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THE

NATURE-STUDY
REVIEW

Volume XVIII, 1922

ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK

SECRETARY-EDITOR
Cornell University

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Published by

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

Ithaca, N. Y.

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18

January - February, 1922

Nos. 1-2

William Gould Vinal
Elected President of the American Nature-Study Society at the Toronto Meeting

William Gould Vinal

Anna B. Comstock

William Gould Vinal, who was elected President of the American
Nature-Study Society at its annual meeting held in Toronto,
is no stranger to the readers of the Review, for he has been for

2 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

several years a valued contributor. He was born in South Scit-
uate, Mass., November 29th, 1881. He is a descendant of William
Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, and of Peter Sears,
a Captain in the war of the Revolution. His grandfather was
Captain Abel Vinal, master of a fishing vessel which sailed many
years from the port of Cohasset. His parents lived on a farm
in South Scituate (now Norwall) and like most farmers of that
region were hardly in circumstances that would be termed affluent.
As a child he was weak and sickly but he had a mother who knew
how to give him the right kind of care, and he grew into a strong
stalwart man. His parents were both fond of the out-of-doors
and he had their companionship and interest in his many boyish
enterprises. He kept hens, ducks and pigeons and raised wild
geese for decoys for a rich shoe manufacturer; he had to mow
fresh grass every day for the geese and at the end of the season
he received a pair of shoes for this labor. He made pets of his
chickens and taught them many interesting tricks; but his
special pet was a Spitz dog called Dandy, who was his insep-
arable companion. Dandy would slide down hill with his master
and play hide and seek with him, never starting until the signal
was given; he also was a help in getting the cows, catching chickens
and in hunting. Among young Vinal's poultry were "frizzled
fowls," a rare breed that always took first prizes at the County

Fairs.

His education began in "district school" but he graduated from
a high school in 1899; later he entered the Bridgewater Normal
School and graduated there from a four year course in 1903.
He received the degree of S. B. from the Lawrence Scientific School
in 1906 and the degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1907. During
his entire school career he earned money in various ways; while
he was at Bridgewater he was librarian for four years; while at
Harvard he waited on table at Randall Hall and was assistant in
various laboratory courses.

One of the most interesting phases of Mr. Vinal's school
life is what he did with his vacations. Each year he chose to
do something different from the work of the preceding years
in his efforts to earn money for school expenses. In 1898 he work-
ed on a neighboring farm at 7j^ cents an hour. The next year
he drove a vegetable cart to Nantasket Beach, starting at four

comstock WILLIAM GOULD VINAL 3

o'clock in the morning and getting home at 10 or 11 p. m. every
day but Sunday. The next summer he worked on a milk farm in
Connecticut, milking early in the morning and working on the
farm the rest of the day until milking time in the evening; he
went home in the fall via New York City with his entire summer's
earnings of $19. The following summer he ran an ice cream
store at Queen Anne's Corner, walking four miles to the store
and back every day; the next summer he presided over a soda
fountain at Nantasket Beach beginning work at seven a. m. and
continuing until 11 p. m.; he did this eighty-four days without a
day off; he was allowed one night a week off but was so tired
that he spent his spare time in sleep; he received for this $1.00
per day and board . During the two succeeding summers he worked
for the Nantasket Steam-boat Co., first as gateman and later as
freight clerk. Following his graduation from Harvard he spent
seven summers as Biologist for the Massachusetts Fish and Game
Commission. Four of these summers he worked on shell-fish,
one in making a fishery survey of Buzzards Bay, and two on the
Biological Survey of the fresh water ponds off Cape Cod. Since
this time Mr. Vinal has found an absorbing occupation for
his summers in running his very successful enterprise as Director
of Camp Chequasset, a Nautical Camp for girls near Wellfleet
on Cape Cod.

As a teacher Professor Vinal has been very successful. In
1907 he was appointed the head of the department of Geology
and Biology at the Marshall College State Normal School at
Huntington, W. Va., a position which he held for three years.
In 1910 he was made Instructor in Geography at the Salem,
Mass., State Normal School and the following year was called
to the Rhode Island College of Education at Providence, the
position which he still retains, as the head of the Dept. of Nat-
ure-study. His well earned reputation as a teacher who is at once
thorough and inspirational has spread beyond the bounds of
New England and to the writer's knowledge, he has received
several tempting offers from Western institutions. However, Rhode
Island appreciates him and has been able to retain him ; and his work
has counted for much in the educational system of that State. His
Arbor Day Manuals are among the most remarkable of any
in the United States. He is President of the R.I. Field Natural-

4 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

ists' Society and has been President of the Providence Franklin
Society, a society devoted to science and which is over a hundred
years old. In 1917, he was elected to Sigma Xi by the Chapter
at Brown University, where he is studying for his Doctor's Degree.
He is the author of various scientific papers and of A Guide for
Laboratory and Field Studies in Botany published by P. Blakiston,
Sons and Co.

In 1908 he was married to Miss Lillie Hale Downing
who was one of his schoolmates at the Bridgewater Normal.
Mrs. Vinal is a woman of charming personality and has been a
helpmeet to her husband in the truest sense of the word. They
have two children, a boy and a girl. The writer, who was once
privileged to be a guest in the Vinal home was greatly impressed
by the home training these children were receiving. For the
development of responsibility, independence and mental and
moral integrity it seemed ideal.

The American Nature-study Society is fortunate in securing
Professor Vinal for its President; and Professor Drushel whose
efficiency in this office has won the gratitude and admiration of
us all, may feel well content to pass the work over into such able
hands.

John Caspar Branner

In the death of Dr. Branner, which occurred at Stanford Uni-
versity on March 1st, the world of science and a wide circle of
devoted friends have suffered an irreparable loss and the Nature
Study Review the loss of one of its most delightful and valuable
contributors. As a geologist Dr. Branner had won a world wide
reputation ; his work on the geology of Brazil is perhaps the most
important of his writings. He was especially successful as a
teacher, for he was a friend as well, and knew how to help build
up character in the pupils while he was instilling knowledge.
The love and respect given him in such overflowing measure by
those who studied with him form a living monument to his mem-
ory-.

Sky Phenomena in the Upper Forties

W. H. TUKE
Principal of High School and Mining Institute, Haileybury, Ontario

In "Modern Painters," written almost eighty years ago, John
Ruskin complained of the lack of interest in sky phenomena.
"It is a strange thing," he wrote, "how little in general people
know about the sky. It is the part of creation in which Nature
has done more for the sake of pleasing man, more for the sole
and evident purpose of talking to him and teaching him, than in
any other of her works, and it is just the part in which we least
attend to her." Even with such prophets as Ruskin to sing the
beauties of this temple of God's great Out-of-Doors, can we say
that after three-quarters of a century people in general pay any
more or even as much attention as they did in his day? The
ever-increasing murk of smoke and fog that hovers above our
cities ; the growing brilliancy of artificial lights by night ; and the
tendency to seek our pleasures indoors, combine to shut us off
from much that delighted and inspired alike the shepherds on
far-off Syrian hills and the restless aborigines of our own continent:
so much so that our much-tutored minds no longer "see God in
clouds or hear Him in the wind."

It is natural, too, that even the enthusiastic Nature student
should more often devote his time and interest to the living
objects of creation rather than to inanimate things. Life in all
its forms, must always possess greater interest for us than non-
living things. There is a satisfaction, too, in the definiteness
that may be attained in investigating specimens that may be
captured, and handled, that is lacking in the study of the sky.
The latter is necessarily illusory. We can not even define it
exactly. Just as a real-estate holding may be described as a
pyramid whose base is the area specified in the title-deeds, and
whose apex is the centre of the earth, so the sky is that infinite
frustrum of a cone whose smaller end is bounded by our visible
horizon. Foreground of atmosphere, middle distance of solar
system, and background of unfathomed stellar space are super-
imposed with little to reveal to the eye which is which. Thus

6 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

it is that in the popular mind errors and myths still persist: the
crescent moon pours water from its down-pointing horns, and the
zodiac smiles or frowns on agricultural activities.

The phenomenon of the moon rising partially eclipst one
evening last October, while the sun was still visible above the
horizon brought forth a series of letters from correspondents
to the Toronto (and no doubt other) newspapers. The flat-
earth, sun-do-move, school of thought still has many adherents,
even among those apparently well-educated. One letter suggested
electrons and Einstein's theory as alternative explanations of
that eclipse, and proceeded to discuss other phenomena, mention-
ing a case of driving thru a rainbow and hearing sounds of crackling
glass. Within the past fortnight two different people, both
intelligent, one a university graduate, have helped me in pre-
paring this paper by describing the two following incidents: (1)
Two moons seen at same time, one rising the other setting. Said
to have been seen in Saskatchewan about four a . m. by several people ;
(2) Four rainbows seen at once with the sun in the centre. Back
in the spring of 1910, when many were watching for the -firct
appearance of Halley's comet, I myself was awakened one morning
by a friend who pointed out to me a giant comet-like appearance
in the sky. It reached from a point in the eastern horizon clear
across the zenith and spread out a great tail half way down the
western sky. Not doubting that it was indeed the comet, I
informed the students in the school and they spread the good
news so that we had all the community wide awake the next
morning at four o'clock. But, tho the sky was perfectly clear
there was no comet, nor the next morning, nor for over a month
after that. When the authentic Halley's made its appearance
it was a small and pallid affair compared with its splendid prede-
cessor. What was the latter? Our meteorological bureau
expressed the opinion that it was an auroral arch, though the
latter are rare at the latitude of Toronto and especially at that
early hour in the morning. My other friend's four rainbows,
on closer questioning, resolved themselves into the two lower
arcs of one bow, and their reflection in the calm water of a lake.
As they appeared around the sun, I presume that they were
really "sundogs" or parts of a halo, not parts of a real rainbow.
As to the simultaneous appearance of two moons, I can venture
no opinion.

tuke SKY PHENOMENA 7

Rainbows
Even the most honest and experienced observers at times
fall into curious errors. The late John Burroughs wrote an
interesting article called the "Unapproachable Rainbow" which
appeared in the Atlantic Monthly oi July, 1920. In it, he effective-
ly answered statements made by other correspondents who
claimed to have walked or driven through rainbows, as the Toronto
writer referred to above did. In so doing, however, he stated
that rainbows can not be seen between the hours of nine a.m. and
three p.m. This statement is incorrect even for latitudes much
south of that in which Mr. Burrough's home was located, but
it is especially so for the higher latitudes. On September 30th,
1920, I observed a fine bow, almost due North, at 1.15 p. m.,
and have seen others within the hours mentioned. The physical
conditions necessary for the formation of a rainbow are that
the sun's (or rarely the moon's) rays shall fall on drops of water,
be refracted, then totally reflected on the inside of the drop,
then refracted again, emerging at an angle of about 42 degrees
from the direction in which they entered. Obviously, these
drops may be located anywhere on the arc of a circle whose centre

The bow may be seen if the sun is not more than
420 above the horizon.

is in line with the observer's eye and the sun, and which has an
angular radius of about 42 degrees. Whenever, then, rain is
falling, and the sun is shining, and is not over 42 degs. above the
horizon, we may have a rainbow. (Sketch) At the latitude at

8 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

which I live, about 47>^ degs. north, the sun is continuously
low enough to produce a bow almost from the fall to the spring
equinox. We can, and do, have bows even at noon. Of course,
our climate is such that for most of this period rain does not fall,
so mid-day bows are not common. Even with the sun at greater
altitudes bows may be seen where the sky is not the background,
as in the gorge at Niagara Falls. Incidentally, the bows at the
Falls are another source of frequent errors. I have heard travel-
ers declare, and have seen artists' sketches showing, that several
bows appear simultaneously over different parts of the Falls.
They do not refer to the primary and secondary bows, but to
distinct primary bows seen over different places.

Mr. Burroughs also corrected stories from correspondents
which stated or inferred that rainbows move. Certainly the
bow must always keep the same relative position to the observer
and the sun, but in the rainbow mentioned above as occurring
near the noon hour there was an interesting and beautiful appear-
ance of movement. The bow was low and was broadened by
numerous supernumerary bands and a distinct waving or pulsing
movement of the color could be seen. It gave a very fair imi-
tation of the field of "Old Glory" waving in the breeze. Now,
what was the cause of that? The sun was shining through rifts
in the clouds forming those peculiar spoke-like streamers and as
a result the area in which the bow appeared was not illuminated
uniformly. The bow thus was made of alternate lighter and
darker patches, and as the clouds rapidly shifted, the bow waved
in the manner described.

Can there be rainbows without rain5 It is a common sight
with us to see a bow, or rather the abutments of a bow, appear
in the east, remain there an hour or more, both primary and
secondary bows being clearly outlined, and all the time a perfect-
ly clear sky with no sign of rain or cloud. To explain: I have
the advantage of living on an elevation overlooking Lake Temis-
kaming which spreads out from six to twelve miles to the east,
and permits an uninterrupted view of hills for twenty or thirty
miles, to North, East, and South. Local thunderstorms arise,
far away in Quebec province, too far for clouds or lightning to
be seen or thunder to be heard. Yet the falling raindrops catch
the sun's rays, and, given the proper angle, we see the bow.

TUKE

SKY PHENOMENA

While as a rule bows can be seen for only a short time as a storm
is receding or approaching, these more distant bows are visible
for the whole duration of the storm, giving an opportunity of
prolonged study. Another interesting feature of these bows is
that sometimes clouds, nearer, and probably lower, often drift in
between observer and bow temporarily eclipsing portions of the
colored band.

Why is it that in the case

of the distant bows, and also

bows formed when the sun is

low in the sky, only the lower

arcs can be seen ? It will be

seen (sketch) that in these

cases the light rays after mak-

If the sun is very low (A) , or the rain ing their 42 degree turn in
falling faraway (BMhebcw may ^ drQps do ^ reach ^

observer from points straight opposite the sun, so the corre-
sponding part of the bow is not visible.

Violet rays are more refrangible than red rays, yet, as there
are two refractions, one on entering the drop, the other on leaving
it, and as these are in opposite directions, and as the red ray

after the first refraction and
reflection 'makes a greater
angle with the normal to the
surface of the drop than does
the violet ray (sketch) the
total refraction of the red is
greater than that of the violet.
In other words the red ray

emerges from the drop about
two degrees farther from its en-
tering direction than the violet
ray, that is about two degrees

lower in the case of drops that
The light-ray is refracted at a, reflected TTri

at d, and again refracted at c. form the top of the bow. Why,

then, does the red appear on the top of the bow? We do not

see all the colors from the same drop. With two degs. difference

in direction the red rays that enter the eye must come from

io NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

drops that are high-
er than those from which the
violet rays come, so the red
part of the bow appears on
the outside.

Reverting now to those
spoke-like rays of the
sun previously mention-
ed, formed when the sun
is shining through broken

Thus the red rays emerge from the drops cloud masses, Mr. Burroughs
lower than the violet rays, the eye wrote that he had never

sees the red on top. i j ±.- r 1

heard a satisfactory explana-
tion of their radiating character. When a sunbeam enters
a darkened room through an aperture its rays do not
diverge, i. e., according to Mr. Burroughs but are parallel, while
the rays passing through a cloud opening spread out like a fan.
The first of these statements is obviously incorrect, as can be
proven by anyone who will take the trouble to measure the
opening and then measure a cross-section of the beam a few feet
from the opening. Without going into any more difficult physical
explanation, the fact that the sun is not a point of light but a
disc of appreciable size, being roughly one one-hundredths in
diameter of its distance from us, is sufficient to account for the
spreading of the rays that are commonly spoken of as parallel.
Thus the rays from different parts of the sun's disc do not strike
the aperture at the same angle and the so-called beam diverges
slightly. But the light streamers seen in the cloudy sky do not
diverge only slightly but like spokes of a wheel with the sun at
the hub. Mr. Burrough's failure to explain this phenomenon is
evidently due to insufficient observation, for, writing elsewhere,
he made the statement that these rays are never seen except
between the observer and the sun. Now, one of our most striking
and beautiful sky displays is just the opposite of this. As the
sun is sinking low in the west, sometimes its rays will break through
clouds overhead and send long horizontal streamers across the
lake, making a huge fan-like illumination in the eastern sky,
and the rays converge not toward but away from the sun. The
explanation that this suggests is that the apparent direction of

tuke SKY PHENOMENA u

these streamers is an illusion of perspective. The lower ends of
the streaks of light are much nearer than the upper ends, or in
the case of the horizontal rays described, the parts overhead are
nearer than the parts at the distant horizon, so in common with
all parallel or nearly parallel lines they appear to recede to a
vanishing point, in the one case toward, in the other opposite the
sun. This perspective illusion appears to be also the cause of
the fan-like distribution of clouds sometimes seen near the horizon.
Really the clouds are ranged in nearly parallel formation, blown
thus by steady wind currents, but to the eye they appear di-
verging.

The Aurora Borealis
But it is in the advantageous position for viewing the Aurora
Borealis that our North Country excels. To one accustomed
to the infrequent and meager displays of more southern latitudes
the first sight of a real northern auroral outburst is an awe-
inspiring spectacle. The lights cease to be mere "Northern"
lights, for east, and west, and south are full of them. Let me
offer here my apologies to any real Northerner who may be present
and who may think it presumptious of a mere 47 degree man to
attempt to describe these wonderful manifestations. I can
only trust that he may add to my account. It is a matter of
regret that the psalmists and poets of old who felt the inspiration
of the starry heavens could not also have dwelt under the Northern
lights to have described them fitly. Service, poet of the Yukon,
has attempted to do so in his Ballad of the Northern Lights:
And the skies of night were alive with light with a throbbing

thrilling flame,
Amber and rose and violet, opal and gold it came.
It swept the sky like a giant scythe, it quivered back to a

wedge ;
Argently bright it cleft the night with a wavy golden edge.
Pennants of silver waved and streamed, lazy banners unfurled;
Sudden splendors of sabres gleamed, lightning javelins were

hurled.
There in our awe we crouched and saw with our wild up-
lifted eyes
Charge and retire the hosts of fire, in the battlefield of the
skies."

12 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

And again:

"The Northern Lights in the crystal nights came forth with

a mystic gleam.
They danced and danced the devil-dance over the naked

snow;
And soft they rolled like a tide upshoaled with a ceaseless

ebb and flow.
They rippled green with a wondrous sheen, they fluttered

out like a fan;
They spread with a blaze of rose-pink rays never yet seen of

man.
They writhed like a brood of angry snakes, hissing and

sulphur pale
Then swift they changed to a dragon vast, lashing a cloven

tail.

"They rolled around with a soundless sound like softly

bruised silk
They poured into the bowl of the sky with the gentle flow of

milk.
In eager pulsing violet their wheeling chariots came,
Or they poised above the Polar rim like a coronal of flame.
From depths of darkness fathomless their lancing rays were

hurled,
Like' the all-combining searchlights of the navies of the
world."
Some authorities credit us in Northern Ontario with an average
of thirty displays annually. My impression is that we have
many more than that, but impressions are poor substitutes for
definite statistics. At any rate, it is a well recognized fact that
we have many more opportunities of observing the Aurora than
there are in the same latitude in Europe. Our isochasm or zone
of auroral frequency is the same as that of Norway or northern
Scotland, tho our latitude is south of any part of Great Britain.
There have been few opportunities, however, for studying the
lights this past fall, both because there have not been many
occurrences of the phenomenon, and also because there has been
much cloudy weather. From. August 30th to September 6th
we had fine displays every night, the most brilliant being on the
night of September first.

tuke SKY PHENOMENA 13

Aurorae are sometimes classified into seven classes, namely:
Arcs, bands, curtains, rays, coronae, patches, and diffuse form.
Is this not a needlessly complex division? The bands appear to
me to be similar to the arcs; the rays and curtains to be similar
except for intensity; coronae to be made of curtains and rays,
and patches either parts of bands or local diffuse areas. In
southern Ontario we rarely see anything but the rays; in the
north the rays usually rest on a foundation, if such a term may
be applied to anything so unsubstantial, of arc or curtains. Do
the rays seen farther south also connect with arcs too low to be
seen above the horizon, or do these manifestations in the higher
atmospheric strata occur farther south than the other forms?

When we have a really brilliant display, the forms usually
appear in a regular sequence. First an arc will appear low in
the northern sky. This gradually rises, that is, moves south,
becoming apparently larger and more clearly outlined as it ap-
proaches. The space below the arc appears darker than the
rest of the sky, probably by contrast. Other arcs appear and
follow the first one. Portions of the arcs widen and become
brighter, and these areas spread rapidly. A distinct pulsing
movement, usually from West to East, appears. The arcs then
curve and loop and break in a great variety of forms, forming
great horseshoe loops, and circles, or rather cones. The broader
areas become striated in appearance; long, dancing, shafts shoot
up to the zenith, advancing, receding, flashing brightly, fading
quickly, justifying the habitants appellation "marionettes."
The arcs are usually devoid of color except pale yellow or green,
but the curtains frequently show other hues, most often rose,
occasionally crimson or violet. The color is not a stable feature.
So far as I have observed, it does not appear except when there
are rapid lateral, that is east and west, looping movements, and
the color appears on the angles of the curves, suggesting that it
may be due to some such cause as interference when the light
from one part is seen through the dense lattice-work formed by
another part in front of it. Gradually the movements subside,
the colors fade, the brilliancy decreases, and the sky settles into
a diffuse glow, brightened now and again by a patch or a solitary
ray.

In March 1920 the greater part of the continent was treated to
an exhibition of what we see frequently, and our display was

14 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

correspondingly more magnificent. On this occasion, the se-
quence of forms differed from that just described. The first
manifestations were curtain forms, hung low in the south-eastern
sky, resembling in appearance great palisades of vertical golden
bars. These rapidly rose in the sky, increasing in size and brillian-
cy, swinging and writhing, till they swung across straight overhead,
revealing themselves as thin, almost vertical, films. Throughout
the earlier part of the evening they swayed back and forth,
seeming to hang suspended from long, pale, threads that reached
upwards to a point near the zenith. Observers from such distant
points as Alabama and California saw these rays, and all de-
scribed them as proceeding from near the zenith. Now, if the
aurora is a purely atmospheric phenomenon, with the greatest
recorded height about 140 miles, how could observers in Northern
Canada and Southern States all see the same point from which the
rays appeared to proceed? Must we not again explain this
appearance of radiation by the simple explanation of perspective
illusion? Could the distant observers see the same rays? Ap-
parently not. In different places different sets of curtains were
seen and as the rays were nearly parallel and vertical, following
the earth's lines of magnetic force, these rays appeared to converge
towards their upper extremities. If the lower edges of the curtains
were one mile high, for example, and the upper one hundred
miles high, the upper ends of two rays would appear almost to
meet, since they would seem only one one-hundredth as far apart
as at the lower ends. It would be interesting if a number of
observers would report on displays such as the one mentioned,
so that data might be obtained as to the rate of travel, the differ-
ences in appearance of a given part from different view-points,
and the distance at which particular parts can be seen.

I have never heard any sound from the aurora, but have heard
one whom I regarded as a fairly reliable observer claim to have
heard it, described as resembling the swishing of a whip-lash
through the air. Note Service's reference to "a soundless sound
like softly bruised silk." I should like to hear from others who
have noticed it; also from anyone who has personally seen an
aurora between himself and any terrestrial object, such as a
building or hill.

A common error that casual observers make about the Northern
Lights is to assume that the displays are centered about the North

tuke SKY PHENOMENA 15

Pole or, at any rate, about the magnetic pole. As a matter of
fact, the zone of greatest frequency is far south of the pole, and
north of this zone the displays are seen most often in the southern
sky. Another belief, sometimes pictured in artists' sketches, is
that the rays proceed from a point in the northern horizon,
spreading out fanwise. As stated before, they are really almost
vertical, following approximately the lines of magnetic inclination
or dip. The aurora itself, of course, displaces somewhat the mean
position of these lines. The form of the arcs, and the radiating
character of the rays, not from the horizon but from near the
zenith, would seem to be due entirely to perspective effects.
The close concurrence between times of greatest auroral and
greatest sunspot frequency seems to establish some probable
cause and effect relationship between these two phenomena.
The infrequency of the displays of the past season is to be con-
sidered in connection with the fact that we are now near the
minimum period of the sun-spot cycle. I do not pretend to
understand, much less to explain the theories advanced along this
line, tho the picture of electrons in countless numbers hurtling
thru space and arranging themselves in mathematically beautiful
precision along the earth's magnetic lines, and all because of
some eruption on the sun, is fascinating enough. But, in the
little reading I have done on this subject, I have the feeling that
scientists are overlooking some possible closer relationships.
For example, is there any connection between aurorae and pre-
vailing weather conditions? My own observation is that the
displays only occur under certain conditions. Of course, a clear
sky is necessary for visibility; tho the lights may be seen at
times through breaks in the clouds, or even under high clouds.
But I do not recall ever having seen an aurora on a sultry night,
or just after a period of rainy weather, tho the sky is often ex-
ceptionally clear then. The displays do occur during local
thunderstorms, however. One of the finest sights I have seen
was in the autumn of 1920, when, with a bright moon shining
above, a heavy thunderstorm with vivid lightning was in progress
to the south, and a splendid showing of Northern Lights with
pronounced color effects could be seen in the North and West.
I have found it possible to predict with a considerable degree of
accuracy the near-future occurrence of the Lights, tho whether

1 6 . NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

this is done from a sub-conscious summing up of the known
favorable factors, or whether from some special sensitiveness, I
do not know. Again, after the aurora has settled into the diffuse
form, as it usually does, the sky as a rule becomes clouded. Pos-
sibly this is due to moisture condensing on electronic matter.

Why are the lower edges of arcs, bands, and curtains, usually
well-defined? One does not wonder that the upper ends are not
clearly marked, but often the lower edges are as clear-cut as if
they had been sheared smoothly off. Do the edges represent the
division line between two different strata of air? As I have
mentioned before, I have never seen color effects except when
there was rapid lateral motion ; and so far as I have noticed this
always and only occurs when there is or has been a strong wind.
Can local air currents affect the aurora ? Is it possible that friction
between two air strata has anything to do with the phenomena of
the Lights ? "Why do the displays usually occur between eight and
ten o'clock in the evening? Why are the arcs of considerable
breadth, while the curtains appear to be but thin films? These
and a host of other questions challenge the observer who watches
these mysterious lights. I shall be pleased to hear from others
their observations, and especially to find if they concur with
what I have said in regard to the connection between weather
and the aurora, and to wind and color effects.

As a Nature student I can claim neither extensive observation
nor original theory. I can only hope to avoid on the one hand
the obvious errors such as those quoted, and on the other hand
the extreme of the mathematical physicist who thinks it hardly
worth his while to look at the sky at all, since from his inner
consciousness he can invoke an algebraic formula that is all-
sufficient. Nature has been somewhat less generous with flora
and fauna in our great Northland than in some other places,
but she has in a large measure compensated us by giving us wide
horizons of startling clearness, with rippling lakes that mirror
skies of sapphire an,d opal and rose. To watch these at sunrise
and at sunset and through the long nights of winter or the short
nights of summer is to feel them and to love them; to attempt to
describe them in pale prose seems to border on sacrilege.

The Natural History of the Farm in its Relation to
the Development of the Aesthetic

John D. Detwiler
Assistant Professor of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario

In discussing the natural history of the farm in its relation to
the development of the aesthetic, I shall confine myself rather
rigidly to the farm. In so doing I hope I may be able to give
those who teach the farmers of to-morrow an attitude toward the
natural environment of the farm that will make them true in-
terpreters of the aesthetic possibilities there.

This field is especially interesting to me because all my youth
up to manhood was spent there, and more particularly because
man in one of his fundamental activities is inseparably associated
with all that transpires there. The contemplation of nature on
the farm would have little solace or beauty for me without the
human touch.

The natural history of the farm, as it affects the farmer, is
made up of sentient and insentient nature. In the former are
centered all the experiences relating to the animals that make
their abode there, and hence are largely circumscribed by the
environment of the farm, while in the latter the experiences may
be as wide as the eye can see and the mind can grasp.

Many of the farmer's experiences with the animals do not
tend to elevate his sense of the beautiful. 'Tis true there is a
certain fine gratification in looking at the lines of a well-set-up
horse, but I do not think that stock judging would make much
of an appeal to a poetic nature. I fear, however, it is this kind
of beauty the majority of farmers see in their domestic animals,
if indeed they are fanciers at all. Nevertheless, if the farmer for
the moment forgets to count points, that is, ceases to be technic-
ally scientific, he cannot help but see much beauty in the symme-
try and lines of a well developed horse. We have all admired
him, suddenly arrested in his galloping about the pasture, and
posing, so to speak, for a moment, while the wind blew his shaggy
mane over his shapely head. We may also have been attracted
by the picture of strength in his full, tense muscles as he strained

i7

1 8 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

at a load. And so it is with other animals. Sometimes it is
beauty of form and then again a quality quite dissociated from
it. We would scarcely say that the lamb of a few days has beauty
of form. Its thick, stubby legs are all out of proportion; and yet
the lamb is a favorite with the artist. How careful he is to
portray that peculiarly playful and innocent expression which
only lambs can have, and which so redeems their ill proportions
that we are tempted to smile at them with good humored in-
dulgence. These attractive characteristics are not peculiar to
domestic animals only. What is more appealing than a little
racoon? I well remember two young ones strolling side by side
into our front lawn on the farm. A description of those furry
little lumps as they toddled along the path toward the house is
quite beyond me. Their sharply pointed noses, agreeably setting
off their plump little cheeks did full justice to their still innocent,
though cunning eyes, not to mention the good natured set of
their broad, pointed ears.

Similarly many other examples could be given but time does
not permit. Let us consider the ways of these animals. In
their playful moods they often arrest us in our work. We are
amused by their antics. We may smile or even laugh and we
go about our task the happier for our experience. On the other
hand, however, they often possess characteristics that by no
means amuse us, nay rather the reverse, and right here let me
tell you that a contemplative sense of humor may save the day
and bring forth a smile instead of an imprecation, may cultivate
in us strong and beautiful traits instead of making us servile,
weak and ridiculous. One example will suffice to illustrate my
point and I shall give it almost verbatim, as expressed by a local
lover of nature. I cannot improve on it.

"Cows certainly think, but only when they have the proper
environment. They don't think all over the place like college
professors and eminent people generally. Cows can spend days
and days without thinking, but when the conditions are right
they think unutterable things, and the object that inspires them
to their loftiest flights is a gate. You have only to look at them
and notice the awful solemnity of their magnificent eyes to know
they are not thinking of any ordinary matter like the beef trust,
or the high cost of hay. But it is not enough to have a cow see

detwiler NATURE-STUDY OF THE FARM 19

a gate to start her thinking. You must try to drive her through
it. In fact, you must have a herd of them and it usually works
out this way. After you have run yourself out of breath gathering
the herd, the boss will take the lead and the skittish young cattle
will be bringing up the rear. As soon as the boss gets into the
gate where none of the others can pass, a great idea will strike her
and she will stop to chew her cud and think it over. You will
probably start yelling at her, but nothing can interrupt her
profound thoughts and your yelling will only disturb the young
cattle and start them scampering around the field. In all proba-
bility you will start throwing sticks and if your aim is good you
may jolt her through the gate. Then you will have to gather the
young cattle again, and when your flock is at the gate once more
you will find that the deputy boss becomes seized of a great
idea when she reaches the middle, and so the whole process
has to be gone over again."

This particular phase of aesthetic interpretation borders closely
on another of still more fundamental import — that of sympathy.
We cannot observe any animals, tame or wild, without being
impressed by the fight they put up in the struggle for existence.
We interpret it in terms of our own struggle, but in a sense theirs
is the more pathetic, not knowing what it means and not reaping
any spiritual compensation. How at our mercy they are, and
how cold that mercy often is. Those of us who recognize this
struggle, whether it show itself in brute force or in cunning,
cannot help but interpret it in terms of sympathy. Burns well
expressed this in his poem to a field mouse:

I must confess it is beyond me to understand how any man can
go out and find pleasure in shooting, that is killing, any animal
that has been unwary, or trusting enough not to make its escape
good. When I look from the eyes of the hunter gloating over
his prey, into those now fast glazing over in death, I fear I cannot
tell which is the brute. Kill we often must for our protection
but we cannot afford to do it ruthlessly.

From this field of "earth born companions" we shall pass to
another where we may say nature is in its humbler beginnings —
nearer the first thoughts of the Love that created all, so infinite
in prophetic settings, so subtle with mysticism and charm. All
this is common property for both the farmer and the poet, yet

20 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

how often unobserved and how seldom appreciated. To be
convinced of this we need but drive through the country and
observe the homes of those who live there. In many cases the
natural beauties of the surroundings were not considered when the
home site was chosen. If there is evidence of consideration at all,
it is usually that of convenience only, just as if the wants of the
body were all, and those of the soul nothing. Why not endear
our homes by their settings? Why not have them removed
somewhat from the gaze of the public, nestling among great
trees and looking out over cheerful and lovely stretches of green
fields, or if possible looking off to the distant hills? Why not
bring a bit of the cool wood home and some of the swamp ever-
greens and arrange them there naturally as far as possible? Such
homes are twice blessed. In their making they enrich the soul
of those who bestow their thoughts on them, and later as ap-
propriately artistic units they take their place in the whole scheme
of natural beauty.

With this scheme man has little to do. All that is required
of him is to be observant, appreciative and sympathetic. He
will find that it is not only one of lines and colour, but also of
mocds. These moods continually influence the picture of nature.
Generally speaking, they are associated with the seasons and
more particularly with that thing we daily speak of — the weather.

In the country the seasons always send their harbingers. In
the approach of spring we know it is upon us even when the
thermometer still registers below zero. Spring is in the air.
The cold evenings seem to be suffused with a strange quietness
and tenseness, and the sky takes on tints of warmer glow. But
this picture is not distinctive of the farm without its inhabitants —
boy and all. The boy feels the call of spring though he be still
skating on the pond in the hollow. As the days grow warmer he
feels that "sap's runnin'," and he throws a handspring on the
first dry scd. The cattle too are not mute in answering the call
frcm the fields. The fowls regain their voices. The robin finds
his way back from his indolent life in the south and proclaims
his new found joy. The swollen torrents, the bursting buds,
the vibrant charge that permeates all, makes the soul of man
expand to conceptions of higher truths — a possible rich and new
beginning from a worn out past.

detwiler NATURE-STUDY OF THE FARM 21

Summer, on the other hand, gives us a feeling of permanancy.
The long, warm days with their prevailing gentle winds, the
high sun, the lull in life about us, make us feel as though nature
had slowed down on a long course. The days in the fields become
wearisome and the vagaries of nature trick us on all sides. The
peaceful hills and meadows imbue us with their drowsy spirit.
The fleecy clouds that play over them and send their shadows
chasing each other over the fields like spirits just set free awaken
our imaginations. From the distance the cool woods call us to
their shade.

But this is not all of summer. It has its daily moods. Who
has not seen the early morning break and day announced as with
a trumpet?

"Day-
Faster and more fast,

O'er night's brim, day boils at last;

Boils, pure gold, o'er the cloud cup's brim

Where spurting and suppressed it lay,

For not a froth-flake touched the rim

Of yonder gap in the solid gray

Of the eastern cloud, an hour away;

But forth one wavelet, then another, curled,

Till the whole sunrise, not to be suppressed,

Rose, reddened, and its seething breast

Flickered in bounds, grew gold, then overflowed the world."
Beautiful as these scenes are they become more beautiful with a
touch of life. The drowsy hills of summer seem even more
peaceful with quietly grazing herds scattered over them and as
the shadows lengthen these lines come to us:

"Where the quiet coloured end of evening smiles
Miles and miles

On the solitary pastures where the sheep
Half asleep

Tinkle homeward through the twilight."
I have only chosen a few illustrations from the natural
history of the farm from among the many that constantly sur-
round us. I have not touched on the sweet, sad days of autumn.

