THE DANGERS OF NATURE STUDY 



33 



universal a phenomenon should suggest, even if it remains 

 unanswered for the present. Who does not know of spring 

 flowers ? But what does this very common habit of spring 

 flowering mean? Nothing is more obvious than that 

 stems grow upward and roots downward; but why? The 

 seedling multiplies its bulk an hundredfold; but whence 

 and how have come the materials for this increase? It 

 may be almost taken as a rule that important things in 

 nature are those which are so common that people seem 

 to know about them without observation. Some teachers 

 have taken a whole course in nature study, and so common 

 were the phenomena considered and so simple was the 

 presentation that they claimed to have learned nothing, 

 when they were really dealing with the most important 

 materials of nature study. They demanded difficulty, 

 rarity, obscurity, terminology; and getting none of these 

 things they were as disappointed as is a hypochondriac 

 whose physician refuses to give some nauseous medicine. 



Terminology. — There appears to be common confusion 

 between "terminology" and "knowledge." To learn the 

 technical name of an object seems to satisfy the intellectual 

 desire of most people in reference to it. As a well-known 

 botanist said in reference to the naming of plants, once so 

 much in vogue as botany: " It is like chasing a woodchuck 

 into his hole; one has only the hole to show for his effort." 

 A technical name explains nothing, and is merely a neces- 

 sary evil and necessary only to specialists. To introduce 

 technical terminology into nature study is as much out of 

 place as to introduce professional training. 



With observation of leaves, which seem to be favorite 

 objects with many teachers, the frequent result is merely an 



