 



hv ostrich is a VCTy large bird, li»- runs vwy swiftly." V. 

 •t I know not, but it is dimly associated with a town I left 

 at the age of six. Three dates out of fifty we sing-s<. 

 remain — " 1607, Virginia was settled at Jamestown by the English ; 

 1614, New York was settled at Albany by the Dutch; 1620, 

 Massachusetts was settled at Plymouth (or so my memory runs) 

 by the English." All the rest has faded. Reiteration has fixed 

 1492 and 1776 and, except these, almost every date in American 

 history has fled. The multiplication table stands firm — the one 

 fixed, useful series of facts that really positively lasted. Then, 

 from my high school days comes "Ante, apud, ad, adversus" 

 and so on through an interminable list of prepositions that govern 

 the accusative case (I hope that is right). It were perhaps well 

 could our early lessons last better, though of this I am not sure. 

 Perhaps a merciful heaven has arranged the matter well. 



This does not mean that I think there is no value in the work 

 done in the elementary schools. But its value consists but little 

 in the facts gathered, and very much in the processes learned and 

 in the development gained. 



Now nature-study is almost unique amongst the studies of the 

 earlier school life. It consists of the study of things, not of words. 

 It inculcates a habit, and should give the student the power of 

 finding out things for himself. Of course while he is learning to 

 look into things for himself, he should be gaining the power by 

 gathering information that is worth while. In this matter we 

 must not judge too harshly the information gathered either by 

 these elementary students or by candidates for the degree of Doctor 

 of Philosophy. No one knows which part of knowledge may prove 

 worth while at some future time. It is almost equally difficult 

 to tell which portion of our acquisition will, after a while, prove 

 to be useless. In any event, I dread the effect of formally prescrib- 

 ing, rigidly foretelling, carefully drilling and conscientiously 

 testing the information gained in nature-study. 



The best results of this discipline show themselves otherwise 

 than in valuable information gained. One of our great nature 

 lovers has recently been doing what would seem to be his first 

 extensive reading in the field of science. His later essays have 

 passages that read perilously like examination papers in high 

 school science. His earlier papers were altogether adorable, 

 though now and then a fact is wrong, or an inference doubtful. 



