get a microscope and use it faithfully that we may see more, and, let me repeat, still more.

Then, when you have faithfully used this wonder-working instrument, used it with the mental labor and diligence demanded for well doing in anything worth doing at all, used it in freedom from the "constitutional weariness" so common in all pursuits except that of money-getting, then will you appreciate what Gosse, a pleasure-seeing as well as scientific microscopist, has affirmed :

:

"Great and gorgeous as is the display of Divine power and wisdom in the things that are seen of all, it may safely be affirmed that a far more extensive prospect of these glories lay unheeded and unknown till the optician's art revealed it. Like the work of some mighty genie of Oriental fable, the brazen tube is the key that unlocks a world of wonder and beauty before invisible, which one who has once gazed upon it can never forget, and never cease to admire."

"Nature Study aims to cultivate in the child what may be termed the elementary equivalent of the genuine scientific spirit, so that out of his nature fondness for things about him shall come an enthusiastic, truth-seeking, reverent attitude toward nature, with boldness to question her, patience to study her, and readiness to be taught by her."-A. C. BOYDEN.

"As the child understands his own environment he is prepared to appreciate geography as the study of the home of man. The thoughts of the life throbbing through the plant and animal, and of the forces at work about us, all in perfect harmony, and for definite purposes, are suggestions of infinite law."-A. C. BOYDEN.

"There are two forms of Autumn: there is the misty and dreamy autumn: there is the vivid and brilliant autumn almost the difference between the two sexes. The very word autumn is both masculine and feminine. Has not every season, in some fashion, its two sexes? Has it not its minor and major key, its two sides of light and shadow, gentleness and force perhaps. All that is perfect is double; each face has two profiles, each coin two sides. The scarlet autumn stands for vigorous activity: the gray autumn for meditative feeling. The one is expansive and overflowing; the other still and withdrawn. Yesterday our thoughts were with the dead. To-day we are celebrating the vintage."-AMIEL'S JOURNAL

CHAPTER XVI

NATURE STUDY IN THE AUTUMN

Special prominence should be given to nature study in the last two weeks of September and all of October. Full-grown plants, flowers, fruit, and an almost infinite variety of insects may be obtained. The four-footed animals are busily interesting. Aside from the birds (to which chief attention is usually given in May and June), all outdoor interests are now at their best.

During September, the schools have resumed their usual regularity of exercises; the warm weather still continues, with a clearness of air that makes one grateful for the pleasure of mere existence; the young folks retain the enthusiasm of the experiences during the long vacation, and they still have the accumulated wealth of outdoor spirits.

By way of contrast, the newness and awakening of spring, the bursting of buds, the germination of seeds, the growth of the early spring flowers, and the coming of the birds, it may be maintained,

have charms and advantages excelling those of autumn even at her best. It must be admitted that the outdoor attractions of spring are many, but at that time their availability is somewhat lessened by the examinations, the approaching end of the school year and the eager anticipations of the long vacation.

It is easy to advance arguments for the superiority of any of the seasons for nature interests. They are all good, all best, the best of the good things of life. As Sir John Lubbock has said: "Happy, indeed, is the naturalist; to him the seasons come round like old friends; to him the birds sing as he walks along, the flowers stretch out from the hedges, or look up from the ground; and as each year fades away, he looks back on a fresh store of happy memories. Every month has its own.

charms and beauty."

But taking all things into consideration, it seems to me that after a short time for the readjustment of the affairs of the schoolroom, there should be at least six weeks for rich harvesting of outdoor knowledge, a gathering of a store of happy memories for the coming winter.

How attractive now is everything in its perfection of life and beauty; how exhilarating the

delicate mingling of warmth and cold, the sunshine and the showers! The clear day holds the essence of the previous rain in every breeze. As Dr. Abbott has so truly expressed it: "There is a beady sparkle in every breath we draw, a sane intoxication in every lungful of the October breeze There is never a lack of good company when October sunshine and frosty autumn winds meet upon the meadows. He who goes there at such a time with a clear conscience, will return better fitted to meet all of life's vexations. For the old man it is a cure for pessimistic thought; for the youth it is a safeguard against distorted views of life. Nature is then rejoicing, why should not we?"

And the things that we thoroughly enjoy in nature reciprocate in benefits to us. We go to her with our best, and her best is given freely to

us.

"Nature is loved by the best that is in us."