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 SIMPLE LESSONS 
 
 ^^MJakley 
 
 llliam Beverley Hanson \ 
 
 5 WEST 18th STREET 
 
 
 HEW YORK. 
 
 C'UPTBIQBT, 1895, JJY W. B. lUlllBON. 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 QH 53.011 
 
 Simple lessons in the study of nature, fo 
 
 3 1i i;»iir f '4h Uri^ii Juioiu OiJO maun 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001080658 
 
SIMPLE LESSONS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 STUDY OF NATURE 
 
 FOR THE USE OF PUPILS 
 
 BY 
 
 ISABELLA G. OAKLEY 
 
 Come forth into the light of things, 
 Let Nature be your teacher. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON 
 
 5 West 18th Stbeet 
 1898 
 
Copyright, 1895, 
 Kl WILLIAM BEVERLEY HAEISOK. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Feathers, 1 
 
 II. Shells, 12 
 
 III. The Spinal, Column, . 25 
 
 IV. Limbs of Some Animals, 35 
 
 V. Hands and Feet 48 
 
 VI. Eyes and Ears, ...... 64 
 
 VII. Teeth 78 
 
 VIII. Animal Society, 90 
 
 IX. Food fob Young Plants, 96 
 
 X. Grass and Plants Like Gbass, . . . 104 
 
 XI. Budding and Falling Leaves, . . . .119 
 
 XII. Bark 133 
 
 XIII. Some Experiments in Combustion, . . . 140 
 
 XIV. Summaries, 151 
 
 El 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Ik this new contribution to the rapidly in- 
 creasing list of nature lessons, the author offers 
 the novelty of a question book, with answers 
 withheld until observation and experiment sug- 
 gest them; thus a sort of inductive lesson-book 
 with the object in the foreground and the 
 teacher behind the scenes. If the topics are 
 of sufficient interest to children, there is no 
 need to doubt their willingness to puzzle out 
 the conclusions which the lessons imply. When 
 we recall the persevering curiosity with which 
 they take their toys to pieces to see how they 
 work, we may reiy upon some ability to follow 
 up Nature in her work. 
 
 Like all other observation lessons these are 
 intended to develop thought ; but further to 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 introduce intelligently the study of botany, 
 zoology, and (to a small extent) natural 
 philosophy. 
 
 As science lessons they may appear meager 
 and loosely connected ; but as inductive lessons 
 they have their real unity. This first book is 
 adapted to children of the average age of nine 
 years, and contains work for one year ; but 
 taken together with advanced numbers suited 
 to a higher grade, will form, it is believed, not 
 only foundation for thoughtful and productive 
 study of these particular sciences, but a stimu- 
 lus to the love of nature and of truth. 
 
 It is constantly urged that these interesting 
 and important branches of study should be 
 begun early and carried along from year to 
 year, to the point of some real attainment : and 
 this will be possible when they are presented 
 in books that are helpful alike to pupils and 
 teachers. This contribution to that end is 
 earnestly recommended to the favor of thought- 
 ful teachers. 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 The illustrations are comparatively few. 
 Since the lessons are confined to the common 
 objects that surround the daily life of all, the 
 material for study is easy to obtain. To strew 
 it with pretty pictures would defeat the pur- 
 pose of the book. Some of the drawings were 
 made in the Agassiz Museum of Comparative 
 Zoology at Harvard. 
 
 Isabella Gr. Oakley 
 
 Gkeat Neck, N. Y., 1895. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS. 
 
 Is here another tiresome book of object les- 
 sons, with a string of cut-and-dried questions 
 and answers about some pictures, assuming 
 general ignorance and stupidity, and failing to 
 lessen it ? 
 
 Have patience, dear fellow teacher, while I 
 briefly attempt to remove your prejudice and 
 secure your approval of these, my Nature 
 Lessons. 
 
 Too much has been asked of busy instruct- 
 ors, in the demand for oral teaching of 
 natural sciences, and the most conscientious 
 know best how great a failure it becomes. I 
 now offer these lessons, which are real, all hav- 
 ing been worked out inductively by little chil- 
 dren under my instruction ; and by the novel 
 mode of presenting them as questions to be 
 
X INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS. 
 
 studied with the object in hand, I have sought 
 to relieve the teacher's work and to refrain 
 from doing the pupil's thinking. 
 
 The questions found in his own book, in 
 periods assigned for preparing lessons, will 
 arouse and guide the child's curiosity, and pre- 
 pare him to become the intelligent qnestioner 
 when the delightful lesson time arrives. The 
 Summaries (printed at the end) supply the 
 teacher the means to give direction and preci- 
 sion to his thoughts. They are a sort of key 
 to the subjects of inquiry, reduced to brief and 
 careful statements. It would be best for a 
 teacher to get familiar with all the Summaries 
 belonging to a chapter, before entering upon it, 
 to anticipate, by repeated reminders, the need 
 of materia], and then to withdraw, as it were, 
 and let the lessons do their work ; only guiding, 
 never telling until the time comes for the sum- 
 ming up. Then, by dictating or otherwise pre- 
 senting the Summaries, he reappears as the 
 one who must throw the light and settle the 
 
INTRODUCTION TO TEACHEES. XI 
 
 doubts. Such a book can advantageously be 
 kept open in recitation — as any good school 
 book may always be when teachers are doing 
 the best books permit. Thus, though flights of 
 fancy may be indulged, too great discursiveness 
 is held in check, and the minds of the children 
 are easily brought to settle strongly around a 
 few clear points. 
 
 Many devices are sought to enable the class 
 to linger around a topic, for I would insist on 
 two cardinal points of advantage : give time 
 for the thought to develop ; and let the pupils 
 do most of the speaking, if it is only to read 
 aloud the questions, and frame answers as well 
 as they can. 
 
 In the lessons in biology there is usually a 
 discovery to be made of the adaptation of an 
 organ to its fv/action. This gives the funda- 
 mental unity of inductive science lessons to 
 what at first may seem objectionably heter- 
 ogeneous topics. Nature lessons cannot be 
 pursued in the consecutive order of the 
 
XU INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS. 
 
 development of life, as they are presented in 
 books depending upon pictures for illustrations. 
 The material for illustration must be available ; 
 hence, in these simple lessons, I have limited 
 my choice of topics to such as can be studied 
 from life. The few pictures are wholly sub- 
 ordinate. No lesson should be allowed to pro- 
 ceed without a full supply of material, enough 
 for all to handle. It is a good plan, in a large 
 class, to divide it into groups under the leader- 
 ship of a few responsible pupils. 
 
 A word further upon the usefulness of giv- 
 ing such a book to pupils. By possessing a 
 book, they get opportunity to reflect ; to review 
 the points that have not been well under- 
 stood; to put to-day's work with yesterday's, 
 and to repair the losses of absence. A respon- 
 sibility for the lesson can be much more readily 
 educated with a text-book than without one; 
 this very important point is one too much lost 
 sight of by the advocates of oral teaching, now 
 so positive of its value. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS. Xlll 
 
 All the means of expression are in constant 
 requisition — as much correlation of studies as 
 any could ask ; but the best results can only be 
 reached in classes where children are encour- 
 aged to talk freely. Speech training is what 
 our schools have yet to do. When yes or no 
 is the only answer, something is wrong. 
 
 Finally the lessons appeal to the heart ; not 
 only by the interspersed poetry, which should 
 be learned and relearned, but by the oppor- 
 tunities they frequently present of giving an 
 uplift to the feelings. Those who are on the 
 outlook for such opportunities are doing the 
 best work that falls within a teacher's reach. 
 
 Notes to teachers are scattered throughout 
 the book ; to many they will seem superfluous : 
 to some they may carry hints about the con- 
 duct of the lessons which they can profitably 
 use. They are not trammels nor do they 
 assume that all would not go well if they were 
 absent. Some of them contain information that 
 will be useful as a background of thought ; 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS. 
 
 many are only reiterated persuasions to keep 
 within the author's purposes in the use of the 
 lessons. 
 
 One other word about the Summaries. 
 Though they serve their chief purpose in giv- 
 ing concise expression to thought, they are also 
 a means of securing neat, orderly notebooks, 
 where the little compositions and drawings will 
 naturally appear. But do not let it be pre- 
 tended that this is " laboratory work," nor 
 expect of infancy valuable records of measure- 
 ments and dates, of seed-time and harvests. 
 Those who believe in training the memory by 
 rehearsing sentences that have fully taken hold 
 of the understanding, may make them serve 
 that use. 
 
SIMPLE LESSONS IN THE STUDY 
 OF NATUBE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FEATHERS. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Preparation : Have a supply of stiff feathers from the 
 wing or tail of a bird. 
 
 Where did you find your feathers ? 
 
 Do you know what part of the bird they 
 grew on ? 
 
 To-day we want only these large ones that 
 came from the wing or tail. 
 
 Lay one across your hand ; how does it feel ? 
 
 Could you hold a great pile of them easily 
 on your hand ? 
 
a FEATHERS. 
 
 What is the part called we hold the feather 
 
 by? 
 
 (Have new names written on blackboard, and discussed as words.) 
 
 Write quill. It extends all through the 
 
 feather. 
 
 Compare the upper and under surfaces of the 
 feather. 
 
 Are the surfaces of the feather alike? At 
 the same time, notice the difference in the form 
 of the quill. 
 
 Keep the upper surface of the feather toward 
 you, and see whether on the right side of the 
 quill it grows as it does on the left. 
 
 Draw a feather, and try to draw the quill in 
 just the right place. 
 
 Can you see through the quill? How is it 
 made ? Would not a solid quill be better ? 
 
 Try to tear the feather ; is it tough ? Can 
 you easily destroy it ? 
 
 Try to bend it ; is it stiff ? 
 
 Which side of the quill is the stiff est ? 
 
FEATIIEttS. d 
 
 Now tell what tilings we have observed in 
 the feather. 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 (Teacher see Introduction.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 You will see something very curious now 
 about a feather, something I dare say you have 
 never before seen. 
 
 Hold it to the light, look through it. See 
 how far you can stretch one side without pull- 
 ing it apart. Now draw it between your thumb 
 and finger downward toward the hollow quill, 
 and then back to the point. Do this several 
 times, very gently, all the time keeping it 
 toward the light. 
 
 Can you make the parts close up perfectly 
 again, after you have separated them ? 
 
 What makes the little pieces hold together? 
 Be sure you look well. Some children think 
 it is gum that sticks the threads together ; is it ? 
 
4 FEATHERS. 
 
 When you pull two clusters very gently apart, 
 find out just what takes place ; but do it slowly : 
 hold it between your eyes and the light, or you 
 will miss seeing a curious thing. It is very 
 fine, and not easy to see. What do you find 
 along the edges of the threads ? 
 
 If you can look through a small magnifying 
 glass, you will see the very nice method of 
 latching which these hooks have. 
 
 You ought to look at many different ones, 
 until you find some that behave differently. 
 
 What, then, holds a feather together and 
 makes a fine stiff plume out of a thousand little 
 strings ? 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 (Teacher see Introduction.) 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Preparation : Bring some soft little feathers, such as grow 
 on a bird's breast. 
 
 Is this feather like the wing-feather we had 
 yesterday ? 
 
FEATHERS. 5 
 
 Tell three things about it that make it 
 different. 
 
 Where did you get this feather ? On what 
 part of a bird does this one grow ? 
 
 How are its barbs and barbules formed ? Do 
 they lock together ? 
 
 Is this feather light ? Is it stiff ? 
 
 Do you use such feathers at your house ? 
 
 If you should put your hand into a bag full 
 of them how would they feel ? 
 
 Of what use are such little feathers to a bird ? 
 
 Why must a bird keep its eggs warm ? 
 
 Do birds keep warm in cold weather ? . 
 
 If you know something about the down that 
 grows on birds in cold countries you may tell it. 
 
 I think of some very large feathers that are 
 loose and soft like this, throughout ; they grow 
 on a remarkable bird. What are they ? 
 
 Bring the wing-feathers and the breast- 
 feathers to-morrow. 
 Write the Summary. 
 
FEATHERS. 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Write all you know about feathers. 
 
 (Teacher may dwell at some length on the use the mother bird 
 makes of her downy breast. Enlist sympathy for the preservation of 
 creatures so full of instinct and so beautifully made.) 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Lay both feathers side by side. Dip the 
 wing-feather under water, and take it out 
 quickly. Do this several times. Let it lie on 
 the water. Or pour water over a wing. 
 
 Is the feather wet ? 
 
 Why does the water slip off ? 
 
 Is it wet through ? 
 
 Can you make water run through the close 
 barbs ? 
 
 Try to wet the down of the breast-feather. 
 
 Of what use is the wing in rainy weather ? 
 
 Count the feathers that are overlapped in a 
 wing. We say the wing is folded when the 
 feathers are all drawn together — this way. 
 
FEATHERS. 7 
 
 Can birds get out of the rain ? How do they 
 keep dry? 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 
 (Do not hurry the observation in this lesson. 'Try to let everyone 
 see, by repeated trials, how the water slips off.) 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 The dove with whistling wing of blue 
 The wind can fast collect. 
 
 Preparation : Bring a wing, or if that cannot be got, a 
 feather fan, or some feathers sewed together like a wing. 
 Try to spread the wing as a bird does. Beat the air slowly 
 and thoughtfully by waving the wing, and try to perceive 
 how it strikes the air. Now do the same with a piece of 
 stiff paper, or a book-cover, or your hands. Do this all 
 again and again, until you feel a difference. 
 
 Now tell me how the air acts under the wing. 
 When you push it slowly downward how does 
 it feel? When you draw it up,. how? Does 
 the air pass through the wing ? Can it pass 
 through ? Is the wing flat or curved inside ? 
 
 Tell how the feathers are laid over each 
 other. Is it necessary that the wing should be 
 light ? Why is it so large ? 
 
8 FEATHERS, 
 
 What causes it to be light ? 
 
 The bird can spread it better than yon can. 
 It will be difficult to tell much about its action 
 unless it is spread. 
 
 Can you see how beating the air with the 
 wing makes a bird go forward? Show how 
 men row a boat. Let us see, if we can, what 
 makes the boat go forward. It is so with the 
 bird. Her wings are like very light, stiff oars. 
 Is her body at all the shape of a boat ? 
 
 How large do you suppose the largest wings 
 are ? Some birds are as heavy as a young child. 
 
 (Teacher will try to make this experiment convincing by having it 
 done with pains. Admire the perfection which combines the greatest 
 extent and rigidity of surface with the greatest lightness. Try not to 
 pursue any points far beside those that are included in the Summaries, 
 but many will come up, to be gently dropped. Let the children talk 
 freely, but keep the point of view steady. Save a little time to 
 give an uplift of thought ; to enlist right feeling, and admiration of 
 perfection.) 
 
 Do you think it is right to have birds killed, 
 that ladies' hats .may be dressed with their 
 feathers and wings? 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 
FEATHERS. 9 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 READING LESSON. 
 
 He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small. 
 
 — COLEKIDGE. 
 
 One dealer in London is said to have re- 
 ceived, as a single consignment, thirty-two 
 thousand dead hummingbirds, eighty thousand 
 aquatic birds, and eight hundred thousand 
 pairs of wings. A Parisian dealer had a con- 
 tract for forty thousand birds, and an army of 
 murderers was turned out to supply the order. 
 No less than forty thousand terns have been 
 sent from Long Island in one season for milli- 
 nery purposes. At one auction alone in London 
 there were sold four hundred and four thou- 
 sand, three hundred and eighty-nine West 
 Indian and Brazilian bird skins, and three 
 hundred and fifty-six thousand, three hundred 
 and eighty-nine East Indian, besides thousands 
 
10 FEATHERS. 
 
 of pheasants and birds of paradise. — From 
 Publications of Society for Protection of Birds 
 in Britain. 
 
 The people of the United States have killed 
 as many as fifty-five million birds in one year : 
 among these, the red-headed woodpecker: and 
 what is the consequence ? We are told that 
 in South Carolina, upon a tract of at least two 
 thousand acres of forest, ninety out of every 
 one hundred trees were killed by the ravages 
 of a small bug. Wilson, the historian of Amer- 
 ican birds, adds, "The woodpecker is the 
 peculiar enemy of these destructive creatures." 
 
 (To Teacher.— Bead with class " The Birds of Killingworth," by- 
 Longfellow.) 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 REVIEW QUESTIONS. 
 
 What are barbs ? 
 What is a quill ? 
 
FEATHERS. 11 
 
 On which side of the quill is the feather 
 widest ? 
 
 Which side is stiffest ? 
 
 "What keeps the air and water from passing 
 through a feather ? 
 
 Why should not the air pass through ? 
 
 Why should not water pass through ? 
 
 Why is a wing made so light ? 
 
 See if you can explain how a bird is pushed 
 forward by its wings. 
 
 How are the feathers arranged on a wing ? 
 
 How on a tail ? 
 
 What are down feathers ? 
 
 Tell what three things a bird can do with its 
 downy feathers ? 
 
 Are feathers easily destroyed ? 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 SHELLS. 
 
 What hidst thou in thy treasure cells, 
 
 Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main ? 
 
 Pale glistening- pearls and rainbow-colored shells. 
 
 (To Teacher. — By starting an inquiry a few days in advance, sheila 
 of the right sort are sure to be brought. The lessons are restricted to 
 those single-Talved spiral shells of the mollusks known as GastropodB. 
 But the living mollusk, which is indispensable to Lesson 7, must be 
 sought for in good season. Kemember that we are studying the adap- 
 tation of the organ to the function.) 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Preparation : Bring all the shells you can get. Select 
 now those that are single, and more or less twisted. Pick 
 out the largest and prettiest. 
 
 Hold a shell with its opening toward you, 
 and the closed end up. Always hold it in this 
 way, while we talk about it. Notice how it 
 
 12 
 
SHELLS. 13 
 
 winds around. Begin at the upper end and 
 count the turns; be sure you hold the shell 
 still, opening toward you. 
 
 How many turns ? Can you find as many as 
 eleven turns ? Which turn is the largest ? 
 Place your finger on the point where the 
 shell begins the twist; that point is called 
 the apex. Keep the apex straight up. Trace 
 with your pencil the line that the turns 
 make. 
 
 Now point the apex toward you, and trace 
 them again. Count them ; count them in a 
 good many shells. 
 
 Have all the shells the same number of 
 turns ? 
 
 Are the coils all of the same size ? 
 
 (To Teaches. — The object of this lesson is familiarity, merely, with 
 handling the shell. A few common shells, like the CowrieB, appeal- 
 alike at both ends. The truly spiral form is much varied. The ex- 
 treme forms should remain unnoticed for the present ; use a good 
 typical spiral. A common Winkle will do, but the exotic, prepared 
 shells are so beautiful it is a pity not to have some. Keep the apex 
 of a shell uppermost, as it is the starting point of growth.) 
 
14 SHELLS. 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Show me the apex of a shell. How should 
 we hold our shells ? 
 
 When anything is twisted in this way, one 
 turn above another, we say it is spiral. When 
 the spiral grows larger, as you leave the apex, 
 it forms a spire. 
 
 Can you think of something that is called a 
 spire ? 
 
 Twist a strip of paper into a spire. 
 
 Push the paper spiral down by pressing on 
 the apex ; now the paper is said to lie in coils 
 or rings. 
 
 What shape is a shaving ? 
 
 Pick out the longest spire among the shells. 
 Pick out the flattest. 
 
 Find three good words to describe the differ- 
 ent spires. 
 
 Are any of the shells merely coiled iu flat 
 coils ? 
 
SHELLS. 15 
 
 Look at my watch, or at the clock, and tell 
 how the hands move. Make your fingers move 
 the same way, in the air. Now hold a shell 
 with its apex toward you ; trace the turns from 
 the apex to the opening with your pencil. Do 
 they turn like the hands of a clock ? 
 
 Does the mouth of the shell open to the left 
 or to the right ? 
 
 If this shell goes on growing larger, where 
 will the mouth be next ? 
 
 See if we have different sizes for the same 
 kind of shell. 
 
