38 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



trenches. The great hope lies with the children, the great onus 

 is upon the teacher. 



I am a great believer in heredity. Practical proof is the best 

 witness, and I have it in my own case. The seed was there. All 

 that was required was a suitable environment in which the 

 precious seed might germinate. That, fortunately, was forth- 

 coming. There has been no set-back, no lack of opportunity, 

 no lack of enthusiasm, no lack of encouragement. There have 

 been a few unforeseen disappointments, but, in spite of these, 

 often in spite of myself, I have gone forward with my studies 

 in the sure and constant faith that it was ordained I should, 

 during my earthly pilgrimage, undertake and carry out the 

 work for which I appear most fitted, and, what is most important 

 of all, which I most like. At times, as in other walks of life, 

 discouragement and disappointment comes even to the student 

 of Nature. That is the Great Mother's test as to the true love one 

 has for her countless children. Then, if there be lack of know- 

 ledge and of opportunity, and yet a desire to know, foster, inculcate, 

 and reveal, what is the remedy for the teacher who courageously 

 confesses his, or her, ignorance of the great world of life ? 



Books are a useful, and indeed indispensable, vade-mecum, a 

 sheet-anchor of inestimable service. They are essential for 

 reference, for imparting information, for gaining inspiration, for 

 mind training. All teachers anxious to deal with this subject 

 of Nature Study among their young charges should have a select 

 library of volumes near at hand by means of which they may 

 be guided and inspired, but the only sure and satisfactory way of 

 gaining first-hand and lasting impressions, brimful of personal 

 knowledge, coupled with crisp anecdote and experience, of being 

 best able to point a moral and adorn a tale, is for the teacher to 

 become a zealous and painstaking Nature student himself. This 

 does not imply that, under such circumstances, books should be 

 eschewed. We all use them, or should do so, but even those 

 with limited time at disposal may take a walk in the park, or 

 country, and find, as a result, that such an expedition may be 

 made a constant source of joy and pleasure, a scientific exhibition. 

 Granted the full use of eye, ear, and mind, sufficient information 

 may be acquired from even a few moments' intercourse with 

 Nature as will serve many useful lessons. The teacher who 

 commences seeking for Nature knowledge when grown up will, 

 at first, find it much more difficult to become an apt pupil at 

 Nature's School than if he, or she, had been on the roll-call when 



