The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-06-09
How Animal and Vegetable Life is
Studied in = Young Ladies'
Seminary.
The Wonders OF Mature Are Com
pretended by Series Of Prao-
tical Experiments
A Famous Collection Of biological and
Physiological Specimens From Every
Part Of tho World.

The idea OF raising pollywogs and frogs
and fishes and rare plants in school house,
and Of dissecting rabbits and pigeons and
eyes Of oxen and calves brains! Yet that is
what is now being done at Packer institute,
says the Brooklyn Eagle. Every day de-
mure young ladies cut and pick to pieces
some one or more of these subjects, exam
1ne them under the microscope. make
drawings of them and can tell you more
about animal and vegetable life and growth
In five minutes than half the old-time doc
tors ever thought of in their whole existence.
In word, Brooklyn has to-day in Packer
institute the best equipped and most thor
ough course in natural history of
any academical school in the country.
This is not an idle stare
ment, and it came about in simple,
natural way, as all good things do. DIR.
Backus, the principal of the institute, has
long been imbued with the spirit of the
most modern and even radical of the edu-
looked with favor upon the departments Of
useful knowledge, as distinguished from
the more ornamental features of what was
supposed to constitute q young woman's
education in the world. Physical culture
and the natural sciences, in response to
UAcoo pIcScAt 1Ootta u 0uuCdLlOU, nave taken
prominent places in the curriculum of the
school. Physics and chemistry have been
advanced to high standard, but the de-
partment of natural history, especially the
branches of biology and physiology. has
gone much further than that. In order to
teach the origin and growth of animal life
It must be brought right before the eye.
Then even the merest child can compre-
bend much Of the meaning of the wonders
OF nature. This is what has been done
under Or. Backus' idea. At every available
point all oyer the institute an object lesson
has been set up where, on window sill or in
tanned, and splendid working collection of
natural history has been scattered piece
meal over the building where its objects
would come under the eye of the scholar
passing to and fro from Rotations or dur
ing the hours of recreation. The idea has
worked admirably in developing an interest
The collection is the work of Hugo Mu-
lertt, German, who is now on his second
year of duty at the institute. Hugo is an
enthusiast on these matters. He has been
an agent of the United States Fish Commits
sion in the west, and came from the employ
OF Commissioner Baird to the institute.
he Is fellow of the Imperial Russian So
ciety OF Acclimation. Hugo has the uplim-
tied resources of the fish commission at his
command, and has selected through it what
ne could not obtain himself. He began his
exhibition of the collection by leading his
where, along the frame, were ranged a row
OF jars. ten in all. This was his frog fac
tory. Frogs of all sizes and varieties can
b had at an instant's notice. The frog is
really wonderful creature. He has ten
a ans stages Of development from the egg
exceedingly small wog, becomes polly
wog,. acquires legs and loses his tail. and
finally develops into the real bullfrop of
commerce, Each stage of development was
shown in Hugo's jars, so that by simple OBJ
prehend the wonderful process. MANY va
rleties of frog. the cricket frog, tiny,
spunky little thing; the Presberry's tree
toad. not much larger; the wood frog, the
marsh frog, the green frog and the leopard
frog, filled out the jars and boxes on the
next WINDOW sill. Then there was skele-
ton of frog, neatly mounted, to hand
around the class room. When needed some
OF these frogs are given over to the phvsiol-
ogy class and dissected. Near by was big
case OF cocoOns, where the DEVELOPMENT Of
the moth was shown from day to day,
Wnen the scholars have seen the moths
them and puts them in a frame.
Some near relatives of the frog were dis
covered sporting in an aquarium on stair
way landing. These were salamanders:
hrst the common spotted newt, erroneously
called water lizard in this vicinity: then a
Mexican salamander, larva and adult: a
water dog or dog-headed salamander from
Ohio, and the German salamander, a rare
specimen from the Hartz mountains. He is
an orange and black little beast, of whom
preposterous stories are told of his ability to
put out fires. He ate an American worm
that Hugo gave him with relish for alien
FOOD that was remarkable. He is quite in
telllgent and comes around to the side of
the jar to watch the scholars at recess, The
last OF the frogs relatives was found up in
the natural history room,