128 THe Otrawa NATURALIST. [ September 
and giving the Earth its present diversified form of rounded hills, 
precipitous gorges, low lying valleys and rich alluvial flood plains. 
The evolution of lakes, springs, deltas, coal-beds, oil-fields and gas 
reservoirs was treated in simple, yet comprehensive, manner. 
Soils, their formation, composition and possibilities was another 
special feature. These lectures, coupled with the practical field 
work given the class by Dr. White, cannot fail to make Physical 
Geography a more interesting department of Nature Study to 
those students who followed the course. 
Dr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, gave two lectures on Canadian 
birds, and two on insects. Not always is a great naturalist a good 
teacher, but it was the unanimous voice of the Summer School 
that Dr. Fletcher is both. His unbounded enthusiasm carried him 
over every difficulty. . His homely apt illustrations made scientific 
facts as simple as the multiplication table. His natural methods 
of classification and his skill in using common terms instead of 
technical ones, show him to have the essentials of the ‘‘ Kinder- 
garten’’ method. Dr. Fletcher laid especial emphasis upon the 
economic side of bird and insect study. A loving sympathy with 
nature is the key-note of Dr. Fletcher’s philosophy. 
Principal Attwood, of the Waller Street School, gave two 
interesting and practical lectures on minerals. He led his class to 
form for theniselves a very concise working definition of what is 
meant by a mineral. He suggested several natural methods of 
classifying minerals and added very much.to the clearness of his 
explanations by concrete illustrations. Perhaps one of the most 
striking features of his lectures was his practical illustration of 
how each mineral may be identified by its stain, when powdered — 
and smeared over paper. The two lectures on minerals con- 
vinced the students that mineralogy offers an inviting field for 
Nature Study, which may be used with advantage to broaden the 
minds of pupils in our elementary schools. 
. To the writer was assigned the work in Botany and Nature - 
Study Aims and Methods with children. Whether rightly or 
wrongly, the Botany purposely got the lion’s share of attention. 
A method is a part of each individual teacher : it is his ideal way of 
doing a thing ; it is part and parcel of himself. Let him know a 
thing thoroughly, let him have a reverent love for its spiritual 
significance, let him know something of the child to whom tha 
truth is to be imparted, and the method will take cate of itself. 
With this as a pedagogical creed, it was felt that the most import- 
ant work was to foster a love for plant life by giving the maximum 
of instruction about plants. 
All educators recognize that, in order to do any work well, 
the teacher must be inspired ; but so often we forget that true and 
