PROMOTING "NATURE STUDY" IN SCHOOLS. 37
mentioned is that there may be a tendency to let the preserved specimens take
the place of living ones when the investigation has once been made. Certain
exhibits could be banished when thought advisable, or different subjects could be
taken up with the same pupils for comparison with the first. I have always
thought that it would be a good plan to circulate cases of specimens which
would encourage observational work, by giving suggestions to teachers and
creating an interest on the part of the pupils.
The great difficulty is. the writing of the labels, which should lead to work
instead of merely giving information. Such things occurred to me when offering
suggestions to the Surrey Teachers, as a series of clover-heads dried in sand,
showing the way in which, after fertilisation by the Humble-bees has taken
place, the flowers drop one by one until only three, two, one, and then none are
left standing upright. The various kinds of fruits have often been brought
together, and the advantage of collecting in Nature-Study is that it satisfies a
primitive instinct, just as the owning of a garden or the gratifying of curiosity, of
which it is well to take advantage in educational work. I have suggested that
common seeds, particularly those which are enclosed in fruits of a juicy character,
and are seldom seen, might well be collected. Such work is free from the
criticism that it destroys rare or beautiful creatures, as seeds are produced in
great abundance and are separated from the plants.
Then the connection between plants and animals may be brought out by
exhibits showing seeds and cones opened and gnawed by mice and squirrels, and
so on.
Coming to the Local Museum, the ideas put forth above could be elaborated
in a particular section. In all cases it is necessary to be careful not to display
too much. Two great objections to most museums are that there is too much to
see, and, with very slight exceptions, the exhibits always remain the same. My
idea of a proper Nature-Study Museum is one in which the common plants and
animals that are likely to be seen, say, in the month or at the particular season
of the year, should receive special attention. So far as is possible living
specimens should be introduced. These will necessarily have to be replaced by
others from time to time, and it is equally important that they should be
thoroughly well labelled, as is the case with dry specimens. Any of the latter
that it is decided to show should be changed as frequently as possible. They
should be put on view some time before they may be expected to be observed
out of doors, and put away as soon as is possible, to make place for others. It
follows from what I have said that a very great deal of space need not be taken
up by the Nature-Study section. To do it very thoroughly requires a great deal of
trouble. But I am sure that the living interest of the Museum would be greatly
enhanced thereby. It is quite possible, too, particularly it only a little curatorial
work can be done at a time, for fresh preparations to be made each year ; while
by one of the excellent systems brought into existence by such Museums as those
of Liverpool and Dublin, the specimens that are no longer wanted at the museum
itself could be circulated to neighbouring schools. In the museum in which
I am working, the specimens are very often taken out across the road to the
Laboratory, and I find that if large glass-topped boxes are used, and all the
specimens mounted on wool with the labels fixed inside the boxes, very little
damage or displacement is liable to take place. I have also, when sending
insects similarly mounted by train in a folding case which was designed for one
of the County Councils, had the brass hinges of the case broken in several places