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LIBRARY OF MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY

WOODS HOLE, MASS.

Loaned by American Museum of Natural History

GREENWICH

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THE EDITION DE LUXE

OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

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GREENWICH

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A Sure g Easy Saving Club

That Provides Money in Life

and Additional Money

in Event of Death

LET US TELL YOU ABOUT IT

ioo-Payment Savings Club

that pays back every cent of the
money you pay in, and additional
money to your family in case of
death.

No charge for this additional pro-
tection which is guaranteed by

The Travelers Insurance Company
Hartford, Conn.

No medical examination necessary.
If you are in good health and not over 49 years
old, you may join our

ioo-Payment Savings Club

THE GREENWICH TRUST COMPANY

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GREENWICH, CONN.

GREENWICH, CONNECT <

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottage* and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
tn all locations.

Would be pleased to have you call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

Is Bl

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Potatoes and Seeds Almost Given Away

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To Introduce

Headquarters
Stock

A Money-
Maker

n? si

I will send seed for Ten Big
Hills Genuine Early Six
Weeks Potatoes, Earliest
and Best Potato in the world
— enormously productive
and best keeper. Also 10
Varieties best butter and
head Lettuce (1700 seeds), 5 Varieties best Pop Corn — red, white, blue,
rice and gold, splendid for children and chickens. Monster Flower Col-
lection, 300 Varieties, and a splendid Seed Novelty. ALL safely boxed
and mailed postpaid for Two Dimes, or 24c in stamps.

^All the seeds and 30 Hills Potatoes for 50 cts. Seeds and 70 Hills
$1.00. More at same rate Now is the time to plant. Order today, and
tell your friends. Address,

L35EJ

A. G. COOK

(Potato Specialist)

HYDE PARK, N. Y.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE.— ADVERTISEMENTS.

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash. Doors, Blinds and Window-Fram

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

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All the double-breasted effects are smart
for girls dresses just now. This one is pretty
for taffeta and for serge and for challis and ma-
terials of such sort, and it is also just as de-
sirable for linen and for washable fabrics.
Here, it is made of pongee with trimming of
soutache braid. Linen or pique, or other ma-
terial of such sort would be smart with trim-
ming of soutache or with a little embroidery
on the collar and sleeves while the skirt por-
tion is plain, if a simple effect is wanted.

The May Manton pattern No. 9369 is cut in
sizes from 10 to 14 years. The braiding design
848 gives three yards. They will be mailed to
any address by the Fashion Department of this
magazine, on receipt of fifteen cents for the
dress, ten cents for the braiding design.

Try

for

That Spring Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Straw Hats

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

CHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PTPE WOOD

Crushed. Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Pock. STAMFORD, CONN.

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Hi

Senator McLean Presents a Flag to
ArcAdiA.

A magnificent flag sixteen feet in
length has been presented to The Agas-
siz Association by Senator George P.
McLean. He writes that he searched
all the principal supply houses in
Washington to find one that he consid-
ered fitting for ArcAdiA. There were
plenty of cotton flags but the Senator
was determined on something better.
Therefore in the early part of April
he gave an order to one of the best
flag makers in Washington for a spec-
ial flag from the best grade of wool
bunting. In the demand for flags it
was a month before the makers could
deliver it.

The flag will be greatly appreciated
not only for its intrinsic beauty and
high grade quality but for the fact that
it is especially emblematic in its pre-
sensation in the present patriotic crisis
by a bird loving and bird protecting
Member of The Agassiz Association in
the United States Senate.

in Japan and were adapted in every re-
spect to his suggestions. The electri-
cal effects of the torii will be done by
Fairbanks of Stamford. The construc-
tion is by Mr. Stephen I. Clason of
Sound Beach.

A Spruce Edward F. Bigelow.

The pupils of the Meriden High
School at their somewhat elaborate
Arbor Day exercises this year planted
a fine Norway spruce which was named
the "Edward F. Bigelow" tree. The
naturalist says he is glad to know that
he is growing evergreen at least in
Meriden.

Artistic and Novel Work in Sign
Painting.

Mr. Earle Munson of Stamford has
produced a rather remarkable piece of
sign painting. At any rate it is remark-
able for this country. This is a large
sign in red background and black let-
ter-, with gilt borders for both the
letters and the entire sign, showing the
Japanese characters for "Little Japan"
or, as the Japanese pronounce it, "Sho
Nippon."

The original letter was made in
Japan by one of the most skilled Japan-
ese writers and forwarded to Sound
Beach by a Member of The Agassiz
Association. The sign is the central
panel of a beautiful Japanese torii, the
plans of which were drawn under su-
pervision of Mr. Earle of A. A. Van-
tine & Company of New York. They
were also submitted to the AA Member

Appreciation from Waterside School.

We especially appreciate the contri-
bution of five dollars to the work of
ArcAdiA that has come to us from the
Waterside School of Stamford, together
with a number of appreciative letters
from the pupils, telling of their interest
in nature and especially in gardening.
The editor of this magazine recently
gave a short talk in the assembly hall
of that school and the letters from the
young folks are so cordial and so eulo-
gistic as to be extremely cheering and
encouraging. The following is a sam-
ple of these good words :

Waterside School.
My dear Doctor Bigelow:

We enjoyed your interesting talk the
other day in the assembly hall. Many
speakers have come to our hall and
made speeches but I think yours was
the best. Many of the other speakers
spoke very well, but their speeches
were not as exciting as yours. It made
me so interested that I could not take
my mind off it, and was thinking of it
all day. It was so thrilling I could
hardly wait for the next thing to come.
Every time I hear Mr. O'Neil say.
"Doctor Bigelow will be here to speak
to-morrow," I know it is going to be
interesting.

ARCADIA

VII

The pupils, teachers and principal of
the school wish to contribute five dol-
lars to help you in your good work in
ArcAdiA.

Sincerely yours,

Frank Seemar.

Motion Pictures of ArcAdiA at Colon-
ial Theatre, Stamford.

Motion pictures, supplied by the Uni-
versal Screen Magazine, of the work of
the honeybees at ArcAdiA are now be-
ing shown afternoon and evening at
the Colonial Theatre, Stamford. A
part of these pictures is devoted to

demonstrations in handling bees with-
out glove or veil. The second section
shows how to care for bees within the
hive and how to take out the surplus
honey from the hive. The third is a
little bit of garden drama showing how
refreshments with honey as the princi-
pal feature may be served to a caller.
The cast of characters is as follows :
Dr. Edward F. Bigelow, Miss Pearl A.
Bigelow, Miss Nettie F. Bradt, Mi>s
Mary Babula, Mr. Alfred Stokes, Sec-
retary of the Stamford Y. M. C. A., and
Scout Masters from Columbia Univer-
sity, New York City.

To Members and Friends of The Agassiz Association:

Over a week ago we suspended work for the summer on the construction of Little
Japan. There now remain to be installed this spring a part of the electric lighting and
some of the furnishings. We have been compelled by innumerable requests for use to
complete at this unfavorable time enough of the development to make it available for
this season. We believe that everywhere possible work should be suspended in favor
of gardening and other phases of the food and war problems. We hope that after the
autumn harvest Little Japan may be completed. The total cost will be about $2,000.

Even the present assignments include parties from Stamford, Sound Beach, Green-
wich, Darien, New York, Tarrytown-on-Hudson, Staten Island. The workers at
ArrAdiA gladly give their services, but it is necessary to request members and friends
to give the construction.

Contributions received $478.50

Bills paid 459-74

Cash on hand 18.76

Pledges unpaid 20.00

Bills to be paid 121.89

IMMEDIATELY NEEDED 83.13

Needed to complete the work, approximately, $1,400.

Time and again this exclamation is heard: "Great work! But how do you find time
for it all?"

This is the secret. We have all the time in the world and know how to use it.
Rockefeller and Carnegie have no more. But even if we had less, no one could give us
one second. It's different as to money!

Respectfully and faithfully submitted,

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION, Inc.,

Edward F. Bigelow,

President.
ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut.

1 The Best Scientific Work is Done in Ihe 1

Small Laboratory with Local Support

(From an Editorial in "The Popular Science Monthly.")

"The most desirable institutions for scientific work would prob-
ably be comparatively small laboratories conducted by the scien-
tific men who work in them It would be

well if such institutions were endowed by the rich, still better if
they were supported by a state or community."

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

Established 49 Years

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

JUNE_The Month of Roses

THE TIME WHEN MANY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE APPROACHING

WEDDINGS AND GRADUATIONS

It is a season when a store can render its greatest service, not only by having a broad and diversified
assemblage of merchandise which meets every requirement so far as timeliness is concerned; but to render
a personal service in the matter of assisting in its selection and offering valuable suggestions.

This store rises to the occasion and announces its willingness to render such a service to those who
have perplexing problems to solve as to what to buy for the bride, graduate or for one's self.

BRING YOUR BUYING PROBLEMS TO A STORE OF SERVICE— QUALITY— SATISFACTION.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE

STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEGETMAN&JUDD CO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Grade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE ST. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks, Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,

W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETMAN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. VVIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co,

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS

Ail Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA • Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

V

olume

X

JUNE, 1917

Number 1

In the June Woods.

BY WILLIAM B. HOOT, ROCHESTER, X. Y.

This is the time of the year when one
loves to get out into the open, to steal
away into the fields and woods, to re-
lax from the strain of a busy career, to
get down among the wild flowers, the
blossoming shrubs or to listen to the
smig of a wild bird, all of which is
healthful, restful and invigorating, but,
if we do not know those wild flowers,
those blossoming shrubs or that bird
that is furnishing us entertainment
with its sweet song we are still missing
much that might contribute to our en-
joyment.

Last June a friend of mine and 1
went to what is known as the Zurich
swamp. It is located in Wayne county
in the state of New York. It is one of
those secluded haunts where Nature
loves to display many of her most pre-
cious jewels, for in these days of ruth-
less hunting, when many a person will
pull up every flower of a species, often
taking roots and all, as so many of them
do, even with the trailing arbutus, and
then, if they begin to wilt before they
<jet home, throw them away, indeed.
Nature must, if she wishes to preserve
some of her most precious gems, hide
them away in secret places where only
the few are able to penetrate.

We had a young lad with us who

acted as our guide. He said he was
going to take us to the island first.
Here we were charmed by those famil-
iar notes of the sweetest and dearest
of all our birds, the black capped chick-

CLUSTERS OF THE PINK LADY'S-SLIPPER.

adee, while farther away the island
was musical with the flute-like song of
the wood thrush. Under foot we trod
upon the vines of the partridge berry
loaded with their beautiful red fruit,
fairly making rugs of red and green

Copyright 1917 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

covering wooded isles. Then as our
guide led us on to what he termed the
huckleberry patch, but which we could
only think of as one of Nature's sanc-
tuaries, for there, upon its carpet of
moss, midst its shadowed recesses of
dense cedar and tamarack, a scene of
such charming beauty and loveliness
was revealed that it made the heart
of the Nature lover throb with joy and
thrill with delight, for it mattered not
in what direction we chanced to look,
our eyes rested upon clusters or sin-
gles of the pink lady's slipper, charming
and entrancing the beholder with their
bright colors and the abundance of
their numbers. The perfumed atmos-
phere seemed almost intoxicating with
the delightful fragrance of the flowers
of the pitcher plant, competitors of the
lady's-slipper for vastness in numbers,
while their odd shape and coat of red
attracted the eye, and as we went on
farther beds filled with the whorled po-
gonia, bowing their heads in prayerful
attitude as if acknowledging a debt to
their Creator, again filled our souls
with joy, and then, as if we had not
.already drank to our fill, another scene
'Opened up before us in which, inter-
mingled among those pitcher-shaped
leaves, the highly perfumed and deep
tinted flowers of the pitcher plant, the
charming pink of the lady's-slipper and
the prayerful pogonias, were gathered
into delightful clusters the bunehberry,

THE BUNCHBERRY TURNING THEIR PALE
FACES SUNWARD.

turning their pale faces sunward,
grasping its stray beams stealing
through clefts in the dense foilage re-
flecting their charm and beauty

All conditions seemed favorable to
finding the showy lady-slipper but, if
it were there, it succeeded in eluding
us, for which we were sorry indeed, for
we would have done it no injury, as
we were hunting without a gun.

Having succeeded in getting pic-
tures of all of the others, and as the day
was drawing to a close, the "no-see-
ems," the Indians name for mosquitoes,
were reminding us that even there we
were not exempt from their molesting
bites, and as our guide wanted to know
if we could take pictures with those
things all night, we most reluctantly
took leave of one of Nature's most sac-
red haunts, for had we not been in one
of the sanctuaries of the Most High
and worshipped midst its most beau-
teous scenes?

THE ODD AND DEEPLY TINTED FLOWERS OF
THE PITCHHER PLANT.

Flowers.

Flowers from distant, sunny lands,
Flowers from skilful florists' hands,
Flowers in sheltered garden beds,
Or clambering high above our heads;
Flowers by brooklet, lake and pond,
And on the mountain heights beyond;
Flowers that overrun the fields,
And that the winding roadside yields;
Flowers amid the ripening grain,
Woodland flowers, a dainty train;
Flowers that greet us in the Spring,
And those the Autumn changes bring;
Flowers as white and pure as snow,
Or blooms with brilliant tints aglow;
In all this wondrous world of ours,
What can compare with nature's flowers?

— Emma Peirce.

THE EXODUS FROM THE FARM

The Exodus from the Farm.

BY KDITIIA S. CAMPBELL, ERIE, PENNSYL-
VANIA.

From all quarters comes the com-
plaint that the younger generation is
leaving the farm. About us lie aban-
doned farms once rich in production,
now with field after field running wild,
the boys and girls having gone to the
city, "where you git more money."
Efforts are being made to bring them
back, back to the biggest work a man
can do. to work with the life forces of
nature, in a workshop not made with
hands, but designed and built by the
Master Architect, painted by the Mas-
ter Artist with colors and tints no fin-
ite hand can copy, whose roof is a vast
illimitable space, whose furnishings
are the wonders of Infinite Wisdom.
Working with these wonders and com-
prehending the methods used and
learning to cooperate with the Creative
Power is the work of the boy and girl
that stay in this big out of doors and
work for the Great Employer.

The agricultural courses in colleges
and rural schools are helping to bring
the boys back. They learn that when
farming is done scientificially, like
other work, the results are greater and
better. In one little rural school a big
effort is being made to open the boy's
mind to the fact that farming is one of
the most important occupations. Man-
ufacturing and professions may bring
in larger monetary results, but if the
farming stops what will become of the
city? Back of all industries must be
food and the food must come from the
farm. On the other hand there is
scarcely a science that is not connected
with the farm. Geology, the history of
the soil ; chemistry, how to treat that
soil ; ornithology, from which the farm-
er must learn the value of birds to his
crops and orchards ; entomology, show-
ing him what insects are of economic
value and what injurious ; botany,
what the flowers, trees and shrubs are
to him ; zoology, that he may know the
animal life about him, and biology,
that he may breed better stock. Now
as a background, add the beginnings
of the insect, plant and animal. Take
the upper grade which in a rural school
seldom goes through the rural high
school and give them a simple course
in plant life and in biology by means of

the microscope and simple laboratory
tests, and you will have the child mind
awakened and interested in the grow-
ing things about him, a new-born dig-
nity within him and a reverential re-
spect for the simplest things of nature.
He will know somewhat of the great
life histories and some of the wonder-
ful laws of adaptation and natural se-
lection that lie back of them.

I have seen this proved in a certain
little rural school where two years ago
the boys were only waiting for their
time of departure. Now they feel a
new power within them and, where
only one boy remained in the corn
club organized that winter, this fall
the boys and girls carried off fourteen
county prizes, amounting to almost
fifty dollars and earned twenty dollars
in their own round up. The parents
and school directors woke up and the
little, old one room schoolhouse grew
this summer into a beautiful building
with two rooms and an auditorium for
community meetings while twenty-
seven boys and girls are enrolled in
clubs for cultivating corn, potatoes,
poultry and domestic science. They
are working eagerly for still bigger re-
sults for this year. Charts of the birds
useful to orchard, garden, meadow and
woods hang on their kitchen wall. The
birds, as they return, are guarded and
cared for, the boys knowing that they
are the biggest assets for the coming
crops. Simple science stories in all the
sciences of the farm are being told, il-
lustrated by slides and the microscope
when necesary, and instead of the farm
home being a place of dissatisfaction it
has now become the center of a new
and wonderful world.

Dandelions.

Fair nature's gold is prodigal,
Spread broadcast at our feet;

How cheery is its presence there,
Just after snow and sleet!

How like the sunshine after rain,
The morning after night,

The radiance of the myriad blooms,
Reflecting all the light!

From golden discs to silver globes
They turn before our eyes:

Could we but know the process fine,
We would indeed be wise.

— Emma Peirce.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A Successful Snake Hunt.

BY GAYNTE T. K. NORTON, NEW YORK CITY.

The first formal hunt of the Reptile
Study Society occurred on Saturday,
April twenty-first. For the twenty
odd hunters and certain toads, frogs,

Photograph by Gayne T. K. Norton.

MORTEN McWHOOD AND THE THREE-FOOT

BANDED WATER SNAKE THE BOYS NAMED
"SNAPPY."
Hudson Hawley, of "The New York Sun." was an
interested but diffident spectator.

turtles, salamanders and snakes, the
day was notable — a day ideal for the
hunters. The day of all my days out
of doors was the day of our first snake
hunt. We met at Bloomfield, New Jer-
sey, and walked out of town. For a
while we skirted the old Morris and
Essex canal and gathered a few co-
coons. The boys with us, a few
Scouts, all members of the society,
were the personification of joyful an-
ticipation.

Twenty minutes on the towpath
brought us to the first swamp. In
inches of ooze we spread out, hopping
from hummock to hummock over flush-
es and around stumps. In no time,
frogs, a turtle and some brown sala-
manders were ours. Morten Mc-
Whood, a young man from Newark,
scored a banded water snake three feet
long. One quick, deft grab had done
the trick. The snake, probably not

thoroughly awake after its hibernation,
looked the worse for the long nap ; it
still wore last summer's skin, and two
inches of tail were missing, but its
agility was surprising. For half an
hour we hunted earnestly, each trying
to keep a few boys quiet. But no other
"wiggler" rewarded our efforts.

Luncheon was devoured after a de-
lightful walk through the budding
spring. To our botanists this was three
hours of joy and rivalry ; to us common
snake hunters, it was the pleasure of
being out of doors. Much was collect-
ed. A large meadow, criss-crossed by-
irrigation ditches, looked good, but re-
vealed nothing. Then we had a sur-
prise. The camp site had been well
trodden, when at its center a DeKays
snake was captured. The little fellow
was in fine fetter and friendly — to me
our choice catch.

Allen Samuel Williams is probably
known to most of my readers. This
was the first time that I have enjoyed
the privilege of being in the field with
him. He has a boy's enthusiasm and
a knowledge of the outdoors verging
on the uncanny. He is eminently fitted
to lead the boys in the educational
campaign that the society is conduct-
ing with reptiles as beneficiaries.

With trying exactness Mr. Williams
ranged the party in a semicircle and

ALLEN SAMUEL WILLIAMS (AT LEFT) WITH
LARGE PINE SNAKE, AND THE WRITER
WITH BULL SNAKE (AT RIGHT).
Both specimens are great pets. The species are of
value to the farmers as rodent destroyers.

A SUCCESSFUL SNAKE HUNT

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Photograph by Gayne T. K. Norton.

MEMBERS OF THE DITMARS CLUB OF THE REPTILE STUDY SOCIETY WHO TOOK PART IN

THE FIRST FORMAL HUNT.

Nine snakes, representing three species, and a number of frogs, turtles and salamanders were captured.
The seven snakes shown in the illustration are from private collections and perfect exhibition specimens.

The Director, Alien Samuel Williams, kneeling at right, is justly famous as an all-round outdoor man
and writer.

unlocked his grips. The white speci-
men bags were drawn forth and eager
hands were outstretched as the strings
were removed. In quick succession
seven perfect specimens were appor-
tioned about the group: a bull, a pine,
a boa, a red bellied, a king, a garter and
a ribbon.

It began to look as though the hunt
were over, so reluctantly were the pets
given up. But we got under way final-
ly, after christening an unresponsive
turtle Desdemona. Almost immediate-
ly another water snake was found but
it escaped.

The most exciting capture was made
by a boy. Air. Williams and the lad
saw Natrix jasciata sipedon — the correct
name of our common water snake —
and it immediately chose to escape be-
tween Mr. Williams's, legs. Like a
good Scout, young Ogden grabbed the
reptile and held it, though bitten, and
the largest snake of the day was sub-
dued. (The danger was nil. We knew
our country and all its snakes. Where
poisonous snakes are likely to be en-
countered, no chances are taken.)
During the remainder of the day speci-
mens came fast, some bv stick, most bv
hand, some nine in all and representing
three species.

George Von Buehren, herpetologist,
brought some snakes from his private
collection and gave a demonstration
of forcible feeding. An informal hun-
ter and guest was Hudson Hawley, a

reporter on the staff of "the New York
Sun," assigned to the hunt by his city
editor. At best Hawley was diffident
though enthusiastic ; he enrolled. A
motion picture camera man was chas-
ing us in a little Ford, but, unfortunate-
ly, did not find us. Several New York
papers printed stories of the hunt ; it
created quite a stir, and much publicity
is promised for the next "outing."

The Reptile Study Society, though
young, is already national, having
clubs in many states and members of
national note. Its purpose is to save
the snakes.

A Good Joke on a Money Handler.

One of the most efficient men that
stand behind cash windows in a promi-
nent bank in Stamford caught the gar-
den fever, but his fancy did not run
altogether to vegetables. Having a
taste for the beautiful, he put in a lib-
eral supply of bulbs and wondered why
they were so slow in doing something.
After waiting for two or three weeks,
he investigated them with a spade, and
found that they were growing but it
was taking them some time to over-
come the curvature necessitated be-
cause they had been planted wrong side
up. The genial banker said, "There is
something to be gained anyway." He
had the fun of planting them all over
again at the expense of only one set of
bulbs and, after all, it is the planting
that counts nowadays.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Observations in the Farmyard.

Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

To the Editor :

To those who come in close daily
contact with the denizens of the barn-
yard, many interesting idiosyncrasies
and evidences of "individuality" are re-
vealed. This is particularly noticeable
by children, who are quick at observing
the peculiar traits and differences of
physiognomy. One little girl whom I
knew gave the names of her uncles,
aunts, cousins and neighbors to the
chickens in which she insisted that she
could trace resemblances of expression
or of personal characteristics. This may
seem a bit fanciful, but the child that
is blest with the gifts of observation
and imagination is happy indeed !

Maternal devotion is the most beau-
tiful and fascinating source of interest,
but it is an instince that we accept as
the most natural of all. What is more
rare, however, or harder to discover, is
evidence of mutual attachment, some-
thing more intimate than the "social"
instinct which is so strong among all
animals. I hesitate to call it "friend-
ship," but it is something akin to that.

The objects of my observation were
two ducklings and two chicks that had
been hatched by the same hen. The
four were the only survivors of the ill-
assorted family, and were a source of
great distress to poor biddy that could
not get used to the aquatic perform-
ances of the ducks. She evidently felt
that she had made a mess of it, and she
abandoned her family prematurely, so
that I had to adopt the orphans. They
turned out to be male and female, after
their kind, and thrived beautifully.
When gardening time came the flock
was confined to an enclosure, all but
the ducklings as they are not "scratch-
es." Instead of wandering afield they
waddled back and forth outside the
enclosure, their two little imprisoned
mates following them from the inside,
the four making frantic efforts to join
one another and uttering plaintive cries.
This became so distressing that I re-
leased the chicks. This was followed
by great demonstrations of joy. The
ducklings were particularly emotional.
They caressed their gawky, long-legged
little mates with their bills, making
tremulous motions and gurgling sounds

of evident delight. Turtledoves could
hardly have been more sentimental.
They enjoyed many idyllic days to-
gether, and at night, instead of perch-
ing with the chickens, the chicks
crouched on the floor with their web-
footed comrades, and whenever I pen-
ned up the chicks they and the duck-
lings kept close together on opposite
sides of the fence. One day a duckling
fell into a post hole, and I discovered
it only after noticing three faithful
companions hovering around the hole
for a long while, until I went to the
rescue.

The vicissitudes and tragedies of the
barnyard broke up the devoted quartet.
First the duck was sacrificed, then the
rooster, as he was a pariah among his
kind. We endeavored to make the pul-
let see the error of her ways, but she
grew up to be "emancipated." She
challenged and fought the young cock-
erels, and finally she learned to crow!
She was the first and only crowing hen
that I have ever met. Her crow was
a squawk, but it seemed to give vent
to her rebellious spirit, and she always
crowed at earlest dawn, out in the open,
before any of the other chickens were
about. The sun never rose to her call,
which no doubt added to her bitterness.
As she gave no promise of pulchritude
or of favorable domestic qualities, she
too was disposed of. The poor drake
visibly pined, until he was put out of
his misery and so ended this little low-
ly drama of the barnyard.

As a boy that loved all kinds of ani-
mals, I could relate more experiences,
but such tales generally lead to garrul-
ity, and should be curtailed !

LOUIS CORTAMBERT.

The ordinary aquarium goldfish
breeds from four to eight times a year,
and produces from a few hundred to
several thousand eggs at each period.

A June Night.

"What is fo rare as a day in June?"

Except, in June, a night,
With the sleeping lake a silver plain,

In the spell of the moon's soft light.

And as we cleave its shining length.

Adrift in onr canoe.
It almost seems that Heaven itself

Is opening to our view.

— Emma Peirce.

HOW TO KEEP YOUNG

How to Keep Young.

BY MISS MARY A. ROE, WATERTOWN, NEW
YORK.

Many men and women, no longer
able to attend to the daily routine of
business or of household cares and hav-
ing no interests in reserve to fall back
upon, gradually settle down into a

MISS ROE IN HER GARDEN.

dreary, helpless old age. Their
thoughts and conversation are occupied
with trivial gossip and the details of
their maladies, real or imaginary. If
they would begin earlier in life to in-
terest themselves in something worth
while, outside of their daily surround-
ings, they would keep their minds clear
and active, and with increased zest be
able to devote their leisure, when it
came, to these pursuits and would re-
main more vigorous in mind and body
I am a woman not far from eighty,
and my chief interest has been and is
still a love for nature study. But not
as a specialist. Any one can find enjoy-
ment in observing the marvelous beau-
ties of God's creation, if our eyes are
trained to look for them.

One of the greatest pleasures of my
life came more than thirty years ago,
when I had an opportunity to glance
into the world of the infinitely little
through the powerful lens of a solar
microscope.

A friend in Los Angeles, a teacher of

the natural sciences in a college there,
had the use of this microscope, the
largest I ever saw.

The windows of her room were cov-
ered with close wooden shutters, in
one of which was a round hole that held
firmly the large lens of this microscope
exposed to the direct rays of the Cali-
fornia sunshine. On the wall opposite
was a white curtain, such as is used
for illustrated lectures.

For the first time I saw one of the
one-celled amoebae that scientists tell
us were the first forms of animal life
that appeared on this old earth, and
that myriads of them are still living in
our pools and streams.

From some water in a pool near-by
my friend placed two drops in the cen-
ter of a glass slide, covering it with a
thin convex glass which held the fluid
securely when in position to be magni-
fied. Then on the screen I saw a small
pond, with many curious forms moving
rapidly, dividing and subdividing, each
division becoming a perfect amoeba until
the heat of the sun on the large lens
evaporated the water and destroyed
their life.

We also made a study of those forms
of vegetable life that are called diatoms.
These were upon seaweed gathered on
the Pacific coast at San Pedro, near
Los Angeles.

WTe cut off very small bits from the
seaweed and placed them under the
magnifier. On the screen was thrown
glittering forms, some crescentic,
others oval or oblong, in colors like
the ruby, emerald and topaz. They
had a hard, flint-like shell enclosing a
semifluid substance resembling the
white of an unboiled egg, called proto-
plasm, that Professor Huxley says is
the "physical basis of all life."

My friend found some earth near the
ocean that looked to me like chalk but
which she said was composed of the
fossil shells of these diatoms. She ex-
changed some of this diatomaceous
earth with scientists who were making
a special study of these forms.

One day she said to me, "I have re-
ceived a slide that you will be glad to
see.

When it was placed in the micro-
scope, on the screen was reflected a
Latin cross, about two feet in length,
made of circular fossil diatoms, the larg-

8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

est in the center, cream white with
fluted edges, bordered by three bands
of blue shading from dark to light. The
next shell on each side was smaller
with bands of golden brown. The man
who sent this slide wrote that he had
worked over it for hours, with strong
magnifying glasses over his eyes, and
had manipulated the diatoms into po-
sition with a hair from a cat's whisker,
as only one fine enough for the task.

I brought one day a lump of chalk
that had been picked up below the
cliffs at Dover, England. My friend
scraped off what she could hold on the
blade of her penknife. When it was
magnified upon the screen, I counted
twenty perfect shells among many
broken ones. Who could estimate the
number in that small lump alone? Yet
the Cliffs of Dover, made of this mate-
rial, can be seen on a sunny day at
Calais across the English Channel.

One other instance T will give of our
experiments, illustrating the difference
between man's handiwork and God's.
The smallest needle that we could buy,
when reflected on the screen, looked
like a crowbar, the point as blunt, and
on three sides jagged edges that were
raised apparently a quarter of an inch
above the rounded surface, while the
sting of a honeybee terminated in a
point so fine I could hardly see where
it ended.

After returning to the East, I experi-
mented with the low forms of life at
many points on the Atlantic coast, find-
ing new shapes and colors, for thev
abound in all parts of the world, in
some regions abundantly where for
ages the fossil remains have made stra-
ta of immense length and depth.

The most beautiful exhibition of
minute Infusoria that I ever saw oc-
curred one dark night at Seal Harbor,
Mt. Desert, Maine. Returning with a
friend from a call, I noticed that a
heavy surf was entering the cove, which
is shaped like a horseshoe, with rocks
on each side and a sandy beach in the
center. As each wave rolled in and
flowed around the curve it was like a
Ions flash of lightning.

"Oh," I exclaimed, "it is the phos-
phorescent Noctilucae that I have heard
about. Let's go down on the beach and
sec this strange phenomenon closer."

When we plunged our hands and

arms into the waves and held them up
they looked as if they were on fire, yet
there was no heat.

These minute forms average one
hundred and sixtieth part of an inch,
yet a few could be seen with the naked
eye and were about the size of a small
pinhead. The Notilucae night lights
of the ocean, like the fireflies on land,
have their gleam intermittent, but they
are in such immense numbers that the
ocean in the tropics often seems cov-
ered with liquid fire. I never saw them
again on the New England coast.

But I am only an amateur microsco-
pist. and nature reveals so many won-
ders that I need. more than one hobby.
Each spring comes to me like a new
creation. The first notes of the robins
and the bluebirds I hail with delight,
and as the bird chorus increases day by
day there are sure to be strangers
among the singers whose acquaintance
I am glad to make.

Then comes the grand procession of
flowers, brought out by the warm rains
and the spring sunshine ; and although
I can no longer tramp the woods or
climb the steep hillsides in search of
them, younger feet and hands often
bring them to my door.

When I am shut in by wintry storms,
charming books reveal to me through
the eyes of noted travelers the fauna
and flora of other lands.

So if we progress in some new inter-
est as we advance in years, our days
will be less monotonous and our lives
less liable to become a burden upon
others.

Our various "water bugs," it has
commonly been thought, lives entirely
on animal food — daphnia and other
small crustacea, mosquito larvae, water
i meets and even an occasional fly that
chances to fall into the water. A re-
cent study, however, shows that the
food of these creatures is, in part, veg-
etable. The common "water boatmen,"
for example, eat diatoms, euglenas and
many other of the unicellular plants.
The whole subject is one that will re-
pay the attention of any good observer.

A new insect enemy of the peach, ap-
parently introduced from Japan, has
made its appearance in the District of
Columbia.

MOUSE MEAT FOR ROOSTERS

Mouse Meat for Roosters.

BY CHARLES H. CRANDALL, STAMFORD,
CONNECTICUT.

At a recent meeting of the Farm
Bureau a poultry expert from upstate
advised farmers to select their eggs
for sitting from their own flocks, fol-
lowing suggestions of his, in order to
get fowls of great egg producing capa-
city. He especially laid stress on cross-
ing the choicest hens with the sauciest
cockerel on the place, one full of fight
and general bumptiousness.

Well, I am entering a Rhode Island
red cockerel for the prize in these qual-
ities, for he did under my eyes what ]
never saw a rooster do before. I was
startled by sudden squeaks and saw
my up-to-date rooster battling with a
large field mouse. He chased the
mouse, striking it with his beak, and
soon despatched the rodent, called tip
the admiring hens and they soon dis-
sected and swallowed the meat. Of
course I shall start a new strain of reds
for which you will not have to purchase
bone or meat rations.

Henry Ford's Response.

Men who do big things have a fac-
ulty of keeping it up. Henry Ford has
granted the British Government the
right to make his tractors ad lib., waiv-
ing all patent rights. This is a big

patriotic response to the pressing needs
of the British Government to increase
its food supply.

As for America, Mr. Ford is prepar-
ing to turn out thousands of farm trac-
tors by the first of August. He is not
only making tractors under high pres-
sure at his Dearborn tractor plant, but
he is preparing to turn over both bis
tractor plant and his automobile plant
to the United States Government
should the need arise.

Germany has cause to beware of
some of our eminent pacifists. An
American who loves peace and does
big things in peaceful times is 999,999
times out of 1,000,000 an American
first, last and all the time. — Country
Gentleman.

For cultivating colonies of Euglena
quince seed jelly is especially recom-
mended. The seeds are boiled and the
thick juice strained through a sieve to
remove particles of seed. The jelly is
then diluted with water.

Daisies.

Daisies, far as the eye can see,
Daisies, a great white company;
With ray-like petals, and hearts of

gold.
What starry beauty do they unfold!
■ — Emma Peirce.

m

*^a*.^i^aJki

*:^*^

'DAISIES, FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE."

A War Garden.

BY HENRY BELDEN, DYKEMANS, N". Y.

We now see that we made a big mis-
take, by not doing any fall plowing,
but we had no intention of putting in
a garden this year. We had laid out
enough work — ditching, grading, fenc-
ing and fixing — to say nothing of tree
spraying, fruit picking and haying, to
keep our one man, and an occasional
team, more than busy. And then —
this war came, and this garden enthus-
iasm, and the desire to do our little
"bit," if only to provide for ourselves
and our workers, for — we figure, that
if everyone, who can, takes care of
themselves vegetabily, it will save that
much to the general store.

The reasons why our ideas do not
assume a more ambitious form, having
considerable acreage at command, is
because the farm abounds in rock and
ledge, — very picturesque but provoca-
tive of profanity when attempts are
made to the cultivation of it. And,
then, because of the high cost of feed,
we have no stock or horses, and have
to hire and the cost of an occasional
team is quite an item of expense. We
are paying a dollar more this year than
last and may have to pay still yet more
and yet face a minimum price on our
product — if we are forced to sell it.

And there is but one team, in the
neighborhood, that we can depend on.
Upon consideration, this statement is
open to revision, for we had the prom-
ise of that team, and a man, for last
week, and they came not ! — and we can
get no definite promise for the future,
and we have two bushels of seed pota-
toes awaiting planting, and. although
the Garden has been plowed, it has not
been disked and we are forced to "fork
it over"-— which is no small task. Soon
Ave must do our first spraying — some
sixty tree- — and much routine work

must be accomplished by one man and
the writer — one absolutely untrained
and, in some ways, unfitted for much
of the labor entailed.

And so, to be sure that that garden
will not be irreparably damaged by
May frosts, or droughts, — there are
numerous boxes filled with sawdust, in
the cellar, and in them are all kinds
of garden seeds, and some 500 plant
food tablets are awaiting immersion,
and the day will come when those saw-
dust boxes will be transferred to the
"Sunparlor"--(a very warlike measure,
we assure you) and our seedlings will
be fed, literally, by the spoonful.

I can hear some one say, "what is he
talking about, — don't he know any-
thing?" Yes, kind reader, he knows
just one little thing, and he means to
work that to the limit — this year — but
what said limit is, he, himself, don't
know. (Information gladly received).

And this is what he knows, and how
he learned it. Once upon a time, when
Easter was very late, and the spring
still later, the writer was in a hotel in
a place where blossoms should have
been, if nature had had a chance. And
there were seventeen children there,
and they were the kind of children that
have dancing eyes and quiet feet, and
the writer said within himself, 'there
shall be green things growing on Eas-
ter morn', — and it was so — green things
agrowing in eggshells! Twenty-four
eggshells set in rows, filled with saw-
dust and spoonfed with plantfood.
Don't ask me what we grew — it was so
long ago — (but T can tell you how the
children looked, if you wish to know),
but the next year a more practical at-
tempt was made, and some lettuce and
parsley survived to find its way into
a garden, and thrived there, — and that
is why there are sawdust boxes in the
cellar.

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

ii

And not only did the wee children
show great interest in the Eggshell
Garden, but many others, of older
growth, made regular visits to the then
novel experiment. And one day — the
day of the transplanting of the nastur-
tiums— three ladies insisted on seeing
all there was to be seen, and so, one
nasturtium was taken, by the scuff of
its neck, and pulled out of its sawdust
bed, and its curled up roots spread out,
and washed in running water,
and handed around by those three lad-
ies, while the pot of earth was being
prepared. Punching a hole in the pot
of poor earth the nasturtium's roots
were washed into it by the use of a
little plant food and the earth was
pressed down and the pot set aside, in
a shady place, and for two day* it was
fed. — after that, watered, and it grew
gloriously. Just try a similar treat-
ment— three interested ladies and a
cold water faucet — on any earthgrown
seedling, and watch the results.

They say that plant food seedlings
are sturdy because 'they never have
had to work for a living' — they have
developed nothing but primary roots,
and those are extensive — and there are
no delicate, sensative, shockabsorbers,
to be shocked, in this first transplant-
ing, and, consequently, no setback, no
nervous derangement — when trans-
planted and assisted (with plant food
for two days) they easily provide a soil
sucking system of great power. They
have never had to fight with weeds
yet they are well provided for life's
battles by intelligent nature.

We are seeing many of the sheltered
of the human family taking hold, in a
most marvelous manner, when trans-
planted from an easy life to rougher
conditions, under the stimulus of pa-
triotism mixed with necessity. All
thev seem to need is intelligent direc-
tion to produce a remarkable crop of
humanity.

There are going to be many late gar-
dens this vear and while we are strug-
gling to get vacant lots prepared why
not make a 'saw dust preparation'?
Many a sunny window can be utilized
by those who never intend cultivating
the soil. They can grow a crop of
"universality" with their seedlings, and
contribute to the good of the commun-
ity.

It is a great deal to ask of children
to commit their seeds to the cold
earth and then wait in patience while
(what we call) weeds appear. And it
is hard on the seeds. Why make them
struggle when we know a better way?
The writer used two teaspoonfuls
of plantfood — one at night, and one in
the morning — for each seedling, and
as six tablets make one quart of solu-
tion and 30 tablets cost 10 cents, we
have a supply for 20 seedlings for 20
days at a modest outlay. Larger quan-
tities may be obtained at a reduced
rate.

If one uses eggshells the skin must
be rubbed out — a somewhat tedious
process — but it will mold, otherwise,
and the plantfood requires a strictly
neutral medium, for it supplies all the
plant's needs. And when the second
leaves appear, or as soon after as pos-
sible, transplant to soil (convenient pa-
per pots can be obtained for this pur-
pose) and supplied with plantfood in
generous quantity (double the dose)
for two days, after which water care-
fully but not too much. And, when
time has been allowed for plant to be-
come well established, it can be set out
in perfectly prepared — 'up to the min-
ute',— soil by merely tearing off the
paper envelope and so avoiding the
nasty knocking jar or clay pot plant-
ing or the dangerous root exposure of
box planting.

The nervous shock sustained by seed-
lings as ordinarily grown, in the first
transplanting, due to the existence of
the delicate secondary hairlike root-
lets, is avoided by the plantfood meth-
od, and if ordinary care is taken in set-
ting out, no setback should be experi-
enced and every plant in the row will
be worth cultivating and a full row
makes the work worth while.

The possibility of cultivating the
soil up to the last minute, and the ab-
sence of weed warfare during germina-
tion gives a wonderful theoretical start,
to say the least, and when frosts are
late, or preparation is delayed, the
nlantfood method permits a parallel-
ing of the enemy's trenches — a work-
ins: the sawdust while working up the
soil, or watchfully waiting.

And in this connection, let us say,
that it is to the Germans we owe this
plantfood — we may say that we have a

12

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

( Icrman working in our garden this
year— for "The Perfect Plant Food"
we use was invented by Prof. Julius
VonSachs.

And it looks as if we were going to
return them a bullet for their beans.

Palm Branches Cover this Tree House.

I A ALBERT MARPLE, TROPICO, CALIFORNIA.

A novelty in the way of a tree house
has just been completed by a youth liv-
ing in Los Angeles, California. This
house, as may be seen in the illustra-
tion accompanying this brief sketch,

A NOVEL PLAN'

DECORATED TREE HOUSE.

a trap door in the roof out of which the
owner climbs when he wants to ascend
to the top of the tree, which has been
equipped with "cross piece" steps.

In connection with this house this
enterprising owner conducts an elabor-
ate wireless outfit and private athletic
grounds, consisting of jumping boards,
trapeze, etc. — -"The Schoolmate."

has been erected at about the center of
this large dead eucalyptus tree in the
yard at the rear of this youth's home.
It is eight by eight feet in size, and the
most unusual thing about it is that it is
covered with pretty palm branches.
The framework of the house is made
of two by four timbers and one by
three strips, to which the palm branch-
es have been nailed.

Kntrance to the room is gained by
means of a trap door in the floor near
one wall, a board with cleated steps
leading up to the house. There is also

Are Rural Communities Ignorant of
Nature?

A letter from a lady who lives in the
heart of the country says :

"Last season the State Convention
of Wild Life League was held on the
shores of our little lake, Conneaut, the
largest lake in the state, and with it
came a goodly delegation of Boy
Scouts from Pittsburg and its vicinity.
Among their numerous stunts was a
tree-naming contest, which had to be
abandoned because no competent
judges could be found. This in the
midst of a rural community which con-
siders itself intelligent, and is fairlv
well informed on general subjects. I
felt ashamed that city boys should
know so much more about our own
woods and fields than our country
children — or our teachers."

We have received similar expres-
sions of opinion from many other natural-
ists and along certain lines I have made
nersonal observations. The result is that
I am somewhat confused. I am not
able to arrive at any decided opinion
in the matter. I have however, come
to the conclusion that city people, not
only city children but adults, as a class,
are more eager to learn somewhat of
nature than are the country people.

Light is thrown on the situation by
one of the "Fables of the Fair" by
Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon. She
speaks of two singers that wrere invited
to appear before a country audience.
Both were skilled in the highest forms
of music, but one of them reasoned in
this manner: I will adapt myself to
the situation; I will dress plainly; I
will have as an ornament a little flower
from the woods or fields, and I will
sing familiar airs, "Bring Back My
Bonnv to Me," "Annie Laurie" and
"Jingle, Jingle All the Way." The
other decided to give the people some-

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

13

thing that they did not have every day.
She dressed in her most elaborate
gown to show them what she exhibited
to the fashionable audiences of the
city ; she sang operatic airs in a foreign
language. And the result? For
"Annie Laurie" and "Down on the
Swanee River," it was only indiffer-
ence. "My Jane or my Sally can sing
just as well as that." But they liter-
ally "sat up and took notice" and ap-
plauded their best, when they heard
songs of which they did not know a
note nor a word. The author tells us,
as the moral of her fable, "When you
are among the Romans, do as the
Romans don't."

Here is a wealth of wisdom. Per-
haps it is the solution of the problem
why more nature study is taught in
city schools than in the country
schools. More requests for addresses
on nature topics come from city
schools and audiences than from the
country. The city people as well as
those of the country are alike in this
one thing, they are among the Romans
and they want to do as the Romans
don't. It is that everlasting craving
of the human heart for something dif-
ferent, something beyond the routine
of life. It is. as I believe, not because
city people live nearer to nature or
that they better appreciate the world
around them, but because they have
less of it. The more familiar the
country people become with trees and
cows, geese and pigs, robins and blue
jays, the more desirious are they for
a touch of city life. Blessed be the
automobiles and other modern facili-
ties for transportation that enable city
people to have the rest and refreshment
of the country, country people to have
the culture and the refining influences
of the city.

After all there is no unfavorable com-
parison to be made. If I may interpo-
late a humble country story, let me tell
of a boarding house that stood on the
banks of the Connecticut River, in the
little town of Goodspeed's Landing, in
the years long gone by. One season
the sloops loaded with clams were nu-
merous. For a small sum any one could
purchase all the clams he could carry.
An economical boarding mistress kept
her table supplied liberally with clams.

as a matter of strict economy. By and
by one of the boarders declined clams,
and the boarding mistress held up her
hands as she exclaimed, "Why, Mr.
Smith, this is astonishing. I thought
you were the greatest clam lover I
have." "Yes," he said, "I am fond of
clams for eighty meals in succession,
but I draw the line at the eighty-first."

Probably that is the feeling of the
city man that gets city life steadily for
eleven months and then says, "I draw
the line at the twelfth. I will hie away
to the country.' Probably the country
schools and the country people may
know more of nature, but they do not
become rapturous in regard to it but
rather devote their enthusiasm to what
they have seen in an occasional visit to
the city.

But this bit of philosophy does not
completely cover the situation. There
is another point of view, especially for
country people. They may know the
humdrum, ordinary, utilitarian phases
of nature, but thev do not know how
interesting nature is. It is the duty
of nature lovers to show country people
those interests. Occasionally some one
from the city knows more about nature
than the country person knows, but is
not the opposite as often true? Many
a bright-eyed boy or girl on one visit
to the city will find more of interest
and more to talk about to their friends
than the boy can find who sees nothing
but houses and streets and trolley cars
all day and every day. There are such
things as calloused eyes.

Making Seed Potatoes Go a Long Way.

In the present high price of seed po-
tatoes here is a good suggestion from
a friend in Ada, Montana, who is ex-
perimenting extensively along these
lines.

"There are many ways to experiment
with potatoes. Did you ever try them
in a hotbed? I assure you it is interest-
ing. Cover them with not more than
an inch of earth. Pick the sprouts off
once a week and transplant. Every
sprout will make a vigorous hill.

"Another way to make your seed go
farther is to divide the eyes. Take a
thin bladed, very sharp knife. Cut the
eye in two or four pieces ; plant shal-
low and hill up by hand."

All communications for this department
should he sent to the Department Editor,
Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street,
Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Items, articles
and photographs in this department not
otherwise credited are by the Department
Editor.

When the Herons Homeward Fly.

Far clown on the Indian River, along
the eastern coast of Florida, thousands
of "little blue" and Louisiana herons
make their homes among the thick
mangroves and in the hidden lagoons
and bayous of this enchanting land.

Though persecuted and shot to the
verge of extermination in many local-
ities which were formerly wonderful
bird paradises, the recent guarding of
some of the colonies in their nesting
season, and the setting apart by our
Government of large areas where the
birds are protected throughout the
year, have now checked this slaughter
to a large degree ; and one of the most
pleasant sights of the tourist, as he
sails through these blue waters and
among the green islands of semi-tropi-
cal beauty today are the graceful herons
and egrets which are almost constantly
in sight, and which add a beauty and
charm of their own to the southern
landscape.

One of the sights which I shall always
remember in a chronicle of events dur-
ing a trip through this region was the
pleasure of watching the gathering of
these herons toward nightfall, as they
silently made their way in little groups
toward the common "roost" where thev
were to spend the night.

This "gathering of the clans" began
shortly before sunset and, as nearly as
I could determine by noting the direc-
tion taken by the various flocks, their
destination lay a few miles to the
westward of our course, somewhere
within the confines of that great pro-
tecting swamp known as The Ever-
glades. The day had been an entranc-

ingly beautiful one, as days in this lo-
cality are wont to be, and as it was
coming calmly to its close, there seem-
ed to be a sense of dreamy satisfaction
quietly stealing over us and settling
all about us. What a complete har-
mony we find in nature at such a time
—in the quieting of the waters, in the
glorious tinting of the heavens, and in
the softening shadows of the palms.
The hum of the insects and the evening
songs of the birds come to our ears so
unobtrusively that we scarce notice
these different sounds, so perfectly is
blended all the music of the wild in
Nature's gentle lullaby.

It was at such a time, near the close
of a mid-December day, that I glanced
up from these dreamy surroundings
and noticed a Mock of twenty-one little
blue herons flying southward over our
launch. Not a sound did they make,
and their rythmic, regular flapping
seemed to propel them without physi-
cal exertion toward the goal of their
desires. Soon another and another lit-
tle group flew silently over us. Some-
times there would be a single straggler,
and again a flock of fifty or sixty birds,
containing both the Louisiana and lit-
tle blue varieties ; but always did they
seem impelled by the one motive or in-
stinct, as unerringly they set their
course for the common goal. Just so
strongly and so truly does the "call of
home" come to every creature when
the day is done

Every two or three minutes as I
looked up into the sky would I see
these little flocks cleaving their way
through the blue ether. They were
flying at a considerable height and of-
ten in well formed V-shaped flocks.
Proceeding steadily southward on our
course, I soon noticed a change in the
direction of the herons' flight. Flocks
were now moving to the westward,
and were flying at a much lower alti-
tude than those previously seen, indi-
cating that we had passed in a general

ORNITHOLOGY

15

way the range of their roost, which was
evidently not far to our westward in
the interior of the swamp.

The shadows of the palms soon deep-
ened and the wonderful phosphores-
cence began to light up the water about
our launch, showing as a brilliant
streak Where it curled over the edges of
the waves cut by the prow of the boat.
Ere we realized it the sun had dipped
below the horizon and, seemingly
loathe to leave us, was reflected upward

Bird Tragedies.

June is the month when probably
more tragedies occur in bird life than
at any other season of the year. Young
birds in the nest are exposed to the
dangers of severe storms and to the at-
tacks of such enemies as crows, jays
and squirrels, while those which have
left the nest and are not yet fully able
to care for themselves are still subject
to marauding animals and birds of
prey.

"THE SOFTENING SHADOWS OF THE PALMS."

in a flood of golden glory, making
beautiful beyond description the west-
ern sky and the silhouetted palms along
its horizon. Into the glory of this sun-
set sailed the last straggling flocks of
the little herons. Like silent shadows
they passed over us and were gone.

Forty-eight separate flocks or indi-
viduals, totalling four hundred and fifty
birds, were seen thus to pass over to
this roost within a half hour. But it
Was not the number of birds which I
saw that impressed me most. The
blue of the waters, the shadowy palms,
the glorious setting of the sun and the
silent home-coming of the little herons
at the end of the day, — these all went
to make up the beautiful picture which
now "hangs on memory's wall."

Perhaps we notice most commonly
at this season the young robins just
after they have left the nest. We may
frequently see them along the roadsides
or in our yards. At this stage, when
they are little able to fly, many fall a
prey to the prowling house cat, which
is by far the worst enemy of nesting
birds. The extent of this destruction
may be somewhat realized by the re-
cent statement of one of our well-
known naturalists that seven hundred
thousand birds are annually killed by
barn cats in Massachusetts alone.

The phoebe's nest shown in our il-
lustration contains the skeletons of
three young birds which evidently
starved to death, owing probably to
some accident befalling either one or

i6

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

yOUNG ROBIN SOON AFTER LEAVING NEST-
AN EASY PREY FOR CATS.

both of the parent birds. Many young
perish thus while still in the nest;
others are preyed upon by nest vermin,
which sometimes become so bad as to
cause the abandonment of the nest by
the parent birds and the consequent de-
struction of the young. I have known
of such a fate befalling a brood of phoe-
toes whose home was in the sheltering
'crevice of a great rock in the woods.
The situations selected by these birds
for their nests unfortunately are too
often in places where conditions seem
to promote such dire consequences.
These birds, however, usually raise two
broods of young in a season and are
thus able to hold their own against
these destructive agencies.

Crows and jays are probably respon-
sible for the destruction of many eggs
and young birds in the nest. Such was
the fate of the young robins from the
nest shown in our third illustration.
A great deal of pleasure had been de-
rived from watching the construction
of this little home in the maple tree.
The mother bird is here seen hollowing
out the structure with her breast, pre-
paratory to its final lining of soft grass-
es. Although this tree stood in the
yard within six feet of my window, and
as near to the house on the other side,
this close proximity to dwellings evi-
dently did not save its occupants from
an untimely end, and another tragedy

PHOEBE'S NEST CONTAINING SKELETONS
OF YOUNG WHICH HAD STARVED TO DEATH.

A ROBIN BUILDING ITS NEST.

was enacted when, after watching
these happy birds through the days of
home building, incubation of the eggs
and feeding of the young, I one day
heard their cries of distress and looked
up just as a crow had swooped down
upon the nest and was making off with
some of the young birds in its beak.

In the lowlands, especially among
the ground nesting birds, there are
many tragedies caused by severe and
unseasonable storms in the nesting
season. The red-winged blackbird
nestlings shown here have succumbed
to the cold and exposure caused by a
prolonged rain and heavy storm which
lasted for days, and which tore down

ORNITHOLOGY

'7

many such nests throughout the mar-
shes. We also found after this storm
several nests of swamp and song spar-
rows, which contained eggs, entirely
submerged, as the

water rising

tar

above its usual height and covered
many of the grass hummocks which
contained their nests. Such a prolong-
ed storm in June, 1903. caused the
death of hundreds of thousands of hirer's
in Massachusetts. Many colonies of
martins were exterminated, nests were
abandoned and dead birds were picked
up in various places. This storm was
so severe in its general effect upon bird
life as to call for a special report by
the Massachusetts State Ornithologist.
Severe gales are sometimes destructive
to sea birds by blowing them far in-
land where they cannot obtain food,
such storms also causing the death of
many of the smaller birds in the mi-
grating seasons.

The young oriole shown on the edge
of the swinging basket had fallen from
its nest and was cared for by some one
interested in its welfare. Young birds
may often be saved from destruction
in some such way by providing food
and shelter until they are able to care
for themselves. Nests which have fall-
en down may sometimes be attached
to a temporary support and the parent
birds induced to resume their duties of
caring for the young.

Probably the greater part of all bird
life comes to a tragic end Many other

YOUNG BALTIMORE ORIOLE WHICH HAD
FALLEN FROM ITS NEST.

agencies of destruction might be men-
tioned besides those illustrated here,
but it is not a very pleasant subject
when we consider those things over
which we have no control. It should
concern us, however, to know that
there are many things which we can
do to conserve these useful creatures,
for probably more than all these com-
bined is man the agent of death among
the birds. A sane and reasonable con-
trol of cats, a proper provision of food
and nesting sites where we remove
those which Nature has provided and
the checking of their natural enemies
will tend to increase rather than dimin-
ish those species of value which are
especially desirable about the house,
while still further restrictive laws and
assistance to such organizations as the
Audubon Societies, which are doing
protective work among the birds, is
vitally necessary if we would stop the
ruthless slaughter, if not actual exter-
mination, which is still being perpe-
trated among some of our naitve birds.

YOUNG RED- WINGED blackbirds.
Nest broken down and birds killed by storm.

In Passing.

BY GRACE E. EMERSON, NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

There's so much good in field and wood
I fail to count the half I find :
Refreshing ease 'mid grass and trees;
With lengthening shadows peace of mind;
Again the birds sing hopeful words,
And healing lingers in the breeze,
Yet is my heart a living part
Of all the life I find in these?

i8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

An Unexpected Visitor.

When I came downstairs at about
six o'clock in the morning on Septem-
ber 16, I was astonished to see a
screech owl sitting on a radiator in the

er, so we opened the door and he flew
silently out, being lost to view in some
near-by woods.

We think the owl must have come
down a chimney into a fireplace, as

THE OWL ON THE RADIATOR.

front hall. My first thought was that
someone had put a stuffed bird there
as a joke, but I realized at once that
he was alive, because he turned his
head when I moved to one side. 1
called to my wife, and she came down
to see our visitor, who did not seem to
be at all disturbed at our presence. 1
then got out my camera and took some
pictures., one of which is reproduced
herewith. Nearly an hour later i went
to the house of a neighbor, and got him
to come over with his camera. The
owl had remained in the same place all
this time, and I found that I could get
close to the radiator without disturbing
him. But finally, when I stood with my
hand on the radiator, within a few
inches of the owl, he became alarmed
and flew into an adjoining room. He
struck against a mirror and dropped
onto a table, where he sat on a pile
of books, looking very wise indeed. He
did not remain long, however, but flew
to my camera which was standing
near-by. After my friend had taken
his picture in this position we decided
not to keep him in the house any long-

there was apparently no other way in
which he could have gotten in. — H. S.
Shaw, |r., Hover, Massachusetts, in
"Bird-Lore."

Downy Woodpecker and Goldenrod
Galls.

Schenectady, N. Y.
To the Editor :

Last autumn I noticed a downy wood-
pecker working on some goldenrod
galls. I examined one gall after he
had left it, but found the larva undis-
turbed. From your observations have
you found that these birds ever destroy
the larva in these galls? A reply
through The Guide to Nature will be
appreciated.

B. D. Miller.
Personally I have never seen a wood-
pecker working on these galls. Can
any reader furnish the desired informa-
tion?—H. G. H.

Roseate clouds and a waning moon,
A flight of birds in the sky,

Are heralds to proclaim to us
The new day from on high.

— Emma Peirce.

ORNITHOLOGY

19

A June Daybreak.

The Eastern sky was flushed with rose,

The air serenely still;
The early light, a halo, lay

Upon a distant hill.

The little clouds, like buoyant hopes,

That floated in the blue,
Caught all the glory of the dawn,

And passed it on to you.

The birds at matins, filled the air

With jubilant outpour;
The oak beside me flashed its green,

And all its fringes wore.

The sleeping valley opened wide

Its eyes of limpid blue:
Twin lakes that mirror all the sky,

The changing season through.

The smoke from neighboring rooftrees
caught
The first glint of the sun; —
The night was over, the new day
Auspiciously begun.

— Emma Peirce.

try lane and hear the swallow's sweet
refrain. I like to see them swell their
throats and send forth charming, sooth-
ing notes. I like to seem them upon
high a-fluttering against the sky. What
if they eat a few stale seeds — they
must supply their inner needs. Re-
member that they also eat the bugs
that spoil the beets and wheat. They're
living ornaments and they should be
protected ev'ry day. We ought to put
up houses for the birds and say "Come
by the score — just come in flocks and
hang around — I'll scatter crumbs upon
the ground." The bird's a most en-
dearing thing when on the ground or
on the wing. Gee whiz! I just can't
find the words to say how much I'm fond
of birds.

Ray I. Hoppman.

Birds.

I just can't find the words to say how
much I'm fond of birds. I'd just as
soon ride in a hearse if birdless was
this universe. They seem to right our
hapless wrongs whene'er they chant
their happy songs. I'm fond of ev'ry-
thing with wings — I just adore the
feathered things. I love to hear the lit-
tle lark sing notes at dusk before it's
dark. The sparrow I could watch all
day — I like his happy, saucy way. The
black domed little chickadee sure has
an awful drag with me. The robin with
its flaming breast is always welcome as
my guest. Whene'er I hear the whip-
poor-will. I say "I hope you'll ne'er
keep still — I like to hear the tuneful
song that you so gaily pass along."
The bluebird, grosbeak, jay and wren
are lifelong pals of mine — Amen. I
fail to see where there is fun in shoot-
ing birdlets with a gun. I think it is a
doggone shame to shoot 'em dead or
make 'em lame. The marten and the
bobolink are two fine specimens, I
think. The thrasher and the oriole
are pals of mine — upon my soul. Oh,
I could go along the line and tell
how every bird doth shine. I haven't
time to name each one — I've got to
work, I need the "mon." But I just
want to up and say that birdlings
brighten up the day. They beautify this
war-mad globe and make it one glad,
sweet abode. I love to walk the coun-

A Kingfisher that Eats Snakes.
The giant kingfisher, or laughing
jackass," which is found throughout
Australia, nests in holes in dead trees,
it is called "kookaburra" by the natives,
a name suggested by the bird's call.

THE LAUGHING TACKASS.

Unlike most kingfishers this bird is
often found nesting far from water,
where it lives on insects, lizards,
snakes, rats and small birds. The ac-
companying illustration is of a young
kookaburra at its nest hole in a large
dry eucalypt in East Gippsland, Vic-
toria, Australia. It was taken by J.
H. Mac, and was sent to us by our
Australian correspondent, Mr. H. Stu-
art Dove.

The Heavens in June.

BY PROFESSOR ERIC DOOLITTLE, OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Tune is our month of the shortest
nights. At the time of the shortest
day, twilight does not fully disappear
until about twenty minutes before ten
o'clock in the evening, while before
half past two o'clock in the morning
the first signs of dawn are seen in the
east. The astronomer has thus less
than five hours of complete darkness in

than the magnificent groups to be seen
during the colder months of the year.
We have, indeed, one most brilliant
and interesting group — that of the
Scorpion, which is now creeping up-
ward into our evening heavens from
the southeast — but the very widely ex-
tended groups of Ophiuchus, Virgo
and Hydra, which fill the remaining
part of the southern sky, are composed
almost wholly of faint, inconspicuous
stars.

MORTM

iOuTH

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M. June 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
west, hold West below. If facing east, hold East below If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

his observatory during the entire night,
a striking contrast to the long hours af-
forded by the nights of midwinter.

The constellations, too of our sum-
mer evenings are (as our readers
doubtless well know) far less brilliant

During this month, too, the planet
Saturn, of all the planets, alone re-
mains conspicuous in the evening hea-
vens, and this is rapidly sinking in the
west. Yet perhaps the most interest-
ing spectacle of the entire month is

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

21

that furnished by the rapid motions
and close approaches of the three
bright worlds — Mercury, Mars, and Ju-
piter. These are now, however, all very
close together in the morning sky, so
that in order to study them the obser-
ver must go out in the early morning
hours a short time before sunrise.

^ $i ^c % %.

The Morning Planets.

J he sun in its slow apparent jour-
ney among the stars has now passed
to the east of Mercury, Mars and Jupi-
ter so that as we look at these planets
in the southern heavens we see the
sun to the left of them. Consequently
these planets now set before sunset and
arise before the sun rises ; that is, they
are all morning stars. As Mars moves
eastward among the stars far more rap-
idly than Jupiter, the sun draws away
from the former planet much more
slowly than from the latter one. The
result is that the latter planet seems to
climb upward into the morning sky
much more rapidly than does the more
swiftly moving world.

All three of these bright worlds are
now close together and moving east-
ward through the constellation Taurus.
Both Mars and Jupiter move quite
steadilv eastward, the former alone- the
path AB, Figure 2, and the latter along
the path CD. But the motion of Mer-
cury is peculiar. On June 1. it is at
the position E, but its motion is then so
slow that it is passed by Mars when
the former planet is at K and the lat-
ter at C. Its motion then quickens ; it
passes Jupiter (HV) on June S. and
overtakes and again passes Mars (RS)
on June. 1 1. One hour later it reaches
the point T, at which time it is at its
greatest distance from the sun.

During each of these three conjunc-
tions of Mercury the two planets are
unfortunately rather far separated in
the sky owing to Mercurv'- path lying
si 1 far to the southward among the
stars. A far more striking sky figure
is that afforded by the close approach
of Mars and Jupiter (at the point V) on
the morning of June 8 ; the two planets
will then appear separated by but forty-
one minutes in the sky.

To observe these most interesting
motions the reader should turn toward
the northeastern horizon in the very
earlv dawn. On June 1 the three plan-

ets will rise about one hour ten minutes
before sunrise, while by the end of the
month Mars and Jupiter will rise two
hours before the sun. The dates of the
conjunctions are: Mercury with Mars,

Figure 2. The paths of the mornirg planets from
Tune 1 to June 3d. Ai! is the path of Mars, CD that
of Jupiter and EF that of Mercury.

June 5 and June 1 1 ; Mercury with Jupi-
ter. June 8, 9 P. M. ; Jupiter with Mars,
June 8, 7 A. M. Mercury reaches its
greatest distance west of the sun on
June II. The contrasting colors and
appearances of these three worlds, so
near together in the sky, will be ob-
served to much greater advantage if
the reader can use a small telescope in
their observation.

^ %. ^c ■%. ^

The Partial Eclipse of the Sun.
The third eclipse of the present vear
will occur on the forenoon of June 19.
This is a partial eclipse of the sun, but
it will unfortunately be invisible from
almost the whole of the United States.
The only part of our country from
which anything of the eclipse can be
seen will be from the stations lying
north of the line MN, Figure 3. From
practically all of Alaska, Western Brit-
ish North America. Northern Green-

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

land, Russia and Northern Siberia the
eclipse will, however, be visible.

Observers above the line MN will
see the intensely black lower edge of
the moon cover a small portion of the
upper part of the bright sun's disc, the
eclipse beginning soon after sunrise
at a verv few minutes before or

until next December. Venus now
shines sixty times the brightness of a
first magnitude star.

Saturn this month moves quite rap-
idly eastward from Gemini into Can-
cer. It is being steadily overtaken by
the sun and therefore each evening
sinks lower in the west, but it is still

Figure 3. The region of tin- United States within which the solar eclipse of June 19 is visible.

after seven o'clock A. M. (Eastern
standard time). The exact instants of
beginning and ending cannot be stated
as these differ for every station. Ob-
servers farther north will see a greater
part of the sun hidden, but from no
station will quite so much as one-half
of the sun's diameter be covered by the
moon.

The Planets in June.

As has been stated, three of the
brighter planets are now close together
in the morning sky, and a special effort
to observe these (especially with a
-mall telescope) will be well repaid.

The beautiful planet Venus is stead-
ily emerging from the sun's rays into
the evening heavens. As it is now in-
tensely bright, it can be found without
much difficult}', shining in the twilight
glow almost directly above the north-
west point of the horizon. On June
i it sets forty minutes after sunset and
this time is increased to one hour four-
teen minutes by June 30. In the tele-
scope the planet is seen to be nearly
full ; it will not attain its crescent phase

in quite favorable position for observa-
tion. This, however, is the last month
during which it can be well observed
until toward the close of the year, when
it will again enter the evening sky.

The sun will attain its highest posi-
tion among the stars on June 21 at
seven hours fourteen minutes P. M.
Eastern standard time, and this will ac-
cordingly be the longest day of the
present year. At this time the day,
from sunrise to sunset, will be six
hours twelve minutes longer than the
following night. The true twilight and
dawn will increase this duration by
more than four hours, while observers
whose northern horizon is unobstruct-
ed and who are completely removed
from all artificial lights may view the
faint twilight illumination throughout
the entire night. They may see it
move along the northern horizon from
the west until it attains a position due
north at midnight, after which it will
move slowly eastward, continually in-
creasing in intensity, until it begins to
blot out the light of the fainter stars,
when the very faint midnight glow will
have merged into the true dawn.

Frail Wanderers of the Night.

BY EDWIN L. JACK, PORTLAND, MAINE.

[Photographs by the author and Cordelia

J. Stanwood.]

There are few persons that are aware
that such wonderful and gorgeous crea-
tures exist as the night moths of our
early summer months. This lack of fa-
miliarity with one of nature's most
wonderful creations is largely due to
the fact that these large moths are noc-
turnal in habit, remaining at rest dur-
ing day.

A warm June night, as the dusk be-

Their life history is practically identi-
cal.

Starting with the fully matured
moth, we find it in the last stage of its
life. It has emerged from its cocoon,
has mated and has begun to deposit its
eggs. These it places upon the leaves
of trees on which its caterpillars are to
feed. In the course of two or three
weeks, these eggs hatch into tiny cater-
pillars which at once begin to feed on
the leaf. This feeding continues for
four or five weeks, during which the
growing caterpillar has moulted at

Photograph by Cordelia J. Stanwood.

THE LUNA CATERPILLAR.
It hardly seem credible that so repulsive looking a creature would evolve anything so beautiful as a
luna moth.

gins to gather, is the ideal time for
moths. The bright arc lights of our
city streets seem to have a great at-
traction for them and it is by this means
that a few shut in city dwellers are
sometimes given the opportunity of
viewing some of the more common spe-
cies.

The two here illustrated are the luna
and the cecropia, two of our most com-
mon and vet most beautiful moth-.

least three times. It stops eating, trav-
els around for a day or two, and then
begins to look for a suitable location in
which to place its cocoon. This is
usually the limb of a tree on which it
has been feeding. Having found a sat-
isfactory place, it begins to spin its
winter home, the cocoon.

When the cocoon has been complet-
ed, a wonderful transformation takes
place. The skin of the caterpillar is

24

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Photograph by Edwin L. Jack.

THE LUNA MOTH.

The beautiful long and curved "trailers" seem to give

this moth a touch of distinction above all others.

cast off and its body is changed into a
dark, shiny pupa. Jn this state the
moth remains through the winter.

You may wonder how so delicate a
creature as a moth, with often a six
and one-half inch expansion of wing,
is to escape from the cocoon without
being fatally injured. The process is
simple, yet the most wonderful with

which I am acquainted. Many cocoons,
such as that of the luna, are completely
sealed at each end, while others,
such as that of the cecropia, are woven
loosely at one end. In the case of the
luna, when the moth has reached ma-
turity and is about to emerge, a damp
spot appears on one end of the cocoon ;
nature has provided the moth with an
acid which it ejects at just the proper
moment. This acid softens the hard
case of the cocoon ; suddenly there is a
scratching and clawing from within ;
the surface of the damp spot begins to
rise and fall ; at last it bursts open and
the moth drags forth its large body in-
to a world of light and sunshine. Im-
mediately after clearing the opening,
the moth climbs some near-by support,
from which it hangs so that its wings
may dry and expand, for at the time of
emerging a moth's wings are no larger
than a man's thumb nail.

As we watch, we suddenly become
aware that these small, damp wings are
taking on size and color and before our
very eyes, in less than three-quarters
of an hour, wings which at emergence

Photograph by Edwin L. Jack.

THE CECROPIA MOTH.

When fully expanded this moth's wings measured six and one-half inches from tip to tip.

THE INTEREST IN INSECTS

25

were not an inch in length have devel-
oped to a sweep of six and one-half
inches. Suddenly a quivering- motion
seizes the moth ; it begins a slow rais-
ing and lowering of the wings, exercis-
ing them for flight and, by the time-
two hours have passed, it is reach- to
sail forth into the world and seek a
mate.

The cecropia is our largest moth and,
next to the luna, 1 think holds supre-
macy over all mothdom. Its coloring-
is so wonderful and varied that an ac-
curate description would be almost im-
possible. One must see this moth to
appreciate its rare beauty.

The cocoon of the cecropia is worthy
of study. Unlike that of the luna. i't
is loosely woven at one end, thus mak-
ing it much more easy for the moth to
escape. It is the largest cocoon spun
by any caterpillar. I have known these
cocoons to measure three and one-half
inches in length. Much silk is used in
their construction ; in fact, the cecropia
caterpillar is frequently called the
"American silkworm." The cecropia
spins itse cocoon in a variety of trees,
the maple, the wild cherry, the apple,
the alder and the willow. In exposed
places these cocoons are a beautiful
silver gray but if spun in a locality
where they are protected from the
weather their color is a rich brown.

Luna cocoons are spun among the
leaves of birch and willow trees and
fall to the ground in the autumn, where
a careful search is required to find
them. They are about an inch in
length and of a light silver grav color.

State For the past twenty-five years,
more or less, he has retired from active
beekeeping, leaving his apiary in charge
of his brother and settled in Stamford,
living with his two daughters one of

Stamford's Veteran Beekeeper.

The "American Bee Journal" has an
extended article descriptive of a tour
of New England by its editor. We
quote as follows from his liberal ap-
preciation of Mr. L. C. Root of Stam-
ford :

"L. C. Root, son-in-law of Moses
Quinby, who was a contemporary of
Langstroth, is one of the greatest en-
thusiasts I have ever had the good luck-
to meet. During his entire life, what-
ever he has done has been done with
zeal and earnestness. He revised the
"Mysteries of Beekeeping" of Quinby
and the book is called "Ouinby's New
Beekeeping." For years he was one of
the largest beekeepers of New York

MR. L. G. ROOT.

whom is a physician of note. He keeps
only a few colonies of bees in the city,
in the attic of his barn, where I saw
them. But as energetic a man as he
could not remain long idle. So he was
entrusted with the duties of Milk In-
spector for Stamford. He was the first
inspector to prepare a bulletin in which
each dairy was separately reported and
its sanitary conditions carefully detail-
ed. The result was a host of friends
and some enemies, for the unsanitary
establishments could not be pleased
with a truthful record, while the moth-
ers and housekeepers were thankful
for the straightforward information
which his bulletins gave."

The Nest of an Unknown Hornet.

Shelburne, Massachusetts.
To the Editor :

I enclose a photograph of a nest that
I found hanging under the eaves of an
old shop. Is this a freak nest of some
common was]), or is it a tvnical nest
of some uncommon one? It is the first
of the kind that I have ever seen. It

26

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

but several years ago a photograph of
a similar one was sent to me. I have
forgotten by whom. Mr. Newhall's
letter and the photograph were for-
warded to Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of
the Bureau of Entomology, Washing-
ton, D. C. He replies, as follows :

"I never saw a hornets' nest like the
one in the photograph, and I have re-
ferred your letter to Mr. S. A. Rohwer
of this Bureau, who has studied these
creatures for many years, and who re-
plies, T have never seen a nest like this
before, and do not know if it is an ab-
normal one or not. If possible, I should
like to have some of the makers so that
it would be possible to determine the
species and thus know if it is abnormal
habit.' "

If any one should find another nest
of this type, every effort should be
an astonishing hornets- nest. m^de to obtain it and the hornets so

that full scientific details may be as-

may be of interest to you and to the certained.

readers of your magazine.

Yours sincerely, A man hears the voice of Nature

Earl A. Newhall. only when he speaks to her. — "Motifs"

I have never seen a nest of this type, by E. Scott O'Connor.

•*> -*

** ? «

- - v"

sr -«. •.;"*v'v*""* -

SWAT THE FLY.
See "Kill the Spring Fly," page 387 of our number for May.

<ccc^<ccc<agaa«gc«ggcc€g«c«<^ac<<c<cccc«cccctcg<c<^g<fe;

<=^^^^k=j^

•«••••**•

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION'

Established 1875 Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1892 Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910

Contributions for Little Japan. Farmers Need Nature Knowledge.

Mr. William T. Davis, New Even our farms are the most unpro-

Brighton, N. Y $ 2.00 ductive in the world. Our average

Dr. G. B. Palmer, Sound Beach 5.00 yields of almost all crops are pathetical-

Alr. George W. Donning, Stam- ly inferior to the average yields of the

ford 2.50 European countries. Yet we have

Mr. Gerald Dieterlen, Riverside, richer soil naturally and better climatic

Conn 2.00 conditions for good farming. It is the

Air. Ernest G. Budington, Sound personal element thjat is inferior to

Beach 2.00 foreign. Our farmers are not so good

Airs. Belden B. Brown, Wash- as the French, German and British farm-

ington, Conn 5.00 ers — they do not know their jobs. So in

Air. Joseph AI. Philbrick, New spite of every natural advantage we do

York City 5-°° not get the results that the foreigners

Aliss Lora A. Mix, Stamford . . 5.00 get.— Our Town, Greenwich.

Dr. George F. Kunz, New York It Js encouraging to note, Brother

City 2.00 Talcott, that everyone is realizing the

Cash, Stamford 1.00 need of more knowledge of Nature's

Air. Charles Nevers Holmes, wavS- She gives best only to those who

Newton, Alass 5.00 asfc Dest_

Airs. Archibald H. Smith, Stam-

ford 200 Springtime Gold.

Air. C. Milton Fessenden, Stam- 0 JonquilSj fiIIed with sunshine,

Iord I-00 And Tulips, abrim with gold,

Dr. J. E. Serre, Sound Beach . . 5.00 What a bh of heaven you>re bringing)

Air. A. J. C. Anderson, New After thfi snow and cold,

York City 5-°°

Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, Forsythia's golden fountains,

Greenwich 5-00 And the Norway Maple's crown,

Airs. Robert T. Hartman, New Are refulgent in their splendor,

York City >°° When the sun conies pouring down.

Airs. Nellie S. Britton, Stamford 1.00

Cash, Noroton, Conn 3.00 Not strange, with heaped-up treasure.

Aliss E. D. Ferguson, Stamford 5.00 if SOme on the ground is spilled:

J. B. W 2.0O Behold, at our feet, the greensward

Greenwich Educator (Increase With dandelions is filled!

—total $10.00) 5.00

The springtime is no miser,

$ 75-5° To hoard her precious gold:

Previously acknowledge . . . .$475.00 But with both hands flings it broadcast.

For all to have and hold.

Total $55°-S° — Emma Peirce.

Please remember this educational uplifting work in making your will.

Jflorm of Hrqurst tn the Association
/ hereby give and bequeath to The Agassis Association, an incorporated

association, having its principal executive office at ArcAdiA, in Sound Beach,
in the toivn of Greenwich, Connecticut, the sum of dollars.

28

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Give the Roads Fair Play.

[From the New York Times, February 23. 1917.]

Now that the country can he fed and
warmed only by special train-loads of
coal and food, the railway situation is
visible to all but the blind. The situ-
ation is too serious to be dealt with m a
nagging spirit. It would be easy to
trace blame to the railways or to the
Interstate Commerce Commission, as
manv are doing. It would be easy for
them to defend themselves by pointing
to the laws. That throws the blame
hack upon those who elected the law-
makers and supported them in the pol-
icy which it may be hoped is now cul-
minating. Placing the blame for the
past is not a remedy. What is needed
is a forward-looking policy which shall
correct the errors of the past. In that
aspect the crisis has its uses, and they
are proportioned to its seriousness.
Once it was necessary to correct rail-
way abuses and convince the compan-
ies'that they are subject to the law.
They are as humble now as ever they
were arrogant, and are suppliants rather
than dictators. It was also necessary
to convince the Interstate Commerce
Commission that something besides
"power" and "orders" is necessary. 1 he
best of intentions have met obstacles
in execution of a sort which ought to
give the Commission a feeling of sym-
pathy with the railways in a task more
difficult than has been appreciated. The
lawmakers also have fallen below their
intentions and the expectation of the
railway haters. Largely that, too, was
because of the difficulties of the case.
The explanation of the people's share
of the blame for misdirected legislation
and administration is the same. Now
even the people must see that they
are punishing themselves over the rail-
ways' shoulders. Only experience
could have produced this frame of
mind. If the educational process is
now complete, a great first step toward
a new departure has been taken, and
the outlook may be regarded hopefully.
Assuming that all concerned are in
a regenerated frame of mind, probably
there will be no dissent from the prop-
osition that the root of the trouble is
the lack of funds for the railways to
use in the public service. Within a
few days the New York Central has
had to abandon its plan for an issue of

stock, and the Southern Railway has
been unable to issue bonds. If such
railways cannot finance themselves,
what is the prospect for others in less
leading positions?

There is just one way to enable the
railways to finance themselves. They
must be allowed profits large enough
to attract the capital to enable them to
serve the public. In the old days there
was danger that liberality in funds in-
vited waste of resources for service and
danger to investors. For the present
that chapter must be regarded as
closed.

Resignation of President Elliott.

It is with sincere regret that we
learn of President Elliott's resignation
of the presidency of the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Company. Every New Englander, es-
pecially "every Connecticutian, is an ad-
mirer 'of President Elliott's work and
has genuine sympathy with him in the
overwhelming mass of work with
which he has struggled. He has not
had one obstacle nor half a dozen but a
long list of most perplexing problems
that would tax any man's energies to
the utmost. No wonder that he has
concluded that, for the interest of his
family and of himself, it is his duty to
lav down at least a part of the load.
He will continue as a director as long
as is desired, and will in every way
contribute toward the prosperity of the

road.

Mr Pearson, the newly elected presi-
dent has had an extended experience
in railroad matters. He is a man of
marked ability in the prune of life.
Everv one that loves the New York.
New' Haven and Hartford Railroad,
and is proud of it as a feature of New
England, feels that no better selection
could have been made.

The House Wren.

BY EUGENE SECOR, FOREST CITY, IOWA.

A round of bubbling feathered song,
A dress not made for show,

A cheerful spirit all day long-
That keeps my heart aglow.

A friend to man that never tires,

That hunts the garden o'er,
And by its useful life inspires
The soul to seek, not soar.

>B,

S®®®®®^

L1TERAK

°®«®©S3<B<B®'

NOTICES

v

The American Rose Annual. Edited for
The American Rose Society by J. Horace
McFarland. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
American Rose Society (Editor's Office).
This beautiful book, issued by a lively,
wide-awake society, contains many articles
from authorities on the subject, and is beauti-
fully illustrated. Every lover of the queen of
American flowers should own this handbook
and follow regularly the work of the society.

Pets: Their History and Care.. By Lee S.
Crandall. New York City: Henry Holt
and Company.

This book is the outgrowth of the author's
long, successful, practical experience. While
special attention is devoted to such popula-
pets as cats, dogs, and birds, almost every ani-
mal which may be kept for companionship or
ornament is included, and the directions for
their care cover all the ordinary conditions
which may be met. There are suggestions,
based on wide experience, to guide the pur-
chaser of pets.

The Boy Scouts' Year Book. Edited by Wal-
ter P. McGuire and Franklin K.
Mathiews. New York City. D Apple-
ton and Company.

This is dedicated "To the 8,000.000 Boys of
Scout Age in the United States." It is" cer-
tain that every one of those millions can find
something of interest in the book. It is a real
boy's book of genuine achievement in the use
of things to be seen and things to be done.
The activities described cover every phase of
outdoor life, and the detailed observations in-
clude a wide range of nature studv.

The Voice of the Garden. By Abram Lin-
wood Urban. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :
Thomas Median & Sons.

Naturally, the first question is, "Can the
garden speak?" and the second should be, "Can
you hear what it has to say?" The garden,
like all nature, is speaking, but as the Rever-
end .Mr. Smith wrote in his poem, "America"
— -"Let all that breathes partake: Let rocks
their silence break. The sound prolong." The
author sees intelligence in plants. He thus
tells us of Darwin :

"Many will recall the elder Darwin's fine
enthusiasm, who, while always strictly scienti-
fic in his methods, never stating anything but
uncolored fact, was filled with wonder and
awe in his study of the lives and conduct of
plants, indicating to his mind something much
like human intelligence."

The Book of the Peony. By Mrs. Edward
Harding. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. J.
B. Lippincott Company.
A magnificent book on a gorgeous flower'
Is there anything in the floral world more mar-
velous than a peony, and is there any other
book in which three color printings and gen-
eral high grade mechanical art are more per-
fectly exhibited than this? The plates, the
text, the tables, the detailed description, every-
thing is ideally good, including the long
chapter, with illustrations, on the diseases of
the peony. Every lover of the peony should
have this book.

The Woodcraft Manual for Girls of the
Woodcraft League. By Ernest Thomp-
son Seton. Published for the Woodcraft
League of America, 13 West Twenty-
ninth Street, New York City. Garden
City, New York : Doubleday, Page &
Company.
More than four hundred pages are devoted
to the methods of The Woodcraft League.
The manual is profousely illustrated and con-
tains much valuable material. It tells how to
form a tribe, with history and methods :tells of
games, sports, songs, plays, wood lore and
handicraft, with other interesting articles on
many phases of nature.

The Joyous Art of Gardening.. By Frances
Duncan. New York City: Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons.
The amateur gardener will find in this book
not only inspiration but practical aid, and it
contains many good suggestions for those that
have had considerable experience. The review-
er is inclined to think that when the author
says that she has tried to aid the bes'inner she
has been a little overmodest. There are
many good points in the dainty illustrations
of garden plans and effects. It is a good all-
round handbook on the garden in its floral and
decorative aspects. As the author has the
practical information, we hope to see a book
from her on the vegetable garden. It would
be a welcome addition to our library of help-
ful books.

The Bird Study Book. By T. Gilbert Pear-
son, Secretary National Association of
Audubon Societies. Garden City, New
York : Doubleday, Page & Company.
One would naturally expect from Mr. Pear-
son a book af general, popular, helpful inter-
est. His broad outlook over the bird world
as Secretary of the Audubon Societies reveals
needs. He has not written merely from an
individual's point of view, but in a sincere

3°

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

desire to be helpful. He has fully met the
expectations of those who know what kind
of work to expect from him. This is not a
book of identification. It takes for granted
that the reader knows an English sparrow
from a crow, and it tells about the birds them-
selves, their lives and migrations ; the birds
in winter, bird laws, etc. This, with Chap-
man's "Handbook of Birds of Eastern North
America' and Beebe's "The Bird," would form
an ideal library for the most enthusiastic stu-
dent of birds. Each of the three fills a void
left unfilled by the others. Mr. Pearson has
done his work in a masterlv manner.

The Animal Kingdom in Pictures and
Stories. By several authors. Ann Arbor,
Michigan: Educators Association.
On the reviewer's desk has been placed a
set of ten beautiful little monographs on the
various divisions of the animal kingdom, such
as "Valuable Fur-bearing Animals,' ' and
"Freakish Animals" by our good Member of
The Agassiz Association, Winifred Sack-
ville Stoner, Jr. Other books in the series are
written by other talented and enthusiastic
lovers of nature. The print is large, and the
illustrations for the most part are attractive.
The series should prove of interest, especially
to children, and consequently valuable to
teachers in their schoolroom work. It is evi-
dently with this object in view that the Edu-
cators Association has issued the books.

My Garden of Dreams* By Abram Linwood
Urban. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :

Thomas Median & Sons.
The dreams are beautiful though not utili-
tarian in their suggestions. The author is not
seeking to teach the practical, except so far
as the beautiful and ideal are practical. It
does not teach us how to raise bigger pota-
toes or tomatoes, but it does tell how to make
life bigger and better. His garden of dreams
is the garden of the heart and of soul long-
ings. It sees sociology in an ant hill and
prophecy in a flower. It is well thus to go to
a garden as well as to all nature. Life is not
all stomach and pocketbook. Holy inspirations
may come from a garden. The author has
achieved a good work by showing us how to
love the world that is so much with us, even
the world of the garden. The book contains
beautiful word pictures of a garden, but they
are not the most beautiful things in the
book. The author has unconsciously port-
rayed the beauty of his own heart. That can
influence more than rosebushes or lilacs.

The Mysteries of the Flowers. Bv Herbert
Waldron Faulkner, Ph. B„ M. 'E. New
York City : Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Mr. Herbert W. Faulkner is not only
known throughout the country as an artist,
botanist and lecturer, but he has personally
endeared himself to every reader of The
Guide to Nature by his interesting and sym-
pathetic portrayal of the interesting things
that plants do. He has an insight into the
mysteries of flowers similar to that of the
late beloved William Hamilton Gibson, and is

a fitting successor at the Gibson Studio in
Washington, Connecticut. What Mr. Faulk-
ner has published in this magazine is but a
sample of the good things to be found in this
magnificent book which we cordially recom-
mend.

It imbues the reader with a new interest in
his native wild flowers, by showing him what
they are like, how they live and how they dis-
tribute their seeds. The interdependence of
flower and insect is interestingly set forth.

The author describes the many varieties of
American wild flowers, their mechanisms, and
their methods of interchanging pollen. He
shows their individual and ingenious schemes
for luring the bee and butterfly, who are so
indispensable to their life. The book goes
deeper than botany, which seeks merely to
name and classify the flowers, and reveals
them as eager, living things, flourishing in
spite of difficulties and attaining to the beauty
of perfect living.

The publishers have done well their part,
and have produced a book that is convenient
and attractive. It whets the taste for more.
Xo one can read it and look at the dainty
illustrations at this the flowering time of the
year, without wanting to start out to make
acquaintance with what is therein described.

Sex-Educations By Maurice A. Bigelow.
New York City: The Macmillan Com-
pany.

This book deals with sex-education in its
broadest aspects, defined as including all scien-
tific, ethical, social, and religious instruction
and influence which directly and indirectly
may help young people prepare to solve for
themselves the problems of sex that inevitably
come in some form into the life of every nor-
mal human individual.

While recognizing the vast importance of
immediate sanitary attack on some of the
greatest problems of sex, the book empha-
sizes education for attitude and for ethical
standards of life as offering the only basis for
a permanent movement for improving rela-
tions of sex and human life.

The book is addressed to educators, social
and religious workers, and parents.

The Passing of the Great Race. By Madi-
son Grant. New York City: Charles
Scribner's Sons.

An entirely new and original recasting of
history on a purely scientific basis, treated
in a clear and popular style. The perma-
nence of physical characters, both in rela-
tion to the "Melting Pot" of America and
to the changes in race preponderance in
Europe resulting from the European war, is
brilliantly discussed.

Henry Fairfield Osborn who writes the
preface makes this statement which will
bear very careful consideration:

"If I were asked: What is the greatest
danger which threatens the American re-
public today? I would certainly reply: The
gradual dying out among our people of
those hereditary traits through which the

LITERARY NOTICES

3i

principles of our religion, political, and so-
cial foundations were laid down, and their
insidious replacement by traits of less noble
character."

The author almost startles one by the
following statements: "The men who wrote
the words, 'we hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal,'
were themselves the owners of slaves, and
despised Indians as something less than hu-
man. Equality in their minds meant merely
that they were just as good Englishmen as
their brothers across the sea. The words
'that all men are created equal' have since
been subtly falsified by adding the word
'free,' although no such expression is found
in the original document, and the teachings
based on these altered words in the Ameri-
can public schools of today would startle
and amaze the men who formulated the
Declaration.

"The basis of the government of man is
now and always has been, and always will
be, force and not sentiment, a truth demon-
strated anew by the present world confla-
gration."

The Pinnacle.. A Book of Verse. By Caro-
line Clark Hinton. Atlanta, Georgia : A.
B. Caldwell Publishing Company.
The author is well and favorably known to

the readers of this magazine as a frequent

CAROLINE CLARK HINTON.

contributor of poems and illustrated articles.
She is a lover of the great out of doors. Not
only is she a careful student, but she sees
nature also from the poet's point of view.
A careful and thorough literary training with
a natural gift in the use of words enables
her to express in effective and impressive lan-
guage her emotions as a lover of nature. She

takes a wide view, as may be inferred from
the title of the book, "The Pinnacle," This is
not only the title of the first poem but is the
spirit of the book. She has a broad outlook
upon nature as well as upon humanity. As
she looks down from the summit to which she
has climbed and tells us of the silence that
surrounds her, of the nature far above the
passing bird, she considers the sparkling stars
and the cool, sweet air that embraces her and
all the earth.

She comes to this conclusion :
"No longer need I fear,
For fear was overcome,
The worst is often best,
This was the way
That man must go ;
this was the way of life:
The precipice,
The climb,
The rock,

The bird note overhead ;
And at the end,
The Pinnacle of God."

Several poems exhibit her intense love of
youth and some emphasize her love for the
baby.

"He opened wide his baby eyes
And smiled back into mine.
I dreamed that I was Marv,
The little Child, Divine!"

We cordially commend this dainty little
book not only on account of its beautiful ap-
pearance, not merely as a gift for a friend,
but as a book to be loved and to influence the
reader's life.

Sebago-Wohelo Camps. Fifth Season. 1917.
Under the Direct Supervision of Dr. and
Mrs. Luther Halsey Gulick, Founders of
the Camp Fire Girls. New York City
address : 461 Fourth Avenue.

This is a very attractive book, showing how
the Camp Fire Girls or others live in this well
equipped camp ; how they exercise or amuse
themselves in outdoor athletics and amuse-
ments. Dr. Gulick is an expert in the physi-
cal training of young people. Mrs. Gulick
knows all about costumes, emblems, sociality
and companionship with the girls. All to-
gether, so far as it goes, the camp is ideal for
girls.

But the reviewer cannot refrain from an ap-
peal that these girls be taken not merely to
nature but into nature. There is nothing in the
book that would directly inspire a girl to
become a real student and lover of nature and
to get inspiration and uplift therefrom. Prob-
ably this book is intended to be representative
of the spirit of the Camp Fire Girl. That is
good so far as it goes, but it neglects the one
big point — real nature. Girls who go to the
woods and to wild nature should get more out
of them than they can get from their environ-
ment in the city.

The illustrations in this book are as follows :
Location and surroundings, six ; camp amuse-
ments, five ; dancing, one ; riding on water,
seven ; on horse, three ; cooking, one ; sitting
still, one ; walking, ,two ; athletics, three ;
bathing, two. There is one beautiful full page
illustration of a girl holding a pet chipmunk.

32

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

That may be considered or misconsidered as
nature study. It is not made clear which point
of view is intended, but the tendency seems
to be to classify it as a camp of amusement.
Yet if we call it nature study, it is the only
illustrative portrayal of nature study in all
tie thirty-two full page pictures. One to
thirty-two is not a large percentage.

The occupations that are shown are attract-
ive to young girls and are undoubtedly effi-
cient in securing enrollments at the camp.
Without lessening any of the advertising val-
ue of the catalogue, that value might have
been increased by mentioning some of nature's
attractions in the camo. These young girls
should be shown that there is something to be
gained by living by a pond, and something
more in the woods than ordinary athletic
amusement, riding, walking and similar occu-
pations that could be indulged in in the citv
home. It pains a nature student to think of
these young girls in such nearness to all the
wonders of these beautiful woods, the camp,
the mountains, and fail to show them, or at
least fail to include in the catalogue, any of
the wonders of plants, insects, trees and, more
than all, of the stars that there, remote from
the city's electric lights, can be seen in all
their brillancy. The Picture of these girls
walking on a country road might have given
us even a little intimation that somewhere
they had noticed some of the interesting
things by the side of the road.

This camp is doing a great and good work
in athleticism and in the development of
womanhood, but why allow these youna'
people to pass a gold mine where the" gold
lies loose on the ground, without telling them
to pick up at least one little lump a« "a sou-
venir if for nothing more. The camp is hav-
ing a good influence on the development of the
girl physically, and the catalogue shows one
girl in the act of thinking. An entire pa»e is
devoted to that, a page that, to my mind, is
one of the most expressive and beautiful in
the entire catalogue. It is marked : "Yallani '
Thinking It is Good to Have Quiet Mo-
ments Like These." Notwithstanding all its
excellencies there can easilv be an improve-
ment. That girl comes apparently from the
city, and yet she is here seen surrounded bv
the things of the city — a couch and furniture.
She could just as well have tausht the value
of sitting still on a log or a rock in the woods
as she gazed at good old Mother Nature. She
could mentally imbibe some of the woods and
fields, woods and fields that she cannot see in
the citv. The reader will recall how Brad-
ford Torrey said that his whole life was in-
fluenced by the sight of a man looking at Nat
Shaw's havstack and the did barn beyond. It
would have been better to have used that
space to show that girl gazing, not at the
pole and railing and floor of the tent, but,
outside of the tent, at a tree or a cluster of
wild lilies or the falling waters of a pictur-
esque ravine.

These girls should be taken not to nature
but into nature; not to have nature like a shell
around them but to be a part and parcel of the
very fiber of their being. They may return
from the woods and the lakeside to their citv

homes inspired and enriched bv an intimacy
with old Mother Nature herself.

Manual of Fruit Diseases. Bv Lex R. Hes-
ler, A. B., Ph. D., and Herbert Hice
Whetxel, A. B., M. A. New York
City: The Macmillan Company.
This manual presents all the known facts
with reference to the common diseases of
fruits. It has been prepared primarily for
the modern agriculturist, the farmer, the
thinking fruit grower, but it will also be
of service to all who have an interest in
plant diseases. The fruits are taken up in
alphabetical order. The discussion of the
diseases proceeds in order of their impor-
tance and prominence in the LJnited States.
Particular attention is paid to the descrip-
tion and illustration of the symptoms, to
the causes and to the generally accepted
symptoms, to the causes and to the generally
accepted measures of control. Technical
details are omitted as far as possible and
an effort has been made to present the mat-
ter in a popular fashion.

How to Live* By Irving Fisher and Eugene
Lyman Fisk, M. D. New York City:
Funk and Wagnalls Company.
The frontispiece is a magnificent photo-
graph of our handsome, genial Ex-Pre;ident,
William Howard Taft. He is the chairman
of the Board of Directors of the Life Ex-
tension Institute, Incorporated, and is him-
self personally a pretty good exemplification
of that for which the society stands There
are also about sixty portraits of members of
the Hygiene Reference Board. These por-
traits alone make the book worth its price. I
am inclined to think that they are as import-
ant as the text as examples of physical de-
velopment and desirable longevity. The vol-
ume is not large, but it is encyclopedic in char-
acter, covering, as it does, almost every ques-
tion of living except the question of making
enough money with which to live. Here you
can learn what kind of house to live in, what
clothes to wear, how to breathe, what food to
get, how to work, play, rest, sleep, with mis-
cellaneous suggestions as to general hygiene
thrown in without extra charge. The book
looks after not only the present generation
but those of the future in an ineresting post-
script chapter entitled "Eugenics," with com-
mendable sections on alcohol and tobacco.
If we do not live forever, or at least for more
than a hundred years, it surely will not be the
fault of this book.

Laurel.

Like rose of the sunrise brought down from
the sky,
These exquisite blossoms appear;
The cup of earth's beauty they fill to the
brim,
The crowning delight of the year.

— Emma Peirce.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE.— ADVERTISEMENTS.

XIII

Rented
to the
Wrens

$5— for this "4-Room'
Dodson Wren House

Built of oak; roof of cypress with
copper coping. Hangs from a
limb. The bird -lovers' best
Christmas Gift.

Brings the Birds

A big house like this will bring one
or two fam lies of wrens to live with
you next summer — cheerful, friendly,
tuus'cal bird tenants that pay rent by
contributing to the general joy of living.

Made
by the
Man the
Birds Love

Mr. Doilson, a dircetorof the Americnn Audubon Asso-
ciation, hus spent 22 years learning how to build bird
houses that attract the birds. Wrens, blue-birds, martins,
each must have its own especial st>le house. The rit'hfc
kind— the Dodson Kind— brings back the bird families year
after year. Their perfection has been a labor of love.

It you want the birds next summer, get your houses now
and set them up to "weather." The birds like them
better.

A Dodson Bird House is an inexpensive gift, most. ap.
predated by nature loving friends. Cost from $1-50 to $12.
The wrer. house illustrated can be enjoyed by every one
who lias a tree to hang it on. Fntire collection described
in catalog, with prices. Includes bird buths, winter feed-
ing devices, etc. All are patented.

The illustrated Dodson book
tells how to attract native
birds to your garden. With it we send, also free, a beau-
tiful picture, in color, from '"Nature Neighbors," worthy
of framing. Write to

Bird Book Free

JOSEPH H. DODSON

703 Harrison Avenue, Kankakee, 111.

GOERZ

No lens has been more heartily endorsed
by leading scientists, explorers, lecturers
and travelers than the famous GOERZ
DAGOR F:6.8 — F7.7. For nearly twenty-
five years it has been on the market and
it is still unexcelled. The well-known
GOERZ CELOR F:4.5— ¥:$.$ is widely
used because of its remarkable covering
power combined with great speed. In
the GOERZ SYNTOR F:6.8 the amateur
photographer may obtain a high-grade
anastigmat lens at a reasonable price
which he may have fitted to nearly any
make of camera or shutter he already
has in use. See your dealer about a ten
days' trial and ask him for the latest
GOERZ CATALOG.

C. P. GOERZ AMERICAN OPTICAL

COMPANY

317G Eas t 34th St., New York City

Gold Medal Crayons

Highest Award Always

"SPECTRA"

PASTEL CRAYON
EIGHT COLORS

MADE 8V

Binney & Smith Co.

; , New York
London - Paris - Hamburg"

Try Our

SPECTRA
P4STEL

Just the
Crayon for >
sketching.
Meets every
demand o f
the artist
and student
who works 1
in color.

Mailed to you for 15c

BINNEY & SMITH CO.,

Makers

83 Fulton St.

New York.

What He Paid for Pyrites.

A chemistry professor at the Univer-
sity of Kansas tells this story of a
seedy looking man who stole noiseless-
ly into a chemist's office and closed the
door softly behind him.

"Kin anybody hear what I say in
here?" he asked anxiously.

"Not a soul," the chemist assured
him.

Whereupon the man produced a
package, carefully wrapped, and hand-
ed it to the chemist, with the cpiery :
"What is this stuff, anyway?"

After examining the contents the
chemist replied : "Why, that is iron
pyrites, commonly known as fool's
gold."

"What's it worth?" asked the seedy
fellow.

"Oh, about $4 a ton in carload lots."
"Just my luck," exclaimed the ques-
tioner. "Blest if I aint the biggest
fool in the world. I found a lot of that
stuff on a widder's farm an' went and
married the widder."-— N. Y. Globe.

XIV

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Abendroih Ranges ....

NEW

TWILIGHT

RANGE

with

^ Drop

Door

WHICH
MAKES A
HANDY
SHELF FOR
BASTING
PURPOSES

So general has been the sale of ABEN-
DROTH Ranges and so satisfactory
their operation that high quality for the
purpose specified and superior merit in
them are unquestionably evidenced.

ABENDROTH BROTHERS,

(Established 1840)
PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.

THE BUTTERFLY
STORE

O. FULDA, Prop.,

812 Broadway, New York City.

(Established 1904)

Offers Specimens from All Parts of the
World, in Mounts, on Pins or in Papers
Specialty: 100 Bright Colored South
American Butterflies for $15.00. North
American, $5.00.

Mahogany Trays with arrangements
of flowers and butterflies. Paper weights,
made with butterflies and flowers under
glass, 50c each. Paper weights, showing1
development of silk moth from egg to
finished product — silk, $1.00

GENERAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY

The best educators of the country are
among the contributors to this journal.
Experienced teachers discuss their cour-
ses, give outlines, describe demonstra-
tions and offer practical suggestions.
General Science Quarterly will help you
if you are interested in promoting sane
science teaching in

Elementary Schools

Junior High Schools

Regular High Schools
Send 25 cents for a sample copy or $1.25

for a year's subscription.

GENERAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY,

State Normal School, Salem Mass.

MEAL WORMS! A food to attract nesting birds, and
for helping the old birds out in supplying insect
food when they have young. With insect food easily
obtained, the chances are that instead of nesting on two
or three eggs they will risk four or five. A treat for
the fishes, etc., in your aquarium, to keep them active and
in good health. A good clean bait for angling with rod
and line. A choice natural food for your young pheas-
arts, quail, etc Need any? 500 at $1.00; 1,000 at $1.50;
5,000 at $5; 10,000 at $7.50 all express prepaid east of,
or to, the Mississippi River. C. B. Kern, 12 Main Street,
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.

THE BRYOLOGIST is the only magazine that will help
you to study Mosses and Lichens. It is the bimonthly
organ of a live society of 200 members. The Sullivant
Vloss Society, which includes moss students of all grades of
achievements from the college president to the beginner, all
anxious to help each other. Subscription, $1.25 a Year.
$1.50 pays for membership in the society and a year's sub-
scription to the Bryologist. Address Edward B. Chamber-
lain, 18 West 89th St., New York City.

Read BLUE-BIRD

Published in co-operation with
The Cleveland Bird Lovers Association

and devoted to

BIRD STUDY AND CONSERVATION

$1.00 a Year, 10 Cents a Copy

Agents Wanted

Address, Editor BLUE BIRD

1010 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio

AQUATIC LIFE

An Illustrated Monthly Magazine on
the breeding of goldfish, tropical fishes,
and their care in the home aquarium.
Edited by W. A. Poyser.
Per year, $1.00. Per copy, ten cents.
JOSEPH E. BAUSMAN, Publisher,
542 E. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Penna.

r*C*/ v-(>,t|.

The Guide
To Nature

SOUND BEACH, CONN.
Edward F. Bigelow, Editor

Vol. X

JULY, 1917

No. 2

Iammag

h . c- r-( ah..- rr

£«

Lqoo^

GREENWICH

Iv**"

« * ■ ■

««■■«

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

I

* *

!

DO NOT LEAVE FURS, WOOL-
ENS OR VALUABLE RUGS FOR
MOTHS TO RUIN. PLACE THEM
IN OUR DRY AIR COLD STOR-
AGE VAULT. THE CHARGES
ARE REASONABLE.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

GREENWICH

CONN.

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have you call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

tasej

The Best Scientific Work is Done in the
Small Laboratory with Local Support

(From an Editorial in "The Popular Science Monthly.")

"The most desirable institutions for scientific work would prob-
ably be comparatively small laboratories conducted by the scien-
tific men who work in them It would be

well if such institutions were endowed by the rich, still better if
they were supported by a state or community."

m

oo^^ooo

a&in>yb^cfxr

- Vv

THE GUIDE TO NATURE.— ADVERTISEMENTS.

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash. Doors, Blinds and Window-Fram

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

a °

O
h
5

£
td

CO <

OJ)

O 0)

^ era

V
to — -

ttM .

_, bo M

E, c c
<2 £ «

<U CO ,-j
^ 3 C

- Si'**

2 £<->

a;

00

. o
= E

<
z

CO

b £

e
♦^
c
a

S

All the double-breasted effects are smart
for girls dresses just now. This one is pretty
for taffeta and for serge and for challis and ma-
terials of such sort, and it is also just as de-
sirable for linen and for washable fabrics.
Here, it is made of pongee with trimming of
soutache braid. Linen or pique, or other ma-
terial of such sort would be smart with trim-
ming of soutache or with a little embroidery
on the collar and sleeves while the skirt por-
tion is plain, if a simple effect is wanted.

The May Manton pattern No. 9369 is cut in
sizes from 10 to 14 years. The. braiding design
848 gives three yards. They will be mailed to
any address by the Fashion Department of this
magazine, on receipt of fifteen cents for the
dress, ten cents for the braiding design.

Try

for

That Summer Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Straw Hats

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties. Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

CHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

A Carload of Young Women at
ArcAdiA.

The Inkowa Club of New York City,
having chartered a special car for the
trip, spent Memorial Day at ArcAdiA.
The young women composing this club
arrived in the early part of the forenoon
and spent the entire day, participating in
the forenoon in the exercises under the
auspices of The Sound Beach Associa-
tion in an extensive and patriotic pro-
gram and community flag raising. They
had a picnic lunch in the Forest of Arden
and there stayed until about 2 P. M., af-
ter which they had a regular ArcAdiA
outdoor program, consisting of demon-
strations with honeybees, etc. At about
four o'clock there was an indoor program
of illustrated lecture, projection of micro-
scopic objects, music by Edison Diamond
Disc phonograph, etc., etc.

One of the most remarkable demon-
strations with honeybees ever made
with any party was made with these
people, who were eager to get acquaint-
ed with the sweet, stinging insects and
handled them freely. Twenty frames
from two hives were held by members
of the party with bared arms and
hands. No bee veils were used. The
bees were freely shaken over the bare
arms of many members, and taken up
in their bare hands by the handful.
There was only one instance of sting-
ing, and that with one of the young
women, who chanced to press against
the bee with her hand. The weather
was ideal and the bees performed to
perfection. Members of the party ex-
pressed much pleasure and interest in
the micro-projection, which, as they
enthusiastically asserted, surpassed
anything of the kind that they had
ever seen.

Letters have been received from of-
ficers of the club, expressing the writ-
ers' pleasure and appreciation of that
day's outing in nearness to nature.

Staten Islanders at ArcAdiA.

A large party, mostly of teachers,
chiefly from Staten Island, with four
friends from South Norwalk, spent
Saturday, June 2nd, at ArcAdiA. They
had the entire program of the day, in-
cluding the usual demonstration with
honeybees, micro-projection, talks, lec-
tures, etc.

This party was the first to use the
new grills for outdoor cooking in The
Agassiz Grove. These grills were made
by Mr. Stephen I. Clason from old
wagon tires contributed by Mr.
Moulds of the local blacksmith shop ;
they are pleasingly successful for any
form of camp cooking. They also
used the supply of new dishes furnish-
ed by J. R. Evans & Company of Stam-
ford. These enterprising dealers in
house furnishing goods have supplied,
with an especial contribution of liberal
size, an extensive equipment of plates,
cups and saucers, knives, forks, spoons,
platters, dishes, etc.

Our Faded Wistaria.

On the front door of our office we
have a white wistaria that we especial-
ly prize, not only because of its intrin-
sic beauty but because of its rarity, but
evidently this rarity was not appre-
ciated by two women who went past
the office, one of whom remarked,
"Why, I never saw such a faded out
wistaria as that one."

A Magnificent Range for the Serving
House

In our efforts to have the Serving
House of Little Japan perfectly pre-
pared for visiting parties, we are de-
lighted to announce that a fully equip-
ped, first-class, modern range has been
supplied by Abendroth Brolhers, Port
Chester, New York. Their advertisement
appears in this number of the maga-
zine. In addition, we want personally
to express the highest appreciation of

ARCADIA

VII

this magnificent kitchen stove that has
every convenience that ingenuity and
skilled workmanship can put into a
range. It is attractive in appearance,
and convenient and effective in use.
What more could he required. As many
of our readers will be interested in this
range, we suggest that they write to
the Abendroth Brothers at Port Ches-
ter for a catalogue and further particu-
lars, mentioning The Guide to Nature.

A Magnificent Bank Building.

The Greenwich Trust Company has
moved into its magnificent new build-
ing. The opening of the new quarters
was made an occasion of appropriate
ceremonies including the raising of a
large flag, the gift of Mrs. Helen Adams
Kelley, first regent of the Greenwich
D. A. R. The wonderfully beautiful
structure is indeed a credit to the man-
agement and to the town and is great-
ly admired. A very important feature
of the bank is its storage facilities not
only for ordinary protection of docu-
ments and the like, but for the dry air
cold storage of furs, woolens and valu-
able rugs. Absolute security from
thieves and moths is assured.

Sound Beach.
Sound Beach now has a competent
man to regularly attend to the collec-
tion of garbage. Mr. Edward Clark
has taken up that work and any resi-
dent in Sound Beach may give him an
order and be sure that the work will be
done not in a desnltorv but a thoroughly
proficient manner. This is in accord
with the spirit of general improvement
of premises in Sound Beach. All along
the line, in fact all the lines, of houses
one may readily see this spirit of im-
provement that has come about largely
through the increased interest in pub-
lic welfare inspired by the enthusiastic
meetings of The Sound Beach Associa-
tion. It would be hard to find any
small community with a better com-
munity spirit than that of Sound Beach,
and those who wish to keep their pre-
mises in a tidy condition will heartily
welcome this new departure by Mr.
Clark. His teams will be on the rounds
for the garbage collecting work every
dav in the week.

A Delightful Typewriter.

For office or home, a simple, conven-
ient, practical gem of a typewriter is
the new No. 9 Model issued by The
Blickensderfer Manufacturing Com-
pany. Send for their new catalogue,
No. 1 12, and you will perceive the mod-
eration in my commendation.

There probably never has been
placed on the market so convenient a
tvpewriter as this. The editor is well
acquainted with the manufacturing es-
tablishment and management, and per-
sonally assures every reader that the
firm produces a high grade machine.
To deal with the management is a de-
light. Every reader will be pleased
with the dealings with this well-known
manufacturing establishment of type-
writers. At any rate, even if you do
not want a machine now, it will be
worth while for you to investigate this
superior and moderate priced machine.

The Call to do Things.

Never in the history of the world
was efficiency so timely as now. Every-
body must do something with head and
heart, and both in earnest. It is not a
time for sham. It is the time for the
enjoyment of real things, and a time
when mechanics are especially needed
and especially difficult to obtain. One
can get along without a carpenter if he
has any gumption in his head and skill
in hi- hands, providing he likes to
tinker with tools and has a cabinet so
attractive as those put out by Hamma-
cher, Schlemmer & Company. Now is
the time to write them. See their ad-
vertisement on our fourth cover and
send for circular No. 84.

An Effic;ent Summer Laboratorv.
Every one interested in biology
should send to the biological labora-
tory at Cold Spring Harbor, Long
Island, New York, for its announce-
ment for the summer of 1917. The
laboratory is well equipped, and is con-
venient of access from this part of the
country, as it is only about thirty miles
from Manhattan Island, New York
City, in one of the best collecting places
along the entire coast. It is almost
directly across the Sound from Ar-
cAdiA. The field students in their
Connecticut shore excursion have been
invited to spend a day at ArcAdiA.

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

Established 49 Years

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

COOL— WEARABLES— AND— OTHER— THINGS

for
WARM— SUMMER— DAYS

You will find that we have assembled garments and furnishings of every wanted variety to insure your

personal comfort.

VUDOR— VENTILATED— PORCH— SCREENS

For Sale Here.

DELIVERIES— IN— SOUND— BEACH— EVERY— AFTERNOON.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : : : STAMFORD. CONN.

Established 1853

THEGETMAN&JUDD CO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Qrade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE 5T. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD CONN.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pies. W. W. HEROY,

W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pies Dr. F. H. GETMAN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
All Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdi A ■ Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $ 1 .00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3. 1897.

Vol

ume

X

JULY, 1917

Number 2

Color in the Garden.

From May 20th to June 1st Mrs. Neil

thousands of large and velvety purple
blue iris (Iris Germanica Charput), in

Morrow Ladd's garden in Belle Haven, front of which are an equal number of

Greenwich, Connecticut, is a mass of cottage tulips, Picotee, present in their

bloom and color. For three hundred beautiful display of color a picture long

feet on each side of the central path to be remembered.

"IS A MASS OF BLOOM AND COLOR."

Copyright 1917 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

34

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

AN ATTRACTIVE VISTA FROM THE PERGOLA.

The "Picotee" tulip, catalogued as reflexed, until the whole bloom is suf-

"Maiden's Blush," first appears as a fused with a deep pink,

clear white. Later the blush creeps The garden, formal only in it- geo-

from the edges, which are pointed and metrical division, shares with no local

THE MASTER HAND

;35

garden this prodigal treatment. Thou-
sands of tulips have been planted to
secure this effect, and hundreds are ad-
ded yearly to fill the spaces which oc-
cur, no matter how carefully gardens
are watched and cared for.

The planting about the bird pool is
entirely of iris of different varieties
blooming in their turn.

Darwin, Rembrandt and Breeder tu-
lips add new tones which are scattered
through the rose gardens and borders.
As a background great masses of ever-
greens and flowering shrubs afford a
proper setting and divide the vegetable
gardens from those devoted wholly to
flowers.

This year Mrs. Ladd is devoting the
most of her time to raising vegetables,
planning to can and store the products
of her garden for winter use. She is an
active member of both the Greenwich
and the New Canaan Garden Clubs.

The Master Hand.

BY HAROLD GORDON HAWKINS, WESTFIELD,
MASSACHUSETTS.

My soul is a constant questioner.
From early youth it has sought to learn,
That which will be denied it to know
Until, perhaps, that final, fulsome day
When it shall learn that mystery of myster-
ies—

Death.

T t V ^ ^F

Enshrouded in the silence of the mystic
night,

When the heavens are glorious with count-
less stars

And the silver moonbeams sleep on the
murmuring river,

I stand enwrapped in its absorbing beauty.

And in my soul the eternal question rises :

What master hand hath fashioned

this, and why?
*****

Full often doth the path I follow lead me
Through the dim recesses of a mighty for-
est.
And there I see a thousand majestic trees
Rearing their hoary columns up
To the arching vault of heaven that bends

above.
And rendering with the wind that breathes

among their boughs,
A mighty harmony that swells within my

soul

Into the ever insistent query:

What master hand has fashioned

this, and why?
*****

And beside the path that through the for-
est leads
There grew a tiny flower, delicate and small.
Having the blue of heaven in its eye

That caught my wandering gaze, and stoop-
ing low

I saw the trace of that same master hand
that fashions all.

And again in my soul the same unanswered
question rose.

*****

With the first blush of spring there came a

bird
Into my garden, and melodiously and low,
He sang a strange sweet song of wondrous

joy.
A song of melting tenderness, of beauty

and of love
That thrilled my heart with its ecstatic glee.
And caused my soul again to ask:

What wondrous power hath caused
this joy, and why?
*****

And in this same bright month that brings

the birds.
I stand beside the waters of a swollen

stream
That rushes in tempestuous fury from the

North
Down to the surging waters of the sun-kissed

sea.
And its mighty power inspires in me an awe
That prompts again that ceaseless question

in my soul.

*****

And in my daily life a thousand scenes;
A thousand signs of life, of strength, of

power
Of wonder and of beauty, cause within my

soul
That everlasting and unanswered thought
to rise:

What master hand hath fashioned
this, and why?

******

Yes, my soul is a constant questioner.
From early youth it has sought to learn
That which will be denied it to know
Until, perhaps, that final, fulsome day
When, learning life's greatest mystery, —

Death,
It shall also learn the mystery of the uni-
verse.
Shall learn WHAT master hand hath fash-
ioned it, and why.

British authorities recommend for
civilian families during the war time
limitation to four pounds of bread, two
and a half pounds of meat and three-
quarters of a pound of sugar, per per-
son per week.

For such is the fleeting character of
all exquisite things. Nothing that is
beautiful stays. As each sweet flower
passes it is gone from us. Like a
flower, the emotion belong to the
hour. — Abram Linwood Urban in "My
Garden of Dreams."

36

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Sheep Go Four Months without Water.

Sheep on the Nebo national forest,
Utah, go four and a half months with-
out water except for such moisture as
they get from the dew and the juices of
forage plants.

Grazing sheep on a range entirely
destitute of water is due to the increas-
ing demand for forage and the efforts
of the forest officers to find a place on
the forest ranges for all the stock that

early in the nineteenth century, and
was grown from the Selecta Orange.

As far as can be determined the bud-
ded orange trees through which the
naval orange wood was introduced in-
to the United States were obtained
from a plantation by the Rev. F. I. C.
Schneider, a Presbyterian missionary,
who shipped them to William Saun-
ders, then horticulturist, landscape gar-
dener, and superintendent of grounds

THESE SHEEP HAVE NO WATER FOR FOUR MONTHS.

can safely be admitted. The area on
the Nebo which has now proved usable
by sheep is high and rocky, a portion
of it being above timber line, and it has
neither springs nor streams of sufficient
size or accessibility to be used for stock
watering purposes. The grazing sea-
son lasts from June 15 to October 31,
and during this period of four and a
half months the animals do not get a
drink. — U. S. Forest Service.

The Naval Orange in Brazil.

A study of the Naval or seedless or-
ange in its native home near Bahia,
Brazil, has recently been made by
plant specialists of the United States
Department of Agriculture, and has es-
tablished the fact that the variety of
the naval orange now so largely grown
in this country first came into existence
at Cabulla, a suburb of Bahia, Brazil,

of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Saunders grew the trees in the De-
partment's greenhouses, and trees pro-
pagated from them were distributed to
California and Florida. The variety
proved to be unsuited to Florida con-
ditions but in California it is very pro-
ductive and highly valued. Practically
the entire present planting of the var-
iety in that State can be traced directly
back to two of the trees sent there by
Mr. Saunders in 1873. — The Agricul-
tural Digest.

The Biological Survey reports that
there are thirteen hundred and fifty
different species of rodents in North
and Central America. Many of these
are very destructive. The remedy is
to encourage the increase of their nat-
ural enemies, the hawks, owls and non
venomous serpents.

WORDSWORTH AND THE WAYSIDE FLOWERS

37

Wordsworth and the Wayside Flowers.

BY MAUDE E. LEE, KNOXVILLE, TENN.

Praises of the little wayside flowers
were often sung by the great "High-
Priest of Nature," William Words-
worth. Of him it could never have
been said :

"A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him
And it was nothing more."

The "bright daisy flowers" were es-
pecially dear to this poet as they were
to Chaucer and to "sweet Spenser." Of
the Daisy he says:

"Be violets in their secret mews
The flowers the wanton Zephyrs choose;
Proud be the rose, with rains and dews

Her head inpearling,
Thou liv'st with less ambitious aim,
Yet hast not gone without thy fame;
Thou art indeed by many a claim
The Poet's darling."

As seen with his eyes, the daisy is at
one time a "nun demure," and then "a
queen in crown of rubies" ; "a little Cy-
clops with one eye," "a silver shield
with boss of gold," and again "a pretty
star with glittering crest."

The Small Celandine, growing in the
pastures and waste places, had been
neglected by the earlier poets but he
takes it for his very own, saying

"There's a flower that shall be mine,
'Tis the little Celandine."

"Ere a leaf is on a bush,
In the time before the thrush
Has a thought about her nest,
Thou wilt come with half a call,
Spreading out thy glossy breast
Like a careless Prodigal;
Telling tales about the sun,
When we've little warmth, or none."

The strawberry blossom catches his
eye :

"Pull the primrose, sister Anne!
Pull as many as you can.
— Here are daisies, take your fill;
Pansies and the cuckoo-flowers;
Of the lofty daffodil
Make your bed or make your bower;
Fill your lap and fill your bosom;
Only spare the strawberry blossom!"

"The streams with softest sounds are flow-
ing,
The grass you almost hear it growing."

He makes the little girl say to her
pet lamb when it is restless:

"This grass is tender grass; these flowers

They have no peers;
And that green corn all day is rustling
in thy ears."

The Bible and the Camp.

