The teacher should give the pupils a preliminary talk on tents. Speak of the tents used by Indians, by armies, by circuses, by campers, and describe them each in turn. The teacher should use all the facts at her disposal, and all her ingenuity to get the children interested in this subject. Spend a little time for two or three days in discussing tents, and get the pupils to tell orally or in essays all they know about tents. When sufficient interest is thus aroused, tell them this: "The reason we have talked about tents is that we are going to study some little folks who make tents and live in them. Their tents are not made of bark like the Indian's or of canvas like the soldier's, but are made of the finest silk, which is spun and woven by the tenters themselves. These silken tents are not pitched upon the ground and fastened down by ropes and pegs, for these folk, like the Swiss Family Robinson, live in trees. Many people live in one of these tree tents, and they are all brothers and sisters. Now, just where these tents are made, and how they are made, and what sort of little people make them are things which we shall find out if we watch carefully and patiently." LESSON I.--THE EGGS. FIG. 149, _a_. The teacher, having found the egg-mass, should show it to the pupils and let them, during play hours, collect some for themselves. Say that they are eggs, but explain no further. Get the children to examine the egg-masses; ask the following questions: On what part of the trees are these egg-masses found? What is the shape of the egg-mass? (Bring out the fact that they look like a portion of the twig swollen or budded.) What is the color of the egg-mass? Is there much difference in color between the egg-mass and the branch? Has this similarity in color any use? (Develop the idea that the shape and the color of the egg-mass make it resemble the twig so closely as to hide it from birds or any animal that would be likely to eat the eggs.) Does the egg-mass shine? Why does it shine? _Answer._ Because there is a coat of varnish around the eggs. Why was varnish put around the eggs? (Get the answer by asking why varnish is put on wood. Varnish is put around the eggs to preserve them and to keep them dry during the rains and snows of autumn and winter.)