"Culture consists less in wide knowledge than in wider sympathy; not so much in stores of facts as in ability to transmute facts into knowledge; not only in well-grounded conviction, but in toleration; not alone in absorption of wisdom, but as well in its radiation; in patriotism that is without provincialism; in the development of character. But since individual minds differ much in their composition, no one kind of treatment can be best for all, and the ideal system will be that which is elastic enough to allow each to receive what is best for it. True culture, then, cannot be obtained by forcing all minds into any one mould, however carefully that may be made, but it is rather attained by allowing each mind to expand for itself under a proper combination of nourishment from within and stimulus from without."-WILLIAM F. GANONG, Ph. D., in "The Teaching Botanist.”

"Nature Study should appeal to the imagination; the artist and the poet should be called upon to help the child interpret the beautiful."-A. C. BOYDEN.

CHAPTER XXV

SOME TESTS OF PROFICIENCY IN NATURE STUDY

How shall we make these tests? The require ments are too intangible for measurement by the usual method. It is not so much "What do you know?" as "What do you appreciate?" Not so much the amount and detail of acquired information, as it is the extent of your ability and willingness to continue to acquire.

From the pupil's standpoint, the following model series of test questions, with answers, that merit high grading, has been given us by Principal Gowing of the Rhode Island normal school:

Question.-Do you enjoy going on rambles across the fields, through the woods and down the ravines to the meadows and swamps?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you like to pick the flowers, hear the birds sing, and watch all forms of life?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you select from the library and

read outdoor books that tell of nature's interesting plants and animal life?

Answer.-Yes, sir.

Teacher.-Marking, 100.

Then, too, there is an important observational, as well as a questioning, examination. The enthusiastic teacher will find it a pleasure to note the effects of nature study on the life and character of the pupils. If nature study gives pleasure for the time being only, it is still good; but if wisely and patiently done, it will surely refine the mind and open out avenues for active sympathy and helpfulness, and so uplift those who do not, at first hand, know anything of the teaching and refining spirit that Mother Nature imparts to those who communicate with her.

Tests for these results should be made, but they are not to be found easily in written monthly examinations. They will show themselves in little acts that may escape the notice of some teachers. Watch for these little evidences. They are among the most important tests of the proficiency of your pupils in nature study.

So much for the pupil. Now what shall be the test of the teacher? The writer suggests the following questions, not to be asked by others, but

as beneficial for self-examination. A conscientious teacher is her own best critic. Every one desires success, but success depends on fitness. If you are not achieving the results that you desire in nature study, look carefully for the causes. If you cannot mark at least "fifty per cent." on these test questions, and cannot soon bring them to a higher mark through your own efforts, then beg the principal to allow you to exchange duties with some other teacher who can lead your pupils in nature study. Adaptation and enthusiasm are keynotes to success. One hundred per cent. of teaching ability in science strongly implies, but does not guarantee, an equal grading in nature study.

Here are a few of the useful questions. They will suggest others adapted to special cases:

1. If I were to leave teaching and take up other duties, such as those of married life, for example, how much time each day would I devote or wish to devote to an increasing acquaintance with nature?

2. Do I regard the time devoted to nature study as a recreation, a duty, or a burden?

3. How much time each day do I devote to observing or reading about facts in nature that I

never intend to make use of in the schoolroom? That is, how much of my nature-study work is personal and how much utilitarian?

4. How long could I visit at an isolated home in the country, or at the seaside, and not find life

a burden?

There is no element of injustice in question I, as it may at first suggest. The right kind of nature study in its continuance under varied circumstances and vocations is not comparable to science, mathematics, or classics, but to music, poetry, general literature, and art. It should be a favorite avocation as well as vocation, a pursuit that recreates.

Now for a test as to the amount of nature study in a school.

1. After eliminating every method of viewing natural objects to which the term science may not be inappropriately applied, how much remains?

2. Without in the least detracting from the merits and advisability of correlating other school interests with nature study, take away all studies so correlated, and how large a nature study nucleus remains?

3. A country boy out of the schoolroom gets a vast amount of nature study, but very little of