"When the maples flame with crimson

And the nights are still with frost,

22 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Ere the summer's luring beauty

Is in autumn glory lost,

Through the marshes and the forests

An imperious summons flies

And from all the dreaming northland

The wild birds flock and rise."

Nor have I touched the winter, the most festive season of all the
year but I have, I hope, made it clear that, if the natural history
of the farm does not appeal to us, the fault lies absolutely with
ourselves. Those of us who see the possibilities are not finding
fault with those who do not. We are only sorry for them and
hope that at least they wish they could. If not — as one writer
rather grotesquely puts it— "instead of being on the soil they
might better be under it, inspiring cabbages."

The farm is without doubt the basic industry of our country,
and richer in its possibilities of national contentment than all
other occupations. What is needed is an awakening and a develop-
ment of an aesthetic appreciation. To accomplish this, the
teacher must keep in mind the person taught, rather than the
thing described. Scenes are only a means to an end and if a
teacher is so overpowered by them as to colour his description
extravagantly he shows signs of weakness. In short he must
not rave. He must take as his guide the thought that an aesthetic
experience is a pleasurable contemplation of an object, whether
that object has a physical existence or is a mere imagery of the
mind, called up by poetic description, or artistic reproduction.
If beauty were only in the thing contemplated we might have
great difficulty in deciding on standards, but this fortunately
is not the case. Hence if a boy laughs while a foolish teacher
raves the situation may be perfectly normal, but exceedingly
ridiculous. Pure aesthetic contemplation may be well illus-
trated by the Psalmist as he gazes heavenward;

"When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the
moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained. What is man
that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou
visitest him."

How to meet Some of Children's Nature Interests

E. Lawrence Palmer
Assistant Professor of Nature-Study Cornell University

Just before the September 1921 Cornell Rural School Leaflet
went to press the Editor of that publication and the author of
this article received an interesting letter from a New York publish-
ing company. The company was trying to urge the sale of a
certain general science text book and in explaining the merits of
the book stated that the material in the book had been chosen
from questions which had been asked by children. An examina-
tion of the book showed an overwhelming abundance of material
on physical science but practically none in the field of biological
science. The title page of the book showed that its writer had
been a trained physicist which may have in some unexplained
way accounted for the type of questions asked by the children.

It was decided to make a similar examination of the questions
asked by rural school children in New York State, and accordingly
a questionnaire was inserted on the last page of the September
Leaflet, asking that the teachers return the slip stating what
Nature-Study questions they were being asked by their pupils.
The Leaflet and questionnaire were sent to between fifteen and
sixteen thousand rural teachers actually in service. Between
five and six thousand teachers have returned the blank, but only
one out of ten gave questions which were being asked by the pupisl.
The statistics given in this article are drawn from the first five
hundred questions submitted though more recently received
questions show no indication of varying greatly in their nature
from the first five hundred.

These questions were returned in such a way that there could
have been no personal influence to determine the nature of questions
asked. To be true, much of the material published in the Leaflet
has been of a biological nature, but as will be shown later, a
larger percent of the questions were asked concerning phases of
the work which have not yet received thorough attention, than
were asked concerning phases of biology which had been treated
more definitely. This should in a way at least indicate that the

23

24 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

nature of the Leaflet did not determine definitely the nature of
the questions asked.

Eighty-six per cent of the questions asked, dealt primarily
with biology. Four and one-fifth percent dealt with practical
agriculture; five and one-fifth percent with inorganic nature;
three and two-fifths with pedagogy, and one and one-fifth were of
such a miscellaneous nature that they could not be readily classi-
fied.

The questions of a biological nature were classified according to
the branches recognized. Sixty-two and four-fifths per cent of the
total number of questions asked, dealt with zoology. Twenty-one
and four-fifths of the total dealt with botany, and one and two-
fifths were of a strict ecological nature. Many of the questions
classified under zoology and botany might however, with
equal justice be considered under ecology.

The questions in zoology fell easily under the headings of
invertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibia and fish. The
percent of the whole for each of these groups was as follows:
invertebrates 25%, birds 15%, mammals 12}%, reptiles 5f%,
amphibia 4-jl%, fish 1%. This is interesting because it shows
how little the material recently published in the Leaflet influenced
these questions. No number of the Leaflet has as yet been
prepared dealing exclusively with invertebrates except for one
number on aquatics. In spite of this, 25% of. the total number
of questions asked dealt with this group. This must be an
interest to children, therefore worthy of recognition. (It might
be mentioned here that a number of the Leaflet designed to
appeal to that interest is in course of preparation, and as mentioned
in the September 1921 Review, this will be Volume 16, No. 7.)

The questions in botany totalled 21|% of the grand total.
6% of these questions dealt with herbs, 14% with woody plants,
and 1}% with fungi. Apparently the children in the schools
frcm which these questions came are less interested in botany
than in zoology. The total number of questions asked in botany
for example did not equal the total asked concerning insects, and
was only about one-third of the number asked in all branches of
zoology. Trees seemed to be more interesting than herbs, though
the fact that these questions were returned in the fall when the
leaves were dropping from the trees may have been an influence

palmer CHILDREN'S NATURE INTERESTS 25

here. In this connection, it might be mentioned that apparently
the season at which the questions were written had considerable
to do with the nature of the questions. While the leaves were
falling, the most frequently asked questions were "Why do trees
shed their leaves?" and "What makes leaves change color?"
Later on these questions were not asked, but in their stead came
questions on meteorology such as "Why does the frost stay
longer on bridges than on the ground?"

Inorganic nature claimed 5}% of the total number of questions
asked. 2|% dealt with geology and paleontology, 2% with
meteorology, and 1 of 1% with astronomy.

Applied science in the form of agriculture laid claim to 4|%
of the grand totals, the questions being divided more or less
equally between gardening, dairy, farm crops and poultry. The
cow's cud seemed to be the basis for more questions in this group
than any other thing.

Three and two-fifths percent of the total dealt with teaching
problems which were obviously asked by the teacher rather than
by the pupils. The remaining 1|% were of a highly miscel-
laneous nature.

There are certain weaknesses in a statistical method such as
has been followed here. The chances are quite probable that
many of the teachers wrote down only those questions which they
themselves could not answer, or which they considered unusual.
If this was generally the case, it is obvious that the teachers need
further help in the field of zoology — particularly in entomology.
Help of this sort is forthcoming in a leaflet soon to appear. There
is also some danger in drawing conclusions when the numbers of
questions asked are not greater. The number represented ought
to give some clue as to what might be expected however.

A further examination of the questions returned gives some
interesting light on the phases of the subjects considered which
seemed to be most commonly present. If we may judge some of
the books we lead we might expect that definitions, morphologies
and bits of taxonomy would be most important. Thirty-nine
and f % of all the questions asked however dealt with habits
and activities. Nineteen % were questions in taxonomy; 16f%,
in economy; 8%, teaching problems; 6f% physiology; h\%
miscellaneous; 3|%, ecology, 1|% definition; \\% mor-

26 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

phology and § of 1% with legal questions. Some significance
ought to attach itself to the abundance of questions dealing with
habits. More questions of this than of any other sorts were
asked concerning invertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphi-
bia and fish. More questions concerning taxonomy were asked
concerning herbs and fungi, than of any sort and the greatest
number of questions asked concerning trees dealt with plant
physiology. A very large number of the questions asked and
grouped under habits and physiology might with equal justice
be considered as being under the heading of ecology.

A most important observation in connection with the whole
list of questions is, that not one of the five hundred dealt with
exotic plants or animals which had no every day association
with the lives of the children. The only question dealing with
phases of life not common in the immediate environment was one
concerning silk worms, and even here it dealt not with the life
habits of the silk worm but rather with how the commercial
product was secured from the natural source.

The most commonly asked question was "What is the differ-
ence between moths and butterflies?" Other very commonly
asked questions were, "Are all snakes poisonous?" "Why do
some animals hibernate while others do not?" "How can a frog
buried in mud breathe?" "How does kerosene kill mosquitoes?"
"What are the round swellings on the ends of willow branches?"
"How do insects live in the winter?" and questions of a similar
nature. Of course there were many absurd questions which were
asked such as "What agitates the horse's hair in water?" "Do
dragon flies sew up your ears?" and questions of this sort. The
absurd questions were however surprisingly few and everything
pointed to the conclusions that the questions given were such as
might have arisen from inability to interpret observations which
had been more or less deliberately made.

It was hoped that this article might summarize a brief survey
of work which was done in Chicago, New York City, and Syracuse,
New York, in attempt to determine what nature topics were most
commonly presented artificially to children through toys and books.
The results of the observations made last year in stores in these
three cities indicated that it was evidently assumed by the manu-
facturers of the toys that the most desirable nature topics dealt

palmer CHILDREN'S NATURE INTERESTS 27

with bizarre and uncommon phenomena and forms of life. The
figures made showed that the most commonly exhibited toy ani-
mals in the three cities were as follows in the order of their
abundance; — dog, horse, monkey, elephant, cow, cat, goat, sheep,
bear, rabbit, pig, lion, camel, squirrel.

Few birds were found represented outside of picture books.
Reptiles were very rarely found represented and amphibia and
fish were as a rule apparently composite creatures of many or no
species.

From the evidence collected it seemed quite evident that less
attempt was made to interest children in the commonplace species
than was made to interest them in- exotics. Further data on this
subject would be highly desirable in determining whether or not
there is any relation between the species used to add to the nature
knowledge of children artificially and the species which the ques-
tions received indicated, held a natural interest for children.
Though twenty -five percent of all the questions asked dealt with
invertebrates, particularly insects, members of this group were
but sparingly represented in the artificial nature with which
many children first become acquainted. Native mice, shrews,
bats, skunks, muskrats and weasels were found represented only
in books and there sparingly. These are the creatures however
with which children are to be thrown are they ever to make a
living directly from the land. A possible explanation for the
abundance of foreign animals found may be found in the fact
that formerly, at least most toys were manufactured abroad.
Why shouldn't children however be given the opportunity of
finding out about their immediate environment? Why shouldn't
our illustrated alphabets that state that a is for alligator, t is
for tiger, and z is for zebra instead tell of nature things. We
are advised to see America first, but we teach our children through
Noah's arks to know about the creatures of another hemisphere
first. We advise teachers to lead their children from the known
to the unknown, but place in their hands books which tell about
creatures which the children well never have the opportunity to
study first hand. If we must have these illustrated alphabets,
toy animals and the like, why not make them appropriate to the
needs of the children using them. Jingles if necessary at all may
be used to teach truths as well as nonsense. While the author

28 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

does not pretend to be a poet, he feels that he has no right to
offer adverse criticism without offering a substitute for that
which he decries. Accordingly with fear and trembling the
following is submitted : —

An American Nature-Study Alphabet

A is for aphid, a fat little louse
that sucks up plant juices and lives in a house.

B is for bats that fly in the night
and eat up mosquitoes with all of their might.

C is for cabbage worm, green, hairy and slow.
He'll become a white butterfly some day I know.

D is for dragon fly, the elf of the pond.

Of mosquitoes and gnats he's indeed very fond.

E's for the eel who very squirmy may be

Though he lives in our brooks, he was hatched in the sea.

F is for the frog, a funny old thing

He eats flies and mosquitoes and sings in the spring.

G is for goldfinches who seem care-free all day.
"Per-chic-o-ree, chick-o-ree" that's what they say.

H is for hair snakes, though found in a stream
They live in some insects before they are seen.

I is for iris a stately blue flower.

It lives in wet places and welcomes a shower.

J is for jay-bird, a noisy young scamp

He's about as much good as a common old tramp.

K is for kingbird, a plucky young fighter.

He beats crows and hawks, though he's very much lighter.

palmer CHILDREN'S NATURE INTERESTS 29

L is for lightnings that flash in the sky
While the " Boom, booms" of thunder say that summer is nigh.

M is for muskrats with very fine fur.
Their paths under water will show where they were.

N is for nuthatch who stands on "his head.

He works on the tree trunks but likes to be fed.

O is for the owl, a mouse-eating bird.

He seldom is seen but is quite often heard.

P is for potato beetle, striped down the back,

A grosbeak will grab him and give him a whack.

Q is for quail, the farmer's best friend

Who has not a bad deed which he has to amend.

R is for rabbits that nibble the trees
And run 'round at night just as much as they please.

S is for'the skunk who's all black and white,
Though he smells very bad, he's really all right.

T is for turtle that lays lots of white eggs

And draws in his head and then draws in his legs.

U is for underwing which feeds on our trees
And hides from its foes with the greatest of ease.

V is for veery that sings in the wood.

If you never have heard him you certainly should.

W's for woodchuck or ground hog. I don't care
He eats up our grasses and lives in a lair.

X is the sign men use for the unknown,

Are you going to help out? Well that will be shown.

30 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Y is for you who hearing this verse

Should help save our friends 'fore the world gets much worse.

Z is for zephyrs that blow o'er the land,

If you've done lots of good things, they make you feel grand.

News Notes

Dr. R. W. Shufeldt is lecturing to large classes of both teachers
and pupils of the Washington, D. C. schools.

The Nature Lore School for Camp Councilors is to be held at
Professor Vinal's camp at Wellfleet, Cape Cod, June 22 — 29.
The staff includes Thornton W. Burgess, E. H. Forbush, Anna
Botsford Comstock, Marie Stillman Russell and Mary^Stillman,
Delia I. Griffin, Manley Bacon Townsend, Dr. Henry P. Lovewell
and Professor Vinal.

Harold L. Madison, Curator of Education at the Cleveland
Museum of Natural History has just issued a pocket size pam-
phlet on "Trees of Ohio, Identified by their Leaves "which is
excellent from every point of view.

Mr. C. W. Goethe of Sacramento, California continues to
publish and send out his valuable and interesting leaflets on
different phases of nature lore. His unselfish devotion to the
cause of nature-study is an inspiration to us all; and his
achievements in introducing nature guides in camps as well as in
interesting the children of this great State in life out of doors is
most gratifying to witness.

Dr. E. Laurence Palmer is to teach in the summer school at
the University of California this year.

Ths Nature-Study Staff for the Summer Session at Cornell
this year will consist of Anna B. Comstock, Ethel Hausman,
Dr. J. D. Detwiler, Charles Beaman and Leah Gause.

79|

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Laughing Waters
Rock Lake

* Algonquin Days

Frank Morris

Peterborough, Ontario

To have tramped the English Lake District with its bare
heaths and hills and open roads is no small pleasure in a man's
life, but nothing to the thrill of entering for the first time a region
of unbroken forest such as lies north of us in the Province of
Ontario; and what if you found the two together, a network of a
thousand lakes lying in the heart of the forest ? That is Algonquin
Park; take flight on the wings of fancy to such a place, and
settle on a certain wooded island of one of its lakes; you will be
with me in spirit and the better able to share what I wish to
communicate, the impression of five or six weeks at a stretch,
spent under canvas there, every summer for nearly a decade.

Almost the first thing we noticed about camping in Algonquin
was how quickly our tent and its inmates, catching tone and
colour of the woods, seemed to melt into the wild life about them.

♦Read befoie the Entomological Society of Ameiica in session with the Entomological Socie-
ty of Ontaiio at the Toronto meeting of the A. A. A. S.

31

32 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

This is a feeling that can never come to the hotel guest, even in
the midst of ideal surroundings.

"To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through us ran;"
we were a part of all we saw, and it thrilled us with delight, the
dawning knowledge that even the wild creatures themselves had
admitted us into the goodly fellowship of wood folk.

The loons that had their home on the narrow reach of water
beyond our bay would come floating in to feed within a boat's
length of the shore ; the big mink that lived among the driftwood
took up his daily fishing post on the butt of the floating pine log.
Even a pair of beaver, time and again at sundown, swam over
from the little cove on the opposite shore to enjoy their evening
repast among our lily pads. The very deer resumed their wonted
paths, moving right by our tent; often in the night or at dawn
we would hear their footfall as they passed down to drink their
fill at the bay : occasionally one would snuff uneasily as it caught
the tainted air. Even in broad daylight they would come brows-
ing to the edge of the clearing, and once, on emerging from our
tent, we saw a few paces away, just back of an old moss grown
log two does and a fawn quietly cropping the leaves from a little
clump of hazel.

It was a great delight to stand perfectly still and watch the
deer; they would often look full at you in a prolonged stare and
then turn to feed again, from time to time raising the head or
turning it somewhat sharply to see that you weren't trying to
take advantage of them. You might even speak to a companion,
and if you used level tones and didn't raise the voice excitedly,
they showed no alarm. It would almost seem as if the sense
impressions of eye and ear allowed the creatures to think for
themselves in independent judgment; but once they scent you,
reason goes overboard, and they stamp and blow in blind panic;
like Falstaff, they become cowards on instinct. Their sense of
smell is an age-long heritage that has both preserved the race and
made it what it is; years, even generations, of protection in a
forest sanctuary will not appreciably modify this guiding principle
of the animal's life.

Our second season revealed a fresh charm; it taught us the
delight of greeting old friends, in flower and insect, bird and

morris ALGONQUIN DAYS 33

beast, about the camp, the island, and the lake. Paddle with
what speed we might to open camp, our eager spirits would be
round the corner ahead of us; and, once on the island, we could
hardly wait to stretch the canvas and unpack, before making
some favorite round, perhaps of ferns and flowers, perhaps down
the western bay to watch the waxwings hawk after insects, or up
the Madawaska to hear the Olive-sided Flycatchers and see the
deer come down at dusk from the woods.

We were soon so used to sleeping under canvas that instead
of sitting up tensely listening to every little rustling sound, we
lay secure; it became even a luxury of the night to keep awake for
the call of the owls under the August moon; sometimes, the
sonorous note of the Horned Owl; oftener, the twice repeated
four-fold cry of the Barred Owl. Hardly ever did it fail of an
answering call from afar; gradually the birds would draw closer
and closer together; when, as often, they met in the forest canopy
over our heads, it was wonderful to hear the deep gurgling tones of
soft endearment, like the crooning of doves or brooding rooks,
but fuller, more guttural and far more melodious.

In our second season we built a cedar float for a wharf. This
raft-like object in the little bay somewhat alarmed our guests,
the beaver — but not for long, and it was accepted by the bolder
spirits the very day after its completion. I happened that
morning to be out trolling for bass soon after daylight, and present-
ly saw a muskrat reconnoitering about the float. In a little while
it dived, and uprooting some aquatic herbage, proceeded to drag
a load of it under the wharf, having evidently decided to begin
building on this highly desirable site.

It worked away vigorously for nearly a quarter of an hour,
when it was spied by the big mink at the pine log. Your rodent is
no match for a weasel, and it was soon forced to beat a retreat,
while the mink returned to his log cabin. In about ten minutes,
the muskrat swam cautiously back, found the coast apparently
clear, and at once resumed operations. Again the mink returned
to the charge, and this time dived under the float and fairly routed
the intruder out from its position among the cedar stringers.
He then mounted the float, and, standing erect, watched the rat
round the bend to see that it really did double the point instead of
trying to sneak back under water.

Cache
Lake

Headquar-
ters

Cache

Lake

From

Skymount

on a

misty

morning

Sun'and
Shadow
Cranberry
Lake

morris ALGONQUIN DAYS 35

It was delightful indeed to note this fearlessness among the
wild animals. Jerry Muskrat was obviously far more afraid
of Billy Mink than he was of me. This was mainly the golden
harvest of sanctuary, for in settled parts the muskrat is cautious,
if not timid. Last August as we paddled down through the
rapids below White's Lake in a very narrow reach J of the Mada-
waska, we almost ran into a muskrat. At first we thought it
had been taken by surprise and was trying to escape us by diving ;
but we soon found it was feeding quite unconcernedly. We
stopped paddling to watch the little creature foraging right
beside our canoe; the water was so shallow that when the rat
reached its favorite patch of cauliflower, the little leaf-rosettes of
pipewort growing in the bed of the stream, its tail was still "wig-
gling" above the surface with all the animation of an undocked
terrier pup's, and so close to us that once in a while it would
flip against the side of our canoe. Presently under stress of
breeze or current we drifted over it just as it rose to the surface;
it dived this time and took shelter under a log; one of the strangest
of sights! to watch an air-breathing animal submerge and glide,
smooth as a fish, into its aquatic lair. Again it came to the
surface, just below us, in deeper water where the channel widened
out; and this time when we paddled up, it showed us a clean pair
of heels and disappeared with a farewell smack of its tail.

The mink, of course, is proverbially bold. One day as we
were paddling back to camp with our mail, we noticed a mink
standing on a little rock, marooned (as it were) in mid channel
behind our island. Taking a quiet stroke in its direction, we
allowed the canoe to drift up to the rock, expecting the mink to
beat a hasty retreat and escape by diving. To our surprise,
even consternation, the mink deliberately rose up, snuffed the
breeze with enquiring nostril, and then, crawling down the stone,
plunged into the water and swam straight for us; on reaching the
canoe, it actually tried to clamber up the smooth side and get over
the gunwale. This didn't seem to us to be playing the game
according to Hoyle, and it was some time before the true solution
occurred to me, I had been fishing the day before, and the smell
of bass was evidently still perceptible to this sharp-nosed fisher-
man of our native waters.

36 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

In fact, though it serves a different end in the two creatures,
the sense of smell is no less imperious in the mink than in the deer,
and leads to just as unreasonable action. Not long ago a camper
on a tiny island was cleaning fish with a jack knife, when up
popped a mink at his elbow; he threw it a grey trout's head and
it made off with its booty; in a few minutes, like Oliver Twist,
it was back for more; and when he quite properly refused to
pander to the glutton, it actually caught hold of the fish he had
in his hand, and he was forced to tap this slim gentleman of the
road two or three times quite smartly over the nose with the
flat of the knife blade before he could persuade it to leave go.

In our third season of camping we began to keep a sort of
Visitors' Book of the most striking personages that called at our
camp. Almost the first entry was a flock of American Mergansers;
these birds are often to be seen about Cache Lake, usually hugging
the shore and coasting along by point and bay; they seldom
take to the wing, but escape by a sort of "scuttering" flight along
the surface, wings and feet in full play like the hoppers of a water
wheel. They often band together, two or three broods of them, into
a flock of 30 or 40. One day as we were sitting at our camp table,
a few yards in from shore and partly screened by a fringe of
balsams a regular "raft" of over 30 of these birds, frightened by a
passing canoe, came splashing across our bay and settled down
behind the big floating log. Back of this barrier they formed into
a long line of clucking protest. When the coast was clear, they
clambered (still in line) onto the log, heads all turned outwards in
the direction of the moving canoe; they looked for all the world
like an awkward squad of raw recruits dressing by the left; the
log was partly under water and very slippery, so that every now
and then one would fall backwards or forwards out of line to
flounder in the water. Evidently there was no danger from the
landward quarter; they never so much as glanced in our direction.

Three seasons ago a baby beaver, apparently deserted, was
brought into our camp, and for a fortnight we tried to rear it.
It had obviously never been weaned, and several days went by
before we could get it to eat at all. Unfortunately it had been
badly injured and did not long survive. But it was an affection-
ate pet with quaint little ways of its own, and the daintiest slip
of a paddle tail that it trailed along behind it. It was scrupu-

morris ALGONQUIN DAYS 37

lously clean and after dining would always wash its face and
smooth its fur with tongue and paws. It was curious to see the
beaver traits coming out in it; it would crawl about the floor of
the boathouse and when it came to anything resembling a stump
(my foot, for instance) it would raise itself up onto its hind legs
and balancing with paddle tail below and forepaws above, stand
there resting like a pigmy kangaroo.

Last season we had almost daily visits from a hen partridge and
four of her chicks. We first heard these visitors soon after dawn,
when our newly awakened senses became aware of a gentle clucking
outside the tent. They usually paid a morning visit, occasionally
early afternoon, wandering slowly across our lot, foraging among
the brackens and brush; the mother would always mount on a
perch — a stump or a log— and begin clucking softly, a kind of
crooning lullaby of "all's well" to her chicks; keeping within
hail of this call from the outlook in the crow's nest, the chicks
would feed about at the boathouse steps or under the dining
table with all the assurance of barnyard fowls; once as I was
shaving at my boudoir stand of a clump of silver birch trees, the
mother mounted a log just behind me and purred away in so soft
and soothing a key that sometimes, like Homer, she nodded
drowsily in her song and almost fell from the perch, while her
chicks fed in and out between my feet.

Twice in the middle of last August we had a visit from a pair
of Pileated Woodpeckers (the black Cock o' the Woods). On
their second visit the birds discovered an old pine stump just
west of our clearing and spent the better part of an hour digging
into the heart of it. They allowed one of us — camouflaged in
khaki — to get within a few feet of them and sit on a log watching
their operations. They uttered cries like those of a Flicker, and
it was worth a great deal to watch them at work. The smaller of
the two birds seemed the more aggressive and drove the other
away from its special preserves in the punky heart of the stump.
They threw their heads well back, making full use of the long
somewhat scrawny neck in hammering. Often they would tear
great flakes of rotten wood out with the bill and fling them back-
wards over the head. When they knocked off work we came
forward to inspect the scene of excavation. Almost a bucketful
of rotten wood lay on the ground, and on three sides the stump

38 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

was hacked to the heart; at one point near the centre of the stump,
a section of wood, more strongly impregnated with resin, had
resisted their efforts and stood up, a great jagged tooth, in the
midst of the ruins, but chiselled so thin as to be partly translucent
and in three or four places actually perforated. For quite a long spell
we had watched the pair, one on each side of this partition wall,
tapping and drilling like miners entombed. Seen at close quarters,
with their great size, the crimson crest produced behind the head,
the long wiry neck and ponderous bill, above all with their amazing
proficiency, they presented an impressive spectacle indeed, these
master-craftsmen in the ancient order of foresters.

No sooner had we realized we were going to make good as
campers than we bought a canoe and mastered the arts of uaddle
and portage. It took a season and more of good hard work, but
even ten years' hard labour would have been getting off cheap
for all the swag we pocketed cracking that crib. Paddle and
portage are the master key to the Park. Last August, for instance,
we made a week's trip to the middle of the Park and then down
the Oxtongue river to the High Falls near the Lake of Bays;
every hour of every day chock full as a plum pudding of the
fruits and spice of discovery, and overlarded and basted with
sweet sauce of the same till the Nature lover in us had fed too
fat almost to waddle; for me the peak of romance was reached
on this trip when we discovered, floating on the main channel of
Joe Creek, masses of a beautiful flower of delicate violet, a flower
that thirty years ago was known only on the Atlantic Coast, but
since then reported from ponds in North Indiana and Michigan —
the Purple Bladderwort.

This I call the Freedom of the Park, and it came to me as
soon as ever I learned to portage. My first trip under a canoe
was across the trail from Cache Lake to Hilliard, and it was by
way of resting neck, back and shoulders from the strain of the
load, that I clambered along the ledges of cliff just south of the
path, where presently I found myself staring at plants upon
plants of a fern I had never seen before, the Crag Woodsia {Woodsia
scopulina) recorded up to that time only from stations in the
Rocky Mountain's ; and here was I in the heart of Ontario and within
ten feet of level ground.

MORRIS

ALGONQUIN DAYS

39

My second venture was up White's and across to Little Island
Lake. Here on the far shore of a beaver pond midway on our
route, I found in the black ooze, between margin and water,
patches of a strange little magenta flower about two to three inches
high. It proved to be the tiny Reversed Bladdenvort (Uiricularia

A Forest Trail
On the Road to Cranberry

'Neither axe nor saw"
A Beaver Felling

'Magic Casements"
Cranberry Lake

40 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

resupinata). Two seasons later, in the same spot I discovered the
pigmy Humped Bladderwort (Utricularia Gibba), the long-
leaved Sundew, the Yellow-eyed Grass and the Bog Club Moss.

But after all, the Park in my judgment is a Paradise for the
Naturalist as free-lance amateur rather than specialist. No
doubt everyone with a hobby would make some discovery of his
own in Algonquin, but when you reflect how late in the summer
one's camping begins, how short the season and how northerly
the latitude, you are forced by sheer logic to accept this conclusion.

Often, I admit, the specialist rose rampant and insisted on
having his fling. Again and again, for instance, I buried the
entomologist in me, and just when I thought I had laid his ghost,
some rare beetle would visit the camp, Leptura bijou's at the
boathouse window. Pogonochaerus penicellatus on the rustic
bench, or (deadliest lure of all) an unknown Longhorn in flight
across the clearing. I reckon I must have buried that entomolo-
gist alive; irtdeed I strongly suspect him of having shammed
dead and assisted at his own obsequies ; like an actor on the stage
when there's a hitch in the drop of the curtain, he was just a
shade too quick in his resurrection. It didn't matter what I
was doing, reading in the hammock, writing in the boathouse, or
splitting wood by the tent, there would be a lightning change, and
the entomologist would be seen in the full glare occupying the
centre of the stage, with cyanide bottle or insect net, even bare-
handed, but prompt at the cue and always ready to play his
part.

Once, for instance, in a backward season, I found a number of
flowering plants still at the height of their bloom, and reaped a
rich harvest of anthophilous insects; especially on an open
stretch of stream by Hilliard Lake, where clumps of spiraea lined
the banks. Here I captured some 12 species of Longhorn, in-
cluding Leptura plebeia, a prize in itself. — -I came by this collector's
paradise last August; and the scene was changed. The whole
space was a riot of Spotted Touch-me-not dangling its golden
jewels in rich profusion; in place of Longhorns were a score or
more of Ruby throats hovering at the blossoms or darting about
in the air, often fiercely driving intruders away from their chosen
booths in this gay bazaar.

Sometimes it was the botanist in me that rose to the surface
with a gasp as from a long submergence. But something, some-

morris ALGONQUIN DAYS 41

how, in the spirit of the place, seemed always to offer silent rebuke
to the specialist ; the scales would fall from his eyes, and he would
stand and worship nature with the simple faith of a child.

To clinch the point — in 1920 I came up to the Park hot-foot
from a series of plant trips in New York State and Central Ontario.
I had orchids on the brain, and nothing would serve but I must
work out a problem in the Rattlesnake Plantains (roodyera),
of which two species at least were known in the Park. Material
lay all about me and not infrequently seemed to give the lie to
the voice of authority in the book. I had marked down a fine
spike of Menzies' Rattlesnake just over the ridge of the island;
it was distinctly not according to book, if the blossoms fulfilled
the promise of their buds. "It's a mean thing to contradict an
author," I reflected; "but it's just as mean a thing to tell fibs in
print, and what if Nature does the contradicting for you?" To
make assurance doubly sure, I stepped along a little deer trail
through the hazels to examine the plant again.

It was growing between two windfalls of balsam that formed
one side of a sort of natural stockade here six or seven trees caught in a
sudden flaw had so fallen as to fence in a small square of ground.
In this enclosure I noticed the mottled rosettes of some more of
my orchid, and stepped over a tree-trunk to get them. While
moving softly about in the space, eyes on the ground and thoughts
engrossed with my problem, I suddenly had that strange sense of
being no longer alone, which must surely be one of the race's
most ancient instincts. I raised my eyes towards the further
barrier of fallen trees, and there at the foot of a tiny balsam,
partly screened by the leafy branch of a honeysuckle, lay a little
fawn fast asleep in a bed of leaves. For some moments I stood
frozen, a few paces off, and watched it; presently its eyes opened
and it looked straight at me in a calm and steady stare, no trace of
either fear or surprise; then it lowered its head, closed its eyes,
and snuggled down to sleep again.

Backing cautiously away, I stepped out of the charmed circle,
and after a single glance back at the miracle within the magic
ring, hurried down to the tent and brought my wife to share the
vision. At first so well screened and inconspicuous lay the fawn
that I thought it had gone, but presently the dappled back and
side revealed themselves among the leaves. We both watched

42 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

it for some minutes, and twice it opened its eyes drowsily and
looked at us, but evidently convinced we had called it too soon, it
returned to the land of nod.

Half an hour later I was at Headquarters telling Mr. Bartlett
of our latest adventure. Hearing we had left the creature un-
disturbed, the superintendent caught up his camera, and we
paddled full speed to the foot of a steep cliff not far from the
sleeping fawn. There it was, just as we had left it. Mr. Bartlett
took several snaps of it, and finally, at his suggestion, I stepped
round to the back of the fallen tree under which the fawn lay, and
thrusting my arm cautiously through the brushwood lowered it
till I could touch the creature with outstretched hand. I stroked
it, twice, very gently, with the tips of my fingers; but this was too
much for even cervine endurance; it twitched its skin violently,
as a calf might to dislodge a fly, and then starting up, bounded
off a few paces on its long legs. Even then, reluctant (as it were)
to go, it faced about for a last look at us before passing leisurely
out of sight through the woods.

It never returned to this lair, but chose a new one; and a week
later, when I nearly stepped on it lying beneath the broken end of
a dead birch in the heart of the woods, it had already learned its
first lesson of fear.

Three Poems by Virginia Baker

Blue-eyed Grass

Pretty maids in frocks of green
Hiding in the meadow grass,

Peeping out with starry eyes,
Blue as summer's bluest skies,

At me as I softly pass;

Tell me, little ones, oh why

You're so very, very shy

That you shrink from being seen.

Tell me what it is you fear
In this quiet, sheltered spot?

Who would any evil do
To such fairy mites as you?

baker THREE POEMS 43

Courage, darlings, upward look;
Wipe the dewdrop tears away
From your azure eyes, I pray,
For no enemy is near.

A Mystery

Whence came, on the horse-chestnut's bark,

Those curious hoof -prints, wee?
Did some sweet maid of Fairyland

In bygone days once flee
From a pursuing ugly dwarf

For refuge to the tree?

And did some gallant elfin knight,

Mounted on fleet winged steed,
Half fly, half gallop up the trunk

To aid her in her need71
And do these prints remain to-day

Memorials of his deed?

And was the dwarf in combat slain?

And did the maiden plight,
In gratitude, her heart and hand

Unto the brave young knight?
And were the couple, afterward,

Forever happy, quite?

Indian Fairies

I'm sure that Indian fairies lived

In days of long ago,
And danced their Indian dances, queer,

By fireflies' fitful glow;
With blooms of moccasin flowers, I think,

Their dainty feet were shod,
And in their raven hair were plumes

Of yellow golden-rod.

Fknow they battled and hunted, too,

With leaves of arrowhead;
And, since they had no bark canoes,

44 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Used lily pads instead.
And I believe, in times of peace,

From wild wood depths they'd get
The wax-like sprays of Indian pipe

And smoke the calumet.

The Architecture of the Coco Palm

(Cocos nucifera)
Elmer Eugene Barker

We were sitting. on the tile-paved piazza of my Porto Rican
home, my friend and I, sipping our after-dinner coffee and gazing
at the distant mountains. Here and there a royal palm graced
the landscape, stately and dignified but as stereotyped as a figure
printed on chintz. Close at hand a coco palm raised aloft its
tuft of plumes, now silhouetted against a glowing sunset sky.

I remarked to my friend that my admiration and love for this
beautiful tree was constantly deepening. It was he who called
my attention then to features of its construction that have lead
me further to study it. Thus, to what was at first merely an
admiration of its aesthetic qualities, has now been added an
appreciation of its structural attributes. Altogether my ap-
preciation and admiration have increased with knowledge and
familiarity until I wonder if the Creator could have made a more
perfect thing. Surely, a scientific knowledge of detail and structure
of a natural object need not rob it of romance and charm, but
should, rather, enhance the marvel of its being.