 Do they seem to have grown from small ones 
 to large ones ? 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Copy and repeat the next Summary. 
 
 (To Teachek. — The motion of the hands of a cloch, or of the sun's 
 course, is usually instanced to describe circular motion, the words 
 left and right lacking precision, because spiral movement is alternately 
 
16 SHELLS. 
 
 in each direction. A very few shells coil the other way ; these are 
 called dextral ; the greater number are sinistral, that is coiling toward 
 the left. It piques curiosity to search for the dextral shells and 
 emphasizes the common form. Turret-shells have long, gently sloping 
 spires. Linger over these various spiral forms, until the variety and 
 uniformity are both appreciated. It makes a good lesson in classifica- 
 tion by likenesses.) 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Lay the shell with the opening downward, 
 apex toward you. The edge the shell rests 
 on is called the lip. It is on the right side of 
 the opening. 
 
 Describe the lip of your shell. Describe the 
 lips of three different shells. 
 
 How are some lips ornamented ? 
 
 Are the mouths all shaped alike ? 
 
 The creature that lives in the shell has a 
 mouth, and so there is another word for the 
 shell-mouth ; it is ap-er-ture. 
 
 Describe the aperture of three shells. 
 
 "Which way does the aperture open, to the 
 left or right ? 
 
SHELLS. 17 
 
 See if you can find one that opens the other 
 way. 
 
 On the lower side the aperture often ends in 
 a twist. That is called the canal. Look through 
 the canal. 
 
 Can you see through it? Does it run all 
 through the shell ? 
 
 If we can get a broken shell, we shall be able 
 to see just how the canal twists inside ; you can 
 then see the chambers of the shell. 
 
 Do you suppose there are separate rooms 
 in it? 
 
 Find different sorts of canals among the 
 shells. 
 
 (To Teacheb.— Have many description a. Let some be written and 
 read aloud, and the precise terms used. Below, there are some forms 
 suggested. The precision of the observation, and in the use of terms, 
 gives the chief value to this part of the lessons. 
 
 The canal is difficult. It is absent in the great snail family. Those 
 animals are destitute of the siphon which protrudes from the canal. 
 By its convolutions the canal forms a central column. Only the 
 Nautiluses have separated chambers. 
 
 In museums shells are displayed sawn in two, with the central 
 column in sight. The article Mollusca in an Encyclopedia gives good 
 illustrations.) 
 
18 
 
 SHELLS. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 LINES OF GEOWTH. 
 
 (These are conspicuous in only a few species. Get a Triton, if pos- 
 sible. On that shell they are very ornamental.) 
 
 See if you can find a shell with ridges run- 
 ning up and down on the coils. Are they on all 
 the coils of the shell ? 
 
 Are the ridges like the 
 lip? 
 
 Count the ridges, begin- 
 ning at the lip, and going 
 up the spiral. 
 
 Are they like twisted 
 stairs? You see the shell 
 appears to have come down, 
 down, along these stairs. 
 Count them downward. 
 Try to think how the 
 tkiton. ridges came. 
 
 The shell seems to have grown a while, and 
 
SHELLS. 19 
 
 then rested at one of these ridges. The lip was 
 evidently there. 
 
 How many rests has this shell had ? 
 
 Every time it built itself a larger room, it left 
 the old ridge behind. These ridges left by the 
 growing lips are called Lines of Growth. Some- 
 times the lip gets broken, and is mended — you 
 may find some — then the lines of growth look 
 as if they had been patched. 
 
 Can you see them in all the shells ? 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Far from all light, against strong waves, 
 A Castle Beautiful he wove. 
 
 — Emerson. 
 
 Describe the shell by filling in these blanks. 
 If you think of more than one word to put in 
 the blank, use it. 
 
 This shell has made turns. 
 
20 SHELLS. 
 
 The last coil is about times as large 
 
 as the one next above it. 
 
 The spire is and about inches 
 
 long. 
 
 The lip is and 
 
 The aperture is shaped like 
 
 The aperture is about wide, and 
 
 loner. 
 
 The canal is and 
 
 The lines of growth are 
 
 The shell is shaped like a 
 
 Do the same with the other shells. 
 
 (To Teacheb.— It would be better to call for compositions after this 
 in which a more independent line of thought is carried. An interest- 
 ing lesson and a profitable one can be made, by deciding, while listen- 
 ing to a description, what shell it is a pupil is describing. This leads 
 to great precision. Lesson 6 will be more or less profitable as the 
 instruction has been rich and suggestive.) 
 
SHELLS. 
 
 21 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Enowest how the fish out-built her shell 
 Painting with morn each annual cell ? 
 
 — Emerson 
 
 (To Teacher. — Have some snails with shells, either fresh or salt 
 water snails. This call must be made in season — for snails are not 
 always easily found. It will repay a great deal of trouble to get them, 
 however.) 
 
 In the first lesson about shells, what name 
 was given for the creature that builds the shell? 
 Watch this one ; has it limbs ? 
 What parts do you see ? Any eyes ? 
 Put it in the sunlight and give it food, sea- 
 
 weed or clams, if it is a salt-water mollusk. 
 How does it move about ? 
 
22 SHELLS. 
 
 Can it walk up the jar? Do you see the 
 track of slime it leaves behind it ? 
 
 Can it live out of the water, and in the 
 water ? 
 
 Has it a mouth ? Can you see its mouth ? 
 It is a kind of slit in the snout. 
 
 What happens when you touch it ? 
 
 Has it a door to close the aperture with ? 
 Describe the door. 
 
 Its behavior is decidedly sulky ; it runs in, 
 shuts the door, and holds it fast with its foot. 
 
 The door has a long name ; it is o-per-cu-lum. 
 
 Is the mollusk quite safe behind its opercu- 
 lum ? 
 
 A few do not have any operculum, but they 
 can fasten themselves very tight to stones, to 
 get out of harm's way. 
 
 The part it crawls on is its stomach. You 
 can see how it draws itself up, like a worm 
 crawling. Since it walks on its stomach, it is 
 called a stomach-footed animal. 
 
 The Latin word is Gas-tro-pod. 
 
SHELLS. 23 
 
 Has the gastropod a spinal column ? We 
 call it an in-ver-te-brate animal. 
 What is a ver-te-bra ? 
 
 (To Teacher.— See Chapter III. The Spinal Column.) 
 Copy and repeat the Summary. 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 In some places the bottom of the sea is nearly- 
 covered with gastropods. They commonly live 
 near the shore. Some are twelve inches long 
 and weigh many pounds. Some large ones are 
 very fierce, and prey upon other mollusks. A 
 few swim about, without shells, and have 
 beautiful colored fringes to swim with. If you 
 have found any common whelks you see that 
 they breathe through a tube which they push 
 out of the canal. 
 
 Do the waves drive shells to and fro among 
 the stones and sand ? 
 
 Are they easily broken ? Try to crush a 
 
24 SHELLS. 
 
 shell. Step on it. When the mollusk is alive, 
 its house is still stronger than after it is dead. 
 How do the shells get caught amoug the rolling 
 stones ? What happens then ? 
 
 Is a round shell any stronger than a flat one 
 would be ? 
 
 Are round things commonly stronger than 
 flat ones? For example, what? 
 
 Is a gastropod shell thick ? Thicker than 
 an egg-shell ? 
 
 Is it as easily broken as a bottle, for ex- 
 ample ? 
 
 Guess what salt-water gastropods feed on. 
 
 How is the mollusk well prepared for its 
 home beneath the waves? 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Salt-water mollnsks will perish in fresh water. The 
 tongue of the marine gastropod is covered with innumerable rasping 
 points like a file. This is known as the lingual ribbon, and though 
 entirely beyond the purpose of this lesson, it affords so much interest 
 that it is worth trying to see one under the compound microscope. 
 They are prepared ou slides. If these lessons are conducted near the 
 sea-shore, they can be carried a little farther, particularly those about 
 the living gastropods ; but in some places Lesson 7 would be possible 
 only with pictures.) 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 Pondering shadows, colors, clouds, 
 
 Grass-buds and caterpillar shrouds.; 
 
 Wonderer at all he meets, 
 
 Lover of all things alive. 
 
 — Emerson. 
 
 Preparation : Bring, if possible, a chicken's neck or piece 
 of fish-spine, with the bones boiled clean. 
 
 Experiment : Place your fingers tight on the small 
 bones in the back of your neck, under your collar. Bend 
 the head in all directions. Put the fingers in various 
 places and go on bending the head and moving the arms, 
 until you think you know how the bones move in the 
 neck. 
 
 How many separate pieces can you feel mov- 
 ing ? Can you tell whether they are separate 
 joints ? It is that way all down the back ; did 
 you ever notice it before ? You will learn 
 something very interesting about it when you 
 have answered all these questions. 
 
 25 
 
26 
 
 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 Did you ever have a doll that could nod and 
 turn its head ? 
 
 Usually dolls' necks are all in one piece. Is 
 a single bone as good for us as so 
 many pieces ? 
 
 What is the use of so many 
 pieces ? 
 
 How many can you count in 
 the picture on this page ? What 
 is this picture ? 
 
 One of the separate pieces is 
 called a ver-te-bra. What is it 
 called ? 
 
 The little pieces in the chicken's 
 neck are similar. What joins 
 them ? They have an elastic 
 substance between them which 
 you may find. 
 
 Spell ver-te-bra. Spell col-umn. 
 This is the way the backbone of all animals 
 is made. When we want to make a stiff sub- 
 stance bend easily, we break it up into many 
 
 MAN S SPINAL 
 COLUMN. 
 
THE SPINAL COLUMN. 27 
 
 little joints, like the parts of a chain. We say 
 then that it is flex-i-ble. What does flexible 
 mean ? 
 
 Is your backbone flexible ? Bend it many 
 wavs. 
 
 It is not quite correct to speak of it as the 
 backbone, because it is not one bone, but many 
 bones. 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
 (To Teacher. — The muscles, it is true, play the greater part in com- 
 parative flexibility of anatomical structure ; but the number and 
 composition of the cartilages separating the vertebrae bear an impor- 
 tant part, and so also does the shape of the vertebrae. 
 
 Many illustrations can be given by the class of the need of a flexible 
 column in human beings.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Preparation : Have some fishes' vertebrae to pass about. 
 
 You have often noticed these long, sharp 
 bones that stick out like handles. They 
 are called spines. Often the long points that 
 grow upon plants and animals are called spines. 
 
28 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 There are spines on the locust tree, and on 
 wild plum trees. Some fishes . have spines 
 growing along the top of their bodies. 
 
 Tell me of some others. 
 
 Are there such points on our own vertebral 
 column ? Find them in the picture. They are 
 on all vertebrae, but in the fish they are uncom- 
 monly long. 
 
 The spines have a very important use ; the 
 muscles are attached to them, and all creatures 
 move by means of their muscles. 
 
 Can you tell now why a man's backbone is 
 called the spinal column ? 
 
 You see we have two correct names for it ; 
 but the last is the most common. Write both 
 the names. 
 
 Can you think of any creatures that have no 
 spinal column ? 
 
 Has a worm ? Bring me the names at least 
 of three such creatures. Try to think of ten. 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
THE SPINAL COLUMN. 29 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Preparation : Bring the chicken's neck. 
 
 Count the vertebrae in this bird's neck. 
 
 LONG VERTEBB.& IN STOEK S NECK. 
 
 Did the bones in the chicken's neck look like 
 these ? 
 
 What is their shape ? 
 
 Do you know some stories about storks? 
 In what country do they live ? 
 
 What other birds have such very long 
 necks ? 
 
 When the feathers are off, many little birds 
 are seen to have Ions? necks. 
 
30 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 The tiny huinuringbird has a very long neck. 
 
 Think of at least three such birds. 
 
 Of what use is their long neck ? 
 
 If you want to pick up something from the 
 ground, what do you do? Try to do it with- 
 out your hands. 
 
 How does a bird pick a thing up ? What 
 birds stand very tall ? Plow do they feed 
 themselves ? 
 
 Do you'knovv what a bird does when it goes 
 to sleep ? What, when it catches a fly ? 
 
 If the bug is on the under side of the leaf, 
 how does the bird find it ? 
 
 If birds eat seeds and worms only, they need 
 not stretch their necks so far; but many of 
 them eat creatures that fly away. 
 
 Who can tell how a woodpecker uses its 
 neck in finding its food ? Its neck is like an 
 arm, driving a beak which is like a hammer. 
 
 What kind of a neck should you say a stork 
 has? 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 31 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Which is more flexible, a cat's back or yours ? 
 
 What does a kitten usually do when she 
 
 goes to sleep? How does she wash her- 
 
 self? What is that fish in the picture 
 doing ? 
 
 Did you ever catch a fish that wriggled so ? 
 
 What does it do if you try to hold it ? Why 
 does it have to twist and dart about in the 
 water? When it sees a fly on the top of the 
 water, how does it catch it ? 
 
 Can a boy jump out of the water when he is 
 
 swimming ? 
 
 Can a fish ? 
 
32 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 Do you remember the long points in the 
 fish's vertebrae ? What are they for ? 
 
 Has it many vertebrae ? Try to count the 
 vertebrae in a sardine, or any little fish. 
 
 Learn the Summary and copy it. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 DRAWING. 
 
 Draw a picture of either one of these objects. 
 
 1. A fish springing, or squirming at the end 
 of a line. 
 
 2. A cat curled up. 
 
 3. A swan feeding. 
 
 4. A stork feeding. 
 
 5. A turkey running. 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Write a composition about the backboned 
 animals. 
 
THE SPINAL COLUMN. 33 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 KEVLEW. 
 
 What does flexible mean ? What does ver- 
 tebra mean ? 
 
 What is a vertebra like ? 
 
 Are there any creatures that have not a 
 flexible vertebral column? 
 
 Can you tell how it is with a turtle ? With 
 a lobster ? With a grasshopper ? 
 
 Will the vertebrae fall apart if the flesh is 
 removed ? How do men make the skeletons of 
 birds and beasts stand up ? 
 
 How many vertebrae are there in your 
 spinal column ? There is one creature that 
 has 400 vertebrae. Can you guess what 
 it is ? 
 
 Why do wading birds have long necks ? 
 
 Has a pig a flexible spinal column ? Does it 
 need one ? 
 
 What is a spine ? 
 
34 THE SPINAL COLUMN. 
 
 What is a spinal column ? Why is it so 
 called ? 
 
 (ToTeacheb. — This chapter is perhaps chiefly useful for reference 
 from the other lessons. It is not exactly au easy object lesson — the 
 pictures have to take the place of the object, to a great degree. But in 
 studying animal structure it is best by some means to have the two 
 great divisions of vertebrate and invertebrate soon made familiar. It 
 is well to review the summaries. If the references to animals seem to 
 lead too far away from the life that surrounds the child, I should 
 advise that they be skipped.) 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 All are needed by each one ; 
 Nothing is good or fair alone. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 What is the picture on next page ? 
 
 We call such an engraving a figw % e ; it is 
 not exactly a picture. 
 
 Let us see if we can tell whether our bones 
 are like these. Your bones are well packed 
 away, but may be you can feel them. 
 
 Feel the bones of your arms; count them; 
 count the bones of your wrists ; of your hands ; 
 your fingers ; your thumbs. When you have 
 the number right, set them down on your 
 
 35 
 
36 
 
 LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 slate and add them. See if you can mate 
 out as many as there are in the picture. 
 
 no. 4. 
 
 How many bones in all are there in your 
 arm and hand ? 
 
LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 37 
 
 That is a good many. Are there just suffi- 
 cient ? Yes ; each has a particular use, as you 
 will see better by and by. 
 
 The arm is joined to the spinal column. 
 Show me where. 
 
 Write the names of all these bones when 
 your teacher dictates them. 
 
 (Teacheb. — The child can imperfectly discover the anatomy of his 
 own hand and arm. Give English names for the different sections : 
 1, upper arm ; 2, forearm ; 3, wrist ; i, hand ; 5, fingers.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Take all sorts of exercises with your hands 
 and arms. Hold the elbow fast, and say how 
 many distinct ways you can move your wrist 
 and hand. 
 
 In what ways can you move the forearm ? 
 Next, move the whole arm from the shoulder, 
 as you do when you are throwing a ball. 
 
 There is one movement you can make with 
 your upper arm that you cannot make with the 
 forearm ; what is it ? 
 
38 LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 Show me some of the gestures men make 
 when they speak in public or when they get 
 excited. Can people talk with their hands ? 
 
 Write four things we do with arms ; four 
 we do with hands ; four we do with fingers. 
 Write good sentences. 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Fill the blanks in these sentences with suit- 
 able words. Do not use the same word twice. 
 
 The conductor his hands and arms. 
 
 The dancers their arms about each 
 
 other. 
 
 Sometimes in school the pupil his 
 
 arms. 
 
 The mother her arms about her child. 
 
 The sawyer moves his arms 
 
 The carpenter moves his arms 
 
 The ball thrower his arms. 
 
 The child his arms about the mother's 
 
 neck. 
 
LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 39 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Copy in your note-books the picture of the 
 man's arm. 
 
 Write on one side of the page the names of 
 the bones you learned yesterday ; put the let- 
 ters you find in the engraving opposite the 
 names. Then write the same letters opposite 
 the parts of your drawing. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Copy and learn the Summary. 
 
 (Teacheb. — Bring out the rotary motion of the upper arm ; the par- 
 tial rotation of the forearm at the elbow ; the play of one of the bones 
 of the forearm upon the other, so that palms can be turned upward.) 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Today we will see how the fore legs and 
 paws of some animals are like our arms, and 
 how they are different. 
 
40 
 
 LIMBS OP SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 What are these pictures ? Such pictures are 
 called figures. 
 
 Where did you ever see a live deer or 
 monkey ? 
 
 What does a monkey use its arms for ? 
 
 FIG. 5. — FOBE LEO OF MtTSK DEEB. 
 
 FIG. 6. — FOEE LIMB OF 
 MONKEY. 
 
 Compare its limb, bone by bone, with ours ; 
 and see if you can find any difference. Has it 
 the same number of bones ? 
 
LTMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 41 
 
 What kind of a wrist has it ? What kind 
 of an elbow ? Do you think it can straighten 
 that elbow out as you can ? 
 
 How are its fingers 
 made ? §4 
 
 Does a monkey walk § £ 
 
 with all four limbs ? ^ f / / 
 
 ml 
 
 I suppose you know 
 where monkeys pass most it 
 
 of their time, and where 
 they feed. They are tree b- 
 beasts. § | 
 
 Now look at this pretty 
 
 deer's fore leg. What do MfAf — c 
 
 you call the joint at the (m J\- d 
 
 letter c ? \(fk- © 
 
 Compare its toes with FI0 . 7 ._ F0KE LEa or DEEB . 
 the fino-ers in Figure 6. 
 
 Can the deer make many motions with its 
 fore leg, as you can with your arm? 
 
 Can he strike with it? 
 
 What can he do with it better than you can 
 
42 LIMBS OP SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 do? How is it formed for running? "Who 
 knows how fast a deer can run ? 
 
 What do we mean by a paw ? 
 
 What part is that at letter d ? Compare the 
 same part with the hand of a monkey. 
 
 At home to-day examine in the same way 
 the paw of a dog or a cat, and be ready to 
 write about them. 
 
 Do you think you can tell why we some- 
 times call pictures figures ? 
 
 (Teacher. — Bring out increase of stiffness and limitation of move- 
 ments, as the anterior limbs become more and more used for locomo- 
 tion. The deer and the wild horse both strike with their fore feet.) 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Write an account of what you saw in your 
 examination of the cat's or dog's paw. Give 
 me your hand. 
 
 When a dog " gives its paw," can it stretch 
 it out as you do when you give your hand ? 
 
 When it stands and begs for its dinner, how 
 does it hold its paws ? 
 
LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 43 
 
 Write for me two peculiar things a cat can 
 do with its fore paws. 
 
 Can she bend her wrist ? Can you teach her 
 to give her paw ? 
 
