6 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE. 



through stimuli that appeal to the esthetic side of the child's 

 nature. How does this differ from the conduct of a physician 

 who, instead of studying his patient and choosing the best 

 available treatment and remedies under the circumstances of 

 the case, were to say to the sufferer : " I have brought you a 

 full stock of medicines ; I have studied them and know that 

 they are good. Take as many of them as you can; all, if 

 possible " ? The physician ought to study his medicines, it is 

 true ; but he is useless if he does not know how to study his 

 patients. If he knows how to make a right diagnosis his 

 books can assist him with his materia medica. Even then, 

 he must further study his patient to know whether he is 

 administering the medicines in the most effective way. And 

 so, in Nature Study, the matter of first importance and 

 greater difficulty is learning the nature and needs of the 

 child and the science of suiting the instruction to such 

 nature and needs. There are books in plenty to help him 

 with the "other nature." 



Children hunting a lost ball in a meadow adjoining the 

 play-yard discover a ground-bird's nest with four blotched 

 eggs. Their interest is aroused. They describe the nest to 

 the teacher and inquire to what kind of bird it belongs. 

 Unfortunate for them if he is scientist enough and unpeda- 

 gogical enough to say at once : " It is a bob-o-link's nest." 

 Better were he a good teacher and no ornithologist, for then 

 he would use their interest to lead to some educational 

 activity which would be far more useful to them than the 

 mere information they seek. But best of all if the teacher 

 knows well both children and birds. In that case he can 

 guide them to discover the answer to their question in an 

 educative way, and in doing so excite them to ask and answer 

 by research many other related questions. He engages their 

 interest at the favorable moment to train them to observe, 

 think, investigate and enjoy. This is Nature Study. 



