VI INTRODUCTION. 



student himself, imperfect though it be, is of more value 

 to him than a perfect definition learned from a book, which 

 often appeals to mere memory. Definitions made in the 

 way these pages require are good so far as they go : they 

 should be corrected and supplemented by the instructor. 

 It develops a boy more to earn a dime than to receive a 

 dollar as a gift. 



If the main object of this study is the mere acquisition 

 of facts, full descriptions of most animals can be elsewhere 

 obtained ; but if the more important part in education is to 

 lead the pupil to see and think for himself, then some such 

 method as this should be used. 



The underlying object in all our teaching is to make 

 seeing, thinking, self-reliant, honest men and women. All 

 branches of natural science, rightly pursued, are powerful 

 means to this end. 



" The feeling is becoming general that practice must be 

 united with theory, in the education of young men, or the 

 best results of education are lost. The powers and faculties, 

 instead of being educated — drawn out and developed — 

 are crushed under a mass of merely memorized facts and 

 theory, and at the end of his educational course the young 

 man finds himself unfitted for the work of the actual world, 

 and has to unlearn, and learn again, before he can find the 

 path to success. 



" This feeling has resulted, in Germany, in the object- 

 teaching of Frcebel ; in Russia, in that celebrated system 

 wherein practical work is united with the theoretical 

 teaching, which already shows such important results ; and 

 in the United States, in the building of workshops and 

 laboratories for the use of students in our higher schools 

 and colleges." 



