THE SPIRIT OF NATURE STUDY 6 1 



such this chapter may prove helpful, for to know the spirit 

 of nature study is to recognize those who really represent it. 



To describe an "atmosphere" is not easy, at least in 

 exact terms. Although real it is elusive, and can be brought 

 to the appreciation of anyone only through experience or 

 suggestion; and yet it includes certain very definite things 

 which may be taken to represent it as its natural expression. 



Enthusiasm. — It is always characterized by enthusiasm, 

 which is the motive power. This is a feeling of attraction 

 for nature and for natural objects that compels attention. 

 It may be born with one or it may be acquired, but without 

 it nature study is as lifeless as a graven image. There is 

 an enthusiasm that is exuberant and fitful, now blazing 

 out, now dead; but the enthusiasm that counts is steady 

 and sustained. 



It is far from safe to use enthusiasm as the only test of 

 an effective nature study spirit, for it may be irrational and 

 hence ineffective. Having been found in a person or in a 

 book, it is taken as the first count toward a favorable 

 judgment; if it is found to be lacking, no further investiga- 

 tion is necessary, for nothing else can take its place. 



It is just at this point that differences of opinion often 

 arise. Enthusiasm sometimes inclines one to slur over 

 facts rather than to analyze them with exactness. This is 

 bad if carried too far, to the point of securing false results; 

 but up to a certain point it is far better than deadly ex- 

 actness. Much of the criticism by scientific men is justi- 

 fied, but when it demands an exactness that belongs to the 

 university laboratory, it misses the mark. There is a kind 

 of exactness that is essential in nature study, and there is 

 another kind that kills it. For example, it is necessary to 



