Nearly three hundred and fifty years before Christ, Alexander the Great placed at the disposal of his tutor, Aristotle, the services of one thousand men throughout Asia and Greece with instructions to collect and report details concerning the life, conditions and habits of fishes, birds, beasts and insects. To this magnificent equipment of assistants, Alexander added fifteen thousand dollars in gold for books and laboratory supplies.

Prof. L. H. Bailey says, "The modern idea of Nature Study is, to put the boy in a sympathetic attitude toward nature for the purpose of increasing the joy of living. Nature study is not science. It is not knowledge. It is spirit. It is concerned with the boy's outlook on the world. This Na

ture spirit is growing, and there are many ways of knowing the fields and woods. A new literature has been born. It is the literature of the out-ofdoors."

Boys are natural born collectors. They are interrogation points, full of curiosity, like the "man from Missouri," they want to know. The wise leader will say, "Let us find out someCollectors thing about this tree, or plant, or bird, or whatever it may be, and together we I will be learners. The text-book method will not work in a boys' camp. "Go find me a flower" is the true method, and let us see what it is. Nature study books and leaflets should be used merely as guides, not as texts.

Arouse interest by encouraging the boys to make collections of leaves, flowers, etc., found in the vi

cinity of the camp. Leaves and flowers may be pressed in a home-made press Arousing Interest and mounted upon heavy paper or card-board. The following suggestions are given by Dan Beard and quoted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons from his book, "The Field and Forest Handy Book."

"The illustration shows how the press is made. In using the press, first place the plants or leaves, enclosed in their wrappers and dryers of newspapers, on the bottom board, put the top board over them, bring the hinged lever down and bind. the whole together with a stout strap put around the end of the lever and the handle of Herbarium the bottom board. As this strap is drawn tight the lever bends, and so keeps a constant pressure on the plants and leaves even when they shrink in drying. Dryers should be changed at least every day. Mount specimens on separate herbarium sheets of standard size (12 x 162). Each specimen should be mounted with name (common and botanical), where found, date and any other facts of interest. This label is usually pasted in the lower right-hand corner of the herbarium sheet."

If the camp has a permanent building, these specimens make a most attractive decoration as well as help to recall the happy days of "the hunt." The material equipment for nature study should consist of a good loose leaf note-book, something that will stand the out-door wear. Get quadrille ruled sheets. They will simplify Equipment sketching in the matter of proportion and scale. A pocket magnifying glass will serve for identification of the specimens. An inexpensive combination tweezer and magnifying glass is made by Asher Kleinman, 250 Eighth Avenue, New York (50 cents). Best of all is a highpower microscope, especially where the camp has a permanent building with suitable room, having a good light and table facilities. A camera will help in securing permanent records of trees, ferns, flowers, birds, freaks of nature and scenes other than the usual camp groups. A few reliable books on nature study are needed to complete the outfit.

A "bird hunt" was a popular sport in one of my camps. We started off early one morning, a group of boys, each "loaded" with a big lunchbox crammed with good things, a note-book, a book on bird-life, and a "gun." The "gun" we used was a powerful pair of field glasses. On the way we counted the number of bird-homes we saw. Just

as we were thinking about stopping and Hunting having breakfast we heard a most ecstatic song. Creeping close to the place where the sound came from, we discovered the songster to be a song-sparrow. Focussing our

"gun" upon the bird we made note of its coloring and marking, making sure that if we heard or saw another we would recognize it at once. While we

were eating our breakfast, there was a dash of white, yellow, and grayish-brown, a whirring sound and, as the bird lighted upon the low bushes nearby, a clear, piercing whistle came from its throat. Our "gun" revealed to us a meadow lark. By this time the boys were as much excited over the bird hunt as over a game of ball.

A "flower walk," observing the wild flowers; a "fern walk," discerning the delicate tracery of the fern in its cool haunts; a "tree Walks Afield walk", noting the different treesall are natural ways of interesting

boys in nature study.

G. B. Affleck in the April, 1910, number of Physical Training tells his experience in studying nature with several groups of boys.

"The night sounds surrounding a camp in northern Minnesota were a puzzle to boys and to the counsellor of the tent at the end of the row. This problem continued unsolved for more than a week, despite all attempts both by day and night. Finally, one moist, warm night, Ned, after stealthily approaching the sound, satisfied himself of its location in a certain tree and in the morning was rewarded by the discovery of the Night Sounds 'toad' camped on a branch near the source whence the sound had is

sued. Replacing the frog so that the coarse tubercles of its back corresponded to the bark, Ned en

joyed a merited reward at the expense of his tent mates who, though often 'hot,' required some minutes to find the hidden treasure. Then came the wonder of the stick toes and fingers, the feeding with flies, and the result was-a new pet for the tent. In the next letters written to the folks this find was the central theme. How much better this discovery and the examination of the peculiar colors and structures, also the conclusions, based upon observed structure, as to the life and habits of the tree frog than would have been a scientifically learned discussion of the family Hylida!

"In a camp of fifty boys the writer remembers three who had special delight in collecting pebbles, and they made several all-day trips to distant brooks and beaches in the search for new specimens. Another group became so fascinated with the study of the food of fish that they begged the 'privilege' of cleaning the catch of each returning party. Proud was that lad who incidentally located the heart of a pickerel, and because of his school knowledge of physiology he could not be convinced that the fish breathed without lungs till he had spent many hours in the vain endeavor to locate said organs. Then he knew that his former idea had been inadequate.

"Fortunately, nature is so interrelated in her various phases that an attempt at exploration in one direction soon opens other fields, Fishology until with the growth of experience there comes a corresponding expansion

of interest. Thus the lads, searching for pebbles,