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But has there been anything done, any measures 

 taken, to encourage and perpetuate, through childhood 

 and youth and up to manhood, that taste and fondness 

 for natural history which are so universally developed 

 in infancy ? On the contrary, the general course of the 

 training of children in school has hitherto been such as 

 was calculated to obliterate, or suppress, this taste 

 such as was calculated, practically, to impress upon 

 their minds the notion, that those natural objects which 

 had made them so happy in infancy, were the mere 

 toys of that early period, which were unworthy to 

 engage their attention, or be remembered in the more 

 advanced periods of childhood and youth. To spell 

 words without knowing their meaning, to read senten- 

 ces with fluency, without understanding them, to recite 

 the geography of the countries of the world, while their 

 thoughts ranged no farther than the maps before them 

 exercises like these have usually absorbed nearly 

 the whole time of children in the school-room, and, 

 practically, deprived them of the means and motives 

 for understanding, appreciating, and enjoying what is 

 real, and valuable, and beautiful in the productions of 

 the natural world around them. 



But it is hoped that, in this respect, a better day is 

 now dawning upon our country, and that the time is 

 not far distant, when instruction in natural history shall 

 occupy its true place, and receive its due share of at- 

 tention in all our schools and seminaries of learning. 

 The facilities for illustrating this branch of knowledge 

 are abundant and available in every neighborhood ; 

 and let the pupils in our schools be encouraged in col- 

 lecting them, and aided in examining and understand- 

 ing them, and they will at length acquire such habits 

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