THE GOVERNMENT AND NATURE STUDY 
'37 
in nature, they come to command a particu- 
lar kind of information that will enable them 
to see and seize upon, later in life, those 
lines of endeavor that lead to personal suc- 
cess, and a training that leads to a better 
and wider development of good citizenship, 
using the latter term in its broadest sense. 
As to the biological material to which 
I refer, it may, in no end of cases, be ob- 
tained within a few hundred feet or less 
from the very door of the class of school- 
house I have in mind — and of such school- 
houses there are doubtless many thousands 
in this country. 
Any of the common plants will answer 
the purpose of the right sort of teacher to 
■demonstrate to a class of children the main 
facts and principles of descriptive botany; 
while, from the lowest form of pond life 
to a field mouse, the material is easily col- 
lected for a classroom demonstration, in 
the matters of observation and its value; the 
gross structure of various animals and their 
physiology; how animal forms are classi- 
fied; the study of a cell and an egg, of a 
feather, of a moth and a butterfly, the tad- 
pole stages of frogs and toads, and many 
other elementary lines which readily sug- 
gest themselves to a resourceful teacher of 
children. 
I have read many works on this subject; 
instructed many children along such lines, 
and noted the value of such instruction; 
conversed with many teachers in regard to 
the subject in its entirety all through 
life for both sexes, and listened with great 
interest to not a few lectures on the sub- 
ject. 
This, then, is what I have in mind in out- 
line, Doctor, and to which I have given my 
attention, as you recently requested me to 
do. Such a course as I have in mind could 
all be incorporated in one volume and fully 
illustrated; but from what I have learned I 
doubt that the money for such a venture is 
at hand at this time, not to mention other 
expenses in connection with such an output 
and its making. 
The same course could be exploited 
through the issuance, from the Bureau of 
Education, pamphlets on each subject, no 
single pamphlet to exceed ten pages print 
(8vo), nor to carry more than five electro- 
type illustrations. 
Such pamphlets I can readily prepare and 
illustrate, and I should be glad to discuss 
with you, as you have already invited me 
to do, at any time that may meet your con- 
venience. 
I am, sir, yours very sincerely, 
(Signed) R. W. SHUFELDT. 
I should value an expression of opin- 
ion from some of our teachers in the 
public schools on this question. 
A Remarkable Ice Formation. 
Mr. Edmund L. Smith, of West Fort 
Lee, New Jersey, kindly sends us the 
accompanying illustration, which he 
describes as an interesting example of 
a natural formation of ice and says that 
“NATURAL CONE OF ICE.” 
it strikingly illustrates the extreme cold 
weather experienced in upper New 
York State last winter. Water from a 
pressure pipe protruding above the 
ground gradually froze, forming a nat- 
ural cone of ice thirty-odd feet in 
height. 
Material from old sawdust piles, 
moistened and incubated, is reported 
to yield great numbers of Protozoa and 
other minute animals of many different 
sorts. Sawdust from southern pine is 
especially recommended. 
