——S a he 
ON ZOOLOGY ORGANISATION. 267 
unicellular animals through the simpler invertebrata to the higher animals all 
sense of indelicacy or impropriety disappears, while the knowledge acquired is 
clear and precise. In this respect Botany cannot take its place. The 
phenomenon of sex-reproduction should be regarded as one of the most necessary, 
and in some respects the most important, features in the general education of our 
boys and girls, and we attach great importance to the study of Animal Biology 
as the only means by which it can be adequately taught. 
As the question has frequently been asked what should be the scope of the 
teaching of Natural History in schools up to the standard of the first school 
leaving examination, we have ventured to draw up the following schedule of 
subjects based on a practical knowledge of what has been done and can be done. 
1. The principal characters of some of the more important divisions of the 
animal kingdom which can be observed by a study, without dissection, of a 
number of selected types such as— 
The sea anemone and a simple coral. 
A snail or a whelk. 
A whiting or a fresh-water fish. 
A lizard. 
A bird or a rabbit. 
The study of the movements and habits of living animals should be en- 
couraged as far as possible by observations on such animals as can be kept in an 
aquarium, such as Daphnia, Cyclops, Planarian worms, water snails, insect 
larve, small fishes, and in the case of seaside schools, sea-anemones, marine 
worms, crabs or prawns, limpets, periwinkles, and various zoophytes. 
A simple terrarium can also be devised for the study of living insects, spiders, 
earthworms, snails, frogs, and reptiles. 
2. A more detailed study of the general anatomy and of the functions of the 
principal organs of such types as— 
Ameeba or Paramecium. 
Hydra. 
The earthworm. 
Cockroach. 
Frog. 
d Dogfish and rabbit. 
This study will require the use of the microscope and of dissections which 
could be made by the masters or the older boys under the direction of the 
master. The functions of the organs can be explained by the master in the 
course of the exercises, and by demonstrations which do not involve experiments 
on living structures. 
3. The study of the deveiopment of the frog by direct observation of the 
spawn and tadpole stages in the spring, and in schools provided with an 
ineubator, the first three days of the development of the chick can be studied 
with advantage. 
The study of the metamorphoses of the butterfly, moth, harlequin fly, or gnat 
can also be studied practically at this stage. 
In regard to junior pupils the Committee would endorse the suggestions 
elaborated in the Scottish Education Department’s ‘Memorandum on Nature 
Study,’ which indicate the advantages of following the seasons and trying to 
understand their prominent features. This method is particularly applicable to 
country schools, but it has among its advantages that of bringing different 
_ sciences—Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Zoology—to bear on what is going on in 
the natural world outside. It is very important to suggest early that the various 
sciences work into each other’s hands. 