 Let us see how some other creatures use their 
 fore legs, as cows, and rabbits. 
 
 Can a rabbit feed itself with one paw ? 
 
 "Who can think of three animals that can lift 
 their paws to their faces ? 
 
 Can any of them hold their paws over their 
 heads ? 
 
 What do we call that joint of a horse's leg 
 which is where our wrist is ? Is it flexible ? 
 Then where is the horse's knee ? 
 
 Find a picture of a horse, and show me the 
 ankle and the knee. See how very long and 
 slender his foot is. All that part from what 
 you would call his knee, down to where the 
 hoof is joined, is properly a foot, while the hoof 
 is a toe tip. 
 
 (To Teacher. — By making good use of the horse, which every child 
 can see, this chapter can be a real nature lesson.) 
 
44 LIMUS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 What are these figures ? You would hardly 
 speak of a bird's arms ; but are these not much 
 like the bones of the human arm, in Figure 4 ? 
 
 Point to the bird's bone marked a ; then find 
 
 b- ^\T~~ ^ =S ^ 
 
 FIG. 8. 
 
 the one like it in our arm. Which of our bones 
 is like b ; which like c, and d, and e ? 
 
 Say what you think of the bird's wrist and 
 fingers. How many finger-bones has it ? Are 
 they three-jointed ? Since they are only needed 
 to hold feathers it might seem of little conse- 
 quence how many joints there are. But do you 
 remember in Chapter First, you decided that 
 a wing must be very flexible, so that it can give 
 
LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 45 
 
 to the air, in flying ; and for this reason it must 
 have joints. 
 
 Try to find these finger-bones when you next 
 eat a chicken's wing. 
 
 If you can watch a chicken when it stretches 
 and flaps its wings, 
 you will see that the ^^----^^ 
 
 wing looks like a little J^*5 
 
 arm - . . b Z^>^ 
 
 Can birds strike with _ <sCr 
 their wings ? e._.5Ql^^— ■----.d 
 
 Can you move your ^g^ ~" 
 
 arms as fast as a bird ^' 
 
 FIG. 9. — WINQ OF BLACKBIBD. 
 
 can move its arms ? 
 
 Who has ever seen a hummingbird hover- 
 ing ? How many strokes do you suppose it 
 makes in a minute ? 
 
 You may notice the two wings in the figure 
 are not alike. They belong to different birds ; 
 one is that of a blackbird, and the other of 
 some large bird I found in a museum ; I 
 believe it was a crow. Birds are as different 
 
46 LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 from each, other as beasts are, and their wings 
 are needed for different kinds of flying. 
 
 Write the Summary that is given to you. 
 
 (Teacheb. — The wing is a still greater adaptation. Note the great 
 reduction in the parts of the hand. But without a mounted skeleton 
 it would be impossible to make these latter bones very clear, nor is it 
 important. There are three imperfect digits and two carpal bones, to 
 which the diffei-ent ranks of feathers are severally attached.) 
 
 Lesson IX. 
 
 Draw both the figures in Lesson 8 in your 
 notebook, and practice them until you can 
 draw them on blackboard without a book. 
 
 Here is a walrus's forearm. Do you know 
 anything about walruses ? 
 
 You probably know they are huge creatures 
 that live in the Northern seas. Find a pic- 
 ture of one in some book. 
 
 Its arm is called a paddle. A paddle is 
 something to beat the water with. The wal- 
 rus's limb is more unlike ours than any we 
 have spoken of. Study the figure (10) and 
 tell what difference you observe. 
 
LIMBS OF SOME ANIMALS. 
 
 47 
 
 Describe the bone a, the bones b, the bones 
 c, the bones d. Count 
 the joints in its fingers. 
 Why do you think they 
 are very flexible fingers ? 
 They are covered with 
 skin and hair. 
 
 Find some account of 
 the walrus, and learn, 
 if you can, how it uses 
 its paddles. 
 
 The walrus is a fine 
 
 r? ^H ^ 
 
 IT 
 
 Q 
 
 FIG. 10. — PADDLE OF WALHUS. 
 
 swimmer. 
 
 Who knows of some 
 other great sea beasts? 
 They all have paddles more or less like 
 this one. 
 
 (To the Teacheb. — By being assisted in referring back to the Figure 
 4, section by section, the pupils may get an idea of uniformity of plan, 
 under the great diversity of detail in vertebrate anatomy. In each in- 
 stance let them dwell on the suitableness of the mechanism to its office. 
 A useful chapter if not hurried through ; the constant reference to the 
 human structure makes it a true object lesson ; but it may easily drop 
 into a mere picture lesson. Organs with similar construction but 
 diverse use are called, in zoology, homologous organs.) 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Experiment : Pick up your pencil ; hold fast of your slate 
 or book. Put it down. Take up your pencil (or anything) 
 without using your thumb. 
 
 Take up your book in the same way. Pretend you have 
 no thumb, and see what you can do without it. Try to 
 unbutton your coat. Try to handle all sorts of things 
 without using the thumb. 
 
 How does the thumb help when you hold 
 things ? How, when you pick something up ? 
 Show how the fingers curve over to meet it. 
 Which is longer, thumb or fingers ? 
 
 How many joints in fingers ? How many in 
 thumb ? 
 
 Would it be well to have the thumb longer, 
 or shorter ? 
 
 48 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 49 
 
 How much of the hand's work does the 
 thumb do ? 
 
 Could you play upon any instrument of 
 music without a thumb ? I can think of one, 
 
 FIG. 11. 
 
 though it is not a very fine one. Can you ? 
 Why can we not pick things up or hold them 
 with our toes ? 
 
 Has the dog thumbs ? Has any animal 
 thumbs to grasp with ? 
 
 (To Teacher. — Do not pursue observation on last questions very far ; 
 they are taken up in the next chapter.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 To what animals do these feet and hands 
 belong ? 
 
 Perhaps you can tell me what little monkeys 
 
50 
 
 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 can do with their hands. How many thumbs 
 have they ? 
 
 Do they run on the ground ? What is their 
 food ? Where do the wild one's get food ? 
 They are called four-handed beasts. We 
 
 Hand. Foot. 
 
 FIQ. 12.— CHIMPANZEE. 
 
 Hand. Foot. 
 
 FIG. 13. — GORILLA. 
 
 might say they had four feet with thumbs on 
 all of them. 
 
 The picture shows a foot and a hand of two 
 of the largest of the baboons ; they are mon- 
 strous monkey-like beasts. Describe the feet ; 
 describe the hands. How many thumbs are 
 there ? Look at Figure 6 and find how many 
 joints in a monkey's thumb. 
 
 Could a hand like the gorilla's hold a pen ? 
 Are they better off with four such thumbs than 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 51 
 
 you are with, two good ones ? Are four 
 thumbs better for monkeys? 
 
 The feet of baboons are placed so that the 
 soles face each other, instead of facing the 
 ground. If they stand they can only put the 
 edge of their foot on the ground, leaving the 
 toes turned up in the air. Can you think Avhy 
 their feet grow so ? 
 
 Can a bird grasp a stick as well as you can ? 
 Has it a thumb ? 
 
 Can it bring its toes together at the tips as 
 you bring your thumb and finger-tips together? 
 
 How is the back toe used ? 
 
 Do you call it a thumb ? How do bird's 
 toes move when they grasp a perch ? 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Note that the power of opposing the thumb to the 
 tips of the fingers constitutes the chief superiority of our hands over 
 the Quadmmana. Many monkeys, apes, etc., have fingers armed with 
 strong claws. To some extent the child's ideas of the monkey tribes 
 may be extended by pictures, enough to make clear their peculiar fit- 
 ness for a life in trees. Some questions have done all that was expected 
 in suggesting observation, when only yes or no has answered them. In 
 such lessons everything does not lead up to a formula. But encourage 
 a full expression of thought.) 
 
52 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 A great many thoughts and feelings can be 
 expressed by hands. Show me what the hands 
 do when children are glad. What, when they 
 are sorry. What do grown people mean when 
 they wring their hands ? 
 
 Can you show love by your hands ? How ? 
 How does the baby show its love ? 
 
 What do men do with their hands, when 
 they promise to keep their word ? What does 
 it mean to point the forefinger at some one and 
 laugh ? 
 
 What, if I shake a finger at some one ? 
 
 If you saw something frightful, how would 
 your hands move ? 
 
 Invite me, with your hands, to come to you ; 
 drive me away. 
 
 You may write a composition on this subject 
 we have now talked about. You may call its 
 subject : " The Language of Hands." 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 53 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 Bring composition and read it aloud. 
 
 (To Teaohek. — Opportunity should not be neglected to dissuade from 
 bad habits of carrying the hands, fumbling, pawing the face, biting 
 nails, etc. Nobility of man connected with his power over his hands. 
 The hand is not merely a machine, but a supplementary organ of 
 speech. It can tell a lie, or speak the truth. Illustrate this last 
 point.) 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 THE EINGERS. 
 
 Experiment : Move the thumb every way ; move the 
 forefinger. Try each of the other fingers separately until 
 you perceive how they act. 
 
 Which can you move in the most ways, 
 thumb or fingers ? 
 
 Can you move the thumb sideways ? 
 
 Which of the fingers can move alone ? Which 
 cannot move alone ? 
 
 How many joints have the fingers? How 
 many the thumbs ? 
 
54 
 
 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 55 
 
 Can you think why that part of the hand 
 below the thumb is so large? 
 
 Tell six things a man or woman can do with 
 the thumb and first two fingers, when they move 
 together. 
 
 The fingers have separate names ; the third 
 is called the ring finger, the first the forefinger 
 or index finger, the second, the middle finger. 
 
 Are the fingers flexible ? 
 
 (To Teacher. — Opportunity to dwell on the care of the finger nails.) 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 The figure on opposite page shows the bones of a man's 
 hand and of the forefeet of five other animals. It is diffi- 
 cult to understand. After your teacher has explained it 
 she can ask many questions besides these. 
 
 What are the animals represented ? 
 
 Do you see thumb bones in the dog's foot ? 
 
 Is it separate from the other bones of the 
 paw ? Yes, it grows to be a sort of short 
 thumb. 
 
56 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 We will call all these fingers, which are 
 placed similarly to our fingers. 
 
 How many has the pig ? They all grow into 
 two toes, however. What becomes of the two 
 outside fingers ? On which joint does the pig's 
 hoof grow? You have often seen pigs' feet. 
 How many hoofs have they ? People say, " pigs' 
 feet "; but we see they are really only toes. 
 
 Would you suppose the pig had four toes : 
 two for use and two others hid away under its 
 skin, as you see he has in the picture ? This 
 is very curious, is it not ? They look like good 
 fingers or toes ; but they never come outside. 
 
 This is not true about that little thumb of 
 the dog. That is often cut off from a pup's 
 foot ; otherwise it hangs on useless, and gives a 
 dog trouble. 
 
 Has the ox four fingers? Where are its 
 hoofs ? How many ? Have you seen them ? 
 How many shoes then does an ox need ? 
 
 The horse has one large, strong toe ; it is 
 just his middle finger. 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 57 
 
 Count the ankle bones of the horse. The 
 picture does not show them all. 
 
 How many hand bones ? This part of the 
 foot is called the hock. How many toes? 
 How many hoofs ? 
 
 Of all these animals, which has the longest 
 hand (or foot) bone? Which the longest 
 fingers ? "Which the longest fingers in propor- 
 tion to the hand ? Use a slip of paper in mark- 
 ing the lengths, so that you will get an accu- 
 rate answer. 
 
 (To the Tbacheb. — Pupils will need to be carefully guided through 
 Lesson VI. There is occasion for great exactness. To avoid learned 
 phrases I have not given the word meta-carpus and meta-tarsus, and 
 this leads to an awkward necessity of calling feet, hands. It is simi- 
 larity of structure, gradually lessening with the differences of use that 
 the figure teaches. By observing that the same letters are used for 
 homologous parts, confusion will be avoided. The tapir's foot was 
 given in the engraving I have used ; but it cannot be used by the child. 
 Do not undertake to suggest any ideas of the development theory. 
 The children are not yet old enough to understand them.) 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Copy and learn the Summary. 
 
58 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 Write a few lines about fingers and Lands 
 
 Lesson IX. 
 
 Be prepared to draw the foot of the horse 
 from Figure 14, and those in the picture at 
 the end of Lesson XII. 
 
 Lesson X. 
 
 Preparation : Have a dog in class. 
 
 Experiment : Rise and fall on your toes ; balance on 
 your heels ; balance on your toes ; on the tip-toes ; on the 
 ball of the foot. Walk about and think what part of the 
 foot you use. Walk on your toes. Watch the dog while 
 it walks on the platform. 
 
 On what part of your foot do you step 
 when you walk ? 
 
 The bottom of the foot is the sole, and 
 the part just behind the toes is called the 
 ball of the foot. Do we lift the heel as we 
 step ? Now how does the dog stand ? On 
 the whole of the foot ? 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 59 
 
 dog's heel ? 
 
 Does a cat? "Where is the 
 Touch it. Where is the cat's ? 
 
 Go to the blackboard and draw the foot as 
 it looks to you. 
 
 Be sure to look for yourself. 
 
 Lesson XL 
 
 You have all looked at a horse's foot, I sup- 
 pose. No ? Well, come to the windows, look 
 
 at a horse, and see if 
 you can answer the 
 questions ? 
 
 FIG. 15.— HOBSE IN MOTION. 
 
 How many toes? "What covers the toe? 
 Look again at Figure 14 on page 54, and say 
 exactly what joint the hoof is on. 
 
60 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 Where is the horse's ankle ? How far from 
 the ground ? 
 
 Where then is a horse's real knee, to cor- 
 respond with your knee ? And where is its 
 hip ? 
 
 What is the hock ? Find the hock bone in 
 Figure 14. In Figure 15. 
 
 Find the same bone in the deer's foot, Figure 
 5, page 40. Which is the longest, in proportion 
 to the leg ? 
 
 What grows just above the hoof on the un- 
 der side of the foot ? Who knows its name ? 
 
 What makes a horse sink in soft ground ? 
 Does it walk on its toe nails ? 
 
 Do horses always have to wear shoes? Is 
 there any objection to shoeing them ? 
 
 What part of the foot does a horse bring to 
 the ground in stepping ? 
 
 What can he do with his beautiful limbs 
 and feet ? 
 
 What is he doing in the picture ? 
 
 Are their fore feet and hind feet alike ? 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 61 
 
 Can you find a good reason why the cat has 
 a fifth toe on its hind feet ? 
 
 When you run fast, on what part of the foot 
 do you step? 
 
 Can you think of an animal that walks on 
 the whole sole of its feet, like you ? Turn 
 to the last page of this chapter, you will 
 see the skeleton of it in Figure 18. It is a 
 bear's hind foot. 
 
 Can a dog stand steadily on its hind feet ? 
 Can a bear ? 
 
 Which can run fastest, you or a cat; you 
 or a dog ? A cat or a dog ? 
 
 Look well at a horse's foot before to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
62 
 
 HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 Lesson XII. 
 
 HANDS AND EEET. 
 
 Copy the Summary, and review all the others. 
 
 (To Teacher. — The horse is the type of herbivora. The relatively 
 great length of the metacarpus in fleet footed animals should be well 
 appreciated. Be exact. By all means use the plates merely to throw 
 light upon nature. Some hoof-bearing animals are everywhere to be 
 seen, either in markets or on the farm. Persevere in requiring the 
 children to study life. It is the only way at this age to impress the 
 understanding and memory. The word hock and /eMocfc may be given. 
 The adaptation of structure in the horse to his wonderful usefulness is 
 full of suggestion.) 
 
 The Indian ponies that come from the south- 
 west of North America are never shod. They 
 can beat the best horses of the army 
 officers in a race, and are the only 
 horses that can be trusted to climb 
 the mountains. The hoofs, which 
 men cut away, are capable of feeling 
 the ground, and help the horse in 
 finding his footing. 
 
 A good many intelligent men try 
 the experiment of taking off shoes from horses, 
 or of never putting them on. They usually 
 find that the horses work better and longer. 
 
 fiq. 16. 
 
HANDS AND FEET. 
 
 63 
 
 Fig. 16 is copied from a photograph of the 
 fore foot of a horse which had not been shod for 
 five years and a half.* " In that time he had 
 traveled 13,000 miles. When he had worn 
 shoes he was apt to go lame, but never after- 
 ward." 
 
 a b 
 
 ria. 17.— foot of sloth. 
 
 a 
 
 FIG. 18. — bear's hind foot. 
 * From J. G. Wood's "The Horse." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 "We have no tune to charm away 
 Sad dreams that through the eyelids crecD. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Preparation: To " keep eyes and ears open." 
 
 "What covers your eyes ? 
 
 If I should suddenly put a bright light close 
 to your eyes, what would you do ? 
 
 Can you see light through your lids? Put 
 your hands over them ; can you see any light ? 
 
 I have seen people who wore a green shade 
 over their eyes, have you \ What was it for ? 
 
 Tell me of three useful things the eyelids do 
 for you. 
 
 When do we rest our eyes ? How ? Show 
 
 64 
 
EYES AND EARS. 65 
 
 me your eyelashes. What are they good for ? 
 Have you ever heard children say eyewinkers ? 
 We draw the lashes together, sometimes. 
 What for? 
 
 Why do we wink so much ? See how long 
 you can look without winking. Look at each 
 other and say, There ! as soon as some one 
 winks. 
 
 What is the shape of our eyebrows ? Can 
 you think whether they are of any use ? How 
 would our faces look without eyebrows and 
 eyelashes ? 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 PROTECTION OF EYES. 
 
 How are our eyes protected? Think of 
 three ways. 
 
 Pass your finger all about the bony circle 
 that surrounds the eye. 
 
66 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 Where is the upper parts of it? Where is 
 the lower portion ? What shape is it ? 
 
 Hold your book lightly and evenly over one 
 of your eyes. Does the book touch ? Can you 
 open your eyes under the book? What 
 touches the book ? 
 
 The eye-socket, we call this ring ; it projects 
 a little beyond the eye. Tell (or write) a 
 story about an accident that befell your eyes. 
 
 Do you know whether the eye-socket ever 
 saved any one's eye from injury ? When you 
 get something into the eye it makes tears flow, 
 then presently the speck flows out with the 
 tears. Is that what tears are for? Will the 
 eyes allow anything to stay in them? 
 
 Tell me again what eyelids are useful for. 
 
 Write for to-morrow's lesson this Summary 
 that says all we have thought about. 
 
 To prepare for next lesson, observe the eyes 
 of cats and birds. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — If some question s permit the answer ' ' yes," or " no" — 
 they are only leaders, but it is always better to have a child repeat the 
 statement of the question.) 
 
EYES AND EARS. 67 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Do you remember what vertebrate animals 
 are ? 
 
 How many eyes have all such animals ? 
 Have any creatures more than two eyes ? 
 
 Has the cat eyelids ? Look at one, and let 
 us know to-morrow. 
 
 Did you ever see her looking thoughtful 
 with eyelids drooped ? Does she wink ? Find 
 out. Do all animals close their eyes when they 
 sleep ? 
 
 Do they mind the bright sunlight ? 
 
 Do you think they have eyelashes ? 
 
 Who can tell me something curious that hap- 
 pens to a bird's or chicken's eyelids when it is 
 going to sleep ? After it is dead how do its 
 eyes appear ? There is the same curious thing 
 in rabbits' eyes. Did you ever see it ? 
 
 What kind of dogs have hair falling about 
 their eyes ? Is it useful ? 
 
68 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 Hoi-ses have a few long lashes on half of 
 each eyelid. Have they need of lashes? 
 Notice the strong, bony eye-socket of the horse. 
 
 Have fishes eyelids? Why do fishes look 
 staring? Is it very light where fishes pass 
 their lives? 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Report on yesterday's questions. Then write the Sum- 
 mary. 
 