To me it is a thing of glorious beauty, whether tossing and
waving in the breezes or brooding motionless in the breathless
moments of a tropic calm, — whether gilded by the rising sun or
silhouetted against a sunset sky, — glistening in the fullness of the
noonday's sun or gleaming in the moonlight, — or even rustling
and dripping in a downpour of rain, — at all times equally beautiful
and always manifesting a variety of mood and expression.

Of its varied usefulness we shall, perhaps, speak in another
article,— how it furnishes food and wherewithal to millions of
people who live in the tropical belt of Earth. Here let us examine

barker THE COCO PALM 45

its structure and marvel that every part of it is so well adapted
for its purpose and that the ensemble has resulted in a thing of
surpassing grace and beauty.

Logically, the place to begin might well be the roots, for altho
its towering crest is the conspicuous part that first takes the eye,
the unseen roots are the mechanical support and nourishing
organs for the whole structure. The roots of a mature coco palm
may spread to a radius of twenty feet or more about the base of
the trunk. The palms need abundant space, then, for root
growth as well as for their leaves to develop without interference.
The roots do not penetrate deeply into the soil. Indeed, this
plant is a surface feeder, never sending its roots more than a
few feet down. They are cordlike, usually about the size of one's
finger in diameter, devoid of root-hairs, and are produced in
close-set profusion. They are preeminently absorbing organs.
While they afford the necessary mechanical support for the
towering stem and its crest of leaves far aloft, this function might,
probably, be achieved by any other type of roots. In this instance,
however, what is needed is only a set of absorbing organs that
can take up the nutriment dissolved in the soil waters quickly
and in great quantity. The coco palm loves a light soil well
watered from beneath. That is, there must be an abundant
supply of fresh water constantly furnished in the deeper layers of
soil, whence it can rise by capillarity to the roots above. This
water table must not be near the surface for the palm will not
tolerate a soil that lacks drainage and which is not well aerated.
Its ideal conditiors are found along the sandy shores that border
the oceans in all the tropics.

The stem or trunk is merely a great bundle of tough, elastic
fibers loosely enough packed together so that they can yield to the
driving winds of a tempest without snapping off. Here again,
mechanical support of the peculiar type needed is combined in the
same organs with the water-conducting power. Like the trunks
of other monocotyledons, its trunk never can increase materially
in diameter as the tree grows taller and older. The diameter of a
palm a century old and towering 80 to 100 feet is no larger than
when it first raised its fronds above the earth. Hence, the need
that this slender stem should afford the most perfect service of
water transportation and strength and elasticity. This it does

46 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

eminently well. A bulbous swelling at the base doubtless serves
structurally as a sort of buttressing support. The persistant
crescent shaped scars where the fronds have separated from the
trunk make a pleasing pattern on the gray bark.

Now, the crest of leaves is truly the crown of this kingly plant.
I cannot trust myself to expatiate upon its beauty as my enthusi-
asm might lead me to use language that would sound extravagant
and over-sentimental! So I will restrict myself to a description
of its mechanical structure and the perfect adaptation of structure
to function.

In the first place, let us consider the individual leaf, frond or
"penca" as it is called by the Spanish-speaking people. One
notices first that it is pinnate, that is, long strips of leaf are borne
along two sides of a strong midrib or stem. This type affords a
maximum amount of surface to the sunlight with a minimum
resistance to the wind. Each leaf, often 15 to 20 feet long and
four to six feet broad, would afford a big resistance to the winds if
it were entire. Obviously, if such were the case, either the leaf
must split into shreds, like the banana, or the entire leaf be torn
away, or perhaps the tree itself be broken off. Certainly, the
slender stem of the coco palm could never carry such an expanse
of sail if its resistance to the wind were not reduced by every
possible device.

Now, in addition to the leaf surface being cut into strips thru
which the wind may pass harmlessly, we find that these strips are
attached to the midrib as a V-shaped fold (figure 1). This makes
for strength and at the same time flexibility. It permits any
amount of lateral movement but provides for a measure of vertical
stability. Thus the strips may wave and sway in the breezes
or fold close in a storm and offer almost no resistance to the air
current.

The midrib itself might well excite the admiration of a structural
engineer. Broad and clasping at the base, it half encircles the
trunk, grasping the latter by the crescent shaped horns of its
expanded base (figure 2) . Its attachment to the trunk aside from
this is really slight. The vascular bundles continue from the
trunk into the leaf but when the leaf is old and these give way
there is nothing more to hold them in place and they come loose
and drop off without any wrench or tear and leave no wound to

BARKER

THE COCO PALM

47

heal. At the base of this leaf-stem we find a great thickening
on the under side. It is an excellent buttress to support the
out-arching frond against the trunk. This swelling diminishes
gradually away from the trunk, and at half to two-thirds of the

FROM BENEATH

FIG 1 ABOUT 1/3 WAY BACK FROM
TIP OF PENCA

FIG. 2 BASE OF AN OLD PENCA THAT
HAS PARTED FROM THE TRUNK WITH
WEB STILL ADHERING

AT THE FIRST PAIR OF PINNAE

FIG. 3 BELOW PIJJNAE - TOWARD
BASE OF PENCA

NEAR TIP

A LITTLE WAYS
BACK

ABOUT
1/3 BACK
FROM TIP

TVs'Jp NEAR MIDDLE

FIG. 4 CROSS SECTIONS OF MIDRIB
OF "PENCA" OR LEAF OF COCO PALM.
UPPER SURFACE ABOVE

48 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

way to the tip of the leaf it disappears altogether. Of course it is
not needed here. Indeed, it would be detrimental, for away
from the trunk flexibility is needed. In accord, then, with this
mechanical necessity, we find the shape of the organ changing in
cross-section. First, the buttress beneath disappears, then it
becomes rather triangular in shape, but with a strengthening
ridge running for a ways farther along the dorsal side. This
gives vertical rigidity but allows complete lateral freedom of
movement. About one-third of the way back from the tip of the
frond, in most individuals, this dorsal ridge disappears and the
tip is left free to bend and swing in every direction. Hence the
graceful curve seen at the tip of the leaf, and hence the individual
difference noticable between one palm and another as regards the
curving or erect attitude of the fronds. One can see in the ac-
companying sketches (figures 3 and 4) of cross-sections of a
midrib how the structure is gradually suited to every changing
need of each inch of length, and also how the bundles of conducting
and strengthening fibers run thru the interior.

The clasping bases of the leaves have been mentioned as an
item in securing support for the leaf without compromising the
safety of the tree as a whole by too strong cohesion. Additional
support is afforded to the fronds by a very strong fibrous sheath
which envelopes them and binds them together and to the trunk.
It is an outgrowth of the vascular bundles from the margins of the
midribs and consists of two sets of interwoven fibers crossing each
other at almost right angles. So artificial does this webbing
appear that it is difficult to believe that it was not woven with
warp and woof on a crude loom. Outgrowing from the two
margins of the basal part of the midrib it forms a sheath com-
pletely enclosing the younger fronds. Thus, several of these,
one outside another, together form quite a strong, vaselike structure
thru which the upshooting fronds protrude (See cover) . As the
weight of the overarching fronds increases with size and expansion,
these fibers gradually give way from the top downward, thus
freeing the frond and allowing it to droop more and more. By
the time it is mature and ripe, as the time of its usefulness to the
tree draws to a close, the frond is allowed to hang low and out of the
way of the younger and out-standing fronds. Thus it is retained
as long as it has any usefulness whatever, but it is out of the way.

barker THE COCO PALM 49

In a mature palm, whose crown is clear of the ground, the shape of
the head is, then, spherical. It presents surface to the light in all
directions, and the breezes play thru it with a soft sound like the
rustling of rain, but come a stronger wind, and the leaves curl
upon themselves and fold together and turn away from the
wind, and practically, only knifelike surfaces are exposed to the
incidence of the onrushing current. Thus the slender stem is
able to bear the great crown securely and the grace of the marvel-
ous miracle is preserved.

A tree is known by its fruits, is the old adage, and the coco
palm is no exception to this saying. Indeed, the coconut is the
only part known in many regions of the world remote from where
it grows. The nuts, stripped of their enveloping husks, are
shipped by the millions from the tropics, and the dried nut-
meat, known as "copra" is exported by hundreds and thousands
of tons. It is largely used as a basis for making soap, tho we
probably know it better in shredded form as it enriches our cakes
and candies.

The palm's precious life-carrying organ, the seed, is well pro-
tected by a thick husk of coarse fibers (which serve man for
many purposes). This husk protects the seed from many kinds
of animals as well as from fungous and bacterial diseases. It
also serves as a buoy which has doubtless carried the nut in
many a long ocean voyage, resulting in its dispersal completely
around the earth in the equatorial belt, and it has reached the
most remote islands of the tropic seas. It is evidently impervious
to sea-water. The shell, itself, is comparatively thin, but very
strong, owing both to its shape and its texture. It is provided
with three germinating pores or holes, thru any one of which the
germinating embryo may sprout. The embryo itself, is large and
well formed, ready to make a quick, strong growth, and nature
has provided it with an abundant store of nourishment to endow
this start, in the form of a large endosperm. We can all attest
nature's generosity in this regard, for it is from this part that we
obtain the meat of the coconut to supply our wants.

At first this store of food is in the form of a whitish water and in
this form it is greatly esteemed as a beverage. Indeed, the
coconut was used as an emblem of the Prohibition Party in Porto
Rico at the time of the campaign to abolish the liquor traffic.

50 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Later, the fluid becomes milky, then solidifies into the endosperm
we have described.

I know that every person has his own preferences and favorites
amongst the trees, basing his sentiments on real or fancied merits.
I have my own amongst the trees of the temperate zone and
doubtless from lifelong associations they will always be dearest
to me, but search the world over and I doubt if a plant can be
found with the majestic proportions of a tree that combines in
itself so many qualities of beauty and usefulness and structural
perfection as the coco palm. All hail, thou king of plants!

The Appeal of the Bird to the Child.

Laura B. Durand.
Deputy game warden of Ontario.

Several years ago the present writer determined to organize
the childien of this Dominion into local clubs for the study of
bird-life and the protection of beneficial and interesting species.
To this end she founded the Canadian Society for the Protection
of Birds in November 1913. It was suggested that the Society adopt
a native species of bird as crest, and the White Throated Sparrow
was chosen. The five pure notes of this bird sounding like "Dear,
dear, Can-a-da" — suggested to an assisting ornithologist the words
as Motto: "I sing of Thee, Canada." This phrase was Latin-
ized to read "Te Canada Cano."

We issued an attractive blue membership card, distributed
free of charge to all school children, inscribed with a pledge which
reads :

"In becoming a member of the Canadian Society for the Pro-
tection of Birds I pledge myself to protect all useful wild birds
from their enemies by every means within my power; to pro-
mote the study of their life, and to influence others to do the

same."

Members sign this card and retain it. We issued a charming
pin adorned with the head of the White Throat in the posture
of singing.

durand THE APPEAL OF THE BIRD 51

Through several denominational junior publications the Society
and its objects were brought to the attention of children all
over Canada. The response from them was remarkable. No
inducement was offered to become a member but the card and
pin, a leaflet on building bird boxes, and a copy of Buckland's
report on "The Value of Birds to Man."

At the close of the war the Society proceeded to provide for
children's bird clubs. Regulations were drafted for officers
and raising funds. This campaign has been confined to Ontario
on account of lack of means and of workers to extend it.

Realizing the value to children of the co-operation of older
persons, the constitution of our Junior Bird Lovers' Clubs calls
for a Counsellor, and suggests the teacher in this capacity, and
for Patrons, and suggests public minded citizens of the neigh-
borhood.

In order to stimulate the interest of schools and teachers the
present writer arranged to visit the schools accompanied by a
full equipment for delivering illustrated addresses. This en-
deavor was begun little more than a year ago. While many Junior
clubs are formed as the result of these visits and addresses, others
are formed on the furnishing of supplies, the members eagerly
awaiting the promised visit and address. There is scarcely a
centre of any consequence in Ontario which lacks several junior
members of this Society. Enthusiam on the part of the children
follows the visits of the Secretary on every occasion, and organ-
ization, wherever they find leadership. The most marked results
ensue in rural schools where the attendance is frequently not
above a score of children.

In one of these diminutive and quaint resorts of local learning
and culture — readily indentified from a distance by their little
bell towers and isolation, — I saw last June a lovely instance
of the appeal of birds to children. This Peter Pan school is
situated on the ninth concession of the township of Beverley in
the county of Wentworth. It has a fairly deep porch, where the
children lunch on rainy days, and a wooden cornice runs under
its shelter, across the front of the building, and above the entrance.
Supported by this cornice was a long row of the nests of barn
swallows, filled with nestlings, to which the parent birds brought
food uninterruptedly. The nests were not of the customary

52 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

gourd shape, but open, as a Phoebe's. All were crowded, the
soft-eyed younglings looking down at us with unconcern. I was
greatly astonished and touched, and expressed my feelings.
The principal, a young woman in the early twenties, took the
domestication of the swallows as a matter of course. "Why,
the swallows have been here for years," she said. "They were
here, just the same when I was a child and attended this school.
They know they are safe here, and return every spring. The
children like to have them."

In the course of my address to the pupils at that school, I
related the legend of the cliff swallows by which the origin of
these birds is accounted for by the Eskimo of Labrador. They
tell that the swallows were once their own children who played
at making mud houses on the sandy cliffs, and one windy morning
were blown into the air and changed into birds. They have
never forgotten their play, and still make mud houses.

Many charming instances of the confidence of the robins in
man's protection have been related to me in my work. On the
fire escape of the large Public School in Dundas one of these
birds built her nest and brooded while the children played around
her. The young were ready to leave when all were destroyed by
a cat. This ancient town, I may add, is famed for its colony
of purple martins which for seventy years have built in a cornice
of a store on the main street, which is musical from their rich
notes and beautiful by their gleaming plumage.

(Then followed details of junior club formation at many points
in Ontario, of more local interest.)

vSome years ago Prof. Bigelow threw a bomb into the midst
of the enthusiasts in nature-study with an article in the Nature-
Study Review frankly skeptical as to the native interest of chil-
dren in natural objects. He seems to have been supported in
his theory by several experts. He had perceived no innate
sympathetic interest, later to develop into the naturalist's
outlook, in the average small boy, he wrote.

My experience, both as editor of "The Circle of Young Canada,"
a department I created in the Globe, and as Secretary of this
Society, has been the reverse.

It is in the period of childhood, before education has closed
the door of spontaneity, they I look for the native sympathy with
bird life from children.

durand THE APPEAL OF THE BIRD 53

If we can reach them — under twelve at most — they are won
for the birds forever. Later, sophistication has begun its indu-
rating work. The adolescent boy and girl are absorbed in other
matters. I meet with the indifference or tepid interest of high
school pupils constantly. It is significant that our recruits
are largely from the primary grades.

(The speaker then gave details of her method of presenting
her matter to children, adapting it to their ages.)

All classes are captivated by the romance of bird life and ex-
hibition of the emotions. One picture of a combat between an
enraged mother Great Blue Heron and a Fisher (Mustek Canaden-
sis) enthralls them. The suggestion of movement on the screen
arrests attention. Action certainly is more effective than im-
mobilitv. Incidents of the domestic life and relations of birds
also captivate all grades. The big school boys who operate my
lantern in the addresses to the successive classes, often confess
that they enjoy most the pictures shown to the little children
and the accompanying stories.

Thus the analogies of bird life with their own experiences
impress the children deeply. The recognition of the joys and sor-
rows of the bird, and of its memory of its home and human friends,
endears these beings to humankind. It is the evidence of their
possession of so many qualities in common with our own that
makes up a large part of the appeal of birds to children.

Then, the melody and merriment of our song birds make these
most attractive for study to children. This explains the popular-
ity of the Robin, of the Baltimore Oriole, of the House Wren
and of the jolly Flicker.

Novelty also has an appeal in such species as the Common
Loon, the Marsh Hawk, the Screech Owl and the Fish Hawk.
Bright colors in the plumage entrance the children. Contrasted
size, as between the Albatross and the Humming-bird, the Crow
and the Brown* Creeper, impresses them greatly. I sometimes
pass around the skin of the last-named tiny bird, one I picked
up under a telegraph wire and had preserved.

The sea-birds do not appeal to the inland child, and I never
now show the auk, puffin, penguin and like species to children.
They notice only their grotesqueness.

54 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Flight makes a powerful appeal. , When I ask, "What has a
bird that we have not?" fifty hands are raised with the reply,
"wings." I show as many birds in characteristic flight as time'
permits, presenting this feature as a means of identification to
the older boys and girls.

"I wish I could fly" — is one of the most commonly expressed
desires of children. They follow with eyes of longing the spring
of the birds into the air, its soar and sail among the clouds. The
mystery of its disappearance and reappearance corresponds with
the fresh and thronging impressions of the objective world upon
the wondering mind. It is the credulity which accepts magic
lamps, and carpets, and fairies in flowers. Only by magic,
surely, could so tiny a thing as a gold finch emit so loud a song !

Perhaps the most impressive of all my pictures and tales are
those of the friendship of man and birds, of furnishing nesting
material, of summer bathing devices and winter feeding.

Now, while examination admits that imitation of and sug-
gestion from older persons probably plays a part in arousing in -
terest in birds among children, beyond doutt the memory-images,
rooted in the subconscious mind of childhood, and more vividly
than in later life, constitute the real source. Psychologists
hold that the subconscious elements form nine-tenths of our
whole mind, and that our conscious mind is continually digging
up out of that exhaustless mine strange survivals and reminiscences.
There, too, we cache the recoils of our individual childish inter-
ests, griefs, worries and fears, to which the new psychology,
and the new therapeutics, trace, as co "secret springs," so many
adult diseases and detriments, physical, mental and moral.

What ravages time makes upon our faces! How painfully
one is struck by the results of the narrowing and hardening of
sophistication upon the faces of childhood— companions on
meeting them in later life. How few are sweetened and mellowed
by living. Yet, I think this evil may be lessened, if not aveited,
by maintaining a sympathy with nature.

It was probably such an experience that led Godwin to write :
"The earth is the great Bridewell of the universe, where spirits
descended from Heaven are committed to drudgery and hard
labor."

durand THE APPEAL OF THE BIRD 55

However, it must be kept in mind, that men are responsible

for the social institutions and conventions which control that

hardening and narrowing process of their souls, and may change

them if they choose.

* * * * ♦ #

The association of children with birds is one of the most
charming features of the literature of all peoples, and there is
none in which something memoiable of this nature does not
occur. I might quote from the Talmud to Barrie, who has
immortalized Kensington Gardens and its birds in his delightful
tale of David's metamorphosis.

The fanciful attribution of birth, met with in the traditions
and myths of primitive people, is frequently associated with birds.
Modern poets maintain the lovelv fiction. Lytton writes to
"little Ella:"

"I know not . . . what the flowers

Said to you then

And why the black bird in our laurel bowers

Spoke to you only

It was not strange these creatures loved you so,

And told you all. 'Twas not so long ago

You were yourself a bird, or else a flower."
Simile, indeed, would fail us cculd we not report the likeness
between children, birds, and spring. This association is remark-
able in folk-lore, and I need not remind you that in that storehouse
is to be found the transmitted experience of our race.

The secrect of the appeal of the bird to the child lies in the
utter artlessness of both, in their spontaneity, in their unspoiled
joy in living, in their liberty to range the world untrammelled,
the bird on its wings, the child on imagination and on dreams,
and in the ideal of home of both, sheltered by the mother.

That deepest and clearest of thinkers, Emerson, observes this
association in his lines in May Day:

"Beloved of children, bards and spring,

O birds, your perfect virtues bring."

Sense Training

Roland C. Ross
(Dept. of Nature-Study, Los Angeles City Schools.)

Music and art develop the ear- and eye but there are five senses,
five roads from without to within. Feeling, smelling, tasting,
each contribute to successful and pleasurable living.

The following sense games are offered to primary teachers,
as aids in all 'round sense training and as lessons which are fun.
Their use will suggest quite sensible methods in studying the
regular subjects of the year's course in nature-study. Then,
when studying the goat or cow, the feel of the hair or the smell
will be recognized to be just as characteristic as the horns or the
voice.

Feeling

These are "blind man" games. In a box place one or two
kinds of vegetables, or fruits, or later a series of "useful objects."
Tell the class the subject as; fruits. One by one they feel in the
box and whisper to the teacher what they are. Either have eyes
shut or use a large paper cap blindfold. No cloth. Keeping
score by sides keeps things moving.

Pass kinds of cloth as silk, velvet, burlap; and paoers, as
waxed, tissue, etc. Again pass chem with eyes shut.

Feel difference between apple and plum; between beans,
peas, fig and pear, orange and peach, etc.

Compare the "feel" of ivy with geranium; or hoarhound with
cheeseweed.

Touch lightly both cheeks at once with ice on one side and
metal on other. Which is warmer?

Always get the feel of new things, as trees, weeds, animals —
"eyes shut!"

Smelling

Another way a blind man "sees." With eyes shut pass (by
monitors) an object which is to be smelled. Use onions, orange,
peanuts, lemon; camphor and eucalyptus leaves; apple, etc.;
and walnut shucks. Constantly test your hand lest it carry an

56

Ross SENSE TRAINING 57

odor foreign to the object being passed. Crush the leaves and
open the fruit.

Bottles of extract, simple perfumes, camphor, rose-water,
turpentine, coffee, kerosene and peppermint. Use singly at
first. Later test with a series of two or three. This is quite
confusing to some.

Learn every flower by smell without seeing or feeling. Primary
children get the following wild plants easily by smell. Sage,
sagebrush, Jimpson weed (poison), turpentine-weed (Romero
or Blue curls), chokeweed (tarweed), anise, etc.

Can you tell a teamster, a dairyman, garbage wagon or a wet
dog without seeing the object ?

Wild animals save their lives by scenting unseen danger. Many
woodsmen read with the nose. Read David Grayson's books.
Test odors at the Circus, Zoo, etc., for families, as cat, ape, cattle,
and other groups.

Tasting

What proves the pudding is good? Taste saves animals from
some poisonous plants. With eyes shut and hands down, drop
in the child's mouth a wee slice of fruit. Use familiar ones first.
Try salt, sugar, extracts, spices and oils as peppermint.

Hearing

1st game: To locate direction of sound. Tap or speak in one
corner, then another, etc. Have monitors in the corners or sides
of room who will make the sound at your signal.

2d: Recognize source of sound as, of glass, wood, canvas,
book, rain, brrss, pottery, paper.

3d: Blindfold one, another speaks a word, or sentence, or
sings a bit of song. Blindman recognizes the one speaking.
Play "Echo game." Recognize the one who is echo.

4th: Repeat, but the speaker may speak in an unnatural tone.
The timbre or quality will not be much changed and the object
is to recognize quality and not the pitch or loudness.

5th: Note different qualities of animal voices as pigeons vs.
linnet; cows vs. goats. Imitate such differences and begin to
dramatize with freedom in these early years.

6th: Call attention even for a moment to nature voices; wind,
a tree, a bird, a bee. Even a fly contributes his buzz.

58 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Seeing

1. Place five objects on a table — one look, then tell the order
of arrangement. Later six, or seven. At first only three.

2. Ten objects. Tell what you saw.

3. Draw objects on board leaving out some fundamental part
as the nose of a face, or handle to cup, or shadow of an object
when rest of the picture shows shadows. Child to complete the
figure.

4. Seeing is the final test of a newly learned flower, seed or animal.
Exhibit as review things studied and expect prompt response with
the names.

Alone in the Woods

Hattie Wilson Stones
Webster Groves, Mo.

Field trips when nature students go out together are wonderful
sources of education and enjoyment. Yet there are some who
can get close to the heart of nature only when alone. When
several go out for a field trip there is a freedom and comradeship
in the exchange of ideas and notes and a satisfaction in present
observations when verified by more than one witness. Yet one
can get real close to the heart, and understand the language of
nature better when alone.

Why alone? Because one can hear the voice of nature only
when not talking of things. One can see nature as it is given to
no other mind to comprehend, when not diverted by the thoughts
of another. One can approach more closely and understand
better the intentions of wild life when in the harmony of undis-
turbed surroundings. For these reasons, and many others, it is
well to make frequent excursions to some quiet ravine or dense
woodland or a shaded spot near a creek or pond and resting the
body and mind become as nearly inactive as possible. Perhaps
it would be well to not even think but just quietly wait letting
the mind roam at will. The attention may be called to the
gentle motion among the trees, a passing cloud, the soft air filled
with fragance, or any of the unnumbered influences that are ever

stones ALONE IN THE WOODS 59

present when one is in tune with them. It is then the universal
language can be understood and the trees will speak to you as
they speak to each other; as they speak to the beasts, and the
beasts among themselves. It is then we learn not only facts about
nature, but we may forget all trouble and even the passing of
time, and enjoy as do the wild things. The hills, the fresh air,
and all wild life are our best, our wisest friends. How sweet the
ministry of the woods. The trees are fresh and full of life. They
sway and rustle and their swaying and their rustling soothe and
comfort like the voice of a mother comforts her child.

A sickly, tired, selfish, and discouraged woman took her son,
twelve years old, as her only companion, and went to the woods
where they spent fifteen days and nights alone. Her boy amused
himself boating and swimming while she spent the days and often
a part of the night learning to understand the great law of love
where spite and cruelty are unknown. She forgot to worry, when
she looked into a brown thrush's nest and six old birds came to
protect the four baby thrushes. There she learned community
service.

Her discouragement vanished when she watched the happiness
of the birds building their nests, feeding their young, and all
singing songs of rejoicing over work well done. She learned to re-
lax her tired body and enjoy complete rest, in the quiet isolation
from civilized excitement, and the perfect harmony of all her
surroundings which were constantly unfolding and could never
become monotonous. When she understood the superficial, she
looked for the more hidden treasures of understanding in the ways
of wild life. It was as though she entered a new world. Where
before she only saw, she now understood why. Why the leaves
drop from the trees. Why one bird builds its nest in the top
of a tree and another on the ground. Why all wild things were
afraid of her and how to avoid causing them to fear. After two
weeks in the woods, she came forth rested, and with a new and
broader view of life. A real lover of nature. Not only wild
nature but with a deeper sympathy and understanding of human
nature. For after all, tlrere is but one great law of nature which
is the law of love. And God is love. There is nothing so restful
as love. Who has not heard the loving call of nature that is so
hard to resist? The more we know the great outdoors, the
stronger the call. The stronger the call the more satisfactory
the rest alone in the woods.

NORTH

Hold the map above your head, the top at the north and you facing the south,
and hunt out each constellation in the sky that is figured on the map. There
will be many more stars in the sky than are shown on the map, but the figures
given will prevent confusion.

Explanation

Ar. Arcturus in Bootes

Al. Aldebaran in Hyades

B. Betelgeuse in Orion

B. D. Big Dipper

B. H. Bernice's Hair

Bo. Bootes

Cap. Capella

Ce. Cepheus

Co. Corona, Northern Crown

Dr. Dragon

He. Hercules

Hy. Hyades

L. Leo, the Lion

of Star Map

L. D. Little Dipper

Lx. Lynx

N. S. North Star

O. Orion

Per. Perseus

PI. Pleiades

Pr. Procyon, the Little Dog Star

Q. C. Queen Cassiopeia's Chair

Rg. Regulus, in the Sickle

S. Sirius, the Big Dog Star

Sc. Sickle, a part of Leo

Sp. Spica

T. Twins

The map is for the last of March and early April, when magnificent Orion
hangs low in the western sky in the early evening, and with him the Pleiades,
Aldebaran, and the two Dog Stars; the Twins shine serenely above them,
with brilliant Capella to the north of them. The Big Dipper is almost above
our heads; if we imagine the Dipper handle prolonged twice its length, keep-
ing its curve it will end in bright Arcturus ; and if we prolong it as far again
it will end in Spica low in the south-east. The Sickle is high in the heavens
and shows well its great star in the handle which is Regulus. The Sickle is
part of Leo. The Queen's Chair is low in the North.

60

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE IN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including mem-
bership in the American Nature Study Society $1.50 per year (nine issues). Canadian post-
age 10 cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cents extra.

Editorial

Toronto.

The meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science in Toronto during the Holidays was a most interesting
occasion. There was a large attendance, for most of us find
pleasure in visiting another country even though so near to us
as Canada, which is surely "another country" although we are
first cousins to the Canadians in interests, enterprise,
ways of thought and of living. Toronto has a more solid and
dignified architecture than any of our cities of comparable size.
The buildings of Toronto University are especially beautiful
and give one the feeling of permanency which in itself is restful.
Its dormitories and great chapel-like student mess halls are
reminiscent of Oxford and Cambridge; Hart House, a magnif-
icent gift from the Masseys, is a far more extensive and magnificent
building than the Student Unions of any of our universities can
boast; its splendid dining hall, its charming theater, music room., li-
brary, assembly rooms, and innumerable rooms for various athletic
activities and especially its vast marble swimming pool make
it an ideal toward which other universities will strive.

The Toronto people proved perfect as hosts; the most gra-
cious attentions were showered upon the visiting scientists
and we all came away with our hearts very warm toward our Can-
adian friends and colleagues and the visit to Toronto will remain
among our most delightful and cherished memories.

6i

The Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American
Nature-Study Society-
Held in Toronto, Canada, Thursday, December 29, 1921

The meeting was called to order by President Drushel shortly
after ten o'clock and since the morning session was in charge of
the Canadians; Professor MacReady was called to the chair and
presided in a most cordial and pleasing manner until the end of
this session. He told us that he at present has charge of the
Juinor Red Cross work and that in health instruction he found
the nature-study methods more effectual than any other.

The first paper was by Professor Tuke of Haileybury, Ont.
and was a scholarly and masterful plea for more careful observation
of "Sky Phenomena." Next was an address by Miss Laura B.
Durand, Deputy Game Warden of Ontario on "The Appeal of
Bird-life to Children." Miss Durand explained that her work
was entirely educational and that she had been made Deputy
Game Warden to give her the right to put up posters and notices
etc. She is certain tly an interesting and enthusiastic worker
and is doing much for nature-study in Ontario. The last address
of the morning was by Dr. J. D. Detwiler now Assistant
Professor of Biology in Ontario Western University and formerly
Instructor in Nature-study of the Farm at Cornell. Dr. Detwiler 's
broad experience in this work added great weight to his plea for
Nature-study as means of aesthetic education of the farm child.

The afternoon session began with moving pictures of animals
and insects that were most remarkable. We shall always regard
with great respect the mud wasp after having seen how skillfully
she builds her nest. This exhibit was given by Professor F. R.
Moulton of Chicago University. It is now possible for teach-
ers of biology to secure these reels which cover a wide range of
plant and animal life, to show to their classes if they have the
outfit for presenting them. The cost is very reasonable and
the pictures are as instructive as they are wonderful. Following
the pictures Dr. E. L. Palmer discussed very interestingly
"A system for caring for some of Children's Nature-study

62

THE TORONTO MEETING 63

Interests." Then Dr. Margaret E. Noonan told us lucidly
of the advantages of "The Project Organization in the Primary
Grades." The last address of the afternoon was that of Pro-
fessor Vinal who told us with his characteristic earnestness and
animation of the great opportunity of nature teaching in the
summer camps.

Edith Patch of Orono, "Me. whose books on insects and birds
are of so gieat use to us was there as were Mr. and Mrs Satter-
thwait of Webster Groves, Mo., Dr. Dandeno of Ontario Dept.
of Education and others equally important and helpful. The
great disappointment of the day was occasioned by the absence
of Professor Dearness who was just recovering from a severe
illness. We also deeply regretted that Dr. Downing was not
with us to give us his paper and his encouragement : he was kept
at home by illness in his family.

After the report of the Secretary-Editor the following officers
were elected :

President: William Gould Vinal, Providence, Rhode Island.
Vice-Presidents: J. A. Drushel {Missouri), M. R. Vancleve
(Ohio), E. L. Palmer (New York), J. D. Detwiler (Ontario),
Susan Sipe Alburtis (District Columbia).

Directors for two years: Mrs. W. A. Rowlee (Illinois),
W. T. Heilman (Ohio), E. E. Balcomb (California), H. S. Brode
(Washington), G. H. Trafton (Minnesota), A. F. Satter-
thwait (Missouri), Theodosia Hadley (Michigan), J. M.
Shaver ( Tennessee) .

Secretary-Treasurer-Editor: Anna Botsford Comstock, Ithaca,
Neiv York.

How and Why Stories, John Casper Branner, President Emeritus
of Stanford University, 104 pp., illustrated, Henry Holt & Co.

If you wish to forget all your troubles and worries and spend
a^ perfectly happy hour, read this little volume. Dr. Branner
explains bow he came to know these stories: "I was born in
the South 'befo'de wah, and as my parents were slave holders, I
grew up among the negroes. To me they seemed vastly more
interesting and human than white folks. During my early
childhood negro women were my nurses and keepers all day
long and it required a lot of parental authority and something
else I decline to name, to keep me away from their cabins at night."
"I am often asked if they are African folk-lore stories brought
to this country by the slaves: They are too clearly under the
influence of biblical history to have had such an origin."

The stories deal with the creation of the world and especially
the characteristics of the common animals and birds: Why the
Snake has no Feet; Why the Owl Stays up Nights; Why the
Catfish has no Scales; Why the Pig Grunts; Why the the Craw-
fish goes Backwards; Why the Snail is so Slow; Why the Polecat
Smells so; Why the Crane is so Long; Why the Wild Geese Fly
that Way; How the Turtle came by a Shell; How the Tadpole
Lost his Tail; Some of the stories are cosmic as: How the Stars
Were Made. Whatever the subject of the story, it always has a
very human application; it begins with an admonition and ends
with a cogent moral. For instance the story, Why the Birds are of
different colors begins "Whateva you rub up against in dis worl'
some of it's gwine to stick to you, honey. An' what's mo' when folks
looks at you deymos' giner'ly knows whai you bin, and who you's bin
a'sociatin' wid." Then follows a graphic account of the flood
and Noah and the ark and tells how the Lord piled up the clouds
and painted a rainbow upon it. "Well, sub, when the Good Lawd
got de rainbow all done finished he waved his han'todes de big
rainbow, an' he hollered to ole Mr. Noah,"Dah's my promise."

64

THE BOOK SHELF 65

Wid dem words he retch over, he did, an' lif off de whole roof
o' de ark, an 'de birds dat had been a roostin' in de attic rose
all togedder in one big cloud, an' flew todes de big rainbow up
in de sky. An dey was all so glad, dat dey crowded up onto de
rainbow an' flew right spang through it, while it was all covered
wid de colors o' dat fresh paint. An' all de birds dat flew agin'
de blue color come out blue birds, an' dem dat flew agin' de red
color come out red birds, an' dem dat flew agin' de yaller color
come out yaller birds. But some of 'em feel so happy dey sort o'
wallered aroun' in de rainbow an' dey come out all striped
and speckled wid de different kinds of colors. An' de hummin'
birds dey flew so fast, an' darted into sich little holes dat dey
got all de colors o' de whole rainbow on dey feathers. An' de birds dat
flew off on de other side o' de ark an' missed de rainbow or was
scrouged out by de rest of 'em, dey all stayed white jis like dey was
befo'dey came out'n de ark. An' all de birds in de whole worl' from dat
time on bin colored des like de ones dat flew into de Good Lawd's
rainbow. An' dat's what make me tell you, honey, dat you
better be careful what kind o' paint you rub aginst in dis worl'
cause it's gwine to stick to you an' it's a gwine to stick to your
chillen too."

