10 THE WAY LIFE BEGINS 



that the frequent exercise of the sexual function on the part 

 of the human male is not a God-commanded right. Indeed, 

 it is not too much to believe that children who have had the 

 benefit of an uncensored knowledge of nature will, when 

 grown, be less inclined to set aside the moral laws of family 

 and society, than those who have been denied the satisfaction 

 of a natural and normal curiosity. It is not merely facts as 

 such that may be expected to work this transformation, but 

 the wider sympathies and the better understanding of the 

 natural order that follows upon their presentation. Nature, 

 after all, is rather conservative and slow moving, offering 

 little sanction for human haste and fret, and still less for the 

 vices of mankind. 



Keeping Close to Nature 



Over half of the people of this country are now living in 

 cities and towns, preoccupied with intricate, and as compared 

 with their ancestors, artificial and non-natural activities. 

 City people, however, cannot afford to sever their connection 

 with the natural world. Social life does not alter the fact 

 that mankind shares with the animal the really vital processes 

 of birth, growth, eating, sleeping, learning, reproduction, and 

 death. That we use tools, have a measure of control over 

 our activities, and better means of communication, are not 

 sufficient to set us apart from the rest of the living world. 



But even in the city, protected as we are, we do not escape 

 the practical need for nature-knowledge. At bottom, all 

 measures of health and sanitation are based upon biologic 

 fact. Nature study helps us to understand, and, therefore, 

 to conform to the rationale of hygiene: mental, moral, and 

 physical. Beyond all, and very highly to be prized, nature 

 study supplies a continuing occupation — something greatly 

 needed when a disintegrating idleness or an aimless activity 

 frequently fills so much of the leisure time between labor 

 and rest. 



