A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. -16. SEPTEMBER 11th, 1880. Vol. 1. 



EDUCATIONAL ENTO- 

 MOLOC Y. 



WE have long been of opinion 

 that not only Entomology, but 

 nil the other Sciences should form a 

 portion of our National Education. 'We 

 think the London School Board pro- 



i 



Iposed a wise thing when they asked 

 the Government to introduce Scientific 

 [teaching in our schools instead of so 

 much grammar. We quite admit that 

 knowledge of grammar is an advantage 

 to every one, hut persons may speak 

 and write grammatically without that 

 minute technical knowledge of it that is 

 now taught, and that appears to us only 

 to be necessary to tho^e who intend to 

 become teachers of grammar. W T e are 

 quite certain that if the rudiments of 

 Natural Science were taught in School, 

 it would be much better for our youth 

 n after life, than merely being taught 

 Grammar or Arithmetic. Let us illus- 

 trate the point, by a case that came 

 jefore us the other day. A printer had 

 i quantity of his wooden letters perfor- 

 ated by small holes, to such an extent 

 that some of them were rendered per- 



fectly useless. The holes were bored 

 by a little beetle, but popular ignorance 

 said they were "moth eaten," and see- 

 ing number of moths Hying about, (for 

 the letters were in the house in which 

 he lived) he commenced a raid upon 

 them, and but that some one better in- 

 formed put him right in the matter, he 

 would probably have passed his real 

 enemies by, as harmless little insects, 

 especially if he had agreed with the 

 couplet : — 



" Take not the life thou cans't not give, — 

 All have an equal right to live." 



A few pages back we published an 

 observation on Piooks devouring crane 

 flies. On the very day that paper was 

 in our readers hands, we noticed a far- 

 mer, on whose land a large number of 

 rooks were similarly engaged, gun in 

 hand endeavoring to exterminate his 

 Mends, who were endeavoring to 

 exterminate his enemies. Cases like 

 these come so repeatedly before us 

 that we cannot but deplore there is no 

 system of national scientific education. 

 In our opinion every School should 

 teach something of science ; in a simple 