The illustrations are clever and felicitous; and while the stories
are interesting in themselves, Dr. Branner's sense of humor
and his literary skill form a beautiful transparent, amber embedding
them which will preserve them for all time.

Nature-Study Agriculture, William T. Skilling, Supervisor of
Nature-Study and Agriculture, State Normal School, San Diego,
California, 332 pp. illustrated, World Book Co.

The teacher of Elementary Agriculture who neglects the nature-
study phase of the subject will never be truly successful. Professor
Skilling has realized this and every lesson in this valuable volume
is based upon nature-study. While it is, in a way, a self teaching
book, yet the aids to the teacher are many and potent. Along
the margins of the pages are summaries which will suggest questions
and discussions of the topics. At the end of every chapter are
directions for experiments and observations that have direct
bearing on the lesson. While it was written by a California
teacher, it is a book usable in any place for its lessons are fun-

66 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

damental rather than regional. There are many illustrations
that vivify the text. The following lessons are included:

I The Nature of Plants; II The Food of Plants; III The
Soil and Soil Water; IV Soil Fertility and its Preservation;
V Cultivation and Drainage; VI The Propagation and Care of
Plants; VII The Improvement of Crop Plants; VIII Farm
Management and Farm Crops; IX Vegetable Gardening; X
Oranamental Gardening; XI Dry Farming and Irrigation;
XII Supplying Soil Needs; XIII Insect Enemies and Allies;
XIV The Farmer's Feathered Helpers; XV The Smallest
of Living Things; XVI The Herd and the Dairy; XVII Farm
Animals and the Principles of Feeding; XVIII Poultry Keeping.
The book is a direct help in methods as well as in classroom and
laboratory. We predict that it will be used widely.

The Bird Poems of Miles A. Davis with introduction by Gilbert
Pearson, 37pp., printed by The Roycrofters at East Aurora,
N.Y., published by John White Johnston, Rochester, N.Y.

A tiny volume this but every page of it pays loving, poetic
tribute to our bird friends. The robin, bluebird, oriole, oven-bird
hummingbird, bob-o-link, wood thrush, mockingbird, chickadee,
petrel, wild geese, snow birds are all given poems that show the
author knows his birds by heart as well as by mind. Many
are the felicitous stanzas that will make this booklet cherished
by bird lovers.

Take this of the bluebird:

He brings the sunshine in his song;

Whatever tender memoiies float

In rapture from his tuneful throat,

His wings have touched both hemispheres

Of sun and snow, of smiles and tears.

And this of the oriole:

The sunset and the dawn appear
Upon his smoothly rounded breast,

And this of the bob-o-link:

A stalk of grass to poise his wing;
The only creature that can sing
A full orchestral symphony

THE BOOK SHELF 67

With roistering rounded harmony,
Vibrating every chord and note
That gushes from his throbbing throat.

Perhaps the best poem in the volume is that on Birds' Beatitude.
I think we have all wondered what heaven would be like if there
were no birds there, and in the paradise the poet pictures, the
beloved birds dwell.

Nature-Study for Boys and Girls, John Bradford Craig, Fifth
Ave. High School, Pittsbuigh, Penn. Five volumes, illustrated.
Mclndoo Pub.

Four of these volum.es aie readers for the third, fourth, fifth
and sixth grades and have about 150 pages each. The other
volume contains 224 pages and is a Teacher's Manual, giving
assistance for each of the lessons in the other books. While
these little volumes are essentially readers, they are planned to
stimulate the children to observe for themselves and to interest
them in the common animals and plants of their environment.
Each lesson begins with a list of words that may be used for a spelling
lesson if the teacher so desires and each lesson is foil owed by a list of
questions concerning the facts brought out in the texts. To make
these readers of greatest use the subject matter of each
lesson should be under the direct observation of the pupils. It
will take an out-of-doors loving teacher to get the best results
in using these books, for they are not meant for mere readers and
should not be allowed to degenerate into such. For such a teacher
they will be most helpful, for they cover a wide range of subjects and
the style and plan of each book are adapted for the grade for
which it was written. The illustrations are many and attractive.

.*

Nature Notebook Series

Edited by ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK, Assistant Professor
of Nature-Study, Cornell University.

Comprises the following Notebooks:

BIRD NOTES NO. j I A. B. COMSTOCK

BIRD NOTES NO. J 2

With outline drawing of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes on watereolor

paper

TREE NOTES - - - A. B. COMSTOCK

PLANT NOTES A. B. COMSTOCK

INSECT NOTES --------- J. G. NEEDHAM

With outline drawings of 60 insects on watereolor paper

FISH NOTES - - -------- G. C. EMBODY

With outline drawings of 50 common fishes on watereolor paper

COMMON ANIMAL NOTES ----- A. B. COMSTOCK
With outline drawings of 30 common animals by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Pocket size, ranging from 123 to 150 pages, 4^x7 inches. Price
35c each. Set of seven. $2.25. Special prices in quantity. Sold
assorted as desired.

These Notebooks have proven to be most useful and practical aids
to successful work in the subjects covered. They combine both field
work and school work (or home work) under one cover.

Only after exhaustive tests covering many terms of work were they
offered to the public.

They are so planned that they are adaptable to any part of the
country for field work and where outline drawings are included the
subjects cover a wide range of localities.

The Nature Notebooks are an inspiration to the teacher and to the
student. They are in use the year around by Nature-Study clubs, by
classes in rural, city, private, and normal schools, and colleges.

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA NEW YORK

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings or Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

x x

RECOMMEND ATIO N FOR MEMBERSHIP

IN THE

DUES

Annual membership
in U. S. , £r.5o;annual
membership abroad
#1.75; Canada, £1.60.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature
Study Society.

AMERICAN NATURE STUDY SOCIETY

President. J. A. DRUSHEL St. Louis
Secretary. ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
Nat ureStudy Review

PLEASE DETATCH AND FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECREARY.

IQ2

To the American Nature Study Society
Ithaca, N. Y.

I nominate

Business or Profession

Address

for membership in the Society

Name and Address of Nominating member
(It is suggested that you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and cf the

benefits of membership)

Reading the bulletin board for the day's directions, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

TABLE OF CONTENTS

School Gardens in 1922. Ellen E. Shaw 69

The Child and the Forest. Herbert A. Smith - 75

A School Fair. A. G. Pennell - 78

School Fairs. L. A. DeWolf .... . - 82

Garden Work in Congested Cities. Joseph S. Taylor - - 83

The Pleasure of Outdoor- Teaching. L. V. Wilkinson - - 88

Wee Wild Rose (Poem) Millie Ruth Turner 89

Egg-Shell Gardens in Second Grade. Reba Thompson 90

Winter Sleep. Augusta M. Swan - 91

A Capital Idea from the Washington Schools ... . 93

Items from the Schoolroom ...... . 97

Exhibit of Bird Houses - - - 100

Mr. Robin. John Lecky, The Spring. Jack Emerixs (Poems) 192

Nature Study in the Sierra Summer School. Winifred Perry - 103

A Wild Flower Show. Margaret Grace Nelson - - - 106

A Robin Orphanage. Mary Wecka - - - - 111

SUSAN SIPE ALBURTIS, Editor of School Number

Anna B. Comstock, Editor
associate editors
Susan Sipe Alburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel -
Prof. John Dearness - - - .

Miss Cora Smith
Prof. W. G. Vinal

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis, Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Frovidence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Ithaca, N. Y.
under the Act of March 3, 1879

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 March, 1922 No. 3

School Garden Work in 1922

Ellen Eddy Shaw
Curator of Elementary Instruction, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

If all the garden teachers and supervisors of the United States
of America could and would this year unite on a purely educational
campaign, the future of garden work would be assured in our
country. Our garden work has suffered, as everything else has
suffered, not only from its own sins of omission and commission,
but from the effects of the war. The garden interest was high and
the greatest mistake ever made in its movement up to the present
time was this: that we failed to consider our children's garden
work during the war as an educational matter, but put it on
a utility basis forgetting that if we had used our soundest educa-
tional principles and worked from that end the results would
have been not only as good as those obtained the other way, but
overwhelmingly better. Then too, if children's gardening is
a subject which can be taught just as well by an untrained per-
son whose great grandfather once happened to pass by a farm in
early youth, and thus handed the feeling for a farm down through
generations, if such people were as well able or were even considered
competent to teach children gardening, then indeed the subject
of gardening had better be dropped from our curriculum. Garden-
ing is but one phase of nature-study. Educators have endeavored
to take it apart from nature-study and set it aside as a thing by
itself. No subject can live when isolated. Gardening is only
a valuable phase of nature-study when used to supplement and be-
come a part of other subjects in our school curriculum. The great-
est educational point to bear upon as an argument for the value
of the school garden is this : in a school garden a child experiences
real things under real conditons. I do not look upon the school
garden as a nature laboratory, purely and simply. I look upon
it as a place of reality where one is not performing experiments
to solve a problem as he would do in a laboratory, but where one

69

70 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

is handling real things under real conditions. Therefore, the
mental life of the child is stimulated, his mind opens to the ques-
tions which nature asks him and interest is never forced. Here ob-
servation is natural. We all remember the old type of normal
school lesson plan in which one of the steps was observation — a
step often forced so that it became a side issue. In the garden
with the increasing interest developed from the growth of real and
living things, observation must naturally be stimulated. You can
scarcely walk through a garden and not stop here and there to
observe some interesting phenomenon of life.

During the season of 1921, we took from our children's garden
area of about three-quarters of an acre, at the Brooklyn Botanic
Garden $3,220.97 worth of crop. We did not start out to make
that sum. We started out to do the best gardening that could
possibly be done under our given conditions. We gained our
results through the most careful work and observation of such
rules as those we should follow through life, as, neatness, preci-
sion, dependence upon self, and obedience to simple directions.
The other factors which made it possible to obtain these results
were those brought about by actually studying our problems
so that not an inch of ground was idle; so that one crop followed
another crop, and the crops which were used were studied carefully
so that they succeeded the right crops and made not too heavy
demands upon the soil. Very small matters indeed contribute
to the real success of work.

Our training for the 1921 garden started weeks before the
garden was open. It started in our Saturday morning classes
where the beginners were taught exactly what crops were to be
planted first and why. Then lessons were given on depth of
planting, on spacing and on the plan of the garden. This plan
is made on the floor and is exactly the size of the plot the child is to
have. The class sits around in the form, of a circle as the children
in the kindergarten do, and the different places for the drills are
measured off; the seeds are placed upon the floor. By this
arrangement, the child receives a feeling of exact size, photographs
on his brain a plan of that garden and becomes proficient in measur-
ing off his distances. He also knows the order and proper sequence
of planting his crops so that that lesson does not have to be taught
him in the field. He knows every seed by sight and feeling

A garden pest, — -what does it look like? How can it be controlled?

Our tool house. Note the cubby hole; for small tools an1 measuring lines.

A place for everything and everythin j in its place

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

72 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

just as we learn to know any other object. I believe it is most
important that the garden material be as familiar to the child as
the materials he uses in basketry, cookery, woodwork, or
any other subject in the school curriculum. When I was connected
with the Rochester City Normal School, this early spring work
used to form a basis for arithmetic, drawing, spelling, and language,
just as it should. I would have all during the spring, bottles of
seeds in the classrooms, experiments performed in germination,
so that the children might know about the number of days it would
take before the different seeds come popping up in the garden
under ordinary conditions. In order that children may expe-
rience a feeling of the right depth in planting, I use a flat and
the classes plant a model garden. The flat is about one-tenth of
the size of the outdoor garden bed so that the boys and girls who
are ready for problems in arithmetic, work this out quite carefully.
The others merely take their directions and the little model garden
is planted in exactly the same way in which the outdoor garden will
be planted. We can get in this way the exact depth and spacing
in ratio to the size of the bed. The older boys and girls make
their own plans drawn to scale. Another piece of work which was
done in the upper grades in Rochester was that of the older boys
and girls in making large plans, one for each classroom and putting
in the area which was to go to a given class in red pencil, so that
Grade Four saw not only the plan of the whole school garden, but its
own area set off in color. Unless the garden is to be a vital real
thing in the school work no time should be given to it. That is
why it is so important and essential to have the right teachers.
We would not choose a woman to teach singing because she
happened to have just a liking for singing, but no training. We
would not choose a man for manual training because his grandfather
had happened to be a carpenter. When all superintendents of
schools and all principals of schools in our country insist whenever
they have a nature-study teacher on having a trained one, not
only trained in the subject, but trained in general education,
then there will be no question concerning the place of nature-
study in our schools.

We are sometimes criticized here at our Garden for being too
fussy, too particular about little things. I wonder if that could
possibly be true ! Does not all the difference in good work and poor

shaw SCHOOL GARDEN WORK 73

work lie almost entirety in thought for the small things? As
our children enter the garden house for a session each child registers
his attendance for himself. A large calendar hangs directly over
the registration sheets, yet it sometimes takes almost an entire
summer before a given child will cease asking the keeper of the
house whether it be a teacher or an older boy or girl, the date,
I might add here that he is never told the date. This is a little
thing, and yet all through life we meet these people who are
constantly depending on others for the simplest things. After
registering the child goes straight to the bulletin board to read the
directions for the day. He does not stop first and choose his tools,
but chooses them according to what the day's work is to be, set
forth on the bulletin board. This is a small point but it is training
in taking a direction and putting it into effect.

We have made it our business to see that the beginners in the
garden cover certain lessons which are fundamental in gardening,
such as learning how to plant different kinds of crops, spacing,
thinning, transplanting, cultivating, a caring for paths and beds,
cleaning cf tools, winding up of measuring cords neatly and efficient-
ly. These beginners lessons once learned are a basis for advanced
nature work. It is just as stupid to keep teaching children
the same garden lessons as it would be to teach the same lessons
on fractions for four years. The only point of learning a lesson is
either for mental training or to give information to put to wrork
or both. Our tool house we keep as immaculate as a parlor and
at the beginning of the season and sometimesallthroughtheseason,
tools are inspected before they are hung up. Each person must
clean and hang up his own tools. We rarely ever have a tool
put anywhere but in its own place. This comes from training
and from standards.

The older boys and girls plant their gardens entirely from their
own plans taking them into the garden with them; then as the sea-
son goes on they check up the errors in judgment they have made.
The plans are discussed with them both before and after they are
made. Most always they see radical mistakes but very often
smaller mistakes are permitted to go through in order that the
boy or girl may benefit from his mistake and not from information
given him by a teacher or obtained from a book, although both
of these sources are permissible checks. The school garden

74 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

always has the problem of juggling distances in planting and in
spacing because of the small areas allotted for the work. That
adds considerable zest to the game.

In garden work which is directly tied up with a school there comes
a great satisfaction because one can put all results to use and handle
them in so many different avenues of usefulness — in connection with
a live art department, a helpful manual training course, the real
thing in the cooking class, — all these aiding factors make the
garden a rich field of opportunity.

Finally, classroom teachers, and upon the really good classroom
teacher must one depend for the full value of nature-study, are
constantly asking how they can put children in the line of natural
inquiry to stimulate the powers of observation. One answer
to this question is "Why not consider the school garden as an
opportunity for discoveries, having sets of live questions on the
bulletin boards or in the classrooms similar to the following:
What birds are helpful in our garden ? Why are some seeds winged ?
Why do some flowers open late in the afternoon ? What does the
blossom of a radish plant look like5 Look at the flowers in the flower
"beds and see how nature has arranged the leaves for the best
slighting of the plant: make sketches to prove your answer.
Hundreds of problems arise in the wake of the garden season.
Some discoveries made are idle ones. Here is an opportunity
to prove to children why some thinking is careless and loose:
here is a chance to tie it up tight.

We must all bear in mind during 1922 that whatever of inspir-
ation, whatever of clear thinking and of real value comes from this
-work is a reflection of those people who stand in the eyes of the
boys and girls as their leaders. No leader can inspire without a
vision, and no vision can become. of eternal and lasting value
-unless it be founded on those things which are eternal.

The Child and the Forest

By Herbert A. Smith
Assistant Forester, U. S. Forest Service

The forest is a part of the natural heritage of childhood.
If the heritage is cut off, life is that much poorer. I am thinking
of a very small boy in southern New England half a century ago,
and of the mysterious woods, challenging, drawing, yet a little
terrifying. New England theology formidably expounded in
the white-walled "meeting house" with its sky -pointing steeple,
provided no place for pagan Pan, but the dim temple of the woods
gave him sanctuary . You could feel him though you knew nothing of
him — a touch of his" panic" fear lurked in the shades, calling for some
stoutness of childish heart to tread the unknown, enticing play-
ground.

But what a playground! You left the dusty, familiar road,
passed through an old orchard and across an open hayfield.and
climbed the high-reared barrier of a stone wall, to look from its
summit into the leafy aisles amongst the big chestnuts, oak,
and hickories of an upland wood. Or you went down the cowpaths
wandering in the sweet fern, bay, and low huckleberry bushes of
the pasture-lot to the dense tangle of tree growth through which
crept a stream. There rank skunk cabbage and high "brakes"
hid the oozy ground. You knew where that stream came out
to the friendly road, to run under an old wooden bridge on whose
stringers the phoebe-bird built. It was rumored — you did not
quite know whether to believe anything so wonderful — there were
brook trout in that stream for those who knew how to fish for them,
as well as the entrancing minnows you might angle for in sunny
pools with bent pin. And when happily weary at the end of a long
summer's day, you watched the sun sink down in the glowing
clouds to the horizon's rim, it was a wooded rim. The edge of
your known world- — and the forests going on and on. What
lay within it, or beyond?

These things and many more I think of when I ask myself
what the forest meant to one country-reared boy who would not
for much fine gold surrender his share in the great heritage.
I am not a school teacher ; and I recognize this is a day in which

75

76 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

the difficult task of the school-teacher is often made harder rather
than easier by well-meant but officious and ignorant outside
advice. What to teach and how to teach it are matters primarily
for professional educators to deal with. Nevertheless, perhaps
the nature-study teachers will permit me, as one deeply interestd
in their task to offer a modest thought or two, for their consider-
ation.
. It is an old saying that sometimes one fails to see the woods
for the trees. To this saying I would at the moment give a
two-fold application. First, tree-study is not forest-study.
Secondly, if in speaking of forest-study we stress too heavily the
second element in the compound word, we may fail to give the
child the best part of his heritage.

Tree-study is not forest-study because the life of the forest is as dif-
ferent a thing from the life of individual trees as the history of a city
is from the sum of the biographies of its individual citizens. The
scientist sees in it a wonderful living example of biological proc-
esses. A silent but deadly struggle among individuals and
species for a place in the sun — for growing-room and light — is
always on, and its outcome depends on fitness to survive; while
on the other hand, along with this lethal combat for individual
survival a definite association of plant and animal life exists,
modifying the environment for each sharer in the complex life
of the forest as a whole. The forester sees presented to him the
same association, but as plastic material, moldable to his own
ends through the utilization of nature's forces and laws to produce
what man wills.

And what does the nature-study teacher see? That depends.
Perhaps plants, great and small, to be labeled with a name;
perhaps life processes ; perhaps flowers and birds and little running
creatures, or nuts and berries and bright-hued autumn leaves,
to gladden and interest an hour's excursion while sharpening the
powers of observation; perhaps raw material to be converted
through various industries into useful products. All these are good
things to see, and helpful to the child to have shown him.
But to my mind, the teacher will do well to remember
also that too earnest a desire to have the child study nature may
lead astray from the path to the child's heritage.

smith THE CHILD AND THE FOREST 77

To get the child to know and love the woods — not trees merely ;
to want to know more about the forest, while all the time he
grows more at home in it, and stores more deeply within himself
the impressions that come from its primal appeal to the child's
imagination and life; these are surely worth-while things to seek.
Can they be attained? For the boys and girls who can be got
into the woods, I do not see why not, provided the teacher knows
how to get them there. But to be sure of getting them there the
teacher must know the woods himself.

Forestry deserves the attention of educators to an extent
beyond that now given it. Of our original forest area a little more
than one-half remains, but much of it in badly depleted condition
through abusive methods of use and the ravages of fire. The
public character of the country's forest problem is too well known
to require urging here. As future citizens our school children
should, I think, understand the close relationship that
exists between our future national welfare and the use made
of the one-fourth or more of our land area which should be per-
manently devoted to forest. Forest production and agricultural-
crop production are our two main land uses. Whether looked at
from the standpoint of civics, of geography, of natural science,
of economics, or of the humanistic ideal in education, the forest
lays important claims to recognition. Nature-study should
lay the foundations for later teaching to build on.

Already the limits set for this little paper have been overrun.
What can the nature-study teacher in the big city do to give the
child some sm.all part of that natural heritage from which an artificial
environment cuts him off? That is a hard question to answer
satisfatorily. in short compass or in long. Yet it is perhaps
worth remembering that the child's imagination will do much
to supplement such material as even in a city can be supplied for
actual study. Story, description, poetry, lantern-slides, motion
pictures, photographs, school and museum, exhibits of various kinds,
can all be made to help in the building of at least a partial equiva-
lent for what the child more fortunately situated in this respect
may with the outward eye behold.

A School Fair

The Results of the Efforts of the School in Teaching
Pupils the Art of Gardening.

A. G. Pennel.
Supervisor of Agriculture, Bloomfield Public Schools, Bloomfield, N. J.

At the outset, I wish to state that I believe the best results from
the teaching of Elementary Agriculture in our grade schools,
are to be obtained from the pupil's home-directed garden, rather
from that of the school garden, and that the school garden should
merely be used as the laboratory in conjunction with the work
in the classroom. In the congested districts of the large cities
should be the one exception. It is with the products of the pupil's
home gardens, that this article has to deal.

That spirit of competition to excel one's fellows and which has
really been the force behind all human progress is well taken
advantage of in an exhibit of products from a home garden.
When these are exhibited in our Public Schools by pupils of these
schools, who have been instructed in the art of gardening, it
may very properly be called "A School Fair."

What are the advantages it has to offer? The spirit of competition
encourages the growing of vegetables and flowers in home gardens,
and to promote the improvement of the appearance of home
grounds and to better the conditions of the community at large.
It provides a meeting place, where pupils from, the different
schools may assemble and discuss the results of their labor and
also to view many varieties of both vegetables and flowers, which
they may never have had the opportunity to see, for the number
they are able to grow in their own garden is necessarily limited.

Whole-hearted cooperation between parents and the school is
always necessary, if the school is to perform its best service and a
school fair may be one means of accomplishing it.

It provides the child with pleasant, useful and healthful work
during the summer months, for he now has an aim — a blue ribbon
perhaps — but nevertheless an aim. He knows to obtain that prize
means work. To shirk means failure; he alone is responsible.

A fair means extra work for the garden teacher, but I am frank
to call this an advantage for it stimulates us to extra effort,

78

pennel A SCHOOL FAIR 79

provides the opportunity of getting our work before the public,
that they may see the real value of Elementary Agriculture as
a subject to be taught in all our schools, and we as teachers,if we
are to keep it in its rightful place, i.e. in the curriculum of our
grade schools, have simply got to put forth an extra effort in the
handlingofthesubjectandtobeever alert to take advantage of the
many opportunities offered us to show the public the result of
our teaching and personally I believe the School Fair is the answer.
In planning for a fair begin as early as possible, appoint
the committees necessary and see to it that the principal of the
school in which the fair is to be held is a member of the committee
for you will need his cooperation. Call a meeting and decide im-
mediately upon the date of the exhibit, which should be preferably in
September and be sure and inquire the average date of the first frost
in your locality in deciding on the date.

Prizes should next be considered, and these should be of such
nature as to carry with them the spirit of the garden movement,
such as garden tools, books on gardening, agricultural journals etc.
and avoid cash prizes as much as possible. Funds are not wholly
necessary to the success of a fair, as I have always found manufac-
turers, publishers, etc. very willing to donate prizes for this work.
The date having been decided upon and the prizes collected,
you are now ready for the premium list, a copy of which should
be in each classroom before the summer vacation, so that the pupils
may know how to plan for the various classes. This classification
should be as simple as possible and be so arranged as to not
exclude any child. The aim should be to have every child exhibit
something that he has grown even though it be but a bunch of
parsley. A large number of small exhibits, rather than a few
large exhibits shows the interest has been aroused and without
that the fair will surely fail.

Herewith is a classification that worked out well in Bloomfield.

Best Display of Garden Vegetables. 1st, 2d, and 3d prize.

Single Varieties. One prize will be given for each variety of
garden vegetable shown. Where the number of competitors
warrants, a second and third prize will be given.

Specifications as to the number of the root crops in a bunch,
quanitity of each vegetable shown etc. or to enlarge the premium list
to include flowers, poultry etc. will have to be worked out for

80 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

each locality by the teacher. The above plan merely is given as a
hint to have it as simple as possible, for remember we are only
working with children, not professional gardeners.

However a scheme of this kind allows a fairly equal chance for
all for even a child having but a small plot and not being able to raise
a large variety of vegetables to enter in the display class, could at
least grow two or three varieties such as beets, carrots, etc. and
thereby enter in the single variety class.

Plans for the transportation of the exhibits should be worked
out in advance and always with the idea of avoiding all unnecessary
handling thus insuring the products arriving in a fresh condition.
Autumn leaves, corn stalks, etc., need be che only decorations
for the real object is to show what has been accomplished by the
pupils, the decorations merely acting as the frame of the picture.

Have the products judged by an expert from your Agricultural
College and thus avoid any dissatisfaction that perhaps might arise
with a local judge. Have the fair advertised well in the local press,
invitations may be printed and this work can well be done by
the printing department of your High school, while the Manual
Training department can add its share in the construction of
the tables for the exhibits.

The teaching of Elementary Agriculture in our grade schools
is surely one means of keeping the schools in constant touch
with a number of the pupils, thus guiding their vacation, but
never intruding so far as to interfere with their pleasure while the
fair offers a place in which their work can be judged. The bulk
of the garden work, coming as it does when schools are closed,
does not in any way conflict with the child's book studies,
nevertheless the child is learning a valuable lesson for he is taught
to know and respect the soil which feeds him, something of the
plant life, the value of money for he has shared in earning it,
and finally he begins to realize that he is a producer and that
he has contributed in a small way to his support. The past war
seemed to arouse us for the time being as to its possibilities and
gardening was then rapidly introduced into our schools. Are we
teachers of gardening going to keep it there? I sometimes wonder.
If so, we will have to give the best we have at all times and use
every means available and in parting may I again urge that of the
School Fair as one of the best means at hand.

School Fairs

L. A. De Wolfe
Truo, Nova Scotia

School Fairs will not be of value educationally until they represent
every phase of Home and School work for the whole year. To
secure this, there must be close co-operation between the parent
and the teacher. Preparations must also begin at the beginning of
the year.

One reform, is vitally needed before School Fairs can be suc-
cessful. That is, we must make the school year coincide with the
calendar year. In such case, we should then have the same teacher
at seed time and harvest. As it is now, with the school year
beginning in August, the newly appointed teacher cannot organize
a good Fair for September. In most cases, she knows nothing of
preparations on the part of the previous teacher; and, therefore,
concludes that "next year we'll have an exhibition." Of course
"next year" sheisgone, and a new teacher repeats the performance.

With the present arrangement of the school year, the only
alternative is to hold the exhibition in June. We have advocated
this for four or five years; and in a few sections it has been carried
out. Thus the exhibition becomes the public examination. At
this time the year's school work can be exhibited; but the garden
work is lacking. Some teachers have advocated two exhibitions —
ore in June and one in September. This will work so long as new
activities keep up enthusiasm. There is danger, however, of both
teacher and pupils tiring of such work.

Whichever solution is adopted the exhibitions must become more
educative. A few vegetables and flowers hastily gathered together ; a
little sewing snatched from the work-basket; a few rough boards
nailed together and called "woodwork;" business forms and
crayola drawings copied from, the teacher's model on the blackboard ;
these, however well they may look at an exhibition, mean nothing
more than hard work for the teacher and a few cents in prize
money for the children.

Until the regular school notebooks, health charts, and daily
records of the year's work are displayed at the end of the year, the
exhibition will not be complete. Nor are these, in addition to the

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82 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

ordinary farm and household products, sufficient. Vegetable
exhibits should be accompanied by statements explaining their
growth and selection. The pupil should also display literature
which he studied or consulted for garden information. Charts and
maps showing correlatien between gard ening and regular school
work are well worth while. Judges, or others competent to do so,
might give short talks to the children on selecting prize materials.

Results of experiments are particularly desirable. These
may include exhibits showing the results of different fertilizers,
seed selection, land drainage; milk records on different food rations ;
etc. Here would come, too, new varieties of potatoes, dahlias, or
gladioli grown from seeds. Comparatively few children know
how new varieties of our vegetables, flowers, and fruits are obtained.
They will frequently tell us that such is the result of grafting
which, of course, is not true.

The best kept garden plot in each school section should receive
local recognition. School parades, pageants, games, contests and
sports should be heartily encouraged. Public-speaking Contests,
or Judging Competitions, are particularly desirable; or a debate
on some farm topic.

Local Exhibitions are valuable because all residents can attend.
District Exhibitions are desirable, however, because they help
standardize the local fairs. Teachers should accompany their
children to the district exhibition, and take charge of them through-
out the day. It is a school exercise — not a holiday.

If School Exhibitions should follow the educative suggestions
here outlined, the larger exhibitions conducted by the grown-ups of
the future will be much moi e worth while than they now are. At such
time the Fakir's Row will not be the center of attraction.

These are not merely theoretical suggestions. Everthing
here advocated as a desirable pait of an exhibition has been tried
out. About 400 schools in Nova Scotia each year exhibit the prod-
ucts of their industry. No one exhibition has had every feature
as outlined; but the collective exhibits of the province have in-
cluded everything suggested in this paper. In isolated cases de-
sirable features have been carried out in addition to those named ;
but as these had only local significance, they have not been listed.

In the hands of a good teacher, the exhibition has greater educa-
tive possibilities than any other school function. In fact it is
absolutely necessary if we are to take advantage of the child's
natural desire to "do something."

GardenjWork in Congested Cities

By Joseph S. Taylor,
District Superintendent, New York City

Let it be understood at the outset that I speak not as one
"having already attained, either were already perfect." I am
somewhat in the position of the clergyman who was reproved
by one of his parishioners for some irregularity of conduct.' 'Well
brother," replied the pastor, "I believe in division of labor: I preach
and you practice."

The district in New York over which I preside, so far as oppor-
tunities for garden work are concerned, is a desert extending
from Forty-second Street to the Battery. It includes Wall
Street, the richest thoroughfare in the world, and a population
consisting largely of poor foreigners coming from all lands and
living in wretched tenements. Some of my twenty-six school
buildings are modern, but about a dozen of them are of the vintage
of 1850 or thereabout, and are hemmed in by tall tenements,
factories, or warehouses. We have two or three excellent school
gardens, and almost every one of my one thousand teachers
has some green thing growing in the classroom window. But we
are far from doing all that could be done even in a desert.

"I have a suspicion," says John Burroughs, "that nature-study
as now followed in schools — or shall I say in colleges? — this class-
room peeping and prying into the mechanism of life, dissecting,
probing, tabulating, void of free observation, and shut away
from the open air — would have cured me of my love of nature.
For love is the main thing, and to train the eye and ear and acquaint
one with the spirit of the great out-of-doors, rather than a lot of
facts about nature is, or should be, the object of nature-study."

I agree with John Burroughs that love of nature is one of the
prime benefits of nature-study. If that is not the outcome of
the study I should call it a failure. The city-bred boy seems to
distrust living creatures on general principles and to regard all
alike as his natural enemies and lawful prey. His first query is,
"What will he do to you?" His first impulse is to kill. It is the
survival of an instinct that once was useful. Our remote ancestors
were surrounded by dangerous animals which had to be killed

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84 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

for food and for protection. The joy of studying the ways of living
things, of appreciating nature as it is, of loving life because
God made it and because it is kin to ours, seems to be rare among
boys. Froebel was right when he insisted that children should be
taught to cultivate flowers, but not to pluck them ; to nourish and
preserve life, but not to take it.

The first thing we have to do is to root out this killing mania
among children. It seems to be due to a mixture of fear, cruelty,
and thoughtlessness. Whatever it be, love of nature is the antidote.
I have seen a boy carrying snakes in his pocket and making pets
of toads and frogs. That is the way I should have all children
feel toward nature. I canvassed a class recently to find out
how many boys killed things last summer. Every boy had killed
something. Some had caught fish, some had shot birds, or
squirrels, most of them had killed flies, mosquitoes, or cockroaches.
I have seen boys tearing the legs from living frogs with no more
sense of cruelty than if thay had crushed a piece of inanimate
rock. I believe it is the duty of teachers to destroy this lust for
blood. My visit to the slaughter-houses of Kansas City and
Chicago alm.ost turned me into a vegetarian; for I shudder yet,
after an interval of twenty years, when I recall the horrible scenes I
witnessed there. I would teach my boy to be kind to animals;
to admire flowers and shrubs in the city parks but not to pluck
and destroy them.

Gardening has an important apperceptive value. The city
child lives in a very artificial environment. All literature is
full of figures of speech based on nature, and the school readers
still assume experience with the barnyard and the farm.* Many
of the adult city dwellers of this generation were reared in the
country, and it is difficult for them to realize how inadequate is the
back-ground of city-bred children for the interpretation of the
books they read and the instruction they receive. This is what
G. Stanley Hall means when he says that two weeks in the country
will often give a child m.ore real education than a term at school.
Numerous studies have been made of children's comprehension of
language, and all agree in the conclusion that the country

* Professor Daniel Staich has analyzed the material of ten school readers now in use in each
of the eight grades. For the first three grades the average proportion of space devoted by
these readers to animals is 20%, to plants 5.7%, to geography and travel 1.7%. This is a
total of 27% of space devoted to subjects based upon experiences of country life. See The
Twentieth Yearbook, Pt. II, National Society for the Study of Education.

taylor GARDEN WORK IN CONGESTED CITIES 85

child has a better knowledge of the content of words than the
city child has. Thus in the Berlin test, repeated by Dr. Hall
and Mr. Olsen, of Sweden, it was found that among
children just entering school only 50% knew what a frog is,
35% knew a squirrel, 23% knew what dew is, 20% knew a lake
and a plow, 11% knew a river. Of the city children only 18%
had seen a sunrise, while of the country children 42% had seen one.
Earl Barnes made a similar study in London, and discovered
that the children of educated and well-to-do parents, who usually
live in suburbs with gardens and rural surroundings, have a knowl-
edge of words from two to fifteen times as gieat as that of children
from the homes of laborers, artisans, and small shop keepers.

Gardening has also artistic value. I suspect that a child who
has cultivated real flowers could hardly be content to fill a vase
with artificial flowers. God made the country and man made
the town. I should like childi en to feel about growing things as Little
Nell did in Dicken's novel. "Her couch was dressed with here and
there some winter berries and green leaves, gathered in a spot she
had been used to favor." "When I die put near me something
that has loved the light and had the blue sky above it always."
These were her last words. Blessed is the child who can be
happy with only the flowers or the sea or the field or the forest for
companionship.

There is, thirdly, a social or practical value of nature-study.

