Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-24

| knew nothing about nature. It
seems, from this lecture. that the best
naturalist is he who can cut a fish-egg
up into the thinnest slices. Talk about
hair-splitting: this egg-splitting of the
modern biologist goes far beyond it,
An egg is to be split into sections so
thin that % of them will not equal the
thickness of paper: and these slices are
to be mounted and studied with a
microscope. Are the great naturalists
really trained in this way? l could
out ask. Darwin certainly was not
Darwin was not an egg-carver. His
stupendous results We're not the re-
suit of any training" OF this sort, but
originated" says Professor Elmer,
from the simplest observations that
presupposed no scientific character,
and were open to be made, with little
tact. by every sharp eye and clear
head" A large and open-eyed study
Of nature and of natural forms, how
much more fruitful it is than this
minute dissection of germs and eggs.
A naturalist is to be trained through
his ordinary faculties of human obser-
walton. as Humboldt and Goethe We're.
Not long since, in high school in one
of our large cities | saw a class of boys
and girls studying nature after this cold
blooded analytical fashion. They were
lingering and dissecting some of the low
er sea forms, and appeared 70 find 1t I'M
interesting business, as | am sure |
should have done. If there was coun-
knowledge of nature he had gathered on
the farm was worth a hundred fold. for
human purposes or the larger purposes
of science, all this biological chaff. OF
tI,.,h f,T,l trtrn DIV hot
now issuing from the press to meet this
fanced want in the schools. very few of
them, according to my thinking. are
worth the paper they are written upon.
curiosity nor stimulate observation. L
know New York teacher VINO usually
manage to have in her schoolroom some
live creatures from the fields or woods
a flying squirrel, chipmunk, a young
possum or turtle, or even Il chicken.
This the boys come. to love and Under
interests them. The purely educational
value of nature-study is in its power to
add to our capacity of appreciation-our
love and enjoyment of all open-air OBJ
sources of life, and arms Il man against
the ennui and vacuity that doth so easily
beset US.
l recently had letter from the prin-
cipal of New England high school put
ting some question to me touching these,
very matters: Do children love nature?
how shall we instill this love into them ?
how and when did I myself acquire my
love TOR her? etc. In reply ! said: The
child, in my opinion, does not conscious
~ love nature: ii is curious about things.
about every thing; its instincts lead il
worth into the fields and woods; 1t
browses around; it gathers flowers, they
are pretty: it stores up Impressions,
Boys go forth into nature more as saw
| ages; they are predaceous. seeking whom
they may devour: hey gather roots,
nuts, wild fruit, berries. eggs. etc. At
least this was my case. ! hunted |
fished. | browsed. wandered with a
vague longing IN the woods. l trapped, ]
went cooning at night, ! made ponds In
the little streams. ! boiled sap in the ma
pie woods in spring, went to sleep un-
der the trees in summer. | caught brda
on their nests, IL watched for the little
frogs in the marshes. etc. One keen
pleasure which | remember was to take
off my shoes and stockings when the
roads got dry in late April or early May
was tired. usually in the warm twilight
! was not conscious of any love for ma
tire, as such. till my mind was brought
HI contact with literature. Then | dis
covered that !. too. loved nature, and
had a whole world of Impressions stored
up in my st,bconscious self upon which
to draw found | knew about the
BIRDS the animals the seasons, the trees
/ The flowers and that .nese things had be-
come. almost a grown part OF me. I have
| neen drawing upon the reservoir OF
Youthful impressions ever since.
/ Anything like accurate or scientific
! Knowledge OF nature watch may possess
IL Of latcr date: but my boyhood on the