180 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE. 



Constellations and Planets. — No child in the school is 



too young to begin to observe the beauty and motions of the 

 more conspicuous objects in the evening sky with some degree 

 of intelligence and a greater degree of pleasure, and no student 

 in any school is so far advanced that in the same field there 

 is nothing left to excite his wonder and engage his most serious 

 intelligent efforts. The reply of the ancient philosopher, 

 Anaxagoras, to the question, "what makes life worth living 1" 

 was " the contemplation of the heavens and of the universal 

 cosmic order." The author 1 of a book going through the 

 press as this is written says : " I was happy in having parents 

 that watched over my infancy in such an intelligent manner 

 that I hardly felt their supervision. A great deal of time 

 was given for looking and listening round about in garden 

 and fields. No screen in the shape of a prematurely given 

 book came between me and the living book of the universe. 

 I walked through nature like the ancients through sacred 

 woods. Especially at nightfall the stars impressed me 

 exceedingly. They spoke to me and I to them. I still 

 remember the little gallery where I used to kneel and 

 worship the moon. ... So parents ... if you can, put 

 them soon, often, and for as long a time as possible, in contact 

 with nature, with mountains, woods, fields, and with that 

 glorious firmament on high which is the marvel of marvels." 



Several teachers have told me of the delight with which 

 the pupils have returned to the school-house on appointed 

 evenings to observe and talk about the stars, and of the 

 evenings at homes where the children of the respective 

 immediate localities had gathered for the same purpose. 



How to Obtain Assistance from Star-Maps. — In using astro- 

 nomical maps the teacher is at first embarrassed by the fact 

 that the east is towards the left hand side of the map and 

 the west towards the right. The North-Star, when it appears 

 on a map, should be regarded as the top ; when it is turned 



'Rev. Charles Wagner. 



