132 APPENDIX. 
[Letter from Mr. Hagar, Principal of the State Normal School.] 
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, SALEM, MASS., 
March 9, 1871. 
F. W. Putnam, Esq»: 
Dear ir: —I regret that my school duties will not allow 
me to be present to-day at the legislative hearing in refer- 
ence to the AMERICAN NATURALIST. I should be glad to 
say a word in behalf of that most valuable publication. 
Having taken it from the first, I have had an opportunity to 
judge of its merits, and I am clearly of the opinion that it 
is admirably adapted to awaken and promote in the minds of 
those who peruse it a lively intérest in the study of Natural 
History. 
It seems to me that if the Legislature of Massachusetts 
should furnish the means of placing the Naruratist in the 
several school libraries of the State, or, at least, in the 
hands of the teachers of high schools and the principal 
grammar schools, it would do much toward building up ê 
department of education which is now generally neglected, 
though of great importance. 
I earnestly hope that the Committee on Education will 
regard with favor your application in behalf of the NATU- 
RALIST, and that the Legislature will aid you in your labo- 
rious efforts to introduce more of practical science into our 
public schools. 
Yours truly, 
D. B. HAGAR. 
[Remarks by George B. Emerson, LL.D.] 
Mr. Chairman: —I think it of the utmost importance, in 
the education of every child, to open his eyes, as early - 
possible, to the beauty, properties, and curious structure of 
the objects around him. This will lead him to form the habit 
of observation upon the simplest objects, will add to his 
capacity for observation and thought, and will open to him @ 
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