 (To Teachek.— It will be possible for children to make some useful 
 comparison of the superiority of the eyes of the higher animals, in the 
 matter of their protecting organs. The eyes of toads and frogs may 
 be familiar. Some invertebrates, as starfish, have the optic nerve dis- 
 tributed to different parts of the body.) 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 THE PLACE OF EYES. 
 
 Think where the eyes are placed in all sorts 
 of animals. 
 
 Are they always separated by the nose? 
 
EYES AND EARS. 69 
 
 What creatures have them close together in 
 front, as we have ? What ones have their eyes 
 on the side ? When you want to look side- 
 ways, what do you do ? 
 
 Suppose a horse keeps his head still, which 
 way can he see ? 
 
 Bring, in writing, the names of four crea- 
 tures that have eyes that look forward, and of 
 four that look sideways. Why do such crea- 
 tures need to look sideways ? 
 
 Rabbits and hares can almost see behind 
 them when they are running. Why are their 
 eyes so far back ? Can they move their eyes ? 
 Can you ? Why do cats have to see straight 
 before them ? Their eyes are very close 
 together. 
 
 If a canary bird wants to look down at you, 
 it turns its head on one side ; do you think it 
 sees something else at the same time with the 
 other eye ? Can you look at one thing with 
 one eye, and at another with the other, at the 
 same moment ? 
 
70 EYES AND EAES. 
 
 Where are owl's eyes ? Why ? 
 
 Is it right to put blinders on a horse ? 
 
 Is it right to put him in a dark stall with his 
 head fastened so that he has to look at the 
 wall? 
 
 To-morrow ycu can copy your lists, and the Summary. 
 
 (Tc Teachek. — Carnivora look forward for obvious reasons. 
 Herbivora and rodents look sideways. Timid creatures, with few 
 means of defense, need to keep a sharp outlook. The axes of vision 
 act separately. Herbivora do not have to watch their food : they do 
 have to look out for enemies while they are grazing. Get sentiment in 
 favor of intelligent treatment of horses. This is an opportunity to 
 give a good direction to the feelings.) 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 HEADING LESSON EKOM " BLACK BEAUTY." 
 
 ' To turn the subject,' I said, ' can any one 
 tell me the use of blinders 2 ' 
 
 ' No ! ' said Sir Oliver * shortly, ' because they 
 are of no use.' 
 
 'They are supposed,' said Justice, the roan 
 
 * Sir Oliver is a horse. 
 
EYES AND EARS. 71 
 
 colt, in his calm way, ' to prevent horses from 
 shying and starting and getting so frightened 
 as to cause accident.' 
 
 'Then what is the reason they do not put 
 them on riding horses ; especially on ladies' 
 horses ? ' said I. 
 
 ' There is no reason at all,' said he quietly, 
 except the fashion; they say that a horse 
 would be so frightened at the wheels of his 
 own cart coming behind him, that he would be 
 sure to run away. But we don't run away. 
 We are used to it, and understand it, and if we 
 never had blinders put on we should never 
 want them.' 
 
 'I consider,' said Sir Oliver, 'that blinders 
 are dangerous things in the night. We horses 
 can see much better in the dark than men can, 
 and many an accident would never have 
 happened if horses might have had the full use 
 of their eyes.' 
 
 'I should say,' said Ginger, curling her nos- 
 trils, 'that these men who are so wise had better 
 
72 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 give orders that in future all foals should be 
 born with eyes set just in the middle of their 
 foreheads, instead of on the side ; they always 
 think they can improve upon nature and mend 
 what God has made.' 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 EARS. 
 
 What do we call people who cannot hear ? 
 
 If your ears were cut off would you be 
 deaf ? 
 
 Press them back tight with the tips of your 
 forefingers. Be sure to keep your hand out 
 of the way. Now listen to some very faint 
 noise, like the scratching of a pin, or cricket's 
 chirping. Take your fingers off and listen ; 
 put them on again. Do it over and over very 
 carefully until you are prepared to tell whether 
 that part of the ear makes any difference with 
 your hearing. 
 
EYES AND EATCS. 73 
 
 Next, make a hollow with your hands, and 
 piace them behind your ears, thumbs against 
 your cheek, this makes large ear-flaps. Listen 
 now again to the same noises. Make a number 
 of experiments with hands around the ears 
 and hands off, until you are prepared to say 
 whether the hand makes any difference with 
 the hearing. 
 
 Can you move your outside ears ? Some 
 boys can. 
 
 Where is the part of the ear which hears ? 
 
 Can you shut out the sound by stopping the 
 passage ? Can we rest our ears as we can our 
 eyes ? 
 
 Are your real inner ears protected ? Where 
 are they ? 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 Have all animals ear flaps ? But their real 
 ear is inside the skull, as it is with us. Let us 
 see if we can find uses for the ear flaps. 
 
74 
 
 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 Describe a cat's ear flaps, or a dog's. Think 
 of four animals that move their ears very 
 much. 
 
 What does a horse mean when it puts 
 
 its ears forward or 
 back ? Why do 
 horses need to hear 
 very well ? 
 
 What do you 
 think of the little 
 deer in this pic- 
 ture? 
 Can you prove that a cat hears very 
 Give some account of her hearing. 
 Has a mouse large ears? 
 Can any creatures 
 move each separate 
 ear different ways at 
 the same time ? Do you see 
 a good reason for that? 
 
 What animal has the largest 
 ears for its size ? p IG . 21. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 well? 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
EYES AND EARS. 
 
 75 
 
 Pig. 22. 
 
 Draw a horse's or donkey's head, so as to 
 show the ears. 
 
 Write the Summary about ears. 
 
 Lesson IX. 
 
 " We know not always who are kings by day, 
 But the king of the night is the bold brown owl." 
 
 BIRDS EARS. 
 
 Where are bird's ears ? How can you tell 
 that birds hear ? Do they sing to each other ? 
 
76 
 
 EYES AND EARS. 
 
 Tell me some story about what birds hear. 
 Did you ever look under its feathers for a 
 chicken's ears ? 
 
 You see the owl's ears in the picture. Tell 
 what you know about owls. You are usually 
 asleep when the owls are out. Who has ever 
 seen one ? Do they always have ears like this 
 
 ^v- 
 
 FlQ. 23. 
 
 Fiq. 24. 
 
 picture of one ? But this tuft of feathers is 
 not an outer ear. It is only an ornament. All 
 owls have an unusually large open ear under 
 their feathers, however, much larger than other 
 birds. Give a good reason why the owl needs 
 large ears. 
 
 What kind of noises do they listen for ? 
 
EYES AND EARS. 77 
 
 Make a story about a mother owl hunting for 
 her children's supper. 
 
 I will tell you something curious. No nerves 
 of hearing have been found in the heads of 
 grasshoppers and katydids. Learned men be- 
 lieve that they hear with their legs; and we all 
 know that they chirp with their wings. 
 
 If you have a goldfish at home, try some ex- 
 periments to see whether it hears. 
 
 (To Teacher. — The experiment with hands behind ears is very in- 
 structive, and perfectly practicable after a little trying ; but children 
 are ready to fly to conclusions, long before they have really tested any- 
 thing, and great care is needed to conduct any land of an experiment. 
 Our outer ear is curved and channeled to collect and reflect sound ; 
 that of beasts pointed and movable ; very large in some defenseless 
 animals. The orifice in owls is very large ; they hunt living game in 
 the dark. Fowls and birds respond to each other ; also chickens come 
 from quite a distance when they are called.) 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TEETH. 
 
 (Teaohek. — The teeth, together with the organs of locomotion, are 
 the basis of the classification of the orders and genera of vertebrates. 
 To keep all clear, I give after Lesson II. the dental formula of the ani- 
 mals discussed. But they are, of course, quite out of the reach of the 
 pupil, who could not be profited by any show of such names. It is the 
 characteristic development of particular teeth, however, and not their 
 presence simply, that comes now within reach of the child's observation.) 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Experiment : Have an apple or something to bite or chew. 
 Double up some paper ; tear off a corner with your teeth, 
 or tear a piece of cloth, or bite off a piece of thread. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Which of your teeth did you bite your apple 
 with ? What shape have those teeth ? Which 
 did you chew it with ? How are they shaped ? 
 
 They are called grinders; could you grind 
 
 78 
 
TEETH. 79 
 
 corn with them ? What can you grind with 
 your grinders ? 
 
 Which teeth did you tear the paper with ? 
 Do you often use those teeth ? What' for ? 
 How are they unlike the front teeth? 
 
 Can you count your teeth ? Do the upper 
 and lower teeth match ? When do we show 
 our teeth ? When do cats and dogs " show 
 their teeth," as we say ? 
 
 To-morrow your lesson will be about cats' 
 and dogs' teeth. Look at them at home and 
 prepare to tell all about them. 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 THE DOG'S AND CAT'S TEETH. 
 
 ( Teacher. — The observation called for has very likely been neglected. 
 It will do very well to disappoint the class of its lesson, thus pique them 
 to effort ; much better than to proceed without it. Or get a cat.) 
 
 Prepare to describe the teeth you looked at. 
 
80 TEETIT. 
 
 How did you find them unlike yours ? 
 Which of them were longest? 
 
 Why are puss's front teeth so small ? You 
 see they are like a little saw. 
 
 Has she small back teeth, too? Does she 
 chew her food ? How does she eat a mouse ? 
 How long does it take her ? 
 
 How does a dog eat a bone ? 
 
 We call that gnawing; the bone gets 
 softened little by little. 
 
 How does a cat turn her head when she has 
 a bone ? Why ? 
 
 What is the food of tigers and wild cats and 
 wolves ? 
 
 When a dog " shows his teeth " which ones 
 do you see best ? 
 
 Those four sharp teeth, so large in the dog, 
 are called canine teeth in all sorts of animals ; 
 for canis is the Latin for dog. Where are your 
 canine teeth ? We also call them eyeteeth. 
 
 Dogs have very wide mouths. You know 
 how they carry a stick or catch a bird. Have 
 
TEETH. 81 
 
 they strong jaws ? Dogs like to play with 
 their mouths and to feel something between 
 their teeth. Why ? 
 
 Write Summary XXIV. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Do not rest until the pupils have seen the living 
 creatures. Great perseverance and artfulness will be needed to stimu- 
 late them to watch, especially those unfortunates who like to read better 
 than to think. Enlist feeling against the use of cruel bits. The Spanish 
 use a revolving bit that irritates the tongue and makes the horse seem 
 spirited, when it is really excited with fear and pain. 
 
 The long, sloping muzzle of rodents fits their long gnawing teeth. 
 A caged squirrel or stuffed beaver is not hard to find in city shop win- 
 dows. A trip to a musem after these lessons will be UBeful. It will be 
 well for teachers to often read that part of the preface that relates to 
 the Summaries.) 
 
 DENTAL FOKMUL.E. 
 
 Key to the FoKMUxa:. — The line divides the upper and lower jaws. 
 
 The figures separated by stand for teeth on the left and right 
 
 of each jaw. The letters : i, incisors ; c, canine (eyeteeth) ; p. m, 
 premolars (front grinders) ; m, molars (large back grinders). This 
 formula for man serves as a key to the others. 
 
 Man: i. 2 2 c. 1....1 p.m. 2. ...2 m. 3. ...3 
 
 2 ...2 1....1 2. ...2 3.... 
 
 Qnadrumana, apes, monkeys, etc., same as man. 
 
 fDog: i. 3 ...3 c. 1....1 p.m. 3. ...3 m. 
 
 Carnivora : 
 
 3. ...3 1....1 4. ...4 3... 3 
 Cat: i. same c. same p.m. 2 2 m. 2 2 
 
 I 2 ...2 
 
82 
 
 Herbivora : 
 
 TEETH. 
 Cow: i. 0....0 u. 0....0 p.m. 3. ...3 m. 3. ...3 
 
 4. ...i 0....0 
 
 3. ...3 
 
 3. ...3 
 
 Horse : i. 3 3 o. 1 1 (in males only). Molars 
 
 — — same as the cow. 
 
 3. ...3 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 monkey's teeth. 
 
 To what creatures do these teeth belong ? 
 
 -m 
 
 via. 25 A. — ape's teeth, side view. 
 i. Incisors. 
 o. Canines. 
 m. Molars- or grindef s. 
 
 Describe them. What are those two long 
 teeth called ? 
 
TEETH. 83 
 
 Which are the biting teeth ? How many- 
 grinders ? 
 
 How many teeth in all? Does the picture 
 show them all ? How many more are there ? 
 
 What is peculiar about the front teeth 
 in the Figure marked B. 
 
 When the jaw is very flat, the teeth spread 
 apart that way. 
 
 The ape in Figure marked A 
 is not like the one marked B. 
 
 What can such big front teeth 
 be good for ? Can you tell what "*** ***»^ # 
 
 mi ^ i t-v MO. 25 B. — ape's 
 
 wild apes and monkeys eat ? Do teeth, front view. 
 they catch things with their mouths like a dog ? 
 
 What can they need these strong fangs for ? 
 They look rather dangerous, don't they ? Can 
 they laugh ? What is a grin ? 
 
 If these animals have strong jaws to move 
 their teeth, they must be able to eat all sorts of 
 hard things. 
 
 Who can bring a book which will tell us 
 about their food? 
 
 ; Burp a n< * r nf vre Study, 
 
84 TEETH. 
 
 Lesson lV. 
 
 rat's teeth. 
 
 What is this picture? 
 
 Does the picture show us all of the rat's 
 teeth ? 
 
 Describe them, each set separately. 
 Where are the biting, where the canine, 
 where the grinding teeth ? 
 How many of those 
 long biting teeth must 
 
 no. 26.— side view or teeth there be in all. 
 
 OF EAT - Tell me what a rat does 
 
 with these teeth. 
 
 What does nibble mean ? What does gnaw 
 mean ? 
 
 What do rats eat ? What do field mice and 
 wood rats eat ? 
 
 (To Teachee. — If rodents' teeth can be studied further from life, let 
 it here be done. The rabbits' teeth ave very interesting, and so many 
 boys have pet rabbits, that it might be very easy to get a good object 
 lesson if the class is not too large.) 
 
 --/ 
 
TEETH. 
 
 85 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 COW'S TEETH. 
 
 Preparation : In a country school, no lesson to be given, 
 unless you have tried to examine the cow's teeth. 
 
 "Who has ever seen a cow's teeth? How 
 does she eat the grass? 
 
 This figure shows a cow's jaws, both upper 
 
 no. 27. — cow's jaws. 
 s. Vpper Jaw. i, m. Lower Jaw. 
 
 and lower. Describe the teeth. Does it 
 seem strange to have so many empty spaces ? 
 What kind of teeth belong in these spaces? 
 
86 TEETH. 
 
 How many teeth in her upper jaw? How 
 many in the lower ? 
 
 After a cow has bitten off some grass she 
 rolls it back to the grinders with her long 
 tongue. Can she bite close to the ground? 
 
 FIG. 28. — LOWER JAW OF COW, SEEN FROM ABOVE ; SHOWING THE 
 CROWNS OF THE EIGHT FRONT TEETH, OR INCISORS. 
 
 If such large animals are to get nourishment 
 enough out of grass, they will need a great 
 amount of it, and this they chew over and over 
 on those peculiar grinders, until all the juice is 
 pressed out of it. 
 
 (To Teacher. — If possible have the class see the jaws of a cow, and 
 decide what advantage it is to her to have no upper incisors.) 
 
TEETH. 87 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 house's teeth. 
 
 What is a horse's bit like ? How is it fitted 
 into his mouth ? 
 
 Not many know just how a horse's teeth 
 are placed so as to be able to receive a bit. 
 Where the canine teeth should be, there are 
 wide empty spaces, and so the back teeth are 
 several inches from the front. In this empty 
 space the bit rests. In the male horse there is 
 one very small canine tooth in each side of the 
 upper jaw ; it is called the bridle tooth ; but 
 it is not in the way of the bit. 
 
 How is a horse controlled by the bit ? 
 
 Is it cruel ? Could we make him obey in 
 in any other way ? Read the stoiy at the end 
 of this chapter. 
 
 A saddle horse is sometimes guided by lay- 
 ing the bridle gently across the neck. 
 
88 TEETir. 
 
 How can a horse get oats off the ground 
 with his mouth ? 
 
 Try to give a horse a handful of sugar, and 
 then teli how he eats it, 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Copy and learn a long Summary. 
 
 Lesson Vtll. 
 
 READING LESSON. 
 
 This cruel curb-bit had been removed from 
 a horse, who had been used without 
 it for a long time by a new and 
 kind master. He wanted to have 
 the horse's picture taken with his 
 fig. 29. jj ea( j tied back to his tail by means of 
 this instrument of torture. When the horse 
 
TEETH. 89 
 
 saw the groom approaching with the bit, he 
 trembled violently and broke out with a per- 
 spiration. If horses could howl or scream 
 when they suffer, how often they would cry 
 for relief. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANIMAL SOCIETY. 
 
 " Go to the ant : consider her ways and be wise." 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Preparation: To find out all you can about the way 
 sheep live. 
 
 You have seen a flock of sheep driven 
 to market through the city streets; or to 
 new pasture over country roads. How many 
 men does it take to drive a large flock of 
 sheep? What makes the sheep follow each 
 other ? Suppose a hundred cats could be, all at 
 once, let out of a pen, do you think they would 
 all flock together as sheep do ? 
 
 When a dog or a boy suddenly attacks a 
 
 90 
 
ANIMAL SOCIETY. 91 
 
 backyard party of cats, which way do the cats 
 all run? 
 
 How is it with dogs? ov they like the 
 society of other dogs, or do they like to wander 
 off alone ? 
 
 To-morrow be prepared to tell some story 
 that shows whether cats like company, or soli- 
 tude ? 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Think of five different creatures that go in 
 bands or flocks. Some of these may be two- 
 legged creatures and some may be four-legged. 
 Write their names. Think of those that prefer 
 to wander off alone. Think of some birds of 
 each kind. Creatures that go in flocks or 
 herds are called gre-ga-ri-ous. Such animals 
 ought to be friendly and peaceable. Do you 
 know whether they are ? Of all the different 
 animals that we have been speaking of in the 
 
92 ANIMAL SOCIETY. 
 
 class, which are peaceable and which quarrel- 
 some? 
 
 Is it in any way a benefit to the gregarious 
 animals to stay near each other ? 
 
 Suppose three sheep find a good, sweet 
 pasture, would they not be better off alone 
 than to share it with thirty-three ? 
 
 Suppose now a beast that catches and eats 
 sheep should attack them, how would the three 
 sheep fare ? 
 
 But if there was a flock in the field, and the 
 three were in the midst of the flock, how would 
 they fare then ? 
 
 In cold nights animals that live in herds all 
 quarrel for the inside places. 
 
 In pastures cows and horses often stand head 
 to tail, with their sides pressed against each 
 other. If you ever notice them, see if you can 
 think why they do so ? 
 
 Are men gregarious ? Do they ever fight ? 
 
ANIMAL SOCIETY. 93 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Copy the next Summary, and answer these questions. 
 
 What is a flock ? What is a herd ? What 
 is a tribe ? What is a nation ? What is a 
 band? 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Bring to class a list of animals that are not 
 gregarious. You must get three besides the 
 cat. When we speak of the habits of cats it 
 is the wild-cat, or mountain-cat, we think of. 
 Why do cats like to hunt alone for mice and 
 birds ? Can you tell what prey lions and 
 tigers are fond of ? Are these creatures apt 
 to fight with each other? Why can we not 
 expect them to be friendly ? 
 
 There are beasts of prey, and birds of prey, 
 and fishes of prey. Gret the names of some of 
 each class ; begin with the names of those you 
 
94 ANIMAL SOCIETY. 
 
 have seen. Do the birds of prey live in flocks ? 
 Give an example. 
 
 Being alone, would they have a better chance 
 to eat their prey '( 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Deer have been mentioned as animals that 
 go in herds. The oldest male of a herd of 
 deer stands guard while the rest are feeding. 
 He places himself on a rock, perhaps, where 
 he can see all about and watches. Do you 
 remember how his eyes and ears are adapted to 
 this duty of watching for enemies ? If he per- 
 ceives any, he gives a signal, and the whole 
 herd fly for safety. I dare say wild goats and 
 sheep do the same, but I have not been told so. 
 
