MINERALOGY. 4I 



elements ; the mutual influence of the vegetable and ani- 

 mal kingdoms ; the ammoniacal contents of the soil, the 

 air and the rain water ; the absorption of nitrogen or 

 azote from the atmosphere ; the absorption of mineral 

 matter dissolved in the ground and in water ; the origin 

 of these by mechanical and chemical solution ; the grad- 

 ual impoverishment of the soil ; the enriching of the 

 soil by letting it lie fallow, as by manuring it; the 

 nature and purpose of manure the illustration of the 

 origin and processes of the nourishing and growth of 

 plants ; the principles of plant culture ; seed and plant 

 nurseries, etc. To the observations of the school gar- 

 den belong elementary experiments in cultivating plants 

 in water and in sand, together with experiments in the 

 analysis of the nourishment, germination and multipli- 

 cation of plants. Probably no one will deny that all 

 this belongs to the instruction of a well arranged village 

 school. 



Where, for example, can the function of the air in the 

 economy of nature be better shown than in the open air, 

 in nature, in the school garden ? Where could the im- 

 portance of water, the ever present proteus-formed, all 

 encompassing, all moving, all containing, and all shap- 

 ing water, the element by whose existence the earth is 

 what it is, by whose means plants and animals live, 

 without which we could not exist or improve in cultiva- 

 tion, where can the importance of light and warmth be 

 better explained than in the school garden ? 



Outside of pedagogic reasons, the chief portion of 

 the study of natural history falls to the share of the in- 

 struction of the public school. Within this field the first 

 place belongs to the most agreeable part, the plant 

 world, and not merely because it is the most easy of 