During the Great War we had a vivid reminder of the importance
of knowing how to grow plants. The development of home
gardens became an economic necessity. The school can therefore
minister directly and effectively to the public welfare by teaching
children to grow vegetables in the back yard. Millions of acres
of productive land are lying idle near our large cities, while the
citizens import food at extravagant prices from distant places.

Finally gardening has a scientific value. Nature is a great
teacher when she really comes in contact with the pupil. In legal
procedure only first-hand knowledge is admitted as testimony.
The kind of knowledge that the public school has been giving to
children about nature would be ruled out as incompetent testi-
mony in any court of law; for it is second-hand information obtained
by listening to a teacher who in turn got it out of a book. "Science
is finding out and learning how." The important outcome of real

86 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

science teaching is rot knowledge stored in the memory, but the
habit of going to original sources for information, the ability to distin-
guish between essential and trivial fact, and willingness to follow the
truth whithersoever it may lead. Many years ago an Austrian monk,
working in his gaiden, discovered some interesting behavior in the
plants he was breeding. He recorded his facts and conclusions in
an obscure journal, and no one paid any attention to his record until
years afterward. Now we speak glibly of Mendel's Law, and the work
of this humble monk in his garden is the basis of most of the
study of heredity by the men of science to-day.

In conclusion I shall quote a little poem by Annette Wynne on
"Gold Hunting" to illustrate the feeling for nature which I would
like to create in the hearts of city children.

The miser hurries through the town;
His head is bent, he wears a frown;
He hurries by through lane and street;

He would make more gold to-day,

Yet there is gold along the way
Growing at his very feet!

Dandelions round and gold —

All the dollars I can- hold

Here are spread for me;

I shall pluck them — one, two, three!

Now I'm rich, what shall I buy?

Give me, Sir, a piece of sky

With the sunset shining thiough,

Gold 01 crimson, silvei-blue;

Give me. Sir, a bird th?t sings,

Pulsing throat and busy wings,

And the other summer things.

I shall buy a road that goes

To a land where no one knows,
And a long, long summer day,
Full of sunshine, birds, and play.

Miser, miser, here's God's gold,
Gather some before you're old !

The Pleasure of Outdoor-Teaching

Lucille V. Wilkinson,
Washington D. C.

The statement is frequently made that out-door lessons are more
difficult to give successfully than those of the regular classroom,
which probably accounts for the lack of them on the regular school
program.. To enjoy them, first the teacher must set aside pre-
conceived ideas of classroom, discipline. To most classes the ' ' unusu-
alness" of being "let out" during school hours is a signal for
a riot of joyousness that is somestimes difficult to get under control.
Is' this not a sad commentary on "school as she is taught?" A
change to the out-of-doors should not be so unusual as to cause
the air to "go to the head of the down-town child's head"as it were.
"The child is father of the man." I stood on the outskirts of a
tree lesson given at one of our higher institutions of learning last
summer, and found the students, mostly teacheis, conducting
themselves in very m.uch the same manner as eight grade pupils
on its first expedition out-doors. That children do acquire the
spirit of the lesson was clearly demonstrated last spring when
our local Audubon Society co-operated with the nature-study
corps in bird trips. Over a hundred boys and girls quietly crept
along the streams and through urderbrusb to see the migrants.
From the leaders came only enthusiastic reports of the youthful
observers and from the children "When are we going again?"
A fifth grade girl after a trip to the Zoo where she had been many
times before without guidance, remarked "This is the nicest
lesson I have ever had. I never had any one explain the animals
to me before."

The distractions of the out-doors are naturally disconcerting
to the teacher accustomed to the outward appearance of undivided
attention that the schoolroom gives. It hurts, to take a class
to the Zoo, for instance, for the study of the ruminants or the
rodents, and find the interest of the children on the snakes in the
cage across the room.. The teacher's adaptability now comes into
play. She strengthens herself by apparently following her class
but accomplishing her own ends at the same time.

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88 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

There are charactei revelations in out-door lessons. "You never
know your children until you have been outdoors together."
The quiet boy of the classroom may be most unmanageable while
the inattentive and uninterested in arithmetic or grammar some-
times turns out to be most dependable in observation on abirdhunt.
Why hasn't the outdoor boy a place in the scheme of the present
day school ? The schools should take a lesson from the success of
the Scout and Campfire movements that have done such fine
pioneer work in out-door teaching.

"Wee Wild Rose"

Millie Ruth Turner

Butler, Penna.

Wee wild rose by the old gate gray,
I hear you calling me today,
I see your leaves gleam green and cool
Far from, the heat of a city school.
Your pale pink petals are open wide,
The clover blooms on every side,
A bee flies by on lingering wing;
He loves you too, my wee wild thing.

Wee wild rose by the old gate gray,

I hear the breeze with your leaflets play

As I watch the children whose earnest eyes

Study the map where Egypt lies,

They cannot tell why it is I smile,

As we follow the flow of the River Nile;

Nor do they know that you haunt me so

As we search for the cities of long ago.

Wee wild rose by the old gate gray,
I would we might lay the lesson away
For the sake of children who never see
Rose or clover, bird or bee;
Close our books in an idle row,
And over the hills to the clovei go,
Leave the map where the White Nile flows.
And follow the bee to the wee wild rose.

Egg-Shell Gardens in the Second Grade

Reba Thompson

Wilmington, Delaware

During the fall and winter much was said about seed babies and
seed houses. The children gathered and brought to school as
many different kinds as they could find. We talked about how
Mother Nature nourished and cared for her little seed babies in
their little cradles, and how, when it was time for them to find a
new place to grow, she called all her willing helpers together
to help her find a nice warm, place for them, to spend the cold winter
until it would be time for them to grow. We learned that inside
of all of these seeds there slept little baby plants and that just
like all other babies, in order to grow these little babies must
have som.ething to eat and something to keep them. warm. We
wanted to watch some of these little babies grow, so we put the
seeds in a nice warm place until spring.

We decided the best way to watch the seeds would betohavea
garden in our room where we could watch them most of the time.
On account of there being so many of us, we needed to have small
gardens, so we decided to plant our gardens in egg shells.

Nearly every child wanted a garden all of his own, so he brought
his own egg-shell from home — many of them, brought as many as
eight shells. We devoted a part of one afternoon to the planting
and arranging of our gardens. We were going to put the egg-shells
on the sandtable, so we filled the table with sand and moved it
near a sunny window. We first punched a tiny hole in the bottom
of our shells for drainage, and then put in the soil and carefully
planted our seeds. After planting, each child gave his garden a
good drink and placed it on the sandtable.

If children were ever interested in nature-study, they were
certainly m.ore than interested in the gardens. The first they thought
about in the morning when they came into the room was their gar-
dens. They wanted to see what had developed during the night.
They watched them all day and cared for them as they would a
very dear pet.

The gardens furnished numerous and interesting talks. Not
only were they interesting for nature-study, but quite a few

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go NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

interesting language lessons were developed from them. Some
of the children who had several gardens allowed us to uncover
the seeds in some of them to watch the development and from
these we had quite a few excellent drawing and painting lessons.
The little bean and corn plants were especially good for this.
This school is in a foreign district where most of the parents
of the children have gardens in their own back yards, and as soon
as these little plants had grown strong enough to be moved,
the children took them home and planted them in their fathers'
gardens, where they cared for them all summer.

Winter Sleep— A Kindergarten Lesson

Augusta M. Swan.
Washington D. C.

We know that the birds go down to the warm south-land when
fall comes, and each day food is getting harder to find. But when
Jack Frost comes with his cold wind and snow, when trees are bare,
and the sky is gray, where are all the insects, or little bugs which
we saw round us in the summer? We don't see them or hear them
as we take a walk through the woods and fields in January.

Have they gone south with the birds? Oh, no! They are
still with us in some shape or form waiting for the warm days of
spring.

All we have to know is just where to look and then we may be
able to find the babies of some insect mother, who carefully hid
them away when the days began to get cold. Unless we look very
carefully we shall not be able to see these babies because they
are so tiny, so well hidden, and they don't look like their mothers
at all.

There on a dry old goldenrod stem we see a little brown ball.
It is tough though, if we try to pull it open, because inside the ball
are baby spiders, sleeping and waiting for springtime.

Last fall, when we all started to school, the mother spider knew
the cold weather was coming, so she made a warm strong nest,
fastened it by threads of silk to a weed and then put her eggs inside.
When spring comes the little spiders are ready to leave theii nest.

Mother Grasshopper prepared for the cold weather too ; but in-
stead of hanging her eggs up in a ball, she made a deep hole in the
ground, and then laid them there.

SWAN

WINTER SLEEP

9i

Covered over by autumn leaves, and later by snow these eggs are
kept warm till springtime when they hatch and all the baby
grasshoppers are ready to come up.

Under our feet also are the eggs of Mother Cricket, for like
Mrs. Grasshopper, she laid them in the ground last fall, so that
her babies might be safe and warm all winter. Tiny little things
they are; we might never notice them, but in springtime when
they hatch, and the baby crickets come up, we can see that they
belong to the cricket faimily.

"Lady Bird, Lady Bird" flies away in the fall, and hides herself
in some cosy place where she stays all winter, and then starts
off to the bushes and plants to lay eggs.

Down in the soft mud of pools we find turtles, fish and frogs all
waiting for the spring; no matter how the ice may cover the pond
these creatures are not disturbed at all.

So you see some insects like the spiders put their babies in a cradle;
some caterpillars wrap themselves up and hang on a tree so that

"When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock."

Other insect babies are waiting just below the ground, others
behind the bark of trees, and some perhaps in our own homes if
we could but find them.

Garden implements made by pupils
Brooklyn Botanic Garden

A Capital Idea from the Washington Schools

The financial guardian of the schools of the District of Columbia
is the Congress of the United States. It has never been generous
with its ward. The introduction of new ideas is difficult. To
prove the worth of a new project, teachers have frequently raised
money by private means. Proving its worth does not always
mean that an appropriation will follow or that the growth of a
movement will bring a needed increase in appropriation. This
has been the history of school gardening and nature-study in
the Washington schools. The appropriation for them requires
earnest effort every year on the part of those interested. One
would think that the wise heads of the nation would see the large
return to the upkeep of nation's capital through the encouragement
of such teaching in the schools. A definite effort last spring to
show what could be done through the schools brought noticeable
results in the appearance of the city but nothing more for the
advancement of the work nor for putting on a permanent basis
that which had already been accomplished. Our method of
encouraging civic interest may be suggestive to others interested
in that subject and who have little money to push it.

In the early spring, bunches of pussy willow were offered to
Normal students as prizes foi slogans that would carry the idea
to children. The following were selected;

A Capital rnore beautiful,
Your job and mine.

A Capital Idea:

Washington the greatest garden in the world.

Make your Capital grow.
Invest in a Washington garden

Give your neighbor's grass a chance.

Respect your neighbor's grass and flowers.
You will then enjoy your own.

These were printed on placards by a colored high school class
on paper furnished by the community center and hung in prom-
inent places in every school in the city.

92

A CAPITAL IDEA 93

The responsibility for the project "A More Beautiful Washington"
was assigned to the sixth grades throughout the school system. The
nature- study teachers taught them the facts for making a lawn;
keeping it in order; planning and planting both flowers and vege-
table gardens. The children were directed to repeat these lessons
to every class in their respective buildings beginning with the
kindergarten children. The sixth grade teachers realizing the
opportunity for practice in oral English most heartily co-operated
in the preparation of the talks. Naturally the children were enthu-
siastic about taking the part of a teacher, especially to grades
higher than their own. They plead for 100% clean playgrounds,
lawns and streets. They emphasized the privilege that Washing-
ton children have through living at the capital and the return they
could make to the rest of the nation by keeping it clean and
beautiful for them when they visited it. At the close, they wrote
concise reports of what the building had accomplished and sent
them to one of the daily papers which published several hundred.
One of these reports follows:

REPORT OF CLEAN-UP AND GARDENING BY THE KETCHAM SCHOOL.
READ BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE IN ASSEMBLY.

You remember when the sixth grade told you to fix your lawns,
flower and vegetable gardens. We afterwards asked you some
questions to see if you really had tried to do what we had asked you to
do. One of these questions was "How many of you have kept off
of your own lawns?" Some of you haven't any lawns so this means
to you, to keep off your neighbor's lawn and the school lawn.
We also asked "How many had picked up rubbish?" This means
not only in the schoolyard but in your own yard.

The sixth grade children gathered and tabulated these answers
and I will now give you the results.

We find that 57% of us have gardens. 81% of us respect our
neighbor's lawns proving that we are good citizens. I presume
that the same people did not throw paper on the playgrounds as
I find the percentage the same. There are seven-eights of us
that kept off the school lawn. I presume that the other eighth
are the ones that always give the teachers trouble on the outside.
Five-eights of us have cleaned our lawns; probably the rest have
no lawns to clean. Three-fifths of our good citizens have desired

94 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

to have clean surroundings as shown by picking up rubbish.
The other two-fifths have seen nothing to pick up.

Only one-third has planted nasturtiums, our city flower. Are
you going to help make it more popular?

Signed by the chaiiman of the committee,

Robert Fastnaught

' Their success in the grades caused them, to look for greater
opportunities. They asked the privilege of addressing the high
school students at their assemblies. Fifteen hundred high school
boys and girls listened to Katherine Simons, sixth grade, Wallach
School, deliver the following advice, applauded her enthusiastically
and later sent a report of their efforts;

Have you a backyard ? Have you a front lawn? How do they
look? Are you proud of them? Well, you ought to be.
A Capital More Beautiful.
Your job and mine.
It is a great thing to have a vision but it is much greater to make
that vision a reality. That is what we must do. Washington
more beautiful will be a fact when your yard and mine are gardens.
You can be the Aladdin to rub the lamp and transform Washington
into a city of lawns. There is really no magic about it, an iron
tooth rake, a bag of lime, a package of grass seed and a little work.
You will be rewarded by a beautiful lawn.

Take your bag of lime; bend low and scatter until your
yard is covered with a slight snowstorm. Take care that no wind
is blowing, as this will carry it to your neighbors' lawn and while
you want your neighbors' lawn to grow, you sprinkle lime on
your own. Then rake! Perhaps you will think this a hard task
but you will soon find it more fun then work. The lawn is now
ready for seeding. Take a handful at a time and scatter from
one end to the other. Walk back and do it all over again. You
will then be sure your entire lawn is covered. It is now time
for the birds to eat your seed if you give them a chance. There-
fore roll your seed in. There are some people that do not seem to
be able to read the sign, "Keep off the Grass." Our slogan is "Give
your neighbors' grass a chance."

If you are thinking of having flowers, plant them in a border.
This not only makes your yard attractive but helps to show off

A CAPITAL IDEA 95

your grass. Cut your own flowers and let your neighbor cut his.
Come, let's find a way to make Washington beautiful.

The aim throughout was to inculcate respect for others' property
and labor and to furnish pleasure to others by attractive surround-
ings. This is as clear in the accompanying second grade contri-
bution as in the talk to the high school students.
Grass.
Listen to me children, I want a chance to grow.
I will help to make your city beautiful.

Edward G 2A Grade

"keep your parks clean"

In co-operation with the American Forestry Association a
demonstration was given to the public that it is possible for 2,000
children to have their lunches in the open and leave the grounds
sightly for those who follow. Of course this required some training
beforehand but such training is what our nation needs. The
unsightliness of public parks on Monday morning after the use
of them by the general public on Sundays is general throughout.
Pictures were taken of some of the most beautiful spots around
Washington before the park force had removed Sunday papers
and lunch boxes. One photographer counted 107 sheets of
newspapers in Potomac Park. With such a basis we taught what
should be done and did it. After our 2,000 children left Rock
Creek Park, the superintendendent of the park reported that his
force had no evidence of the presence of such a gathering but
the well filled trash cans. One boy wrote to the secretary of
the Forestry Association "If the children of other cities leave their
picnic grounds as spick and span as we left ours, I am sure that
the amount of forest fires in the United States will be greatly re-
duced" which is another angle to be considered, for instruction,
that of leaving camp sites clean.

Washington children are being taught to take their share of
responsibility in the upkeep of the Capital. Can you instruct
your congressman to do his share by them? Give him a capital
idea:

Washington's Schools Should Be Second To None.

Items From The Schoolroom
Garden Notes

A PRIZE WINNER.

During the summer I belonged to a canning club. I had to
have my own garden of a tenth of an acre. I worked it myself
and enjoyed }t very much. I grew string beans, lima beans,
peas, tomatoes, onions, peppers, beets, peanuts and cabbage.
When the things were ready for use I canned them. I received
the first prize at the exhibition in the fall. The prize was a trip
to the University of Maryland at College Park. I had a grand
time with a hundred others.

Katherine Swann.

my garden
(This garden was visited by the associate editor of the Review
and was as fine as Clyde says it was. It covered one-tenth of
an acre in a community garden and without question was the best.)

My garden was on the Anacostia flats. In it I grew some very
fine and delicious vegetables. I grew some very fine radishes,
beets, carrots, cucumbers, Sweet and Irish potatoes, a great lot of
wax beans and string beans. I had forty-five poles of lima beans
that gave enough to eat and can. I had tobacco and peanuts and
very good luck with my two hundred tomato plants. I grew some
very fine egg plants, green peppers, fine com, spring onions and a
nice bed of very fine parsley. I also had kale, nice spinach and
a few turnips. I had a nice garden in 1921 and hope to have a
better in 1922.

Clyde Pezold, Van Buren School

LIME THE SOIL

Spring will soon be here and we shall have to get our gardens
ready. Vegetables will not grow in sour soil. There is a way you
can tell whether your soil is sour or sweet. Buy some blue litmus
paper in a drug store. Put some of your soil in a pan. Put a
piece of litmus in it and leave it for a time. If the litmus paper
is still blue when you take it out your soil is sweet but if the paper

96

GARDEN NOTES 97

turns pink then you have sour soil. You will have to do something
to your soil. Put some lime on it and leave it awhile. You are
supposed to use a thousand pounds to an acre but if your garden
is not quite as big as that you may use one pound to forty square
feet.

Helen Wall, Dent School

THE EARTHWORM GARDENER.

Long before men had learned to till the soil, there was a
gardener hard at work preparing the soil for the future use of men.
This gardener's name was earthworm.. He was busy grinding
the soil and making it fine so that it would hold the water that
plants need in order to live. This gardener also added lime to
make the soil rich. He made channels through which air and water
could get into the soil. Another thing he did was to plant seeds
which lay on top of the soil.

If all these things were added together we would see how much
this little gardener has done for us.

Lester Buckley

a garden helper.
One day I saw a toad sitting under a flower. I was about to
chase him when he stuck his tongue out and caught a caterpillar,
and ate it. After that I got some more toads and put them in
different parts of the garden. In a few days I didn't see a cater-
pillar. After a while I noticed that toads ate flies and gnats,
too. I think toads are very useful in killing insects. If every-
body had toads in the garden there wouldn't be many insects.

Charles Cook, Wheatley School

BIRD STUDY CLASS, 1 92 I

My entrance into the Audubon's Society Bird Study Class was
entirely by accident; the meie X mark on a paper drawn from a
hat.

We had three lessons and two hikes to get a certificate. I
did all of them and found it very interesting. In the lessons we
studied stuffed specimens, and had a grand review at the last.
On the hikes a number of children went off together and rambled
through the many paths in or around the Zoo, often seeing as
many as fifty living specimens. When the classes were finished
I felt I had acquired much information about our feathered friends
and I hope I shall never forget it.

Canfield Marsh, Powell School

Bird Notes

Notes on a Young Robin Recorded by Oswald Scbreiner,
Chevy Chase School, D.C.

Bird was taken from its nest May 10, three days after hatching.
Amount eaten.

May 10 A.M. Three pellets of bread soaked in milk, 4 worms
in piece.

Noon. 16 worms.

P.M. 28 worms, three pellets of bread.

May 11 A.M. 12 worms, 4 pellets of bread.
Noon 16 worms
P.M. 12 worms

May 12 A.M. 8 worms
Noon 8 worms
P.M. 12 worms and two teaspoonfuls of hash

May 13 A.M. 8 worms and 4 monthfuls of hash.
Noon Teaspoonful of hash
P.M. Teaspoonful of hash

May 14 A.M. Teaspoonful of hash
Noon Teaspoonful of hash
P.M. Teaspoonful of hash

May 15 A.M. Teaspoonful of hash

Noon 10 worms

P.M. 14 worms
May 16 A.M. Teaspoonful of hash

Noon 10 worms

P.M. 14 worms.

May 17 A.M. 10 worms
Noon 14 worms
P.M. 15 worms.

May 18 Today he learned to eat worms picked up by him-
self so a further record is impossible. He enjoyed the cicadas
and lived on them, for a week. He learned to fly on the thirteenth;
not much but a little. He took his first bath on the twentieth.
He became more or less wild soon after and left.

98

Feeding boxes, The
one at the left
screened to protect
suet meant for
small birds

The woodpecker
likes a long deep
hole with thick
sides so he ca
chisel; seen at the
left

Bird houses, some made of camouflaged tin cans and some are bark covered.

Courtesy of U. S. Forest Service

Our Exhibit of Bird Houses

The boys in our seventh grade are urged to make bird houses
in the manual training shops, for two reasons : to encourage birds
for their economic value and to prevent boys from robbing nests
for it is hardly possible that a boy would destroy his pets.

Notwithstanding that the children had been given directions
as to the kind of houses birds preferred, the exhibit in January
showed that many children think birds have the same standards of
judging homes that people have. There were houses that no
bird would live in, such as double houses, bungalows, colonial
mansions and cabins. Then there were the houses that received
blue ribbons from, the American Forestry Association because
they followed specifications.

Here are some of the facts that were given them to follow.
Houses should not be so large that birds would be lost in them.
The hole must be high from the floor so that the twigs will not
cover it as the bird builds. There should be some way to clean
the house, movable roof, bottom or sides. Houses should not
be gaily painted but camouflaged with bark or brown paint.
Birds love disguised tin cans. Wrens like their houses 4" by
4" and 6" deep. The hole should be the size of a quarter, five
inches from the floor. The bluebird likes a house that is 5" by
5" by 8" with a hole an inch and a half in diameter. The wood-pecker
is a carpenter by trade so there should be some work left for him to do.
He likes a long deep hole with thick sides so he can chisel some
more.

Each house was a thought for protecting birds and in our exhibit
there were 1,104 such thoughts.

Josephine Bloodgood, Wilson Normal School

A Few Observations On Insects.

One day a boy friend of mine caught a praying mantis while
picking wild flowers. Gordon put his pet into a glass and covered
with a net. Each day we had the job of catching flies for its
meals. After we had several we put them into the crystal cage
and watched it enjoy them. Folding its forefeet as if in prayer

IOO

OBSER VA TIONS ON INSECTS 101

it would peep through one of its popping eyes and suddenly jump
upon one of the unlucky flies. It would tear it to pieces saving
the' wings to the last. One day Gordon let it go as he thought
it would catch more of our enemies if it were loose and I have
no doubt that it would. Frances Duke, Force School

One night I was at a friend's house playing games when we
heard something batting at the screen. When we opened it a
big Cynthia moth flew in. When I left for home it was perched
on the mantel fanning its wings.

The next morning when I called for Claudia there were eggs all
over the apartment, clinging to the door, on the mantle, on the
table, on the floor, the window sills, the victrola, the bookcase and
the desk. Her aunt would not let them, stay for she said she
was not going to have worms crawling all over the house.
I wish that they could have hatched. Jane Lynn

Mr. Robin

John Leckey,
Morgan School, Seventh Grade

Were I a bird it seems to me
Some way that I would rather be

A Robin.
In springtime when all life is gay,
I'd flit and sing the livelong day,
For life is sweet in merry May

To Mr. Robin.

My nest I'd build in an apple tree
Close by a boy I often see,

Were I a Robin.
For all the birds he loves to make
His friends, and gentle care he'll take,
Of m.e and mine for love's sweet sake,

Were I a Robin.

And then, you surely ought to see,
How Mr. Farmer's friend I'd be,
Were I a Robin.

102 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The worms and bugs and things you see,
That spoil his vines and kill his tree,
Oh, Boy! How good they'd taste to me,
Were I a Robin.

The Spring

Springtime is here

The weather is clear

And the birds are singing their songs.

Soon we shall see

The wasp and the bee

Busy the whole day long.

The trees putting forth

Their little green leaves

Are glad for the sunshine and rain.

The crocus that peeps

From its dark winter's sleep

Sings Hurrah! for the Springtime again.

Jack Emerins. B Grade, Wilson Normal

Nature-Study Projects in the Sierra Summer School

Winifred Perry
San Diego, California.

For some time I have felt that a very excellent approach to
much of our school work is thru nature-study. Thus when the
opportunity came to me last year to supervise the Project
School, the training school of the Fresno Teachers' college which
holds its summer sessions at Huntington Lake in the high Sierra,
I gladly accepted.

The children were divided into four groups as follows; first and
second, third and fourth, fifth and sixth, seventh and eighth.
The first group worked out a mountain camp as a project. The
next group had a food project. The fifth and sixth groups en-
joyed their study of water and the oldest group was vitally in-
terested in a forestry project.

The interpretation of the term "project" is still an undecided is-
sue in many minds and many consider this method of presentation
of school subjects a fad. After six week's experience with project
teaching I can safely say that the twelve or more practice teach-

perry NATURE-STUDY PROJECTS 103

ers went away feeling that this is not only a safe and sane method,
but one which brings unusual results as well.

The term project has been used in referring to the building of
a bird house, the planting of a garden, etc. But as it was used in
this little school, and rightly I think, it had a much broader mean-
ing. Everything that was brought to the attention of those chil-
dren during the daily three hour session for the six weeks had to
do with foods, water, or forestry. Some will call it a scheme of
close correlation and such it is. It is obvious that in a training
school where several teachers are handling one group the material
taught must be considered to a certain extent at least, as reading,
writing and arithmetic. But the most advanced form of project
work forgets the various subjects of the standaidized curriculum
and teaches forestry as an end in itself. To be sure in such a
method a goodly amount of arithmetic, language, spelling and
reading will be used, but the concious aim of the teacher is not
to invent a scheme of correlation or notivation but teach foods,
water, forestry or what ever the given project may be.

Space will not allow a description of each project, but a discussion
of the forestry project will illustrate the procedure. There
could not be a more delightful place in which to consider forestry
and its problems than in the forests of the Sierra The little school
itself was in the heart of the woods. Jeffrey pines, sugar pines,
red and white firs were at our very door. In the vicinity were
Junipers, cedars, white pines, silver pines, lodge-pole pines, Cali-
fornia black oaks and the quivering aspens. The interest in
forestry did not' have to be developed. These boys and girls
weie eager to learn in their favorite class-room under the pines
with a rock for a desk or table.

Because there are some who do not yet understand that all of
the traditional subjects of the curriculum, find a place in a project
I have separated the material taught by the three teachers and
grouped it under nature-study, geography, arithmetic, language,
and reading.

Nature-study was obviously touched by all three teachers every
day. The different trees of the region were identified and some
sketching was attempted. Then a tree was studied to learn its
method of growth and functions of its various parts. Simple
experiments in photosynthesis and transpiration and absorption

104 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

by roots were hailed with delight. The production of resin and
turpentine was investigated. Tempeiature and the two types of
thermometers, Fahrenheit and Centigrade, were explained.
Birds were identified and discussed in their relation to the forests,
as weie insects. The flowers of the woods were identified.

Under the caption of language and reading the following
were used: Enos Mills' "The Story of a Thousand Year Pine,"
Harold W. Fairbank's "Conservation Reader," portions of "Evan-
geline" and Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees." There was a fascinat-
ing hour when a forest ranger1, who had spent several years in
the Yosemite, told of his duties and efforts to avert what might
have been serious fires. Then there was much interest in the
writing and production of a little play stressing forest conserva-
tion and the danger of fires. The very excellent teacher in charge
of these activities summed up her work in the following aims:
I. To arouse interest in nature, especially trees. 2. To create
enthusiasm, for the conservation of our national resources.
3. To encourage originality of thought. 4. To train children to
express themselves clearly, both on oral and written work.
In this group a minimum, of written work was demanded. Chil-
dren of this age haven't a great experience out of which they may
write, but whenever there was written work it was required
to be in good form.

In arithmetic the problems were of a practical nature and grew
out of real situations. A visit was made to a sawmill on the moun-
tain side. Here the various piles of lumber were counted and the
board feet calculated. The cost of constructing a cabin of the type
found on the normal grounds was estimated. Then while enthus-
iasm was high the boys of the class commenced to build a log cabin.
Various problems in ratio and proportion were worked out. The
height of the named trees on the grounds was found by their
shadows. The volume of the college water tank was ascertained.
There was not a problem given which did not come within the
interest and experience of those children.

In geography the aim was to teach climatic factors as affecting
the distribution of plants and animals and was confined to Calif-
ornia. The weather received much attention. Rainfall, temper-
ature, winds and clouds were discussed. The mountain ranges
and deserts were located. The various valleys and their products

perry NATURE-STUDY PROJECTS 105

were noted. The resources and industries of the state were not
forgotten .

Thus every hour of every day nature-study was being taught.
Project works permits more attention given to nature-study than
do other methods. But as project work and nature-study grow
the special teacher or nature-study supervisor may be relegated
to a very small place, for every teacher will have to do her own
teaching as it may fit in with the project in hand and not wait
for the too seldom visits of the supervisor.

A Wild Flower Show
Nature-Study Project, Time— 3 weeks.

Margaret Grace Nelson

Montclair State Normal School, Pupil Teacher, Grade 6 A, Watchung

School, Montclair, N. J.
Introduction

Why should we study wild plants?

1. When we know the names of the plants we are more likely
to recognize them.

2. We come to appreciate nature as we understand more
about our wild plants.

Educational Value to the Child

1. Awakens a vital interest in nature and the beauty of the
great outdoors.

2. Child becomes acquainted with from twenty to forty wild
plants.

3. Helps fit the child for real life situations as he proposes
plans, and executes his plans in the Wild Flower Show; then
judges of his accomplishment.

4. Children receive guests, explain the wild flowers, tell about
the entries to both guests and other grades of the school — social
training.

5. Children have a natural situation which requires them to
write a friendly letter and an informal invitation.

6. Utilizes the study of drawing — the making of the posters
by the Advertising Committee.

Teacher's Aims

1. To awaken a real interest in nature study.

2. To have pupils learn the names of a goodly number of the
common wild plants and be able to recognize at least twenty of
those studied.

io6

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

3. To teach ways in which weeds are harmful and ways in
which weeds are of value.

Pupil's Aims

1. To learn the names of the flowers and grasses studied.

2. To give a wild flower show — thereby sharing their work
with other grades of the school, and guests.

3. To destroy harmful weeds about their own homes and gar-
dens.

Subject-Matter

A. Wild Plants to be Studied.

1.

Asters

20.

Pink Knotweed

a. Heath

21.

Artichoke

b. Wood

22.

Black-eyed Susan

c. Purple

23.

Red Clover

d. New York

24.

Thistle

2.

Queen Anne's Lace

a. Common

3.

Yarrow

b. Sow

4.

Self-heal

25.

Dandelion

5.

White Snake root

26.

Field Daisy

6.

Silver-rod

27.

False Solomon's Seal

7.

Golden-rods

28.

Ladies' Tresses

a. Rough

29.

Ironweed

b. Purple-stemmed

30.

Everlasting

c. Fragrant

31.

Wild Cress Plant

8.

Gentian

32.

Mint

a. Closed

33.

Shepherd's Purse

b. Fringed

34.

Plantain

9.

Butter and Eggs

a. Broad-leaved

10.

Purple Gerardia

b. Narrow-leaved

11.

Monkey Flower

35.

Burdock

12.

Jewel Weed

36.

Ragweed

13.

Turtle Head

37.

Bur Marigold

14.

Chicory

38.

Grasses

15.

Evening Primrose

a. Fox-tail

16.

Wild Lettuce

b. Crab

17.

Milkweed

c. Tickle

18.

Bladder Campion

39.

Cocklebur

19.

Boneset

nelson A WILD FLOWER SHOW 107

B. Ways in which Wild Plants are of Value

1. They hold soil in place.

2. They are pretty to look at.

3. They cover up undesirable places.

4. They give back "humus" to the soil as a fertilizer.

C. Ways in which Wild Plants are Harmful

1. They crowd out cultivated plants.

2. They give untidy appearance.

3. They discourage farmers and gardeners.

4. They are poisonous to human beings and animals.

5. They spoil dairy products — (case of wild garlic)

6. They spoil the seeds of the crops.

Detailed Work
Lesson I.

a. Introduction by the teacher who brings to class a few wild
flowers.

b. Get first aim from pupils for studying the wild plants.

c. Teacher gets pupils interested by telling the names of the
wild plants she brings to the class.

Lesson II.

a. Review names of the same plants in Lesson I with the
pupils, adding a few new ones.

b. Encourage the children to bring in others.
Lesson III.

a. Place plants in labeled bottles, adding any new ones brought
in by the class — so that they may study them.

b. Get second pupils' aim — to give a Wild Flower Show.

Lesson IV—V—VI.

a. Test the class on any ten wild plants out of those studied.

b. Discussion and planning of the Wild Flower Show.

Lesson VII

a. Pupils to write letteis to the judges.

b. Further study of wild flowers.

c. Ten more varieties labeled for study.

Lesson VIII

a. Test on ten new wild plants.

b. Drill on mistakes made in the letter writing.

108 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Lesson IX

a. Ten minutes drill on ten more wild plants.
Lesson X.

a. Committee selects the best letter of those written to one
of the friends.

b. Committee also selects the best letter of those written to the
other friend. These letters are re-copied and mailed by the
children themselves. Answers from these friends are received
by these children and read to the class.

Lesson XI

a. Test on third ten wild plants. Pupils aim to get 100%.

b. Ten new plants introduced and studied.
Lesson XII.

a. Invitations to be written to the parents. Test on fourth ten
of wild plants.
Lesson XIII

a. Invitations corrected and rewritten on writing paper.

b. The boy writing the best of these letters writes to the
principal of the school.

c. The girl writing the best of these letters writes to the super-
intendent of schools.

Lesson XIV

a. Summary of the study of wild plants by a dicussion of the
ways in which they are harmful and of value.
Lesson XV

a. Editorial on The Value and Harm of Our Common Weeds.
The best article to be used in the class newspaper.

b. Class judgment of their Wild Flower Show.

The teachers should get these suggestions from the pupils:
(Teacher may aid)

1. There should be a manager and seveial committees to take
charge of the flower show.

2. Only those receiving 100% on three of the four tests will
be eligible to serve on a committee.

3. The manager will be elected from among those receiving
the highest averages on the four tests.

4. There will be three contests, two of which any pupil may enter.

Contests :

I. Bouquet containing the greatest number of wild flowers.

nelson A WILD FLOWER SHOW 109

II. Bouquet which is the most beautiful in color and
arrangement.

III. Rarest flower or flowers found in this vicinity.

5. Prizes.

A first and a second prize will be awarded in each of the
contests.

The first prize will consist of a blue ribbon badge.
The second prize will consist of a red ribbon badge.

6. Every member of the class will donate a penny toward the
prizes.

7. There will be five judges. Three of the judges will be
pupils of the class.

The other two judges will be friends outside of the school.

8. The committees will be as follows:

I. Receiving Committee.
Duties.

To receive parents, judges and classes of the school at the
Wild Flower Show.

This Committee will have three members.

II. Arrangement Committee.
Duties.

To prepare the room for the Flower Show.

To keep a list of those who enter the contests.

To make any rules they think necessary concerning the

entries.

