HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT $ 



ha-ed, the girls tittered, and even the Visitor 

 chuckled, and took off his glasses and wiped 

 them in a deliberate way. Then he continued : 



" Well, you're a happy lot, I see ; youth is the 

 time to be happy. I was just as happy as you 

 are, at your age — and — and — well, I don't know but 

 I've had some pretty good times since then." He 

 looked at the Deacon, and we boys noticed that 

 the Deacon's twinkle turned to a grin, and we young 

 folks laughed again, but not so loud ; we were not 

 quite sure that we could laugh on the Deacon's 

 grin. The teacher's dimple showed a little, then 

 she looked solemn, and the Visitor proceeded : 



" As I was saying, you must first see the thing — 

 and yet, one thing isn't enough. Your definition 

 is apt to be one-sided, if you don't take into con- 

 sideration many specimens of the class. For ex- 

 ample, there's Frank's boat. He keeps it for use ; 

 always has a good string of fish when he comes 

 home ; and I don't suppose he cares so much 

 about the appearance of the boat as does the 

 owner of that one beautifully painted, with the 

 name 'Lily* on it. But you young folks know 

 that these small boats are not all. A definition 

 that would apply to them might not apply to other 

 ^oats. There's the mass of logs that the boys 



