Common Mistakes in Natural History 



William Gould Vinal, Ph.D. 



Rhode Island College of Education 

 (Continued from November issue) 



How DO Weeds Get Into Gardens? 



The majority of weeds are annuals and come from seed. 



52 think that weeds just grow in the garden r la Topsy. 24.2% 

 (Average) say that they are due to seed. In a college freshman 

 class 32% of the women to 10% of the men believe that weeds 

 just grow. 



This wide spread belief reminds one of the parable of the seed 

 growing unobserved. (Mark 4:26-27). "This is what the 

 Kingdom of God is like — like a man who has scattered seed on the 

 ground and then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed 

 is shooting up and growing — he knows not how." The following 

 sentences show how the same parable is expressed to day . The 

 disconcerting thing about these statements is that the authors 

 think that they are giving real reasons. We can no longer be 

 content with such statements, as — "Come there." "Grow there 

 by nature." "Weeds have a natural tendency to grow." "The 

 seed was probably near a stone or bad soil." "Unhealthy land."" 

 "Just grow from poor part of soil." "Grow over night." "Grow 

 from fertilizer." "Naturally grow from the ground." "Natural 

 growth of earth." "From lack of attention." "By lazy people 

 not hoeing their gardens." "Weeds being wild grow anywhere." 

 "Seeds of weeds are always present." Such statements show 

 that we m.ay have spontaneous generations in the mind as well 

 as physical spontaneous generation. The latter has been dis- 

 proved but belief in it, though often subconscious, is still rampant. 

 It is of paramount importance that education do away with the 

 superstition that permeates our intellectual processes. Nature- 

 study, gardening, and general science contribute a great offset 

 to this mental obstruction. 



What Shape is the Heart? 

 The heart is not heart-shaped. Heart-shaped refers to the 

 conventional form seen on valentines, jewelry, and playing cards. 



371 



