26 THE THIRD YEARBOOK 



marked mainly by the constant play of shade, tint, and color. Still 

 further, other phases appear that correspond with the month and 

 season ; these show themselves in bud, leaf, flower, and fruit. And, 

 finally, there are those phases which present themselves through 

 the accumulation of years that are found in the tree's maturity, its 

 decline, its death, its decay, and in the distribution of the elements 

 of which it is composed. A true study of the tree will consist, 

 therefore, of the thoughtful consideration of all the different phases 

 of life which it presents, with due regard to their relations to each 

 other and taken in connection with the underlying causes. The 

 results of such study will always appear as a rational and coherent 

 story, whether it is told by tongue, brush, spatula, or pen ; but the 

 description can be even approximately complete only when all are 

 used. Ever}^ feature of the landscape, whether it be a plant, an 

 animal, or a rock, must be studied in the same general way. 



5. The different series of aspects presented by the landscape 

 make their appeal according to a well-defined order which is deter- 

 mined by the age and experience of the pupils. — The series of 

 fleeting aspects possessing a lesser, though subtle, significance is 

 strikingly beautiful, and they are generally most attractive to chil- 

 dren. The appeal is made chiefly to the aesthetic sense ; and, as 

 these phases manifest themselves largely through changes in shade 

 and color, the mode of expression must correspond. 



Those aspects, which are included in the regularly recurring 

 events of the season, have a deeper significance, none the less 

 beautiful ; but, in their relation to man, they appeal strongly to his 

 notions of utility. Through this appeal, which reaches the mind 

 gradually as it matures, they call forth from the human being 

 those inventions, arts, devices, measurements, and calculations 

 which have enabled man to utilize the forces of nature. 



The series of aspects, including those gradual changes that can 

 be timed, perhaps only by ages, enlist the profoundest interests of 

 the mind. No comprehension, even approximately adequate, is 

 possible without the aid of a great perspective of experience which 

 has been developed through an intelligent contact with nature. The 

 real significance of these larger aspects of creation can never fully 

 appear. They make the appeal only as the mind ripens, and they 

 become intelligible only as it acquires the disposition and the power 

 to arrange, in accordance with the rules of philosophy, the facts that 

 have been gathered and treasured by sense. 



