yond their botanical one, a certain lightening of the heart accompanies the declaration that 'Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' The sound of the village bell which comes mellowed from the valley to the traveler upon the hill has a value beyond its acoustic one. The setting sun where it mantles with the bloom of roses the Alpine snows, has a value beyond its optical one. The starry heavens, as you know, had for Immanuel Kant a value beyond their astronomical one."

What did you get? What did you learn that you did not know before? Get? We got a foundation to all the Sciences. In meteorology we got the sunshine, the beautiful blue sky, the invigorating air, and the refreshing breezes. In geology we got a delightful tramp over the hills, through the moist and shady gorges, across the blooming fields. In entomology, ornithology, and botany we obtained not only enjoyment but inspiration.

Within my own personal experience, a science teacher expressed surprise that, in my field work with the pupils, so few names were mentioned, so few pencils and so few pads of paper used. Enjoyment? So you want to have a good time?

Certainly. For a good time the pure pleasure of a delightful tramp.

"Walking should be cultivated as an accomplishment. Excursive legs help to make an ex cursive intellect, and among the aids to reflection, not enumerated by Coleridge, are long strolls. Children, especially, should be trained to walk long distances, and to despise short ones. Walking is a cheaper and more healthful exercise than riding, and it has the added advantage of training to endurance."

On the same subject, hear what Rousseau has to say:

"Je ne conçois qu'une manière de voyager plus agréable que d'aller à cheval; c'est d'aller à pied. On part à son moment, on s'arrête à sa volonté, on fait tant et si peu d'exercice qu'on ne veut. Quand on ne veut qu'arriver, on peut courir en chaise de poste; mais quand on veut voyager, il faut aller à pied."

CHAPTER XI

COMMONPLACE NATURE

In stating facts never search for the most startling. Nature in her simplicity is amply wonderful and instructive. I know a girl that came home from school, and said that the teacher had been giving talks on astronomy. Upon being questioned she told how long it would take a man to walk to the sun; how long for an express train to get there; the size of a cylinder of ice that could be driven into it at a certain rate and be converted into steam as fast as it touched the hot surface.

Upon being questioned further she replied, "That is all I can tell. I remember only the things I didn't believe!"

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In its broadest sense, Nature Study is a keen, appreciative interest in the common things about us. It means accurate seeing and clear thinking. Nature Study is the most vital idea to-day in education. It is the getting of God's truth at first hand. It is studying things instead of studying about things. Do not call it Elementary Science. The true spirit of Nature Study is opposed to cold, formal study of lifeless things. It is the informal study, for short periods, of things that interest. It opens a new world of delight. Under it, the commonplace becomes transfigured. It shows us how we may get the very best out of life no matter where we are, how to realize the possibilities of happiness that exist even in the most unpleasant environment.-JULIA ELLEN ROGERS in "Among Green

Trees."

The Wonderland of childhood must henceforth be sought within the domains of truth. The strange facts of natural history, and the sweet mysteries of flowers and forests, and hills and waters, will profitably take the place of the fairy lore of the past.-JOHN G. WHITTIER.

"For hark! how blithe the throstle sings!

He too, is no mean preacher.

Come forth into the light of things,

Let Nature be your teacher."

-WORDSWORTH.

CHAPTER XII

VICE VERSA

Once upon a time there was a man who read in his newspaper :

"WONDERS IN OTHER WORLDS.

GREAT DISCOVERIES BY ASTRONOMERS CAN BE SEEN BY AID OF A SMALL TELESCOPE,"

ETC., ETC.

And this man said to himself I will forthwith get me a small telescope that I too may see some of these strange visions before I die. In his eager waiting, the machine arrived. Then the big man, taking his little boy, the box with the long tube and the three legs, hastily proceeded to the back yard.

"Which way does the thing go?" quoth the little boy.

"I don't know; I find no instructions on that point," said the big man, fumbling amidst the packing. "But," he meditated, "I think that little glass is for the little star, and this big glass is