At Penikese. 



175 



study the history of the sciences. Broad knowledge 

 of all Nature has been the possession of no naturalist 

 except Humboldt, and general relations constituted 

 his specialty." 



Select such subjects that .your pupils cannot walk 

 without seeing them. Train your pupils to be ob- 

 servers, and have them provided with the specimens 

 about which you speak. If you can find nothing 

 better, take a horse-fly or a cricket, and let each hold 

 a specimen and examine it as you talk.** 



In 1847 I gave an address at Newton, Massachu- 

 setts, before a Teachers* Institute conducted by 

 Horace Mann. My subject was grasshoppers. I 

 passed around a large jar of these insects, and made 

 every teacher take one and hold it while I was speak- 

 ing. If any one dropped the insect, I stopped till 

 he picked it up. This was at that time a great inno- 

 vation, and excited much laughter and derision. 

 There can be no true progress in the teaching of 

 natural science until such methods become general." 



There is no part of the country where, in the 

 summer, you can not get a sufficient supply of the 

 best specimens. Teach your children to bring them 

 in yourselves. Take the text from the book, not 

 from the booksellers. It is better to have a few 

 forms well known than to teach a little about many 

 hundred species. Better a dozen specimens thor- 

 oughly studied as the result of the first year's work, 

 than to have two thousand dollars* worth of shells 

 and corals bought from a curiosity shop. The dozen 

 animals would be your own.** 



The study of Nature is an intercourse with the 



