OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENT. 9 



to do with the distaste for manual labor. Cultivation of the 

 powers of observation does much to inculcate a love of nature 

 and to give joy to life in the country, and possibly a preference 

 for it. (See Dexter and Garlick's " Psychology in the School- 

 room.") Dr. Bigelow tells of a philanthropist who sent some 

 New York tenement women to the country for a summer 

 holiday. Before a week had elapsed they had all returned to 

 their sweltering city coops. On inquiring the reason he 

 received the answer that they had come back before the time 

 was up because " there was nothin' doin'." Neither book- 

 learning nor no-learning qualifies people to enjoy the delights 

 of country life. 



The purpose of observation is not simply to train the 

 senses but to train the individual through the senses. Its 

 value is not determined by the object but by the mental 

 attitude induced. In the first stage it is the development of 

 an image. " Until an image is formed in the mind it is 

 worse than useless to take the next step. To over-emphasize 

 the importance of external presentation and to under-emphasize 

 the importance of the resulting mental product is the mark 

 of much poor teaching." — Jackman. The common exercise, 

 writing lists of the names of things observed in a given time, 

 may have value for spelling but it is not much use for Nature 

 Study. 



The facts gained from observation are relatively of secondary 

 importance. " It is the power to observe which is the thing ; 

 it is the habit of observation which is to be cultivated." It 

 is a common mistake for the teacher to state the result of an 

 observation, or to permit the pupil to read it from a book, 

 and then turn to the object to substantiate the statement. 

 Pictures should not be allowed to usurp the place of objects. 

 A picture appeals to only one sense, and that in a symbolic 

 and more or less imperfect way. Guide the observations of 



