This ideal of a fine sense of honor controlling the instinct to touch, take apart, roll, toss or otherwise experiment with anything that arouses interest, should be taught very early in school life. Little children want to handle everything, including work material, playthings, ornaments, books, curios, pictures; older ones want to handle instruments and apparatus used in their laboratories. “Mine and thine” must early be differentiated, and the satisfaction of curiosity by handling limited to one’s own possessions. If this be taught in the home and the primary grades, older children will be found as reliable as Mr. Tower’s students when a serious test comes. (2) _Curiosity stimulated by destructive-constructive impulses._ Even very young children take pleasure in pulling things to pieces—not so much because of a wish to destroy as because of the pleasure of producing effects. Destroying is easier than constructing, so naturally destructiveness develops before constructiveness. But the latter characteristic becomes relatively stronger as ability to do difficult things increases. With boys from twelve to fifteen years of age the instinct sometimes becomes almost a mania. Then is the time that the wise parent or teacher will find a means for harmless ways of indulging an inclination that may develop later into genius, and in any case will bring much first-hand information. CASE 101 (EIGHTH GRADE) [Sidenote: Dismembering Piano] Bert Slocum came from a miner’s home where the comforts of life were so few as to mar sadly the development of growing children. Bert said to himself one day: “I know how I can have a good time. Some Saturday night I’m going to borrow a dark lantern, take along some lunch and I’ll go to the schoolhouse and stay all night. I’ll take enough to eat to last me over Sunday. I’ll stay up there all day Sunday and take the piano to pieces and put it together again. I can do it.” The program was actually carried out. What a glorious time he had. No one came to interrupt, no one called him to dinner and nothing marred the luxury of those sweet hours. His parents knew nothing of his whereabouts, but that did not disturb him, for every so often he was absent anyway and no one was much concerned. Unfortunately he had to finish his work in the nightfall, as his supply of oil was exhausted the night preceding. He had taken out nearly every bolt and screw until he came to the sounding board and its strings. When darkness furnished a shelter from inquisitive eyes he emerged from the building, called on a friend, and finally reached home without giving an alarm. On Monday the janitor found traces of Bert’s adventure. For one thing the piano was not all put back together, for the pedals lay in a heap at one side. The teachers were notified and inquiry began. The superintendent decided it was not a little boy and looked to the eighth grade to furnish the culprit.