of acquaintance with his own anatomy by movement. But every one knows that at a certain age children want to draw, and also that for some years they show a very distinct preference for the living model, and will draw animals and men, even though these are the most difficult subjects of all and are hardly attempted by some grown-up artists, except in the way of caricature. Children of all nations and classes—Japanese children of the highest class as well as British children of the poorest class, cover walls, pavements, and books, with drawings of the human form, and also model this figure, too, with any material that comes handy—it may be mud, or it may be snow.[1]
The most "discouraged" and "disciplined" class of children in the world will cheer up suddenly if it is proposed to them to draw, not a cube, but say a cat—and will grasp pencil or pen with returning courage. If the teacher, or friend, however, can himself draw an animal, or still better, a man, their delight and admiration know no bounds. Unhappily, even the best teachers, with very few exceptions (but
- ↑ It is through man, too, that they approach the study, not only of art, but of the natural sciences and of Geography. "Children," as Kropotkin says, "care little for Nature if it has nothing to do with man."
