A Neglected Side of Nature-Study 



By S. C. Schmucker 



Being the Address of the Retiring President of the American Nature Study- 

 Society held in connection with the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 28, 1919. 



The student of nature need never lack for material. The whole 

 world lies before his door, and is full of all manner of inviting 

 things. When we want to lead young people into this field as a 

 part of the school work, certain underlying requirements condition 

 our selection of objects for study. 



To gain the ends sought to be achieved by this form of training, 

 the object considered should be familiar, and not strange; an 

 every day object rather than a far-brought "curiosity." In addi- 

 tion to this, the material should be either large enough or abundant 

 enough so that every pupil can see it clearly. As we cannot always 

 work out of doors, the material must be such as can be brought into 

 the room without disorganizing the school or repelling the children. 

 The material must be inherently interesting, or the attention paid 

 to it will be so artificial as to leave little impress. Last of all, the 

 knowledge gained from the study should be worth while. 



What could fulfill all these requirements better than — the pupils 

 themselves. Of recent years I have been getting the class to study 

 its own members. They find nothing that interests them more. 



The aspect in which my students like best to study each other is 

 with regard to their racial composition. By this I do not mean 

 the admixture of white, black and perhaps in some cases of red 

 blood the pupils have in their veins, but the proportion of admix- 

 ture of the three sections of the white race inhabiting Europe, and 

 from which we derive our ancestry. My own interest in this 

 topic was created by reading Ripley's "The Races of Europe." 

 Since making the acquaintance of that book I have steadily 

 indulged the habit of studying people, especially my pupils, 

 endeavoring to untangle the riddle of their bodily characters. 



The three elements to be recognized in our European ancestors 

 and hence in ourselves are the Nordic, the Alpine and the Mediter- 

 ranean. Of these, the Nordic is the most striking in appearance. 

 Tall of stature, commonly not very stout, with fair hair, either 

 flaxen or red, and blue eyes, the Nordic type is unmistakable. 

 These people are prevailingly "long heads." That is if, with the 



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