Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-11-28
t N NOTIONS.

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and light underneath. 1t used to be thought
| that the sun colored the exposed portions.
but this theory proved untenable. Ihe
| dark colorS of the back are generally pro-
tective. that is, they harmonic with the
animals customary background and thus
conceal it from pursuit. Blu it was thought
that the white underneath in a measure
counteracted this result until MI. mayer
showed by experiment that a uniformly
brown object on a brown background is
more conspicuous, by reason Of the darker
| shadow cast, than an object brown above
and white below, the white just balancing
the effect of the shadow. Put three eggs.
two all brown and one brown above ana
white below. on a brown background a ROD
! away, and see for yourself. Yet science does
not permit us to call this the marvellous
| wisdom of Providence, but says simply. the
animals that happened to be colored thus
had the advantage and survived.
Mr.. George s. wieland, of Chester. Pa.
makes a plea for the teaching of zoology In
the secondary schools. Every one knows
that the powers of observation are keenest
in children, and that they are therefore
especially endowed for the study of natural
history in all its branches. Yet we keep
them bent over desks and in the very years
when they most need fresh air and SUM-
light, grinding over the tasks of technical
grammar. bounding Insignificant realms
whose borders may change next year. and
terminating the greatest common divisor!
AS a result of this perverted process kept
mp for generations women shrek at the
sight of a mouse and exclaim over a toad
or a lizard: Take the horrid thing away!'
And a much more serious result: Before
the high school course is finished. a great
part Of our children have come to regard
education as a punitive process. By all
means, Mr.. Greenwood, let us have some
nature study in the grades, in place of that
review Of arithmetic or grammar or geog-
raphy.
Mr.. Stills ~osteopathic institute, at Kinks
Vile, does considerable business. And IL
you look patiently, which is requiring a
good deal Of one accustomed to the regular
medical practice, at Mr.. Stills explanation
of his 'pathy" it is not so foolish as its
name implies. Tit devotees Of o~steopathy
do not deny the existence Of a body and Of
pathological conditions of the body-and
that is something. They are required to
obtain a thorough knowledge Of anatomy.
and that is something. in fact, a great deal.
As nearly as we can understand Mr.. Stills
utterance. great care is devoted to dag
nosis, antecedent presumptions being not
very different from those of the regular
schools. The %osteopath's theory of disease
emphasizes Instructions as causes OF func-
tional disturbances and seeks to remove
such distractions by various kinds OF
movements not wholly different from mas
| sage. It eschews drugs, and does not pro-
fess to cure all diseases. Hygiene-massage-
hydropathy, based On intimate knowledge
of the body-osteopathy Is not SO far from
that.
The minister who awakes to the need Of
getting in touch with the world is often in
| a very Van Winklian condition. He is aware
that he is far away from what he wants to
| get at, and feels that he must put forth
strenuous exertions to make up for his
/ sleep. One mistake he is apt to make is to
assume that it is the world that has been
asleep instead Of himself. As a result, he
cuts frantic antics in the pulpit, with the
| general object of attracting attention to his
u~tterances. OF this nature are the playing
Of poker on the pulpit and the invitations
Of anarchists into the pulpit. Dear preach
er, your congregation has heard anarchists
before, and few of them are entirely inno-
| cent of poker. You can give them no points
on the game, as a rule. h you need to
do is to go about your business as a preach
er. Incidental to this, you need to know
all you can about your people in all walks.
not simply in the slums. And above all.
you need yourself to be a model Of civic
virtues. The result will show in your
preaching, though it may not create q SEN
sation.
The officers Of the United States army, or
| a. least of the Fourth infantry. are contin-
| uing to reveal themselves to the public hat
hires them in a way not calculated to arouse
| the enthusiasm Of the public for the army.
Captain Lowering passes off his brutal
treatment of Private Hammond as "only
stirring him up with M foot and sword"
and Colonel Hall approves of everything
the captain did. The surgeon found only
insignificant abrasions and scratches" OF
the private. which did not incapacitate him
for light work. II the military court passes
over this brutality as permissible or venial,
1t might be well to provide for the trial of
such cases before a civil court. 1t Is said
to be difficult enough to induce Americans
to enlist in our army; if the Lowering code
of etiquette is to be approved, 1t will not be
! easier. 1t ought to be a simple question,
whether an assault with a deadly weapon
is to be permitted in disciplining a refrac-
tory man not himself an aSsailant.
Mr.. John w. Hall, in the Educational
Review, gives what he puts forward as a
model specimen of Bible instruction for the
public schools. Aside from the fact that
1t would TAXI three hours instead of thirty
minutes to get over the ground with ordi-
nary children-your model lessonmakers al
ways have miraculous children. who ask
just the proper questions and give just the
proper answers at the proper moment-the
subject illustrates the difficulty of Bible in
struction in general for the public schools.
Joseph was more nearly a model than most
of the personages of the Old Testament. but
he was not perfect, and there were episodes
in his career which are not suited to public
exposition. And when the higher critic
tells the children. after their interest for
Joseph has become quite warm, that there
never was any Joseph, but that he was
only the representative of a tribe, what
will the result be? And will our teacher
venture to condemn those actions of Joseph
or Jacob which cannot be approved? Let
him try it,
Mr.. Harold Frederic has demonstrated
that he has no regard for the truth when
his prejudices are involved, by sending all
over the world a report of the worlds w
c. T. U. convention at Toronto. in which
he attempts to give the impression tina
the convention approved of the position of
Lady Somerset in favor of licensing pros
~titution for the benefit(g of the British
army. In fact the convention declared In
uncompromising terms its adherence OF
the measure approved by Lady Somerset.
There was never any possible question as
to what the w. c. T. U. would say on the
subject. The only question was whether the
organization could afford to continue on its
roll of officers one who had taken a stand
so opposed to one of the cardinal principles
Of the organization. 1t showed a catholic
spirit in re-electing Lady Somerset as a
vice president, in recognition Of her un-