Through the influence of Boston the surrounding cities and towns have given certain large areas of great natural beauty to form the Metropolitan Park System. This Metropolitan Park System consists of 3 forest reserves of 7000 acres of woodland, 30 miles of river park, 10 miles of seacoast, and 40 miles of connecting parkways. Two great ocean parks in the system are Revere Beach and Nantasket, both favorite summer resorts, while the most noted inland reservations are the Blue Hills and the Middlesex Fells. A Roman matron of long ago, when asked to show her jewels, pointed to her sons with pride, saying, "These are my jewels." And so it is with Boston. She is proud of her history, her fine public buildings, her busy thoroughfares, her parks, her great centers of industry, and her commerce; but most of all, she is proud of her more than ninety thousand school children. From the earliest times Boston's schools have ranked among the best in the country. The first public school in America was established in Dorchester, and some of the greatest educators, such as Horace Mann and Charles W. Eliot, have been associated with Boston or its suburbs. [Illustration: © Leon Dadmun, Boston, 1903 THE HARVARD YARD] Boston is the home of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a famous training college in applied sciences; Simmons College for women; the Harvard Medical College; Boston College (Roman Catholic); Boston University; the Normal Art School; the Conservatory of Music; the Emerson School of Oratory; and other schools of high standing. Harvard, the oldest and largest university in the country, has its home in Cambridge. Radcliffe, a college for women, whose pupils receive the same courses of instruction as the students in Harvard, is also in Cambridge. Tufts College is in the neighboring city of Medford, while in the beautiful hill town of Wellesley, a suburb of Boston, is Wellesley College, a woman's college of high rank. But now, if we hurry, we shall be just in time to see the children flocking in crowds to one of their many playgrounds. Here they find swings and other apparatus for sport; and here they may play tennis, baseball, or football in the spring, summer, and fall. In the winter months they may make use of the ice, which is kept in good condition for the skater. In the various districts, also, are swimming pools and indoor gymnasiums, where old and young meet for recreation as well as for physical training.