 What do the gregarious beasts usually eat % 
 Then they need plenty of time to get grass 
 enough to satisfy themselves. They cannot 
 run off with a day's meal in their mouth as a 
 
ANIMAL SOCIETY. 95 
 
 cat can. They cannot hide, or climb trees, or 
 fly to burrows ; but can only take the chance 
 of keeping on the inside of a herd, in moments 
 of danger. Do you think there is a strife for 
 the inside places ? 
 
 Learn the Summary. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FOOD FOR YOUNG PLANTS. 
 Lesson I. 
 
 Preparation : Have some seeds soaked till they are soft ; 
 also have some corn sprouted in water. Put some grains 
 of corn on top of a little cotton-wool spread over a glass of 
 water, and they will sprout in about a week if they are 
 kept in a warm place. 
 
 What made this corn grow ? Will it die if 
 it is taken out of the water ? 
 
 What has pushed out of the grain of corn ? 
 Was it all in the grain before we planted it ? 
 Can you find anything that looks like a little 
 sprout in the dry corn ? Can you, in a dry 
 bean ? Let us see how the sprouting seed 
 looks beside the dry one ? What is the dif- 
 ference ? 
 
 96 
 
FOOD FOE YOUNG PLANTS. 97 
 
 You are quite sure, are you, that it is water 
 and air that made the shoot grow ? 
 
 What becomes of ail the white, floury part 
 of the seed, while it is growing ? Do you sup- 
 pose it is of use to the plant ? 
 
 We will prove whether it is or not by an 
 experiment. 
 
 Let us snip off one or more of the grains 
 very carefully, on all sides, but be sure not to 
 hurt the little roots or the slender stem. Put 
 them aside for a few days. 
 
 (Teacher. — The lesson on potato (Lesson VI.) could be brought in here, 
 or some review, while the class is waiting for the result of the experi- 
 ment. It is worth waiting for, as it clearly shows the dependence of 
 the plantlet upon the perisperm of the seed. Be sure that every child 
 has a little plant in his hand. On no account conduct the lessons with 
 too little material.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Did we find that there, are little plants 
 wrapped up in all seeds ? 
 
 If you soak some peas, or nuts, or best of 
 all, some maple or morning-glory seeds, you can 
 
98 FOOD FOE YOUNG PLANTS. 
 
 see for yourself. This little thing, sometimes 
 it is a mere white speck, is called the genii. 
 
 But in large beans and in morning-glories it 
 clearly has two pretty leaves. The seed is a 
 home for the germ. 
 
 Does the germ fill the whole seed ? What 
 else is in it ? 
 
 How does it taste ? Is this part of a seed of 
 use to us ? What use ? Supposing the seeds 
 are not gathered, but fall to the ground ; will 
 they certainly sprout ? Does the plant take 
 any care of its seeds ? 
 
 (To Teaches. — Have the corn plants now brought out.) 
 
 This is the sprout from which I cut off the 
 grain. How does it look? Which are the 
 largest and healthiest plants in the cup ? But 
 this little one without its seed seems starved. 
 Has it not had water enough, or light enough ? 
 
 Why is it so starved ? 
 
 See how soft and swollen the other grains 
 look. The good of the corn has nearly been 
 
FOOD FOR YOUNG PLANTS. 99 
 
 used up. It has turned into these pretty green 
 leaves. We have found out then, that the seed 
 feeds the shoot. Do young animals get food 
 from their mothers ? Which are fed by the 
 mother's milk ? 
 
 The seed then may be called the mother, or 
 nurse of the germ. 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Write the Summary. 
 
 (To Teacher. — Some other seeds might well be examined, to extend 
 this knowledge.) 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 about protection of seeds. 
 
 Preparation : Bring some nuts. 
 
 What do nuts grow upon ? They are seeds ; 
 if planted, what kind of trees will they make ? 
 Can you find the germ of an oak, or a hickory 
 
100 FOOD FOR YOUNG PLANTS. 
 
 tree, in your nut ? If you can, pick it out and 
 keep it. Now, you know, I suppose, why the 
 meat is in the nut. We learned it in Lesson 
 III. 
 
 Tell four things about that nutshell you have. 
 
 What creatures eat nuts i 
 
 How do squirrels get the meat out? Can 
 birds get it out ? Can boys ? Then, of course, 
 they spoil the germ. 
 
 Where do nuts lie all winter if they are not 
 gathered? Will the shell open when the 
 nut sprouts? 
 
 Tell me what use the shell can serve in cold 
 weather ? In rainy weather ? In dry weather ? 
 
 What are walnut trees useful for ? Hickory 
 trees ? Oak trees ? 
 
 (To Teacheb. — The more important timber trees either ripen a 
 multitude of small ovules in cones, slightly protected, or a compara- 
 tively few well protected seeds with a large supply of nourishment for 
 the germ. There is material in this subject for more than one lesson, 
 near any piece of woods where there are pines or hickories.) 
 
 Bureau Nature Study, 
 0)rnell University. Ithaca, N. V. 
 
FOOD FOE YOUNG PLANTS. 101 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Preparation : Bring a potato. If possible some new ones, 
 and some old ones. Look carefully over one, and be ready 
 to tell all you see. 
 
 What is the potato good for ? 
 
 If you ever saw potatoes growing, give a de- 
 scription of them. Some one in the class will 
 be able to, I hope. 
 
 What are these little dents? Dig some of 
 the dents out with the point of your knife. 
 Describe them. 
 
 They are called eyes. Count the eyes in this 
 potato. Of course, you know what would 
 happen if the potato was left in the ground ? 
 
 What is the germ that makes the new potato 
 plant ? 
 
 Is tlie potato a seed ? Are the eyes separate 
 little seeds ? 
 
 Why are they sunk so deep ? For the next 
 lesson draw a potato, with some of the eyes. 
 
102 FOOD FOR YOUNG PLANTS. 
 
 See if you can find out how many potatoes a 
 family of six persons will eat in a year. 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 What part of the potato do we eat ? That 
 part is called the starch. Is it good food ? 
 Do we eat the eyes ? 
 
 What becomes of this starch when the potato 
 is planted ? 
 
 Remember what happened to the corn when 
 it was sprouting ? 
 
 The potatoes often sprout and grow in the 
 cellar, before they are planted. Who can bring 
 one that is sprouted ? 
 
 How can they grow if they are not planted ? 
 
 You learned that in the lesson about the 
 corn ? Why do we plant them ? How many 
 sprouts can a farmer get from one potato? 
 
 Who can tell how the farmer plants his 
 potatoes ? How must he cut them ? 
 
FOOD FOR YOUNG PLANTS. 103 
 
 Has nature arranged it so that there will 
 always be potatoes enough? 
 
 Suppose there are one hundred thousand 
 families in a city, and each family uses as many 
 as yours ; how many will be needed in one year ? 
 
 How long will the potato keep before it is 
 planted ? 
 
 Germs of wheat, and other grains, will keep 
 alive for many years. 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 Here I come, creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 By the dusty roadside, 
 
 On the sunny hillside, 
 
 In every shady nook, 
 
 I come creeping, creeping everywhere. 
 
 Sarah Roberts. 
 
 Preparation : Gather some long-stemmed grasses, some 
 straw, and a few other plants of any kind. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 THE STEMS. 
 
 Here is a table covered with grass. It is all 
 grass, but is it all alike ? There ought to be 
 some leaves of oats, or corn or wheat among it. 
 They are also a kind of grass. They are larger 
 and easy to examine. We are now going to 
 do some work with all that has been brought. 
 
 104 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 105 
 
 First arrange the grass into sorts. You see 
 there are different kinds. Next select a large 
 piece. Describe it. Take now a stem of 
 clover, or some other plant, and point out some 
 of the differences between it and the grass 
 stem. The grass leaves float from the stem 
 like flags. The slender stem supports quite a 
 heavy weight, but it never breaks. Is it 
 pretty ? 
 
 What is straw ? What is hay ? How are 
 they different from the fresh stem of grass ? 
 What makes straw so light? Can you suck 
 water through a straw ? Is it hollow all the 
 way ? Count the joints. What do they seem 
 to be for? 
 
 Let us chew some of the stalks. How do 
 they taste ? Mention some of the creatures 
 that feed on hay and grass. Were you ever 
 anywhere where you could not see grass ? 
 
 Give a reason why grass is needed. What is 
 the verse about it, at the beginning of this 
 chapter ? 
 
106 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 How can children play with the hollow 
 straws ? 
 
 With a straw that is just ripe, and before it 
 grows brittle, you can make a musical pipe. 
 
 wo. 30. 
 
 Leave one end closed by the joint. Then with 
 a sharp knife cut a slit along the surface like 
 this. With these pipes you can give a concert 
 on a haystack. 
 
 (To Teacher. — A glance only at the use of grass as food for cattle and 
 at its universal distribution is to be taken, to get an impression of its 
 great value. Let the grasses be kept sorted for comparison, the general 
 characteristics appearing in the various species.) 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 THE LEAVES, THE SHEATH, AND THE BLADE. 
 
 Examine your grass leaves until you can tell 
 five things which make them different from 
 ordinary leaves. Write what you have 
 thought and read it to the class. 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 107 
 
 Carefully pick off a grass-leaf. Hold it by 
 its leaf-stalk. Does it grow out of the plant 
 stem like a clover leaf, or a rose leaf ? Where 
 does it begin ? Tell how the leaf -stalk wraps 
 up the stem. How many leaves appear to 
 overlap ? Examine some different grasses ; say 
 if the leaves all grow so. This part is called a 
 sheath. In the large corn and wheat, the stalks 
 must be made stronger by those wrappers; 
 strong, though they are hollow. A leaf of 
 grass is called a blade. How is it like a knife 
 blade ? Can its edges cut ? The blade is 
 covered with five parallel ridges; describe 
 them. What is the shape of grass leaves ? If 
 the leaf is the blade, what is its handle ? 
 Some grass is called sword grass. 
 
108 
 
 GEASS AND PLANTS LIKE GHASS. 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 THE LIGULE. 
 
 Just where the leaf bends away from the 
 stalk, notice a sort of green strap. Say how it 
 differs in different grasses. 
 
 Describe again the surface of a grass leaf. 
 
 See also how the surfaces differ. Have 
 you noticed the little channel running 
 along the middle of the leaf ? The 
 little strap shuts the channel off. Who 
 can think what the channel and the 
 strap at the bottom of it have to do? 
 Sprinkle some water on the blades, or dip them 
 in water, and now you will see. In this way 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 109 
 
 the rain and dew get caught, and each drop 
 has its work to do for the grass. But how is 
 it about the blades that bend backward, like 
 the great, tall, waving corn ? What becomes of 
 the dew that falls on that part ? (See picture.) 
 A circle of earth, all around the plant, gets 
 sprinkled by the drops that run backward. 
 There the tender roots of the grass, lying a 
 little way from the surface, drink up the 
 moisture. 
 
 Draw a spire of grass with three or four 
 leaves. 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Recite the lines at the end of the Lesson, and copy two 
 Summaries. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Insist on observation of these last points. Experi- 
 ence of wet grass late in summer mornings, or of the moist soil turned 
 up in a cornfield, will occur to some.) 
 
110 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 ROOTS OF GRASSES. 
 
 The farmer sees 
 
 His pastures, and bis fields of grain, 
 
 As they bend their tops 
 
 To the numberless beating drops 
 
 Of the incessant rain. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 Preparation : Have a nice piece of turf, that is, grass with 
 the earth among its roots ; also, in a glass, a plant of grass 
 with the roots washed clean. 
 
 What is turf? It is also called sod. What 
 makes it heavy. 
 
 What makes it hold so much dirt ? Are the 
 roots fine or coarse ? 
 
 It is very difficult to wash all the earth out 
 of the roots ; why ? The sod, too, holds mois- 
 ture a long time. 
 
 How do the little roots arrange themselves ? 
 Do grass roots require deep earth ? Men put 
 turf on the fresh ground about the house, why ? 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GEASS. Ill 
 
 We put it also on a new grave. It gives 
 comfort to those whose friends lie there. 
 
 But there is a different and a better reason 
 why the fresh grave needs sod. Can you find 
 out by thinking ? 
 
 If there were no grass anywhere, what 
 would become of the soil ? What is under the 
 soil ? Why does the sand blow about so much 
 in a desert ? 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Fill out the answers to these questions in 
 writing. 
 
 Let your answers contain more than one 
 word. 
 
 Are grass roots fine or coarse ? 
 
 Are they straight or spreading ? 
 
 Are they scattered or tangled ? 
 
 Are there few or many ? 
 
112 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 What are roots of grass useful for ? 
 What is sod ? 
 
 Copy a Summary. 
 
 (To Teacher.— It is easy to see that these lessons can be enforced by 
 reference to them when a beating shower or a furious wind gives occa- 
 sion. There is material for two weeks or more, where plenty of 
 grasses can be brought. Keep lessons short and lively ; these divisions 
 may be neglected. Eefrain from telling. The light does not break on 
 every mind at the same time.) 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 THE ELOWERS AND SEEDS. 
 
 Does grass have flowers ? 
 
 They will be hard to find ; but the seeds are 
 plain, and there are always flowers before there 
 are seeds. If you look about in June, you 
 will find grasses in blossom. 
 
 Are there many seeds or few ? 
 
 Get some ears of corn and wheat. Count 
 the seeds in one ear of corn. 
 
 Let us reckon how many such seeds grow on 
 an acre of ground. Oats is another kind of 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 113 
 
 grass Who can tell anything about its seeds ? 
 Wheat is another. An ear of wheat has per- 
 
 haps a hundred seeds, and there are thousands 
 of ears in the field. 
 
 Those grasses that are used for food are 
 called grain. 
 
114 GKASS AND PLANTS LIKE GEASS. 
 
 What did you learn about corn seeds in the 
 lesson about the food of young plants ? How 
 is corn well-prepared to take care of its germs ? 
 Is there any danger that there will not always 
 be a supply of new corn and wheat ? 
 
 How do the common grasses grow ? Do 
 men plant the seeds, or will they grow without 
 seed? 
 
 Low grasses spread along the ground, or 
 underground, and push fresh roots and stems 
 all about. If this were not so, the mower and 
 the cattle would soon destroy the pasture, by 
 cutting off the flowers and the seeds. 
 
 Why are we quite sure that grass will 
 always spring up? 
 
 Why are we very sure that corn and wheat 
 will not fail ? 
 
 Mention all the uses of grass and all the uses 
 of corn, and other grains. 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 115 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 Copy a Summary and review all the Summaries in this 
 chapter. 
 
 (To Teaoheb. — To have some drawings made, and perhaps colored, 
 will be useful and give great pleasure. Grass is so simple in outline, 
 that the children can have some success. Let the impression be made 
 strong of the abundant provision for the growth of fresh grasses.) 
 
 Read Song of the Grass. 
 
 SONG OF THE GRASS. 
 
 Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 By the dusty roadside, 
 
 On the sunny hillside ; 
 
 Close by the noisy brook, 
 
 In every shady nook 
 I come creeping, creeping everywhere. 
 
 Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 In the noisy city street 
 
 My pleasant face you'll meet, 
 
 Clieering the toiler's heart, 
 
 While he plies his busy part, 
 Silently creeping, creeping everywhere. 
 
 Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 More welcome than the flowers 
 
 In summer's pleasant hours. 
 
 How the cows and sheep rejoice, 
 
 And the birds with merry voice 
 To see me creeping, creeping everywhere. 
 
116 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 Softly spreading round the dead 
 
 In their still and narrow bed ; 
 
 In the happy spring I come 
 
 And deck their silent home, 
 As I go lightly creeping everywhere. 
 
 Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
 
 My humble song of praise 
 
 Most joyfully I'll raise 
 
 To Him, at whose command 
 
 I beautify the land, 
 Creeping, silently creeping everywhere. 
 
 Saeah Kobertc. 
 
 Lesson IX. 
 
 READING LESSON. 
 
 On the west coast of France the wind, blow- 
 ing in from the sea, drives great masses of sand 
 in from the shore. Pine forests once grew all 
 over this coast, near the shore ; but the peasants 
 cut them down that they could have more sheep- 
 pasture. Now, sheep nibble so close that they 
 
GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 117 
 
 soon destroy pasture ; so there was soon nothing 
 to bind the sand together, and it came drifting 
 higher and higher, and nearer and nearer to the 
 villages. Gradually it covered all the fields and 
 filled up all the roads. At length a great gale 
 of wind blew for many days, carrying the sand 
 completely over two villages, Lege and Mini- 
 gen. When the storm was over, nothing could 
 be seen of them but the tops of the church- 
 steeples. I suppose the people got away. 
 Then a good governor made all the people on 
 that coast plant grass and broom, and other 
 low plants which have tangling roots ; and so, 
 after a great while, the pine forest began to 
 grow up again. 
 
 A law was once passed in Great Britain to 
 forbid men destroying the joint-grass which 
 grows on the coasts. 
 
 The Mississippi wears away the earth very 
 fast ; so, artificial banks of earth called levees 
 (lev-y) are built to prevent this. The levees 
 are long mounds of rubbish and earth, and over 
 
118 GRASS AND PLANTS LIKE GRASS. 
 
 all is planted a kind of grass called Bermuda 
 grass. Its long stems run underground, and 
 send out great tangles of fine roots. These 
 soon bind the earth better than anything else 
 could bind it. 
 
CHAPTEE XL 
 
 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 Buds, which the breath of summer days 
 Shall lengthen into leafy sprays. 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 A LESSON FOR LATE SPRINGTIME. 
 
 To-day under the trees near the trunk you 
 will find heaps of little brown, thin sort of 
 leaves, half curled up. The wind has blown 
 them into heaps, in the cracks of pavements, 
 and in hollows. Bring a great many. You 
 may find some that are covered with sweet 
 smelling gum. 
 
 After all the class have mixed their collec- 
 tions together, take out a handful and see if 
 you can sort out the leaves. 
 
 119 
 
120 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 They seem very insignificant; they are not 
 pretty, but you may find them interesting. 
 
 Are they leaves? Ave the trees full of 
 young leaves now? 
 
 How do these happen to be on the ground ? 
 
 What trees did yours come from ? 
 
 A few days ago they were all on the trees. 
 Where then were the leaves ? You must look 
 at some branches that have not yet got leaves, 
 before you can tell. 
 
 Bring some branches of grape vines, or any 
 branches of shrubs or trees. Trees are the 
 best, if they are full of buds. Above all get, if 
 you can, magnolia buds or beech-tree buds. 
 
 Pick off the outside coverings of the buds 
 with your pen-point, lay them in nice rows, on 
 paper, just as they come off. 
 
 They need a name ; they are not leaves, but 
 are called bud scales. Do you see the leaves 
 wrapped up inside? 
 
 Count the scales of a bud. See if another 
 bud has the same number? 
 
BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 121 
 
 Are any of the scales gummy? Are any 
 woolly or silky ? 
 
 Describe one of the buds. 
 
 Tell how the scales are like leaves ? 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Were these buds on the trees all winter ? 
 
 Cut a bud across with a sharp knife. Is 
 there a leaf wrapped up? More than one leaf? 
 
 Yes, there are a number of leaves. They 
 will grow into a twig like this one, that the 
 buds are on, by the end of summer. 
 
 Probably too, it will bear flowers and fruit. 
 If a whole plant springs out of each bud is it 
 like a seed ? 
 
 How many new twigs will grow out of one 
 of these ? Do you believe they will all grow ? 
 Which will grow best ? 
 
 If so much is covered up in a bud, that is a 
 good reason why it should be covered well. 
 
122 
 
 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 Are rose buds covered up in this way, by 
 layer upou layer? Are lilies? Are any 
 
 -b b 
 
 a. Foot-stalk with bud under it. b. Foot-stalk fallen off, and broken open, 
 b. Bud uncovered. 
 
 flowers? Remember no questions are to be 
 answered by guessing. Find out by looking. 
 
BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 123 
 
 Describe how the tender leaves are covered 
 up ; tell why they are covered. Why do some 
 have fuzzy hairs on them ? 
 
 The grape leaves are beautifully wrapped in 
 wool. 
 
 Perhaps you have found some buds with 
 wax on the bud scales. Of what use is that ? 
 
 (To Teacher. — Have pupils precise in removing and arranging the 
 scales. Naturalists have to take great pains with very small things : 
 Precision is quite as essential here as in work with numbers, and brings 
 its great reward. 
 
 It is best to delay the lessons so that the gradual development of the 
 buds can be watched, and the bud scales traced throughout their short 
 existence.) 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 How many leaves came out of some of the 
 buds? 
 
 Have the bud scales all fallen oft'? Can 
 those that remain be of any further use ? 
 
 Do you see how the young leaves remain 
 folded? Why? How are they folded? 
 
 Write the next Summary. 
 
 Recite the verse at the head of this chapter. 
 
124 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 FOE CLASSES IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Bring the unfolding buds of hickory trees, or 
 horse-chestnut trees ; bring some young shoots. 
 
 Do these bud scales look like leaves ? 
 
 They seem to hang on. You can write in 
 your note book a memorandum of the time the 
 bud scales stay ; like this : 
 
 April th; hickory bud scales begin to 
 
 unfold. 
 
 April th ; the last bud scales disappear. 
 
 Do the same for some other trees. You will 
 be surprised to see how long they stay. Their 
 usefulness is very evident. They both protect 
 and feed the large, tender leaves of these trees. 
 How many leaves are in one hickory bud ? 
 
 How many are in a horse-chestnut bud ? 
 
 Notice how they droop in the sunshine. 
 The surfaces lie folded together for many 
 days. The leaf acts like a feeble infant that 
 is afraid of the sun and wind. 
 
BUDDING AND CALLING LEAVES. 
 
 125 
 
 The young oak leaves are the last to 
 straighten out, and turn their faces to the sky ; 
 and they are the last to fall 
 in the autumn. 
 
 See if you can tell 
 where the outer bud scales 
 were a year ago. Do you 
 see a ring of scars some- 
 where below the buds? 
 
 How long did it take 
 that twig in the picture 
 to grow so much ? Some 
 of your little twigs are 
 older than you are. Find 
 one. 
 
 Each of these buds will 
 do the same next summer. 
 
 Do all the buds of a tree get the same chance 
 to grow ? 
 
 Which get the best chance ? 
 
 via. 34. 
 
 (To Teacher. — The temptation to go beyond these lessons is very 
 great, but it is, perhaps, better to confine them now to the protecting 
 
126 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 office of the bud scales. That offers work for two or three weeks, 
 where any herbage can be found. 
 
 There ought to be sufficient precision to impress the child with the 
 uniformity of nature's methods. 
 
 The scales are modified leaves and follow the plan of leaf-arrange- 
 ment, opposite in the lilac, alternate in some other plants.) 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 " Glorious are the woods in their gold and crimson." 
 A LESSON FOR AUTUMN. 
 
 Preparation : When the leaves are beginning to fall bring 
 a few. Let them be exchanged in the class. 
 
 Where did the leaves come from ? 
 
 What made them come off ? 
 
 Do you believe it was the wind ? 
 
 I have seen them fall on perfectly still clays 
 and nights. 
 
 Why do you think it is the frost ? Many 
 leaves come down before there is any frost. 
 
 Are they dead? Are they full of sap? 
 We cannot talk much about them till we have 
 some that are still on the branches. 
 
BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 127 
 
 Bring branches of other trees full of ripe 
 leaves to-morrow. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Suspend any conclusion about the cause of the fall 
 of the leaf, but pique curiosity, as far as possible, by showing the insuf- 
 ficiency of the usual reasons given.) 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Find the places in your branch where the 
 leaves have fallen ? What is there now ? 
 When the leaf fell did the sap run out? 
 What is above the scar ? See if you can find 
 the same thing where the leaf is still hanging. 
 This point is called the leaf axil. Are the 
 buds in the leaf axils all summer? 
 
 What is shut up in these buds ? 
 
 If you have a horse-chestnut branch, you 
 find the scars full of dots. How many ? Are 
 they arranged alike in the difEerent horse-chest- 
 nut sprays ? Is there always the same number ? 
 
 You see then there is a sort of healed-over 
 
128 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 scar, where the leaf fell. This shows the 
 secret of the falling leaf. 
 
 The dots in the leaf scar are places where 
 the woody bundles ran through from the leaves 
 to the trunk, every leaf makes one woody 
 bundle ; you can trace them right up to the 
 leaves in the horse-chestnut. Seven dots, 
 seven little hollows, at the top of the leaf- 
 stalk, seven leaves, or parts of one great leaf, 
 and seven bundles of wood gathered into the 
 stalk. 
 
 When the sap stops flowing from leaf to 
 branch, the woody bundles shrivel up in the 
 leaf-stalk and the leaf has to fall. Now the 
 least thing, even a bee lighting on it, will make 
 it fall. It is very interesting to trace the 
 bundles in other leaves. 
 
 Is the tree alive all winter ? 
 
 Is it for any benefit to the tree that the 
 leaves fall? 
 
 When you see a tree loaded with ice and 
 snow, and bowing before the winter gales, you 
 
BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 129 
 
 will think it is well it is not loaded with leaves. 
 It would certainly topple over, or the heavy 
 boughs would break, then it would lose all it 
 had won in the summer. 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 Write a new Summary. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — These lessons afford material for several little com- 
 positions, the best possible "Subject," as there are both thoughts aiid 
 fit words now ready.) 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 EVEEGEEEN TEEES. 
 
 Some children remarked after the lesson on 
 falling leaves, that certain trees carried their 
 leaves all winter. There is probably such a 
 tree in sight from your window. What do 
 you call such a tree ? It is probably a fir tree, 
 or a Norway spruce. 
 
130 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 Let some branches of fir be brought to class. 
 The outside shoots are a few inches long. 
 Pick off a shoot and examine the leaves. 
 
 Which way do they point ? What are they 
 like? 
 
 Are there any buds in the leaf axils? 
 Where are the buds ? 
 
 Such a little shoot has just grown during the 
 past summer. It is the youngest child of the 
 old spruce tree ; all its leaves are fresh and 
 bright. Do you think they will never fall off ? 
 Next find a twig with several such shoots; 
 then look for a branch on which many twigs 
 grow. 
 
 This branch is old. How many summers do 
 you suppose it has been growing ? How do the 
 old leaves look? How can you tell which 
 leaves are old ones? You find them thinly 
 scattered ? Do you see the scars which have 
 been left by those that have fallen? 
 
 Go out, all of you, and stand under the fir 
 tree, and examine the big boughs near the 
 
BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 131 
 
 trunk. Here it is dark and shady — the boughs 
 are almost bare. Their leaves are almost all 
 gone. These inside boughs are very old ; per- 
 haps as old as your father. Once they were 
 bright young twigs and shoots. 
 
 It is true then that the old leaves of the fir 
 tree do fall off. Look now at the ground under 
 the tree. What made that brown, soft mat you 
 tread on? Millions of fir needles. How long 
 do you think they have been falling there? 
 Where did they once all grow ? 
 
 But yet the fir tree has always been green ; 
 both in winter and in summer it has always 
 been covered with fresh green twigs. What is 
 an evergreen ? 
 
 We find then that some leaves fall only after 
 they have hung upon the branches several 
 years. The cones, too, hold on in the same 
 way. Do you see the cones ? 
 
 How then do the firs and pines bear the 
 winter load of snow and ice, with all their 
 summer clothing on? 
 
132 BUDDING AND FALLING LEAVES. 
 
 They have very deep strong roots growing 
 away under the rocks. 
 Draw a fir shoot. Draw a fir bough. 
 
 Write the Summary about the Evergreens. 
 Recite the verse at the head of the chapter. 
 
 Leakn. 
 
 O fir tree green, O fir tree green, 
 
 Thy leaves are constant ever ; 
 
 Not only in the summer time, 
 
 But through the winter's snow and rime, 
 
 Thou'rt fresh and green forever. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BARK. 
 
 The mounting sap, the shells, the sea, 
 All spheres, all stones, his helpers be. 
 
 Emerson. 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 YOUNG BAEK. 
 
 Preparation : Bring sticks and twigs of various sizes, from 
 living shrubs and trees. Take a straight young twig, and 
 strip the bark off in long shreds. See what you can do with 
 the strips. 
 
 Can you twist bark ? Can you break it 
 easily ? 
 
 Try to break a twig with bark on it and 
 another without the bark; which breaks most 
 easily ? 
 
 When you pull a rose or a lilac it is the bark 
 that holds fast and makes it hard to pull. Can 
 
 133 
 
134 BARK.. 
 
 you think of some plants that are exceedingly 
 hard to pull ? 
 
 Some plants may be torn up by the roots be- 
 fore the stem will break in two. What is the 
 word to express this quality of the bark ? 
 
 Did you ever swing on a grape vine? 
 
 What do you remember about it ? 
 
 Which of these twigs have the toughest bark ? 
 
 Get the names of some of the trees they 
 came from. Why does a tree need a tough 
 covering ? Watch a tree as its branches sway 
 in a storm ; it seems as if they might be all 
 bent and broken to pieces, but they are not. 
 
 The toughness of bark is not only useful 
 to the plant, but to us. 
 
 Find out what they are. 
 
 There are two articles often used in all our 
 houses, that are made of bark; tough things 
 made to stand hard pushing and pulling. 
 
 (To Teacher. — Tenacity, as a quality, valuable in the economy of 
 the plant, ia the chief point of this lesson. Its usefulness to us is 
 secondary. Try to have fresh twigs of one or two years' growth, full 
 of sap. Hickory or grape vine are the best.) 
 
BARK. 135 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Tear off strips of bark again from the fresh 
 twigs. Examine the inside of them. How do 
 they look ? How feel on the inside ? 
 
 What is the part that was under the bark ? 
 How does it look and feel ? It is different from 
 the wood of a dry stick. Compare them. 
 
 What is this moisture ? Does the bark sepa- 
 rate easily from the wood ? In some trees, as 
 the willow, you can get a ring of bark off 
 whole from a long piece of stem. In the coun- 
 try, boys like to make whistles of this. 
 
 What keeps the bark separate from the 
 wood ? What is the use of the sap ? 
 
 Did you ever hear of boring holes in the 
 trees to let the sap run out ? The sap of pine 
 trees is full of a gum called pitch ; men bore 
 pines to get it. The india-rubber tree is bored 
 for its gummy sap ; so is the maple, for its 
 sugary sap. 
 
 Cut around the bark and take a little ring of 
 
136 BARK. 
 
 it off, so as to leave a little white ring of wood. 
 The sap can not run over the bare place ? If 
 yon will try it upon some growing twigs, you 
 can kill all that part which is above the ring. 
 
 Can the sap get out through the bark ? 
 
 Is there any danger that it will dry up or 
 ooze out ? 
 
 With the best microscope you cannot find 
 the smallest holes in the young bark. 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Copy the Summary about Bark. 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 HOW THE BARK GROWS. 
 
 Cut some twigs crosswise. Do you find 
 more than one ring of bark ? Try to separate 
 the rings with a pen point. See if the layers 
 
BARK. 137 
 
 can be counted. Are they all the same color ? 
 Which has most rings, a little twig from last 
 year's bud, or an older twig ? Look at many, 
 to answer this. 
 
 As the stem grows older, how does the out- 
 side of the bark look ? 
 
 Now let us look at the trunk of a tree, or a 
 stick of green firewood. 
 
 On the tree how do you find the bark? 
 Look at a pine tree, if you can, or an old oak 
 or apple tree, or some old tree in the park. 
 
 You can see in a stick of green wood, that 
 while it looks dead outside, the bark is all alive 
 inside. 
 
 New rings grow inside, every season. How 
 can they get room ? Then the outer ones must 
 keep stretching to let the inside grow. 
 
 This is why the surface seems so cracked. 
 Yet it holds on many years. The stick is 
 probably much older than you are, and that 
 rough bark was once its smooth baby-bark. 
 
138 
 
 BARK. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Bring some pieces of grape vine. In this 
 
 bark the outer layers split into long strips. It 
 
 is the same in the honeysuckle. Try to get some. 
 
 The bark of the lovely white birch curls up in 
 
 thin layers, which peel off when they 
 
 are stretched as far as they can stretch. 
 
 But the old trunks of the pine and 
 
 oak keep their bark many years ; it 
 
 grows several inches thick, and is 
 
 cracked and crumbling outside. 
 
 If you want to let the sap out of 
 an oak tree you must cut down rather 
 deep. 
 
 When forests burn, are the trees 
 
 all destroyed ? Do you think that 
 
 fire can easily get through their thick, 
 
 barky coats ? 
 
 I have seen tall old redwood trees, which 
 
 had had all their branches burned off, and 
 
 had sprouted again ; they looked like this. 
 
 no. 35. 
 
BAUK. 139 
 
 You see the sap was not dried up by the 
 fire. Why not? 
 
 Some animals, such as snakes, grow too 
 large for their skins, so they crawl out of them 
 when they get a new one. 
 
 Trees cannot do this ; and, although they 
 keep getting new inside coats, the old ones 
 have to hold on, and that is why they look so 
 rough. They get weather-beaten. 
 
 Give three good reasons why the thick, rough 
 bark is needed on the tree trunk ? 
 
 Lesson VL 
 
 Copy two Summaries. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUS- 
 TION. 
 
 (To Teacher.— In Number One, of this Beries of Nature Lessons, 
 physios can be barely introduced. Young children cannot safely be set 
 to studying its laws, or collating its phenomena. In the following 
 experiments, the child must be kept from jumping to conclusions, so 
 readily suggested by a lively imagination. Children are credulous and 
 self-confident, good at guessing and poor at reasoning. Perhaps the 
 only benefit to be derived from these experiments is some training of 
 judgment. So many things need to be considered before it is safe to 
 settle upon a conclusion when we are questioning nature, that the wisest 
 can only watch, record, and carefully compare results. From such 
 comparisons our recognized laws have been deduced. 
 
 To assist in rediscovering some of theBe laws as it were, may be 
 good preparation for the study of physics. The children are not to be 
 astonished with wonders but to see how similar effects are produced 
 from a general cause. The apparatus is of the simplest kind. Do not 
 go before the claBs without trying the experiments. By all means let 
 every child have a hand in them. 
 
 Probably the children will not be permitted to do them at home. 
 The lessons are arranged for work in class.) 
 
 Lesson I. 
 
 THREE EXPERIMENTS WITH A CANDLE. 
 
 Preparation : Have a candle (or several) ; a stable candle, 
 with a large wick, if possible. It can be fastened to a piece 
 
 140 
 
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 141 
 
 of pasteboard by some of the melted wax. A large candle 
 gives the best results. 
 
 Experiment I : After it has burned about 
 ten minutes blow it out. A stream of gray 
 smoke rises; bring a lighted match or taper 
 very quickly into this stream. It takes fire, 
 the flame leaps down and relights the candle. 
 Do it over and over. 
 
 Does the flame ever run up the stream of 
 
 smoke ? Which way does it run ? 
 
 How far off can you hold the match ? 
 
 Can you light it if you wait too long ? 
 
 Experiment II: Roll up a short tube of 
 stiff paper, about the size of the candle ; after 
 blowing out the candle, set it over the stream 
 of smoke, so as to make a kind of chimney of 
 it. Try to light the smoke as it comes out of 
 the top. 
 
 How far does the flame leap down ? 
 
 Will it run farther than when there is no 
 chimney ? 
 
 If it does not light well, see whether you 
 
142 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 
 
 have caught all the smoke quickly, aud 
 whether you have let the candle burn up well 
 before you blew it out. Perhaps the chimney 
 is too lona;. 
 
 A broken piece of a straight lamp chimney, 
 not too long, is good for a funnel, for then you 
 see the fire leaping down to meet the wick. 
 Make the chimney longer and longer. 
 
 How does the chimnej'' help us ? 
 
 Experiment III : Coil up a paper lamp- 
 lighter; after it has burned a little way, pinch 
 the upper end, and push out the smoke from 
 the lower end ; bring a lighted match to the 
 stream and it will catch fire. 
 
 Do you find anything alike in these experi- 
 ments ? 
 
 Lesson II. 
 
 Write an account of what we did with 
 candle and lamplighter. 
 
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 143 
 
 Lesson III. 
 
 Copy the Summary. 
 
 Lesson IV. 
 
 Expebiment IV: Put a little kerosene oil 
 into a pan, about a half cupful ; throw a burn- 
 ing match into it. The match will go out, as if 
 it were in water. 
 
 How then do we make oil burn in a lamp ? 
 
 What does the wick do ? 
 
 We will make a kind of wick by a strip of 
 cotton rag. Put the oil in a cup and let the 
 rag hang over the edge of the cup. 
 
 Does the oil rise into the rag ? Now touch 
 a match to it? It burns clearly. Drop the 
 burning rag into the oil ; again it goes out. 
 
 Can you tell how the wick helps the oil to 
 burn? 
 
 A little oil at the end of a lamp wick burns, 
 
144 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 
 
 while more oil in a pan does not. Can you tell 
 why this is so ? 
 
 Anything that burns easily is com-bus- 
 ti-ble. Is kerosene oil combustible ? 
 
 Can you set fire to it with a match ? 
 
 Experiment V : Heat some oil slowly by 
 holding a tin cup over a lamp. The tin may be 
 safely held on a fire shovel or on a toasting 
 iron. 
 
 Soon a faint gray smoke rises. Can you 
 light it ? It goes out almost instantly. 
 
 The fire runs down as the flame did to the 
 candle, but it does not set fire to the oil. 
 However, as the oil grows hotter it will take 
 fire, and burn quietly away. 
 
 Does the oil turn to gray vapor? Which 
 burns most readily, the oil or the vapor ? Did 
 the candle turn to gray vapor ? And the lamp- 
 lighter ? 
 
 Can we blow it out ? But if we cover up 
 the cup with a slate, it goes out instantly. 
 
 What is the best way to put out a blaze ? 
 
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 145 
 
 If your clothes take fire, remember this. If 
 there is nothing near, wrap one part of your 
 dress over the burning part, or throw yourself 
 on the ground. Cover up the blaze instantly 
 if you can. 
 
 Lesson V. 
 
 Write an account of what we did with Kerosene. 
 
 Lesson VI. 
 
 Experiment VI : We will try to light some 
 cold alcohol or brandy. It will not light. 
 What shall we do? Just what we did with 
 the kerosene. Either put a wick into it, or 
 heat it without a wick. 
 
 Did we have to heat it much ? The vapor 
 lights very quickly. Can you see any gray 
 smoke rising? 
 
 Experiment VII : What are candles made of? 
 
146 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 
 
 Let us try to light some of the paraffin. 
 What shall we do to make it burn? 
 
 After it has melted a while it gives off a 
 gray smoke as the candle did. Put a match to 
 the smoke ; it blazes easily. 
 
 How shall we put it out ? 
 
 What is the reason a wick is put in a candle ? 
 
 Copy the Summary that is given to you. 
 
 Lesson VII. 
 
 When the lamp is turned up too high, it 
 smokes. 
 
 Can you make a candle smoke while it is 
 burning ? How ? 
 
 Put a white plate over the smoke ; it is 
 instantly covered with black. We call it lamp- 
 black. 
 
 When the candle is blown out what kind of 
 smoke rises? See if that will blacken the 
 plate. It does not. Neither does any of the 
 
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 147 
 
 combustible vapor we made from oil and from 
 alcohol. 
 
 There seem to be two kinds of smoke. We 
 should call them by different names. The 
 gray kind that we could light when it was hot, 
 is vapor, combustible vapor, because it burns 
 with a flame. 
 
 Lesson VIII. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS WITH THE VAPOR OF BURNING 
 PAPER. 
 
