CHAPTER V 



THE TEACHING OF NATURE-STUDY 



When, at Christmas time, we searcli the shelves 

 of a London book shop, to find fresh " Golliwog " 

 adventures or new fairy tales, are we not struck 

 by the importance given to another class of child's 

 book ? " The Fairchild Family," " Struwelpeter," 

 Hans Andersen's tales, books that we were brought 

 up upon, are superseded by a totally new kind. 

 Anything relating to living things, birds, mammals, 

 plants, wild flowers, fruit, is what we now give 

 our children. In short, nature-study, and every- 

 thing connected with it, is the fashion. It forms 

 not only an important part of education, but it 

 also is recreation. Possibly we encourage it as a 

 reversion from over-much science and book-learn- 

 ing, which is apt to produce a somewhat unhealthy, 

 overstrained, nervous condition. The philosophy 

 of the " Simple Life," which is preached so much, 

 is a reaction from these abnormal conditions to 

 the natural, healthy order of existence. 



Up to now, we stand only upon the threshold 



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