An astonishing fact is that for every
purpose under the sun the Bible may
be quoted, but of all appropriate words
from that book those selected by Miss
George Ann Lillard of Chicago for her
camp for girls in New Hampshire
could hardly be excelled. They are:
"They shall dwell safely in the wilder-
ness, and sleep in the woods" (Ezekiel
xxxiv, 25).

Through June Fields.

Kneedeep in buttercups, daisies.
In clover and Queen Anne's Lace,

We are wading across the hillside,
On the way to our trystring place.

June skies are soft above us,

June opulence at our feet;
And as we thread its mazes,

We tread out odors sweet.

A frolicsome breeze o'er takes us,
And ripples the grasses tall,

Where butterfly messengers hasten,
And birds are count rs all.

The distant view enchants us,

Of river and wood and vale,
Where the drifting shadows of cloudlandv
Their dusky pinions trail.

The sun on the pines adds nectar,
Which we sip as we saunter along;

On this radiant Summer morning.
All life seems a glad, sweet song.

— Emma Peirce.

And finally even the grass has a
story for him and he tells tis that in the
night : "*

An Old and Prosperous Nursery.

The editor of this magazine recently
spent a most enjoyable day at the nurs-
ery of Thomas Meehan & Sons, Ger-
mantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This old-time nursery was established
in '54 by Thomas Meehan, an English
gardener and a thorough lover of
plants. His business grew as Philadel-
phia grew and soon was not limited to
the local trade but extended to all parts
of the country.

3»

THE GUIDE TO NATURE-

School Nature League.

New York City. ■
To the Editor :

There used to be flower shows in
some of the New York public schools
three times a year. Later on to the
flower exhibits were added other nature
materials such as birds and their nests,
shells, minerals, etc.

The founder of these exhibits was
Mrs. Alice R. Northrop, formerly in-
structor of botany in Hunter College.

As the years passed these nature
exhibits became more and more popu-
lar among the teachers, the school chil-
dren and their parents. Nature mate-
rials were gathered, not only by the
members of the committee but some
were sent by the Museum of Natural
History, by persons connected with the
Bronx Park Botanical Garden and by
many outside of New York City who
sympathized with this work.

The success of these nature exhibits
gave a new idea to the committee in
charge, and the intention now is to
make them permanent. These shows
were given in the schools of the most
crowded sections of New York City,
where the children and their parents are
too poor and too busy to go to the city
parks or to the woods. The members
of the new movement want to put these
people, especially those of the younger
generation, nearer to nature, to teach
them to appreciate it, and through the
love and understanding of nature to
have some higher aims in life, and in
this way to become better citizens.
Through nature study the children will
be brought nearer to the country, and
perhaps in the future this organization
may be the beginning of a back-to-the-
land movement.

This organization is called the
School Nature League. It hopes to
secure the cooperation of the Depart-
ment of Parks, the Department of Edu-
cation, the museums, etc.

It will maintain a place in which na-
ture materials will be kept and will be
open during the entire year under the
supervision of a curator.

The members of the League do not
expect to concentrate their work on
New York City only, but they hope
to come in touch with schools outside
of this city and to cooperate with them.

Mary Holtzoff.

An Appeal to Auto Owners.

The New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad Company in its cam-
paign to prevent accidents at grade
crossings has issued posters urging dri-
vers to use extreme caution in crossing
railroad tracks. These posters are*
being displayed in conspicuous places
along the New Haven lines.

The posters call attention to the fact
that over 2,000 persons were killed in
1916 in grade crossing accidents. Also
that the number of persons killed and
injured by these accidents is increas-
ing at the rate of 25 per cent, each
year. In the first two months of this
year, there were 10 accidents of this
kind on the New Haven Road, in which
6 persons were killed and 13 injured.

A Prayer for the Boy.

Captain Scott's last letter to his wife,
as he lay awaiting death in the relent-
less cold of the Antarctic, contains
these words :

"Make our boy interested in natural
history if you can. It is better than
games. Keep him in the open air.
Above all, you must guard him against
indolence. Make him a strenuous man.
The great God has called me. Take
comfort in that I die in peace with the
world and myself, and not afraid."

R. A. Pearson, brother of the newly
elected President of the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, has
recently been designated as chief assist-
ant to the Secretary of Agriculture at
Washington, in the matter of the in-
creased food production of the nation.
He was former Commissioner of Agri-
culture of New York State and is now
President of the Iowa State College,
having been recently appointed by the
Governor in charge of the increased
food production of that state.

There is health of body and of mind
in getting into a real relationship with
things, because there is a reasonable-
ness and a beauty of the nature of
things, but such a relationship requires
that man shall know himself as man,
and shall not lose sight of this obliga-
tion as man. — Abram Linwood Ur-
ban in "My Garden of Dreams."

The Heavens in July.

BY PROFESSOR ERIC DOOLITTLE, OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The July evenings witness the com-
plete disappearance of the beautiful
group Gemini and of the faint and my-
thologically interesting Cancer; the
Water Snake has plunged almost whol-
ly below the western horizon, while the

The July Stars.
The striking midsummer group of
the Scorpion has now reached its high-
est position of the year and is seen ex-
actly on the meridian well up from the
ground in the south. The interesting
group of the Archer with its wealth of
double and multiple suns and whose
western stars form the well-known

soeTH

SOUTH

Figure 1. — The Constellations 9 P. M. July 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
west, hold West below. If facing east, hold East below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

beautiful Capella which leaves our
evening sky for but a few weeks each
year and which is so near the Pole that
north of latitude forty-six degrees it
does not set at all, is now almost exact-
ly on the horizon in the extreme north-
east.

"Milk Dipper," may be seen closely fol-
lowing Scorpion to the east, while the
beautiful Northern Cross, the bright
Aquilla and the strange little group of
the Dolphin, often called "Job's Coffin."
have now all mounted high in the east-
ern sky.

40

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Toward the beginning of the month
Mars, Jupiter and Mercury are all
morning stars, though on July 12 the
last planet will again enter the evening
heavens. Two weeks later the beauti-
ful Saturn, which has been so conspic-

E: OASUS

*

■ DElPmimu

/EQuui-eoj.

Figure 2. — Showing the path of the new comet
among the stars during the month of July.

uous and interesting an object through-
out the winter, will itself pass to the
west of the sun and become a morning
star. The bright planet Venus, how-
ever, will remain shining in our even-
ing heavens throughout the month
and this is moving so rapidly eastward
among the stars that each evening it is
seen with less difficulty as it shines in
the twilight glow. From now on until
the end of the year this beautiful world
will continue to be the most beautiful
object in the evening heavens. It will
continue its motion away from the
sun until November 30; at this time it
will shine with one hundred forty-five
times the brightness of a first magni-
tude star, and for a month more it will
continue to grow still brighter.

T T T T *

The Eclipses in July.

As an eclipse year the present year
is a remarkable and unusual one, since
it will witness no less than seven of
these phenomena ; this is the greatest
number of eclipses that can under any
circumstances take place during any
one year. Three of these eclipses have
already occurred ; two will occur dur-
ing the present month, while of the re-
maining two only the last one — that of
December 27 — will be visible in the
United States.

On July 4 the full moon will enter the
great shadow of the earth at 2 hours 52
minutes P. M. (Eastern Standard
Time), and it will pass so nearly
through the shadow's center that it will
not fully emerge until 3 hours 33 min-

utes later. Since even by the latter
time the full moon will not have risen
to observers in the United States, this
interesting eclipse will be wholly in-
visible to us. It will be seen, however,
from throughout Europe, Africa and
the South Atlantic ocean and from
Western Asia.

The full moon of July 4 is thus an
eclipsed moon. Two weeks later, when
our satellite has become new, its ex-
treme upper edge will pass over the
lower edge of the sun's disc, but so
nearly does this eclipse escape occur-
ring altogether that under the most fa-
vorable circumstances only one-twelfth
of the sun's diameter will be seen to be
hidden. This eclipse will be visible
only from points in the Indian and
Antarctic oceans.

Wolf's Comet During July.

There are three comets now in the
heavens, but two of these are very faint
and it is upon the third that the interest
of astronomers principally centers.
This third comet is the one which since
its discovery, a year ago, has been
drawing nearer to the earth and to the
sun and which during this time has
been kept under constant observation
at the larger observatories. The bright-
ness of this remarkable object has
steadily increased and it was strongly
hoped that when the comet had at-
tained its least distance from us it
might become visible and perhaps even
conspicuous, to the naked eye. This
now, however, seems very improbable,
but it will almost certainly become
bright enough to be seen in a compara-
tively small telescope.

Since last March the comet has
moved entirely across Aquilla and Del-
phinus, attaining by lulv 1 a position
a little to the west of the borders of the
Great Square of Pegasus, as shown at
the point A of Figure 2. The observer
may find it on this evening by first
bringing the upper star C of the pair
CD to the center of his telescope ; the
comet will then be exactly 2 minutes
33 seconds following and 22 minutes 22
seconds north of this star.

During July the comet remains with-
in the Great Square, pursuing the path
AB : its distance from us will diminish
in this interval from 107,000.000 to 95,-
000,000 miles, and although by August

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

4i

21 the least value of 92,000,000 miles
will be reached, it is during the last few
days of July and the first days of Au-
gust that the comet will attain its great-
est brightness. At the present time this
comet has a small, condensed head and
a diffuse tail which in the largest tele-
scopes can be traced to a distance one-
fifteenth as great as the apparent dia-
meter of the moon.

Saturn may still be seen during the
first days of the month, since on July 1
it sets an hour and a half after sunset.
This time rapidly decreases, however,
and the planet is soon lost in the sun's
rays. It passes to the west of the sun
and enters the morning sky on July 27

The Planets in July.

Mercury enters the evening sky on
July 12, but will remain too near the
sun to be observed during the month.
It will attain its greatest eastern elon-
gation on August 22.

Venus sets 1 hour 15 minutes after
the sun on July 1 and may then easily
be detected shining in the twilight glow
near the northwestern point of the hori-
zon. In its eastward motion it will
pass to the north of Saturn on July 4
at 7 P. M. ; the two planets will then be
separated by only about one degree,
and they may both be seen together in
the telescope. On Jul}- 6 at 6 P. M.
Venus will similarly pass to the east
of Neptune. The latter planet may per-
haps be located in the telescope at this
time, as it will then lie exactly one de-
gree forty minutes south of Venus. As
it will be very low in the sky, however,
it can only be detected with difficulty at
this time. Throughout the month Ve-
nus will move eastward and southward
through the constellation Cancer and
into Leo, along the path indicated in
Eigure 1. It will pass the bright star
Regulus at A on July 26. The two ob-
jects will then form an interesting field
in the telescope.

Mars rises two hours before the sun
on July 1 and this time is increased to
two and one-half hours by July 31. Ju-
piter is in the same part of the sky, but
nearly an hour farther west on July i
and two hours farther west on July 31.
On the former date it rises two hours
and forty minutes earlier than the sun,
and on the latter no less than four
hours and thirty minutes earlier. By
the end of the month it is thus high in
the morning sky. Both planets are to
be looked for far to the north of the
east point of the horizon in the early
dawn.

Figure 3. — A recent drawing of the planet Jupiter,
showing that the outlines of the "Great Red Spot,"
which first appeared in 1878, can still be seen. Jupi-
ter, which for many weeks has been lost in the sun's
rays, is now mounting high into the morning sky.

at 4 P. M. ; ten hours later it passes the
planet Neptune, but both worlds are
then far too close to the sun to be ob-
served.

Since passing the summer solstice
the sun's motion southward among the
stars is steadily continuing, and we see
the effects of this in the shortening of
the days with the consequent lengthen-
ing of the nights. The change is, how-
ever, as yet not very strongly marked,
the length of the day diminishing from
15 hours 4 miuntes to 14 hours 22 min-
utes during the present month. It is
toward the latter part of August that
the acceleration of the nights' increase
will begin to become most noticeable.

On July 3 at 3 P. M. our earth will
be at its greatest distance from the sun ;
at this time we will be 3,100,000 miles
farther away from that body than we
were during the early days of last Jan-
uarv.

The Lake.

The lake a burnished mirror is
For sunrise glories bright;

And when that orb has run its cour
Reflects its last good night.

— Emma Peirce.

42

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A Three Inch Telescope for One
Dollar.

BY F. H. VAN HISE, SUMMERLAND, BRITISH
COLUMBIA, CANADA.

At Dr. Bigelow's request I describe a
telescope that I have made.

The lens (A) (see drawing) is one
that we have had for several years. It

THE ONE DOLLAR TELESCOPE.

cost fifty cents at a receiver's sale. It
is three inches in diameter, and has a
forty-eight inch focus. The eyepiece
(H) is a tripod microscope that cost
fifty cents.

The main tube is made of two paste-
board mailing tubes, each two and
three-quarters inches outside diameter,
and twenty and one-half inches long
(one was a little smaller, so I glued a
piece of building paper over it to make
it of the same diameter). Then I glued
another piece of paper over the two to
fasten them together. M is a paste-
board mailing can, three inches in di-
ameter and six and one-half inches
long, with a tin screw top and tin bot-
tom. I cut off the bottom and cut out
the screw top, so as to leave only a rim
(B) that Would hold the lens (A) in
place. The tube F is one and one-half
inches in diameter, eleven inches long,
and slides in tube E for rapid focusing.
The legs of the tripod microscope (eye-
piece) fit over the tube F, and are held

in place by wrapping them with string
and gluing paper over the string.

The upper part of H screws out of
the tripod part for focusing. This I
use for the fine adjustment.

The tube E fits into another tube
that fits into the main tube, and the
latter fits into M. To make these tight,
I glued paper around the smaller tubes
and then altogether.

I fastened two pieces of wood (C)
one inch square and fourteen and one-
half inches long, one on each side, by
gluing strips of cloth along the edges,
and strips of tin one-half inch wide,
tacking one end of the tin to one piece,
passing it around the tube and tacking
it to the other piece. These are to
stiffen the tube and to hold the pivots
(D) which are one-half inch in diame-
ter and extend five-eighths. Before
fastening the pieces C, I found where
the telescope balanced and at that
point I bored the holes for D. Before
fastening them together, I blackened
the tubes on the inside with turpentine
and lampblack, using an old toothbrush
fastened to a rod. I covered the out-
side with wrapping paper, and painted
it with varnish and lampblack. I made
the tripod head of thin boards (see
photograph). When I wish to use it,
I bolt it to a camera tripod.

This telescope magnifies about forty-
nine diameters. I can see the four
brightest satellites of Jupiter and the
rings of Saturn (the latter not very
plainly). The mountains on the moon
are well shown.

The lens is not a chromatic. It shows
prismatic colors around the object
(Jupiter and Saturn are beautiful in
colors !) but it is a good deal better
than a field glass.

The forests of Oregon and Washing-
ton invade an unoccupied area at a
rate between one hundred and fifty and
three hundred feet during each gener-
ation.

Da-,

,--| t'2\ 5/8 in.

.

1 u

E T 9

A 11

L.'./ .11).

?Jaiii i

ibe.

F — m

111 mi' \,\ ,,i „ ■!' ', n-

ft

i

1

4

didihl -"

*-- -\li,vAa,\

H

t'(i,!/2inJ- -

k

ip)V2in^ lllin.l
*--\S ,l/2in.|---»

- - ■ -J

< - u- -

;eii,5I,l/2i

MISCELLANEOUS

43

What is the Greatest Thing in the
World?

Mr. John A. Davis of Baltimore,
Maryland, gives as his answer to the
question, "The opportunity to learn."
He states that as a matter of mere cu-

ing a little of the Japanese torii point
of view, though not attempting to ad-
here absolutely to the Japanese style.

Connecticut Forbids Trespassing.

For many years Connecticut has
been among those states in the country
that have not by law attempted to pre-
vent the unnecessary waste of life due
to trespassing upon railway right of
way.

The Connecticut Legislature has re-
cently passed, however, and Governor
Holcomb has just signed, a bill that
should do much to eliminate the evil
in the state.

Over 5,000 persons in the United
States are needlessly killed each year
while using the railway right of way as
a public highway. The New Haven
Road has carried on an active cam-
paign to reduce accidents of this kind
on its property. It has long been rec-
ognized by experts, however, that no
material lessening of the evil can be
obtained until stringent laws are pass-
ed and strictly enforced.

The act of the Legislature and Gov-
ernor of Connecticut is an important
step forward in the suppression of the
treaspassing evil in Connecticut.

A SOMEWHAT UNIQUE BOOKPLATE.

riosity he has asked many the question
and no one has given his answer. In-
deed many of those questioned seemed
not to have ever given any thought to
the tremendous value of the opportun-
ity to learn. He distinctly states that
he does not consider learning itself the
greatest thing in the world but rather
the opportunity to learn which every
one has.

Think, my friends, of that point of
view. No matter what you favor —
love, science, religion, patriotism ; no
matter what the value of your position
in life, it is all based on the opportunity
to learn the details and to develop the
capacity to enjoy it.

Mr. Davis is so enthusiastic from
this point of view that he has designed
a somewhat .unique bookplate, utiliz-

Profit in Patriotism.

It isn't often that the patriot has an
opportunity to serve his country and at
the same time be handsomely paid. The
volunteer's reward consists usually of
honor, glory, medals or monuments.

The farmer who strains every muscle
to increase production this year will
be paid in full. He is not asked to give
away the surplus of his soil. He is as-
sured higher prices than he has ever
been able to get in times of peace.

He may help to free the world of the
yoke of military despotism if he helps
to win the war. He may also free him-
self of a yoke of debt that has weighed
heavily upon him for a decade. — Coun-
trv Gentleman.

The way to health for our artificially
heated life is not back to the wild, but
back to the sweet old ideals of home
and hospitality and unselfishness. —
Abram Linwood Urban in "My Garden
of Dreams."

EDITORIAL

(Perhaps Pardonably Personal.)

For Forty Years a Teacher.

On June 6th Dr. Edward F. Bigelow
went to Montville, Connecticut, to cele-
brate, with the Center School of that
town, an interesting- occasion. It has
been forty years since he first went to
Montville to teach school. At that
time he was seventeen years of age,
and had been called from Bacon Acad-
emy, Colchester, to take charge as prin-
cipal of the Montville Center School,
although he had completed only two
years of his course at the academy.
The situation at Montville was pecu-
liar. The authorities of Bacon Acade-
my had been requested to send to the
Center School a teacher big enough
and robust enough to protect the school
and to prevent himself from being
forcibly ejected by the "big" boys. In
those days the pupils in many schools
considered it highly creditable to them-
selves if they threw the school-teacher
out of doors. This was usually done
on the first day. Having tossed him
into the bushes, they told him to head
homeward, and he usually obeyed. The
request to Bacon Academy was for a
teacher who could stay in the school-
room. It was not necessary for him to
know anything else than how to stay.
Staying qualities were more important
than much learning. As Dr. Bigelow
was about six feet tall, weighed nearlv
two hundred pounds, and had come out
of the wild wood^ as a hunter and
trapper, where he had been trained by
a prize fighter, it was thought that he
might fill the bill, because "Bill," the
famous hunter and prize fighter, had
drilled him and taught him certain val-
uable movements that might astonish
those "big" boys. The new teacher
stayed in that schoolroom. He did the
teaching. He was not taught by being
thrown out of the window. If any one
took his departure by means of the win-
dow, it was not the new teacher. Sev-
eral of the pupils were older than he

but he stayed with them. And, after
an interval, they stayed with him. Re-
cently he told the story of his prelimi-
nary training, and of some assistance
that he had rendered to a woman who
had been to Norwich to buy a sewing
machine. The story, entitled "Prize
Fighting and Sewing Machines," was
published in "The Sewing Machine
Times," New York City. Copies of
the article were circulated in the Mont-
ville school together with a recent es-
say from "The Christian Endeavor
World" by a naturalist friend of Chat-
tanooga, Tennessee. These two articles
resulted in an invitation for the former
teacher to visit the school after forty
years and give his former pupils an op-
portunity to do what at that time they
were compelled to leave undone-
throw him out of the schoolhouse. The
naturalist jocosely said that it might
be a dark and deep-laid plot but he is
still six feet high, he still weighs an
eighth of a ton, so he went.

The present Superintendent of
Schools suggested that the old teacher
deliver a lecture, the proceeds to be de-
voted to the taking of the senior class
of to, 1 7 to the capital at Hartford. The
exercises included a roll call with re-
sponses, a history of the school, kind
and regretful words for the pupils that
have died, and a general rally of the
old-time boys and girls, every one of
whom is considerably more than a half
century old* although that is never
mentioned. There were also addresses
to the present pupils and exercises by
them.

Among the pupils of the reunion
were some of the most prominent men
and women of Montville and of vari' us
other places, including a present Rep-
resentative of the Legislature, a Judge
of Probate and so on. The oldest puoil
of the school, now nearly fifty-nine
vears of age, presided. Though he
holds a prominent position in a large

EDITORIAL

45

manufacturing- establishment, Dr. Big-
elow called him his senior pupil and in-
sisted that he come to the front of the
teacher's desk, put his hoels together,
turn his toes out at an angle of forty-
five degrees, make a bow and recite a
little ditty, "Popping Corn," as he re-
cited it forty years ago.

The lecture by Dr Bigelow was
given in the chapel and then there was
an adjournment to the schoolhouse
near-by for the roll call. Dr. Bigelow
went into the schoolhouse and wonder-
ed why his pupils delayed their coming.
After a somewhat impatient wait of a
few minutes he went out to find these
prominent men and women on the play-
ground and to be rather indignantly
informed that they were not in the hab-
it of coming in after recess — only forty
years this time — until he rang the
school bell. Recess immediately closed.

At the close of his principalship of
this school forty years ago Dr. Bigelow
returned to Bacon Academy, but off
and on, with intercalated preparatory,
college and general biological labora-
tory work, he has always been a school
teacher. At present he is a member of
the faculty of the Wabanaki School at
Greenwich. Although he has for the
last thirty-two years been printer, pub-
lisher and editor, he has never lost his
interest in the schools nor in school
work. During the greater part of that
third of a century he has visited schools
at least once every week, and has been
associated with many private institu-
tions. He was a visitor at The Castle,
Tarrytown-on-Hudson, New York,
every Friday and Saturday for ten
years, and in addition to this work,
which he considers delightful, he is the
Editor-in-Chief of this magazine, the
official organ of The Agassiz Associa-
tion of which he is President, and
which is the exponent of Louis Agassiz
and his teaching. He admires Louis
Agassiz and takes pleasure in continu-
ing Agassiz's work, not only on ac-
count of his admiration for Agassiz as
a scientist, but chiefly because of that
famous man's missionary spirit as a
teacher. Dr. Bigelow's favorite expres-
sion is, "I have always been an editor
with a school-teaching attachment," so
strong an attachment that he is con-
stantly in those schools in which he
has been engaged as a teacher, in uni-

versities, colleges, teachers' institutes,
where he has been an instructor of
teachers. In all the world there is no
grander calling than that of a teacher.
Upon that profession depends the mold-
ing of every human mind. The editor
may help to mold public opinion, but
his work can never equal that of a
teacher. The teacher takes the mind
before it has become case-hardened and
he can, at least to a certain extent, do
what he pleases with it.

One of the Boy Scouts' Great Needs.

"The Boy Scouts of America," in
theory and practice, is the best organ-
ization that was ever established for
boys. The Scout movement has done
more to develop true manliness in boys
than any other organization has ever
done. It takes into consideration the
development of the physique, kindness
for others, regard for religion, love of
education, and arouses a commendable
spirit of protection and patriotism.

Within the last few months increased
efforts have been made to develop the
ability to see and to draw correct con-
clusions from what is seen in the world.
Last June, Edward F. Bigelow was
elected Scout Naturalist, and since then
he has been in correspondence with a
large number of boys and has conduct-
ed a department, "On Nature's Trail,"
in "Boy's Life" This work was under-
taken for a nominal sum that just about
covers the cost of correspondence. Fur-
ther development of this feature of
"Boys' Life" is needed. To that end
an appeal is made for contributions, all
of which will be turned over to the Boy
Scouts of America at their New York
office, or may be mailed directly here.
The Boy Scout movement has brought
many of its features to a high degree of
perfection, but we believe that the abil-
ity to see and to study the world of
nature needs assistance in its develop-
ment. Further particulars will be giv-
en to any one who will inquire.

Your lively and most instructive
magazine always gives me much plea-
sure and I always find something of
real interest in it.— Professor Wesley
R. Coe, Zoological Department, Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut.

*tt

WRITE
WHKT YOU HftVE-

SEEN

THEFUNOF ,

(SEEINQTHIHGS,

FOR YOUNG FOLKS 1

V edited a r I

, Edward RBiqelow .

W/HPkT YOU WPkNT
TO KNOW.

^Sount

icn , Conn.

Black and White Studying Black and
White.

We are indebted to "American Pho-

will see themselves mirrored in these
magnificent studies.

The photograph was taken by Mrs.

W. Durrant, who is not only a skilled
tography" for the accompanying illus- photographer but seems to possess un-
tration of a marvelously good study of limited patience with cats and a kindly

THE SHARPER YOU SEE THINGS THE MORE FUN THERE IS.

cats. The photographer is to be con- regard for them. Only a perfect sym-

gratulated upon securing such natural pathizer with the cat nature could have

and expressive poses in her subjects, obtained such results.

The attitude is perfectly unnatural

from the cat's point of view, but it is Everywhere is beauty spread,
ideally humanized. The expression of *£ ""maS*?8 ^ ^J1*™ hd:
the cats' faces will bear careful ex- To^ddT^ite Intrinsic ^orth.
animation, and many checker players Emma Peirce.

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

47

Blue Jay and Luna Moth.

BY BESSIE I.. PUTNAM, CONNEAUT LAKE,
PENNSYLVANIA.

The article on "Frail Wanderers of the
Night" in the June number of The
Guide to Nature has an added interest
to the writer because of a near tragedy
recently witnessed.

A member of the family standing at
the window was surprised by seeing a
blue jay dash suddenly against the sill
and as suddenly retreat to a near-by
apple tree. Almost instantly its mate
repeated the performance and was driv-
en back in the same way. Then the
source of the attraction was discover-
ed— a Luna moth clinging to the win-
dow ledge.

The girl went out to rescue the moth,
but before she could reach it one or
two other attempts had been made by
the birds, which were thwarted by
others in the room. After the Luna
had been removed to a safe place, the
jays made other dashes to the window
and then retired to express their dis-
approval in the loud tones peculiar to
their race. It is evident that this beau-
tiful moth has its perils, increased
when it alights on a white surface in-
stead of upon the green foliage among
which its green plumage is less con-
spicuous.

of to-day is not preparing more natur-
alists in this natural way! The farm
child of this age sems to us to be al-
ways facing the road made smooth for
the whirring wheels of 'the Ford,' and
has turned his back to the woods and
fields, but maybe this is undue pessi-
mism."

Expansive Power of Tree Growth.

BY H- E. ZIMMERMAN, MT. MORRIS, ILL.

Accurate experiments have been
made by scientific investigators to show
the remarkable power of growing
plants. It has been found that corn-

Child Life on the Farm at the Present
Time.

Is child life on the farm at present
different from that life in the past?
Yes, it is. It is vastly different from
what it was fifty years ago ; but wait a
minute. Is child life on the farm less
valuable in the training for a future
enjoyment of nature? An interesting
editorial in the "Nature-Study Re-
view," congratulating John Burroughs
on his eightieth birthday, raises an in-
teresting question. Let us think about
the following from that editorial :

"His child life on the farm gave Mr.
Burroughs his background as a natur-
alist ; he writes 'When I began in my
twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth year, to
write about birds, I found that I had
only to unpack the memories of the
farm boy within me to get at the main
things about the common ones. I had
unconsciously absorbed the knowledge
that gave the life and warmth to my

■*-\ ""i n^ n \ \ I m n +■ *i «~\ if ir f n i f 4- Vi ^ for* r-*T li /~\ »-vi £±

r^H

«?v

A* ( v

A TREE SPLITS A ROCK.

paratively delicate plants have, in their
growth, lifted weights totaling hun-
dreds of pounds. Some years ago a
picture was published in Strand maga-
zine, showing how a plant had pushed
itself up through a hard pavement, con-
structed of asphalt, gravel, etc. The
growing power of a tree, especially af-
ter it has ^attained considerable size,
is correspondingly greater. A good
illustration of this is shown in the pic-
ture accompanying this article.

Contrary to what many people think
most rocks have seems or cracks of
varying definiteness, or they eventually
develope them through the action of
rain, frost, and sunshine. Into these
cracks, however minute, the rootlets
of small plants penetrate, carrying with
them a little humus, to decay and to be
followed bv other roots. Moisture fol-

/Mire

ii r Vi i /-» ri t

r.'in'/.iL'

inn /-»f»-i r* L-e -\tt

,11

48

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

rock-particles, when larger roots find
their way in, carrying more dirt. The
crack widening and deepening through
the course of many years, becomes fill-
ed with drifting dirt, when, perhaps a
seed of some tree blows into it, and
then the real process of rock-splitting
begins on a larger and more rapid scale.
If the rock has a well developed seam
the expansive force of the roots of a
tree is likely to split it entirely asun-
der. This is proved in the case of the
rock shown in the illustration.

As the rock breaks and chips and
disintegrates, it contributes to the vigor
of the plant, since rock particles con-
tain the elements of plant food.

The Butterfly and the Flower.

BY ADDA BAUMAN, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

With widespread wings

She gayly fluttered by;

And I just bowed, with a smile;

For she was only a butterfly,

And I the flower that beguiles.

Perhaps she'll come back

This way some day,

And I'll bid her "bide a wee."

i '11 give her a treat

Of nectar sweet

That's stored in the heart of me.

She is a coquette, that I know,
Just takes a sip and away she goes
To seek the heart of another flower.
Resting but a moment on leafy bower.
She is a beauty, rare and most gay,
And that is just a butterfly's way.

Curious Stone and Tree.

Mr. Leo E. Mingus of Battle Creek,

Michigan, is an expert photographer.

In his perambulations with the camera,

he always looks not only for the ordi-

TWO OAKS GROWN TOGETHER.

nary, beautiful things of nature, but
for the things that are special.

He contributes to this number a pho-
tograph of a rock that he says looks to
him like nature's attempt to be patri-
otic, as she has there sculptured Uncle
Sam's eagle in stone. He also sends a
photograph of an oak tree, remarkable
on account of the curious grafting of
nature with some aid from man. The
larger tree is about two feet in diam-
eter ; the smaller, one foot and a
half. It is generally believed locally
that the Indians grafted these trees to-
gether, and hence the combination is
known as "the old Indian landmark."
Who can offer a more plausible expla-
nation?

AN EAGLE IN STONE.

The First Dandelion.

BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, MASS.

When 'mid reviving field and fell

Spring's cheerful presence comes to stay,.

Ere o'er reverdured hill and dell
Awakes the flowerage of May,

Upon the lawn's fresh growth of green,
'Neath April's fickle shade and light,

A dandelion blooms unseen

Like saffron flame in sunshine bright.

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

49

Animals with Extra Tails.

The accompanying illustration of a
double-tailed earth-worm was sent to
us by Mr. H. E. Zimmerman, Mount
Morris, Illinois. The picture was for-
warded to Professor T. H. Morgan, of
the Department of Zoology of Colum-
bia University, New York. He replies
as follows :

"Worms like the one in the picture

This photograph was sent to Profes-
sor E. A. Andrews. He states as fol-
lows :

The double earthworm figured is a
most interesting case and unusual in
that it is divided so far forward toward
the head, while all other double-tailed
worms known to me have the division
near to the hind end and' far from the
head end. Of the two tail ends shown.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN EARTHWORM LIKE THIS?

which you sent me are occasionally
found and have been recorded from
time to time. They are due in practi-
cally all cases to an injury to the worm.
In some instances, the two new tails
have grown out from the broken end
of the worm. In other cases, the in-
jury on one side, involving the nervous
system, gives rise to a new tail ; or, to
be more accurate, continuation of the
body on one side. Professor E. A. An-
drews has described a number of worms
of this kind that he has obtained.

"I think no one has yet been able to
produce these double-tailed worms by
artificially injuring the side, yet the
same thing has been done in salaman-
ders, where double limbs have been
produced by making wounds of certain
kinds on the stump of the old limb.
Double-tailed lizards are well known
and they, too, arise through injury to
the old 'tail."

one is evidently much smaller than the
other and this is in harmony with the
findings in most all such cases of dou-
ble tail, so that the assumption that
one tail part arose as a sort of side bud
from the main trunk is a natural one.
It is unfortunate that a sharper photo-
graph was not obtained and that a com-
plete account of the anatomy is not
available, as from it one might hope
for more basis for inference as to how
the monstrosity came about.

"The great interest that attaches to
all such cases of double ends, whether
of worms of of double-headed calves,
snakes, turtles and the like, seems to be
in the hope they hold forth that from
complete knowledge of the 'mistake,'
or abnormal, we may get a clearer view
of the causes of the average or normal.

"When some one shall discover a
method of inducing such double ends
in earthworms, we may the better un-

5°

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

derstand why such cases are so rare—
a mere score on record amongst very
many thousand normal worms that
have been studied — and gain some ink-
ling of the reasons why the normal ani-
animal is expressly one rather than more
or less, two or more."

One Hundred Thousand Tramps.

BY ROBERT S. WALKER, CHATTANOOGA,
TENN., IN CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR WORLD,
BOSTON.

What do you do when you quit your
work for the day? Do you go home

ravines, and over the mountain-tops.
It reads like a romance. It takes deter-
mination and muscle to do it. Dr. Bige-
low possesses both. You say that if
you were really young again you would
not mind it? Dr. Bigelow had a fifty-
seventh birthday a short time ago. He
is in his prime, and naturally expects
these walks to keep him young. This
is why his lectures, his writings on na-
ture, etc., are so refreshing, like the
fragrance from the cut flowers.

Dr. Bigelow's advice to young and
old alike is to "hit the woodland trail"

Cut by courtesy of "The Christian Endeavor World."

EDWARD F. BIGELOW ON A TR1AMP WITH NATURALIST ROBERT S. WALKER OF CHATTA-
NOOGA, TENNESSEE.

and go to bed, or do you go out in the
great outdoors and see what nature has
locked up in the secret chest? Here's
one man who never misses the oppor-
tunity to go on tramps after his day's
work is over, or the tramp may be for
a full day if he has a day to devote to
walking.

Dr. Edward F. Bigelow has taken an-
nually on an average more than 4,500
boys and girls on natural-history ex-
cursions, through fields, through
marshes, through woodlands, through

if you would be strong mentally, mor-
ally, and physically.

At Scarborough, in Yorkshire, Eng-
land, the sea is rapidly cutting back in-
to the land ; with the result that there
has just been laid bare there what
seems to be the stock in trade of a
prehistoric dealer in bronze weapons,
of date about 1000 B. C. Twenty ob-
jects have turned up, some fresh from
the casting and unpolished ; others
finished and ready for the market.

THE FUX OF SEEING THINGS

51

Black Eggs.

BY RICHARD DOERIXC, BROOKLYN, NEW
YORK.

At home we were all lovers and stu-
dents of nature. Besides a hortus sic-
cus, we had diverse scientific collections.
and amongst these a collection of the
hirds' eggs in our region. Distinct
from the latter we also had a special
collection of the eggs of chickens,
pigeons and other domesticated birds.
There were, for instance, hens' eggs of
all sizes, some as small as a dove's egg,
others as large as a goose egg. The
colorations too were manifold. All
tints, from snowy white to almost or-
ange, were represented.

One day a boy brought us a package
containing hen's eggs that were black.
His parents had fed their chickens with
the acorns of the red oak, and these
had been the cause of the unusual col-
oration. The tannin contained in the
acorns had entered into chemical com-
bination with the lime of the eggshells
which contained enough iron to form
a laver of ink.

also valuable — the certainty that the
new variety does not occur in each re-

gion.

Here is a chance for every observer,
no matter how inexperienced, to do his
bit toward the progress of science. In-
formation should be sent to Professor
George H. Shull. 60 Jefferson Road,
Princeton, New Jersey.

Pitcher-leaved Ash.

Professor Shull, well-known for his
work at the Long Island Station for
Experimental Evolution, asks for in-
formation concerning the "pitcher-
leaved ash."

It appears that certain ash trees — the
discovery is Professor Shull's own —
have one or more leaflets nearlv everv
leaf of which is a peculiar pitcher
shape. This is especially true of the
terminal leaflets, and is most readilv
observed in the young tree. When this
variety was first reported in 1905. it
seemed probable that the single grove
at Cold Spring Harbor is unique — the
starting place, it appeared, of a new
kind of tree. Within the year, how-
ever, two new localities have turned
up in western Pennsylvania ; and it
becomes highly probable that there are
others in the country.

Professor Shull asks, therefore, that
naturalists and observers shall, during
the coming spring and summer, watch
for these pitcher ashes and report to
him any findings. He desires in partic-
ular to know the extent of area cover-
ed by the observation, and the number
of normal trees seen as well as pitcher-
leaved trees. Negative information is

Potato Inclusions.

New York City.

To the Editor :

I was interested in the article that
tells of a "beechnut" that was found in
a potato. A similar event occurred in
some of our potatoes last winter, only
the objects found were "chufas," a sort
of sweet grassnut. I rather question
the statement that the objects in the
potatoes were beechnuts and hazelnuts,
but I can understand how a growing
chufa could penetrate the growing tu-
ber. The potatoes were probably
planted in a field formerly given over
to chufas. I can see no reason why
the growing potato should enclose
beechnut or a hazelnut any more read-
ily than it would grow around a peb-
ble or other inert substance in the
earth. I do not remember that I ever
heard of a pebble in a potato no mat-
ter how stony the ground in which it
was grown. A series of experiments to
throw light on this matter would be
interesting. I am inclined to believe
the potato will not enclose any such
substance, but if potatoes and chufas
be grown in the same box I should not
be at all astonished if many of the po-
tatoes might be penetrated.
Yours very truly,

Clement B. Davis.

Beech Nut Included in Potato.

Detroit, Mich.
To the Editor :

I have noted the remarks of Mr. C.
B. Davis in regard to potato inclusions
and his doubts as to their being beech
nuts or hazel nuts. I wish to assure
you and Mr. Davis that these articles
were certainly found in the potatoes!
Most of these nuts were eaten when
taken from the potatoes and I imagine
no one could mistake the flavor of a
nut or confuse it with that of a "chufa"
tuber. If you will closely observe the

52

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

illustration in the April number of
The Guide to Nature, you cannot mis-
take the nut at the left for anything but
a beech nut, at least no one who is famil-
iar with the nut in question, would do so.
The inclusion at the right is not a nut,
but, on the other hand, it may be a chufa
(Cyperus esculenta) stolon and tuber.
There is nothing unusual in a growing
point penetrating some other and ob-
structing vegetation ; in this instance,
the axis of growth may have differed
from that of the potato so radically that
it early became separated from the pa-
rent plant by the breaking of the stolon,
thus giving the potato a chance to
grow around it and to completely im-
bed it. I wish to emphasize the fact
that beech and hazel nuts were potato
inclusions. How they got there, I do
not know. T offered the only explana-
tion that occurred to me or that seemed
feasible.

Yours very truly,
Oeiver Atkins Farwell.

Foreign Substances in Potatoes.

Bayshore, Long Island, New York.
To the Editor :

I was much interested in the article
in The Guide to Nature for April
about nuts in potatoes, because I have
found several and to-day while peeling
potatoes found another though much
smaller one than those previously
found.

From the article I judged you had
seen only the photograph, so I am
sending the one found to-day and an-
other which has become dry and the
surrounding potato very hard. I notice
that the potato has turned pink in the
other half of the cavity formed by the
nut.

Very truly yours,

Mrs. Frank Watts.

Comparison between the British and
French troops fighting side by side
make it aDpear that the pound of meat
in the daily allowance of the former is
too large for the highest efficiency, and
that the much smaller ration of the
French and Italians is really better for
fighting men. Our own army receives
one and a quarter pounds of meat per
day, while many civilians, who need a
great deal less, get even more.

An Editorial Inspires a Song.

I have received from our young
friend and talented Member of The
Agassiz Association, Winifred Sack-
ville Stoner, Jr., the following song.

In sending this she writes as follows :
"I wrote this little song after reading
one of your articles on "Beauty." Er-
go the song is yours and I shall be glad
to contribute it to The Guide to Na-
ture. The air to which it can be sung
is that of Mother Stoner Lullaby."

Beauty in You and in Me.

Beauty, my kiddies, belongs all to you
It is around you in all that we view.
Throw out your love rays and use your

good eyes
See it each moment in some glad surprise.

All things are beautiful each in its place
Even in crawling things we find a trace.
In frogs and lizards, toads, snakes and in

worms
Yes, even in smallest of wiggling strange

germs.

Beauty is fitness so scientists say,
And if we're useful to some one each day
We'll gather rays of this treasure on earth
To add to our storehouse of wisdom and
mirth.

Beauty of stars shining up in the sky.
Beauty of meteors swift flying by.
Beauty of song birds by day and by night,
Beauty of Lady Moon's soft mellow light.

Beauty of mountain and beauty of lea,
Beauty of rainbow and beauty of sea,
Beauty of flower and beauty of tree
All is reflected in YOU and in ME.

To the West Wind.

Oh Western wind, what a different world,
Since you have come to stay!

A deluge of sunshine instead of rain,
When you chase the clouds away.

You lead merry measures in tree-tops tall,
You billow the grass and grain;

You blow firmly smooth the roadways all,
After the spell o' rain.

You rumple our clothes and roughen our
hair,
And bring a warm glow to the cheek,
You may take all the liberties you will,
When you haven't been round for a
week.

Oli West Wind, stay with us all the year,
Spring, Summer, and Winter and
Fall-
Yet no, you could not so welcome be,
Did we not have a taste of all.

— Emma Peirce.

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

53

The Beautiful Oleander of Texas.

Mr. Frank C. Patten, Librarian of
the Rosenberg Library of Galveston,
Texas, in an interesting personal let-
ter calls attention to the magnificent
bloom of the oleander. At his sugges-
tion we have obtained from Poole
Brothers of Chicago an interesting
photograph of this beautiful plant in
full bloom. A naturalist friend, Miss
Meta Hillje of Alvin, Texas, writes:

"The oleander is a free blooming
evergreen shrub of easy culture, often
grown as a pot plant in the north but

The Lambs and the Tent.

BY J. A. KEARFUL, ADA, MONTANA.

The Guide to Nature is admirable.
It is the best publication that I know
for getting one's nose off the ground
and for making one observant and
alert.

For instance : a few years ago we
took a half dozen motherless lambs
from a sheep ranch and raised them by
hand. They never saw an old sheep.
At night they were bedded down on
an ash pile at the back door. They
grew wonderfully. Now, take notice.

ij ,. ; i ». nJ.Jimtft. b ;*Sci

THK OLEANDER IN MAGNIFICENT BLOOM.

hardy in the south, where it is a splen-
did subject for tall hedges, masses or
single specimens. In the latter form it
often reaches the size of a small tree.

"Although native of southern Europe
and the Orient, it grows to perfection
in Galveston, Texas, and during the
month of May when they are in full
bloom the 'Oleander City' is beautiful
beyond description."

"Nature," in urging upon the British
public greater attention to the economic
aspects of bird life, remarks that as a
result of the labors of our Department
of Agriculture there is in this respect
"a higher standard in the United States
than in any other part of the world."

In August of that year, I had some
visiting friends from the East. To en-
large the houseroom I set up a tent
some hundred yards from the kitchen
door. That night those lambs aban-
doned their comfortable bed aground,
settled down about the tent, and there
stayed at night as long as the tent
remained. Was that bred into them
from the time of Abraham ? Can you
explain it?

Much important work is now being
done by crossbreeding our long domes-
ticated plants with their wild relatives,
and so bringing in the hardiness of the
old wild form.

L1TERAK

°®*is©S3<b<B®

NOTICES

Bird-Lore for June reminds its readers
that an increase in our crops means not only
an added food-supply for man but also for
injurious insects as well. Agriculturists are
therefore urged to supply birds with shelter,
nesting-places, and water in order to attract
them to the vicinity of planted areas. This
plan of encouraging birds to live near us has
been termed "bird-gardening," and the
methods to be employed are presented at
length in this issue of Bird-Lore.

A Lot o' Lovin'. By Chauncey Roscoe Piety.

Louisville, Kentucky. The Standard

Printing Company.
The reviewer, while lecturing before the
County Teachers' Institute in Scottsburg,
Indiana, met the Reverend Mr. Piety and at
his invitation gave a talk before the Chris-
tian Endeavor Society of the First Chris-
tian Church, and after the meeting took the
young people out to see the stars. From
this interview has been evolved an acquain-
tance by correspondence with this poetical
pastor, who is also an appreciative nature
lover. One poem, "The Child and the
Stars," the author says, was inspired by the
address to the young people.

The Life of the Grasshopper. By J. Henri
Fabre. New York City. Dodd, Mead and
Company.
This is the seventh book in the transla-
tions being made by Mr. Teixeira from the
"Souvenirs Entomologiques" by the great
French naturalist, Fabre, who has been
called "the novelist of the insects." The
Fabre tradition of tireless observation, in-
genious experiment and eloquent interpre-
tation is continued in this story of the
grasshopper. Directly and simplv Fabre
sought only to record the truths revealed
through his ouiet research, but in doing so
he achieved a unique beauty of expression
and a nice interpretation of insect life to-
ward which modern science is turning with
ever increasing admiration. Of Fabre's
standing as a naturalist it is enough to say
that Charles Darwin valued him as an ob-
server of the very first order.

Goldfish Varieties and Tropical Aouarium
Fishes. By William T. Innes. Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania: Innes & Sons.
Blessings on William T. Innes! He is
the most enthusiastic one of us all when it
concerns aquaria, and he is right in assert-
ing that there is no other means of bring-
ing so complete a bit of nature into our

homes as is afforded by an aquarium. Here
is an opportunity for the student, the artist,
the scientist and for those who simply love
pets. In the glass of the aquarium, we have
a window from which what we see is limit-
ed only by our own capacity for observa-
tion. William T. Innes believes in the
aquarium, not only for these reasons, but
because he possesses the real missionary
spirit of helpfulness to others. What he
does not know about aquaria, I fear will
not be discovered in this century. If you
want to see a man who is the very concen-
trated quintessence of enthusiasm, say,
"Aquarium," to Innes. He gets up in the
morning long before any other human be-
ing, and is off to the ponds to hunt for
daphnia and water plants. He dreams about
aquaria long after he has gone to bed.

He believes that if a thing is worth doing
at all it is worth doing well. You may
search his house from attic to cellar, and
not find one of those cruel little things,
those little glass globes with a forlorn gold-
fish swimming around in it. No. He
makes his fish happy. He knows how to
do it and, best of all, he knows how to tell
other people how to do it.

There are more foolish things, more really
cruel things, done with aquaria than we can
fully realize. There are not many aquarial
experts in this country, but there are hosts
of people who are thoughtlessly cruel or
cruelly thoughtless. The five cent stores
have popularized the subject. Many a flor-
ist dips out a little fish and sells it with a
tiny globe for only a few cents, and such
people mistakenly suppose that they are
naturalists. There is only one best way,
and that is the Innes way. He has no
monopoly of information on the subject;
there are other good workers and other
good books, but I do not know of any bet-
ter worker than Innes, nor any better book
than his. If you have an aquarium, get this
book by Innes and do what he tells you to
do.

When a bit of sunshine hit ye
After passing of a cloud;
When a fit of laughter gits ye
An* ye'r spine is feelin' proud,
Don't forget to up and fling it
At the soul that's feelin' blue.
For the minit that you sling it
It's a boomerang to you.

— Capt. Jack Crawford.

——•~"

»••♦•••*•*

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

k<&za<8&^

Established IS75

Incorporated. Massachusetts, 1892

Incorporated, Connecticut. 1910

Resolutions on the Death of Mrs. Paul-
ine Agassiz Shaw.

At the Annual Meeting of Trustees
of The Agassiz Association held at
ArcAdiA, on the anniversary of Louis
Agassiz's Birthday, May 28, 191 7, the
following resolutions were adopted up-
on the report of the death of Louis
Agassiz's daughter, Mrs. Pauline
Agassiz Shaw, at her home in Jamaica
Plain, Massachusetts, February 24th,
1917.

Whereas, we, the Trustees of The Ag-
assiz Association, have learned with
deep sorrow of the death of Pauline
Agassiz Shaw, a daughter of Louis
Agassiz, at her home in Jamaica
Plain, Massachusetts, be it
Resolved, that we publicly acknow-
ledge our sincere sorrow in her death,
and our realization of the loss of one
of our most loyal friends in the great
Cause of The Agassiz Association.
For many years Mrs Shaw has given
kindly counsel and substantial aid
as a Life Member of this Association.
Her counsels have always been ap-
preciated by the officers, and her kind
words of good will have endeared her
to all, especially to the President of
this Association. She has encouraged
the work by words of good cheer and
by many kind suggestions of meth-
ods bv which the work might be
made better.
Resolved that in addition to this public
expression of sorrow, we extend to
her children, sister, nephews and
other relatives and members of the
family, our sincere sympathy in this
great bereavement.
Adopted by the Board of Trustees.
Edward F. Bigelow, President.
Homer S. Cummings. Secretary.

Report from Louisville, Kentucky.

The year has been a very interesting
and educational one for the Louisville
Girls' High School Chapter of The
Agassiz Association. The monthly in-
door meetings have been well attended
and each one was made attractive by

a nature programme. One of our best
meetings was made so by Balopticon
views of American birds. While the
slides were being shown, our faculty
adviser gave an instructive talk on the
birds, emphasizing the point of bird
description. Selecting the robin as our
standard bird we described each suc-
ceeding bird by considering its size,
color, shape of tail and bill and feet, in
comparison with the robin. We also
learned much from Audubon's Book
of American Birds.

On our outdoor trips we specialized
on trees. Early in the fall before the
trees had lost their foliage we took a
trip to study them and learn how to
recognize them by their leaves and
bark. On an early spring excursion
we studied the buds of the sprouting
trees ; later in the spring we started on
a tree recognition trip. While out we
often ran across things not pert: ining
to trees and did not overlook them.
We saw a meadow lark's nest, one day.
which was quite a treat, and we stud-
ied and learned to know many wild
flowers.

We are looking forward to another
season to study nature's wonders.
Virginia Stejxbock.
Corresponding Secretary.

You can read a poem and find only
words. You can hear a symphony and
recognize only sounds. You can go
into a garden and see nothing but trees
and plants and flowers. — Abram Lin-
wood Urban in "My Garden of Dreams."

.<P

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A Migration of Newts.

One of our esteemed Members in
Plainfield Iowa, writes as follows of an
incident that occurred in North Da-
kota.

"Will you please state in your maga-
zine what good work lizards do, the
common brownish green kind ? On the
morning after a hard rain at night,
there were hosts of lizards hurrying
across the fields, yards and roads, all
traveling southeast. Why? We had
never previously had any to any notice-
able extent in this part of the state and
as I did not want them in the cellar, I
killed two and got seven more in a
pail, but there were so many I quit for
I thought they must serve some good
purpose and doubtless they were as
glad to live as I am. They all disap-
peared in a day or two. Where?
Something of the same sort happened
here in Iowa last summer. One even-
ing at nine o'clock a family on their
front porch saw a regular bunch of liz-
ards going west. I shall be glad if you
will tell me the use or habits of these
reptiles. I feel sure that the lizard
must have some place in the general
scheme of things."

Never kill any animal unless you do
so in self-protection or for food. Liz-
ards are harmless and are not edible.
But in this instance you are doubly in
error. The little animals are not liz-
ards. Perhaps the graceful, dainty lit-
tle body may by its form somewhat
suggest a lizard but the harmless little
fellows are newts. Raymond L. Dit-
mars says :

"They migrate after rains to areas
that contain more dampness, as these
naked-skinned creatures (like toads or
frogs) depend upon a water soaked soil.
They travel after rains owing to the
ground being then in proper condition
for their progress. They feed upon in-
sects."

You should have an aquarium in
which you can readily keep a few
newts. They are the delight of every
one who likes aquatic animals. They
will soon learn to take food from your
fingers.

Prom a British book, "Life in Ponds
and Streams" (Furneaux), the follow-
ing is quoted :

"The general form of a newt is very
similar to that of a lizard, and this re-

semblance has led to the common ap-
plication of the name 'water lizards' to
the former. But to avoid confusion, it
may be well to note the more obvious dis-
tinction between newts and lizards. Newts
are amphibious animals, and even truly
aquatic at certain periods of their ex-
istence ; while lizards inhabit dry
heaths, moors, and banks. Newts have
a soft moist skin, resembling that of
frogs ; but lizards are covered with a
dry scaly skin, much like that of a
snake. Newts have flattened tails
adapted for swimming, while the tails
of lizards are round and tapering.
Also, newts in their earlier days, pass
through a series of stages similar to
those of the frog; but young lizards,
on their first appearance in life, are
formed just like their parents. And,
further, the close relationship existing
between the newts and other amphib-
ians is clearly exhibited by the shape of
the head and the wide gape ; by their
prominent eyeballs, which are retrac-
tile, and readily observed on the roof
of the mouth, and by the arrangement
of the eyelids ; also by their method of
breathing, which corresponds exactly
with that force-pump action described
when treating of frogs.

* * * * *

"They are easily caught. The onlv
implements required are a small gauze
hand-net and a large metal box, such
as an ordinary bait-can, in which to
convey the specimens home.

As you walk round a weedy pond
you will observe here and there a newt
gracefully swimming with an undula-
tory movement of its tail toward the
centre. Its fear of the monster on the
bank is evidently not very great, for
its flight is not at all hurried, neither
does it trouble to swim any great dis-
tance from you : and a quick sweep of
the net among the weeds will generally
secure the prize, and often one or two
others that happened to be among the
foliage in the path of the net. Some-
time, in fact often, the newts in a pond
are so numerous that they may be se-
cured, five or six at a stroke, without
attempting to look for them, but by
simply sweeping the net haphazard
among the weeds.

The schoolboy's method of catching
newts is usually not so productive,
though it may be more exciting. An

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

57

extempore fishing-rod is made of a cut
stick and a piece of string. An earth-
worm is tied to the lower end of the
string and let down into the water,
either just in front of a newt that is
seen or in a spot where some of the
creatures are supposed to he hidden.
A gentle tugging is presently felt, and
is sometimes rendered visihle hy the
bobbing of a piece of cork used as a
temporary float. Now is the time for
the exercise of a little patience, and
judgment. Give the hungry amphibian
sufficient time to swallow the worm,
or, if the latter be a large one, time to
get a portion well lodged in its stom-
ach ; and then a sharp haul lands the
creature on the bank before it has had
time to free itself from the treacherous
luxury."

SOME FUNNY FEEDING ANTICS.

"But if the worm happens to be a
larger one, say about three or four in-
ches long, the matter is not quite so
simple, and may end in disappointment
to the newt as well as death to the
poor worm. Newts do not know the
most effectual way of seizing a worm,
and frequently make the mistake of
snapping at the middle and commenc-
ing to swallow it at that point. In
this case the newt has to labor against
the double thickness which has to pass
through its mouth and gullet. This
often proves too much ; and after many
severe struggles to dispose of its prey,
it is obliged to relieve itself by dis-
gorging it entirely.

If. however, it is more fortunate in
seizing the worm at one end, there is
generally a trouble of another kind
awaiting it, for one of its fellows, at-
tracted by the furious struggles of the
poor worm, makes a dash at the other
end ! Then follows an exciting scene.
Both newts continue to swallow the
worm, till at last their jaws meet,
each one having disposed of about one
half. But still they go on, each one
taking gulp after gulp, with a vantage
sometimes on one side and sometimes
on the other. After a time, however,
the weaker newt shows signs of ex-
haustion, and, relaxing its hold on the
worm, allows each gulp of its fellow to
deprive it of a portion of the meal that
had already been swallowed ; and then,
finding no hope for the retention of the
meal, suddenly ejects the remainder

and swims away. But the fortune of
the sole possessor of the worm is no
brighter, for its stomach is distended
to its greatest capacity at the time that
the whole was left to its share ; and
after many unsuccessful attempts to
dispose of the free end, it is obliged to
eject even that which had been so sat-
isfactorily disposed of."

Sequestered.

BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, MASS.

There is a sylvan nook
Where purls a tink brook,
Where chansonnette of bird
All summer long is heard
And zephyr's lightest breeze
Is whispered by the trees.

That nook is in a glade
Of mingled sun and shade,
A glade within a glen
Afar from haunts of men,
A glen of boughs and brakes
Where echo seldom wakes.

The pines rise straight and tall
Around it like a wall,
Pine needles strew its floor,
Wide open stands its door.
Its roof is broad and high —
The tree-tops and the sky!

There often comes the bee,
Well laden from the lea,
Oft flits the butterfly
On gorgeous pinions by.
And squirrel chatters fast
Or nimbly scrambles past.

Unmarred by axe or flame
That spot remains the same,
A sunny, sylvan nook
Where purls a tiny brook,
Where chansonnette of bird
All summer long is heard.

Spring Messengers.

BY EDNA L. B0GUE, MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

Blow, flowery bugles, blow,
Aerials bright of early spring,
Ring thy notes across the meadow,
Let every song bird on the wing,
Unite his lay, with thine, and sing.

For pulsing life's in the air,

Tingles with the breath of spring!

Blow, flowery bugles, blow,

On, and on, across the hills.

Let little brooklets sing with laughter,-

Romping, rippling, little rills.

Blow, flowery bugles, blow.

Ye aerial daffodils!

58

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

SOUND BEACH HAS

BIG CELEBRATION

Nine Hundred Participate in a Memor-
ial Day Parade.

SPEECHES AT ARCADIA

AND FLAG-RAISING

Great Demonstration of Loyalty to the
Country.

[THE STAMFORD ADVOCATE, MAY 31, I917]

Yesterday was a great day in Sound
Beach. A parade, in which 700 or over
participated, was the largest ever held
there. The number who saw it was the
largest ever gathered together for such

upon the grounds of the Sound Beach
Golf and Country Club. Led by a pla-
toon of Greenwich borough police un-
der Sergeant Flannagan, the procession
marched over Potomac Avenue to
Shore Avenue, to Sound Beach Avenue,
to ArcAdiA road. At ArcAdiA, ap-
propriate exercises were held. There
were a flag-raising and an address by
Judge C. H. Martin of Orange, a mem-
ber of the State Legislature. In the
parade. Home Guard, Police Reserve,
State militia, boy scouts, ladies, first-
aid-corps, G. A. R. Veterans, Sons of
Veterans, firemen, police and musicians
took part.

The platoon of Greenwich police led
the march up Potomac Avenue, Kear-
ney's band from Stamford following.
Next were the militia and Home Guard,

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THE STEEL FLAG POLE, ERECTED BY MR. CHARLES H. KNAPP OF SOUND BEACH, WAS
RAISED TO PERPENDICULAR POSITION BY A STEAM ROAD ROLLER PULLING ON

A CABLE OVER A SERIES OF PULLEYS.

an occasion, in Sound Beach. The
streets were alive with activity. Auto-
mobiles occupied places all along the
line of march People crowded along
Sound Beach Avenue to get a glimpse
at the procession. Visiting organiza-
tions from Stamford, Riverside, Green-
wich and East Port Chester joined in
the celebration given under the aus-
pices of the Sound Beach Association,
whose able president, Dr. A. E. Austin,
labored indefatigably. Fred Binney, as
secretary, did a large share of the work.
At 11 a. m. the divisions assembled

the Seventh Company of Stamford and
Twelfth Company of Greenwich, C. A.
C, were in command of Capt. Foord
and Capt. Eugene Nestor. The River-
side Reserves, a fine-appearing body of
men, marched well. It was their first
appearance on parade. They were led
by Capt. Reginald Reynolds, and num-
bered about 70 men, among them prom-
inent citizens of Riverside. They were
armed with night sticks. The Green-
wich special police wore the drab uni-
form of the Home Defense Guard and
carried police sticks. They are a well-

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

59

drilled body of men, numbering- about
£5, and were led by H. H. Adams, Jr.
Like the Riverside Reserves it was
their first appearance in the parade.
The Sound Beach Home Guard num-
bered about 70, and were led by Lieut.
C. D. Potter. They carried their new
rifles and marched like soldiers. It
was their first appearance on parade in
uniform.

The East Port Chester Boy Scouts,
50 in number, were led by Capt. Fran-
cis J. McGuiness. The Boy Scouts of
Riverside, with Scoutmaster Raymond
Bowen, and the Sound Beach Boy
Scouts in charge of Scoutmaster Clar-
ence Crandall, carried troop flags.
Messrs. Nedley and Moore marched as
drummer boys with an East Port Ches-
ter division. A color detail, F. S. Knox,
George Gisborne and George MacDon-
ald. had the American flag in the center
and the flags of France and Great Bri-
tain upon either side.

Members of Lombard Camp, Sons of
Veterans, under Commander William
Peck, numbered about 40. Members of
the G. A. R. rode in five automobiles.

An interesting feature of the parade
was the appearance of the Red Cross
local chapter and the Riverside First
Aid Corps. The ladies wore the regu-
lation Red Cross dress, and were led
by Mrs. J. A. Graham, Mrs. A. E.
Austin, Mrs. Edwin Binney and Mrs.
G. A. Horsey. The two corps num-
bered 100 or over. The East Port
Chester First Aid Corps was under the
leadership of Miss Neidedmeier, and
wore the girl scout dress.

Ten Sound Beach girls carried a large
American flag. They were Helen
Downey, Elizabeth Sanger, Elizabeth
Brundage, Ethel Offen, Mabel Nava-
rette. Iris Navarette, Charlotte Man-
sell, Grace McGowan, Hazel Potter and
Jessie Palmer.

Members of the Sound Beach Fire
Department and Sound Beach Fire and
Police Patrol had the rear of the pro-
cession. The leaders were Chief Albert
Palmer, Assistant Chief Frank Gis-
borne, First Lieut. E. Benjamin Lock-
wood., Capt. Stewart Potter, and Sec-
ond Lieut. Bert Lockwood. The fire-
truck followed the firemen. The new
machine gun and motor truck of the
Greenwich special police were also in
the parade.

Music was played by Kearney's
band, the Greenwich Band and the
Maple Fife and Drum Corps of Stam-
ford. It was the first appearance on
parade of the Greenwich Band, whose
director is Norman Hunt. Mr. Carey
led the band yesterday.

The procession was reviewed at the
corner of Lockwood Avenue and Sound
Beach Avenue by Greenwich officials.
First Selectman Newton S. Johnson,
Road Commissioner N. A. Knapp, Reg-
istrar Cameron, Dr. Austin of The
Sound Beach Association, and James
T. Dougherty, president of the East
Port Chester Civic League, were in the
reviewing-stand. When the parade
reached ArcAdiA, the divisions marched
into a large lot and formed in rectangu-
lar formation about the speaker's plat-
form. Capt. Samuel K. Thomas, marshal
of the parade, gave orders at the assem-
bly here.

Ceremonies at ArcAdiA.

Rev. L. W. Barney offered prayer.
Kearney's Band played "America,"
and all joined in singing. Judge C. H.
Martin, the speaker of the day, was in-
troduced by Dr. Austin, who spoke
briefly, thanking the ladies and the
visiting organizations for their able as-
sistance. He delivered a message
"straight from the War Department,"
that those present should not forget the
Liberty bonds. Hon. Charles J. Mar-
tin of Orange is one of the ablest speak-
ers in the Legislature. He advocated
the liberal Sunday law, and it was prin-
cipally through his efforts that it came
near success. His address yesterday
was full of patriotic fervor.

"This great nation of ours," said he,
"seems to be now a cordon of loving
hearts, with hands outstretched to aid
those in distress, and bound up in the
grand idea of one common country."

After describing the process of climb-
ing in Switzerland, he said :

"And so we find a parallel case in
the ties of the constitution of our coun-
try, and the Stars and Stripes, which
bind us together as a nation. We know
some of the parts may be weak, but as
a nation they are protected and held in
a common cause. It was the union of
the thirteen colonies which originally
made the American nation. It was the
union of these colonies, under one flag,
by act of Congress in 1777. which made

6o

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

us a nation under one flag, and a great
flag, before the entire world.

"And why should this flag stir your
hearts and make your spirit burn with-
in you? Because immortal honor hangs
alike in every square inch of its fabric."

He traced the origin of the flag, and
recounted occasions where it has stood
for the right.

"In 1916 it went into the country of
Mexico for the protection of the Ameri-
can citizen, and in 1917 we again find it
entering into the great world war in
defensive of democracy. It has been
stormed at with shot and shell, and
torn to tatters in a hundred battles,
but it has always waved for freedom.

"We are at present in a world-war
death-grapple, and we are like the
Christian knight who went forth armed

unity of individuals and of State. We
must appreciate that to accomplish any
result of merit entails sacrifice. And
so it is for you and for men to take
up our part in this great world-war,
and, whether we be at the front or at
home, to see, as true patriots, that we
do our part for the success of our coun-
try, and for the success of the cause,
knowing and realizing that those who
blazed the way in earlier days suffered
and sacrificed much that we might live
as we do today ; and so we, at this time,
must suffer and sacrifice much that we
might live as we do today ; and so we,
at this time must suffer and sacrifice
for the benefit of those who, in the
future, will live under that great and
glorious flag, the Red, White and
Blue."

THE CEREMONIES AT ARCADIA.

cap-a-pie to succor the oppressed and to
bind up the wounds of the stricken.
We have no purpose of territorial ag-
grandizement ; we have no aim for empty
glory ; we have no cruel pride in the su-
preme knowledge of strength, but we
stand for the right in this world war, as
God gives us to know the right."

He mentioned the lessons which the
flag suggested — white for purity, pure
and incorruptible citizenship, honesty
and charity, red for love, and a symbol
of blood which every true patriot
should be willing to shed for his coun-
try ; the stars are symbols of light and
heavenly protection.

"And now my friends, as we are as-
sembled here today," said Judge Mar-
tin, "we must reflect upon the good
that has been accomplished by the

Raising the Flag.

Following Judge Martin's address,
Capt. Thomas summoned a color detail
comprising Fred McDonald, J. A. Hall
and George Cornish of the Home
Guard. The American flag resently
presented to ArcAdiA by Senator Mc-
Lean was then slowly raised on an 80-
foot steel flag-pole. "The Star Span-
gled Banner" was played. As the flag,
which had been carefully furled, reach-
ed the masthead, a salute was fired,
and the flag gracefully unfurled to the
breeze, while the crowd applauded.
Rev. Dr. Barney pronounced benedic-
tion.

A luncheon was then served to about
500 by a committee of ladies, of which
Mrs. Edwin Binney, Mrs. G. Horsey
and Mrs. A. E. Austin were at the
head.

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

61

Before the parade, veterans with
school children visited the graves in
Sound Beach and decorated them with

Hags and flowers.

Summer Showers.

BY CAROLINE CLARK HINTON, ATLANTA, GA.

Summer showers that fall like
Mist of early morning dew,
Bathing all in sky-veiled tears;
Recreating old for new.

Summer thoughts full-blown and scarred,
Spring and youth so far away.
Tears fall softly with regrets;
Tomorrow has its day!

The Painted Fields.
We motored, on a Summer day,
The smiling country through;
There were woods, and streams, and mea-
dows fair,
And hills, with distant view.

An artist, just before, had passed,
Whose influence long would lurk;

For canvasses she chose the fields,
We saw her finished work.

Her paletteful of brilliant tints
Had been transferred to earth;

Arresting in their vividness,
Of none was there a dearth.

The primal colors all were seen,

And we could well surmise,
A rainbow had enwrapped the earth,

To dazzle mortal eyes.

There were ruby gleams of sunset fires,

And the purple of the hills,
And "-o1d was used so lavishly,

It ran in little rills.

While some slopes glowed like burning
coals,

S lil others swam in light,
And some were like the evening sky,
All violet and white.

And more were as the ripened grain,

When ready for the scythe;
While others were with gay "red-top"

And gypsy clover blithe.

For shadows there were grasses dark,

And in the shaded light,
The day-stars of the daisies gleamed

Like the silver ones of night.

October we'd been wont to call
The month of brilliant dyes,

And here were all her hues, and more,
Before our wondering eyes.

Oh June, thou art a wizard month,
We thought we knew thee well,

And here thou holdest us entranced
Beneath a bran-new spell!

— Emma Peirce.

The Plans for Little Japan from Japan.

The plans for Little Japan, especial-
ly those for the gate-like entrance to
the Rest Cottage, were sent to us by
Y. Hirase, President of The Hirase
Conchological Museum, Karasumaru,

SHO NIPPON OR LITTLE JAPAN.

Kyoto, Japan. Mr. Hirase has for many
years been an active member of The
Agassiz Association. He writes as
follow.- :

"It is very kind of you to carry out
such a plan for the sake of our country.
We highly appreciate your warm sym-
pathy with our country and its people.

"1 have seen the picture of the gate
you designed yourself after a Japanese
shrine entrance, which we call 'torii' in
our tongue. The 'torii' is a sort of gate

62

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

at the entrance to a 'Shinto' shrine in
Japan. There are various kinds. Some
have small tablets of various forms in
the middle above. Some are very plain
and the others very showy and charm-
ing.

"Enclosed please find a sheet of pa-
per on which 'Little Japan' is written
in Japanese characters. My friend,
Mr. Tokuta Yamada, has Written it.
He writes the best hand in Kyoto.

"The Japanese for 'Little Japan' is
pronounced 'Sho Nihon' or 'Sho Nip-
pon.' "

The accompanying is the Japanese
for "Little Japan" written especially
for us by Mr. Yamada.

Accident to Professor Brown.

Professor Henry W. Brown of Col-
by College, founder of the Wantonoit
Club, a nature organization which has
selected The Guide; to Nature; as its
official organ, has recently been seriously
injured in an automobile accident in
the White Mountains. Professor Brown
had been giving inspirational addresses
before a New Hampshire Y. M. C. A.
convention at North Conway and was
stricken down by a recklessly driven ma-
chine, suffering two bone breaks and
other injuries. He is at the Sisters' Hos-
pital, Waterville, Maine, and hopes by
July to be able to go on with his Wanto-
noit activities at Beckett and elsewhere.

Supplication.

BY RICHARD WALTHAM HANES, STAMFORD, CONN.

Dear Lord, please let me grow to be,

Each year, more like unto a tree.

For while it ever heavenward grows,

The wind of fate through its branches
blows;

Still each season it strives to be

More beautiful, dear Lord, for Thee.

When winds of age have passed it by,
It stands against the sunset sky —
A warrior in coat of gray,
Watching the night embrace the day.
So dear Lord, help me strive to be
A stalwart sentinel for Thee.

Mother Nature's Smiles.
The flowers have come into their own,"

Evolved from earth by Springtime wiles;
How cheery, after Winter's flown! —

For flowers are Mother Nature's Smiles.

— Emma Peirce.

From Over Eighty Years Young.

West Gloucester, Mass.
To the Editor :

On this bright, March morning, I
have been reading the latest issue of
The Guide to Nature, in which I found
an unusual number of interesting ar-
ticles and two fine poems, "Time's
Symphony" and "The Sequence," both
of which appealed to the best and the
purest within my soul. Annie F. Mey-
er's letter claimed special attention.
Only two weeks in the whole year to be
out of the city, and yet yearning day
by day for a sight of the woods, for a
tramp over the hills, and eager for a
glimpse of a bluebird, a hermit thrush
and other birds and longing to hear
their melodious music.

>!: % $z ^c ^c

I wish that every human being that
seeks with ardent desire and finds a
revelation of the Divine Creator in
each leaf and bud and flower and bird
could have the glorious month of June
in which to watch and to welcome the
birds and enjoy the outcropping of leaf,
bud and blossom on the trees of the
forest and beside the roadways. And
this true lover of nature ought to have
as her "inalienable right," the month
of September.

"Whose golden days,
Serenely still, intensely bright,
Fade on the umbered hills away,
And melt into the coming night."

Nature is ever an open book to minds
attuned aright. No blots or misstate-
ments mar its pages.

By the last of May we are sure to
find not only that Mother Nature has
spread her green carpet, but has also
decorated it with lady's slippers, ane-
mone, arbutus( bird's-foot violet and
other early blossoms.

Emerson says, "There is a guidance
for each one of us and by lowly listen-
ing we shall hear and receive the right
messages."

After more than eighty years of life,
I have found that the right place for
listening is in some sequestered nook
of nature's vast temple where are hid
treasures of wisdom and knowledge and
where Mother Nature, the monitor, is
always ready to incline her own listen-
ing ear and to impart wonderful know-

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 63

ledge. With advancing years I still THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION.

hear YEARLY CASH REPORT.

"The harp at Nature's advent strung (Accepted by the Board of Trustees at the

That has never ceased to play; ' Annual Meetin* on Ma^ a8' I9I7-)

And the song the stars of morning sung Summary— Cash Received.

Has never died away. April 1, 1916, to March 31, 1917 inclusive.

So Nature keeps the reverent frame From The Guide to Nature $3,948.22

With which her years began, From Contributions to Payment of

And all her signs and voices shame Debt on the Land 1,296.00

The prayerless heart of man." From Contributions to Little Japan.. 323.00

(Airs. J Maria Hkrkick Bray. From Members' Dues, Contributions,

etc 1,571.57

Hurrah for Governor Holcomb! ^ ,

c+ , , n . Total $7,138.79

Stamford, Connecticut. Note: For the pavment of the debt

To the Editor: on the land of $1,250, not only

I am calling your attention to the tne total was contributed but

latest sample of our Governor Hoi- enough additional to cover the ac-

1 > . j j. j 1 • crued interest of $8 83 and the ex-

combs up-to-dateness, despite his penses of the printing and corres-

seventy years, hmding myself unable pondence in obtaining this aid and

to obtain a team to plow, as I had de- to give a small surplus to the gen-

termined to do my bit and plant two eraI expenses of the Association.

acres of corn on a neighbor's farm, I Summary — Cash Paid.

wrote the Governor suggesting that APriI *• 1916. to March 31. 1917, inclusive.

teams be released from road repairing For The Guide to Nature $4,201.11

or construction whenever the horses For Debt on the Land 1,258.83

were needed for plowing. For Little Japan 172.96

Presto ! In about three days the mat- For General Expenses and Improve-

ter had been adjusted with the High- ments 1,505.89

way Commissioner and my suggestion,

framed in a note to all selectmen in the Total ....'..- $7,138.79

state and overseers on state roads, Auditors' Statements.

reached me by way of the Committee The above is a correct summary of cash re-

on Food Supply. In a few hours a reived and paid from April 1, 1916, to March

11 lVl/ itir 1191VP

man whose team had been on road (Signed) Edward p BlG

work was turning the sod for my corn Sound Beach_ Connecticut.

crop. Hurrah for Holcomb and old Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th

Connecticut, where the corn yield per day of May, 1917.

acre has surpassed that of any other (Signed) Harry C. Frost

, 1 J Notarv Public,
state !

5fC *fc ^ 5K -fc

Charles H. Craxdall. c' , . _

Stamford, Connecticut.

This is to certifv that I have examined the

An interesting scientific monograph details of which the foregoing is a summary

on a natural history subject is Dr. and find all to be correct.

Glover M. Allen's "The Whalebone (Signed) Clinton R Fisher.

Whales of New England "brought out Subscribed and ^^Heforete 5*8*

by the Boston Society of Natural His- day of May, 1917.

tory. In addition to the usual careful (Signed) Clarence E. Thompson,

description, involving six species, the Notary Public,

author includes a great deal of interest- *****

ing fact on the history of local whale T have examined the books of record and

fisheries; together with practical di- ^count of the AA for the year ending March

c •■* .'c • 11 31, 1917, and find that thev have been properlv

rections for identifying any stranded kept and in mv opinion -all the expenditures

specimen that can be examined closely, have been made to the best interest of the

and also for any creature seen in its Association. The payment of the remaining

native element, where little can be indebtedness on the land is especially gratify-

made out except the general size and mg' ,_. <N TT _ _

1 ,i_ 1 1 r- r £ .1 (Signed) Hiram E. Deats,

shape, the back fin, the form of the Mevmb8er of Board of Trustees.

spout and the characteristic action. Aiay 28, 1917.

64

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Contributions for Little Japan.

Mrs. C. O. Miller, Stamford . . $ 10.00

Honorable Zenas Crane, Dal-
ton, Mass. (Increase — total
$125.00) 75°°

Mr. Samuel P. Avery, Hart-
ford, Conn 50.00

Mr. Arthur A. Carey, Wal-
tham, Mass. (Increase —
total $50.00) 25.00

J. H. Kellogg, M. D., Battle

Creek, Michigan 10.00

J. R. Evans & Company, Stam-
ford, Conn 5.00

Mr. J. L. Cochrane, Sound

Beach 2.00

Mr. Frank W. Howard, Sound

Beach 2.00

$179.00
Previously acknowledged . . 550.00

Total $729.50

For Growth and Efficiency.
Waterside School, Stamford . . $ 5.00
Mr. G. E. Dodge, Sound Beach 5.00

Special Gift 30.00

Mr. Fitch A. Hoyt, Stamford.. 2.00
Dr. S. S Goldwater, New York

City 5.00

Mr. L. C. Root, Stamford .... 5.00
Major Samuel K. Thomas,

Sound Beach 5.00

Miscellaneous Contributions.

Mr. Clyde T. Ford, Sound Beach:
Shell from Avalon.

Mr. E. Hartwright, Sound Beach :
Rhinoceros beetle (Dyuastcs tityrus) .

Mr. Benjamin Wilson, Stamford:
Burl — a wood frog and several small
salamanders.

Mr. Arthur Hanson (Member of
Battery F), Stamford: Cactus from El
Paso.

Mrs. James F Walsh, Greenwich:
Luna Moth.

Mrs. Charles W. Ford, Sound Beach :
Interesting specimen of fasciated aspa-
ragus.

Mrs. Louise Marion, Shippan, Stam-
ford : Small alligator.

Mrs. Cornelia M. D. Peck, Sound
Beach : Globe of the heavens, in stand-
ard.

Mr. Leon Scofield (Member of Bat-
tery F), Stamford: Specimens of shrap-
nel, Mexican opals, Mexican money
and postals and specimen pertaining to
Mexican bullfights.

Mrs. Grace Lee Smidt, Sound Beach:
Double hen's egg.

The Misses Margaret and Esther
Ferris, Sound Beach: Mounted speci-
men of parula warbler and of yellow
warbler.

Honorable George P. McLean, Unit-
ed States Senate, Washington, D. C. :
Sixteen foot wool bunting flag.

The Sound Beach Association,
Sound Beach : An eighty foot steel flag
pole dedicated with elaborate cere-
monies May 30th.

The Agassiz Association is doing a
great work and should be encouraged
to continue it and enlarge it as fast as
financial resources will permit. I only
regret that the considerable expense
incident to putting oneself through
the University has prevented me from
contributing liberally to your funds.
Perhaps I may be able to do so in the
future.

The Guide to Nature has alwavs been
a source of real delight to me. My lit-
tle sister also derives a great deal of
pleasure from reading it, and eagerly
watches the mail each month, when
the new number is due. — William J.
Blackburn, Jr., Columbus, Ohio.

Please remember this educational uplifting work in making your will.

Jfform of Hrqurat to ttjr AsHoriatinn

/ hereby give and bequeath to The Agass'iz Association, an incorporated
association, having its principal executive office at ArcAdiA, in Sound Beach,
in the town of Greemvich, Connecticut, the sum of dollars.

EMM

IPfeg^JBi

GREENWICH

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

DO NOT LEAVE FURS, WOOL-
ENS OR VALUABLE RUGS FOR
MOTHS TO RUIN. PLACE THEM
IN OUR DRY AIR COLD STOR-
AGE VAULT. THE CHARGES
ARE REASONABLE.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

GREENWICH

CONN.

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
tn all locations.

Would be pleased to have you call or write.

Tel. 456

Laurence Timmons

Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

The Best Scientific Work is Done in the
Small Laboratory with Local Support

(From an Editorial in "The Popular Science Monthly.")

"The most desirable institutions for scientific work would prob-
ably be comparatively small laboratories conducted by the scien-
tific men who work in them It would be

well if such institutions were endowed by the rich, still better if
they were supported by a state or community."

IMO04O

3EIO<

THE GUIDE TO NATURE.— ADVERTISEMENTS.

1

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash, Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

■8

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9492 Gi'r/'j Pajamas, 6 ic 14 years. Price 15 cents.

One-piece pajamas have come to be favorite sleeping
garments. These are thoroughly comfortable and satis-
factory to wear while also they are new and fashionable.
They are so simple that they require no special skill or
ability for the making and the older girls will be glad of
that fact for they can run them up in a short space of
time. Crepe de chine and handkerchief lawn arc favorite
materials, fine batiste and nainsook always are charming
and just now underwear is being made of fine cotton
voile. The body portion and trousers are cut together,
as indicated in the back view, and you can leave the
trousers open or gather into bands and finish them with
frilh. Here, stitched edges make the finish but, if you
like ? daintier effect, you could scallop the collar, the
sleeves and the upper edges of the pockets — perhaps the
belt also.

For the 10-year size will be needed 5 3-8 yards of ma-
terial 27 inches wide, S yards 36.

The pattern No. 9492 is cut in sizes from 6 to 14 years.
It will be mailed to any address by the Fashion Depart-
ment of this magazine on receipt of fifteen cents.

Try

for

That Autumn Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford

Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

GHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

A Local Department.

Pure Water from Nature's Well.

Far away from the maddening
crowds of the city, far from its dust
and smoke, to a field of daisies, by the
tall deciduous trees in close association
with beautiful evergreens, is a bub-
bling spring of superlatively pure
water. The Indians knew it and came
from afar to drink of it and had many
names to describe the excellence of
that water. Then came the early white
settlers and spoke to their grandchil-
dren and great-grandchildren of the
beauties of their wells, but it was us-
ually admitted that it was not fair
thus to compare the Indians' famous
spring. Uncle Jeremiah was once

known to remark, "I bet not one of us
has a well that quite comes up to that
old Indian spring. It is just the clear-
est and purest of any water on earth-"
Uncle Dan admitted that he stopped
there on his way home from town to
fill his jug, for it was better than any
that he could get in town or on his
farm. Uncle Josiah said, "Tell that
boy of mine to hitch up the old nag
twice a day, in the morning and in the
afternoon, and go down and fill all the
jugs with that water known all over
Fairfield County."

Then came the modern business man
and saw that with the combined com-
munities of Stamford, Greenwich and

THE HOME OF PURE WATER.

RAN A GRUMP SAYS

VII

Burdett-McGillvray Company

STAMFORD

ADVOCATE BUILDING

: : : : CONNECTICUT.

Phone 268

STAMFORD'S PROGRESSIVE DRY GOODS STORE

Pictorial Review Patterns. Our Business is Increasing Every Day

We Show the New Goods First. Popular Prices.

Dependable Goods.

the neighboring towns here was a hu-
man need supplied, and with liberal
checks on his bank he did his part by
establishing a well fitted bottling works
for the pure water.

A name, a name, who will give it a
name that will make it famous over all
the world, especially in the old state
of Connecticut? "Varuna" was the
Indian's word for laughing or spark-
ling. So came the name Varuna and
as Varuna the water is known to this
day. Clear, sparkling, bottled water,
pure water bottled in pure air.

With spices and extracts, the best
that man can procure, all sorts of ap-
petizing drinks are made. A name, a
name for our best product of this kind.

' Polo Club " was suggested, so Polo
Club and Varuna are the distinctive
words that suggest delicious flavors
added to the clear, undiluted Varuna,
or mingled with such delightful ex
tracts as ginger, sarsaparilla, lemon
soda, birch beer, root beer and others
to delight the palate and quench the
thirst on a warm day.

Long may Varuna flow and supply
the households of Stamford^ Green-
wich and vicinity.

Far the Better Half.

Smith — "How's everything at your
house?"

Brown— "Oh. she's all right .'"—Life.

-=7-5*

A VIEW OF VARUNA DELIGHTFUL DRINKS.

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE

PREPARE-

Established 49 Years

: : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

-FOR— FALL— NEEDS— EARLY.

Reports all indicate that many lines of merchandise will be difficult to secure on reorders. We offer
at this time the largest stock of merchandise we have ever carried, in the largest variety and most careful
selection.

We have foreseen the conditions and planned accordingly.

We are therefore in a position to ask you to consider early selection at this store as an advantage not
to be overlooked.

CARPETS— RUGS— LINOLEUM— DRAPERIES— AND— HOUSEHOLD— LINES WILL BE FOUND

OF SPECIAL INTEREST.
DELIVERIES— IN— SOUND— BEACH— EVERY— AFTERNOON.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE

STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEQETMAN&JUDD CO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Qrade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE 5T. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks, Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,

W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETM AN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

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SB

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Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
All Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

SOUND BEACH

97

SOUND BEACH

It is a Sound Beach, thoroughly sound
in every particular needed to make an
ideal community. Its soundness is
generally recognized, not only because
it is located on the beautiful Long Is-
land Sound with a wide expanse of at-
tractive beach, but it is sound in its
community spirit ; sound in its high
class hotels ; sound in one of the best
boarding houses to be found anywhere
along the coast ; sound in its efficient
and spiritual churches ; sound in the
good scholarship and the pedagogy of
its schools ; sound in the possession of
one of the best fire companies in the
United States for a community of its
size or even for one much larger ; sound
in its various supply houses, stores,
new post office building ; sound in its
equipment for sending sounds to every
resident in a new and thoroughly
equipped telephone exchange opened
in May, 1917.

Sound Beach is sound in the sound-
ness that accompanies ideal golf links,
a clubhouse, automobile facilities, spa-
cious grounds, picturesque scenery, en-
ticing ravines, yes, even an artistic ra-
vine in a golf course. Who ever heard
of such a thing? But here it is, not onlv
one of the natural obstacles but one of
the natural invitations. Here the busi-
ness man of New York City finds the
quiet and the beauty in sharp contrast
to the turmoil of Broadway and Wall
Street. N,o longer the clang of cars
and other discordant noises, but the
hills, the lakes and the fields, the song
of the wood thrush among the trees,
and the call of good cheer from his
jovial comrades.

It would be difficult to find elsewhere
in the state of Connecticut, or perhaps
in any other rural community, so much
of wild and primitive country, so many
picturesque roads and such scenery as,
for example, is exemplified in its
unique Laddin's Rock Farm. Where
in all the world can one find so magni-
ficent an estate so unselfishly and cor-
dially— yes, beautifully — devoted to the
services of the public as this property
of Mr. William L. Marks? A stranger
would find it difficult to realize it to
be a private estate ; it would tax his

credulity if asked to believe that the
place is — not under community owner-
ship.

Sound in that unique institution, Ar-
cAdiA, which is willing not only to take
everybody to the beach and to tell them
of the interests available there, but to
ground them and help them in their
knowledge of every other phase off
nature.

The world may well be challenged*
to show an institution equivalent to<
that of ArcAdiA in its wild and pictur-
esque scenery, extending to the finest
concrete road in the region, and to the
railroad station and trolley line. Here
is a beautiful grove well equipped in its
Little Japan for use of church or school.
Here are trees eleven feet in circum-
ference. Here are more than five hun-
dred white birches growing as we ex-
pect to find them growing far from
thickly settled centers. Here are huc-
kleberry bushes that are really high,
for they tower upward for twelve feet,
densely laden with their bloom, rnd a
few weeks later with the lucious ber-
ries. Here grow the shy cardinal'
flower and the dainty lance-leaved vio-
let, not the ordinary white violet
found elsewhere, but the rare and
dainty kind that covers the ground
with a rich carpet of green leaves and'
white blossoms.

And last but not least sound in The-
Sound Beach Association, an ideal lo-
cal organization for keeping the ideals
of community life at the highest stand-
point and for putting those ideals into
practice.

In every direction away from the
Sound are lots awaiting the builder.
Let us sound the keynote to the people
everywhere, and invite them to Sound
Beach. Here the most beautiful build-
ing sites have been utilized to best pos-
sible advantage by skilled architects,
carpenters, plumbers and painters. The
new residences are adapted to every
grade of pocketbook and size of family,
and make this an ideal place of resi-
dence, one in which it is easy to secure
and establish a thoroughly modern
home. Few- country communities have
better railroad facilities. Sound Beach

98

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

offers ideal conveniences not only for
the one whose interests center in it,
but for those with business in the Great
Metropolis.

Sound Beach on Long Island Sound
My summer home shall be;

Or, better far, all the year around,
And that sounds good to me.

Sound Beach is sound in being in the
heyday of its community life It has
passed the primitive, rudimentary
stage. It has not yet become decayed
or fossilized. It stands for 191 7, with
rich memories of the past and tremen-
dous possibilities for the future. It is
■estimated that there are more than
three hundred acres of well located ter-
ritory in which one may discern the
seed of future building lots and happy
homes. Sound Beach is not only grow-
ing but has tremendous possibilities of
growth

Yes, Sound Beach is sound in what
it proclaims itself to be — a community
of homes, of genial residents — and to
this Elysian abode of earnest, happy
workers, we extend both hands in cor-
-dial welcome. Come ; know and love
Sound Beach, as we who live here have
known and loved it for many years.

Ice Cream Easily Carried.

More and more the Sound Beach
people and those in the remote parts of
Stamford are learning that ice cream
can be carried in a small hand package
on account of the excellent method of
packing and the firmness of the cream
obtained at Embree's Drug Store,
Stamford. This cream is the famous
"Harris Hart" make and is of supe-
rior quality. Mr. Embree is having an
enormous and rapidly increasing busi-
ness in handling this cream.

If thou art worn and hard beset

With sorrows that thou would'st for-

prpt

If thou would'st learn a lesson that will

keep
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul

from sleep.
Go to the woods and hills ; — No tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.

-Longfellow.

.The Old and the New in Dentistry..

It is forty years ago and more since
I had a tooth extracted. That dread-
ful event dates back to the awful days
of the old-time dentistry. In my vi-
cinity a German barber practised den-
tistry as a side issue. In the early
days a barber combined hair cutting
with the practice of surgery and den-
tistry, and even in the more recent
days of my boyhood the combination
had yet not entirely disappeared.

As a boy I looked upon a dentist as
a fiendish ogre. I knew that some-
where in the back room he had a pile
of forceps and turnkeys, cruel instru-
ments for lifting out teeth, with many
other surgical instruments, some of
them, at least in my imagination, ap-
proaching in size the tongs used by my
acquaintance, the blacksmith. I had
seen the blacksmith's muscular arm
grasp his huge tongs and pull the
glowing iron from the forge and
pound it so that I and the other chil-
dren fled from the shop in dismay as
the fiery sparks flew in every direction.
I held that blacksmith, who frequently
chased me from the shop, in the fas-
cination that comes from terror and
awe.

The German dentist kept his sleeves
rolled up and he had a similarly mus-
cular arm ; if anything it was a little
more gigantic and apparently more ef-
fective of results. I felt through the
law of association that this huge
"Fritz," when he nulled a tooth, would
grasp the tongs from his prolific heap
and that the sparks would fly when the
molar left it- socket. That tooth in
my imagination was about the size of
a stump in the pasture lot. I knew
that when the awful event should take
place everybody would run as I had
run from the flying sparks. But let
me draw the curtain over the awful
scene which now shifts, after four de-
cades, to a modern dentist's office.

It is a long, long way from my boy-
hood on the farm to the modern den-
tist's city office, but the associations
of the past cluster about the city- When
1 called on the genial dentist and found
him attired in his white suit, T could
only think of "Fritz," and when he
said, "Excuse me for a moment," and
disappeared into the rear room I knew
he had gone for the blacksmith's

A LOCAL DEPARTMENT

99

tongs. I was in no haste, except to
get away, and when in came a woman
with an agonizing toothache, and the
dentist said, "Yon can wait a little
longer, can yon not?" I acquiesced,
expecting every minute to hear shrieks
from the victim in the chair. As I
waited, I heard the woman and the
dentist talking cheerfully as if she had
come for a social meeting. He even
told a funny story and she laughed. I
supposed he had told that story a
thousand times preliminary to getting
in his deadly work. He knew I was
sitting only a few feet distant and
waiting for those tongs, but he fussed
around with a hottle as if he were per-
fuming her mouth and then disappear-
ed in the back room to return in a few
minutes with a hypodermic syringe.
While I was expecting the shrieks the
victim said, "Thank you, doctor, verv
much : I did not know you had taken
it out."

No. I did not faint. I was anxious
to escape the funny story and said,
"Doctor, if you can extract this big
tooth without pain to me, you shall
h?ve the finest notice you have ever
had. You cannot make me believe
the" vou removed that woman's toot1"*
without nain to her. She kn°w T ^-as
here. She kept silent to show her
bravery."

In the meanwhile the doctor had
brought out that bottle. He said that
it did not contain cocaine but some-
thing better. I knew that somewhere
in his coat he had the tongs. He
started in to say, "Did I ever tell vou

about ' and T knew this was to lie

the old story and tried to head him
off, but he continued, "Did I ever tel1
yon about that new local anaesthetic
made from a coal tar product?" "No."
I said, "you didn't." "Did I under-
stand vou," he said, "to tell me that
if I extracted your tooth so yon would
not feel it vou would write me a good
notice?" "Yes." I said- "You may
call yourself a painless dentist but vou
cannot work on my imagination to
that extent; you cannot hypnotize me
into thinking that something is that is
noy pivl something is not that is-"
"Well." be said presentlv, "I will try
to deserve that notice. You may now
go home and write it." "Oh." I said,
"take out that tooth. You are eettine

to the end of my patience with your
nonsense. Take it out." "There it is,"
he said. "Carry it home, and look at it
as you write that notice." And it was
even so. The tooth was out. He said
he would. I said I would. He did his
part. I have done mine. His name is
Dr. W. H. Pomeroy, of Stamford,
Connecticut, and I am so delighted
that I could sing a song, "It's a long,
long wray, not from Tipperary, but
from the rotund ogre, Fritz, to the
genial and painless Dr. Pomeroy."

An Expensive Fishing Trip.

An ardent fisherman was President
Cleveland, and a writer in the New
York Sun says of him that he enjoyed
angling for the fish that would not bite
quite as much as he did for those that
would. While fishing one day, dressed
in oil-skins and a slouch hat, he was
addressed by an angler garbed in the
height of piscatorial fashion with:

Hello, boatman!. You've certainly
got a good catch. What will you take
for the fish?"

"I'm not selling them," replied the
man in oil-skins.

"Well," continued the persistent ang-
ler, "what do you want to take me out
fishing to-morrow?"

Mr. Cleveland, who was plainly en-
joying the joke, replied. "I can't make
any engagement except by the season.
Will you give me as much as I made
last year?"

"You're a sharp fellow," replied the
angler, "but a good fisherman, and I'll
accept your terms. What did you make
last year?"

"Oh," replied Mr. Cleveland, "about
a thousand dollars a week ! I was
President of the United States." —
Youth's Companion.

The best thing is to go from Nature's
God down to Nature ; and if yon once
get to Nature's God and believe Him,
and love Him, it is surprising how easy
it is to hear music in the waves, and
songs in the wild whisperings of the
winds ; to see God everywhere in the
stones, in the rocks, in the rippling
brooks, and hear Him even-where.—
C. H. Spurgeon.

IOO

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Our Salamander from Glenbrook.

On page 389 of our magazine for
May, we published an announcement
of a rare salamander obtained by Mr-
Halbert Phillips through the boys'
Glenbrook Chapter of The Agassiz As-
sociation. This salamander has at-
tracted much attention at Arc VdiA.
At present it is in good condition.

OUR GLENBROOK SALAMANDER.

We are indebted to "Aquatic Life"
of Philadelphia, and to Dr. R. W. Shu-
feldt of Washington, for our illustra-
tion of the spotted salamander. These
reptiles seem to be almost unknown to
the majority of people, or when seen
they are called lizards, but there are no
lizards in this vicinity. I am wonder-
ing why this is so. Salamanders are
far more famous than lizards, but a
salamander on sight is called a lizard.
This is an interesting question, because
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
the person speaking never saw a lizard.

In bringing this particular specimen
on the trolley car from Stamford, it
was shown to a few people who all
shuddered as if it were something fear-
some, although there is not a single dis-
agreeable thing about the little crea-
ture. Why is it that all down the ages
there have been so many erroneous
notions as to such an inoffensive form
of animal life?

"Aquatic Life" from whom we bor-
rowed the cut says :

"In Europe during mediaeval times
the salamanders bore an undeserved
sinister reputation. Many strange
powers were ascribed to the inoffensive
little animals. One of the old writers
advises anyone bitten by a salamander
to betake himself to the 'coffin and
winding-sheet,' and adds that the vic-
tim needs as many doctors as the sala-
mander has spots ! This creature was
also thought to be able to withstand
fire. Aristotle mentions this myth on
hearsay, but Pliny actually tried the
experiment and put a salamander into
a fire. He remarks with evident sur-
prise that it was burnt to a powder!
Even in our enlightened country the
salamander is thought poisonous by
the illiterate- It seems needless to add
that all our eastern species are entirely
harmless. Only one makes any at-
tempt at self defense. The Purple
Salamander, says Cope, snaps fiercely
but harmlessly and throws its body
into contortions in terror."

Penvenuto Cellini (in his fascinating
autobiography) tells in detail of an ex-
perience with a salamander in the fire.

A back translation of a work on
natural history — English into German
and then German into English — -is
responsible for the statement that cer-
tain birds "feed upon eggs which the
fishermen lay." The original had it
"water boatmen." The author is said
to have been aroused by the tread of
roiiie large animal, leaped from his bed
nnd taken down his "back shutters."
It was his "breechloaders !"

You should love your neighbor as yourself.
And nature is your neighbor:

Spontaneous must the feeling be,
And not akin to labor!

— Emma Peirce.

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA- Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Vol

ume

X

SEPTEMBER, 1917

Number 4

Harmony of the Wild with the Formal.
Most of us love either the wild or the
formal but the qualities developed in
each appeal to extremes of our nature.
The evolutionist tells us that we like
the wild because that affection is a

remnant of primitive man. The love
of the untamed, tangled thicket, the
picturesque rock and the yawning ra-
vine "harks back" to our remote an-
cestors who lived amid these objects
and scenes and the recollections remains

VV-.7;

^V**ftf

A HARMONIZING TOUCH OF THE ARTIFICIAL IN THE WILD.

Copyright 1917 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

102

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

STONE STEPS LEAD ENTICINGLY AWAY AND AWAY IN A MAZE OF BEAUTY.

indelibly impressed on our own nerve
cells and on the corpuscles of our red
blood. When we plant our modern
shoe in the print of the moccasin, some
of the Indian's love for the out of
doors would make our brain tingle if
we did not resist it, suppress it and
stay in the house behind closed doors.
The modicum of primitive man in us
is calling, but we deliberately shut him
out.

On the other hand the modern land-
scape gardener tells us that the formal
garden appeals to our appreciation of
regularity, neatness and symmetrical
beauty. The two seem to have few
points in common, yet we must not for-
get that all parts of the earth have their
antipodes, and the more completely
our natures become developed in a
love for the finest aesthetics the more
nearly do we approach the glory of the
full-blown rose and the delicate per-
fection of the original, primitive wild
rose from which its modern successor
has been developed- We often exper-
ience the homesickness of the stranger
in a strange land. We feel that the
human rose has traveled far from these

tangled ravines and picturesque preci-
pices amid which it had its original
home. That spirit that impels a family
to abandon a palatial home in the city
and remove to the recesses of a wild
country is similar to the spirit that im-
pels one psychologically, I think, to
crave relief from the distinctively for-
mal with a return to the wild and the
picturesque. But when we go to that
primitive wildness only, we feel that
we are not doing justice to the modern
man. I know a beautiful estate where
a compromise has been attempted by
having on one side of the house a pri-
mitive wildne-s and on the other side
intense artificiality and formality. But
that does not wholly solve the problem.
The sudden transition is incongruous.
It is a shock. The primitive settlers
of America may have been content to
follow a sip of tea by a nibble of hard
sugar, but modern civilization says,
"No," to such primitive methods. We
prefer a proper blending. But I know
another equally beautiful estate in
which the wild and the cultivated, the
formal and the irregular, have been
mingled in a delightful blending.

HARMONY OF THE WILD AND THE FORMAL

103

There is no psychological incongruity,

no shock to one's nerves.

It is not uncommon to see in the
midst of a well kept lawn a heap of
stones crowned by a flower bed. One
man in Sound Beach has been wise
enough to take a natural ledge of rock
and to surround the summit with a
fringe of stone, and has there placed
a diadem of flowers. The arrangement
appeals to the spectator as a novelty
but, beautiful as it is. praiseworthy as
is the intention, the result is not wholly
satisfactory. One may study a pile of
stone in the center of a well kept lawn
and, as he ponders, the more he will be
disposed to inquire, "Why not cart
away these stones and make the place
all lawn?" When he sees a garden on
the top of a ledge, he feels that
it is about as much out of place as a
dead bird sewed on a woman's hat.
Gardens do not grow on ledges, and
birds do not naturally roost on milli-
nery. The greater the departure from
the natural and from the eternal fit-
ness of things, the greater is the men-
tal shock.

With these thoughts in mind, the

editor roamed about the delightful
premises of Luke Vincent Lockwood
at Riverside, Connecticut. Here are
bits of the formal interspersed amid the
primitive wildness of ledges, pools,
brooks, lakes, with even that wildest
of all wild plants, our Connecticut state
flower, the mountain laurel, the Kalmia
latifolia. The place looks right. It is
pleasing. It gives one a feeling of hap-
piness, even the naturalist accustomed
to the exploration of the wild and to
the finding of Kalmia in the sanctum
sanctorum of nature. Here its delight-
ful little white umbrellas, cups, sau-
cers, as the children call them, add a
pleasing touch of perfection and of con-
trast to this rock garden.

Here is no graded walk nor walk of
cinders nor of comminuted bluestone
flagging. The path is suggestive of
that that every country boy knows
when he goes barefoot on a frosty
morning into the pasture and steps
along from stone to stone. It is evi-
dent that the owner, as well as the
landscape architect who helped him,
appreciates the beauty of a stone pas-
ture. Its beauty can be developed

.4 lit - 1 ■ ■ *■ -S ' ; ' - ••* - " ■■*. —-* ■ -"' - 7

rV '<£.:.. «4£t -V*' *;■ V'2 -'

LOVELY LINES OF LAUREL LIXOER BY THE LANE.

104

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

THE HOME OF LUKE VINCENT LOCKWOOD, RIVERSIDE, CONNECTICUT.

artificially only through unusual skill,
the attempt to duplicate artificially
such a natural thing is almost impious.
Mr. Shedd of Greenwich, skillful
writer of aphorisms, several years ago
wrote this suggestive sentence, "If you
can't have a tiger, get a cat." Another
of the editor's friends says, "If you
can't have a lake and waterfowl, get a
frog pond and a goose" A valuable
principle is enshrined within these
aphorisms. I would not envy a man
with a big lake and many waterfowl if
I had a frog pond and one goose, but
there is a more satisfactory middle
ground that Mr. Lockwood appears to
have discovered unaided. He has taken
a small brook and developed not a
creek but an interesting ravine that of-
fers all the brook's value from the artis-
tic, aesthetic and soul satisfying point
of view. The lake is not large, but its
landscape value gives it the effect of
size. He has skilfully developed and
widened the little brook into a pictur-
esque, embroidered pool of rather ela-
borate dimensions, fern embroidered.

flower sprinkled, satisfying. A charm-
ing effect has been secured by a clear
space kept as a perfect lawn, yet in
close proximity to a natural ravine and
a fern fringed, mimic precipice.

The accompanying illustrations show
only a few aspects of this delightful
rock garden. Mr. Lockwood is to be
congratulated upon having so beauti-
ful a home in so delightful a setting,
where the primitive wild is so pleasing-
ly blended with the formality of the
modern gardener's landscape.

The discussion that has been going
on in "Science" of various syncronized
rythmic actions in groups of the lower
animals has lately brought out the cu-
rious habit of the larvae fall web-worm-
(Hyphantria cunea). Every few min-
utes, the caterpillars start swaying
their bodies from side to side in per-
fect unison, keep it up for a minute or
so, and then stop. No cause yet ap-
pears. This whole field offers an un-
commonly good chance for the ama-
teur observer.

THE PASSING OF THE WILD FLOWERS

105

The Passing of the Wild Flowers.

BY BESSIE L. PUTNAM, CONNEAUT LAKE,
PENNSYLVANIA.

While scientists are lamenting the
total extinction of the passenger pigeon
and other birds, and are foreseeing
a similar fate for still others valuable
to man, it is fitting that a plea be made
for the protection of the wild flowers.
We have a flora rich and in many re-
spects unique. There is a retiring deli-
cacy among American wild flowers
which renders them at once attractive
and, at the same time, more or less de-
pendent upon us for their very exis-
tence. The professional root digger
has decimated plants with real or re-
puted medicinal value, notably the
beautiful bloodroot. But even more
disastrous is the habit of picking the
flowers — just for amusement !

The world seems to be plentifully
supplied with inhabitants that are not
only thoughtless and careless but un-
utterably selfish. Only a few days ago
I saw two immense branches of dog-
wood blossoms adorning the front
porch of one of the finest residences in
Meadville. They extended from the
floor to the top of the door, the spoils
of an automobile raid of the previous
day. Somewhere was left a badly mu-
tilated tree. Why did the vandals leave
any? Why not take all? The country
people are beginning to complain that
automobile riders are despoiling their
fruit trees for the sake of the "beautiful
bouquets," criminally careless of the
fact that for each blossom destroyed an
apple or a peach may be taken from the
year's harvest. The people thus treat-
ed are beginning to mention such
words as powder and shot. The same
words should justly be brought to the
attention of those selfish and careless
automobile riders, as well as others
who destroy our wild flowers for their
own pleasure. Every season brings
with it great bunches of trailing arbu-
tus to the city markets Children are
encouraged to gather for Decoration
Day memorials thousands of trilliums,
unconscious of the fact that their well
meant offerings are really a desecra-
tion of nature's sanctuary. Nothing
but death is left for the root thus rob-
bed of its foliage.

Some twenty years ago a woman
who had always lived in the Middle

West visited a relative in the East and
was charmed with the waxy white blos-
soms of Chimaphila maculata, then in
full bloom. "I'm going to see how
many blossoms I can find," was her ex-
clamation. Every plant which met her
eye was gathered. But — never since
then have those woods yielded more
than the merest scattering of the flow-
ers she "loved !" One man in Iowa has
a preserve of half an acre into which
he has gathered the species indigenous
to that region. In a smaller way, there
are rockeries in the home garden where
some of the native plants will thrive.
And most assiduously should we ab-
stain from carelessly uprooting or de-
capitating treasures which nature can-
not readily replace.

The Work of a Tornado.
The tornado which in May of this
year killed more than a hundred per-
sons in Monroe County, Indiana, left
a track over two hundred miles in
length with almost forty miles of com-
plete devastation. The path of utter
destruction was from five hundred to
seven hundred feet in width. Outside
this were two zones from three hun-
dred to five hundred feet wide where
buildings were damaged beyond repair
but not laid flat. Still further out
buildings lost roofs and chimneys and
window glass. The usual counter-
clockwise whirl was well marked. Ob-
jects on the right of the center were
carried forward and inward, those on
the left, backward and inward. As
usual the area of greatest devastation
was at the right of the storm track,
where the forward movement and the
whirl combined to give the greatest
wind velocity. The blast was so pow-
erful that it twisted off huge oak and
elm trees and overturned freight cars
loaded with brick.

Gold Thread.

There must still be fairy sewing-bees.
For we find their golden thread

All lying about in sylvan dells,
When fairy feet have sped.

And gossamer garments must they be.

With caps and wings and things,
All fashioned as easily as dew falls,
Or the bird in the tree-top sings.

— Emma Peirce.

All communications for this department
should be sent to the Department Editor,
Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street,
Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Items, articles
and photographs in this department not
otherwise credited are by the Department
Editor.

The Sea Gulls Save the Crops.

No event in Western history awak-
ens more interest than the episode of
the Crickets and the Gulls. It occur-
red in 1848, when Salt Lake City — the
earliest settlement in the Rocky Moun-
tains— was less than one year old.
The so-called "City" was not even a
village at that time ; it was little more
than a camp, consisting of a log-and-
mud fort, enclosing huts, tents, and
wagons, with about eighteen hundred
inhabitants. Most of these had fol-
lowed immediately after the Pioneers,
who, with Brigham Young, their lead-
er, arrived on the shores of the Great
Salt Lake in July. 1847. President
Young and others had returned to the
Missouri River to bring more of their
migrating people to their new home
among the mountains, and those who
remained here were anxiously await-
ing the results of their first labors to
redeem the desert and make the wilder-
ness to blossom.

Some plowing and planting had been
done by the Pioneers upon their
arrival, but the seeds then put in such
as potatoes, corn, wheat, oats, peas and
beans, though well irrigated, did not
mature, owing to the lateness of the
season. The nearest approach to a
harvest, that year, were a few small
potatoes, which served as seed for an-
other planting. It was therefore their
first real harvest in this region that the
settlers of these solitudes were looking
forward to. at the time of the episode
mentioned.

Much depended upon that harvest,
not only for the people already there,

but for twenty-five hundred additional
immigrants, who were about to join
them from the far-away frontier. The
supplies brought by those who came
the first season had been designed to
last only about twelve months. They
were gradually getting low, and these
settlers, be it borne in mind, were well-
nigh isolated from the re^t of btrri'n-
ity. "A thousand miles form any-
where." was the phrase used by them
to describe their location. They had
little communication with the outside
world, and that little was by means of
the ox team and the pack mule. If
their harvest failed, what would be-
come of them ?

In the spring of 1848, five thousand
acres of land were under cultivation in
Salt Lake Valley. Nine hundred acres
had been sown with winter wheat,
which was just beginning to sprout.

Then came an event as unlooked for
as it was terrible — the cricket plague !
In May and June these destructive
pests rolled in black legions down the
mountain sides, and attacked the fields
of growing grain. The tender crops
fell an easy prey to their fierce vorac-
ity. The ground over which they had
passed looked as if scorched by fire.

Thoroughly alarmed, the commun-
ity— men. women and children — mar-
shaled themselves to fight the ravenous
foe. Some went through the fields
killing the crickets, but crushing much
of the tender grain. Some dug ditches
around the farms, turned water into
the trenches, and drove and drowned
therein the black devourers. Others
beat them back with clubs and brooms,
or burned them in fires. Still the crick-
ets prevailed. Despite all that could
be done by the settlers, their hope of a
harvest was fast vanishing — a harvest
upon which life itself seemed to de-
pend.

They were rescued, as they believed,
by a miracle — a greater miracle than

ORNITHOLOGY

107

is said to have saved Rome, when the
cackling of geese roused the slumber-
ing city in time to beat back the invad-
ing Gauls. In the midst of the work of
ruin, when it seemed as if nothing-
could stay the destruction, great flocks
of gulls appeared, filling the air with
their white wings and plaintive cries.
They settled down upon the half-ruined
fields. At first it looked as if they came

punishable by law. Rome had her
sacred geese; Utah would have her
sacred gulls, forever to be held in hon-
or as the Heaven-sent messengers that
saved the Pioneers. — Orson F. Whit-
ney.

The Sea Gull Monument.

To commemorate the above historic
incident, a sea gull monument has re-
cently been completed and un-
veiled upon Temple Block.

For several years the erec-
tion of such a monument had
been contemplated, and a few
years ago.Mahonri M.Young,
a grandson of the great pio-
neer leader, Brigham Young,
submitted a design which was
accepted by the First Presi-
dency and he was authorized
to proceed with the work.

The granite base, weighing
twenty tons, rests upon a con-
crete foundation. From the
base rises a round column of
granite fifteen feet high, sur-
mounted by a granite globe.

Two sea gulls of bronze rest
upon the granite ball. The
birds weigh about five hun-
dred pounds and the stretch
of the wings, from tip to tip,
is eight feet.

THE MONUMENT TO SEA GULLS.

but to help the crickets destroy. But
their real purpose was soon apparent.
They came to prey upon the destroy-
ers. All day long they gorged them-
selves, disgorged, and feasted again,
the white gulls upon the black crickets,
like hosts of heaven and hell contend-
ing, until the pests were vanquished
and the people saved. The birds then
returned to the Lake islands, leaving
the grateful settlers to shed tears of
joy over their timely deliverance.

A season of scarcity followed, but no
fatal famine ; and before the worst
came, the glad people celebrated, with
a public feast, their first harvest home.

The gull is still to be seen in the
vicinity of the Great Salt Lake. The
wanton killing of these birds was made

The unveiling ceremony
took place on Wednesday,
October 1st, 1913.

The tablets are thus described by
B. H. Roberts:

"The graceful Doric column of the
monument surmounting the base, is
fifteen feet high and is topped by a
granite sphere, on which two gulls are
seen in the act of lighting upon it — a
most graceful thing in itself — and Mr.
Young, the sculptor, has caught the
action of it true to life.

"On three sides of the high base, in
relief sculpture, the Sea Gull story is
told : The tablature on the east tells of
the arrival and earlv movements of the
Pioneers. In the left foreground of the
rugged Wasatch mountains there is
the man afield with ox team, plowing
the stubborn soil, aided by the boy
driver, followed bv the sower. In the

io8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

right foreground is the wagon home,
women preparing the humble meal
while an Indian sits in idle but graceful
pose looking upon all this strange acti-
vity that is to redeem his land from
savagery and give it back to civiliza-
tion.

"The second tablature — on the south
— tells the story of the threatened de-
vastation from the cricket's invasion.

"A point of mountain and a glimpse
of the placid, distant lake are seen.
The farmer's fight with the invading
host is ended — he has exhausted all
his ingenuity and strength in the fight.
He is beaten — you can see that in the
hopeless sinking of his figure to the
earth, his bowed head and listless
down-hanging hands from which the
spade has fallen.

"Despair claims him and laughs.
With the woman of this tablature it
is different. She is holding a child by
the hand — through it she feels throb-
bing the call of the future — the life of
a generation of men and women yet
to be.

"Strange that to woman — man's
complement — is given such superior
strength in hours of severest trial.
Where man's strength and courage and
fighting ends, woman's hope and faith
and trust seem to spring into newness
of life. From her nature she seems
able to do this inconsistent yet true
thing — to hope against hope, and ask
till she receives.

"I do not know in what school of
psychology the sculptor studied his art,
but he has certainly been true to the
great psychological difference between
man and woman. But to return to this
woman of the second tablature — she,
too, is toil worn, and there is some-
thing truly pathetic in her body weari-
ness, but her head is raised, — raised to
what until now has seemed the piti-
less skies ; but now they are filled with
the oncoming flocks of sea gulls. Does
she watch their coming with merely
idle curiosity or vague wonderment?
Or does her soul in the strange gull
cry hear God's answer to her call for
help? God's answer to her they were,
these gulls, in any event, as the gulls
soon proved by devouring the destroy-
er.

"The third tablature commemorates
the Pioneers' first harvest — worthily,

too. In the background rises Ensign
Peak.

"In the middle background the log
house home stands finished ; in the fore-
ground, harvesting the golden grain is
in progress, both men and women take
joyous part. To the right, a mother
half-kneeling holds to her full breast a
babe, who 'on the heart and from the
heart' receives its nourishment, and
about her knees another child plays in
happy, childish oblivion of toil and
care. O, Happy scene of life and joy,
'where plenty leaps to laughing life
with her redundant horn.'

"On the fourth tablature is the title
of the monument. Fortunately it is
simple, and not explanatory — the work
of the sculptor tells the story — tells it
well and eloquently. Too much narra-
tion would have marred it — this is the
inscription :

*********

" 'SEA GULL MONUMENT *

* ERECTED IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE *

* OF THE MERCY OF GOD TO THE *

MORMON PIONEERS.' "

The Late Season.

The extreme backwardness of the
spring season this year was the cause of
much comment. Its effect upon the
birds has been marked in many ways.
Migrating birds in general seem to
have been far behind their usual time
of arrival here in Massachusetts. The
Baltimore oriole may be confidently
looked for in this vicinity on the eighth
of May. the tenth being the latest and
the fifth the earliest dates on my rec-
ords for the past twenty-three years.
This year they arrived on the
eighteenth.

Warblers have been seen and re-
ported in unusually large numbers.
This may be partly accounted for by
the fact that they fed and remained
low in the shrubbery, and appeared in
yards and about houses and buildings
much more than is their custom. The
reason for this is that their usual food
has been scarce, owing to the unde-
veloped condition of the trees and the
insects which supply so large a part of
their supply. Insects which usually
hatch about the first of May were
found still in the egg stage on the
twenty-eighth.

ORNITHOLOGY

109

The birds' apparent abundance and
tameness have given bird lovers a de-
lightful opportunity to observe them at
close range, but the lack of food, es-
pecially with certain species, and the
effects of the prolonged cold storms
seem to have produced disastrous re-
sults in some localities. Many birds
have been reported in a starving con-
dition or have been picked up dead.
Cats have doubtless caught an unusual
number of the migrants. Two in-
stances in which cats caught warblers
near the ground have come to my per-
sonal attention. The early nesting
birds have probably also suffered con-
siderably from the effects of the storms.
Species which usually remain away
from thickly settled districts have been
reported about the streets and in yards,
apparently seeking food.

The general effect of these unusual
conditions will probably show itself
later in the season by an abundance of
insects. Their escape from the birds in
their early stages ; the favorable con-
ditions for their later development, and
the unusual denseness of the foliage
upon which they feed, will all tend to
bring about this result. This being a
season when we more than ever need
to conserve our crops, we should do all
in our power to fight insect pests and
to protect and encourage the birds
about our homes.

The editor of this department would
especially like to receive notes in re-
gard to the foregoing items. If you
know of any nests destroyed or aban-
doned on account of the storms, any
birds found dead or seen to be caught
by cats, or if you have made unusual
observations upon the migrating birds
of this season, write and tell us about
them.

The Gulls.

The gulls have settled upon the bay,
As restless there as the tossing spray:
They flutter and preen in the glancing light.
An islet of birds, for a novel sight.

A yacht looms up 'gainst the sunset skies,
A target for ever-watchful eyes:
Full well they know it a supper brings,
And the air is filled with the whir of wings.

— Emma Peirce.

The Whippoorwill.

BY BESSIE Lu PUTNAM, CONNEAUT LAKE,
PENNSYLVANIA.

This bird is easily identified by its
notes, which are uttered with great
rapidity, the word from which it takes
its name being sometimes repeated a
hundred times or more without seem-
inglv a single stopping to take breath.
Its notes commence about sunset, and
may be prolonged through the night.
To those unacquainted with its good
traits, this has been a source of an-
noyance, and one girl who was visiting
in the country for the first time was
quite provoked because unable to sleep
with that chatterer near her window.

It flies at night, and partly because
of this some stories of its uncanny
wavs and mysterious powers for evil
have given to it a bit of awe among
the superstitious. Yet it is really one
of man's best friends, catching an im-
mense number of harmful, nocturnal
insects. Because of its preference for
insect life, it is strictly a summer bird,
and the old resident states that we are
safe from frosts when the whippoor-
wills arrive.

It sleeps by day like the owl ; and if
disturbed, its flight is almost as noise-
less as that of a falling leaf, while the
colors of plumage blend so completely
with the surrounding trunks of trees
and dead leaves that one can scarcely
locate it, even though they know just
where it lit. A striking feature is that
it always sits lengthwise of the limb
or log upon which it rests, thus con-
cealing its outlines more completely.
Its nest is slackly made in dry leaves ;
but if molested it is said to remove its
young as carefully as a cat does her
kittens. And thus it is one of the
many illustrations that the Divine hand
is over all, its sleeping by daylight be-
ing counterbalanced by protective col-
oring, silent flight, and unusual pose
when at rest.

As a result of the whaling industry
established within a few decades at
South Georgia, near Cape Horn, the
islands have become overrun with rats.
Millions of them live on the carcasses
of the whales, and they have killed off
most of the small creaturees who pre-
ceded them.

A Check List for the Sound Beach Observatory

The Sun, Our Star, Radiates Light and
Heat in Every Direction.

The Diameter of the sun is 866,400
miles; that is, 109.4 times that of the
earth.

The Surface is 12,000 times that of the
earth.

The Mass is 333,000 times that of the
earth-

The Density is about Y\ that of the
earth or 1.4 times that of water-

The Rotation from the east to the west
averages 25-35 days. The rotation is
faster at the equator than on either side,
showing that it is not a solid mass.

The Diameters of the Spots range from
about 500 to 60,000 miles- This may be
estimated by comparing the spot with the
diameter of the sun.

The Planets, Our Family, All Recei
from the Sun.

miles- The thickness of the rings about
100 miles. Composed of "a swarm of
separate particles, each an independent
moon." Four other moons, not visible
except in largest telescopes, are Themis,
Phoebe, Hyperion and Mimas.

Uranus's Moons : Seen only in largest
telescopes- Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and
Oberon.

Neptune's Moon : Seen only in moder-
ately large telescopes- One, not named.

Densities of the Planets. The only
planet which is lighter than water is
Saturn, though Jupiter, Uranus, and
Neptune are each but little heavier than
water. The four inner (earth-like) plan-
ets are of course much heavier. The
larger ones have not yet had time to cool
off : it is their high temperature that
keeps them so expanded.

ve Light and Heat in Varying Degrees

Av. Distance

Planet

from Sun in

Millions of

Miles

DIAMETER

DAY

YEAR

MOONS

Mercurv

36

3-030

88 davs

88 davs

0

Venus

67

7,700

Probably 2^ h., 50 m.