 Experiment VIII : Roll up some lamp- 
 lighters — rather stiff paper is best. Light 
 one about three inches from the end. Then 
 pinch the upper end ; a stream of gray vapor 
 pours out. 
 
 Experiment IX : You can fill a bottle with 
 this. A wide-mouthed bottle is best. 
 
 See if you can light it ? After the bottle 
 
148 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 
 
 has grown warm it lights easily. Does it all 
 burn up ? 
 
 Fill a bottle and cover it with a piece of 
 paper. Let it settle away. Then fill it several 
 times. What do you find after a while on the 
 sides of the bottle? 
 
 Experiment X : Try to pour this vapor out. 
 It falls almost like water. See if it can be 
 poured from one bottle to another. With a 
 funnel, it can be poured easily. What good 
 does the funnel do? 
 
 How can you prove that the vapor is heavier 
 than the air in the bottle ? 
 
 Lesson IX. 
 
 PUTTING out fiee. 
 
 How did we put out the flame when we 
 burned the vapor of kerosene? 
 
SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 149 
 
 Experiment XI : Turn a glass over a short 
 piece of lighted candle. What happens ? 
 
 Lift the glass a little way just before the 
 flame dies. It burns again. What did it 
 want ? 
 
 The flame grows thin and pale, and climbs 
 up to the top of the glass. Why? 
 
 How can I put out the lamp without blow- 
 ing it out ? Does it go out slowly ? 
 
 Can I put out the fire in a stove by shutting 
 it up ? What is the little door at the bottom 
 of a stove for ? We call it a draught, because 
 air draws through it. How is draught sup- 
 plied to the lamp ? 
 
 If you set fire to anything accidentally, what 
 is the best way to put it out ? Why ? 
 
 Did you ever see a bellows ? Tell what it 
 does to the fire ? Why does a blacksmith use 
 a bellows ? 
 
 If you want to build a fire of brush in 
 the woods, how must you arrange your 
 sticks ? 
 
150 SOME EXPERIMENTS IN COMBUSTION. 
 
 How do boys build a bonfire ? What is the 
 best way ? Why do they turn it over ? 
 
 Copy Summary XLI. 
 
 (To Teacheh. — These eleven simple experiments may easily take three 
 weeks, with some repetitions ; and will require fully a half hour a day, 
 if the class is quite small ; if large, they will take longer. Let the class 
 work in detachments under the lead of the most careful. Or even 
 prepare a half dozen pupils to superintend the others. It is hard to 
 keep this from falling into play or simple wonder-working. But I have 
 had some success with pupils of ten ; and am satisfied that a sound 
 beginning in experimental physics can be made even thus early with 
 average children.) 
 
SUMMAKIE& 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 SUMMARIES. 
 
 Chapter I. Feathers. 
 
 Summary I. Wing feathers are light and 
 stiff. The narrow half of the feather is the 
 stiffest. The quill is hollow at the end. The 
 feather is very tough, it is hard to injure it. 
 
 (To Teacheb. — Elicit all the ideas you can before yon offer any. 
 Silently direct the inquiry in the direction of the Summaries. Much 
 more than is above asked will naturally be said, but the ideas of the 
 summaries are all that need to be insisted on.) 
 
 Summary II. We have seen that a feather 
 is composed of a quill and a plume. The 
 plume is made of many fine stiff threads called 
 barbs. The barbs are covered on two sides 
 with tiny teeth called barbules. These teeth 
 are like elastic hooks, that lock the barbs to- 
 gether into a firm light plume. 
 
 151 
 
152 SUMMARIES. 
 
 Summary III. We have seen that breast- 
 feathers are soft and warm, for the barbs do 
 not lock together with stiff hooks. The softest 
 parts that grow next to the bird's skin are 
 called down. 
 
 Summary IV. Feathers are well contrived 
 to keep a bird dry. Birds have little shelter, 
 so their feathers must protect them from wet 
 and from cold. 
 
 Summary V. Wings are stiff so that they 
 can beat the air. The overlapped feathers 
 make them stiff. 
 
 Wings are light, so that the elastic air can 
 beat them back. We found by waving a wing 
 that the air pushes against it like a soft spring- 
 ing cushion. The air pushing against the lower 
 surface of the wing moves the bird's body for- 
 ward, just as the water pushes a boy forward 
 when he swims, and beats it with his feet and 
 hands. 
 
SUMMARIES. 153 
 
 Chapter II. Shells. 
 
 Summary VI. Shells are built by creatures 
 called Mollusks. As they grow they add coil 
 upon coil, in a spiral form. The coils usually 
 go in the direction of the hands of a clock. 
 The first little coil is called the apex. 
 
 Summary VII. The parts of a spiral shell 
 are : 
 
 1. Apex 4. Canal 
 
 2. Spiral 5. Column 
 
 3. Aperture 6. Lip 
 
 7. Lines of Growth. 
 
 Summary VIII. The Mollusks that live in 
 spiral shells walk on their stretched-out stom- 
 achs. They are called stomach-footed. They 
 can close their shells by an operculum. 
 
 The round form of a shell gives it great 
 strength. The rolling stones and sand do not 
 crush it. 
 
154 SUMMARIES. 
 
 Chapter III. Spinal Column. 
 
 Summary IX. We found that our backbone 
 is made of twenty-four pieces. 
 
 Each of the pieces is called a vertebra. 
 
 This is a Latin word ; it means that which 
 turns. 
 
 The backbone is called the ver-te-bral column. 
 It is flexible and has many motions. 
 
 Summary X. The vertebrae have points 
 called spines. 
 
 We often call the whole twenty-four bones 
 the spinal column. 
 
 All creatures with spinal columns are called 
 ver-te-brate animals. 
 
 Summary XI. We see that birds have very 
 flexible necks, for they need to catch their food 
 with their mouths. 
 
 Tall birds have the longest necks. 
 
 Summary XII. Cats and cat-like animals are 
 very flexible. They catch living animals and 
 
SUMMARIES. 155 
 
 therefore they must be able to crouch and 
 spring. Fishes catch their prey with their 
 mouths, and so they must turn very quickly, 
 and spring about in the water, when they are 
 chasing it. 
 
 Chapter IV. Limbs. 
 
 Summary XIII. Our arm and hand contain 
 thirty bones, and twenty-four flexible joints. 
 Our arms and hands have many motions, for 
 they are meant to do work, and to express 
 thoughts. 
 
 Summary XIV. The vertebrate animals 
 have fore limbs more or less like our arms. 
 But there are differences to suit the different 
 motions of flying, running, walking; digging 
 swimming, and so forth. 
 
 Chapter V. Hands and Feet. 
 
 Summary XV. The thumb is what makes 
 the fingers useful. We found that our hands 
 
156 SUMMARIES. 
 
 would be useless without thumbs. Men and 
 the monkey tribes are the only animals that 
 have thumbs. 
 
 The four short thumbs of monkeys make 
 them fit to climb trees and pick fruits. 
 
 Summary XVI. The fore feet of animals are 
 like hands in some respects. But they end 
 with claws and hoofs, for they are meant for 
 walking or climbing. 
 
 Summary XVII. We walk on the sole of 
 our foot. Our feet support our upright spinal 
 column. Cats and clogs and most of the four- 
 footed animals never touch the heel to the 
 ground. They step on their toes. Thus they 
 have a very elastic step, and can outrun a boy. 
 
 Summary XVIII. The horse has only one 
 toe. It steps on the end of its toe. The last 
 joint is covered with a horny hoof. Its foot is 
 made for running lightly and swiftly 
 
SUMMARIES. 187 
 
 Chapter VI. Eyes and Ears. 
 
 Summary XIX. Our eyes are very pre- 
 cious ; they are protected by five things : eye- 
 lids, eyebrows, eyelashes, eye sockets, tears. 
 
 The lids shield the eyes from light and dust. 
 
 The bony socket shields them from blows. 
 
 The brows keep perspiration from trickling 
 into them. 
 
 The tears keep them washed out. 
 
 Summary XX. The eyes of beasts and birds 
 are protected by eye sockets and lids. They 
 need no other protection. Birds and some 
 beasts have a thin inner lid which moves 
 sideways, fishes have no lids; their eyes are 
 always open and unprotected. 
 
 Summary XXI. Beasts of prey, like cats, 
 have eyes close together in front. Plant-eat- 
 ing animals have eyes wide apart. They look 
 sideways and in different directions at the 
 
158 SUMMARIES. 
 
 same time. Most birds look sideways and in 
 opposite directions. 
 
 Summary XXII. The outer ear helps the 
 hearing because it gathers up the sounds. 
 Most beasts have large outer ears which they 
 can move in the direction of sounds. Timid 
 animals have the best hearing, and the largest 
 outer ears. Owls are the only birds that have 
 anything like outside ears. In all creatures 
 the real ear is safe in the skull, at the bottom 
 of a long, winding tube. 
 
 Chapter VII. Teeth. 
 
 Summary XXIII. We have sixteen teeth in 
 each jaw ; four in front for biting ; then one 
 on each side for tearing; then two small 
 grinders and three large grinders on each side. 
 
 Summary XXIV. Dogs and cats and all 
 such creatures have strong tearing teeth with 
 which they seize and tear other animals. 
 
SUMMAKIES. 159 
 
 They are called canine teeth or fangs. Their 
 biting teeth are small. 
 
 Summary XXV. The teeth of animals are 
 suited to their food and to the manner in 
 which they get it. Grass eaters have strong 
 front teeth and strong grinders. Flesh eaters 
 have strong, dangerous tearing teeth. Gnaw- 
 ing animals have long front teeth. Cows 
 and sheep have no upper front teeth. Horses, 
 by their large soft lips, draw their food 
 between their teeth. 
 
 Chapter VIII. Animal Society. 
 
 Summary XXVI. Gregarious animals are 
 snch as live in flocks. Grass-eating beasts 
 and many birds are gregarious. They are 
 friendly, and protect each other by their 
 numbers. 
 
 Summary XXVII. Animals of prey live in 
 solitude. They fight with each other for fear 
 
160 SUMMARIES. 
 
 there will not be food enough for all. Some- 
 times they destroy their own young ones. 
 
 Chapter IX. Food for Young Plants. 
 
 Summary XXVIII. Plants live by food that 
 is in air and water. But most young plants 
 have to be fed before they are old enough to 
 get all their nourishment themselves. They 
 find food laid up in the seed. When this food 
 is made moist and warm, the germ feeds on it, 
 and grows. 
 
 Summary XXIX. The nut is a seed of a 
 valuable tree. It makes good wood for men's 
 use ; and great forests that cover the soil. 
 The shell keeps its seed from being destroyed ; 
 the meat nourishes the germ, so that many nuts 
 will sprout and grow. 
 
 Summary XXX. The potato is full of 
 buds called eyes. It is something like a box 
 of seeds, for the eyes are germs, which will , 
 
SUMMARIES. 161 
 
 grow if they are planted. The eyes are 
 nourished by the mealy part and are sunk 
 under the skin so that they can not be easily 
 destroyed. 
 
 Chapter X. Grass and Plants like Grass. 
 
 Summary XXXI. 1. We found that grass 
 has hollow stalks with solid joints. This 
 makes it both light and strong. Every leaf is 
 wrapped around the stalk, making it still 
 stronger. 
 
 2. The blades are ribbed. The ribs make a 
 channel to guide the drops of moisture inward 
 to the stalk, and outward to the pointed end of 
 the leaf. The hairy strap or ligule, holds the 
 drops. The parts of a leaf are called the 
 blade, the sheath, and the strap or ligule. 
 
 Summary XXXII. The fine roots of grass 
 make a mat which binds the soil. Without 
 roots all the soil would be carried away by 
 water and wind. 
 
162 SUMMARIES, 
 
 Summary XXXIII. Grasses bear an immense 
 number of small seeds. We counted seeds on 
 an ear of corn. The seeds of grain have a 
 large store of food for the germ. 
 
 Some grasses also spread underground. 
 
 The life of man depends more upon grass, 
 and grass-like plants, than upon anything else 
 that otows. 
 
 Chapter XI. Budding and Falling Leaves. 
 
 Summary XXXIV. A little twig is 
 wrapped in each bud of a tree. Its leaves and 
 flowers are protected by bud-scales from the 
 frosts of winter. In the spring twigs spring 
 from the buds. 
 
 Summary XXXV. The leaf falls in the 
 autumn because the wood gets hard in the 
 leaf-stalk, and the sap no longer flows 
 through it. 
 
 The bud for next year's twig also helps to 
 push the leaves off. 
 
SUMMARIES. 163 
 
 The naked tree is better prepared for winter 
 storms than the leafy one. 
 
 Summary XXXVI. The evergreen trees 
 have small, needle-shaped leaves. The leaves 
 stay several years on the twigs and branches. 
 
 Charter XII. Bark. 
 
 Summary XXXVII. We find that bark is 
 tough ; it can be twisted and pulled without 
 breaking. The toughness of bark keeps the 
 young twigs from injury. 
 
 Summary XXXVIII. The sap flows between 
 the wood and the bark. It is protected by the 
 firm, close bark. It is necessary to the life of 
 the tree. 
 
 Summary XXXIX. Bark grows in layers 
 around the stem ; the inside ring is always the 
 new one.' The old bark is stretched and 
 cracked to make room for the wood to grow. 
 Bark makes a thick coat for the trunk and 
 branches. 
 
164 SUMMARIES. 
 
 Chapter XIII. Experiments in Combustion. 
 
 Summary XL. Air is needed to make 
 things burn. A current of fresh air brought to 
 a fire is called draught. The best way to put 
 out a fire is to cover it. 
 
 Summary XLI. We found that the smoke 
 which passes out of a hot candle wick, or from 
 hot paper, will take fire, if lighted before it is 
 allowed time to get cool. 
 
 Summary XLII. We have found that tallow, 
 kerosene, and alcohol will not take fire when 
 they are cold. But when they are heated they 
 give off a gray vapor which is combustible. A 
 very little of this vapor is formed quickly 
 when the end of a wick is heated, and thus the 
 wick causes a steady and slow flame. , 
 
WILLIAM BfcvEHLtr hakisun. 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N. Y. 
 
 THE SANTA ROSA REPRODUCTION STORIES. 
 
 Washington, illustrated by children. Price, net, 25 cents. 
 Four True Stories of Life and Adventure, net, 36 cents. 
 Being the lives of Columbus, Captain John Smith, Miles 
 Standish, Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 PROF. FREDERICK BURK, former Superintendent of Schools of Santa 
 Rosa, Cal., under whose supervision this work was done writes as follows in 
 the Preface and introduction to these books : * 
 
 " This book is to be read by children, not to them. 
 
 *' Fifty years ago, the only tool used by the teacher in teaching reading was 
 the school lesson-book. Since that time, the problem, both in means and 
 purposes, has greatly broadened. The modern teacher has several ends in 
 view and finds use for a variety of tools. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " She wants stories of intrinsic interest to children, which may be either read 
 or related, for the purpose of introducing the children to literature, myth, 
 history and science. When he has reached his fifth school year, and generally 
 not until then, under present rates of progress, the child is able to read such 
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 period, there exist at present a gap, both in the child's ability to read and in the 
 market supply of .books which he can read. The child, during these years, 
 is hungering for stories, especially * true ' stories, and some mothers and teachers 
 ' -y to meet the demand by reading and telling. < 
 
 # # * # 
 
 ** This book is designed to meet this end. It is practically written by children. 
 Miss Smith's purpose has been that of a faithful chronicler of children's 
 language, mode of expression, and the lines of their plot interest." 
 
 OLD MOTHER EARTH, Her Highways and By-Ways. By 
 Josephine Simpson. An attractive Geographical Reader for 
 little children. Third edition. Price net, 36 cents. 
 
 CONTENTS: — Her Wrinkled Face. — Toilers of. the Sea.— The Fire 
 Gnome.— Prince Volcan.— Old Dunderhead.— Sputter Top.— Little and Big.— 
 An Endless Spin.— A Thick Veil. — Madame Heavy Weight.— A Good Rid- 
 dance. — Master Vapor's Blanket.— The Wind Causeway. — A Clean Sweep.— 
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 "This is an attractive geographical reader for little children, which now 
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 —Kindergarten Magazine. 
 
 ** It is a very interesting little volume of geographic and geologic information, 
 told simply and imaginatively." — Kindergarten Magazine. 
 
 2 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARI5 0N, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N. Y. 
 
 IN THE STORY LAND. By Harriett Lincoln Coolidge. 
 Contains a series of original and instructive stories, in simple 
 language, for little children. At the request of many mothers 
 and teachers these Stories are now published. Price, i vol , 
 cloth, 75 cents net, post-paid ; 3 vols., boards, 25 cents each, 
 net, post-paid. 
 
 SOME OF THE STORIES ARE:— Little Helen's New Year's Wish — 
 Little Black Fairy, (Coal).— Mother Willow and Her Friends.— The Discon- 
 tented Raindrop.— Maidie's Easter Monday. — Little Red Cap, (Squirrel).— The 
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 Colors). — Dear Little Brownie, (Chestnut). — Little Yellow and His Brothers and 
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 " ' In the Story Land,' a new book of stories for the kindergarten, is having a 
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 Chicago, 
 
 " There is a surprising lack of stories to be read to children between the 
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 written in the home and among the children, by one who knows the little ones 
 both at home and in school. Tested in our own home, we commend them 
 unhesitatingly. The series has come in good time, and is every way adapted to 
 the needs of the home."— Journal 0/ Education, Boston and Chicago. 
 
 WHAT A PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER SAYS:— "It was the first 
 day of school and it was very warm. The children were uneasy after the long 
 summer vacation, and I tried several stories, but none quieted them until one 
 little fellow presented me with a copy of * In the Story Land? I opened the 
 book and read the first story called * Little Brownie.' Before I had read a page 
 every child was quiet, and their eager faces showed me that they were much 
 interested. When I had finished, one little child said ' we have that book in our 
 home, and there's three of 'em, we think they are all splendid stories." 
 
 WHAT A MOTHER SAYS ABOUT "THE STORY LAND:" — "My 
 boy has learned to read from ' Story Land.' He says he loves the stories 'cause 
 they are almost all true, and the guessing stories are great fun." 
 
 WHAT A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER SAYS :—" 4 Story Land' is 
 just the book we have been waiting for, and I wish you could see the children 
 wht ". they are listening to a story from it." 
 
 3 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N Y. 
 
 T HE GREAT ROUND WORLD NATURAL HISTORY 
 STORIES. A Series ©f True Stories. By Julia Truitt 
 Bishop. Attractively illustrated by Barnes, n Parts, paper, 
 io cents each, $i.oo per dozen. Vol. I, boards, containing 
 Parts i to 5, 50 cents. Vol. 2, boards, containing Parts 6 to 
 II, 50 cents. 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE:— The stories published in this little volume have 
 been issued from time to time in the Philadelphia Times, and it is at the 
 request of many readers that they now greet the world in more enduring- form. 
 They have been written as occassion suggested, during several years; and 
 they commemorate to me many of the friends I have known and loved in the 
 animal world. "Shep" and "Dr. Jim," "Abdallah " and "Brownie," "Little 
 Dryad" and "Peek-a-Boo," I have been fast friends with every one, and have 
 watched them with such loving interest that I knew all their ways and could 
 almost read their thoughts. I send them on to other lovers of dumb animals, 
 hoping that the stories of these friends of jjine will carry pleasure to young 
 and old. 
 
 COLUMBIA VERSE. The long-looked-for publication of the 
 collection of Columbia University Verse 1892 to 1897 at last 
 ready. i2mo, cloth, gilt, net, $1.00. 
 
 This book is a selection of the best verses, both light and serious, printed in 
 the Spectator, Literary Monthly, and Morningside during the past five years. 
 It appears in handsome binding, special cover design by Arthur Ware, is 
 printed on a heavy paper with untrimmed edges, and will be a welcome addition 
 to every library. 
 
