Scouting for Boys

it, again vein side downwards, on the paper you are using for the impressions ; again place a piece of paper on top and rub firmly This should give a very clear impression of the leaf.

Encourage Scouts to collect specimens of wild flowers and press them between sheets of blotting paper in a heavy book.

GAMES IN PLANT OBSERVATION

What Is It?

Two Scouts start out and make a trail with trail marks. They have decided upon an uncommon sign to signify “What is it? such as a circle with a line drawn through it, and a number next to it.

The remainder of the Patrol or Troop start out, say, ten minutes after the first two, either as a body or separately, and take notebooks and pencils with them.

The game consists of entering in their notebooks the “What is it? “s that have been noticed and write down the nature of the article closest to the sign, such as “Oak”, “Dandelion”, etc.

Marks should be given according to the number of signs observed and for the correct answers to the “What is it?”s.

Besides being very interesting, this game develops observation, strengthens the memory and is a good botany instruction.

Plant Race

The Patrol Leader starts off his Scouts, either cycling or on foot, to go in any direction they like, to get a specimen of any ordered plant. This may be a maple seed pod, an acorn, a thistle, ragweed, a milkweed pod, a choke cherry twig, or something similar that will tax their knowledge of plants, test their memory as to where they noticed one of the kind required, and make them quick in getting there and back.

CHAPTER VI

ENDURANCE FOR SCOUTS 

CAMP FIRE YARN NO. 17

HOW TO GROW STRONG

Need for Scouts to Be Strong - Exercises

- Care of Body - Nose - Ears - Eyes – Teeth Nails

Practices

HINTS TO INSTRUCTORS

PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING STRENGTH

It is of paramount importance to teach the young citizen to assume responsibility for his own development and health.

Physical drill is all very well as a disciplinary means of development, but it does not give the lad any responsibility in the matter.

It is therefore deemed preferable to tell each boy, according to his age, what ought to be his weight, height, and various measurements (such as chest, waist, arm, leg, etc.). He is then measured, and learns in which points he fails to come up to the standard. He can then be shown which exercises to practise for himself in order to develop those particular points.

Encouragement must afterwards be given by periodical measurements, say, every three months or so.

Teach how to make camp tooth-brushes out of sticks.

A SCOUT LAY SICK IN HOSPITAL in India with that most fatal disease called cholera. The doctor told the native attending him that the only chance of saving his life was to warm up his feet and keep the blood moving in his body by constantly rubbing him.

The moment the doctor’s back was turned, the native gave up rubbing and squatted down to have a quiet smoke.

The poor patient, though he could not speak, understood all that was going on, and he was so enraged at the conduct of the native attendant that he resolved then and there that he would get well if only to give the native a lesson. Having made up his mind to get well he got well.

A Scout saying is “Never say die till you’re dead”— and if he acts up to this, it will pull him out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going wrong for him. It means a mixture of pluck, patience, and strength, which we call “endurance.”

A Sample of Endurance

The great South African hunter and scout, F. C. Selous, gave a good example of scouts’ endurance on a hunting expedition in Barotseland, north of the Zambesi River, some years ago. In the middle of the night his camp was suddenly attacked by a hostile tribe, that fired into it at close range and charged in.