225 days

0

Earth

93

7.918

23 h., 56 m.

36534 days

1

Mars

142

4,230

24 h., 37 m.

687 days

2

Jupiter

483

86,500

9 K 55 m.

n.86yrs.

9

Saturn

886

73,000

10 h-J4m.

29V2 yrs.

10

Uranus

1.782

32,000

Probably 23 h.,4 m-

84 yrs.

4

Neptune

2.792

35,000

Unknown

165 yrs.

1

Jupiter's Older Moons — Four in order
from Jupiter: I, Io ; II, Europa ; III,
Ganymede ; IV, Callisto. (Five others are
known but they are not seen except in
largest telescopes).

Saturn's Moons : Iapetus, Titan, Rhea,
Dione, Tethys, Enceladus. This is in
order from most remote. Rings : A, ex-
terior diam. 173,000 miles, 12,000 miles
wide. The division between it and B is
1,800 miles in width. B, 17,000 miles
wide. C, "gauze" or "crape," 11,000

The Stars are Distant Suns.

Stars visible to naked eye ( estimated )

I st magnitude 12 4th magnitude 313

2nd magnitude 48 5th magnitude 854

3rd magnitude 152 6th magnitude 2,010

Total— 3,389

In whole celestial sphere on moonless
nights seen by naked eye only from 6,000
to 7,000. An opera glass shows 100,000-
In big telescope, 100,000,000-

There are only twelve stars so bright
as to be unquestionably called "first mag-

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

in

nitude" but some estimates include a few-
more. Of these twelve only the follow-
ing eight are visible in this latitude.

First Magnitude Stars

Sirius

Altair

Vega

Betelgeuze

Capella

Procvon

Arcturus

Rigel

A Few of the Other Bright Stars You
Should Know.

Aldebaran 1 'ollux

Antares c •

Deneb tP1Ca

Polaris Fomalhaut

Denebola Regulus

Famous Variables.

Algol (Beta of Perseus) — a short
period (little less than three days).

Mira (Omicron of Cetus) — a long
period (about eleven months).

Delightfully Companionable.

Rigel (dainty blue with tiny compan-
ion)

Xi of Ursa Major ( Mizar, a double,
with Alcor)-

*****

A Few Best Double Stars.

Gamma Andromedae (Almaack).

Gamma Arietis (Mesartim).

Gamma Leonis

Albireo
Castor

Eta Cassiopeia;
70 Ophiuchi
Omicron Eridani

Quadruple :

Epsilon Lyra;.

*****

Star Clusters.

Naked Eye : Pleiades. Hyades.

Opera Glass : Praesepe, Coma Bereni-
ces.

Telescope: Double in Perseus, 13 M in
Hercules, 35 Gemini.

Nebula :

Andromeda, Orion.

*****

How Far Away Are They?
The distances of the planets from the
sun < and also from each other) as shown
in their table of specifications are meas-
ured in millions of miles- Even the near-
est stars are too far away for such a

measuring scale. Light travels about
186,330 miles per second. The distance
that light travels in a year is used as a
measuring unit in stating the distances of
the stars. The nearest well-known and
very bright star is Sirius which is 8.6
light years distant- ( A faint star, La-
lande, is 6.9 light years). 61 Cygni is 8-
light years-

Many of the brightest and well-known
stars are so far away as to be beyond
measurement. The well-known Pleiades
are supposed to be so far away as to take
the light (travelling at 186,330 miles a
second) 250 years to reach us. Of course
such distances are not only unmeasure-
able but inconceivable !

A Trio of Good Ones.

G is the first letter in good, and the G
of the Greek alphabet is Gamma. When
I was showing some of my favorite
double stars to visitors in the Astro-
nomical Observatory, it occurred to me
that I had a trio of good ones and that
they all are Gammas, and therefore
not only really good, but alliterative^
good. They are Gamma Andromedae,
Gamma Arietis, and Gamma Leonis. I
believe that the second one was, ac-
cording to some authorities, the first
discovered. The first in the list is
surely what our feminine gazers would
call the sweetest companionship of all ;
a well-known astronomer says that the
third is the brightest and most spec-
tacular. As the small boy might say,
"They are all beautiful ;" but an astron-
omer might well exclaim, "They are
Gamma, good !"

Inconceivable Distances of Stars.

It is probable that the stars in the
Milky Way are' from seven hundred to
a thousand "light years" away, and as
the power of stellar photography has
increased, more remote stars are con-
tinually revealed. Just think of it !
Many of these stars we see not as they
existed in our own time or even in that
of our forefathers, but as they were
before man lived on earth ! Perhaps
there are some that the people of this
world will never see. — Henry Handy
McHenry. in "Popular Astronomy."

The Moon.

Pale wraith in the sky in morning light.
It illumes and glorifies the night.

— Emma Peirce.

112

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The Starry Heavens in September.

BY PROFESSOR ERIC DOOLITTLE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The coming of September witnesses
the almost complete withdrawal of
the striking midsummer group of the
Scorpion from our evening sky : as
yet no equally brilliant constellation
has come to take its place, for the
beautiful Taurus, within whose boun-
daries we find the Pleiades and the
Hyades, is still well below the eastern

little over a month ; while in the south-
east we see the reddish Fomalhaut, a
solitary star, which lies no less than
thirty degrees below the Celestial
Equator, and is thus the farthest south
of all bright stars visible in our lati-
tude.. Though to us this beautiful star
is always seen so low in the south, to
those near the earth's equator it is high
in the heavens, while to the watchers
in the observatories of Chile and the
Cape of Good Hope it passes exactly

NO^Th

South

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M., September 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If
facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

horizon in the early evening. By the
beginning of next month, however,
these latter star figures will appear to
lierald the long train of bright winter
groups which will then be close at
hand.

The September Stars.
In the extreme northeast the beauti-
ful golden-yellow Capella again begins
its upward climb over our evening
heavens, after its brief absence of but

through the zenith. Five thousand
years ago Fomalhaut marked the Win-
ter Solstice ; at this time in Persia it was
marked out as a Royal Star, one of the
four guardians of heaven who watched
over and protected the other stars.

Having examined with a small tele-
scope the beautiful flashing light of
Fomalhaut, the observer may turn to
many other objects of interest in this
part of the sky. Thus the star at A
Figure I, is very easily seen to be made

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

TI3

up of two yellowish suns, and it is in-
teresting- to know that these two dis-
tant objects are steadily moving away
from one another. In the course of
twenty-five hundred years their dis-
tance apart will be as great as the ap-
parent distance across the disc of the
full moon.

The star at B is also a wide double.
but a far more difficult one since the
companion is of a magnitude of but
6.5, and each of these suns is again
double- Thus four suns are seen in a
large telescope where the eye recognizes
but one. The duplicity of the brightest
star was first revealed by the motion
of our moon across it ; the two compon-
ents were successively covered up by
the steadily advancing east edge of the
moon, and when our satellite had ad-
vanced far enough eastward they re-
appeared at the western edge one at a
time. Altogether there are some half
dozen double stars of the sky which
have been discovered in this way.

Tn the region of the heavens between
the star, Altair at C. the Dolphin and
the stars D and E, the observer will
find a large number of beautiful star
clusters, nor will he fail to examine the
remarkable Nebula of Andromeda, at
N, nor (if he possesses a glass of suf-
ficient size) the Ring Nebula of Lyra,
which is in a straight line between the
stars at F and G but nearer the former
star.

A New Star.

Much interest has been taken by
astronomers in the very recent an-
nouncement of the appearance of a
new star in the outer borders of one
of the very faint spiral nebulas. The
new object, which was discovered by
photography, is described as of the
fourteenth magnitude, so that it is
wholly invisible except in the largest
telescopes. Some conception of its ex-
treme faintness may be formed when
it is stated that if no less than two hun-
dred and fifty such stars had appeared
simultaneously at the same point their
combined light would have rendered
them just visible to the naked eye. Any
standard first magnitude star is about
one hundred and sixty thousand times
as bright as the new star.

The sudden appearance of a new star
within the borders of a nebula is not

altogether unprecedented. Thus in
1885, in about the middle of August, a
star was seen in the Nebula of Andro-
meda (which is also of a spiral struc-
ture) and this object was of the sixth
magnitude and so far brighter than the
object recently discovered. It was also
very near the center of the spiral, nebu-
lous cloud, being only sixteen seconds
to the southeast of the nucleus.
Whether there had been a sudden fall-
ing together of the nebulous material
in sufficient quantity to form a new
sun, or whether one of the cold and
dark suns of space plunged through the
nebulous cloud and was thus heated to
incandescence, or whether, indeed, its
appearance is to be explained in some
quite different way, we do not know.

Like all of the new suns which have
suddenly blazed out in the heavens,
the new star in the Nebula of Andro-
meda, after attaining its maximum
brightness, rapidly began to fade away.
The last view of it was obtained with
the great telescope of our Naval Ob-
servatory on February 1, 1886, only
five and one-half months after its dis-
covery, by which time it was of only
the sixteenth magnitude. Its light
when carefully studied was found to
give a continuous spectrum very simi-
lar to that given by the nebula itself.
It is very remarkable that practically
all new stars, even the very bright
ones, have faded rapidly away into
what appear to be nebulous objects,
their sometimes complicated spectra
ultimately becoming the typical, con-
tinuous nebular spectrum.

It is to be regretted that this most
recent of the new stars will probably
prove to be too faint for its light to be
studied with the spectroscope-

The Planets in September.

Mercury, which attained its greatest
eastern elongation on August 22, will
pass to the west of the sun and become
a morning star on September 18. It
will attain its greatest distance west
of the sun on October 4. Thus through-
out the month it will be too nearly lost
in the sun's rays for satsifactory ob-
servation, though during the last few
days of September it may be seen ris-
ing almost at the east point of the
horizon nearly an hour before sunrise.

Venus is daily moving eastward from

"4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

the sun and is growing perceptibly
brighter. Unfortunately, however, il
is also moving rapidly southward
among the stars so that it continues to
set about two hours after sunset dur-
ing the entire month. It is a beautiful
object as it shines in the twilight glow
and will well repay examination in the
telescope.

* • * ^\

.t>

•

•

• *

•

8'

• • ^^_

•

• *

•

D /. ..

• ^*v^

•

.V / .

*v^V.

0&

•

•

N»>^.

•

/^ T> '

^»

•

• •

..--v *c

• •

lc

•

9

•t>-.

•

•

•

', *«n* y

** *

• • •

• •

! *N

SAGiTTA

*X>EUPKINU£>

• •
"* ■*■■ * *'

\ •
\

• AquilA

\

•

Figure 2. Region between Cygnus and Aquilla.
Each star marked D is a double: a cluster will be
found at each point marked C and a nebula at each
point marked N. Stars which vary in brightness are
marked V.

Mars is a morning star, seen far in
the northwest for about two and one-
half hours before sunrise on September
I, and this time is increased to four
hours by the end of the month. The
planet in its rapid eastward motion
will pass the faint and distant Neptune
on September 22 at ^ A. M. (Eastern
Standard Time). The latter planet
may conveniently be found on this
morning by first turning the telescope
on Mars and afterward depressing it
exactly 1 degree 18 minutes to the
south.

Jupiter is moving slowly eastward
and nothward in the constellation Tau-
rus. Throughout the month it will be
found almost exactly north of the star
Aldebaran.of the Hyades and eastward
of the Pleiades. This part of the sky is
thus rendered unusually brilliant and
attractive at present, but unfortunately
it is just beyond the borders of our
evening map. Toward midnight, how-
ever. Jupiter is high in the northeast-
ern heavens-

On the morning of September 4 Ju-
piter's second moon will reappear from

eclipse at o hr. 35 min. 32 sees. (East-
ern Standard Time) ; it will next dis-
appear behind the planet at o hr. 50
min. 40 sees., and will finally reappear
at 1 hr. 18 min. 26 sees. Similar phe-
nomena may be witnessed on the morn-
ing of September 11, beginning at c
hr. 7,^ min. A. M., while on disappear-
ance into occultation. and the ecliose
of the first moon may be seen, the phe-
nomena beginning at o hr. o min. 12
sees. A. M.

Saturn is found in the northeastern
heavens in the early morning. On Sep-
tember 1 it lies about one hour to the
east of Mars, but the latter planet rap-
idly overtakes it. On October 1 at 7
A. M. Mars will pass to the east of
Saturn ; the two planets will then ap-
pear separated by a distance slightly
greater than the apparent distance
across the moon.

On September 23, at 10 hrs. T min.
A. M. (Eastern Standard Time), the
center of the sun will cross the Celes-
tial Equator; at this instant summer
will end and autumn will begin. On
September t, at to hrs. 53 min. A. M.
our irregularly moving sun will be in
such a position among the stars that
at that instant sundial time will coin-
cide with local mean (or "watch")
time. As astronomers express it, at
this instant the "Equation of Time"
will be zero-

The ninth satellite of Tupiter, reports
the Mount Wilson Observatory, is
probably about fifteen miles in diame-
ter. Its period of revolution about the
planet is seven hundred and forty-five
days.

There is no more lonely worship of
God than that for which no image is re-
quired, but which springs up in our
breast spontaneously when nature
speaks to the soul, and the soul speaks
to Nature face to face. — Goethe.

To the undevout, Nature is simply a
workshop ; to the Christian, it is a
voice ; to the Saint she opens at once
the inner chamber of her most hallowed
mysteries and tells of the goodness and
greatness of her Creator God. — H. C.
McCook, D.D.

*&

UJ.

fh

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The Guide to Nature

ARCADIA

Sound Beach, Connecticut

The Young Folks Are Delighted, And So Are
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FOR YOUNG FOLKS

EDITED BY -

Edward FDigelow

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ich , Conn.

Hunt Snapping Turtles.
Wisconsin and Illinois can boast of
the most noted turtle hunters in the
business. These men have discovered
a new occupation which serves them
profitably in the dull winter months
when there is little to do on the farm-
There is not only pretty good pay in it
for the man who knows how to hunt
turtles, and how to market them, but
there is at present very little competi-

CATCHIXG SNAPPING TURTLES.

tion. The common snapping turtle may
be found in almost any part of the Unit-
ed States between the Atlantic ocean
and the Rocky mountains. These tur-
tles hide in the mud along the streams
in the fall of the year and if no one digs
them out they remain in the mud until
the warm weather of the next spring.

Among the most noted turtle hunters
of the country are J. S. Bassler, Max
Bassler and C. D. Taylor, of Darien,

Wisconsin, and Byron Sweet and Rich-
ard Ferguson, both of Poplar Grove,
Illinois. No sooner do the turtles hide
in the mud in the fall than these men
equip wagons for a two months' trip.
Usually they take in southern Wiscon-
sin, southern Minnesota, northern Iowa
and northern Illinois. They ship the
turtles from any railroad station which
they happen to be near. Shipments are
made either to Chicago, Boston, New
York or Baltimore. Good turtle hunt-
ers can go on such a trip and have a
fine time and make the trip pay. but un-
less one is "up to snuff" in turtle hunt-
ing he had better leave it alone, as it
offers a good opportunity to waste time
and catch a bad cold. There are only a
few men in the country who have made
turtle hunting a success.

Turtles are caught with a five-
eigfhths-inch steel rod about seven
feet in length with a hook turned up on
the end which goes into the ground.
The hook is jabbed into the ground
along the streams and the expert tur-
tle hunters can tell the minute they
strike "Mr. Turtle-" The hook is jab-
bed into the turtle's back and the turtle
is hauled up out of the mud. Frequent-
lv a large number of turtles are found
in the same bed of mud. Often 200
pounds of turtles are dug up out of the
same hole. The turtles are placed in
bags and carried to the road where they
are loaded in a wagon. A bag filled
with turtles weighs between 100 and
125 pounds. The turtles are packed in
sugar barrels and shipped to market. A
sugar barrel filled weighs about 325
pounds. The turtles are packed in alive,
one on top of another, and they will
live for many days. The animals are
worth 6 to 12 cents a pound on the
New York or Chicago market. The
meat is used for soup at the swellest

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

117

restaurants, and the shell backs for
buttons, and many other useful pur-
poses in manufacturing.

Usually the turtle hunters drive to
some country that is well watered with
small streams and pitch their tents.
The country is then hunted for about
ten miles around before moving on to
a new camp.

Rex Bassler. of Darien, Wisconsin,
is probably the only little buy in the

Keep Dogs at Home.

I have kept sheep, poultry and a
rifle a good many years ; have shot a
good many dogs for killing both sheep
and poultry and in every case where
the owners of the dogs were respon-
sible they have paid the damages.
Where the owner did not have any-
thing the town paid the damage. Be-
sides, the Sheep Breeders' Association
gives a reward of $10 for every dog

f\ /? / EN WZ+ ~Ts#MC* fy - s pi hi, .-'

A TEAM FOR THE FUN OF SEEING IT RATHER THAN FOR UTILITY.

world who has a turtle team. The ac-
companying illustration shows his six
"speeders" and the faithful dog "Pat,"
which sees to it that the turtles do not
run away and hide in the mud.

Rex is a lucky little fellow in another
way. He has nine living grandparents.
There are four great-grandmothers,
one great-grandfather, and two grand-
fathers and two grandmothers. If any
of our readers can beat this record for
grandparents we would like to hear
from them. — Newspaper clipping sent
by Air. Bassler.

Recent studies on the migration of
the salmon have completely exploded
Isaak Walton's ancient theory that
each fish, to lay its eggs, returns to the
particular river where it was itself
hatched.

shot chasing sheep. This is the way
we do business in Connecticut.

S. D. N.

Bristol, Conn.

It looks like good business, too. Of
course every intelligent man knows
that a law may go sailing through the
Legislature and carry the Governor's
signature and still prove a big fizzle un-
less the people help enforce it. A dog
law will not be worth one single bark
unless the farmers put a growl into it.
The Connecticut way looks good.
There is spice in it and no wooden
nutmeg at that. No dog has any busi-
ness, or right, roaming at large off his
owner's farm ! — Rural New Yorker.

Just as far as the eye could see,
A wide sweep of fleur-de-lis
Made the common earth we love,
Like the vault of Heaven above.

— Emma Peirce.

n8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Cut by courtesy of "American Bee Journal,-' Hamilton, Illinois.

THE FUN OF SEEING BEES CLOSE AT HAND.
Mr. J. E. Hull. Maxwell. Iowa, says that he enjoys such intimati Hr<iuainta: ct\

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

119

Snake Myths.

Snakes do not swallow their young
for protection. Snakes do not run like
a hoop.

It is hard to say how the myth about
the hoop snake originated. I have sev-
eral times explained that the myth
about a snake "swallowing her young"
came from the actions of cannibal spe-
cies feeding upon the young of other
snakes. — Raymond L. Ditmars.

That Amazing Myth that a Milk Snake
Steals Milk from the Cows.
From the habit of prowling about
the vicinity of stables and dairies (in
search of mice and rats), this prettily
coloured snake has acquired the bad
reputation of stealing milk from the
cows, and making inroads upon the
farmer's product to such an extent that
he may actually suffer financial loss
from the depredations committed by
one of these reptiles. This is one of the
many fallacies existing about snakes,
and resulting in an unjust slaughter of
really useful creatures. Snakes show
no liking for milk. Captive specimens
cannot be induced to drink it unless
suffering from great thirst. It would
be a feat beyond physical possibility
for a serpent the size of the largest milk
snake to consume enough milk from a
cow — even if the reptile should be so
inclined — to produce an effect notice-
able to the most minute degree. When
mature, this snake attains a length of
about a yard, and is of rather slender
build. A serpent of this size could
consume, if drinking its full of water,
a quantity equivalent to about two
teaspoonsful ; this would demonstrate
its capacity for milk, and any cow
that fed upon the scantiest vegetation
that ever graced fertile soil should
yield enough milk to allow for this
quantity to be lost without being noted
by the dairyman. Incidentally it might
be explained that the milk snake fre-
quents country where the grazing is
good and the cattle yield much milk.
In the face of these circumstances the
reader is asked to ponder on the logic
of the farmer who declares that a single
"milk" snake can steal enough milk
from one of his cows to produce a
marked deficiencv to be noted at milk-
ing time.— "The Reptile Book," by
Raymond L. Ditmars.

Big Chips by Beavers.

Hyde Park, New York.
To the Editor :

it may interest your readers to know
that a colony of wild beavers is living
here in Dutchess County, New York.
Nobody seems to know where they
came from or how long they have been
at work, but it must be a long time.

I went to see their work recently and
brought home some souvenirs, one be-
ing a section of a birch tree seven in-
ches in diameter that they had nearly
cut down. I also brought many of
their chips. I am sending you a few
samples of these.

They have built a dam down the out-
let of a lake and have raised the water
fully three feet. Their work is intense-
ly interesting. I never expected to see
anything of the sort. Scores of trees
have been cut down. Many have
lodged and are leaning in every direc-
tion, but more are lying flat and more
or less cut to pieces. Some are ten
inches in diameter.

I found where their home is — or at
least one home — in a steep bank. They
had covered the entrance, which was
under water, with a large mound of
leaves, moss and rubbish some three or
four feet thick and twelve feet long,
part on land and part in water, to pre-
vent the entrance from freezing in the
winter. They made a good choice in
selecting this place for their home, for
it is one of the wildest and most se-
cluded regions I have ever seen and is
difficult of access. This accounts for
their remaining so long undiscovered.
Their dam is some forty or fifty feet
long, and the top, save where the water
overflows, is as broad and smooth as
any garden path.

Sincerely yours,

A. T. Cook.

The aspect of Nature is devout. Like
the figure of Jesus, She stands with
bended head, and hands folded upon
the breast. The happiest man is he
who learns from Nature the lesson of
worship. — Emerson.

Blue jays are reported to put kernels
of corn, small acorns, pebbles and the
like in the cocoons of the large Cecrop-
ia moths.

120

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The Spiny Swift.

BY DR. R. W- SHUFEXDT, WASHINGTON, D.C.

There is no group of our American
reptiles more difficult to study than are
the spiny swifts of the genus Sceloporus.

Some fourteen or fifteen different species
of them have been recognized, and they
are distributed almost over the entire
country, various forms being peculiar to

certain regions or districts.

Throughout

THE SPINY SWIFT.

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

121

contiguous territories, where no natural
barriers exist, the species seem to inter-
grade, giving rise to the most confusing
results imaginable. Variations of every
description are to be observed, and the
student is at his wits' end to discover
characters which can be used to safely
differentiate them. As a rule, the num-
ber and arrangement of the scales on the
body help in identification ; but this is
not always the case in Sceloporus. As
a consequence, other characters must be
sought out. Those who have carefully
studied them find that the scalation of the
head carries one a long ways toward cor-
rect indentification in any particular in-
stance.

Our common swift (S. undulatris) oc-
curs in most suitable areas where con-
ditions are right from one ocean to the
other, and in some places it is particu-
larly abundant. There is a good, natural
size figure of this suedes in my "Chap-
ters on the Natural History of the United
States," where its life history is given.
In this suedes, as well as in others of the
genus, the male is ornamented with a
ventral patch of rich azure blue on either
side of the body, offset with black ; this
is also seen very faintly in the female
sometimes.

One of the verv largest forms of the
genus is the spiny swift (Sceloporus
spinosus), which occurs in many parts
of northern Mexico : in this countrv in
New Mexico, throughout wrestern Texas,
thence eastward over the tier of Gulf
States as far as Pensacola, Florida.

Recently, Mr. Edward S. Schmid, of
Washington, D. C, received a large in-
voice of these interesting rept^es from
New Orleans, and with his usual gener-
osity he allowed me to select a number
of them for the purposes of photography.
There do not appear to be any heretofore
published photographs from life of this
species ; so the one here offered, giving
both male and female, may prove inter-
esting to nature students. They were
taken by me in April, iqi", and of the
size of nature. The male is shown on the
upper side of the limb and the female be-
low. It will be noted that in this species
the conspicuously keeled scales are very
large and sharply pointed, giving the
reptile a very roughish coat. The gen-
eral color is grayish or dull greenish, with
sometimes a dash of yellowish tan. Pale
transverse bands occur at intervals on

the body, to become rings on the tail. In
the male, a large patch of dull black oc-
curs over the shoulder, faintly margined
with grayish-black. These latter charac-
ters are never present in the female,
while the broad, longitudinal stripe and
other minor characters are so evident in
my photograph that they require no es-
pecial mention.

As in the case of nearly all the species
of swifts, this one, too, lives largely an
arboreal life, or on old, fallen trees
stretched upon the ground. It can run
with the speed of a race-horse, and, as
in our common form, dodge around on
the bark of the tree with all the alacrity
of a chipmunk. At night they often bur-
row under ground, near the foot of a
tree, and remain there until morning — ■
a habit they keep up in captivity if sand
or soft earth be supplied them, which it
always should be if we make pets of then.
Thev eat many kinds of insects, some of
which probably are of the pest order, and
therefore these lizards are quite beneficial
with respect to man's interests.

Twenty-nine cetaceans were reported
stranded on the shores of the British Isles
during 1916, one more than the year be-
fore. Among them was a suckling
sperm whale.

War Diet in the Zoo.

The animals of the zoological park
in London have gone on war diet.
The carnivora get only horse flesh —
which was never so cheap or abund-
ant as now. Potatoes, of which fifteen
thousand pounds a year were formerly
consumed, are now not used at all.
Bread for the monkeys and apes is now
only ship biscuit that has made one or
two voyages and is not fit for human
food. Instead of wheat and oats the
little mammals and the birds get dari.
paddy rice, horse beans, and locust
beans and Indian corn. For hay has
been substituted the grass clipped
from the city parks. Even bananas,
formerly eaten by many birds and small
mammals, are now replaced by boiled
wurzels and beetroots. The number of
animals also has been greatly reduced,
partly by killing such as could be eas-
ilv replaced and partly by not replacing
those which die.

EDITORIAL

f Reprinted from our August number to correct an
error of omission.]

"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP."

bad thing and every foolish thing and
every pernicious pursuit and institu-
tion should be discarded.

"Roll the Sleeves Higher and Try
Again."

"Bring in the candles and let us go
on with the work," (as commonly
quoted), were the immortal words of
Abraham Davenport in the legislative
halls of Hartford at the time of the
famous Dark Day.

Whittier's poem metrically puts this
saying as follows :

" 'No faithless servant frightened from my

task.
But ready when the Lord of the harvest

calls;
And therefore, with all reverence, I would

say,
Let God do His work, we will see to ours.
Bring in the candles.' And they brought

them in."

These are our dark days, due to the
world-wide crisis, but it is a time for a
steadier and firmer clinging to all good
things. It is not well to let go. The
situation now in war time is different
from what it is in any other time only
because it demands a little more work
on behalf of all good things.

The sensible words from the famous
Stamford lawmaker, the unperturbed
Abraham Davenport, have come ring-
ing down the decades. In recent times
another famous lawmaker of Stamford,
the late Honorable Samuel Fessenden,
said in terms equally terse and equally
praiseworthy though perhaps rather
more startling, "God Almighty hates a
quitter." Neither Davenport nor Fes-
senden enunciated a new fact. They
only, each in his own way, emphasized
the old truth taught by the Divine
Man, "No man, having put his hand to
the plough and looking back, is fit for
the kingdom of God."

These are the times in which every
good thing should be sustained, and
with more tenacity than ever. Every

A Recess from War Talk.

When a well-known man recently
called at ArcAdiA, after the usual
greetings I inquired of him, "What is
the late-t in this morning's papers
about the war?" He held up both
hands in protest and said, "Now,
please, give me a little rest from war.
I hear it everywhere. I see it in the
papers, it glares at me from billboards
and show windows. I thought I would
come to ArcAdiA for a few minutes to
get a little relief. I do not want to hear
a single word about the war.'

"Sorry, but f did not mean-

"C)h," he said, "you meant all right
and so does every one else. I do it
myself. We ought to talk war. The
newspapers should have a great deal
about it, and the ministers should
preach about it, and I thoroughly be-
lieve in this Liberty Loan, Red Cross
nurse, economy of food and Home
Guards and all the frills and fixings
that go with war. But once in a while,
and I hope you do not think me un-
patriotic. I want to quit it all, and that
is why I came to Arc VdiA."

Unconsiouslv he voiced exactly what
we have in mind when we omit from
this magazine, and ordinarily from con-
versation with our visitors, all reference
to this war. Because the man was par-
ticularly interested in this war and per-
haps knows more about it than any-
body else because he has been right on
the spot, I thought to please him by
mentioning what I supposed to be his
favorite topic. And so it is with you,
my dear reader; you read, you think,
you give, you sacrifice, you economize
more for the war than for anything
else that has ever come into your life.
Yon do it gladly, but deep in your
heart there is a feeling that once in a

EDITORIAL

123

while, even fur a brief space, you want
to think and hear about something dif-
ferent.

The; Guide to Nature has this great
distinction : it is the only periodical
that is not at present filled with war
talk. We believe this brief editorial
is our only venture into that held.
Kindly excuse us for even this. This
magazine and ArcAdiA stand for the
recess from all forms of strife. Some
of my friends who are not readers of
this magazine feel disappointed be-
cause they think our magazine is not
"local" enough. But we have no desire
to compete with the local newspapers.
We have no desire to chronicle the sad
and dreadful things of life. There are
plenty of them, but we prefer to go to
nature for relief, rest and refreshment.

Are we less local because we tell of
the beauty of a local flower garden, of
the life history of some moth that a
friend has discovered, or detail an ob-
servation in regard to unusual eggs
that some one's local hen has laid? Is
there not a multiplicity of interesting
things in the local nature around us?
Can it be possible that so many people
think life is all fight, fierceness and
food ?

There should be in every life some
respite from the routine, some breath-
ing and resting spells, not only for the
body but for the mind. The keynote,
the sustaining note, the "pedal point"
of the little poems that we have pub-
lished so freely and frequently from
Emma Peirce is that in only a few lines
she asks you to leave war-like things
for a few minutes and to come to nature
for relief and refreshment. She sings
you a little song of perhaps only four
lines, and vet she makes you think that
after all there is something in life
worth the living. More and more
earnestly are we trying to appreciate
this point of view. There was a time
when in our own local community it
would have been difficult to find a doz-
en readers for The Guide to Nature,
yet now over all Sound Beach. Stam-
ford and Greenwich there are readers
by the hundred. The magazine is
sought for, read and appreciated.
People nowadays are craving what that
visitor at ArcAdiA was craving, a re-
lief from the presence and the thought
of the awful things of life. The success

of this magazine is due to the fact that
we are giving the material of that re-
cess.

But we have not yet got everybody.
We admit that. Once in a great while
some one says, "Why don't you have
something exciting in that magazine?
It is too tame. You ought to get up
an interesting story."

A good and well meaning friend re-
cently remarked, "Do you not know
this is an utilitarian age? Even in
your own field you are missing a lot of
opportunity. You ought to tell the
people how they can make more money
by keeping honeybees, how they can
raise bigger crops in the garden. The
country magazines publish many pa-
pers to tell the reader how to keep bull-
frogs and skunks and pigeons. Don't
you know there is money even in pet
mice? I know yon are a naturalist
and want to do things right along your
own line, but why don't you do these
things that people want you to do. and
make a big lot of money? In this mod-
ern scientific age there is room for a
magazine that will tell people how to
make money out of nature."

I have no dispute with this kind
friend. Probably money can be made
along the lines he mentioned. We do
not cover the so-called current events
of the day. even locally, but we do give
the latest interesting observations of
the heavens above, the earth beneath
and the waters under the earth. We
may not tell how to make money from
froQ-s' hind leg's, because there is more
to a frog than legs, and even those legs
do not exist only to gratify the epicure.
We believe in money (the Lord knows
we need it badly enough) ; we believe
in this just war. Nations must strug-
gle and there must be a substantial
1)0 sis even for schools, churches and
The Agassiz Association. Not for a
moment do we decry the times, but
along with the times and through the
times we try to give you a little relief
and rest from the pretty continuous
struggle for existence.

With nature so near, overflowing with cheer.

Why looking disgruntled and sad?
Only give her a chance, and she will en-
hance,

Nay, treble the joys you have had.

— Emma Peirce.

124

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

School-teachers and Naturalists in
High Office-

The editor of this magazine is a
school-teacher, an instructor of teach-
ers and incidentally a naturalist. He,

a heart more interested in natural his-
tory reading than in any other kind.
I believe that in his heart he cares more
for his reputation as a naturalist than
for his popularity as president and in-

WOODBRIDGE N. FERRIS, BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

therefore, rejoices in the prominence telligent worker along various other

given to these occupations or profes- official lines.

sions in recent years by some of the There is William Howard Taft

highest official personages of the land, whose genial smile suggests his happi-

Everybody knows that Colonel ness when a word is said to him about

Theodore Roosevelt, Ex-president, has his leaving the presidential chair to be-

EDITORIAL

125

come a teacher of the young law stu-
dents at Yale University. This for
him was a step upward. There is no
higher calling- than that of a school-
teacher, whether the things taught are
the principles of Blackstone or of the
multiplication table.

Every teacher thrills with pride when
he remembers that a great school-
teacher is now president of the United
States. President Wilson is not onlv
an inspiration in enthusiasm and in
patriotism but in school-teaching. He
perhaps is the best example that this
country has ever had of a school-teach-
er president.

Teachers have become governors of
states, but doubtless the greatest ex-
ample of this kind of great school-
teacher is the highly honored ex-gov-
ernor of the big state of Michigan,
Woodbridge N. Ferris. No governor
was ever more beloved. No governor
of any state more keenly realized the
duties of his high office or set a higher
example in moral methods than the
chief executive of that state. After
four vears he is back in the educational
harness. He will devote the remainder
of hi? life to the Ferris Institute, Big
Rapids. Michigan. It is the impulses
of his big heart that make the big
school known as the Ferris Institute a
unique institution- No other school
can be compared with it. The Insti-
tute is not a college but a great sec-
ondary school for the training of men
pud women in constructive thinking
There one may find young people and
gray haired adults in the same class.
In one room are two hundred steno-
graphers taking dictation ; in the ad-
joining room about an equal number
are learning how to conduct a drug
store. In one room the visitor will find
an elderly foreigner reading a primer
and across the hall he will find a class
in the higher mathematics.

Tt is the strangest school on earth.
It is the direct antipode to all the ideas
of an ordinary school. Tt is a school of
life itself. It has none of that old-fash-
ioned notion that one should go to
srhool for only a few years of his life.
Teacher Ferris has exploded that with
the bombshells of his own inspiration.

Personallv Governor Ferris, Teacher
Ferris or plain Mr. Ferris, is a regular

Abraham Lincoln in his pleasant, rug-
ged countenance, big-heartedness and
sterling ability. He sees further than
most men, and in the lofty region in
which he abides he sees more clearly
than most men.

Throughout the West he is in de-
mand at Teachers' Institutes- He has
the most astonishing methods of any
teachers' instructor on the platform.
He strikes at his hearers with a stag-
gering mental blow that inspires love
and enthusiasm. No other speaker on
any platform says things so strangely,
so vigorously and in so antagonistic
a way nor so thoroughly endears him-
self to every one that hears him-

The editor has for a long time felt
that Mr. Ferris deserves every good
thing that can possibly be said of him.
An unspeakable sorrow has recentlv
entered into his life. His wife has
passed before him into the "great si-
lence," but he continues the school
work in which she was for many years
hi? chief companion and helper. With
hoAV much pain and effort he alone
knows. But toil is a boon to sorrow.

He is the type of the old school of
the old fashion, and yet the principal of
one of the most modern schools in the
United States. He stands alone as the
Abraham Lincoln of the school-teach-
ing profession.

Personal Appreciation by Aloha Camps.

The editor of this magazine, accom-
panied by his daughter. Miss Pearl
Agnes Bigelow, spent two weeks as
nature instructor at the Aloha Camps.
at Pike. New Hampshire, and Fairlee
and Ely, Vermont.

"Scamp Spirit," the official publica-
tion of the camps, published the fol-
lowing words of welcome and appre-
ciation :

DR. BIGELOW'S VISIT.

Seldom has Aloha Club's ever-open
heart been as quickly and completely
won as it was by Dr. Bigelow, natural-
ict and astronomer. President of The
Agassiz Association, formerly Nature
and Science Editor of the St- Nicholas
Magazine. ?n<\ "Daddy" Bigelow. to
the girls and boys. The Camp capitu-
lated at once to his large and magnetic
pe.rson?lity and he was our Pole star

126

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

for his all too short visit. Every hour
of his stay was filled with an exposition
of his novel and thrilling method of
nature study which is best described
in his own words, "I do not teach na-
ture study. What I like to do is to in-
troduce young people to Nature and to
help build np a firm understanding be-
tween them." He introduced us royal-
ly and I think our understanding is
many times what it was. Indeed it
could hardly be anything else after our
walks with "Daddy" Bigelow, our
story telling contests and the lovely
woods games we played. Star gazing
became a joy when the heavens were
revealed to us as a mammoth circus in
which we placed the animals and who
could forget a detail of the solar system
when we made our own living one, on
the grass.

I doubt if there is a single "Clubber"
today who is not a convert to the theory
that "it is better to know one thing and
be able to use the English language to
tell about it, than to have many, many
crosses on one's 'checking list.' '

DADDY BIGELOW

Of campers we have quite a charmin'
variety.

Far removed from larnin' and piety.

But I'll advance you without improp-
riety

Our Daddy Bigelow's the flower of
them all.

Here is a health to you, Daddy, dear
friend.

How you've got such a knack sure I
can't comprehend ;

Powerfullest preacher and tenderest
teacher.

Faith, may your visit to us never end!

Not for Pity but for Love.

Pity is commendable but it is not so
good either for the recipient or for the
giver as is love. "But the greatest of
these is love." That expression sounds
familiar. It has been said by thous-
ands of people and preached eloquentlv
by hundreds and yet how comparative-
ly few practice it. Thousands of dol-
lars are given for pity where one dol-
lar is given for love, but if love is real-
ly the greatest thing in the world, this
situation should be reversed. Money,
as an indication of the relative values

of pity and love, is far more readily ob-
tained on solicitation when the object
is to relieve suffering rather than to
increase happiness or personal uplift
and improvement. It is right that
millions should be given to alleviate
the suffering of the victims of the bat-
tle field, to help the suffering victims
of sickness, poverty, misfortune, acci-
dent. The immense and innumerable
gifts along these lines speak well for
human nature. But with all the com-
mendation that should be given for
gifts to relieve any form of suffering
or misfortune, I hear ringing a higher
praise, "But the greatest of these is
love." It is easy to circulate a sub-
scription paper or to sell tickets to ob-
tain gifts for the alleviation of some
form of suffering. We give to our
friends and members of the family be-
cause they give to us. The ideal is
much higher if we give to make some
one happier, to induce him to think
better and cleaner thoughts, to know
what it means to live a better life, if
we give with no expectation of remun-
eration, no expectation of complacency
to our own feelings because we have
relieved a little suffering. Should not
the consolation of giving happiness and
betterment to a fellow being be even
greater than the consolation of having
alleviated suffering? For the greatest
of these is love. Yet the sweetest and
most gracious things of life come from
kindly disposition toward our friends
and acquaintances. A pleasant smile,
a jovial word to a friend on the street
is as much needed and valued in this
present age as is the penny dropped in-
to the cup of the blind man selling lead
pencils from the curbstone. Suppose
one were limited amid the good things
of life to these pennies, and that we
had not the ability to be kind and help-
ful to our fellows, much would be tak-
en out of life !

rt is evidently easy to obtain monev
to take some man into court to restrain
him from pounding his horses, but how
difficult it is to obtain monev to help
a boy to grow into a man that shall re-
spect every form of animal life. How
easy it evidently is to put out the
moneyed hand of law to say, "You
shall not shoot that bird and wear it
on a hat." It is easv to obtain a dol-

EDITORIAL

127

lar for that purpose where it is difficult
to obtain five cents to buy that girl a
book on birds or a field glass or a copy
of a magazine article that shall teach
and inspire her never to want a dead
bird on her hat. The Educational Hu-
mane Chapter of The Agassiz Associa-
tion stands for the law of love rather
than for the love of law. We stand for
love more than for pity. It is as im-
portant to "set" a broken point of view
or to heal a cancerous mental sore as it
is to set a broken leg or to provide for
a smallpox victim. There are epidem-
ics of evil that need remedying, that
need their antiseptics, but through love.

The-e thoughts were suggested by a
recent remark of a prominent citizen
of Stamford. I solicited a small gift
from him to carry on the work of Ar-
cAdiA, telling him of the large num-
ber of visitors, especially teachers and
school children. He coldly replied,
"Those teachers and other men and
women that you tell about are able-
bodied. There is no trouble with them.
They should pay for what they get at
ArcAdiA, as well as anywhere else.
Charge them a quarter every time they
come, and charge the boys and girls
five or ten cents each, and you will
soon find that you will not have so
many visitors ; then you will not be
around to beg money from me." I did
not get a single five cents from him
and he is a kind-hearted man. Had I
solicited him for some form of suffer-
ing the pocketbook would have come
out instantly and a five or ten dollar
bill would have been handed to me.

What is the trouble? Do we not
really believe that the greatest of these
is love, or do we believe it and not prac-
tise it?

ditional dollar's worth of text, illustrations and
general improvements.

The Microscope. By Simon Henry Gage.
Ithaca, New York : The Comstock Pub-
lishing Company.
This is the greatly enlarged and improved
edition for 1917 of a well-known standard book.
Professor Gage is a technical microscopist and
at the same time a genuine amateur. He is an
expert with an amateur's enthusiasm. In
that spirit, he makes the old-time love of mi-
croscopy still live in modern biological science.
He also knows, what to the reviewer is even
better, that the microscope is a thing of joy
forever. Its use is always a tonic and never a
task, if rightly viewed.

The new retail price of "The Microscope"
is three dollars per copy. The former price was
two dollars, but the increase is not due to the
high cost of living, nor even to the increased
cost of paper, but the book contains an ad-

Historic Places of Xew England. By Her-
bert F. Sherwood. Issued by the Gen-
eral Passenarer Department of The
Xew York, Xew Haven and Hartford
Railroad.
The author is well-known as an inter-
esting writer, lecturer and photographer.
The railroad company could not have se-
lected a writer better qualified to descriKe
the historic places and interests of Xew
England. The book is interesting and use-
ful. It contains valuable illustrations of
historic spots and many historical data.
Any one interested in Xew England — and
wdio in all the United States is not inter-
ested?— can obtain a copy by addressing
the General Passenger Department of The
New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail-
road, New Haven Connecticut.

The Motivation of School Work. By H. B.
Wilson and G. M. Wilson. Boston,
Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Com-
pany.
This is an interesting contribution to
the much mooted auestion as to what ex-
tent children should be controlled and
guided and to what extent they should
have their liberty to follow their own will.
On no other phase of child psychology are
there =0 wide and varied opinions as on this
one of personal liberty and personal motive
on the part of the child. There are teachers
and parents with a widely divers-ins range
of view. Some say, "Let the child do as
he pleases." Others make the child a mere
machine to be operated bv the teacher:
still others make a mixture in varying pro-
portions. In reply to a personal Inter. Mr.
H. B. Wilson, who is Superintendent of
the Topeka, Kansas, Public Schools, writes
as follows to the editor:

"My thought in writing this book was to
do as much as possible to eliminate the
drudgery from the lives of children in the
public schools. The point of view is thor-
oughly established in the teaching staff
here, and most of the work proceeds unon
the basis of adecuate motives in the lives
of the children. I acknowledge that we do
not see yet how to motivate all the things
that it is considered necessary to require
children to master, but we have made a long
step in that direction. Our attack at pre-
sent is upon the Problem as the Basis for
Teaching. Since having a problem to work
upon is the real basis intellectually for mo-
tive, we find it is giving us a bigger hold
on the problem of motivating the work the
children do."

The authors have produced a book that
really gives concrete help of a fundamental
kind on the part of the teacher. The efforts
toward motivating, toward organic educa-
tion, the Montessori methods, with many
others, are all commendable, but the editor
believes that the truth is in none of the
extremes but somewhere in the middle
ground, the via media- "God speed to everv
effort that shall help to solve the problem and
shall train the child in his personal liberty and
the freedom of his will."

I_'S

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Contributions for Little Japan.

Mr. Arthur A. Carey, Waltham,
Mass. (Second increase —
total $60.00) $ 10.00

A Kicker, Sound Beach 2.00

Mrs. M. E. Cropsey, Sound

Beach 2.00

Mrs- W. E. Damon, New York-
City 2.00

Dr. George F. Kunz, New York

City (Increase — total $4.00) . 2.00

Mr. Andrew J. Kellock, Sound

Beach 1.00

Mr. Lewis H. Freedman. Sound

Beach 5.00

Previously acknowledged

$ 24.00
799.00

Total $823.00

For Growth and Efficiency.

Visitors at ArcAdiA $ .25

Miss C W. Ritch, Stamford . . 5.00

I. Zipfel, D. C, Willimantic,

Conn 4.00

Mr. E. Hartwright. Sound

Beach _ 5.00

Some Individual Members of the

Sound Beach Home Guard.. 27.50
Visitor at ArcAdiA 1.00

Miscellaneous Contributions

Mr. J. A. Kearful, Ada, Montana :
Two Indian arrowheads — one flint, the
other apparently iron.

Mr. W. A. Wescott, Sound Beach:
Luna moth.

Mrs. S. O. Edmonds, Sound Beach :
Cloaked knotty horn beetle (Desmocc-
rus palliatus).

Master Lansing Van Wickel. Sound
Beach: Sundrop (Oenothera pratensis).

Miss Charlotte Mansell. Sound

Beach : Polyphemus moth (Telea poly-
phemus).

Miss Margaret Ferris, Sound Beach:
Calosoma beetle.

Norfolk & Western Railway Com-
pany, Roanoke, Virginia : Thirty-nine
named and numbered specimens of
minerals gathered along the railroad.

Mr. Emil Bertolf, Sound Beach :
Polyphemus and Luna moths.

Dr. William T. Godfrey, Stamford:
Mounted specimen of starling and of
purple grackle.

In the Park.

The azalea's brilliant beauty

At the foot of the sombre pines,

Burns bright as a beacon camp-fire,
That the hunter's trail defines.

— Emma Peirce.

Your magazine is one of my treasures.
I have received more inspiration and
help from it than from any other I
ever read. — Annie Halliday Adams,
Camden, New Jersey.

The uncommon cold of the present
spring in this country has extended al-
so to Europe. Among other effects,
has been the death from starvation of
great numbers of starlings, thrushes,
gulls, and especially Lapwings.

As a by-product of the important
studies on human nutrition now be-
ing carried on at the Connecticut Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, it appears
that rats which are stunted during
their growth by insufficient food do
actually, as a result, live longer than
those that are normally developed, and
produce young later in life. The
young, moreover, though born after
normal rats cease to breed, were as
vigorous and healthy as others.

Please remember this educational uplifting work in making your will.

tyaxxn of Hrqurst to tfjp AaBoriatton

/ hereby give and bequeath to The Agasvic Association, an incorporated
association, having its principal executive office at A*rcAdiA, in Sound Beach,
in the tozvn of Greenwich, Connecticut, the sum of dollars.

IT

GREENWICH

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

DO NOT LEAVE FURS, WOOL-
ENS OR VALUABLE RUGS FOR
MOTHS TO RUIN. PLACE THEM
IN OUR DRY AIR COLD STOR-
AGE VAULT. THE CHARGES
ARE REASONABLE.

J THE

GREENWICH TRUST
COMPANY

GREENWICH

• •

CONN.

I

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent

in all locations.

Would be pleased to have jrou call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

jj—~

:o

I

n

The Best Scientific Work is Done in the
Small Laboratory with Local Support

(From an Editorial in "The Popular Science Monthly.")

"The most desirable institutions for scientific work would prob-
ably be comparatively small laboratories conducted by the scien-
tific men who work in them It would be

well if such institutions were endowed by the rich, still better if
they were supported by a state or community."

vm

THE GUIDE TO NATURE.— ADVERTISEMENTS.

E«2

cogO

.pSs

i-O >,

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash. Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

09
0)

CO

a'

li

to

<4

o-

£.2

. i-
O 4J

«i2

Q.

9492 Girl's Pajamas, 6 to 14 rears. Pn'ce IS cents.

One-piece pajamas have come to be favorite sleeping
garments. These are thoroughly comfortable and satis-
factory to wear while also they are new and fashionable.
They are so simple that they require no special skill or
ability for the making and the older girls will be glad of
that fact for they can run them up in a short space of
time. _ Crepe de chine and handkerchief lawn are favorite
materials, fine batiste and nainsook always are charming
and just now underwear is being made of fine cotton
voile. The body portion and trousers are cut together,
as indicated in the back view, and you can leave the
trousers open or gather into bands and finish them with
gills. Here, stitched edges make the finish but, if you
like a daintier effect, you could scallop the collar, the
sleeves and the upper edges of the pockets — perhaps the
belt also.

For the 10-year size will be needed 5 3-8 yards of ma-
terial 27 inches wide, 5 yards 36.

The pattern No. 9492 is cut in sizes from 6 to 14 years,
it will be mailed to any address bv the Fashion Depart-
ment of this magazine on receipt of fifteen cents.

Try

9

for

That Autumn Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

GHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

A Local Department.

A Horticultural as well as Military
Captain.

Captain Allan F. Kitchel of Sound
Beach is the leader of the Home Guards
and also leader in another form of ser-
vice for his country in that he has de-
veloped and cultivated a garden that
the editor of this magazine believes to

CAPTAIN ALLAN F. KITCHEL AND GIANT
BEANS.

be the best in this region. Think of
beans covering poles twelve feet high
with about six extra feet of vine over-
hanging— a total of eighteen feet, with
many things in similar proportions.
Few gardens show a more luxuriant
growth of potatoes, tomatoes and the
other common crops of the amateur
gardener. It is not necessary to special-
ize because the whole is always known
by a fair sample. The accompanying
illustration showing Captain Kitchel
standing among his pole beans is that
fair sample. It represents a garden that
has produced a growth which is not
all vines but would be difficult to ex-
cel. Such things do not come by
chance. When Captain Kitchel under-
takes a project he does it well. For
example, he did his military work at
Plattsburg so well that all of us in
Sound Beach recognized the justice of
the election when the Home Guards
made him their Captain- He is a thor-
ough, whole-hearted patriot, and is
cordially supplemented and aided in all
his endeavors by his energetic and
equally patriotic wife. We rather sus-
pect that this magnificent garden is a
partnership affair. The Captain may
have devoted more than half the energy
needed to make it a vegetable garden
but we feel sure that Mrs. Kitchel put
her capable mind and her accomplished
hands on the aesthetic part.

The garden of flowers though not ex-
tensive is, in its alluring arrangement
its paths of luxurant growth, an exquis-
ite gem. The flowers in the canoe, and
the canoe surrounded by picturesque
rocks, are more than appropriate for
the ornamentation of a home on the
shore of Long Island Sound. They are
emblematic. The accompanying illus-

RAN A GRUMP SAYS

VII

Burdett-McGillivray Company

ADVOCATE BUILDING
STAMFORD : : : : CONNECTICUT.

Phone 268

STAMFORD'S PROGRESSIVE DRY GOODS STORE

Pictorial Review Patterns. Our Business is Increasing Every Day

We Show the New Goods First. Popular Prices.

Dependable Goods.

tration shows Captain and Mrs. Kitchel
sitting on the edge of that canoe and
thinking pleasant thoughts as they
ought to do in such pleasant surround-
ings. In one end of this rock-bound
vessel is a luxuriant growth of purple
white and lemon verbenas. Through
the middle marches a regiment of the
deliciously fragrant heliotrope, while the
stern is filled and adorned by pink be-

gonias.

Conspicuous in the center of the gar-
den is a gorgeous display of spiderwort
(Cleome). Scattered about are beauti-
ful patches of phlox, pink and white,
zinnia, mignonette with other beautiful
flowering plants that make the garden
an altogether delightful place.

Like altar fires above the green.
The lilies from our lattice seen.

— Emma Peirce.

A Thorough Nature Student.

Miss Holden had recently taken the
position as governess in the Weaver
family and had just returned home
with the children after enjoying a long
walk in the country. Little Madeline
approached her teacher and confided :

"I ate a worm when I was out this
afternoon, Miss Holden."

With grave anxiety Miss Holden,
thinking perhaps the child had really
done such a thing, talked to her vehe-
mently, explaining the undesirability
of young worms as an article of diet.
Then, looking on the funny side, the
governess went on in a softer manner :

"And just think, dear, how dreadful-
ly the mother worm felt to have her
little baby eaten up."

"Oh, I ate she's muvver, too," re-
turned the little miss in a triumphant
manner.

THINKING PLEASANT THOUGHTS ON A ROCK-RIMMED CANOE.

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

Established 49 Years

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

PREPARE— FOR— FALL— NEEDS— EARLY.

Reports all indicate that many lines of merchandise will be difficult to secure on reorders. We offer
at this time the largest stock of merchandise we have ever carried, in the largest variety and most careful
selection.

We have foreseen the conditions and planned accordingly.

We are therefore in a position to ask you to consider early selection at this store as an advantage not
to be overlooked.

CARPETS— RUGS— LINOLEUM— DRAPERIES— AXD- HOUSEHOLD— LINES WILL BE FOUND

OF SPECIAL INTEREST.

DELIVERIES— IN— SOUND— BEACH— EVERY— AFTERNOON.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE

STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEQETMAN&JUDD CO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Qrade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, 5TAMF0RD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE 5T. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks, Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,

W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETM AN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL

IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
Ail Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

iMfitttftf

STOP

LOOK

LISTEN

In these strenuous war times, heed the good advice in Washington's
Farewell Address:

"Promote, then, as an object of PRIMARY IMPORTANCE, insti-
tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge."

ii^^^^#^^#^s^f^#^s

(Cfye Cast ©rape on tt?e Dine

23y Don C. Settr, <Los dob, Conn.

Let Horace sing his Latin lays
In praise of Tuscan wine,

But save for me the chance to sip
The last grape on the vine!

Johannisburg can keep its juice;

Champagne its vintage fine,
If lips of mine can only taste

The last grape on the vine!

Sun and dew have served their best

Within its ripe confine;
Take your Tokay, I only crave

The last grape on the vine!

Manna and myrrh cannot compare,
Nor savors sweet combine,

To bring such bliss to earthly lips —
The last grape on the vine!

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA ■ Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3. 1897.

'olume

X

OCTOBER, 1917

Number 5

Experiments in Grape Growing.

By Edward F. Bigelow, ArcAdiA, Sound Beach Connecticut.

The history of the early settlers' at-
temn+s at grape growing in this country
recalls the pathos of the early attempts
at inventing the typewriter, in that all
these experiments show the thick-head-
edness of human beings, and how diffi-
cult it has been for the race to learn
some of the simplest things. All the
histories of the invention of the type-
writer agree that the final achievement
was delayed for nearly a hundred
years because no inventor could disa-
buse his mind of the notion that the
keyboard must be like that of the
piano with keys black and white and
similarly arranged.

For more than two hundred years
settlers in the eastern part of the Uni-
ted States sacrificed an enormous
amount of time and money on account
of their thirst for wine. Vineyard af-
ter vineyard was established with the
Vitis vinifera, the wine grape of France.
Little was heard of grape growing east
of the Rockies so long as the experi-
menters persisted with this impossible
Vitis vinifera ; that is, in trying to make
the wine grape succeed. It has suc-
ceeded in only one place in this coun-
try east of the Rockies- Louisiana,

when owned by France, grew grapes
and made wine in such quantities that
the French government forbade wine
grape growing in the colony. But in
New England and the Middle States
the French grapevine is entirely out
of place. The history of these experi-
ments is one long series of disappoint-
ment after disappointment and tragedy
after tragedy, yet with what commen-
dable zeal did those early experiment-
ers struggle with the inevitable fail-
ure. Nicholas Longworth of Cincin-
nati, Ohio, experimented with Euro-
pean grapes for forty years and con-
cluded in 1846 that it is impossible to
grow foreign grapes in America. He
obtained more than fifteen thousand
plants from abroad and went to enor-
mous expense in trenching the land
with a special form of drainage, en-
riching it with soil and with sand even
three feet deep. He planted a great
variety of foreign wine grapes. Every
one failed ; not a single plant was left
in his vineyards. He then came to
the correct conclusion that grape grow-
ing, especially in the eastern part of
the United States, must depend on the
cultivation of native grapes alone and

Copyright 191" by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

132

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

on the raising of new varieties from
their seed. But in sharp contrast to
this is the success of the French grapes
in California. There are occasionally
some amateurs in Eastern United
States, even nowadays, who have been
able to grow one or more varieties of

roots, and it is probable that in no
distant time all California vines will
be grown on native roots. The really
wonderful success of the Vitis vinifera
west of the great continental divide
makes all the more remarkable the
fact that in no place east of the divide

&~ ft

J~/je T}ull }{ouse, ^{orrie of the Corjcorcl §rape

Cut bv courtesy of "The Scientific Monthly.'

the old world grape out of doors with a
fair degree of success in specially favor-
ed locations, but these have always
been by the amateur for experimental
purposes, never in the commercial vine-
yard. The repeated failures, without a
single real success, serve to prove the
uselessness of trying to grow foreign
grapes in eastern America. The ex-
periments have been tantalizing be-
cause for a year or two these foreign
grapevines will grow with a fair
amount of promise, and then become
diseased with finally nothing left but
dead vines and an abandoned vineyard-
It is only in the regions west of the
Rocky Mountains, and more particu-
larly in California, that the varieties of
vinifera, the foreign grape, are success-
fully grown in America. The great
viti-cultural interests of the far West
are founded upon the success of this
one species. Native grapes can be
grown in California, but for no purpose
can they compete with the Vitis vini-
fera- It is however an interesting fact
that even in California the foreign
grapes grow best upon American

will its varieties thrive. In the early
history of this country it seems that in
the eastern part of the United States
none thought of grapes for food. Wine
only was wanted. The hard working,
frugal Puritans cared comparatively
little for even the wild grapes for food.
They were not so fond of wine as were
the Southerners, nor did they have so
much time and so many facilities for
experimenting as had the rich southern
planters. That accounts for some of
the success in the far South. The New
Englanders had to struggle to obtain
the necessities of life. It is an interest-
ing fact that the New England people
were fond of rum while Southerners
preferred wine. Yet all the writers on
the resources of the New England col-
onies mention grapes. Governor Ed-
ward Winslow, writing in 1621 of the
country in which the Puritans had
found a home, says, "Here are grapes
white and red and very sweet and
strong also." He seems to have been
one of the first to become impressed
with the possibility of grape growing

in New England.

"he Eighteenth

EXPERIMENTS IN GRAPE GROWING 133

Century in particular seems to have in 1849. Near the place where this
had the least interest in grape growing seedling was grown was a Catawba,
from the wild American grapes. In The wild vine was exposed to cross-
the literature of that century there are fertilization. , From this came the seed-
fewer references to the possibility of ling named the Concord. Here is cir-
successful grape culture than there are cumstantial evidence that the Concord
in the Seventeenth. This is probably contains Catawba blood. From the
due to the fact that the experiments time wdien the Concord was first placed
with foreign grapes had failed, and it on the market, its success has been
seems never to have dawned on any phenomenal. Nothing else in all the
one that the failure of these foreign history of grape culture has equaled it.
grapes argued well for the success of Ephraim W. Bull was born in 1805
our native species- One can but pause and died in 1895. His ninety years
again to philosophize on the obtuseness were spent in the quiet of his Concord
of mankind. Here time and money home, and he would have remained un-
had for two hundred years been spent known by others than his neighbors,
in vain in trying to grow foreign who loved and honored him, had it not
grapes, yet the woods and fields were been for his fortunate discovery of the
full of native grapes. What in heaven's Concord grape. But, alas, the sarcasm
name, wdiat in the name of common of events is such that the grape which
sense, was the trouble with them? has added immensely to the wealth of
Grape growing in the Eastern United this nation brought to its originator
States may be summed up in one word scarcely a year's competence. Every
'failure,' until the Honorable Ephriam one that eats a grape should cherish a
W.Bull set up an entirely new landmark kindly thought for Mr. Bull. The Con-
when he developed American grape cul- cord, while it is so successful, yet has
ture. The Concord grape is first re- many imperfections as a grape. But
corded in 1852 by the Massachusetts there is compensation for these in the
Horticultural Society as a seedling ex- fact that it grows in enormous quanti-
hibited by E. W. Bull. Its history ties anywhere and everywhere. Many
reads like a romance. At present it things might be said in criticism of
is used almost exclusively in the great the Concord. It has faults but it has
Chautauqua grape growing belt of New earned its phenomenal success by its
York for the making of grape juice and astonishing prolificness in production
is grown for the table everywhere in In really high quality for the table
the fields and gardens. From it have the standard of all American grapes is
been obtained a considerable number the Delaware. It is undoubtedly the
of valuable varieties of American grape par excellence. Its introduction
grapes, including the Worden, the raised the standard of quality of our
Early Moore, the Pocklington, the viticulture to that of the Old World.
Martha and the Cottage. The Concord There is no variety of Vitis vinifera
succeeds on a greater diversity of soil more richly or more delicately flavored,
than any other variety. In the Chau- or with a more delicious fragrance,
tauqua grape region there are six than the Delaware- Next to the Con-
dift'erent types of soil on which grapes cord it undoubtedly is our most popu-
are grown and on each the Concord is ]ar grape for garden, vineyard or wine
the leading variety. As Horace Greely press. Contrary to general supposition
said, the Concord is preeminently "the it has nothing 'to do with the state of
grape for the millions." It can be pro- Delaware, but originated in the little
duced so cheaply that no other can town of Delaware in Ohio, and was
compete with it in the markets. Near- first brought to notice by a local paper
ly all grape juice that may be purchased Qf that town in 1849. Jt immediately
almost anywhere in the country at the attracted attention and the horticultural
present time is made from the Concord journals were filled with conflicting ac-
grapes- counts of its history and with discus-
The seed of a wild grape was planted sions of its botany, and in 1856 it was
in the field in 1843 by E W. Bull of placed on the fruit catalogue of the
Concord, Massachusetts. It bore fruit American Pomological Society. There

134

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

■N , •15.-. 'iiP

THE EDITOR OF THIS MAGAZINE COPYING THE INSCRIPTION ON THE BULL MONUMENT.

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EPHRAIM WALES BULL

PLANTED SEEDS OF A
WILD LABRUSCA GRAPE
FOUND GROWING ON
THIS HILLSIDE
WHICH,
AFTER THREE
GENERATIONS,
THROUGH HIS WORK
AND WISDOM
BECAME
IN THIS GARDEN
IN SEPTEMBER, 1849
THE
CONCORD GRAPE

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is still some difference of opinion as to
its botanical status, but no one doubts
its good qualities. It is a high grade
grape for wine making, yet on account
of its smaller amount of fruitage it can
never compete with the Concord. As
the table grape, it is undoubtedly the
best, and as such commands a premium
in all markets, sometimes selling for
double the price of the Concord. The
Delaware seems to be the result of a
freak of nature, yet it may have been
produced by careful experimenting.
Next to Mr. Bull among the great ex-
perimenters of the country should be
placed Mr. Edward S. Rogers of Sa-
lem, Massachusetts, who produced
forty-five seedlings known as Rogers's
hybrids. He was a diligent experimen-
ter, but was evidently regardless of his
own interests. He gave away his seed-
lings freely to any inquiring friends. It
is a curious fact that in every one of
the forty-five seedlings that he pro-
duced the standard is high. There
have been various attempts at explain-
ing the almost uniform success of al-
most all his vines, but it is generally
acknowledged to be due to his skill in
selecting the parent vines, and in lib-
erally supplying pollen in cross-fertili-
zation- But these are only surmises :
no one knows exactly how he achieved
his success.

COURTESY UNDER TRYING CONDITIONS

135

Raisins are not made from American
grapes; no kind at least that will com-
pete commercially with those in the
market, though some maintain that the
Indians of America made raisins from
wild grapes. California has now be-
come the greatest of the world's raisin
producing regions, the climate being
almost perfectly adapted to the indus-
try. So to sum up : the Vitis vinifera
succeeds well in California for wine
and raisins ; the Concord is the big pro-
ducer in the Eastern United States for
grape juice, and is fairly well esteemed
as a table grape ; the Delaware is un-
doubtedly the best in the United States
for the table.

For valuable suggestions in the pre-
paration of this article we are indebted
to "The Grapes of New York" by U.
P. Hedrick of the New York Agricul-
tural Experiment Station. This book
is a large volume of five hundred and
sixty-four pages, beautifully illustrated
with full page plates in colors.

The passenger gave the railroadman
a severe and most profane tongue lash-
ing for having motioned him back when
he first started to alight.

But Peter Hunt maintained absolute
silence, remembering the New Haven's
"Courtesy" principles :

"The railroad officer and employee,
above all others, should be courteous
because the railroad is a semi-public
institution. Those who patronize the
railroad expect and should receive
courtesy and helpful treatment."

Dark clouds are overspreading all the sky,
And yet the woods o'erflow with sunshine
bright;
The autumn fairies, passing swiftly by,
Have filled them with their radiance
overnight.

— Emma Peirce.

Courtesy under Trying Conditions.

Peter Hunt is station master for th<
New Haven Railroad at Bridgeport.
He is a favorite with both the patrons
of the road and his fellow employees.

Like most railroad men Mr. Hunt
realizes the dangers of taking chances
in getting on and off moving trains, and
he is always on the lookout for passen-
gers who disregard ordinary safety pre-
cautions.

Recently an express train pulled into
the Bridgeport station and after dis-
charging and taking on passengers was
given the signal to proceed. At this
moment a passenger who had evident-
ly been dozing awoke and grabbing his
bag rushed to the door of the car- As
he started to get off the train he was
seen by Mr. Hunt, who motioned him
to get back on the car. The passenger
started to do this but changed his mind.
He jumped off the train and as he did
so he fell.

Mr. Hunt was right after him and
pulled him up on his feet. Had he not
done so, an eye-witness asserts, the
passenger would have lost both legs.

The point of this story is the behav-
ior of the two men after the railroad
man saved the passenger from a ser-
ious accident.

Why Percy's Chicken Hops!

BY E. W. POMEROY, D. D. S., STAMFORD, CONN.

Willie Mendoza, the Mexican jumping bean,
Crossed the border after swimming the

stream.
Willie was a bold jumping bean
And hopped about stealthily unseen.
A bandit bean, and robber bold
In search of trouble and lust of gold.
As he hopped the soil of Uncle Sam
A song burst forth and thus it ran:
"Yo ho — yo ho — and some kerosene!
I'm Willie Mendoza the jumping bean.
Who'er interferes will get a bump."
And bv this noble song he sung
An old hen's heart was sadly wrung.
"Whoe'er could sing a song so sweet
Would sure be mighty good to eat."
And she sought the singer of this lusty song
For Willie her heart did sadly long.
At lensrth he hopped into her sight
And she swallowed him down with all her

might.
In her throat she felt the beanish bump
And was thereupon seized with a case of

jumps.
She jumped for days upon both legs,
And jumped so hard she laid some eggs.
Hardly had the eesrs been laid
When she ceased to hop and felt repaid.
But one of the eggs disappeared
As along the road it hopped and reared.
Apparentlv Willie was in the egg.
For it hopped and jumped like a bandit

yegg.

It hopped North. South. East and West,
And landed finally in Percy's nest.
The nest he set the hen upon.
And there it stayed and batched anon.
It hatched one day with a loud report.
Willie hopped out and with a snort
Of disgust at the soil of Uncle Sam,
Hopped back to his beanish Mexican land.
But the chicken from the egg that Willie

broke
Has hopped ever since, and that's no joke.

136

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Poetry Prefaced Peaches.

In The Guide to Nature for July.
1914, we published an article on Idyl-
land, the home of Charles H. Crandall,
the farmer-poet, in the northern part

MR. PAUL M. BARROWS.

The real happy farmer.

of Stamford, Connecticut. In addition
to the usual farm crops that farm was
then productive of a prolific crop of

poetry, and as typical of that crop we
published in our article certain of the
poems, namely, "The Forest Cure,"
"Three Trees," "The Happy Farmer''
and "Lean on Your Oars and Rest
Awhile-" In the point of view of the
present these poems have a special po-
etical significance not then recognized
Idylland was afterwards sold to Mr.
Paul M. Barrows, and in its develop-
ment into one of the best fruit farms of
the state of Connecticut the emblema-
tic three trees have multiplied into a
forest of fruit trees innumerable. Mr
Barrows as the happy farmer is sur-
rounded by everything needful to make
him the exemplification of the title, for
the new homestead has every indica-
tion of happiness, prosperity and even
indeed of luxurious comfort. While it
was not a leaning on the oars that has
transformed this poetical farm into a
model peach orchard, there was, even
in the strenuous labor of brain and
hand required by the transformation
at least emblematically speaking, a
period of resting awhile in the time
necessary for the maturing of the for-
est of fruit trees which now cover the
slopes and the summits of the hills of
this farm of magnificent views. It has
been renamed Mayapple Farm and is
being developed for thoroughly patriot-
ic service in that each square foot of
the land is planned for the greatest pro-

THE "FARMHOUSE:": BESPEAKS PROSPERITY IN PEACHES.

POETRY PREFACED PEACHES

137

duction at the least expenditure pos- insect troubles. But care and effort

sible. rightly applied bring results. This

Mr- Barrows is college trained in year is the first year of the larger crops

everything that pertains to up-to-date to be expected from this farm. For

farming and forestry and especially in the first time the peach trees have come

fruit growing. The equipment of May- into bearing and it is estimated that

apple Farm is ideal. The old barns the crop will total nearly two thousand

MR. BARROWS (AT LEFT) AND ASSISTANTS SORTING PEACHES AND LOADING THEM INTO

AN AUTO TRUCK (IN THE BACKGROUND).

have been pulled down and replaced
by better and larger ones. The old
homestead is still retained as the care-
taker's lodge while the new homestead
in its palatial beauty crowns the sum-
mit of the farm ,the highest elevation
for miles around.

Still the work goes on- A large ap-
ple orchard has recently been set out
but in the waiting for their maturity
there is no leaning on the oars. The
ground has been utilized to the utmost
for corn, and one of the heaviest crops
of the state is produced between the
rows of thriving young apple trees
The remarkable prolificness of this
farm is not by chance. The orchards
represent industry combined with the
best modern knowledge. After every
rain the ground is stirred. The weeds
are kept out. The tree trunks are
treated with the chemicals most ap-
proved for the prevention of fungus and

baskets- These are not harvested all
at one time but in the different varieties
are scattered well over the season from
about the middle of September to way
into October.

We predict great things for this
farm. Mr. Barrows is full of energy
and has the requisite knowledge and
ample financial facilities for ideal de-
velopment. At the recent meeting of
the Northern Nut Growers Association
in Stamford it was voted to accept his
offer to establish an experimental nut
orchard on his farm. Work on that will
begin in the spring and will be followed
with the greatest of interest by the
nut growers, while the development of
all the interests of this farm of manifold
efforts will be closely watched by
those in the line of the back to nature
renaissance as well as thoce who real-
ize that battles are won by hoes and
spades as well as by guns and can-

1 38

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

hons. There is to the writer a pecul-
iarly emblematic significance in the
fact that a farm which for so many
years gave to the world its ideal poetry
is now transforming into the very
poetry of all nature's productions.
Some one has said that architecture is
frozen poetry. In a similar spirit may
we not say that peaches are growing
poetry? If so, then in more senses
than one poetry has produced peaches
for Mr. Barrows must have had well
in mind the sentiment of the thing, the
ideal or, if you prefer, the prosaic plans
before he could accomplish such a
thoroughly practical success as is
evinced everywhere on Mayapple Farm
a farm of poetry, patriotism and peach-
es.

Bees That Are Bandits.

"A New Jersey man is accused by
his neighbors of keeping a species of
bees that, instead of honestly making
honey from flower and clover bloom,
thievishly plunder the hives of all the
working bees in the neighborhood.

"It is asserted that this man, al-
though he has not kept an honest bee
in seven years, regularly sells more
honey than any other bee man in the
Delaware Valley.

"No doubt these allegations will sur-
prise most people. The bee has been
commonly looked upon as incorrupt-
ibly honest and as an unvarying model
of industry. Indeed, it was from the
bee that man first learned that industry
and honesty go through this world
hand in hand.

"If a story had come from New Jer-
sey, or anywhere else, telling that a
gang of men had been making their
living, not by work, but by plundering
the savings of industrious people, not
the slightest surprise would have been
excited. Men are a good deal given to
that sort of thing everywhere.

"But it appears that bees can suffer
degradation as well as men. And. ac-
cording to the charges made in this
case, whiskey entered into the degra-
dation of the bees just as it does into
that of men- It is claimed that the
bees were fed on 'doped' honey in or-
der to make thieves of them. The
drunken bee becomes a bandit. . Be-
fuddled with booze, he refuses to work
and turns to riotous living.

"We fondly claim great superiority

for the human mind over the mind of
the bee. But it seems that booze brings
them to the same level as far as the
more essential qualities are concerned."

^I> ^j* ^j* 5jC 5|C

The foregoing is a clipping from a
newspaper. The same item, credited to
the editorial page of "The Christian
Herald," has appeared in various pub-
lications. It should be credited to
Baron Munchausen or to some
other writer of fiction. This is the
sort of fool stuff that would tend
o drive even a prohibitionist to drink.
It would, if he knows and appreciates
the honeybee. There are plenty of in-
teresting things to be said about honey-
bees without concocting such trash as
this, as there are many arguments in
favor of prohibition or at least in favor
of temperance.

The facts are that it is not dishonest
bees that do the robbing. Bees do not
need to be doped with whiskey to make
thieves of them. At certain times of
the year, when the nectar of the field
flowers is scarce, any vigorous colony
is liable to assume this robbing habit.
Bees will sting. A sting was given to
them to prevent this robbing, not only
on the part of the bees themselves but
of bears and human beings- The
drunken bee has not become a bandit
but what's the use of wasting more
words on such a fool article? — E. F. B.

The whole thing must have originat-
ed in the fertile brain of some newspa-
per reporter who had no idea of boost-
ing any cause good or bad. He wanted
to get a story that would be accepted
by the news editor. He tried to write
a good story but he failed miserably.

Whiskey would have a tendency to
quiet the bees ; they would become
drowsy and calm ; it would not infuri-
ate them ; it would not incite them to
rush out into the fields.

Tobacco smoke quiets bees, and so
does any other narcotic or similar
drug. That the bees might steal honey
containing whiskey is altogether pos-
sible, even probable, but if they robbed
at all it is because they were stealing
honey and not because whiskey was in
it. The whole thing is as improbable
as it is ridiculous. — The A. I. Root
Company, Medina, Ohio.

ENTHUSIASTIC NUT GROWING

i39

Enthusiastic Nut Growing.

The Annual Convention of the North-
ern Nut Growers Association was held
at the Hotel Davenport in Stamford,
Connecticut, on Wednesday and
Thursday, September 5th and 6th- The

T;-'-\ ■ t>,-

SH"***!

"X- ,-'"

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

PROFESSOR W. N. HUTT, RALEIGH, NORTH
CAROLINA.

DR. ROBERT T. MORRIS. NEW YORK CITY.

DR. T. H. KELLOGG, BATTLE CREEK, MICHI-
GAN.

program consisted of the regular busi-
ness sessions, addresses by various
prominent members and outings around
Stamford. Greenwich. South Norwalk
and Georgetown. It was voted to en-
list the interest of the members of The
Agassiz Association, the Boy Scouts
of America, the Woodcraft League, the
Camp Fire Girls and others who may
find trees that are productive of edible
nuts and will report their location. Dr.
Edward F. Bigelow participated in
these plans and made several sugges-
tions for enlisting the interest of girls
and boys throughout the country.

An important discussion was in re-
gard to the scarcity of beechnuts in the
North. No one seemed able to explain
why in all Connecticut, or at any rate
in the greater part of the state, no edi-
ble beechnuts are to be found, and it
was thought desirable to ascertain from

the various parts of the countrv where
beechnut trees are still growing and
whether they are increasing or decreas-
ing in productiveness. This discussion
was started by the editor of this maga-
zine who has for several years been
conducting extensive experiments and
correspondence along these lines. Pie
enlisted the interests of the bovs and
girls of "St. Nicholas" and later of The
Glide to Nature and of "Boys' Life"
of the Boy Scouts of America.

The program for these two days of
the Convention was interesting but is
too long for us to publish in detail, yet
the papers that seemed to the editor of
greatest importance from a popular
point of view may be mentioned. Dr.
Robert T. Morris astonished those who
are not specialists in nut growing by
speaking of the number of pine trees
that bear edible nuts-
Next to the cocoanut trees the pines
probably furnish a larger standard food
supply for various peoples than is fur-
nished by any other group of nut trees.
After the pines would come chestnuts
walnuts, almonds, hazels and others
which have been looked upon largely as
luxuries. Recent studies have shown
that nuts contain the balanced ration
to such an extent that they are to be
much more largely used for food pur-
poses in the future. Dr. ]. H. Kellogg
of the Brittle Creek, Michigan, Sanita-
rium, who was present, stated that he
purchases pine nuts by the ton for use
in his various food preparation^. From
some thirty species of pine trees which
furnish important food supply, Dr
Morris showed nuts of sixteen species
in size varying from that of buckwheat
un to the size of the bunya-bunya and
resembling small, beautiful, white
pears. In several parts of the world
the nuts of pine trees of different spec-
ies practicallv take the place of the
potato.

Dr. Kellogg spoke in an interesting
way of nuts as a matter of diet. He re-
ferred to the increasing cost of meats
and to the importance given to them by
persons other than himself, then pro-
ceeded to tell how nuts could be substi-
tuted and are even more nutritious. He
conclusively proved by his experience

140

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A TAPANESE WALNUT WITH BUTTERNUT
PROGENY AT THE HOME OF A. CARMI
BETTS, 74 NEWTOWN AVENUE, NORWALK,
CONNCTICUT.

at the Sanitarium and by experiments
on wild animals that nuts are not dif-
ficult to digest but are on the contrary
beneficial when taken at the proper
time and in the proper manner- He
has experimented on a large number
of wild animals and has found that
nearly all readily accept nuts instead of

meat. There was one exception. The
bald-headed eagle refused the substi-
tute. All others, even a wolf that had
had nothing to eat except raw meat
since it had been taken from the mother
readily changed to a diet of nuts. He
told an interesting experience with this
wolf in that it escaped from the cage
captured two chickens, devoured them
greedily and died within a few hours
It appears that after the wolf had be-
come accustomed to the nuts, the shock
of the meat diet was too great, provided
we are justified in attributing the wolf's
death to the chickens.

Another pleasing address was by
Editor Collingwood of "The Rural
New-Yorker." As a humorist, and in
his ability to illustrate his remarks by
anecdotes, this genial editor would take
first premium for skill in pleasing and
instructing a general audience. His
stories of his boyhood experiences, es-
pecially with puzzling problems in
arithmetic, not only entertained the
audience but served as admirable texts
on which to suspend his dissertations
on nuts which came later in the address.

Mr. F. A. Bartlett of Stamford pre-
sented a practical paper on the use of
nut trees for shade. He maintained
that nut trees not onlv have the advan-

THE NUT GROWERS AT A BUTTERNUT OFFSPRING OF THE TAPANESE WALNUT.

ENTHUSIASTIC NUT GROWING

141

tage in the food that grows on them hut
that they are heauiful and useful as
shade trees. If his contention is correct
we wonder why we should ever have
any other shade trees around the home
or on the roadside when the nut trees
afford shade and in addition supply a
bountiful store of nutritious food.

Mr. C. A. Reed, the Government ex-
pert, showed a number of slides on the
screen, illustrating valuable nut trees
and nut orchards in different parts of
America. There seemed to be a con-
sensus of opinion permeating the meet-
ing to the effect that nut trees, combin-
ing the Greek ideal of utility and
beaut}-, would eventually supplant the
kinds of trees in New England which
are planted for beauty alone, and in-
cidentally bring larger incomes than
those received from Connecticut agri-
cultural interests at the present time.

One of the most important of the
trees that were visited was the famous
English walnut at Milbank, Greenwich
This is indeed a giant tree, just fifty
years old, and of such special interest
that we hope later to publish a photo-
graph and further details of it. The re-
markable feature of this Milbank tree
is the superior quality of the nuts, most
of the English walnuts which are raised
in New York and New England rating
in second or third class quality with
dealers.

A giant black walnut on the Gregory
place on the Danbury Road in the
northern part of Norwalk was said tc
be the largest in the state of Connecti-
cut. Even more interesting was the
Siebold Japanese walnut on the premis-
es of Mr. A. Carmi Betts of Norwalk.
The remarkable fact is that this Japan-
ese walnut with small nuts is surround-
ed by a numerous progeny that at an
early age bear large nuts that resemble
the common butternut- The suppo-
sition is that the parent tree has been
cross-pollinated by butternuts growing
in the vicinity, and that the progeny
following a law of heredity, have shown
the butternut parentage more distinctly
than that of the Japanese walnut.

At Dr. William C- Deming's home in
Georgetown native black walnuts, but-
ternuts and hickories have been graft-
ed over to superior varieties of walnuts
and hickories, much as ordinary apple

and pear stocks are grafted to superior
varieties of those fruits.

Much money is required for the new
and important nut propaganda for the
purpose of developing experimental
orchards in different parts of the coun-

MR. F. A. BARTLETT AND THE GIANT BLACK
WALNUT ON THE GREGORY PLACE ON THE
DANBURY ROAD.

try. for the purpose of bringing out the
literature of the subject, and for put-
ting the available data already known
in the best form for public service. For
that reason the Convention chose
Stamford for a meeting place this year.
In Stamford there are a number of men
of means interested in general horticul-
ture, who would be expected to attend
the meeting as visitors. Ordinarily the
Association looks for about two hun-
dred local visitors, and a lively address
of welcome by the mayor of the town
in which the Association meets. There
is something peculiar about Connecti-
cut psychology. Instead of having two
hundred local visitors representing the
wealth and public interest of the com-
munity, there were only about
half a dozen who attended the
meeting, although there was a full at-
tendance of members from different

142

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

states. The particular object of enlist-
ing- local interest failed in Connecticut
and for the first time in the history of
the Association. One of the friends of
a prominent worker in the Association
said in this connection, "That's Con-
necticut a- I know it."

Prize Offers for Nuts.

The Northern Nut Growers Associa-
tion wishes to interest the Boy Scouts
the Girl Scouts, the Campfire Girls, the
Woodcrafters and similar organiza-
tions, in its efforts to find and preserve
the valuable native nut trees of Amer-
ica.

For that purpose it offers, through
the kindness of one of its members, a
special additional prize of five dollars
($5) to any member of one of these or-
ganizations who shall win any one of
the Association's prizes. These prizes
are as follows :

For a Hazel nut of pure American
origin that shall compete with the im-
ported filbert, $5000.

For a Shagbark Hickory better than
those now being propagated, $25.00.

For a Pecan better than those now
being propagated, $10.00.

For a better Black Walnut, $10.00.

For a Beechnut worthy of propaga-
tion, $10.00.

For a blight resistant American
Chestnut, $15.00.

For the best butternut sent in, $5.00 ■
second, $3 ; third, $2; and five prizes of
$1 each.

Also prizes of from $1 to $5 will be
awarded to the sender of any of the
following nuts that shall be deemed by
the judges worthy of propagation : the
western shellbark, pignut, mocker nut
or other hickory, Japanese walnut, pine
nut, almond, English walnut or hy-
brids.

Mere size of nut is not of greatest
value, except, perhaps, with the hazel
Before size come cleavage, or the ease
with which the meat may be taken from
the shell, plumpness, richness and
flavor of kernel, and productiveness of
tree. Any nut, even a small one, if it
ranks high in these three points, may
be of value.

Send at least twelve nuts from each
tree, pack them securely in a box or
bag, address them to Dr. Deming

Secretary Northern Nut Growers As-
sociation, Georgetown, Connecticut,
and be sure to put your name and ad-
dress on a slip of paper inside the pack-
age. The secretary will acknowledge
the receipt of each specimen and write
his opinion of the merit of the nut.

Mark the tree so as to be sure you
can identify it.

Valuable nuts are named after the
sender and the name goes on perma-
nent record.

Senders of good nuts will find oppor-
tunity to sell cuttings from the tree at
the usual rate of five cents a foot.

Prize winners must furnish one lot
of scions, or cuttings, for experimental
propagation, at the request of the As-
sociation.

All packages must bear postmark not
later than December 31.

Our valuable native nut trees are dy-
ing or being cut down every year and
so being lost to the world. If you can
help us find them first we can have
scions grafted from them on young trees
and so the nut may be grown forever
just as we have found and saved most
of our native fruits, the Baldwin apple
or the Bartlett pear, which would have
been lost forever if some one had not
had the wit to graft scions from the
original tree. Trees do not come true
from seeds-

The Northern Nut Growers Associa-
tion, whose interests as a body are en-
tirely educational, experimental and
scientific, appeals to the patriotic spirit
of the young people of America to help
us save the precious possession of our
native nut trees.

We sometimes get nearer to God in
proportion as we get — far from men. —
Henry WTard Beecher.

The English, confronted with a ser-
ious food shortage, are waking up to
the loss caused by various destructive
creatures. It is calculated that the
house sparrow alone costs the British
Isles no less than $40,000,000 each year,
with twice as much more to the dis-
credit of the starling and the blackbird to-
gether. Rats are said to destroy about
$75,000,000 worth of property annually,
and altogether the loss is not far from
$200,000,000.

All communications for this department
should be sent to the Department Editor,
Air. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street,
Hyde Park, Massashusetts. Items, articles
and photographs in this department not
otherwise credited are by the Department
Editor.

Making a Nest for a Wren.

BY MISS HATTIE REYNOLDS, UPPER FALLS,
MARYLAND.

Once there was a wren that had the
odd but appropriate name of "Bubbles,"
because he seemed to be the incarna-
tion of overflowing joy and irrepres-
sible song, like the rainbow-hued bub-
bles that arise from a spring of fast
flowing water to sparkle in the sun-
shine. There is such a spring. It is
called Rock Creek and is the admiration
of two counties. A small river of the
same name flows from it. The water
rushes forth like a fountain from a
crevice in a rock under a majestic tulip
tree. It tumbles down the steep hill-
side with five hundred gallons of water
a day- in a little waterfall full of bub-
bles and wreaths of foam, and goes
leaping and sparkling to hide itself
among the ferns and the wild flowers.
It is like a merry child running out of
a dark schoolroom into the beautiful
playhouse of out of doors — joyous,
noisy, free. So Bubbles sings when he
comes back in the spring, and every
one stops to listen. He is so delighted
to pour out that charming solo of his—
the spring love song — that he can
scarcely stop to eat.

Fortunately little lady wren is more
practical and sensible. After listening
patiently to her musical husband, she
goes poking about in crannies and
holes to find a place in which to build
a nest.

What do you think those two silly
ones selected? A tomato can on a
ledge in an outhouse. They crammed
it full of sticks, a quart of sticks, with

no room for the nest as the sticks
seemed to go in endways. I found a
small wooden box about eieht inches,
each way and emptied the sticks in it.
arranging them with my awkward
hands into the form of a nest- When
the pair returned, they seemed to be
surprised and flew about complaining
and looking for the can that I had left
on the ledge. The next morning there
were some sticks in it again, so I took
it away. Then they built in the box.
Did they know those sticks over which
they had worked so hard? What
thoughts were in their minds when
they made the delicate part of the nest
that no hand of man has been able to
build? There they raised four little
ones that fortunately got away with-
out being destroyed by the cat, that
arch enemy of bird life.

A Quail's Nest Under a Beehive.

Atlantic, Iowa.

To the Editor:
I enclose a photograph of a quail's

■' HI ,

' Qik

THE QUAIL NEST UNDER THE BEEHIVE.

nest under a beehive that I took when
visiting the queen breeding apiary of
Mr. Ben G- Davis at Spring Hill, Ten-

144

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

nessee. Mr. Davis was at work about
the apiary nearly every day, yet this
picture shows how familiarly the quail
would come about our homes if they
were encouraged to do so. We for-
merly had a fine covey of these birds
which came into our dooryard and fed
about the barn lot with the hens. Un-
fortunately there are hunters here who
have little regard for friendly birds,
and our last quail has fallen a victim.
Cordially yours,

Frank C. Pellett.

A Pet Blue Jay.

Atlantic, Iowa.
To the Editor :

I enclose a picture of Miss Austa
Durkee, a primary teacher in this city,
and a pet blue jay which I think will
interest you. The bird was so tame

HER PET BLUE JAY.

that it would come at call, and would
without fear alight on the head or hand
of any visitor. Miss Durkee has done
much to interest the children of her
school in the study of nature and to
make them friendlv toward the birds.
Very truly yours,

Frank C. Pellett.

Mr. Samuel Alexander, an old-time
amateur botanist, lately dead at the
age of eighty, was one of the first per-
sons in this country to advocate and
assist in systematic tree planting and
conservation. His active study of
plants continued to the end of his life.

Dr. Pomeroy and Mr. Walton.

Stamford, Connecticut.
To the Editor :

The Guide to Nature is always full
of interest, but of especial interest to
me was the article on Mr. Mason A.
Walton in the August number. I had
the pleasure of knowing Mr. Walton
intimately, and of spending many hap-
py hours in his charming company-
His knowledge of the little wild creat-
ures of the woods was equalled only
by his love of them, which might also
be said of the flowers that he cultivated
in the garden near his cabin. Though
wonderfully interesting in conversa-
tion, there was always a reticence in
his manner. I felt that there had been
a shadow in his life, though he never
referred to the past, and however
black the shadow, the sunshine of his
simple life and his genial, kindly nature
radiated from him and was reflected
on all who came into his presence.

Of the many things that might be
said to illustrate the courtesy as well
as the kindness of heart that character-
ized him, I will relate a single incident.

In company with several young men
and a brace of fine hunting dogs, the
writer started out one night to hunt
the wily raccoon. Intending to keep as
far as possible from the "Hermit's
Woods," we drove several miles north
toward Essex, turning our dogs loose
at a point that we considered remote
from any creature which Mr. Walton
might know and love. But the ways
of raccoons and dogs may not always.be
predicted. Wearily we tramped until
midnight with no sign of a raccoon-
Then suddenly the dogs were off on a
scent. There followed an hour or more
of working up an 'old trail' then
away to the south, the baying of the
dogs faintly audible. Hastening on,
we came at length to a ledge on which
stood two huge trees. In one of them
the dogs had the coon. While we were
debating our next move, we heard
footsteps, and presently the hermit ap-
peared on the scene. He greeted us
quietly, without a trace of excitement
and asked if we had a coon up the tree
I replied, Yankee fashion, by asking if
we were near his cabin. He informed
us that we were, but very considerate-
lv asked where we started the coon

ORNITHOLOGY

145

The writer, undertaking to speak for
all, said, "In the Essex woods, but
when any coon or any other creature
flees to your back dooryard for safety,
he surely finds it when I am on his
trail." Though the trees in which the
raccoon had taken refuge were within
two hundred feet of the hermit's cab-
in, he replied, "It is true that I have
some pets about here, but it is also
true that there are raccoons in the Essex
woods. If you have chased one of them
over here you have a right to go up the
tree and get it." "We may have the
right," the spokesman answered, "but
we do not care to exercise that right
and possibly shoot a pet coon. If you
will show the boys your sleeping
porch, we will consider ourselves re-
warded."

A few steps brought us to the big
pines under which in a hammock sus-
pended between two of them Mr. Wal-
ton had been sleeping when awakened
by the dogs.

Dr. W. H. Pomeroy.

actually believe the hen was indicating
her wish for straw as her conduct was
very unusual. I can pick up this hen
at any time.

C. D. Romig.

Forget me-nots.

"Forget-me-not" they breathe in blue,
"Forget-me-not the season through;
For to each gift of flowers blent,
We add the touch of sentiment."

— Emma Peirce.

Bird Confidence.

Audenried, Pennsylvania-
To the Editor :

While driving an automobile this
summer through the country, on a trip
in the direction of the Delaware Water
Gap, I noticed a pigeon feeding in the
middle of the road where it remained
and allowed me to pass above it, as I
did without disturbing or harming it.
Another machine just in front of mine
did the same thing. The bird did not
seem at all concerned.

This season I have also noticed a
flicker raising a family in a dead tree
beside a busy railroad track and within
a hundred yards of a noisy coal break-
er where many boys are employed.
This must be largely the result of the
protection that birds have had in the
past few years. Ordinarily a flicker is

a shv bird.

C. D. Romig.

The First Frost.

Knew How to Get What She Wanted.

Audenried, Pennsylvania-
To the Editor:

I have a pair of hens which last win-
ter and early this spring had the range
of the yard and were unusually tame.
One morning they found themselves in
a wire pen, and when I looked in at
noon and expressed my satisfaction at
seeing them out of the garden, the
gray hen squatted down much like an
old chick and with motion of the head
and beak and considerable clucking
seemed to say, "Why don't you put
some straw in the nests? I want to
lay." I took the hint and put the straw
in one nest, then went to dinner. When
I looked in the nest a half hour later.
I found there a nice brown egg. I mi

BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, MASSA-
CHUSETTS.

No more the cricket chants ! — no butterfly
Like winged fairy flutters gaily by,

No fragrant flower scents the midday air.
A sudden blight lies lightly ev'rywhere.

No blithesome chorus wakes at early dawn.
The virgin verdure fades from lea and lawn,

And with each fickle breath of chilly breeze

Some more sere leaves fall slowly from the
trees.

Music Without Charm.

The shopman had been using a vast
amount of persuasion in trying to in-
duce the visitor to buy the gramophone

"Latest and most wonderful instru-
ment, sir," he remarked- "I've a blank
disc here if vou care to hear vour-
self."

The visitor's eyes brightened.

"I play the flute a little," he replied
producing an instrument. "If you don't

nd— "

The shopman did not, and the disc
was soon indented with something that
only a sleuth from Scotland Yard could
have recognized as "Alice Where Art
Thou?"

"Is that really me?" asked the flutist
when his performance was repeated by
the instrument.

"That's you, exactly, sir. Will you
bin- the gramophone, sir?"

"No," was the reply: "I'll sell the
flute, though."

The Heavens in October.

By Professor Eric Doolittle of the University of Pennsylvania.

For many months the student of the
heavens has had but little opportunity
to spend his early evenings in the ob-
servation of our most interesting sister
worlds which revolve about our sun.
Occasionally he may have examined the
brilliant little Mercury when it emerg-

During the evenings of the present
month, however, the two most brilliant
worlds of all are seen in the evening
heavens. When the observer has stud-
ied the beautiful, silvery Venus until it
has sunk below the horizon in the
southwest he may turn to the golden

HORTH

South

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M. October 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
east hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold map inverted.)

ed for a short time into the twilight Jupiter with its interesting retinue of

glow, and during the past several moons which will then be climbing the

weeks Venus has also been steadily but heavens in the northeast- These two

very slowly emerging from the sun's planets will nightly come into more

rays, but none of the other planets favorable positions for observation for

could be studied to advantage except many weeks, and to add to the beauty

after midnight and during the early of our autumn evenings,
morning hours.

We this month see for the first time

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

147

entering our evening heavens the won-
derful constellation Taurus, with its
striking star figures of the Hyades and
Pleiades, and this is but the leader of

the brilliant winter train of stars-
*****

The Planets in October.

Mercury attains its greatest distance
west of the sun on October 4; at thb
time it rises almost at the east point of
the horizon about one and one-half
hours before sunrise, ft is onh- on the
mornings for a few days preceding and
following this date that the planet can
be seen with the naked eye, though the
possessor of a small telescope which is
provided with setting circles can ob-
serve it during the daytime, especially
if precautions are taken to screen the
object gla^s from direct sunlight.

All of the planets revolve about the
sun in paths which are not exact cir-
cles so that at some times they are
nearer the sun than at others, but the
difference with Mercury is far greater
than with any of the other worlds.
When this little planet is nearest the
sun it is but twenty-eight millions of
miles distant from that source of in-
tense heat, but when it is at the most
remote part of its orbit it is no less than
forty-four millions of miles away. The
former position is called Perihelion, and
when it is at this point Mercury re-
ceives two and one-third times as much
light and heat as when it is most dis-
tant- When it is considered that the
planet receives on the average seven
times as much light and heat as our
earth, it is evident that its fluctuations
of temperature must be most remark-
able. Doubtless this alone would make
it quite impossible for living beings
such as are found on our earth to exist
there, and this unfavorable condition
must continue for many long ages until
our sun has become cooler. Mercurv
passes Perihelion on the third of this
month at t A. M.

Venus is seen shining far in the
southwest for two hours after sunset
on October 1 ,and this time is increa-ed
to 2 hrs. 30 min. by the end of the
month. The planet has long since pass-
ed the point of its great orbit which is
far beyond the sun, and it would
emerge from the sun's rays far more
rapidly did not its motion also carrv
it rapidly southward amon°- the stars

By October 31 it will be no less than
twenty-six degrees south of the equator
of the sky, a point far more southerly
than is ever reached by our sun. Con-
sequently it will be found far south of
the west point of the horizon. On Oc-
tober 1 Venus shines with sixtv-three
times the brightness of a first magni-
tude star, while by October 31, on ac-
count of its decreasing distance from
uc, it will have become no less than
ninetv-three times as bright. It will be
found a beautiful object in the tele-
scope, looking as the moon when two
or three days past the first quarter.

On the evening of October 18 the
narrow crescent of the new moon will
be seen a little to the right of Venus :
both on this and the following evening
the two objects will form a beautiful
figure in the southwestern sky. It will
be noticed that the moon is steadilv
drawing nearer the planet, but unfortu-
nately the two bodies will not be near
est together until 2 hrs. 57 min- P. M
(Eastern Standard Time), when they
cannot be seen (except in the telescope)
on account of daylight. The present
approach will be a very clo^e one and
many observers south of twenty-six de-
grees north latitude on the earth will
see the planet hidden by the moon. On
this same evening the reddish Antares
is seen two degrees south of the silvery
Venus ; the contrast both in color and
brightness will be very striking-.

Mars will move from Cancer into
T eo dunng October: its rising precedes
'ne rising of the sun by about four
hours on October 1st and by about five
hours on October 31st; consequently it
1" high in the eastern heavens during
the hours of the early morning.
Though not yet in the most favorable
position for observation, the planet is
rapidly approaching the earth, and its
increase in brightness during the month
will be very noticeable. On the morn-
ing of October 29 Mars will be found
one degree north of the beautiful doub'e
star, Regulus, and the two objects may
then be seen together in the field of a
small telescope-

The most striking object now in our
evening heavens and the most satisfac-
tory one for observation is undoubted-
ly the planet Jupiter. This rises at 8
hrs. 40 min. P. M. on October 1, and so
early as 6 hrs. 40 min. by October 31.

148

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

With its retinue of bright moons, its
wonderful and ever-changing markings
and its rapid rotation, its observation
is a source of never failing pleasure
Especially interesting phenomena of its
satellites may be seen on October 8, 14,
21, 23 and 26.

Saturn is moving eastward and
southward in Cancer, a little to the left
of the Praesepe. On October 1 at 7
P. M., Mars in its eastward motion will
pass forty minutes to the north of Sat-
urn, so that on this evening both of
these very interesting worlds whose
appearances are so strikingly contrast-
ed may be seen together in the field of
the telescope,

5K 5|» 5jC yfc ^f*

The New Star.

The nebula within whose boundaries
a new star recently appeared (as was
described in the article of last month)
is a faint, spiral nebula lying in the
borders of the constellation Cepheus, at
the point A of Figure 1. A photograph
of it with many of its neighboring stars

M:,W^;r -:A ''* :

//.■^•.■■^y-^CT-A* '*-* ■:■ ~v*..'. 7 - ■• .

• -A ' A V.;-V^C. A A :J&?

* AA' •-■**.■ '/A;-:. , ".. 'A'*vif •

•• . ■•>■?-' ■■■■■£■■ ' *• ■'• ■^■iif'';.^ ■ :■ •

• ." -■> •

away. That a single new star might
appear in such a part of our universe
that it would be seen by us in a line
with the distant nebula and so be mis-
taken for a part of it, might not be sur-
prising, but such an explanation could
hardly be adduced to account for the
appearance of no less than six of these
objects-

The conclusion seems unavoidable
that the new stars are actually within
and connected with the nebulas them-
selves. If this is so, it would seem that
the nebulas cannot be so immeasurablv
remote as some suppose, for were this
the case, a star, even though it exceed-
ed by millions of times the brightness
of the largest known suns of our uni-
verse, would be too far away to be vis-
ible to us. Yet though this conclusion
is certainly the most probable one, we
cannot be perfectly sure, even of this,
for it is just possible that in those dis-
tant universes (if they are such) there
may be action and changes on a scale
more stupendous than any hitherto wit-
nessed by us.

Figure 2. The Spiral Nebula within which a new
star appeared.

is shown in Figure 2. As the new star
is but of the fourteenth magnitude, it is
far too faint to be seen with a small
telescope, but faint as it is, its sudden
appearance is of the utmost philosophic
interest.

When the complete records are ex-
amined it is found that no less than six
new stars have been known to appear
within the borders of spiral nebulas,
the brightest of which was the star
which in 1885 flashed out in the Great
Nebula of Andromeda. Some astrono-
mers think it probable that the spira!
nebulas are not true nebulous clonds at
all but that each is a univese of stars,
more or less like our own Milky Way
universe, but at an immense distance

Visible Occulations of Algol for the
Season of 1917-1918.

BY WILLIAM A. MASON, IN THE MONTHLY
EVENING SKY MAP.

The following table gives the visible
minima of the occultations of the varia-
ble star Algol for the season of 1917-
1Q18. The time given is the middle of
the occultation, which begins five hours
earlier and lasts five hours later than
the hours indicated.

The ephemeris has been corrected by
the accumulated acceleration of the
star's former period of revolution,
which now brings the minima one
hour earlier than the standard tables.

The time given is U. S. Eastern
Standard Time. Algol is visible even-
ings in the northeast in the Fall, over-
head in the Winter, and in the north-
west in March and April.

October 2 5:15 P. M-

October 17 1 115 A. M.

October 19 10 105 P. M.

October 22 6:55 P. M.

November 8 1 1 150 P. M.

November 11 8:40 P. M.

November 14 5 130 P. M.

November 29 1 130 A. M-

December 1 10:20 P. M.

TO KNOW THE

December 4 7:10 P. M

December 22 o :oo A. M

December 24 8 .-50 P. M

December 27 5 40 P. M

January 1 r 1 45 A. M

January 13 10:35 P. M.

January 16 7 :2$ P. M

February 3 0:15 a! M

February 5 9:05 P M

February 8 s ;55 p. M

February 23 2:00 A.M.

February 25 IO 150 P. M

February 28 7 .-40 P. AT

March 18 0:30 A. M

March 20 9 :2o P. M.

March 2^ 6:10 P. M

STARRY HEAVENS

149

Moonglade.

BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON", MASS.

How restful just at eventide,
When afterglow is wholly o'er,
To stand alone bv ocean's side
And hear its surf upon the shore,
To breathe its breath and feel its might,
To see the shroud which o'er it lies.
The shapeless ships, the harbor's light,
And sparkling stars amid the skies.

When from her darkling rouch the moon
Serenely rises full and white.
And with increasing glory soon
Transforms the shodaws of the night:
On restless waves like silver shines
Her splendor — O transcendent sight! —
In surging, scintillating lines
Across the waters of the bight.

Had I been free to spend my life as
I chose the study of living nature
would assuredlv have been my choice
It is with fear for the future that I see
.the majority of young- Americans
growing up without an interest in the
outdoors. Such density cannot be
overcome by the most elaborate indoor
training. I am immensely interested
in The Agassiz Association, if only
for its name, which has always been
musical to me. — Ella Frances Lynch
Founder The National League of
Teacher-Mothers, Bryn Mawr, Penn-
sylvania.

All across the woodland, under lowering
skies,
The glowing tints of Autumn had been
sleeping:
There came a shaft of sunlight from out
the West, and lo!
The miracle was out they had been keep-
ing.

— Emma Peirce.

Pitcher-leafed Ash.

Princeton, New Jersey.
To the Editor:

I note with pleasure that you have

called the attention of the readers of

The Guide to Nature to my desire for

information regarding the occurrence

of pitcher-leafed ash. I enclose here-

NOTE THE "PITCHER" SHAPE.

with a photograph of leaves taken from
one of the pedigreed trees which I
have grown. Although this is not a
very satisfactory photograph it will
give you an idea of the peculiar feature
of these trees.

Sincerely yours,

George H. Shull.

Civilization is surely advancing, al-
though its progress may sometimes seem
slow. African traders, who used to sup-
ply Uganda with rum, calico, brass wire
and beads, are now doing a roaring trade
in wrist watches. — The Youth's Compan-
ion.

Your magazine is a treasure. — Wil-
liam W. Dean, Stamford, Connecticut.

Xc^cS&ltcSsitcSBlti

••••••• • • • •■•••••■4

®m&,

&■

REGREATIONS^MICROSCOPE

A Hint and a Suggestion.

BY CLEMENT B. DAVIS, NEW YORK CITY.

To that enviable mortal, the micros-
copist, everything is "fish that comes
to his net." The seeds of the common

work. A volume might be written on
their surprising mechanisms alone —
the labrum or underlip, for instance,
of the larva of the dragon fly. In re-
pose this appendage appears as a sim-

wee

ds and vegetables furnish endless pie mask covering the greater part of

THE AUDITORY HAIRS OF A MOSQUITO.

surprises. The pappus of the flying the face, but let some helpless little

seeds hold secrets that few of us sus
pect, while the exhaustless store of
beautiful forms, color combinations
and mechanisms among the insects
alone would furnish material for a life

fish, worm or tadpole wriggle too close
and that disguise flies out and back
like the click of a camera shutter. That
mask is no longer the simple face cov-
ering it seemed to be, but it becomes

RECREATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

151

a pair of grappling hooks on the end of
a jointed arm which is normally fold-
ed under the chin. In the fraction of
a twinkling, the victim is drawn to the
waiting jaws in fulfillment of its hum-
hie destiny.

There is the pretty mechanism of
that agile acrobat, the "hominy heat-
er" heetle which, when placed on its
hack, snaps itself about until it finally
lands on its feet. And there is the
great hairy mop of a tongue with
which the stag beetle laps up the sap
that flows from the tender twigs crush-
ed by the huge mandibles.

Even the ubiquitous mosquito holds
many beautiful revelations for the mi-
croscopist. The two fluffy tufts form-
ing the antennae of the male are well
worth your attention. Although these
are of so odd a shape scientists tell
us that they are organs of hearing.
This was suggested as early as 1855.
Mayer, in 1874, led by the observations
of Hensen, conducted a series of exper-
iments with these beautiful plumose
antennae of the male mosquito to show
their auditor}' function. He fastened
a mosquito to a microscope slide and
then watched the hairs as he sounded
tuning forks near-by. When forks
producing vibrations of five hundred
and twelve per second were sounded,
some of the antennal hairs were
thrown into violent sympathetic vibra-

The wings also hold a pretty secret.
It is for you to verify or to disprove
the existence of a structure that ap-
pears to exist on a wing in one of my
slides mounted a number of years ago.
It is- from one of the Anopheles, and
its picture shows that butterflies and
moths have no monopoly of scales on
their wings. The interest, however,
centers on the fringe of scales along
the hind edge. The next picture shows
a portion of this fringe greatly enlarged
and carefully drawn. In examining
this I was impressed by the apparent
insertion of the scales along the edge.
This fringe appears to consist of three
rows of scales. Those in the bottom
row are long. Those in the next row.
set higher on the membrane, are only
about half as long and overlap the first.
Those of the third row are still shorter,
and overlap the second. The scales in
the bottom row are straight, in the sec-
ond they are slightly convex while in
the top row they are decidedly convex.
Can this be a beautifully adapted me-
chanism for labor saving? It will re-
quire the careful examination of a
number of wings to determine this. If
it is found to be a common structure,
we can readily see that the down droop-
ing of this fringe on each upstroke of
the wing, and its straightening out on
each down stroke, each row bracing
the next lower like the various pieces

THE SCALES OX THE WING OF A MOSOUITO.
Ihe dark markirgs are produced by closer groupings of the scales.

tion. This is no accidental circum- of
stance. The hum from the wings o:
the female mosquito produces this
same note.

a laminated vehicle sprim

w

ill

mean the saving of an enormous
amount of energy in the course of a few
minutes, when we consider that the

152

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

^h*>^ ■ ■■ i

THE SCALES ON THE LOWER EDGE OF THE WING OF ANOPHELES MOSOUITO.

wings make five hundred and twelve
strokes a second.

The quest of the truth in this matter
will lead to many happy hours in the
haunts of this little malarial pest and
numberless delightful minutes with the
wings under your microscope.

You have the hint. The suggestion
is this : Tell us what you find. It is
immaterial whether your investiga-
tions confirm or disprove what appears
to be the structure of the wing on my
slide. Your report will be interesting
to us who read The Guide to Nature.
You have enjoyed the articles in each
issue, so why not "do your bit," and
help contribute to the enjoyment of the
rest of us?

From Nothing, Nothing Comes.

Nature — the world I could touch —
was folded and filled with myself. I
am inclined to believe those philoso-
phers who declare that we know noth-
ing but our own feelings and ideas.
That is why, perhaps, many people
know so little about what is beyond
their short range of experience. They
look within themselves — and find noth-
ing! Therefore they conclude that
there is nothing outside themselves
either. — Helen Keller.

Love of nature costs nothing, and yields
1,000 per cent.

— Emma Peirce.

Nature — faint emblem of Omnipo-
tence !

Shaped by His hand — the shadow of
His light—

The veil in which He wraps His ma-
jesty.— Horace Bushnell.

•^^^s:^^

Seventy-five Thousand Insects.

BY ROBERT C. MILLER, BUTLER, PENNSYL-
VANIA.

In the mountains of southwestern
Pennsylvania, near Uniontown, a rare
variety of beetle has been discovered,
over which entomologists have been
arguing more or less for several years-
The names suggested for it have rang-
ed all the way from plain Cychrus
ridingsii to Scaphinotus ridingsii mononga-

While passing a bookseller's window
one day, his attention was attracted to
a work on our common butterflies. He
bought the book, read it, awoke to the
possibilities of the subject, equipped
himself with a butterfly net and a cya-
nide jar, and has been at it ever since.
He has collected throughout the United
States from Maine to California, and
has exchanged with collectors in for-
eign lands, until he has assembled a

MR. T. N. BROWN AND A PART OF HIS COLLECTION OF HANDSOME MOTHS, BRIGHT-HUED
BUTTERFLIES AND HUGE BEETLES FROM THE TROPICS.

hdae, and the question is still unsettled.
Most of my readers, I suppose, are not
interested in this beetle, nor in the dis-
cussion concerning it, but I am sure
every one will be interested in learning
something of Mr. T. N. Brown, the en- ;
thusiastic "insect hunter," who has the
reputation of being the only successful
collector of the Cychrus in this region.
Twenty-four years ago Mr. Brown
became interested in insect studv.

magnificent collection of more than
seventy-five thousand specimens be-
longing to eighteen thousand different
species. His cabinets present a rare
display of elegant moths, bright-hued
butterflies and huge beetles from the
tropics, as well as the more modest
"ones of our northern clime. Mr.
Brown is thoroughly informed on every
branch of insect study.

I well remember my first acquain-

154

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

STALKING THE TIGER SWALLOWTAIL.

THE INTEREST IN INSECTS

155

tance with Mr. Brown, made when I
was a youngster in short trousers-
From the time I was seven years old
I had had an interest in insects and,
using my straw hat in lieu of a butter-
fly net and cigar boxes for cabinets, I
had collected as best I could though
in ignorance of the names and habits
of my specimens. One day I learned
of Mr. Brown and his collections and
equipping myself with a box of butter-
flies as a talisman, I set out on a pil-
grimage to his home.

If I had expected any formality I
was agreeably disappointed. I found
him in the garden, a pleasant, kindly
old man, spectacles set awry, a slouch
hat on one side of his head, sleeves
rolled up and a trowel in his hand. He
welcomed me as one after his own
heart, encouraged me, provided me
with books and allowed me to wander
to my heart's content among his col-
lections. The studies first seriously
begun there, I have followed with in-
creasing pleasure to the present time
and the debt I owe to Mr. Brown is
one not likely to be repaid.

Not content in confining himself to
one branch of nature study, Mr. Brown
has made a study of geology ,and his
collections of ores and semiprecious
stones is one to delight the eyes of a
student.

When the Uniontown Chapter of
The Agassiz Association was organ-
ized Mr. Brown became an enthusiastic
member. He has made frequent dona-
tions to our museum, and has ever
been willing to aid the Chapter in every
possible way. Under his instruction
several of the members have become
enthusiastic butterfly hunters.

When not collecting insects, delving
for specimens of rock, working among
his flowers or helping some student
Mr- Brown finds time to paint lifelike
color portraits of the butterflies and
moths in his collection, and does it so
accurately that they have scientific
value. One of his butterfly paintings
is in the Carnegie Museum at Pitts-
burgh.

Mr. Brown is one of the old school
naturalists, who has loved the out-
doors so sincerely as to devote his
time to nature study in the days when
such pursuits were considered childish
if not a sign of mental deficiency. It

is largely owing to the unflagging zeal
of such men as he that Mother Nature
has come into her own, and the study
of insects, stones, birds, fishes and
frogs relegated from the realm of child's
play to one of the most important of
the intellectual pursuits.

Fruit Requires the Bees.

Fruit growers are beginning to rea-
lize the necessity of bees for the proper
fertilizing of fruit bloom, and that the
two industries are mutually inter-de-
pendent. If anything, the fruit grower
derives much more benefit from the
bees than the bee keeper himself. A
number of years ago the veteran bee
keeper and queen breeder, Henry Alley
of Massachusetts, now deceased, was
obliged to move his bees away, owing
to complaints of fruit growers, claiming
them to be a nuisance, but after a year
or two they were glad to get him back
again, because of so little fruit in pro-
portion to the number of blossoms.

I have in mind an account I read in
one of the bee journals of a man in New
York State, who bought a farm and set
it out to fruit trees, expecting to flood
the market with fruit. After a few
years' waiting and getting no fruit, he
was obliged to sell out to another. The
second man thought he had a bonanza
but soon found out his mistake and
sold. The third buyer was a bee keep-
er and wanted it as a location for his
bees, as there were none around there
and at the same time mistrusting the
cause of the barrenness of the orchard
The result was that the first year he
harvested thousands of barrels of the
finest fruit ever raised in that section
and the orchard has continued to bear
since. — Green's Fruit Grower.

The sunset glory fills the woods,

The sunset of the year;
In Summers heat a cool retreat,

Now full of warmth and cheer.

— Emma Peirce.

What is nature? Art thou not the
living Government of God? O, Heaven,
is it in very deed He then that ever
speaks through thee, — that lives and
loves in thee, that lives and loves in
me ? — Carlyle.

The Seeds of Potatoes.

In the January, 1916, number of this
magazine there was an article by the
editor on the seeds of potatoes. That
article has attracted widespread atten-
tion and in many respects has been mis-
represented. It opened with the fol-
lowing statement :

"Thirteen years ago I originated the
annual summer school of nature study
at the Connecticut Agricultural Col-

to the fruiting berries of the common
potato, he exclaimed, 'All these berries
have disappeared from the state. I will
give twenty-five dollars for one found
within Connecticut.' "

Though that offer was made in a
classroom from the oratorical rather
than the financial point of view, the ex-
perience of the subsequent years proves
it. In all that time not one fully de-
veloped potato ball has been found in

POTATO SEED BALLS.

Natural size

lege, Storrs, Connecticut, and was the
director of the first session. One of the
members of the staff at that session
was Professor Gully, the horticulturist
of the college. This expert in garden
products made one day an astonishing
statement that I thought was intended
to be oratorical rather than literally
financial- When discoursing in regard

the state of Connecticut. The balls
have also quite largely disappeared
from various other places. However
they are not extinct and no one has
ever claimed that they are extinct- In
some places in Maine and Montana and
in the far South the seed balls have been
obtained in fairly large quantities. Of
course the offer of twentv-five dollars

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

157

for a single seed ball does not now hold
good, and perhaps it was never intend-
ed to be taken literally. From the first
the interest in the matter has been sci-
entific and not commercial, yet that
statement has been exploited and dis-
torted in various ways throughout the
country as a commercial offer applying
to a single potato ball wherever ob-
tained. A. T. Cook in the follow-
ing article quite rightly characterizes
sucb exploitation and distortion as can-
ard. Sensationalism is far removed
from the spirit of the original article
which was merely a plain statement of
the fact that potato balls are every-
where disappearing and in certain lo-
calities have altogether vanished. Mr
A. T. Cook, a seedman of Hyde Park
New York, desires information as tc
the extent of the disappearance in var-
ious places, and will purchase potato
seed at a reasonable price.

$; % ^i ^ ^

The Vanishing Potato Seed Ball.

BY A. T. COOK, HYDE PARK, NEW YORK.

Forty or fifty years ago potato seed
balls were plentiful in every potato
field. Of late years, however, in most
sections, few if any are found- Mil-
lions of people have never seen one.
For the benefit of those who have not
it may be said that they grow in clus-
ters on the top of potato vines, a half
dozen more or less in a cluster. They
look much like green tomatoes, and in
the accompanying illustration are
shown in the natural size.

Every now and then there looms up a
statement to the effect that a "scientist"
has offered twenty-five dollars for a
singfle seed ball. This canard has been
well circulated by the press but of
course has no foundation as applicable
in potato balls in general- Although
potato seeds surely are vanishing, they
are not all gone. Not yet.

Last season I harvested the seed of
over seven bushels of balls- If I could
have sold them for twenty-five dollars
each they would have brought a tidy
sum. For this season the prospect is
that I shall harvest many more than
seven bushels. I have made a specialty
of potato seed for the past thirty-five
years and supply the leading seedmen
of the United States and Canada. There
is an immense demand for the seed. Few
things sell better. Everything pertain-

ing to potatoes is now of absorbing in-
terest.

Potato seeds are curious and wonder-
ful They produce an amazing diver-
sity of potatoes. It is not generally
known that each seed, even those from
the same seed ball, will bring a different
variety, each one more or less distinct
from every other. The product of a
packet of seeds will be a large number
of shapes, sizes and colors. From one
packet there may be white, yellow,
pink, red, blue, purple, black and varie-
gated potatoes of shapes and types in-
numerable, some early, some medium
and others late. Extraordinary "freaks"
sometimes develop, such as those with
tubers the shape of a banana and others
with vines running along the ground
similar to cucumbers, taking root and
producing tubers at every joint. I am
now growing a promising seedling that
produces very long tubers similar to a
long sweet potato. No one would rec-
ognize it as being of an "Irish" variety
I believe it to be of great value-
Potato seeds are exceedingly prolific.
It is not an uncommon thing for one
seed to produce from fifty to one hun-
dred and fifty tubers the first season
The Montana Experiment Station grew
one hundred and eighty-four perfect
potatoes from a single seed, and Mr. F
A. McDonald of North Dakota grew
the astonishing number of two hundred
and seventy-six potatoes from one of
my seeds.

Why not, dear reader, try your hand
at growing seedling potatoes? They
will be the most unique product of your
garden- Give your boy and girl a
chance to grow them also. They may
be the lucky ones. Great success has
already attended the growing of new
varieties and the end is not yet. Many
varieties will yet be found that will
bring a golden harvest to the fortunate
growers and prove of inestimable value
to the world.

The potato never "sports." It is only
from the seed that new varieties are
produced. Potatoes have their day,
deteriorate and disappear. W Tiere now
are the Mercers, Peachblows, Cole-
brooks, Prince Alberts, Cuzcoes
lady's fingers, Niggertoes and many
others so well known in days of yore?
They are gone and gone forever- If
all potatoes failed to produce seeds.

158

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

every variety would eventually run out
and vanish from the earth. It would be
difficult to estimate what the loss of
this valuable esculent would be to the
world.

-J; j|c * * *

Save the Potato Balls.

Gone are the days when the pictur-
esque seed balls could be seen in count-
less numbers in every potato field. To-
day they almost seem a relic of a past
age. If any one is so fortunate as tc
find balls on their vines, they should
be saved with the utmost care. I can
use all you care to dispose of-

Potato seeds grow as readily as to-
mato seeds. Plant them early in the
spring and when they are four or five
inches high transplant two feet apart
They will produce tubers the size of
marbles, with perhaps a few as large
as a hen's egg, the first year, and in
three years will attain their full de-
velopment.

The growing of potatoes from the
seed is most interesting and the possi-
bilitv of producing a variety superioi
to all others and therefore more valu-
able than a gold mine is fascinating in
the extreme.

setting out onions upside down is a
true incident. I do not pretend to un-
derstand it. I suppose the boy was in
error- I did not take the matter ser-
iously enough ever to try the plan. At
all events, I thought the incident is
along the same line as some of your
other articles and might call out some
interesting comments."

Here and there an Autumn torch is lighted,
Here and there a tongue of flame is seen;
Soon there'll be a monster conflagration,
And so will end the Summer's reign of
green.

— Emma Peirce.

