THE HIGHEST AIM OF NATURE STUDY. llH 



most high-school teachers of botany have recollec- 

 tions of interviews with parents who did not want their 

 children to waste their time studying such things. They 

 wanted their boys to learn something practical. 



But nature can do much more than minister to our 

 material wants. If we will but let her, she ministers 

 to far higher needs. To the eye that sees she comes 

 full of beauty, a solace and inspiration, a messenger 

 from above. The sunset and clouds, the frost and snow- 

 flakes, the leaves and flowers, the hills and valleys, the 

 birds and bees, appeal to that in man which is higher 

 than the mere material. Not until we gain from nature 

 these higher riches, not until we can appreciate her 

 beauty and the story she tells, can we realize what 

 nature can give us. These higher gifts of nature we 

 can appropriate without much regard to deeds or titles. 

 No one needs a title to make his own the riches of the 

 sunset or the beauty of the landscape. The amount of 

 this higher wealth which we can call our own is only 

 limited by our capacity for receiving or appropriating. 



I do not own an inch of land, 



But all I see is mine ; 

 The orchards and the mowing-fields, 



The lawns and gardens fine. 

 The winds my tax-collectors are, 



They bring me tithes divine, 

 Wild scents and subtle essences, 



A tribute rare and free ; 

 And, more magnificent than all, 



My window keeps for me 

 A glimpse of blue immensity, 



A little strip of sea. 



LUCY LABCOM. 



