Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/348

344 and nose; and it is also just as well to hear through the vibrations of the earth as through those of the air. Because ants remember odors, they are able to distinguish between friends and enemies, and the observant child may learn that the ant people get angry, at times are afraid, dislike some things and are fond of others, and show sadness and joy, hatred and love.

One of the principal elements in human happiness is the realization of beauty in nature, whether it be in the exquisite form and color of the petal of a rose, the glowing green of the beetle's armor, the flight of the swallow, the moonlight serenade of the mocking bird, the iridescent green and bronze ocelli of the peacock's tail-coverts, the mountains veiled in opalescent mists, the abysmal blue of the ocean, the glory of red and gold in the sunset, or the shimmer of the myriad stars. There is a beauty of structure and function, as in the system of lenses which focus upon the retina the countless rays of light from objects near and far, and thus make possible the mental perception of beauty in nature.

Consider the adaptation for dispersal shown in the dandelion, when the baby plant, in the seed, surrounded by food and borne aloft by a delicately tufted aeroplane, floats far away) from its mother. Somewhere—if it fall on fertile soil—when the weather is propitious, the baby dandelion will awaken, sprout as a seedling, mature into parenthood and in turn provide food and aeroplanes for its children.

Nature-play is the true basis for all knowledge. Through this dominant interest the child is led to know of the living things about him. Not merely are the facts of nature important, but much more valuable is the fascinating story of how and why these facts came to be. It is of much import to learn that the animals which bear scales and those covered with feathers, or fur, are all wearing similar clothing, but of the different fashions best suited to their needs. It is still more significant to realize that fundamentally the minds of all animals are as allied as are their digestive and respiratory systems. The great end of nature-play for the child is not simply to learn of the rest of nature, but better to know himself as a part of nature.