NOTES. 189 
“The entire collection of Coleoptera has been placed in insect- 
proof boxes by Mr. Sprague, and he has begun to secure the 
Harris collection in a similar manner. I desire, however, to call 
the attention of the society to the boxes upon the table. These 
are experiments upon the methods of mounting and illustrating 
the typical collection of insects, and will probably be adopted 
throughout that department. The difficulties that were overcome, 
and amount of study and labor expended by Mr. Sprague in 
making these pattern boxes, can only be rightly appreciated by 
those who have watched their progress. One of them exhibits the 
ventral and dorsal aspects of a large beetle, showing all the parts 
appropriately named. This is to be the type of the order. The 
other boxes contain the types of several genera and two families. 
The enlarged outlines of these small insects are given from the 
dorsal and ventral sides, accompanied by specimens having a 
Similar position. On the right hand side of the box in each case 
are the characteristic parts, likewise greatly enlarged, so as to be 
readily seen, but each figure accompanied by its corresponding dis- 
section. The characteristics of the family and genus are written 
opposite, so that the visitor sees at one glance the animal, its parts, 
and the family and generic characteristics. The outlines are drawn 
with the camera lucida, and corrected by the most careful study, 
so that they are as accurate as it is possible to make them.” 
Pror. SHater of Harvard College at the last meeting of the 
American Educational Association followed with an address upon 
“The Method of Teaching Natural History.” This, he said, as 
practised by him, embodied the same leading principles as had 
Just been suggested by Prof. Pickering, the aim being to give the 
student a practical quite as much as a theoretical knowledge of the 
Science. No text-book served as the basis of teaching, as it was 
quite insufficient for thorough instruction. A student in the first 
Course is directed as his first lesson to go forth into nature and 
catch some kind of a living creature for study. It was no matter 
what he caught, whether a fly, a bird or a serpent. Having made 
a capture, the student is told to observe the creature and note 
down his observations. No matter what he observes, nothing can 
be too trivial, the point being to teach him to use his eyes. His 
notes are reviewed by the teacher, and appropriate comment and 
Suggestion made with regard to further inquiry. It was a trait of 
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