This committee will consist of five members.

III. Advertising Committee.
Duties.

To make posters advertising the Flower Show to the

school.
To assist the arrangement committee if necessary.

This committee will consist of three members.

IV. Committee of Judges.
Duties

To act as Judges in determining the winners in each
contest.

This committee will consist of five members. Three mem-
bers of the class and two outside friends of the school.

no NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

9. A friendly letter will be written to two outside friends by the

class inviting them to act as judges. (Let one half class
write to one of the friends and the other half write to
the other friend).

10. Invitations will be written to the parents.

(Instead of each child writing to his own parent it will
make for greater interest if slips are drawn from a hat
and the child writes to the parent whose name appears
on that slip).

11. Invitations will be written to the principal of the school

and to the superintendent of the schools of the city.

12. Each child will make a catalog in which he will write the

names of the flowers and wild plants studied.

A Robin Orphanage

By Mary Wecka
Student in Harris Teachers' College, St. Louis, Missouri

As soon as the robins occupied the old nest on the sycamore
tree in front of our house I fetched my spyglass and kept it at
hand to watch the private concerns of the robin family, as I do
each year. But I did not dream that this year my observation
would end as it did.

On the eighteenth of April, two eggs were laid; one early in
the morning, and one later in the day. (Last year the first egg
in this same nest was laid on the twenty-third of April.) On the
nineteenth, the third egg was laid, and on the twentieth the fourth
and last. On the afternoon of the same day the female began
to brood. We had a heavy shower that afternoon and to see
that bird sitting patiently on the nest while the rain was
pouring down, made one feel, — I don't know, — but I think if
many could see it, they would perhaps be the better for it. But
that has nothing to do with my story.

As I knew that it ought to take about two weeks for the eggs to
hatch, on May the third at seven o'clock in the morning I took
my spyglass and hied to the attic. Lo and behold! — there were
four robins in the nest. They had been hatched probably during
the night. The most prominent part of each robin, the wide-open
mouth, was well above the level of the nest. The female robin was

Wecka A ROBIN ORPHANAGE in

standing up much excited. Then she flew away. Later I saw the
male robin bringing food to the nest.

I turned the lookout duty over to a member of the family and
went to school. That evening I was informed that the mother robin
had not been near the nest all day. I saw the male make two
trips to thenestbeforeitwastoodarkforobservation. Next morning
as I was leaving for school, I saw the male on a branch near the
nest. He flew away shortly afterwards and as I learned later,
did not return during the day. The hungry robins cried so loud
that they could be heard thru the open window. I made up my
mind to take care of them.

As the nest is about twenty feet from the ground and the tree
has comparatively few branches, I thought climbing would be an
acrobatic feat. In a short time, however, and with not so much
trouble, I was on the ground again with four wee robins in a
case strapped to my back. The old nest was left in the tree m
hopes that if the parents should return, they might stay. I put
the baby robins in an Easter basket lined with flannel. This
basket was kept near a window between the kitchen and the dining-
room.

The problem now was to keep the robins well fed. This was
not very difficult at first. By the time the birds were settled in
their new home, the news had spread to all the small folk in the
neighborhood. I extended an invitation to the little people to come
and see the robins and made them realize that the birds should not
be handled or frightened in any way. Everybody was so immensely
interested that an expedition set out at once to look for worms.
Sixty-five worms were brought in, that da}'; not a worm was
left that night. Discovery of the robin's voraciousness shocked
everybody, and some of the children began to feel great concern
about how we should ever manage to keep the little birds from
starving; for they would open their mouths so wide that pieces
of worm disappeared as into an immense yellow chasm. And the
robins, like all babies, were sure to let you know when they were
hungry. Even- morning promptly at four o'clock, they began
to call for something to eat. One practical member of the family
remarked that the robins would make an excellent alarm clock, if
they did not ring too early.

112 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Just as I was beginning to multiply sixty-five by fourteen, and
to think that even that would not be a sufficient number of worms
for a two weeks' supply, a happy idea came to me. Why
not give the birds the yolk of a haid-boiled egg? I tried this and
it worked well. After the birds swallowed the yolk, I dropped
some water down their throats by means of an old eye-dropper.
The robins seemed to thrive on this so that from this time only
an occasional worm was given them. Also strawberries were
not scorned; and once I fed them on mashed potatoes, but on
the whole, I tried to keep their diet as true to robin nature as I
could.

The robins had plenty of admirers. When the basket was
being cleaned, I let the children hold the birds for a
few moments. I believe it does a person good to hold a robin,
or a frog, or a bunch of flowers, or a garter snake in his hands.
And as the children held the robins, and remarked about their
speckled breasts, they learned that a very very long time ago,
the ancestors of the robins all had speckled bi easts when they were
full grown, but now only the baby robins have speckled breasts,
which disappear when they grow up. The children also discovered
just how many toes a robin has and why it is easy for him to
get worms. Many guesses were made as to what became of the
parents, and the children waxed sympathetic as they conjectured
the fate of the old birds.

As days went by, moie feathers grew on my foster children.
At the end of the twelfth day, I noticed an unusual amount of
stretching in the basket. The robins perhaps were beginning to
feel that the chief aim in life is rot to sit in a basket and be fed.
Just fourteen days after I took them from the nest, I heard the
robins fluttering in the covered basket. I knew that the time had
come to let them go. I was loath to part with them, however,
and kept them in the covered basket until next morning. Then
on the seventeenth day of May, I took the basket out into the
yaid and lifting the cover let the robins go. They flew as though
they had been flying for years.

The children of the neighborhood are still very much interested,
and every time they see a young robin, they think that perhaps
it is one of "our robins."

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings or Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

x x

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Si. 75; Canada, ?i.6o.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
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Study Society.

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PRESIDENT, J. A. DRUSHEL St. LOUIS

Secretary. ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
NatureStudy Review

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IQ2

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X

Studying the rocks with Professor Sinnott
at the Second Nature Lore School.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Summer Camp and Nature-Study. W. G. Vinal

Camp Nature Ideas in the Classroom. M. M. Cornell

Eight or Nine Words about Nature-Study. E. J. Dole

Gypsies. Charlotte V. Gulick -

Canoeing and Nature- Study. Dr. J. B. May

Nature Study at Quanset. Mrs. E. A. W. Hammatt

A Modern Fairy Story. H. E. Childs

Nature-Study in Camp. Fannie A. Stebbins

A Boys Camp that Almost became Famous

Nature at Cowasset. E. V. Douglas

The Mt. Washington Trip. O. J. Church

Never be Discouraged. H. F. G.

The Second Nature Lore School. -

Camp Nature Lore Exhibition. -

Editorial ------

Third Annual School for Nature Councilors

Wildiam Gould Vinal, Editor of Camp Number

113
118
121
124
127
132
137
139
147
150
150
153
154
155
156
157

Anna B. Comstock, Editor
associate editors
Susan Sipe Alburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel -
Prof. John Dearness ...

Miss Cora Smith ...

Prof. W. G. Vinal

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis, Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Providence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Postorfice at Ithaca, N. Y.
under the Act of March 3, 1879

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 April, 1922 No. 4

The Summer Camp and Nature- Study

William Gould Vinal

Rhode Island College of Education

Paper given at the Annual Meeting of the American Nature-
Study Society, Toronto, Canada, Thursday, December, 29, 1921.

In 1920 the National Association of the Directors of Girls
Camps voted to hold a Nature Training School for nature councilors.
This school has been through two successful sessions and is now-
thought of as a permanent institution.

It is a significant thing that the course has been termed NATURE-
LORE rather than NATURE-STUDY. The words study, teacher,
class, lessons, etc. are tabooed in camp. Not that study is less —
it is deeper. The aim.s of camp cannot be discounted because of
this change in vocabulary. It is a challenge for the teacher to
investigate the why of the change.

Nature-lore is possibly the goal but hardly ever the realization
of Nature-study. Both are organized nature-learning. Just as
Nature-study is not Elementary Science, — so too, Nature-lore
is not Nature-study. The point of attack and the results can never
be the same, until the schools have their camps and their oppor-
tunities of forest recreation. Detailed comparisons will be given
to show the present differences in method and what we may expect
as results.

ii3

ii4

NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIEW

NATURE-STUDY

NATURE-LORE

I. Nature-study is mainly aquaria,
cages, flower-pots, and pictures in the
schoolroom.

For example: In perch study the
fish is placed in an aquarium in the
school room. Questions to direct the
observation of the pupil are written
on the board, such as: What is the
shape? Describe the tail fin. What
is che color along the side? How
does this help him? Compare with
the picture of the fish from Japan.
Perch study in New York City or
Toronto is the same. Since it is
a schoolroom lesson all the pupils
are doing the same thing at the same
time. One must either fish or be a
"clam" — there is no other opportuni-
ty. The project method may alle-
viate the situation but how many
teachers are there who can use this
method successfully in nature-study
mja graded room with the hurly-
burly of a modern curriculum. Most
so-called project lessons are old
lessons made over with more attrac-
tive bait.

i. Nature-lore is mainly swim-
ming, fishing, foraging, and photo-
graphing out-of-doors.

For example: In the camp dining
hall announcement is made that we
are going to Gull Pond. Those who
want to go fishing may meet " A . B . " on
the beach to get bait. As this part
of Cape Cod is sandy there are no
earthworms except in a few gardens.
The bait is, therefore, sandfleas.
Right from the beginning perch-lore
differs from perch-study. By 9 a. m.
the whole camp is "en route," a
four mile hike o'er hill and dune.
Unlike the school one may fish or not.
Those who fish acquire real knowledge
of perch. Others may pick blue-
berries for the flapjacks or have a
shampoo in the lake. In any case
one can not be busy around Gull
Pond without learning much of nature
even though that be not the aim of
the expedition. In the group are
enthusiastic leaders, chosen because
they believe in their work, big sisters
but not one "teacher," so-called.

2. Natufe-study is mainly studying
living things or about living things.

For example: A Nature-study les-
son on the red squirrel means a live
animal in the cage, a stuffed specimen
or a picture. Let us choose the best
conditions — a live animal. The pu-
pil stands off to one side and observes.
The questions may bring out a few
isolated facts. Other questions re-
quire reading: Has it cheek pouches?
When are the young born? Describe
the front teeth These answers are
artificially produced. The pupil now
has generalized statements about red
squirrels which are true anywhere.

2. Nature-lore is mainly living
with living things.

For example: Last summer a pair
of red squirrels took possession of the
mail box in the pines. Some of the
Campers became too enthusiastic
in peeking at the "cute" little fellows
and the squirrels had a moving day.
The mother squirrel carried each
wee baby by the nape of the neck to
a safer height — a bird house in the
top of a pitch pine. The campers
looked on in breathless suspense —
a nature-lore lesson without words.
The observers had been partners in
the group. They had had an ex-

VINAL

THE SUMMER CAMP

115

The knowledge is pigeonholed with
other daily collections from History,
Grammar, etc. More interesting than
these? Yes, but pigeonholed nature-
knowledge is not what we want.

perience with a living animal under
a natural setting. Not learned all
about red squirrels? No, for a nature-
lore lesson is never complete, but pos-
sibly a keener enjoyment and one to
be remembered longer.

j. Nature-study is mainly an
outer urge. The teacher says: Next
week we will study the frog. Who
will catch one for me? / will put a
list of questions on the board which
i" want you to answer. You may
have to read some of the library books
on frogs in order to find some of the
answers. Do not remove the wire
screen as the frog may get away.
/ will put this sign "Please give me a
fly!" on the side of the jar so that
you will not forget to feed it. Such a
lesson is full of devices and persua-
sions. It is a teacher-made plan.

3. Nature-lore is mainly an inner
utge. The camper says: Why can
we not catch a frog and watch it
swim? The swimming councilor has
previously told them that the frog
does the breast stroke perfectly How-
ever this was not bait for a lesson on
frogs. They discovered that the
frog executed his strokes so rapidly
that they couldn't see how he did it.
A toad was then suggested. Soon
some one wished to see the circula-
tion in the foot and finally the inner
organs. Only those staid who wanted
to see the dissection. In fact those
who thought that they might squeal
or have hysteria were asked to go
away.

Knowledge sought by the pupil
is more lasting. It is a self-assigned
learning and is carried to a purpose-
ful conclusion by the initiative of
the learner.

4. Nature-study in the traditional
school is individualized.

By a traditional school is meant the
formal, arbitrary school that has been
in vogue since the colonial Dame
School. 90% of our nature-study
lessons are taught on this plan. The
criticism is of the method of nature-
study rather than of nature-study.
The procedure is as follows: To-
morrow, John will bring his cat to
school. For thirty minutes each one
of us will think about the cat. For
one or two minutes each one
will be thinking, — what is the advan-

4. Nature-lore in the summer Camp
and a few schools is socialized.

The summer camp is a small
democracy. Its life is one of spon-
taneity,— free but orderly. If John
is fishing there is no class to fold
their hands and watch him. One
may fish or not as he chooses. If
someone else decides to prepare
the fish for dinner all well and good.
There is team work but not class
work. Someone remembers having
rolled a fish in clay and baking it.
Volunteers want to hunt for clay.
Others like the fish broiled. A

Ii6

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

tage of the cat having retractile
claws? While Mary is trying to
find how many toes the cat has on
its front foot the others may be Won-
dering what Mary is going to say.
Helen may give the cat some milk.
(Probably all need to stretch their
muscles by now.) And so it goes for
the assigned time. There is no doubt
in the mind of the visitor as to which
person is the teacher. As to the
pupils — they are all worker bees
cramped in the same kind of a cell.

competition is started in the prep-
aration of fish, — others join the game.
Professor Palmer has described in
detail many socialized nature activi-
ties in his Cornell leaflets. Many
such games arise impromptu. Every
member of the hive is like the queen
bee with plenty of room and food for
growth. The period of growth is
not arbitrarily put down as thirty
minutes, or at 10 a. m. or for the
last week in January in the third
grade. There is doubt in the mind
of the visitor as to which one is the
leader. And to the life of the camper
has been added another of those never
to be forgotten experiences.

5. Nature-study is something that
is taught.

In this respect it is not unlike the
three R's. The same dose is pre-
scribed in all cases with absolutely
no regard for the requirements.
Yet nothing has been suggested in
the nature-lore method that could
not be applied in the school. Peter
Bell never went to school in the woods
as did Thoreau. Peter Bell went to
the three R's every day. And he
went into a nature-study class. And
when he came out he thought that a
primrose was a primrose. How could
he think otherwise? If there was
nothing contagious how could he
catch anything? And who is taking
Peter Bell, and your boy and my boy
to the woods as we were taken?

5. Nature-lore is something that
is caught.

This audience is supposedly in-
terested in nature. You were born
naturalists. Everyone is a born
naturalist but is usually killed as a
naturalist before he is ten. You
escaped the killing-off process. Right
here I wish to ask a personal question:
Was your early interest for nature
kindled in the four walls of a school
room or did you catch the enthusiasm
outside? I have my mother to thank
for the song of the robin in the old
"high-top" tree. And one of the
greatest days of my life was when
Dad took me "bobbing eels." A
nature-study lesson could never
take the place of these experiences.
These experiences are nature-lore.

6. Nature-study starts and stops
with a bell.

Arithmetic is arithmetic no matter
whether the bluebird flies South or
the bluebird flies North, and arithme-
tic it must be.

6. Natuie-lore comes at anytime.

It is not scheduled and may not
be planned. It may happen on the
way to breakfast or during a mid-day
rest. It may interrupt a baseball
game or it may tip over a canoe.

vinal THE SUMMER CAMP 117

7. Who are the graduates of the 7. Who are the graduates of the
Nature-study School? One time I Nature-lore School?
took a large party of nature-study All country boys and girls. All
students on a carefully planned pioneers. It was the school of Lin-
outing. When we arrived several coin, John Muir, Thoreau, Burroughs,
came up and wanted to know how Enos Mills, and Dallas Lore Sharpe.
long they had to stay. They did It was i-he school of every one who
not see any fun in a wood-frolic has a woodsy spot where he loves
They wanted to get back to the "Mo- to return. The place where he feels
vies." You too may have had dis- peculiarly at home. The locality
appointments in the lack of interest that he can write best about in his
in the nature which you appreciate letters. It is the sea captain who
so well. My experience is that the longs for another trip; it is the old
nature student hardly ever gathers man who dreams of a "bare foot
what may be called momentum in boy with cheeks of tan;" it is the
nature appreciation or accumulative mountaineer who returns to his
enthusiasm. West Virginia Home.

What Can We Expect From Nature-Lore Experiences ?

There are many evidences that the summer camp is not the only
institution which expects results from nature experiences. In
Detroit the public schools have been placed on an eleven month
system, so that all the children of all the people may go to an
organized camp. For the business firm we may mention the Gen-
eral Electric Company which maintains a camp for employees
during vacations. Leaders in Social Settlement Work and
Community Centers, missionaries and preachers, are seeking the
why and how of nature recreation. Along with the attempt
to develop the music resources of our communities is coming the
idea of recreation in nature. Vacations can no longer be vacan-
cies. What are we doing to meet the situation?

It is stated that 20,000,000 people in this country attend the
motion picture show daily. They pay $4,000,000 at 18,000
theatres. This means that one-fifth of our population have the
"movie mania." The moving picture man has a means of amuse-
ment (not synonymous with recreation) which he has sold for a
good price. We have a better proposition which we have not been
able to give away. The Sunday supplement is equally popular.
We must reorganize. Now is an opportune time to place our
wares on the market. Nature-lore gives experiences for the in-
dividual or for the group. It gives another wholesome opportunity
for spending leisure time.

n8 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The nature-lore student finally accumulates a wealth of nature
experiences. These nature experiences are the materials out of
which a structure is built. This structure is nature's laws. Out
of the laws comes an appreciation of nature, and appreciation which
may be termed a local nature-patriotism. And local nature-patri-
otism must precede national nature conservation. Without this
appreciation in our people any attempt to develop the conservation
of our natural resources is destined to failure. And with all this
can we not sing "I love thy rocks and rills" with a new fervor.

Camp Nature Ideas in the Classroom

Margaret M. Cornell
North Shore County Day School, Winnetka, 111.

"And a little child shall lead them."

How frequently we hear the following expression, "Oh, that is
easy to teach when you have your pupils in a camp; but, impossible
in the classroom. The very lack of the out-of-doors makes the
work artificial and the child does not take the same interest."

Now is this really so?

Is not the child always responsive to the natural phenomena
around him? Does not the innermost part of him cry out for
companionship with the birds, plants and animals which are such
an integral part of his very childhood ? Once set him wondering
and his education has begun. The mental processes are quickened,
the powers of observation become keener and his sense of brother-
hood takes on a new meaning.

Whether this development comes from a summer spent among
the whispering pines, by a quiet lake, in a mountain camp, or in the
classroom, the greatest factor, — and the one of most vital interest —
is that he sees the thing as it really is!

Bring the great out-of-doors to him. Any classroom may be
converted into a camp. The difference is not one of environment,
so much as of atmosphere. It is not a teacher he needs; itisa" com-
rade-in-arms." A leader who has the spirit of a child in himself,
regardless of years; whose love for the pulsing animation about

Cornell CAMP NATURE IDEAS 119

him will lead him to anticipate the wants of the child and to in-
terpret those wants naturally and freely.

It is this comradeship with the children, this observing of the
phenomena as they actually occur and the attendant informal
discussions that make nature-lore at camps so vital. It is the
lack of this informality and the failure to provide the pupil with the
same outdoor stimuli that has produced such direful results in
the classroom.

How may such freedom be brought about in the room, you ask.

Donate a corner of the room to pets; swing a bird cage in a
sunny window ; make a baby world from a discarded bowl ; build
an aquarium and step by step furnish it ; hang the walls with pic-
tures that paint the rainbow tints of setting sun and rising moon;
surround him with books wherein he may read for himself the In-
dian myths and poems of our great land.

At once the whole atmosphere of the room changes. The
throbbing world has come to him. Twitching fingers find work
to do; straying eyes open upon new worlds and sluggish brains
become active. Turn the child free to leam from observation as
we do at camp. There will be no question of discipline. That
takes care of itself, for there is neither time nor inclination "to
loaf" with active, constructive projects to develop.

Let him construct the home for his guinea-pig, rabbit or doves,
and learn of trees, their uses and characteristics. The walk home
will take on new interest, and a trip to the park will be followed
by questions without number, questions about trees, that correctly
answered, will instill in him a knowledge of their use in industry
and our dependence upon them, as well as lasting reverence for
the native trees of our land and as keen an appreciation of those
towers of living green as Joyce Kilmer had when he wrote:
"A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray."

Give him a sand table in the south window. It will reveal won-
ders to the child who has had no opportunity to follow the blazed
trail, to watch the lengthening shadows or see the sun sink behind
a mountain. Then let him construct a sundial, and use it. Lati-
tude, longitude, time and direction become mere factors neccessary
to the development of his project. Geography is no longer an
ordeal, but a pulsing reality- — a correlation with all mankind.

120 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

He takes keen interest in modeling the various physical regions
that are determining features in man's progress; in filling the
valleys with water and peopling his mimic world.

Show him the infinite possibilities of the aquarium. Few teach-
ers realize the immense amount of material for nature-study found
therein. It has all the fascinations of lake and stream. The sand
and pebbles unlock the door to the history of minerals; the clams
and snails, not only are typical of the lower forms of animal life,
but, teach the great lesson that Nature has a purpose for all things,
whether high or low in the stage of development.

When a child remarks, after watching a clam at work, "Why,
he is a live vacuum-cleaner, and the snail is a scrub-woman,"
you know that child has a knowledge more precious than gold.
He will spend hours watching the mother snail deposit her
coral-colored eggs in a pear-shaped cluster just above the water
level, or in observing the tadpole's legs puncture the skin. And
his questions will be vital and of the greatest importance to him
at that period of his life.

If he asks, "What is that green stuff on the side of the glass?"
introduce him to a new kind of fairyland. Place some on a
slide and let him see the algae through a microscope. With him.
trace the different stages of plant life in a baby world.

Such a world may be constructed with a glass confectioner's
bowl having a glass cover. On the bottom, place some soil, and
some common moss. Plant in this moss, dwarf ferns, club moss,
partridge berries, rattle-snake plantain, vines, or any woodland
plants; then add a tiny newt or toad, cover and set in a partially
shaded spot. The child soon sees for himself how vapor, rain and
frost are formed, how plants reproduce and why insects are neces-
sary.

As the spores drop to the ground and new growths begin, or the
tiny partridge blossoms gradually lose their petals and assume the
form of berries red as the blood of life, he will learn the same lessons
the child at camp learns.

Then encourage him to bring in any natural object that chal-
lenges his observation. With him learn its secrets and from the
specimen pass to the world of which it is a part. Introduce him
to the naturalists of America. Through the stories and pictures
of such men as Thoreau, Enos Mills, Audubon, Agassiz and

dole EIGHT OR NINE WORDS ABOUT NATURE-STUDY 121

Burroughs acquaint him with the fern growths of the south, the wild
fruits of the mountain sides, the pines of New England, the coal-
beds of Pennsylvania, the gorgeous panorama of the Grand Can-
yon. Make him feel that these are his to enjoy and understand.
Thus may a close, personal contact with living organisms in the
classroom cause him, in a simple, natural way to have a kindred
feeling with the great out-of-doors. Such an understanding
and sympathy cannot fail to produce broader manhood and nobler
womanhood in the years to come.

Eight or Nine Words About Nature- Study

Eleazer Johnson Dole

The Tall Pines Camp, Bennington, New Hampshire

To be more explicit, there are two. The first one is "why;"
the second, "how." Not the "why" of the desirability of nature
in summer camps, for every teacher and camp director knows that.
Not the "how" of the best teaching of nature, for the writer freely
confesses that he doesn't know that. But rather why is nature
not as attractive as we sometimes wish it were, and how may we
make it appeal to a larger numberof camp girls? We shall not
discuss the shortcomings of the nature teacher, for we live in a
glass house. Every good teacher will recognize that he has certain
faults, that he has made certain errors in the past which he
himself must rectify. Suggestions from others may help. For
such words of wisdom, he is respectfully referred to those who are
qualified to give them.. We are not.

That there are certain difficulties in making the nature lesson
attractive to all is generally admitted. Granting that the nature
leader has his problem.s and that not all of his pupils will respond
to his efforts as he wishes them to, we may be inclined to condemn
the teacher when the real trouble lies elsewhere. In spite of the
comparatively short history of the institution of summer camps,
it seems that there have grown up with them certain traditions,
and we may be hampered with the heritage of the past without
realizing it. The writer believes in being conservative. His
system of philosophy tells him that it is the teacher's duty, but

122 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

some of the things which this paper discusses have been in his
mind so long that he can scarcely be accused of radicalism if he
ventures to give them expression. Yet he does not pretend any-
thing new. We've heard it all before, but some of us need to be
reminded occasionally of what we are already supposed to know.

In the first place the girls are on their vacations, and anything
even remotely suggesting school rightly meets with their disapprov-
al. In our efforts to give them as much as possible I fear that we
sometimes lose sight of this fact. The girls come to camp to play
and they find waiting for them a formidable array of nature teach-
ers, nature books, nature periods and nature study with all the
paraphernalia of a well organized school, all anxious to help them
have a good time. Courses in nature are now given in many pub-
lic and private schools, and it may be that the poor child has some
very unpleasant memories of her previous experiences with nature
(such things sometimes happen,) and she probably at once decides
that she won't do nature work unless it is required. The psycho-
logical effect is decidedly bad.

We have to compete too with other camp activities which have
a greater appeal for most girls. These are the various forms of
athletic and aquatic sports. Normal girls prefer to work with
their hands rather than their heads, and things which they can
learn to do by doing them such as tennis, swimming, handwork,
and riding are much more attractive to the average girl. The
girl in camp should be a healthy young animal and little else.
The nature teacher faces a real problem when he attempts to make
his subject as interesting as some other camp activities. Game
and group activities in which there is the element of competition
also appeal to some and here again we have to meet competition.

Such are some of the reasons why nature-study is so frequently
a disappointment to the management, a bore to the girls, and a
bugbear to the teacher. Perhaps we can never hope to have the
girls leave a swimming lesson for nature, although last summer some
of the writer's girls when asked to choose, hesitated for a moment,
but for a moment only. They always decided in favor of the swim-
ming. We all agree that the nature lesson must be informal. The
writer believes that we should also drop the school terminology and
adopt some other system of nomenclature. Such names will readily
suggest themselves to the leaders. Dr. Vinal has made some good

dole EIGHT OR NINE WORDS ABOUT NATURE-STUDY 123

suggestions about combining nature with games. The writer's
experience has been that the nature was too prominent a feature
of the game.

Last summer we combined nature with hiking and believe that
our results were unusually satisfactory, if the amount of interest
manifested is a criterion. The space allotted to us will not permit
a detailed statement of just how it was done. The leader was the
hiking councillor and his work was supplementary to that of the
regular nature teachers. We found that in order to maintain the
maximum amount of interest it was not advisable to take a party
of more than ten. Except for the very smallest girls, the hikes
were long enough so that the tramp through the woods rather than
the nature stood out in the girls' minds as the important part of
the day's program. The leader had his campaign carefully mapped
out. He said nothing about nature until someone remarked
about a dead tree by the side of the path along which he had pur-
posely guided them, or perhaps it was a big boulder which had been
split by the frost. These opened up an almost limitless field for
conversation. If the girls didn't see the tree and if the. boulder
made no impression on them, all we had to do was to ask in which
direction Camp lay. A line of fingers pointing to every part of
the horizon was the answer, and this was our opportunity to
begin with the use of the compass, or the ways of finding one's
way without a compass.

Something novel was always interesting. Blazing trails, follow-
ing an unknown path and exploring bogs added to the variety and
gave us a wonderful opportunity of seeing nature in her most in-
timate mood. Not only did we have a goodly amount of interest,
but we believe too that the girls carried away with them pleasant
memories of the hikes. The next time they go in the woods we
hope they will see more than they did before, perhaps the dead
tree by the side of the path or the boulder which had been split by
the frost.

What would have become of you if it had pleased Providence
to make the weather unchangeable ?

— Sydney Smith

Gypsies

Charlotte V. Gulick
Director of the Luther Gulick Camps

Those of us who love nature dread to furnish any kind of bait
to induce others to enter into this love. It seems to belittle the
thing which we know is interesting enough in itself. It hurts us
to offer an incentive for learning the most wonderful secrets of
nature. Yet there seems to exist a certain hesitancy among many
young people, especially in the summer time, to give themselves to
anything that seems to mean work, or concentration.

In last year's Nature-Study Review an article was published
about the nature work at our camps. That article was written
by me two years ago. We have had two more years of camp
experience since then and have established a new set of land
honor ranks namely, Little Gypsies, Gypsies, and Gypsy Queens.

The results of these new ranks are most gratifying. You may
not be able to recognize the list of honors given below next year,
for we are always adding to and substracting from, the require-
ments and privileges attending all of our activities. The point is
to keep them alive and interesting. The ranks given previously
were superimposed while the Gypsy ranks were worked out more
or less by the girls themselves.

We have only one Gypsy Queen and hers is an honorary
degree as we have not yet worked out the requirements and priv-
ileges for this rank.

The weekly initiation to the various ranks is interesting and
quite thrilling when the Little Gypsies are allowed to partake of the
Gypsy brew and are given blue bandannas with the privileges of
the comradship of the open road. They enter a new world.

Requirements For Little Gypsy

Honors

Camp Craft

Walk 40 miles. Frye's Leap 5 miles, Raymond 10 miles,
Quaker Ridge 10 miles, South Casco 5 miles or other
walks as permission may be given.

124

gulick GYPSIES 125

Sleep out over night, rolling poncho correctly, making
shelter of two ponchos and not talking to anyone from
last bugle at night to first in the morning.

Make fire and cook supper for at least six people out of
doors. This can be done on Tuesday night or on a trip
and when cooking for fifteen or more people three can
work together.

Make nature toy for child.

Plan and make a woodsy costume. This can be done on a

trip for a stunt or in camp at any time.

Horse

Harness and unharness properly and drive well enough to
be trusted with Pal alone. Be able to care for a horse
over night and gioom a horse at least four times.

Nature

20 birds, 15 trees, 10 ferns, 20 flowers and 10 insects.
Kill 50 gypsy caterpillars or get the pupae.

Farm work
Put in eight hours of good work, not less than the full period
at a time.

Privilege
The ride to South Casco on Saturday either on horseback
or if the road test has not been passed, in the farm wagon.

A gypsy trip.

Requirements For Becoming a Gypsy

Honors

Camp Craft
Sleep out three successive nights.
Forage for supper one night. May get food in the woods

i26 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

or in the garden or buy provisions from a farmer, not from

stores.

Make fire in wet woods.

Cook with two others a successful meal on a gypsy trip,

cooking other dishes than those cooked for Little Gypsy.

Cook in hole in the ground or in a reflecting oven.

Know the principles of first aid.

Decorate Sivad.

Nature
Walk 75 miles. (If done the same summer with Little
Gypsy same miles may be counted.)

Clouds, stars, etc. (Miss Cornell)

Horse
Pass the first test in horseback riding.
Take a horse down to be shod or its equivalent.

Farm

Transplant at least 20 plants successfully. If there are
none to be transplanted in the garden, find wild plants and
place them with the consent of Hiiteni in some place to
decorate the camp.

Privilege
Overnight horseback trip.

George Borrow once asked of an old gipsy- whom he found living by
himself in a lonely hovel on the moor^what pleasure he found in life; the
aged man answered:

"Life is sweet, brother! There's'day and night, brother! both sweet
things; sun, moon and stars, brother !_all_sweet things. There is likewise a
wind on the heath."

Canoeing and Nature-Study

By John B. May, M.D.,
Director, The Winnetaska Canoeing Camps, Ashland, New Hamspshire.

"Thus the Birch Canoe was builded
And the forest's life was in it;
All its mystery and its magic,
All the lightness of the birch-tree,
All the toughness of the cedar,
All the larch's supple sinews;
And it floated on the river
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,
Like a yellow water-lily."

Hiawatha.

The Indian originated the canoe, that he might creep up silently
upon his prey, the timid deer drinking from the stream, the wild
goose feeding in the shallows, or the salmon in search of its spawn-
ing ground. The sportsman has developed the canoe for his more
modern hunting and fishing, making it more seaworthy and more
serviceable. And the thousands of boys and girls who annually
visit the organized camps of our Vacation Land, find in the canoe
the ideal vehicle for much of their nature-study, as well as their
sport.

All life requires water in greater or less amount. Insects,
reptiles, birds, or mammals, are found in greatest abundance near
water, vegetation grows rankest near it, and it goes without saying
that fishes cannot be found away from it. While the bare and rocky
mountain top, the shifting sand dunes, and even the desert have
much of interest for the nature student, it is along our ponds and
streams and swamps that we find the greatest variety of interesting
things.

The advantages of the canoe are many and obvious. There
are no noisy oarlocks to frighten the birds and drown out their
songs, no rudder to foul at the critical moment as 3 ou work your
way among the lily pads, no flapping great sail sticking up above

127

i28 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

the bushes, no racketing engine to fuss with. The canoeist is
always looking ahead, not straining over his shoulder, his paddle
slips through the water without a sound and with hardly a ripple,
he can navigate narrow inlets and shallow coves where any other
craft would go aground, and he can force his way into swamps
where no other method of travel is feasible because of the depth
of black muck. He can almost float on the dew on the grass.

Of course the canoe has its limitations, but all true campers
should know and understand them. You can not jump around in
a seventy pound canoe as you would in a three hundred pound
dory. But neither can you jump around anywhere and expect
to learn the secrets of the home life of our timid birds and beasts.
If you can't control yourself, stick to botany and geology! The
birds won't like you.

Nature-study from a canoe presupposes that you can swim,
can paddle and steer, and that you will use the only sensible pad-
dling position, that of kneeling in the canoe instead of sitting cocked
up on the seats. (There are two excellent reasons for this posi-
tion, safety and efficiency, but there is no room here to discuss the
essentials of paddling.)

Now let's take a little trip and see what we can see. There
are three of us and I'll take the helm.. The others can take
other canoes and steer their own courses, for you mustn't have too
many on a trip of this kind. At first we will all three paddle,
but later I'll work the canoe alone while you two "stop, look,
listen." As we launch the canoe a spotted sandpiper bows to us,
calls "peetweet" and circles low across the water to light a hundred
yards below. In the shallows a few brown newts or "salamanders"
scurry away and from a sunken log a big hornpout swings out
belligerently from his swarm of tiny black baby pouts. Punkin-
heads or sunfish are guarding their nests on the yellow sand, and
a little farther along shore we see the larger, pebbly circles of the
bass. A loon calls from the middle of the lake and we swing our
bow off shore to watch its wonderful diving. A tiny baby loon
is with its mother and we paddle out until we are near enough to
see the silvery coating of air bubbles clinging to its black down
as the little fellow dives and tries to escape us. It can only
stay down a few seconds while its mother can stay under water for
three minutes at a time.

may CANOEING AND NATURE-STUDY 129

Now we leave the lake and enter the narrow stream which forms
the outlet. Lay aside your paddles and be ready with bird glasses
and note books, while I paddle "Indian style," not taking the blade
of my paddle from the water. A king fisher "winds up his reel"
angrily and flies down the waterway between the trees ahead of us.
Swallows are darting back and forth in numbers, hawking for mos-
quitoes, a service which we should appreciate. Glossy tree swal-
lows are carrying food to their young in the woodpecker's hole in
the dead willow, dull colored bank swallows skim low over the wa-
ter, and barn swallows and eave swallows twitter incessantly.
A few big purple martins are down from the colony at a nearby
farm, and if we are very lucky we may catch a glimpse of the pair
of rough-winged swallows whose nest I found one year on this
Ashland River, the only breeding record of the birds in the entire
State. If so, we will have seen all the species of New England
swallows in one small area.

