332 NATURE'STUDY REVIEW 



being f?r more potent in our present working conception than 

 observation. One is passive absorption, the other active pro- 

 duction. One is parasitism, the other kinetic energy. One is 

 nursery rhyme mysticism, the other is work bench service. One 

 is charity entertainment, the other has everyone in the play. 

 One is predigested food, the other food for digestion. One is 

 senile sport, the other youthful enjo3mient. The function of the 

 school is to make production more interesting than elegant con- 

 sumption. 



Ten ideas like "Blind as a Bat" remain ten ideas. There is 

 nothing to provoke new thought. The discovery of one idea about 

 the Bat, as — it eats insects — demands more Meas. One can be 

 intellectually as well as physically blind. The first method is one 

 of conspicuous wastefulness whereas the second tends toward 

 further service. Shall we spend our wealth of education in self- 

 indulgence or in production for the community? If educational 

 courses mean self-indulgence they stop there. If they mean "I 

 have come to make life more abundant" the curriculum needs 

 revision. 



Some of the economic facts for which credit was given were due 

 to reputation rather than fact. The ratios have thereby been 

 greatly softened and should we double the sayings as they now 

 stand in proportion to the economic facts the results would be 

 nearer scientific. Take crows for example: fifty per cent of the 

 economic facts given were that crows eat com. Only twenty- 

 two per cent mention anything of credit to the crow yet authorities 

 say that the crows* credit account with the farmer far outweighs che 

 debit side. A small minority — ^yet a serious number — ^mention 

 such things as "pick out your eyes." One is reminded of the 

 Old Danish Proverb — "A Crow is never the whiter for often 

 washing," or the Chinese saying that "Crows are black all the 

 world over." The axiom of today as regards pupils reared by 

 the tribal-folk-lore method might be "They are never the wiser 

 for often observing." 



The Hawk record parallels that of the Crow. Fifty percent 

 of those examined mention the reputation which has been es- 

 tablished in the human mind that "Hawks steal Chickens." 

 Twenty-one per cent speak of the Hawk as dangerous to small 

 birds. The unclassified answers were such as: "It steals;" 

 "Dangerous;" "Eats people;" "Take away children at times;" 



