1 8 THE THIRD YEARBOOK 



perform its proper function in nature-study is to be governed by 

 the appeal which a generous presentation of nature makes to the 

 child. 



IV. IMAGING IN NATURE-STUDY. 



The direct purpose of observation is the development of an 

 image. That it often falls short of this is a fact which will largely 

 account for lack of interest m study, muddled thinking, and waste of 

 time in education. Until an image of the thing desired is clearly 

 formed in the mind, it is useless, and worse, to attempt to take the 

 next step. Until this is done, in fact, there is no next step to be 

 taken. To overemphasize the importance of external presentation, 

 and to underemphasize the importance of the resulting mental 

 product, is the mark of much poor teaching. This mistake is largely 

 due to the intangible and indefinable nature of the image which in 

 itself is the mystery of mysteries. 



When an object or a physical phenomenon is presented to one or 

 more of the senses, an effect is produced that in no conceivable 

 manner can be said to resemble the cause. The phenomenon of 

 vibration derived from a blow by a hammer striking some object 

 may be traced along purely material channels, and its rate of move- 

 ment is but a problem in mathematical physics. At a given point, 

 however, its physical identity is lost, and in its stead there flashes 

 out a mental phenomenon which remains. Assuming the integrity 

 of the senses, each normal individual must bear witness to the con- 

 stant correspondence between the physical presentation and the 

 psychic result which is called an image. It is not properly an 

 image, though, if there is associated with this word its ordinary 

 meaning. An image is a likeness or a counterpart. The mental 

 image is not a likeness, but a result which is remarkable in its 

 unlikeness to the cause. In the process of living, during the con- 

 scious hours there is a continual effort, first, to interpret these 

 psychic results — that is, to refer them to the proper material source ; 

 and, second, to organize them — that is, to discover by what rela- 

 tions they are associated. These operations are to the end that one 

 may obtain his bearings and preserve his proper place in the scheme 

 of creation. The process of education is the systematized attempt 

 to economize this effort. It accomplishes its purpose only as it 

 keeps unobstructed the pathway between the physical and psychic 

 phenomena, and so far as it discovers methods of interpretation and 



