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<v Speaker 1>Section thirteen of Birds and All Nature, Volume seven, two

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<v Speaker 1>February nineteen hundred, recorded for LibriVox dot org by Larry Wilson.

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<v Speaker 1>Geography Lessons. It is possible for a pupil to study

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<v Speaker 1>geography diligently every day and forget apparently nearly everything he learns.

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<v Speaker 1>Both geography and history are studies which may be pursued

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<v Speaker 1>in such a way that nearly all that is acquired

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<v Speaker 1>in any given month is lost in the next month.

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<v Speaker 1>Those who are inclined to doubt this have but to

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<v Speaker 1>test a class where the text has been the subject

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<v Speaker 1>of acquisition. Test them on what they learned a month previously,

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<v Speaker 1>and even those inclined to believe this statement will be

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<v Speaker 1>astonished that so little is retained of what wants seemed

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<v Speaker 1>to be known so well. Mister A sweeps his barn

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<v Speaker 1>with the doors open and the wind blowing against his work.

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<v Speaker 1>He works with much energy and some apparent efficiency, but

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<v Speaker 1>the wind brings back the chaff to such an extent

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<v Speaker 1>that there is never much clear space on his floor.

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<v Speaker 1>Mister B takes advantage of the direction of the wind,

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<v Speaker 1>and every stroke counts for success, and is more than

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<v Speaker 1>doubled in effect by the help of the wind, the

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<v Speaker 1>chaff flies before him, and his floor is clear. In

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<v Speaker 1>a short time. I have seen a steamer waters opening

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<v Speaker 1>upon the Bay of Fundy, pouring out black smoke, beating

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<v Speaker 1>the water into foam, and apparently making great progress. But

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<v Speaker 1>observation of the distant shore proved that she was actually

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<v Speaker 1>standing still. The adverse tide was such that she could

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<v Speaker 1>not contend with it successfully, so she dropped her anchor

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<v Speaker 1>and save coal and the ware of machinery. Two hours

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<v Speaker 1>later she swung with her cable. The anchor was hoisted,

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<v Speaker 1>and she moved rapidly in the desired direction, without the

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<v Speaker 1>aid of a pound of steam. In Passamaquaddy Bay are

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<v Speaker 1>so many islands and channels, and such a great fluctuation

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<v Speaker 1>of tide that the rivers are racing in various directions

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<v Speaker 1>at all times. Fishermen study their courses and never attack

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<v Speaker 1>against the tide. Those who go out every day do

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<v Speaker 1>not leave home at the same hour Tuesday as on Monday,

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<v Speaker 1>but just fifty minutes later they do not go and

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<v Speaker 1>return over the same courses. For many times, the strongest

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<v Speaker 1>flow of tide does not run where there was the

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<v Speaker 1>swiftest ebb with them. The proverb the longest way round

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<v Speaker 1>is the shortest way home is often true, and I

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<v Speaker 1>have heard them quote those words frequently. In psychology, there

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<v Speaker 1>are both a wind and a tide. The wind is

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<v Speaker 1>what the pupil thinks of the subject as to its

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<v Speaker 1>usefulness in his future life. The tide is his natural

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<v Speaker 1>interest in the thing for its own sake. Wind and

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<v Speaker 1>tide are sometimes both against us, and it is a

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<v Speaker 1>poor skipper who lacks the sense to tie up for

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<v Speaker 1>a short time or take another course when he finds

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<v Speaker 1>both set against him. But there are teachers who battle

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<v Speaker 1>fiercely against the desires and interests of their pupils, bound

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<v Speaker 1>to compel them to learn, making a tremulous fuss, filling

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<v Speaker 1>families with tears and tremblings, threatening scoldings and reviewings, all

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<v Speaker 1>with no permanent results of value. There is a natural

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<v Speaker 1>interest in children for birds. It is so strong and

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<v Speaker 1>absorbing that it amounts to a psychological tide. The things

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<v Speaker 1>of the bird world act upon the child mind rather

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<v Speaker 1>instinctively than mentally. The whole child is active and alert

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<v Speaker 1>when the subject is such that it fully interests him.

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<v Speaker 1>A little effective teaching just at that time is worth

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<v Speaker 1>more than hours of perfunctory drudgery over a similar task

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<v Speaker 1>presented in the wrong way. There are birds wherever man lives.

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<v Speaker 1>They differ in color, form, and habit according to environment.

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<v Speaker 1>The pupil who seems to be interested at least in

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<v Speaker 1>the ordinary things of the text book in geography is

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<v Speaker 1>the very one, as a rule, to be caught with

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<v Speaker 1>the birds and animals of various parts of the earth.

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<v Speaker 1>The pupil who will not retain information about the products

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<v Speaker 1>of a country may be induced to consider intelligently something

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<v Speaker 1>about the fauna of that country, and pass readily to

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<v Speaker 1>an interested study of the flora and from what grows

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<v Speaker 1>there to what is shipped from that place into section thirteen.

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<v Speaker 1>This recording is in the public domain.