78 THe Orrawa NatTuRALIST. [June | a 
For the highest type of work, books and other kinds of materials 
must be secured, but at the outset the cost will not be great, and 
these should succeed and not precede the collection of natural 
specimens. Under such conditions the purchased materials will 
be wisely selected, carefully studied and properly cared for. : 
Experimental Apparatus.—As has been pointed out, the ex- 
periments at this period are not of a vigorous analytic type, and 
_ consequently little apparatus is required, and that of a most 
elementary character, easily eonstructed by the teacher or pupil, 
or procured at trifling expense. A twenty-five cent lens may be of | 
more value in such work than a compound microscope. The life- 
history of a plant, together with such phenomena as appeal to the 
child can be studied from a single specimen, the only expense in- 
volved being the cost of the seed and the crock. One of the ~ 
most scientific and fruitful investigations of insects made in 
recent years is a study of ants, extending over six years, 
conducted by Miss Fielde of New York City, and reported to 
the members of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 
The following is a description of the apparatus used: ‘‘ An 
ant nest can be made in an hour or two with two pieces of 
glass 3 in. by 4 in. and strips of Turkish towelling glued around 
for walls. A partition with a door is necessary to make a sepa- 
rate room for the food, a wet sponge in the living room, a few 
dead flies, and the home is quite satisfactory to your little guests. 
A sheet of orange tinted glass over the nest enables you to study 
them without any offensive publicity.’ 
In no other subject is it so true as in Nature Study that 
‘‘ half a loaf is better than no bread.” The teacher who waits for 
gilt-edged apparatus, a well-prepared school garden, a sympathetic 
public and other ideal conditions, will always find good and suffi- 
cient reason for postponing the introduction of the subject. On 
the other hand, the teacher who makes a wise selection of 
material, is content to begin with the day of small things and 
to make the best of the present situation, will find that in Nature 
Study, as in every other activity, ‘‘ Perfection consists not in a 
having and a resting but in a growing and a becoming,” 
