is not a fad of modern times. Nearly three hundred and fifty
years before Christ, Alexander the Great placed at the disposal of his
tutor, Aristotle, the services of one thousand men throughout Asia and
Greece with instructions to collect and report details concerning the
life, conditions and habits of fishes, birds, beasts and insects. To this
magnificent equipment of assistants, Alexander added fifteen thousand
dollars in gold for books and laboratory supplies.

Prof. L. H. Bailey says, "The modern idea of Nature Study is, to put the
boy in a sympathetic attitude toward nature for the purpose of increasing
the joy of living. Nature study is not science. It is not knowledge. It is
spirit. It is concerned with the boy's outlook on the world.... This
Nature spirit is growing, and there are many ways of knowing the fields
and woods. A new literature has been born. It is the literature of the
out-of-doors."

Collectors

Boys are natural born collectors. They are interrogation points, full of
curiosity, like the "man from Missouri," they want to know. The wise
leader will say, "Let us find out some thing about this tree, or plant, or
bird, or whatever it may be, and together we will be learners." The
textbook method will not work in a boys' camp. "Go find me a flower" is
the true method, and let us see what it is. Nature study books and
leaflets should be used merely as guides, not as texts.

Arousing Interest

Arouse interest by encouraging the boys to make collections of leaves,
flowers, etc., found in the vicinity of the camp. Leaves and flowers may
be pressed in a home-made press and mounted upon heavy paper or cardboard.
The following suggestions are given by Dan Beard and quoted by permission
of Charles Scribner's Sons from his Book, "The Field and Forest Handy
Book."

[Illustration: The Vreeland Press]

Herbarium

"The illustration shows how the press is made. In using the press, first
place the plants or leaves, enclosed in their wrappers and dryers of
newspapers, on the bottom board, put the top board over them, bring the
hinged lever down and bind the whole together with a stout strap put
around the end of the lever and the handle of the bottom board. As this
strap is drawn tight the lever bends, and so keeps a constant pressure on
the plants and leaves even when they shrink in drying. Dryers should be
changed at least every day. Mount specimens on separate herbarium sheets
of standard size (1-1/2 X 16-