HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT 39 



" ' Ah, did he write it himself, or — or how ? ' 



" ' He write it himself ! Christopher Colombo ! 

 He's own handwriting ; write it by himself.' 



" Then the doctor laid down the document and 

 said: 



" ' Why, I have seen boys in America only 

 fourteen years old that could write better than 

 that.' 



" ' But zis is ze great Christo ' " 



" ' I don't care who it is ! It's the worst writ- 

 ing I ever saw. Now you mustn't think you can 

 impose on us because we are strangers. We are 

 not fools by a good deal. If you have got any 

 specimens of penmanship of real merit, trot them 

 out ! If you haven't drive on ! ' We drove on." 



You will recall the conversation (with a touch 

 of sympathy perhaps for the guide), as he shows 

 a bust of Columbus and an Egyptian mummy. 



As the humorist was apparently impressed by 

 his frantic efforts to present his wonders so as to 

 win exclamations of admiration, and to arouse 

 the traveler's interest in those antiquarian affairs, 

 so in reality many a boy or girl is impressed, and 

 often likewise those of older growth, but the im- 

 pression vanishes with the Oh, and Ah, and Oh 

 my, which the efforts excite. 



