I20 First Conference 



their characteristic seasonal aspects, their correspond- 

 ingly changing web of life — thus begins the higher 

 natural history for older pupils. This is no longer 

 the mere collecting of specimens; it is not even the 

 best of observing or recording of living things viewed 

 singly. Beyond the "nature note-book" of his earlier 

 years, the pupil advances to the work of " regional 

 siij-vey ". This is fundamentally, therefore, a topogra- 

 phical, a geological, a botanical survey. Witness 

 these admirable beginnings of a " Botanical Survey of 

 Scotland " initiated by the late Robert Smith of Uni- 

 versity College, Dundee, and now continued by his 

 brother, Dr. W. G. Smith of Yorkshire College, 

 Leeds. Of this the first sheets, to be seen in this 

 exhibition, will be found of no small value and sug- 

 gestiveness to teachers. For such maps alike best 

 suggest the various possibilities and facilities within 

 reach, and the methods of utilizing them ; they show 

 how to record the results of our own survey, and how 

 to stimulate the personal investigations of others. 



Familiarity with our own regional elements once 

 acquired, how we may next use it towards building 

 up ideas of the larger world, of its landscapes and its 

 vegetation, even of its occupations and its people, 

 will increasingly suggest itself in the experience of 

 every teacher. Thus Nature-study passes into geo- 

 graphy, and this into the better understanding of 

 history and literature. 



Nature-study being primarily the Art of Seeing, for 

 this there are facilities everywhere. How to find and 

 how to use the school and city outlook, how to see 

 and fix the changing beauty of things in sketch, and 

 photograph, and memory, are all matters for special 