Many of the taller trees along the river have been killed by the
water backing up from the sawmill dam, and their dead tops
furnish observatories for a dozen different species of birds. Scores
of waxwings are flycatching from them, as well as kingbirds, chebecs,
wood pewees, redstarts, and vireos. We hear a few woodpeckers
drumming and are on .the alert for a possible glimpse of the big
pileated woodpecker whose work we often see in the woods.
In the lower growth, the alders and maples and tupelos, several
different kinds of bright-hued warblers are hunting, and we see
nests of kingbirds, yellowbirds, and a catbird. In a tussock of
coarse grass a redwing has woven his basket of grasses, and we pad-
dle over to watch the young birds. All is quiet in the nest for a
time. Now touch the edge very lightly with a finger tip, as a
returning bird might touch it in alighting. Presto! Every
blind and sleeping baby has suddenly waked, the yellow bills
have popped open and we seem to be looking at a bowl of small
orange tulips, as we gaze into the wide spread mouths. Insert a
fingertip into one of the mouths and feel the effort to swallow
made by the nestling!

We worm our way up a narrow tributary brook, the birches meet-
ing over our heads. On both sides song sparrows and swamp spar-
rows are singing, and we hear the loud call of the northern water-
thrush. A phoebe calls persistently from, the bridge rail, and as

130 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

we pass beneath the road his mate flies from her moss-covered,
feather-lined, mud house on one of the log stringers. Near the
bridge we land to watch a chickadee feeding her eight bob -tailed
little Blackcaps in a hollow birch stub.

At the edge of a wet meadow we see a great blue heron hunting
frogs. Watch the deliberate way in which he slowly lifts one foot,
sets it down gently in the mud ahead of him, leans foiward, lifts
the other foot, places it carefully, and then, with an almost light-
ning-like motion, darts his long neck forward and spears his prey.
For a second he holds the frog as he looks around, then begins the
work of swallowing. And what a job it is ! The long neck craned
upward, we watch a strange swelling pass slowly down from the
bird's beak, until it reaches the body, and the bird settles down for
another period of watchful waiting. But now we pick up our
paddles and drive the canoe forward with a few quick strokes
toward the unsuspecting heron. In a panic he springs up, the
great wings flapping awkwardly, the neck craned ahead until he
is well clear of the trees, then folding back in an S-shape so that the
head rests between the shoulders, the bird makes off downstream.
Some day we will paddle up the big lake and visit the heronry where
a dozen nests are located in dead trees in a big swamp, and where
the black ducks nest, and possibly a pair of the beautiful wood
ducks, a spot only to be reached by canoe.

Over here at the edge of this little backwater, are some plants
of the round-leafed sundew. Shall we stop and help it to a meal,
for the sundew, like the pitcherplant, is said to be carnivorous?
Catch one of those tiny lace-winged flies, and touch it lightly to the
sticky filaments which fringe the sundew's leaf. Isn't it uncanny,
the way the leaf curls up about the insect, until it is hidden from
view? By and by the leaf will uncurl again and only a shriveled
shell will be left for our fly. See how many other shells of dead
insects we can find on the other leaves.

There at the edge of the stream where the woods come close
is a belated moccasin flower. A bee buzzes past us, lights on the
inflated pouch, forces his way rudely in through the incurved edges
and we watch his shadow through the translucent blossom as he
takes his fill of nectar. Now he is finished, and is crowding out
from the upper part of the petal, with a load of yellow pollen
plastered on his back, for this bee is the instrument of cross-

•may CANOEING AND NATURE-STUDY 131

fertilization of the moccasin, and his work is to carry the pollen
to another flower, so that the seeds may set and more plants beauti-
fy our woodlands.

But this pollen is not to fulfil its mission. As we watch the
bee starting low across the water, a green frog squatting on the
bank is watching too, and there is a sudden spring, a splash, and
the bee has disappeared down Mr. Frog's wide mouth. The frog
continues swimming across the pool towards a fallen log, and as
he passes near the lily pads, a powerful swirl stirs the water, and a
good-sized pickerel darts out and Mr. Frog has disappeared in
turn. Before the pickerel has had time to return to his sheltering
pads, it may be that a big osprey, wheeling overhead, will spy him
and dropping like a shot, grasp him in his long hooked talons, or a
slim mink, slipping into the water like a shadow, will come up under-
neath the unsuspecting fish and carry it off to its snarling little
ones in the den nearby.

But even when there are no comedies or tragedies to watch,
there is always something to see which makes the trip worthwhile ;
the blue sky overhead with a few white clouds, the heaven-kiss-
ing hills in the background, the winding river valley with its ter-
races hinting of their fascinating story of glacial times and ages
of erosion, and close at hand graceful white birches outlined against
towering pines, with an occasional touch of scarlet or orange
where a swamp maple, turning prematurely, is reflected in the
quiet stream. And when at last the sun drops down behind the
distant mountains, the clouds are changing to rose and flame,
the veeries and the hermit thrushes are fluting in the dark woods
and the whitethroats whistling from the edge of the blueberry
pasture, it is time for us to silently turn our canoe upstream and
steer our homeward course.

RICHES

I looked into the lily-bell to see what lay within,

To find how deep the chalice was, what nectar pearled therein.

The bottoms of lily-cups with olden treasure in

Have hung upon the thoroughways wherever I have been.

L. H. Bailey, in Wind and Weather

Nature-Study at Quanset, 1921

Mrs. E. A. W. Hammatt,

Camp Quanset, Cape Cod

Fresh wild flowers, each in its own receptacle, and each named
with the scientific and common name were kept in the camp
assembly hall. The leaves of onr common trees and shrubs were
preserved in the same way. Campers were eager to add to the
collection.

The eight or nine small tables of girls were often divided into
two bands (some name always suggests itself for each party).
Each follows a trail leading back to camp, one going east, the
other west. At supper after the meal is finished, the tables name
their specimens; the honor goes to the group finding and naming
the larger number. Sometimes flowers, or leaves of trees or shrubs
are given out to the tables after supper to see which table has the
honor of naming the most.

This sort of thing cultivates the seeing eye, but does it develop
a real love of nature ? It seems more like a mad scramble for the
most, a "grabbing," as it were. It is really not the "getting"
that we want most. It is the watching, the seeing, the learning
to draw an inference — the loving it all and getting a glimpse of its
inner meaning — that is of the greatest value to the young in the
study of nature.

On the long stretch of smooth sand dunes on Nauset Beach,
across the bay, Quanset girls often watch the maze of footprints,
big, or tiny leading in and out among the sparse tufts of beach
grass, or over open spaces. This leads them to study the little
wild things of the dune and their search for food. Here a field
mouse scampered about looking for his breakfast. There a skunk
rooted for bugs, and again he sat on his haunches and devoured
his find. And here are bird tracks. What bird, and what did
he find?

On their own beach they find a clay bed, and they wonder
(and they learn) how it came there. A well striated and polished
boulder too is found on their own beach. They learn what smooth-
ed and scratched it, and how it came there. The "cut" is a_low

132

hammatt NATURE-STUDY AT QUANSET 133

place in the bar or barrier beach formerly the outlet of Pleasant
Bay, where in bad storms the waters break through. Here a line
of old telegraph poles below high water half covered with the
sands of the beach tells its own story of the washing away by the
winds and waves of the sand bluff. At the Nauset Life Saving
Station is a steep bluff . The storms of the winter before had laid
bare in the bluff an ancient peat bed. In it are preserved the old
tree trunks that helped to form it. Beetles wings, brought to
light in the peat beds, crumble to dust when the air strikes them.
They hear that valuable specimens of the "hind wing" have been
found in the Harwich woods. They plan to go out and sugar for
moths.

Under the soil of the greater part of the continents and even
of the ocean floor, bed rock is found. But under the glacial soil
of Cape Cod, no such bed rock has been discovered, either in ex-
posed cliffs or in deep well borings.

"The cape" then, has no backbone of rock. But how did it
get here?

Geologists explain its presence something as follows.

Once on a time (geologic time), when ice sheets covered great
parts of our country and ground their way slowly but surely down
from the frozen north, south and southeasterly over New England,
there were three such glaciers hereabouts. One filled Cape Cod
Bay, one filled Buzzard's bay and spread toward the west, while
the third, a hugh one, stretched way out into the ocean to the east
of Cape Cod.

As the Cape Cod glacier pushed its way slowly south, it scooped
out the sea floor to make the bay and, as its edge melted, there
slid and dropped from it, here an immense mass of gravel and boul-
ders, there a huge heap of sand, clay and rocks. This shows as
a mixture of coarse and fine material not seen where it has been
sorted by water. In the latter case the coarser material is dropped
first, and the finest of all is kept longest in suspension. Water
sorted material is stratified, the lines or strata plainly visible.

Glacial boulders may be seen on the tops of the hills and else-
where on the Cape. Enos' Rock or Enoch's Rock is a well known
example.

All this material dropped by the glacier, it had collected in
Labrador, or Vermont or Massachusetts (we can tell by the kind

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of rock found, from which ridges or mountains it was broken. It
had swept this drift along in its current as rivers sweep along tree
trunks and other wreckage in their rush to the sea.

And thus came the "tumbled hills" of Plymouth and the bay
shore, simply sliding and tumbling from the edge of the Cape Cod
glacier as it m.elted. They are called glacial moraine, and because
they come from the end of the glacier, they are called terminal
moraine.

The extreme reach south of the Cape Cod glacier is supposed to
have been Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Block Island, where
evidence is found of terminal moraine. In the Elizabeth Islands,
Southern Rhode Island and Long Island are terminal moraines from
the western glacier.

Meanwhile, on the west,-was dropped the lateral (side) moraine.
Wherevei the two glaciers flowed side by side we find the inter-
lobate moraine, or the moraine between the lobes of the two gla-
ciers. And since the Buzzard's Bay glacier melted first, that from
the Cape Cod Bay side "spilled over" to the west and formed
the valley at Bourne through which the canal has been dug.

As the Cape Cod Bay glacier melted, huge blocks of ice, still
covered by earth and rocks, broke off here and there. In time
the ice melted from beneath, making ice-block holes or "kettle
holes." Later on the surface waters made lakes and ponds of
many of these. These lakes have no outlet and need none, for
the water seeps away into the loose porous glacial soil.

There are several kettle hole ponds and swamps and very many
dry kettle holes near camp. Cliff Pond is a kettle hole.

The irregularity of the glacial deposit cuts off drainage and
causes fresh water swamps. Thus it has aided in the establishment
of cranberry culture.

With the melting of the ice, sands, clays and gravels washed
out from beneath the Cape Cod glacier (sorted on the way) were
spread out into a great outwash plain. This covers the whole
south shore of Cape Cod from Falmouth through Chatham and
slopes gradually toward the sound. Over this plain meandered
streams of glacial waters to the shore of the sound, excavating
shallow channels, now valleys. Into some of these the sea has
since made its way and has formed tidal runs or salt rivers so called,
while others are swampy.

i36 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

From the big eastern glacier, after the melting of the Cape Cod
glacier, streams flowed westward to the bay, and thus made
many parallel east and west valleys, seen all the way from Orleans
through Truro. Jeremiah's Gutter in Orleans is one of these.
This nearly made the upper end of the Cape an island in earlier
times.

Nantucket Shoal and St. George's Shoals off towards the east
are believed to be moraine deposited from this big glacier.

After the glacial period, the tides, winds and currents swept
up the sand of the cape north of Truro, and made sand spits and
barrier beaches. Off Nauset the tide as it drives in divides, part
flowing north and piling up the sand there at the end of the cape,
part flowing south, washing off the cliffs and spreading out the
sand in the barrier beach that encloses Pleasant Bay. In some
places barrier beaches were washed up so as to enclose the outlet
of a salt river or bay, changing it gradually to fresh water, or again
the barrier enclosing fresh or kettle hole ponds was washed away
in a November gale whereupon the salt water rushed in.

Salt meadows have filled in on the inner tide of a barrier beach,
strengthening it against the havoc wrought by wind and tide,
and literally making land.

At Truro and on Pleasant Bay shores and at Nauset Head
Cliffs are blue clay beds, over them water sorted sands, and under
them ancient consolidated gravel beds, all laid down by glaciers
earlier than those mentioned, or by the waters of geologic periods
coming between two glacial epochs.

Geologists warn us that in a few thousand or million years
Cape Cod will be washed away by Atlantic storms unless we
build an enormous and expensive breakwater to protect it. The
interesting thing is that Cape Cod is still land in the making.

Woodcraft Councils, held in the deep woods, with the sky
above the only outlook, were an interest in camp last summer.
To secure coups, the naming of wild animals, birds, flowers, mush-
rooms, etc. is important. To know their habit and their habitat,
to be able to take advantage of a knowledge of nature and depend
on it for one's living in the woods, is still more important. And
with all this, a knowledge of nature and a reverence for nature and
nature's God go hand in hand. The ideals inculcated by Wood-
craft are the best, the highest. One thing alone, — to teach young

childs A MODERN FAIRY STORY 137

people to make the thing needed out of the simple material at
hand, — to live simply, — is very worth while in this age and country
of materialism and conventionality.

Quanset will go on with the woodcraft, stressing the part of
nature-study where it can encourage the real observation that is
of value. Most of the girls love it. If presented to them in such
a way as to show cause and effect, if evolution can be made clear,
if they can be led to watch for the sake of seeing what is going to
happen next, and to understand — not simply to name things —
it will appeal to the thoughtfully inclined. It is not that we want
to make a naturalist of every girl, but that we do not want
her to lose the keen interest in nature which is inborn, we do not
want to cut her off from the enjoyment in later life of the secrets
of nature.

As the year previous, the short stay with us of the Dallas Lore
Sharps proved an inspiration not to be forgotten.

A Modern Fairy Story

Henry E. Childs
Technical High School, Providence, R. I.

The Forest of Old Katahdin

The seeds of many family trees were transplanted from Boston,
Providence, Cleveland, New York, and even from far away Japan,
Peru, and Cuba. With the utmost care they were planted in the
glorious white pine grove by Forest Lake where stands the rustic
shack loved by all Sons of Katahdin.

At home these seeds had been called "Myles, or Lester, George,
or^Chester; but here they became, "The Horrible Polack," "The
Terrible Swede," "Tubber," and "The Caveman." When they
learned to answer to these new names every seed was taught
that he had a part to play in the great game of nature and that
the more he learned about the life of the woods, the more power-
ful he would become and better able to care for himself while
enjoying life in the heart of the Maine woods.

138 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

When such a seed had learned ten birds, had collected and
could name twenty flowers, and could recognize five kinds of trees,
he was announced to the world as a seedling. He had begun to
grow.

A little later the seedlings learned the colors of more birds,
could identify five just from the song, had learned more flowers,
had collected ten fruits growing wild, had managed to stay on the
trail of a bird for fifteen minutes, had learned the whys and where-
fores of a flower's many parts, and had watched a family of birds
at a nest for half an hour. By this time the youngster was becom-
ing enthusiastic and reaching up toward the top of the foiest.
He became a sapling.

It was harder to grow into a tree and still harder to win the
highest title of all, "The Big Tree." Fifty birds, a hundred flowers,
the finding of a warbler's nest, five orchids, five mammals, a full
report on the nesting habits of some bird, and the trapping and
banding of five birds for U. S. Biolopical Survey were among the
stunts.

A good deal of this nature-study was done on the camp grounds,
or along the lake shore, in the swamps, woods, or upland pastuies
nearby. Several longer hikes and canoe trips were taken lasting
three or four days and extending into the lake country and moun-
tains in every direction. To cap them all, a glorious ten days
jaunt into the wild portion of the Rnageleys right up to the Cana-
dian line is offered for the best hikers.

As seedlings, saplings, and trees vied with one anothei for the
honor of becoming a big tree, the boys came to appreciate more
than ever before, the wonderful opportunities for enjoyment that
nature offers to us.

Some people are always finding fault with nature for putting
thorns on roses: I always thank her for putting roses on thorns.

—A. Karr

Nature-Study in Camp

Fannie A. Stebbins

Supervisor of Nature- Study in Public Schools,
Springfield, Ma^s.

The object of Nature-Study may be considered as fourfold in
outlook:- — economic, intellectual, esthetic and moral or spiritual.
These may not be separated entirely, but sometim.es one, some-
times another may be emphasized.

Under the economic phase would be classed any study which
has mainly in view, either the fitting of man to his environment,
or, the fitting of his environment to man and his needs.

This line of thought would lead, for example, in bird study, to
finding whether a species were helpful or harmful to man.

If we watch a friendly little chickadee, see him pick off innumer-
able little specks from a twig to which he may be clinging, "up-
side down," collect some of said "specks," examine them under
a lens, and decide that they are real insects, then learn that they
have beaks, sharp enough and strong enough to pierce the bark
of the tree and that their hearty appetites demand enough of the
sap to rob the plant of a considerable poition of food; then we say
"Chickadee, you are our friend, because of your help our apple
crop will be better this fall, we thank you!"

But if a sharp-shinned hawk comes dashing along and carries
chickadee away in his talons, for his lunch, we say "You rascal,
you have killed our friend" and class this hawk as an enemy
and plan vengeance.

Or, we might, after sufficient observation, say "This is a chicka-
dee" write his name in our "list" and later enter "sharp-shinned
hawk," congratulating ourselves upon adding two species to the
"list."

Or, we might observe these birds, note size, shape, color, mark-
ings, write a description or even a sketch and color them; and
all this would aid in knowledge of appearance of these birds and
render more certain our recognition of these and of other birds.

Or, again, we might be fortunate enough to see Chickadee
come flying to a dead birch of a few inches diameter, look around

i39

140 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

sharply with quick motions of his head, but no sound, and pop
into a round hole in the stump, rem.ain almost hidden for a moment,
only the tip of his tail showing, then we might see his head, with
black, shiny eyes, appear, his bill full of fragments of soft wood,
and after a look around to see if all is safe, a quick flitting to a
distance of a few rods to drop the tell-tale chips, then back again
for more*digging, perhaps helped by his mate, and so on till the
hole is deep enough.

Without question that stump would be "sacred ground," and the
picture of it would rem.ain in mind for all time. It would require
no urging to watch the progress of the work, the home life of the
parents, one bringing food to the other and, later, to the babies,
and the advent of the young chickadees to the outside world.
All the callings, and twitterings, and balancing and clinging in all
sorts of positions, the friendliness and the trust of these feathered
midgets, would give many a "thrill," and if, as easily can be done,
sufficient confidence were established so that one of these mites would
come freely to head, hand or even lips for a bit of nut held there,
no thought of harming the little friend could even occur to the
recipient of such trust.

Then what pleasure to be able to imitate the call and songs of
chickadee, and others, m.any of which can be called to one, with
answering calls, and songs, given only patience enough.

Which of these is the "best " kind of biid study?

Probably, in practice, we combine all of these in proportions
to fit the needs of our "clientele."

The identification and description might be classed as purely
intellectual, the consideration of food as economic, the percep-
tion of daintiness and sweetness esthetic, and the thrill of love and
desire to protect as purely moral or spiritual. But why classify
these results?

Personally, we believe that every member of a camp (or school)
should "be exposed" to "catching" some interest in and love for
nature and nature's doings. Not only that, but also that first
or last, each should have here attention called, commandingly, to
various phases of nature, although some lines might receive more
emphasis in a boy's camp, others in a girls' camp, and, of course
age and maturity would have influence. Converts are many times
made that way.

stebbins NATURE-STUDY IN CAMP 141

A girl in one camp on the first trip loudly declaimed against
Nature-Study, she'd "taken Nature-Study and didn't like it!"
Later she was a devoted student. Another girl had bird-glasses,
a little knowledge and more enthusiasm for birds and wanted
to study birds, and birds only, "did n't want to study rocks!!"
but after a trip on which she learned to recognize quartz, mica
and hornblend, and saw some glacial evidences she wanted to
"crack" every rock in sight.

A list of subjects is bare and uninteresting to the uninitiated so
it> seems best to discuss a few phases and methods somewhat in
detail.

The stocking and maintaining of a balanced aquarium is always
a delightful project and extremely illuminating.

First comes the purchase or making of the aquarium. It is
well to have several, not too large, but of several sizes and shapes,
but of clear glass with plane sides. Several books give directions
for construction, cement, etc. so we omit these details here.

But our concern is with the living things to be introduced and
kept in good condition. This supposes, first, either previous ob-
servations, or a trip or trips, to decide upon conditions needed,
what to put in the bottom of the case — pebbles, gravel, . sand,
"mud" — the choice depending on what animals and plants we
wish.

Shall one put in the plants or the animals first? There might
be discussion now and confirmation might follow the results of the
experiments.

Hew many, and what, plants can we find in water with a locky
or pebbly bottom, in water with a sandy or muddy bottom?
Which of these grow entirely under water, which float on or be-
low the surface, which are simply rooted below but have leaves
and flowers entirely in the air? How do the leaves and stems of
these differ? Why do they differ? Which of these do we wish
in our aquarium ? Which will be of any use to the animals and of
what use are they ? Which would add to the beauty of the aquar-
ium and make it look more like a bit of the real pond, or of the
sea-shore? How shall we make them "stay where they^belong ?"
Will they grow better if rooted or floating?

These questions are answered of Mother Nature's ways of doing
things. In other words the children are directly and consciously
seeking answers to questions they wish answered.

142 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The same procedure will be followed in regard to choice of aniT
mals for the aquariums. There will be the desire to put in every
kind of thing that "wiggles" and every individual of each kind
that can be caught, which will have dire results if the work is
unrestrained. Sometimes it is a question how much restraint
should be used, as many things are learned by failure, if the failure
is rightly interpreted.

If the big sunfish, "or punkin-seed," so beautiful in coloi,
"gobbles up" all other animals possible, and rushes around so vig-
orously as to uproot most of the plants, he will soon prove himself
an undesirable occupant, and some other fish, smaller or less
aggressive, be substituted, while he goes back to his native pond.

Or if the big dragonfly nymph devours all smaller insects that
cannot evade it, or chews off the polywog's or fish's tail and even
fastens upon the body of a snail before it can shrink back into its
shell, it, too, will be removed to safer quarters and fed upon less
valuable food. But it will be sufficient reward for all work if some
day he is watched as he crawls up on a stem above water, and,
hanging there, splits his hard skin down the back and with distinct
effort pulls himself out. Then what a delight to watch him.,
after a brief rest from the struggle, transform the four limp lumps
on his back into gauzy, veined wings that when dry glisten and
glow in the sunlight like dewdrops or diamonds!

When he is thoroughly dry he flies off darting so quickly that the
eye can hardly follow him, but, if one knows what to look for,
it may be possible to see that some mosquitoes and gnats have
disappeared along his route, and one realizes that the big appetite
that made him a scourge in the aquarium is a blessing when it
causes the removal of so many of the pests that have made careful
study of ponds and marshes a trial of one's patience.

Gradually much is learned of the proper association of different
forms of animal life, and several jars may be stocked to represent
groups as they are observed in field trips.

The proper kinds and amount of food are learned by experience;
overfeeding with a consequent fouling of the water by decay of the
surplus is one of the first mistakes.

The proper lighting of the aquarium must be studied ; too little
light resulting in starving the green plants, with consequent suffer-
ing or death of animals that live entirely within the water, from

stebbins NATURE-STUDY IN CAMP 143

lack of oxygen. The overgrowth of green plants, including algae,
resulting from too much sunshine, can be controlled by shading
partially, or the results partly compensated by increasing the num-
ber of polywogs and snails that feed upon the algae.

These are only a few of the many, many things learned from ex-
perience with aquariums.

Vivariums offer a like field for the observation of land forms
of plants and animals, under controlled conditions.

Both alike, well-cared for, are a delight to the eye, in form and
color, and offer opportunity for close observation under nearly
natural conditions.

A nature table or shelf should be a feature of eveiy camp or
schoolroom.

This may be large or small as conditions demand, but should
always be well-lighted, and always absolutely clean, free from dirt,
dirt here, meaning anything present with no reason for being pres-
ent.

On this table may appear all sorts of objects at various times,
frequent changes being essential to stimulate interest. In fact
no day ought to pass without some change, either of removal or
addition or rearrangement of some detail as a constant challenge
to the attention of the "casual observer" as well as for more
worthy reasons. But each thing should have a label! It may
be a question, as: — "What is its name?" Where can you find
this plant growing? Is this good to eat? Is this a land snail or
water snail ? What does this smell like r1 Why is this plant called
"five-finger?" etc. When the label is used to tell the name it
should be so connotated as to suggest more than the mere name,
as: — "Storer's snake, or red-bellied snake, full-grown, young are
born alive. This was found under a flat stone up on the hill-side.
What do you suppose it eats? Is it helpful or harmful?" or
"Common St. John's wort. See the dots on the leaves, and
the one-sided petals," or "A Common land snail. Where are
its eyes?"

Some day the table night be devoted to some one exhibit, as,
a collection of fungi of as many colors as possible, thirty or more
colors with tones and tints could probably be shown. Myce-
lium should be included. (Such an exhibit should not be allowed
to remain till it becomes unattractive).

144 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Another day a collection of minerals and rocks might be shown.
Loose labels might be on the table with the suggestion that any
one who wishes may place them on corresponding specimens.
Much discussion will be aroused if enough people know something
about minerals.

Another day there might be shown photographs taken or sketches
made on earlier trips, to illustrate places and physical features,
trees, ferns, birds or other animals, clouds or passing shower.

But all these so far mentioned deal with material brought to
"headquarters" although necessitating field work, either in groups
or singly.

What about trips afield?

We might discuss bird study, ferns, flower study, trees, stars,
moon, or any other such topic, but rather let us devote a few min-
utes to some less talked-of subjects.

Personally, I found the study of minerals and rocks and physical
features of the region extremely attractive to young people.

A labeled collection of the common minerals and rocks of the
area, together with a few less common but striking specimens
obtained on one or more special excursions to another section are
treasured as choice possessions. For into that collection has gone
much hard work in the way of breaking stones, trying their hard-
ness, noting the faces, edges and corners, the lustre and color,
the comparison with others' specimens, the endeavor to get a
"better one," and many haps and mishaps, of scrambles, slides
and clayey slips, good times all.

If we are in a glaciated area as most of us will be, then the obser-
vation of ice- work and water-work and their comparison, and the
old, but ever fresh, story of the ice-sheet and its results of trans-
ported material, covered outline of hill and rocks, and scratched
on the smoothed faces of the rocks will charm and arouse wonder.
Always the evidence of change, in the "everlasting hills," always
the question — what caused this?

On long trips and hikes there is constant outlook for new speci-
mens, new changes. Another type of study, less common under
topics of Nature-Study, but much in evidence among biologists
under the head of ecology is the more intensive or shall I say ex-
tensive study of some limited area the observation of the living
forms, plant and animal, the number of species and of individuals

stebbins NATURE-STUDY IN CAMP 145

of each species, the "lay of the land," the water, soil, slopes, ex-
posure, etc., that is: — what are in the place and why are they there?
as an effort to understand the relations and interrelations of the
group.

To illustrate:

Let us look at a small pond such as may be found in many places
in the northern United States and Canada. It is roughly circular
in outline, only a few acres in extent, with sandy shores sloping
rather steeply in the immediate vicinity of the pond, but at a
distance of a rod or two the land becomes nearly level and spreads
out in a sandy, dry area for some distance. The level, higher
areas are sparsely clothed with a rather stunted growth of pitch
pines, scrub oaks, grey birches, a few low bushes, blueberry or
New Jersey tea, low blackberry vines, and androfrogon or poverty-
grass, interspersed with other scanty vegetation. Nearer the edge
of the water grow a few alders and willows, a group of red maples
and sour gums, with sedges and water-loving grasses.

Standing with their feet in the watei are rushes, button bushes,
swamp loosestrife and cassandra. Farther out are yellow and white
water-lilies, bladderworts, floating heart, potaneagetous, hornwort,
myriophyllium and other plants, floating or rooted.

Dragon flies dart above the surface catching smaller insects,
whirligig beetles rush wildly about in spirals, water boatmen come
to the surface for air, caddis fly larvae with houses of various styles
of architecture crawl sluggishly about on the bottom or on stems
of plants, snails lay their eggs, a freshwater mussel ploughs slowly
along, only the tip of his shell with the siphon above sand, making
a line by which we easily trail him.

In shallow water, near the shore are some plats cleared of rub-
bish, over each of which a male pumpkin-seed stands guard;
rushing fiercely at any intruder. This is the nest in which the
female has left her eggs, now defended and protected by the
father.

. Newts nose along the bottom.. Bullheads rumble along the
muddy, deeper sections. Near that gioup of water plants is a
school of yellow perch. Darting about in crowds are small dace.
Perhaps a pickerel lies near shore so nearly motionless that his
shadow on the bottom is the only thing to catch the eye, unless,
alarmed, he darts off like an arrow from a bent bow.

i46 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Turtles are sunning themselves on a water -soaked log, but plop
into the water at your approach.

Over by the alders are red winged black birds. Chewinks
call from the bushes farther along. Redstarts "start" about,
catching insects for hungry little ones in the nest up on a maple.
A thrasher sings from the top of a grey, field birch. A red-eyed
vireo's basket hangs from a branch, so low one can look in at it,
and the mother stays guarding her treasures till one can almost or
quite ( !) stroke her. Slowly and heavily a nightheron flaps along to
the cove across the pond, alights, wades out into the water and be-
comes like a stick in the water-scape, until a lightning-quick stroke
of his sharp bill secures the fish or frog for the babies over there, half-a-
mile away, in a nest that is one of two or three hundred.

Great heaps of white clouds drift lazily across the blue sky.
Bees hum about the flowers, carrying pollen from flower to flower
as they search for nectar, or, maybe pack some of the pollen in the
basket on their back legs.

The dank smell of the mud, and lush vegetation forms a back-
ground for the waft of delicate perfume of the water lilies or stronger
sweeter odor of the clethra, or the strong health-giving breath of
the sun-soaked pines.

As one sits, munching some of the wintergreen leaves gathered
a little way back, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch all combine,
and we "yield ourselves to the perfect whole."

Children may or may not wish to search deeper into the reasons
for such groupings of animals and plants. Some will be keenly
interested to search further, to find, for instance, that there is no
inlet, no outlet to this pond, and to learn that it is a typical glacial
kettle-hole, that the peat mosses and other bog plants are edging
farther and farther into the pond, making a false bottom, perhaps, and
that, given time enough, this beautiful little sheet of water will be swal-
lowed up, changing into a swamp, later to become a muck hole,
later still dry land, with a black soil, well-fitted for^some garden
crops. But everyone, however young or immature will store
up these mental pictures for future pleasure, if only attention is
called to various features which would, in most cases, otherwise
remain unnoted.

The study of a leaping, laughing brook would offer a great
contrast to the previous picture; the rocks, ferns, flowers, fish,

A BOYS' CAMP THAT ALMOST BECAME FAMOUS 147

birds, all would vary in species and in habit. So, too, with other
areas, deep woods, swamps, rocky hillsides. Each has its out-
standing features, physical form, plant life and animal life.

If a wild flower garden is desired, or a fernery, such groupings of
plants must be studied to bring each individual to fit its surround-
ings.

As Charles Goodrich Whiting says, plants love their own family
and their own neighbors and only flourish when transplanted,
if some of their neighbors are brought along, too.

If the nature councilor or teacher can look back on the season's
work and say "I have given my charges a broader outlook on nature
— a greater desire to see, and to ask worth-while questions, and to
find answers to those questions, if within their powers, (or in
extreme cases) a realization that there are questions, and greater
than all that each being lives not to itself alone, but helps or hinders
all neighbors," she or he will have done a great work.

A Boys' Camp that Almost Became Famous

By One of the Boys

Johnny's Island rises above the placid waters of an artificial
pond in the town of Northbridge, Massachusetts. Two grammar
school boys from the village a mile away, setting out on their
first adventure, pitched a small tent under the protecting shade
of a few pine trees on this island and there they remained for a
week one July during the closing years of the nineteenth century.
Their equipment was ill-assorted, but it represented a boy's idea
of the necessities of life in the wilds; a cover, a sacking of straw
to sleep upon, a blanket, a skillet, a coffee pot and a stew pan or
two; and the food while it would not pass the proper tests of a
balanced ration to-day was always sufficient as there had been a
generous accumulation of griddle-cake flour and crackers, and a
milk farm within a half mile was a comforting assurance when
the fish failed to bite. The boys however discovered a few things
during that week; most of all that camping had all the pleasures
that were anticipated, and when July came again, once more the
journey to Johnny's Island was undertaken with an addition to the
equipment and to the enrollment. Thus the years went by and

148 NA TURE-ST UD Y RE VIEW

the trend towards the camp became an annual pilgrimage. The
boys went off to school and to college, new associations were formed,
and new faces appeared on the camp site. The equipment grew
until a moving van was required to move the goods from the
winter storage loft to the island camp; while others joined the pil-
grimage until as many as eighteen young people were frequently
settled upon the island to enjoy the out-of-door life, the restful
quiet of a New England pond beyond the reach of its industrial
life, and the comradeship which only life away from the con-
ventions can give.

For thirteen years this camp was maintained and in 1902, the
last meeting of the campers convened on Johnny's Island. The
cam.p in its completed state was the growth of years and its chang-
ing aspects represented the various degrees of demands in the
life of a boy as he changes from his thirteenth to his twenty-sixth
year. The old straw sackings were replaced by cots; the small
tent grew to a colony of five and six; the rough fire place was
abandoned and a home m.ade folding camp stove was invented;
the old grub pail grew to a kitchen tent; the lone canoe to a fleet
of six; a ferry was run to the highway for the convenience of
visitors; yet with all these changes it was out-of-doors, it was
simplicity, and it was rare friendships. The camp was an evolving
camp, built at the beginning according to the ideals which came
from a boy's reading, but representing as time went on little of the
story-book type but a type all its own. It was no conformist
camp; it was maintained for one purpose at the closing years,
for mutual improvement and pleasure.

The real leader of this camp was Lawrence Thurston, Yale
1S9S, and it was natural as the years went by that many of his
classmates made up the list of guests on Johnny's Island. Early
in his college course, Lawrence definitely decided to become a
missionary, and the last years of the camp were marked by the
presence of an increasing number of those whose life interests were
the same as his own. After the camp of 1902, Lawrence Thurston
with his wife, a member of the camp since 1900, sailed for China,
but after a year of intensive work he was ordered home because
of ill health and he died in Claremont, California, during the spring
of 1904. A book, "A Life with a Purpose. A Memorial to John
Lawrence Thurston, First Missionary of the Yale Mission"
tells the story of his consecrated life.

