12 NATURE-STUDY 



ucts can be formed that have no counterpart in reality. 

 The result may be pure fancy. Although this may be legiti- 

 mate in literature and art, it has no place in science. In the 

 search for truth the imagination should be watched lest it 

 lead astray. In science-study there is abundant opportunity 

 for the exercise and also, which is important, the control of 

 the imagination. "Of all the powers of the mind it is cer- 

 tainly that which is most important in giving originality to 

 the results of thought," say Hall and Smith.' "But in pro- 

 portion to its value and activity is the difficulty of controlling 

 its operations. The imagination is a good servant but a 

 bad master. The opportunity which is offered in experi- 

 mental science to test the results of imagination by com- 

 parison, again and again renewed, with the concrete materials 

 with which it has been dealing, furnishes an unrivalled 

 opportunity to practise and control it." While the above 

 applies especially to the maturer study of the sciences it also 

 applies in nature-study. Children love to theorize if given 

 the chance, and they should be taught to check their imagina- 

 tion with the facts before them. 



Many people cannot appreciate the value of mental training 

 merely for the sake of sharpening the wits, and decry all 

 education that cannot be applied directly to the earning of 

 dollars and cents. "What is the use of such learning?" 

 they ask. This is a practical generation, and education 

 must meet the practical test of every-day life. If any subject 

 has practical value it is natural science, for through it we 

 become better acquainted with our environment. Man will 

 never be free from the natural conditions that now affect his 

 life. He will always need food, clothing, and shelter; he 



1 " Teaching of Physics and Chemistry," p. ii. 