Planting Bulbs Upside Down.

Hyde Park, New York.
To the Editor :

Your several articles relative to the
planting of bulbs upside down remind
me of a little incident that occurred
several years ago.

One spring as I was passing by a
neighbor's farm where his young son
was planting small onions, I jokingly
said, "Of course you know that onions
should be set out upside down." I
passed on, supposing he would take my
remark as a joke. But he didn't- Af-
ter harvesting the onions he said, "Mr.
Cook, you were right about planting
those onions, for those I planted upside
down yielded twice as much as the rest
Thus did my fame as a gardener early
begin to spread.

A. T. Cook.

An editorial inquiry called Mr. Cook's
attention to the danger of misunder-
standing this letter. Should onions be
planted upside down ! ! He replies :

"My little item sent you relative to

Yellow Jackets and Hornets.

A letter just received from W. C.
Britton, State entomologist, says that
the plague of yellow jackets and other
hornets is extraordinary- He advises
carbon bi-sulphide in their nests, or
soaking with kerosene and burning out
at night. It is possible that fruit-grow-
ers will ask for a law protecting
skunks from being killed so extensively
as they are for their fur. Skunks are
a great benefit, although they do once
in a while steal young chickens that are
left unprotected at night. Skunks dig
up the yellow jackets' nests in the
ground and eat the insects and larvae
and they also devour many other nox-
ious insects, worms, moths, beetles
etc.. besides mice and moles. The ani-
mals have been trapped so extensively
that the increase in yellow jackets may
be the result. It is certainly interest-
ing to find the spots where skunks
have exhumed the hot little pests and
cleaned out their combs, a job that all
are willing to leave to friend skunk-

-"The Stamford Advocate."

This item from a local paper in no
sense exaggerates the number of yellow
jackets and hornets, especially the for-
mer, that are present this year. On a
recent visit to an apple orchard in
Georgetown, and again to a peach or-
chard in Hunting Ridge, I found it dif-
ficult to pare an apple or a peach on
account of the yellow jackets and hor-
nets that would alight on the fruit.
The peach orchards are full of yellow
jackets, and while the workmen do not
seem to be stung, it is annoying to have
face and hands covered with yellow
jackets.

r HEFUNOF
SEEjNGTfflNIB,

I FOR YDUNG FOLKS j

EDITED BY

\ Edward FQigelow /

V/VVMOT YOU WPiNT
TO know.

v5<?C/A>(

icn, , Conn.

An Elfin Table.
We almost caught the fairy folk

In upland walk to-day,
When we came across their festive board,

The elves had run away.

The lichen doilies were in place;

And with a yellow flame,
St. John's wort candles burned serene,

As on the scene we came.

We lingered, cherishing the hope
That they might soon return;

But only heard the wandering wind,
Through fronds of eagle fern.

— Emma Peirce.

A Fasciated Cactus!

The cactus is about the last plant
that one would ever think would be-
come fasciated, but it appears that
even this plant is not exempt from
"tying itself up in a knot."

Professor George W. Carver, Direc-
tor of the Department of Research and
Experiment Station of The Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial Institute, Ala-
bama, sends the accompanying photo-
graph of an Opuntia ficus-inrica that
made such a peculiar growth in one
summer. He writes:

"I found it growing out of doors and
cut it off just below this peculiar

growth and potted it. It has now
been potted for about three years and
does not seem to change in any way.

THE FUNNY CACTUS.

It throws out young growths from
time to time, and I let them grow a
little while and then cut them off."

A Belated Blossom.

BY H. E. ZIMMERMAN, MT. MORRIS, ILL.

The pear and blossom shown in the
illustration were found growing on the
same limb three inches apart on a tree
at Sand Fork, West Virginia. It is not
often that a tree is full of ripe fruit, as
this one was, and blossoming at the
same time.

PEAR BLOOM AND FRUIT TOGETHER.

LITERAK

«®©S3<B<S®

«^

NOTICES

»&

In October.

The green, cool, decorous forest
Has taken to madcap ways;

Its aisles are a riot of color,
These mellow October days.

From the carpet beneath our footsteps,
To the canopy over our head,

All gone are the trappings of Summer,
Fall tapestries glowing instead.

The red maples started the frolic,
By doffing their summery green

For the liveliest flamelets of color,
That apart from real fire are seen.

The oak trees soon followed in order,
With aspens in rare golden hue,

And ashes, cool, furnished the shadows,
And sometimes the sunshine too.

The splendor can only be transient,
For all flames were ever short-lived,

But from no brilliant, worldly pageant
Is such soulful pleasure derived!

— Emma Peirce.

Fiet n Book of American Wild Flowers. Be-
ing a Short Description of Their Char-
acter and Habits, a Concise Definition
of Their Colors, and Incidental Refer-
ences to the Insects Which Assist in
Their Fertilization. By F. Schuyler
Mathews, Member of the New Eng-
land Botanical Club and Author of
"Wild Birds and Their Music," etc.
New Edition, Revised and Enlarged.
With 24 Colored Plates and over 300
Other Illustrations from Studies from
Nature by the Author. New York City:
G. P. Putnam's Sons.
It is astonishing that five hundred and
eighty-seven pages, profusely illustrated,
many of the illustrations being in colors, can
be put into a book so convenient that it
will slip into an ordinary coat pocket, but
it has been done in this case. To the re-
viewer this seems to be the best of all the
handbooks for field and indoor use with our
common wild flowers. The arrangement is
commendable; the descriptions are concise
and readable, and every quality of the book
enables the reader to find readily the illus-
tration and the description of a flower.
With such a handbook no nature lover has
any excuse for not knowing our common
plants.

The Garden under Glass. By William F.

Rowles. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

J. B. Lippincott Company.
The culture of fruit, flowers and vege-
tables under glass has in this book a practi-
cal and timely guide that will be appreciated
by the army of Americans now fighting the
high cost of living. The book was original-
ly published in England, and describes the
English practice of growing fruit and vege-
tables for the home table. The plans are
well worth adopting in America.

A Textbook of Botany for Colleges. Part II.
By William F. Ganong, Ph. D. New
York City: The Macmillan Company.

This book is intended to assist in a gen-
eral laboratory course in botany and in the
study of botany as a part of a comprehen-
sive education. It does not discuss theories.
but is truly conservative, adopting only such
statements as have survived the test of
criticism. It is well arranged and will un-
doubtedly appeal to the professional teach-
er. It also contains a great amount of ma-
terial useful and important for the student
of nature in general.

Ferns A Manual for the Northeastern States,
with Analytical Keys Based on the
Stalks and on the Fructification. With
over Two Hundred Illustrations from
Original Drawings and Photographs.
By Campbell E. Waters. New York
City: Henry Holt and Company.
The Photographs in this book are extreme-
ly fine and impress one with the beauty
of the ferns. Those that desire to study this
botanical order will find them helpful in
identification. The text is well arranged
and not so extensive as to be discouraging.
It tells just what one wants to know, and
does not enter too deeply into technical de-
tails. To the reviewer it seems to be the
best obtainable general book on ferns.
There are one or two others pretty nearly
as good, but this really appears to merit
the first place. We recommend it to all our
students.

Louis Agassiz as a Teacher. By Lane
Cooper. Ithaca, New York: The Corn-
stock Publishing Company.

A teacher of English has issued this
book to prove or perhaps rather to inspire
others with the belief that the best method
of teaching English is practically the same
as that employed by Agassiz in teaching
nature. He expresses the purpose of the
book as follows:

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

IX

"And I might go on to show in some de-
tail that a doctoral investigation in the
humanities, when the subject is well chosen,
serves the same purpose in the education
of a student of language and literature as
the independent, intensive study of a living
or a fossil animal, when prescribed by Ag-
assiz *o a beginner in natural science."

He has conferred a favor upon all natur-
alists by collating chapters on Agassiz's
methods of teaching Professors Shaler,
Verrill, Wilder and Scudder. There are
also other interesting chapters, especially
one on "Agassiz — His Personality" and
"Passages for Comparison with the Method
of Agassiz."

LOUIS AGASSIZ AS A TEACHER.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

" 'The Tzvo
Extremes'1''

Made with
1c Tessar

By

C. L. Beasley

For nature pictures of every kind there is a Bausch & Lomb Lens.

Write for informative booklet, " What Lens Shatl / Buy ? "

Bausch & jpmb Optical (p.

UW YORK WASHINGTON CHICACO SAN FRANCISCO

london ROCHESTER.. N.Y. rB4»Krol4T

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Then why not get the guaranteed
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Made by

The Charles H. Brown Paint Co.

Makers of

Paints, Enamels, Stains, Varmshes,
Colors in Oil, White Lead.
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THE BRYOLOGIST is the only magazine that will help
you to study Mosses and Lichens. It is the bimonthly
organ of a live society of 200 members. The Sullivant
Vloss Society, which includes moss students of all grades of
achievements from the college president to the beginner, all
anxious to help each other. Subscription, $1.25 a Year.
$1.50 pays for membership in the society and a year's sub-
scription to the Bryologist. Address Edward B. Chamber-
lain, 18 West 89th St., New York City.

Read BLUE-BIRD

Published in co-operation with
The Cleveland Bird Lovers Association

and devoted to

BIRD STUDY AND CONSERVATION

$i.oo a Year, 10 Cents a Copy

Agents Wanted

Address, Editor BLUE BIRD

ioio Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio

AQUATIC LIFE

An Illustrated Monthly Magazine on
the breeding of goldfish, tropical fishes,
and their care in the home aquarium.
Edited by W. A. Poyser.
Per year, $i.oo. Per copy, ten cents.
JOSEPH E. BAUSMAN, Publisher,
542 E. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Penna.

CT^^^TO^^^^^gR^^^^^^^^^^S!g?g^?ggggg?gggggggggg^^Kt^

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THE EDITION DE LUXE
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GREENWICH

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THE

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Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages aad
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have you call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

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THE ADAMS CORNER NURSERY

ON THE POST ROAD BETWEEN STAMFORD AND GREENWICH

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Convenient to Trolley and the Best Automobile Route in the State.

COME NOW.

WRITE NOW.

Let us tell you of Our Stock of Trees, Shrubs, Plants, etc. Private Estates Planted,
Grounds Graded, Drives Built, Trees and Shrubs Trimmed and Otherwise cared for.

JVe Have the Stock and Know How

BERTOLF BROTHERS

LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND NURSERYMEN
SOUND BEACH - - - - CONNECTICUT

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THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

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THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

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9492 Girl's Pajamas, 6 to 14 years. Price 15 cents.

One-piece pajamas have come to be favorite sleeping
garments. These are thoroughly comfortable and satis-
factory to wear while also they are new and fashionable.
They are so simple that they require no special skill or
ability for the making and the older girls will be glad of
that fact for they can run them up in a short space of
time. Crepe de chine and handkerchief lawn are favorite
materials, fine batiste and nainsook always are charming
and just now underwear is being made of fine cotton
voile. The body portion and trousers are cut together,
as indicated in the back view, and you can leave the
trousers open or gather into bands and finish them with
frills. Here, stitched edges make the finish but, if you
like a daintier effect, you could scallop the collar, the
sleeves and the upper edges of the pockets — perhaps the
belt also.

For the 10-year size will be needed 5 3-8 yards of ma-
terial 27 inches wide, 5 yards 36.

The pattern No. 9492 is cut in sizes from 6 to 14 years.
It will be mailed to any address by the Fashion Depart-
ment of this magazine on receipt of fifteen cents.

Try

for

That Winter Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

GHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

Local Notices.

the Seely Chapter of Stamford in the
Welcome Reception Room.

Rapid Growth of an Optical and Cam-
era Business-

W. A. McClelland reports satisfac-
tory progress in the upbuilding of the
branch of his business opened last May
in the building formerly occupied by
The Putnam Trust Company in Green-
wich, Connecticut- Mr. MeClelland's
business in Stamford has also out-
grown its present location and will
necessitate enlargements in the near
future. Both stores are equipped with
every facility for supplying eyeglasses
cameras and similar optical goods. At
the Stamford store an expert photo-
grapher and assistants are doing com-
mendable work for amateurs, and the
store is rapidly advancing along these
lines. Mr. McClelland and Mr. Pratt,
who is associated with him, have be-
come popular through their courteous
and genial manners and through the
satisfactory treatment which they give
to every customer. There is a pleas-
ing, homelike atmosphere of geniality
about the store that has proved more
than attractive. These methods to-
gether with the high class goods sold
at reasonable prices are rapidly build-
ing up an enormous optical business
We are glad to know that the public is
in sympathy with these enterprising
gentlemen. They deserve it-

Greenwich Schools at ArcAdiA.

The Greenwich Academy spent the
afternoon of October 9th at ArcAdiA.

The Wabanaki School was here on
Saturday, October 20th, and is to be
with us again on November 24th.

The Boy Scouts had a lecture by
Scout Master Crandall on the Boy
Scout movement on October 12. Re-
freshments were served, and a general
social evening enjoyed-

Miss Bessie L. Putnam of Harmons-
burg, Pennsylvania, and her friend Mrs
Ida Wright of New York City, spenl
the afternoon and evening of October
13th at ArcAdiA. In the evening they
were guests at the regular meeting of

I have been a lover of nature from
childhood up, but The Guide to Na-
ture has increased my love tenfold. —
Cleveland P. Hickman, Littleton, West
Virginia.

INSECTS WANTED

PICK up some easy money gathering butterflies, insects.
I buy 750 kinds. Some $l-$7. Intensely interesting.
2c stamp brings PROSPECTUS. Get posted. Sinclair,
Box 244, D-68, Los Angeles, California.

Nature Lovers are Camera Lovers

For reliable, up-to-date information,

there is no better authority than

PHOTO-ERA

Ranked universally as the best photo-

magazine in America. Six prizes each

month for best pictures.

Price: $2.00 a year; clubbed, $1-55.

SAMPLE COPY FREE.

Published Monthly, by

WILFRED A. FRENCH, Ph.D.

Standish Bldg.. Boylston Street. Boston. Mass.

STOP

LOOK

LISTEN

i. In ?!?!. strenuous war times, heed the good advice in Washington's
Farewell Address: 5

"Promote, then, as an object of PRIMARY IMPORTANCE insti
tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge."

A

■■«•

r. O. Mir.I ER— HALE AND HEARTY AT THREESCORE YEARS AND TEN-

Completing Fifty Years in Business.

The Remarkable Half Century Success of Mr. C. O. Miller as Evinced in the
Astonishing Development and Present Prominence of The Miller

Store.

This article is written and these
photographs were taken by the editor
of this magazine for two reasons: first,
personal, to chronicle the astonishing
success of Mr. G O. Miller, a good
friend to The Agassiz Association and a
hearty cooperator with ArcAdiA ; sec-
ond, because we desire to congratulate
him on beginning the last year of the
half century of a successful business,
and particularly upon his celebration
of the fiftieth holiday announcement of
the opening of this staunch and trust-
worthy dry goods store.

This magazine stands for local de-
velopment, for interest in our homes,
especially in those that are becoming
plentiful and beautiful in the suburbs
of Stamford and the surrounding terri-
tory. We believe that a store that has
taken active interest in all the homes
of this vicinity is entitled, aside from
any advertising, to a recognition of per-
sonal merit. This announcement is not
an advertisement. It is not written in
the spirit of an advertisement. What-
ever results may come from it as an ad-
vertisement will be a secondary matter
and as a corollary to our personal good
intention to say good words of good
people who deserve them. If this were
an advertisement, we would lay special
stress upon the class of goods 'that the
store contains and upon the facilities
for supplying its customers, but we
mention these only as a necessary inci-
dent.

First the editor wishes to congratu-
late Mr. C. O. Miller upon his ability
thoroughly to enjoy life at the age of
threescore years and ten. He has
through all his life been the exponent of
human sympathy, of hearty interest in
his fellow beings, of an active worker
in church and society, and in financial
circles, so that he deserves all the good
words that we can give him. He has
so many times encouraged others by a
hearty greeting and words of good
cheer, he has so well embodied all that
is best in Stamford and its vicinity that
the community would do well to take

this as an especial opportunity to imi-
tate his cordiality, to grasp his hand
and congratulate him on his personality
and his business acumen.

The editor asks as remuneration for
his article the pleasure and privilege of
saying these things in his own way.
That is what he has done and intends
to do. He wishes it to be distinctly un-
derstood that neither is Mr. Miller nor
are any of his associates responsible for
any of these statements. It is his right,
the editor claims, to express publicly
the thoughts that seem to him appro-
priate at this time, and while he asserts
again that his reason for occupying so
much space is not primarily to publish
an advertisement, he hopes that there
may be some pleasing results from this
publicity. But what of that? Should
not goodness and efficiency be publish-
ed and published widely in commenda-
tory words? There is plenty of the
other thing going around nowadays.

Mr. Miller is still actively engaged
in the management of his store. He
has not laid down the cares of business
and evidently does not intend to lay
them down for some time to come. He
also finds time, as he always has, to
devote attention to many things of
community uplift and to his home and
its surrounding grounds on South
Street. It was therefore only right for
the editor to urge Mr. C O. Miller to be
photographed in a beautiful and seclud-
ed part of his garden. We take much
pleasure in publishing that photograph.
We are not only giving to all the citi-
zens of Stamford a good photographic
souvenir of this well-known man, but
we are introducing him to newcomers
and to friends in distant places as a
hale, hearty, cordial, active business
man and a good friend.

Mr. C. O. Miller is fortunate in hav-
ing a son who has so efficiently taken
hold of the business. Mr. C. O." Miller,
Jr.. graduated from Dartmouth College
in the class of 1899 and entered his
father's business immediately after-
wards- He is Secretary and Treasurer
of The C. O. Miller Co., manager of

164

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

MR. MILLER AND HIS SON. C. O. MILLER, JR., PLANNING TOGETHER.

several departments, has charge of the
advertising, and assists in the general
management of the business. He has
inherited the ability and the genial
qualities of his father, and every one
who recognizes the value of such a
store as a community interest, can but
feel glad that the father has such ar
able cooperator.

Mr. Frank E. DeCamp has been with
the store since 1877, beginning as clerk
and is the personification of a devoted
and careful business man. He harmon-
izes well with the cordial spirit of thr
store. He is ever ready to greet a cus-
tomer and to see that that customer
finds what he wishes to find and if
served satisfactorily. In the perfect
working of the establishment no little
credit is due to Mr. DeCamp.

Mr. Oliver H. Couch, the fourth
member of the corporation, has been
with the store since 1893. He is en-
titled to liberal credit for faithful work
especially in the remarkable growth of
the domestic department.

The editor has tried to make clear
by aid of his camera some of the store's
principal features. The photographs
will be better understood bv the follow-

ing condensed description of its general
plan. We enter into no extensive
commendation of the goods, because
everybody knows of the high standard
maintained bv The C. O. Miller store.

In September, 1868, G O. Miller at
the age of twenty years began business,
for himself on Main Street in a small
store, opposite the Town Hall. He re-
moved in September, 1870, to a new and
larger stand on Washington Place,
where he continued until the erection
of the fine building on Atlantic Square,
in 1882, now occupied by The C. O.
Miller Company. His increasing busi-
ness demanding more room, it was nec-
essary to enlarge the building several
times prior to the incorporation of the
company. The original space was
thirty-five by one hundred and twenty
feet with the first floor and basement
in use. This later was broadened and
extended at the rear and the entire
building occupied. In February, 1907.
Mr. Miller incorporated the business
under the name of The C. O. Miller
Company, C. O. Miller, President, and
C. O. Miller, Jr., Treasurer, who to-
gether with F. E. DeCamp and O. H.
Couch form the Board of Directors.

COMPLETING FIFTY YEARS IN BUSINESS

16=

MR. DeCAMP— ALWAYS ON THE JOB.

Development of the Building-

In 1916 a radical change was made.
The street at the rear was spanned by
a bridge thirty feet wide, thirty-two
feet in length and two stories high
leading into a new three story building.
In this are housed two model depart-
ments for the domestic and carpet
stocks occupying the second and third
floors reapectively. In the first floor
or basement of the addition are a new
heating plant, stock rooms and a shop
for upholstering and drapery work- The
building now has a total depth of two
hundred and fifty feet and a width vary-
ing from thirty-five to forty-six feet.
In 1916 the old ash fixtures in the main
store were largely replaced by new
fixtures in mahogany finish, and many
new cases and many special display
features were added. A new overhead
Lamson Electric cash system with drop
stations was introduced. The store
windows were remodelled and enlarged
parquet floors were laid, mahogany and
mirror backgrounds installed, tapestry
curtains with valance and paneling put
up. Other numerous changes were add-

ed at this time, all of which have
greatly increased the efficiency of the
business.

*f* *lr ^^ ^^ ^^

Wide Range of Serviceable Goods.

The C. O. Miller Company endeavors
to serve all people. Within its confines
are found goods which will appeal to all
classes. Nothing is excluded except
trash. Goods are cheap not in quality
but only in price- The woman with a
slender purse or the one with the larger
pocketbook can both be satisfied from
the superb stock. The business which
has been so steadily and consistently
built up during a period of fifty years
is surpassed by few other establish-
ments of the kind in the state.

Description of Store Arrangement.

Entering the front door we see at the
right gloves, laces, dress trimmings in
about thirty-five feet of cases lighted by
electricity. Then we come to the ele-
vator— Otis Electric — connecting the
three floors and the basement. Then
follow toilet goods, notions, leather
goods, stationery in about seventy-five

1 66

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

MR. COUCH WILL TAKE YOUR ORDER.

feet of cases. At the left, hosiery and
underwear department, sweaters, um-
brellas— about sixty feet ; then follow
dress goods and silks, Butterick pat-
terns— about sixty feet.

In the center, the ribbon department
and kindred goods, about seventy feet
of cases. Then ladies' neckwear depart-
ment, furs, etc., about forty-five feet of
cases. Directly under the skylight an
area is given to exhibition cases and
tables for the display and sale of mer-
chandise from all the departments, spe-
cial sales, about fifty feet of cases- At
the rear of the main floor in the old
building is an art department, one of
the most attractive in the store, about
thirty feet of cases supplemented by
tables- Opposite this the building
broadens. Here we find a stairway to
the second floor, a public telephone
booth and store offices extending over
the bridge on the south side, covering
an area of fifteen by forty feet. Oppo-
site the office on the bridge is the linen
department and following this and in
the new addition is a large and well ap-
pointed array of domestic stock, bed-
ding, etc.

On the Second Floor.

Leaving the elevator at the second

floor we enter the center of the depart-
ment for ladies' ready-made articles
and kindred objects. The most modern
cases and fixtures protect and display
these goods. This department occupies
the entire width of store and extends
back for about eighty feet. At the
front a ladies' rest room has been sup-
plied.

Beyond the ladies' department is the
drapery section with a separate, carpet-
ed area with pole fixtures for displaying
the draperies and extending back for
about forty feet. Then we arrive at a
well equipped luggage department.

We have now come to the new addi-
tion on the second floor occupied by
the carpet department. In equipment,
lighting and general attractiveness this
department compares favorably with
those in much larger city stores. Rugs
are shown on the floor and flat in piles-
Linoleums are shown in the roll, on
end and facing out. Carpets are shown
in the shelves, facing out.

On the Third Floor.

Leaving elevator at the third floor
we enter the center of the china depart-
ment. The entire floor is given over to
china, bric-a-brac, cut glass, lamps and
shades and many kinds of novelties."

COMPLETING FIFTY YEARS IN BUSINESS

167

HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR.

The_ delivery service is one of the transmission of packages. The delivery

most important features of the store system is not confined to Stamford but

service. An automobile delivery, with reaches out to suburbs— New Canaan

from two to four cars, insures the rapid Darien, Sound Beach and Greenwich '

SUPPLIES FOR THE CORRESPONDENCE.

1 68

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

COMPLETING FIFTY YEARS IN BUSINESS

169

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COMPLETING FIFTY YEARS IN BUSINESS

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SOUND BEACH

A Real Sound Beach.

What could be sounder than a beach
of rocks, and what could be more pic-
turesque? It is probable that many
people even in Sound Beach and its
vicinity do not realize the wonderful
rock-bound coast that we have in many
places, and at intervals long stretches
of smooth strand. Here is a marine
view as picturesque as any that can be
found in the world — a beach of solid
stone, a little bay, a slender rocky pen-
insula and a lighthouse in the distance,
all properly combined with passing
boats to suggest the charm of the great
ocean. If one were asked to point out
the most picturesque part of the beach
in Sound Beach, a selection would be
difficult ; all places are good, each in its
own way, but one that seems to be par-

ticularly so has attracted the attention
of a camera. It is the shore frontage
owned by Mr. John Clark Udall, and
shows as a background the pleasing
seashore residence with concrete em-
bankment and the picturesque pier
owned by Mr. William C. Strange.

We frequently receive inquiries from
friends at a distance, asking if we are
directly on the beach. No, ArcAdiA
is about a mile from the Sound, but the
beach is easily accessible by trolley
car, by good road and by plenty of room
for flying machines. We are just far
enough away to be secluded and yet to
have all the advantages of the beach.
Some day when ArcAdiA shall have
grown into the larger, ideal nature uni-
versity, we fancy that one of the at-
tractions that will then be advertised

THE PICTURESQUE PIER AND MR. STRANGE'S RESIDENCE.

A REAL SOUND BEACH

173

will be the wonderful beach and the
prolific source of supplies for a labora-
tory of marine biology. We are told
that the marine fauna and flora of this
coast are even better than those of the
Long- Island shore, where a well-known
and well established biological labora-
tory is situated. For residences we
have a beach second to none in the
world- Year after year our houses art
well rented and new ones are constant-
ly in process of construction. Opposite
ArcAdiA, across the road, several at-
tractive houses have been erected with-
in a short time, and the growth has
been practically the same in many other
parts of this advancing summer resort
But Sound Beach should become and
rapidly is becoming a place for perman-
ent residence. To any one contemplat-
ing moving to this vicinity, we wil1
g-ladly give the addresses of local rea'
estate agents who will attend to thr
supplying of whatever may be needed.

Sound Beach on Long Island Sound

My summer home shall be ;
Or, better far, all the year around,

And that sounds good to me.

Potato Seed Balls in Connecticut.

After a search in cooperation with
several naturalists and farmers, and af-
ter liberal notices in the newspapers of
the state for about twenty years, five
small potato fruiting balls have been
reported by Judge H. Stanley Finch of
Stamford. We believe these to be the
first that have been found in Connecti-
cut. They are the first to be reported.

Contrary to general popular opinion,
no one has ever taught that potato
balls are entirely extinct. In some parts
of the United States they are still found
in fair quantities, but these are the first
reported from Connecticut for nearly a
cpiarter of a century. From several
states, Connecticut taking the lead,
potato balls have practically disappear-
ed, the potato seeming to have
learned that they are not necessary for
the plant's welfare.

I seem to feel a personal pride in the
magazine, and a desire to have all the
world of children — young and old —
know it and care for it the way I do.
The cover for September is charming.
— Mrs. S- O. Edmonds, Sound Beach,
Connecticut.

IT'S A REAL SOUND BEACH.

i/4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

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A BEAUTIFUL MONUMENT IN NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 175

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A Beautiful Monument in Natural
Surroundings.

It is the mission of this magazine to
tell of homes near to nature, of ram-
blers' walks in nature. Then why
should we not speak a good word for
charming, natural surroundings for the
homes of the dead? There is no more
reason why a cemetery, visited by the
friends of the dead, should be lacking
in the charms of nature than for a gar-
den. Nature is a joy forever, a charm
and consolation not only in the environ-
ment of the living but in the surround-
ings of the dead, because nature cheers
and consoles. She offers a balm to the
sick heart ; she comforts in sorrow as
no other friend can comfort-
It is for this reason that we here
present a full page view of one of the
most attractive monuments in pictur-
esque natural surroundings that it has
ever been the editor's privilege to gaze
upon. Here is a resting place restful
to the eyes. The form of the monu-
ment as a seat suggests rest. The view
of the bay, of placid Long Island Sound
in the distance, with the still more dis-
tant vista of grove and field, the trees,
the well kept lawns, the flower urns
and the evergreens, all combine to com-
prise an inviting place- The monu-
ment, in the form of a settee, bears the
words, "Until the day break, and the
shadows flee away." The natural beauty
of this place has been used to so great
advantage by the charming design of
this unique monument that we have
asked Mr. Howard L. Scofield to write
a detailed decription of the work. It is
in Woodland Cemetery, Stamford, Con-
necticut.

"The love of structural beauty was a
leading characteristic of the Greeks in
the times when that people led the
world in aesthetics, and found expres-
sion mainly in the erection of temple?
and tombs. Whatever may be said of
their mythology, more refined but less
sturdy than that of Northern Europe,
it certainly developed — and their relig-
ion was at the bottom of it — works of
matchless beauty which to this day, in
their ruined shape, challenge the admi-
ration of all and are the despair of
modern builders. As they were firm be-
lievers in immortality — the continued
existence of the individual in the great
Beyond — their affection for those dear

to them did not terminate with this
life, and was shown by the peculiar care
given to the designing, erection and
preservation of sepulchral monuments
and tombs. Indeed, the frequent fu-
neral feasts and other rites peculiar to
their faith at the graves of the depart-
ed made it well-nigh impossible that
they should be forgotten or unmarked
or that memorials once placed should
be allowed to fall into disrepair.

"Among a multitude of other forms,
all exquisite in proportion and adorn-
ment, the one in especial favor when
means admitted of its purchase was the
exedra. Originally built as a meeting-
place for the philosophers or teachers of
the day and their pupils, it soon sug-
gested itself as a form equally conven-
ient for the assembling of families in
the cemeteries, when they visited the
graves of their departed for the perform-
ance of the funeral rites which were
considered requisite and properlv rever-
ential. It was in this latter use that the
exedra reached its highest develop-
ment and perfected form — so perfect, in
fact, that we moderns who must needs
borrow, and cannot add to anything-
architectural of Greek origin, when we
desire to erect a memorial along classic
lines, find no better motif for our work
than that of the structure mentioned-
That it is so is sufficiently attested by
the numerous examples erected to the
memory of the great scholars, states-
men and soldiers of Europe, by St.
Gauden's noble monument to Admiral
Farragut in New York City, the Benja-
min Harrison memorial in Indianapolis,
striking examples in Sleepy Hollow
and Woodlawn Cemeteries.

"So it is a matter worthy of note that
our local cemetery has now placed in it
the J. Hudson Brown memorial, erected
by Howard L. Scofield, a particularly
fine reproduction of ancient architectur-
al worth.

'The exedra makes a compliance with
the following conditions imperative : A
choice of material which shall preserve
the soft contours, and at the same time
clearly define the gentle curves and
fine lines of mouldings and other em-
bellishments ; proper natural setting
of outlook, shade and foliage ; conscien-
tious craftsmanship, which considers
every detail, however inconspicuous, an
important part in the success of the

176

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

completed whole. That these require-
ments have been met in the Brown exe-
dra must be evident to the cursory ob-
server, while it can be safely affirmed
that the work will bear the closest criti-
cism of the expert stoneworker or de-
signer. The burial plot, which is tri-
angular, is enclosed on one side by the
memorial proper. The other sides are
defined by finely wrought coping,
through which, giving a dignified ap-
proach to the monument, is an entrance
flanked on either side by vases of clas-
sic design, filled with blossoming plants.
The central feature of the monument
is a massive Latin cross on a pedestal
•showing in letters sharply relieved the
name and record of the deceased. This,
in turn, is supported by three guardians
of symbolic significance- On the inner
surface of the converging walls, in pic-
turesque Roman text, is carved the quo-
tation, 'Until the day break, and the
shadows flee away.' This legend, as
well as the whole concept of the admir-
able memorial, is a sermon in stone,
and speaks eloquently as may be of the
"reasonable, religious and holy hope,'
which comforts the departed and cheers
those who survive for a season."

are over an acre in area, while others
are considerably smaller.

A plan was adopted by the company
last spring to encourage employees to
make use of the available land. A form
of lease was approved whereby for a
nominal consideration and without de-
lay or formality employees could obtain
such land as they could reasonably cul-
tivate.

This action on the part of the New
Haven is in line with the efforts of all
the railways of the United States to be
of the utmost service to the country in
the present crisis. The railways have
taken extraordinary measures to stimu-
late food production and millions of
acres of railroad land have been rented
throughout the country for agricultural
purposes.

Increasing the Food Supply.

Many employees of the New York,
Kew Haven and Hartford railroad
company have utilized the opportunity
presented by the company last spring
and are raising "war gardens" along
the railroad's right of way and on other
vacant property of the company.

The land is leased to the employees
at a nominal rental through the real
estate department of the company.
There are a great number of small par-
cels of land also that have been leased
-with similar concessions by the opera-
ting department, the records of which
lhave not yet reached the real estate de-
partment. It is not possible, therefore,
to estimate closely at this time the total
acreage devoted to employees' gardens,
nor the number of such gardens that
"have been planted.

The "war gardens" are located in
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connec-
ticut and New York. They are pro-
ducing crops of potatoes, tomatoes,
corn, peas, beans, onions and many
other vegetables. Some of the gardens

Upside Down the Best?

New York City.
To the Editor :

Here is another note about planting
bulbs upside down. I have never plant-
ed bulbs in that way, but last spring a
green gardener in my employ planted
two rows of asparagus roots upside
down. I happened to appear on the
scene when all but three or four were
covered in. To dig up and replant these
two rows meant much extra work at a
busy time. I knew that the chances
were fair for the sprouts to loop the
loop and eventually to appear in the
sunshine, and they not only did that
but these were the best two rows of
asparagus that I have ever planted.
That might sound like too much of a
ioke, if these two rows were not still
in existence for any of your readers to
see. I have no philosophy in explana-
tion and would prefer to consider the
incident as a simple coincidence.

Some time ago I gave several Japa-
neese heart nuts to a friend who passed
them over to his negro gardener for
planting. Two weeks later it was dis-
covered that the gardener had not
planted them and when asked for the
reason, he replied :

"Well, Massa John, I didn't know
which was top o' them 'ere nuts, and
I's 'fraid if they was planted upside
down, them trees would grow like
weepin' willows."

Yours truly,

Robert T. Morris.

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA- Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $ 1 .00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909. at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3. 1897

Vol

ume

X

NOVEMBER, 1917

Number 6

Correspondence.

Bee-like Flies.

Stamford, Connecticut.
To the Editor:

To settle a dispute, will you kindh
let me know whether the enclosed in-
sect is a fly or a bee? I know it is a
fly, but your word will be authoritative
Sincerely,

Paul L. Lockwood.

The insect that you send is a member
of the Syrphidae, an interesting family
of flies. These are commonly called
Syrphus-flies, flower-flies or hover-flies
and include fully twenty-five hundred
known species, of which more than
three hundred are found in this country
Many of the Syrphus-flies resemble
bees and wasps in appearance, and al-
most all are bright and handsome
They feed on nectar and pollen, and for
that reason are to be found during sun-
shiny hours among the flowers, hover-
ing like tiny humming birds in front
of open blossoms, or crawling bee-lik
in and out of deep flower cups. Some
make a distinct humming or buzzing as
they fly and this increases their resem
blance to honeybees, but bees have four
wings, while flies have only two. This
would have told the story to your
friends, if they had remembered the
fact.

In the summer a few years ago, I

put a hive of honeybees in a private
school for girls. At the beginning of
autumn I received a peremptory order
to remove that hive, because the bees
were going into girls' rooms and sting-
ing the inmates. The stinging was
purely imaginary, and so were the
honeybees, because examination proved
that the insects were not bees but
Syrphus-flies- Not a girl had been
stung but all were afraid they would
be. They were like Thomas Carlyle
and the neighbor's dog. "The dog can't
disturb you, Mr. Carlyle ; he never
barks.' "I know he doesn't," said the
irritable author, "but I am afraid he
will."

Every autumn this question comes
from various sources. It would be
good missionary work if you could in-
duce people to see things and not to
jump at conclusions on shallow circum-
stantial evidence.

E. F. B.

Be Happy with Our Own.

Greenwich, Connecticut.
To the Editor:

The current number of The Guide
To Nature is the best of all. Especial-
ly interesting is your leader on the Con-
cord grape. You do not speak of the
original vine as being on the Bull place

Copyright 1917 hy The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

1 78

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

and perhaps it is not there, but a vine
has been shown to me as the original-

The subject of the cultivation of for-
eign trees and the introduction of for-
eign birds is an exceedingly interesting
one, and if you are as interested as I
am, possibly you will follow the gr; pe
topic with one on the introduction of
foreign evergreens.

The spruce in the fjords of Norway
is a beautiful tree as it grows from the
crevices in the rocks, far above the sea,
but on cultivated lawns it always seems
a misfit and after twenty years usually
becomes a miserable failure. The white
pine of northern New England thrives
in a light, sandy soil, but it is rarely
successful in Greenwich, where the soil
is too heavy and the owner is too lib-
eral in the application of fertilizer.

We have already made foolish moves
in the introduction of foreign birds as
attested by the English sparrow and
the starling. Our own native trees and
birds are of sufficient beauty, variety
and value to make everybody happy
and with them we ought to be content.
Yours sincerely,

Frederick A. Hubbard.

Origin of the Baldwin Apple and
Others.

New York City.
To the Editor :

It seems that soon after 1740 the
Baldwin came up as a chance seedling
on the farm of John Ball at Wilming-
ton, near Lowell, Massachusetts. You
will notice that this was thirty-five
years before the Revolution- That
country must then have been a wilder-
ness in part, and I have no doubt the
tree came up in the woods or in the
corner of some half cleared field, as we
find such seedlings growing to-day. The
apple was found and its quality recog-
nized, but for about forty years its cul-
tivation was confined to that immediate
neighborhood. The farm finally came
into possession of a Air. Butters who
gave the name of Woodpecker to the
apple because the tree was so often
frequented by woodpeckers. For a
time the apple was also known as But-
ters.

It at last came to the attention of
Colonel Baldwin, by whom it was prop-
agated and introduced throughout

eastern Massachusetts as early at 1784.
and from his interest in the variety it
was finally named Baldwin. I am told
that in 181 7 the original tree was still
alive. It was destroyed some time be-
fore 1832, but a monument to the Bald-
win apple now marks the location. The
apple has become the leading variety
for commercial purposes in this coun-
try. Throughout the eastern states
and the north it far surpasses any other,
and has brought almost untold wealth
to the New England states.

It is remarkable, in a study of the his-
tory of our leading fruit varieties, to
see how many came from New Eng-
land. The famous Rhode Island green-
ing was found as a wild tree in Rhode
Island some two hundred years ago.
The famous Roxbury russet is said to
have originated in Massachusetts about
1650. Sutton Beauty is also a Massa-
chusetts product, and all these were
found originally as wild seedlings, us-
ually growing in the woods- The same
is true, as of course you know, with
the Bartlett pear. In fact the woods
and hillsides of New England have been
astonishing prolific in giving these high
class fruits to the world. That is why I
believe that out of these hillside forests
will come in time the hickories which
are to change the character of our New
England country life.

Very truly yours,

H. W. COLLINGWOOD.

From a Lover of Grapes.

New Rochelle, New York.
To the Editor :

I have been much interested in your
timely article on grapes, and your ex-
planation of how the Concord and
Delaware varieties got their names
answers an inquiry that has always
been in my mind, although I cannot say
just why I have never taken the trouble
to look it up.

I suppose each of us has a special
fondness for some kind of fruit. In
California during the top of the orange
bearing season it seems as if no fruit
could be more attractive or beautiful
yet I once knew a person who declared
there could be no finer exhibition of
fruit than that which decked the trees
in a well cultivated apple orchard. But
for me the grape has always had first
place. I may say it is my favorite fruit.

CORRESPONDENCE

i/9

Its association with the milk and honey
of the good old Bible days, and its
place in history as the symbol of plenty
and comfortable living, seem always ir-
resistibly conveyed to the senses by the
rich and lncions bouquet that pervades
all regions of the clustering vine.

1 want to add a bit of history to your
article. In Fiske's "Discovery of Amer-
ica" there are some interesting pas-
sages about grapes. These have a par-
ticular value in view of what you have
said about the origin of the Concord
grape. He tells us that probably in the
summer or early autumn of the year
iooo. the famous Northman Leif, the
son of Eric the Red, with a crew of
thirty-five men, brought his ship to a
harbor which was reached after cruis-
ing along the shores of a strange coast.
Here they went ashore and one of the
crew, a south country man named Tyr-
ker. came in from a ramble in the neigh-
borhood making grimaces and talking
to himself in a language (probably Ger-
man ) unknown to his comrades. They
finally learned that his excitement was
caused by the discovery of vines load-
ed with grapes, and as a native of a
vine country he was quite overwhelm-
ed. Leif accordingly called this coun-
trv Vinland. Now the sequel. Fiske
with his usual painstaking care weighs
all the pros and cons concerning the
location of this Vinland and finally
reaches the following conclusion — I
quote :

"On the whole we may say with some
confidence that the place described by
our chroniclers as Vinland was situated
somewhere between Point Judith and
Cape Breton ; possibly we may narrow
our limits and say that it was some-
where between Cape Cod and Cape
Ann."

In other words, within the borders
of what is now the State of Massachu-
setts.

S. C. Hunter.

The playful little maples are in their gala
dress,

Their leaves, they dance in every breeze
that blows;

The conifers behind them are robed in liv-
ing green,

Xor will they change till hoar with Win-
ter snows.

— Emma Peirce.

Curious Natural Grafting.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
To the Editor :

I enclose a photograph of a tree that
I met with in one of my strolls. It is
a curious example of a "wind graft" of

TWO ELMS FIRMLY GRAFTED.

two elms. The elbowr from the larger
elm is firmly grafted to the neighbor-
ing tree, the parent meamvhile having
been killed by lightning.

Jos. Boucher.

You will find something far greater
in the woods than you will find in
books. Stones and trees will teach you
that which you will never learn from
masters. — St: Bernard.

A woman brushed a dewdrop from a
rose. "A diamond shall replace it,'
said the woman. "It cannot," sobbed
the parched flower. — E. Scott O'Con-
nor in "Tracings."

The Heavens in November.

By Professor Eric Doolittle of the University of Pennsylvania.

November is the "Pleiad-month" ;
had we retained the beautiful little
group of the Pleiades in the important
position assigned to it by many early
peoples, our New Year would occur on
the 20th of the present month, when
the "Seven Sisters" are exactly opposite

even with the naked eye ; an opera-glass
or small telescope reveals a far greater
complexity in the apparently simple
cluster, while it was reserved for the
modern photographic plate to show us
that this entire group of suns is im-
mersed in and mixed up with a most re-

South

Figure 1. The Constellations on November 1, at 9 P. M. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If
facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold map inverted.)

the sun in the heavens, and this day
would be for us a day of important,
feasts and national festivals.

Now, however, this little star figure
is hardly known at all, except to those
who take pleasure in watching the face
of the sky. In its delicate beauty the
little group is well worthy of study,

markable nebulous cloud whose incon-
ceivably vast streamers join star with
star and fill the whole region with a
faintly shining light- Lastly, a careful
study of this light with our most refined
modern instruments seems to show that
it is reflected light, so that what we see
is apparently an opaque cloud faintly

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

181

illuminated by the light of its many
neighboring suns. It may readily be
imagined that this discovery has a very
important bearing on our studies of the
structure of our universe, and thus, al-
though the Pleiades may be unknown
to the great majority of people, they
hold a high position in the regard of
the astronomer.

*****

The November Stars.

The region of the sky between the
Pleiades and the eastern horizon is now
filled with most brilliant and beautiful
stars. The entire constellation of the
Bull has risen high into the heavens :
to the left of this there shines the bright
golden sun, Capella, while below it we
see the Twins and Orion, (that most
brilliant of all the star groups), just
emerging from below the ground. In
almost the exact center of the constella-
tion of the Bull, there shines out the
reddish Aldebaran, one of the most con-
spicuous of the winter stars but whose
brightness is now so far exceeded bv
that of the near-by planet Jupiter that
it is this latter object which first catch-
es our attention as we turn toward the
eastern sky.

The very brilliant stars just men-
tioned constitute the first of the bright
winter groups. From now until next
March they will be seen riding high in
the evening heavens in excellent posi-
tion for examination and study. Before
turning his attention to these, there is a
special reason this month why the ob-
server should trace out and become fa-
miliar with the far fainter, though ex-
tended, group of Cetus, which is now
found in the south, a little to the east
of the meridian.

Cetus is the fabled sea monster, us-
ually represented as resting on the bank
of the Celestial River, Eridanus, with
his forepaws in the water. All of its
stars are, unfortunately, rather faint,
but the observer may with little diffi-
culty locate the irregular pentagonal
figure of five stars, A B C D, Fig. i,
which marks the head, and also the ir-
regular group of four stars at E. F- G
and H, after which a recognition of
the remaining stars of the figure be-
comes easy.

The star at D will be found to be a
beautiful double in a small telescope,
the components being three seconds

apart and described as yellow and ash
colored. This double sun system is
drifting across the face of the sky at a
rate which will change its position an
amount equal to the apparent distance
across the face of the full moon in the
course of nine thousand years. The
star at F has a distant companion also,
though too faint to be seen in a small
telescope, and this star is drifting even
more rapidly than the star at D. There
are some eighteen other interesting
double stars and many nebulas within
the borders of this little known constel-
lation but its most remarkable object is,
beyond question, its wonderful varia-
ble star, Mira, which will be found at

K.

* * * ;ji *

The Variable Star, Mira.
The observer will have no difficulty
in finding the wonderful Mira, for it is
nearly in line with the eastern edges
of the two quadrilateral figures already
referred to and about midway between
them. At a rather irregular interval of
about three hundred and thirty-one
days this sun increases thirteen hundred
times in brightness, and its time of
greatest brilliancy will occur this year
on the first of the present month. The
observer will then probably see it shin-
ing about as brightly as the star at D,
and it may even become so bright as the
star at A- But if he will look at it from
time to time during the coming weeks
he will see that it is very rapidly fading
away : in the course of a few months it
will sink far below visibilty to the nak-
ed eye, not to rise again until the au-
tumn of next year.

When brightest Mira has been known
to exceed Aldebaran in brilliance ; some-
times it rises only to about the fourth
magnitude, and three centuries ago it
once remained invisible to the eye for
no less than four years. The interval
of time elapsing between two succes-
sive outpourings of its light also varies
irregularly to the extent sometimes of
so much as twenty-five days. The
causes of these irregularities ,and in-
deed even the cause of the remarkable
periodic increase in the light and heat
of this distant sun, are wholly unknown
to us.

The November Shooting Stars.
It is during the early mornings of No-

1 82

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

vember 14 and 15 that the Leonids, or
November shooting stars, are to be
looked for. Since the thickest part of
the great stream has passed far beyond
the orbit of the earth, however, a bril-
liant display must not be expected. If
after midnight the observer will turn
toward the northeast and fix his atten-
tion upon the western border of the con-
stellation Leo, he will at intervals of
every few minutes see a bluish, very

emerge from the sun's rays until De-
cember 17.

Venus is seen as a wonderfully bril-
liant object low in the southwest for
about two hours after sunset. On No-
vember 8 it attains its greatest distance
south of the equator of the sky, being
then no less than three degrees south
of the Winter Solstice or lowest point
of the heavens ever attained by our sun.
It is approaching the earth and hence

Figure 2. A small portion of Fig. 1, enlarged to show the position and
motion of the planet Uranus.

swiftly moving "star" dart outward
from a point near the upper edge of the
blade of the Sickle, move in any direc-
tion over the face of the sky and then
suddenly disappear.

A less well-known, but what will
probably this year prove to be an even
more interesting shower, is that of the
Taurids. These are to be looked for on
the evenings of November 21 and 22;
they are slow moving, yellowish, shoot-
ing stars which move outward in all
directions from a point a little above
and to the right of Aldebaran (from
the point S of ^iir- T \ pnd it is said that
fireballs are frequently seen among
them.

As most of our readers doubtless
know, it i- imnoscible that these so-
called shooting stars should be real
stars or suns : thev are caused by the
collision of our earth with o-reat streams
of meteon> particles, each particle be-
ing burnt no as it ploughs through our
atmo^nhere owing to the great friction
to which it is subjected-

*fc ^k itr ^fc ^c

The Planets in November.

Mercurv is invisible throughout
month. It enters the evening sk\
November i. but does not rearh
greatest distance east of the sun and so

the
on
its

continually growing brighter. Its
brightness is eighty-three times that of
a first magnitude star on November 1,
one hundred and ten times on Novem-
ber 30, and no less than one hundred
and forty-four times on next January
5 when it will attain its greatest bril-
liancy.

Mars may be seen after midnight in
the constellation Leo, a little to the left
of Regulus. During the month it will
move eastward across almost the entire
constellation, being found a little way
east of Chi Leonis on November 30.
Its distance from us diminishes during
this interval from one hundred and fif-
ty-seven to one hundred and thirty-four
millions of miles and its brightness in-
creases from seven-tenths to nine-
tenths that of a first magnitude star.
On November 30 it will be found almost
exactly as bright as Aldebaran-

Jupiter is in excellent position for ob-
servation and will remain high in the
eastern heavens throughout all the
evenings of the month. Especially in-
teresting phenomena of its satellites
may be seen on the evenings and nights
of November 2, 6, 8, 13, 15, 22, 24, 2*]
and 29.

Saturn will be found in the eastern
borders of Cancer, a little to the left

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

183

of the Praesepe. It rises at about 10 130
P. M. on November 1, and at about 8 :$o
P. M. on November 30. It will remain
throughout the winter in excellent po-
sition for observation.

The planet Uranus is still high
enough in the sky in the early evening
to be well observed. One who posses-
ses a small telescope may readily lo-
cate this interesting world with the
help of Figures 1 and 2. The three
guiding stars, L, M, and N, are indicat-
ed equally on both maps, but Figure 2
contains every star so bright as the
ninth magnitude, and hence this shows
all stars which will be visible in a tele-
scope of one inch aperture on a very
clear night.

in imagination, make the experiment.
You will feel the sensation of floating
in space, and after you have thus gazed
at the skies for only a few minutes, you
may imagine yourself on a comet or
journeying by some similar convey-
ance through the infinite depths of
space among the starry jewels that
glitter there.

Sunset Clouds.

The sunset clouds gazed in the lake,

At their reflection there,
And blushed more deeply than before,

To find themselves so fair.

— Emma Peirce.

An Effective Method of Studying the
Stars.

The best method of studying the
constellations is that which was first
employed by the shepherds of old; that
is. to lie on one's back and gaze into
the heavens. Bv this method the range

Daphne.
A breath of Heaven wafted down,

To be a celestial dower,
And hidden, quite unknown to us,
Within the heart of a flower.

— Emma Peirce.

A child said to a butterfly, "You live
but a day." "But a day," said the but-
terfly, "is a lifetime."— E. Scott O'Con-

nor in

'Tracings."

DR. JUGELOW AND THE ALOHA CLUB CLASS IN ASTRONOMY.

is good and there will be no neck
ache. This method is employed by
the editor of this magazine in teaching
young people to know the constella-
tions. In the accompanying illustra-
tion he is shown with a class of young
ladies at the camping headquarters of
the Aloha Club. Pike, New Hampshire.
We heartily commend the method as
the best for individual or for class use.
If you have never tried lying on your
back thus to leave Old Mother Earth

The modern botanical garden had
its beginning in the old monastic gar-
dens where the monks cultivated the
" simples " for their primitive medical
art.

Professor Hugo De Yries has trans-
planted his experimental garden from
Amsterdam to Lunteren, where he will
continue his work on the evening prim-
roses.

i«<«<<<c<«cgca«<g«ggc«g«cc««c«<c««c<<<<<<«ccc<c<«cfe3

»——»•*'

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION'

Established 1875 Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1892 Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910

The Pirate of the Night Watches.

BY THE REVEREND MANLEY B. TOWNSEND,
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

When darkness falls over the earth,
and the furtive furry folk come from
their hiding places to feed and to play
under cover of the friendly gloaming,
the great horned owl leaves his seclud-
ed perch or some snug tree cavity, and
goes forth to seek whom he may de-
vour. Then the wild creatures have
need of all their caution. Noiseless as
drifting smoke, light as thistledown,
terrible as fate, the midnight pirate
drops1 upon his prey.

Two recent experiences have brought
the hunting methods of the great horn-
ed owl to my attention. Recently a
lady telephoned to ask if I would go
into her pine grove and ascertain if
possible, what had killed a rabbit whose
mangled body she had found there.
She was puzzled, as no tracks but those
of the rabbit were in evidence. There
were the remains of poor Peter Cotton-
tail— just the skin and the bones. Noth-
ing else about but rabbit tracks- Death
seemed to have fallen from the skies.
About the remains the snow was much
trampled. With a stick I began to
poke among the bones and the torn fur,
and soon found what I was looking for
— a wad or pellet about two inches long.
Breaking it open I saw in the interior
numerous bones of small mammals and
one mouse skull, all wadded together by
the rodent's fur, or the fur of several
rodents. Nothing but a great horned
owl could have left that pellet, and the
mystery was explained. Owls swallow
their prey, — bones, fur and all. The
stomach extracts every particle of
nourishment, and the refuse is auto-
matically wadded into a great pellet
and coughed up at the bird's conven-
ience. Owl retreats are sometimes dis-
covered by the presence of these pellets
beneath their hiding places.

Last summer I had another interest-
ing experience. It was on the shore of
a lake in Maine. As we sat outside the
camp door, enjoying the beauty and the
stillness of the night, the intense silence
was suddenly broken by a succession
of piercing screams. Something by the
lake shore was in agony. What was
happening in the darkness? Only death
throes could produce such agonizing
screams. The wind was blowing di-
rectly toward us, and presently an over-
powering, sickening odor assailed us.
Now all was plain. A great horned owl
had found a skunk, that fears nothing
but the owl, unless it be a man, and
had descended from above on his noise-
less pinions. Snatching the victim from
the ground, the scythe-like claws had
pierced the tender vitals of his prey be-
fore poor Mephitis mephitica could bring
his anti-aircraft gun to bear upon the
terror. The next morning shed more
light on the tragedy. The skunk had
been digging at the hole in which we
had buried the refuse fish heads and en-
trails, when the doom of the wild over-
took him. Many skunks must fall vic-
tims to this owl. A great horned owl
that was brought to me many years
ago by a friend, I had mounted, though
it was so rank with the smell of skunk
that the taxidermist protested. Upon
what prey the bird had fed was evident.
Gradually the scent evaporated, but for
a dozen or more years, if the room were
closed for a few weeks, the odor could
be detected on entering.

The Mountain.

With contour etched in softest tones,

And shining, snowy crest,
It floated on blue distances,

An island of the blest.

— Emma Peirce.

Two different prehistoric peoples
have left relics in Mammoth Cave, one
a tribe of hunters, the other farmers.

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

iS=

How I Collect and Study Shells.

BY LILLIAX DYER THOMPSON', CAMBRIDGE,
MASSACHUSETTS.

For the past few weeks T have been
studying the habits of some shells that
I have in captivity. Once I would not
believe that shells are inhabited by
living animals, but now I feel that T
am fairly well acquainted for I have
watched them eat. walk, lav eeefs,
swim and make additions to their
homes.

I wanted to study both land and
fresh-water shell-', so I bought two
pans from the five and ten cent store.
One was the largest roasting pan that
they had, and the other was as long
as the roasting pan was wide. I made
a box as long and as wide as the roast-
ing pan and six inches high. Then to
prevent my shells from crawling out,
T made a cover of wire netting which
I fastened to a frame hinged to the box.
After putting the bigger pan in the
box, I decided to make the pond first,
so I put the smaller pan across one
end of the bigger one and filled up any
cracks with moss. In this pan I placed
a shell that I had picked up on the
beach, after I had washed it to remove
any traces of salt which is injurious to
snails. I also put in some fresh-water
weeds with their roots so that they
could help to purify the water and
serve as food for the snails. Roots of
grass will do for a short time but they
decay and must be changed frequently.
When I had partly filled the pan with
water, my pond was ready for occu-
pancy.

The home for the land shells was as
easy to make, as I covered the remain-
ing part of the bottom of the larger
pan with earth, moss and bunches of
grass containing the growing plantain.
I also stuck in a few deaH oak leaves
(any kind of leaves will do) so that the
shells could rest under them. I left
several nooks between the pieces of
moss as hiding places for the shells.
Then I took a scallop shell (any flat
shell will do) and filled it with corn
meal and another shell with water. In
amongst the moss I put a shell that
had been thrown upon the beach, after
I had washed it, so that my living ani-
mals could get lime from it to increase
their own shells if necessary. As a

finishing touch I arranged a small
branch so that the snails could climb
from the moss to the roof.

The little mollusks (for such is the
name given to the animals tenanting
the shells) are not very particular, I
have found, about their food. Mine
enjoy their corn meal immensely, and
also like lettuce, cabbage and plantain
leaves as well as -an occasional carrot.
As T live in a place where land shells
are not abundant (because there is so
little limestone formation that they
cannot make shells) I have had to de-
pend largely on friends for my speci-
mens. Never send shells by mail in a
tin box, glass bottle or a tobacco box,
for they cannot breathe and the fumes
of tobacco kill them. The only safe
way in which to send them is in either
a pasteboard or a wooden box with
some green leaves or grass.

If you live near a body of water you
will find some shells ; no matter
whether it is a lake, a pond, a river or a
brook, shell life is sure to be there.
Turn over every leaf, stick or blade of
grass, whether floating or on the bot-
tom, and every stone and you will find
some form of shell life. If you take
along a fine meshed skimmer and with
it scoop up some of the muddy or sandy
bottom and wash it by gently shaking
the skimmer in the water, keeping the
top above the surface to prevent any-
thing from being washed overboard,
you are sure to find shells. These will
range from one millimeter in length to
an inch or more. Look along the
banks and near the water's edge where
the stream is running fairly swiftly
and the bottom is of gravel and you
may see shiny shells lying around.
These dead shells have been dug up by
muskrats when the shells contained
living animals, and have been eaten
by them. Look more closely in the
brook and see if you do not see little
black objects protruding from the sand.
Pick them up with your hands or with
the skimmer and you will find that
they are living shells.

No matter how little limestone is in
vour neighborhood, you are certain to
find some land shells. If you are pa-
tient and look carefully you will be
doubly rewarded by finding the most
beautiful little shells imaginable !

1 86

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Never, however, waste time in ever-
green woods or in any places that have
recently been burned, but look under
the bark or decaying logs, under the
logs themselves, under fallen leaves,
loose bark on the grass and all sticks.
You may find shells on stones or leaves,
or walking on some log, stone, stick or
leaf. Where the earth is very rich near
a tree, gather some in your skimmer
and in the fine stuff that falls through
you will find many minute shells. This
earth mould can be taken home and
dried and picked over when you have
time. Be sure to put the name of the
locality and the date in with each lot
of shells or earth mould you take, as
both will be important factors when
you begin to name your specimens and
in the collection. I also have found it
wise to state where the specimen was
found, whether on the bark or under a
leaf or elsewhere.

In case you would like to collect
shells but do not want to keep them
alive, I can tell you a little about clean-
ing them. The way in which I clean
single shells is to put them in boiling
water for a few moments until they
pull easily. To "pull" or remove the
animal, all you need to do is to take
hold of it with a pin or a pair of forceps
and it will come out readily if it has
been cooked enough. As the liver is
at the tip end of the shell the animal
should be pulled carefully so as not to
break that organ. Two minutes is the
very longest time that one should ever
cook a shell. I have never cooked one
for more than a minute. Large marine
shells require more cooking. If there
is a horny door (operculum) on the
animal, this must be detached and put
in the opening of the shell and kept in
place with raw cotton. Any univalve
that is too small to be pulled may be
dropped in alcohol for a few days, and
then the animal will be so saturated
with alcohol that it will dry up without
smelling. All bivalves (two shells
united like those of a clam) may be
cleaned by putting them in boiling
water until they gape, when the mus-
cles may be cut and the animal re-
moved. The shells must be closed to-
gether again and tied until they are
perfectly dry. I usually leave mine
for at least a week. With each speci-
men write a label with the locality, the

date of collection, on what it was
found or under what and by whom.
Then the shell may be placed with
others until it can be named and put
in the collection.

When a Century Plant Could Attract a
Crowd.

Times have changed in the last sixty
years. The hum of the moving picture
machine and the whir of the limousine
are heard everywhere. Think nowadays
of offering as a startling attraction a
century plant, no matter how large,
with tickets at twenty-five cents apiece.
Possibly some would even now go to
see it. Through the courtesy of Air.
H. E- Deats of Flemington, New Jersey,
we have been favored with a handbill
making an announcement of the kind
at Ogdensburg, New York, in 1856. Mr..
Deats writes, "May be a subject for a
sermon." There surely is a sermon in
that handbill, but it must be so evident
to every appreciative reader of The
Guide to Nature that we will leave
each one to preach it for himself. The
editor wrote to several elderly residents
of Ogdensburg for information in re-
gard to the exhibition, and several re-
port that the family that had the plant
is now extinct. Perhaps the most in-
teresting information on the subject
came from Louis Hasbrouck. He
writes that he was sixteen years old
at the time and says :

"Mr. Henry Van Rensselear had a
large greenhouse attached to his resi-
dence and in it was a century plant.
When it was ready to bloom, Mr. Van
Rensselear gave public notice that if
any of the citizens of Ogdensburg de-
sired to see it, they might come up to
his place and examine it. Some of my
relatives took me, but all that I remem-
ber about it is that it was very large
and reached to the roof of the building-.
I can tell you nothing more than this
about the looks of the flower or of the
plant- Mr. Van Rensselear's place was-
burned down a few years afterwards,
and he removed to New York and prob-
ably some of his descendants are living
in that city now. One of his sons be-
came a Jesuit priest and was attached
to a mission in New York. I have
never heard of his death ; probably you
can learn what became of him. A few-
years ago I spent the winter in Cali-

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

187

RARE CURIOSITY!

m

THES CS-£^E3A.HZr

CENTURY PLANT

IS NOW ON EXHIBITION NEAR THE

OGDENSBURGH, N. Y

This rare plant, is indigenous to Mexico and Central America and comes to maturity

K^ONLY ONCE IN A HUNDRED YEARS^S^

When it runs up to a great height, puts forth a prolusion of flowers, continues In blossom from two to three
months, and then dies. In this climate, it can bo raised in hothouses, only, where it is perfectly protected
from the weather, and can be stimulated by artificial heat. Its flowering is an occurrence of such EX-
CE EDIJVG RAR'TY, that thousands flock to witness its

From all parts of the country, multitudes traveling great distances for that purpose. The precise age of
the present specimen is not known, bat It must be nearly

One Hundred Years Old !

Having been in possession of the family ot the late STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER of Albany, since
an early date, and in possession of Hon. HENRY VAN RENSSELAER of Ogdensburgh, twenty three
years. It has been presented by the latter gentleman to the

Young Mens' Association,

W OF OGDENSBURGH, N. Y. '

For exhibition, in aid of its funds. The following is a brief description of its dimensions :

Height, 32 feet,

Circumference of trunk, 10 feet,

Breadth of leaf at the trunk, average, 1 foot,

Length of leaf, -._ 9 feet.

Number of leaves, ,, 100,

Circumference of base of upright stem sustaining flowers 2 feet,

No. of blossom bearing branches, 33

Whole number of blossoms about, 18,000.

It is worthy of remark, that the entire stem, which is twenty six feet long,
has grown since the last days of March.

This is the only opportunity the present generation, In Northern New York, and Canada will ever Tiave
for witnessing an exhibition of such exceeding rarity, and no person should fail to avail himself of it. The
Plant has been reared at great expense, and, has been removed with great care, and is on exhibition in a
building 24 by 36 feet and 36 feet high, erected and fitted up expressly for the purpose, and in tho evening

WILL BE BRILLIANTLY LIGHTED WITH GAS

Doors open from 5 A. M. till 10 P. M. Season Tickets 50 cents,

Single Tickets 25 cents.

Tickets can be procured of the Treasurer, st the St. Lawrence Hotel, on board the Steamer?, and at all
principal business places in Ogdensburgh.

J. H. GUEST, Treasurer,
OGDENSBURGH Jcne 21, 185G. S. F00TE, Secretary.

gjggMar rTB83araTSiiairre»sa^ — TratSjBaaafgXESftsm — T®(SaretrT-¥TrraKB8^

PHOTOENGRAVING REPRODUCTION OF THE HANDBILL.

iSS

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

fornia and saw a good many of the same
plants there, but that they bloom only
once in a century is a fiction ; over there
they bloom every eight or ten years."
Vicar General M. J. Lavelle, The
Cathedral Rectory, New York City, in
answer to my letter, reports that the
family seems to be entirely extinct.
And that in only about sixty years after
they exhibited a plant a hundred years
old'!

Salamander Pets.

Michigan City, Indiana.
To the Editor:

I think you may be interested to
learn of the spotted salamanders we
kept in the laboratory one winter in
northwestern Illinois. Some half a
dozen of the salamanders, which we
thought were Amblystoma tigrinum,
were brought into the laboratory in
September, some having been found
in cellars and others near ponds. They
were put in a small wooden tank with
seven small frogs about an inch and a
half long.

One morning as I entered the labora-
tory, I heard the oddest little squeaky
cry from the direction of the tank, and
there was one of the salamanders start-
ing to swallow a frog. No wonder the
frog cried, though I had never dreamed
before that they could make any sound
but a croak. It took only a second to
reach in and grab Mr. Salamander by
the tail, and he was only too glad to
drop his prey immediately. As we had
no idea of letting the salamanders eat
up our cunning little frogs, the sala-
manders were exiled to a pail of damp
sand that happened to be near-by.
They burrowed down into it, and there
they spent the winter, just the little
black nose being visible in the opening
most of the time. Sometimes most of
them were entirelv buried under the
sand- We dug them out occasionally,
and they seemed quite as lively as when
we captured them in the fall.

They ate earthworms greedily in a
peculiar way, making a sudden grab
at the worm and shaking it fiercely
from side to side for a second or two
before swallowing it. In the middle of
the winter, as they were in a warm
room all the time and not entirely dor-
mant, I tried to feed them beefsteak.
They wouldn't swallow it, so I resort-

ed to forcible feeding, pushing the bits
of steak down their throats with a pair
of forceps until the involuntary mus-
cles took charge of the swallowing.
This was repeated two or three times
during the winter.

Early in the spring we took them
out to a small pond and let them go-

Another spring we found some sala-
mander eggs in late February or early
March, while ice still fringed the small
pond, a pond entirely dry in summer.
They were similar to frog's eggs, with
black yolks imbedded in gelatinous
material, but considerably larger and
in masses only an inch and a half in
diameter. In a few days the little tad-
poles hatched out, slender, brown,
shapeless things, a little over a quarter
of an inch long, clinging to the outside
of the egg. A few days later they de-
veloped tiny bunches of external gills
and began to swim about actively.
About the same time tiny spots appear-
ed scattered over the body. They were
longer and much more slender than
frog tadpoles.

Some well-meaning, but misguided,
person caused their death by feeding
them an extra quantity of bread one
Friday afternoon. The week-end was
warm, and by Monday morning the
bread had fermented, and the little tad-
poles were all dead.

Sincerely yours,

Helen A. Southgate.

Salamanders are not Reptiles.

BY MR. G. T. K. NORTON, NEW YORK CITY.

On page ioo of the September issue
of The Guide to Nature appears an ac-
count of a salamander, with one illus-
tration. In the second sentence of the
second paragraph the salamander is re-
ferred to as, "These reptiles seem to
be," etc. I trust you will pardon my
questioning the statement. Do not
salamanders belong to the class Am-
phibia— lizards to Reptilia? Are not
salamanders of the Order Urodela? I
believe salamanders are distinguished
from the lizards by having a skin rather
than scales. Is not the salamander
pictured Plethodon glutinosus?

When I hear a man preach, I like to
see him act as if he were fighting bees.

— Lincoln.

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

189

Judge John Clason is Dead. Sustaining and Honorary Member and

in the death, on October iotb, of a good friend. The local papers have

Judge John Clason in his ninety-third told in detail of his long and honored

year, The Agassiz Association lost a career. It is enough for us to state that

JUDGE JOHN CLASON DIED OCTOBER 10, 1917, IN HIS NINETY-THIRD YEAR.

190

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

JUDGE CLASON AT HIS FAVORITE SPRING.

he celebrated the ninety-second anni- ened by an attack of illness the year be-

versary of his birth on September Sth fore. For a man of his years he was as-

and at that time was enjoying Jairly tonishingly active. A local paper thus

good health although somewhat weak- characterizes him :

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

191

"Rugged in health, abrupt in speech,
kind-hearted and loyal, the memory of
this old bachelor-farmer who loved and
served his native town, will not soon be
forgotten-"

He stood high in public esteem and
in his earlier life was for several years
Judge of Probate and a member of the
Legislature. He was the founder of
the Stamford Hospital and a contribu-
tor to various causes, the whole ambi-
tion of his life evidently being to do
good to some one. to make some one
happy.

From the point of view of The Ag-

ing of the wind was music to him. He
made every foot of land on which lie
trod sacred to himself. He loved the
fields as a companion. He knew the
stone walls and could tell their history.
He talked of the days when he was ac-
tively engaged in building them and
told of his labors in making the stone
foundation for his own house and re-
lated it not as a hardship but as a joy-
He was a keen observer of birds and
knew every one that frequented his
farm. He also knew the insects, not
merely from the helpful and injurious
point of view but from real interest in

PIE DEARLY LOVED HIS OXEN.

assiz Association he was an ideal Mem-
ber in his spirit of service to others and
in what one may term his "intensive
simplicity" in nearness to nature. It
was an inspiration to observe his fond-
ness for the so-called simple things of
the farm. To him his voke of oxen was
the very centre of all delightful forms
of animal life. He loved them as one
should love a human beinsr. He talked
with them, argued with them, praised
them, and told his friends of their won-
derful qualities and intelligence.

He wras a keen observer of weather
conditions and really enthusiastic over
a sunrise or a sunset. Even the sigfh-

them. He would listen to anything re
garding them as if entertained by a
marvelous tale, so keen was his interest
in everything that pertained to Mother
Nature's productions on his farm. His
love for flowers, both from the aesthetic
and utility point of view, greatly im-
pressed any one who talked with him
on these subjects.

His fondness for a certain spring of
pure water was so intense that to the
average person it was almost fanatical.
He believed that pure water direct from
Mother Earth contained the real elixir
of life, and every day he visited the lit-
tle spring on his farm and insisted upon

192

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

HE LOVED THE TREES AND FIELDS.

drinking no other water It seems quite His love for his fellow beings was of

probable that this love of the simple the highest. He never became crabbed

life was, indeed, a great factor in pro- nor miserly but was always genial,

longing the number of his years. open-hearted and frank. The commu-

He was a typical gentleman of the old nity has lost a citizen of high standard

school, mellowed and grown even more and The Agassiz Association has lost

kindly of heart with the passing years, an ideal Member.

THE GUIDE TO XATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

IX

*«s

L1TERAK

««>©sS<b<b®

NOTICES

WINIFRED SACKVILLE STONER. JR.
ING TO THE "KIDDIES."

RE An-

Sonnet.

[On visiting the birthplace of William
Cullen Bryant.]

BY HAROLD GORDON HAWKINS, WESTFIELD, MASS.

Majestic hills and towering fragrant pines —

These are the fittest monuments for him

Who told of forests, shadowy and dim,

And mighty hills, in genius prompted lines.

Soft on the land a golden splendor shines

As the red sun rests on a mountain's rim,

While tired Nature chants her evening hymn,

And twittering birds seek shelter in the

vines.

With scenes like this fair Nature did embue

The poet of these hills with silent awe

And reverence for her majesty and power.
And from companionship with her he drew
A faith that only such a mind might draw,
And give the world, to face Death's bitter
hour.

Rogues and Mimics. Sweetest Singers. By
Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. Ann
Arbor, Michigan: Educators Associa-
tion.
This young member of The Agassiz As-
sociation knows howr to interest her little
friends and other small people everywhere. «
These articles are delightfully expressed
and attractively illustrated. We cordially
recommend them. The illustration of the
author as she tells the stories to the chil-|§
dren is especially attractive, and makes one
desirous to become a member of the com-
pany in front of this young lecturer to hear
what she is saying.

Human Nature. By George Scoville Ham- \f
lin. Xew York City : The Knicker-
bocker Press.
The teaching of the author is that through
the union of religion and science, a fuller
understanding may arise in regard to "Man's
Place in Nature," and thus enable us con-
sciously to use a law that will more fully care
for the future well-being of humanity.

The graceful little gull-boats,
Afloat on the tranquil bay,

Will soon be spreading their pinions,
And swiftly soaring away.

— Emma Peirce.

WINIFRED SACKVILLE STONER,
BER OF THE AA.

MEM-

X

THE GUIDE TO XATURE—ADTTERTISEMEXTS

Pictures sharp and
brilliant to the cor.
ners — not dull
and hazy

Bausch |omb BALOPTICON

Entertains through the sense of sight as the phonograph does through the ear.
The Balopticon is not a toy but a very practical instrument, designed to meet
every requirement of a projection lantern. Various models for use with lan-
tern slides or for the direct projection of opaque objects such as photos, post
cards, specimens, etc. Also combination models for both methods, with in-
stant interchange. The new gas-filled Mazda lamp gives an illuminating

equipment superior to the old style arc lamp, but using less
current. The entire instrument 13 eimple enough for a child to
operate. Prices langa from f.2^.30 up.

Write for booklets about the Balopticon — also price (ists.

lfce

TyPe

i

~' — ._

Bausch & Jomfa OPt#lcal ©•

585 St. Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y.
New York Washington Chicago San Francisco

Leadina American Makers cf Hhh C—-'^ Optical Products.

Choose Your Children!

NO ! But you can select your paint.
And it pays to be just as particular
about it as though you were picking
out children.

Then why not get the guaranteed
kind — Statesman Brand — Analyzed
and Guaranteed for 5 year- ? It looks
well and wears well.

Made by

The Charles H. Brown Paint Co.

Makers of

Paints, Enamels, Stains, Varnishes,
Colors in Oil, White Lead.
BROOKLN, N. Y., U. S. A.

THE BRYOLOGIST is the only magazine that will help
you to study Mosses and Lichens. It is the bimonthly
organ of a live society of 200 members. The Sullivant
Vloss Society, which includes moss students of all grades of
achievements from the college president to the beginner, all
anxious to help each other. Subscription, $1.25 a Year.
$1.50 pays for membership in the society and a year's sub-
scription to the Bryologist. Address Edward B. Chamber-
lain, 18 West 89th St., New York City.

Read BLUE-BIRD

Published in co-operation with
The Cleveland Bird Lovers Association

and devoted to

BIRD STUDY AND CONSERVATION

$i.oo a Year, io Cents a Copy

Agents Wanted

Address, Editor BLUE BIRD

io io Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio

AQUATIC LIFE

An Illustrated Monthly Magazine on
the breeding of goldfish, tropical fishes,
and their care in the home aquarium.
Edited by W. A. Poyser.
I'er rear, $i.oo. Per copy, ten cents.

JOSEPH E. BAUSMAN, Publisher,
542 E. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Penna.

PUBLISHED BY

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

ArcAdiA: SOUND BEACH, CONNECTICUT

EDWARD F. BIGELOW, Managing Editor
Subscription, $1.00 a Year. Single Copy, 10 Cents

GREENWICH

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

k

■ ml

iii

I

Those who have no safe
place for their

LIBERTY BONDS

may leave them with this
Company for safekeep-
ing

FREE OF CHARGE,

for which we will issue a
receipt.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

I

GREENWICH

CONN.

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for , Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences. Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleated to hare 70a call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Cord

rPBBi

wmt

m

laseJ

THE ADAMS CORNER NURSERY

ON THE POST ROAD BETWEEN STAMFORT) AND GREENWICH

Convenient to Trolley and the Best Automobile Route in the State.

COME NOW.

WRITE NOW.

Let us tell you of Our Stock of Trees, Shrubs, Plants, etc. Private Estates Planted,
Grounds Graded, Drives Built, Trees and Shrubs Trimmed and Otherwise cared for.

JVe* Have the Stock and Know How

Ifto-tfli

BERTOLF BROTHERS

LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND NURSERYMEN
SOUND BEACH ----- CONNECTICUT

nn- -^1

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE STAMFORD LUfVlB

LUMBE

GO.

Sash Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

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&.S.S

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s

9531 Food Conservation Uniform 36, 40, 44 bust.
Price 10 cents.

Every householder is interested in the question of con-
servation of food. Here is the costume accepted by the
Hoover commission and which is to be worn by the
women who have signed the pledge. For such use, it
should be made of plain blue with white trimming. Here,
it is worn by an active housewife and is made of plaid
gingham with trimming of plain color. Since it will be in
demand for general wear as well as by the signers in the
pledge, that suggestion is a good one. It is a very smart,
attractive looking costume. You can wear it as an apron,
or you can wear it as a gown. The single button and but-
tonhole in the belt effect the closing, consequently, it is
exceedingly easy to slip on and off. Women who find
themselves compelled to do with less help than usual this
season will find the apron valuable.

Try

for

That Winter Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

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Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

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Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

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David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

Little Japan.

This is a development in the Agassiz
Grove chiefly for the use of parties that
visit us only for the day. The Pavilion,
the Serving House and the outdoor
grills will easily accommodate one hun-
dred and fifty people or more. Fami-
lies, schools and churches find the facil-
ities satisfactory although at present
the place is only about half completed-
We need the Rest Cottage, yet to be
built. This will have the Japanese
decoration contributed by Mr. Irving
E. Raymond of A. A. Vantine & Com-
pany, New York City. The entire de-
velopment takes its name of Little Ja-
pan from these decorations, the Japa-
nese illuminated torii, Japanese ever-
greens, flowering cherries and other
shrubs from Japan. In the name we
also signify our intention to inculcate
that sincere love of nature in all the
simple grandeur so marked in the Japa-
nese people and manifested in their
cherry blossom celebrations, field tea
parties and otherwise.

Up to the autumn of 1917, we have
expended $1,064.12 and have received
in contributions $838-00. To pay this
deficit and to build and equip the Rest
Cottage we need about $1,000 more.
This Rest Cottage will be used, as its
name implies, mostly by women and
children, but will have toilet facilities
for boys and men. It will provide bed-
rooms for a few permanent guests and
students. This completion of Little
Japan is greatly needed.

For nearly a year the Pavilion has
been used almost every week in the
drilling of the Home Guards, and dur-
ing the summer of 191 7 it was in fre-
quent use by all sorts of visiting par-
ties. It has proved its worth and es-

sentiality, not only as a community
center, but as an efficient factor in "cre-
ating and increasing a knowledge and
love of nature."

An Attractive Shoe Store-
One of the most attractive shoe
stores in this vicinity is that of John
Phillips in Stamford, Connecticut.
This is especially true since the making
of the many interior changes including"
the addition of comfortable seats for
the customers.

Very much in Mr. Phillips's favor is
the fact that he is skilful and expert in
selecting just the shoe proper for each
customer. He seems to know, perhaps
by intuition, perhaps by experience,
but he seems to know what is adapted
to each, and he takes pleasure in aiding
the customer to make the right selec-
tion, and in the store there are an air
and an aspect of cordiality that increas-
es the customer's satisfaction.

He Had Favorable Appreciation.

A man playing very badly on the
piano turned to his friend and inquired.
"What do you think of my execution?"
The reply was, "I am in favor of it."

Nature Lovers are Camera Lovers

For reliable, up-to-date information,
there is no better authority than
PHOTO-ERA
Ranked universally as the best photo-
magazine in America. Six prizes each
month for best pictures.
Price: $2.00 a year; clubbed, $1-55.
SAMPLE COPY FREE.
Published Monthly, by
WILFRED A. FRENCH, Ph.D.
Standish Bldg.. Boylston Street, Boston. Mass.

COMMODORE E. C. BENEDICT, INDIAN HARBOR, GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.
"White hcr.i] of the Page, aid Foul of the boy"

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA- Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription. S 1 .00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909. at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Vol

time

X

DECEMBER, 1917

Number 7

The New Hospital at Greenwich.

Commodore E. C. Benedict's Magnificent Gift.

The beautiful new Greenwich Hospi-
tal, erected and equipped through the
munificent generosity of Commodore
E. C. Benedict, is now in deed and in
fact the property of the town of Green-
wich and the Greenwich Hospital As-
sociation, the key and title having been
formally and finally turned over to.
President Edward Brush, of the Hos-
pital Association, by Commodore Bene-
dict, at an interesting function held in
the Hospital building Sunday after-
noon, October 14th. About 150 persons
were present, invited guests of the
Commodore, President Brush and offi-
cial boards, to witness the simple but
impressive ceremony, listen to the
speeches of presentation and accep-
tance, and inspect the building, which
is said to have cost about $600,000.

The assembled company included
many of the best-known people of
Greenwich who are interested and ac-
tive in the promotion of good works,
and their expressions of admiration and
approval of the new Hospital and its
perfection of equipment were spon-
taneous and cordial.

The formalities of the affair consisted

of the delivering of the key to Com-
modore Benedict, by Thomas Hastings,
the architect, in a brief but fitting
speech ; the transfer of the key to Presi-
dent Brush, by Commodore Benedict,
with remarks appropriate to the occa-
sion, which are printed elsewhere in
this issue. Commodore Benedict's
speech was received with intense and
attentive interest, and elicited appre-
ciative applause.

In accepting the key, President
Brush spoke for the Hospital Associa-
tion, as follows :

"Commodore Benedict, Ladies and
Gentlemen : With this most pro-
pitious occasion, your responsibility
is ended. From this time, our respon-
sibility begins. If we can live up to
our opportunity as you have done, we
will be most happy.

"The limited space of this room, and
your insistent modesty, have not made
it possible for more of your friends and
ours to be here today, in order, one and
all, to express our heartfelt thanks for
this magnificent gift.

"Our critics say that the American
people lay too great stress on the finan-

Copvrieht 1917 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAttA: Sound Beach, Conn.

io,6

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

cial problem of such a transaction as
this. Possibly, in speaking of this as a
magnificent gift, 1 may have thought
of the many vouchers which you gave
me the responsibility of approving for
payment, (as a matter of fact, I can
never forget them). But I beg to assure
you that we will all remember, even
with greater emphasis, the magnificent
thought and spirit that inspired this
gift. Can one think of aiding, even in
a minor way, such an institution as
this without being overcome with the
kindliest spirit of compassion for suffer-
ing humanity, and being inspired with
the hope that the longed for relief may
here be found by many? You. 1
know, have had this inspiration, and
especially your hope has been that
those, whose opportunities are few and
with whom the means of relief are
meager, may here find that medical and
surgical skill is waiting and at the call
of human needs, and that the comforts
which can be extended by the kindly
nurses and the cleanly bed are not
withheld from them.

"In order that there should be no
doubt as to safety, you have insisted
that this hospital should be absolutely
fire proof, and it has been your justi-
fiable pride that, so far as building and
equipment could make it. this hospital
should be a model one, which would
assist those inspired as you have been,
and which they could well afford to

copy.

"It will rest with this Association, its
medical and surgical staff, and its corps
of nurses, to carry on the work which
your generosity and kindly thought
have made possible. I assure you that
we realize the responsibility, and have
made the firmest resolve that your de-
sires in this regard shall be fully carried
out. We believe that, not only the
facilities of this institution, but its man-
agement, will be the pride of our town.
and the comfort of many of its people,
•and also that it will attract the attention
and patronage of the medical fraternity
of the nearby city, with which many of
us are so intimately connected.

"One other feature of your plans has
appealed to me, personally, more than
it would to many. There is hardly an-
other person in this room, excepting
you and myself, who knew the life of
this town of fifty years ago. It has

very largely passed away, and another
life, perhaps a broader 'life, has taken
its place. But those old roots were
strong, even if perhaps narrow. The
love of the town and pride in its insti-
tutions were as great, if not even great-
er, than at the present time. It is no
mere chance that this town is such a
peculiarly beautiful residential com-
munity, the benefit of which is being-
enjoyed by many who never give a
thought to the why and the wherefore
of it all. It may have been narrow to
insist that a gas plant should not be
established here nearly fifty years ago.
But no other manufacturing plants,
with their polluting smoke and ugly
smoke stacks, were able to take root
here. The pride of the land-owning
class made it impossible to establish
anything here but homes. But there
was a deep, strong character in these
people. How else could a congrega-
tion, made up entirely of farmers, not
one of whom had ever employed an
architect erect a church, employing
the most reputable architect in the land
and adorn it with one of the most strik-
ingly beautiful spires to be found from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Yes,
some of them mortgaged their farms to
pay for this thing of esthetic beauty.
it has seemed to me that many of today
do not give due appreciation to the
things and affairs of the past. If desir-
ing to add something to the facilities of
the town, they have ignored that which
existed, and, in effect, have throttled
the old in order to plant the new. in-
stead of grafting the improved variety
onto the roots which existed, you. in
looking for a channel through which to
make your gift to the town, took an
existing organization, which you graft-
ed and pruned, and broadened and made
to absorb.

"Your modesty and good judgment
did not call for a Benedict Hospital :
you simply desired to make sure that
the Greenwich Hospital should include
all interest, and should extend its bene-
ficent aid to all classes. Your insis-
tence that the competition between two
existing hospitals should cease was, in
my opinion, one of the most valuable
portions of vour gift, and one which
will Iwingf a lasting benefit to the town
A comforting thought, when a fear has
arisen that the consolidation and sup-

THE NEW HOSPITAL AT GREENWICH

197

pression of competition might be

breaking the Sherman law, has been
that, without a doubt, we could rely
on you to bail us out, if arrested.

"And now. Commodore Benedict,
without more words, we accept this
wonderful gift with a due sense of the
responsibility which is bestowed on
this Association, and on the Town

We want to say God bless you. We
congratulate you on the noble spirit
which prompted this gift. Wre con-
gratulate ourselves on being thought
worthy to receive and administer it.
Thank you."

A dedicator) prayer was offered by
Rev. Dr. Carson, of the Presbyterian
church.

Commodore Benedict's Presentation Speech.

Delivered as He Handed Over the Key to the New Hospital to President

Brush of the Hospital Association.

Mr. I 'resident, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It must be manifest to you that this
is an occasion for deeds and not for
words, but as I have been somewhat
prominent in the construction of this
building, I hope to be pardoned for oc-
cupying a few moments of your time in
giving you a little story of my long
residence here and some of the changes
which have taken place during that
period.

In 1849 my brother Henry, ten years
older than I, married and had a little
son. He desired to leave the city and
looked all about for a country home.
The New York and New Haven Rail-
road had just been completed. Having
passed through here in his youth and
remarked upon the natural beauties of
the location, he concluded to come here
and look it over. Being particularly
anxious to know about its healthful-
ness, he did not go from door to door
to inquire about it, but straight-way
went to the little churchyard adjoining
the Second Congregational Church, be-
lieving that the records on the tomb-
stones giving the ages of the deceased
would be a fair indication of the health
of the town. The church was a dilapi-
dated old wooden building, badly heat-
ed, with uncomfortable seats and its
pulpit was reached by a stairway part-
ly obscured by preposterous large
wooden blocks, painted to look like
marble.

The report on the tombstones de-
cided the question of my brother set-
tling in this little hamlet — as it was at
that time.

Erom Obadiah Peck he bought the

celebrated Rev. Dr. Lewis Mansion,
which the stage drivers on the Boston
Post road pointed out, over a hundred
years ago, as the finest house between
New York and New Haven. It was
a square house with columns, wings
and large panes of glass, which the
rich wife of the minister had built for
him, and the marble mantel in the par-
lor was imported from Italy. It is now
in my den at Indian Harbor. The Lew-
is Mansion was torn down and a third
building now occupies its site. Oppo-
site thereto was the only store in town,
subsequently kept by Mr. Brush, who
was I think, the father of our president.
It was a department store of the day.
Besides being the post-office, it had on
sale hardware, crockery, drygoods, cas-
tor oil, Brandreth's Pills and some
other standard drugs and medicines—
the first appearance of such things in a
store here.

And who were the other residents on
what is now called Putnam Avenue.
from Puts Hill to Colonel Tom Mead's?

On Puts Hill lived Dr. Darius Mead,
the only physician in town and I think
the father of Fred Mead, Sr. He lived
to be about 85 years of age. Opposite
him was the home of Reverend Mr.
Yarrington, who died at the age of 85,.
and his widow, who died at about go.
Just a little westward and around the
corner of what is now North street,
lived Alvin Mead, who lived to be 85,
and Solomon Mead, who died at 93.
Proceeding westward along Putnam
Avenue, on the right lived Mrs. Mand-
ville, who knitted me a doily at the age
of 102. ( )pposite her lived Ered Mead.

iu8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Sr., who died aged 82. Then came Rev-
erend Mr. Hubbard, who built next to
us and died at the age of 78, I believe.
Next to him was Mark Banks, who died
at the age of 93. Next came Mrs. Ban-
croft, who lived to be 85, and then Dr.
Holly, who recently died at the age of
85. Just around in what is now Lafay-
ette Place was another Dr. Mead, a suc-
cessor to Darius, who lived to be about
85. Then came John Dayton, who lived

to be 84, and his widow, who lived to
be 90. Then came Mr. Seaman Mead,
who recently died at the early age of
-jz, while his father, located just west
of him, lived to be 93. I furnish the
ages attained by these persons to our
present citizens to assure them that
nature has done much to satisfy them
of the salubrity of the town, and to our
real estate brokers as good testimony
for intending purchasers here. I have

COMMODORE E. C. BENEDICT HAS GENEROUSLY'AND CORDIALLY OPENED WIDE THE

FRONT DOOR OF A MAGNIFICENT HOSPITAL.

to be about the same age. and his wife
who died aged 90. Next lived Mr. John
Voorhis, who died at the age of $2. At
this period I lived at the Maples, where
the salubrity of the location accounts
for my having nearly reached the age
of 84. But I moved to Indian Harbor
and have an old friend, Mr. Willard,
who took my place at the Maples and
still lives there at the age of 86. Op-
posite was Mr. Joseph Mead, who lived

named twenty-one persons. Their av-
erage age at death was 86 years. I
knew them all.

Dr. Darius Mead was my brother's
physician, from whom it was difficult to
get a bill. At the end of five years he
succeeded in doing so and the total
amount was $25. That was a time of
big pills and little bills, since which we
have had little pills and big bills.

Greenwich at that time was dis-

THE NEW HOSPITAL AT GREENWICH

199

tinctly a Calvanistic and Puritanic set-
tlement. It was not long after the
Blue Laws of Connecticut were in ex-
istence (a copy of which is in my lib-
rary), and Colonel Tom Mead's father
was empowered to arrest anybody
traveling- on the Lord's day, who could
not prove that he was on an errand of
necessity or mercy. Similar bigotry
manifested itself until recent years in
legislation prohibiting the New Haven
road from running trains on Sunday.
Late one evening T sat out in front of my
brother's place when a couple of very
dear old ladies stopped and their scut-
tle-bonnets made a parenthesis in their
conversation. Mv brother was build-
ing a little billiard room adjoining our
house. One dear old ladv askeH the
other: "What is Mr. Benedict building
here?" The other answered: "T reallv
don't know but I hear'd tell it was a
billiard room, or some other kind of a
gambling house." Tf that was a gamb-
ling house. T wonder wha+ ^ose
dear old souls would think of Mrs.
Wetherell's princelv gambling house
which she has built for the young
Christians of this town.

At this time some new forms of
treating diseases were making their ap-
pearance but the old school nhvsicians
said of them as did lob (T^th chapter.
4th verse:) "Ye are all phvsinans of
no value." I think we arp better off
here todav in that respect than he was.
Some are like Luke — the good phvsi-
cian. In my rather extensive wander-
ings in different parts of the world, I
have been very much impressed with
the fact that to the Catholic Church
Christianity owes the erection of that
symbol of relisrion — the cros^ — in re-
mote places not visited by any other
sects. While Protestants are apt to
charge bigotry to the Catholics. 1 re-
member one incident in mv travels
showing that as earlv as i&Si they
were not bigoted on the subject of med-
icine. Over one thousand miles up the
Amazon we found a trading post where
a Catholic priest, besides ministering
to the spiritual wants of the tribes,
practised homeopathv. which the na-
tives were slow to believe in. There is
much less biVotrv among the cb'ental
today than old school doctors like to
see and I trust hereafter they may heed
Paul's injunction (1st Thessalonians,

5th Chapter, 21st verse:) "Prove all
things, hold fast that which is good."
How can wisdom better be attained
than by consultation among the best
practioners of all schools and compar-
ing results? We have also some politi-
cal "heelers" in town who must not be
permitted on the staff.

When I promised to contribute to-
wards the erection of this building,
there wrere many friends who desired
to have it called the Benedict Hospital.
T protested at once, and still do so. This
is not my hospital nor any other per-
son's hospital It is everybody's hospi-
tal, particularly the poor, who must not
h^m'tate at any future time to claim its
services.

This month is full of anniversaries in
my life. My sign will have been up in
Wall Street sixty years on the 26th of
this month. Mv former neighbor, R.
M. Bruce, was mv first customer and
remained one until he died. The 6th
instant was the 58th anniversary of my
marriage. The 9th instant was the 45th
anniversary of my partnership with
Pocwell P. Flower, who afterwards be-
come governor of the state of New
York and founder of the Flower Hos-
pital 42 years ago. I am the only sur-
vivor of the original board of twenty
trustees. It is 4s vears since I acsisted
in raising funds for the New York Op-
thalmic Hospital, when I was made a
trustee and treasurer and am the only
survivor of the original board of seven-
teen. Realizing that charity should be-
gin at home, vet not end there, I turn-
ed mv attention to what is before you.
All phvsicians will agree that the sick
and the injured should be protected
from shock, as far as possible. There
is a natural recoil from being taken to
a hospital, so, on their wav here I
wanted them to have their first glance
at this hospital a pleasing one in its
o"*-w?rd appearance, in which T am told
T have succeeded, thanks to Mr. Hast-
ings: and no matter what preference
the suffering one mav have as to treat-
ment, he should find here a phvsician
fitted to his preference. And today is
another eventful and joyous October
dav to me.

I now take opportunity, in conclu-
sion, to ask those present who will be
rhnrp-pd with the administration of this
hospital whether they are fully in ac-

200

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

cord with my wishes and our Constitu-
tion and By-Laws in regard to the ab-
solute banishment of bigotry of every
form, as far as possible, in its adminis-
tration? Not hearing any opposition,
I take it silence gives consent.

Finally, I have two recpiests to make.
Placed in some conspicuous position
within these doors, I would have a tab-
let inserted with Paul's injunction :
"Prove all things, hold fast that which
is good." I should also like to have
permission to have inserted somewhere
a tablet stating that I have constructed
this building in memory <>f my dear
wife, Sarah Hart Benedict. She lived
here for about 53 years, was very well
known among the poor people and
those who knew her best can testify
that she spent her whole time in mak-
ing others happy and had to die to
cause a tear.

And now, Mr. President, I take great
pleasure in handing you the key to this
edifice — as a token of my gift.

^: ^ ;{c ^c :J:

Postscript.

I did not say in m y little address all
I would like to have said and after
having finished it occurs to me that T
spoke of Puritanism too harshly. T
am one of the senior members of the
New England Society and my atten-
dance at annual dinners confirms my
strong belief that from the characteris-
tics of the Puritan? this country de-
rives its greatest strength in character
and ability.

Returning to the subject of the
Lewis mansion, after my brother moved
in he invited my father to visit him.
My father asked: "Why, Henry, isn't
this the old Lewis mansion?" He said:
"Yes it is." "At a meeting of the Pres-
bytery in 1824 I wa^ ordained to preach
in front of that mantelpiece."

My father settled in Westport on
the first of May, 1850. lie received six
hundred dollars and finally seven hun-
dred dollars per annum. His friends
said it was a very acceptable Gospel at
the price.

My father left a little, white Horse-
hair trunk fastened with brass nails, in
which were some sermons of which
he approved in his later years, having
torn up those he had preached against

the Jews and Catholics in his earlier
years.

Stationery was expensive and
scarce, so we all saved scraps of paper
not written upon and these my father
used in writing sermons or headings
of discourses. Among his papers I
found he had used the back of Deacon
Solomon G. Taylor's receipted shoe
bill, it was a six months' bill for a
family of eight and amounted to three
dollars and ninety-four cents. Of
course, it contained only the headings
of a sermon condensed in some of his
hieroglyphic, and 1 suppose it is the
only piece of paper in existence, both
sides of which were dedicated to the
saving of souls.

Beginning when I was eight years
of age, it was my duty to make the
matches for the family. With my new
ten cent pocketknife I went to Staple's
Lumber Yard for little pieces of pine,
and having got little slivers therefrom
melted sulphur and dipped the slivers
therein. The flint and steel had to be
kept in good order as well as the tin-
der box, and failing to provide these
matches I was forced to go out to some
neighbor early in the cold, and some-
times snow, to get a shovelful of live
coals with which to start my fire.

This penknife wras one of three con-
spicuous toys I had, the other two be-
ing a ten cent kaleidoscope and a fifteen
cent Noah's ark with its passengers.
My lifelong fondness for yachting,
which began at that age, induced me
to put the ark in a pan of water and it
soon became shipwrecked. But the
passengers were saved, in rather a de-
moralized condition, Shem's wife be-
ing stuck to an elephant and the others
of the family glued to the animals.

Now I would not exchange my rec-
ollections of that frugal bringing up for
the collections of the wide financial
vicissitudes that have since entered in-
to mv career."

The inspection of the building, by the
guests, followed these ceremonies, and
many were the expressions of delight
called forth by the completeness and
perfection of its appointments in every
department.

The main structure, three stories
high, 300 feet long and averaging 130

THE NEW HOSPITAL AT GREENWICH

20 1

feet deep, and the half-dozen or more smooth and capacious walks and drives,

detached buildings, are built upon land contains nothing at all suggestive of the

purchased by Commodore Benedict rough and rocky condition that obtain-

from the Rockefellers, and the rear ed before the preparatory process be-

view shown in a picture printed here- gan, which required almost intermi-

THE NEW HOSPITAL— FRONT VIEW.

THE NEW HOSPITAL— REAR VIEW,

with, will convey an adequate idea of nable rock blasting and excavating on

the one side, and filling and terracing

the tremendous amount of work entail-
ed in preparing the ground for the pur- on the other.
poses of the undertaking. The front Work on the main building began
view showing the velvety lawns and in 1 9 1 5 , under the superintendency of

202

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A. W. Lockwood, of Greenwich, who
has been "on the job" from the start
until the present time, and who is still
supervising the "finishing touches."
Mr. Lockwood is looking after the in-
terests of both Commodore Benedict
and the constructing firm of Cauldwell-
Wingate Company, of New York.

In the rear of the main building, as
shown in the cut, are the power house,
laundry, illuminating plant, auto gar-

every convenience being provided for
its convenient and sanitary handling.

But the particularly noteworthy fea-
ture of the institution is the scientific
equipment of its laboratory and the
convenience of its domestic economy.

A pharmacy department 42 feet long
contains all the essentials of a first class
drug store.

The operating rooms are outfitted
with the latest and most approved sci-

ONE OF THE WARDS IN THE NEW HOSPTTAL.

This cut and the two on the previous page arc by courtesy of the "Greenwich News and Graphic.

age, heating plant containing four large
boilers each 30 feet long — all equipped
with the most up-to-date appliances
with special reference to convenience
and security.

The buildings are constructed prin-
cipally of re-enforced concrete and Da-
vis salt-glazed tile, there being only
eleven tons of steel in the entire build-
ing. They are absolutely fireproof—
so much so that no fire insurance is
deemed necessary. Practically the only
material in the whole outfit that could
possibly burn are the doors and the
stair banisters. The exteriors are of
stucco, with brick trimmings.

The wings of the main building con-
tain the sun parlors, of which there are
ten, to be enclosed in glass ; on the
lower floors the kitchens, a large nurs-
es' lecture room, and the "morgue" and
"maternity room." Other essentials
include the "butcher shop"-— meat be-
ing bought at wholesale, in bulk, and

entific appliances and sanitary equip-
ment.

There are six "wards," each contain-
ing twelve beds of the most modern
design, and all perfectly ventilated and
supplied with the best devices for light-
ing and other essential equipment for
the comfort of the patients.

In all. there are about 90 beds at
present in the hospital, including those
in the private rooms. And not a single
bell to summon a nurse — all signal de-
vices being in the form of electric
lights, which have the virtue of being
effective without the disturbing ele-
ment of noise. All rooms are equipped
with venti'ating device whereby the bad
air is expelled by electric fans.

Electricity plays a conspicuous part
in the economy of the Hospital. It op-
erates the machinery of the laundry :
performs all the labor of the kitchen, in
the way of mixing the dough for the
bakery department, peeling the vege-

THE NEW HOSPITAL AT GREENWICH

203

tables, etc., and operating" the ice-
making machinery, refrigerating plants
cooking ranges, etc., and the control of
the two diet kitchens on each floor.

An interesting feature is the electric
control of the two push-button eleva-
tors, which require no "elevator boys ;"
the passenger desiring to go up or
down simply pushes the button in the
wall beside the elevator entrance, which
automatically brings the elevator to his
service, no matter at which floor it may
happen to be anchored ; the passenger
enters, pushes the button indicating the
floor at which he wishes to alight, and
the elevator ascends or descends ac-
cordingly, and stops automatically at
the floor indicated, whether it be in the
basement or the top story.

There are four electric dumb-waiters
in the establishment, and six hand
dumb-waiters, affording adequate dumb
waiter service at any time of the day or
night.

Commodore Benedict and the New
Hospital.

One of the most noteworthy inci-
dents in the recent history of Green-
wich was the presentation, Sunday af-
ternoon, October 14th, of the new
Greenwich Hospital building, with its
complete equipment, to the town and
the Greenwich Hospital Association.
by Commodore E. C. Benedict — a bene-
faction which will stand for generations
to come as a monument to the generos-
ity, the local patriotism, the public
spirit and the philanthropy of the dis-
tinguished citizen whom Greenwich has
long delighted to honor.

The speech in which he conveyed
the gift, is not only an index to the
man, but an irresistible reflection of his
generous motives and an indisputable
proof of the youthfulness of his age.

It breathes a broad and liberal in-
terpretation of the philosophy of life.
He owns up to nearly 84 years of exis-
tence, but talks like sixty — or less.
There is a flavor of perpetual youth
about the manner in which he deals
wbh the old davs of big pills and little
bills, as opposed to the later days of
big bills and little pills; his differentia-
tion between the medical healers and
the political heelers, etc.

And a tribute to the wholesomeness
of bis home region is conveyed in his

enumeration of the friends of his early
days, who lived to be all the way from
&2 to 102 years of age.

There is valuable historical and bio-
graphical material, as well as humor
and philosophy, in the brief and unas-
suming address ; and through it all, the
modesty and human element of the man
shine forth. He disclaims any sug-
gestion of personal credit for the prince-
ly benefaction he bestows upon his
community, but craves the praisewor-
thy and pathetic privilege of having
erected within its walls a tablet in-
scribed to the memory of his departed
wife, whose life among our people, ex-
tending over a period of 53 years, was
-> benediction to the poor; who "spent
her whole time making others happy,"
and who — what a happy phrase, and
how full of meaning — "had to die to
cause a tear."-— Greenwich News and
Graphic.

Sunset.

BY GERTRUDE O. PALMER, LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

The peace of evening settles o'er the town;
The air is still and calm, as when a child,
Tired by happy play, lies down to rest,
And breathing softly, shuts his eyes in sleep.
So Nature, with the mild, sweet breath of

eve,
Reclines upon her bed of sunset light.
That forms a background of celestial hue
For every bush and tree and house and lawn.
'Tis then the Master Painter dips His brush
Into the wells of beauty ,and illumes
The face of nature with the tints of Heaven.

How Do Spiders Breathe?

AX INQUIRY FROM MASTER IIORTOX OF
STAMFORD, COXX.

There are in the spider's body two
kinds of openings into which air enters
—one lung slits leading to lung-like or-
gans which consist of a series of flat-
tened plates around which the air cir-
culates. These breathing sacs are two
in number in some spiders, four in
others, and are placed in the front part
of the abdomen. The other air open-
ings are similar to the breathing spira-
cles of insects, and lead into two
branching tubes called tracheal tubes.
The position of the tracheal spiracles
differs. In some spiders these are just
behind the lung slits ; in others they
are a short distance in front of the
spinnerets.

The Enormous Use of Christmas Trees.

BY C. R. TIELOTSON, ACTING CHIEF <)F FOR-
EST INVESTIGATIONS, WASHINGTON, I). C.

The United States consumes annually
not less than four million Christmas
trees, or about one to every four families.
Railroad statistics corroborate this last
estimate. Our annual consumption, even
at this figure, equals the combined con-
sumption of England, Scotland and
Wales, and is about 25 per cent, greater
than that of Germany. Practically all
conifers can be and are used as Christmas
trees, but the most popular ones are the
firs, spruces and, to a less extent, the
pines and cedars. The use of one or an-
other evergreen for this purpose depends
frequently upon its accessibility, particu-
larly in the mountainous sections of the
country. Thus, for instance, in Colorado,
where fir is abundant but grows at high
altitudes and therefore is difficult to get
out, the lodgepole pine, growing at the
foot of the mountains, and the Douglas
fir are more frequently used than the fir.

The fir is undoubtedly the Christmas
tree par excellence, especially in the
northwestern and Lake States, on ac-
count of its long, horizontally spreading,
springy branches, and its deep green and
fragrant foliage which persists longer
than that of almost any other evergreen.
Tn the northeastern and Lake States it is
the balsam fir {Abies balsam ea) that fur-
nishes the bulk of the Christmas tree
trade ; in the South it is the Fraser fir
(Abies fraseri) which figures as a
Christmas tree but less frequently than
other more accessible conifers, since the
fir is confined exclusively to the tons of
mountains throughout North Carolina
and Tennessee. In Colorado and other
Rocky Mountain States, fir. though abun-
dant, is difficult of access and is used only
sporadically, giving its place to lodgepole
pine, Douglas fir, and occasionally to En-
gelmann spruce. On the Pacific Coast it
is principally the white fir (Abies con-

color) that is used as a Christmas tree.

The spruces vie with the firs in popu-
larity as Christmas trees, but as a rule in
the South and West they grow at high
altitudes which makes them also difficult
to get at, and are therefore subst'tuted by
less suitable but more accessible coni-
fers. Black spruce is the tree most seen
in New York and Philadelphia. Through-
out the States of Illinois and Ohio nur-
serymen supply the local demand with
nursery grown Norway spruce.

The pines are in great demand for
Christmas trees when fir and spruce are
not available, or are only to be had at a
high price. Throughout Maryland, Vir-
ginia, and in Washington the scrub pine
(Pin us Virginia) finds a way into many
homes for use in this capacity; while in
southern Wyoming the lodgepole pine is
almost the only species available for
Christmas trees.

Hemlock, on account of its flexible,
drooping branches, is not employed to a
great extent as Christmas trees but large
quantities of its branches are used in the
manufacture of so-called "fancy green,"
comprising wreaths and other designs.
Occasionally a few arborvitae (white
cedar) are shipped among firs and spru-
ces to New York and Philadelphia mar-
kets and used as Christmas trees.

Red cedar is not despised at this sea-
son when nothing better can be had — as
in the treeless States ; and, as a matter
of fact, it is even used in such States as
Tennessee and Pennsylvania. In Cali-
fornia it is not uncommon to find incense
cedar (Libocednts decurrens) and red-
wood used as Christmas trees.

The center of the Christmas tree indus-
try lies in the big cities of the East. New
York City and the New England States
consumes 1,500,000 trees, or nearly half
of all the output. Nowhere does a Christ-
mas tree furnish such enjoyment as in
the North where its green foliage is so
suggestive of summer during the black-
days of winter — and especially in big

.ANT W< >RLI> UNDER CARE

-5o5

cities where evergreen trees can be seen
only in the parks.

Maine. New Hampshire, the Berkshire
Hills in .Massachusetts, the Adirondack's
and the Catskills in New York arc the
sources of supply for New York, Phila-
delphia and Boston, and even for Balti-
more and Washington. The swamps <>l
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
furnish the markets of Chicago, St. Paul,
and Minneapolis.

The sizes of Christmas trees vary from
five to thirty-five feet in height ; usually
short-jointed, stocky trees with perfect
whorls of branches at the base of each
annual growth are the most sought for.
The sale price varies, being dependent
upon the demand and supply. ( )rdinarily
small trees 5 to 6 feet tall are sold for
25 cents in the city markets, while a tree
from 6 to 10 feet high brings a dollar or
more, according to its symmetry. Large,
shapely trees are sold in New York City
at from $5 to $30 apiece, and trees 35 feet
high bring as much as $35 each. The
average run of prices is from a minimum
of 25 cents to a maximum of $5 for a
tree. There is very little profit in the
business for those who furnish the mate-
rial. These are mostly farmers and own-
ers of woodlots who look upon the trees
as a gift of nature, and in selling them,
consider only the labor of cutting and
hauling and not the labor and expense
required to grow the trees. For trees
which in the city bring 25 cents the farm-
ers get about 5 cents or a stumpage of 2
cents. Trees sold in the city for $1.50
apiece bring them only 15 cents. This,
of course, refers only to the large cities,
in small towns the demand is supplied
by the farmers directly, who cut down the
trees and peddle them from house to
house. When the market is not glutted
the dealers make large profits (200 to 300
per cent, on their outlay ) , but when the
supply exceeds the demand they are apt
to suffer losses and have been known to
resort to the destruction of many thous-
ands of trees in order to keep up the price-
The work of cutting begins in October
and trees that have grown in the open
are preferred since they have large, sym-
metrical crowns. The cut trees are ar-
ranged according to sizes, their tops
are wrapped with twine to save space and
then tied up in bundles of from one to
eight trees. They are then hauled to the
railroad in hayracks and loaded on plat-
form cars.

The Farmers' War Responsibility.

BY MR. CLARENCE DUBOSE, DEPARTMENT oF
AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, I). C.

The war has given to the American
farmer the greatest responsibility, the
greatest privilege and the greatest task
any man or any class of men have ever
known.

The American farmer in large de-
gree will determine the trend of human
history for all time to come, because
the enormous ultimate consequences of
this conflict rest primarily upon the
farmers' production of food and feed to
sustain the fighting forces. They might
fail even with an adequate food supply ;
without it they are certain to fail.

But in his field, far from the fury of
battle, far from either the adventures
or the horrors of the firing line, the
American farmer will say whether au-
tocracy or democracy shall rule the
world during the seasons that are to
come.

In a sense the war will be won or
lost in the fields, gardens, orchards, pas-
tures and hog lots of the American far-
mer.

The hope of the American citizen,
not a farmer, also hinges upon adequate
agricultural production. Our aero-
planes are useless, our guns are spiked
and our rifles jammed, our shells are
but as harmless baubles, if the farmer
fails. This must be understood in all
its grim force by every man, woman and'
child in America; by farmers and by
those who are not farmers.

With food we can win the war.

Lack of food will lose the war.

Whether or not we produce the food
depends upon whether or not each and
every individual farmer does his level
best on his farm — produces its maxi-
mum.

>j; 4: % if. ■%.

The Consumers' Part.

But the "agricultural problem"
means not merely the production of
foodstuffs and feedstuffs and live stock.
It means the conservation of the food
after it is produced. That puts the
"agricultural problem" squarely up to
every one from the man on a forty acre
field to the man whose fertile lands run
farther than he can see ; from the tene-
ment cave-dweller to the occupant of
the costliest mansion.

2o6

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The agricultural problem today
means to every American, and indeed
to every civilized person on earth,
simply whether he shall, when this
strife ends, be a free person in a free
land or whether he shall be bossed from
Berlin.

That is the precise interest that you,
now reading these lines, have in the
agricultural problem in America today.
You may have been a farmer all your
life or you may not know the difference
between a straight furrow and a thresh-
ing machine — no matter what your con-
dition may be, one of the two divisions
of the agricultural problem is yours ; to
produce food or to conserve food.

Many people have thought of the
war as "far away," as a remote, imper-
sonal thing, a sort of dreadful night-
mare, but not as a spectre menacing our
immediate persons and property. Our
appreciation of the actuality is more
poignant now, with our own flesh and
blood upon the firing line. That firing
line is in France today. It will come to
America if the farmer fails.

No matter what course military strat-
egy may take, the final battle-field of
the war is already fixed. The Water-
loo of the Prussian autocrat and all he
stands for, or the Waterloo of Ameri-
can liberty — the end of autocracv or the
end of democracy — the end of Prus-
sianism or the end of freedom — will be
wrought' on the battlefield of the Amer-
ican farm — every American farm.

Another Battlefield.

But even victory there will not avail
if we lose in another equally fateful
battlefield — the American kitchen. If
we produce to the limit of farm resour-
ces and energies and do not conserve
what we produce we may lose by waste.

No conceivable responsibility could
be more grave, no privilege more proud,
no opportunity more rich for signifi-
cant service than the American farmer
has today. The war has sounded a call
to duty to every individual throughout
civilization. The course of the individ-
ual life is not now to be considered in
terms of self. The question dominating
every individual is for what service can
he be used — what can he best do to
"help win the war. To some the call
comes to march away with uniform and
gun, to some it comes for the organiza-

tion and administration of parts of the
great war machine — to the American
farmer comes the call to feed the forces
fighting for liberty. To every other
man, woman and child comes the call
to save.

Spare the Laurel.

PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY
FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIVE PLANTS,
NEWBURY STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHU-
SETTS.

The mountain laurel is one of our
most beautiful native shrubs, not only
when covered with its wonderful mass-
es of pink and white flowers in early
summer but during the rest of the year

on account of its rich foliage. As it is
an evergreen it is a striking feature in
the winter landscape.

Laurel is typical of our woods and
pastures; to protect it from destruction
should be our duty and pleasure. But
its very beauty and charm induce cut-
ting 10 an alarming extent. It is gath-
ered extensively twice a year- In sum-
mer the flowers are taken for the deco-
ration of church and home. In winter
the inroads are even more exten ive
and dangerous. Enormous quantities
are then used for festoons, for wreaths,
in the Christmas dressing of churches
and the decoration of ballrooms. As
it is then cold weather, the foliage keeps
well and bears transportation to a dis-
tance, so that the quantity collected is
only limited by the demand and the
available material. It is to be noted
that this cutting is all from wild
growth, not from plants grown for this
purpose, although the laurel is easily
cultivated.

The flowers are borne only upon the
shoots of the previous year's growth.
If these pre cut, a year's flowering is
lost. When looking at long festoons
or" laurel leaves, it is saddening to think
of the great quantity of bloom that has
been destroved in this extravagant win-
ter decoration.

Care for the future often involves
sacrifice in the present. Therefore can
we not forego some decoration for the
sake of preserving for the enjoyment of
future generations the beauty of our
woods, swamps and pastures where the
laurel now grows?

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

207

Strawberries in November-
We have been favored with a box of
strawberries on the vines grown at
Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. Miss
Bessie L. Putnam, our contributor,
says that in gathering them she went
out with a broom and swept away ?
thick layer of snow which extends all
over that part of the country for one
hundred and fiftv miles. Both blos-

then having almost incessant rains,
they were dampened and placed in the
cellar to await the time when the
ground was dry enough to be put in
proper condition. At the end of ten
days it was discovered that they were
badly mildewed, and I then dug a shal-
low trench between showers and tem-
porarily 'mudded' them into it.

"Not until the middle of June could

STRAW TERRIES OX THE VINES RECEIVED AT ARCADIA FROM MISS PUTNAM IN

NOVEMBER.

soms and berries were under the snow,
and Miss Putnam states that she has no
doubt but that when the snow melts
there will be blossoms better than
those she was able to find. The variety
is known as the Progressive. Who has
had similar experience with everbear-
ing strawberries ?

Miss Putnam writes :

"My experience with the everbearing
strawberries covers but a single season,
and that one of extremely adverse
weather conditions, yet I am convinced
that the good reports of them from all
parts of the country are deserved.

"Early in May I received one hun-
dred plants each of Americus, Superb
and Progressive, all with large roots
and in excellent condition. As we were

they be properly planted, and fully
twenty-five per cent, were lost before
this time came. Specialists direct that
with spring planting no blossoms
should be allowed to form before the
middle of June or first of July, and
under the conditions above noted we
decided to pick all buds until August
1st. But the plants were so persistent
both in throwing out runners and form-
ing buds that about the middle of
July it was concluded best to let them
do as they pleased. And each plant
usually showed three or more clusters
of blossoms, and half matured and per-
fect fruit from that time until freezing
weather about the middle of October.

"The fruit proved of good form, col-
or and flavor — as fine as the berries of
June. At present writing November

208

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

14th there are still numerous blossoms
and immature fruits, though we have
had at least two genuine snowstorms,
with freezing nights most of the time
for a month, mercury in one instance
falling to ten degrees Fahr. True, the
stems are now short, the blossoms hug-
ging the earth, and little attempt is
made to mature berries; but it proves
that the plants are ready to do their
part with half a chance.

"Of the three varieties, Superb gives
promise of being the best late summer
bearer, the Progressive the most pro-
ductive in autumn. With these two
varieties I believe that berries may be
had every day during summer and
autumn until the supply is cut short by
freezing weather."

Potato Balls in West Virginia.

Littleton, West Virginia.

To the Editor :

In regard to the numerous articles
on the potato seed balls, 1 wish to say
that in my agriculture class this fad
one of my pupils presented me with
several of these balls — the hrst 1 ever
saw. I had always thought that the
potato balls were extinct, but my ex-
perience goes to confirm the statement
in The Guide to Nature that they arc-
still found in fair quantities in certain
communities. So far as I can learn,
however, these are the first to be found
in West Virginia for some time.
Yours sincerely,
Cleveland P. Hickman.

The Lover.

BY HARRIET REYNOLDS, UPPER FALLS,
MARYLAND.

The little green moss, the dear green
moss,
That grows with the ferns by the
river !
No one sees the pretty green moss
No one looks at it ever.

They look at the river rushing away.
At the beautiful trees bending over ;

I can always see the little green moss,
It is dear to the eyes of its lover.

The little green moss, the fresh green
moss,
That grows where the brook is the
fleetest!

There the phoebe has a nest for her
babes.
There the woodthrush sings his
sweetest.

The little green moss ! The fairy green
moss !
W here the waterfall plays a tune
It weaves the robes that the moon elves
wear
When they dance in the fidl of the
moon.

The little green moss ! The kind green
moss !
Around a pool in the innermost for-
est,
There is a safe retreat for the weary
feet
Of the hare, when the hunt is the
hardest.

The little green moss, the lovely green
moss,

With crimson berries dress'd.
The mother partridge knows full well

Where her brownies feast and rest.

The little green moss, the soft green
moss,
In the pine woods cool and sweet!
No queen has a carpet so rich and so
rare
As the one that it makes for my feet.

The little green moss ! The evergreen
moss !

When snowflakes are fast flying,
Under the snow is an emerald glow,

It is the little green moss undying.

The little green moss makes the wild
woods sweeter.
And the grand blue sky above it !
I thank my God that He made the green
moss,
And gave me the heart to love it.

Overtones.

I heard a bird at break of day

Sing from the autumn trees
A song so mystical and calm,

So full of certainties,
No man, I think, could listen long

Except upon his knees.
Yet this was but a simple bird,

Alone, among dead trees.
-William Alexander Percy in Contempor-
ary Verse.

EDITORIAL

The Bigness of Little Things,
hi the Welcome Reception Room 1
recently entertained a company of
guests, and tried to point out the wide
held rilled by biology, preaching a lit-
tle sermon from nature with the motto
of The Agassiz Association, "Per na-
turam ad Deum," as my text- There
seems to be no better form of nature
than such tiny specimens as present
aspects of great biological importance
and also show a design in their struc-
ture that is not only beautiful but won-
derful. Yet there was one person pre-
sent who overlooked the tremendous
importance of these little objects. She
considered them as playthings, and me
as a man whose time should be devoted
to the big things of life, to the things
of importance! She perceived not the
bigness of the biological import but
only the smallness of the small objects.
On her face was a look of pity for the
grown person that could fritter away
his time upon such microscopic mat-
ters.

"Please tell me, do you find these lit-
tle things very entertaining?" The in-
quiry was eminently proper. With
that I am in accord, but there are some
things so absolutely proper, so trite,
so bland, so ignorantly innocent, that
they are capable of causing nervous
prostration. After devoting a third of
a century to the diligent study of mi-
croscopical matters, after erecting here
at ArcAdiA an equipment costing
many hundreds of dollars, after por-
traying the wonders of the microscopi-
cal world, especially in their relation
to the biggest affairs of human welfare
and destiny, after having time and
again reveled in this magical micro-
scopical world, that bland and innocent
tone came like a blow in the face,
"Please tell me, do you find these little
things very entertaining?" It affected
my nerves, and perhaps in combina-
tion with something I had eaten it
troubled my sleep. That night I was

restless and my mind rambled in
strange dreams. I dreamt that I at-
tended a piano recital by a wonderful
player — Paderewski perhaps. I joined
with the audience in appreciative ap-
plause, and at the close of the perfor-
mance I went forward with others to
thank the player- I picked up a sheet
of music that lay on the piano and
pointing to a long run of sixteenth
notes inquired, "Please tell me, do you
find these little things very entertain-
ing?" Now it was only a dream but
there was a trapdoor on the stage. Mr.
Paderewski fairly had a fit and the last
I saw of him he was falling, falling,
down, down far beyond that trapdoor
in the hazy darkness of the depths. He
never struck but I rolled over in bed
and started in again.

