740 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 410. 



Nature Study and Life. By Clifton F. 



Hodge, Ph.D. Boston, Ginn & Co. 1902. 



Pp. XV + 514, illustrated. 



The teaching of the sciences in schools is 

 justified largely by the unequaled possibilities 

 they afford for the development of the powers 

 of observation, but in addition to .this primary 

 quality they are by no means lacking in others 

 of great pedagogic importance. Judiciously 

 treated, they may serve also in the training of 

 the powers of deduction and, furthermore, may 

 possess distinct utilitarian advantages not 

 only by imparting information of the kind 

 generally spoken of as ' useful,' but also by 

 awakening in the mind of the child an intel- 

 ligent interest in nature and a desire to dis- 

 cover nature's laws. 



Three elementary text-books of zoology (one 

 of them really pertaining to the wider field of 

 biology) have recently appeared, and it is pro- 

 posed briefly to consider to what extent each is 

 possessed of the qualities just mentioned. 

 The first of these books is by Dr. Nathaniel 

 French and is entitled ' Animal Activities ' 

 (Longmans, Green & Co.). The volume opens 

 with introductory chapters devoted to instruc- 

 tions for the collection and preservation of 

 material for study and to the exposition of 

 some general physiological principles, and then 

 proceeds to an examination of the structure 

 and activities of crickets and grasshoppers, the 

 pupil being guided toward the observations 

 desired by questions. Then follows an inter- 

 rogational guide to other insects, then to 

 spiders and then to the crayfish and other 

 Crustacea, after which the remaining animal 

 groups are considered in succession, beginning 

 with the protozoa. 



Subjected to the obsei-vational test, the book 

 gives a decided and, on the whole, a satisfac- 

 tory response, although the criticisms may 

 justly be made that frequently the guiding 

 questions are too leading and that occasionally 

 the pupil is tempted toward decidedly inaccu- 

 rate observations. But with the deductive and 

 utilitarian tests the reactions are disappoint- 

 ing, contrary to what might be expected from 

 the chosen title. Not that the desired quali- 

 ties are entirely lacking, but that they are not 

 more equally developed in proportion to the 



training afforded in observation. A competent 

 teacher who would supply the deficient quali- 

 ties might use the book with advantage, though 

 it must be confessed that in the treatment of 

 some of the groups it fails to reach the stand- 

 ard which should be demanded in a high school 

 text, which it is intended to be. It is unfortu- 

 nate that the sources from which some familiar 

 illustrations are borrowed are not acknowl- 



The second book, ' Elementary Zoology ' 

 (Henry Holt & Co.), by Professor Vernon L. 

 Kellogg, is of a more thorough character and 

 attains much more perfectly the proper high- 

 school standard. It starts with directions, to 

 a certain extent stated interrogatively, for the 

 study of the toad, the crayfish, the amoeba and 

 paramoecium and the hydra, presenting the 

 general principles which may be deduced from 

 each, and then proceeds to the study of each 

 of the great groups of the animal kingdom, 

 beginning with the protozoa. One or more 

 species of each group are selected for study 

 and a clear and interesting account is given of 

 other important members of the group. Then 

 follow brief but generally excellent chapters 

 on natural selection, parasitism, coloration, 

 distribution and similar topics, and finally 

 there are added chapters, again excellent, on 

 the methods for collecting, rearing and pre- 

 serving material. 



The book is throughout deserving of praise. 

 To the observational test it responds most 

 satisfactorily and the author shows an admira- 

 ble appreciation of the proper perspective in 

 the selection of points to be especially empha- 

 sized. It furnishes, perhaps, too many deduc- 

 tions ready made, but this failing is to a 

 large extent compensated by the suggestive- 

 ness of much of the descriptive portion of the 

 text and of the chapters treating the more 

 general topics. Especial attention is not 

 drawn to the directly practical side of zoology, 

 although reference is made to many forms of 

 economic importance, but the interesting de- 

 scriptions of habits and life-histories which 

 occur abundantly throughout the book and the 

 wealth of striking illustrations can hardly fail 

 to arouse in the pupil a deep and lasting inter- 

 est in ' Nature's children ' and to stimulate a 



