194 NATURE STUDY. 



Harebell, buttercup, butter-and-eggs, sea-anemone, and 

 earthworm mean much more, are more readily apper- 

 ceived and remembered, and are much better for children, 

 than their technical equivalents, campanula rotundifolia, 

 ranunculus, linaria vulgaris, actinia, and lumbricus. 



Frequently the name can be associated with some 

 beautiful legend or story : trillium with the legend of 

 the trinity flower ; hyacinth with the old Greek legend 

 of the boy friend of Apollo ; narcissus with many old 

 stories. The name may suggest a comparison or simile, 

 the name iris suggesting the rainbow ; the Jack-in-the- 

 pulpit always attracts the little folks because of the 

 idea associated with its name. 



Having provided that the pupils shall not merely hear 

 the name, but if possible shall be interested in it, apper- 

 ceive it clearly or associate it with an idea, and make 

 it the beginning of a sequence, what is the next step, 

 the first step in the study of that part of nature which 

 we have named ? If we wish to unify the child's ideas, 

 we should first relate the thing studied to the whole of 

 which it is part. We are studying it in the school- 

 room ; it does not belong there. The next step should 

 be to relate it to its natural environment. Is it a 

 mouse, bird, insect, fish, a plant, a whole in itself? 

 Where was it found? Under what conditions? What 

 are its relations to earth and sun and rain and plants 

 and animals ? If an animal, what about its home and 

 home-life and habits ? If a plant, how does it develop ; 

 in what kind of soil does it grow ; do its leaves or flowers 



