"In a camp of fifty boys the writer remembers three who had special delight in collecting pebbles, and they made several all-day trips to distant brooks and beaches in the search for new specimens. Another group became so fascinated with the study of the food of fish that they begged the 'privilege' of cleaning the catch of each returning party. Proud was that lad who incidentally located the heart of a pickerel, and because of his school knowledge of physiology he could not be convinced that the fish breathed without lungs till he had spent many hours in the vain endeavor to locate said organs. Then he knew that his former idea had been inadequate.
Fishology
"Fortunately, nature is so interrelated in her various phases that an attempt at exploration in one direction soon opens other fields, until with the growth of experience there comes a corresponding expansion of interest. Thus the lads, searching for pebbles, were perforce attracted by the plant and insect life of the brook, and the one delving into the mystery of breathing oxygen without lungs developed a new interest in the physics of fluids, while those who located the tree frog enlarged their sphere by the knowledge that their pet rejected some of the 'bugs' offered it.
"The leader, commencing thus with the limited or special interest of each group, may evolve in his own mind the plan which most naturally will lead the boys not only into a wider field of concrete facts, but also into the habit of seeing relationships, of drawing conclusions and of raising questions for further investigation.
"A group of boys interested in a study of fish may well be organized for an all-day trip to the root of the rapids or the bay of springs; others with geological preferences may spend a night on the top of the distant hill which offers outcroppings of interest; the embryo botanists cannot do better than to take a bog trot for the rare orchid, anomalous pitcher plant, or glistening sun dew; lovers of the deep shade may paddle to the inlet of the creek and there enjoy a side trip on the fragrant carpet of hemlock and pine needles; thus it will be found that by anticipating the probable findings in which the particular group is interested the leader gives a point and purpose, adding not only to the enjoyment of the outing, but imparting, in addition, some satisfactory knowledge of the vicinity."
Longfellow said that a "strong evidence of goodly character was the thoughtfulness one displayed in caring for a tree." One of the best things at Camp Becket was a series of out-door talks on nature given by Silas H. Berry. Seated on a huge rock, he told the boys about the shaping and clothing of the earth, foundation stones, mountains and hills, lakes, ponds, and rivers, the beginning of vegetable life, the variation and place of the freak, the forest and its place in the world's progress, the alternation of the forest crop, man and his neighbors. Another afternoon the boys went into the woods and while they squatted on Nature's mattress of fragrant pine needles (see illustration, page 230), he told about leaves and their work, cells and their place, roots and their arrangement, tendrils and their mechanism, flowers and their devices, seeds and their travels. The third talk was upon the evolution of plant life, law and logic of creation, perpetuation of life in the lower forms, edible and poisonous mushrooms, and the perpetuation of life in the higher forms. The boys had a different conception of life thereafter and they possessed that nature-love which always tends toward naturalness and simplicity of living. They could sing with feeling.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
How Nature Study Should be Taught—Edward F. Bigelow, Ph.D. Hinds, Noble and Eldridge, $1.00. A book of inspiration. Many practical suggestions are given for arousing interest among boys in Nature Study.
The Nature Study Idea—Liberty H. Bailey. Macmillan Co., $1.25 net. An interpretation of the new movement to put the boy in sympathy with Nature.