SCIENCE 



Editorial Committee : S. Newcomb, Mathematics ; E. S. Woodward, Mechanics ; E. C. Pickering 



Astronomy; T. C. Mendenhall, Physics; E. H. Thurston, Engineering; Ira Eemsen, Chemistry; 



J. Le Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Marsh, Paleontology; W. K. 



Brooks, C. Hart Merriam, Zoology; S. H. Scudder, Entomology; N. L. Britton, 



Botany; Henry F. Osborn, General Biology; H. P. Bowditch, Physiology; 



J. S. Billings, Hygiene ; J. McKeen Cattell, Psychology ; 



Daniel G. Brinton, J. W. Powell, Anthropology ; 



G. Brown Goode, Scientific Organization. 



Friday, August 7, 1896. 



CONTENTS: 



Nature Study and Moral Culture : David Starr 

 Jordan 149 



Observations on the Relation of Physical Development 

 to Intellectual Ability, made on the School Children 

 of Toronto, Can.: G. M. West 156 



A Two-headed Tortoise: Erwin Hinckley 

 Barbour 159 



Some Bifflcidties in the Presentation of the Periodic 

 Law:' F. P. Venable 160 



Current Notes on Physiography : — 

 Hills and Plains of Southeast Louisiana ; Pimpled 

 Prairies of Louisiana ; Lubbock^ s Scenery of Sioitz- 

 erland ; Report of the London Geographical Con- 

 gress: W. M. Davis 163 



Current Notes on Meteorology : — 

 Relative Humidity of New England; Protectioyi 

 from Frost; Tornadoes in Texas : E. DeC. Ward.. 164 



Current Notes on Anthropology : — 

 Native American Textile Art ; The 'Second Column ' 

 of the Achemenidean Inscription : D. G. BRINT0N..165 



Scientific Notes and News : — 



Electrical Conduction at Low Temperatures; The 

 Diminution of Consumption ; General 165 



University and Educational News : — 

 Foreign Students in the French University ; General. 169 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



The Personal Equation : T. H. Safford. Cin- 

 nabar and Rutile in Montana : M. E. Wads- 

 worth. Pygmy Villages discovered in the Inte- 

 rior of Surinam, Guiana : E. G. HALIBURTON..170 



Scientific Literature : — 



Von WasielewskV s Sporozoenkunde : Ch. War- 

 dell Stiles. Report of the Government Ento- 

 mologist of the Cape of Good Hope ; Tenth Annual 

 Report of the New York State Entomologist : L. 

 O. H. Ribot' s Psychologic des sentiments : HiRAM 

 M. Stanley 171 



Scientific Journals : — 



The American Chemical Journal : ■ J. Elliott 

 Gilpin. TJie Auk 174 



New Books 176 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., Intended 

 for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Prof. J. 

 McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 



NATURE STUDY AND MORAL CULTURE.'*^ 



In making a plea for nature study as a 

 means of moral culture I do not wish to 

 make an over- statement, nor to claim for 

 such study any occult or exclusive power. 

 It is not for us to say, so much nature in 

 the schools, so much virtue in the scholars. 

 The character of the teacher is a factor 

 which must always be counted in. But the 

 best teacher is the one that comes nearest 

 to nature, the one who is most effective in 

 developing individual wisdom. To seek 

 knowledge is better than to have knowledge. 



The essence of character building lies in 

 action. Precepts of virtue are useless un- 

 less they are built into life. At birth or be- 

 fore, " the gate of gifts is closed." It is the 

 art of life, out of variant and contradictory 

 materials passed down to us from our an- 

 cestors, to build up a coherent and effective 

 individual character. Character building 

 is action, not imitation. The chief value 

 of nature study in character building is 

 that, like life itself, it deals with realities. 

 The experience of living is of itself a form 

 of nature study. One must, in life, make 

 his own observations, frame his own in- 

 ductions, and apply them in action as he 

 goes along. The habit of finding out the 

 best thing to do next and then doing it is 

 the basis of character. A strong character 

 is built up by doing, not by imitation, nor 



* Presented at the National Educational Association 

 at Buffalo, N. Y., July 10, 1896. 