In my dream I was young again, and
was one of a throng attending a wed-
ding. We saw the bride, beautiful and
blushing, and the procession of brides-
maids and flower girls. The groom en-
tered, and I heard the words, "Do you
take this man for better for worse,"
and the trembling, loving response. I
knew it as it can be known only by one
who has known the birth and death of
children, who has known the tremen-
dous seriousness and joy of marriage,
but in my dream I said, as I took the
bride by the hand and gazed intently
at the tiny band of gold, "Please tell
me, do you find these little things very
entertaining?" The groom, thinking
me lacking in appreciation, grasped me
at various parts of my clothing: and
threw me out of the window. When I
landed on the ground I said as I awak-
ened, "It seems as if I will not get any
sleep to-night "

1 readjusted my pillows, tried to get
a cool and comfortable position for my
arms and was in my dream once more-
I saw a funeral procession. It wound
around the corner of the road to the
cemetery and climbed the hill. I can
see the very post where our horse was

2IO

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

hitched. I went with the crowd into
the cemetery and standing near the
grave watched the pallbearers bring
in the casket, lay the Mowers one siue
and adjust the straps. The minister
came forward with a little earth in Ins
hand just ordinary everyday earth,
but as he was about to say, "Earth to
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," 1
rushed forward and grabbed him by
the hand. "Hold on. Let me see what
you have in your hand." Naturally he
was a little surprised but he opened his
hand and I gazed upon him and then
gazed mysteriously upon the little
particles of dirt in his hand. I searched
my pockets for my lens and, looking
intently on the particles of earth, I
said, "Please tell me, do you find these
little things very entertaining?"

Then 1 found myself in a padded
cell of a lunatic asylum bound hand
and foot as a dangerous maniac. I
struggled and of course that freed me
from the tangle of the bedclothes and
I was ready to start again- I could not
bear the thought of being a maniac and
began to philosophize and to wonder if
insanity comes from a microbe. Then
in my somnambulistic tour 1 came to
Pasteur's laboratory. The great man
was studying a microbe. Around him
were the multitudes whose lives he had
saved. However, I did not stop to look
at the people but rushed to Pasteur and
his microbe. "You big, big man, why
do you fritter away your time in this
way?" He exclaimed, "Look, look! I
have found it. And now I can save
thousands of lives and help the world
to help itself." I had to look through
his microscope a second time and even
to rub my eyes before I could see any-
thing, and even when I did see a tiny
and transparent something I was al-
most in doubt as to whether I had seen
it or not. But I hugged Pasteur and
shouted joyfully : "At last I have found
you. You come to my maniac cell, you
crazy headed man-" But still I seemed
to be possessed by a delirum for I ad-
ded, "Please tell me, do you find these
little things very entertaining?" Just
as things began to happen I heard some
one calling, "Wake up! wake up! you
must be lying in a cramped position to
give such a yell as that."

It was only a series of painful dreams
and a restless night. I hope I shall not

often have such nights. I should like
to rid my brain of that awful memory
of that perfectly proper question, that
ignorantly innocent tone, "Please tell
me, do you find these little things very

entertaining?'

Four Years on the Campus without
Knowing the Campus.

As we have recently published letters
about the pitcher-shaped leaves of the
ash, Mr. Frank B. Hopkins of North
Salem, Indiana, thought he could sup-
ply us with specimens because he re-
called such leaves as growing on an ash
on the campus at Bloomington. He
learned of one of the alumnae who was
to visit the school, and requested her to
get the leaves for him- He writes:

"I carefully mapped the campus and
described the tree and the leaves, then
rested in the blissful thoMorht fhnt a
graduate of the school could find any-
thing on the grounds. But abs! her
mind had been filled with other and
more sentimental things in her under-
graduate davs, for lo! she b-r-o-u-g-h-t
me b-i-r-c-h !"

Now where can an expression be
found to describe a circumstance like
that? But the pitiful thing is that that
ahimna of Bloomington is far from be-
ing alone. Ask any graduate of almost
anv high school or college what is to
be found on the campus, and it is doubt-
ful whether he can mention one one-
hundredth part of the objects to be ob-
served there. He may know of the
things many thousand miles awav, and
yet have no cognizance of the things
about his own home. The alumna is
herself not so pitable as is the lamen-
table fact for which she stands. After
four vears in college and with member-
ship in the faculty of another school,
she did not know the leaf of the ash
tree from that of the birch. But why
should we deplore the fact? Tt mav be
duplicated and more than duplicated in
almost any school.

Goldfish, reports Robert T. Hance of
the University of Pennsylvania, are
easily raised in aquaria from the egg.

Sow an act and reap a habit ; sow a
habit and reap a character ; sow a char-
acter and reap a destiny. — Anonymous.

The Heavens in December.

By Professor Eric Doolittle of the University of Pennsylvania-

By far the most striking- star groups
of the heavens are those which now
fill the eastern sky. Even one who sel-
dom looks upward and who hardly
knows one star from another is apt to
have his attention arrested by this
beautiful display and to perhaps won-

The groups of Taurus, Orion and
Gemini have now mounted high above
the eastern horizon. In this region
there also shine the golden Capella and
the bluish Procyon, while the Greater
Dog Star, Sirius, the greatest sun of
all, is just emerging from below the

rJOPTH

SOUTH

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M., December 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If
facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold map inverted.)

der why the stars seem to him so un-
usually bright, probably not at all
knowing that the heavenly objects
which shine upon these, the earliest of
our winter evenings, are wholly differ-
ent from the fainter stars which are to
be seen on the evenings of summer.

ground. There is only wanting the
bright group Leo, and when, toward the
end of the month, this also enters our
evening sky the brilliant train of win-
ter constellations will be complete.

All of these bright stars will remain
with us throughout the winter. It will

212

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

not be until toward the close of April
that the western edge of Taurus will
have reached the western horizon and
the withdrawal of the bright winter
groups from our evening heavens will
begin.

The remarkable position of the planet
lupiter, almost in the center of Taurus

Figure 2. South Polar regions of the earth, show-
ing the area within which the eclipse of the sun of
December 14 will be visible.

and just above the Hyades, will afford
the observer an unusually good oppor-
tunity for clearly seeing the motion of
this slowly moving world. Though
Jupiter moves slowly eastward in its
great orbit and thus completes the en-
tire circuit of the heavens in the course
of twelve years, it is now "retrograd-
ing," or moving westward, among the
stars. This apparent backward motion
is caused by the fact that our earth,
which is now between Jupiter and the
sun, is moving eastward faster than
the distant planet and so displacing it
westward in the sky.

On December i the observer will
see Jupiter at the position of A of Fig-
ure i, wholly to the east of the Hyades,
while by the end of the month it will
have moved to the position B, wholly
to the west of this group and almost
midway between the Pleiades and the
star at C. This backward motion will
continue until next January 26, when
a rapid eastward motion will begin.
*****

The Eclipses of December.

Two interesting eclipses will occur
during the present month, one of the
sun and one of the moon. These will
make a total of no less than seven eclip-

ses which have taken place during the
year 10 17. which is the greatest number
that can occur in any one year.

The first December eclipse will be a
so-called "Annular Eclipse" of the sun.
This will be wholly invisible to us and
can, in fact, only be seen by observers
within the area M, N, P, Q of Figure
2. Throughout most of this region the
black disk of the moon will be seen to
move across and so cover a portion
only of the bright disc of the sun ; from
all points along the line A, B however
the center of the moon will be seen to
move exactly across the center of the
sun. At this time our satellite will be
so far from the earth that it will not ap-
pear sufficiently large to completely
hide the sun. Even when the center of
the moon is seen exactly upon the cen-
ter of the sun, a narrow rim of the sun's
disc will remain uncovered, thus en-
circling the black disc of the moon
with a brilliant ring of light.

The second December eclipse will
be a total eclipse of the moon. This
may be viewed during the early morn-
ing hours of December 28 from all sta-
tions in North and South America and
from Eastern Asia. Unfortunately, the
eclipse occurs at a rather inconvenient
hour; it will be necesary for the obser-
ver to remain up until long after mid-
night of December 27 in order to wit-
ness it, but the phenomena are so very
interesting that he will be well repaid
for his trouble.

The great shadow of the earth, which
stretches out into space to a distance
of 857,000 miles in a direction exactly
opposite the sun, has a conical shape.
From any point within this shadow
cone the light of the sun will be cut
off, the brilliant sun's disc being hidden
as seen from this point by the opaque
ball of the earth coming in front of it.
The moon will plunge into this shadow
and so be darkened on December 28,
the center of the moon moving along
the path M, N of Figure 3.

The moon's center will reach the
position A and the eclipse begin on
December 28 at 3.5.6 A. M. (Eastern
standard time) ; it will reach the posi-
tion B and the moon be most deeply im-
mersed in the shadow at 4.46.18 A. M.,
and it will reach the point C and the
eclipse will end at 6.27.24 A. M.

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

21

1 1 will be noticed that even when
the center of the moon is at B the moon
is so far from the center of the shadow-
that this eclipse barely misses being
only a partial one. The moon will, in
fact, remain wholly immersed in the
shadow for only sixteen minutes and
thirty seconds. As much sunlight is
usually bent within the shadow by re-
fraction as it passes through the rim o1
air surrounding the earth, the upper
portion of the moon will at this time

fortunate that this planet has been for
many months so very far below the
equator that it could only be seen low
in the southwestern sky. It moves up-
ward quite rapidly during December,
but as it also draws nearer the sun its
time of setting will remain nearly con-
stant.

Mars moves rapidly eastward dur-
ing the month, passing from the east-
ern borders of Leo into the constella-
tion \ 'irgo. It rises a little to the north

Figure 3. Passage of the moon through the earth's shadow on December 28. The lower figure shows
the appearance of the partly eclipsed moon at various hours.

doubtless be far more darkened than
the lower portion and the latter will
very probably present an ever-chang-
ing reddish and greenish combination.

The Planets in December.

The planet Mercury will reach its
greatest distance to the east of the
sun's rays on the morning of December
17. For a few evenings before and af-
ter this date it may be seen shining in
the twilight glow, very far toward the
southwest, for somewhat more than
one hour after sunset.

Venus, which reached its greatest
eastern elongation on November 30, re-
mains our very conspicuous evening
star throughout the month. It is un-

of the east point of the horizon at about
11.30 P. M., but is not sufficiently high
in the sky for satisfactory observation
until well after midnight.

Jupiter remains the most brilliant ob-
ject in the eastern heavens, riding high
in the sky, in excellent position for ob-
servation. An interesting phenomenon
of its satellites may be seen during the
nights of December 1, 6, 8, 15, 17, 22, 24
and 31.

This month witnesses the entrance
of the beautiful Saturn into our even-
ing heavens. This planet, which, like
Jupiter, is slowly retrograding, will be
seen to rise at about 9 P. M. on Decem-
ber t and so earlv as 7 P. M. on Decem-
ber 31. Throughout the winter it will

2I4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

remain with ns, a most interesting ob-
ject for observation.

On December 22 at 4.46 A. M. (East-
ern standard time), the sun will reach
its lowest position in the heavens and
at this instant winter will begin. This
will also be the shortest day of the pre-
sent year, this day being no less than
five hours and thirty minutes shorter
than the following night.

Private Observatory at Duluth.

Mr. J. H. Darling has recently com-
pleted an observatory at Duluth.
Minnesota, and installed a 9-inch re-
fractor. This is for the owner's private

Superior and 927 feet above sea level.
It is not far from the business portion
of trie city and the harbor but the pre-
vailing winds are such that smoke from
the mills, elevators, etc., does not reach
the observatory. Weather records
show that an average of about one-third
of the days are clear, one-third art
cloudy, and one-third are partly cloudy.
Air conditions appear to be fairly good
as far as can be judged from a number
of years use of a 33/2 -inch telescope.
The electric lights of the city are liable
to interfere some with the seeing, but
probably not to a serious extent.

The observatory is located on city
property, in an unimproved park. Per-

MK. DARLING'S OBSERVATORY AT DULUTH. MINNESOTA.

use, to view celestial objects and for
an aid to his study of astronomy. It is
his desire also to make this observa-
tory a means of awakening an interest
in this noble science among the people
of his city and of contributing towards
a popular knowledge of the subject.
There has been, it is believed, no tele-
scope in Duluth or its vicinity larger
than 3T/2-inch and these with a tripod
mounting and moved by hand, so that
this larger and clock-driven instrument,
suitably housed, will go toward filliner
a want in the community.

The site is about 325 feet above Lake

mission was given to use this site on
condition that the observatory should
be open to the public at such times and
under such conditions as the owner
Might deem practical and advisable. The
owner will endeavor to arrange in some
way for the continued maintenance and
use of the observatory after he has done
with it, possibly by the High School
or the State Normal School located in
Duluth, or by the city direct, so that it
will remain a permanent city institu-
tion. The cost of the observatorv has
been a little more than $n,ooo- — Popu-
lar Astronomv.

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

What is Done at This Observatory.

Duluth, Mich.
To the Editor:

Replying to your note of the 6th in-
stant I take pleasure in saying that my
nine-inch refractor is performing well
and it appears to be a first class instru-
ment both as to its optical parts and the
mounting. My 19-foot revolving dome
and the shutter are also operating well.
In designing the dome I simplilied the
construction and reduced the weight
of some of the members where I found
it could be safely done, as compared
with the design of several other steel
domes that I examined, and made sev-
eral improvements in details. It is al-
so I believe as nearly weather-proof
as is practically possible to build it- It
has already passed through some storms
of wind and rain and snow which gave
it a crucial test.

Already I am realizing the pleasure
and luxury of viewing the fine celestial
objects with which the sky abounds,
and the telescopic observations prove
also a useful supplement to the printed
information in standard treatises on
astronomy, in my study of this great
subject. Will add that I am not a pro-
fessional astronomer but an engineer,
and had given forty years of service to
the Government in the work of surveys
and harbor improvements up to the
time of my voluntary retirement four
years ago. Always fond of astronomy,
I followed up the study as far as op-
portunity permitted although my exact-
ing profession gave but little leisure for
this. With a small telescope I did some
observing in our back yard and to this
primitive observatory with a tripod for
the pier and the clear sky for my dome
I occasionally invited neighbors to join
with me in looking at planets, the moon
and an occasional comet. Of course I
tried to tell my visitors some of the
most interesting facts regarding these
objects, and these modest efforts seem-
ed to be appreciated.

Mv new observatorv is in fact but
an enlargement of the simple plan just
mentioned. I am giving to the public
one week of consecutive evenings dur-
ing e^rh month, the time selected be-
ing when the moon is at its best phases
for observation, which I find to be the
most attractive object for the general

visitor. Planets, double stars and star
clusters are also viewed as far as time
permits during the two hours of the
early evening given to the public.
From fifteen to twenty persons are ac-
commodated at one time, and dates are
arranged by phone in advance. Usual-
ly the first part of the evening is given
to an illustrated talk, explanatory of
the objects which are to be viewed and
including something of the broader
general features of our solar and stellar
systems- Further explanations are of
course given in the telescope room. No
charge is made for admission nor col-
lection taken.

More than five hundred have visited
bv observatorv since its opening last
Mav. For many of these it was their
first look through a telescope. The vis-
itors have generally seemed very ap-
preciative and pleased and quite a num-
ber evinced a keen interest in astrono-
my. Ouestions were asked and discus-
sions followed. All this is gratifying
to the owner and encourages the hope
that this observatorv wi1l provide an ef-
ficient means of promoting a popular
knowledge of this fascinating and in-
spiring science among our citizens.

J. H. Darling.

The Sun Dav and the Star Day.

BY PROFESSOR MARY E. BYRD, LAWRENCE,
KANSAS.

Those who are not confirmed star-
gazers are often puzzled by what seem
erratic changes in the heavens,. One
watches, perhaps, the twin stars. Castor
and Pollux, low in the east, near the
time of rising; but a few weeks later
they are seen much higher and further
south, though the time of observing is
the same as before. A young college
girl has long kept a place in my memory
because, early on a September evening.
she insistently demanded to be shown
Orion.

Why is it that the same constella-
tion appears sometimes in one part of
the sky, then in another, and then can-
not be found at all?

Every one understands in a general
way that the earth's rotation makes the
stars as well as the sun appear to re-

2l6

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

volve about us. Not many, however,
realize that their times of revolution
differ, and yet it is this difference that
gives the key to the puzzling- appear-
ances noted. Its conventional explana-
tion is readily provided, but a simple ob-
servation helps wonderfully in putting
meaning into it. But why should we
have all our astronomy in pictures and
in easy reading with thrills, and make
not the slightest effort on our own part !

Let us go out of doors and look at the
heavens for ourselves. Choose a con-
spicuous star in the south, not far
above the horizon, and keep watch till
it passes a fixed line of reference. Ap-
parently the star moves westward, but
this is in nowise due to any motion of
its own ; for we, unconscious of the
earth's turning below, refer the motion
to the stars above. The stars are so
distant that they are for us practically
fixed points of reference, so when our
chosen star again reaches, on the next
night, the same reference line, the earth
has turned once on its axis. The inter-
val recpiired for this single complete
turn is, by common agreement, taken
as the sidereal or star day ; but it is
found to fall short of the sun day by
about four minutes ; that is, the interval
measured by a common watch or clock-
lacks four minutes of twenty-four
hours.

Among hundreds who have, under
the writer's direction, made proof of
this by direct observation, one of the
first was a student at Carleton College
thirty years ago, and the record then
written reads as follows:

"Northfield, Minn., E. Hall, north
window. Monday, Feb. 28, 1887.

"The star chosen was Beta LTrsae
Majoris, and the middle bar of the win-
dow was taken as the reference line.
T began watching at /h. 15m. P- M., and
at yh. 22m. the star pasced behind the
window bar. On the following even-
ing, Beta was observed from the same
place [this is essentiall and at /h.
17.5m. it passed again behind the same
bar.

Hence, according to these observa-
tions, the sidereal day is 4-5 minutes
shorter than the mean solar day."

If instead of a star in the north, as
here, a southern star like Fomalhaut or
Sirius is taken, the line of direction
fixed by two plumb lines, and heed

given to other details, results are often
obtained differing only a second or
two from the rigorously correct value
of astronomers which makes the side-
real day shorter by 3m. 56s.

Then since one turn of the earth
on its axis gives the star day, it must
turn a little further to fill the full
measure of the apparent solar day.
Here again there is transfer of motion,
for no one realizes directly that the
earth is making an annual journey
around the sun ; so, as we move onward
a little each day, the sun appears to ad-
vance among the stars, and in order
to bring it a second time to the refer-
ence line, there is needed, in addition,
the small fraction of a turn, taking
nearly four minutes.

Both expressions, apparent solar day
and mean solar day, have been used
above, but unfortunately they are not
the same, though why and how they
differ is "another story." It suffices to
say here that the average apparent so-
lar day equals the unvarying mean day,
and so either may be used in making
comparison with the star day.

This comparison is the essential
thing; for once the idea is really
grasped that the stars revolve above
us in the shorter day, it follows as a
matter of course that any and every
star crosses the fixed line of reference
four minutes earlier, by watch time, on
each succeeding night. Let the horizon
be the reference line, then stars that
appeared on the line at about ten o'clock
on the first of the week, are at its close
rising at half past nine- Watch, for
example, the stars in the sword and
belt of Orion. Early in October, in
our latitude, they are, at eleven, just
visible above the eastern horizon ; but
in the first week in November, they are
rising at nine. And their rising and
setting comes earlier and earlier till
an evening is reached in the spring
when Orion sets as the sun sets, and
there follow nights with no Orion in
the sky.

It is seen then that the same aspect
of the heavens is found, not by observ-
ing at the same time but at a different
time on different nights. The notion
should be dispelled that capricious
changes are taking place in the star
world overhead.

SOME EXTRAORDINARY HAILSTONES

21'

Some Extraordinary Hailstones.

TRANSLATION FROM [/aSTRONOMIE, BY
CHARLES NTEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, MASS.

"During the course of a violent
storm, M. Quenisset, astronomer at the
Observatory of Juvi'sy, now mobilized
at Bourget, had the excellent idea of
placing within the range of the photo-
graphic apparatus, very near some
hailstones, a rule divided into centi-
metres and millimetres, which gives
exactly their size, as we are able to

Fit;. 109. THE LARGE HAILSTONES.

judge by the following photograph-
(Fig. 109.) We observe that certain
of these hailstones measure as much
as almost 2 centimetres at their greatest
diameter.

"There fall occasionally some larger
hailstones. In his Report upon the
Observations of the storms of 1915
within the departments of the Gironde
and part of the Dordogne, M. F. Cour-
tv, astronomer at the Observatory of
Bordeaux, points out the following-
facts :

"'On May 4th, 1915. in the Blayais,
the inhabitants of Saint-Girons, Saint-
Paul (East part) and Generac see their
harvests totally destroyed. In this re-
gion the hailstones measure two to

four centimetres in diameter and are
violently projected by the wind which
is blowing a gale ; man}' windows of
the dwellings are broken.

" 'On the first of August, in the af-
ternoon, between 4 and 7 o'clock, some
stormy cloud-groups travel over the
department of the Gironde in the nor-
mal direction South-West to North-
East. The storm appears to have had
its birth a little to the north-west of
Villandraut and bestows upon the
town a rather heavy rain, which com-
mences with some very large drops; it
arrives at Budos around a quarter past
five ; the hailstorm zone begins about
a kilometre in front of the paragrele
(a device to guard against hail), in the
south-west direction. Some hailstones
fall from 3 to 4 centimetres in diameter
resembling big walnuts ; the inhabi-
tants have never seen them as large in
the region ; the sun is hidden by them
as though by the snow; there is almost
no wind. The half of the harvest stand-
ing is swept off. It is appropriate to
point out that the last fall of serious
hail at Budos had taken place in 1908
and the previous one twenty years be-
fore.

" 'At Gabarnac, the hailstones also
reach the size of big walnuts; upon the
town thev fall for about two minutes:
the inhabitants do not remember hav-
ing seen as equally large hailstone-.
On the higher ground, the devastations
appear more considerable and can be
valued at half of the harvest on some
estates.

" 'Within the hailstorm zone all the
points are not equally affected, but the
hailstones, more or less hard and
large, present everywhere the same
peculiarity. They appear under the as-
pect of fragments of transparent ice ir-
regular in form, the greatest part flat-
tened ; some are polyhedral with sharp
angles. Certain points, such as the do-
main 'du Vigneau' and all the slope be-
tween 'Yquem' and 'Le Boutoc' seem
particularly maltreated. The hail-
stones, or, to express it better the
pieces of ice, of various forms, attain a
size of about 10 cubic centimetres.
Manv dormer-windows are broken. At
the Chateau d'Yciuem. the person who
performs the firing of cfuseee grelifuges
is injured on the hand by the fall of a
large sharp hailstone. The bolt falls
upon the outbuildings of the chateau." '

2l8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

$&4€<<€<<<!&m€&€<€&€€C<Z<&C<<<<<<<^^

••••••«

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION'

Established 1875 Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1892 Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910

Our Greenwich Academy Chapters.

The officers of the Putnam Chapter
for the current year are : President,
Rita Ann Rheinfrank ; Vice-President,
Annie Louise Brush ; Corresponding-
Secretary, Katherine Marsh ; Treasur-
er, Elizabeth Anderson.

Of a recent visit of the two Chap-
ters to ArcAdiA, the President of this
Chapter writes as follows :

"October the ninth was looked for-
ward to by every girl in the Academy,
for that was the day we were going to
ArcAdiA. At last it came and with
rain, but even rain did not stop us from
going and we sallied forth with happy
hearts.

"When we arrived at ArcAdi Y we
were heartily greeted by Dr. Bigelow
and invited to sit around the great fire-
place while Dr. Bigelow talked to us-
I will state briefly about the things he
told and showed us. First he told us
of the little building we were in ; look-
ing not unlike a chapel it represented
the home, the church and the school
And we were by this time feeling very
congenial and cozy at Arc \m A. We
then went way back to the time of
Lincoln and Dr. Bigelow brought out
nine shingles for some of the cirls to
draw on, and they drew three things, a
plant, an animal and a rock, three of
nature's first formations.

"After many. many more interesting
things told us the new girls were made
Members of The AA and received their
buttons: 'Under the light of the Swiss
Cross, holding the leaf of a living plant
from the hands of T ouis Agassiz. mav
we be inspired bv his life to studv ah1
nature with his enthusiasm.' Dr. Big-
elow told us that Louis Agassiz found
the plant and brought it to the United
States from South America, till at last
it has found its home with The Agassiz
Association.

"After all the new girls had been
made members the lights were turned
out and we were shown many, main-
interesting things on the screen pertain-
ing to nature. We saw some scenes of
the life of the plants and animals at
ArcAdiA, and of the different schools
on their visits at ArcAdiA- One of our
members was kind enough to give Dr.
Bigelow a tiny snip of her hair and
he put it on the screen powerfully mag-
nified till each little hair looked indeed
like an amber knitting needle.

"At last as a farewell Dr. Bigelow
told us that if we were asked at home
what we had done at ArcAdiA to tell
our parents that we had played in a
fly's eye, and he threw the reflection
of the flv's eye powerfully magnified
on a table and we played in it.

"And I am sure T need not add that
we all went awav feeling that we had
had a wonderful and thoroughly en-
joyable day."

The recently elected officers of the
Putnam Junior Chapter are: Precident,
Elizabeth Drummond ; Vice-President,
Frances Gaines; Secretary, Flnora
Gmnnis: Treasurer. Mary Pouch

Of the trip to ArcAdiA the secretary
of rH<? Chapter writes:

"On Tuesday all the girls of the-
Greenwich Academv above the third
grade went to Sound Beach. We went
in automobiles. We went to be initiat-
ed as Members of The AA. Dr- Bige-
low met us at the door and told us to
+-ke o^ our wraps and sit by the fire.
P"p talked to us about The AA and
shout its magic number, three. Then
he gave us a shingle to draw on. We
drew a rock: he showed us the rock.
We drew a plant and anv kind of an
animah Then he showed us some oic-
tnres on the screen and he told us about
them. We went home at five o'clock."

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

219

A Welcome Guest at ArcAdiA.
Our telephone bell rang' on Sunday,
November 4th, and we heard the glad-
ly welcome words, "John Burroughs
will be at ArcAdiA this afternoon"
The message was from his friend,
John Shea, who had Mr. Burroughs as
a guest Mr. and Mrs. Shea arrived
with their honored visitor, the eminent
naturalist, early that afternoon, accom-
panied by Dr. Clara Barrus. It is su-
perfluous to say that his visit was a de-

light and that it was a pleasure to note
that he is eighty years young. The
term old would be out of place in con-
nection with one who has kept an en-
thusiasm of his life similar to that of
Louis Agassiz. Mr. Burroughs in hi^
mellowed age has lost not a bit of his
enthusiastic love of nature and of liv-
ing people, especially the young people.
Nature does not grow old- The seasons
come now as they did centuries ago
and Mr. Burroughs has kept himself

JOHN BURROUGHS AT THE DOOR OF OUR WELCOME RECEPTION ROOM.

220

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

so attuned with nature that he suggests
thoughts of the present not of the past.
He is ever young.

He knows so much about nature and
has so clearly expressed his knowledge
and with so much feeling and enthu-
siasm that the work at ArcAdiA has
been stimulated by his visit. He is
unquestionably the greatest literary
naturalist the world has ever known.
!!<.■ is beloved by thousands who know
him only through his writings. Much
greater is the love of those who have
been privileged to know him person-
ally.

We entertained him as best we could.
chiefly by showing some of the tiny
things of nature put on the screen by "a
projection microscope, and he expres-
sed his pleasure. It was interesting to
note that his frequent remarks were
almost all incjuiries. That is contrary
to our usual experience. Here a skilled
veteran naturalist was asking ques-
tions, simple questions, with all the
charm and enthusiasm of a child, and
he asked them not of a person but of
nature- He studied carefully the im-
ages shown on the screen and wanted
to know the signification of everything.
It would have been an inspiration to
every Member and friend of The Agas-
siz Association to have noted the
Agcissiz method adopted by this veter-
an naturalist, still in the spirit, as he
always has been, of "Study Nature/'
Though he has taught thousands he is
still a humble learner. Several guests
from Stamford and Darien were pre-
sent, and every one felt the greatness
of the encyclopedic knowledge that Air.
Burroughs possesses, and of the gentle
and charmingly childlike manner in
which he still asks old Mother Nature
what she only can tell him. We shall
continue our work inspired by the fact
that John Burroughs has been guest,
friend and student at Arc Am A.

deon tuning and photography. "The
Bristol Press" says :

"But it was as a naturalist and micro-
scopist that Mr. Terry achieved special
distinction and fame. His studies of
algae, ferns, diatoms and desmids, es-
pecially diatoms, brought him into
touch with scientific men the world
over and he was recognized as an au-
thority by them. his investigations
in these helds were interesting and im-
portant and he derived a great deal of
pleasure and satisfaction in the work.
In a brief sketch of this character not
more than a hint can be given of his
activities, but it may be stated that his
achievements were unusual."

He was an enthusiastic subscriber
to The Guide to Nature. In recent
years, however, the editor has not had
much correspondence with him but in
the days of "The Observer," which was
edited by the present editor of this
magazine in the 'nineties, Mr- Terry
was a frequent contributor and corre-
spondent. He contributed many skill-
fully made microscopical slides. His
investigations and discoveries were
recognized and accepted by the scienti-
fic men of Europe. He had an inter-
national reputation. The diatoms,
Cyclctella Tcrryana, Pleurosigma Terry-
amtm and others, were named in his
honor by European investigators. His
death is a loss not only to his friends,
but to the department of science that
he cultivated and advanced. He was a
gentleman, a kind, generous, learned
gentleman. Personally, and on behalf
of The Agassiz Association, we extend
cordial sympathy to the members of
the family and to the friends in their
bereavement, but we congratulate them
upon the fact that Mr. Terry in the full-
ness of his years had had a well spent
life.

William Almeron Terry.

William Almeron Terry died Wed-
nesday morning, October 31st, at his
home in Bristol, Connecticut, in his
ninetieth year. He was born in Bristol,
October 14, 1828, and spent nearly all
his life in his native town. He was of a
mechanical turn of mind and was spec-
ially interested in clock making, melo-

Prairie Night.

BY GERTRUDE 0. PALMER, LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

Go out alone on the wind-swept prairie,

Lie on her breast, and feel her mighty heart

Beating 'neath thine;

See the high regal glory

Of the stars in golden radiance o'er thee

shine;
Then will thy soul know God and be His

prophet;
Then will thy heart beat all in tune with

His, '
Then will thy spirit leap in glad reunion.
And thy existence find its perfect bliss.

THE AGASSI/ ASSOCIATION

221

Congressman Merritt.

At the special election of the 4th
Congressional District of Connecticut,
called by Governor Holcomb for a suc-
cessor to the late Congressman E. J.
Hill, Honorable Schuyler Merritt of
Stamford, Connecticut, was elected.

Just at this particular time the na-
tion, the state and the district are to
be congratulated upon this election, be-

sure that it is a commendable satisfac-
tion to us all that another prominent
Member from this part of the country
is 111 the governmental affairs at Wash-
ington:

CONGRESSMAN MERRITT.

cause Congressman Merritt is exactly

Change of Color in Glass.

BY C. D. RO.MIG, AUDENRIED, PENNSYLVANIA.

It is not generally known that ordi-
nary, plain, transparent glass changes
in color, yet such is the fact. The
change is due to chemical action in-
duced in the glass when it is exposed
to sunshine, rain, etc., or to the full
force of the weather. The location
seems to have much to do with it. I
think that the higher the elevation the
more likely is the color to be formed
in the glass. Our elevation is about
seventeen hundred feet above sea level,
and here the coloring is common.

Some twenty years ago or more 1
broke a heavy glass inkwell. I threw
the parts out on the east side of my of-
fice, where for more than a year I
noticed one of the pieces almost daily
as it lay exposed. One day 1 picked it
up, and 1 decided that it had acquired

the type of man that should participate a purple tint or a pale amethyst color,
in the direction of governmental affairs which proved to be true, for I was for-
at Washington. Though a Republican tunate enough to find another piece that

in politics, he is not partisan and wi
strongly support our President in the
national crisis. His election brings joy
to every American patriot everywhere.

Congressman Merritt is known local-
ly as a man of the highest type of in-
tegrity and efficiency, a sound financier,
a good citizen, an approachable and so-
cial man with kindly good will for all
classes of people, and a thorough schol-
ar interested in educational, charitable
and religious work. He is the Vice-
President of The Yale & Towne Manu-
facturing Company, President of the
Stamford Associated Charities, a mem-
ber of the State Board of Education and
President of the Stamford National
Bank. In connection with his banking
business he was placed at the head of
the bankers' committee that had charge
of the two Liberty Loans which were
such a tremendous success in Stamford.

We are glad to add that he has also
been a Member of The Agassiz Asso-
ciation for many years. Senator
George P. McLean also has been a
Member for a long time, and we are

fitted to it, and this part retained the
original tint. This discovery pleased
me, yet the best informed men whom
I could find did not believe that the
«un or the weather had effected the
change.

Two years later a friend showed me
an article on this subject in a scientific
paper, which conclusively proved my
contention, although the article refer-
red to glass found on the plains in the
West. I have been interested in the
subject ever since, and have found hun-
dreds of glacs pieces ranging from pale
to deep amethyst color. This region
•s full of broken glass, much of it from
beer bottles and glass thrown into the
ivoods, which are here mostly low
brush and huckleberry bushes. Owing
to berry picking, broken glass can be
found many miles from town, and it is
invariably changed in color. My two
best specimens are a broken beer glass
and a beer bottle.

I have experimented, and found that
in about six months a noticeable change
takes place. I believe it would be a

222

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

fine business to put this color into
cheap glass dishes, or still better into
cut glass, but I do not believe that the
cut glass will take the color from ex-
posure. Some of these specimens are
nearly equivalent to a gem, so rich and
deep is the tint. Some that I have had
or seen would make cut glass dishes
almost priceless. Ten cent dishes thus
tinted would advance to cut glacs
prices. T want to make some experi-
ments along these lines which may re-
sult in the solution of this problem.

Japanese Hehp Our Little Japan.

Great pleasure and encouragement
have come to ArcAdiA by the volun-
tary contributions of several promi-
nent Japanese gentlemen that were
transmitted to us through the
"Nippon-Jin Sha," New York City.
These were a complete and delightful
surprise. The Japanese friends who
have thus not only aided us financially
but have given us practical approval
and encouragement are as follows:

Mr. T. Kozai, New York City $2.00

Mr. K. Obata. New York City .... 1.00
M> S. Kawashima. Brooklyn, New

York 1. 00

Mr. S Yoshida, New York City. . 1.00
Mr- M. Oyama, New York City • • 1.00
Mr. T Y. Okamiya, Brooklyn, New

Yo^k 1. 00

Mr Tamizo Watanabe, New York

Citv 2.00

Work has been suspended on Eittle
Tap^n because it has become necessary
to shingle ihe roofs of the office and
laboratory. The work is now in pro-
gress Work has also been discontin-
ued for financial reasons. We have
been obliged to draw from the general
fund to pay for what has already been
done. We hnve received $838 and have
paid out $1,064-12.

Do Your "Two Bits."

The^e are strenuous times in which
every loval American is expected to do
a bit in behalf of his country.

But in behalf of sustaining the na-
ture cause in which we are working we
ask you to do vour "two bits" as they
sav in California, meaning twenty-five
cents. Tt would be a lonq- and some-
what pitiful story if we should tell of
the intense struggle that we have been

ricking for more than a year to keep
the price of this magazine at one dol-
lar for a year's subscription. Only be-
cause of their time given without charge
by several workers here at ArcAdiA,
and the gift of free time from several
friends, associations, etc., it has been
possible to avoid an increase in the rate
of subscription. Every one knows that
the cost of publication is vastly increas-
ed. Paper and cuts are at a price here-
tofore undreamed of. We have not in-
creased the price because it is our sin-
cere desire to accomplish the purpose
of The Agassiz Association, which is
to aid in the general diffusion of know-
ledge. By keeping the price of sub-
scription at one dollar, we reach many
readers that could not possibly, espec-
ially in these times, afford to pay more.
Even with the free time at this office
and elsewhere, a dollar a year does
not meet expenses. The deficit is made
up by membership fees and contribu-
tions. In fact it is one of the primary
ideas of this Association that its work-
shall be carried on by its Members and
that one form of this work shall be this

magazine.

But there is another way in which
friends could aid us, not only in the
financial part of our work, but in our
labor of diffusing knowledge. That is
by helping us to interest more people.
To do that, send us "two bits" or
twenty-five cents and we will make a
Christmas present of a four months'
subscription to any person whose ad-
dress may be sent with the "two bits."
Naturally it will be seen that these "twr
bits" will not cover expenses, but they
will take us into new fields, help to
secure new Members and largely in-
crease our circulation, and thereby help
our advertisers. The "quarter" is not
much to you but you will be giving
more than a "quarter" in value to a
friend. But if each of the several
thousand people that we reach every
month would send twenty-five cents
the aggregate would be many times
"two bits."

The Pepper Tree of California.

Gracefully bending and telling its beads,

The Pepper is everywhere;
In exquisite beauty a thing apart,

And bowed like a nun in prayer.

— Emma Peirce.

LITERAK

«€>©2®<B<&®4

NOTICES

Around the Year in the Garden. By Fred-
erick Frye Rockwell. New York City :
The Macmillan Company.
From the aesthetic and educational stand-
point this is a delightful book. Some of the
illustrations are especially inspiring. The
author makes suggestions for work during
each week in the year, and has well ar-
ranged his material. The book is really
necessary for the amateur gardener. The
illustrations alone are well worth having,
and the text is pleasing and helpful.

Hunting Dinosaurs in the Bad Lands of
the Red Deer River, Alberta. Lax ah i.
By Charles H. Sternberg. Lawrence,
Kansas: Charles H. Sternberg.
This book is a book of personality. Mr.
Sternberg has been a collector for many
years, and the results of his work are found
in nearly every museum in the country. If
any one, standing in the department of fos-
sils of any museum, should ask if these dry
bones can be made to live, he would have
the question answered in the positive by

reading Air. Sternberg's book. He has as
much personality and even as many little
idiosyncrasies as Boswell put into his "Life
of Samuel Johnson." For a half century
Mr. Sternberg has collected fossils. What
he tells of his experiences and of the im-
pressions received by living in the realm
of these extinct and wonderfully strange
animals merits the attention of every natur-
alist. The price of the book is two dollars
postpaid. \\ ■ cordially advise even the oc-
casional visitor to a museum to obtain the
book and to learn of the life of the fossil
hunter and of his relations to his work.

Our Backdoor Neighbors. By Frank C. Pel-
lett. New York City and Cincinnati, Ohio :
The Abingdon Press.
The author is evidently a naturalist with
special enthusiasm for the study of honey-
bees. Some of us had begun to think that
he is concentrating his attention on honey-
bees, but his recent contributions to this
magazine and promises of more, and espec-
ial!}' the timely appearance of this book,

::

▼

m

r

^L^MkMi

THE NATURALIST (MR. PELLETT) DECIDED TO TAKE THE NEST TO HIS STUDY.

From "Our Backdoor Neighbors."

224

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

all tend to show that his heart is right, al-
though he may not get time to extend his
interest over a large territory. In his in-
teresting book, Mr. Pellett publishes good
articles and attractive illustrations on red-
tailed hawks, screech owls, polecats, tur-

and music of it, of shore and dune and pine
and mystifying lights upon the sunset wat-
ers and the windings of the river to meet
the waiting amplitude of horizonless waves.
God's perpetuated mercy is that beauty is
customary; but in some places beauties do

^i

"AS SOON AS AN EGG CRACKED OPEN, A LITTLE NOSE WOULD BE PUSHED OUT. AND
THERE BABY TURTLE WOLTLD SIT FOR HOURS."
From "Our Backdoor Neighbors."

ties, cotton-tails, crows, caterpillars and
many other things to prove that he keep*
his eyes open when he goes afield, and to
emphasize the old saying, "Everything is
fish that comes to the net of a naturalist."
We hope the book will have an extensive
sale. It has the right spirit..

Beside Lake Beautiful. By William A.
Quayle. Xew York City : The Abingdon
Press.

The naturalist and the minister combined
in one person have produced this book.
The author's most famous previous work is
perhaps "In God's Out-of-doors." In the
present book he has revealed his heart from
a cottage "somewhere on a lake," but just
what lake it is he does not tell us. All we
are to know about it is:

"On the east shore of one of America's
inland seas (which one is not material ) 1
have spent sundry summers, and if I set a-
talking and grow garrulous, set it down not
to age, but to love; for love and age are
alike garrulous. Good things bear talking
of, and that right often."

The religious element is conspicuous. He
tells us:

"I speak now of the lake with tilt of wave

as stars do in certain spaces of the skies —
they cluster. Beside Lake Beautiful is such
a spot.

* * % :|: t-

''My pages of memory are sown to pic-
tures which I humbly hope and pray my
God will let me have when I have come to
stay with Him in heaven: and I think He
will."

The publishers have done their part well.
The book in itself is admirable. Not only
a good thing to hold in the hand but it
looks well on the table. It makes us see
what the author sought at his lakeside and
shows us much more of his inner self and
what he was thinking as he wanders
around the lake or rows on the water. He
has read the hymn and is ready for the
people to sing.

"We come and look at the river or the
lake, and the winds are fresh and glad and
the landscape seems like a picture God had
just painted, and we say grace and partake,
and laugh when there is no joke and giggle
when we are most solemn. Out in God's
dining-room with those we love the very
most in this world is pure delight. This is
the land of pure delight whereof we wist-
fully sang in winter days, and we are its
inhabitants. Lift the song."

JANUARY, 1918

EDWARD F. BIGELOW, Managing Editor

| Jr PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

fWHE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION, ARCAoiA: Sound Beach, Conn.
I ^L-* Subscription, $1.00 a Year; Single Copy, 10c

^BHH I "■- -. - - 1

3.A.*

[m^«e

IBB

GREENWICH

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

Those who have no safe
place for their

LIBERTY BONDS

may leave them with this
Company for safekeep-
ing

FREE OF CHARGE,

for which we will issue a
receipt.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

GREENWICH : : CONN.

n

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences. Farms. Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have you rail or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, C

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You can have an abundance of the most superb strawberries five months
in the year.

Spring Set Plants Will Bear

enormously and continuously from July till far in November. The fruit sells
from 25c to 50c a quart. The hardiness of the Progressive is amazing,
other can compare. They are of highest quality- — delicious, and are fully
days earlier than most kinds. What more need be said?

Set out a good bed, luxuriate in the fruit for months and sell both fi
and plants to your neighbors at a big profit.

* BEWARE OF SPURIOUS STOCK. THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN FOOLED.
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mo;

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

V

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— «r

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u

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MM .

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Price 10 cents.

Every householder is interested in the question of con-
seryation of food. Here is the costume accepted by the
Hoover commission and which is to be worn by the
women who have signed the pledge. For such use. it
should be made of plain blue with white trimming. Here,
it is worn by an active housewife and is made of plaid
gingham with trimming of plain color. Since it will be in
demand for general wear as well as by the signers in the
pledge, that suggestion is a good one. It is a very smart,
attractive looking costume. You can wear it as an apron,
or you can wear it as a gown. The single button and but-
tonhole in the belt effect the closing, consequently, it is
exceedingly easy to slip on and off. Women who find
themselves compelled to do with less help than usual this
season will find the apron valuable.

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VI

M

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

J&"*', (SS£SS) .^'""V,

-iiv*

>*&

PUBLISHERS NOTICES

Tis not mortals to COMMAND

success,

K

o more, Sempronius, we'll DESERVE IT

Addison: Cato

Welcome News to Dog Owners.

A personal letter from Spratt's Pat-
ent (American) Limited states as fol-
lows :

"Yon may care to note that we shall
probably be permitted to continue the
manufacture of dog cakes, etc. This
will be welcome news to dog owners,
for Spratt's Dog Cakes, Puppy Bis-
cuits, etc., are now looked upon more
as economical necessities than canine
luxuries.

"In Great Britain it appeared likely
at one time that the manufacture would
be prohibited, but it was soon shown
that the use of these foods really re-
lieved the strain upon foods of various
kinds for human consumption. The
Food Controller therefore gave the
necessary permission for the continu-
ance of the manufacture of Spratt's
Dog Cakes. The same view has been
taken here, at least for the present, and
it is hoped that it will remain effective."

Subtraction of Natural Objects.

The teacher was hearing the youth-
ful class in mathematics.

"No," she said, "in order to subtract,
things have to be in the same denomi-
nation. For instance, we couldn't take
three pears from four peaches, nor eight
horses from ten cats. Do you under-
stand ?"

There was assent from the majority
of pupils. One little boy in the rear
raised a timid hand.

'•Well, Bobby, what is it?" asked
teacher.

"Please, teacher," said Bobby,
"couldn't you take three quarts of milk
from two cows?"-— New York Evening
Post.

It Is Now Wilt's Restaurant.

The tide of favor and the line of ex-
cellence change from time to time. It
is Wilt's now because he has estab-
lished and is conducting a highly pop-
ular restaurant. The place is popular
because it is clean, the prices moderate
and the service cordial.

This item is written not because Mr.
Wilt has become an advertiser in this
magazine, but he is an advertiser and
was invited to become so on account of
the good qualities that prevail in his
restaurant.

Iconoclast.
A puppy

Ambling sidewise

Intent upon the memory of some bur-
ied bone,
Halts before my pool —
A hollow place within the walk
Filled by this morning's rain.
Thirst satisfied,
He waddles off,
Doubtless never knowing
His rotund stomach holds
My mirror of infinity.

— Murdock Pemberton in "The Even-

ing Post."

Three Sets of Twins.

The father named the first pair Pete
and Repeat. He liked that sort of idea,
so the second was named Kate and
Duplicate. But when the third set
arrived he felt that even a good thing
might be carried a little too far and he
called one of these Max and the other
Climax.

"Oh would I were the pine tree,"

A tiny floweret said,
"That towers, tall and mighty,

Far, far above my head."

The tempest raged with fury,

The pine tree is no more;
But the lowly little floweret

Still blossoms as of yore.

— Emma Peirce.

China has long furnished the stock-
example of a country ruined by cutting
off the forests. A newly organized De-
partment of Forestrv will attempt to
remedv the evil.

STmttfoaljtp

No word is oftener on the lips of men than Friendship, and in-
deed no thought is more familiar to their aspirations. All men are
dreaming of it, and its drama, which is always a tragedy, is enacted
daily. It is the secret of the universe. You may thread the town, you
may wander the country, and none shall ever speak of it, yet thought
is everywhere busy about it, and the idea of what is possible in this
respect affects our behavior toward all new men and women, and a
great many old ones.

*

*

*

Think of the importance of Friendship in the education of men.

"He that hath love and judgment too,
Sees more than any other doe."
It will make a man honest ; it will make him a hero ; it will make
him a saint. It is the state of the just dealing with the just, the mag-
nanimous with the magnanimous, the sincere with the sincere, man
with man.

*

*

Between whom there is hearty truth, there is love ; and in pro-
portion to our truthfulness and confidence in one another, our lives
are divine and miraculous, and answer to our ideal. There are pass-
ages of affection in our intercourse with mortal men and women, such
as no prophecy had taught us to expect, which transcend our earthly
life, and anticipate Heaven for us.

J^ *&* ^f ^Xf *^*

^S *T^ ^^ ^^ ^^

As I love nature, as I love singing birds, and gleaming stubble*
and flowing rivers, and morning and evening, and summer and winter,
I love thee, my Friend.

«x ^^ ^^ ^^ ^T*

Even the death of Friends will inspire us as much as their lives.
They will leave consolation to the mourners, as the rich leave money
to defray the expenses of their funerals, and their memories will be
incrusted over with sublime and pleasing thoughts, as monuments of
other men are overgrown with moss ; for our Friends have no place in
the graveyard. — Henry David Thoreau.

M

•

■■■«.

Cut by courtesy of "Our Town.

JUDGE RORERT JAY WALSH DIED DECEMBER 7, 1917.

Bwrsn?s^!^^^ss^^^r?

flll'l " .""

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Vol

ume

X

JANUARY, 1917

Number 8

FRIEND ROBERT JAY WALSH

A Great Friend of Greenwich, Friend of The Agassiz Association, Preemi-
nently a Friend of Everybody, Died at His Home in Greenwich,
Connecticut, December 7th, Aged Sixty-three Years.

In the death of Judge Robert Jay Walsh, Greenwich has lost its greatest
man. He was great in statesmanship, citizenship, finance, politics, education
and personal character. But he was greater than all these as a friend.

Though not enrolled as a Member of The Agassiz Association, he was in
some respects the best friend our organization has ever had. His advice and
his good deeds in behalf of our work were many, but it was his request that
they be not published. This request will explain, especially to our friends
and Members in distant places, why his name has not previously been men-
tioned in this magazine.

His life is an inspiration to every faithful student. He was not only self-
made but well made. The story of his early endeavors, of his life-long achieve-
ments, of his great power always for good in the community, reads like a fairv
tale. Probably no other community can point to a man of such unique power
and high esteem in his own locality.

A brief biographical sketch, an account of the funeral and a few of the
many testimonials to his greatness and goodness, we quote from local publi-
cations as follows :

Copyright 1917 by The Agassiz Association ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

228

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Hon. Robert Jay Walsh, the most
prominent and respected citizen of
Greenwich died Friday afternoon at 4
o'clock at his residence on Dearfield
Drive, after an illness which had con-
fined him to his home for two weeks.
Funeral services were held at his late
residence on Monday afternoon at 3:15
o'clock. The services were marked by
simplicity, typical of the man and were
conducted by the Rev. Dr. Joseph H.
Selden of Norwich, Conn., formerly
pastor of the Second Congregational
Church and the Rev. Dr. Oliver P.
Huckel, the present pastor, and Rev.
M. George Thompson, rector of Christ
church. Hon. Homer S. Cummings
paid feeling tribute to Judge Walsh's
sterling character and to his invaluable
service to the community. The honor-
ary pallbearers were :

John Maher, John W. Diehl, John
D. Barrett, Nathaniel A. Knapp, James
Maher, S. Elbert Mills, Wilbur S.
Wright, Fred A. Hubbard, James R.
Mead, Homer S. Cummings, E. L. Sco-
field, John E. Keeler, Luke Vincent
Lockwood, Noah C. Rogers, Julian W.
Curtiss, George L. Slawson, Charles A.
Moore, Jr., Augustus I. Mead, Herbert
McCord, Henry H. Adams.

The interment was made in the Walsh
family mausoleum at Putnam Ceme-
tery.

Men of marked ability, forcible char-
acter and culture leave their impress
upon the world written in such indel-
ible characters that time is powerless
to obliterate their memory, or sweep
it from the minds of men. Their
commendable acts live long after they
have passed from the scene of their
earthly career.

In Judge Walsh we find the friend
and counsellor of all Greenwich, one
of the most distinguished members of
the Fairfield County Bar, twice State
Senator representing the Twelfth Dis-
trict, member of the Commission of
1888 to revise the Statutes, Secretary of
State of Connecticut in t88q for two
terms, Judge of the Criminal Branch
of the Court of Common Pleas holding
the office until he resigned about seven-
teen years ago to give his entire atten-
tion to his law practice and business
interests in Greenwich.

Judge Walsh was born August 1,
1854, at Lewisboro, N. Y., the son of
James F. and Annie E. Walsh, one of

six children, Mrs. Thomas E. White,
Miss Mary M. Walsh, of Ridgefield,
Mrs. John Morgan who died last
spring, Hon. James F. Walsh of Green-
wich, and Mrs. Dennis Buckley of Can-
nondale, Conn.

In 1864 Judge W'alsh's family moved
across the boundary line into Connec-
ticut, settling in the town of Ridgefield,
and he having already advanced in
elementary studies continued them in
the local public school. At the age of
twelve years he left the common school
and became a student in the High
Ridge Institute at Ridgefield, where he
had the advantage of instruction under
the accomplished Professor William O.
Seymour. After devoting two years to
acquiring a knowledge of the higher
branches he felt that the time had now
come to enter the arena of practical
life ; a sturdy lad descended from
sturdy ancestry he chose the ancient
and honorable trade of a blacksmith.
During the years of apprenticeship he
made use of his spare hours for the im-
provement of his mind by study and
useful reading, which proved a large
asset in his future sphere of usefulness.
Seeking the advice and assistance of
Dr. William S. Todd, then a practi-
tioner of medicine in Ridgefield, with
him he reviewed his studies preparatory
to teaching. Through the assistance
of Dr. Todd at the age of seventeen he
received the appointment of teacher in
one of the local schools ; he taught one
vear and then in order to perfect him-
self in his profession entered the State
Normal School at New Britain, but did
not complete the full course, because
of an advantageous position offered
him in Port Chester, N. Y., as teacher
in one of their schools. His first school
was a success and where he taught he
left but one record, a record crystal-
ized in the words "The best teacher we
ever had."

Characteristically, while yet teach-
ing he began the study of law under
the advice and instruction of Col. H.
W. R. Hoyt, a prominent lawyer in
Greenwich ; in due time Mr. Walsh
was admitted to the bar, and was re-
ceived into partnership by his accom-
plished and experienced preceptor. He
was immediately thrown into the field
of political effort and won his reputa-
tion as a lawyer under the most benign
auspices. In 1882 he opened a law of-

FRIEND ROBERT JAY WALSH

229

lice for himself in what was then the
town building'. During the year of his
admission to the Bar he was chosen
counsel for the town of Greenwich, an
office which he proudly retained up to
his death ; thirty-five years of continu-
ous service.

An ardent Republican, during the
presidential campaign of 1880, he took
the hustings in Connecticut for Gar-
field and Arthur and the same year he
was elected to the Republican State
Central Committee, a party honor
which was afforded him by re-election
down to the time he was appointed
Judge, when he resigned. In the year
1884 he ran as state senator from the
Twelfth District and was elected by a
large majority, running far ahead of
his ticket. In 1886 he was chosen sec-
retary of the State Central Committee
and being renominated for the Senate
was re-elected by twice the majority
received in the previous campaign. He
was elected to several important chair-
manships of Committees and was Re-
publican Senate leader.

In 1885 having already achieved a
wide reputation he was appointed by
Governor Harrison a member of the
commission to revise the statutes of
Connecticut, and although the young-
est man in this body he was one of the
most active in its deliberations. Prob-
ablv no lawyer has occupied a more
distinguished position at the Bar. In
1900 he gave up all political activities,
resigned as Judge of the Court of Com-
mon Pleas, and resumed the active
practice of law and his attention to his
several real estate enterprises.

Early, Judge Walsh saw the advan-
tage of developing Greenwich real es-
tate and was one of the pioneers in
buying property on a large scale ; his
first venture was the purchase of the
then Zopher Mead farm which proved
very profitable ; subsequently with the
late Nathaniel Witherell he acquired
the farm belonging to the estate of Col.
Thomas A. Mead, and together with
Mr. Witherell built the Edgewood Inn.
About 1901 he purchased with others
Field Point, probably the most valu-
able suburban residential section of its
size in New England.

Mr. Walsh was intensely interested
in everything that was for the benefit
and upbuilding of the community.
He was one of the pioneers in the in-

troduction of electricity in town, and
of the trolley company. At the time
of his death he was president of the
Greenwich Trust Company, which he
helped to organize thirty years ago ;
the Greenwich Water Company, The
Putnam Cemetery Association, the
Abendroth Bros. Foundry of Port
Chester, N. Y., and the Port Chester
Water Works, and director of the New
York & Stamford St. R. R. He was
trustee of the Y. M. C. A., the Green-
wich Library Association, a charter
member of the Fairfield County Golf
Club, now the Greenwich Country
Club, and also a member of the Blind
Brook Club, Indian Harbor Yacht
Club, the Republican Club of New
York, a member of Acacia Lodge, F.
& A. M., and Empire Lodge, I. O. O. F,,
both of Greenwich.

Judge Walsh married Miss Annie A.
Merritt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mat-
thew Merritt, on October 7, 1879, to
this union three children were born,
Lucy M., now the wife of Walter B.
Todd ; Edith B., who died several years
ago, the wife of A. W. W. Marshall,
and Roberta Jay, the wife of Lloyd S.
Cooney.

Judge Walsh's career is a shining
example of what may be accomplished
by inherent natural ability, coupled
with a strong determination and perse-
verance even under the most adverse
circumstances. He acquired a moder-
ate competence, an influential position
and an honorable name. That there
are no rules for building character, no
rules for achieving success, no royal
road to fame, is proved by the career
of Honorable Robert Jay Walsh, who
was the architect of his own fortune,
who loved his friends and his enemies
and it is thought that even his enemies
loved him.

>jc :(: :J: :}: ;>:

He was, in the most unqualified
sense, a self-made man. Appren-
ticed in earlv boyhod to learn the trade
of blacksmith, his passion for books and
study, which he indulged in his leisure
hours and at every opportunity, awak-
ened ambition for great things, and he
soon abandoned the forge and anvil for
a career that was destined to be distin-
guished, brilliant and eminentlv sucess-
ful.

His chief inheritance was sturdy self-
reliance, indomitable will, magnetism

-?3°

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

of personality that enabled him to win
friends and retain friendships; a keen,
analytical mind that could read men
and discern between the real and the
sham, and a broad philosophy of life
and its relations, man to man.

He was Greenwich's best-known citi-
zen and a man whom his fellows de-
lighted to honor. His acquaintance
extended far and wide, and in his own
state he was known in every town and
had friends everywhere, by reason of
his former active prominence in public
life. A natural bent for the fascinating-
pastime of politics, which brought him
into prominence even in the early
days of his career, soon developed his
capacity for leadership, and his party
recognized his services, his ability and
his patriotism by repeatedly honoring
him with public office, which he invari-
ably filled with distinction and credit to
himself and town, county and state.
*****

His tremendous capacity for business
detail is evidenced in the numerous
successful enterprises in which he was
actively engaged, especially during the
later years of his life. The Greenwich
Trust Company, of which he was vir-
tually the founder, and its president
for 27 years, was his special pride : and
the magnificient new Trust building,
which is the admiration of all behold-
ers, will stand as an enduring monu-
ment to his memory.

But it is as Judge Walsh, the man
that he will be most sadly missed by
unnumbered acquaintances. He was
a genial, generous, helpful neighbor and
friend, of broad charitable impulses and
and kindly counsel. He was unosten-
tatious in his charities and his helpful-
ness ; but many a man and woman in
Greenwich today mourns his departure,
with emotions of gratitude born of the
remembrance of his kindness and help
at times when kindness and help were
sorely needed. His memory will long
endure. — Greenwich News and Graphic.

JUDGE WALSH'S OBSEQUIES.

Mr. Cummings, in a Touching Eulogv.
Summarizes His Character.

Relatives and many friends, includ-
ing a large representation of the Fair-
field County Bar, attended the funeral
service for Judge Robert Jay Walsh

yesterday afternoon, at his late home in
Greenwich. The clergy assisting were
Rev. Joseph H. Selden, D. D., of Nor-
wich, formerly of Greenwich ; Rev. Dr.
Huckel and Rev. M. George Thomp-
son of Greenwich. The eulogy was
pronounced by State's Attorney Homer
S. Cummings, who in a few words
summed up the character and career of
Judge Walsh. Mr. Cummings said :

"I have been asked to say a few
words. I cannot resist such a sum-
mons. Judge Walsh was my friend,
and I loved and respected him. In all
the years of that friendship, I have
never known him to do an unjust deed,
or harbor a mean or unworthy thought.

"His spirit was singularly sweet and
genuine. He had a genius for the
right thing — the kind thing. In the
best sense he was typically American.
Beginning at the very bottom of the
ladder of life, he climbed to the top.
And in the progress no one was
harmed. It was not a ruthless am-
bition that stirred him ; it was the
natural expression of his talents, feel-
ing their way to better things and help-
ing, the while, all who came in contact
with him.

"It is sad to see our friends fail in
health and to know that the eternal
summons will not be long delayed.
And vet such is the way of life :

" 'Whether at Nashipur or Babylon,
Whether the cup with sweet or bitter run.
The wine of life keeps oozing, drop by drop,
The leaves of life keep falling, one by one.'

"But to the noble of spirit. Death
presents no aspect of terror.

" 'The whole earth,' said the great
orator of antiquity, 'is the sepulchre of
famous men.'

"Our American poet was a prophet,
too, as all true poets ever are. when
he said :

" 'There is no death; what seems so is tran-
sition.'

"For relatives and friends, this is a
privileged hour. Sorrow is mingled
with a kind of solemn pride that so
good, so wise and so just a man was a
part of our daily life. That thought
brings an abiding peace like
" 'The lone star and the shadowed hush
That come at evening- when the thrush
Revels the day, so worn and long,
Into the silver of a song.' '

— Stamford Advocate.

FRIKNI) ROBERT JAY WALSH

-M i

A Tribute to Judge Walsh.

BY CHARLES ARTHUR MOORE, JR., GREEN-
WICH, CONNECTICUT.

Judge Walsh was so much bigger and
finer than anything which he accomplish-
ed in his active and successful life that
those who knew him well must realize
very keenly that his character and the
influence he exerted upon everyone with
whom he came in contact are the out-
standing and paramount achievements of
his career.

What WE DO is largely a question of
opportunity; what we are depends upon
onrselves. The qualities of the soul given
to us at birth are developed as life goes
on, well or ill, as nature impels us.
Judge Walsh was fortunate beyond
most men in material ways. Yet he
did not amass a huge fortune nor ar-
rive at national reputation. But when
he stood out head and shoulders above
most of the so-called great, and in-
finitely above those whose only claim
to notice is wealth, is in what he him-
self was.

The biggest accomplishment, the
greatest success of Judge Walsh's life,
was the man himself. He justified his
life in every phase and turn of his char-
acter.

He was a true leader of men because
he had by birth the heart of a leader,
honorable, brave and above all, kind
and generous. And those character-
istics that were his by birth he made
the most of through cleanly and brave-
ly living a long life.

What Judge Walsh did in Greenwich
he could as easily have done in Wall
Street or Washington and on a scale
magnified a hundred-fold. The same
qualities that made him the recognized
great man of this town could have as
easily made him the great man any-
where else in any company.

But he chose this town for the scene
of his life and, loving the place, he ex-
ercised his talents here amongst us.
With none of the glamor that is thrown
about far-off names by distance and
imperfect knowledge, vears ago Judge
Walsh became recognized here among
those with whom he met almost daily
on intimate terms, as a great man. And.
a far more difficult test of real great-
ness, he remained our unchallenged,
unquestioned first citizen through many
years after having won that place in

our opinion. And as our great man he
died.

'there is a particularly characteristic
touch in the fact that he was prouder
of having been the counsel for the
town of Greenwich for a period of
thirty-five years of changing political
administrations of the town govern-
ment than of any of the more showy
and solid honors that came to him from
the larger outside world ; a fact that he
frequently mentioned. A clean, big and
straightforward citizen of Greenwich
has left the town and the people, his
friends that he loved.

The Power of Kindness.
Once in a while, in recent years, some
of the "reformers" who occasionally
try to make a stir in Greenwich have
referred to the Walshes as local poli-
tical bosses. Not one of them seemed
to understand the reason for the great
personal popularity of R. Jay Walsh,
and why the candidates he preferred
were most likely to be nominated and
elected. The truth is that hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of people in Green-
wich wrere indebted to him for acts of
kindness. He was continually helping
people in one way or another — people
who were in a position to give him
nothing in return but gratitude, and
some of whom did not give even that.
Rich men recognized his remarkable
abilitv ; poor men were able to ap-
proach him with confidence of getting
from him sympathy in trouble, advice
in perplexity, and substantial help in
time of need. R. Jay Walsh had the
advantage of experiencing the trials
and struggles of a poor boy. It was a
good training. He might have worked
for most of his life in a country smithy.
but for his ambition to be what he be-
came. And he had to make his own
way in the world. He had no rich
friends or relatives to assist him to an
education, none to help him to advance.
He had to rely upon his own efforts.
He vras such an apt student in a coun-
try school that he qualified, as a youth.,
for a position as teacher in Greenwich,
and some of his former pupils say that
he was the best teacher they ever
knew. Greenwich should remember R.
Jay Walsh as an example of what can
be achieved by an ambitious boy. — The
Stamford Advocate.

The Heavens in January.

j
By Professor Eric Doolittle o f the University of Pennsylvania.

In the opening days of the year 1918
we find every one of the bright, naked
eye planets either high in the evening
heavens or just beyond the borders of
our evening map. A few months ago
the reader who wished to study these
interesting worlds was obliged to look

observation during the evening, while
throughout the entire year we will
have with us the very interesting plan-
et Mars, whose rapid eastward motion
and conspicuous changes in brightness,
as it first draws near our earth and af-
terward recedes again, will afford an

NORTh

lOUTH
Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M., January 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If
facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

for them in the east, during the morn-
ing hours shortly before sunrise, but
it is now in this part of the sky that
the planets are entirely wanting.

For many months to come the won-
derful worlds, Jupiter and Saturn, will
remain in the best possible position for

object of continued interest for study.
This world did not come into the most
favorable position for observation at
any time during 191 7. but on March
18 of the present year it will attain its
least distance from us and will appear
largest and present more detail in the

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

233

telescope than at any other time.

The Planets in 1918.

Mercury, on January 1, is still an
evening star, but it is far too near the
sun to be observed. Only two days
later it will in fact enter the morning-
sky, not to again pass to the east of
the sun until March 12. On April 7
it will attain its greatest distance east
of the sun and in its interesting and
rapid oscillations from one side of the
sun to the other will similarly reach

Figure 2. The paths of Mars and Saturn on the
Celestial Sphere.

its greatest eastern elongation on Aug-
ust 5 and on November 29. On the
first two dates the planet will be above
the celestial equator and will easily be
found by the observer ; the last elonga-
tion, however, will be a far less favor-
able one.

The beautiful Venus, which has been
shining so very brightly in the south-
west, will attain its greatest brilliance
on January 5, when it will shine with
no less than one hundred and forty-live
times the brightness of a first magni-
tude star. It is now drawing continu-
ally nearer the sun and consequentlv is

seen lower in the sky on each succes-
sive evening. Yet special effort should
be made to observe it for it is at this
particular time that it is of greatest
interest in the telescope. During Jan-
uary it will be seen to change from a
planet nearly half full to the narrowest
imaginable silvery crescent, and more-
over Venus is now so near the earth
that a very small telescope will show
its change of phase very clearly.

Venus will pass to the east of the sun
on February 9, reaching its greatest
brilliance in the morning sky on March
16 and its greatest distance from the
sun's rays on April 23. On November
23 it will again enter our evening hea-
vens, but it will not become a conspic-
uous object in the west until early in
the following year.

Mars may be called the reigning
planet of the coming year, for it will
shine brightly in the evening heavens
from the very beginning of the year
until its close. On January 1 the plan-
et is found near the western border of
the constellation Virgo and is hence
a little beyond the limits of our even-
ing map. At this time it is moving
slowly eastward (as shown in Figure
2) and this eastward motion will con-
tinue until February 4. From this lat-
ter date until April 26 the planet will
move westward until it reaches a point
in the constellation Leo. The rapid
eastward motion will then be resumed
and this will continue until the end of
the year.

Tt is this eastward motion of Mars
which will retain it in our evening skies
throughout the year. The sun, pur-
suing its accustomed path, AVB, Fig-
ure 1, will cross the equator at V on
March 21, and in due course will over-
take and pass to the east of both Jupi-
ter and Saturn. By December 31 it
will have but a little way passed the
Winter Solstice in Sagittarius, while
Mars will have moved still farther
east into Capricornus. The planet will
then be seen glowing redly in the
southwest for about two and one-half
hours after sunset.

Jupiter is now in its highest position
in our evening heavens. It is seen shin-
ing brightly, almost on the meridian,
nearly midway between the Hyades
and the Pleiades. During the year it
will move eastward almost to the cen-
ter of the constellation Gemini, bv De-

234

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

cember 31 reaching- the position indi-
cated in Figure I. Jupiter will remain
in our evening heavens, though con-
tinually sinking lower in the west, un-
til June 15, when it will be passed by
the sun and so become a morning star.
During the last six weeks of the year it
will again be found on our evening map.
Saturn will remain an evening star
until August 11. then to enter the
morning sky until within a few weeks
of the end of the year. Its path among
the stars is shown in Figures 1 and 2,
of which the most interesting feature
is the steady approach of the Ringed
Planet to the bright star, Regulus. At
the close of this year and during the
beginning of the next the two bright
objects will shine out as a beautiful pair
of stars in the sky, though one is so im-

ing sky, rising only about two hours
before sunrise.

Thus all of the bright planets will be
visible at the beginning of the present
year, and also at its end. During the
months of August, September and Oc-
tober, however, all except Mars will
have withdrawn from our evening map.
But this most interesting world, whose
rapid motion and changing appearance
are always so well worthy of study,
will remain with us throughout the en-
tire year.

Phenomena of the Year 1918.

Unquestionably the most important
astronomical event of the year will be
the total eclipse of the sun which will
occur on the afternoon of June 8. On
this date the shadow of the moon will

Figure 3. Two drawings of Venus. The first shows the phase (or
shape") of this planet as it appears in an inverting telescope on January
1. and the second shows its phase on January 31.

measurably more distant and of so whol-
ly different a nature from the other.

Uranus, which long ago began its
slow upward climb from the Winter
Solstice, is still far below the equator
in the constellation Capricornus. In
the course of thirty-five years it will
have reached the constellation Gemini
and will then be in far better position
for observation than it is at present.

The even more slowly moving Nep-
tune, which requires one hundred and
sixty-five years to complete its circuit
of the heavens, will during the present
year traverse the small arc of its path
from C to D, Figure i. It will pass be-
low the bright star at E on August 21,
but at this time it will be in the morn-

sweep entirely across our country,
from the state of Washington in the
northwest to Florida in the southeast.
Within the path of this shadow the
light of the sun will be completely
blotted out ; from elsewhere in the
United States a part only of the sun's
disc will be covered. The shadow
will strike the extreme northwestern
border of our country at about 5 hrs.
5 min. P. M. (Eastern Standard Time)
and will arrive at the peninsula of Flor-
ida only fifty minutes later. At Phila-
delphia the eclipse will be a partial
one, only seven-tenths of the sun's
diameter being covered. Every reader
who can do so is urged to make the
journey to some point within the sha-

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

235

dow path on this day, for a total
eclipse of the sun is the most impres-
sive heavenly phenomenon that can
ever be witnessed by us.

Two other eclipses will also occur
during the present year. The first is
a very small partial eclipse of the moon,
only one-eighth of the moon's diameter
being immersed in the earth's shadow.
This eclipse will take place shortly be-
fore sunrise on the morning of June
24. The third eclipse, on December 31,
is a so-called annular eclipse of the sun,
totally invisible to us, and visible only
from stations in South America and in
western and southern Africa.

The motion of our moon among the
stars in the course of its monthly cir-
cuit of the heavens is a less striking
phenomenon but yet a most interesting
subject for study. A very little obser-
vation will show that our satellite
moves eastward a distance approxi-
mately equal to its own diameter in the
course of one hour, and that this
changes its position in the heavens
about thirteen degrees each day. The
careful observer will also discover that
it does not follow exactly the same
path on successive months. Thus
while the moon passes below the Plei-
ades on January 21, February 17,
March 16, etc., during the present year,
he will notice that on each successive
passage its path among the stars lies
lower, the displacement amounting to
no less than three times the apparent
diameter of the moon in the course of
the year.

On various evenings the moon will
be seen to pass over, or "occult," many
different stars, but there will be occa-
sions when a planet will be seen to be
thus hidden during the present year;
only two planetary occulations will
take place. On August 3 the moon
will occult Jupiter and on October 9
it will pass over Mars, but neither of
these interesting phenomena can be
viewed from stations within the United
States.

The members, of whom there are now
about eighty, are largely amateurs. A
few of them own or nave access to fair
sized telescopes, five inches and above.
Others have only two- and three-inch
glasses, while not a few depend on their
unaided eyes or use nothing more pow-
erful than held and bird glasses.

The object of the Society is to set
the largest possible number of amateur
observers to watching individual vari-
ables and recording carefully the
brightness of each. The records are
then turned in to the secretary 01 the
Association and to Harvard Observa-
tory, where they are brought together
and plotted. Immediately afterwards,
they are published in "Popular Astron-
omy." The result is a vastly greater
body of fact than any observatory staff
would be able to discover.

Variable stars are the one great mys-
tery of the heavens still unsolved. Save
for the "Algol type" in which a dark
companion revolves around the bright
star and periodically shuts off a part
of its light, there is no satisfactory ex-
planation of variable stars. Omicron
Ceti or Mira, several times mentioned
in the astronomical columns of this
journal, is still as wonderful and al-
most as much an egima as when, in
1596, it ws first discovered to be varia-
ble.

But the only way to solve any puzzle
which nature sets us is by getting facts.
And facts concerning variable stars
seem to be about the only sort of facts
concerning the heavenly bodies which
the amateur of astronomy has it in his
power to contribute to the advance of
scientific knowledge.

The secretary of the society is Mr.
William Tyler Olcott, 64 Church
Street, Norwich, Connecticut.

An Unsolved Problem.
The American Association of Vari-
able Star Observers (it is the stars that
are variable, not the observers) met on
November tenth, at the Harvard Ob-
servatory, and adopted a formal organi-
zation in place of the loose tie that had
held them heretofore.

Not Elephantine!

They were discussing that joke about
getting down off an elephant.

"How do you get down?" asked the
jokesmith for the fourth time.

"You climb down."

"Wrong!"
"You grease his sides and slide down."

"Wrong! !"

"You take a ladder and get down."

"Wrong! ! !"

"Well, you take the trunk line down."

"No, not quite. You don't get down
off an elephant ; you get it off a goose." —
Indianapolis News.

All communications for this department
should be sent to the Department Editor,
Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street,
Hyde Park, Massashusetts. Items, articles
and photographs in this department not
otherwise credited are by the Department
Editor.

Some Late Nesting Dates.

During the past season there have
come under the writer's observation
several instances of late bird nesting
which have seemed rather unusual for
their particular localities.

NEST AND EGGS OF SONG SPARROW AT
TYNGSBORO, MASSACHUSETTS.

At Hyde Park, Massachusetts, on
the twenty-ninth of June, the nest of
a red-eyed vireo was found about ten
feet up in an apple tree. This was an
unusually deep and well made nest,
and contained four eggs, apparently
fresh. The mother bird remained upon
her eggs while the tree was being
sprayed, and did not leave until, in a
later examination with the aid of a
stepladder, I drew the nest within a
foot of my head and looked down upon
her.

In the same yard with the above, and
on the same date, a song sparrow's
nest containing four fresh eggs was
noted, this being quite unusual in both
its location and the lateness of the
nesting period. The nest was four to
five feet from the ground in a small
spruce tree. It was composed of dried
grasses and a few leaves, was deeply
hollowed and lined with horsehair.
With its four brown-spotted, bluish-
white eggs, and in its dark green set-
ting of the feathery spruce, this nest
presented a beautiful picture, and one
quite different in its surroundings from
the usual song sparrow nest, which we
ordinarily find placed upon the ground
in a swamp, either in a tuft of long
grass or some similar place where it is
well concealed. On the following day
this nest was found to contain five
eggs, which showed the complement
to be completed on that date, the thir-
tieth of June. It was not visited

again.

At Nashua, New Hampshire, along
the Nashua River, a kingbird's nest
was found containing young on the
first day of .August. An examination
of this nest on the eighth instant
showed it to be empty, the birds prob-
ably having developed and flown. A
Wilson's thrush nest and three eggs
were also found here on the latter date.

At Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, on the
same date, the song sparrow's nest here
illustrated was found concealed in the
grass along the high bank of the Mer-
rimack River, within a few yards of the
bordering boulevard. There were three
eggs in this nest, which was nearly
stepped upon before the bird was
flushed, and by the actions of the
mother bird , which hovered excitedly
about while we photographed the nest,
we presumed the eggs to be partly in-
cubated. The structure was typical,
being composed entirely of grass, and
the small number of eggs in the comple-

ORNITHOLOGY

^7

merit might indicate that it was a sec-
ond set irom this pair of birds.

Another late nesting date was on the
sixteenth of August, when several barn
swallows' nests containing young were
noted at Newport, Rhode Island, these
being elsewhere referred to in another
article. Along the Newport cliffs young
tern-- were also observed on this date,
which would indicate a much later nest-
ing period than is usual for this species.

Barn Swallows Nesting on the Cliffs.
It is well known that many birds have
of necessity gradually changed their
nesting habits with the advance of civ-
ilization, owing to the encroachment
upon their native haunts which always
accompanies this advance. Those which
have not been able to adapt themselves
to these new conditions have always
suffered the consequences and faced
serious depletion in their numbers, if
not extermination. Many species seem
to be undergoing these changes at the
present time, and thus, according to

show considerable
individual

nesting

their environment,
variation in their
habits.

Phoebes and robins we find readily
accepting these changed conditions and
adapting themselves comfortably to the
various nesting sites offered about our
buildings, although these may still be
found breeding in equal numbers in the
woods. The cliff swallow — an original
cliff dweller — is now known much more
commonly as the "eave swTallow" owing
to its habit of plastering in rows be-
neath the eaves of old barns its tubular
clay nests ; nighthawks breed with
equal composure on the flat, gravel
roofs of our city buildings or on a bare
rock on the ground in the woods ; and
we find bluebirds, flickers and wrens at
once accepting our proffered nesting
boxes when we set them up in suitable
locations about our dwellings.

The species mentioned are birds
which seem to be undergoing these
changes and apparently keeping pace
with the times, while others have so
long changed their habits that we know
little of their former customs, and in-
stances where we find them nesting in
the old way appear to us strange and
unusual. Chimney swifts, birds which
once dwelt in hollow trees in the woods,
are now common birds of town and

city, and seem to find in our brick chim-
neys a satisfactory substitute for their
ancient wilderness abode; purple mar-
tins apparently breed nowhere except
in the tenement houses which we erect
for them, while barn swallows have be-

PURGATORY— A CHASM IN THE NEWPORT
CLIFFS.

come so closely associated with our
farm life that they would now seem
out of place if we found them anywhere
else, and there seems to have been lit-
tle written concerning the nesting ha-
bits of these birds before they occupied
the rafters of our barns, where with
their cheerful twitterings, bright colors
and vivacious ways, they dart in and
out of the open doors or windows.

There is, however, at least one place
in New England where barn swallows
are now nesting out of doors. Along
the cliffs at Middletown, Rhode Island,
just over the Newport line, is a great
chasm known as Purgatory ; our first
picture gives a good idea of its appear-
ance from the land side. This cleft
varies in width from five to six feet at
its narrow end near the shore to per-
haps fifteen feet at the widest part. It
is cut seventy feet deep through the
solid ledge, and at extremely low water
one might walk around the base of the

238

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

BARN AND CLIFF SWALLOWS NEST ON THE
LEDGES OF THIS CHASM.

cliffs and into its cavernous opening,
though an ordinary tide reaches its
farthermost end and dashes well up on
to the walls.

On the rough projections of these
rocky walls, from fifteen to thirty feet
below the upper surface, a number of
barn swallows have made their home
for many years. I had personally
known of their nesting here some
twenty years ago, and this past season
had the pleasure of again observing this
little colony.

Here on the sixteenth of August,
191 7, my companion and I observed
several pairs of barn swallows flying
in and out of the chasm. We were
somewhat surprised to note that these
birds were carrying food, as we did not
suppose there would be young in the
nests at this late season. By closely
watching, however, we soon discovered
a nest a few yards below the upper edge
of the chasm near its farthest end,
which is shown in our second picture.
There were three or four young birds,
apparently less than a week old, in this
nest, and we watched them for some
time, noting that the parent birds ap-
peared at intervals of about a minute.

clinging to the edge of the nest while
they fed their babies. There were a
number of other nests far down in this
great rocky cleft, where they were con-
siderably sheltered by the overhanging
walls, and we could see the adult birds
darting in and out though we could not
discern their nests.

There were also a number of cliff
swallows flying in and out of the
chasm, apparently feeding their young,
though we could not determine the ex-
act location of the nests which we felt
certain were there.

I hnd further reference to barn swal-
lows nesting on the cliffs in Howes'
"Birds of Rhode Island," published in
1899, where the author states: "At the
present day this species still nests
where it has for years in the chasm
called 'Purgatory' at the westerly end
of Second Beach, Middletown, building
their nests in the little inaccessible
crevices of the vertical walls, where
they usually select a spot that is pro-
tected from rain by a projecting bit
of rock." He also states: "No cliff
swallows breed in this chasm, a place
apparently more suited to them than
to the barn swallows." This statement
leaves opportunity for further interest-
ing observations in regard to the latter
species.

In an article written in 1870 by T.
M. Brewer, and published in "The
American Naturalist" of that year
(Vol. 3, No. 4) reference is also made
to the primitive breeding of barn swal-
lows on the cliffs, both at Newport,
Rhode Island and Nahant, Massa-
chusetts.

Birds and Aviators.

Some interesting observations on
the movements of birds at great heights
have been made by French aviators.
Tt has been now established, according
to Mr. Henry Wood, the United Press
correspondent with the French Armies,
that swallows in flying maintain an
average altitude of 700 yds. Wild
ducks on the other hand, prefer a
greater height, and stick to an altitude
of 1,800 yds., or a little over a mile.
Green plover maintain at all times an
even greater altitude, and in March,
during their period of migration, the
French aviators have met them at a
height of 2,150 yds. Wild ducks in

ORNITHOLOGY

->39

flight are particularly interesting.
Everyone knows that these birds al-
ways fly in single file behind their lead-
ers, but it is now proved that the wild
ducks execute every movement with a
wonderful simultaneousness and de-
gree of precision. If, for example, the
leading duck at the head of the rile
changes the position of a wing in order
to fly either higher or lower, all of the
others make the same movement, ap-
parently at the same moment. The
average speed of wild ducks in flight is
proved at 65^-2 miles an hour when they
are flying upwards and 69 miles an
hour when flying horizontally, which
agrees with the estimate which has
been previously made. — Forest and
Stream.

The Slaughter of the Innocents.

BY THE REVEREND MAXLEV B. TOWXSEXD.
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The most destructive enemy of bird
life at the present time is undoubtedly
the domestic cat. The cat, like all the
Felidae, is a highly predatory creature.
Multitudes of birds, especially the
young in the nest and those just out of
it, fall an easy prey to the cat's insati-
able love of killing. Our cities are
overrun with vagabond cats. Large
numbers have run wild in the woods,
subsisting upon the country. The low-
est estimate of the number of song
and game birds destroyed by cats in the
United States every year is 125,000,000.
The number is actually nearer ten times
this figure. So destructive are cats
to game that many sportsmen shoot
every cat visible in the woods. This
they do through no animosity toward
the cat, but in the interest of bird and
game conservation.

Two experiences this year on mv own
grounds brought home to the writer a
personal knowledge of the feline peril to
the birds. A pair of robins built a nest in
the woodbine of my front porch where
it was well sheltered bv the overhang-
ing eaves. In due time the blue green
eggs hatched into four hungry young-
sters. Then there were livelv times in-
deed— the parents hustling from morn-
ing till night to fill those four wide
open mouths. The happy family
thrived apace. But one fateful night
a neighbor's cat climbed to the nest,
snatched the brooding mother from her

little ones and escaped. Then did the
male bird show of what stuff he was
made. He at once assumed entire
charge of the family. From the
earliest peep of dawn to the last faint
gray of daylight he was "on the job,"
fetching food for the clamorous grow-
ing brood. But as they grew, their
appetites increased. The parent bird
was unable to get food fast enough and
in sufficient quantities. It was a phy-
sical impossibility. His stout little
heart kept him at it, but no robin could
do the work. One day we noticed
another robin helping. At first we
thought that "father" had got married
again for the sake of his children, until
we discovered that the new bird was
another male, perhaps one that had also
lost his mate. The two male robins
raised that brood successfully. A
volley of stones whenever the cat
appeared kept her at a distance.

At almost the same time another
tragedy occurred at our home. A pair
of chipping sparrows built a hair lined
nest in the vines of our back porch.
The eggs hatched and all was going on
well when a maurading cat caught
both parents. The young, of course,
miserably perished.

The writer is not an enemy of the
cat. But he submits that it is high
time for this terrible slaughter of the
innocents to be stopped or at least
greatly minimized. Owners of cats
should watch their pets in the birds'
nesting season and never let them loose
at night, and in the daytime only after
a full meal. The most effective way to
solve the problem is to do with the cat
what has been done with the dog — lic-

Phologiaph bv W. L. Finley, Oregon.
CAT WITH ROBIN.

240

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

ense it. This would eliminate the un-
desirables and give legal rights to the
legitimate ones. With the vagabonds
and tramps out of the way, and the cat
population reduced to reasonable
numbers, hundreds of millions of birds
would be saved to our land. This is
no inconsiderable item in these days of
food conservation. Insects destroy the
crops. Birds destroy insects. The
more birds, the fewer insects and the
more food. Why "save at the spigot
and waste at the bunghole?" License
the cat, save the birds and increase the
food supply.

Increased Bird Study and Support.

It is an encouraging sign that even
in war times the interest in the Audu-
bon Societies and in their support has
greatly increased. This is as it should
be. Any phase of nature study, any
phase of protection of wild life is
worthy of hearty support.

The Agassiz Association heartly con-
gratulates the National Association of
Audubon Societies upon their good
showing and on their efficient work in
an important department of nature.
Secretary T. Gilbert Pearson says in
his report :

"The entrance of our nation into the
world war has called for public service
and financial support to an extent
never even approached in this country
before. Innumerable war charities of
the most worthy character have made
constant appeals for funds, and huge
sums of money have gone into war
relief. As a direct result, many insti-
tutions supported by the general public
have suffered severely. Some have
closed their doors, and others have cur-
tailed their activities. Forty-six hos-
pitals in New York City alone are be-
hind in their budgets, and numerous
worthy institutions are on the verge of
collapse. With this Association it has
been different. True, some of our good
workers marched away to the war, and
some hitherto large supporters have
dropped their contributions, but others
have come forward to take their places.
Now, at the close of our year, it is with
much pleasure we announce that in not
a single line of our endeavor has it been
necessary for us to curtail during the
past year, and in most lines of activitv

we have been able to expand, because
of the magnificent support the Asso-
ciation has received, for we have not
only held our own, but the sustaining
membership has grown 33 1-3 per cent,
during the past twelve months.

*f* *|£ *|* 5jC 5JC

"The total income of the Association
for the year amounted to $144, 089.21,
which is something more than $30,000
greater than the income for the pre-
vious year."

Winter Birds in Massachusetts.

A considerable flight of goshawks
has been reported in eastern Massachu-
setts during the early winter months,
and a number of great horned owls
have come down from the north. An
unusual flight of whistling swans has
also been reported off the coast. Snow
buntings and horned larks appear to be
in good numbers in their usual haunts.
A few crossbills and pine grosbeaks
have also been reported. Ruffed
grouse seem to be unusually scarce
this winter.

Eave Swallows Prefer Unpainted
Buildings.

An exhaustive article in the Septem-
ber-October number of "Bird Lore" by
Reverend Manley B. Townsend of
Nashua, New Hampshire, on the nest-
ing habits of the cliff swallow (eave
swallow), seems to prove pretty con-
clusively the interesting statement that
these birds prefer unpainted buildings
upon which to attach their nests, and
that these clay nests when attached to
painted structures soon drop off and
become abandoned.

The expedition of the American Mu-
seum of Natural History to Western
China is bringing back some of the
richest collections ever secured by a
single party. These include more than
two thousand mammals, eight thous-
and feet of moving picture films, and
more than a hundred photographs in
natural colors. The party, with the
wife of the leader for its official photo-
grapher, entered regions where no
white persons had ever been seen, and
collected up to levels as high as fifteen
thousand feet.

m THE CAMERA IN NATURE

%

l]W

Nature-Faking With the Camera.

BY RALPH OSB0RXE, IN PHOTO ERA.

The amateur photographer who has
exhausted the subjects generally found
about his home will hail with more or
less enthusiasm a new field for his
camera-activities. Although there is
nothing surprisingly novel about the
branch of photography I am about to
describe, for it is neither more nor less
than "table-top photography," yet it
appears that all too few amateurs avail

Yet he is not censured for it, so why
should not the amateur photographer
be allowed a similar privilege?

The idea of this sort of photography
came to me from a desire to do some
still-life studies — something a little dif-
ferent from the eternal over-turned
basket of fruit, vegetables and the like.
While passing an Easter display in a
shop-window, it occurred to me that
these same chicks and goslings, with
which the window was decorated,

THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM.

themselves of this interesting pastime.
It consists simply in using for photo-
graphic models, stuffed and imitation
animals and insects that may be picked
up in the shops for a few cents.

At the outset, it must be said that
these stuffed-animal studies are in the
nature of a "fake." Yet it is just this
very trick that the painter uses when
he causes his lay-figures of men and
beasts to assume natural poses and then
paints them as actual, living creatures.

would make excellent models for my
new venture- I therefore set about
collecting a stock of what in the theatri-
cal profession would be called "prop-
erties." My stock at present comprises
a small family of chickens and ducks ;
a rubber snake that does not look too
unreal ; a spider whose legs are made of
wire springs that joggle like fury at
just the wrong time, thus making the
photographing of him exceedingly dif-
ficult ; and a grotesque dog that I dis-

242

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

THE TUG OF WAR.

covered in a Japanese shop. Not a veryeither singly or in combination, will
varied assortment, it is true, but I bavemake highly interesting studies. Just
my eye constantly out for new objects, here, however, let me offer a word of
and hope before long to have a truly warning : Use only those figures that
fearful and wonderful collection tohave a dull finish, otherwise the light
draw from. By searching in the toywill fall on the glazed surface and be
and novelty shops, any number of im-reflected back in the photograph in
ages will be brought to light that, such a way as to destroy the illusion.

THE BONE OF CONTENTION.

THE CAMERA IN NATURE

-'43

This photographing of stuffed ani-
mals and the like has many points in
its favor. In the first place it gives
one's artistic skill a loose rein to go
ahead and create something unusual
and worth while. In the second place,
it also gives one a chance to show
one's skill as a photographer. One is
not hampered by being hurried, or by
the feeling that the model is getting

As to equipment, very little need be
said. It is quite as possible to obtain
artistic and natural effects with a pin-
hole in a cigar-box as it is with the
most expensive camera obtainable- The
ordinary folding pocket-camera with a
portrait-attachment will give a very
adequate negative — but one which will
need considerable enlarging to get the
best of results.

CONSTERNATION OF THE EARLY BIRD

tired — a fact which has been account-
able for so many portraits being un-
successful. The composition of one of
these little scenes can occupy as long
as one wishes. And last, but by no
means least, among these advantages
is the fact that it can be done anywhere
at any time, out doors or in. in sun-
shine or artificial light. A very practi-
cal method is to set up the composition
on a small table. When all is ready,
table and all can easily be moved about
before a window, and any number of
novel lighting-effects may thus be ob-
tained.

Although I do not plan that these
pictures shall be actually funny, yet I
try to have them gay in character. It
seems to me that unless they are at
least mildly diverting, their lose their
raison d'etre, for even with a tremendous
stretch of imagination, they surely
cannot be called beautiful. Their of-
fice is to divert, and if they succeed in
this in a degree, they have accomplish-
ed their object.

There are now, in the various prov-
inces of China, one hundred and thirty
agricultural experiment stations.

Skating and Picking Strawberries.

Hyde Park, New York.
To the Editor :

You ask in Tiik
Guide; to Nature
who has had ex-
erience with "ever
bearing"' strawber-
ries. Let me give
mine.

About three years
ago T purchased a
number of varie-
ties of the so-called
a.t.cook "everbearing"

strawberries, and
set them out side by side in mv garden.
One variety proved so far superior to all
the others that there was simply no com-
parison, and I quickly removed the
poorer ones.

This variety was the "Progressive."
The plants set out in the spring bore

enormously from July into November.
Indeed, I picked ripe berries as late as
December 8th, and left green ones and
many blossoms still on the vines. Their
hardiness is truly wonderful. Think of
it ! Persons skating on the lakes and
at the same time I was picking straw-
berries. I send you a photograph of
one of the plants set out in the spring.
I picked forty big, ripe berries from it
on October 15th, the day on which the
photograph was taken, and counted
sixty-nine green berries and numerous
blossoms. Hundreds of the other
plants were just about as good. Please
remember that these plants had been
bearing since July.

The hardiness of the Progressive al-
most surpasses belief. Last season I
set nine plants in a box of earth raised
above the ground. I put no covering
of any kind on them in the fall, for I
had no thought that it was possible to
save them in such an exposed position,
but seven wintered safely and bore
abundantly during the season. Could

THE ASTONISHING "PROGRESSIVE" STRAWBERRIES.

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

245

any better proof of their hardiness be
found ?

The quality of the Progressive is su-
perlatively good. No richer or better
flavored strawberry exists. The great
ambition of this variety seems to be to
produce fruit early and abundantly.
The young plants on the runners often
bloom and produce fruit a half inch in
diameter even before the plant takes
root.

With all its other good features it is
probably the earliest strawberry that
we have. At all events it has borne
ripe berries ten days earlier than any
other I have ever had and I have had
quite a number.

I will only add that these strawber-
ries, owing to their constant growing
and bearing, require exceedingly rich
ground and careful attention. If a
drought comes they demand plenty of
water or they will take a rest : other-
wise they will not stop to rest till the
winter fairly sets in.

Yours for fresh strawberries fives
months in the vear.

A. T. Cook.

Will the Honey Locust ever Disarm?

BY ROBERT SPARKS WALKER, CHATTA-
NOOGA, TENNESSEE.

Circumstantial evidence strongly indi-
cates that the honey locust — Glediisia
triacanthos — is the oldest fruit bearing
tree in the world It is difficult to im-
agine the creation of a fruit producing
tree and then arming it with such a
formidable host of thorns — protectors
that really make it dangerous for man
and all beasts — that it becomes a for-
tification which has stood the test for
ages and succeeded in defying preying
beasts against all advances. Rut why
this protection? In the study of all
biological species when we come to
dealing with certain parts we must put
reason to test. Then why did the Crea-
tor first make the locust tree with such
peculiarities? This is the only route
we have to pursue that we may expect
to lead to the most reasonable solution
of the peculiarities of this remarkable
tree. And then follows the question.
Why should the honev locust be so for-
tified with such horrible jaggers? Tn
the natural state no one dares touch the
tree, unless it is to slash it with an axe.
Accidents from the penetration of these

THE FRUIT OF THE HONEY LOCUST.

thorns into the human body have
caused death.

But there certainly is a reason for
the honey locust being so thoroughly
provided with these spines — just for
the same reason that the cactus of the
desert is finished up with a prickly
coat. At the beginning when the honey
locust made its advent by direct cre-
ation of the Creator of the universe, or
by a reason of evolution, there roamed the
land animals of immense proportions
like the mammoths and mastodons
which are now extinct. The honey lo-
cust as a tree begins bearing fruit at
a comparatively early age. Being the
first tree to be created which produced
fruit, it was absolutely necessary for
it to be provided with some effective
protection against the ravages of any
of the monstrous animals now extinct.
Without any protection, excepting bv
mere chance, the honey locust could
never have flourished. But these ar-
mors served their purpose well, and
even the largest land animal — vegetable
feeders — dared not touch its pods un-
til they had fallen to the ground.

A certain plant breeder states that
in the search for spineless cactus (me
species found growing with spines in
sites exposed to wild animals as well

246

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

honey shuck tree. The curved pods,
measuring from nine to twenty inches
in length, when they become dry and
ripened twist and retwist until they
eventually squeeze out the seeds which
are thrown out for germination. The
lovers of its fruit, and those who study
the tree, now see no reason for such
an armor, and knowing the wounds
often caused from the thorns of this old,
old tree, those who live in the same
community with it are waiting with
much patience to the time when, ac-
cording to Mr. Darwin's theory, the
honey locust tree will discard its much
dreaded armor.

THE THORNS OF THE HONEY LOCUST.
One-half naural size.

protected with spines, and the same
species found growing on cliffs beyond
the reach of animals as spineless. This
serves as a fine illustration in the study
of the intelligence in plants. Disuse
of these organs caused the cactus to
lose them. And then may we not in-
quire if the honey locust will not one
day in like manner throw off its pro-
tection and become thornless? Is there
any reason today for it wearing such
an armor of dangerous weapons? If,
through disuse, a plant loses its un-
necessary organs, then we may well
forebode that in the future the honey
locust will strip itself of these barbar-
ous daggers and spears. The tree lo-
cust when reaching maturity now los-
es the thorns up to a certain height, but
the severity of the tree's expression
caused by the multitude of these fierce
looking weapons is horrifying, when
one thinks of the probable result of
even a frail attempt to scale or bump
against its body.

For untold years the fruit of the
honey locust has been considered a deli-
cacy by many people. Natives who
gather the ripened pods call it the

Growing Potatoes under Straw.

BY MISS BESSIE L- PUTNAM, CONNEAUT
LAKE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Some thirty years ago a number of
our best farmers tried growing potatoes
in straw, some following this practice
for a number of years. The ground was
prepared as usual, and the seed placed
on top, sometimes covered with enough
earth to hold it in place and then with
a mulch of straw ten or twelve inches
deep. They were never cultivated, and
unless bugs appeared received no care
until digging time. This was easily
accomplished by throwing the straw
back with a fork, revealing the pota-
toes practically free from dirt. If I
remember rightly, my father aban-
doned the method after two or three
trials, believing that though he got a
greater number of potatoes they were
smaller. This, however, seemed to be
a disputed question. One man recalls
a field in which both methods of cul-
ture were used on ground of the same
nature. The tubers grown in straw
proved more soggy in quality than
thoce grown in the normal manner.

Last spring an inquiry in the "Na-
tional Stockman and Farmer," Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania, drew forth a va-
riety of directions and opinions. A
few condemned the practice ; others
reported having used it for years with
success. A Western Pennsylvania
man writes that after experimenting
for ten years, he has found this his best

way:

Prepare the ground as early as pos-
sible. Use small or medium seed and
plant without cutting. The cut pota-
to is more apt to rot. Lay them on a

THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE

-'47

mellow surface a foot apart each way.
Cover with straw so that when it is
thoroughly tramped down it will be
twelve inches deep. Nothing remains
to be done except to keep any stray
weeds pulled until digging time. Some
of the disadvantages he notes are that
unless planted early they do not get up
in time to mature and if the season is
very wet they may rot. This method
results best in a dry season providing
the tops cover the ground well before
drought commences. "Tubers always
grow symmetrical, smooth and clean."
he declares, "and all things being equal,
they far outyield ordinary culture."

Another grower, S. W. Jones, Pike
County, Ohio, states that growing po-
tatoes between earth and straw is an
ideal way to feed moles, ground mice
and rats. His method is unique and
seems to overcome most of the draw-
backs previously mentioned, though it
involves a little more labor.

"Plant in the usual way in a shallow
furrow so that when potatoes are cov-
ered the ground will be level, or better
still leave a small ridge to mark the
row. When the potatoes come up
and are six inches or more high plow
and with a hoe draw the earth to the
plants, almost covering them and mak-
ing a good high ridge, having a deep
furrow between the rows. Fill this
furrow with straw. Any kind will do,
either dry or half rotted. Be sure to
leave just enough dirt showing so you
can see it along the rows between the
hills. After you get one good soaking
rain the potatoes will never suffer for
lack of moisture. Tn a wet season the
ridge is very necessary to keep them
from getting their feet too wet. Tn
this way the potatoes grow in the
ground instead of next the wet straw
and the quality is much better. Sev-
eral trials of mulching part this way
and planting part without straw have
shown a difference of one-hundred per
cent or more in favor of the part mul-
ched, the difference all being in the
size of the potatoes and not in the
number. This method is original with
me. I have never seen it tried by
others, excepting a few to whom T
have recommended it and these have
been well pleased by it. Re sure not
to plant too early and be sure not to
omit either the straw or the ridg'e. Yon

are then ready for any kind of a season

that comes along".

AN INCLUSION OF GRASS IN A POTATO.

A Potato Pierced by a Glass Blade.
Port Chester, N .Y.
To the Editor :

A short time ago, I read an interest-
ing article in The Guide to Nature
in regard to inclusions in potatoes.
Last week one of my students brought
me the specimen that I send you of a
potato penetrated by a blade of grass.
This may not be uncommon but I had
never previously seen anything of the
kind. As we are all much interested
in it I thought it might possibly be
of interest to other readers.
Very truly.
Catherine L. MonagalE.

Winter Buds.

What unsuspected beauties line the way,
As for our winter walk we brave the cold f
At first, grave topics our attention hold,

But soon the subtle influence of the day,

Doth lead us from our subjects far astray,
And we, with broadening vision, now be-
hold
Those beauties, ever new and ever old.

That, with the changing year, so briefly
stay.

The winter buds, what could more perfect

be!
They light the dark, stern branches of the

tree
With tips of ruddy brown, of bronze, of

green,
Or roseate hue, where shy moosewood is

seen;
And opening;, they hint anew the key
Of life's impenetrable mystery.

— Emma Peirce.

EDITORIAL

On What Part Do You Lecture?

The whole may be geometrically
equivalent to the sum of all the parts,
but it is not always so from the logical
point of view. Suppose that I was to
announce that I would give a lecture
on mankind. Would you inquire if I
were going to divide that into six parts,
boy, girl, youth, maiden, man, woman ?
No, certainly not. You recognize the
fact that mankind stands for far more
than the assemblage of the two sexes
of various ages.

But again, suppose I were to an-
nounce a lecture on the nation, would
you suppose it to be necessary to divide
that into as many parts as there are states
and to discuss each in turn ? No, cer-
tainly not. You recognize that our
union stands for something more than
a mere assemblage of states. It is a
nation with its, own distinct individ-
uality, more marked and distinct than
the individuality of each state.

But again, if I may use one or more
illustrations, suppose I were requested
to talk on the City of Stamford. Would
you think it necessary for me to dis-
cuss road making, coal carting, ditch
digging, pipe laying, storekeeping and
school teaching? No, certainly not.
You recognize the existence of an in-
dividuality about the city, greater and
more distinct than the sum of its parts.
You perceive that the terms mankind,
nation, state, etc., stand for a distinct
individuality above, beyond and greater
than the assemblage of details.

Why not use a similar logic with the
term nature? Time and again, people
have expressed this idea, "I suppose
when you talk about nature, you tell
about the bugs, the flowers and the
trees." Yes, I do and more. A lec-
ture on nature is like one on religion.
It stands for more than a variety of
creeds or than a single department of
natural science. Nature has a distinct

individuality, a personality and lov-
ableness of her own. A loving child
thinks a mother, a father has an indi-
viduality different and greater than his
hands, his face, his shoes or his watch.
It is one of the essential characteris-
tics of the naturalist to think of nature
not in detail but as a lovable whole. Do
not by mistake think that he does not
know the details. He does, but this is
another department. He may study
the details and be a specialist but when
he classifies those details he is a natural
scientist.

You Should be Better than Your Tools.

"I hear you publish a magazine. Do
you think that it would give material
for work with the pupils in my school?"
That inquiry in practically this form
has come to the editor from many
teachers personally and otherwise. It
is not altogether unselfishness that in-
duces teachers thus to think of their
children first. There are times when
one's self should come first. That is
particularly true of a knowledge and
love of nature. In this it is the
teacher's pesonality that counts most
of all. Why does not the average teacher
take the amateur naturalist's point of
view and say? "I hear that you are
publishing much material that will in-
struct and inspire me in a knowledge
and love of nature. I want the mag-
azine for that purpose."

My dear teacher, you cannot give
much that you yourself do not possess.
To pass nature to children without
your own heart and personality is hand-
ing out so much dead wood. You
must be alive and growing with your
cambium layer in active development.

Teachers inquire, "How many chil-
dren do you think I should take with
me on an outing in the woods?" My
reply is invariably, "You shoidd sev-
eral times practise going alone." If
the response is, "I do not care about
going into the woods : there is nothing

EDITORIAL

249

there for me." the reply is invariably,
"Do not be so sacrilegious as to take
children with yon. Do not. Become
converted yourself before yon try to
convert others. If the essence of na-
ture study is not good for you first of
all. then it is not good for the children."
Some of the compliments that come
to this magazine are painfully jarring
because they treat the magazine as so
much material to be bought and
handed over. This journal stands for
personality, for inspiration in the study
of nature, not for something merely in-
teresting to be read nor attractive pic-
tures to be admired. It stands for life
even more than for something that that
life may do. Nature study is not al-
together a matter of knowledge nor of
materials. It is chiefly a matter of per-
sonal inspiration. It is not a thing but
a point of view. It is not a daily talk
of fifteen minutes in the presence of
your pupils ; it is living for twenty-
four hours a day.

War Co-operation with Railroads.

Chairman Fairfax Harrison of the
railroads' war board, in a statement to
the public published today, makes an
appeal for co-operation of the people
with the railroads in the stupendous
task now confronting the carriers, and
for patience while the railroads grapple
with staggering difficulties yet to be
overcome. It should attract the atten-
tion and receive the sympathy of every
one. To say that upon the railroads
rest a great burden in the winning of
the war is but to state the elemental.
To say that the railroads have demon-
strated not only their willingness, but
ability to shoulder their load is but to
give simplest credit where it is most
obviously due.

In his statement Chairman Harrison
calls attention, without boastfulness, to
some of the facts accomplished by the
railroads. They have in the five months
of the war hauled 116,000 carloads of
freight to national camps ; have handled
17,000 carloads of freight for the ship-
ping board ; have moved 750,000 car-
loads more of coal than in 1916, while
the general freight traffic was 50 per
cent, heavier than in 191 5. They have
transported 1,200,000 soldiers to train-
ing camps. They will move 75,000 car-

loads of supplies a month to these
camps.

All this in the face of difficulties of
their own, occasioned by serious short-
age of the highly skilled labor neces-
sary for railroad operation ; of a lack
of sufficient cars and locomotives ; of a
lamentable inability to get adequate
equipment while the government has
priority in its demands for steel and
other material. Even their officers have
diverted their attention to government
business to the detriment of executive
management of their own properties.

The railroads' war board has sub-
mitted to the government director of
priority and the fuel administrator a
list of 450 commodities whose trans-
portation can be dispensed with with-
out inconvenience to the public, and 75
commodities which could be dispensed
with, although, admittedly, with incon-
venience. Denial of transportation of
these commodities will aid the rail-
roads to give greater service to the
war. Chairman Harrison asks the pub-
lic to co-operate.

May he not reasonably expect us all
to pay heed to this request, not only to
submit without complaining to the cur-
tailment, but even to help it along? It
is all for the winning of the war. — The
Washington Evening Star.

Where There's Plenty of Rain.

The little island of Kauai ,in the
Hawaiian group may well claim the
record for range of climate. The island,
which is nearly circular, is only thirty
miles across, with an old volcano in
the center, some five thousand feet
high. On the leeward side of the peak
the country has the rainfall of a semi-
desert, only about twenty inches a year
on the average, and in some years less
than fifteen inches. But the windward
side of the mountain, only fourteen
miles away, is one of the wettest spots
on earth. The average rainfall is over
five hundred inches a year, while in
1914 it passed six hundred inches. This
is fifty feet of water each season over
the entire country, as against about
seven feet for New England, which is
one of the best watered portions of the
United States. Naturally, the whole
region is one dripping bog, on which
the rain falls virtuallv all the time.

WRITE
W/lftT YOU H&VE-

SEEM

THEFUNDF

(5EEIN6THINGS,

I FOR YOUNG FOLKS 1

V EDITED BY *

\ Edward FBigelow /

W/HOT YOU WP>NT
TO KNOW.

^Souna^Qc^ch , Conn

A Wooden Flower.

A piece of wood in the form of a
flower or at any rate suggestive of a
flower has been sent to us by Mr. H.
E. Deats of Flemington, New Jersey.
He writes that he has no knowledge of
the curiosity except that it was given
him by his aunt, who received it from

■■

•

SUGGESTS A FLOWER.

a young man who brought it from
Mexico. We shall be glad if any of our
botanical friends will tell us just what
it is, and if others have similar speci-
mens we should be glad to see them.

The Slimy Salamander.

We are indebted to "Aquatic Life"
for the cut of an interesting illustration
of the slimy salamander. The photo-
graph was taken by Dr- R. W. Shu-
feldt, who in an article in "Aquatic
Life" states as follows :

"It will be observed that this speci-
men presents very unusual markings
for the species, the white speckling on
the upper parts being very numerous.
However, the Slimy Salamander is
known to show great variation in this
particular, some individuals being like
the one in the cut, others having very
few fine speckles, while still others are
blotched with the light color markings.
Sometimes the speckling is moderately
continued onto the ventral aspect of
the animal, where the general color is
of a deep lead color or stone gray ; for
the rest, it is a rich black, as shown in
the cut. The tail is round ; the eyes
conspicuously prominent, the species
being a slender one of moderate size.

"This specimen measured about five
inches in length, half of which being
devoted to the tail. This Salamander
has rather a wide range, being found
from southern Canada to Florida and
westward to include Texas. In some
sections it is said to be very abundant;
but this surely does not apply to the
District of Columbia, where 1 have col-
lected salamanders for many years, and
where I have never taken a single in-
dividual of this species.

"When trying to escape from the
hand, the Slimy Salamander often at-
temps to do so by quite an active little
jump in a horizontal direction ; but the
attempt is feeble. As a matter of fact,
it is a gentle little creature, and, in my
eyes, a very pretty one. It has earned
its scientific and common names from
the slimy exudation from its skin — a
clear, sticky mucus, a product of the
dermal glands- The species is a typi-

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

2^1

cal land one, and to some extent of Wheel Captured by Tree.

nocturnal habits. It will also come out by h. e. zimmerman, mt. morris, ill.

from its hiding places under logs, flat A wheel was thrown aside in the cor-

stones, and leaf-masses in rain}- wea- ner of a barnyard. A tree concluded to

ther. Doubtless it lives upon the same grow up between two of the spokes, lit—

AN INTERESTING SALAMANDER.

character of food as do other salaman-
ders allied to it — small worms of var-
ious kinds, and certain insects, such as
it can capture. In captivity, I doubt
not but that it would take bits of raw
meat ; but I made no trials along such
lines, as I had, at that time, quite a list
of living things in my study to photo-
graph."

What are Snails?

AN INQUIRY FROM MASTER HORTOX OF
STAMFORD, CONN.

Snails are of the order Mollusca, one
of the great divisions of the animal
kingdom. It includes all the shellfish
proper. All these creatures have soft
bodies and are not supported by any
internal framework that may be called
a skeleton. The two shells like clam
or oyster are Pelecypoda. The single
shell generally in the form of a spiral
(snail) is Gastropoda.

Winter does not work only on a
broad scale ; he is careful in trifles. —
Smith.

tie thinking of the predicament it would
get into. It can be seen into what a
tight place it has gotten itself- One of
the spokes has been broken off entire-
ly at the rim of the wheel and pressed
back against another spoke. The spoke
in front of the tree is also about to
break because of outward pressure of
the tree.

THE WHEEL AND TREE.

f i ^-~ ..^--^ : inc. • •••........

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

KC^CC^C^CClCC^C<gCC^<CC

c^c<iccc^^:<:gcacgccci<:<fi^

3MKBKS

Established 1S75 Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1892

Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910

Dr. Henry Marcus Leipziger.

This great lecturer and educator died
on December ist after a long life handi-
capped by much ill health and a frail
physique ; but in spite of these obsta-
cles he accomplished an almost incred-
ible amount of work, especially in con-
nection with adult education. He was
Supervisor of the great University of
the People of New York City, that free
lecture course which has grown to
gigantic proportions, the attendance be-
ing in the millions and the staff includ-
ing several hundred lecturers. Dr.
Leipziger, by his peculiar enthusiasm
and ability, was able to direct the com-
plicated machinery of the institution so
skillfully that not a flaw in the man-
agement was discernible. The whole
course has become unqualifiedly suc-
cessful and the admiration of cities and
of educators everywhere. This great
work has the special and hearty appro-
val of The Agassiz Association, which
believes that education is not for life
but is life itself. The work of The AA
has always been directed, not so that a
child may complete an education but
that he may begin an education that
shall continue through life. The mis-
taken belief that nature study is for
children only has had the approval of
The AA only so far as it prepares the
child for the employment of the full
powers of the adult so that he may
then study this great and wonderful
world. Dr. Leipziger had a similar
opinion in regard to all education. He
believed that the public schools should
be merely inciters, and that thev fail
in their mission if they convey the im-
pression that education may be com-
pleted within the days of childhood.
More than any other man in all the
world he carried education into the
life of the adult. Some of the most de-
voted pupils of the great New York

course were elderly men and women.
These lectures were given in true uni-
versity style, and children, unaccom-
panied by adults, were not admitted.
But just at present another phase of

DR. LEIPZIGER DIED DECEMBER

1917.

Dr. Leipziger's great work should be
emphasized. He was a masterly teach-
er of patriotism. He was perhaps more
successful than any other man in
America in educating the foreigner and
in introducing him to American ideals.
He gathered members of all national-
ities in his numerous auditoriums and
there instructed them in the principles
of Americanism. His influence among
the great medley of foreigners in cos-
mopolitan New York City was beyond
all estimate. His life, handicapped by
the weakness of his physique, and ob-
structed by people who did not under-
stand and therefore did not agree with

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

-'53

him, was an inspiration to any heroic
worker in a good cause. He had the
genius of success and that very quality
made him sometimes misunderstood.

i ie possessed unbounded love for his
fellow man, and was sympathetic in the
highest degree. For many years he
suffered from tuberculosis, yet he
would not for a moment even consider
the advice of his physician to leave
New York City and go to Colorado, al
though he knew that there his life
would be prolonged. "No," he unhes-
itatingly replied, "I would better live
a shorter life and devote it to the good
of my fellow beings than live a longer
life in selfishness."

Next to him in his prolonged life
of service was his sister, Pauline Leip-
ziger. who for many years was his
faithful companion and his support in
his labor.

He so thoroughly inspired those im-
mediately active in his great work at
the office of the Board of Education,
and had so perfected the machinery
there, that everything will continue to
move smoothly and effectively. Dr.
Leipziger in his younger days was a
teacher in the public schools, and for
several years was Assistant Superin-
tendent of those schools in New York
City He also travelled extensively and
investigated methods of industrial edu-
cation. He had been Supervisor of the
Lecture System since 1890.

The Agassiz Association and the edi-
tor of this magazine express their sin-
cere sympathy to his workers in the
office, to his immediate assistants and
especially to his faithful sister.

By way of making its grounds into
a bird sanctuary, the State Normal
School at Radford, Virginia, has plant-
ed its campus with crab apple, dog-
wood, black gum, cedar, service berry,
beech, black haw, thorn berry, wild
rose, hackberry. sumac, elder, native
and Russian mulberries, and other like
plants that furnish shelter, food or
nesting places for feathered visitors.

Certain beaches of the Carolina coast
have been shot over for so long bv wild
fowl hunters that the sand itself hr>-
become mixed with lead. The birds
swallow the pellets and are slowlv
poisoned with all the usual symptoms.

Enjoying the Winter Sunshine.

BY C. D. ROMIGj AUDEXRIED, PENNSYL-
VANIA.

On a Sunday late in January, 1916,
I wandered over some old hunting
grounds and at a choice spot I sat
down beside a tiny stream to eat my
lunch. The day was raw and cold,
freezing cold in the shade and barely
thawing in the sunshine at noon.
However, the sunshine had tempted me
out and I tried to make the best of my
outing. After my lunch I sat down
close to some large rocks, out of the
wind and right in the sunshine. I
soon realized that I had found a warm,
cozy spot, so I hunted up some drv
poles with which I made a bed and
there I rested unusually well for more
than four hours, when clouds appeared
and cut off sunshine.

I am not fond of cold weather but I
am fond of the outdoors and the warm
sunshine. Being used to steam heat,
I was rather tender for such an experi-
ence as lying down surrounded by
snow for four hours even in the sun.
But I left the spot reluctantly when
the clouds began to thicken.

The wind was strong but I could not
feel its movement ; I felt only the warm
sunshine. I began to study the reason
for that. I found that Indians had used
that very spot. Hunters had found
shelter and had made camp fires there.
Once I found a big and lively black
snake sunning itself there early in the
spring, yet all these do not indicate
that the place was enchanted as the
spot about the rock was not really in-
viting.

The whole thing was due to the lo-
cation and the position of the rock, vet
my unusual experience may be ex-
plained by the following method.
Take a long book, lay it flat in the sun-
shine and lift the upper lid just enough
to let in all the sunshine all day. The
book should be laid about east and west
and open toward the south. In winter
it need not be opened as much as in
summer since the sun is low in winter.

Bv experimenting with a suitable
book or with boards, plans could be
formed for a structure of anv suitable
material or dimensions and cost. I
would use lumber, stone or cement. I
would call it a sun wall, and mv first

254

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

structure would be more than seven
feet high and twenty-five feet long,
with ends and front open and without
pillars. The lean of the wad toward
the south and the exact east and west
direction. I would get by all day experi-
ments with tin* hi 10k.

For cold weather the idea is to keep
out the north and west winds and let
in all the sunshine. Hospitals and
sanitariums and others who are inter-
ested have here an idea on which more
might be said that is worth while.

Like most of us, I have tried all sorts
of places in the sun on cold days but
have always found the wind and the
cold predominating. It is hard to be-
lieve that there is anything new under
the sun along these lines, but several
trials have convinced me that the sub-
ject is worth studying, especially for
the sick. T have given it much thought,
and am prepared to write another
article on building plans along these
lines, in considerable detail if desired.

In these days of trenches and war a
step toward peace and sunshine should
be acceptable. I believe this idea has
great possibilities for the utilizing of
cement and iron and other building
material, and T can imagine such struc-
tures the length of a city block in every
burg, like a city park, and well crowd-
ed, Avhile other structures of the kind
might be built in parallel rows on the
ground^ of hospitals and sanitariums.
I consider this the best subject upon
which I could dwrell for the coming
winter and the future. Army men will
find the use of this idea a luxury in
camp life. Let them use soil and boards
or any other suitable material. Details
are available as aforesaid.

Miscellaneous Contributions.

Bertolf Brothers, Sound Beach : Two
caterpillars of the royal walnut moth
(Cithcronia regalis) known as the hick-
ory horn devils, caterpillar of the Callo-
samia promethea moth and a walking
stick insect (Diaplwromcra femorata).

Mr. A. T. Cook, Hyde Park, New
York: Chips made by beavers.

Master Knapp, Sound Beach : Turtle.

Miss Bessie L. Putnam, Conneaut
Lake, Pennsylvania : Mountain ash ber-
ries, mountain ash berry jelly and ever-
bearing strawberries.

.Air. Ernest W. Austin. Stamford,: Cat-
erpillar of royal walnut moth.

Mr. G. Fred Farnham, Sound Beach:
Female spider (Argiope riparia) and
caterpillar of Sibinc stimulea moth.

Mr. Nelson Palmer, Sound Beach:
Kingfisher injured by striking vvire.

Lieutenant C. Dana Potter. Sound
Beach: Somewhat rare larva that imi-
tates twigs. Brought from Llome
Guards' camp.

Mr. Stephen I. Clason, Sound Beach:
Collection of minerals for our minera-
logical fireplace, from quarry near Wil-
limantic. Connecticut.

Mr. Robert S. Walker, Chattanooga,
Tennessee: Seeds of sensitive brier
( Mimosa).

Captain Allan F. Kitchel, Sound
Beach: Quadruple ear of sweet corn.

Miss M. Van Gaasbeck, Mt. Vernon,
New York : Collection of mosses and
lichens from New Hampshire, Lake Sun-
apee and White Mountains.

Mrs. Smith, Tower House, Sound
Beach : Tarantula found in bananas.

Miss Jean Herzberg, New York City:
Walking stick insect.

Mrs. Hattie Hull, Williamsport, Penn-
sylvania : Hornets' nest similar to the
one pictured in the June, 191 7, number
of The Guide to Nature.

Miss Lena Artz, Port Republic, Vir-
ginia: Potato seed balls, dodder and
willow cone galls.

Master Roger Reynolds, Riverside,
Connecticut : Bat.

Mr. Isaac Ferris, Riverside, Connec-
ticut : Load of wood for fireplace, etc.

Miss Catherine Palmer, Sound Beach:
Sea urchin.

Mr. George Maurer, New York City :
A pair of tweezers made of wood for
removing materials from bottom of
aquarium.

Dr. W. V. Nichols, Oceanside, Cali-
fornia : Nine specimens of minerals —
eight from California and one from Ari-
zona.

An avenue of birches

Made the roadway a thing of grace,
Their slender boles and silver stoles

Etherealized the place.

Could only this sylvan beauty

Extend for miles, not feet,
We need not stray from the broad highway,

To find a cool retreat.

— Emma Peirce.

THE AGASSIZ ASS< >( 1ATION

255

Additions to Our Membership.
Corresponding :

Miss Annie Cloyd, Sewickley, Penn-
s\ Ivania.

