METHOD OF STUDYING MATERIAL. 205 



its claws and draw them into their sheaths, is best fitted 

 to understand the structure of tongue and teeth and 

 claws. The structure will be related to function, each 

 "what" associated with a "why" and "how." The 

 pupil who has watched the development of the bud into 

 the flower, and the formation of fruit and seeds by the 

 flowers, who has seen how the calyx folds about and 

 protects the other parts, how the corolla beautifies, how 

 the pistil becomes the seed-box, who has learned that 

 the corolla attracts insects, and that its markings and 

 hairs guide insects to the nectar, is prepared to study 

 the structure of the flower ; in fact, he has been study- 

 ing structure without knowing it. The structure of 

 sandstone or limestone, its layers or crystals or fossils, is 

 not only better understood when the child has seen how 

 water deposits materials in layers, or watched the forma- 

 tion of crystals of alum or sugar, or learned how shells 

 are deposited in mud and how the mud is hardened into 

 stone, but the child cannot possibly understand their 

 structure until he has learned the story of their forma- 

 tion. 



The study of habit and function relates best with 

 literature and art. As has been said before, it is life 

 and function and story which have appealed to the poet 

 and artist. There is scarcely any literature of mere 

 structure. 



The investigation of habit and function and develop- 

 ment gives the best opportunity for freedom and in- 

 dividuality in observation and expression. Every child 

 in the class may carefully observe the habits of the 



