40 Education through Nature 



aid to intellectual power and growth. By it atten- 

 tion becomes active and concentrated, and the mind's 

 activity is properly maintained. Observation is bring- 

 ing the mind into contact with the facts of the outer 

 world, thereby increasing the number and intensity 

 of the many forces which contribute to mental evolu- 

 tion. 



IV. Training of the Judgment and Imagination. 



The Judgment in Nature Study. Mental states 

 affected by repeated sensation seem to be accom- 

 panied by changes in the nervous gray matter of the 

 brain, rendering more likely a recurrence of similar 

 states. Phenomena occurring together in this process 

 may, when thus impressed on the mind, recall one 

 another. On seeing a face which is familiar to us, 

 we often recall another face associated with it in our 

 experience; a friend's home may recall the friend 

 who used to reside there ; a melody may recall the scenes 

 of our childhood ; and an old oaken bucket, many inci- 

 dents in our early life. Recollections like these often 

 seem instantaneous; no process of reflection or rea- 

 soning seems necessary to recall them. 



This association of ideas is important in the training 

 of the judgment. Practical minds seem to be those in 

 whom this quick perception of fundamental relations 

 is especially marked. When we make a statement 

 about an object a judgment is involved. The practical 

 judgment is, therefore, trained in connection with 

 things. Nature study is especially well suited to the 

 training of the judgment, not only because there is 

 an association of ideas, but because of the necessity 

 of forming independent judgments that can be tested 

 as to their correctness. 



It is in this department of intellectual training, 

 more than in any other, perhaps, that the usual book 

 work in our school education fails. The helplessness, 