Mrs. Flora May Tuttle, Osage. Iowa.

Miss Edna L. Bogue, Montclair, New-
Jersey.

Miss George Ann Lillard, Chicago,
Illinois.

Mr. Leu E. Mingus, Battle Creek
Michigan.

Mr. Maurice L. Henry, Vandalia,
Illim lis.

Mr. Elmer Kern Smith, Chattanooga,
Tennessee.

Mr. Richard Waltham Hanes. Stam-
ford, Connecticut.

Mr. Robert Marrison, Cataraqui.
Ontario, Canada.
Mr. H. M. Cross, New York City.

Mr. P. Stanley Woodward, Atlanta-
Georgia.

Sustaining:

Mr. William English Walling,
Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mrs. Grace Eee Smidt, New York
City.

Miss Elizabeth L. Elv, Greenwich,
Connecticut.

Mr. A. A. Christian, Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania.

Mrs. E. Wachenheim, New Rochelle,
New York.

Dr. Joseph A. Deghuee, Stamford,
Connecticut.

Mr. Elisha P. Cronkhite, Green-
wich, Connecticut.

Mr. A. T. Cook, Hyde Park, New
York.

Captain Allan F. Kitchel, Sound
Beach, Connecticut.

Mr. Henry L. Stoddard, New York
City.

Mr. Charles O. Miller, Jr., New
Canaan, Connecticut.

Dr. Charles B. Keeler, Darien, Con-
necticut.

Mrs. Charles Tarbell Dudley, Green-
wich, Connecticut.

Lif k

Mr. Charles ( ). Miller, Stamford, Con-
necticut.

The Hills.
The hills, the everlasting hills,

Are round us, fold on fold;
Their beauty and their influence

Are paramount, untold.

Their rounded contours bound the view,
Their slopes are bathed in light,

Their forms, though lowly through the day,
Loom mountainous at night.

Tall pines add dignity to some,

On others grainfields wave;
On all are many hardy things,

That winter storms may brave.

The sunshine glorifies them all.

Cloud shadows linger there:
When Autumn weaves her tapestries,

They are divinely fair.

The hills our bulwarks are by day,

Our sentinels at night;
Almost an eerie look they have,

When bathed in soft moonlight.

We find them so dependable.

They give us peaee, not thrills;
For grandeur dwells on mountain heights,

But friendliness in hills.

— Emma Peirce.

The Wintergreen Flag.

At a recent display of the flags of all
nations several foreigners were pre-
sent, each eulogizing the flag of his
own country. An American said,
"Among them all, the United States
flag, aside from what it stands for, is
really the most beautiful. It is a work
of art. There is no other flag in the
world so beautiful." A critic said, "I
never could see anything very wonder-
ful about the United States flag. To
me it suggests a stick of wintergreen
candy with its alternate stripes of red
and white." The ubiquitous small boy
piped up, "Say, Mister, 'taint that kind
o' wintergreen 'cauce it makes every-
body sick that tries to lick it, and that
kind don't."

It was not Johnny's Shortcoming.

A mother wrote to the teacher, "I
think my Johnny is not trying as he
should be." The teacher replied, My
dear Madam : you are entirely mis-
taken. Johnny is the most trying pupil
I have in my school."

te'-

Rising Floods and Falling Torrents.

In the sense that every rose has its
thorn, the location of ArcAdiA in Tho-
reau's sanctum sanctorum, a swamp,
has at times serious drawbacks though
taking the year all together we much
prefer the lowlands to the highland-.
One consolation is that we evidently
have the sympathy of our fellow towns-
men, for at almost every meeting of the
Sound Beach Association there is a
deal of talk about surface drainage,
especially when the water over the
sidewalk and road requires knee boots
or a boat. Our nature park, Nympha-
lia, the garden and other parts of Ar-
cAdiA are at times in good navigable
condition. We alwavs trv to look on
the pleasant side of things and men-
tally picture the beautiful Venetian
scenes if we had a liberal supply of
gondolas. But not having gondolas,
we must content ourselves with rubber
boots ; they are needed when we must
shovel coal into our furnace with water
a foot deep in our cellars. But these
temporary rising floods add to the va-
riety of life. We try to look compla-
cently upon the situation, and hope
that sometime this talk about surface
drainage, clogged up gutters and about
other things that sound good in vehe-
ment oratory will materialize at the
end of a shovel and a crowbar.

Serious as this situation is at times,
the ArcAdiAns have become so thor-
oughly accustomed to it, and are withal
of so generally cheerful a disposition
that they have never lost much sleep
on account of these floods which occur
on an average three times during the
year. So long as the torrents fell on
golf grounds and other near-by water
sheds, we have been philosophical^ tak-
ing the brunt of the floods of things.
But when Old Mother Nature with a
long dry spell in the summer time warp-
ed all the fragile clapboards on our
roofs (they never were shingled) and

then with the autumn rains drenched
every part of the attic and consequent-
ly of the rooms below, we were driven,
not quite to desperation, but to a re-
quisition of all the pots, pans and kettles
on the premises. In one of the storms
in September, something like twenty-
five dollars worth of damage was done
to one part of our library, and much of
the scientific apparatus, papers, files,
etc., in various parts of the office and
laboratory, was seriously injured. "It
never rains but it pours," is literally
true not only in things aquatic but in
things financial. It was between the
two fires of the Second Liberty Loan
and the Y. M. C. A. War fund, and
therefore we knew it would not be
right to speak out in meeting with a
general cry for "Help, help ; it is rain-
ing on us," so we confidentially re-
vealed the situation to a few chosen
friends and, bless them all, they re-
sponded with checks even in these
strenuous times.

Though we may not be high and dry
we are now dry on high. The work has
been done skillfully and efficiently by
our good friend, Mr. Stephen I Clason.

Enclosed find my check for which
please send me The Guide to Nature
beginning with the November issue.
Thought I couldn't afford it, but think
now I can't afford not to take it.- — Bert
Carmonv, Shelbvville, Indiana.

I felt that I could not afford the
magazine this year, but do not see how
I can do without it. The articles on
knowing the starry heavens are in-
tensely interesting. — Miss M. Inez Lee,
Plainfield, Iowa.

Wherever we go, wherever we look,
Is Nature spread, an open book;
Why not study her while we may,
If only with a line a day?

THE GUIDE TO X AT U RE— ADVERTISEMENTS XV

aiiiiiiiiiiii

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j They embody the best products of the foremost mills of this country and cover S

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Our selection of Fine Cover Papers is unsurpassed.
Samples furnished gladly to those who are interested.
m We invite your inquiry.

Established 1859. H

I HENRY LINDENMYER & SONS |

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XVI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

LITERAK

«€>©23®<S®'

NOTICES

l.\ the Beauty of Meadow and Mountain.

By Charles Coke Woods. New York City :

The Methodist Book Concern.
An attractive book, well printed on high
grade paper and profusely illustrated. It
pleasingly mingles knowledge and senti-
ment. The author has brought both head
and heart, and both in earnest, to the study
of nature. The arrangement is good, the
dainty little sketches are appropriate, the
whole spirit of the work not only is raptur-
ous in stimulation for the love of nature
but it sets one to thinking and incites a de-
sire to know. Much good poetry is scattered
through the volume.

The American Annual of Photography,
1918. Edited by Percy Y. Howe. 57
East Ninth Street, New York City:
George Murphy, Incorporated.
This annual visitor is welcomed by the
enthusiastic photographer. It teems with
specimens of expert work, with text that
tells the reader what to do, how to do it,
and how to approach the wrork in the right
spirit. For the photographer that cares
only for a souvenir, and snaps everything
indiscriminately, this book will be of bene-
fit in showing him the error of his ways, and
in getting him started in paths that are
really photographic. But for the camerist
who cares for his art, who loves photog-
raphy for itself as well as the mere por-
trayal of something the book is a delight
not only because it is informing but because
it is stimulating and satisfying to profes-
sional pride.

Down the Year. Bv C. DuFay Robertson.
New York City: Methodist Rook Concern.

Tf I were riding on a trolley car in a for-
eign city far away from all my friends, I
could perhaps sit and admire the personal
beauty and geniality of strangers, I could
gaze from one to another and note the good
points of their attire, the color of their
hair, the expression of their faces, and listen
to their conversation one with another, but
I do not believe that I could love those
people just as the Lord made them, with-
out making at least some effort to know
some specific details about them. T should
like, before giving my heart to them, to
know some of their characteristics.

Yet here is Mr. Robertson who loves
nature as he might love a stranger. He
makes no effort to know the finer, detailed,
loveable characteristics. He savs:

"This writer is no botanist, or entomolo-
gist, or meteorologist, or scientist of any sort
whatever. He loves the good world as
God made it, and the year, to him, is a
pathway of delight. He cannot tell you the
Latin names of flowers and birds and in-
sects, nor the scientific words for 'cloud'
and 'snowflake' and 'raindrop;' but he loves
to look at these things and finds them well-
worth looking at."

It is not Latin names that make the scien-
tist. If one merely gazes at a cloud, at a
raindrop, he is to a certain extent a metero-
logist. The author has filled a good book
with praises of nature and so far as it goes
it is good praise. The reviewer can only
say that the book, in a eulogistic sort of
way and so far as it goes, is praiseworthy.

By the Sea.

BY CAROLINE CI. ARK HINTON, NEW YORK
CITY.

1 walked by the sea alone,

And the sun upon the sea

Was reflected in my eyes,

And in my ears

Beat the pulse of its surging depths.

At night I came again to the sea,

Darkness and starlight brooded above.

Peace entered my soul,

And my heart was glad

As I walked by the sea with God.

Rhymes of a Nature Student.

The camel is a curious bird:

Its wings are in its heels.
It scoots across the desert sands

No matter how it feels.

% jfc ijl jfc :fc

The fly has three thousand eyes,

A man but two;
That makes one hard to swat

For me and you!

:{: $ $ $ $

Little skeeter fly away

Come and bite some other day!

jji sp t* H» ^

The snake he takes but little room

And does a lot of good;
He catches bugs and rats and mice

And uses 'em for food.

The poor little bee

Who lives in a tree
That shades the rippling river

Works all its days

A nd never plays,
And has but one arrow in its quiver.

— D. C. S.

iVaSi-' '■'" ■' "'

19 18

February

VOL. X, No. 9

EDWARD F. B1GELOW ^

MANAGING EDITOR

Published Monthly by

The Agassiz Association

ArcAdiA, SOUND BEACH, CONN.

Subscription, $1.00 a Year; Single Copy, 10c

SVilson

■tut

?
i

ill

GREENWICH

^O

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

"

o

Those who have no safe
place for their

LIBERTY BONDS

may leave them with this
Company for safekeep-
ing

FREE OF CHARGE,

for which we will issue a
receipt.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

GREENWICH : : CONN.

r i

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have yon call or write.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

a

w&uwm

■■■B^B^BMBVHBVBMBaBMMSlVBM

THE BEST SCIENTIFIC WORK IS DONE IN THE SMALL LABORA-
TORY WITH LOCAL SUPPORT.

[From an Editorial in "The Popular Science Monthly."]

"The most desirable institutions for scientific work would probably be
comparatively small laboratories conducted by the scientific men who work in

them It would be well if such institutions were endowed by the

.rich, still better if they were supported by a state or a community."

IE

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

V

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

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to

- §H
<%<

O M

^ gco
•a .5

B||

85 W rt

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CO

CO

CO

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• S:

e •
2<

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c
re

9531 Food CoMJgrwotion Uniform 36, 40, 44 t>».s7.
Price 10 cents.

Every householder is interested in the question of con-
servation of food. Here is the costume accepted hy the
Hoover commission and which is to be worn by the
women who have signed the pledge. For such use, it
should be made of plain blue with white trimming. Here,
it is worn by an active housewife and is made of plaid
gingham with trimming of plain color. Since it willbe in
demand for general wear as well as by the signers in the
pledge, that suggestion is a good one. It is a very smart,
attractive looking costume. You can wear it as an apron,
or you can wear it as a gown. The single button and but-
tonhole in the belt effect the closing, consequently, it is
exceedingly easy to slip on and off. Women who find
themselves compelled to do with less help than usual this
season will find the apron valuable.

Try

for

That Winter Suit

Cleaning, Repairing and Pressing a
Specialty

Best Hat Values Obtainable in the
Celebrated C & K

Line of Derby and Soft Hats

Fine Line of Shirts, Ties, Collars,

Cuffs, Gloves, etc.

196 Atlantic St.

Stamford Connecticut

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

GHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

A Justifiable Pride.
The J. R. Johnson Taxi Service of
Greenwich, Connecticut, have been ad-
vertising in some other Greenwich pub-
lications that in the heavy snowstorms
of December they did not increase their
rates. Though the advertisement for
some unaccountable reason was not
sent to us, we feel that there is so much
of public merit in the announcement
as to make it worth while for us to
give the company a free advertisement,
if these commendatory words may be
so considered. The fact that the com-
pany kept their rates unchanged dur-
ing one snowstorm is not in itself a
thing to boast of except when one com-
pares it with the conduct of other taxi
companies in Greenwich. The John-
son Company did what they should
have done. Praise to that company is
only an indirect reprimand to those
that, in the humble opinion of the edi-
tor of this magazine, did an unjustifi-
able thing. As a matter of public ser-
vice there is no doubt that the storm
was a trial to the machines, it may have
called for a little more gasoline and
have increased the expense, but that is
one of the exigencies of a public service
business. A taxi company is in the
class of public carriers and is no more
entitled to double their rates when a
snowstorm happens to come along than
is a trolley car company or a railroad
company or Uncle Sam in his postage
rates. The editor of this magazine
called another company with which he
had been accustomed to deal, supposing
the rate would be fifty cents. Imagine
his astonishment when he was in-
formed, after it was too late to change
the order, that the charge would be just
double that amount. If so pernicious
a principle were put into general prac-
tice, we might expect our grocer to
charge in a snowstorm six cents for a

yeast cake instead of three. And if
we should call the doctor he would say,
"I will come for ten dollars instead of
five dollars." On the same principle
the clothier, the butcher, the baker, the
candle-stick maker might all announce
that they had doubled their price be-
cause the snow was falling and the of-
fice boy had difficulty in getting in to
light the fires. It is neither right nor
expedient to increase rates because of
every little difficulty that occurs. We
have not increased the price of sub-
scription nor the price of advertising,
because we believe the present emer-
gencies of a war to be only trans-
cient, that paper and cuts and
photographs will sometime — we hope
in the near future — drop back to the
normal. But the increase to cover
several months' difficulty is surely more
justifiable than an increase in only a
temporary trouble. The world war
seems to be making matters unsteady
enough without having every little
snowstorm increase our anxieties. We
say therefore that the J. R. Johnson
Taxi Company did only what it was
their duty to do, but when compared
with what some of their competitors
did the company deserve praise.

Where to Buy Seeds.

There are many good places at which
seeds may be obtained, but one of the
best, as we have found by experience,
is the house of Henry A. Dreer, Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania. Attention at
Dreer's is always prompt and courte-
ous, and the seeds are always of good
quality. Doesn't this embody every
desirable quality in a good seed house?
No, not quite. An important factor is
a beautiful catalogue. Such a book be-
comes a horticultural and agricultural
textbook. Nothing of the kind is more
attractive than Dreer's. We suggest

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

VII

Burdett-McGillivray Company

ADVOCATE BUILDING, STAMFORD

PICTORIAL REVIEW PATTERNS

DRY GOODS

THE WOMAN'S STORE

Where our customers will always find the new styles first. Our Motto: Clean
Up to the Minute Merchandise at Popular Prices.

B URD ET T- M c G I LLI V R A Y CO.

that every reader of The Guide to
Nature send for this catalogue. Kind-
ly mention the fact that you do so at
the request of The Guide to Nature.
It will not take long to say a good word
for this magazine, and it will please the
seed house management, because they
think that there is no little nature mag--
azine better than The Guide to Na-
ture. They have shown that apprecia-
tion practically by placing an advertise-
ment in our pages, and we should like
to reciprocate with the expression of
our good will.

The One Man for Jobbing.

Mr. A. C. Arnold of Stamford, Con-
necticut, has earned the title of "The
Man Who Does Everything." He is a
general jobber, especially good in re-
pairing furniture, laying carpets and
oilcloth, and renewing the old-fash-
ioned flag bottom in chairs. Probably
no man in the community has given a
longer service or had a greater variety
of jobbing work than Mr. Arnold. He
has risrhtly earned his title. — Advt.

:>:

>?•-:
,

ttv

.BUTTER

by not serv ing too much 1o cac h person

SERVE INDIVIDUAL PORTIONS.

A pound makes 48 one-third ounce pieces.

::'"::*;:::'::':y::: >>:':' ":••>':-:'■ ''""■' ■■■■■* -vi-v-vS- '::v''^v:v* ■

Hotels Have beamed
lhal there is the least waste
from one- third ounce pieces.

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE Established 50 Years STAMFORD, CONN.

DEPARTMENT STORE.

FEBRUARY
IS THE
MONTH

Do not overlook. February Merchandise Opportunities.
This year specially you will find many of the Spring Lines already on
sale offering a better selection and lower prices than later will be pos-
sible.

At the same time, special prices from our January Clearance Sales offer
tempting bargains in all departments for those who like to save money
on needed merchandise

Our Carpet Department offers unusual opportunities to supply your needs at

this time.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEQETMAN&JUDDCO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Grade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old Residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE 5T. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks. Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,
W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETMAN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL

IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
All Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD

CONN.

TELFPHONE CONNECTIONS

m

STAMFORD

AN EXPONENT OF EFFICIENCY
AND SERVICE.

Stamford Has Lost One of Her Most
Prominent and Loyal Citizens in the
Death of the Honorable Edwin L.

Scofield.

Honorable Edwin L. Scofield died at
the Stamford Hospital Monday morn-
ing, January 14th, following an opera
tion for appendicitis. Mr. Scofield ral-
lied from the operation with a vitality
unusual for his sixty-six years, but
later a paralysis of the intestines defied
the skill of several of our most eminent
physicians and his death took place
some three days after the beginning of
the intestinal trouble. He leaves one
son, Captain Edwin L. Scofield, Junior,
U. S. O. R. C, who was with him at the
time of his death and, with Mrs. Fan-
nie F. Glendenning, Mr. Scofield's
housekeeper for a number of years, had
been almost constantly in or near the
sick room since the operation.

Mr. Scofield was a man of remark-
able ability, loyalty and high civic
ideals. In his profession as a lawyer
he was generally regarded as a leader.
His ability ramified into various chan-
nels of doing good to others. He was
prominent in securing recruits, raising
funds for the Red Cross, floating Lib-
erty Bonds and putting into effect
measures for the welfare of Stamford
men in the service. He was Chairman
of the local Advisory Board of the
Board of Registration, and his duties
in this position and in connection with
various other patriotic endeavors kept
him very busy. He held a long list of
prominent offices for city and state but
was especially active in work for his
own beloved city. "The Daily Advo-
cate" of Stamford well sums up the
general public regard in the following
words :

"Mr. Scofield made and preserved
very close and genuine friendships.
Those who were nearest to him can
tell best of his kindness and thought-
fulness, his gentle, considerate nature,
his share in the troubles and sorrows
of others. It is because of these traits
of his character that many eyes were
moist when the sad news of his death
came today. True friends are never too

THE HONORABLE EDWIN L. SCOFIELD DIED
JANUARY 14, 1918.

Cut by courtesy of Gillespie Bros., Inc.

numerous, and men like Edwin L. Sco-
field are so few that his passing away
must be regarded by many as a calam-
ity. They will miss a delightful com-
panion, genial, sympathetic, high-mind-
ed ; a worthy son of old Stamford, and
a sterling patriot."

A characteristic of Mr. Scofield re-
marked upon by many was that he
grew better and better as he grew old-
er. Instead of lessening his services
with advancing years he entered more
actively and. from the benefit of all past
experience, more efficiently into his pro-

258

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

fession and especially into all forms of
city and state and national welfare.
Many men seem to slow down when
they pass the sixty mark. Those most
intimate with Mr. Scofield speak of his
increasing enthusiasm and devotion as
being perhaps his more marked char-
acteristic.

From the nature point of view his
most distinguished service to this com-
munity was the chairmanship of the
Board of Trustees of a $50,000 fund to
carry out the wishes of his client, the
late Robert Bruce of Greenwich, in
development of his castle-like home
into a museum for natural history, his-
tory and art. Under Mr. Scofield's
leadership the Board of Trustees has
this past summer, notwithstanding the
strenuous war times, made extended
changes in that home and fitted it with
cases to a total expenditure of some
$35,000. The Board of Trustees origi-
nally consisted of five members — Mr.
Scofield, Chairman, and Commodore
E. C. Benedict (resigned), William J.
Smith (deceased) and Messrs. E. C.
Converse and W. H. Truesdale. Of
the original Board Mr. Scofield's death
now leaves the Bruce Museum in the
hands of Messrs. Converse and Trues-
dale together with the Selectmen of
the town. The editor of this magazine
had been assisting Mr. Scofield in the
development of the plans for more than
two years and is consequently familiar
with his desire to benefit this part of
Fairfield County by the establishment
of a thoroughly efficient and well
equipped museum.

Mr. Scofield was actively interested
in the work of The Agassiz Association
and expressed his appreciation not only
in words but in substantial aid.

From the address by the Reverend
A. G. Walton at the funeral :

"Mr. Scofield had a deep interest in
all social movements and philanthro-
pies. The hospital on the hill, of which
we are so justly proud, is there largely
through his efforts. It is common
knowledge that it was the confidence
which Judge Clason had in Mr. Sco-
field, and his advice, that caused that
noble citizen to give generously that
the hospital might be built. Through
many years Mr. Scofield has closelv

identified himself with the hospital. He
has been largely responsible for its suc-
cesses and has upheld in it its vicissi-
tudes. It is not going to be easy to fill
the chair that he has left vacant a
President of the official board. Had h
done nothing more than to foster thi
valuable institution, he would have
been worthy of our lasting esteem and
affection."

as
e

is

Alone with the Stars.
To go into solitude, a man needs to
retire as much from his chamber as
from society. I am not solitary whilst
I read and write, though nobody is with
me. But if a man would be alone, let
him look at the stars. The rays that
come from those heavenly worlds will
separate between him and what he
touches. One might think the atmos-
phere was made transparent with this
design, to give man, in the heavenly
bodies, the perpetual presence of the
sublime. Seen in the streets of cities,
how great they are ! If the stars should
appear one night in a thousand years,
how would men believe and adore ; and
preserve for many generations the re-
membrance of the city of God which
had been shown ! But every night
come out these envoys of beauty, and
light the universe with their admon-
ishing smile. — Emerson.

Additions to Our Membership.

Sustaining :

Mr. Paul M. Barrows, Stamford,
Connecticut.

Mrs. Paul M. Barrows, Stamford,
Connecticut.

Miss Elizabeth D. Ferguson, Stam-
ford, Connecticut.

Miscellaneous Contributions.

Mrs. D. T. Woodbury, Springdale,
Connecticut : Mounted northern shrike.

Mr. H. E. Deats, Flemington, New
Jersey : Wooden flower.

Mrs. Lillian Dyer Thompson, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts: Three micro-
scopial mounts of radula and their ac-
companying shells ; also one diatom
mount.

Mr. Arthur S. Baiz, Sound Beach,
Connecticut : Wooden flower.

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Vol

ume

X

FEBRUARY, 1918

Number 9

How Honeybees Produce Honeycomb.

By Edward F. Bigelow, ArcAdiA, Sound Beach, Connecticut.

Honeybees gather principally two
kinds of material — nectar and pollen.
They also gather gum, the sticky exu-
dation of buds, etc. This is called prop-
olis and is for coating over the inside
of the hive, filling cracks, etc. It is
also mixed with wax to strengthen the
comb, and applied to cells for "varnish-
ing" and strengthening. The chief ma-
terial for the building of the comb and
for the honey is the nectar from the
nectaries of flowers. Pollen, that well-
known mealy material from the stamens
of flowers, is used for the more solid
food for the larval honeybees, on practi-
cally the same principle observed when
other larvae feed on the solid parts of
plants, as, for example, common tent
caterpillars on leaves.

It is well-known that the caterpillars
of moths and of butterflies feed on
leaves, while the adults sip only a little
nectar from the flower nectaries. So it
is with the honeybee. A large part i if
the diet of the growing bee in its larval
or caterpillar stage, is the solid part of
the plant, of which it selects the most
refined portion, the pollen. Nectar is
transformed into honeycomb for the
pn itection of the eggs of larval and

pupal forms, and for storing the honey.
When the honeybee is to transform
the nectar into honey it takes the nectar
into its honey sac, carries it to
the hive and regurgitates it into the
cell. When the nectar is to be trans-
formed into comb it is swallowed and
passed on beyond the stomach sac,
through what is known as the stomach
mouth. The nectar then goes through
the processes of digestion, and enters the
blood or the body fluid analogous with
the blood, for the nourishment of the
bee. But as is well-known, from blood
other products may be obtained by the
action of certain glands, as, for example,
milk. The honeybee obtains comb wax
from the blood by the action of certain
wax glands. These are eight in number
and are situated on the lower side of
the abdomen. From a recently hived
swarm, bees may be obtained that will
show thin films of pure wax somewhat
resembling mica scales, and projecting
for a microscopical distance from be-
tween the abdominal plates. It is an
expensive product, demanding much
food, and taxing to the extreme the
bee's vital energy. The original esti-
mate was that the bee must eat twenty

Copyright 1918 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

260

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

pounds of honey to produce one pound
of wax, but more recent investigators
are inclined to lower the estimate, al-
though some investigators still call for
fifteen pounds. The secretion from
these wax glands is in liquid form that

withdrawn from between the abdomi-
nal plates. Some observers asserted
that they are scattered on the bottom
of the hive, and collected by other bees
as they might collect material outside
of the hive. Other observers taught
that the wax is passed from a wax pro-
ducing bee to another bee that then
molds it with her mandibles. About
two years ago the Bureau of Entomo-
logy, Washington, D. C, published a
remarkable circular to record the origi-
nal investigations of Dr. D. B. Casteel,

IV/JX

Fig. 1. Ventral abdominal plates of a worker bee
dissected to show the position of the wax plates.

by the action of the atmosphere soon
hardens. The wax is then extremely
brittle, and not adapted directly to the
making of comb. It must be thorough-
ly worked over by the honeybee's man-
dibles.

Until about two years ago it was not
known exactlv how these scales are

Fig. 3. Side view of a worker in the same posture
as that shown in figure 2.

entitled "The Manipulation of the Wax
Scales of The Honey Bee."

The workers never assist one another
in the process of removal. The scales
are extracted by the bee that secretes
them, and by this bee they are usually

MillAi

Fig. 2. Ventral view of a worker bee in the act of
removing a wax scale. The two middle legs and the
right hind leg are used for support, while the left
hind leg removes the scale.

Fig. 4. Ventral view of a worker bee showing the
position of the wax scale just before it is grasped by
the forelegs and mandibles. The scale is still adhering
to the spines of the pollen combs The bee is sup-
ported upon the two middle legs and upon the hind
leg which is not removing the scale.

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

261

PHOTOMICROGRAPH (ORIGINAL.) OF THE ABDOMINAL PLATES ON THE UNDERSIDE OF

THE BEE THAT PRODUCE THE WAX SCALES.

masticated and added to the comb. The
bee removes them while she stands on
the comb or on its support. One of the
hind legs is raised, and its flattened
portion, known as the planta, is pushed
along the underside of the extended
abdomen until it comes in contact with
a scale protruding on that side. Steady
pressure is now exerted against the ab-
domen and toward the rear. The re-
sult is that the scale is drawn out of its
pocket and remains attached to the
sharp, bristle-like hairs on the leg.

Fig. 5. Side view of a woiker bee in the same
posture as that shown in figure 4.

262

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

This hind leg, now bearing the scale, has been throughly treated, the wax is
is quickly bent forward toward the applied to the comb. It is difficult to
head, and the scale is grasped by the capture a bee just as the scale has been
fore legs, or by the mandibles. Some- impaled by the tiny spines at the end
times it is apparently removed from the of the leg, but the experimenter was in

a few cases successful in doing so, and
found that the scale had been pierced
in several places by the strong spines
that project from the lower rows of the

T/B/sl—

PLs4A/7?P;

x tK4X

Fig. 6. Inner surface of the left hind leg of a
worker bee, showing the position of a wax scale im-
mediately after it has been removed from the wax
pocket. The scale has been pierced by seven of the
spines of the pollen combs of the first tarsal segment
or planta. The jaws of the so-called wax shears or
pincers are formed by the pecten spines above and
the surface of the auricle below.

hind leg by the mandibles alone, but
usually the fore legs aid in the process,
and also manipulate the scale while the
mandibles masticate it. After the scale

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SPINES DIAGRAMMATI-
CAL!. Y SHOWN IN FIG. 6.

ONE OF THE TWO MASTICATING MANDIULES
OF THE HONEYBEE.

pollen combs of the leg, as shown in
the illustration. Regarding the scales
that have been accidentally dropped
the author writes as follows :

"In any hive where comb is being
constructed rapidly many free scales
will be found upon the bottom board
and upon the lower bars of the frames.
If these scales are examined micro-
scopically some will be found without
marks upon them, having evidently
been loosened from their pockets acci-
dentally during the movements of the
workers over the comb and around the
hive. Others will show certain marks
and scratches upon them, indicating
that they were voluntarily removed
from the pockets, and in some cases
they may bear the marks of the man-

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

263

W vnag^ ■r-^d|Mr^|B W^" JJP^P^^^^fc Y~" JTT ^PSPJPJ P^PJW -^

^r «L-flPjMk ^PJ Pa -3 __#^^r *» » ^HUTJv^^A

L iW^PJ pV

ttp>^H

##^0 jfepfiiPfipWj&kr?' ~li ^trvi; ^f

► , «i. ifc^JTSM^ ' -^t- ^ 1 ipj .^.. ^, ■ vAmp> WTU^.i
^ L_m ^SCjJIm^^ * m* pT »' ™ lrT^uil

^VF .^ . ^^•^■ista>« PJP^Pjr ^PJk* v^^^PJr JjPJ

■to^|rJ-5r^^ri* IkJC ^3^W '^'/MpWj pP^ ^^a

>»- 3flpJb*T D&A^ P>.£i»4i ^JL^La^W

WAX SCALES AND WORKED OVER "CHIPS" OF WAX THAT THE BEES HAVE DROPPED TO

THE BOTTOM OF THE HIVE.
These '"chips" from the circular coping or elsewhere are always circular. If the bees cut the angles
(not press them) some of the "chips" would be sharp or angular.

dibles, showing that they were dropped however, is not always the case, for

during the process of mastication, some bees appear to be 'careless' and

Most of the scales which are marked at will mingle small unchewed portions

all are indented with several small of scales with the masticated wax. In-

punctures showing the places where deed, it is not uncommon to find nearly

the spines of the pollen combs have perfect scales mixed with the wax of a

pierced them. These scars are exactly newly made comb. The masticated

similar in appearance to those on the wax itself is spongy and flaky when it

scale shown in the illustration. is deposited by the producing bee and

***** will later be reworked, thereby gaining

"As a rule the wax which is deposited greatly in compactness and smooth-

upon the comb by the producing bee is ness.

first subjected to the action of the man- "The entire process of the removal

dibles and mixed with saliva. Such, of one scale, its mastication, and the

WAX SCALES ISOLATED FROM THE "CHIPS."
A compound micioscope more clearly shows markings and scratches made by mandibles and spines.

264

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

THESE ARE SELECTIONS FROM A LARGE NUM-
BER OF PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF HONEY-
COMB IN ALL STAGES OF BUILDING, SHOW-
IXC, CRUDE CIRCLES OF WAX. NOT ONE
HEXAGON HAS YET BEEN FOUND.

application of the wax to the comb is
completed in about four minutes, only
a very small portion of this interval be-
ing consumed in the work of extracting
the scale from its pocket and passing
it to the mouth, except in cases in which
scales appear to be removed with diffi-
culty. *****

"Scales which drop are likely to re-
main for a long time, and some may
even be carried out through the en-
trance with waste material. If, how-
ever, scales accidentally dislodged or
voluntarily removed fall on the comb
among the comb workers they are
often noticed by them, picked up, mas-
ticated, and built into the comb. If a
scale slips from the pollen combs or is
fumbled by the bee before being
grasped by the mandibles, it is seldom
recovered by the worker to which it
belongs unless it falls very near her or
she stumbles upon it accidentally."

MY THESIS.

In my positive assertions, it is but fair
to the general reader to state that many
expert beekeepers do not agree with me.
My claims have even brought ridicule from
some; others have advised that I investi-
gate further before publishing. This article
is the result of about six years of study, and
I publish it to bring out definite approval
or objections as guidance in further study.
I seek merely the truth, not victory of
claim or argument. — E. F. B.

In making the comb, the honeybees

never work in hexagons, but always in

circles. Poets and philosophers have

for ages expressed admiration for the

"ALL SHE DOES IS TO MAKE A CYLINDER OF WAX AND A MIGHTY CRUDE OXE AT THAT."

NOW" HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

26 s

wonderful skill of the bee in making
angles and perfect hexagons in their
comb cells. There are two errors in
such commendations. First, the bee
does not voluntarily make hexagons.
The hexagons are the result of physical

in series — that is, one after another —
take the little plates of wax secreted
from between the body scales and pack
them into circles as crude as a child
would make when she makes her mud
pies. Under the microscope there is

THE BEES, LIKE HUGE GUN SWABS, COMPARED WITH SIZE OF CELLS, PRESS IN TO CLEAN

THE SIDES.

It is this going in with the consequent pressure on all sides when the wax is warm and soft that
presses the circular cells into hexagons.

laws. They have nothing to do with
the "intent" of the bee, nor has the in-
tent of the bee anything to do with
them. Secondly, they are not perfect.
Careful measurement of the various
cells has shown that there is variation,
due to difference in the size of adjoin-
ing cells. At one time it was thought
that there could be no better standard
of measurement than these hexagons.
Naturalists have studied and argued as
to how the bees have learned to make
them. Even so careful a naturalist as
Darwin in his interesting chapter,
"Cell-making Instinct of the Hive-Bee,"
tries to prove his theory of special se-
lection by teaching that the bee has
learned through the influence of her
environment. He admits that the bee
makes a rough, circumferential wall or
rim all around the comb, and then he
tries to explain how the bee has learned
to make the hexagons. The honey-
bee deserves not one particle of credit
for making a beautiful hexagon. All
she does is to make a cylinder of wax,
and a mightv crude one at that. Bees

here no symmetry nor beauty, but only
the crudest kind of work. The bee
heaps up these pellets one after an-
other, and the action of a physical law,
and that action only, does the rest.
She is as little responsible for the hexa-
gonal form as she is for the movements
of a planet. Both are under control of
physical laws totally separate and dis-
tinct from any animal organism. For
a lifetime, I may have watched that
planet on every clear night when it is
visible above the horizon, and I may
repeatedly have observed that it moves,
but I shall never learn how to make it
move, nor shall I ever take to myself any
credit for its movement. Through un-
thinkable ages honeybees have been
making crude cylinders of wax, but
they never yet have been able to make
a hexagon nor to learn how to make one.
Darwin and a host of minor lights,
chiefly the utilitarian beekeepers, to
the contrary notwithstanding. In
making this statement T Haim no orig-
inality. Eong ago Cheshire, and
Cowan said practically the same thing.

266

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

CELLS ON THE EDGE OF ATTACHMENT WHERE THERE IS NO EVEN PRESSURE ON ALL

SIDES ARE NEVER HEXAGONS.

but somehow their statements seem to
flee from our modern thought of the
honeycomb. Cheshire says, "All na-
ture apart from the mystery of life
solves everything mathematically. The
cricket ball flying from the bat of the
tyro, the spray from the maiden's mop,
the tiny soap-bubbles of the laundress's
lather, as much conform to perfect
mathematical solution as the path of a
comet or the form of a star." A child
may blow a soap bubble and toss it in
the air. No credit can inure to the
child for the beautiful spherical form
of the mid-air bubble. That form is

simply the result of a natural law. If
the child blows several soap bubbles in
contact with one another, they become
beautifully hexagonal, but here again
no credit is due the child. The hexagons
are physically not biologically pro-
duced.

The edge of the honeycomb built
wholly by bees is never hexagonal nor
angular. The side is a curve and the
cells immediately on that curve are
spherical at their bottom and circular
at their rim. All solitary bees work in
circles. I have felt about this like Lowell
when he argues in regard to the straight

SOAP BUBBLES BLOWN BETWEEN TWO PIECES OF GLASS HAVE ANGLES AND FLATTENED

SIDES.

IF all were of same size under uniform pressure they would be regular hexagons.

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

267

canals on Mars. He maintains that
nature does nothing in straight lines.
You never saw an absolutely straight
tree, a straight mountain ridge, a
straight brook in a meadow. You
never have known a woodchuck to dig
a square hole nor any other kind with
angles, neither does the woodpecker
make an angular hole, [f we enter
the realm of the honeybee and of other
members of the Hymenoptera, we shall
observe that no mud wasp makes
angles on the sides of its cells. The
carpenter bee does not bore an angular
opening. All excavations and all nests
of all forms of animal life are normally
free from angular outlines. He that
gives the matter consideration will nat-
urally feel that the hexagons of the

"The Melipona itself is intermediate
in structure between the hive and the
bumblebee, but more nearly related to
the latter ; it forms a nearly regular wax-
en comb of cylindrical cells in which the
young are hatched, and, in addition, some
large cells of wax for holding honey.
These latter cells are nearly spherical and
of nearly equal sizes, and are aggregated
into an irregular mass. But the import-
ant point to notice is that these cells are
always made at that degree of nearne-- n 1
each other that they would have in
tersected or broken into each other if
the spheres had been completed ; but
this is never permitted, the bees build-
ing perfectly flat walls of wax between
the spheres which thus tend to inter-
sect."

QUEEN CELLS, PEANUT-SHAPED, WITH NO SURROUNDING PRESSURE ARE ALWAYS

CIRCULAR.

honeybee's comb are associated with
something beyond and outside of bio-
logical law. This circular habit con-
tinues even with some of the social Hy-
menoptera. It is known to every boy that
has dug out a bumblebees' nest, that
the honey is in tubes of wax, or in i-^epa-
rate and irregularly rounded cells of wax.
Darwin was puzzled by this fact, be-
cause at one end of the series he had
the cells of the hive bee in a double
laver, each one hexagonal prism, and
at the other the bumblebees that
utilize their old cocoons which are cir-
cular, or make a wax tube. He reasoned
regarding the intermediate form of the
Melipona domestica, which was care-
ful lv described and figured by Pierre
Huber. and decided :-

Therein is the secret. The honey-
bee has not learned to make hexagons,
but she crowds so much into a little
space, putting her tubes so close to-
gether that they intersect. The sides
are flattened, and the cells become hex-
agonal. Only three forms can be put
together without interstices — the
square, the triangle, and the hexagon.
The hexagon most nearly approaches
the circle and would be well adapted to
curved or circular larvae. If the
honeybee had plenty of room, she
would make all her cells circular.
This is proved by the circumstantial
evidence, that when she has a suffi-
ciently important larva to care for, she
takes plenty of room and makes a cir-
cular cell for the queen. The cells at

268

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

BUTTONS. PENNIES, LEAD PENCILS— ANYTHING CIRCULAR— WHEN MASSED HAVE EACH

ONE SURROUNDED BY SIX.

the edge of the comb, where there is
no pressure on the sides, are in outline
always circular, never hexagonal.

As pointed out years ago by Cowan,
an English investigator, these "cells
behave mutually like soap bubbles,
which when isolated are round ; but if
they touch each other, the united films
form a perfectly flat wall. If there are
many, those in the centre will be hexa-
gonal, while those on the outside will
have their free sides curved." This is
exactly the situation though, as Cowan
states, it is denied by some.

After the bees have manipulated the
wax they press it down in a crowded,
irregular mass, which, under a micro-
scope, looks about like a mass of mortar
slumped off from the hod of the carrier.
Then the bees scoop out the wax into
little holes, and that scooping manifests
itself as vestigial, circumstantial evi-
dence in the pittings all over the queen-
bee cell which give it its peanut-shell
roughness. Regarding this Cowan
says :

"As the wax is scooped out it is put
on the side walls, which are thereby
thickened, and give the mouth of the
cell a circular form, in all stages of its
progress. Many cells are found into
which a bee cannot enter, but as the
wax is always added to the top edge
she has only to work down inside a
very little way, and we presume she
does much in the same way that a

bricklayer would do when building a
chimney from the outside, into which
he could not introduce his whole body."

Darwin made extended experiments
regarding this, and found that the
bees always scoop out the wax from
spherical cavities.

"I separated two combs, and put be-
tween them a long, thick, rectangular
strip of wax : the bees instantly began
to excavate minute circular pits in it ;
and as they deepened these little pits,
they made them wider and wider until
they were converted into shallow
basins, appearing to the eye perfectly
true or parts of a sphere, and of about
the diameter of a cell. It was most
interesting to observe that, wherever
several bees had begun to excavate
these basins near together, they had
begun their work at such a distance
from each other, that by the time the
basins had acquired the above-stated
width (i.e. about the width of an ordi-
nary cell), and were in depth about
one-sixth of the diameter of the sphere
of which they formed a part, the rims
of the basins intersected or broke into
each other. As soon as this occurred.
the bees ceased to excavate, and be-
gan to build up flat walls of wax on
the lines of intersection between the
basins, so that each hexagonal prism
was built upon the scalloped edge of
a smooth basin, instead of on the
straight edges of a three-sided pyramid

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

269

as in the case of ordinary cells."

But the bee is a scraper as is the
mason when he builds a chimney or
makes a cement and stone wall. Have
you never noticed how he slaps on
roughly a trowel full of mortar and
spends most of his time in scraping
the sides? So it is with the honeybee.
She keeps piling up the end of a cylin-
der and then constantly goes into her
cylinder and scrapes the sides to make
them thin. It is this going in that does
the hexagonal work and is the exact
equivalent of what I did when I pressed
a solid on the soap bubbles. She does
more than scrape. Her body is covered
with hair, even feathers one might al-
most call them when they are viewed
under a microscope. She is like a gun
swab and when she pushes into that
cell she pushes out the sides. If there
is onlv one cell as in the case of the
queen bee cell the pushing out of the
sides makes a cylinder, but there are
other bees making other cells and they
are close to this and it is this pressure

on the sides, with not the slightest
intent nor skill on the bee's part, but
purely the effect of a mathematical
law, that makes the hexagon. As
Cheshire told us years ago, "The geo-
metrical relation, which embellish the
wax tracery of the bee are the neces-
sary result of her mode of proceeding.
And mathematics is no more her en-
dowment than it is that of the soap
and water we have been considering.
These wonders come because the whole
creation is founded and sustained by
the great Geometer, whose laws of
weight and measure neither falter nor
vary, so that, for the advantage of
man, the experience and observation of
the past make him the prophet of the
future." And Cheshire proceeds to
make it perfectly plain that a single
cell made by a honeybee is always cir-
cular. The queen cell is an example of
this. "It is circular — the typical form
— in cross section, because it is built
alone, and is made to grow with the
growth of the grub it contains."

HONEYCOMB CELLS ON A SHEET.THE BACKGROUND) OF PURE BEESWAX ARE ALWAYS
CIRCULAR IN THEIR ATTACHMENT. THE SAME IS TRUE OF CELLS ON GLASS.

2 7°

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

If a number of wax cups, such as are
supplied by the manufacturers for
queen cell starters, are placed compact-
ly together and then warmed until the
wax is plastic, and into each one of
these is thrust a small circular brush,
so as to push out the interior, the cups

ABOVE THE THREAD, ARTIFICIAL HEXAGONS
SLIGHTLY SMEARED WITH WAX. AS THE
SMEARING CONTINUES THEY BECOME
CIRCLES, BELOW THE THREAD.

will, by the pressure of the brush, be-
come hexagonal in outline.

Note carefully that whenever comb
is turned out on the artificial founda-
tion that the bee commences at the very
start to build circular piles of wax upon

the hexagons. The cells of honeycomb
are always circular in outline on the
edges of the comb where there are no
others to press against them. We give
the honeybee hexagons as a foundation,
but when she makes comb she never
makes hexagons. There are no hexa-
gons made at the base of growing comb
nor at the top of the cells. There never
has been and there never will be, for the
reason that the honeybee always -works
in roughly circular lines.

The optical illusion hexagons on the
surface of any growing honeycomb
disappear the moment they are ex-
amined with eyes wide open. Take a
collection of circular dots, or look at
the ends of a pile of lead pencils with
the eyes'partly closed and looking
through the eyelashes, and immediately
they all become hexagonal. It is the
old argument about the markings of
the diatom called Plcurosigma angula-
tion. Xote the accompanying expanse of
circular black dots. Does any one doubt
for a moment that these are circular?
Look at them through your eyelashes
with the eyes half closed and see what
beautiful hexagons you will have. The
appearance is really all owing to IMPER-
FECT EYES. It is an optical illusion. All
growing honeycomb held at a distance
or reduced by photography will show
the thing dimly. Examine the comb
with clear strong light and under a
pocket lens of an inch focus, and every
one of those hexagons will vanish and
the comb will become a plane of circles.

I have entered extensively into this
monographic exposition, because of the
many attacks that have been made up-
on my claims by some of the most prac-
tical authorities in the United States.
Articles on this subject, in which I have
asserted these facts, have been refused
by two important bee journals—
"Gleanings in Bee Culture," Medina,
Ohio, and "The American Bee Jour-
nal," Hamilton, Illinois, and I have
been not a little ridiculed because I be-
lieve and say that the bee does not
build hexagons. Some things are the
outcome of definite physical laws and
have nothing to do with intent nor with
learning.

Perhaps this opposition is based on
the fact that it exposes the error of
making artificial comb foundation in
hexagons. Theoretically this is wrong.

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

271

yet 1 believe that the error makes no
practical difference. The manufactur-
ers of artificial comb ma}- have reason-
ed in this way: "If we examine the
middle division of a honeycomb, we
find that it is formed of the sides of
cubes. We will therefore mould our
sheets of wax with cubical indenta-
tions." But this comb foundation is
for the beginning, not the end nor the
middle. The bee starts with parts of
spheres and circles, and physical law-
only, not the bees, finishes with cubical
indentations. The bees ask for circles,
and you give them cubical depressions.
It is a plain example of getting the cart
theoretically before the horse. In the
production of comb foundation, circles
and spheres should come first in what
we supply to the honeybee in starter
sheets of wax. I assert, without hesi-
tation, that all comb foundations that
offer such cubical indentations are logi-
cally and theoretically wrong. 1 doubt
whether any so-called practical bee-
keeper will support this statement, but
I am confident that the manufacturers
will oppose it. Opposition cannot
change the facts in the case. / cheerfully
admit that practically the foundation as

supplied by the manufacturers may be
even better than Jia,t sheets of circular
surface ridges. I am not discussing the
practical point, but the theoretical, the
purely scientific point. A thing theo-
retically right may be practically
wrong. Any bee-keeper may witness
an exemplification of this claim if he

CIRCLES VIEWED THROUGH THE EYELASHES
WITH THE EVES PARTLY CLOSED BECOME
HEXAGONAL.

Honeycomb, even after the bees have pressed the
cells, is sometimes not really so hexagonal as optical
illusion makes it seem.

— Hopkins's "Experimental Science."
Munn & Company.

ARCADIA APIARY WI

i HAVE STUDIED IN RECENT YEARS.

272

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

will place some of this artificial comb
foundation within the hive and note
that the honeybees will invariably, in
their very first work, change hexagons
and cubical indentations into simple cir-
cular rings. I have examined hundreds
of specimens of natural honeycomb made
wholly by the bees, and as many others
of the beginning of artificial comb foun-
dation, from the moment when the first
masticated particle of wax was placed
on the ridge, but without a single ex-
ception I have found that the bees
worked circularly or spherically. In
such cases like comb built between the
top of the frame where there is room for
only one or two rows of cells, or on the
edge of the honeycomb next to the at-
tachment to the wood, the cells invar-
iably are circular in outline.

Figs. 1 to 6 are lent to us by the United
States Government. The other illustra-
tions, with the exception of the one on page
271 credited to Munn & Company, are by
the author.

A Wax and Honey Church.
Mr. George F. Bowersox of Portland,
Indiana, is an artist in church archi-
tecture as well as with honeybees. On
a base sixteen by twenty inches he has
made for exhibition purposes a church
that is not only symmetrical in design
but sweet and attractive. The build-
ing is made of honey and of sheets of
wax.

We are indebted to the "American
Bee Journal" of Hamilton, Illinois, for
the use of the accompanying illustra-
tion. The editor writes that Mr. Bow-
ersox would like to dispose of this
church. Here is an op-
portunity for some one to
obtain an attractive novel-
ty. It might be difficult
to pack the building so
that it could be trans-
ported in good shape, but
somebody in that immedi-
ate vicinity should hail
this as a rare opportunity
to secure a novel adver-

tising

design.

The Search for Truth.

Besides, I myself have
now for a long time ceased
to look for anything more
beautiful in this world, or
more interesting, than the
truth ; or at least than the
effort one is able to make
towards the truth.

The fact that the hive
contains so much that is
wonderful does not war-
rant our seeking to add to
its wonders. — Maurice
Maeterlinck in "The Life
of The Bee."

A CHURCH BUILT OF WAX AND HONEYCOMB.

According to his nature,
man loves truth with a
pure and disinterested
love, the strongest intel-
lectual affection. The
healthy eye does not more
naturally turn to the light
than the honest mind
turns toward the truth.—
Hume : Essays. II.

Jtt $ratgp (if WxnUt.

1% Son (G. i>ritg, (Eos (£ob, (Eonnrrtirttt.

I do not like the Summer's sun

Or Autumn's silver sigh;
Give me instead the Winter's cold

And northwinds blowing high.

Knee deep I wade across the fields
And through the pine groves green

While sparkles in the crystal air
The landscape's silver sheen.

Tingles the blood from crown to toe

No tropic languor here —
But light and life and ecstacy

In zero's atmosphere!

When curling drifts close up the roads

No bitter exile this,
But days of joy and deep content

And nights of sweetest bliss.

For in the broad and open arch
The back log brightly glows —

With hickory crackling on the hearth
I laugh at storms and snows!

I believe more than ever at this time we should
endeavor to keep the love and beauty of Nature before
the public and to turn their thoughts to something
besides war. — Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street,
Hvde Park, Massachusetts.

WHAT WE STAND FOR.

This department desires especially
articles of general interest pertaining
to bird study. To promote a love for
the birds and a sincere desire to study
them in the woods and fields is our
object, rather than to give strictly
scientific data which would be of in-
terest to a comparatively few.

We intend to print no records which
are not known to be accurate, and we
welcome any observations of an orni-
thological nature, either from young
or old, which would tend to stimulate
first-hand study. Good illustrations
add greatly to the interest of an ar-
ticle, and these need not necessarily be
large if the photographs are sharp and
clear.

This is a popular magazine, with a
wide-spread circulation, and a diversi-
fied group of interests as regards the
big subject of Nature Study. We be-
lieve Ornithology to be an important
part of this general study, and we wish
to make this department so full of in-
terest and so completely in harmony
with other subjects treated in our mag-
azine, that it may add materially to its
general usefulness and to its circula-
tion.

We believe that all of our readers
should be "bird-lovers," even though

they are not strictly "ornithologists,"
just as we believe that all should be
lovers of the stars and of the flowers,
though they may not aspire to be
learned astronomers or scientific bo-
tanists.

We would by no means discourage
the most painstaking and detailed
study in any form of science, for only
thus are new facts being constantly
added to our store of knowledge, but
where one person may seek to know
the structural parts of a bird and its
minute classification, one hundred may
be found who would gladly become
acquainted with its name, its general
habits and its song, so that they may
know it as a friend, and may know its
general relation with other creatures
which they encounter and enjoy in the
day's walk.

Let us aspire to bring the greatest
portion of pleasure to the greatest
number of people.

Harry G. Higbee.

Albino Coot from Wallingford, Iowa.

A pure white coot, or "mud-hen,"
shot some time ago in the marshes near
High Lake, Wallingford, Iowa, has
been reported by B. O. Holden of that
place.

ORNITHOLOGY

-75

The February Birds.

In New England we do not look for
much spring weather during the month
of February. There may be, however,
considerable movement in bird life
during this month, this depending more
or less, of course, on weather conditi-
ons as regards the appearance of early
migrants from the south. Then also
we have learned that food supply has
in many instances more to do with the
distribution of birds than has tempera-
ture or other weather conditions.

Robins, song sparrows, flickers, pur-
ple finches and meadow-larks are found
to be more or less resident in certain
localities where they were formerly
supposed to be strictly migrator}'. In
middle and southern New England it is
not unusual to find large flocks of rob-
ins winteringin the thick cedar swamps.
These are likely to appear about our
houses earlier than migrating individu-
als of the same species. Crows appear in
greater numbers during February than
we have observed them through the
early winter months. Purple flnches
may be noted ; song sparrows which
have wintered with us but have kept in
seclusion, may be heard singing during
the latter part of the month, especiallv
if we are favored with a mild "spell,"
and blue jays seem to become more
restless and noisy at this season. There
seems to be "something in the air,"
even though the ground is still frozen
and the general atmosphere of winter
pervades.

Although rather exceptional for
the past few years, in event of an early
spring the more hardy and daring of
our first spring migrants sometimes ar-
rive during the latter part of February.
Bluebirds have been known to appear
in the vicinity of Boston on the twenty-
second, though this is unusual. Rusty
blackbirds, bronzed grackles. song
s] tarrows. swamp sparrows, flickers,
phoebes and sometimes red-winged
blackbirds may arrive in small num-
bers, these probably being individuals
that have wintered not far south of the
localities where they now appear. Of-
ten these earliest migrants are not
noted on their first appearance, as it is
supposedly too early to look for them.
It is the constant observer, however.
— who braves all weathers and who
keeps up his daily walks, — who is apt
to be rewarded with the sight of these

"first spring birds" which so gladden
the heart of the nature-lover.

During February we may also look
for such northern visitors as "snowy"
and "great-horned" owls, pine gros-
beaks, cross-bills, pine siskins, red-
polls and evening grosbeaks, in addi-
tion to our regular winter residents
like the nuthatches, golden-crowned
kinglets, tree sparrows, slate-colored
jnncos, horned larks and snow bunt-
ings, although these former species are
erratic and uncertain in their move-
ments and visitations to any given lo-
cality. With them it is usually a ques-
tion of food supply: they seem to have
preferences for a somewhat limited
"menu," and frequently are abundant
for a short time in a localitv where
their favorite food may be found.
_ There appears to be, in many locali-
ties, an entire absence of seeds on the
white (gray) birches this winter,
which probably accounts for the ab-
sence of red-polls and pine siskins not-
ed in these localities, as these birds
depend largely upon the birch seeds for
subsistence at this season. Cedar wax-
wings are also wanderers, and may re-
main in considerable numbers about
certain grounds while they are able to
obtain a supply of berries of the moun-
tain ash or cedar. As long as the food
supply holds out these various birds
seem to care little what the weather
may be.

February is also the month, in New
England and the middle west, ivhen
the great horned owl is nesting. Its
two eggs are laid and incubation be-
gtm often by the middle of the month,
—cold and bleak as it may be,— and it
is not unusual for the young of these
hardy birds to be hatched and brooded
during severe winter weather.

The wanderer afield in the month
of February should be rewarded with a
larger and more interesting list of
birds than at any other part of the win-
ter season.

The plan for the new Illinois wild
life sanctuaries is to have tracts of a
thousand to five thousand acres each,
in which about five acres will be sown
to various sorts of grain left standing
for bird food. Besides this there will
be brush heap shelters containing
gravel and sand.

276

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The Thirty-fifth Congress of the
A. O. U.

The thirty-fifth convention of the
American Ornithologists' Union was
held at the Agassiz Museum, Cam-
bridge, Mass., on November 12-14,
1917. It was well attended, with repre-
sentatives from man}' states, and a
number of interesting and valuable
papers were presented. Among these,
a paper by Frank M. Chapman, Curator
of the American Museum at New York,
entitled "An Ornithological Journey
From the Tableland to the Tropics of
Peru," and one by Robert Cushman
Murphy of Brooklyn, N. Y., on "The
Explorations of Rollo H. Beck in South
America and the West Indies for the
Brewster-Sanford Collections," seemed
of peculiar interest, — both of these
papers being illustrated by lantern
slides.

A resume of the principal ornitholo-
gical work of 1917 was given by Dr. T.
S. Palmer, of the Biological Survey at
Washington, followed by a discussion
by the members.

Some remarkable motion pictures of
the home life of a lion were shown,
these being taken by the Hon. George
D. Pratt.

A very interesting series of "Respon-
sive Notes of some African Bush
Shrikes" was given by Dr. Glover M.
Allen of The Boston Society of Natural
History. This peculiarity of a short
song or series of notes, given by two
different birds as a responsive call,
seems quite remarkable, — in each
instance the harmony of the notes and
time of their utterance being such as
to indicate the performance being
given by a single bird.

"The Future of Federal Bird Reser-
vations" was presented by Dr. George
W. Field, of Washington, D. C. Dr.
Charles W. Townsend of Boston gave
his very interesting paper "In Audu-
bon's Labrador," illustrating the route
taken through this northern territory
by the great naturalist in the early part
of the nineteenth century, and compar-
ing the birds found by Audubon at that
time with the species of the present
day throughout the same range. Many
other interesting and valuable papers
were given at these meetings, which
were open to the public and were well
patronized.

Five Associates were raised to the

rank of Members, — these being Mes-
srs Rollo H. Beck, Winthrop S. Brooks,
James P. Chapin, Francis H. Harper'
and Dr. Winsor M. Tyler, all well-
known ornithologists who have done
commendable work in their various
spheres. One hundred and twelve new
Associates were also elected to mem-
bership in the Union. Mr. Arthur
Humble Evans of Cambridge, England,
and Mr. William Lutler Sclater of
London, were elected Honorary Fel-
lows, and Mr. F. E. Beddard of Lon-
don, a Corresponding Fellow.

To Train Seagulls as "Spotters" of
Submarines.

If the scheme of Dr. A. D. Pentz, Jr.,
of New Brighton, L. L, works out the
Prussians will have an immense num-
ber of new enemies added to their al-
ready long list of foes. Doctor Pentz
wants to mobilize the seagulls against
the U-boats and teach the "feathered
airplanes" to act as scouts for the al-
lies.

Chimerical as that may sound, it is
receiving the serious attention of the
navy department and has been en-
dorsed by distinguished scientists and
men of note. The National Associa-
tion of Audubon Societies has taken a
decided interest in the matter, and it is
through that association that Doctor
Pentz has made the scheme public.

"The U-boat menace is so serious,"
says T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary of
the association, "that every means
should be employed to counteract it.
Naval officers who have discussed this
matter with me believe there is merit
in the scheme proposed.

"I consider the submersible craft as
a gigantic fish, the presence of which
can be detected at a considerable
depth by the sharp eyes of the sea gulls,
for these creatures are nature's air-
planes. In the U-boat zone the British
officers have from time to time learned
of the presence of the German under-
sea fighters through the action of the
gulls, as flocks of the birds are fre-
quently attracted by the shining peri-
scopes.

"The appliance we consider using is
a hopper, 54 inches long, made of sheet
steel, and securely bolted to the top of
the submarine. In this receptacle chop-
ped fish is placed. This bait rises to

ORNITHOLOGY

2/7

the top of the liquid in the container,
and from time to time may be released
by the turning of a crank by an opera-
tor inside the submarine.

"The gulls would soon learn to asso-
ciate food with the submerged sub-
marines, just as they do with surface
craft, which they accompany for miles
in quest of refuse. Once they have
seen food emerge from one undersea
boat, they will pursue others of the
same type, so that in time these white
winged aviators would be marking the
course of concealed U-boats.

"On clear days the flight of gulls
may be observed for five miles. Gulls
are known to travel for hundreds of
miles, and are frequently seen in mid-
ocean. Owing to the protective meas-
ures of the National Association of
Auduborn Societies, they have greatly
increased in numbers on these coasts,
and it is estimated that there are half
a million of them about the waters of
New York harbor alone."

Migrating Warblers.

Elkader, Iowa.
To the Editor:

I was very much interested in your
article on warblers in the September
number. Warblers are usually rare
in this vicinity, but in the spring of
1 91 7 I saw more than ever before,
some of which were very rare indeed
in this part of the country. A great
many that I had not previously ob-
served were quite common here for a
few days.

The spring was unusually late, and
in May when the elms are ordinarily in
full leaf this year found them with leaf-
buds and seeds. The warblers came
gradually : the first — a chestnut-sided
— we saw on May ninth ; on the thir-
teenth came the "black and white," the
Audubon's and the "myrtle" ; — the lat-
ter I had never seen before. The Amer-
ican redstart appeared on the 18th :
Wilson's and Blackburnian on the
19th, — and then one morning we awoke
to the fact that the warblers were here
indeed.

I first discovered a chestnut-sided
beauty in one of our elms, and all that
day and throughout the next, which
was Sunday, the trees in our yard
seemed "thick with warblers." A "Can-
adian." which is very rare indeed, was

so tame that I walked almost up to him
before he flew away : then there were
black-polls and numerous others that
I could not identify. The Wilson's,
blackburnian and "chestnut-sided"
were the most common. Vireos were
also numerous. I do not know when
I enjoyed myself so much. I was out
at all hours of the day watching them
through my bird-glasses. Certainly
the warblers are the prettiest of all our
birds, and it seems a shame that they
are not better known. On the follow-
ing Monday all was quiet again, — our
little travellers having left us, — and the
days seemed dull indeed without them.

Perhaps you can tell me the name of
a certain warbler that 1 saw, as I have
exhausted my bird books and failed to
find the likeness. It was unusually
slender. I first discovered it on the
topmost branches of a big elm. I kept
my glasses fixed upon him and soon he
began to descend until he was in a
position where I could get an excellent
view. He was very tame and I came
closer very gradually and he did not
move. On the back and top of the head
he was a dull green, and his under parts
and throat were unbroken bright yel-
low. There were no markings on his
head or body in black, I had a very
near view both with and without my
glasses. I hope you can tell me what
it was, as I am very curious to know.

I am very much interested in the
birds, and saved sun-flower, cantaloupe
and pumpkin seeds for my winter
"boarders." They certainly appreciate
my feeding-shelf.

Kathleen M. Hempel.

From the description which you give
of the unindentified warbler, it would
appear to be a young female of the
Wilson's warbler. These birds lack
the black cap which at once identifies
the adult. The young of the hooded
warbler, which might also be found in
your locality during the spring migra-
tions, very closely resembles the above.
but averages about half an inch longer,
and should show white on the outer tail
feathers. — II . G. H.

February, in the northern and middle
portions of the Union, is still uninter-
rupted winter — often the worst of it —

Ernest Ingersoll.

The Heavens in February.

By Professor Eric Doolittle o f the University of Pennsylvania.

With the coming of midwinter, our
southern heavens shine out with their
most brilliant aspect of the entire year.
All of the most beautiful constellations
are now near the meridian. ( )rion, Tau-
rus and Auriga having just passed it at
nine o'clock in the evening, while the
two Dog Stars and Gemini attain it an

tire band of the southern heavens, from
the east to the west, is wholly covered
with the brilliant winter stars.

SfC SjC 3jC 3jC 5jS

The February Stars.

Beautiful as these striking constella-
tions are, it is hoped that the reader
interested in astronomv will find even

NOETH

South

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M., February 1. (If facing south, hold ma]) upright. If facing
east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold the map inverted)

hour later. Leo, the very last of the
bright winter groups, has risen high
above the ground in the east, and as the
faint Virgo, which follows it, is as yet
just below the eastern horizon, the en-

more pleasure in becoming familiar
with the many fainter and more deli-
cate little groups. For example, on
these winter evenings he may trace out
the Triangle, at K, and the little groups

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

279

of the Hare and the Dove, which lie
just below Orion. He may also recog-
nize the very upper stars of the large
southern constellation Argo Navis, a
wonderful collection of suns among
which is the giant sun Canopus, a star
which appears to us but little fainter
than Sirius, although it is at least
twelve times as far away. It is indeed
the second brightest star in the sky
(Sirius being the first) but unfortu-
nately it, as well as nearly the whole of
Argo. is hidden from us, never rising
above our southern horizon.

Above Argo and below Sirius is the
Unicorn, while bordering the Milky-
Way in the zenith we find the Giraffe.
The Lynx and the lesser Lion, the lat-
ter lying between Ursa Major and the
Greater Lion, and the former between
the Bear and the Cancer, are more
easily traced out. while below the
Great Dipper (at H and G, Fig. 1) are
the Hunting Dogs and the Maiden's
Hair, the last the most beautiful little
group of all, especially when viewed on
a clear, moonless night with a pair of
opera glasses.

The reader will find an inexpensive
star atlas of the greatest assistance to

jects which have come down to us from
a remote antiquity and about whose
origin (when it can be ascertained)
there is often so much of interest.
There is a large held of work even for
naked eye study, enough to occupy the
beginner for many evenings and indeed
for many whole nights. But the small-
est telescope will enormously widen
the field of work. With such an instru-
ment he will be surprised to find how
much is revealed to him when he turns
to star groups such as the Pleiades (at
L) or the Hyades (at C), while the
true character of such objects as the
beautiful cluster in Perseus (at M) and
Praesepe (at D), which are only just
visible to the naked eye, can only be
revealed by the use of a small tele-
scope. A great number of interesting
objects will be found on the charts of
the atlas ; study and exploration of the
heavens in this way may be found an
almost inexhaustible source of interest.

The Planets in February.

Mercury is in the morning sky
throughout the month, but too near the
sun's rays to be well observed. Though
it will pass to the east of the sun on

1878

Figure 2. Views of the planet Jupiter. The second shows the appearance of the Great Red Spot in

him in becoming familiar with these March 12, it will not attain its greatest

fainter groups. The interest of his distance away in the evening sky until

study will be much increased if he se- the first week in April,
lects an atlas on which are drawn those The very brilliant Venus, which for

figures of the animals and other ob- so manv months has been so very con-

28o

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

spicuous in the southwestern heavens
after sunset, will pass to the west of
the sun and so become a morning star
on February 7. Toward the end of the
month it may be seen before sunrise,
creeping outward from the sun's rays,
but it will not attain its greatest bril-
liance in the morning heavens until
March 16.

Mars is just beyond the eastern bor-
ders of our evening map, in the western
portion of the constellation Virgo. On
February 1 the planet is two degrees
due north of the bluish, variable star
Eta, or Virgo, while by February 28 it
will be thirteen minutes to the west of
this star. Mars rises almost exactly at
the east point of the horizon at 9 hrs.

20 min. P. M. on February 1, but this
time is diminished to 7 hrs. 20 min. by
February 28, when the planet will be
seen high in the evening heavens.

Jupiter and Saturn are both in excel
lent position for observation. The for-
mer planet is in Taurus and the latter
is in Cancer, in the positions indicated
in Fig. 1. The retrograde motion of
Jupiter has now ceased and during the
month it will move eastward an
amount about equal to twice the ap-
parent diameter of the full moon. Sat-
urn, however, is retrograding and will
continue to do so until April 9.

Uranus enters the morning sky on
February 12. Neptune is in Cancer,

21 minutes to the west and 29 minutes
north of Saturn on February 1 : these
figures diminish, however, to 18
minutes and 1 minute, respectively, by
February 28. If on the latter date the
observer will point his telescope on
Saturn, and leave it undisturbed for 17
minutes 52 seconds, he will then see the
more distant planet exactly in the cen-
ter of the field of view.

In astronomies written fifty or more
years ago, the reader will find the spec-
ulation whether these clusters may not
be universes of stars, not so very un-
like our own universe, but almost in-
conceivably remote from us. From
more modern books he will learn that
it is far more reasonable to regard them
as dense clouds immersed in and a part
of our Milky Way universe.

Several different lines of investiga-
tion are now leading us to believe that
the older conception was in the main
the truer one. It is evident that these
clusters are of a very different struc-
ture from that of our flattened, very
heterogeneous and extended Milky
Way cluster, yet a study of four of
the spherical clusters leads to figures
so great as from 15,000 to 50,000 light
years for their distance away from us.
Thus they are on the outer boundaries
or even far beyond the limits of our
visible universe.

Of four clusters studied the nearest
was found to be the magnificent clus-

Spherical Star Clusters.

Quite recently astronomical interest
has largely centered in those remark-
able aggregations of faint suns, found
in many parts of the sky, which are
known as spherical clusters. In the
telescope these beautiful objects appear
as almost perfectly spherical balls of
innumerable points of light, toward the
center of which, however, the crowding
is so great that the separate stars are
no longer distinguishable.

Figure 3. The great spherical cluster of stars i:i
khe constellation Centaurus.

ter in the southern constellation Cen-
taurus. This is not surprising, since
this cluster appears so much larger
than any of the others ; its apparent
diameter is two-thirds that of the full
moon and it is easily visible to the
naked eye. We would naturally ex-
pect, therefore, that it would prove to
be our nearest neighbor among this
class of objects.

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

281

One very interesting method of esti-
mating the distance of certain of these
clusters is made possible by the cir-
cumstance, known for many years, that
a large number of their stars are varia-
ble in brightness. These belong to a
definite class of variables known as the
Delta Cepheid variables, so called be-
cause the star Delta of the constella-
tion Cepheus (shown at A, Fig. 1) is a
typical and conspicuous example of the
class. These stars increase quite sud-
denly to maximum brightness, then
diminish more slowly and irregularly,
and then brighten again, the whole pe-
riod being so short as a few days or
even as a few hours.

Such a kind of variation can only
occur in stars of a quite definite physi-
cal condition and inherent brightness,
especially if the period is about one-
half a day, a type very common in
clusters. By comparing the apparent
brightness of these stars with the ap-
parent brightness at a known distance,
the distance of the cluster at once fol-
lows.

Thus in the well-known, though
rather faint little cluster in the constel-
lation of the Hunting Dogs (at B, Fig.
1) the average brightness of no vari-
ables was found to be 15.5 magnitude,
the average deviation of separate stars
from this being 0.08 magnitude, thus
indicating clearly how uniform the real
brightness of these objects is. Simi-
larly in the cluster in Centaurus the
average magnitude was 13.57 (that is,
6.25 times brighter) from which we
conclude that the first cluster is 2.5
times as far away as the second.

A recent interesting investigation is
upon the probable ages of these spheri-
cal clusters ; that is, upon the time
which would be required for a rather
irregular cloud of stars of such vast
dimensions to acquire an approximate-
ly spherical form. Basing the mathe-
matical investigation upon what seem
to be reasonable assumptions in regard
to the size and average distance apart
of the stars, the required time is found
to be no less than two thousand million
years. Truly our conceptions of dis-
tance and of duration have been enor-
mously extended during the past few
Years !

The Things I Love in Nature.

It is strange perhaps to think of, but I
never cared for flowers,
With their tints of pink and purple, blue
and red;

But the things I love in nature are the
height, the depth, the length
Of the mountains and the ocean and the
plain,

Oh, I love to see the mountains with their
everlasting snow,
And the things too big and fine to under-
stand,
Like the huge and mighty cataracts where
waters ever flow,
And the limitless expanse of desert sand.

And the forests and the jungles, and the
desert, and the plain,
Where the colors always mix and never
clash,
For there's nothing bad in nature, nothing
ever small or mean,
Ev'rything is always good and square
and strong;
And there's nothing looks untidy, ev'ry
place is pure and clean,
And there's no mistakes, and nothing's
ever wrong.

Oh, I love to lie at midnight in the clean
and open veld,
And to watch the stars above me in the
sky; . . .
It is good to be out somewhere all alone
in Nature's arms,
When one lays one's blanket down and
goes to rest;
And I've often thought of all her gifts, of
all of Nature's charms,
That the glory of her silence is the
best. . . .

— Brian Brooke, in "The Christian Science
Monitor."

Winter.

These Winter nights against my window-
pane

Nature with busy pencil draws designs

Of ferns and blossoms and fine spray of
pines,

Oak-leaf and acorn and fantastic vines,

Which she will make when summer comes
again —

Quaint arabesques in argent, flat and cold,

Like curious Chinese etchings.

T. P. Aldrick— "Frost-Work."

"We love things not because they are
beautiful, but they are beautiful be-
cause we love them."

Every pleasant glance we give to the
realities around us, with intent to learn,
proceeds from a holy impulse, and is
really songs of praise. What differ-
ence can it make whether it take the
shape of exhortation, or of passionate
exclamation, or of scientific statement?
These are forms merely. Through
them we express, at last, the fact that
God has done thus or thus. — Emerson.

tf^T^te^TflKa1

-s>

RECREATIONS^MICROSGOPE lw

I

PHOTOMICROGRAPH.

STARCH. POTATO. MAGNIFICATION
200 DIAMETERS.

cell wall in the early stage
of its development.

Under the microscope
the granules show a charac-
teristic form and a struc-
ture composed of a series of
apparently concentric lay-
ers, which in connection
with the size and shape are
characteristic of the plant
to which they belong.

The accompanying photo-
micrographs illustrate three
varieties. These were all
made at a magnification of
two hundred diameters, and
give an idea of the compar-
ative size, form and posi-
tion of hilum in these three
starches.

The canna grains are well
known to microscopists as
"tous-les-mois," and are the
largest in common use.

Starch Granules under
Polarized Light.

BY PHILIP 0-GRAVELXE, SOUTH
ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

The microscopic exami-
nation of starch granules
under polarized light pre-
sents some advantages over
their examination in the or-
dinary way.

With crossed Nichol
prisms giving a dark field,
the outline of the granules
may be seen to better ad-
vantage and the forms will
glow in the beautiful color
display afforded under po-
larized light.

A dark cross is formed
with the place of intersec-
tion of its arms at the hi-
lum, the point at which the
grain was attached to the

PHOTOMICROGRAPH. STARCH. BERMUDA ARROWROOI
MAGNIFICATION 200 DIAMETERS.

RECREATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

283

PHOTOMICROGRAPH. STARCH. CANNA.

200 DIAMETERS. "TOUS LE MOIS."

Natural Paper in a Reservoir.

Through the kindness of Dr. Frank
E. Hale, Director of the Mt. Prospect
Laboratories of Brooklyn. New York,
we have been favored with samples of
a paper-like substance taken from a
reservoir and composed of microscopic
material. Futher data are given by
Thomas Wilbur Melia, Bacteriologist,
who writes as follows :

"A ten million gallon reservoir at
Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was by the
State Health Officer ordered to be shut
off from the source of supply and to be
cleaned as the consumers complained
that the water was unfit to drink.
After stripping the reservoir, ten tons
of this paper-like substance were taken
from the side walls of the dam. When
this specimen was sent to me for iden-
tification I teased it in water, using a
needle for separation.
"The substance is composed of almost
a pure culture of the fresh-water alga,
Conferva bombycina. The plant is com-
mon in the ponds but that it should have
developed in the reservoir in so enormous
a quantity is amazing. These fresh-
water algae were probably formed into
this paper-like substance by the constant
water pressure upon the side wails of the
reservoir."

Development by Amateurs.

It is largely to amateur mi-
croscopy that the desire and
motive for the great improve-
ments in object-glasses and
eye-pieces for the last twenty
years are due. The men
who have compared the
qualities of respective lenses,
and have had specific ideas
as to how these could be-
come possessed of still high-
er qualities, have been com-
paratively rarely those who
have employed the micro-
scope for professional and
educational purposes. They
have the rather simply used
— employed in the execution
of their professional work —
the best with which the
practical optician could sup-
ply them. It has been by
magnification amateur microscopists that
the opticians have been in-
cited to the production of
new and improved objectives. But it
is the men who work in our biological
and medical schools that ultimately
reap the immense advantage — not only
of greatly improved, but in the end of
greatly cheapened, object-glasses. —
"The Microscope and Its Revelations."'

There certainly never was a time
when the microscope was so generally
used as it now is. With many, as al-
ready stated, it is simply an instrument
employed for elegant and instructive
relaxation and amusement.

natural paper of algae.

The Home

The Research Laboratories, and
The Clearing House of Nature Study,

of
The Agassiz Association
and
The Boy Scouts of America,
aiding and benefiting continuously more than 600,000
people; in affiliations with other organizations and
through other channels really more than one million ad-
ditional.

ARCADIA'S OFFICE ENTRANCE DECORATED BY NATURE WITH HER WINTER'S FLORA.

Most persons see only one or a few you take care of it all, and do it all?"

phases of our work, and fail to realize cannot realize, as do the workers, to

its tremendous extent, its systematic what ponderous dimensions the whole

efficiency and its rapid growth. Even thing has grown in a few years, and

visitors at ArcAdiA, who exclaim at how embarrassingly it insists on grow-

the extent and detail of the equipment, ing, in spite of only a few workers and

and enthusiastically inquire, "How do meagre finances.

ARCADIA

285

Ten buildings ; viz., Welcome Re-
ception Room, Office Home, Labora-
tory. Birchen Bower, (residence)* As-
tronomical Observatory, Botany Bun-
galow (residence), Pet House, Apiary,
Serving House and Storage Building
(cuts and negatives).

Heating: Two hot water furnaces,
mineralogical fireplace, four cooking-
stoves, three heating stoves — ten in
all — a problem at any time, much more
so in these days of fuel shortage.

Water: The entire premises are well
supplied. For three months ending
December 1st, 191 7, there were used
10,200 cubic feet of water costing
$19.94.

Electric Lights : Interior lighting
131, scientific experimenting and pro-
jecting 12, outside lighting 38, total
181. The scientific lighting consists
of one arc, three nitrogen filled, one
Nernst and seven Mazdas.

The Welcome Reception Room, even
in the coldest and stormiest days of
December and January, has been in
frequent use as a community center by
the Sound Beach Home Guards, the
Boy Scouts of Greenwich and Stam-
ford, for club meetings of public school
children, private schools, visiting par-
ties, etc.

Many questions on nature study are
every day answered by telephone.

The mail requires a secretary and
two stenographers.

The Observatory is in use on clear
nights and even in zero weather has
received visitors.

^c ^c

PERSONAL.

For developing and caring for all
this, what is in it for the Bigelows?
Two members of the family devote
all their time to the work, and two
others a greater part of their time. For
the first seven months of the present
fiscal year the total that all have re-
ceived was $81.57 {not per month but
for the whole seven months for all four

members). This situation was ex-
plained to a few friends. One gave $200
and the others $25 or $50 apiece, a total
of $405 ; but only a little over one-half
of this could be used personally, the
rest must go for The Agassiz Associa-
tion bills in arrears. On December 31,
191 7, at the end of nine months of the
fiscal year, the total that all four mem-
bers had received was $446.03, an aver-
age aggregate per month for four
workers of only $49.56.

Love of the work and the joy of ac-
complishment in a great Cause would
incite the Bigelows to continue undi-
minished efforts regardless of financial
income, but we believe the time has
arrived when the situation should not
be merely reported confidentially to a
few friends, but should be made known
to all who are interested in the general
work, or in ArcAdiA as a community
center. It is worth at least a dollar a
year to every resident of Greenwich
and Stamford to have The Guide to
Nature in his home, and to have Ar-
cAdiA in this community, whether he
is interested in nature or not.

But the low price of subscription
(even with the advertisements) in the
present high cost of things barely cov-
ers the expenses of the magazine.

The general work and the expense of
ArcAdiA are largely supported by
membership fees and contributions.

In war or in peace, in strenuous or
in easy times, don't forget the words
of George Washington :

"Promote, then, as an object of pri-
mary importance, institutions for the
general diffusion of knowledge."

To the educator, to the philanthro-
pist, interested especially in boys and
girls, to the public-spirited citizen of
Greenwich or Stamford that recognizes
the value of ArcAdiA as a community
center and contemplates Cooperating-
Membership, or a liberal gift, we will
gladly explain every detail. The work
needs and merits general cooperation
in subscriptions, memberships and con-
tributions.

I am publishing this personal state-
ment that every friend of the Associa-
tion may know the real situation and
that we may gain new friends who will
have an introduction to the good Cause
through the testimony of our faithful
work in behalf of it. But. kind reader,

286

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

do not make either of two very pos-
sible mistakes.

1. Above all things, do not say if it
does not pay it is not worth while. It
does pay liberally in the value of the
work. There are, strange to say, as
many people have to learn, many
things in this world well worth while
though not measured by financial divi-
dends.

2. Do not regard this as a begging
appeal in behalf of the ArcAdiAn
workers. We have gladly done what
we have, and we hope to inspire you
to go forward enthusiastically in the

LOCAL SCOUTS'

NATURE CONVENTION

The First Quarterly Session was held
at ArcAdiA, December 29th.

BY NOBLE P- RANDEL, SCOUT EXECUTIVE,
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

What promises to be one of the
most interesting of the Scout activities
of Stamford and vicinity is the work
that is being taken by the representa-
tives of the various Troops in connec-
tion with nature study. Action to that

Jtiu. ^ •

""f •

ft A4

\

*mmm !"■■ !■*

'•Hrlfl-I

IN BOTANY BUNGALOW OUR BOTANIST IS PLANNING TO MEET THE COMING OF THE

WILD FLOWERS.

same spirit of devotion. We believe a
gift to The Agassiz Association should
not be regarded as in any sense a per-
sonal pittance. It is a contribution to
greater efficiency.

Edward F. Bigelow.

VALUE OF NATURE STUDY
NOW.

In times like these it is fitting that
the beautiful shall subsist in order that
the spirit of man may continue to pos-
sess something of its accustomed joy.
In general, the face of the world is ex-
ceeding solemn and the heart is verv
sad, but with that divine ordering of
things the bounties of nature continue
and its beauties and its glories still sub-
sist among men. — Keene H. Adding-
ton, Illinois.

effect was taken at the conference held
at ArcAdiA in Sound Beach, Saturday,
evening, December 29th. Scouts from
Glenbrook, Greenwich, Sound Beach
and Stamford will participate, and con-
ferences will be held quarterly, at
which time reports will be made by the
Scouts on observations which they
have made, together with the results
of their investigation of subjects chos-
en by themselves or assigned to them.
Those who attended the first confer-
ence spent a most enjoyable evening
around a large fireplace in the Recep-
tion Room, before a rousing fire. No
one could imagine that the tempera-
ture out of doors was far below zero
point, but this was not the only warmth
which characterized the occasion, for
the warm reception extended to the
delegates, together with the hot cocoa

ARCADIA

287

which was served, will lung be remem-
bered. The only cold part of the pro-
gram was that spent in the observa-
tory, but in spite of the severe cold
the boys thoroughly appreciated the
opportunity to view the heavens
through the large telescope. The bod-
ies viewed which were of the greatest
interest were the planets, Jupiter and
Saturn, with their moons, the incon-
ceivably great Orion nebula and the
wonderful double star, Castor, of the
constellation Gemini. Nature study is
of primary importance in scouting, and
if the Scout loses sight of this fact and
fails to appreciate the necessity of liv-
ing close to and in constant harmony
with nature, he is losing his bearing
and should consult his compass at once.
It would be difficult to overestimate
the value of the Scout to the army or
the body with which he is connected.
It is his duty to go out and reconnoiter,
to observe, to see things and study con-
ditions and then return and report on
his findings. The boy is not a real
Scout, neither is he worthy of the name
Scout, unless he is capable of actually
performing his Scout duties. It is with
this in view and the desire to make
scouting mean more to the boys, to
help them the better to improve the
opportunities offered by scouting, and
in turn to make their best contributions
to scouting and to the good of those
with whom they come in daily contact,
that these conferences are to be held.
The Scouts of this vicinity are to have
an opportunity to carry out their na-
ture study program under conditions
which are most favorable, and fortu-
nate indeed will be those who partici-
pate. The ArcAdIxA. at Sound Beach
with Dr. Edward F. Bigelow, its head,
is the headquarters for all the nature
study work of the Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica, and with its excellent equipment
and the hearty cooperation of Dr. Big-
elow, the Scouts are to have an oppor-
tunity for nature study which far sur-
passes that of any other groups in the
country.

5jC Jp 5|% J|» 5|*

By the Scout Naturalist.

The plan proposed for the Scouts of
Sound Beach, other parts of Greenwich
and Stamford is one that should be
adopted by Scouts in every locality
that has a central clearing office. This
may be the local Scout office or some

other place conveniently located, and
some one should be in charge of the
work who has at least a fair knowledge
of nature. As has been stated before
the duty of the Scout is primarily to
see and to hear. That is the meaning
of the root word, escoute. In the army
a scout is one who goes out to obtain
information, to see, to hear and to
learn by every possible means. Scouts
are sent in even- direction. They are
assigned to specific duties, to recon-
noiter, to investigate, to be alert in
every respect. Nature study work
should be much on the same plan. In
every community things are happening
at all times. These should be investi-
gated and reported. For example let
us take the conditions as they arise at
ArcAdiA, the home of the Scout Natur-
alist, and show what this new plan is
expected to accomplish.

Only a few days ago we were asked
by telephone, "Is a wild cat good to
eat?" When we answered, we asked
the speaker why he desired the infor-
mation. It appears that in Stamford a
hunter lives who had been in the woods
in the northern part of the state and
had shot a wild cat. What should he
do with it? No one seemed to know.
Comparatively few persons saw the
cat. Two Scouts should have been
assigned, preferably one of them a
photographer, and the other with
ability to sketch the teeth, the claws
and other parts of the animal. At the
next nature convention (and, by the
way, these conventions should be held
periodically, say once in three months)
a full report should have been made,
including statements from the books,
inquiries as to the habits, dwelling
places and other particulars of the wild
creature.

At about the same time a deer was
reported to have attempted to jump
over an iron fence surrounding a fine
estate and had become impaled on the
spear-like pickets. In that case a
photographer did take a picture. A
copy of that photograph should have
been secured and other details obtained
by definitely assigned Scouts. In the
City of Stamford a wild deer ran
througdi the street and into a saloon.
The police assisted in capturing the
animal which was then taken into the
suburbs and released. Military scouts
would have had a method of reporting

288

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

the occurrence to headquarters, and
scouts would have accompanied the po-
lice and those that released the wild
animal.

In the town of Greenwich a fox with
five little foxes was captured. This
was a rare subject but not more than a
dozen people saw that mother and the
little foxes. What was done with them
the Scout Naturalist does not know.
There should have been a system by
which such information could be
promptly obtained and as definite and
careful as that of the city editor of a
newspaper who makes an assignment
to the reporter as soon as even a stray
bit of information reaches the office.
Observations of Scouts should not be
limited to nature. It should be infor-
mation as definitely obtained as a mili-
tary scout or a reporter obtains his.
This applies to a multitude of things —
some new and wonderful piece of ma-
chinery has been installed ; somebody
has obtained an unusual object ; a
woodchopper reports an unusual dis-
covery in the woods ; somebody reports
that a deer has been devastating some-
body's garden, and yet no one seems
to know definitely whether the report
is correct or not, or to what extent the
garden has been injured. The Scout
Naturalist urges the Scouts of every
community to appoint specially detail-
ed Scouts from all the Troops in the
vicinity for this very purpose. They
should obtain full details and return to
headquarters as early as possible, so
that the information may be made
known for the good of all.

Perpetual Youth in the Woods.

In the woods, too, a man casts off
his years, as the snake his slough, and
at what period soever of life, is always
a child. In the woods is perpetual
youth. Within these plantations of
God, a decorum and sancity reign, a
perennial festival is dressed, and the
guest sees not how he should tire of
'them in a thousand years. In the
woods, we return to reason and faith. —
Emerson.

Nature's Appeal Nowadays.
In this latitude, in the winter months,
nature's particular appeal is to our ap-
preciation of the beautiful ; the lone-
some tree with its bare branches, the
solitary gull against the storm clouds,
the blue of the sunlight on the snow,
the warmth and purple of the ever
changing sunsets, the frozen streams
and sparkling ice crystals, the glory
and wonder of the stars. Winter pos-
sesses two things which the other sea-
sons have not, space and simplicity.
The super-abundance of confusing
forms, and sounds, and color has so
diminished that what we see or hear or
feel makes fewer but more lasting im-
pressions. Plant life is dormant and
only the warm blooded animals, the
birds, the squirrels, the rabbits, the
weasels, the minks and the foxes are
abroad. — Park Museum Bulletin. Pro-
vidence, R. I.

About three hundred thousand acres
in Utah is to be set aside for wild life
sanctuaries. Each county in the state
is to have two tracts, one for birds onlv,
the other for upland birds, game birds
and mammals.

The Campfire.

BY EDWARD A. C. MURPHY, WABANAKI, GREEN-
WICH, CONNECTICUT.
I.

When the golden sun has tumbled o'er the

western hills,
And the screech-owl's distant hooting all

the valley fills,
When we gather by the great oak
That stands guard above the mill,
Then the campfire through the darkness

shines,
A beacon on the hill.

II.
When we wrap in blankets sitting cross-
legged on the ground,
And our story-teller rises, silence is pro-
found
As he tells his tales of terror
Gives us many a welcome thrill.
While the campfire glowing, sparkling

shines
A beacon on the hill.

III.

When we've left the magic circle, after many

a hearty song,
And the bugle's warning "tent-call" tells

the day is gone,
When the call of "taps" has sounded
And the camp is still,

Then the campfire growing dimmer shines
A beacon on the hill.

IV.

When summer's gone and autumn's come

to end these happy days,
And the call of home and duty brings the

parting of our ways,
Then our thoughts around home fires
Bring us back to camp, until
We can see the yellow campfire shine
A beacon on the hill.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

XV

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XVI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

**®

^^^S

LITERAK

°®<!)®©«3<b<S®

NOTICES

Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana.
Zoological Contributions from the Tropi-
cal Research Station of the New York
Zoological Society. By \\ llliam Beebe,
Directing Curator ; G. Inness Hartley,
Research Associate, and Paul G. Howes,
Research Assistant. Introduction by
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. 111
Broadway, New York City: The New
York Zoological Society.

The New York Zoological Society has
entered upon a new era in establishing a
tropical research station in British Guiana.
This will give wide scope for obtaining
knowledge of living creatures. The station
provides for intensive, open field study of
the teeming animal life of the tropics, and
extends a cordial hospitality to all natural-
ists. A somewhat significant announcement
is that ''jealousy is regarded as utterly un-
worthy." Every original investigator fit to
work in the field is sure of a welcome and
of all possible aid in his studies. Theodore
Roosevelt in the introduction says many
good things. We quote the following:

"The time has passed when we can afford
to accept as satisfactory a science of animal
life whose professors are either mere roam-
ing field collectors or mere closet catalogue
writers who examine and record minute dif-
ferences in 'specimens' precisely as phila-
telists examine and record minute differ-
ences in postage stamps — and with about
the same breadth of view and power of in-
sight into the essential. Little is to be
gained by that kind of 'intensive' collecting
and cataloguing which bears fruit only in
innumerable little pamphlets describing
with meticulous care unimportant new sub-
species, or new 'species' hardly to be dis-
tinguished from those already long known.
Such pamphlets have almost no real inter-
est except for the infrequent rival special-
ists who read them with quarrelsome inter-
est.

"Of course a good deal can still be done
by the collector who covers a wide field, if
in addition to being a collector he is a
good field naturalist and a close and intel-
ligent observer; and there must be careful
laboratory study of series of specimens of
all kinds. But the stage has now been
reached when not only life histories, but
even taxonomic characters can normally be
studied better in the field than in a museum
—or at least, when, although both types of
study are necessary, the field study is the
more important; and when intensive study
in the field, as carried on at this station,
yields more important results than can nor-
mally be achieved by the roaming collec-
tor.

"In addition, it must always be remem-
bered that the really firstclass naturalist
whose observations are to bear most fruit,
must possess the gift of vividly truthful
portrayal of what he has possessed, the vis-
ion clearly to see in its real essentials."

Volume I contains an immense amount
of good original work. It is not a compila-
tion but a real book The naturalists that
have participated are thoroughly sincere,
well informed, energetic and enthusiastic.
They have produced a book that not only
adds to natural science but to the pleasure
of the general reader. The illustrations are
new, the text is interesting and the magnifi-
cent workmanship of the book is a delight.
We cordially recommend it.

Audup.on The Naturalist. A History of
His Life and Time. By Francis Ho-
bart Herrick, Ph. D., Sc. D. New York
City. D. Appleton and Company.
This history has been prepared by an
eminent ornithologist and admirer of Audu-
bon after years of research. It contains the
first authentic record of Audubon's birth
and antecedents, with a wealth of hitherto
unpublished material regarding the life and
romantic career of America's pioneer nat-
uralist. The complete history of Audubon's
life is a story of rare interest. Every bird
lover will delight in it.

The work is in two volumes sumptuously
illustrated with color portraits of Audubon's
birds, photogravure portraits, many half-
tones of scenes in Audubon's life, examples
of his work, portraits of contemporaries,
etc. There are also numerous reproduc-
tions of rare letters and documents. It is
printed on special paper, and attractively
bound in blue cloth, gilt tops, uncut edges.
In a box. $7.50 net per set.

Productive Bee-keeping, By Frank C. Pel-
lett. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B.
Lippincott Company.
Mr. Pellett is an accomplished apiarist
and naturalist and, one may add, an earnest
sympathizer with human beings. He evi-
dently has had experience with the troubles
of bee-keeping and knows how to make
the knowledge gained in that way beneficial
to others. The book is one of a series of
farm manuals and, like most of the others,
merits commendation for the manner in
which it depicts its subject. The plan is
good, the information concise and practical.
We heartily congratulate the author and the
publishers, and especially the beginner in
bee-keeping, upon the fact that so attractive
a book is now available.

lllliltM^

1:9 18

MARCH

VOL. X, No 10

EDWARD F. BIGELOW ^#

MANAGING EDITOR <&&&***?*

Published Monthly by

The Agassiz Association

; ARCADIA, sound beach, conn.

Subscription, $1.00 a Year; Single Copy, 10c

aiiyiiiiuiiMMiiiiiai^

I^^^(

GREENWICH

THE EDITION DE LUXE
OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWIGH

You Can't Lose

Make a list of your papers of value,
jewelry, etc., that you have scattered
about your home. Figure out what
it would cost to restore them. Could
they be replaced at any price? To one
side of this figure put the premium on
burglar insurance to cover this
amount. On the other side place the
amount of the rental charge for our

Safe Deposit Boxes.

Burglar insurance doesn't cover your

entire loss, for such a loss, cannot

be computed in dollars and cents.

A SAFE DEPOSIT BOX
Means you cannot lose.

THE

GREENWICH TRUST

COMPANY

Greenwich Avenue
GREENWICH : : CONN.

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

has good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates, Shore and Inland
Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have you call or .write,

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 • Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn

"HAVE A TAXI"

Watch for the Cars with a Green
Stripe or a Green Light.

CARS IN GOOD CONDITION

SKILLED DRIVERS

PROMPT SERVICE

REASONABLE RATES

8SS>S^x<:»r^5f*SSM3Ba8SSSBaOI

J. R. JOHNSON AUTO SERVICE,

Incorporated,

Near the Railroad Station
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.

1 Buy if with thought

2" cook if with care

I
^ serve just en>owgh

|:': ^Save s#ha£ will keep

• 4™ eat what would spoil

L 6tthoine«^rown is best

£88KSiS88sia««SS3!xS!!88S5^^

I!

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

V

THE STAMFORD LUMBER GO.

LUMBER

Sash Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

FASHIONS OF TO-DAY

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9531 Food Conservation Uniform 36, 40. 44 bust.
Price 10 cents.

Every householder is interested in the question of con-
servation of food. Here is the costume accepted by the
Hoover commission and which is to be worn by the
women who have signed the pledge. For such use, it
should be made of plain blue with white trimming. Here,
it is worn by an active housewife and is made of plaid
gingham with trimming of plain color. Since it will be in
demand for general wear as well as by the signers in the
pledge, that suggestion is a good one. It is a very smart,
attractive looking costume. You can wear it as an apron,
or vou can wear it as a gown. The single button and but-
tonhole in the belt effect the closing, consequently, it is
exceedingly easy to slip on and off. Women who find
themselves compelled to do with less help than usual this
season will find the apron valuable.

Good dressers, particular dressers —
every one of them wear derby hats.

A new shipment has just arrived in six
different shapes in all sizes. Drop in and
try one on — vou will like the change.

pice $2.50

THE COMES-NORTHROP CO.,

445 Main Street, Stamford, Conn.

BORG BROTHERS

Chemical and Analytical Laboratories

for Special Research Work

539 MAIN ST.

STAMFORD :-: CONNECTICUT

Telephone, 270
271

Uptown Office: STARK BROS.

40 PARK ROW

GHAS. F. WATERBURY
David Waterbury & Son

COAL DRAIN PIPE WOOD

Crushed Stone for Walks and Drives

YARDS: Canal Dock, STAMFORD, CONN.

VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

The Greenwich Trust Company.

Mr. E. C. Converse has been elected
president of The Greenwich Trust
Company, succeeding the late R. J.
Walsh. The other members of the
board of trustees are as follows : John
D. Barrett, U. S. Lloyds ; Russell A.
Cowles, president Metals Trading
Corp. ; George A. Drew, manager Con-
yers farm ; Nathaniel A. Knapp, high-
way commisioner ; James Maher,
treasurer Maher Bros, corporation : S.
Elbert Mills, retired; F. A. Springer,
treasurer Mianus Manufacturing Com-
pany, and James F. Walsh, attorney at
law.

The officers are as follows : James
F. Walsh, chairman ; A. W. W. Mar-
shall, vice-president and secretary ;
Walter B. Todd, treasurer, and Luther
H. Allcorn, trust officer.

which, of course, control price. Their
advice is, "Put every acre you own into
use at once. Get those stumps out, and
cultivate that land." Now is the time
to get the high price for your crops.
Make money now while the war lasts.
Don't wait until it is over. Those
stumps are occupying land that should
be under cultivation. Get busy and
pull them out.

Write to Mr. Walter J. Fitzpatrick,
Box L, 182 Fifth Street, San Francisco,
California. Do not forget to mention
The Guide to Nature and he will send
you full particulars.

A Wonderful Stump Puller.

It does not look big in the advertise-
ment, but its claims are so big that oc-
casionally some of our readers inquire
if the little machine is really so very
powerful. The editor of this maga-
zine has seen one of these little ma-
chines in operation on the premises of
Ernest Thompson Seton. What it did
was marvelous. It will not only pull
up a huge tree from the earth, but will
easily drag the entire tree with a moun-
tainous mass of earth attached to it.

Opportunity is now knocking at the
farmer's door. Why? Because the
prices of all crops are higher now than
they ever will be again in the history
of the world, or ever have been,
and crops will be higher in price next
year than they are this year. This
statement is made on the authority of
the food experts in Washington who
know what they are talking about.
They know the demand and supply

Needed a Dentist's Pull.

Wild and disheveled, watery of eye,
and trembling of limb, he burst into
the dentist's consulting-room, and ad-
dressed the molar merchant in gasping
tones:

"Do you give gas here?"

"Yes, replied the dentist.

"Does it put a man to sleep?"

"Of course."

"Nothing would wake him ?"

"Nothing. But—"

"Wait a bit ; you could break his jaw
or black his eye without him feeling

it?"

"My dear sir, of course, I — "
"It lasts about half a minute, doesn't
it?"
"Yes."

With a wild whoop of joy and relief
the excited man threw off his coat and
waistcoat.

"Now," he yelled, as he tugged at his
shirt, "get yer gas-engine ready. 1
want you to pull a porous-plaster off my
back."— "Tit-Bits."

Why did the fly fly? — Because the
spider spi(e)der.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

VII

THESE ARE THE DAYS OF FULL STOCKS AND TEMPTING

SPRING STYLES.

We cordially invite you to visit our store these early spring days.
Everything New, Everything Fashionable. No old stocks to show as they are
gone with ihe season that has gone.

Coats, Suits, Dresses, Waists, Wash Fabrics, Children's and Infant's Wear, Neckwear,

Gloves, Etc., Etc.

Burdett-McGillivray Company

ADVOCATE BUILDING, STAMFORD

Mistaken Classification !

Two brothers were being entertained

by a rich friend. As ill luck would have

it, the talk drifted away from ordinary
topics.

"Do you like Omar Khayyam ?"
thoughtlessly asked the host, trying to
make conversation. The elder brother
plunged heroically into the breach.

"Pretty well," he said, "but I prefer
Chianti."

Nothing more was said on this sub-

ject until the brothers were on their
way home.

"Bill," said the younger brother,
breaking a painful silence, "why can't
you leave things that you don't under-
stand to me? Omar Khayyam ain't a
wine, you chump ; it's a cheese." — New
York Globe.

Hail to you, winds of March !

And welcome, April's showers!
For you blaze the way to the heart

Of the summer's fragrant bowers.

— Emma Peirce.

QUALITY SEED STORE

Seeds ! Seeds !! Seeds !!!

NOW

Buy your seeds early. It will be impossible to get most of them later.
Some kinds difficult now.

SEEDS, FLOWERS, BULBS, INSECTICIDES. FERTILIZER

NURSERY
GROWER— IMPORTER— DEALER

43 ATLANTIC STREET
G. B. CANNON

STAMFORD, CONN.
Tels. 1767, 1768

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE Established 50 Years STAMFORD, CONN.

SPRING IS HERE

Spring is here according to the Calendar. At any rate you are needing, or soon will be, many new things
for the Wardrobe and for the Home.

TOUR— EARLY— VISIT— TO— THIS— STORE— IS— INVITED.

We want you to see our superb stocks in readiness for your requirements. Advancing prices have in-
fluenced us to buy earlier and in larger quantities than ever before. The results are in your favor.

LARGER— SELECTION— AND— LOWER— PRICES

than would otherwise be possible.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE : : : : : : STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEQETMAN&JUDD CO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Grade HARDWOOD FLOORING

thoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old Residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
old ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE ST. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks, Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,

W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETMAN

W. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL

IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
All Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

3S2

WaJwarth Snlton

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909. at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Vol

ume

X

MARCH, 1918

Number 10

Rare Animals in This Vicinity.

BY PROFESSOR JOHN J. SCHOONHOVEN,
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

In nearby Westchester County with
its valley lands and rugged picturesque
hills claimed for agriculture and graz-
ing purposes there still remains a large
part of the country covered by forests
and undergrowth affording a most ex-
cellent sanctuary for wild life. It is
not surprising therefore that the list of
mammals is large including bats, foxes,
skunks, weasels, minks, raccoons, rab-
bits, woodchucks, squirrels, muskrats,
many other species of rodents, and oc-
casionally a deer. These forms seem
perfectly normal and natural in this
environment.

Occasionally, however, some form of
wild animal life appears for which it is
hard to account. During the last week,
for instance, a coyote shot by a West-
chester farmer was brought to the
New York Zoological Park for identi-
fication, and the hunter was genuinely
astonished at his own prowess when
Dr. Raymond Ditmars assured him
that it was a real coyote.

In Pound Ridge, just over the Con-
necticut boundary line, a year or two
ago a basket maker went down to the
pond in which he had some logs soak-
ing and saw what he supposed to be
an inoffensive muskrat. He was sur-
prised at the stiff fight the "muskrat"

put up when he somewhat casually
undertook his capture and his surprise
was further increased when his "musk-
rat" turned out to be a fine specimen of
otter. As a result his wife is now the
proud possessor of a beautiful otter
muff quite the envy of her neighbors.

Last summer at Sarles Corners near
the farm of Leland Waterbury a cur-
ious small mammal was picked up dead
beside the road killed evidently by a
passing motor car. Nothing like it had
been seen in those parts by the oldest
inhabitant and it was examined with
curiosity by the neighborhood. After
some difficulty I exhumed the body
where it had been buried by its captors.
Upon examining it I was convinced
at once that it was a badger though
this animal has, to my knowledge,
never been reported from this part of
Westchester.

I brought the skull to our museum
where the identification was confirmed
When this country was new badgers
were met with everywhere in open
lands from the Alleghenies to the Paci-
fic and as far north as Peace River.
Now they have disappeared from the
prairie states and are rare except in
the high, dry plains where gophers and
prairie dogs form an abundant food
supply. The eastern limit of the bad-
ger is placed by Seton as Wisconsin.
An animal with so indomitable a spirit,

Copyright 1918 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

290

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

so massive a head, and jaws filled with
formidable teeth with a bulldog grip,
locking themselves mechanically as
they close, seems out of place in our
quiet, peaceful Westchester hills.
Whence came he and what was he
doing here?

The Path is a Guide to Nature-

Wmat student and lover of nature
does not like a path in the woods and
through the fields? There is something
enticing, yes, even enchanting in the
beckoning of the distant vista of the
path that leads one on and on. The

A PATH IN THE WOODS AT ALL TIMES OF THE YEAR IS A GOOD GUIDE TO NATURE.
Cut by courtesy of "Photo-Era."

FLOWERS AS A LIFE RESOURCE

291

path is a parallel of human life. We
can see only the immediate present, but
where will that path lead us in its rami-
fications, what of the uncertainties that
surround it, what are its surprises,
what its entanglements, yes, what the
disappointments? There is ever the
charm of exploring the unknown.

These thoughts must necessarily
come to one who rambles through the
forest and Mr. A. A. Falls, who took
the accompanying photograph is evi-
dently a path lover. For the cut we are
indebted to "Photo-Era" of Boston.
Do not give this merely a hasty glance.
You cannot see it even in the first five
minutes of close examination. Sit for
twenty minutes and gaze intently at
that path, coupling it up with your own
life. It is only when one puts human
nature, one's own personality, into sur-
rounding nature that it really becomes
one's own.

Only a wood path but if ten thousand
people gaze intently and personally up-
on that path there will be ten thousand
different versions as to its meaning.
Nature, after all, is a mirror of our-
selves.

The Heralds of Spring.

March winds are heralds, to proclaim

The coming of the spring:
They do not bear a charmed name,

Yet vistas sweet they bring,

That open out, through April's gate,
To flowery meads and bowers;

The alchemy we now await,
Of sunshine and of showers.

"And when the finished work appears,

Behold a vision bright!
No purer joy through all the years,
Than this transcendent sight.

— Emma Peirce.

Flowers as a Life Resource.

{FROM A CHICAGO DAILY PAPER IN GAR-
DENERS' CHRONICLE.]

Folks who went to the La Salle
Theater last night saw a comedy. In
the office of Nat Royster, the manager,
a tragedy was being enacted.

Several days ago Royster received
complaints from Joe Daly, property
man, that artificial roses used in one
of the sets were being stolen. The
flowers were not taken in large num-
bers. But every other day or so three
or four would be missing. Detectives

worked on the case for a few days.
The roses continued to disappear.

Yesterday the detectives arrested
Sophie Korab, a theater scrubwoman.
When the detectives and Royster ques-
tioned her she sobbed violently, but
would not talk. Finally she found a
champion in Miss May Dowling, of the
theater staff, who pleaded for her re-
lease. Then Mrs. Korab broke down
and told her story. Six months ago her
husband, Anton, joined the army, leav-
ing her to take care of the two children,
John 2 years old, and Mary, 3.

A few weeks ago little John contract-
ed an ailment. There was no money
for adequate medical attention and he
died. The day of the burial Mrs. Ko-
rab appeared as usual to do her scrub
work at the theater. She saw the roses
and purloined a couple of them. Next
day she went to the cemetery and put
the artificial flowers on John's grave.

The detectives made an exit. Miss
Dowling slipped out and returned with
a handful of real flowers. "For John-
ny," she said, and wiped her eyes.

The scrubwoman fearfully asked if
she could go. Royster requested her
to stay. He left the room for a few
minutes and he saw Daly, the property
man ; Charlie Heede, in the box office ;
Bob Corning, the superintendent; the
stage hands, the ushers, the doorman,
the cigar store man next door, and the
cafe man next to next door, and when
he returned he handed $60.35 to Mrs.
Korab.

"For Mary," he said.

After reading this little tragedy
woven around the disappearance of a
few artificial flowers, who will declare
that the beautiful flowers, the best that
Nature produces, have no place in this
careworn world of ours?

The Swedes have recently establish-
ed a society for collecting and diffusing
information concerning their great
naturalist, Linnaeus. Its first presi-
dent is a descendant of Linnaeus,
whose name, oddly enough, happens
to be Tycho.

The eye may well be glad that looks

Where Pharpar's fountains rise and fall;

But he who sees his native brooks
Laugh in the sun, has seen them all.

— Whittier.

All communications for this department Park, Massachusetts Items, Articles and
should he sent to the Department Editor, Mr photographs in this department not other-
Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street, Hyde wise credited are by this Department Editor.

The Brown Pelicans of Eastern Florida.

ONE of the welcome sights to the
winter tourist along the east coast
of Florida, especially if he he fol-
lowing the coastal waterway known as
The Inside Route, is that of watching

now flapping, now sailing, as the little
band moves in perfect rythm with its
leader.

On account of their large size — the
wing spread of the adult being over

P.ROWN PELICANS SOARING.

little flocks of the great-winged, silent six feet — these birds are among the
pelicans, as they move gracefully over most conspicuous to be found along the
the water with slow, measured flight, coast, and although their breeding

RETURNING FROM THE FISHING GROUNDS.

ORNITHOLOGY

293

range has for many years been practi-
cally confined to one small island in
the Indian River , these interesting
birds may be met with for many miles
both above and below their island
home.

On many islands in the Mosquito
Inlet Reservation we found large flocks
of pelicans in company with gulls and
cormorants. At Eau Gallie I watched
for a long time an adult pelican ap-
parently teaching a well grown young-
ster the art of fishing. It is some-times

in their usual line formation, skimming
low over the waves and fishing in the
surf along the beach at Grant. No
flight could be more graceful and
charming than the slow "sailing" of
these birds in perfect unison, as they
unlulated in their flight with the roll-
ing motion of the waves, dipping down
into the hollows and rising over the
crests, but keeping always close to the
surface. A few flaps of their great
wings now and then seemed to furnish
momentum to carry them a long way

THE PICTURESQUE HOME OF WARDEN KROEGEL WHO HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS

GUARDIAN OF PELICAN ISLAND.

ludicrous to see the great ado with
which these birds plunge into the water
after fish. They will soar and wheel
about most gracefully a few yards
above the water ; then suddenly turn-
ing, will drop with a great splash into
a school of menhaden, and seem to
plow up the water in their hasty en-
deavors to capture their victims which
they scoop up in their great bills. Sil-
very spray is flung high into the air,
and the resultant splash from these sud-
den plunges may be heard for more
than half a mile across the water.

One of the most beautiful sights
which I observed in Florida was a
flock of brown pelicans stretched out

over the water, and so silent and so
rythmic was their motion that one
might fancy them propelled by the
same power that carried along the blue
waves over which they floated.

To visit the nesting colony on Peli-
can Island one must have permission
from the government and the sanction
of the warden who guards this island
under the protection of the Audubon
Society. Here at Sebastian, on the
mainland, stands Warden Kroegel's
picturesque home, under the shelter of
a great, protecting live oak which
spreads its broad, moss draped canopy
completely over the house and door-
yard. Several shell mounds of the

294

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

"OUR VISIT TO PELICAN ISLAND WAS ON THE 12TH OF DECEMBER."

ancient Indians are located here and
some relics of value have been exca-
vated from one of them.

President Roosevelt, in 1903, set
apart Pelican Island as a permanent
government reservation where the
brown pelicans might be protected, as
for years this island had been the
natural breeding ground of these birds,
and they were at that time in immi-
nent danger of being exterminated by
the plume hunters. Shortly after pro-
tection had been established, however,
and the location of their permanent
home designated, these birds for some
unknown reason — unless it was to show
their independence — suddenly deserted
the island which they had so long oc-
cupied, and sought to establish them-
selves in new and unprotected terri-
tory. This somewhat alarmed the bird
conservationists, but to the delight of
all interested in their welfare, the peli-

cans seemed gradually to capitulate to
the old ties and again returned to their
ancestral island home.

This island was originally covered
with mangrove trees wherein the birds
built their huge nests, and although
these operations have gradually de-
stroyed the trees so that the island is
now entirely bare, they have since con-
tinued in its use, placing their nests
upon the ground at great peril of floods
and storms.

Our visit to Pelican Island was on
the twelfth of December 1913, and
nesting operations appeared then at
their height. We learned from the
warden' that nesting began about the
first of October, which was about a
month earlier than usual. While still
about a quarter of a mile from the
colony, in the warden's launch, I was
conscious of a low whistling and
squeaking sound from the young birds,.

"A GREAT ARMY OF ADULT BIRDS SEEMED DRAWN UP NEAR THE SHORE.'

ORNITHOLOGY

295

which at a little distance blended into
a low monotone. (No sound was ob-
served at any time from the adult peli-
cans.) A strong odor of fish pervaded
the surroundings.

As we neared the island a great army
of adult birds seemed drawn up near
the shore, as if to give battle at our at-
tempt to land. A few groups of half
grown young were paddling or flapping
about in the shallow water. Before
landing on the island we encircled it in

perched near-by on some of the stubs,
or sat gorging themselves upon the
dead young pelicans which were lying
about. A flock of cormorants arose
and left the island at our approach.

Only a few of the birds left their
nests as I landed on the shore and
walked carefully about among them.
Eggs and young in all stages were at
once noticeable. Groups of the larger
young were wandering about like so
many schoolbovs. while others in the

AX ADULT BLUE EAGI E WAS SOARING OVER THE COLONY

the launch, keeping as close as pos-
sible to the shore and securing several
pictures, as the birds paid but little at-
tention to us while we were on the
water. The bleached remains of a few
trees could be seen sticking up near
the center of the island, and there were
a couple of old stumps on the shore
near the southerly end. Every advan-
tage seemed to be taken where a nert
could be placed at a slight elevation.
though of course, the great majority
of necessity placed upon the ground.

In one photograph an adult bald
eagle may be seen soaring over the
colony. Many scavengers found here
a rich repast with little effort on their
part at securing food. Buzzards were

nests were clamoring for food. Some
were bathing near the water's edge.
Individuals and small groups of the
parent birds were constantly leaving
the colony or returning from the fish-
ing grounds n< »t far away.

Some of the nests were well built
structures of grass a foot or more in
height ; others seemed considerably
dilapidated, while many were simply
a hollow in the sand where the eggs
might be laid. Most of these nests
contained three eggs — this being the
usual complement of the set. In color
they seemed a pale bluish-wdiite, but
were mostly covered with a chalky de-
posit. A number of eggs lay scattered
about on the bare ground, probably

296

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

"ONLY A FEW OF THE BIRDS LEFT THEIR NESTS.

many of these being sterile.

One photograph in our series shows
a typical nest containing one egg and
a small naked youngster apparently but
a few days old. Others show groups
of young in and about the nests. Some
of these seemed alarmed at my ap-
proach and scrambled away in a most
awkward manner ; a few showed an in-
clination to light, but the most of them
remained silent and paid no attention
to me whatever.

The young pelicans are comparative-
ly helpless until they are quite large, it
being several months before they are

"SOME OF THE NESTS WERE WELL BUILT
STRUCTURES OF GRASS."

•%>

'** **,

%

if -

SVB

YOUNG PELICAN A FEW DAYS OLD.

able to care for themselves. During
this time they are subject to many dan-
gers. Storms rage over the island de-
stroying many young in their nests.
On account of its slight rise above the
surface of the river, and the unusual
fact of these nests being placed upon
the ground, a flood sometimes destroys
them in large numbers, or causes the
old birds to temporarily leave the
island, while the young starve. For
some reason, not fully understood,

ORNITHOLOGY

297

"MOST OF THEM

PAID XO ATTENTION TO ME WHATEVER."

practically the entire brood of 1913-14
(those pictured here) was later destroy-
ed before the birds were able to shift
for themselves. This meant a consid-
erable loss, as we estimated fifteen hun-
dred young and two thousand adult
birds on the island at the time of our
visit. From these facts it may be un-
derstood that the brown pelican has in-
creased but little in numbers during the
past few years.

In the photograph of the adult
birds just returning from the fishing
grounds, it will be noted that the
pouches of the flying birds are not ex-
panded, and the statement that these

THE YOUNG ARE COMPARATIVELY HE1 PI ESS
UNTIL THEY ARE QUITE LARGE.

great pouches are used for carrying fish
to the young is an erroneous one. From
the time of hatching until they are
many weeks old these young are fed by
regurgitation. Several of the adult
birds upon the ground, shown in this
picture, may be seen preparing to feed
their young. In this process the pouch
is extended and the partly digested fish
"regurgitated" into the sac ; the bill
is then opened and the hungry young-
ster allowed to help himself, except in
the case of a very small bird, when the
parent probably places the food in the
throat of the nestling.

The awkwardness of these birds,
both old and young, while on the
ground is noticeable, and the feeding of
some of the larger young is sometimes
an astonishing and somewhat remark-
able procedure. A bird two-thirds the
size of the adult may be seen with its
head thrust completely inside the
parent's bill and, in some cases, clear
down its throat. This proceeding is
not taken calmly by the parent bird,
but is accompanied by all sorts of con-
tortions and apparent efforts to release
itself from what appears to be a very
uncomfortable situation. In this way
the two birds may be seen struggling
about amid great confusion, especially
if there are other young — as is fre-
quently the case — making vain endea-

298

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

PELICANS PREPARING TO FEED THEIR YOUNG BY REGURGITATION.

vors to. oust their companion and se-
cure the coveted place at the source of
food supply.

Another interesting episode in peli-
can life is the exchange of parental du-
ties while the birds are incubating their
eggs or brooding young in the nest.
Both parents take part in these duties,
and the exchange of places upon the
nest is accompanied with the most pro-
found "bowing and scraping," wing-

flapping and other emotional perfor-
mances. Preliminary salutations of
this sort are well shown in the picture
of the two birds on the old stump.
Both birds ma}' be seen with wings
partially spread and facing each other.
Then, after due respects are mutually
paid, pardons apparently asked and
granted, and promises made to be faith-
ful in each other's absence, the bird
which is to relieve the one on the nest

"PRELIMINARY SALUTATIONS."
Getting ready to exchange places upon the nest.

ORNITHOLOGY

299

finally takes its place, while the other
spreads its great wings, mounts into
the air and is oft* to enjoy a sail over
the bounding waves.

A bit of quiet home life is shown in
one photograph. Under the sheltering
protection of its parent, a tiny young-
ster may be observed here peering over
the edge of the nest. In the nests near-
by are contented little families, and
floating upon wide pinions, like a veri-
table airship, the master aviator comes
sailing home to his nest. Among these
great birds, as among many other of

thousand birds when all were here, but
on account of nesting accommodations
upon this small island, which covers
less than three acres of ground, their
feeding is extended over a considerable
period of time ; and while a few some-
times nest on near-by islands, the great
majority seem so attached to this one
spot that they apparently prefer to
postpone their nesting until others are
through, rather than to take up their
abode elsewhere. On the day of our
visit we noted birds carrying material
for new nests, while at the same time
were young pelicans in all stages of

THE PELICAN IS SURELY A MASTER AVIATOR.

the wild creatures, an intimate study
of their habits and their home customs
discloses characteristics which appear
almost human, and in the relations of
parent and offspring we discover in-
stinctive traits akin to our own.

In watching the pelicans we noticed
that they always flew high and in regu-
lar order when going to the fishing
grounds, while upon returning they
as regularly dropped down and skim-
med low over the water to the island,
after they had risen above the border-
ing fringe of palms and sand hills which
at this point separate the river from the
ocean. This is illustrated in our first
two photographs.

We were informed that the present
number of this colony was about five

development, from the egg to birds
nearly two months old.

Nesting dates are considerably later
for this species where they congregate
for breeding on the gulf coast of Flor-
ida. The larger white pelican is also
found here, although this bird seldom
appears along the waters of the east
coast, where the brown pelican reigns
supreme.

Only those have produced perma-
nent results who have interrogated na-
ture in the spirit of devotion to truth
and waited patiently for her replies.
The work founded on selfish motives
and vanity has sooner or later fallen
by the wayside. — Locy, "Biology and
It's Makers."

3°°

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The Mocking Bird's Marvelous Ver-
satility.

BY FRANKLIN J. IIAYDLN, NOKOMIS, FLA.

During- a number of seasons spent in
Florida, I have been impressed more and
more with the marvelous versatility of
the mocking bird, which, as a name, dis-
credits him. It is not impossible, I
think, that other birds are mocking him,
for he seems to have the songs and
calls of most of our common birds as
well as other songs they can never hope

to sing.

I have heard him render the calls and
songs of chewinks, meadowlarks, cat-
birds, brown thrashers, wood thrushes,
wrens and red-winged blackbirds with
such absolute accuracy that you would
expect to see them all with him in the
tree.

Once I came upon a mocking bird
and a brown thrasher singing at the
same time. They sang and sang while
I stood between them and listened, but
I could not detect the slightest differ-
ence in their songs. Had they changed
places I should have been none the
wiser.

What I love most in a singer is a
voice that reaches the soul. In this
respect the mocking bird is so far be-
yond the other songsters that I have
heard as to render comparisons ab-
surd.

Maurice Thompson said, "If I was
going to risk the reputation of our coun-
try against a European nightingale I
would choose for my champion a mock-
ins: bird from the neighborhood of
Tallahassee."

Blanchan says, "This is the angel
that the catbird was before he fell from
grace. Slim, graceful, imitative, amus-
ing, with a rich tender song that only
the hermit thrush can hope to rival."