 SIMPLE LESSONS IN THE STUDY OF NATURE. For 
 
 the use of Pupils. By Isabella G. Oakley. Illustrated. 
 Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 The author offers the novelty of a question book, with answers withheld 
 until observation and experiment suggest them ; thus a sort of inductive lesson- 
 book with the objects in the foreground and the teacher behind the scenes. 
 
 The topics are of sufficient interest to children, to induce them to puzzle out 
 the conclusions which the lessons imply. The persevering curiosity with which 
 they take their toys to pieces to see how they work, proves they have some 
 ability to follow up Nature in her work. 
 
 These lessons are real, all having been worked out inductively by little 
 children under the instruction of the author, (an experienced teacher,) and by 
 the novel mode of presenting them as questions to be studied with the object 
 in hand, she has sought to relieve the teacher's work and to refrain from doing 
 the pupil's thinking. 
 
 The questions found in his own book, in periods assigned for preparing 
 lessons, arouse and guide the child's curiosity, and prepare him to become the 
 intelligent questioner when the delightful lesson time arrives. 
 
 CONTENTS: — Feathers.— Shells.— The Spinal Column. — Limbs of Some 
 Animals. — Hands and Feet. — Eyes and Ears.— Teeth. — Animal Society. — Food 
 for Young Plants. — Grass and Tlants Like Grass. — Budding and Falling 
 Leaves. — Bark.— Some Experiments in Combustion. — Summaries. 
 
 4 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N. 1. 
 
 THE GREAT ROUND WORLD. A History of Our Own 
 Times, for Boys and Girls. 
 
 Volume I, cloth, 387 pages, price, postpaid, $1.25, containing a 
 brief, attractively written history of current events. Indexed 
 carefully. From November nth, 1896, to February 18th, 1897. 
 
 Volume II, cloth, 382 pages, price, postpaid, $1.25. February 
 25th to June 3d, 1897. 
 
 Volume III, cloth, 430 pages, price, postpaid, $1.25. June 10th 
 to September 16th, 1897. 
 
 Vol. IV, cloth, 410 pages, price, postpaid, $1.25. Sept. 23d to 
 Dec. 30th, 1S97. 
 
 Price of the set, 4 volumes in a box, $4.00 net. 
 
 No one interested in current events can do without these useful 
 volumes which constitute the only handy history of this period 
 suitable for children's use. Each volume contains for ready 
 reference a full index of all previons volumes. 
 
 ALBERT ROSS PARSONS, President American College of Musicians:— 
 " For the pupose of eliciting a free expression of opinion from my son Richard 
 Percival Parsons, aged 10, I bought a copy of l The Great Round World ' for 
 three or four weeks in succession, and simply left it lying where he would 
 be likely to see it. In about four weeks he had interested himself so deeply in 
 its contents that he voluntarily asked if he might subscribe for it, a wish which 
 I was only too glad to gratify. The bound volume of the first fifteen numbers 
 has remained his daily mental food and amusement ever since it arrived. I 
 thank you for your great service both to our young people and to their elders." 
 
 E. A. CARLETON, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Helena, 
 Mont. : — " I have been a constant and eager reader of ' The Great Round 
 World ' since my accession to this office, the first of this year. I regard it as 
 unique, and of almost incomparable value, and I should be pleased to aid in its 
 general use in all the schools of our State. You are authorized to use this letter 
 and to quote me strongly in favor of it." 
 
 CHILD'S HAND-BOOK. Part i.— Mammals. For collecting 
 and preserving, in a classified form, pictures and stories of all 
 the Mammals. Size, 8 x 10 inches. Cloth, Price, 75 cents, 
 postpaid. 
 
 Has numerous illustrations and the entire classification of the Mammals, so 
 arranged as to be easily understood, and used as a guide in placing pictures 
 and stories on the blank pages. This gives the children something to do, and 
 the universal propensity to ?nafce collections 0/ things, is here utilized in a 
 pleasant and profitable way, providing a source of great delight, and fostering 
 a desire to read about all animals. 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West i 8th Street, N. Y. 
 
 KLEMM'S RELIEF PRACTICE MAPS. 
 
 List of Maps. 
 
 Small Size. — North America, South America, Europe, Asia, 
 Africa, Australia, Holy Land, New England, Middle Atlantic, 
 South Atiantic and East Central States. (oj^xn inches.) 
 Others to follow. Price, per 100, plain, $5.00 ; waterproof, 
 $10.00 ; per dozen, plain, 75 cents ; waterproof, $1.35. A few 
 old editions, North America and Holy Land, will be sold at 
 20% less until disposed of. 
 
 Large Size. — United States, Roman Empire, British Isles, South 
 America. (About 11 x 16 inches.) Western Europe, North 
 America, Asia. (About 13x14 inches.) Price, per 100, plain, 
 $10.00; waterproof, $15.00; per dozen, plain, $1-35; water- 
 proof, $2.00. Old edition, United States, at 20$ less until 
 disposed of. 
 
 Above maps will be delivered to L.ny address at prices named. 
 Special prices on introduction orders. 
 
 "It is an undisputed fact that among all the branches of education in 
 our public schools, and even colleges, none is so neglected, or at least 
 irrationally treated, as the study of geography. In spite of Klemm's 'New 
 Departure in Teaching Geography' (Chips from a Teacher's Workshop, 
 Boston, 1888), this departure has never come. Everywhere one may hear the 
 same complaint. In the universities a secondary place is allotted to geography, 
 which is barely treated as a handmaid to history, and not even that in every 
 college ; while it really represents, together with chronology, the two eyes of all 
 historical science. In our primary and secondary schools the first and last 
 drawback is the text-book of geography. Karl Ritter, the father of modern 
 geography, says: *In nature alone knowledge of nature will be gained. 
 Nature ever remains the same; she knows no typographical errors.no blunders 
 in drawing, no want of discretion. Nature's teaching is always perfect. This 
 elementary method combines all the requirements of science ; it furnishes the 
 stratum of concrete knowledge, from which abstiact ideas are drawn. Amid 
 nature the child learns to know the country in all its various conditions, and 
 learns to recognize it even on the flat-surfaced representation — the map.' 
 
 "It was, therefore, an exceedingly happy and ingenious idea which Dr. L. 
 R. Klemm had, to invent his * Relief or Raised Practice Maps for Pupils," 
 which actually do away with the difficulties mentioned. These maps are so 
 cheap as to make them accessible to every pupil and school. They are of a 
 stiff cardboard, covered witn a durable, waterproof surface that can be 
 quickly cleaned with a damp sponge; adapted to receive a succession of 
 markings and cleansings, thus allowing a systematic or methodical progress 
 step by step. The pupil himself stocks his maps with geograpical facts and 
 names by degreess and little by little until he finally has created his own 
 geography, which, being chiefly based upon object lessons, he never forgets. 
 It is not exagerrated to state that these raised practice maps— when adopted in 
 our schools — will revolutionize the study of geography in our pi imary and even 
 secondary schools." — Public Opinion, Thursday, October 25, 1804. 
 
 "Teachers of geography are having more than their share of good things 
 just now, the latest benefit being 'something new and eminently practical 'in 
 the form of elegantly raised maps for the individual pupil. It is useless to try 
 to give any idea of the perfection and simplicity of these maps. They are 
 made from stiff cardboard, covered with a durable waterproof surface that can 
 be quickly cleaned with a damp sponge. Oceans, lakes, rivers and mountains 
 are clearly indicated. They may be slipped in any geography. It is one of the 
 great inventions of the day, from the teachers' standpoint." — The Amer A -~n 
 Teacher^ October, 1894. 
 
 12 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 6 West 18th Street, N. Y. 
 
 FOREIGNER'S MANUAL OF ENGLISH. The Rational 
 Method for Teaching English to Foreigners. By Helen F. 
 Clark. 8vo. Cloth. Price, 75 cents, postpaid. 
 
 Based on the Natural method, this Manual is designed to be a hand-book to 
 the beginner in the study of English and to furnish the student in the shortest 
 time and in the manner most easily comprehended, a vocabulary of those words 
 which are constantly used in conversation and which express the continually 
 recuring actions and events of our daily life. With this preparation the cludent 
 is able to push his further study in any direction or to any extent that he wishes 
 and that by the use of the English itself. 
 
 The great success, with which this English Manual for Foreigners has 
 already been used in many schools and private classes, has manifested the 
 practicability of teaching English by the Natural Method to classes where 
 several nationalities are represented. 
 
 FRENCH SONGS AND GAMES. By Alice Werner Stein- 
 
 urecher. With music and explanations. Svo. in portfolio. 
 
 Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 These songs and games have been carefully selected from the most popular 
 
 ones used in France for the special purpose of teaching the niceties of Parisian 
 
 pronunciation and will prove an excellent help in teaching children the French 
 
 language. They are especially recommended for use in Kindergarten, French 
 
 classes, and the family. 
 
 VERBAL QUARTETTES. By Alice Werner Steinbrecher. 
 In box. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 A game, to be played like the game of "Authors," for French or German 
 classes, clubs or the family. It contains words of every day use in French, 
 German and English, and can therefore be played in any of these languages 
 alone, or if desired in two at the same time, in this way,' — the question may be 
 put in French and answered in German (or English) or vice versa. It will be 
 found a useful help to teachers of Foreign languages; and amusing to children 
 as well as grown people who wish to practice conversation in either of these 
 languages. 
 
 SCHOOLROOM STENCILS. For blackboard and slate. The 
 original series of Stencils, greatly improved. 
 
 The Stencils are perforated paper designs. They are made on strong, 
 durable paper, and each Stencil may be used an indefinite number of times. 
 Full directions given with each. 
 
 These Stencils are inexpensive, most of them costing only five cents each. 
 By their aid beautiful and attractive pictures or accurate maps and drawings 
 may be produced in a few moments. 
 
 They are invaluable in teaching Geography, Language, History, Writing, 
 Physiology, Botany, Primary Reading* and Object-Lessons, the teacher being 
 enabled to place on the board a large outline picture of any object desired. 
 
 They are convenient. Require no skill to use. Save the time of the teacher 
 who can draw, and are a boon to the teacher who can not draw. 
 
 There are over 600 designs. Printed list sent free upon request ; or with 
 Sample Stencil for three 2c. stamps. 
 
 13 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N. Y. 
 
 BOOKS ON VERTICAL PENMANSHIP. By John Jack- 
 son, F. E. I. S., M. C. P. 
 
 Theory and Practice of Handwriting. $1.25. 
 
 " The Theory and Practice of (Vertical) Handwriting. This is probably the 
 most comprehensive work on penmanship that has appeared since ihe revival 
 of vertical writing' set in. It comprises an elaborate presentation of the claims 
 of this writing, with a history of its former usj and its revival, and instructions 
 for teaching 1 it. No teacher who desires to be in complete touch with the 
 foremost educational thinkers of the day can afford to pass it by unread." — 
 Kdivard G. Ward^ Associate Superintendent q/ Brooklyn , N, Y, in Educational 
 Review^ November , 1801. 
 
 Jackson's Teaching of Vertical Writing. A practical teachers' 
 
 hand-buok, the latest and best assistant for elementary work. 
 
 Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 John Jackson, the originator of this system of vertical writing, is the only 
 teacher who has had the years of practice*in teaching it that make these the 
 standard manuals for teachers and students. The adoption of vertical writing 
 abroad and in this country is largely due to his persistent work and the 
 marvelous results of his teaching. His series of copy-books were the first to 
 be used in this country, and are considered by experienced teachers, who are 
 not to be misled by mere beauty of engraver's work, to contain the only 
 practical well-graded course of instruction leading from primary work to the 
 rapid and now justly celebrated telegraph hand — for these books are the only 
 ones containing copies in this rapid writing. The telegraph hand is the style 
 used by the best telegraph operators in the country— and these writers are 
 universally acknowledged to be the most rapid writers, and writers of a hand 
 which of necessity must be most legible. 
 
 Vertical vs. Sloping Writing. 10 cents. 
 
 New Style Vertical Writing Copy Books. 10 numbers, pw 
 doz., 96 cents. 
 
 Harison's Vertical Penmanship Pads. Per doz., 96 cents. 
 
 The purpose of these pads is to enable the teacher to give as much practice 
 as may be deemed necessary with any particular set copy, the pupil writing 
 one, two or more sheets, if it is thought advisable to do so, before exposing a 
 new model. It is advisable, also, to avoid the discouragement, incident to 
 failure. By the use of these pads failures may be removed, and a new copy 
 shee 1 used, or several of them, until it is deemed advisable to proceed to the 
 next step. Pads will be made to order in any of the different rulings that may 
 be desired ; when not otherwise ordered, the double guide lines will be 
 furnished on the first numbers of the series only, single ruling on the higher 
 numbers — the "finishing " numbers to be on unruled pads. 
 
 The copies are compiled from the "Jackson" system for the reason that it 
 is considered well to follow what has been found best after many years 
 experience. * 
 
 The position considered best is that assumed in drawing, viz :— With the 
 body si raight before the desk, the copy slighljr to the right and set squarely 
 before the pupil, the pen held so that both points of the nib are in constant 
 action, the pen handle inclined slightly away from the direction of the shoulder. 
 
 Desk Cards with Vertic-1 Letters (Miniature Charts), per 
 dozen, 60 cents. 
 
 Large Wall Chart, size, 20x30 inches, $5.00. 
 
 The only complete Vertical Writing Chart published. 
 
 10 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, N. Y. 
 
 POCKET PEDAGOGICAL LIBRARY. A series of necessar- 
 teachers' handbooks published in a convenient pocket form. 
 No. i. Education in its Physical Relations. By William 
 Jolly, F.R.S.E.,F.G.S. 25 cents. 
 
 "A series of rapid suggestions addressed to earnest practical educators." 
 (From Preface). 
 
 Inspector Jolly discusses in a practical way such questions as Ventilation — 
 Desks— General Attributes of Children— Music — Class Drill— Cleanliness- 
 Physical Exercises, etc. 
 
 No. 2. Physiology of Writing. By Dr. Javal. 25 cents. 
 
 The authorized report of Commission appointed by the French Government 
 to examine into and report upon Vertical Writing. Contains very valuable 
 suggestions. 
 
 No. 3. Upright versus Sloping Writing. By John Jackson, 
 author of the " Standard Vertical Writing System.'' 10 cents. 
 
 An inquiry into the respective merits of sloping and Upright or Vertical 
 Writing. 
 
 No 4. The Teaching of Geography and Use of Relief Maps. 
 From " Guyot's Teacher's Guide." 25 cents. 
 Guyot's Teacher's Guide has been considered by teachers the best book of 
 suggestions in geography ever made. This little book is an abridgement of the 
 larger work and is designed especially to assist in the modern method of 
 teaching, and use of relief maps. 
 
 Vertical Spelling and Dictation Blank. Per dozen, 45 cents 
 
 TO THE TEACHER :— While the primary purpose of the arrangement ot 
 the lessons in blank has been to serve as a more perfect and convenient method 
 of teaching spelling, still a further advantage is found in its adaptability as a 
 copy book ; from the fact that on each writing page has been placed the entire 
 alphabet, capitals and small letters, and also the numbers. It has become an 
 stablished fact that it is easier for the scholar to write vertically, as the 
 first attempts, with pen or pencil, are nearly perpendicular. Straight writing 
 is easier to read than slanting, and requires less space ; for this reason there will 
 r-2 abundant space to write words of more than ordinary length. Both columns 
 have been arranged of equal width, which is the exception in all the blanks 
 heretofore prepared. 
 
 WAGGENER'S BOOKKEEPING. Small pocket edition, 
 $1.00. 
 
 Every teacher and private student will appreciate this 
 book which in a few pages contains a clear, logical explanation 
 of double entry bookkeeping. This little book, if given a 
 week's careful study, will accomplish what requires months of 
 laborious effort with the padded system. " A great time saver 
 — is worth money." 
 
 "S. T. A." POCKET CLASS RECORD. The best. 
 
 The cheapest, Carefully ruled. Bound in cloth. Per dozen, 
 %l 80. Sample, 20 cents. 
 
 17 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, FJ. Y. 
 
 "ONE PIECE" 
 
 Adjustable Book Covers. 
 
 These covers fit perfectly all sizes of books. They are all 
 ready for use — properly gummed — and do not have to be cut. 
 They are made of a. special paper, manufactured exclusively for 
 these covers, which is admitted to be the best for wear, and also 
 for cleanliness, as it is glazed and cannot readily be soiled. 
 They are not easily torn, for when adjusted to a book all exposed 
 edges are of double thickness. 
 
 SIZES. 
 
 No. Al— Per dozen, *20 cents. Per 1 OO, $1.50. 
 Per 1,000, $12.50. 
 
 This size fits the smallest book, and also small 12mos. 
 
 No. 1— Same price. 
 
 Especially adapted to school and library books. It will fit IGmo. to small 8 vo. 
 sizes, and is suitable for 90 per cent, of the school books in use. 
 
 No. 2— Per dozen, *40 cents. Per lOO, $2.50. 
 Per l.OOO, $17.50. 
 
 For small geographies, encyclopaedias, law books, &c. 
 
 No. 3— Per dozen, *60 cents. Per 1 OO, $3.50. 
 Per l.OOO, $25.00. 
 
 For large geographies. 
 
 * PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE TO ANY ADDRESS. 
 
 CAN THE BOOK COVERS YOU USE BE REMOVED 
 WITHOUT DAMAGING THE BOOKS? 
 
 Do you not have to buy three sizes to cover Histories, 
 Readers, Arithmetics, &c. P 
 
 Look at the book covers you are using; and see how they 
 stick to covers; they must injure the books. 
 
 "ONE PIECE" Covers will not stick to or injure the 
 covers of the books. 
 
 One size will fit Arithmetics, Histories, &c, and the new 
 paper is acknowledged to be heavier, tougher, and better than 
 any other cover paper used. 
 
 Send for samples and test them for yourself. Sample 
 dozen, postpaid, 25 cents. 
 
 10 
 
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 and 5 West 18th Street. N. Y. 
 
 BLACKBOARDS. -Wall Blackboards. 
 
 Made of the best material, thoroughly seasoned. Framed to 
 allow shrinkage or swelling without injury to the blackboard. 
 Both marking surfaces of "Best Slating," the finest and most 
 durable known. Sizes and prices below. Special and larger sizes 
 up to 7 x 12 feet made to order at 50 cents per square foot. 
 
 Size, 18 x T4 inches $14° 
 
 " 2x3 foi t 2.40 
 
 " 2i< x 3>£ feet 5-15 
 
 " 2x4 feet 6 90 
 
 " 3x5 feet 890 
 
 " 2,% x 4}{ feet 9 40 
 
 " 3 x 6 fctt 10.90 
 
 " 4x5 feet 1 1.90 
 
 No. 
 
 0. 
 
 No. 
 
 1. 
 
 No. 
 
 2. 
 
 No. 
 
 3. 
 
 No. 
 
 4. 
 
 No. 
 
 5- 
 
 No. 
 
 6. 
 
 No. 
 
 7- 
 
 Revolving Backboaids. 
 
 No. 1. Size, 3x4 feet $12.90 
 
 No. 2. " 3% x 4>£ feet 15-4° 
 
 No. 3. "4x5 feet 179° 
 
 "Natural Slate" Blackboard Cloth. 
 
 The only slated cloth that is color of natural slate, and with- 
 out gloss. This cloth does not wear shiny as do all other cloths. 
 It is made of best cloth and is strictly first class in every particular. 
 It is not only the cheapest because of the actual price, but also 
 because it is the best in the market. 
 
 Price, (1 yard wide) per yard, 75 cents, per roll, 12 yards, $8.00 
 " (4 feet wide) " $1.00, " " n.oo 
 
 DISSECTED MAP-United States. Price, 50 cts. 
 
 This map is made of plain pasteboard, without either names or color to ™-uide 
 the student. It is on a sufficiently large scale to have each State a separate piece 
 —therefore they can be contrasted, as for instance, the size of Texas and the 
 New England States. As busy -work this map has no equal. It furnishes a de- 
 lightful and instructive round game "The Game of States"— directions lor 
 which accompany each box. 
 
 24