Page:Condor17(5).djvu/32

 2{}2 THE CONDOR Vol. XVII of America as Europe is behind us in playground work. Field trips are utilized in many kinds of school work. In Switzerland, children are taught history on the battlefields. Sempach, Morgarten, the struggle of their ancestors against the Hapsburgs, are more than mere printed words. These outings are especially utilized in nature study, in acquainting the children with the wild life. Thus, the blind child can be taught the bird songs even though he cannot see the songster. With ears made more sensitive by his affliction he may, be- cause of the very pathos of his affliction, become a wonderfully effective missionary for conservation. In Holland the outdoor school excursion is linked with the local museum existing in Fig. 70. BLIND SCHOOL P[rPILS ENJOYING A NATURE-STUDY oUTING IN A DEER PARK IN COPENHAGEN almost every village. WOOden-shoed children early in life are banded into what in America would be Audubon Societies. They are systematically taught to love, not to destroy. Switzerland is so thoroughly organized and game so plentiful that venison is served regularly on the Government dining cars. You may be greeted by the Swiss who hap- pens to be at your table with: "You are guests of our Government. We give you some- thing unknown on American diners, fresh venison. Because of its youth, your country ought to have more than an older civilization like ours." Europe's secret seems to be the forming of conservation habits while the child mind is plastic.--C. M. GoETHE, tCft7REftto, California.