240 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [7 :8— Nov., 1911 



University of Chicago possessed thousands of pigeons, which 

 had occupied him, profound scholar that he was, for fifteen 

 years. Companions of childhood, to fascinate us with their 

 pleasing ways and affectionate manners, our pets remain the 

 associates of maturity to tax our best intellects with the un- 

 solved problems they present, the complex laws they help us 

 unravel. 



That difference between the child and the savant — knowl- 

 edge and ability which come from effective cumulative thinking — 

 is a mark of the educated man. "That man . . . has had 

 a liberal education . . . whose intellect is a clear, cold, 

 logic engine . . . ready to spin the gossamers as well as 

 forge the anchors of the mind." Any thoroughly educative 

 process must needs include this among its aims — the development 

 of thought power adequate to the problems of life. This can only 

 be done with subject matter that has dependent continuity and 

 a progressive complexity commensurate with the growing powers 

 of the child. The classics acquired these essential educative qual- 

 ities as they were knit together into a unified course of study by 

 centuries of pedagogical selection. So, too, mathematics. In 

 the unity of the course not in the subject matter lies the chief 

 value as far as mental development is concerned. 



It behooves us to remember these well-tried principles when 

 we are busy these clays constructing new courses of study. The 

 farmer must make his living from his cattle, his grain, his fruits. 

 It is eminently worth while that the boy who aspires to farm 

 shall acquire skill in the scientific manipulation of these basal 

 elements in his comfort, wealth and leisure. The miner must 

 know his ores and associated rocks. The lad who follows this 

 trade may well be schooled in practical ways that enhance his 

 value as a workman. The muscles of the future crafts-man 

 should early learn their cunning. But a wage-earning vocation 

 becomes humdrum in the extreme and the lines of the average 

 worker are laid in very prosaic surroundings unless his training 

 shall so stimulate his thought that he can catch glimpses at least 

 of the large significance of the commonplace. 



The multiplicity of materials suited to nature study the 

 country over and their diversity in different localities make unity 

 in subject matter well night impossible. We must unify this 

 diversity by the dominance of some idea — a hidden thread on 

 which to string our separate lessons: only 'so can we hope to de- 

 velop power. Then it must be live enough and large enough to 

 hold and tax the ever growing mind of the student. 



