54 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



the teacher called for. In that particular instance the 

 class was almost unanimous in professing to see something 

 that did not exist, simply because they thought they ought 

 to see it. It must be evident that this result is as far as 

 possible from the one sought. It is just this kind of docility 

 that must be broken up, or the child will become a con- 

 firmed dependent. 



This kind of dependence appears even among university 

 students, whose observations are not prejudiced in this 

 case by instructors, but by well- illustrated text-books. 

 This flinching from doing the one really essential thing, 

 when it comes to observation, is to be observed in many 

 ways and is to be checked at all hazards. In nature study, 

 text-book, or chart illustrations are not likely to prejudice, 

 and the teacher properly on his guard will not commit such 

 a blunder, but even then there are ways of dodging the 

 issue. There are sketches of fellow pupils that may be 

 used as a substitute for one's own observation; this of 

 course is palpable dependence. A more subtle form of 

 prejudiced observation is the careless or hasty look, fol- 

 lowed by a record made to fit general impressions rather 

 than the actual facts. 



It is very helpful to discover the tendencies of individual 

 pupils in a variety of ways, trying to discover the personal 

 equations and then attempting to correct them. A bad 

 case needs to be isolated from every form of temptation, 

 a sort of solitary confinement, until real observation 

 is secured. In other cases, whose symptoms are not so 

 serious, occasional traps will probably bring caution and 

 honesty. Some cases will be found hopeless, for they are 

 born dependents, or they may be even persistently dis- 



