If the dates are kept accurately for the different years, one can also see how much variation there is. Indeed, such nature-study will give a sure foundation for appreciating and comprehending the larger questions in natural science, and it will make an almost perfect preparation for taking part in or for appreciating the great surveys of a state or a country. It is believed that if accurate information were collected and careful maps made by the different schools, the Empire State could soon have a natural history survey and map better than any now in existence in any state or country. _To the Teacher:_ _It is the firm belief of those who advocate nature-study that it is not only valuable in itself, but that it will help to give enjoyment in other studies and meaning to them. Every pupil who follows out the work of this leaflet will see the need of a map of the region around the school-house. This will help in the appreciation of map work generally._ _So many of the beautiful and inspiring things in literature are concerning some phase of nature, that nature-study must increase the appreciation of the literature; and the noble thoughts in the literature will help the pupils to look for and appreciate the finer things in nature._ _It is suggested that as many of the following selections as possible be read in connection with the leaflet:_ _"The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz," by Longfellow._ _The "Prayer of Agassiz," by Whittier. Professor Wilder, who was present, assures the author that this describes an actual occurrence._ _This "Silent Prayer" is also mentioned in an inspiring paragraph by Henry Ward Beecher in the Christian Union, 1873._ _The first part of Bryant's "Thanatopsis," Coleridge's "Ancient_ _Mariner," Burns' "On Scaring Some Water Fowl in Loch-Turit," and "To a Mouse."_ _Cowpers "The Task," a selection from book vi., beginning with line 560. This gives a very just view of the rights of the lower animals._ _In connection with the disappearance of the tail, read Lowell's "Festina Lente," in the Biglow Papers. For older pupils, Shakespeare's picture of the seven ages in the human life cycle might be read. "As You Like It," Act II, Scene II, near the end, commencing, "All the world's a stage," etc._ _Kipling's Jungle Books, and the works of Ernest Thompson-Seton and William J. Long will help one to see how the world might look from the standpoint of the animals._ _One of the most satisfactory books to use in connection with nature-study is Animal Life, by President David Starr Jordan and Professor Kellogg. This gives the facts that every teacher ought to know in connection with the processes of reproduction._ _Attention is also called to A. H. Kirkland's Bulletin No. 46 of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and to the Nature-Study Leaflet on the Toad, by Dr. C. F. Hodge, of Clark University, Worcester, Mass._ [Illustration: _Fig. 124. From egg back to toad._] LEAFLET XVII.