"All moods are his — delicate as the
perfume of the first violet, wild as the
storm, he knows the music of all sounds
from the rustle of leaves and the whis-
per of hidden springs to the voices of
the sea."

When I hear the mocking bird I ex-
claim, "Is it possible that a bird is do-
ing all this with common air'"

Sidney Lanier well said that the bird
is a poet of the spiritual universe and,
he might have added, the Shakespeare
of all our songsters.

An Enthusiastic Student of Winter
Birds.

Mrs. W. Emmet Smith of Katonah,
New York, sends a very interesting list
of winter birds that have been observed
by a near-by neighbor, Mrs. F. W. Gor-
ham, who is a great lover of birds. Mrs.
Smith says :

"An old apple tree, left standing for
the purpose when the house was built,
serves as a feeding place for the birds.
From a position a little back from the
window, Mrs. Gorham often watches
them through a glass and derives great
pleasure from so doing.

"The table is the lid of a pail tacked
to a branch of the tree. In it she places
crumbs, grain and seed, scattering
some on the ground. A piece of suet
hangs on the tree. Mrs. Gorham says
the pleasure of watching the birds
abundantly repays for all the trouble

taken.

"How thankful we should be for
birds. What a blessing they are in
destroying harmful insects, and what
would a summer be without their sweet
songs ! It seems to me there is no bet-
ter way of proving our thankfulness
than by caring for them."

A White Hawk.

BY C. D. ROMIG, AUDENRIFJ), PENNSYL-
VANIA.

At noon, December 15th, after the
cold spell and a heavy snowfall, the
cawing of a crow overhead attracted
my attention and I noticed that the
crow was pursuing a snow-white hawk
considerably larger than itself. The
hawk was snow-white with the excep-
tion of the outer tips of the wings
which appeared to be brownish.

The bird was soaring like a hawk
but it may have been an owl, as its
body and wings were somewhat stub-
by in outline. Owls are not supposed
to fly in the daytime, but I recall the
shooting of brown owls as large as
crows that were flying about the corn-
fields in the daytime. At the time I be-
lieved they were hawks. In any event
this was an extraordinary bird. It had
possibly been driven from home by
the severe storm and cold. Against a
clear blue sky it was an unusual and
interesting sight. It at least excited
the crow and me too.

ORNITHOLOGY

301

Florida Should Wake up to Her Duties
in Bird Conservation.

The nearly successful attempt to se-
cure the establishment of a State Game
Commission in Florida during the past
season, was unfortunately blocked by
the Governor, who vetoed the measure
after it had passed both Houses in the
Legislature.

This state, with its myriads of water-
fowl and marsh birds : sheltering, as
it does, many of our northern birds
throughout the winter months, and be-
ing in the path of many more of our
migrating species, is an important one
to the bird-lover and conservationist,
and it is high time that better laws for
bird protection were enacted here.

Most of the conservation work which
has been done here, including the pro-
tecting of the great egret and heron
rookeries which would otherwise have
been destroyed, seems to have been
accomplished at the expense and
through the efforts of bird-lovers out-
side the state, and it would seem only
fair for the state which reaps most of
the benefit to at least support and help
this work by proper laws and by the
establishing of a Game Commission to
enforce them.

Florida is now a winter playground
for thousands of people from all over
the country, and it seems highly im-
portant to have adequate laws for the
protection of the wild life of this state,
especially as the conservation of this
wild life so vitally affects the inhabi-
tants of other states and the good work
which they are trying to do.

society have made thousands of new
converts in the interest of bird pro-
tection and conservation, thus aiding
materially in both a moral and financial
way the society's work during the past
season.

In addition to Mr. Herbert K. Job's
well-known work in his Department
of Applied Ornithology, he has added,
during the past season, to his valuable
bird photographs another thousand
feet of motion picture film, showing
work in the propagation of water-fowl
at the association's Bird Experiment
Station at Amston, Conn., besides
many interesting phases of the home
life of several wild species not hither-
to shown.

Audubon Society Work.

Forty-six wardens have been em-
ployed during the past year to guard
the various rookeries and protected
sanctuaries under the supervision of
the Audubon Societies. Reports from
these wardens show that more than a
million water-birds bred in these pro-
tected areas during 1917.

A regular course in wild life con-
servation has been established at Cor-
nell University, New York, a bill in
the legislature appropriating $15,000.00
for this purpose having been passed.

The many lectures and course of
study conducted by field agents of the

The Weed-seed Eaters.

During the winter months our north-
eastern states are usually visited by
several species of birds which would
not, at first thought, be supposed to be
of any special economic value. Aside,
however, from enlivening the winter
landscape, which all of these birds do,
many of them perform a real service
to mankind.. Chief among these is
the tree sparrow, whose diet is com-
posed principally of weed seeds. Flocks
of these birds are common sights along
our country roadsides and pastures
from November to April, and investi-
gation has shown that they prove of in-
calculable value in destroying the seeds
of noxious weeds.

This species alone has been estimat-
ed to destroy no less than eight hun-
dred and seventy-five tons of weed-
seed annually in the state of Iowa.
Snow buntings, usually abundant
along the coast and often wandering in-
land to a considerable distance, are
also very beneficial in this respect, a
thousand seeds of the pig-weed having
been found in the stomach of a single
one of these birds. Mourning doves
and bobwhites are also efficient weed-
seed eaters, and our common goldfinch
at this season depends largely upon
such diet for its food supply.

How welcome to the winter-weary folk,
The first up-springing green, or bird-note
sweet!
A harbinger of longed-for summer joys,
Of all that she alone lays at our feet.

— Emma Peirce.

WRITE
WAIftT YOU HftVE-

SEEN

r THEFUNDF *
,5EEINdTH|HQS,

[FOR YOUNG FOLKS

» EDITED BY '

V Edward FDiqelow J

W/1M" YOU WftNT
TO KNOW.

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T&ch , Conn.

Frost Work that Resembled Bark and
Leaves.

Newton, Massachusetts.
To the Editor :

Lately I have been thinking about
nature. I do not understand how one

nomenon which has attracted my at-
tention. I observed that Jack Frost
had painted something on the window-
panes. There were three windows in
the room and each bore a layer of frost
so thick that I could not scratch it off

PATTERNS IN FR<

! learn to be familiar with the 1 with my finger nail. The room was

of the leafless tree, and the question warm yet the frost did not melt be-
comes to me because of an odd phe- cause of the severe cold outside. \

FLOWERS, ROSETTE AND FERN IN FROST.

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

303

picture of large leaves gracefully with the bark of trees troubled me !
placed, with a mass of small dots To me this appearance is an extraordi-
grouped in the centre to resemble nary occurrence and interests me great-
tansy, was sculptured on the two panes ly. I am anxious to hear what you may
facing the street. A huge tree grew have to tell me about it. I keep my eyes
outside near the windows with its open every minute in search of inter-

A LEAFY FOREST OF FROST.
I graph by R. A. Buchanan in "Photo-Era."

branches barren of leaves. My friend
said that the leaves of the tree were in
form like those that were distinctly
marked on the windowpane. The fig-
ures were as large as oak leaves, but
resembled large beech tree leaves.
Here was where my lack of familiarity

esting objects and extraordinary hap-
penings which will give me worthy
things to think about. You make every
difficult subject interesting, therefore
with your help it is a pleasure to learn.
Yours sincerely,

Eleanor Reid Wheeler.

3°4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

In regard to the apparently imitative
work of the frost : Hoarfrost, in com-
mon with other water crystals, has a
habit (we know not why any more
than we know why one tree grows one
way and another a different way) of
crystallizing in a manner that resem-
bles natural objects, such as trees, leaves,
ferns, stars, etc. The designs are not
influenced by objects near them nor,
in the case of window hoarfrost, by ex-
ternal objects. The temperature, the
humidity, the nature of the surface
upon which they form and the play of
the mysterious electromagnetic forces
determine their forms. We may be sure
also that the size of the particles of
water vapor in the air has something
to do with form determination ; i.e., if
they are of truly molecular dimensions
(too small for the most powerful micro-
scope to reveal) the crystals will be
ivhollx crystalline in nature and form,
fashioned rigidly according to the rule
of six, according to their crystalline
habit of growth and formation, and will
have well defined axes, facets, lines,
etc., such as true crystals have. But
in the case of hoarfrost on windows
and of window ice formation, doubtless
a large number of the water particles in
the air that form them are larger than
true water molecules, consisting in part
of groups of water molecules and par-
ticles of water of various (though of
course extremely minute) dimensions,
and hence not completely under crystal-
line laws. Water forms composed in
part of these vapor particles larger
than molecular water particles have a
much greater latitude of formation,
and we find them assuming the grace-
ful curving forms and the various
shapes not possible for wholly true crys-
tals to take. The forms of window frost
(?) that your correspondent mentions
were probably not frost forms at all, but
window ice crystals. Window ice forms
always on wet windowpanes, frost only
on dry windowpanes. Practically all the
large so-called window frost designs are
window ice crystallizations. Window ice
assumes many graceful, curving, leaf-
like, vine-like and other similar designs.
— W. A. Bentley.

The Ambergris King.

Ever hear of an
ambergris king?
Probably not;
for there is only
one in the world
—and here he is.
Only a ton and a
half of ambergris
has been offered
for sale in the
history of the
world ; and of
that quantity the
"king" has hand-
led more than
half.

Skunks bathe frequently, but will
not swim unless forced into deep water.

Photograph from
G. A. Walton.

Down in the quaint old town of
Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the
head of a wharf in Commercial Street,
is an unpretentious little building that
is anything but attractive to one who
comes to look for places of historic in-
terest ; yet it contains the throne of one
of the most interesting men in the coun-
try— that of David C. Stull, known as
"the Ambergris King."

A ton of ambergris, at prices that
have been paid there for it, would bring
$92,000, or twice the amount that a ton
of gold would produce. And, of the
ton and a half of ambergris known to
have been offered for sale in the history
of the world, Mr. Stull, as agent for a
famous firm of French perfumers, has
handled more than half.

There is a never-ceasing cry for more
of this substance from across the water,
and it is a known fact that nothing in-
vented as yet by man's fertile brain will
in the least compare to ambergris as a
base in the manufacture of choice per-
fumes. Dissolved in alcohol, it holds in
solution the various oils and essences
that compose the scents dear to the
feminine heart.

The ambergris comes from a whale
that has been careless about his diet,
according to scientists. It is said that
when he eats more squid and cuttlefish
than is good for him he is attacked by
this peculiar kind of mal-de-mar. These
marine dainties have long, hard, and

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

305

sharp beaks, and when taken into the
whale's stomach in large quantities
cause the forming of a substance that
turns into ambergris. If the whale
continues this sort of diet, it causes his
day of reckoning to make an appear-
ance when the monster mammal of the
sea seeks shallow water and dies.

"Sir. Stull has paid as high as $500 a
pound for the coverted substance. Not
many years ago he paid $18,000 for a
single lump of ambergris ; and his
record price is $35,000 for one lot of
several pieces. — Every Week.

Astonishing Bubble Formation in Ice.
Jack Frost is a freaky fellow ; one
never knows what he will do next nor
why he does any one of his queer deeds.
Of all the strange freaks that I have
seen, one of the most interesting was
done in a small aquarium jar in our
laboratory on a recent cold night. The
water was frozen solid, and in some
mysterious way was filled with innu-
merable strings of bubbles radiating
from a common center which appeared
to serve as a headquarters for their de-

parture. As far as observation can de-
cide, they appear in general to direct
their course to that center or from it.
The entire mass of ice appears to be
filled with strings of pearls, and among
them other equally beautiful pearls ap-
pear to have been tossed by the hand-
ful. Notice, too, the central group of
diverging lines among the pearls of that
part. These are air bubbles elongated
in some unknown way into thread-like
air channels that add much to the inter-
est and mysterious beauty. The result
is altogether one of the strangest and
most inexplicible performances of the
cold that I have ever seen. If any pro-
fessor of physics in any college or if
any one else can explain the matter,
will he not kindly communicate with
the editor?

Since observing this remarkable
work my attention has been called to
other ice forms, and I have noted that
the bubbles frequently take somewhat
of an alignment but I have not pre-
viously seen any so marked as these.

WHY THESE CURIOUS "STRINGS" OF "PEARL
AIR BUBBLES IN ICE?

Not a Joke, but a Coincidence.

Seriously and with no intent to tell
a good joke, a correspondent in New
York relates some ordinary observa-
tions of winter birds made by a neigh-
bor, and then relates this somewhat
startling experience.

"A friend of ours, living in the town
of Greenwich, has a number of canaries
and has raised several of them.

"One day her husband was enter-
taining her with opera music, and after
singing several verses, increasing the
sound in volume and possibly in dis-
cord as he is no musician, he struck up
a third in impossible bass tones, and
a canary perched high in his cage drop-
ped to the floor dead.

"I had never known such a circum-
stance, but I have heard singing that
seemed as though it would have a simi-
lar effect on me."

Japan has especially beautiful to-
pazes. Their colors run from white
through wine yellow, yellow blue, pale
blue, pale green and brown. One of the
finest known specimens stands three
inches high, rising from a base of feld-
spar and having beside it a crystal of
black quartz.

306

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

A Wooden Flower or Wooden Rose.

That is what Professor William F.
Ganong of Smith College, Northamp-
ton, Massachusetts, calls the interest-
ing specimen from Mr. H. E. Deats
that we pictured on page 250 of our
January number.

In his interesting "Textbook of Bo-
tany" he further states in regard to
this growth which is from a legumi-
nous plant and is induced by a parasite,

of the tissues after the control stimuli
have been inhibited, usually as result
of some strain or other accident. Other
burls, however, with various kinds of
knotty growths, are started by presence
of parasites, which also inhibit the
usual control, presumably by chemical
action. Of this nature is the remark-
able 'wooden flower,' sold to tourists
in tropical America. It is nothing but
a stem in which a parasite has inhibited

Till-: WOO] LOWER CONTRIBUTED BY MR. BAIZ.

a flowering plant, Phcradendron. After
stating various cases of the peculiar
growths such as twin fruits, fasciated
pineapples and various fasciated stems,
witches' brooms, etc., he continues :

"In some cases such growths are ap-
parently started by injurious strains,
which would explain their frequency at
the bases of great branches; and very
likely they represent areas in which
the growth-control mechanism has
been ruptured by the strain. It is in-
teresting to note that a close analogy
exists between these burls and the
troublesome tumors which form in the
human body, for the latter also are
formless growths resulting from con-
tinued operation of the growth energy

h control over a limited area,
leaving that part free to grow as it
happens."

An elaborate and magnificent speci-
men has recently been presented to us
at ArcAdiA by Arthur S. Baiz of Sound
Beach.

Fine Specimen of "Wooden Flower."

New York City.
To the Editor :

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure
of leaving with your daughter a "vol-
cano flower." This was brought to
New York many years ago by my
father, who was Consul General in
this city for Guatemala and Honduras.

I understand that this growth occurs

THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS

307

near the rim of the volcanos in South
America, and is known by several
names ; sometimes they are called
"roses" and again "Rosas de Inherno"
the Spanish for "Roses of Hell," and
I am told that the Indian name is "Co-
chij Riche." In general the wood of
the host is of a light tint, slightly red-
dish externally and yellow cored. The
inside of the "rose" is invariably dark-
er than the host branch.

I obtained the following front a Lat-
in-American magazine, which is pub-
lished in this city, and which I believe
will give you about as much informa-
tion as I can obtain at this time, al-
though possibly the American Museum
of Natural History might be able to
give you further information :

"The wooden flower consists of an
excrescence found on the branch of
an}' tree by the invasion of a certain
parasite, which forces itself into them,
working actively on their organism.
This parasite is generated by seeds
conveyed by birds, which seeds contain
a viscid matter which allows their
holding wherever are dropped.

The substance as well as the plant
which produces it is called liga (gt
a sticky substance used for catching
birds. The plant belongs to the Loran-
thus or Struthantus family, and is in-
dige to the Yolcan de Fuego,

where alone its results, the wooden
flower, are known. So true is this that
the distinguished French naturalist
Morelot, believed that these flowers
were produced by emanations from the
volcano. The parasite, it is further
said, has no roots; the seed fixes itself
to the tree, and a tumor-like swelling
is formed which assumes a spherical
shape; sometimes several ; be

seen on one branch. Parasite and host
are so closely united that a transverse
section hardly shows any division of
the fibers. The invader is short-lived
— three or four years at the most — the
wooden flower's dead image on the tree
indicating its place of refuge. The
size varies from two centimeters to
sixty centimeters. The wooden flower
must be regarded as an extension of
the woody fibers of the host tree, not
the parasite ; 'the injury has not yet
been studied, but there must be injury
or the phenomenon is not explicable.'
This strange and beautiful result is,

then, classed with the gall-nut found
on oak-trees, or the red silky excres-
cence seen on rose-bushes ; in all cases
an envelopment of the foreign body by
the fibers of the host occurs, in much the
same circumstances as are responsible
for the formation of the pearl in the
oyster-shell."

I hope that you will find the above
information of interest, and that the
"rose" will give pleasure to you and
those who may frequent ArcAdiA.
Very truly yours,

Arthur S. Baiz.

Starlings in New Hampshire.

Nashua, N. H.
To the Editor :

Just at sunset the other day Avhile
down town on our main street, I notic-
ed a flock of about a dozen starlings
fly to the steeple of an old abandoi
church and disappear within. An-
other flock followed, and then another.
I stood and watched for about three-
quarters of an hour while the starlings
continued to arrive, and counted dur-
ing this ti o hundred and nin
seven birds. I do not know how many
arrived before I noticed them. These
birds evidently roost in the old be
I have observed starlings he
but had no idea there were so n
of them.

These birds are not here in the day-
time, for I have repeatedly looked for
them during the past two weeks. They
evidently breed somewhere in this gen-
eral locality, but where, I do not know.
Their present feeding ground is also
a mystery. This is the third year of
the starling in Nashua.

M. B. Towxsi-xd.

The Egoistical View of Nature.

A little while ago, at Buffalo, 1 was
the guest of a lady who, a fortnight be-
fore, had taken her seven-} ear-old boy
for the first time to Niagara Falls. The
child silently glared at the phenomenon
until his mother, supposing him struck
speechless by its sublimity, said, "Well,
my boy, what do you think of it?" to
which, "Is that the kind of spray I
spray my nose with ?" wras the boy's
only reply. That was his mode of ap-
preciating the snectacle. — William
James in "Talks to Teachers."

The Heavens in March.

By Professor Eric Doolittle of the University of Pennsylvania.

THE most interesting arrival in our
evening- heavens is the beautiful
planet Mars which in these early
March evenings is seen shining with its
reddish light nearly as high above the
horizon in the east as is the bright gold-
en Jupiter in the west. As the one

will not pass beyond the borders of our
evening map until May and in the
meantime Mars will continually mount
higher and shine out more conspicu-
ously in the evening heavens.

From the slow change of the face of
the skv it now results that the western

NO^.TM

South

Figurej. The Constellations at 9 P. M., March 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
If facing west, hold West below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

east, hold East be!o\

planet sets the other rises, and as the
weeks of the month go on the more
brilliant Jupiter will be found lower
and lower in the southwest, though it

heavens are more brilliant than the
eastern. Almost all of the bright win-
ter groups are now past the meridian
and in the east there is just appearing

TO KNOW THE S TARRY HEAVENS

309

the first of the faint summer constella-
tions, Virgo, with its promise of the
time when warmer days shall come. All
of the winter groups are still with us
during this, the last of the winter
months, but by April, Taurus will have
begun to sink below the ground, Virgo
will have entirely emerged, and even
the Balances will be visible in the east
and the transformation of the winter in-
to the summer sky will be well under
way.

The March Stars.

One of the very interesting con-
stellations is Hydra, the Watersnake,
which now stretches entirely from the
horizon in the southeast to the meri-
dian. Only half of this interesting
figure is as yet visible ; the tip of the
tail will not reach the meridian until
the early evenings of June, and by this
time the head will have begun to set.

On the back of this long, winding
constellation there are the figures of
the Crow and the Cup, while a group
of faint stars over the tail of the Water-
snake (not yet risen) was formed into
a little figure known as the "Solitarv
Thrush."

Twenty centuries ago the Crow lay
half above and half below the Celes-
tial Equator; the slow precession of
the equinoxes has changed its position
in the sky until it is now no less than
twenty degrees below. When first let-
tered, the star at A was indicated as the
brightest star of this group, but it is
now less than one-sixth as bright as
the star at C and less than half as
bright as the other three most import-
ant stars of the figure. It is now of an
orange color; as early Arabians de-
scribed it as red, it has probably
changed both in color and brightness
in recent times.

The star at D is of a pale yellow color
but it has a deep blue, eight and five-
tenths magnitude companion twenty-
four seconds away. There are
many variable stars in this constella-
tion ; the two at V sink from the
seventh to the thirteenth magnitude in
the course of eight to ten months. The
orange star at B is also probably a var-
iable and is a typical example of the
second great type of stars whose

spectre resemble very closely that of
our sun.

At a distance below the bright star
at F equal to four times the diameter
of our moon there is a remarkable
planetary nebula which resembles
Jupiter in the color and steadiness of
its ligfht. It is described by some ob-
servers, however, as of a steely, bluish
light and is rather difficult in small
telescopes.

The observer will welcome the great
golden yellow Antares, at H, which is
so bright and yet so immensely far
away. And indeed the whole region of
Bootes as well as the sky between this
constellation and the Great Dipper will
well repay exploration. In the center
of the Constellation Leo, at the point
K, will be found one of the starless re-
gions of the sky, while at O, almost
in a line with the Stars L and N, there
is a celebrated variable of a fiery red
color which varies from the fifth to the
tenth magnitude in a period of about
ten months.

^c ^c $z $z ■%

The Precession of the Equinoxes.

This slow change of the equator of
the heavens, which has been referred
to in speaking of Corvus, produces as
the ages go on a great change in the
apparent positions of the constellations
in the sky, but it does not change the
form or appearance of these constella-
tions themselves. It is, in fact, merely
the equator which is slowing moving.
The intersection (V, Figure 1) of this
circle with the apparent path of the
sun among the stars SVT. is slowly
moving westward, completing the cir-
cuit of the heavens in twentv-five
thousand eight hundred years. Thus
in six thousand years it will have
reached Gemini : this constellation will
then lie on both sides of the equator
and will rise in the east and set in the
west, never rising higher in our sky
than Orion does at present. The latter
constellation will then be far below the
equator. To observers north of fiftv
deerees north latitude the Dog Star,
Sirius, will not be seen at all. Six
thousand years later the latter star will
be wholly invisible throughout the
United States and the former star
group, which is now so conspicuous
in our evening heavens, will just rise

iio

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

for a short time in the extreme south,
and from northern latitudes will be
wholly invisible.

In the same way six thousand years
ago the Southern Cross was visible
throughout this country and even
throughout England corresponding re-
gions of the sky now visible were then
wholly invisible. This describes why
the constellations in certain parts of
the sky were not named or described
by the ancients ; they were at that time
so near the South Pole of the heavens
that thev were not visible from north-

the present month to be well observed.
It will not reach its greatest elongation
until April 7.

Venus is now steadily withdrawing
from the sun's rays into the morning
sky. On March 16 it will attain its
greatest brilliancy and will then appear
exactly as bright as it did on last Jan-
uary 5, when it shone so brilliantly in
the evening heavens. By the end of the
month it rises in the southeast fully two
hours before sunrise, though it will not
attain its greatest distance west of the
sun until April 21.

Dawe3 1864- ■

• Green 167?

Lowell 1894- •

Figure 2. These drawings of the same region of Mars, made by observers with different telescopes,
illustrate the difficulty of seeing the faint, uncertain markings except with telescopes of the highest power.

ern latitudes. When the great pyramid
of Cheops was built Alpha Draconis
was our Pole Star, and the central pass-
age of the pyramid (as well as those in
several others) was directed to this
star.

Now our North Star is the rather
faint Polaris, which has the advantage,
however, of being very near the Pole.
In twelve thousand years our North
Star will be the magnificent blue Vega,
and to one accustomed to the nightly
view of the sky the spectacle of the
heavens apparently turning about this
star as a center would at first seem very
peculiar; he would soon recognize,
however, that it is only the direction in
space of the axis about which the earth
is rotating that is changed. The gen-
eral appearance of the heavens would
be unaltered by precession, but what
interesting other changes may be
brought about in the course of twelve
thousand years we cannot at all tell.
*****

The Planets in March.

Mercury enters the evening heavens
on March 12 but it will hardly emerge
sufficiently from the sun's rays during

Mars is in excellent position for ob-
servation being in opposition with the
sun and hence due south at midnight
on March 18 though it does not reach
its least distance from the earth until
three days later. Then it will be but
sixty-one and two-fifths millions of
miles away. Though a view of this
world is rather disappointing in a small
telescope yet when the conditions are
favorable the polar caps and the larger
markings can be clearly seen even with
a small glass. By careful attention the
observer may also see that this world
is turning around, the day on Mars be-
ing but thirty-seven minutes longer
than the day on the earth. The finer
markings and the so-called canals are,
of course, invisible except in the largest
telescopes.

Jupiter and Saturn are still in excel-
lent position for observation, though
by the end of the month the former will
be low in the west. The former is
slowly moving eastward and upward,
the latter westward and downward, in
the positions shown in Figure 1.

Uranus is in the morning sky in the
constellation Aquarius where it is
passed by Venus on April 2, Venus

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

3ii

then being three degrees eighteen min-
utes north of Uranus.

There are few oecultations ol the
brighter stars during the present year
though an interesting passage of our
satellite over the quite bright star at
M, Figure 1, may be witnessed on the
evening of March 9. As seen from
Washington the dark edge of the moon
will overtake and hide the star at 7
hr. 41 min. P. M. (Eastern Standard
Time) and the star will reappear 1 hr.
10 min. later. These times differ much
as one changes his position on the
earth, however, and the only way for
the observer to make the observation
successfully is to note the position of
the moon and star some little time be-
fore the phenomenon is to occur and
estimate as well as he can the moment
of disappearance. The star at M is
described as a crocus-vellow color. It

is an interesting double, having a blu-
ish, eleventh magnitude companion
about eighty seconds away.

The center of the sun will cross the
celestial equator and spring will begin
5 hrs. 26 min. A. M. on March 21. This
day and the preceding night will be of
equal length and at this instant winter
will end.

The stars are blossoming in the sky,
Fair lilies of gold in the fields on high:
But the sun, which opens our earthly

flowers,
Will the star-blooms close in the morning

hours.

— Emma Peirce.

The American Association of Vari-
able Star Observers is now collecting
data on more than three hundred vari-
able stars.

JL

3C

£>om? ICmtp tlir dianal) Sag.

?By Biarolb (Snrbmt IfamkittB, IHpBtfirlii, fHaaBarijuafltB.

Some love the garish day — but I
Prefer the quiet of a darkening sky,
When to their rest have gone the tired birds,
And at the pasture bars full uddered herds
Reflectively await the driver's coming.

And also do I love the dim mysterious wood
When night descends, and a rich melodious flood
Of melody bursts from the thrush's throat
To die away in one sweet, solemn note,

Accompanied by the grouse's thrumming.

Then, is Dame Nature in her sweetest mood,

And tranquil quietude seems to brood

In motherly silence on each wooded height,

And all things are hushed — expectant of the night,

All, but the weird tattoo of a partridge drumming.

K

3E

EDITORIAL

The Brighter Phages of War.

"War is hell." This war in particu-
lar seems to be the most hellish of all.
Its bad features have been so promi-
nently brought to the minds of the
people in its awful horror and devas-
tation that there is no need for us to
dwell on the subject. In the main we
are trying to publish a magazine that
shall be especially valuable at this time
distracting the mind of the reader from
horrible things. It is in this spirit that
attention is invited to some of the good
features of the war, and these mostly
from the nature or the Arcadian point
of view. They are exactly what we have
all the time been preaching and prac-
tising.

To depart from the subject for a
moment by way of illustration, consider
that darkness will not make a photo-
graph. It is the light that changes the
sensitive plate, yet darkness is essen-
tial to good photography, not only in
the dark room, but in the shaded por-
tions of all such pictures. And the
photograph, no matter of how favor-
able a subject, depends upon the black-
ness to bring out its beauty. In re-
gard to this much discussed question
of war, is not the situation much the
same?

From our point of view, among the
brightest things in this war era is the
fact that it has done what the enthus-
iasists in the study of nature in times
of peace were unable to do. For the
last decade or more a few faithful nat-
uralists and teachers have been ursrinsf

1 i •

the cultivation of school gardens as an
important part of an education. By the
majority of the public these earnest
people were regarded as faddists or as
overly enthusiastic. But everybody
now believes not only in school gardens
but in every other kind. There are
many of us faithful workers in garden-
ing, especially as a factor in the child's

education, who can hardly refrain from
exultantly murmuring even if we do
not audibly express it, "I all the time
told you so." Then another company,
faithful yet at times discouraged, have
been clamoring, "Leave the crowded
city with its artificial life and go back
to the farm ; return to the simplicity
of life of the early settlers ; go back to
hard work, earnest endeavor and direct
dealings with old Mother Nature."

Everybody agrees with that, and it
is one of the bright spots brought out
in a beautiful picture by this blackness
of war. There are many of us, and
some have been called cranks, who have
argued for the beneficial results to be
obtained by leaving stuffy homes and
taking to the woods and fields, or that
nature's sanitarium is the best in ex-
istence. Plenty of enthusiasts believe
that a good position for a young man
to assume is not to bend himself like
a bow, to support the sides of build-
ings at street corners, to engage in
frivolous talk and to spit on the side-
walk. That kind of position is not the
best developer of physique and that
kind of talk on the worthless things of
life is not the best mental gymnastics
for the developing of intellectual
strength. We all the time have said.
Go away from the cities ; go into camp ;
take long walks ; get out in the realms
of that beautiful old Sovereign, Mother
Nature.

And now the "I-told-you-so" is visi-
ble in the vastly improved appearance
of all those young men who return
from camp on a furlough. They have
been in the open for only a few weeks,
but they have been transformed by the
magic of outdoor living, blow erect,
how well poised, how graceful they are.
As we look at some of them, we ex-
claim, "Can these be the slouchy, pale,
weak-kneed fellows that some of them
appeared to be before they went into
military training !" It is a curious fact
that peace and prosperity tend to de-
velop hunched shoulders, bow-like

EDITORIAL

3*3

backs, while war makes men erect , fine
in appearance and wholesome to look
at.

Arcadian simplicity means exactly
what the country is now urging that
everybody shall do. Work hard, live
near to nature, and as simply as pos-
sible ; for frivolous expenses and fool-
ish pursuits substitute economy and
hard work faithfully and earnestly per-
formed.

War has also supplied our tables
with better fare. Formerly every one
was regarded as a crank who said, Eat
less meat and more vegetables. We
now say that such a man is a patriot
and shout hurrah for his patriotism.
Many of us with Arcadian instincts
could all the time have told you that.
They who have been preaching and
practising it have been called vegeta-
rians and cranks. It took submarines
and howitzers to blow even a part of
the superfluous meat from our tables.

Hoover did not inflict suffering but
furnished luxuries in his war breads.
We never did believe in the autocracy
of white bread.

The farther we depart from nature
the worse the result always seems to
be. When we refuse whole wheat for
the jejune yet beautiful white bread we
are not heeding nature's call. Now
thanks to the war, we have economical
war bread that, in comparison with the
innutritious plain white bread, is an un-
dreamed of luxury. The mixtures of
Graham, whole wheat, bran, rye, buck-
wheat, corn meal are blessings. They
are bright spots in a picture brought
out by the blackness of war. The world
will never go back to where it was be-
fore the war.

So much for the nature and Arcadian
point of view. The naturalists are de-
lighted by this return to the simple
things of life. We leave to the preach-
ers in the pulpits what is especially
their province, the discussion of our re-
turn to the serious, thoughtful, relig-
ious point of view, to which the hor-
rors of war are bringing us. One of
the best preachers who have pointed
out these good features of the war,
while not a preacher in the common
acceptation of the term, is in reality
one of the best. We refer to Harry
Lauder. Hear his words.

"In the days before the war, young

Englishmen and Frenchmen were
leading gay, careless lives, with hardly
a thought for the morrow or for such
shadowy things as death or a future
life. 'Let us live and be merry' was
the cry then, but now it is all different.
Because when men know that at any
moment a shell may explode in their
midst and blow them to shreds, or that
an order may come during the night
for certain regiments to make ready to
go over the top at dawn, their thoughts
are mostly on their God and on the

life to come all through

the night you see silent, yet calm and
peaceful faces in the dugouts, and,
somehow, the religious atmosphere
makes a definite impression upon you.
So much so that one night an officer
said to me, very quietly :

AVhen I see the men this way, I
sometimes wonder if this war was not
brought about by God as the only
means of making the world think of
Him and His laws more often!'"

The Reverend Oliver Huckel, Pas-
tor Second Congregational Church of
Greenwich, Connecticut, says it is a
blessing to churches. He cites as fol-
lows :

"One striking instance is the united
church services Person-
al preferences and personal conven-
iences have been set aside, and all the
churches have united heartily, loyally
and enthusiastically in these services.
I am sure that this war-measure and
coal-exigency are proving an emphatic
blessing to the churches. It is inaugu-
rating an era of Christian fellowship
from which, I pray God, there will
never be a retreat, even after the Avar.
We have all made mutual concessions,
but we have found how delightful is
this united fellowship in worship and
service. I believe it is a distinct lead-
ing of God, a providential step in the
progress of God's kingdom."

Truly, he who unfolds to us the way
in which God works through the world
of phenomena may well be called the
best of religious teachers. In the study
of the organic world, no less than in
the study of the starry heavens, is it
true that "day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth
knowledge." — John Fiske, "Excursions
of an Evolutionist."

314

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Admiration not for a Part, but for the
Whole.

Here is a modern fable in which 1
am chief actor :

I fell out of a boat ; a friendly hand
pulled me in. I cried to my friend. "All
my life I shall be grateful to that hand."
The friend replied, "Why not to all of
me ?"

I was in straightened financial cir-
cumstances. I had not ten cents with
which to buy a sandwich ; the gnawing
pains of hunger made me sick. A
friend handed me a half-dollar and said,
"Go, eat." I grabbed his pocketbook
and exclaimed, "O pocketbook, all my
life I shall be loyal to you in deepest
gratitude." The friend, pained, said.
"Why does he not take me as well as
my pocketbook into consideration?"

I was engaged in a tangled quarrel
with one who had been my friend. I
consulted a lawyer; the wise man pa-
tiently heard my story, and in a few
words told me what to do. In my depth
of gratitude I exclaimed, "O wise
mouth, I shall always admire you for
the words that have come from you."
The lawyer said, "What a peculiar
man! He does not take me into con-
sideration."

I was lame and decrepit ; a youth of-
fered to do an errand for me. When
he returned I thus adored him : "O you
legs that have so swiftly brought me
what I needed, I shall always hold you
in the highest appreciation." The
youth, with wondering eyes, spoke his
thoughts, "Why does this man limit
his appreciation to my legs?"

But perhaps the more astonishing
fact is that the gratitude was soon for-
gotten. The helping hand, the gener-
ous pocketbook, the wise mouth, the
nimble legs were soon out of mind. O
gratitude, how limited you are not only
in time but in extent.

You, you, reader, man, woman, child,
you are as foolish as I was for in these
recent strenuous times you have said
of old Mother Nature as a whole, "O
how I appreciate her coal fields, her
wheat fields, her potato patch. O
Mother Nature, you have warmed me
from your storage in the ground, and
to those mines I shall ever be grateful.
You have fed me from the fields, and
to those fields my heart will always be

bound with the strongest ties of appre-
ciation." Does it require the ear of
imagination to hear old Mother Nature
say to each one of her children, "You
have learned only a part of the lesson
of the war. You are grateful, yet for
only a part of my bounties to you.
You will come into your full heritage
of appreciation and gratitude when you
learn to love me as a whole, and desire
to know me better. Thus far you have
learned to see me only in part."

Photographing Lenses Wanted.

Early in the war, The Guide to Na-
ture called attention to a well-organ-
ized movement in Great Britain to lend
to the government for use in the army
various sorts of field glasses, telescopes
and other optical instruments, the prop-
erty of individuals. Something of the
same enterprise is now under way in
this country. The pressing need, just
at present, is for camera lenses to equip
the observation airplanes of the new
fleet. In particular, the government
desires to buy the following :

Zeiss, Tessar anastigmat, working
aperture F. 3.5 of 4.5.

Bausch and Lomb, Tessar, F. 4.5 ;

Voigtlander Heliar anastigmat, F.

4-5-

The focal lengths of all these should
lie between 8-*4 and 20 inches.

Persons having any of these lenses
which they are willing to sell, should
send price and description to the Pho-
tographic Division of the Signal Corps,
U. S. A., Mills Building Annex, Wash-

ington.

Snowdrops.

Out of the snow, into the glow
Of the quickening, vernal sun ;

These fragile blooms from nature's looms,
Whisper that spring has begun.

— Emma Peirce.

The Greater Untold Problem.

In the present coal situation we wish
to bring to the surface one of the most
important factors of the problem ap-
parently lost sight of so far as common
talk and newspaper articles are con-
cerned. Everybody nowadays says,
"Where can we get the coal?" Appar-
ently we are the only ones who raise
our voice to ask, "Where on earth shall
we get the money to pay for it?"

rORRESPONDENCE

~^ and Information

^

r

A Burning Question.

Sound Beach, Connecticut.
Dr. Frederick H. Getman,
Stamford, Connecticut.
Mr. Dear Dr. Getman :

Will you kindly inform me for pub-
lication in regard to the chemical action
involved in the production of charcoal.
I have become much interested in the
subject since we began to use in the
office an air-tight, wood burning stove
for coal saving. I had not seen one of
these stoves since I was a boy, and it
brings back the memories of those
days and how I wondered even then at
the action of an air-tight stove. We
can put in heavy wood and a fierce fire
follows if the draft is left on. but if it
is closed entirely the wood is converted
into charcoal, and on opening the door
we sometimes find almost a peck of the
live coal which flames up as soon as air
is brought to bear upon it.

I recall as a boy spending much time
with the woodchoppers and coalpit
burners. I remember that they made a
huge, semispherical pile of wood, cover-
ed it with earth and lit a fire in one end.
Gradually the fire worked through the
entire pile and converted it into char-
coal. I remembered being puzzled by
the expression, "We must look out that
it does not get on fire," when the fire
was even then working all through it.
Men stamped down the turf and kept it
tight as the pile settled.

I recall that I was informed at one
time when I was in Pennsylvania that
a coal mine there had been on fire for
many years and apparently was burn-
ing without the admission of air. What
is the action in these cases? If the
mine burns and the charcoal is pro-
duced without air or with a very limit-
ed supply, what is the difference in the
combustion that produces ashes and
that that makes charcoal ?
Yours very truly,

Edward F. Bigeeow.

Wood Charcoal.

FREDERICK II • GETMAN, PH.D., E. C. S.,
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

Wood charcoal is made by burning
wood in pits or kilns with a limited
supply of air, or by heating wood in
closed retorts.

The process of charcoal burning may
be illustrated by the following simple
experiment. Place a few small pieces
of wood in a crucible and cover with
sand to protect the wood from the air ;
heat the crucible until all combustible
gases cease to be evolved. On cool-
ing the crucible and removing the pro-
tecting layer of sand, the wood will be
found to have undergone complete
transformation into charcoal with con-
comitant shrinkage in volume.

It is to be noted that charcoal is
here produced without access of air —
the layer of sand completely or almost
completely excluding any atmospheric
action. From this we see that char-
coal is produced from wood by the
action of heat without undergoing com-
bustion.

The process involved in the produc-
tion of charcoal is known as "destruc-
tive distillation." In general, this term
refers to all cases of chemical decom-
position produced by the action of heat
in the absence of air. The substances
which are ordinarily subjected to des-
tructive distillation are of organic ori-
gin and hence the end-product con-
sists largely of carbon. For this reason
the process of destructive distillation
is often designated as "carbonization.'"

When wood is heated in the air it
"takes fire" and burns to ash. When
charcoal is heated in the air it also ig-
nites and burns to ash, but charcoal is
not an intermediate product in the
combustion of wood. Charcoal is the
residue from the destructive distilla-
tion of wood and absolutely no air or
oxygen is essential to its production —
in fact the more air there is present
the smaller the yield of charcoal will be.

3t6

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

The production of charcoal does not
involve any specific act of combina-
tion as does the combustion of wood.
On the other hand it involves a series
of decompositions of the complex or-
ganic compounds which compose the
wood brought about by heat in the
absence of air. The end product of
these decompositions is charcoal. The
heat energy supplied to the wood is
used up in bringing about the decom-
position of the wood and in the for-
mation of the various volatile products.

The primitive method of making
charcoal was to pile small logs or bil-
lets of wood into beehive-shaped heaps,
leaving a shaft in the middle of the pile
to serve as a flue and providing several
small holes at the base to admit air.
The pile was then covered with turf
to prevent free access of air, and a .-mall
fire of brushwood was lighted in the
center of the heap, the air supply being
regulated so that combustion progres-
sed very slowly. During the burning,
the volatile products escaped and in
about a fortnight the fire died out leav-
ing a mass of charcoal. This process
is very wasteful, between eighty and
ninety per cent, of the wood being lost
by combustion to say nothing of the
loss of many valuable volatile by-pro-
ducts.

This crude method of charcoal burn-
ing, while still followed in many parts
of the world, has been supplanted by
more improved methods in which more
efficient carbonization is secured and
the by-products are conserved. By
heating the wood in iron retorts with-
out access of air, a true destructive dis-
tillation results. The gaseous products
are conducted through appropriate
condensing appliances to remove the
liquid by-products, while the non-con-
densible gases are led back to the fire-
box t > be burned as fuel in the distil-
lation of more wood. When carboni-
zation is complete, the reports must be
allowed to cool before opening; othei-
wise the charcoal would ignite on ex-
posure to the air. When wood ;,^ heated
in a closed retort the first product to
be given off is steam. On further heat-
ing, various organic compounds are
formed such as acetic acid (the acid
contained in vinegar), methyl alcohol
(wood alcohol), acetone, furfural and
wood tar.

From the distillation of one hundred

pounds of hard wood, such as maple or
oak, there are obtained approximately
thirty pounds of charcoal, fifty pounds
of liquid products and twenty pounds
of gaseous products.

When resinous woods are destruc-
tively distilled, volatile oils, such as
turpentine, are carried over with the
steam and collect on the surface of the
distillate or else form a homogeneous
solution with the woodtar.

Wood distillation has developed rap-
idly in this country, there being at the
present time over one hundred such
plants producing annually charcoal and
by products valued at approximately
$10,000,000.

Cloudland.

How wonderful the cloudland,
Its drifting, changing forms !

Now ominous and threatening,
The kind that presage storms:

Now delicate and fleecy,

As feathery fine as lace,
A veil of cobweb texture,

Drawn o'er the sky's fair face.

Those heaped-up, billowy masses,

The "cumuli" in form,
Make continents and islands,

When days are bright and warm:

Strange shapes therein are sculptured,

Of turrets, faces, gnomes;
And often things fantastic,

Not found in any tomes.

The "cirri," high above them,

Those silvery films of ice,
Gleam cold as distant snow-peaks,

For cooling draught suffice.

"Mare's tails and mackerel scales"

Bear menace in their look;
Their message and their meaning

We read, an open book.

■ — Emma Peirce.

Two people of Bellingham Center
have formed the habit of borrowing
The Guide to Nature and hunting in
the woods for the things it describes'.
One lady says, "I have never taken so
much comfort in my life before with a
magazine. Everything in it is told so
sweetly and so simply." You people
at ArcAdiA must have discourage-
ments enough to meet and like to know
when people enjoy the magazine. — Ed-
na S. Knapp, Caryville, Massachusetts.

<««««««c«gc«<«<ggcggg«cc««g««««««c<ccccc«cc<ecc^

AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION'

W<<&<<&&&^

Es!ab1Mu.l 1ST

Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1892 Incorporated. Connecticut. 1910

.-= a -a^SM",-. .*»«.

IN MEMORIAM.

HONORABLE ZENAS CRANE

DALTON. MASSACHUSETTS

BORN DECEMBER 8. 1840
DIED DECEMBER 17. 1917

In the death of the Honorable Zenas
Crane, The Agassiz Association has
lost one of its best friends and liberal
supporters. He was an Incorporator
from the first incorporation in Pitts-
field, Massachusetts, in 1892, to Decem-
ber 15, 1908, when the headquarters
were changed to Stamford (later to
Sound Beach), Connecticut, and the
present Board of Trustees was orga-
nized— later incorporated in Connecti-
cut in 1910.

Zenas Crane received at W'illiston
and elsewhere a thorough business
education. In 1865 he rented the Bay
State Mill and operated it until May
15, 1877, when it was destroyed by fire.
Upon its site was immediately erected
a larger mill by the new firm of Zenas
Crane, Jr. & Brother, the junior part-
ner being Winthrop Murray Crane.

Mr. Crane served as a member of the
Executive Council during the adminis-
tration of Governor Robinson in T884-
1887. He was the senior director of the
Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany, a director of the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad, St. Paul and
Omaha Railroad, Boston and Albany
Railroad and the Pittsfield National
Bank.

He gave the Museum in Pittsfield
known as the Berkshire Museum of
Natural History ; also the Boys' Club
in Pittsfield erected in 1906.

Mr. Crane married Ellen J., daugh-

ter of Charles J. and Frances Kitt-
redge of Hinsdale. Those who survive
him include Mrs. Crane ; a daughter,
Airs. Samuel G. Colt of Pittsfield ; two
sons, Z. Marshall Crane of Dalton and
Charles K. Crane who is now in Paris
engaged in war work ; three sisters,
Mrs. George T. Plunkett of Hinsdale,
Miss Clara L. Crane and Mrs. Harry
O. Bates of Dalton, and one brother,
Winthrop Murray Crane, former Gov-
ernor and United States Senator.

In all ways Mr. Crane was a helpful
citizen, a painstaking trustee of the
wealth that became his and a factor in
the local life always to be counted up-
on. His kindly personality will be
missed beyond the Berkshire environ-
ment. He gave money to Williams
College, and in other well considered
ways that included the country and
causes which took in the welfare of the
world. For some time back Mr.
Crane's activities had been restricted
because of limitations which years and
failing health had put upon him. His
was a good life, representing substan-
tial usefulness to his fellow men, and
so he will be remembered and honored.

Mr. Crane was greatly interested in
the study of nature. He sent us a lib-
eral check frequently. His last contri-
bution was received the week before
his death. We have lost one of our
very best friends.

[8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Appreciation of the Agassiz Method.

East Orange, New Jersey.
To the Editor:

In reading through the pamphlet on
The Agassiz Association, I was very
much struck with the picture of the
Professor at the blackboard with a
piece of chalk in his hand. After my

AGASSIZ AS A TEACHER.

graduation in medicine I spent a most
delightful season in Cambridge at the
Museum of Zoology, the pet scheme
of Agassiz, then run by his successors
upon the plan set down by the founder.
One of the most interesting and lik-
able men I met there was Count de
Pourtales, who showed me particular
attention in a thousand ways, embody-
ing in all his teachings the simplicity
of his master whom he followed from
France. The methods of teaching were
entirely new to me, contrasting strange-
ly with accustomed book study. My
Waterloo surely stared me in the face
when the Count placed a starfish in front
of me, a notebook and pencil, with the
remark, "Write down what you see!"
For one whole morning I did not see
anything but blankness, but gradually it
dawned upon me what they wanted, and
I must say that the old notebook, crude
as it was, is the most cherished posses-

sion I have, for it always awakens mem-
ories of those most delightful days
when I was taught to see.

I lived in the atmosphere that seemed
to be a part of Agassiz's exhaustless
spirit, and the exponent of that spirit in
a large degree was Count de Pourtales.

It would be impossible for me to recall
any incidents that could be fixed upon as
carrying out the idea formulated by Ag-
assiz, but the whole general tone of the
school was that of seeing for yourself.
It was plodding work, not very much
accomplished each day, but the constant
effort to do something yourself really
brought results eventually.

This incident has no public interest,
but I clearly remember dissecting an
alcoholic specimen of a Brazilian fish
one warm morning, when Alexander
Agassiz came through the laboratory
accompanied by Dom Pedro, the then
Emperor. I can find no reason why
he should have stopped at my table
and asked what I was doing, but he
did, and I had the pleasure of telling
him that I was studying one of his own
country's fishes, which seemed to
please him mightily, for he continued
to ask me questions, some of which I
could answer, others I "let go by the
board."

There was great informality in every-
thing done in the school, no rigid rules
for conduct, but nevertheless there was
apparently an unwritten code that
kept the room in a quiet state that made
for study and contemplation. For it
did seem as though at times one's
thoughts were looking through and
away beyond the specimen under study,
speculating upon many and wondrous
things suggested by the subject.

This I apprehend was what the
master was looking for, to see if he
could instill that spirit of the imagi-
nation that could carry you back, as
well as forward, into the mysteries of
creation. You are aware of the antag-
onism Agassiz's views created among
the adherents of the evolution theory,
but I apprehend today, with all the
so-called light science can bring, that
neither side can be proven entirely
wrong. I am quite sure that evolution
cannot prove everything.

I would like to refer to one particu-
lar faculty possessed by Louis Agassiz
which was highly developed, that was

THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

3'9

his ability to draw with both hands,
and simultaneously. This feat I have
seen performed repeatedly in his pub-
lic lectures in New York and Brook-
lyn, before my course at Cambridge.
It was always a surprising-, and a some-

main idea in the Agassiz movement, to
instill a growing and a continuing in-
terest in things about you.

Morgan YYillcox Avrks.

AGASSIZ AND COUNT DE POURTALES.

what speculative attitude on the part
of the audience, as to whether both
pieces of chalk were coming out right
in the end, but when he started in at
the head of a fish, there was no uncer-
tainty when both hands ended at the
tail!'

I have only seen two other public
men who could do that feat. Water-
house Hawkins of London, and John
C. Dalton, Professor of Physiology in
Columbia. From the fact that this
thing could be done, it has always
seemed to me that any child that
showed a tendency toward being left-
handed should be encouraged in the
use of that hand, while the right one
was being cultivated at the same time.
The contrary course is too often fol-
lowed in utterly ignoring this ten-
dency, depriving the adult of an ex-
tremely useful and practical addendum
to his outfit.

I am sorry that I cannot add more
to what I have already said, but my ap-
prenticeship was a long while ago, but
one thing I can say — that what little T
learned in my brief sojourn in Cam-
bridge has always been a stimulus to
learn more, and this I apprehend is the

Good Words for Our Work.

by g. stanley hall, ph-d., ll.d., in
"youth, its education, regimen and
hygiene/'

"The Agassiz Association, founded
in 1875 'to encourage personal work in
natural science,' now numbers some
twenty-five thousand members with
Chapters distributed all over the coun-
try, and was said by the late Professor
Hyatt to include 'the largest number
of persons ever bound together for the
purpose of mutual help in the study of
nature.' It furnishes practical courses
of study in the sciences ; has local
Chapters in thousands of towns and
cities in this and other countries ;. pub-
lishes a monthly organ, 'The Swiss
Cross,'* to facilitate correspondence
and exchange specimens ; has a small
endowment, a badge, is incorporated,
and is animated by a spirit akin to that
of University Extension ; and, although
not exclusively for young people, is
chiefly sustained by them."

*Later succeeded by The Guide to
Nature.

Our Ernest Thompson Seton Chapter.

Officers : President, Carol Marmon ;
Vice-President, Cecile Dudley ; Record-
ing and Corresponding Secretary,
Charlotte Driggs ; Treasurer, Monroe
O'Flynn ; Curator of Collections, Wil-
liam Hoisington. Number of mem-
bers, twenty.

In the year 1916 we organized an
Ernest Thompson Seton Chapter of
The Agassiz Association. It was quite
successful and all Wabanaki took an
interest in it. So this year it was con-
tinued with new officers elected.

We have decided to use as a meet-
ing place Casa Penikese, a small cabin
which is really an ideal spot quite a
distance away from the Mesa (the
main building) with a fireplace and
long rows of shelves on which the cura-
tor can arrange our nature specimens.

We are to hold regular meetings
once a month but go on observing out-
ings at least once a week, usually on
Wednesdays. We have lectures, some
with lantern slides. Sometimes we

320

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

THE SKATERS IN FRONT OF ARCADIA.

talk about the stars and on our visits
to ArcAdiA, at Sound Beach, we look
through a telescope and see mountains
and craters and plains on the moon.
We also see planets and double stars.

Caroe Marmon, President.

Charlotte Driggs, Secretary.

The museum at the University of
Pennsylvania has been exhibiting a
new collection of South American pot-
tery, the work of a long extinct race of
which not even the tradition remains.
Among other features are immense
funeral jars in which two entire human
bodies could be seated side by side.

The United States Bureau of Fish-
eries is just beginning systematic and
detailed work on the edible clams of
the Pacific coast. Little is yet known
of their life history ; but there seem
to be great possibilities of a cheap food
supply.

ArcAdiA at Several Ages.

The found of the seasons brings an

ever changing series of panoramic

views at ArcAdiA, represented by the

climes and ages of the year. In our

January number we showed the snow
age. Just previously to that we could
readily have shown, as was explained
in the article, the gondola age when all
our buildings, paths and fields present-
ed a fairly good picture of Venice. It
is no exaggeration to say that one
could have gone all over Nymphalia
and parts of our garden in a flat-bot-
tomed boat. Then came a long, dry,
cold snap and the glacial age was rep-
resented, much to the delight of the
young people who found the skating
on the Maher premises in front of Ar-
cAdiA, and also in Nymphalia, our
nature study park, entirely satisfactory,
as is shown in the accompanying illus-
tration.

Please remember this educational uplifting work in making your wfll.

3Form of Hrqunst tn tljr AaHnriattnn

/ hereby give and bequeath to 7 he Agassi? Association, an incorporated,
association, having its principal executive office at A"rcAdiA, in Sound Beach,
in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, the sum of dollars

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

XI

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If your dealer can't supply, do not accept a substitute, but
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A postal brings 144-page book of mattresses, springs,
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who love the beautiful in nature.
These shells are of the most dainty
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All are in perfect order, scientifi-
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those who love such.

Forest Conservation on Big Scale!

"I venture to assert," said the lectur-
er, "that there isn't a man in this audi-
ence who has ever done anything to
prevent the destruction of our forests."

A modest-looking man in the back of
the hall stood up.

"I — er — I've shot woodpeckers," he
said. — Boston Transcript.

In nature's changes through the year,

Enchantments never cease;
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace.

— Emma Peirce.

XII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

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WALTER J. FITZPATRICK. Box L, 182 5th Street, San Francisco, Cal.

Managing Editor

Published Monthly hy THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION
AucAdiA. SOUND BEACH, CONN.

Sub»criPtion,*l.00 a Year; Sjngje Copy, 10 cents

ID1

GREENWICH

mmran
£ LUXE

THE EDIT HON

OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

You Can't Lose

Make a list of your papers of value,
jewelry, etc., that you have scattered
about your home. Figure out what
it would cost to restore them. Could
they be replaced at any price? To one
side of this figure put the premium on
burglar insurance to cover this
amount. On the other side place the
amount of the rental charge for our

Safe Deposit Boxes.

Burglar insurance doesn't cover your

entire loss, for such a loss cannot

be computed in dollars and cents.

A SAFE DEPOSIT BOX
Means you cannot lose.

THE

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has good transportation facilities to
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good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction.

I have for Sale

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Residences, Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number of selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent
in all locations.

Would be pleased to have too call or write.

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THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

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Every householder is interested in the question of con-
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women who have signed the pledge. For such use, it
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VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

F. Beehler, Retiring.

We have lost an advertisement — that
of Beehler, Stamford. His patriotism
shown in sending his sons out of his
business to war, together with not the
best of health, make it necessary for
him to close the business. Mr. Beeh-
ler was a regular advertiser in The
Guide to Nature for many years, and
highly appreciative of this magazine
as a local advertising medium, and of
ArcAdiA as a community center. We
have always felt that he had for us a
personal bond of interest and that his
heart was with us in our great work.

We can but reciprocate this kindly
good will and give expression to what
everybody in Stamford and vicinity
knows, that Mr. Beehler has conducted
a first-class business in men's furnish-
ing goods and in a manner highly
creditable to himself and satisfactory
to his customers. Personally he has
been popular with a large number of
men who regard him as a royal good
fellow and highly appreciate his social
qualities and his ability to entertain a
company. His oratorical and recitative
accomplishments are better than those
of the average amateur and, had he
not been so successful as a business
man, he would perhaps have turned
his attention to the cultivation of his
next best talent— that of public enter-
taining. The ability to entertain
seems not so much to "depend upon tal-
ent as on royal genuine good will to-
ward an assemblage of people. We
take great pleasure in extending to
Mr. Beehler the personal and hearty
good will of the editor of this magazine
and of every one who has assisted in
the development and efficiency of The
Agassiz Association.

Where to Begin to Win This War.

In the national crisis there are just
two points :

i. We must win this war.
2. We are going to win it !

Had a letter from Horace W. Graves
at Camp Funston the other day. He
says that the boys are all right, all
right, thank you, and gives the laconic
advice not to worry about the "poor
soldier" but take care of the people at
home. Now that is good philosophy.
The soldiers can be trusted to do their
duty. It's up to us at home.

Have had several letters from Uncle
Sam down at Washington. He says,
"Food will win this war." Aye, there's
where it's up to us. We've got to get
more food. We must tickle the earth
with hoe and plough and a lot of other
agricultural tools till Old Mother Na-
ture laughs with a harvest.

Of course everybody who reads this
magazine knows that the place to get
agricultural implements is at The
Lockwood & Palmer Co.'s big store,
where everybody goes to begin to win
this war by solving the more food prob-
lem.

GREENWICH INN

SOUND BEACH. CONN.

On the Water, 50 Minutes from N.Y.

Open lune to October. Accom-
modates 200. Frequent trains. Golf.
Tennis. Bathing. Boating, Garage.
Fxcellent orchestra. Fresh vege-
tables from our own farm.

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

Volume X

APRIL, 1918

Number 11

How Honeybees Produce Honeycomb.

By Edward F. Bigelow, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut.

j CONTINUED FROM THE FEBRUARY NUMBER.]

Unanimous Support of the Thesis by Eminent Natural Scientists.

SOME of our readers have re-
marked, intending to be compli-
mentary as to the thesis, that the
demonstration is so plain that they do
not see any reason why anybody
should think anything else, and conse-
quently they do not see any excuse foi
using fourteen pages of the February
number to prove an evident fact. From
my point of view the thesis is so con
vincmg that these criticisms of wasted
space are well founded.

In this number we publish the un

Some one has defined commerce as
the taking of goods from a place where
there is a supply to a place where there
is none. I have for a long time known
that the leading laboratories of the
land are in accord with what I call my
thesis, though I distinctly assert that
I claim no originality except in the
method of demonstration. Several
years ago I began to tell some beekeep-
ers that natural scientists do not agree
with them. The beekeepers maintained
that they are right and the natural

qualified support of many prominent scientists wrong. My purpose in using

so much space for the text and illus-
trations was not only to carry know-
ledge from where it exists to where it
does not but to carry it in a convincing
manner. I believe this to be the proper
work of Hie Agassiz Association, that
clearing house of information. I have
never desired to make original discov-
eries except in methods of popular ex-
ploitation. The .original publication
and the following letters from the
ablest scientists of this country should
forever establish the fact that the hexa-
gons of honeybees are the outcome of

scientists. They fully sustain the the-
sis.

But it is necessary to settle this
question everlastingly and authorita-
tively. I am not publishing the letters
of some who disagree with the theory
especially of prominent scientists thai
frankly and surprisingly admit that
they do not know. Several of our in-
fluential textbooks and, as mentioned
in the previous number, some of oui
leading bee journals insist on the act-
ual "intentional" hexagonal construc-
tion.

Copyright 1918 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn.

322

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

strictly physical laws and not the re-
sult of blind instinct nor of any bio-
logical "intent" and still less of any-
thing in any way approaching an intel-
ligence almost superior to human intel-
ligence.

My Thesis and the Darwinian Theory.

In my article on "How Honeybees
Produce Honeycomb," page 256 of our
number for February, I made this
statement in regard to the bees : " They
never yet have been able to make a
hexagon nor to learn how to make one,
Darwin and a host of minor lights
chiefly the utilitarian beekeepers, to
the contrary notwithstanding."

I did not mean to imply that I dis-
agree wholly with Darwin and with
the utilitarian beekeepers for on some
phases of the discussion I am in per-
fect agreement with them. In develop-
ing the demonstration I could not ex-
plain all points of view, but several
scientific friends who cordially sup-
port my thesis say that Darwin held a
similar opinion and that I am in accord
with him. One learned professor says
that I do injustice to Darwin when I
imply that there is any disagreement.

Darwin was a careful observer, and
was nearly always correct in his ob-
servations and in the statement of
facts, but not all of us will agree with
all his deductions. He was so intent up-
on strengthening his thesis of the strug-
gle for existence, natural selection, sur-
vival of the fittest, etc., that he used
some facts as a part of his philosophy
that in my opinion do not belong there.
The very fact that in his "The Origin
of Species" he devoted space to the
subject of comb building shows that
he regarded it as part of his theory of
evolution. Many aspects of honeybees
and perhaps even of comb building!
rightly belong in a philosophy of evo-
lution but the structure of the hexa-
gons does not. I quote from him :

"By such modifications of instincts
which in themselves are not very won-
derful,— hardly more wonderful than
those which guide a bird to make its
nest, — I believe that the hive-bee has
acquired, through natural selection, her
inimitable architectural powers."

"That individual swarm which thus
made the best cells with least labour

and least waste of honey in the secre-
tion of wax, having succeeded best, and
having transmitted their newly-ac-
quired economical instincts to new
swarms, which in their turn will have
had the best chance of succeeding in
the struggle for existence."

Aye, there's the rub. "Has acquired
.... her inimitable architectural pow-
ers," and "newly-acquired economical
instincts." On the structure of the
hexagons I agree as perfectly with Dar-
win as I would in a discussion of hex-
agonal soap bubbles, but I deny that
there have been any acquired instincts,
etc. Whenever hexagons were pro-
duced as a result of the honeybees
working in wax, they were solely the
result of physical laws as perfectly as
they are now and for the same reason.

Let me illustrate by a partly imigi-
nary story. I was taking a company
of pupils on an inspection tour through
an insane asylum and its grounds. As
we were walking in a picturesque
place, an attendant called my attention
to an old man sitting in the shade of
a tree with a basket of balls that he was
tossing one after another in the air.
Said the attendant, "I think you will
find his answer interesting if you ask
him what he is doing."

"Yes, sir," the old man said, "I am
quite an expert in making these balls
come down to the ground. When I
was a young boy I began to throw
balls into the air; they did not come
down very well, but I have practised
at this all my life, and now," as he tos-
sed another, "you see I have acquired
an instinct. I possess inimitable gravi-
tational powers so that after these long
decades of practise I can bring them
down in a perfect manner."

In the building was another aged
person with a clay pipe and soapy
water engaged in blowing a pile of bub-
bles on a plate. Said the attendant.
"That man thinks he is a geometric
artist."

"Yes, sir,' he replied, "I am a skilled
man because I have all my life practised
blowing bubbles. I began when I was
a boy and obtained inferior hexagonal
results within the pile, but there is
nothing like keeping at it. I have
practiced all my life and," to illustrate
his argument he dipped his pipe in the
suds, "now, you see, I have acquired

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB 323

new soap bubble instincts that give As a matter of fact in my lectures to

me, sir, the title of geometrical, hexa- my classes I have always held to that

gonal artist. You will be surprised to opinion and have tried to demonstrate

learn that my first soap bubbles were experimentally the fact that such forms

like the cells of a bumblebee, but I have cannot be formed in any other way

gradually worked through the various than by pressure. The distribution of

stages. It took me decades and de- pressure in the fluid content would in-

cades but I have at last come to artistic evitably result in the circular outline

perfection." of the bounding walls unless they were

There is no doubt but that gravita- absolutely rigid. The evidence given

tion, not skill, brought the balls to the by the free cells in the comb seems to

ground, and that pressure made beau- me to be sufficient justification for this

tiful angles within the pile of bubbles, opinion.

That is the way in which I feel I congratulate you, however, on hav-
about Darwin's claim as a part of his ing worked out the thesis in such corn-
evolutionary theory that honeybees plete detail and in having massed the
have learned how to make hexagons, arguments in favor of it in such a cora-
The honeybee, instead of learning plete and convincing fashion. From
could not from the very first have my point of view you are absolutely
avoided making hexagons, when she correct.
rubs off rough wax and scrapes the in-
terior of her rising cylindrical pile of a nothing left to be said on the other
series of circles of wax. side.

Stanford University, California: David

cannot add or state the case better. Starr Jordan, Chancellor.

Yale University, Osborn Zoological I do not think that you have left any

Laboratory, New Haven, Connecti- opportunity for anything to be said on

cut: Alexander Petrunkevitch, Pro- the other side. Bees make hexagons

fessor of Zoology, Sheffield Scientific because being round animals working

School. close together, they cannot make any-

I have carefully read your article, and tmn§" but cylinders, and cylinders be-

find that I cannot add anything to it, c?me hexagons where they lie side by

nor state the case better. There can be Slde-

no question whatever as to the truth *****

of your statement that the hexagons "1 AGREE with you/'

are the outcome of physical forces. In Harvard University, Bussey Institution

former years I have worked a great for Research in Applied Biology,
deal on bees and have noticed the ir- Forest Hills, Boston, Massachusetts :
regularity of the cells to which you call Economic Entomology, Professor
attention and which is apparent even tc W M> wheeler Dean
a casual observer. There is no more in-
tention in the hexagon construction of In reg"ard to your paper on the hon-
the bee cell than in the spiral curve of eybee l would say that I agree with
a snail or the radial structure of a ^ou tnat#the fundamental shape of the
starfish. bee ce^ is circular in cross section. I
***** believe the paper making wasps show
"you are absolutely correct" tne transition from circular to hexa-
Purdue University, Lafayette, Indi- ?onalcells m«ch better than the bees.

ana : School of Science, Stanley Coul- The ?rSt cdI formf d ^ the ™other 1S

ter, Dean. circular as are also the cells built

' " around it, until they are carried up

1 think that you prove your thesis high enough to interfere with the

beyond _ the possibility of successful other cells when the outlines become

contradiction. I have for a long time hexagonal. This is beautifully seen

been perfectly convinced that the hex- in any of the combs of any of our pa-

agonal shape of the honeybee cells was per wasp nests and has been carefully

due to pressure and not to any opera- worked out by Janet in his papers on

tive intelligence on the part of the bee. the European wasps

3-?4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

literai.lv CHECKED up HIS APPRECIATION
0E A "MUCH NEEDED SCIENTIFIC JOB-

Doctor George M. Gould, Atlantic City
New Jersey. Author of a long list ot
scientific books.

I am so delighted with your admir-
able article on honeycomb that 1 am
sending von a little cheque Lor ? 10.00
subscription account. The Guide to Na-
ture You have done a much needed
scientific job! It is strange that alter
the long and numerous studies ot the
bee you have outdone all the students
in solving the riddle. 1 have long had
a suspicion that something was wrong

with the hexagonal theory.
*****

"l SEE NO REASON TO DOUBT YOUR CON-
CLUSIONS."

University of Pennsylvania, Philadel-
phia, Zoological Laboratory : Profes-
sor C. E. McClung. Zoologist.

It seems to me that your account is
very plausible and reasonable. Upon
theoretical grounds T see no reason to
doubt your conclusions. The work of
your Association would seem to be of a
character to do much good for general
biology in this country and I wish you
much success. I hope the time will
come when such agencies as yours re-
ceive the practical encouragement due
them. You noted no doubt the place
assigned science in the program of the
Labor Party of England. It was most
encouraging to find the appreciation
of the fundamental position of science

in human affairs.

*****

"PROVE YOUR POSTULATE .... BEYOND
QUESTION."

The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
Sciences, Department of Education
Professor John J. Schoonhoven, De
partment of Zoology.

Permit me to express my apprecia-
tion of your interesting and illumina-
ting article on the honeybee in Thj
Guide to Nature. Your investigations
seem to me to prove your postulate ir
regard to the formation of bee cells be
vond question. You have done a dis-
tinct service for students by these stud-
ies and investigations. Too often
traditional knowledge goes unchalleng-
ed especially concerning matters of

everyday experience and no one think?
of subjecting them to the acid test o,

science as you have done.

*****

"yOUR ARTICLE SEEMS TO MAKE IT CLEAR."

State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Mich-
igan: F. R. Gorton, Professor of
Physics.

I have read your article on comb
building with a great deal of interest.
It is my feeling that we are apt to give
animals and insects credit for much
sagacity and highly developed instincts
where it is not merited. In fact a be-
ing of a superlative order might offer
certain operations of the human race as
evidence of marked genius in cases
where man has simply followed physi-
cal laws.

I have the greatest admiration for
the honeybee which has been a source
of amusement as well as amazement
for many years. Its so-called instincts
are remarkable and afford many points
of vantage of which we can make use
in the handling of a colony. Neverthe-
less, it is for the scientist to discover
if possible what are actually instincts
and what are purely physical opera-
tions. I think your thesis is correct in
the main, but f should like to present
an additional fact or two which seem
to bear upon the subject somewhat vi-
tally.

Your article seems to make it clear
as to the spacing of cells when started
on plain foundation, and it is also
plain that if the cell walls are to be
worked thin by pressing and scraping"
they will be worked out to rather sharp
ansfles which will be more or less roun-
ded out as the bees leave much or little
wax in the finishing process. Eurther,
cells might be three, four, five, six, or
more sided if it were not for two physi-
cal facts (1) the cell must be symmet-
rical from the fact that it is measured,
worked, and fitted around the body of
the bee, and (2) it must include an
angle which is contained in 360 degrees,
or at least nearly so. Three and four-
sided cells satisfy the second condition
perfectly, but conform too poorly to
the shape of a bee's body. In brief, the
six-sided figure is the only flat-sided
symmetrical cell which does fulfill both
conditions. It is not that the bee knows
how to make the hexagonal cell, but be

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

325

cause she can build no other with the
building" processes at her command
when it comes to grouping- cells side by
side with their openings even. Freak
cells arise when abnormal conditions
are forced upon the insect, as at the
edge of the comb, drone cells, queen
cells, etc. The most remarkable thing
about the honeybee, to my mind, is not
its ability to build a comb of wonderful
beauty and symmetry, but in the unex-
celled equipment which Nature has

detract from the feasible character of
the theory.

SgE 3|C 3jC 3|C SfC

"my personal opinion that you are
essentially correct."

The University of Texas, Austin: Pro-
fessor D. B. Casteel, School of Zoo-
logy. Author of "The Manipulation
of the Wax Scales of the Honeybee."

For the last few years I have been
engaged in another line of research, so
do not feel entirely competent to give

given so small a body to produce and you an opinion upon your thesis. How-

care for half a dozen entirely different
products, with perfect precision select-
ing each for its best use. Can these
capacities be as well explained as can
the process of cell building?

"\ most certainly agree with your
view."

Garrett P. Serviss, Closten New Jer-
sey: Well-known, skilled writer of
popular science articles.

I most certainly agree with your
view that the bee, like other construct-
ing insects, works on the basis of a
circle, turning around her own center
of gravity as a sort of fulcrum. Dar-
win, as I remember, demonstrated this
fact. It is easy to see how the hexa-
gonal form arises from the simple in-
tersection of circles placed at central
distances determined by the bees
crowding as closely as convenient for
working. A single bee working alone
will make a circular cell. That fact alone
demonstrates the truth of the view that
the hexagonal shape of crowded cells
is merely a mathematical necessity
arising out of the situation and not
originating in the brain of the bee.

:fc j)5 H* % ^
POETRY WONT CHANGE FACTS.

Hanover College. Indiana: Professor
L. L. Huber. Department of Chemis-
try and Biology.

I have read with unusual interest
your article. "Mow Honeybees Pro-
duce Honeycomb." especially since
your theory concerning the "form of
the wax-cell corresponds to a personal
theory that I have fostered for some
time myself. I know of course that a
good number of the "orthodox" poeti-
cally inclined nature worshippers who
indulge in more sentiment than science
reject this, but that does not prove the
same false. Nor does the attitude of
the commercially inclined bee journals

ever, my personal, rather than my
strictly scientific opinion, is that you
are essentially correct in your views.
I studied the same problem to some
extent when working at Washington
about five years ago and I have a num-
ber of combs which were constructed
under experimental conditions. I was
of the opinion at that time, as I now
recall, that the form of the wax cells
was largely determined by the manner
in which they were closely crowded to-
gether, and also by the manner in which
the bees handled the wax with their
mandibles. At least it can be said
that a "natural" explanation of this
mathematical regularity of the honey-
bee cell is far superior to any anthropo-
morphic interpretation.

"ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT THE CELLS WERE
MADE IN CIRCLES."

Rhode Island Normal School, Provi-
dence, Rhode Island: Professor Wil-
liam S. VinaL Biologist.

I have always taught that the cells
were made in circles and became hexa-
gonal through pressure. I have never
observed the bee making the cells. Lin-
ville and Kelly, Textbook in General
Zoology, p. 65 say in regard to the so-
cial wasps : "This material is fashioned
by the feet and mandibles into circular
cells, which became hexagonal as their
number is added to and the pressure
increases." I have always understood
that this phenomenon is common in
nature as in the pressure of plant and
animal cells the tissues often show

hexagonal cells.

# * # * *

"CLAIM IS ENTIREEY CORRECT."

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio: Pro
fessor J. A. Culler.

I have read your article with a great
deal of interest and think your claim is
entirely correct.

326

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

"BEES work only in circles.
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York City: Professor M. A.
Bigelow.

Of course you have the right theory.
So far as I know, no entomologist of
the last hundred years has claimed that
bees directly make hexagons. The evi-
dence is cumulative that they work in
circles and that the hexagons are the
"outcome of physical laws," as you

say. ,

It is a well-known fact that many ob-
jects in biology are hexagonal because
they are surrounded by six compan-
ions of approximately the same diam-
eter, and they become hexagonal be-
cause of mutual pressure. I believe
you have mentioned the familiar case
'of soap bubbles in the mass. I recall
that at one time I was working on the
embryo of a crustacean of which it was
possible to get the transparent eggs to
develop under pressure between glass
slides. The result was a single layer
of flattened cells all of which were hex-
agonal, except those at the border,
which were slightly hexagonal — that
is, they were rounded on the outside
where they were in contact with the Ject but I have found the article ex-
water, and had three flattened sides in ceedingly interesting and my best judg-

ment is that you have, as lawyers sayr

made your case.

$: % ^ ;$: $:

"l THINK YOU ARE UNDOUBTEDLY RIGHT/

Carnegie Institution of Washington,
Station for Experimental Evolution*
Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island
New York: Professor Charles B. Da-
venport.

I think you are undoubtedly right
that bees tend to make their cylinders
with the greatest economy of wax and
in doing- so remove all the thick inter-
spaces that lie between cylinders and
thus reduce the cavity to the form of a
prism approximating the hexagon
which is, as you point out. the natural
result of placing a number of cylinders
with minimum walls as close together
as possible.

sk its jtt rfc 5$»

"YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CASE.'''

Elory McKendree Avery, Cleveland*
Ohio: Physicist, Author of a large
number of books on physics, chemis-
try and philosopy.

I have carefully read your article on
"How Honeybees Produce Honey-
comb."

As you must know, I am not quali-
fied to speak ex cathedra on such a sub-

contact with the adjoining cells. When
after many hours T released the pres-
sure all of the cells rounded up and be-
came spherical, and the result was a
pile of spherical cells, such as you are
familiar with in the case of the embryo
of the starfish and many lower forms
in which the cells of the developing
eggs are not pressed together.

I thank you for calling my attention
to this interesting problem, presented
in such an attractive way.

"article is very interesting and Ex-
cellent."
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni-
versity, New Haven, Connecticut:
H. L. Wells, Professor of Analytical
Chemistry and Metallurgy.
Your article is a very interesting and
excellent one , and I believe you are
perfectly right that the honeybees
make the hexagonal combs by accident
and without mathematical knowledge.
I get the same idea from Darwin that
I get from you, and I should still refer
any one to Darwin to learn about this
matter.

HEXAGONS ARE NOT MADE BY BEES BUT
ARE THE RESULT OE PRESSURE.

University of California, College of
Agriculture, Agricultural Experi-
ment Station, Berkeley, California:
Geo. A. Coleman, In Charge of Api-
culture.

My own observations confirm yours;
i.e., that the bees start the cells as a
circle, or cylinder, and it is pressure
that makes them hexagonal.

"YOUR POSITION IS UNDOUBTEDLY COR-
RECT.""

The University of Illinois, Urbana, Illi-
nois: Professor Henry B. Ward. In
Charge of Department of Zoology.

I think your position is undoubtedly
correct. The bee naturally approxi-
mates a circle although not very exact-
ly at that, and the mechanical influence
of crowding circles together is to pro-
duce hexagons. With best wishes for
your valuable work.

HOW HONEYBEES PRODUCE HONEYCOMB

o?7

"bees do things because they can't

HELP IT-"
Iowa State Horticultural Society:
Eugene Secor, a Director, Forest
City, Iowa.

I like the way you treat your thesis.

I have thought for a good many years

that people generally attribute too

much intelligence to the honeybee. In

all my fifty years' experience with

them I've never seen any indication of

thought. Intelligence signifies power

to reason — initiative. They do many

things that show a lack of reason, but

nothing that leads one to think they

have improved on any of their original

processes. They do things because

they can't help it. They were made

that way. Maeterlinck speaks of "the

spirit of the hive," I believe. That's

a good definition of most of their actions.
*****

"undoubtedly due to pressure/'
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment
Station, New Haven, Connecticut:
W. E. Britton, Ph.D., State Entomo-
logist.

I have read your interesting article
in The Guide to Nature for February
and have no quarrel with the ideas
which you have expressed. The hexa-
gonal shape of the cells of the honey-
comb is undoubtedly due to pressure
as you have stated.

*****

"your well written article."
American Museum of Natural History,
New York City : Frank E. Lutz, En-
tomologist.

I have read your well written article
on honeycomb with a great deal of in-
terest. I had supposed that all up-to-
date students of bees believed that the
roughly hexagonal shape of the cells
comes about in the way you state but,
from what you say, it appears that they
do not.

*****

"simple and SENSIBLE."
"Popular Science Monthly," New York

City : Waldemar Kaempff ert, Editor.

As for honeybees, I must frankly re-
peat that I know nothing about them.
But I will say this for your theory. It
is simple and sensible." Personally, I
am more willing to accept it than I am
the theories which presuppose in a bee
the abilities of a Sir Christopher Wren.

Big Archaeological Collection.

Through the generosity of Dr. W. I.
Hildburgh, the American Museum of
Natural History has become the fortu-
nate possessor of an archaeological col-
lection made up of some four thousand
specimens from Central New York
state, which well illustrate Iroquois In-
dian life in prehistoric and colonial
times. It is a remarkably full and valu-
able collection, rivaled only, if at all. by
that in the New York State Museum at
Albany.

The Hildburgh collection has for
many years been known to archaeolo-
gists as one containing exceedingly
rare types of stone and pottery pipes,
gorgets, banner stones curiously carved
stones used for ornamentation or as bad-
ges of authority, native copper imple-
ments including kettles and knives, stone
axes, chisels and pottery. It also con-
tains a number of the ornamental bone
combs for which the ancient Iroquois
were noted. One of the specimens,
without doubt the finest example of
its kind, is ten and one-fourth inches in
length, with teeth one and three-fourths
inches long. The carving represents
two quadrupeds — probably wolves —
rampant, with upturned mouths holding
a serpent's head. Another specimen has
a man standing behind and probably lay-
ing hold of a rampant animal whose
head is gone. One has two bears ram-
pant. In this only the teeth are miss-
ing. Another has an animal standing
with the head turned over the back of
the comb. The tail of the animal and
the teeth of the comb are broken. Still
another is suggestive of European
contact, inasmuch as the design con-
sists of a human figure with buttons
down the front of the garment, prob-
ably imitating a military costume. A
number of bone fishhooks are also in
the collection. Owing to their fragil-
ity, such specimens are rarely found
intact.

The collection, as a whole the most
complete now in New York, has been
presented by Dr. Hildburgh as a me-
morial of his father, the late Henry
hildburgh.

Every path is filled with beauty,

If only we would look:
Could seeing but be made a duty,

Behold an open book!

— Emma Peirce.

ORNITHOLOGY

All communications for this department should be sent to the Department
Editor, Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street, Hyde Park, Massachusetts.
Items, Articles and photographs in this department not otherwise credited
are by this Department Editor.

The Swallows — How to Secure Them
for Friends and Neighbors.

BY THE REVEREND MANLY B. T0WNSEND,
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Some one has said, "In time of peace
prepare for war." It is, therefore,
timely for us now to begin our plans
to attract the birds and induce them to
make their homes with us next sum-
mer. If we live in the country it will
be an easy matter to obtain plenty of
bird tenants. If our homes are in the
city, this will not be so easy, though
by no means impossible, as many have
proved by experience.

Among the most interesting and use-
ful birds that man has induced to as-
sociate with him are the swallows.
Four 'species in New England have con-

fided themselves to his company — the
tree, the barn and the cliff swallows
and the purple martin.

The tree swallow nests in hollow
places, usually under natural circum-
stances in a hole in a tree ; but it is
easy to induce this sleek, trim creature
with the steel blue coat and pure white
waistcoat to inhabit a box, if it is con-
veniently placed for him. In fact your
bird box is more likely to be rented
by the tree swallows than by any other
tenants except the bluebirds.

The purple martins, unlike the tree
swallows which nest in solitary pairs,
are extremely gregarious. For them
should be provided a colony house con-
sisting of many rooms. Just before
their arrival in the spring, the Fnglish

OCCUPIED PURPLE MARTIN HOUSES ON POLES IN OJIBWAY INDIAN SUMMER CAMP ON

LITTLE BOY RIVER, MINNESOTA.
Photograph by Walter Bennett.

ORNITHOLOGY

329

TREE SWALLOW'S NEST BUILT IN DEAD WILLOW STUB OVER WATER.

Photograph by Dr. T. C. Stephens.

sparrows should be summarily ejected,
else the martins may be prevented
from taking possession. Yet the mar-
tins are not always to be defrauded,
especially if the house be a nesting site
of long standing. The author knows
of such a colony in Maine. Every year'
when the rightful owners return from
the south, the sparrows are in posses-
sion, they having "jumped" the claim.
Then begins a sustained and spirited
warfare. The sparrows are in and have
the advantage of possession. The mar-
tins are out, but possessed of a clear
knowledge of their rights. After a
week's maneuvering the sparrows are
invariably ousted and leave, loudly pro-
claiming their opinion of the victors.
In a neighboring bird house the spar-
rows and martins have proclaimed a
truce and live and breed amicably to-
gether. This, however, is a new struc-
ture, where the sense of possession is
not so strongly inherent as in the case
of the old house that has been used for
many years exclusively by the martins.
The Indian loved the wild birds and
called them his friends. On a canoe
trip through the wilds of Minnesota

near the headwaters of the Mississippi
River, the writer noted that the Ojib-
way Indians had put up bird houses in
which the martins were breeding.
Every Indian hut had its martin house.
Truly the Red Man must have a poetic
soul thus to love and care for these
gentle creatures.

The cliff swallows and the barn swal~
lows have allied themselves with man.
The barn swallow was originally a
cave dweller. But with the advent of
the white man, he left his caves and
boldly adopted the barn as sort of arti-
ficial cave in which to build his mud
nest. The cave swallow originally built
against cliffs, and does so to this day
in some sections of the country. But
he too has taken to modern improve-
ments and become a "progressive,""
plastering his gourd-shaped nest of
mud pellets under the eaves in favored
spots. Almost any barn with conven-
ient entrance will attract the barn swal-
low, but the cave swallow is of much
more local distribution, shunning
painted buildings and plastering his
nest against the rough, unpainted
boards.

330

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Swallows of all kinds are expert fly-
catchers, taking all their food on the
wing. Happy should be the fortunate
individual who can attract about his
place numbers of these beautiful and
useful birds. They will keep the air
swept clear of all mosquitoes, gnats
and other flying pests. A certain farm-
er "way down east" has succeeded in
getting all four species to nest in his
dooryard — the martins in a colony
house, the tree swallows in individual
bird boxes and the barn and cliff swal-
lows inside and under the eaves of his
barn. Every year when his friends ar-
rive from far-off South America he gets
a quantity of clay from the near-by
lake and mixes it to the right consis-
tency in his dooryard. The swallows
sit about expectantly waiting. No
sooner has he stepped aside than they
are at it. filling beaks with clay pellets
which they, skilled masons as they are,
work into the structure of their homes.
Here is a hint to all who wish to help
these birds and to attract them for
neighbors. This man lives far from
towns and railroads, in the big woods,
in the heart of a mosquito infested re-
gion. But while the swallows are about
the mosquito pest is negligible. The
birds snap them up as fast as they ap-
pear in the dooryard.

Now is the time to plan our attrac-
tions for the swallows and other birds.
Build your bird houses, fasten them in
position on poles or on trees, and have
the tenements ready when the migrants
appear in the spring.

While Dutch navigators who landed
on the Island of Mauritius in the Six-
teenth Century called this bird "wal-
ghvogel" or "nauseous," because it was
not very palatable with any kind of
cooking, yet it became extinct because

The Extinct Dodo.

Mt. Morris, Illinois.
To the Editor :

Some persons not versed in natural
history, when they hear the dodo re-
ferred to, imagine it to have been some
fabled bird of the distant past. As a
matter of fact, up to about two hundred
and fifty years' ago, this bird was plen-
tiful on the Island of Mauritius, near
the African coast, its only known habi-
tat. It derives its name from the Por-
tugese word "doudo," meaning "sim-
pleton." The bird was twice as large
as an average sized turkey. Its plu-
mage, was ash-colored, its bill darkish,
and its legs and feet clumsy and yellow.
No dodo was known to exist after 1681.

THE EXTINCT DODO.

it was eagerly sought for the table in
the absence of daintier food. In 1870,
when Colonel Nicholas Pike was Amer-
ican Consul in Mauritius, he presented
to the American Museum of Natural
History of New York City, through
Mr. J. Carson Brevoort, a number of
bones of this extinct bird that had been
excavated on the island. With these
bones and some others received from
the University of Cambridge, Eng-
land, a complete, articulated skeleton
has been constructed and is on exhibi-
tion in the above mentioned museum.
The restored specimen, shown here, is
also the property of this museum.

H. E. Zimmerman.

As a matter of fact the dodo was
"eaten off the face of the earth by glut-
tonous man." Although not a dainty
it was doubtless better than the loon,
albatros or shearwater, all of which
are eaten, and it was killed and de-
voured by the Dutch navigators. Al-
most any fresh meat tastes good after
three or four months at sea, and the
dodo was big, fat and easily caught.
Several were brought alive to Europe

ORNITHOLOGY

33i

and were painted by Roelandt Savery
and others, and these paintings fur-
nished the basis of Rowland Ward's
excellent restoration. Dr. Goode
would have been charmed with it, for
it was one of the many things he plan-
ned to do but did not live to execute.

Our bird was given by Walter Wi-
nans.

A very large number of bones were
recovered from the Mare I marais) aux
songcs, Mauritius by E. T. Newton.

F. A. Lucas.

place, and the second in being unable
to distinguish with certainty the spot
selected. One picture is taken from
the open door looking outward. The
distance was not sufficient to get the
fourth nest on the plate, but the edge
of the fourth can be seen in the picture
taken outside the building.

Frank C. Pellett.

Puzzled Robins.

Atlantic, Iowa.
To the Editor :

We often hear the expression that
reason makes mistakes but that instinct
is infallible. I send a photograph to

Eagle's Nest Destroyed by Fire.
Word has been received that the big
bald eagle's nest at Nokomis, (former-
ly Venice) Florida, which has been a
landmark in this vicinity for a score
of years, has been destroyed by fire.
This nest was of unusual dimensions,
being twelve feet in height and seven
feet in diameter. It was a solid mass
of sticks, added to year after year, and
was known to have been occupied for

B ,;. |^^^^^^__ ^^^^^M^H -^^^^^Hk

33 ' «fi

THE FOUR NESTS OF ONE PAIR OF PUZZLED ROBINS.

which I would like to call the attention
of those who believe that instinct is not
liable to error. A pair of robins started
a nest on my study porch, on which
there are four spaces just alike between
the rafters. The birds did not seem to
be able to distinguish among the dif-
ferent positions and soon had four nests
under construction at one time. As
will be seen by the picture, three of
them were nearly completed, although
eggs were deposited in only one. When
the nest was finally completed and one
or two eggs had been laid, the birds
discovered that there was not sufficient
room above the nest to admit of their
entrance and exit without damage, and
all four were abandoned. It seems that
in this case the birds made two mis-
takes— one in selecting an unsuitable

at least twenty consecutive seasons.
The nest was sixty feet up in a large,
dead longleaf pine, and a fire sweeping
through the grove destroyed both the
nest and the old tree.

It may be remembered by our read-
ers that this nest was pictured in the
September, 1915 issue of The Guide
to Nature, with notes on the breeding
of the birds here in the winter of the
preceeding year..

The ordinary skunk squirts its char-
acteristic fluid to a distance of from
six to ten feet. Occasionally a special-
ly muscular individual has a range of
fifteen feet. The principle of "safety
first" indicates at least twenty feet as
a wise interval between the animal and
the observer.

332

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Photographs of Hawks in Flight.

Atlantic, Iowa.
To the Editor :

These hawk pictures must be held
above the head to give the proper po-
sition. Getting good pictures of birds
on the wing is a difficult matter. These
three are all of one bird, a marsh hawk,

A Snowy Owl.

Osage, Iowa.
To the Editor :

The Guide; to Nature; is appreciated
and Sunday afternoon while perusing
the last number I made up my mind to
find the time this week to let the edi-
tor know how much I enjoy it. To me

PHOTOGRAPHS OF HAWKS IX FLIGHT.

and one picture shows* two exposures
of the same bird. These give a good
idea of the different positions assumed
by a hawk in flight.

Few good pictures of flying birds
have appeared in print and to one who
has given much effort in getting such
pictures it is not surprising. There is
considerable difficulty in getting suffi-
ciently near to get a satisfactory pic-
ture, to say nothing of the trouble to
get proper lighting to 'permit such
short exposures as are necessary. The
photo must of necessity be from the
shadowed side of the bird since it is
higher than the man with the camera.
If it were possible to look down upon
the bird instead of up to it the problem
would be much simpler.

If it were possible to get about half
a dozen characteristic positions of each
species of bird while on the wing, they
would be of great assistance in identi-
fication of species with which we might
not be fully familiar.

Cordially,

Frank C. PellETT.

The growth of the knowledge of or-
ganic nature is a long story, full of
human interest. Nature has been al-
ways the same but the capacity of man
as its interpreter has varied. — Locy,
"Biology and Its Makers."

the articles on astronomy and Emma
Peirce's exquisite verses make the
strongest appeal.

If I had the latter's skill, I should
try to tell your readers about my first
live snowy owl. I had been sent out by
our City Federation to gather what I
could for the Armenian relief fund. The
day for the drive brought a blizzard,,
but I have braved so many that I did
not let this one stand in my way. My
district was a mile and a half from my
home. I had canvassed all the homes
on the south side of the street and had
nearly finished the north side, and with
head down, bent to the wind, my only
object was to get home where it was-
warm, when my good angel of whose
presence I am often conscious told me
to look up, and there sailing over the
chimney tops was a great white bird
with a wing expanse of at least three
feet. It seemed to be born out of the
throes of the storm. Just for me — al-
most a vision. It too had hard work to-
face the gale and as its body tipped I
saw the telltale tan feathers.

Slouching down the road came a boy.
When we met I asked, "Did you see
that white bird?" "Ye-a, I seen it : the
front of it looked like an owl," and I
replied, "Well, the hind of it looked
like an owl."

These birds are rarely seen in Iowa,
so I felt well paid for going into the

ORNITHOLOGY

333

storm. A week later a white owl was
reported to me from a farmhouse
twelve miles east of here.

The discussion of the everbearing-
strawberry is somewhat of a surprise
to me, for it is common here. At the
nursery we have it until the hard frost
puts an end to it. We often pick from
sixteen to twenty quarts in one day.

Wishing The Agassiz Association
the best year of its history, I am.
Its well wisher,

F. May Tuttle-

were so strong that the birds were
blown from their usual routes.

(Miss) Phebe A. Field.

Tragedy of the Wren's Nest.

Atlantic, Iowa.
To the Editor :

This view illustrates the work of the
assassin and robber. I had invited
Mr. Wren and his little wife, to occupy
the little home. The rent was to be
paid in the stir and thrill of their chip-

Migrations of North American Birds.

An exceedingly valuable series of ar-
ticles on "The Migrations of North
American Birds" is now being pub-
lished in Bird-Lore. These tables and
dates of appearance and departure of
our common species in given localities,
cover a long period of observation from
many points, and represent years of
patient study and hard work.

This painstaking work was begun
and for many years carried on by Prof.
Wells W. Cooke, of the Biological Sur-
vey at Washington, who, up to the time
of his death, was probably the foremost
authority on bird migration. Dr. Harry
Oberholser is now carrying on the
studies instituted by Prof. Cooke, and
we are glad to note that he will con-
tinue this series of articles begun by
his predecessor.

Notes from Ocean County, New Jersey.

Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
To the Editor:

We had here, when the peach trees
were in bloom, two strange birds which
cut into the heart of the blossoms on
our largest peach, and the petals fell
to the ground. They were discovered
before they had injured all the blooms,
and driven off. I found from an article
on birds with colored plates that they
were the females of the purple finch
and have obtained the name of "bud-
ders" from their habits. Previously a
neighbor had told me of seeing a bird
new to her, and she had learned from
a bird book that it was the male of the
purple finch. I have read and heard of
new species having appeared in differ-
ent parts of this state, and the reason
given for it is that the prevailing winds,
at the time of the spring migration,

THE SNAKE ENTERING A WREN HOUSE.

per and song. But alas! when the
fledglings came the serpent came also.
He heard the baby twitter, climbed the
tree, entered the sacred doorway and
devoured the nestlings.

The kodak shows the murderous
plan. He did not back out, for obvious
reasons but filled the bird home with
his slimy length. It became necessary
to lower the box and remove the roof,
before his snakeship could be dispatch-
ed,. He was of the variety locally
known as the "bull snake."

A. D. Beckhart.

The domestic cat probably originated
in ancient Egypt, where the native
wild cats (Felis libyca) were caught and
locked into the national grain houses
to catch the rats and mice. This tamed
species was carried by Phoenician sail-
ors to various parts of Europe and
Asia, and more or less interbred with
the several local wild cats. Thus arose
the numerous varieties and color mark-
ings.

The Heavens in April.

By Professor Eric Doolittle o f the University of Pennsylvania,

FOR the first time during the pre-
sent year our star map shows the
bright winter constellations begin-
ning to disappear. The first to go is
the brilliant Taurus, though Orion is
now very near the ground in the west
and the bright Dog Star, Sirius, is so
low down that in a few weeks more it

feet outline of the Sickle forms a strik-
ing figure in the evening heavens.

Meanwhile the whole eastern half of
the heavens is becoming covered with
the fainter constellations of summer.
The whole of the very long group, Vir-
go, has now emerged from below the
ground, the Balances have appeared.

NORTH

■South

Figure 1. The Constellations at 9 P. M., April 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
west, hold West below. If facing': east, hold East below. If facing north, hold the map inverted.)

will no longer be seen in our evening and the head of the Serpent is seen,

sky. Gemini is now some hours past though it will not be until June that

the meridian, while Leo, the last of the this very long, winding constellation

bright winter train, is exactly on the will have completely risen. In the

meridian in the south, where the per- south the extended Hydra now reaches

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

535

almost to Sirius, though the star mark-
ing the end of the tail of the Water-
snake has not yet risen above the

ground.

*****

The April Stars.

There is no better time of the year
than this for the student to become
thoroughly acquainted with the beauti-
ful constellation Leo which is now on
the meridian in its highest position in
the heavens. Even to the naked eye
the region from the eastern horizon to
the meridian is a most beautiful and
interesting sight, and though on the
whole the star groups now there are
rather faint, there are many bright stars
among them. Arcturus and Spica and
the star at A, Figure i, form a nearly
equal sided triangle, and this together
with the lines joining the star at A
and B is known as the Diamond of
Virgo.

Even to the naked eye, Spica, Regu-
lus and the star at A are seen to be of
a much bluer color than Arcturus,
which is golden, while the star at D is
usually described as white. This last
is a most interesting object, having
what is described as a pale lilac com-
panion twenty seconds away which is
a beautiful object in a small telescope.
The constellation Leo is of great
antiquity, and indeed is prehistoric in
its origin. Some believe that the
Sphinx represents Virgo's head on
Leo's body to represent the passage
of the sun through these constellations
at the time of the rising of the Nile.
Pliny stated that the Egyptians wor-
shipped the stars of Leo because the
rise of the great river occurred when
the sun passed through this constella-
tion. The principal star of this beauti-
ful figure is Regulus, the Ruler, so call-
ed because for five thousand years it
was believed to rule the heavens. Four
thousand years ago its longitude was
measured in Babylonia, and twenty
centuries later Hipparchus, the Father
of Astronomy, from observations of
this star and of Spica made the wonder-
ful discovery of Precession of the Equi-
noxes. At the time of the first observa-
tion mentioned Regulus was almost
exactly at the summer solstice, so that
the sun passed before it at the time of
the longest day. Now the sun almost

covers the star, which lies very close
to the ecliptic, on the 20th of August;
the change of date is owing to the slow
motion westward of the Autumnal
Equinox (at C, Figure 1) which is
known as the Precession of the Equi-
noxes.

Regulus has a deep blue companion
about one hundred and seventy-seven
seconds away which is itself double,
while the stars at D, E and F are all
doubles also. The first is described as
the finest double star of the northern
skv, the brighter star being of a white
and the companion of a lilac color.

Having thus studied the constella-
tion Leo, the observer may next turn
to a group of equally great antiquity,
the constellation Virgo, which though
not quite so high in the heavens is still
well above the ground in the southeast.
This constellation is filled with objects
of interest. The region between the
stars H. K, L and A is more crowded
with nebulus than any other region of
the heavens ; more than five hundred
have already been found in this little
space, many of which can be seen with
a small telescope. There are many in-
teresting double stars, of which that
at M is composed of two suns revolv-
ing about one another in the least cir-
cular of all orbits known in double star
systems, the time occupied by one
revolution being one hundred and
ninety years.

*****

The Planets in April.

Mercury will attain its greatest dis-
tance east of the sun on April 7, and
this will be the most favorable time of
the present year to look for this little
planet. It will then be well north of
the west point of the horizon about
three-quarters of an hour after sunset,
when we will see the little world shin-
ing brightly in the twilight glow. The
planet in fact sets more than an hour
and one-half after the sun, but it is
more difficult to see as it approaches
the ground and therefore the observer
should begin to look for it as soon as
the greatest brightness of the twilight
glow has passed. On the evening of
April 1 1 the narrow crescent of the new
moon, by this time arrived east of the
sun, will draw very near to the planet,
though it unfortunately will not pass

336

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

it until the next morning. It is pos-
sible that if the weather is favorable,
Mercury can be followed from elonga-
tion until this time, when the two ob-
jects will form a beautiful figure in the
northwestern sky.

Venus reaches its greatest distance
west of the sun on April 20 when it
will rise three hours before sunrise.
Those who are up before dawn have

3 at 7 hrs. 3 min., and to reappear from
eclipse at 10 hrs. 21 min., (Eastern
Standard Time). Similarly the third
satellite will begin to transit the plan-
et's disc at 10 hrs. o min., and the sec-
ond satellite on April 6 at 8 hrs. 52 min.
The second satellite will reappear from
eclipse on April 8 at 7 hrs. 41 min. ; the
third will disappear in eclipse on April
16 at 8 hrs. 12 min., and the first may

m April 6>.
Ijapuil 22.

s

T1TA.M

A,PR^-Tz"~~^

• April
/ 5.

Apr.il t» ^

APRIL V

IB. 7

&.PR.IL 9.

■RHEA

*^^~ APRIL 8?

apr.ii_ e,

N

"Figure 2. Showing the motion of two of Saturn's moons during the present month. The largest of
these is Titan, which is easily visible in a three inch telescope. If the satellites are observed on other
dates than those indicated, their positions can be estimated by bearing in mind that Titan performs one
revolution in IS days 23.3 hours and Rhea in 4 days 12.5 hours. The former will reach its greatest eastern
distance from Saturn on April 15, 9 hrs. 13 min. A. M. ; the latter will reach its greatest eastern elonga-
tion on April 5, 4 hrs. 18 min. P. M.

doubtless noticed how very brightly it
has been shining in the southeastern
heavens. It will not again enter the
evening sky until November 24.

Mars is slowly retrograding (or
moving westward), its motion carry-
ing it from Virgo across the borders
of Leo into the position shown in Fig-
ure 1. This retrograde motion will
cease on April 26 and the planet begin
to run rapidly eastward again, though
it will not have passed entirely through
the long constellation Virgo until next
September. It is still in excellent po-
sition for observation though its dis-
tance from us increases from sixty-four
to seventy-six millions of miles during
the month, and it will in this time lose
about two-thirds of its brightness,
though it will still be more than three
times as bright as a first magnitude
•star.

Jupiter may still be seen in the early
•evening, though it is fast sinking in the
west. It has now arrived well to the
•east of a line joining the Hyades and
the Pleiades, and its eastward motion
-will for some time be accelerated. It
now sets so early that but few of the
phenomena of its satellites can be seen,
but the first satellite may be seen to
disappear behind the planet on April

be seen to reappear from eclipse on
April 19 at 8 hrs. 40 min. These are
most interesting phenomena to watch
in a small telescope.

Saturn is in excellent position for
observation in the eastern borders of
Cancer in the position shown in Figure
1. Figure 2 shows the path and posi-
tion of the largest moon, Titan, during
the present month ; this can be well
observed by the possessor of a small
telescope of perhaps three inches aper-
ture. This remarkable moon is much
larger than our own moon, being al-
most exactly as large as the third
moon of Jupiter and almost half as fat-
through as the earth. It occupies fif-
teen days twenty-three hours in pass-
ing once around the planet from which
it is about seven hundred and seventy-
one thousand miles distant. It is the
sixth in order of distance from the
planet, there being ten satellites alto-
gether, the most distant one being no
less than eight million miles away. The
extent of the system is thus enormous,
far greater than that of any of the
smallers worlds, though not so great
as that of Jupiter which has one satel-
lite nearly twice as distant as the outer-
most satellite of Saturn.

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

337

A Double Asteroid.

There has been recently announced
the discovery of a new asteroid which
has another asteroid or "moonlet" re-
volving about it. If this is true, it is
the only one of the over eight hundred
asteroids, or "planetoids," known
which has a companion. These little
bodies move about the sun, nearly all
of them between the orbits of Mars
and of Jupiter ; they vary in size from
four hundred and eighty-eight miles in
diameter to but two miles in diameter,
which is the estimated size of the
smallest one so far found. It is rather
surprising that even the smaller ones
seem to be approximately spherical in
shape : they are veritable little worlds,
though they doubtless have but little
or no atmosphere or water upon them
because they are too small for their
gravitational pull to retain gases upon
their surface. Our nearest neighbor
of all among the heavenly bodies (with
the single exception of the moon) is a
small asteroid called Eros, about
twenty miles in diameter; it was at one
time thought to be perhaps a double
asteroid, because its light was found
to periodically vary when brightest. It
is more than three times as bright as
when faintest, only two and one-half
hours later. The interval between the
times of the greatest brightness was
found to be about five hours. This
could be explained by supposing that
Eros is a double asteroid and that the
two little worlds, almost in contact,
eclipse one another at a constant inter-
val. It is now quite certain, however,
that there is but one asteroid there and
that the little world is nearly round but
that one side of it is a much better re-
flector of sunlight than the other., The
variation of its light is caused by its
rotation upon its axis. So that the
new discovery seems to be unique
among the bodies of the solar system.

The Call of Spring.

The call of Spring has resounded,
And all things obey its behest;

We are going out into the open,
Intent on a new beauty-quest.

Each tiniest bud by the roadside,

Just bursting its warm winter sheath,

Reveals to whoever will tarry.

The wonders that lay just beneath.

Such crinklings and creasings and flutings,

Such intricate folding away
Of the leaves, that will now in a twinkling,

Be a-wave in the bright April day!

Such silky and delicate tissues,
Such glowing, delectable tints!

Of which the brown buds through the Win-
ter,
Have given no vaguest of hints.

This marvelous Vernal awakening
Should draw us out under the skies;

And then, when the wonder is over,
Let us stay out, — if we would be wise!

— Emma Peirce.

"The wisdom of God receives small
honour from those that stare about and
with gross rusticity admire His works :
those highly magnify Him, whoso judi-
cious inquiry into His acts, and delibe-
rate research into His creations, return
the duty of a devout and learned [i.e.
intelligent] admiration."— Religio Med-
ici A. D. 1686.

The Diffusion of Knowledge in War
Time.

Incidentally there is a good testi-
monial as to the value of activelv con-
tinuing such work as that of The Agas-
siz Association for the diffusion of
knowledge, in the fact that the people
of Canada have now, after three years
of war, more lyceums and chautauquas
than they ever had before the war.
They found it absolutely necessary to
strengthen the lines of popular educa-
tion.

The American skunk proves to be so
valuable a friend to the farmer and con-
tributor to our fur supply that already
more than a dozen states have passed
laws to protect the animal.

Data from the great meteor which
fell over Texas on the evening of Oc-
tober 1 show that the mysterious body
passed at a low angle from northeast
to southwest, and ended its course not
far from the main bend of the Rio
Grande. Over an area one hundred
and fifty miles in diameter sounds like
thunder were heard from three to five
minutes after the light disappeared,
and strong enough in some places to
rattle windows and dishes. The light
was seen from all points within six
hundred miles. Several observers de-
scribe it as lightning-like and blinding.

33§

Til E GUIDE TO NATURE

The 100-Inch Telescope at Mount Wilson.

By Jennie B. Lasby, In Popular Astronomy.

After nearly nine years of continuous
work the mirror for the ioo-inch tele-
scope has been finished and is in its
mounting' at the summit of Mount
Wilson. Since this is the greatest

old town with its huge glass factories
is now in ruins and what remains is
in the hands of the Germans. The
glass was packed just as it came from
the mold and shipped to Galveston by

■n

O

C/3

H

P
O

■n <

< e

v E

o z

« H

< c

X

triumph of the optician's skill it may be
of interest to the readers of this maga-
zine to review its history.

The disc from which the mirror was
fashioned was cast, early in 1908, in the
factory at St. Gobain, France. This

water and from there transported to
the workshops at Pasadena, where a
building had been erected especially
for the work of grinding and polishing.
The glass in its rough state weighed
about five and one-half tons, was 101

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

339

inches in diameter and when examined
was found to have been cast in three
layers. This was clue to the fact that
there were no crucibles large enough
to hold such a mass of molten glass and
the pourings into the mould had been
made as closely together as possible,
but the expert optician could detect
flaws that made it seem unwise to at-
tempt the grinding of the disc. Two

rust be deposited and cause scratches.
The brushes revolved very slowly and
with an even motion, working from the
center to the circumference of the disc.
After the first cutting had been clone
and the depression was about an inch
and a quarter deep in the center, the
grinding was clone with even greater
care the emery solution was allowed
to stand for a time and the liquid

THE MACHINERY USED TX THE ROUGH GRINDING OF THE 100-INCH DISC.
Note the relative sizes of the child and the disc.

more attempts were made at St. Go-
bian, but word was sent to Pasadena
that neither of the later attempts was
as successful as the earlier one. Pro-
fessor Ritchey then made a trip to
France, but found that the mechanical
obstacles at the factory made it impos-
sible to pour so large a piece of glass
from one crucible. Finally it was de-
cided that work should proceed on the
disc at Pasadena. It was placed upon
the bed-plate of the grinding machine
and Mr. W. L. Kinny and Mr. Dalton,
to whose skill its final perfection is
due, began the preliminary grinding.
The surfaces were smoothed until it
measured ioo inches in diameter and 13
inches in thickness.

This smoothing process was followed
by the. actual grinding of the concave
surface. This was done by applying
flour emery in water with wooden
brushes covered with cheesecloth. No
metal was allowed to touch the surface
of the glass, lest minute particles of

siphoned off so that only the very fine
particles were allowed to touch the
glass.

After the grinding was finished there
remained the gigantic task of polish-
ing the surface and this included a ser-
ies of the most delicate and exhaustive
tests. One of the earlier of the tests
was to determine the effect of changes
of temperature upon the glass. The
temperature of the shop was lowered
to 300 and then in a few days raised to
1050. In spite of the many defects in
the structure of the glass, it was found
that it was not harmed by this range
when the change was gradual. Rapid
changes, however, did effect the figure
and as the polishing advanced it was
found that the heat from the friction
made it necessary to discontinue the
work for the day after a couple of
hours.

While the glass was being polished
an elaborate series of experimental
tests were made each day to determine

340

T H E G U I J ) E TO NATURE

the result of the previous days work
and to correct the adjustments of the
tools. These tests were made with a
6o-inch optically plane mirror, and the
grinding of this mirror was in itself a
huge task and took nearly a year. Over
600 of these tests were made during

This was constructed in the form of a
revolving plate as large as the glass
itself and weighing 1500 pounds. It
was so arranged that it would exert
an even pressure on the entire surface
of the glass and so corrected the ten-
dency to astigmatism.

THE TOOL USED FOR APPLYING THE EMERY FLOUR IN POLISHING THE GREAT MIRROR.

THE WORKING MODEL OF THE MOUNTING OF THE 100-INCH REFLECTOR.

the three years of polishing. One very
serious difficulty was encountered
early in the polishing. It was found
that the curves of concavity were not
the same at right angles to each other
or, in other words, there was astigma-
tism in the glass. The .0016 of an inch
by which they differed threatened to
render the glass useless, but after sev-
eral months of work the problem was
solved by the use of a new kind of tool.

Early in the spring of 1917 the most
rigorous tests failed to show any im-
perfection in the concavity of the sur-
face and the glass was made into a
mirror by chemical precipitation of
silver from a solution poured over the
surface.

The task of transporting the four
and one-half tons of glass up a moun-
tain road, where it would be subject
to jar and sudden changes of tempera-

TO KN( )\\ THE STARRY HEAVENS

34i

ture, was no light one. It was lifted
from the grinding table by a device
such that the stress would be evenly
distributed throughout the disc. Then
it was lowered into an octagonal box
which had been lined with paraffin pa-
per and was sealed at every joint to
exclude the dust. Inside the paper was
a packing of carded wool and Brussels
carpet to protect from heat and jolting.

100 feet high, constructed of metal and
has double walls, so that the tempera-
ture can be kept as even as possible.
The lower 28 feet is stationary and the
upper part rotates. Forty huge piers
surrounding a still larger central pier
supply the foundation. The main pier
rests on a bed of sand six feet deep and
carries a circular floor 52 feet in diam-
eter. This has around its outer rim a

THE DOME FOR THE 100-INCH REFLECTOR OF THE MOUNT WILSON SOLAR OBSERVATORY.

Only the very edge of the silvered sur-
face touched anything. A correspond-
ing rim of wood, faced with carpet and
wool, had been placed inside the box
cover and held the mirror rigidly in
place when the cover was screwed
down. The box was then hermetically
sealed and encased in another layer of
paraffin paper and clamped between
parallel sets of heavy timbers with a
steel bolt at the top for lifting. Even
this did not seem enough and a cradle
of heavy timbers was bolted on the
bed of the motor and this was lined
with cushions in which were heavy
springs so that the box might oscillate
easily. A strong canvas covered this
and the trip was successfully made to
the top of the mountain in one day.

Scarcely less interesting than the
mirror itself is the mounting. The
larger parts of this were constructed
in a shipyard for battleships and the
work was delayed very much by the
increased activity in ship construction
after the beginning of the war. The
dome which shelters the telescope is

metal wall nine feet high, to keep
drafts from penetrating to the upper
part of the dome. The moving parts
of the telescope weigh 100 tons and
the bulk of this weight is borne by
pedestals floating in Mercury,

The driving clock has a weight of
one and one-half tons and winds auto-
matically every ten minutes. There is
an elaborate system of electric con-
trols, so that the observer can move
the telescope any distance in any direc-
tion he chooses, rotate the dome and
move the platform without leaving his
chair.

The telescope is fitted with a fine
spectrograph and much of the work
will probably be done with this instru-
ment. Undubtedly a large amount of
work will be done in gathering data for
Kapteyn's work on star-streams and to
add to our knowledge of the structure
and limits of the universe. The huge
increase of light-gathering power
should help materially in the study of
star clusters and nebulae.

tf«w

rs^

r$r

REGREATIONS^M IGROSGOPE

POPULAR MICROSCOPY.

BY FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER, PH.D., NEW
YORK CITY.

[PART OE A LECTURE.]

Microscopy is primarily an art, not a
science. Only because of its general use-
fulness to certain of the sciences, no-
tably biology and petrology has it been
mistakenly placed in the scientific class.
It is as absured to call microscopy a
science as to call normal vision a
science, for, in very truth, the entire
purpose of microscopy is to extend the
range of normal vision. There is no
more a science of looking at diatoms
than there is a science of looking at
elephants. Many thousand persons
visit a Zoological Park on Sunday and
holidays in any of our large cities, but
their visit does not make them zoolo-
gists : it makes them, to coin a word,
— macroscopists. — Many thousand per-
sons may look at a diatom, but that
does not make them botanists ; it makes
them microscopists, because a diatom
cannot be seen without a microscope.
My first point, then, is that there is no
science of microscopy.

As this is a somewhat sweeping
statement, I hasten to answer possible
objections. Most authorities on micros-
copy, when setting forth their art, de-
vote more or less time to the question
of the principles of microscopic illumi-
nation and magnification. This is not
microscopy. It is no more microscopy
than would be a dessertation on glass-
making or the alloys composing a brass
tube. The principles of microscopic
magnification appertain to the Science
of Optics. One might as well declare
that the arrangement of lenses in a
telescope was a part of the science of
astronomy. I might point out, more-
over, that telescopic observation of the
sky, per se, is not astronomy.

In answer to my denial that micro-
scopy is a science, it may be advanced
that such matters as the proper prepa-

ration and mounting of microscopic
specimens requires experience, deft-
ness and technical skill. This is true.
So do ivory carving, filigree work, min-
ature painting and lace pillow making,
but these are not sciences. It may be
suggested that a knowledge of chemis-
try is necessary to understand such
matters as dehydration and staining,
and especially such complicated pro-
cesses as fixing of Actinozoa and Hy-
drozoa with polypi extended. I reply
that chemical knowledge is equally
necessary for the manufacture of chew-
ing gum or toilet soap, but one cannot
consider such manufacturers as scien-
tists.

It may be said — indeed I have heard
it said, — that the smaller is the object
on the microscope stage, the greater is
the amount of science involved. This
is sheer nonsense. Microscopy con-
sists in the art of seeing; not in object
seen. No one will say that he who
regards Yolvox is less a microscopist
than one who observes non-filterable
bacteria through the ultra-microscope.
Such a statement would be of an ab-
surdity comparable to the remark that
he who studies the planet Jupiter is
less of an astronomer than he who
studies Jupiter's moons.

It may be objected that the observa-
tion of an object is of little value if the
observer does not know what he is ob-
serving. This I flatly deny. To me,
it is rank heresy. I cannot see that a
man's delight in mountain scenery is
to be set aside as unimportant because
he does not know the principles of tec-
tonic stratigraphy and because he does
not know a geological fault from a hat-
rack. Nor am I willing to admit that
the country girl who makes a posy of
wild flowers is to be frowned upon be-
cause she does not understand chloro-
phyllic processes nor because she calls
a flower "love-lies-bleeding" instead of
Amarantus Caudatus. I am unwilling

KKCRKATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

343

to consider as outside the pale of mi-
croscopist charity those people who
say, on looking at a slide, "How love-
ly! What is it!"

Microscopy, thus regarded, possesses
three sharply marked divisions. It can
serve i) as a handmaiden to the
sciences by yielding additional mater-
ial from realms below the range of
normal vision ; 2) as a provocative of
intellectual interest and a spur to edu-
cation, whether self-education or oth-
erwise, and 3) as an emotional stimu-
lus, satisfying the senses with beauty.
The first is a process or research, and
not a thing in itself ; the second is a
process of education and not a thing in
itself; the third is pure art and is a
thing of itself. Since the first presup-
poses a line of scientific research that
is being followed, it cannot be called
"popular" ; since the second presup-
poses a desire to secure general infor-
mation, it cannot be called popular ;
since the third inherently satisfies the
beholder, it can and should be called
"popular." This art, then contains the
nexus of popular microscopy.

Let me give a few sharply contrast-
ed examples. The flea of a rat is a
creature most deserving of study as a
part of scientific research because of
its possible relation to bubonic plague ;
the cheese mite is a matter of intelli-
gent curiosity ; the moths of the leaf-
mining caterpillars are lovelier than
any of the butterflies we can see with
the naked eye. The average unin-
formed person will say "How queer !"
to the first, "How horrid !" to the sec-
ond and "How lovely!" to the third.
It is my contention that Popular Mi-
croscopy should lay more stress on
those things which are lovely.

Let us take an illustration from the
vegetable world. The fungus of a
plant-disease is of importance to the
plant pathologist ; the cross section of
a pine needle is of value to the botani-
cal beginner; the pollen grain of the
hollyhock is a marvel of beauty in it-
self. It is my contention that Popular
Microscopy should exclude the two
former types from its domain and
amplify in the latter.

Let us take a popular lecture with
lantern slides. There are three classes
of lantern slides, just as there are three
classes of microscope slides; those
which are technical, those which are

interesting and those which are beauti-
ful. Permit me to assure you, from a
long experience, that popular interest
depends in no small measure upon the
inclusion of a large proportion of
slides which may or may not be direct-
ly applicable to the subject of the lec-
ture, but which attract popular atten-
tion because of their sheer beauty of
color.

The sense appeal is always stronger
than the brain appeal. Popular Micros-
copy has been barking up the wrong
tree, it has tried to appeal to the pub-
lic by the brain route.

In order to awaken a wide popular
appeal and love for microscopy, it is
my first conviction that the public
should be taught to regard the micro-
scope as a medium for opening a new
world of beauty, not a new world of
instruction. To regard the microscope
only as an aid to scientific research is
equivalent to a declaration that draw-
ing and painting should be confined
only to the delineation of anatomical
dissections.

Why is there such an outcry against
the destruction of Rheims Cathedral?
Is it because the public realizes the
amazing architectural skill evinced in
the balancing of the thrust ? Is it be-
cause it is a religious edifice? No. It
is because it is a thing of beauty. Is
the huge membership and work of the
Audubon Society dependent on a pub-
lic knowledge of microscopy? Not a
whit. It is because people love birds
for the charm of their melody and the
beauty of their Presence in the woods
and fields.

In order that I might assure myself
that I am in the right in saying that
microscopy has always been on the
wrong track in its efforts to interest the
public, I visited one of our largest
libraries in the United States and got
down from the shelves every book to
be found there published on micro-
scopy during the past fifty years. I as-
sure you, less than ten per cent, of any
of these volumes dealt with objects
that were beautiful in themselves. The
sole book which had a slight purview
of this need was an amplification of a
slide-maker's catalogue. He had found
out, through the character of his pur-
chases, the slides which were most in
demand. And these demands, be it re-
membered, came from microscopists of

344

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

the old school. The best books are the
French, next the English, next the
American, and the German last.

So far I have been dealing with de-
structive criticism, and if my argu-
ments so far have proved to you sound,
I have shown that there lias been a
great and woeful lacuna in the manner
in which microscopy is presented to the
people. I do not want to bring only a
torch to destroy and no hammer to
build. On the contrary, I am hopeful
of being able to start a movement along
the right track. I can conceive of no
better work than the preparation of
microscopic slides selected for their
beauty.

It had been my hope, before this lec-
ture, to get in touch with many of your
members, secure their consultation and
advice, discuss with them this angle of
beauty, and make a series of lantern
slides to illustrate my meaning. Lack
of time, however, has prevented this,
and, in consequence, I have drawn up
a rough list.

I have divided a rough list of one
hundred slides into twenty-five groups,
with four pictorial types in each, avoid-
ing section-making in each and every
case. Every specialist in each of these
lines would be able to give better ex-
amples, without doubt. As a practical
result of this talk, I should esteem it a
great favor if members interested in
any of these fields would write to me
what they consider the lovliest micro-
scopic objects in their particular do-
main, especially those which are easily
secured and may be permanently
mounted.

Four years of study of the yellow
clothes (Tincola biccllieUa) shows that
no known method of moth-proofing
cloth is of any practical use. Even
fabrics that had been soaked in corro-
sive sublimate proved a perfectly
wholesome food for the young insects.
Cedar, tobacco and gasoline are equally
ineffective. Camphor and napthalene,
however, are promptly fatal in closed
places.

