224 Fourth Conference 



field, and of paintings of flowers, in connection with 

 Professor Balfour's schedule, from Brighton, and sea- 

 weeds and fossils from Dover (schools of the Girls' 

 Public Day-School Company); also paintings, slides, 

 and specimens of the mycetozoa and mosses from 

 St. Margaret's, Bushey; flowers dried in sand from 

 Cheltenham College; plants growing in solutions 

 from James Allen's school; &c. 



Leaving regular school work, I come now to volun- 

 tary Nature-study. It may be thought that as love 

 of Nature has been strong in all ages of the world, 

 especially shown in the worship of Nature deities and 

 in Greek and Latin poetry, training is not needed. 

 But Nature seems to be best appreciated in later life, 

 and what an advantage it is then if habits of observa- 

 tion have been early gained ! 



Sir J. Paget, in his address in 1888 to university 

 students on scientific study, dwelt especially on the 

 need of education in the power of observation, and 

 also on the importance of accuracy. He noticed, too, 

 another point (already discussed here), that Nature- 

 study is as suited for the town as for the country. 

 He said: "Even in natural history you may study 

 the habits of the London wild birds, or you may 

 study wild flowers on any piece of ground left undis- 

 turbed for two or three years". This last point is 

 illustrated in this exhibition by flowers from the 

 Blackheath High School found on the heath. We 

 have, again, the authority of Lord Avebury, in his 

 English Landscape, for the necessity of observation 

 to throw new light on familiar scenes. 



I will now notice some practical attempts at 

 Nature-study. Amongst the exhibits we have: The 



