38 NATURE STUDY. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE STUDY OF THE BABBIT. 



An Introduction to Animal Study. 



IN the previous chapter we have studied the dande- 

 lion as a type of the plant. We have approached it 

 from the morphological or structural point of view, be- 

 cause that is the phase of the plant which has been 

 most emphasized in the plant study of the past, and 

 most teachers and adult students are apt to look at the 

 plant from that point of view. We have shown how 

 much richer and higher content there is in the investi- 

 gation of the life and relations of the dandelion than 

 in mere analysis, description, and classification. From 

 some consideration of aims in nature study, we have 

 been led to urge that the order commonly followed and 

 the work done by older students in their plant study be - 

 modified in work with children, that they begin with 

 and emphasize the observation of the life and function 

 of the dandelion and its parts, proceeding from this to 

 structure or adaptation, and finally to comparison and 

 classification. 



In this chapter we shall study the rabbit as a type of 

 the animal. We will approach it from the standpoint 