Somewhere in the Country Side.

All about are the graceful elms,

And on almost every one
Is the pendant nest of an oriole,

A swing in the morning sun.

—Emma Peirce.

The Simplest and Smallest of Flower-
ing Plants.

BY EDWARD E. BIGELOW, ARCADIA, SOUND
BEACH, CONNECTICUT.

Here is a photograph of the simplest
and smallest flowering plant in the
known world. Complete it is repre-
sented by one of the small egg-shaped
green bits that in the photograph, ow-
ing to the special lighting used, appear

FLOATING PLANTS.
The largest branching colonies are Axolla; the small-
est plants are Wolffia; those of the intermediate size are
Lemna minor..

Photograph by Dr. Emmeline Moore.

Cut from "The Life of Inland Waters" (Needham and
Lloyd) by courtesy of The Comstock Publishing Com-
pany, Ithaca, New York.

to be white. They are photographed in
comparison with two pinheads maked
"x," to show relative size. It will be
seen that each plant, even the largest,
is not one-quarter the size of the pin-
head, and some are not even one-tenth
of that size. Yet astonishing as it may
seem, this tiny plant that requires a
microscope to reveal its details, is a
phaenogamous or flowering plant, pro-
ducing flowers and seeds. The flower
is the simplest possible, consisting of
only a single stamen with a one-celled,
two-valved anther and producing a
single seed or, as the botanist would

RECREATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

345

express it, an orthotropous ovule placed
rather obliquely in the cell. Think for
a moment what this means. The ob-
jects like the tiny granules shown here
are not the flowers, but are the plants
themselves that produce the flowers
and, like the blossoms of all flowering
plants, the blossom here is much small-
er than the plant itself, and consequent-
ly this orthotropous ovule is smaller
than the flower. Yet strange as this
may seem, botanists have carefully
described, in technical language, every
detail of the plant, flower, fruit and
seed, even to the astonishing statement
that this almost invisible orthotropous
ovule lies rather obliquely in the cell.
Such is a glimpse of the wonderful
fairyland world visible to the micro-
scope. The whole plant is hardly ap-
parent to the naked eye, yet a flower
bursts from the side of that plant and
produces a seed, and the microscope re-
veals even the attitude of that seed as
it lies in its cell. These specimens were
sent to ArcAdiA in the middle of Sep-
tember by one of our correspondents
in New Jersey, who informs us that
they are the first he has ever seen. The
plants were placed in a tumbler of
water with a few fronds of ordinary
Lemna. Some of them have since died
but the accompanying photograph was
taken of green and vigorous specimens
three months after they were received ;
that is, in the middle of December. The
mature plant ranges from seven-tenths
to one and five-tenths millimeters in
diameter, or from one-fiftieth to one-
eighteenth of an inch. Another aston-
ishing fact is that it is well supplied

with breathing pores, the stomata of
the botanist, from one to six for each
plant. In their native habitat the plants
float as minute green grains just below
the surface of the water in ponds, pools
and shallow lakes, from Ontario to
Connecticut and New Jersey, west to
Minnesota, to Missouri and south to
Louisiana. It is found also in Mexico
and South America. It blooms in June
and July. We hope that our microscop-
ical botanists will remember these
plants, will seek them in likely places,
and observe them in the early spring.
If possible to capture them in bloom we
shall be grateful for specimens. We
should like to photograph them in full
flower. The plant has no common
name, probably because it is itself not
common, and is rarely observed by
any except the botanist, or by the lover
of nature that goes peering into the
ponds and pools, often to the wonder-
ment of the spectator, who is more
than amazed to see a comparatively
well-dressed man, apparently in his
right mind, scooping weeds from a
ditch. The plant is the JJ'olffia Columbi-
ana, known to botanists as JJ'olffia, a sim-
ple name, easily remembered, and used
in honor of Johann Fried Wolff
who in 1801 wrote about the Lemna
of the duckweed family to which this
belongs.

It is one of the rarest plants in the
country. When the botanist finds it,
he considers the finding an event to be
recorded and for congratulation.. It
has been discovered in the localities
named above, but not often ; only once
in Connecticut, and perhaps once only

WOLFFIA PLANTS PHOTOGRAPHE I ) WITH PIXHEADS (MARKED X) FOR COMPARISON A.

TO SIZE.
By Edward F. Bigelow.

346

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

in the other places ; in a few spots in
New Jersey (but anything can be
found in New Jersey) and it is so un-
common that it is not mentioned in the
one edition of Gray's Manual of Bo-
tany.. A learned botanist writing on
the subject says :

"The little green discs of the Duck-
weed [Lemna], with their slender
rootlets hanging beneath, reproducing
by branching and separation from the
parent disc and rarely found blossom-
ing, seem far enough removed from
our conception of a flowering plant,
but the still more minute U'olffia is the
extreme in this direction. The plants
consist of minute green globules about
a millimeter in diameter, which float
just below the surface of the water." It
is only rarely and at long intervals
found in bloom.

The plant as a whole is one of the
most remarkable that we have ever re-
ceived at ArcAdiA. It has attracted
much attention from our visitors, manv
of whom have seen its details under the
microscope.

Blood Corpuscles.

BY PHILir O. GRAVELLE, SOUTH ORANGE,
NEW JERSEY.

tn man the cellular elements of the
blood occur in two forms, the red and
the white (or colorless) corpuscles. The
red corpuscles are circular, biconcave
discs while the white are larger, volun-

tarily vary in form and have well de-
fined nuclei. These corpuscles are shown
by the two accompanying photomicro-
graphs of human blood. Unstained
they are pale, but if stained by means

BLOOD OF BIRD.

Magnification one thousand diameters.

of a double stain they can be readily
seen under the microscope.

The proportion of white cells to red
is one white to about five hundred of
the red. The blood corpuscles of birds
and cold-blooded animals differ in be-
ing oval in shape and having elongated
nuclei.

The size of the corpuscles bears no

BLOOD OF NECTURUS.
Magnification one thousand diameters.

HUMAN BLOOD.

Magnification one thousand diameters.

relation to the size of the animal. The
elephant and the humming bird have
corpuscles of about the same size,
while those of the Proteus are among
the largest known, those of the musk
deer among the smallest.

Our Summer Camp for Girls.

BY EDWARD E. BIGEE0W, ARCADIA [ SOUND
BEACH, CONNECTICUT.

The girl in some respects takes to
camp life even better than the boy.
Perhaps it is a greater treat for a girl
because to her. after the ordinary con-

not only the liberty and the hilarious
outdoor living of a camp from the
physical point of view, but she is well
adapted to the mental phases of living
in nearness to nature. I venture to
say that the camp has done more for
the girl than for the boy, because she

IN THE HEART OF WILDEST NATURE.

ditions in which she lives, especially
the girl from the city, camp life corner
with sharper contrast, and the greater
the change the greater the enjoympn'
Most boys have a little more freedom
than the girl. The average girl enjoys

needed it more and can assimilate
more.

But there are camps and camps, and
a camp for a girl must be chosen with
care. It must be one in which she will
have the advantages of wholesome liv-

34*

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

ing, congenial surroundings, and free-
dom of the wild under all necessary
guards for health and safety. I have
investigated a number of camps for

IN THE GORGE.

girls, and have decided that our camp
shall be the Tela-Wauket at Roxbury,
Vermont. This 1 believe is ideal. Mr.
and Mrs. C. A. Roys devote their time
and thought during the entire year to

camp work.

Th

ev

ha>

assoc

iated

with them a corps of assistants of loy-
alty and whole-hearted cooperation.
These assistants and councilors are
chosen because of exceptional fitness
for the part they are to have in making
the camp pleasing and beneficial to the
campers and a source of gratification
to the parents. Accompanied by my
daughter, I shall have charge of the
nature work at this camp, and the na-
ture work will not be natural science,
it will be nature study. A well-known
authority has made a distinction be-
tween these terms. Science, he says,
considers the subject, while nature
study considers the pupil. This nature
guidance will consist of a royal good
time for every girl. She is going to
know nature at first-hand and have a
deal of satisfaction in making the ac-
quaintance. Every reader of this mag-
azine knows from the department
"The Fun of Seeing Things," that there
is a real joy in getting acquainted with
nature. There will be more fun to
every square inch in seeing things with
a seeing eye at the Tela-Wauket
Camps than' at any other similar place.
There are two camps, one for Tie
juniors, the other for the seniors. Girls
from eight to twenty years of age who
wish to know why the editor of this
magazine is enthusiastically devoted
to the study of nature as a mental rec-
reation, as well as a factor in liberal
education, should inquire regarding
this camp. Full particulars including
a beautifully illustrated catalogue may

A SOCIAL TIME AT Till'. KM) OK A PERFECT DAY.

THE < )UTD( )( )R W( >KI.I )

349

be obtained by addressing Mr. and
Mrs. C. A. Roys. Directors, id Bow-
doin Street, Cambridge, Massachu-
setts Both camps will open June 29th
and Close August 30th. The term- for
the season are $-'50. or $130 for one-
half of the season.

A Primer of Bird-Study.
Mr. Ernest [ngersoll, whose address
is 304 West [2ist Street, New York
City, has published a small pamphlet
giving an account of the structure and
functions of hirds. It seems to the edi-
tor to contain a great amount of valu-

COMPARING AND TALKING OVER "FINDS" ['.V T1IK ROADSIDE.

The camp spirit is well shown in the
followingquotationfrom the Catalogue
It was written by Bishop J. L. Spauld-
ing in his "Education and the Highest
Life."

"To run, to jump, to ride, to swim.
to sit in the shade of trees by flowing
waters, to look on orchards blooming,
to dream in the silence that lies amid
the hills, to feel the solemn loneliness
of the deep woods, to follow cattle as
they crop the sweet-scented clover, to
learn, too, as one knows a mother's
face, every change that comes over the
heavens from the dewy freshness of
the early morn to the restful calm of
evening, from the overpowering mys-
tery of the starlit sky to the look with
which the moon smiles upon the earth ;
all this is education of a higher and
more real kind than it is possible to
receive within the walls of a school,
and lacking this, nothing shall have
power to develop the faculties of the
soul in symmetry and completeness."

Twin-flowers.

A rosy cloud of delicate bloom

Hung over the leaflets green; —

We'd surprised the little twin-flower vine
In its transformation scene.

— Emma Peirce.

able material in a small compass. We
advise our readers to send fifteen cents
to Mr. Ingersoll and receive a copy of
this interesting little book, which is
not intended for the identification of
the birds but for the proper understand-
ing of their structure, adaptability,
faculties, nests, purposes, etc. Mr.
Ingersoll is well known throughout the
country as one of our most careful
scientific ornithologists. He also is
skilled in the popular treatment of the
subject and probably has done as much
as any other man in popularizing and
stimulating the study of birds and
mammals. He is the author of "The
Life of Mammals," "Wit of the Wild"
and "Wild Neighbors."

The book contains not only the
name of the bird — that detail is good
so far as it goes but it is a superficial
part of ornithology, and no real teach
er of this beautiful science would be
willing to stop there. In a study of
plants one is supposed to know every
detail of structure, but there are too
many people who seem perfectly con-
tented in the study of birds to know
only the name. One should know the
structure of the bird, its nest and its
general habits. Teachers of nature
study, scout masters, amateur and pro-
fessional naturalists will find this a
helpful book.

35o THE GUIDE TO NATURE

"Delicious Hypocrites." beyond weighing in dollars and cents,

for, as in Dr. Bigelow's own case, it
[from "out in the open"— a depart- may be liie itself — life and love and
MENT OF THE Newark (n. J.) EVEN- memories. Play hard when you play,
ING news.] for our hour outdoors is all too short
In classifying the members of the and what has been today may never be
angling fraternity as "delicious hypo- a£f"n- , , . . , , ,
crites," Dr. Edward F. Bigelow, the Under the snow and ice the faded
noted naturalist, created not a bit of pmeneedles sleep in the camp site on
resentment in the hearts of those who the Esopus with the dead ashes of yes-
heard him at the meeting of the New- terday s fires. And one of that trio
ark Bait and Fly Casting Club Tucs- whose companionship gladdened the
day. For he stated a fact that may be days has gone forever and another now
said to apply to the majority of— ma7 be in the Bntish trenches. But
though not all— anglers. Not a few of we two wl™ are eft have the memory
us have put our delicious hyprocrisy that we Playe,d hard wlth, th™ and
aside and have come out openly with worshiped with them in thought and

the declaration that the endeavor to in word> the glones of nature that were

catch fish is only one of the factors a^ around us.

that go to make up the delight of our

days outdoors. We may not view na- Where to Send Your Boy for the

ture with the eye of the expert, but we Summer.

find in its many elements a joy and an Wg takg leasure in calH attention

interest that truly make us more of tQ the Nonowantuc C established

the naturalist than of the angler. , ,^ t? i j a r tv/t i +u^

& bv Mr. Edward A. C. Murphy, on the

The fisherman makes a great to-do east shore of Mt. Sinai Harbor, on the
about going fishing, said Dr. Bigelow. north coast of Long island) immediate-
He fusses over his rods, reels, lines and ly connected with Long Island Sound
baits and centers all his talk on what and about sixty miles outside of New
he expects to do to the fish, when, as York City. Fuji particulars of the
a matter of fact, he goes to enjoy the c property, ' the fields, the pine
world outdoors and to get from it the woods, the grove of locust trees, the
benefit that it is certain to yield in splendid view of Long Island Sound
health, interest and recreation. whh its facilities for boating, canoeing,

That is what Out in the Open has fishingt etc may be obtained by writ-
been preaching consistently. Its editor • tQ Mr Murphy
recalls a year when he spent ten days It is not the intention Gf this notice
on the Esopus during which time he to jnto any detailed advertising of
caught exactly three trout-and had a the campj bu| to say a word for Mr
wonderful trip! Murphy with whom the editor of this

Why. magazine is well acquainted. His qual-

Was it because the stream was ifications are summed up in two state-
beautiful, the mountains magnificent, ments: he is a thoroughly efficient
the camp a real joy, the bold little chip- teacher and he is a royally good fel-
munks a source of constant entertain- low. These are the qualifications need-
ment, the wild strawberries luscious, ed in the manager of a camp for boys.
the meadows and fields a glorious When that has been said, the whole
green, the heavens, by day and night, a thing has been specified. He must
panorama of unlimited interest, even understand boys and be a genial com-
though rain fell from them off and on panion for them. He must have an out-
nearly every day? You bet it was! look on life from the boy's point of
Those things and the comradeship of view, although that is not enough. Any
the men who shared them made forever boy that is considered a good fellow
dear the memory of that little camp by his mates has that. The manager
among the tall pines of the creek. must stand head and shoulders intel-

You delicious hyprocrites need feel lectually and in wholesome aspirations

no shame in your hyprocrisy. You are above the boy. He must uplift and

laying up a store the value of which is inspire him for life. He must not be a

THE OUTDOOR WORLD

35i

preacher in words but in actions and
in his innate qualifications. Do you
known that old Latin epitome, "Omnium
vivum ex vivo." You know what that
means? I will tell you. From the
boy's point of view it means : "We are
inspired by the other fellow." The
other fellow for the boy, and for the
father and mother, is Mr. Edward A.
C. Murphy. You can reach him by
writing to him at W'abanaki School,
Greenwich, Connecticut.

Snails and Spiders.

Springdale, Connecticut.
To the Editor :

The spider of which father spoke
to you is a beautiful creature and the
snail though not so pretty is just as in-
teresting. Brer Snail deserves all that
has been said about slowness. It took
mine nearly an hour to go eighteen
inches, and deposits of little globules
were left on the trail. Were these
eggs or isn't the snail an egg laying
creature? My father says the word is
oviparous. Is that right? He says
too that there is some reason why the
female spider makes a meal of the
father of the family. What is it? We
understand why the worker bees
butcher the drones. Maeterlinck makes
that clear, but what possesses the spi-
der? Father says that only the female
mosquito bites. Is that so? Just one
more question. Why call such little
things by long Latin names? Why
not talk United States?

A. Horace Horton.

The snail does lay eggs. Probably
the globules in its slimy trail were
glistening air bubbles, but I can give
you no definite information without
examining the particles.

In reference to your inquiry as to
why the female spider eats the male, I
wrote to Professor John Henry Coms-
tock. Ithaca, New York. He says,
"Under ordinary circumstances the
predaceous instinct in the female spi-
der is very strong ; all prey looks alike
to her." The spider is a ferocious ani-
mal and her appetite predominates at
most times. The fact is that nobody
knows why. Scorpions eat the males :
the praying mantis does the same ;
other insects are similarly guilty. It
is a common occurrence, but no one
can tell "why."

Your father is right in saying that

only the female mosquito has the bill,
and presents it in a piercing way to the
annoyance of human beings and other
animals.

I note your inquiry as to why natur-
alists use Latin names, yet your parents
named you Horace after a Roman poet
who died eight years before Christ
came on earth. Why did not your pa-
rents in the colloquialism of the United
States call you Hey Boy, Ho Boy,
Young Youngster, My Lad, Here You,
Laddie, Nickey or Bub? Take one of
our common birds, perhaps the one
known as the flicker. I have heard it
said that this bird has about forty
names in as many different parts of the
country. Fishermen use the larva of the
Corydalis for bait, and when you see
some of the nicknames given in the book
of entomology as in actual use, you can
readily see that if one is going to speak
with any sort of precision it is better
to use Corydalis than any of the nick-
names such as dobsons, crawlers, amly,
conniption bugs, clipper, water gam-
pus, goggle goy, bogart, crock, hell
devils, flip-flaps, alligators, Ho Jack,
snake doctor, dragon and hell-diver, as
given in Howard's "The Insect Book."
Just as it is better for me to say " I thank
you Horace, for your kind interest," then
to say, "Thank you," with a lot of nick-
names and aliases. Latin names are
used because all naturalists in all coun-
tries of the world are supposed to be
familiar with Latin. If you should
speak to a Chinese naturalist of the
"flip-flap," the "snake-doctor" or the
"goggle goy," he would be lost in won-
der at the barbarous sounds that to him
would mean nothing. But say, "Cory-
dalis;' and if he is an entomologist he
will have some comprehension of your
meaning. Among naturalists Latin is
the universal language.

Under April Skies.

Spring's shimmering iridescence

Is again in the vital air;
Again are her rainbow garments

Flung over the branches bare.

This is our modern miracle,

Surprising us over night;
With no words in the language,

To do it justice, quite.

An answering note of beauty

Must in our souls arise,
If we would gauge this marvel

Abroad 'neath the April skies.

— Emma Peirce.

352

THE <;i/LDE TO NATURE

"Children of the Dawn."

AN EDITORIAL ON WABANAKI SCHOOL
ROUND HILL ROAD, GREENWICH, CON-
NECTICUT, BY DR. FRANK CRANE, IN
NEW YORK GLOBE, JANUARY 31, IQlS.

Now that Christmas has come and
eone it is worth while to ask what is
the best gift we can imagine.

I have asked myself that question
and have found the answer that satis-
fies me.

The best gift I can imagine — the one
that would do the most good, both now
and for years to come — would be to the
boys and girls who today are in our
tutelage but tomorrow will be in charge
of the world.

And the best kind of a child gift is
the right kind of a school.

School — that is the biggest little
world in the language.

School ! Not the kind I went to nor
the kind we find around us, but the
ideal school, the happy school, the out-
door school, where the glad forces of
childhood come to harmonious develop-
ment through play.

T have one now in my mind's eye.
It is set on a hillside in the woods in
Connecticut. A deer path crosses the
school yard. A great naturalist comes
and tells the children the secrets of
nature. A master woodcraftsman
lives near and through him the children
learn the marvellous adventures of the
simple life.

They teach from books in this school,
but it is full of life rather than on know-
ledge.

They do not train children to be
scholars, doctors, lawyers, mechanics,
nor any other pigeonhole occupants,
but to be men and women.

The children learn how to use their
bodies and to revere them.

They learn the infinite resources of
pleasure that abound in knowing how
to do things for themselves with their
own hands, and find out facts for them-
selves with their own minds.

They meet in the council ring and
there learn team play, self-discipline,
respect for the opinions of others, the
sublime art of getting along with folks.

There the teachers are also learners.
Teachers and learners are not two hos-
tile camps. They explore the hills

hand in hand and do not oppose each
other across the desk.

They live reverently, to them the
Great Spirit is a daily reality. They
don't preach, they realize.

The school is not for bright children
nor stupid, but for all children, as God
made them ; the best in them is brought
out, whatever it is.

There they teach the right kind of
patriotism, the flower of humanity.

The school is called Wabanaki, which
means Children of the Dawn.

If I had millions I would endow such
a school, not museums nor libraries nor
institutions to perpetuate tradition, but
something: that would mean life, for in
so doing I should lay up my treasure
where moth and rust do not corrupt
nor thieves break through and steal.

Those Stringy Bubbles in Ice.

New York City.
To the Editor :

If no one offers a better explanation
for the bubble formation in ice describ-
ed on page 305 of the March number of
The Guide to Nature, I will venture
a suggestion. If there was any decom-
posing vegetable matter in the aqua-
rium the water was filled to saturation
with gas resulting from this decompo-
sition. The water remains saturated
with the gas under ordinary tempera-
ture, but at the freezing point would
dispose of most of it. There is a pos-
sibility that in a small aquarium jar
congelation of the water occurred in
nearly all parts of the jar at a certain
moment and the bubbles of gas then
escaping were mostly confined ;';/ situ
although some of them made their way
toward the surface, leaving the narrow
lines of open space.

Yours truly,

Robert T. Morris.

The ancient Greek "cat," kept on
ships for killing the rats and mice,
seems really to have been a martin and
not a cat at all.

The "old squaw ducks" of our north-
ern lakes, which are divers and eaters
of small fish, are reported to swim to
depths beneath the surface exceeding
a hundred feet.

.

liliifJtJUiiliniJiiiitJuntiJiiUJJJI^i.NUNiLiljLjJiUUiJ^iiiiiUjnJiiiiiJijjiiinjnjuiiiiinnnuMiii.iifmj!

m*,.i**o<iM-wm*i**tnmmwum

GREENWICH

rHE";F.nmoN r>F i.uxe

OF CONNECTICUT TOWNS

GREENWICH

"HAVE A TAXI"

WATCH FOR THE CARS WITH, A

GREEN STRIPE OR A GREEN

LIGHT

CARS IN GOOD CONDITION

SKILLED DRIVERS

PROMPT SERVICE

REASONABLE RATES

J. R. JOHNSON AUTO SERVICE.

Incorporated,

Near the Railroad Station

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

hns good transportation facilities to
New York. You can buy or rent to
good advantage and enjoy living by
the water or among the hills to the
utmost satisfaction

I have for Sale

Elegant Country Estates. Shore and Inland
Residences. Farms, Acreage, Cottages and
Building Sites. Also a number ol selected
Furnished Residences and Cottages to Rent

in all locations.

WonM be pleased to have yon call or writ*.

Laurence Timmons

Tel. 456 Opp. Depot Greenwich, Conn,

Puzzle-find the slackfr,

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

V

THE LACE AND TRIMMING STORE

in Atlantic St.

AMONG THE IMPORTANT ITEMS WE FEATURE

WAISTS. NECKWEAR, HOSIERY, UNDERWEAR, CORSETS, GLOVES, SILKS. RIBBONS
And all of the better accessories for women. Come and make a study of the new-style tendencies.

PURE WATER SERVICE

Complete Installation, Including

Two Bottles, is Made at Our

Expense.

Does Not Mar the Plumbing-.

Is Quickly Installed.

Does Not Interfere with Regular
Flow of Water of Tap.

Drink More Water Through
"MOORE PROCESS"

Operated by

PURE WATER SERVICE CORP'N
OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY

FAIRFIELD PURE WATER
CORPORATION

28 DOCK STREET, YONKERS N. V.
Tel. Yonkers 4936

You can't "camouflage" much longer
with that old Winter hat, for the change
in the range of Spring stjdes exposes
you at once. No time to lose if you
want to be in the swim this Spring with
a smart soft hat at the modest price of

$2.50 EACH

MAIL ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED

THE COMES-NORTHROP CO.,

445 Main Street, Stamford, Conn.

THE STAMFORD LUMBER CO.

LUMBER

Sash Doors, Blinds and Window-Frames

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
OFFICE AND YARD, 297 PACIFIC STREET.
STAMFORD. CONN.

VI

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

GREENWICH INN

Sound Beach, GonrL

On the Water. 50 Minutes from N.Y
ACCOMMODATING 200

Frequent trains. Golf, Tennis, Bathing, Boating

Saddle Horses, Orchestra.
New York Office: ROOM 1108, 347 FIFTH AVE
Telephone, 1 185 Murray Mill

Ye Olde Greenwich Inn.

The editor of this magazine wishes
to add a word to this advertisement
of the Greenwich Inn, located in Sound
Beach ("Old Greenwich"). The an-
nouncement represents a thoroughly
first-class summer hotel at the best of
seasides, Sound Beach.

Do you want to know what kind of
a place Sound Beach is. Then send
for the beautiful illustrated booklet
telling of this famous Inn.

It is located on the most beautiful
part of Long Island Sound, with mod-
ern roads leading to most picturesque
country.

It is near ArcAdiA. Come to Sound
Beach !

A Successful Seed and Plant Store.
We take pleasure in calling atten-
tion to the Quality Seed Store of
Stamford, Connecticut, not because
the store is one of our advertisers, but
because a magazine devoted to the
study of nature in all its forms would
be interested in the success of any
store devoted to seeds, plants and flow-
ers. The experience of several similar

stores in Stamford has been discourag-
ing, but the success of the Quality
store shows that the failures, of which
there have been many, were not due
to the merchandise nor to the locality.
Faulty management may have been a
fatal factor. Stamford is a plant lov-
ing city. The success of the Quality
store demonstrates that, and that suc-
cess is proof of Mr. G. B. Cannon's
good management. The store is ideal-
ly located, is well equipped, well stock-
ed, and is controlled by a pleasing,
genial, efficient manager. We are al-
ways gratified to note the success of
any business house that advertises in
this magazine, but we are especially
pleased when the success is achieved
through the aid of that nature to which
The Guide to Nature is devoted.

We are proud of the class of adver-
tisers represented in The Guide to Na-
ture, and another source of justifiable
pride is that seldom in the ten years
of the magazine's life has any of its
advertisers failed, although many firms
have gone down that did not adver-
tise with us ! We do not for a moment
assert that advertising in this maga-

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS VII

Burdett-McGillivray Company

ADVOCATE BUILDING, STAMFORD

Phone 268

WHERE TO BUY SUMMER KNIT UNDERWEAR

Stamford's largest Underwear Stock is at your service with wonderful assortments of
Forest and Essex Mills Knit Underwear. All weights, all sizes, finest yarns, lowest
prices-. &i.flilJS

GORDON DYE HOSIERY.

zine will make a store nor that the ice ; but nowadays old things have
absence of an advertisement will de- passed away and the method is to call
stroy it, but we do say that discerning at A. L. Embree's Drug Store, Stam-
management enables the merchant to ford, Connecticut, and have a brick of
see the value of The: Guide; to Nature ice cream wrapped up, making a pack-
as an advertising medium. age no more clumsy than a box of

candy. It may be easily carried for

Conveniently Taking Home Ice Cream, an hour in this manner and in an hour

How methods are changing is as- one can go a long distance by train,

tonishing. Not long ago when ice trolley or automobile,
cream was to be taken home or deliv- Another point worthy of mention is

ered from the store, it was thought the fact that Mr. Embree's cream is

necessary to carry a huge tub with the genuinely high quality. It ranks with

ice cream can surrounded by cracked the best fancy creams sold anywhere.

QUALITY SEED STORE

Seeds ! Seeds !! Seeds !!!

NOW

Buy your seeds early. It will be impossible to get most of them later.
Some kinds difficult now.

SEEDS, FLOWERS, BULBS, INSECTICIDES, FERTILIZER

NURSERY
GROWER— IMPORTER— DEALER

43 ATLANTIC STREET STAMFORD, CONN.

G. B. CANNON Tels. 1767, 1768

VIII

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE Established 50 Years STAMFORD, CONN.

STAMFORD'S PRINCIPAL SHOPPING PLACE

WHERE

{Here you are sure of intelligent service, each price a fair price. In every way
this is a store of aggressive planning in accord with the needs of the community.
SPRING STOCKS are in full readiness, the store is completely ready, the sales
people eager to help and to serve you. We invite frequent visits.
Porch — Rugs — Screens — Chairs — Tables — Couch Hammocks are nozv on sale in new assortments.

THE— TROLLEY— BRINGS— YOU— TO— OUR— DOOR.

THE C. O. MILLER CO.

ATLANTIC SQUARE

STAMFORD, CONN.

Established 1853

THEQETMAN&JUDDCO.

Lumber and Timber of all Kinds

SPECIALTY: High-Qrade HARDWOOD FLOORING

tkoroughly Kiln Dried and stored in Steam heated build-
ing until delivered to our customers. Our steadily in-
creasing trade in this specialty proves the fact that
the country home is not complete until fitted out with
this beautiful and sanitary furnishing. Old Residences
may be greatly improved by laying thin floors over the
eld ones.

CANAL DOCKS, STAMFORD, CONN.
Telephone 2180.

Homes Near to Nature

Should be so constructed as to give lasting satisfaction.
Our method of manufacturing dependable Interior and
Exterior house trim from thoroughly kiln dried material
by skilled mechanics insures such satisfaction.

THE ST. JOHN WOOD WORKING CO.

Canal Docks, Stamford Conn.

Telephone 781

DIRECTORS
WALTON FERGUSON, Pres. W. W. HEROY,
W. D. DASKAM, Vice Pres Dr. F. H. GETMAN

VV. H. JUDD, Sec. and Treas. F. W. BOGARDUS.

J. G. WIGG, General Manager.

The LOCKWOOD & PALMER Co.

Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in

HARDWARE

AGRICULTURAL

IMPLEMENTS

House Furnishings, Etc.

TOOLS
All Kinds

92 PARK PLACE

(Cor. Summer Street)

STAMFORD - CONN.

TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

Sound Beach Roll of Honor.

SERVICE FLAG PRESENTED BY THE LEND A HAND CLUB OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCH SUNDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 7. APPROPRIATE CEREMONIES OF PARADE,
SPEECHES, MUSIC, ETC.

Soil nf if emir

iht ^rrtrirr iFrnm i>omtd Ifearb.

Gardner Adams
Charles Babcock
Robert Babcock
Irving Baldwin
Henry Barmour
Ashley Bogard
Alvin Carlson
Kenneth Cook
Russell Cook
George Cornish
Roland Crandall
Newkirk Crockett
Reginald Ferris
Harry Fonda
James H. Graham

Egbert Griffin
Harold Hatter
Harry Hawkes
John Hawkes
William Hawkes
Arthur Hedges
King Hoyt
Sears Hoyt
Clarence Jones
Thomas King
Allan Kitchell
Stanley Lewis
Earl Lucan
Clarence McGarry
Robert McGarry

Alden McMurtry
Clarence Mortimer
William Randolph
Oliver Sandreuter
Stuart Sandreuter
Leon Scofield
Oscar Scovgard
Walter Scovgard
David Stephenson
William Strange
John Thomasson
William Thomasson*
Fred D. Thompson
Howard Peare
Andrew Post

*A white star on the flag. Killed in battle of Somme.

Copyright 1917 "The Great Lakes Recruit," Great Lakes, Illinois.

FLAG FORMED BY SAILORS AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL TRAINING STATION, GREAT

LAKES, ILLINOIS.

SEE "A FLAG COMPOSED OF SAILORS" PAGE 3h7,

Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut,

Subscription, $1.00 a year Single copy, 10 cents

Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897.

olume

X

MAY, 1918

Number 12

BIRDS FOR BRUCE MUSEUM.

Rowell Collection Loaned and May Be
Given Outright Later.

[FROM THE STAMFORD ADVOCATE.]

Bruce Museum of Greenwich has
been granted a ''long term loan" of a
large collection of birds. The collec-
tion was made by Dr. Charles E. Row-
ell, late Mayor of Stamford. The loan
is granted by Dr. Rowell's sons, and it
is likely that it will become an out
right gift, in due course of time.

George P. Rowell, one of the late
Mayor's sons, has also given outright
his collection of Indian relics.

Stamford people have more than a
neighborly interest in Bruce Museum
of Natural History and Art, because it
was practically developed by the late
and lamented Hon. Edwin L. Scoficld.
Under the will of Robert M. Bruce of
Greenwich, $50,000 was set aside to
create the Bruce Museum. Mr. Sco-
tield was appointed trustee of the fund.
For more than two years before he
died, he had been at work on the pre-
lect. Dr. Edward F. Bigelow, of Vr-
cAdiA: Sound Beach, was consulted
by Mr. Scofield, and was his adviser
in the matter. During the past five or
six months, $35,000 has been expended
along lines suggested by Dr. Bigelow.
to improve the museum building and

equip it properly. It is today one of
the finest museums of this type to be
found in any small town in the land.
Many collections have been donated
to the museum and many more will be
given. About $15,000 of the original
gift remains. This will be used to pur-
chase specimens and to defray other
expenses. It is expected, however, that
the museum will be maintained and
improved chiefly by gifts of money and
specimens.

E. C. Converse, W. T. Truesdale and
the Selectment of Greenwich are the
trustees at present. They are assisted
by an advisory board composed of Dr.
Bigelow, Frederick A. Hubbard, Neil
M. Ladd, Fred A. Springer and
Leonard Ochtman. Eventually the
museum will be conveyed to the Town
of Greenwich.

The Rowell collection was being
moved today to the museum under the
direction of Mr. Bigelow and John
Schaler. a local taxidermist.

Dr. R. R. Hertzberg is another Stam-
ford man who has given a collection
of specimens to the museum.

A Great Local Fair.

\\ hen the chicken show arrives in
town every poultryman brings out his
best biddy and points to her with
pride. When the horticulturists
have their exhibition the gardeners

Copyright 1918 by The Aga=-iz Association, AbcAdiA: Sound Beach. Conn.

356

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

walk on air in the pride of their
achievements, and point to a dahlia or
a chrysanthemum, a white and succu-
lent leek or a parsnip two feet long ( !)
as the best of human achievements.
The automobile manufacturers vie
with one another in exhibiting the good
points of each machine. The spirit of
such a fair is commendable. Many a
man, woman, boy or girl has become
interested in chickens, vegetables,
flowers, machinery by attending a fair
where these are exhibited.

Some one has called a museum a
dead circus. Not so. It is better de-
fined as a perpetual fair where each
exhibitor tries to transmit to a fellow
being some of his own interest and joy
in a particular subject. The Bruce
Museum at Greenwich, Connecticut,
will be a perpetual inspirational exhi-
bition. Several years ago Mr. Robert
M. Bruce, a wealthy philanthropist,
made various gifts to the Town of
Greenwich. Among these and evi-
dently dear to his heart, was the gift of
his own home in which he took so
much pride, and with it fifty thousand
dollars to refit and adapt it to receive
and make permanent an exhibition of
local nature, history and art. To carry
out his wishes, he selected the eminent
lawyer, the late and lamented Honor-
able Edwin L. Scofield, and four other
of his best and most intimate friends.

Among these Trustees there have
been a series of changes, owing to two
deaths and three resignations. But there
is now a new Board full of interest in
the subject, with an Advisory Commit-
tee of five. The Town of Greenwich
owns the land and the home, and will
eventually own the museum. The edi-
tor of this magazine has philanthropi-
cally given his services for almost
three years to the Board of Trustees
and especially to the Chairman as ad-
viser in carrying out Mr. Bruce's wish-
es in the establishing of a working
museum for this part of the state.
Within the last twelve months thirty-
five thousand dollars have been ex-
pended in refitting the building under
the skilled direction of Mr. Frank
Rooke, one of our most accomplished
architects. The Library Bureau,
famed the world over for the superior
quality of its cases, has been setting
up cabinets as fine as may be found in

any similar place in the world.

The museum will not be a junk shop.
Ancient things are desired, but the
building will not be a place for any
old thing dragged out of the garret.
Your contributions will be exhibited,
and will be placed in the best possible
position to depict the old days in
Greenwich and in Connecticut. From
the nature point of view, large and
commodious is the equipment. There
will be no competition with the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History in
New York City. The Museum shall
stand first for Greenwich ; second for
Connecticut, third, for Long Island
Sound and the wild country of Con-
necticut. The building is located be-
tween the seashore and the country.
In accessibility it could not be better.
It is in a commanding position, and
only two or three minutes' walk from
the Greenwich station and the main
line of the trolley cars. Every resident
of Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield
County, Connecticut, every quarry-
man, every naturalist, every fisherman,
every clam digger, every collector,
everybody is cordially invited to con-
tribute, not something that he wants
to get out of the house, but something
that he regards as the best, the nearest
and dearest to his heart, the most ex-
pressive, the most valuable or the most
inspirational ; give it and give gladly.

Agassiz said that a museum or labor-
atory is a sacred place. It is true.
Sacred, indeed, for the great Creator's
handiwork, sacred as the place where
His Work is pronounced. With this
in view, it is not out of place to quote,
"The Lord loveth a cheerful giver."
The Bruce Museum wants what you
want, not what you do not want. If
you do not want it, the chances are that
nobody else wants it. If you have a
fine collection of minerals, gems, birds,
curios, antiques, something choice and
dear to your heart, something that you
would take as much pride in showing
as an exhibitor takes at a fair, then
that is your best, and you should give
it for the good of the Cause and for
the good of all. The greater your
pride in your beautiful collection, the
greater your appreciation, the greater
should be your pleasure in placing it
where it will do the greatest good to
the greatest number.

THE BRUCE MUSEUM

357

Perhaps you have not a single rela-
tive that would appreciate that collec-
tion. The Trustees of this museum
will do that. The general public will
do that for years to come. Your own
appreciation will draw compound in-
terest. The Bruce Museum is where
you may earn a noble interest. It is a
savings institution of the most com-
mendable and trustworthy kind. If
you have traveled over all the world
and have picked up a bronze in one
place, a rare coin in another, a choice
bit of china somewhere else and natu-
ral history specimens from everywhere,
do not hesitate to display them in these
Library Bureau cases, in a stone, fire-
proof building with specially fitted
cement floors and good attendance.
Here they will be safe from thieves,
neglect and improper treatment. The
museum authorities will care for them
for all time.

Information in detail, advice as to
gifts, etc., will be given by the editor
of this magazine.

the field of blue. The pole and ball
took 950 men.

A Flag Composed of Sailors.

(see frontispiece.)

Aside from its human interest, the
flag is an exceptional example of math-
ematical photography. It took nearly
10,000 men to form it, and it was plan-
ned in strict accordance with the law
of perspective. To guide the men
while they maneuvered to get the
proper formation strips of white tape
were laid on the parade ground, form-
ing a pattern that bore no resemblance
to a flag but had the mathematical di-
mensions needed to produce the re-
quired effect. Viewed from the cam-
era, placed at a distance of 175 feet
from the bottom edge of the flag and
at an elevation of 60 feet, the flag was
perfect in contour. In reality, how-
ever, the line of men forming the right
end was 128 feet long while that form-
ing the left end, next to the staff, was
428 feet in length ; the line forming
the top margin was 293 feet long,
while that forming the lower edge was
only J2> feet long ; the staff was 550
feet long, 35^2 feet wide at the base, and
6 feet wide at the upper end ; the ball
at the end was formed by an oval, com-
posed of 250 men, that was 237 feet
long and only 20 feet wide. It took
1,600 men to form the white stripes,
1,900 the red, 1,800 the stars, and 3.400

"Potatriotism is Potato Patriotism."

"The War and You" is an interest-
ing announcement of The Woodcraft
League of America Incorporation to
the Woodcraft Potato Clubs. The
Woodcrafters this coming summer are
to devote their energies to raising po-
tatoes under the skilled direction of
the chief, Mr. Ernest Thompson Se-
ton, whose home is in Greenwich,
Connecticut. Every one should be in-
terested in these potato clubs and we
advise all our readers to send to The
Woodcraft League of America at 13
West Twentv-ninth Street, New York

SomcC&irem mur/ihits; SOmecilL cm dooc/s
Some, czLL'trn txtits ; sopzt Ci.ll 'em spuds'

Some, O.U cm tubers ,or hot-fruit c/e^n.

Bi/t our jolly littlt Hot- boys cz/Z/m.

Copyright — Ernest Thompson Seton, Chief

of the Woodcraft League of America.

Permission to use granted when proper

credit is given.

City, for full particulars. There is a
catchy bit of inspiration in the appeal
of this league to be a potato patriot
and their slogan, "Let's hoe our way
to victory."

The American Museum's expedition
to China secured, among other novel-
ties, a black flying squirrel four feet
long, several species of chipmunk new
to science and two strange creatures
that are , intermediate between sheep
and goats.

OUTDOOR WORLD

ir-

rt*&

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"^•.T^mv

'**&&**..

V*^

ir

An Experiment and a Suggestion.

BY ROBERT CUNNINGHAM MILLER, BUT-
LER, PENNSYLVANIA.

It is considered quite the thing nowa-
days to read and discuss a certain little
volume published under the title of

"Walden." When Henry David Thor-
eau, pioneer of philosophical natural-
ists, wrote the book, no one would read
it, but scarcely had its misunderstood
and unappreciated author been hauled
away to the graveyard, when every
one began to read and praise the work
and pay tardy homage to the genius
who had lived and died in the midst of
them. An eminent authority has gone
so far as to say that we should read
"Walden" at least twice every year, in
order to maintain a healthful philoso-
phy of living, and keep our intellectual
vigor up to par.

However, though we delve in Thor-
eau and read of his life, and study his
works and admire his philosophy, we
never do what he himself would have
wished. We fail to remember that he
was not writing merely to be read
and known of men, or to create for us
a momentary aesthetic enjoyment. He
conducted an experiment which to his
mind was successful and in "Walden"
he has left us a record of it, so that we
may go and do likewise.

Two years ago in May, I concluded
to depart somewhat from my ordinary
habits of life, and to make an experi-
ment. I was at the time living in the
city, and it was necessary for me to be
there at least a part of nearly every day
yet in the face of these difficulties, I
set out to follow in the footsteps of
Thoreau !

After due search, I found a location

which suited my purpose, an old or-
chard, uncared for and uncultivated,
long since given over to the possession
of birds and rabbits. Though an ideal
spot, it was only a few minutes' walk
from the car line, and indeed not so
far from the city but that I could walk
there readily when occasion required.

It was only a few days until, with
the help of a small boy who furnished
me with some old tools and still more
ancient lumber, I had a shanty erected
in the shade of an apple tree and ready
for occupancy. At least I considered
it ready for occupancy, although there
was some room for improvement.
There were cracks an inch wide here
and there, the roof was far from water-
tight and there was no door. These
defects I intended to remedy one by
one, but one by one I concluded to
leave them so. I was not long in dis-
covering that the cracks served an im-
portant purpose, for through them I
could readily observe the birds which
frequented the bushes in the rear of the
shanty where I had no window. Thus
they became almost indispensable, and
I could not think of plastering them
up. I had a door which I intended to
put on hinges but, owing to circum-
stances which I will mention presently,
this intention was never fulfilled, and
my establishment was open to all com-
ers day and night. As the rain beat
in through the cracks and through the
open door, it was of little use to make
repairs on the roof; so when it rained,
I pulled an oilcloth blanket over my
bed and gave scant heed to the weath-
er. Thus, through shiftlessness or de-
sign, my life became even more primi-
tive than I had anticipated.

The first night I slept upon a pair

THE OUTDOOR WORLD

359

of springs, this being the only relic of
civilization I allowed myself. Every
time I turned over during the night,
the springs creaked mournfully and
aroused all the dogs in the neighbor-
hood to an equally mournful response.
Xext morning the springs were to^-ol
unceremoniously over the hill, and in
their place I dragged my intended door,
propped it up and thereafter accus-
tomed my bones to its unyielding sur-
face.

I had no other furniture. 1 kept a

bathing place for the birds, which visit-
ed it in great numbers, while the
swamp beyond was frequented by sev-
eral species of water and game birds.
Both pond and swamp gave shelter to
a variety of frogs, which serenaded me
not unpleasantly each evening.

Thus I had at my very elbow, as it
were, hillside, meadow, orchard, thick-
et, pond and marsh, and from each one
I reaped a rich harvest. In the branch-
es above my doorway a pair of brown
thrashers had their nest. In a hollow

A COMPLETED SHANTY.

few books and papers under the bed
that, when the spirit so moved me, I used
as a table on which to write. The door
that had missed its calling served as
bed, chair, table, desk and bookcase.

I have seldom seen a situation so
ideal for general study of the outdoors.
To the right and left of my shanty was
a thicket ; above me an open field ;
while below the hill sloped gently from
my door for possibly a hundred yards
then went down almost perpendicu-
larly to the edge of a small pond. This
steep bank was covered with foliage,
which provided nesting sites for a great
variety of birds. The pond was not a
promising rival of "YYalden," for it
was shallow and turbid, and on the fur-
ther side merged gradually into an ex-
tensive swamp of cat-tails and sedge
grass. However, its waters formed a

tree a few steps from my shanty a
flicker family had their home. I used
to hear the fledglings chattering to-
gether or calling noisily for food. I
found the nest of the meadow lark and
the bluebird and the dove. I waded
for hours in the swamp, seeking the
nests of the redwing and the marsh
wren. In mud and water knee-deep, I
patiently sought the elusive, musical
Hyla pickeringii, until I actually had the
pleasure of seeing him sing, his little
throat swelling aud pulsing, as though
he were trying to swallow a marble
and could get no farther with it. I
wandered by night under the stars,
when all was silence, save for the dis-
tant crooning of a frog or the sleepy
murmur of a bird which I had disturbed
by passing too near its perch. In such
pursuits as these I forgot the business

360

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

of being human, forgot that next day
I must become a part of the busy city
on the other side of the hill, and in
studying the creatures around me I felt
as though I too were a part of the out-
doors, as wild and free as they.

This, then, was my experiment, I
spent the summer in a novel, inexpen-
sive, profitable and thoroughly enjoy-
able way. No doubt the idea of sleep-
ing on an old door in a leaky cabin will
fail to appeal to most people. Possibly
if I repeat the experiment I shall do so
on a more elaborate and less primitive
scale myself. However, the idea might
be elaborated at little expense, and I
would suggest that, in lieu of an ex-
pensive trip to a summer resort, we
thus take advantage of the opportuni-
ties at home.

Camping in Nearness to Nature.

On my reading table are a number of
catalogues of summer camps for boys
and girls. That the camping interest
is growing speaks well for our Ameri-
can civilization. It is a good thing for
people of all ages to leave their homes
and crowded cities to go to the wild
open by seashore, in the mountains or
at a camp by some lakeside in the hean
of untamed nature. Even if all that is
done is to eat, sleep, run, make fancy-
work, play tennis and ride horses, a
benefit accrues, and there is probably
not a camp in the land that is not do-
ing some great good.

But to one who loves wild nature
in all her interesting details, as well as
in her health giving aspects, there has
really been, as we look over the vast
extent of nature interests, a conspic-
uous omission from some of these cat-
alogues, evidence that the proprietors
are taking the young people not to na-
ture but into nature, that the shell of
city life is carried along and that the
crust of artificiality and of city pur-
suits is in no sense broken. But things
are not so bad as they were. One camp
after another is falling into the line of
not the sham going to nature but the
real going.

THE ALOHA CAMPS.

Conspicuous among those who are
gradually developing a real interest in
nature are Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Gulick
of the Aloha Camps, of which they
have three, one at Pike, New Hamp-

shire, for girls over seventeen ; one at
Fairlee, Vermont, for girls from four-
teen to seventeen ; and at The Hive,
Ely, Vermont, for the younger girls.
The nature study in these camps while
moderate is genuine. The editor of
this magazine has personal knowledge
of the fact that some of the councillors
enthusiastic naturalists and

are

are

A CHIPMUNK. SO WILD IT IS TAME, COMES
INTO A TENT AT ALOHA EVERY NOON

REST PERIOD.

Photographed by Edward F. Bigelow.

skillful in inspiring others with some
of their own interest. Specialists of
unquestioned proficiency have been
engaged from time to time, and a
really wholesome interest in nature is
manifested throughout all these camps.
Address Mrs. E. L. Gulick, */j Adding-
ton Road, Brookline, Massachusetts.

A SEASHORE, CAMP.

From the point of view of the school
it is evident that William Gould Vinal,
Instructor of Nature Study of the
Rhode Island Normal School, Provi-
dence, is putting his camp on the right
basis as one would naturally infer from
his position as nature study instructor.

THE OUTDOOR WORLD

361

He is the director of Chequesset, a
seashore camp in the heart of the Cape
Cod region. One can trust Professor
Vinal to put in and to keep in a liberal
proportion of nature study, and judg-
ing from the bright-eyed college grad-
uates who are councillors, these
"strong, sympathetic leaders, full of
fun, cultured and refined," have a lib-
eral amount of enthusiasm for outdoor
life in general and for natural objects
in particular. Address Mr. William
G. Vinal, Rhode Island Normal School,
Providence, Rhode Island.

CAMP ARCADIA IN MAINE.

The camp that seems to the editor
of this magazine to be permeated with
a desire to be beneficial rather than to
make money, and to intend actually to
live with Mother Nature and to be-
come acquainted with her rather than
merely to have the name of going to
visit her, is our namesake, Camp Ar-
cadia at Casco, Maine. This camp in
equipment and in spirit is in a class by
itself, since it seems to be not a busi-
ness but a true living in nearness to
nature with all the equipments that
civilization can supply and all the nat-
ural interests and charm obtainable
from a picturesque lake, a stately for-
est and rambling countrv roads. Mrs.
Cleveland has placed the property
valued at some twenty-five thousand
dollars, in the ownership of her two
young daughters, Dorothy and Phyllis,
and she has been fortunate in securing
as Camp Mother, Mrs. Cora L. Glea-
son of the Perkins Institution, Water-
town, Massachusetts, whom the in-
mates of the camp know and affection-
ately call Mother B. On the staff are
several councillors who really love na-
ture and have a fair knowledge of her
attractions. With these councillors
alone there would be a good deal "do-
ing" in the way of nature study, but
Mrs. Cleveland is herself so personally
interested in her girls and is so great
a lover of outdoor life that she secures
the services of those that have made
nature study a life work. She is to be
congratulated upon securing the ser-
vices of Dallas Lore Sharp, the emi-
nent writer, biologist and naturalist.
There is perhaps no other person in all
this country, except Mr. John Bur-
roughs, the Dean of us all, who could
more thoroughly stamp genuineness upon

that special nature study than can Mr.
Sharp. We are happy to congratulate
the members of Arcadia Camp in the
bright outlook for the season of 1918.
Address Mrs. Eleanor Cleveland, 29
India Street, Boston, Massachusetts.

TEEA-WAUKET CAMPS.

In our April number we noticed the
Tela-Wauket Camp at Roxbury, Ver-
mont, one of the more recent comers
into the field of true nature study. In
general athleticism and in outdoor liv-
ing this camp has for many years ranked
among the highest and best in the coun-
try. It is in a marvelously beautiful lo-
cation and is well equipped. The editor
of this magazine will give his personal
attention to the nature study there,
and he hopes to develop it not only
educationally and inspirationally but
so that the campers shall see things in
accord with the infinite beauty of na-
ture. It is believed after careful inves-
tigation of an extensive field and the
comparing of many catalogues, that
here is a camp where real nature study
wall accomplish good results. Address
Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Roys, Directors,
10 Bowdoin Street, Cambridge, Mas-
sachusetts.

A NATURE STUDY CAMP FOR BOYS-

In our number for April we noticed
the Nonowantuc Camp established by
Mr. Edward A. C. Murphy. We are
confident that Mr. Murphy is not only
a good camp manager but a good nat-
uralist. We are sure that nature study
in his camp will not be neglected nor
will it be relegated to the one-hundred-
th place ; it will not be "the x in the
problem." In the summer of 1917 Mr.
Murphy had charge of the bird study
and the nature councils in the woods
and several nature walks, including a
genuine investigation of the beautiful
lake, at the Aloha Camp. We include
this camp in the list of those in which
nature study is genuine and earnest.
For further particulars address Mr.
Edward A. C. Murphy, Wabanaki
School, Greenwich, Connecticut.

OTHER CAMPS.

It is the spirit of this magazine,
voicing the teachings of The Agassiz
Association, to give every aid and en-
couragement to the propaganda of na-
ture study. If any other camp will
show that it is entitled even in the
feeblest efforts — if really genuine — to

362

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

add, to continue or to enlarge its scope
of nature interest, this magazine will
gladly help in any way in its power.
Some camps must sooner or later at
least approach a little nearer to nature
study or they will fall under the con-
demnation of public sentiment ; they
cannot take young people into the
realms of nature in name only. These
are days of efficiency, of antagonism
to the merely artificial ; they demand
genuine honesty of purpose. If a camp
in wild nature is not to do something:
with nature, then in the opinion of the
editor of this magazine and of all other
nature lovers it has small excuse for
its location ; it is not rising to the
height of its full privileges ; it may as
well be situated in the heart of any
city.

"Sugar" Bound Boat.

Indian Harbor, Greenwich Connec-
ticut.

March 22, 1918.
To the Editor:

While there may have been a scar-
city of cane and beet sugar of late, you
will notice from the enclosed snapshot

Br£~ . "^B

n^AS**** J

™

spij"*4^*'' tJt—JL

•

that there has been no scarcity of
"Jack Frost Sugar" at Indian Harbor
this winter. In fact, so abundant was
the supply that you can see the old
Oneida in the background completely

sugar" bound.

TosEpii D. Curj.ev.

The Advent of Spring.

BY ROBERT SPARKS WALKER, CHATTANOOGA,
TENNESSEE.

"J" is gone, 't is gone,— old Winter now has

passed away,
No more the snowflakes fall when silent

skies are gray;
And like a little child from country school

set free,

The earth conies laughing forth in gushing
jubilee.

The air is ringing with the bluebird's mer-
ry note,

The sunbeams flicker on the dandelion's
throat;

THE DARING WATERCRESS GOES WADING DOWN THE
BROOK."

And buttercups and bluets deftly dot the

ground, —
A thousand fairy spirits welcome Spring

has found!

The daring watercress goes wading down

the brook,
Where silver minnows swim and stare in

questful look;
The tender grass-blades bend to kiss the

waves below,
And buttonballs record the bonny breeze's

blow.

The rippling stream awakes the slumber-
land with song,

And joyful creatures pass the tuneful peals
along,

To birds and bees by pasture-path and
and lilied-lane,

And mellow notes echo from distant hills
again!

Upon the horizon the vernal tints appear,

Elysian scents are they that balmy breezes
bear;

And in the midst of gladness that the sea-
son brings,

The soul takes up the songs that Nature
softly sings!

The Heavens in May.

By Professor Eric Doolittle o f the University of Pennsylvania.

ALREADY the faint summer above the horizon in the southeast,

groups of stars are taking pos- though more than half of its stars,

session of the eastern heavens, among which is the fiery red Antares,

while the first of the winter constella- have not yet entered the evening hea-

tions have disappeared in the west. vens.

The advancing border of the very Similarly, the great summer groups

large constellation Virgo has passed or Serpens and Ophiuchus are but

South

Figure 1. The- Constellations at 9 P. M., May 1. (If facing south, hold the map upright. If facing
west, hold \\\st below. If facing east, hold East below. If facing north, In >ld the map inverted.

the meridian in the south, closely fol- partly risen, while, on the contrary,

lowed by the stars of Libra, while the very long and winding Water

Scorpio, the most striking of all the Snake is now entirely above the

summer constellations, is mounting ground, extending across the whole

364

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

southern heavens from Scorpio to the
Lesser Dog. Above the Zodiac and
bordering it on the north is the train
of beautiful constellations from Lyra
to Auriga which will well repay
study, especially the western part of
it, in which there are several fainter
and less generally known star groups.

Jp 5|£ *J* *|> ^T*

The May Stars.

The constellation of the Balance,
which closely follows Virgo, is at
once recognized by the two bright
stars at E and D, although there are
fifty-three stars visible without tele-
scopic aid which are included within
the borders of this constellation. The
four stars D, E, F and H, which form
a quadrilateral in Libra, are all of in-
terest. The stars at D and E are seen
to be double even in a pair of opera
glasses, while that at H also is a
double, showing a fine contrast of col-
or, but as the companion is of the
ninth magnitude this can only be seen
with a small telescope.

The star at E is the only naked eye
star in the heavens which has a decid-
edly greenish color. It is thought that
this star has varied in brightness,
since two thousand years ago it was
described as the brightest star of all
in the combined constellation of the
Scorpion and the Balance (the Bal-
ance was formerly a part of the con-
stellation of the Scorpion) while now
Antares, the brightest star of Scorpio,
is nearly five times as bright as the
star at E. Later the two stars were
described as being of equal brightness.
No change in brightness has been ob-
served, however, since accurate mea-
sures have become possible.

The star at K is a well-known vari-
able. Two-thirds of its light is cut
off every thirty-two hours by the pas-
sage of a dark companion between us
and it, the companion revolving about
the principal star in this time. It is
thus exactly similar to the more strik-
ing eclipsing variable, Algol, at L. Fig-
ure I. If a straight line be imagined
drawn from the star at H to that at
E and extended a distance about equal
to its own length it will end in a strik-
ing, compact cluster of faint stars,
very much condensed toward the cen-
ter. About sixty of these faint stars
are variables of a certain kind, from

which we may obtain the approximate
distance away of this and similar clus-
ters. A short distance above and to
the east of this cluster there is an in-
teresting double star, but neither of
these objects is well seen except in a
telescope of at least three inches aper-
ture.

The reader should not fail to ex-
amine the beautiful little group of
Coma Berenices, now exactly on the
meridian, high in the south. On moon-
less nights, such as we shall have dur-
ing the first twelve days of the month,
the sky may here be seen with an opera
glass to be covered with a most deli-
cate, filmy network of stars which, as
has been pointed out, if removed a few
thousand light years farther away
would appear to us as a faint star clus-
ter or even as a nebula. Though so
faint many of the separate stars of this
constellation were given names two
thousand years ago. It was then call-
ed Ariadne's Hair (Ariadne's Crown
being our Corona), but from 234 B. C.
it was known as Berenice's Hair, Ber-
enice being the sister of one of the
rulers of Egypt.

There are many interesting double
stars here and several star clusters and
nebulas which can be found by the
help of a star atlas. This small but
densely filled region of the sky will
well repay exploration with a small
telescope. Having become somewhat
familiar with the larger constellations
and the brighter objects of the sky,
the reader will find it much better to
thoroughly explore a small region,
such as this, than to turn over the
heavens from one object to another.
He thus makes the small part of the
heavens, as it were, his own, and he
becomes familiar with the use and lim-
itations of his instrument. Many most
beautiful objects may not be seen until
after many evenings' trial, for he will
soon learn that the transparency of
the air and the "seeing" varies remark-
ably from night to night. Of course,
having minutely examined one, region,
he may turn to another and thus grad-
ually acquire a detailed knowledge of
the face of the heavens as it is revealed
in his instrument.

The Pole of the Milky Way is in al-
most the exact center of Coma Bere-
nices. As this is nearly overhead, the

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

365

Milky Way is now seen stretching
along the horizon from the southeast
through the north to the southwest.
The winter branch is disappearing
and the summer branch is entering our
evening sky.

^ :ji ^. ^c ifc

The New Asteroid.

A remarkable object was discovered
last February, which was described

]f an asteroid, its path was certainly
very unlike that of the other asteroids.
Accordingly, it .was sometimes refer-
red to as a comet, but it was generally
called simply an "object" until its true
nature should be discovered.

When a sufficient number of obser-
vations had been secured to enable its
path to be well determined it was
found to be indeed an asteroid, but one

Figure 2. The path of the newly discovered asteroid above the sun.

as an asteroid having a little asteroid,
or "moonlet," revolving around it. The
little companion was moving so rapid-
ly that it would pass completely
around the parent asteroid in a little
more than one day. The new asteroid
was of only the eleventh magnitude,
while its even fainter companion was
described as of the fourteenth magni-
tude.

The new object was discovered in
the northern borders of the constella-
tion Gemini, but it was moving very
rapidly eastward ; in fact, its motion
was so rapid that it was doubtful
whether it was a true asteroid at all.

moving in a very unusual orbit. The
form of this path is shown in Figure
2. It is the least circular of all the
asteroid orbits, so that when nearest
the sun it is far within the orbit of
Mars, and when farthest away it is
not very far from the orbit of Jupiter.
It may approach within nineteen mil-
lion miles of the earth. The only
other heavenly body which comes so
near us as this is another little aster-
oid named Eros, the moon alone ex-
cepted. Thus the new body comes
much nearer the earth than Venus or
any of the other planets of the solar
svstem. When it is at the most re-

366

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

mote part of its orbit, however, it will
be quite invisible both phothgraphic-
ally and in all existing telescopes.

The great importance of the new
asteroid lies in the fact that at times
it approaches so near us that its ab-
solute distance away in miles can be
determined, for it draws so near that
when we change our position on the
earth it is seen to very appreciably
change its apparent place in the sky.
From this the distance in miles from
the earth to the sun (which is the unit
of distance throughout all astronomy)
can be determined.

When the new asteroid was discov-
ered it was at the point B of its path ;
it was thus well past its closest ap-
proach to the earth, which occurred
just one month earlier. The asteroid
passes about its orbit in 4.33 years, so
that every four years it reaches the
part of its orbit which is nearest the
sun. It is not, however, very near the
earth except when the earth is near
the portion of its path marked A. The
next close approach will occur near
the beginning of the year 1931, and it
is at this time also that the little planet
Eros, our nearest visitor of all, will
approach us most closely. Soon after
this time the distance from the earth
to the sun will become known with a
far higher accuracy than ever before.

It should be added that though the
new asteroid has been many times
photographed during the last few
weeks and though it has been ex-
amined with the largest telescopes, no
trace of the faint companion has been
detected. It is as yet impossible to
account for the announcement of the
discovery. The companion may have
a real existence (the distance apart
of the earth and the object is rapidly
increasing) or it may have been an il-
lusion.

The new asteroid has now become
excessively faint — of only about the
fourteenth magnitude. When discov-
ered it was in the position A, Figure
1, but its rapid eastward motion has
now carried it well into Leo to the
position B. It is seen so high above
the ecliptic because the inclination of
the orbit plane to the plane of the
ecliptic is nearly nine degrees. It is
now moving southward among the
stars, however, and will soon pass be-
low the Celestial equator.

The Planets in May.

Mercury is a morning star through-
out the month. It will reach its great-
est distance west of the sun on May
24, when it may be seen shining in the
northeast for somewhat more than one
hour before sunrise. It will again en-
ter the evening sky on June 26.

Venus remains in the morning sky
until next November. It is steadily
drawing nearer the sun, but it is still
a very conspicuous object in the
morning heavens. It rises almost due
east about three and one-half hours
before sunrise on May 1, and this time
is decreased to two and three-quarter
hours by May 31.

Mars is on the meridian in the south
in the extreme western border of the
constellation Virgo. Its westward
motion ceased on April 26, and it is
now moving eastward among the
stars. Its distance from the earth in-
creases from seventy-six million miles
to ninety-six million miles during the
present month, and it is but sixth-
tenths as bright at the end as at the
beginning. Even when faintest, how-
ever, it is 1.7 times as bright as a first
magnitude star.

Jupiter is moving slowly eastward
and northward between the Hyades
and the Pleiades. It may still be seen
in the early evening, though it is be-
yond the borders of our evening map.
It enters the morning sky on June 15,

Saturn is moving quite rapidly
eastward and southward through the
constellation Cancer. By December
12 its motion will carry it within
thirty seconds of the star Regulus (at
C, Fig. 1) though it will be about a de-
gree north of this star. The two ob-
jects will then form a beautiful fig-
ure in the south, but after this date
Saturn will begin to move westward
again. The reader may remember that
some months ago Saturn was nearly
in a line with the Twin Stars, while
now it is far to the east of this line.
Uranus is in the morning heavens in
the constellation Aquarius.

Neptune is in Gemini, sixteen min-
utes west of Saturn, and six minutes
south on May 1, and twenty-two min-
utes west and seventeen minutes north
on May 31. On May 12 it is of the
same declination as Saturn, and eigh-
teen minutes west of it.

TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS

367

How to Reduce One's Weight.

BY CHARLES XKVERS HOLMES, NEWTON,
MASSACHUSETTS.
There are two ways by which the
weight of even the most ponderous
person upon Earth might be reduced
without dieting and without delay.
Such a ponderous person, any fat or
stout individual, might under certain

conditions lose as much weight as he
or she chose, indeed all of his or her
weight. And he or she might weigh
exactly whatever amount desired — 150
pounds or 25 pounds — without having
to get rid of even an ounce of flesh. All
that would be necessary is a journey.
long or short, according to how much
weight a person wished to lose. There
are two ways by which this reduction
might be accomplished, but — alas ! —
both of these means are at present not
available. Nevertheless ,they may be-
come available in the future, so perhaps
it will be worth while to describe them.
Briefly, in order to reduce one's
weight all that one needs to do is to
rise to a sufficient distance above our
Earth or to descend a sufficient dis-
tance beneath its surface. One begins

to lose weight just as soon as he leaves
the terrestrial surface, going up or go-
ing down. Of course it is easy to un-
derstand that the farther away we get
from our Earth the weaker becomes
the attraction of gravity between us
and our Planet, therefore, since our
weight is simply a record of the
amount of that gravity, we should
weigh less and less according to our
distance from the World. At a height
of 4000 miles above the terrestrial sur-
face we should weigh only J4th of what
we do on the surface. y\nd were we
able to descend 3000 miles below the
terrestrial surface, we should then
weigh only a quarter of what we do
on the surface, because the distance to
our Earth's center being about 4000
miles, there would remain but a quar-
ter of the distance to that center to at-
tract us. That is, instead of being
pulled towards the terrestrial center by
the gravitational attraction of 4000
miles of our World's bulk, we should,
after descending 3000 miles, be pulled
downward by only 1000 miles, or 14th
of 4000 miles. And if we were able to
descend to the very center of our Earth,
we should lose all of our weight, since
at that point there would be nothing
further to pull us downward, every
atom of the 4000 miles now lying be-
hind and above us. In other words,
we should be in a condition of gravita-
tional equilibrum at our Earth's center.
Thus, it is evident that one's weight
or the pull of terrestrial gravity upon
one's body would become less and less
were we to leave our World behind us
or to descend to our World's center.
In either case, our weight would cease
entirely at the Earth's center and prac-
tically after we had reached a vast dis-
tance from that center.

There are some so ignorant that they
do not so much as know they are igno-
rant— that blissful state of ignorance
where to be wise would be rank folly.
It is so very easy to be ignorant that
it would seem hardly worth while to
study and work, toil and scheme, in
order to be reckoned wise. The igno-
rant man who thinks he knows is
usually better satisfied with himself
than he who is wise enough to know
that he doesn't know much. — Erasmus
Wilson.

All communications for this department should be sent to the Department
Editor, Mr. Harry G. Higbee, 13 Austin Street, Hyde Park, Massachusetts.
Items, Articles and photographs in this department not otherwise credited
are by this Department Editor.

A Suggestion to Bird-Photographers.

EDITORIAL BY WILFRED A. FRENCH, IN
PHOTO-ERA.

One of the reasons that excellently
illustrated articles on bird-photography
are so scarce is because most camerists
lack the necessary discrimination, skill
and patience. They argue that because
the act of photographing individual
birds, either free or surrounded by
tree-branches, twigs and foliage, pre-
sents certain and obvious physical dif-
ficulties, the results must be accepted
as technically satisfactory achieve-
ments. Because many of these not
particularly creditable photographs
have been accepted and published in
periodicals devoted to outdoor sports
and activities, is no proof of their ex-
cellence. It is not even certain that
they have met the approval of those
whom they were designed to interest.
Merely because it was difficult to make,
the reader of a sports-magazine is
asked to admire an intricate mass of
reeds and grasses in which is con-
cealed, somewhere, a mother-bird sit-
ting on its nest. It impresses us rather
as a puzzle with the accompanying
query, "Find the bird." Or it will be
some other bird or creature so photo-
graphed with its natural surroundings
or camouflage, that it will be extremely
difficult for the ordinary eye to dis-
tinguish and study. That it is quite
possible to procure direct photographs
of song-birds, water-fowl and other
creatures in a semi-wild state, that are
distinct and sharply defined, can be
shown by the perusal of past numbers
of this magazine Of course, the cam-
erist eager to make successful pictures
of song-birds must possess the neces-
sary temperament for such work and,
particularly, the adequate apparatus

and accessories A photographic pub-
lication is hardly the medium for' pho-
tographs of subjects in natural history,
or any other activity, for which apol-
ogies should be made because of tech-
nical deficiencies. Moreover, the ser-
ious-minded photographer will not
rest content until he has achieved that
which is within the scope of photo-
graphic possibility.

A Song Sparrow Takes a Cold Bath.

PA' F. II. VAN HISE, SUMMERLAND, BRIT-
ISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

One evening, during the last week of
January, about a half hour after sunset,
I saw a song sparrow take a bath. It
flew to the edge of the lake, and stood on
a stone so that the spray might splash
over it. After standing for a few
minutes and not getting wet enough, it
flew to another stone near the shore, so
that nearly every wave submerged it.

Three times a wave larger than usual
nearly washed the bird from the stone ;
considerable fluttering- and struggling-
were needed to help it keep its footing.
It then returned to the shore, and again
exposed itself to the spray. To that bath
the bird devoted fifteen minutes. The
temperature of the air was thirty-seven
degrees ; that of the lake was thirty six
degrees.

(The Okanagan Lake has been frozen
over only once in twenty-three years.)

Nature's work is all of it good, all
of it purposeful, all of it wonderful, all
of it beautiful. We like or dislike cer-
tain things which may be a way of ex-
pressing our prejudice or our limita-
tion ; but the work is always perfect of
its kind irrespective of human appreci-
ation.—John C. Van Dyke in "The
Desert."

ORNITHOLOGY

369

The Only Mountain Plover in New

England.
We are indebted to the Boston So-
ciety of Natural History for the use of
the accompanying cut of a mounted
plover recently acquired by that so-

"ONLY MOUNTAIN PLOVER KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN
TAKEN IN NEW ENGLAND."

Enormous Number of Robins
The immense concourses of passen-
ger pigeons, remembered by many now
living and so graphically described by
Wilson, Audubon, and other early or-
nithologists, are common knowledge.
But that the robins of
America are today far
more numerous than the
passenger pigeons ever
were, and that many other
species outnumber them
also — perhaps three to
one — is not generally ap-
preciated. The gregar-
tousness of the pigeons,
causing them to unite in
a few great flocks, made
the number much more
manifest than do the scat-
tered small bands and in-
dividuals of other birds.
Yet when we reflect that
robins nest over an area
extending at its farthest
limits from Mexico to the
Arctic ocean and from the
Atlantic to the Pacific,
and that in much of this
vast territory they are
fairly crowded, it is easy
to conjecture what an
immeasurable army they
would make if gathered
into one flock.- — Henry
Oldys in "Bird-Lore."

ciety. Mr. Glover M. Allen, the Sec-
retary, writes as follows :

"The cut of the plover represents
the mountain plover (Podasocys mon-
tanus) lately acquired by this society for
its mounted collection of the birds of
New England. It was killed at North
Beach, Chatham, Massachusetts, in
October, 1916, and fortunately came
into the possesion of one that recog-
nized it as something unusual. It is
the only mountain plover known to
have been taken in New England. Its
normal breeding range is in the far
West, from Montana to northern New
Mexico. It Avinters from northern
California to central Mexico."

The expenses of the New York Zoo-
logical Park and the Aquarium amount
to about seven cents for each visitor.

Truth.

BY C. R. PIETY, SCOTTSBURG, INDIANA.

Iconoclast am I:

The icons I delight to kill;

The ichor I rejoice to spill;

With pride I view the mangled mess,

And scorn the utter helplessness

Of spurious gods that lie,

And die.

Mankind I liberate;

Wizards and witches I enthrall;

The ghosts and goblins, elves and all

The apparitions, good or bad,

I strip of every charm they had,

And slay at Reason's gate —

Just fate,

Heaven and earth are mine;

And Nature knows no Zodiac

With spell o'er garden, flock, or pack;

No lucky or unlucky day;

But only an eternal sway

Of wholesome laws — divine,

And mine.

3JO

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

Hatch Ostrich Eggs in Incubator.

What no less an authority than Cy
De Vry of the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chi-
cago, calls the first successful attempt
to incubate the eggs of captive ostrich-
es is recorded at the poultry division
of the University of Wisconsin, where
five of the long-legged desert birds

for plumes shattered, it is likely that
the young ostriches will be sent back
to their place in the zoo. — Courtesy of
"Our Dumb Animals."

The volume of nature is the book of
knowledge, and he becomes most wise
who makes the most judicious selec-
tion.— Goldsmith.

>»^v.. '^ -w*

-.

; - 1

IlKALTIIV YOUNG OSTRICHES HATCHED IN INCUBATOR.

were hatched in an ordinary hot air
incubator.

After forty-two days' incubation,
these five husky birds kicked out of
their pewter-like shells and began to
hunt something to eat. The eggs were
given to the university by managers of
the Madison City Zoo, and that they
developed into sturdy young ostriches
was fully as big a surprise to the poul-
try men as to the natural history author-
ities. The parents of the young os-
triches are kept closely confined in a
small enclosure, a fact which made un-
likely the artificial incubation of their
eggs.

The university poultrymen have not
decided what to do with their feathered
prodigies, which on being hatched were
nearly as large as a Plymouth Rock hen.
With chicken feed high and the market

An Invitation.

JY DON C. SKIT/, COS COB, CONNECTICUT.

O come with me
To the depths of the sea
Where the oysters stew
And the loud sea-mew
Waileth so piteously!

Where the Lobsters green

In their armour preen

And polish their shapely claws

While the cod-fish pause

To stare at their emerald sheen.

Here the slim eel swims
And divides with the whims
The honors down below;
Where the shark's teeth show
And the cuttle his shadow dims.

Meet here the whale
With his threshing tail
WThere the star-fish twinkles
And rounds up the wrinkles
Deep down in the ocean vale!

&.&&$&$&$&&&&*&&$&&&*

Studying by the Light of the Glow-
worm.

In propaganda for Chinese farmers
as teachers, Mr. Warner M. Van Nor-
den, 62 South Street, New York City,
as an argument in behalf of diligent
study by farmer boys at home, made
this astonishing statement :

"The story of a young Chinese has
become almost classic. This young
man, working on his father's farm all
day and not wishing to put his father
to the expense of buying oil that he
might study in the evening, would
stop on his way home from the fields
each evening and collect a bag full of
glowworms by the light of which he
would study late into the night."

We have heard of great men who
studied in their boyhood under dif-
ficulties, using the glowing pine knot
by the fireplace and other simple and
primitive methods, but this statement
of the Chinese young man studying
by such dull light relegates other cited
examples into the shade. The question
naturally arises, "Why put the glow-
worms in a bag? Would it not have
been better to put them in a bottle?"
The light might then have passed out
to illumine the studies of that econom-
ical and industrious young man that
at first seemed to me must be a Chinese
myth, because I have occasionally
tried to ascertain the truth or falsity
of similar stories about reading with
our American lightning bugs, as it is
really possible to do, if strained gazing
to see the print indistinctly or occas-
ionally to catch a plainer view may be
called reading. The light of lightning
bugs is stronger than that of the lar-
vae or glowworms. Several years ago
while editing a reply to a child in re-
gard to the light of the firefly, I
thought it would be interesting to say
that I had actually read the proof by

the light of fireflies. So I collected a
number, put them in a bottle and held
them close to the paper. I did see the
proof when several of the flies to-
gether occasionally flashed their light
and, with a little touch of fancy added,
I could claim that I read the proof, be-
cause I could now and then catch a
glimpse of a word, but nothing more.
If it is impossible to read by the aid
of fireflies in a bottle, what could be
seen with glowworms in a bag !

Strange, however, as the Chinese
story is, it seems well vouched for by
those versed in Chinese lore and cus-
toms. After considerable and extend-
ed correspondence, we find that the
story of the industrious Chinese youth
who studied by the light of the glow^
worms, though a very old one, has an
element of probability. It has been
handed down from father to son and is
still told when the family gathers
around the glowing brazier, as a sort
of equivalent to our stories of a youth
studying at the fireplace. It seems,
however, that the bag was made of
rice paper and was probably very thin.
Being pure white it would transmit a
fair light. It is not probable that the
Chinese had bottles in the days when
this energetic boy was living.

The Bureau of Entomology at
Washington agrees with most of us in
thinking that this glowworm story is
improbable and yet should not be ridi-
culed. There are a few facts that take
the story out of the realm of fable or
myth and put it within the scope of
definite scientific knowledge.

This brings up the question of the
brightness of other glowworms. Mr.
H. S. Barber of the Bureau at Wash-
ington says that one night, while in
Guatemala, he read nearly a column
of ordinary newspaper print, without
eyestrain, by the light of a single fire-

37-t

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

fly of the species which is there called
"Cucuyo." This has a steady light,
which he held two inches from the
paper. He says further that in the
Orient there are undetermined glow-
worms of considerable brilliancy that
may be wingless females, and have a
much brighter light than the flying
males. In such case the, female is us-
ually constantly and brilliantly lumi-
nous while the male shows only a dim
ligrht or none. "As the habitat of such
species is usually very circumscribed
it would not be at all strange that their
luminosity should be known only to
the peasant or farmer class whose na-
tural history lore, true or false, is too
seldom recorded."

In a somewhat extended correspon-
dence Mr. Van Norden writes as fol-
lows :

"Again referring to your inquiry re-
garding the glowworm story, I have
found it repeated in 'Social Life of the
Chinese' by Justice Doolittle, page 359,
published in London by Sampson, Low
Sons & Marston, 1868.

"It seems the young man's name was
Che yin. He lived in the Dynasty of
Tsyn, 265—4918 A. D. Dr. Doolittle's
story states that the worms were in a
gauze bag. He adds that Che yin be-
came President of one of the six
boards."

In another letter he says : "I have
just heard of another book which con-
tains the story of the glowworms. I
have put in application for it to a lib-
rary and as soon as I receive it, I shall
write you again, quoting you the page
on which the story appears."

A letter to the Chinese embassy in
Washington has not been answered,
but request has been made that cor-
respondence be taken up with some
Chinese entomologist. We shall be
glad if any of our readers can throw
further light on the subject, which at
present seems rather dim in the distant
past and in the somewhat indefinite
form of the information.

Five Years of Starvation of Larvae.

BY J. E. WODSEDAEEK, UNIVERSITY OF
IDAHO, MOSCOW, IDAHO-

The specimens concerned are the larvae
of Trogoderma tarsale, a small beetle
well known as a museum pe-t. The
last of a large number of specimens
lived, without a particle to eat, for the
surprisingly long period of five years,

The Welch National Museum has
just acquired a natural history collec-
tion in which the swallow-tail butter-
flies alone number over three thousand
specimens and the beetles more than
forty thousand.

LARVAE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF GROWTH.

one month and twenty-nine days or, to
be more specific, from October 28, 191 1,
to December 25, 1916, a period of 1,884
days. The case is decidedly outstand-
ing, as to my knowledge, nothing simi-
lar has ever been recorded as a result of
starvation experiments with other ani-
mals. It is very probable that under
otherwise non-disturbing conditions
the starving larvae would have lived
for even a longer period. The speci-
mens concerned in this article had un-
dergone considerable disturbance after
the first two years of starvation, since
many of the larvae made the trip be-
tween Idaho and Wisconsin with me
three or four times, and several of them
covered the distance five times. The
trips one way varied in duration from
four to seven days. There is no doubt
but that the jarring of the train had
accelerated the metabolism of the
larvae. This fact was evinced by the
moulting of practically every individual
toward the end of the trip or within a
few days after it, and by the decided
decrease in the dimensions of the
larvae immediately following such a
moult. Larvae placed under starvation
shortly after my arrival in Idaho in the
summer of 1913, which have not been
so disturbed, show indications of even

THE INTEREST IN INSECTS

373

greater tenacity than is here recorded.

It will not be ont of place here to
mention how the starvation experi-
ments with this particular species
which proved to be of such unusual in-
terest came about. While a graduate
student at the University of Wiscon-
sin the writer got into a dispute con-
cerning the classification of the larvae.
To prove his point he decided to grow-
some of the specimens to maturity and
thus obliterate the uncertainty of iden-
tification. A number of the largest
larvae available were placed in glass
dishes together with some food mater-
ial. Not having plenty of the favorite
food material at hand at the time, sev-
eral specimens were placed in other
dishes without food and set aside in a
separate drawer with the intention of
providing for them later. However,
these were neglected until the opening
of school the following September
when the writer accidently discovered
them in their secluded place. Much to
his surprise all of the specimens were
alive, in spite of the fact that they had
remained there for five months without
a thing to eat. It was also noticed that
the larvae had decreased in size. This
observation was further substantiated
by the gradual decrease in size of the
various cast-off skins, which this
species is not known to attack. This
interesting information later led to ex-
perimental work on the longevity of
the larvae, without food, on a large
scale.

A number of specimens varying in
size from newly hatched to practically
full-grown larvae were placed in in-
dividual sterilized vials for the purpose
of ascertaining the period of time that
they could live without food. Even the
newly hatched specimens showed an
amazing tenacity by living over four
months without ever having eaten at
all. Some of the one-fourth grown
specimens lived for fourteen months ;
those about one-half grown lived al-
most three years ; those three-fourths
grown lived four years; and most of
the largest specimens lived over four
years, several of them over four and a
half years, and one five years and
seven days ; while the last one died after
five years, one month and twenty-nine
days of starvation.

One of the most interesting phases

of these experiments is the gradual de-
crease in size of the individual speci-
mens. Many of the largest larvae
which were about 8 mm. in length
dwindled down to practically the hatch-
ing length of I mm. before dying, and
practically all of the specimens which
were below 7 mm. at the beginning of
the experiment dwindled down to the

CAST SKINS OF FASTING LARVAE.

same dimensions. Many of the larvae
of 2 and 3 mm. were reduced to some-
what below the hatching length, and
practically all of the newly hatched
specimens fell down to about three-
fourths of their original length. Speak-
ing in terms of reduction in size, it is
astonishing to note that some of the
largest larvae have been reduced to
about 1/600 of their maximum larval
mass.

Another, and even more interesting
phenomenon, is the fact that when the
starved specimens almost reach the
smallest size possible and are then
given plenty of food, they will again
begin growing in size. A number of
the larvae which were half grown
when placed under starvation for the
first time, have through alternating
periods of "feasting and fasting" at-
tained that size three times and are
now on the way to their fourth "child-
hood" ; and even some of the large
specimens have started dwindling down
to their third "childhood" after having
twice attained the practically maxi-
mum larval size.

Occasionally these larvae are found
in large numbers in insect, seed and
drug collections, and naturally destroy-
ed as soon as discovered. The writer

374

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

would appreciate any amount of this
living material that the reader may
happen to find if he has no use for it
himself. The larvae, pupae or living
adults of other dermestids are equally
desirable for the purpose of compara-
tive studies. In response to a recent
circular letter many men have already
sent me some valuable material. The
names of the donators will appear in
the forthcoming detailed publication of
this extensive and of necessity pro-
longed investigation.

The problem has now attained enor-
mous proportions and involves the use
of thousands of specimens. Many nor-
mal larvae of different sizes, as well as
many specimens in the different per-
iods of starvation have been sectioned
during the past few years, and com-
parative cytological studies of the var-
ious structures of the organisms are
being made. Physiological studies
with special reference to metabolic
water and excretion science have also
been started.

A Spring Song.

BY EDNA L. BOGUE, MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

Lightly tiptoes Springtime
Breathing, gently o'er the hillsides green-
in o*
Song birds in sweet notes are singing,
With their leaders northward winging
In plumage fair and gay.
Each a joyous message bringing,
This rapturous day.
Tremble, waterfalls with laughter, —
Woodland sprites — 'tis Spring you're after,
Such romping play!

The Hornets' Nest with Curious
Extension.

On page 26 of The Guide to Nature
for June, 1917, we published a letter
from Mr. Earl A. Newhall, Shelburne,
Massachusetts, accompanied by an illus-
tration of a beaked nest of a hornet.
We also published a statement from the
Bureau of Entomology, Washington,
D. C., to the effect that this kind of
hornets' nest is new. We have received
another specimen from Mrs. Hattie
Hull of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
She writes :

"In the June number is a photograph
of a hornets' nest similar to the one
that I cut from our sweet cherrv tree
about three years ago. If you have any
place for such curiosities and desir"

this one I will gladly send it to you.
1 do not know the kind of hornets that
built it, but I saw several similar nests
started that summer. The latter were
in the woods, while the one I have was
in town.'

We hope our readers in the vicinity

WANTED: HORNET'S NEST OE THIS SHAPE.

of WiJiiaim^port and elsewhere will
make careful search for specimens of
the hornets that build this peculiar
kind of nest. We also want to know
whether this ne<t is full sized or con-
tinues to be made larger.

The study of entomology is one of
the most fascinating of pursuits. It
takes its votaries into the treasure-
houses of Nature, and explains some
of the wonderful series of links which
form the great chain of creation. It
lays open before us another world, of
which we have been hitherto uncon-
scious, and shows us that the tiniest
insect, so small perhaps that the unaid-
ed eye can scarcely see it, has its work
to do in the world, and does it.— Rev.
T. G. Wood.

How Garden Plants Come Up.

BY HERBERT W. FAULKNER, WASHINGTON,

CONNECTICUT.

For the benefit of boys and girls that
are planting- war gardens, let me note
a few of my observations and some of
the details that I had to master in
learning the art of gardening.

To keep my garden clean, I needed
to know the difference between sprout-
ing plants and young weeds and. since
the first leaves appearing above ground

which emerges a single green leaf, at
first tightly twisted but rapidly unfold-
ing into a grass-like blade, but readily
distinguishable from grass by its width
and roundish tip.

The following plants send up hooked
stems and afterward spread out two
cotvledons: beets and chard, lone- and
narrow, colored red on the under sur-
face ; leeks and onions, slender, round
stem, splitting into two very narrow
cotyledons; carrots, tomatoes, parsnips,
all having two narrow cotyledons, but

CABBAGE Ler* BEFT TQMATO ; Fg^SWfP ; CORN

BEAN

-■-•-* ■" ^

(the cotyledons) usually differ from
the leaves of the older plant, I had to
learn what to look for, so as to uproot
the intruders and leave the welcome
guests.

Seedlings of different families "come
up" in different ways. Cabbages, caul-
iflowers, turnips and radishes send up
two leaves closely pressed together.
These open into winged or notched
leaves as shown in the sketch.

Beans and peas first appear as a
green hook or loop ; then the entire
seed rises from the ground and spiffing
open forms two thick wings on the
stem, conveying the impression that
the plant is upside down. Above these
seeds appear two leaves shaped like
pointed shields, and later the true
leaves, three-parted and spear-shaped.

Corn pricks through the ground as a
sharp, white tooth or horn, out of

increasing in width in the order named.
Parsnips usually push the seed cover
up with the plant and cast it off whilst
unfolding.

Potatoes, which sprout from sliced
tubers, send up succulent, green leaves
of the usual type.

Since weed seeds usually sprout
more quickly than desirable seeds, by
waiting for the latter to appear we are
in danger of letting the former "get
ahead" of us. Gardeners avoid this
difficulty by planting a few quickly
growing seeds, such as radishes or let-
tuce, sparsely in the rows of other
vegetables. These, germinating quick-
ly, sketch out the planted rows in lines
of green, and thus the spaces between
may be cultivated with safety. We
know that "worry kills," so only by
constantly worrying the weeds can we
hope to kill them.

r&

p

REGREATIONS^MICROSCOPE

<5T

xxxxxxxxxxxctxxx

The Animal World in a Handful of Algae.

By Frank Collins Baker Curator, Museum of Natural History, Uni-
versity of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

WHEN the warm spring days
come and the ice leaves the
ponds and streams and the
air becomes vibrant with the vernal
resurrection of life, our thoughts turn
to the great world which has lain bur-

THE GAMMARUS IS VERY INTERESTING.

ied beneath ice and snow for so many
months. We long to sally forth with
collecting apparatus and gather the
familiar forms of life that captivated us
ere winter set his seal upon the earth
and turned it brown and desolate.

Of the great out of doors no part
quite equals the ponds, streams, and
ditches for interest. It has been said

THE HYALELLA MAKES ONE LAUGH.

by an eminent American biologist that
a body of water, as a pond or lake, is
a microcosm which is isolated in great
part from the rest of the world and in
which the great forces of Nature are
working1 out the evolution of the crea-

tures that inhabit it. The life of the
terrestrial world might be suddenly
brought to an end without greatly af-
fecting the life of this small world.
Such a microcosm is inhabited by a
host of animals of various sizes and
variety, though mostly minute, which in
the aggregate represent all of the high-
er groups of the animal kingdom. Here
are the hunters and the hunted, the
former practising every art and trick
known to predaceous animals for ob-
taining their prey. The great majority
of the inhabitants of this small world,
however, are vegetarians feeding upon

THE ASSELLUS MAKES A COMMOTION.

the plants which thrive abundantly in
such a habitat.

Without plant life, animal life would
be impossible. As we observe a body
of fresh water filled with weeds, pond
scums, filamentous algae, and higher
plants we are led to wonder if this mass
of living substance is of any value. If
we examine some of this material we
will find it filled with many small ani-
mals whose bodies are the same color
as the plant ; and it is at once realized
that these small animals are eating the
algae and by so doing are converting-
it into animal food which the carni-

RECREATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

377

vorous animals may utilize. In this
manner food material is being prepared
that the larger animals, fish, turtles,
amphibians, etc., may feed upon.

In no way can this fact of the pond
being a minature world be better dem-
onstrated than by collecting a handful
of filamentous algae, of the genera

the algae or run clumsily about on the
bottom.

As we look closer into the basin hold-
ing our handful of algae we may observe
many small dots or specks rapidly mov-
ing through the water. Under the mi-
croscope these are seen to be minute
crustaceans known as water fleas (Cla-

I MM.

THE SIDA WATER FLEA.

Cladophora, CEdogonium, or Spirogyra,
and placing it in a basin of water. It
is soon seen to be filled with an abun-
dance of animal life consisting of
snails, leeches, crustaceans, worms, in-
sects, and other forms.

The first objects to attract our at-
tention are the scuds or Amphipods
which dart about in an effort to find
concealment. These little crustaceans
are usually represented by Gammarus
and Hyalclla, the latter being the most
abundant of these crustaceans. Related
to the scuds, and almost as abundant,

docera). These creatures may be known
by the large compound eye and by the
peculiar branched swimming organ, the
antennas. The antennae vary much in
form and size and are largely used in
classifying the different species. The
shell which encases these tiny creatures
is usually so transparent that the internal
organs of the body may be plainly seen
and studied. Thus the digestive and re-
productive systems may be seen to occupy
the greater portion of the internal cavity
and the eggs may frequently be seen in
the upper part of the body which is modi-

I MM. i_

-i

THE LATONA WATER FLEA.

are the sowbugs or Isopods, of which
Asellus communis is the most common
species. These animals resemble and
are related to the pillbugs or sowbugs
that are often so abundant under
boards in damp places. Unlike the
scuds, the sowbugs crawl slowly over

fied to form a brood chamber. A com-
mon species of water flea, about 3 mm.
in length is known as Sida crystallina.
Another, smaller, is Latoua setifera. In
these animals the antennae are much
branched and are extended directly
ahead of the animal. In Daphnia the

3/8

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

posterior part of the body is drawn out
into a long spine. In Bosmina the bod)'
is peculiarly humped, the antennae arc
reduced in size and the head is prolonged
into a long rostrum which resembles an
elephant's trunk. This rostrum varies
in the different species and forms, being

mm&mz

Together with the nymphs of dragon-
flies and certain of the Hemiptera or
bugs they form the great body of preda-
tory animals that are ever on the watch
for unwary creatures of herbivorous
habits. These water-mites are attractive
little animals, both as objects for the

COMMON HAPIIXIA WATER FLEA.

THE CHYDORUS WATER FLEA.

almost straight to considerably curved.
In Chydorus sphccricue the body is al-
most round and there is a long rostrum.
These are but a few examples of the
large number of species and varieties of
these little water fleas. Only a compar-
atively few species live on the bottom
among algae and other plant life. The
great majority swim about in the open
water forming a considerable part of the
plankton. These animals are economi-
cal! v of "reat value furnishing: food for chaete worms and the larvae of certain

microscope and as inhabitants of the
aquarium. Many species occur in fresh
water, usually associated with bottom
vegetation in shallow water. One group
in particular (Unionicola) is parasitic in
fresh water mussels, and many species
of other groups in the larval and pupal
state attach themselves to aquatic ani-
mals.

In point of numbers the most abundant
animals in our algal world are the oligo-

O.I MM. i

O.I MM

BOSMINA WATER FLEA WITH MAGNIFICATION OF REAR AND TWO STYLES OF HEADS.

nearly all small and young fish and for
several adult fish of high economic value.
Among the most conspicuous animals
in our algal mass are the little water-
mites or Hydrachnids. These conspic-
uously colored creatures — red, brown,
blue — actively wander over the plant life
hunting for their prey which may be
larval insects, crustaceans, or worms.

flies, of the genus Chironomus. These
animals are rendered quite inconspicuous
by their color which is of the same deli-
cate pea-green as the filamentous algae,
and is caused by the immense amount of
alga? they have eaten. So rapidly do
some of these oligochaete worms multiply
by budding (every two or three days)
that in a short time thev are so numerous

RECREATIONS WITH THE MICROSCOPE

379

that the algae becomes a mass of wi rms.
It is thought that these worms are in
part responsible for the disappearance of
the large masses of algae and other low-
plants in the fall. < hie of the commonest

( OMMON WATER-MITE.
With palpus (at right).

of these worms is Stylaria which is easily
known by its peculiar proboscis at the
front end of the body.

< >f all the species of aquatic animals
that are found in algae rone are more
numerous or of greater value economi-
cally than the minute larvae of certain

curious trunk-
like extensions
of ol1gochaete
aquatic earth-
worms (stylaria)

flies called midges (Chironomus ) . These
are jointed, worm-like creatures, with
tube-like gills attached to the posterior
part of the body. They are herbivorous
animals eating great quantities of the
algae and furnishing in turn food mater-
ial for a number of fish. These larvae

mass of vegetation. These are Planaria
or Turbellarian worms. They are up-
wards of half an inch in length, spotted
with purplish or brownish, and the head
is provided with an ear-like expansion on
each] side. These animals are predatory
and feed usually at night. Looking much
like the planarians hut much larger an 1
made up of many segments or rings are
the leeches (Hirudinea) a few small
species of which are usually found in
algae. These are also predatory animals,
hunting and consuming the smaller
herbiborous creatures living in the algal
mass. Some leeches, as Glossiphonia,
eat such a large number of snails that
they are known as snail leeches.

Mollusca or snails also inhabit our
handful of algae, often in as great abun-
dance as the worms and fly larvae. Most
conspicuous among these are the little
spiral snails called Amnico'la, specimens
of which vary from to to five mm. in
length. The small whell-snail's, PJanor-
bis, also abound, and may he represented
by several species, one of which. Plan-
orbis hirsutus, may be known by the
hairy epidermis covering the shell. Other
soecies of snails may be present, Lynuura,
Physa, Ancylus, Valvata, and perhaps, a
few of the small finger-nail shells. Pisi-
diuiu. Many of the snails in algae are
young or immature and later in life mi-
grate to the rocky chores and live dur-
ing maturity. Such an example is found
in Lymihca catascopmm which abounds
in algae when from two to six mm. long
but is found onlv on rocky or sandy
shores in some lakes when adult.

And so. in our examination of a hand-
ful of algae, we find indeed a miniature
world of animal life, the careful studv
of which might occupy our time for many
weeks. Onlv a verv few of the many

A BLOOD-WORM.

Chironomous larva; of astonishing
antics.

construct a case of the fine material at
the bottom of the water by cementing
together "'fains of silt or sand with the
silk-like secretion of their salivary
glands. Some of these larvae are red in
color and are known as "blood worms."
As we carefully examine the algae in
our study we may chance to observe cer-
tain flat objects slowly crawling over the

forms of animals living in an algal com-
munity have been mentioned. In addi-
tion we would find the curious little
ostracods in their bivalve shell looking
quite like a small mussel ; many insect
larvae, such as May-flies, the caddis-
flies, the bugs, hunters in search of their
prey competing with the larvae of beet-
les ; and also the infinite number of fla-

38o

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

gellate and other Protozoa and the inter-
esting wheel animalcules (Rotatoria).

To intelligently study these lowly
creatures of pond, river, and brook it is

wttiich were made especially for this
volume, render this book an indispen-
sable addition to the shelves of all biolo-
gists and also of those who use the mi-
croscope for the less serious but none the
less interesting recreation of studying
these small creatures of the water.

THE PLANARIA, AN INTERESTING FLAT
WORM AMONG THE WATER PLANTS.

necessary to have at hand a manual that
will describe and figure the commoner
and more abundant species that we are
likely to find in our rambles about the
country. For this purpose no work has
been better prepared than the recently
published volume by Ward and Whippel
entitled "Fresh-water Biology."* Un-
like most manuals of this subject the
present volume is the result of the la-
bors of a goodly number of America's
leading biologists and specialists, no less
than twenty-five individuals having con-
tributed to its pages. In this day of
specialization it is manifestly impossible
for a single biologist to cover in a satis-
factory or reliable manner the Whole
field of biological science, and realizing
this limitation the authors of this admir-
able volume have enlisted the foremost
students of the various groups of animals
and we thus have in one book an authori-
tative treatise on each of the great divis-
ions of the subject. The manv descrip-
tions of habitat relations (Ecology), of
the best means for collecting and preserv-

SOME OF THE COMMON FORMS OF WATER
SNAILS.

ing the animals for temporary or per-
manent examination, and the vast num-
ber of good illustrations, the majority of

*Fresh-water Biology. By Henry Bald-
win Ward and George Chandler Whippel.
John Wiley and Sons, 1918. 1111 pages
and 1547 illustrations.

An Efficient Laboratory.

The Biological Laboratory at Cold
Spring Harbor, Long Island, has is-
sued its announcement for the summer
of 1918, its twenty-ninth season. The
laboratory offers commendable courses
of instruction in the study of four-foot-
ed animals, birds, microscopic life, in-
sects, etc. While the work in the main
contemplates serious technical results,
it is equally well adapted to the teacher
of biology and to the high school stu-
dent. We cordially recommend the
laboratory. If our readers will write,
mentioning this magazine, a pamphlet
giving particulars will be sent. Ad-
dress Dr. Charles B. Davenport, Cold
Spring Harbor. Long Island, Newr
York.

Some workers with the microscope
have for a long time been marking their
slides by writing directly on the glass
with a waterproof ink or with a dia-
mond. The latest wrinkle is to use a
sharp crystal or carborundum laid be-
tween the two halves of a piece of elder
pith, the whole wound tightly with a
rubber band.

Grasses, trees, shrubs, growing
grain, they, too, may need good air as
well as human lungs. The deserts are
not worthless wastes. You cannot
crop all creation with wheat and al-
falfa. Some sections must lie fallow
that other sections may produce. Who
shall say that the preternatural produc-
tiveness of California is not due to the
warm air of its surrounding deserts?
Does anyone doubt that the healthful-
ness of the countries lying west of the
Mississippi may be traced directly to
the dry air and heat of the deserts.
They furnish health to the human ;
why not strength to the plant? The
deserts should never be reclaimed.
They are the breathing-spaces of the
west and should be preserved forever.
-John C. VanDyke in "The Desert."

EDITORIAL

TEN YEARS.

With the publication of our May
number, The Guide to Nature com-
pletes its Tenth Volume.

We are here at the end of a decade —
the longest life that any general popu-
lar natural history magazine has ever
lived in this country. The next long-
est, and perhaps in many respects the
next best in quality, were "The Ob-
server," some seven years of age, and
"Popular Science News," both of bles-
sed memory.

A list of all the nature magazines
that are no more would be pathetic.
I recall at least twenty-five that I have
known and loved and whose monthly
arrival upon the exchange table I have
hailed with delight. Each one repre-
sented the honest, genuine, individual
effort of some devoted naturalist.

A few were edited because some one
wanted to see his name in print as edi-
tor, and was inspired more by the
spirit of amateur journalism than by a
regard for the great Cause of Nature
Study. But in the greater number the
honesty of purpose made the pathos of
the failure more poignant. I sorrow-
fully admit that in the beginning the
same mistake was mine in "The Ob-
server," my first attempt at nature
journalism made twenty-eight years
ago. The magazine existed for seven
years and died a painful death, mourn-
ed by many. It nearly broke my jour-
nalistic heart as well as my bank ac-
count. But "The Observer" spirit
never died. I continued my observa-
tion not only of nature but of nature
journalism. Some experiences have
been severe, but they have taught valu-
able lessons. I would save others from
the sorrow of similar experience.

This is the great lesson that I have
learned.

Individual effort in publishing a na-
ture magazine sooner or later results
in failure. That is true even if the ed-
itor and publisher is rich enough to
carry it as an expensive pleasure.

Sooner or later that enjoyment palls.
Successful nature journalism, indeed
success in promoting any great ideal,
must be backed by an association or
a society. Observe the great success
of the "National Geographic Maga-
zine," "American Forestry," "Bird-
Lore," "The Nature-Study Review,"
"Our Dumb Animals," "The American
Museum Journal" and several minor
yet good and successful magazines sup-
ported by an association or a society.

Just here is the reason why The
Guide to Nature still persists with
three thousand circulation and good
advertising patronage: it is published
by The Agassiz Association, whose
very name is an inspiration and an em-
blem of all that is good, earnest, true in
the realm of "study nature."

The Agassiz Association in its ex-
istence of forty-three years has had
several periodicals as its "official or-
gan." The Guide to Nature, the only
magazine ever owned by The Agassiz
Association, has proved' its worth by
its continuance. The lesson is evident,
especially in these days of discarded
duplicated or needless' effort. Every
student and lover of nature will act for
efficiency and give the best service by
concentrating his efforts within the
widespread range of Association effort
that has been proved worth while.
The Agassiz Association includes all
ages and all grades of attainment, the
ignorant and the wise, the humble,
those of prominence and influence, the
poor and the rich. All that desire to
learn meet on common ground "to cre-
ate and increase a knowledge and love
of nature" or, as our Charter says, for
"the general diffusion of knowledge."

Nature and her gift of buoyant life
are overpowering. The joy of mere
animal existence, the feeling that it is
good to be alive and face to face with
Nature's self, drives everything else
into the background. — John C. Van
Dyke in "The Desert."

382

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

"More Spiritual and Less Formal."

These are not the words of a minis-
ter nor a poet nor a sentimentalist but
of a capitalist, John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. In the "Saturday Evening Post"
of February 9, Mr. Rockefeller pub-
lished a remarkable article that goes to
the gist of things. This article has
been reprinted in a convenient little
booklet entitled "The Christian
Church. What of Its Future?" He
makes the following appeal from which
we have quoted the heading of this
article :

"What the world craves today is a
more spiritual and less formal religion.
To the man or woman facing death,
great conflict, the big problems of hu-
man life, the forms of religion are a
hollow mockery, the spirit an impreg-
nable fortress.

"I plead not for a modification of
form but for its subordination to the
spirit ; not for the abolishing of ordi-
nances, but for their voluntary rather
than obligatory observance ; not that
these solemn rites should be set aside,
but that they should be entered into
as a sacred privilege, an act of loving
cousecration, rather than submitted
to as an enforcible law. So and so
only will their real beauty and mean-
ing be understood and their true pur-
pose realized."

With this thesis every sincere,
thoughtful person will heartily agree,
and many of us will realize the truth,
of a variety of suggested corollaries.
What the world craves now is more
reality and less artificiality, not only
in religion but in all the acts of daily
life. The war is bringing us down to
a fundamental basis. We are cutting
off extraneous growths and some of
the follies of civilization as never be-
fore.

From our point of view the greatest
of these advantages is the directing of
the thoughts from foolish, frivolous,
worthless things to good old Mother
Nature. Superficial and pernicious
amusements are giving way to work in
the garden. The motto of The Agassiz
Association "Through Nature to Gnd '
is being realized as never before. Earth
must become less a place "to devil in"
and more of a place to delve in. This
is true on the part of all serious mind-
ed people. Mr. Rockefeller is right.
What he says of the forms of the

Christian Church applies with even
greater force to the forms of nature
around us. "So and so only will their
real beaut}- and meaning be understood
and their true purpose realized."

A Wish.

BY HAROLD GORDON HAWKINS, WESTF1ELL), MAS-
SACHUSETTS.

There is a little hollow in the mighty hills
Where flowers bloom and a tiny brooklet

spills
Its foaming cataract in an azure lake.
— Here have I seen the glorious dawnings

break
In golden splendor on the mountain walls,
And heard the robin as he sweetly calls
In softest warblings to his nesting mate.
Ah wondrously fair the spot, early and late.
The mellow sunlight tinges all with gold
And in the dim twilight from the wood is

told
The sweet and lovelorn lyric of the thrush.

Here in this glen, secluded from the rush
And endless turmoil of the beaten ways,
It is my fondest wish to spend my days,
Living with ears attuned to Nature's mighty

psalm
And leaving at last the world with that

sweet calm
In face of Death, that she alone can give,
So is my wish, simply a wish to L I V E .

We believe that just as France, the
great flower-loving nation, has saved
the soul of Europe, so the love of na-
ture and all that is good and beautiful
in the world and the love of right and
justice will save the American people
from hysteria and from themselves. —
Wallace N. Pierson, Cromwell, Con-
necticut, in the Hartford Courant.

The Unseeing.

BY MKLICEXT ENO HUMASON, NEW BRI-
TAIN, CONNECTICUT.

Uncomprehending eyes that vaguely

stare
At lake, at wold, at creatures in the air
And witness not, nor wonder what is

there.

Uncomprehending eyes that never find
A lofty solace for the care-bound mind.
Not noblv sightless they, but spirit-
blind. '

Uncomprehending eves ! Mv plea that

I
May read some message in the earth

and sky,
Unfold some mystery, and question

why.

.; J?'Y • I TIC ;-... .-:

'AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION

Established 1875 Incorporated. Massachuse its, 1S92 Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910

A Model Association Chapter.

In Chapter No. 1015 of The Agassiz
Association, Glenbrook, Connecticut.
we have one of our best Chapters, an
ideal, really active company of boys
The greatest shortcomings of nature
study in general are just two: first,
sham ; second, reliance upon others.
There are many who, as related in an
editorial some time ago, take their1 na-
ture study in portions so small that
they never come to realize just how
actual nature study tastes. It is like
Joe Gargery in Dickens' "Great Expec-
tations" when he says to Pip, "I tell
yon, it is mighty interesting to sit down
by the fire and read J-o, Joe." It is
within this class that I sometimes hear
of a boy, or of a girl for that matter,
who has learned one or two constella-
tions, or the names of one or two plants
or trees, only to fulfill a requirement.
But there is even a larger class that
want to get their nature study as they

would buy goods at a store.

Many visitors at ArcAdiA, some of
them including, I am sorry to say,
Chapters of The Agassiz Association
come for what we can give them in the
wav of entertainment or in the satisfy-
ing of their curiosity. That is good so
far as it goes. "We should do our part,
we are glad to do our part, but we
should not do everything. There is no
reason why any Member of The Agas-
siz Association should depend upon the
President of The AA nor upon any of
his assistants. The Member should
see things in nature for himself. Our
eves are no better than those of our
voungest Member. We should do our
part and others should do theirs. This
is what makes the Association. An-
other class comes to ArcAdiA, some-
times young folks and sometimes older.
that from the time they enter the door
till they leave are frequent and pro-
fuse in their exclamations of "How

yon must enjoy all this wonderful
work." "I envy yon this most delight-
ful of all pursuits." We have heard
these words so often that we accept
them at their full value and realize just
what they mean, which is nothing.

But these errors of omission or of
commission have been avoided, per-
haps unconsciously, by the boys of our
Glenbrook Chapter, and for that rea-
son we are pointing to them as the
ideal. They can bear a little praise,
but we are not praising them for the
pleasure of praising but to relate some
of the good things they have done to
guide and stimulate others.

The Chapter arrived at Arc Am A in
the early evening with packages con-
taining a supply of edibles. AVe served
cocoa and enjoyed a really social time
around the big table and several small-
er ones in the Welcome Reception
Room. When the edibles and dishes
had been cleared away, the boys pre-
pared for real Association work. Each
told what he had seen and arrange-
ments were made for even more sys-
tematic seeing by appointing commit-
tees for the various departments of
nature. There was hardly a Member
present who had not made good origi-
nal observations, and evidently knew
how to relate those observations in an
inspiring and convincing manner. Not
a boy boasted of the number of miles
that he had walked but in a charming-
ly unconscious manner, and all the
more charming because it was uncon-
scious, showed that he did not care
whether he had been ten rods or
twenty miles provided he had seen
something to tell. Not one showed a
disposition to sit back in his chair and
be entertained. He was willing to do
his bit for the good of all.

Let it be said incidentally that this
Chanter has one of the best leader^
that I have ever known, Mr. Halbert

3§4

THE GUIDE TO NATURE

C. Phillips of the Stamford High
School, who is not only a skillful
teacher but a genial and royal good
fellow. He inspires each boy to do his
part on the strictly university method,
which is that of original research. The
test of good leadership is that it leads
each member of the organization to do
his own part. It is here that Mr. Phil-
lips has achieved remarkable success.
When one is with this Chapter, he feels
that Mr. Phillips is no more and no
less than any one else. That is the
spirit of The AA. Every one should
be a, chief, leader and teacher.

Let me mention one incident in con-
nection with this Chapter. Late in the
evening I referred to the fact that for
two or three years I had advertised in
"The Stamford Advocate" and else-
where for fairy shrimps (Branchipus) .
These are found only in the icy water
of early spring. For three years I had
failed to find them. One boy, Peter
Zwart, immediately "sat up and took
notice." His eyes glowed with en-
thusiasm. "You want fairy shrimps,
do you? You shall have them." It
made me think of the man that carried
the turtle eggs to Agassiz and was out
before sunrise to get them and traveled
forty miles, arriving at Agassiz's home
to see the grand old Professor hurry
down the stairs in his night clothes
and hear him say, "Let him in, let that
man in ; he has my turtle eggs." The
next morning the telephone bell rang,
and I heard a voice say, "I have the
fairy shrimps and will deliver them on
the next trolley car." That is what I
call doing things, that is what I call
being an ideal Member of The Agassiz
Association.

Our Glenbrook Chapter.

[FROM THE STAMFORD ADVOCATE.]

Monday night, March 25, about
twenty boys of the Glenbrook Chapter
of The Agassiz Association went to
ArcAdiA, Sound Beach, where they
entertained and were entertained by
Dr. Bigelow. The boys left Glenbrook
about 4:45, and stayed in Sound Beach
until 9:45. Halbert C. Phillips, who is
the head of the Glenbrook Chapter,
joined the boys at ArcAdiA just in
time for supper. Miss Bigelow had
made cocoa enough to go the rounds
three times, and this, with the lunches

the fellows had taken with them, made
a pretty substantial supper.

Dr. Bigelow expressed his satisfac-
tion at the work the boys had been
doing, but said that they weren't doing
all they could, because they weren't
organized fully enough. He said that
the chapter ought to be working in
union with the people of Glenbrook —
that the people should co-operate so
well with the boys that every little un-
usual thing that turned up in the line
of nature study would be reported to
some member of the Association who
in turn would report to headquarters —
ArcAdiA and Dr. Bigelow.

It was with the end in view of sys-
tematizing all the nature-study work
that he suggested that the President
of the Association appoint committees
to take up and investigate definite lines
of study. The committee to study
birds _ are Erastus Phillips, Stewart
Hoskins, Donald Evers, James Dan-
ver ; committee on flowers and miner-
als, Geer Morton, Laddie King, Robert
Bowes; committee for the observation
of shrubs and trees, Alan Hoskins,
Richard Walz, John Morton ; for the
study of salamanders and all pond life,
Howard Lee, Lawrence Griswold,
Henry Zwart, Peter Zwart; committee
on stars, Harry Hoskins, Abbott An-
drews, Harold Austin and George
Smock. The last named committee has
a special line of work set out for it, and
cannot benefit greatly by outside in-
formation, but as to all the others —
well, the best thing you can do would
be to cut this out and paste it in some
convenient spot as reference when you
want to find out whom to telephone to
if you discover a new specimen of bird,
or a flower that has never been seen be-
fore in Glenbrook.

The boys on the committees are out
to work, and work they will, with the
object in view of having something
good to report at the next meeting at
Dr. Bigelow's in June, but they cannot
work alone. It is up to the citizens of
Glenbrook to help put the town on the
map, as all unusual results will be
printed in Tm< Guide to Nature and
other magazines which will be read by
people all over the United States. Be-
fore coming home, the boys heard an
interesting talk on botany from Mrs.
Blakely, who is studying that special
line of nature at ArcAdiA.

THE GUIDE TO XATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

IX

Additions to Our Membership.
Corresponding:

Mr. Nels Grill, Caribou, Maine.
Mrs. Florence Earle Payne, Gou-
verneur, New York.

Mrs. Marvin Clarke Quillian, Ma-
con, Georgia.

Master Thomas McClary, New York
City.

Sustaining:

Mr. Nathan M. Clark, Riverside,
Connecticut.

Mr. George E. Vincent, Greenwich,
Connecticut.

Mr. Charles H. Lounsbury, Stam-
ford, Connecticut.

Mr. Richard H. Cunningham, Stam-
ford, Connecticut.

Mr. Max Kattwinkel, Stamford,
Connecticut.

Mr. Frank S. Fay, Meriden, Con-
necticut.

Mr. Charles Edward Spicer, Adams,
New York.

Mr. Francis A. Bartlett, Stamford,
Connecticut.

Mr. Oakes Ames, North Easton,
Massachusetts.

Mr. John Wanamaker, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.

School and College Pennants in our
Welcome Reception Room.

The Agassiz Association is repre-
sented directly or indirectly in every
school, college and university in the
United States. In some of these we
have Members, in others we have Chap-
ters, in still others we have friends who
are cooperating in our advisory coun-
cil or are otherwise carrying on the
work, while still others, if not directly
active along these lines, are indirectly
interested in creating and increasing a
knowledge and love of nature in the
name of that great master scientist.
Louis Agassiz.

Here, at ArcAdiA, the Home of The
Agassiz Association, we have a beauti-
ful Welsome Reception Room where
Chapters, Members, students and vis-
itors are entertained. It is well fur-
nished with a fine optical projection
equipment, a piano, a present from
friends, and a magnificent five hundred
dollar Diamond Disc phonograph, a

present from Thomas A. Edison. The
room also contains a fireplace made of
minerals, the gift of other loving and
appreciative friends.

We have been favored with several
school and college pennants that now
are pretty well distributed as a frieze
around the room. These pennants came
from the following institutions :

Harvard University: Harvard Natu-
ral History Society, Cambridge, Mas-
sachusetts.

Yale University: Professor Wesley
R. Coe, Osborn Zoological Laboratory,
New Haven, Connecticut.

Columbia University: Frank D.
Fackenthal, Secretary of the Univer-
sity, New York City.

Cornell University : Agassiz Club of
Cornell, Ithaca, New York.

Leland Stanford Junior University:
Dr. David Starr Jordan, Chancellor,
Stanford University, California.

Purdue University: Dean Stanley
Coulter, Lafayette, Indiana.

Wesleyan University : Professor
William North Rice, Middletown, Con-
necticut.

Syracuse University : E. A. Eichstadt,
Syracuse, New York.

Wellesley College : Miss Dorothy
A. Baldwin, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Boy Scout Troop Banner : James E.
West, Chief Scout Executive, New
York City.

Georgia Normal and Industrial Col-
lege : Professor Edwin Hobart Scott,
Milledgeville, Georgia.

International Young Men's Chris-
tian Association College : Agassiz As-
sociation Chapter, International Y. M.
C. A. College, Springfield, Massachu-
setts.

FJniversity of Wisconsin, University
of Virginia and Lawrence (Kansas)
High School : Ellis B. Noyes, Ports-
mouth, Virginia.

Chaminade College : President Bro-
ther Francis, Clayton. Missouri.

St. Mary's College and Academy :
Mother Superior, Monroe. Michigan.

Academy of the Sacred Heart :
Sacred Heart Convent, Detroit, Michi-

gan.

Chatham Episcopal Institute: Miss
Elsie A. Fox, Chatham, Virginia.

Massee School : Mr. Massee, Bronx-
ville. New York.

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

Stamford High School : Halbert C.
Phillips, Science Teacher, Glenbrook,
Connecticut.

Greenwich High School : Miss Pearl
A. Bigelow, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach,
Connecticut.

Greenwich Academy : Agassiz As-
sociation Chapters,, Greenwich, Con-
necticut.

Brunswick School : Brunswick
School, Greenwich, Connecticut.

Rosemary Hall, Rosemary Hall,
Greenwich, Connecticut.

Johnstown High School : Miss Ma-
tilda Krebs, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Meriden High School : Agassiz As-
sociation Chapter, Meriden, Connecti-
cut.

Wabanaki School : Mrs. Charles
Tarbell Dudley, Greenwich, Connecti-
cut.

Larchmont Manor School : Miss
Josephine H. Davis, Larchmont Man-
or, New York.

"The Momentum of Worthy Activi-
ties."

Among the most patriotic bits of
sentiment that have come to our desk
is this part of an advertisement by
The Bausch & Lomb Optical Com-
pany.

"May we all work together, then,
for the best interests of humanity —
first, to win the Avar ; second, to main-
tain the momentum of all worthy acti-
vities in the nation, looking steadily
to the day when the war shall cease."

That is squarely to the point. There
are just two things to be done. Not
only must the country itself be saved,
but we must save the good things that
go with the country. It takes a broad-
minded, self-sacrificing patriot to get
the full meaning, the adequate point
of view into his head and his heart.
Many things may be eliminated from
this country. It is not necessary to
enumerate the evil things. To do that

would be to wound somebody's sensi-
bilities and would accomplish no good,.
but connected with the elimination of
the nonessentials, there is another
equally important side to the question
so well put by this enterprising and
patriotic house. "Maintain the mo-
mentum of all worthy activities in the
nation." The Bausch & Lomb Opti-
cal Company wrote to The; Guide to
Nature; fairly and frankly that they
were disposed to discontinue their ad-
vertisement in our magazine because
practically the entire plant was turned
over to government work. They
write as follows :

"We have decided to continue the
advertisement on the old basis largely
for sentimental reasons and the en-
couragement we may thus lend to your
operations. Such advertising as we
are still doing in any of our mediums
is intended to maintain the good will
of our trade and not to secure orders.
We have greatly increased our facili-
ties and are working all night in some
Departments in the desperate effort
to supply some of the government's
most important needs in this crisis,
and are only embarrassed by most of

the outside orders we receive We

trust you appreciate our position and
wish you and your activities every
continued success."

Here is a concern that recognizes
that we have something to do besides
winning the war. There is a secondary
point that should not be lost sight of.
It is the spirit manifested by George
Washington when, in recounting the
terrible problems before the country,
he said,

"Promote, then, as an object of pri-
mary importance, institutions for the
general diffusion of knowledge."

It is practically this advice amplified
that is the keystone to the position of
this great optical house "to maintain
the momentum of all worthy activities
of the nation."

Please remember this educational uplifting work in making your wfll.

Jflontt of Hpqttp0t to \\\t Aaaoriation

/ hereby give and bequeath to The Agasdz Association, an incorporated
association, having its principal executive office at A"rcAdiA, in Sound Beach,
in the town of Greemvich, Connecticut, the sum of dollars

THE GUIDE TO XATERE—ADJ'ERTISEMEXTS

XIII

Encourage Our Boys at the Front.

One of the most pleasing and attrac-
tive Liberty Bond placards that have
come to the attention of this office is
that issued by Hammacher, Schlem-
mer & Company, New York City. It
is eleven by twenty-one inches on
cardboard and has an attractive set-
ting of the advice :

"Back up our Boys at the Front.

Buy Liberty Bonds To-day.

The more you own

The sooner thev'll come home."

Spratt's trophy for the best dog in
the 1918 Westminster Kennel Club
Show was won by Mr. R. H. Elliott's
"Hay market Faultless."

Mr. M. S. Baldwin, Marbald Ken-
nels, is the winner of Spratt's $50 Bow!
for the best brace of any one breed en-
tered and owned by one Kennel at any
Show bench or fed by that firm during
the year 1917.

I love the little magazine and would
not be without it. — Mrs. A. S. Browne,
Washington, D. C.

Just The Equipment

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ERZ SYNTOR F:6.8 in Compound or
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5 1-2) film pack and, best of all, has an
accurately adjusted ground-glass foeus-
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and folders describe this and other
equipments, also, several well-known
American-made cameras completely
equipped with GOERZ LENSES. Ask
your dealer to show these real GOERZ
QUALITY outfits. This is the time to
act — avoid delay in delivery.

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XIV

THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS

B

L« B. Museum cases

Part of an installation of
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Literature upon request.

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