A BOYS' CAMP THAT ALMOST BECAME FAMOUS 149

It is rare that a boys' camp develops as the Johnny Island camp
did. Among the names of those who sojourned there during
the years of its functioning are many who in their own fields
have become well known if not famous. Most of the members
of the camp who enjoyed that last year together were facing their
life work in missionary or allied fields, and the roll of its members
reads almost like a page from the Missionary Who's Who. There
was Brownell Gage who took up the work so well begun by Law-
rence Thurston in China; Mrs. Lawrence Thurston, then Matilda
Calder, now head of a girl's school in China; Enoch Bell, editor
of a missionary publication ; Brewer Eddy, a secretary of the Ameri-
can Board and one of its most effective speakers; Helen Calder,
a Secretary to the Women's board; Robert Hume, professor in
Union Theological Seminary; Robert M. Brown, professor
in the Rhode Island College of Education; Hiram Bingham., dis-
coverer and excavator of the Inca Capital; and many others.
Camping out comes as a normal suggestion to the thoroly Ameri-
can boy. In many cases it is not convenient to carry the suggestion
to its fruition, but when it becomes the expression in the first place
of a boy's love of adventure and then develops along the lines of
his growing ideals, no healthier experience is open to him. The
Johnny Island camp was unique, — it fell short of becoming famous,
as communities in New England have become famous, only because
it had to be abandoned when its members were at an early age. In
1902 it was abandoned temporarily because of the wide spread dis-
persal of its members ; but no hope of opening again was ever seen
when death took away its leading spirit.

Camping is a rare treat. It is frequently the transient experi-
ence of the American boy. When iWesults from, an inneivurge
it is an experience which broadens the life of every one. The
increasing number of summer camps advertised in our magazines
is a healthy sign that dress and hotel life does not satisfy the youth,
but an intimate contact with people and things is desired. If
there can be any criticism of these camps it is because of a super-
imposed leadership, rather than a growth along self-imposed lines.
The Johnny Island camp endured during thirteen formative years
becuase the members became more and more self reliant; because
they were able to meet themselves the changing conditions which
increasing maturity and larger numbers entailed ; and because they

1 5o NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

were able to meet cheerfully such adversities, most of weather con-
ditions, as might tend to discourage. No greater boon can come
to any boy than such an experience as the members of the Johnny
Island camp made for themselves during thirteen consecutive
years.

Nature at Cowasset

Edith V. Douglas

Nature is such a vital part of the daily program at Cowasset
that it is difficult to say just what part it plays and just where
it comes in our camp life. I should say it is present nearly every
moment.

Cowasset is ideally situated in a fragrant pine woods on the
shore of Buzzards Bay, and Cowasset girls are particularly fortu-
nate in being able to study not only the beauties of the fields and
woods but to become acquainted with the peculiar little strangers
of the shore.

The road from Junior to Senior Camp is a path cut through the
woods and as the little Juniors saunter back and forth from
Senior, they make many interesting observations and their enthus-
iasm is very keen. Always before dinner and supper bells my tent
would be invaded with Juniors bringing in specimens of flowers
or exclaiming excitedly about a bird they had just seen.

Of course, in order to get their nature point the girls are required
to identify twenty-five flowers, twenty-five birds, fifteen trees,
fifteen insects, fifteen small animals and ten ferns and mosses.
I found that the girls were much interested in getting this point
and there were few girls in camp who did not accomplish it before
the summer was over.

The girls (especially the Juniors) were very proud of their
note books and there was much competition among them as to
whose would be the most original or whose would be the neatest.
In these note books the girls kept lists of the birds, flowers, etc.,
that they had observed, made drawings and sometimes wrote up
short stories about the particular thing observed. On rainy
days the time was spent in leaf printing sheets for the note books
and in coloring in bird and flower sheets.

church THE MT. WASHINGTON TRIP 151

We went on many hikes away from camp but there was so much
to learn about right around our own bungalows and tents that if
we return to Cowasset many summers we will always find new in-
spiration.

The girls are wide awake to observe everything about them.
When they are swimming they find a fiddler or a horseshoe crab
and come running up to want to know all about it. When at Arts
and Crafts they notice that the logs of the crafts bungalow are
stuffed with moss. They discover it is peat moss. What is its
history and usage?

After rest hour many girls can be seen in the grove looking for
new specimens and before warning bells will have added many to
their lists.

So I consider that nature can not be set down for a certain few
hours during the week but if the girls are interested they will
be constantly on the lookout for the wonderful things that they
can see no matter where they are. If a nature councilor has arous-
ed that interest I think she will feel that her summer has not been
in vain.

The Mt. Washington Trip

Olivia J. Church

Camp Allegro, Madison, N. H.

During the summer of 1921 a party of fifteen girls and councilors
from Camp Allegro staited on a three day hike to Mt. Washington.

We went by machines to the foot of Tuckerman's Ravine and
at noon started our climb. As we left the forest behind us, we saw
ahead the apparently perpendicular wall of the ravine. We could
see nothing beyond and were disappointed for a minute, thinking
we beheld the peak of Mt. Washington. We exclaimed, "It is
so straight! How can we ever get to the top!" But our hike
master assured us that it was by no means as precipitous as it
looked so after a light lunch by a cold stream, we started on again
discovering just enough perilous spots to give us the much de-
sired thrills.

The cold mountain wind had sprung up now and it was growing
late, so we took the trail to the "Lake of The Clouds Hut," where

152 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

we were expected for the night. Here we met two travelers going
our way, and we all enjoyed a warm, wholesome supper, made
merry by the chatter of the events of the day. We were as one
family as, after our meal, we listened contentedly while one of
our group read aloud from a volume of poems written by a nature
lover, whose lines appealed to the girls, for they often mentioned
their enjoyment of the pleasant hour.

Off before daybreak the next morning, we reached the summit
of Mt. Washington in time for the sunrise, which preceded a fair
day, so that our view of the surrounding country fulfilled our
expectations.

Together with our friends of the previous evening, we now left
Mt. Washington, passed Mt. Clay, and reached Mt. Jefferson
just at noon. Here we held our simple Sunday service, which in-
spired us with a greater appreciation and love of God's great out-
of-doors.

Our party ate the noon day meal beside a spring and here parted
from our two friends so quickly made. While the more ambitious
of our number climbed Mt. Adams, those of us who remained be-
hind, rested until their return, when we all made our way back to
the hut.

The shadows were creeping up the ravines when we again reached
our shelter. Here we found some new and interesting friends,
three naturalists one of whom was a great lover of birds and who
is quoted by Frank F. Chapman in his "Handbook of Birds."
These men told us interesting incidents of their trip and, among
other specimens collected, showed us a piece of black spruce taken
from a tree which had grown only a few inches in height and whose
rings proved it to be fifty years old.

On the third day we started home by way of the Southern Peaks
of the Presidential Range and in the late afternoon reached
Crawford Notch where with hearts filled with pleasant memories,
we took a train for Camp.

NEVER BE DISCOURAGED

H. F. G.

Camp Director of the Aloha Camps.
Perhaps a word to hearten all camp directors who are trying to give
their best inspiration and leadership to young people in learning to
know and love out of doors may not be amiss. The work is so new in
its manner, as developed in camps that we have not yet even the right
name for it. We do not mean Nature Lore — nor Nature work — nor
Wood-craft, rather we mean a good deal of each and even more. It
is no wonder we can't find geniuses in these lines graduating by scores
from our over-packed colleges. We are quite certain we do not want
primarily scientific experts to teach our campers. Even at the thought,
I can see bloomered camp girls taking to cover. Just what are we
looking for in the persons who are to be the leaders of our campers in
out of door life, close and intimate with Nature? It is true we are
looking for persons who are learned as to birds and beasts and flowers,
who know trees and rocks and clouds and stars, but they must not be
erudite at the cost of being human. They must know and love young
folks so well that no labor will seem too great in getting the campers
to be on joyous, intimate, intelligent terms with the life about them.

Our Nature leaders, if such we may call them till some one has
coined a better term, must have red-blooded enthusiasm for the camper
as well as for Nature. They must not have peered through a telescope
or a microscope, so exclusively, as to have forgotten how lovely and
lively the growing young camper is at his elbow. We are looking for
leaders with the naturalist's training and enthusiasm plus the kindly
understanding heart toward the young learner — someone who has
that glorious gift of leadership that makes young folks love to follow
and to hear, learn and to copy him. Our aim is too big to be attained
in one, two or possibly ten summers, but if we have, with the help
of such leaders as I have indicated, created an attitude in the campers
mind toward the world of Nature about us of eager, earnest, curious
study, we have done something. If we have made our campers feel
that camp life opens to them a great world of life thrilling, delightful,
beautiful, mysterious, awful, that they must know and conquor and
enjoy and beautify, we have done much. If our campers can go off
on hikes or water trips with "eyes that see" and "ears that hear"
after many summers at camp, we shall have given them a source of
growth and enrichment beyond price.

153

Second Nature-Lore School

The Second Nature-Lore School for Camp Councilors was held
at Camp Kia Ora, Lake Morey, Fairlee, Vermont. Some of the
lectures were held at Aloha which is half a mile around the lake.

Kia Ora is on an exquisite mountain lake among the Vermont
hills. ' The region abounds with birds. There were nearly twenty
birds which built their nests on some part of the assembly hall.
Everywhere nature was abundant. Ferns and orchids were in
the nearby woods. One could not ask for greater riches of nature.
The Camp hostess, Miss Clara V. Coyle, made every one feel at
home and Mrs. Edward Gulick was a good neighbor.

The course was based on the earth sciences which were in charge
of Professor C. P. Sinnott of the Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
vState Normal School. This work was admirably handled and
later was reviewed in pageant form by the various teams.

Mr. Carl Rankin, of the Marquand High School, Brooklyn had
charge of outdoor cooking. At least one meal per day was cooked
in the open. The chicken roasted in a hole in the ground will be
remembered for a long time as a dish fit for an epicure.

Professor Anna Comstock, of Cornell, we like to think of as the
Dean of American Nature-Study. She offered inspiration from
all phases of nature. Her talks in the recreation hall will form
a pleasant spot in the heart of every naturer who heard her. If
the councilors were able to radiate a small bit of her enthusiasm
the nature world cannot help but be cheerier and broader.

Professor and Mrs. Vinal brought the experiences of the first
Nature-lore School. The trail to the peat bog — the orgies of the
quaking bog- — the capturing of the ground hog — the oven bird's
nest — the scouting games — were passed on to the hundreds of girls
in the summer camps.

And Professor and Mrs. Kinsey, from the University of Indiana
came down from. Aloha to lead in some delightful bird trips.

The week was, as some one said, the Biggest, the Best, and the
Busiest. All vowed that they would be at the next school in 1922.

i54

The Staff of the Second Nature Lore School.

From left to right: Prof. C. P. Sinnott, Prof. Vinal,
Miss Clara V. Coyle, Mr. Carl Rankin, Mrs. A. B. Com-
stock, Professor and Mrs. Kinsey.

CAMP NATURE-LORE EXHIBITION: The American Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Science holds its next meeting
in Boston. This comes during Christmas week. There will
be about three thousand scientists at these meetings. The
National Association of the Directors of Girls Ccinps is invited
to meet with the American Nature-Study Society at this time.
You are asked to keep this in mind during the summer months
and get together an exhibition that is worthy of your camp.
Many of us believe that the schools should absorb some of the
methods used in camp and here is an excellent opportunity
for us to show our worthwhileness. This meeting will be
worth while for us and we have a contribution that will be
worth while for the scientists. These are the kind of people
that you want interested in your camp. They will want to
know about this great movement in education. The program
will be in the Review for November.

The Committee
Mrs. Edward Gulick, The Aloha Camps.
Miss Eleanor Deming, Camp Mirimichi.
William G. Vinal, Camp Chequesset.

Chairman.

i55

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE IN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including mem-
bership in the American Nature Study Society $1.50 per year (nine issues). Canadian post-
age 10 cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cents extra.

Editorial

Blue mountains, bluer lakes, beautiful forests, dashing streams,
squdgy, overgrown swamps, rocky heights, — all these formed the
environment of the second Nature-lore school for camp council-
ors last June. Mrs. Gulick was to have had us at Camp Aloha
but at the last moment was obliged to turn us over to her neighbor,
Miss Coyle at Camp Ke Ora, and no one could have been a more
sypathetic, helpful and efficient hostess than she proved to be.

The pupils who gathered there were the kind that one loves
to teach ; they were eager, ready for anything, and had a true appre-
ciation of the value of nature-study in camp life. Many of them
had already worked in camps and were keen to get hold of methods
that would make nature-lore an integral part of camp life.

There were lectures in the early morning in the recreation
hall and a bluebird took this opportunity to demonstrate her
originality by building her nest in brazen robin fashion on the
top of a post of the porch before our very own eyes. The days
were given to hikes, each one for a special study of trees, birds,
plants and especially of the geology as recorded in the mountains,
valleys and cliffs and interpreted by our inspiring leader. At
odd moments we invented tree games, bird games and every
other kinds of an out -door game that we could think of; and we
had our suppers anywhere in the landscape that we chose and
had them cooked over as many different kinds of fires as our
cam.p craft leader was master of and that is saying much; and
at night we studied the stars and then sought our woodland
shacks which were filled with the brooding spirit of slumber.
Such restful nights they were, even though once in a while an
importunate whip-poor-will took a fancy to serenade us. It
was as a whole a most interesting week, helpful and inspiring
alike to teachers and pupils.

156

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DIRECTORS

OF GIRLS CAMPS

Announces the Third Annual

Nature Lore School For Nature Councilors

THE STAFF : We believe that this faculty and their subjects are
unique. Every leader is a naturalist. He practices what
he preaches. He has made good with children. He is known
outside of this fifty mile radius. He has a distinct message
for every nature guide. He is not shackled by a course-of-
study. He is human.

Anna Botsford Comstock, "The spirit of Nature-lore." Dean of
American Nature-study; Professor of Nature-study, Cornell
University; Author of the Handbook of Nature-study, (the
best textbook in nature-study) ; Ed. Nature -Study Review.

Thornton W. Burgess, "Nature stories about the Camp Fire.1' Ask
the children who Thornton Burgess is? He is coming back
home, down on Cape Cod, as he says, "where my love for the
out-door life was aroused and where I unconsciously laid the
foundation for my present work. There is but one Cape Cod.
I love it." He will tell about his method and we will try to
catch his spirit. Note that he always tells the truth about
his animals. We need to hear more of the truth.

Marie Stillman Russell and Mary Stillman, "Handicraft with
Native Materials." Teachers, artists, naturalists, composers.
Both were nature councilors at Teelawooket for two years.
We believe that crafts in camp should not be a repetition of
what one gets in school. It should involve the handiwork of
the old homestead of the region in which the camp is located.
Mrs. Russell was formerly head of the Art Department in the
Rhode Island College of Education. We believe that these
two sisters are fitted to show how the nature councilor and
the craft councilor may correlate their work.

E. H. Forbush, "Living experiences with living birds" rather than
fact stuffing about stuffed birds. Professor Forbush is Director
of the Division of Ornithology for the State of Massachusetts.
He is an author of note and founded the Massachusetts Audu-
bon Society. Among other things he will give a course in

i57

158 NAT URE-ST UD Y RE VIE W

bird banding and tell how to organize such a society at camp.
Mr. Forbush is president of the New England Bird Banding
Association and the work is to be under the Biological Survey
at Washington. Records and material will be furnished camps
free. Fifty bird houses have been ordered from the May
Bros., Cohasset, Mass., for this work at Camp Chequesset.
Delia I. Griffin, "The Camp Museum," not a store house for dusty
relics where moths and thieves break in and steal but a live
working camp museum.. Miss Griffin got her love for nature
in Vermont. She is curator of the Children's Museum of
Boston. Every councilor will be given guided experience in
this important art. This may be a connecting link with our
exhibition for next year.

Manley Bacon Townsend, "Sunday Night Talks Out of the Environ-
ment. ' ' Mr. Townsend has a boy scout troop. He is a lecturer
of note. He was formerly Secretary of the Audubon Society
of New Hampshire. Before we say that he is a clergyman
let us add that he is genial, optimistic, has a hearty manner,
is scientific, and believes in the great out-of-doors. He
does not scold or sermonize but talks like a man to men. Ask
the 1920 members of the nature school about him. They know.

Dr. Henry P. Lovewell, "Medicinal Plants." Dr. Lovewell is a
practicing physician. He also has a hobby of collecting
medicinal plants. He will show us how a nature councilor
can be a "first aider." Then we'll go out and collect aromatic
herbs for the camp attic — just as our great grandmothers did
in days of yore. Let's revive the custom just for fun. And
the campers will just enjoy it.

William Gould Vinal, "Nature Games, and the Camp Notebook."
Professor of Nature-study at the Rhode Island College of
Education. Believes that the Nature-lore School is a great
institution for inspiration in nature-study. Believes that
every camp should base its activities upon its own environment.
Believes that good nature councilors are rare. Believes that
all nature councilors should be given an opportunity to meet
the best leaders in the field of nature that they may carry over
the inspiration to the young people of America. Believes that
the camp is an educational institution.

NATURE LORE SCHOOL FOR NATURE COUNCILORS 159

THE PLACE: Camp Chequesset. Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Down on Cape Cod. Cape Cod has long been known as the
meeting place of northern and southern plants and animals.
The mountain plants venture into its cold bogs. Here one
may learn how to interpret lake shores and shifting dunes;
glacial deposits and primitive peat. Agassiz recognized the
Cape as cosmopolitan nature when he established his summer
school on Penikese. Thoreau walked the whole length of the
Cape and reveled in its natural wonders. Cape Cod is still
unspoiled by man and again comes the call to study nature
on its rugged shores.

TIME : Arrive Thursday noon, June 22; leave Thursday afternoon,
June 29, 1922.

HOW TO GET THERE : To reach Camp Chequesset from New
York by the Fall River Line, leave Pier 19, North River, 5 P.M.
Wednesday, June 21, to Fall River, thence by train to Well-
fleet, arriving at 11.33 A. M. on Thursday. Fare $7.71.
Those coming via Boston take the Cape Train from South
Station, 7.35 A. M., Thursday, June 22. Purchase ticket
to Wellfleet. Meet in the Barnstable section of the large
waiting room.. Fare $3.83.

The New York party joins the Boston Party at Middleboro.
Each member will be sent a badge so that he may recognize
other members of the nature school. The badge is an intro-
duction and you may lose much valuable time if you do not
get acquainted right away.

The camp is also accessible by state road. Watch for the big
nautical wheel just before crossing the railroad track into
Wellfleet Village.

Some may wish to go back via Provincetown and Boston.
In this case they will take the train to Provincetown, having
about two hours to see the first landing place of the Pilgrims
and other historic places. Then take the steamer "Dorothy
Bradford" across the Bay to Boston, arriving about 6 P. M.

ENROLLMENT: The fee is $35.00. Please send enrollment and
check to William G. Vinal, Rhode Island College of Education,
Providence, Rhode Island.

The first opportunity of enrollment is given to the members
of the National Association of the Directors of Girls Camps.

1 60 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Directors wishing to enroll themselves or their nature coun-
cilors, or their craft councilors should do so before May 1, 1922.
If the places are not all taken by May first the vacancies may
be taken by nature leadeis from other organizations such as
the Scouts, camp fire, boys' camps, schools, churches, etc.
These will be accepted in older of receipt.
Receipts will not be sent where payment is by check. When
enrolling, state full name, address, Camp Director and address;
and camp represented with address.

WHAT TO BRING: Blankets, sheets for single beds, a pillow slip,
rubbers, enthusiasm, a sharp pencil, and a sharp eye. (Note-
books, paper, colored pencils, maps, and other materials
will be furnished by the school).

PROGRAM: To vary with the spirit of the weather.

Half day around camp. — Notebook, gardening, nature games,
leaf printing, bird calls, microscope, tow net, aquarium, viva-
rium, score cards, maps, rainy-day nature-study, weather,
library methods, camp museum., decoration, nature photog-
raphy, bird banding.

Half day in the field. — Making friends with the birds, scanning
the shore, conserving wild flowers, protecting the forest,
exploring swamps, gathering minerals, reading hills, traveling
by compass, path finding by map, surveying ponds, collecting
herbs, hunting small animals, foraging expeditions, cooking
out-of-doors, observing nature's laws, visiting the hermit,
studying forgotten posy gardens.

Evening features: Lectures, round table discussions, chats
by groups.

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings or Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

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DUES

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in U. S. , Si. so; annual
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Si. 75; Canada, £i.6o.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature
Study Society.

RECOMMENDATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

IN THE

AMERICAN NATURE STUDY SOCIETY

President. J. A. DRUSHEL St. Louis
Secretary. ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
NatureStudy Review

PLEASE DETATCH AND FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECREARY.

IQ2

To the American Nature Study Society
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(It is suggested that you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and of the

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Photo by Frances G. Conrad.
Studying Ostriches at Cawston Ostrich Farm. Los Angeles, Cal.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Young America and Nature-Study. R. W. Shufeldt.
Field Trips at Fallen Leaf Lake. M. E. Delport. -
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A. M. Peterson.
Have You a Nature Hobby? M. D. Weston.
Camera Hunting. A. E. Lownes
Spring-time Among the Trees. K. R. Rogers.
The Circus — Verse. M. Turner.
Editorial --------

News Items -------

The Eook Shelf -------

161
166
174
177
192
194
199
200
201
205

Anna B. Comstock, Editor
associate editors

Susan Sipe Alburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel -
Prof. John Dearness
Miss Cora Smith
Prof. W. G. Vinal

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis. Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Providence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Ithaca, N. Y.
under the Act of March 3, 1879

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18

Mat, 1922

No. 5

Photo by Frances G. Conrad

A Los Angeles Foreign Class on a Nature-Study hike above the clouds.

Mount Lowe.

Young America and Nature- Study

Dr. R. W. Shufeldt

It is a good thing to know that so many of our boys and girls are
interested in all that nature offers, and that this interest is not con-
fined to any particular part of the country or to any special class
of children. Not long ago, I pointed out in American- Forestry
that there were nature-study classes in some of the cities of lower

161

162 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

California composed almost entirely of the children of foreign
peoples; but that our own boys and girls really lead in these
pursuits in that section is well shown in some of the beautiful
photographs sent me by Dr. Charles L. Edwards, who is Director
of Nature-Study in the schools of Los Angeles. Two of these
photographs are here reproduced on page 163 and they were
taken by an assistant of Doctor Edwards, Miss Frances G. Con-
rad. The upper picture shows the Annual Seaside Excursion
to Pt. Fermin, and 3000 school children of Los Angeles are seen
studying the animals and other things found in the tidepools
of that famous locality; below, we have another scene, taken at
the same time and place, in which some of the children are in the
foreground.

The material for study in nature is practically limitless; and
were a million children to gather such specimens and to study them
in their minutest detail every day for many, many generations
barely a beginning would be made toward the completion of
what there is to be known about plants and animals and all the
rest that nature offers in our great country, to say not a word of
all the rest of the world.

It is not unusual to have parents, and, what is more discourag-
ing, teachers — though not nature-study teachers — ask what is
the practical use of this branch of study to children. What
does it lead to, and what is its value to grown-ups. Well, it
stands to reason that professional biologists and naturalists have
all the use in the world for it, as it constitutes their working-stock
of knowledge; but for the average boy and girl in private and
public schools it possesses, as a study and a training, no end of
uses — even though any particular boy or girl should not have it in
mind at all to follow up the subject as their life's work.

Upon comparing any clear-minded, healthy boy or girl, who
has had a complete course in nature-study in a public or private
school — both class-room or laboratory instruction and field work
in its different departments — with those who have not enjoyed
such instruction, this comparison will, when properly made,
reveal the fact that the character, qualifications, and faculties
of the former, as contrasted with the latter, everything else being
equal, be found far and away ahead in many practical and im-
portant particulars. Take the boy, for example. It will be found

shufeldt YOUNG AMERICA AND NATURE-STUDY

163

Photos by Frances G. Conrad

Three thousand children of Los Angeles Schools studying the animals in tide
pools at Pt. Fermin on the Pacific Coast.

that his out-of-doors training in nature-study has resulted in
giving him a fine physique, backed by continual excellent health.
From constantly using them, all of his senses are keen — such as
his eyesight, his hearing, and the rest. His powers of observation
have been cultivated to a high degree of refinement; and let me

1 64 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

tell you right here that a good observer holds, in any course in
life, the reins of success in his hands — as compared with the one
who is lacking in it — in a proportion that is truly remarkable.
With good powers of observation comes good judgment and the
ability to render correct decisions in many matters vital to suc-
cess, together with the ability to assist others.

As for the one who has had no complete training in nature
study as a child, it is to be noted that such a person, upon arriving
at maturity, has no conception whatever as to his or her relation
to other living forms in nature; no appreciation as to his or her
place in the system and no knowledge of the factors constituting
environment; not a single correct idea as to man's evolution,
much less as to the origin in time, of any other living creature —
or extinct one for that matter.

Again, nature-study soon leads to studious habits, and to the
reading of many books on many subjects — all of which is of great
advantage. Between this reading and out-door life, and the
contact with all that nature presents, is developed a character
possessed of charity for one's own kind, and the proper consider-
ation for all living forms below it — an attitude thoroughly incon-
sistent with such undesirable attributes as cruelty, narrowness
of mind, selfishness, and lack of refinement. With nature-study
comes, too, a training in drawing and the use of colors; the use
of certain instruments of precision — as the microscope and its
various adjuncts; the field glass; tools for measurements, and
various others having to do with skill in use and with practical
ends.

An all-round nature student is usually a good swimmer, runner,
and climber, with trained hands and limbs for other purposes;
such students, too, generally stand high in manual training, in
the skilful use of tools, and in not a few of the mechanical de-
vices employed by the artisan and members of the various pro-
fessions in their several lines of work. In short, graudates in
nature-study, with an inclination to follow it through life, usu-
ally make good citizens and all-round, up-to-date Americans —
factors in a race that can, as a rule, be thoroughly depend-
ed upon in war, in peace, and in the various activities that
go to make up our lives and relations to our fellow beings, not
omitting the living forms in the balance of animated nature.

shufeldt YOUNG AMERICA AND NATURE-STUDY

165

Photo by Elizabeth F. Burnett

Children of Jefferson Street School studying a gopher and king snake.

Los Angeles, Cal.

Nature offers us for study all that we find in the Vegetable
Kingdom; and all that we find in the Anima1 Kingdom, from the
very lowest forms up to include our own species, which last
stands, mentally and in all but a few minor particulars, at the
head of the series. Then we can study the form of the Earth
and its crust, as far into it as we can reach, including the various
fossils it contains and the elements of which it is composed. Also
the study of all fluids and solids of the globe, and its atmospheric
envelope. Some recent nature books add to these subjects the
study of elementary astronomy; the weather; snow, hail, and
rain, and a few closely allied things.

Young nature students should secure a camera as soon as
possible, and learn to use it; but this is a subject I trust to take
up for you later, as it is altogether too important a branch of
nature-study to skim lightly over.

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm; it is the real allegory
of the tale of Orpheus; it moves stones, it charms brutes. Enthu-
siasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no victo-
ries without it. Bulwer

Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe

Field Trips at Fallen Leaf Lake

Mary E. Delport
1601 Oxford St., Berkley, Calif.

Imagine yourself bird hunting in the high Sierras under the
leadership of an ornithologist sent there for the express purpose of
adding this attractive feature to your summer vacation! To the
true nature lover this sounds like "such stuff as dreams are made
of." We have had vacations — many of them of the stereotyped
kind; hiked in the woods, climbed mountains, cooked out of
doors, slept under the stars; in a word, we have accomplished
all the wonderful feats that the time and the place have inspir-
ed. But how seldom, have we actually included in the glories of
the wilderness, an intimate acquaintance with the wild-folk that
contribute so largely to making that same wilderness so attrac-
tive to us. To the large majority, birds are just birds in the
abstract sense, and they are nothing more and to single them
out, study their characteristics or their songs, rarely ever occurs
to us.

1 66

delport FIELD TRIPS AT FALLEN LEAF LAKE 167

Out in California during the vacation season of 1919, the
California Fish and Game Commission, in answer to a popular
demand, outlined a schedule of fields trips from a number of
resorts situated around Lake Tahoe, the object being to interest
the summer vacationist in California's wild life resources. The
region chosen was a most fitting ground upon which to stage
this novel program, and so successful was the attempt, that the
National Government has seen fit to duplicate the work under
the same leadership, during the 1920 and 1921 seasons in the
Yosemite Valley. Enthusiasm runs high over the results obtained
at the latter place and we have every reason to believe that the
program is with us to stay and will be repeated in the Yosemite
and other national parks throughout the state during subsequent
seasons.

The trips at Lake Tahoe started at Brockway on July 2. Five
days were devoted to this resort with an average daily attendance
of fifteen. The work progressed day by day until five resorts
were visited and at the close of four weeks, three hundred and
sixty-two adults and one hundred and fifty-seven children were
recorded as having participated. During the 1920 season in
Yosemite the number rose to 27,047; the results obtained during
the 1921 season at this same place are still higher. Each day's
trip was supplemented by an evening's talk and a discussion of
some interesting topic relating to wild life and its conservation.

The concluding trips of the Tahoe program took place at Fallen
Leaf Lake, some two hundred feet higher than Tahoe, — a spot
unsurpassed in rugged beauty and serving as a convenient en-
trance to a region abounding in mountain lakes, high peaks,
lovely glens and glades of fancy's own making, and offering at
the same time, unusual examples of the wild life of the Sierra.
So memorable were these first days that I have since glanced over
my field-trip notes more than once and from them been tempted to
run off the following account of a typical day spent in this
fascinating combination of educational and pleasurable pastime.

We had left Tallac late one afternoon and dusk had overtaken
us before we arrived at Fallen Leaf Lodge, but the end of the
trail revealed a bit of Sierran magic enveloped in the shades
of an opal. Out of the east the pink-purple alpenglow spread

1 68 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

like a filmy veil over mountains fringed in green, while the clear, blue
sky above beheld itself in the crystal waters of the lake below.
Through it all wafted the scent of pines, spicy and sweet, — elusive
as a fairy's breath, but full of the enchanted wildness scattered
so profusely on all sides.

A late robin flew out of the brush, crossed our path, and perch-
ing himself on a pine bough, looked out over the stretch of
purple world below. The last flush of day had died and we waited
the twilight to steal out of the heavens and spread its pall over
the beauty around us. The robin still lingered, and who knows
but what he, too, had stolen from his nest to watch for the stars
as one by one they blossomed in the blue field above and gently
sprinkled their golden shadows into the lap of the waiting lake
below. We lingered until the young moon came out of the west,
ushered by jeweled stars, and hanging like a lantern from a bridge
of pine boughs above, lighted the way to our cedar-bark cabin,
a picturesque abode overlooking the lake.

The robin, too, no doubt had flown to his nest, and in the
sacred stillness, something of this seemed to echo through the
walls of our consciousness:

"O God of Little Birds

Who breathed into our wings to make us light

And painted them with colors of His sky,

All thanks for this fair day, for meat and drink —

Sweet sky-born water caught in cups of stone,

Sweet hedgerow berries washed of dust with dew.

And thanks for these good little eyes of ours

That spy the unseen enemies of man,

And thanks for the good tools by Thee bestowed

To aid our work of little gardeners,

Trowels and pruning-hooks of living horn.

Tomorrow we will fight borer and blight,
Forgive, Thy birds tonight their trespasses,
The stripping of a currant-bush or two."

delport FIELD TRIPS AT FALLEN LEAF LAKE 169

The day began at sunrise next morning when we stole out in
time to greet our late robin, his breast to match the dawn, as he
flew back and forth to the lake-shore where undoubtedly he got
his worm.

Right in front of us a noisy quack-quack sounded, and out of
a marshy covert, nine shiny mallards started a parade over the
glassy surface of the lake, — monarchs at that early hour, of all
they surveyed. Starting towards the lodge, we stopped to listen
to the greetings of a dainty, fluffy bit of yellow dancing about
on a dogwood that enveloped our cabin. On closer inspection
we discovered a household of these yellow midgets and by their
black caps we identified them as pileolated warblers, chirping and
bustling about, all alive for the chores of the day and just now
engaged in foraging for breakfast. Following their example
we reached the dining room and lingered there until the gathering
of bird-hunters on the porch outside gave us the signal that the
climb to the Angora Lakes was about to begin.

At the foot of the trail we crossed a gentian glen, cool and
shadowy, the blossoms like bits of azure sky sprinkled from above
into a mossy bed of green. Right over our heads in the pine
branches, chubby bits of gray pranced about and a chickadee-dee-
dee in a wheezy, chirpy chorus rained down upon us. Upon closer
inspection we found this stately old pine transformed into an
up-to-date apartment house, for each limb furnished another
story to house these active little creatures. Perfectly oblivious
of what went on about them, they swung nimbly about, playing
what seemed a game of see-saw, heads downward part of the time.

The caravan had started the descent of the trail, not however,
before they had located the loud, screeching call of a jay. A
beautiful, dull blue-fronted bird with a darker crest sailed across
the gap, followed by three more of his kind. These mountain
jays are more ornate than their coastal cousins, but their voices
have the same loud, rasping quality.

Three little brown striped chipmunks emerged from the brush,
stared and started off again, quick as darting shadows across the
trail. A few steps onward and another call pierced the silence,
this time a queer, nasa1 quonk-quonk-quonk. A nuthatch, small,
bluish-gray, with a black cap and white throat and breast, firmly
planted to the bole of a tree, started zig-zagging upward, pecking

170 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

and chipping the bark as he traveled. This bird, we learned, is a
veritable acrobat in his kingdom, creeping up and down and swin g-
ing to and from branches with the greatest ease; he is also of
incalculable value from an economic standpoint, as his food is
mainly insects and their eggs, which he gleans from the bark of
trees.

A pair of golden-crowned kinglets proved our next find; in
fact, the fir tree to our right housed more than one family. These
little jeweled bits are well camouflaged in pines or firs, but they
prove an easy find, even to the amateur, by their queer scolding
chatter which one can hardly attribute to such dainty morsels.
Something of the mystery of bird migration attaches itself to
these birds when we consider that they nest high up in these
mountains in summer and make a long journey to the coastal
region for winter quarters.

Right here we rested, turning our attention from the treasures
above to those scattered at our feet. To the right a shady patch
of meadow rue mingled its fern-like branches with the delicate
columbine and wild aster. Pink dog-bane crept along the edge
of the trail and farther into the thicket a row of skunk cabbage
hedged in this little mountain bower. Underneath and almost
hidden, we found the dainty pyrola, like beads of pale coral drop-
ping from a jade-green stem. Over it all the stately pines towered
to the blue above, and the sun, stealing through their branches,
shot little sparks of gold into a background of soft, feathery green.
Farther along we found beds of Indian paint brush, pink spirea
Queen Anne's lace, delphinium and golden rod, as well as the
dashing magenta of the fire weed and the dainty blue of the
monk's hood.

A white-headed woodpecker, in characteristic pose, called us
from our flowered reverie, and after observing this bird at close
range, we resumed our journey up the mountain side. We had
now entered the lodge-pole pine and hemlock belt and we expected
to meet at this altitude, some of the higher mountain birds of the
region. We had not long to await our reward for soon a large
black and white bird swooped across the opening and by its loud
raucous call we fixed its identity as that of Clark's crow or nut-
cracker. There were others, too, of the same feather, bizarre and
noisy, who vied with the first in their screeches and screams. To

delport FIELD TRIPS AT FALLEN LEAF LAKE 171

help things along somewhat, a couple of jays had come up from
below and joined in the chorus and we listened to a very unusual
and unmusical bird concert while it lasted. Birds of a feather
surely flock together, for what modest little songster could live
within hearing distance of these bold ribalds. The concert sub-
sided somewhat before we left, followed by a continuous chatter,
and we decided that if gossip was a propensity among birds, the
gift had surely fallen to Clark's crows in particular.

We had now reached the summit of the ridge with Fallen Leaf
stretched below like a sheet of lapus-lazuli. Tahoe farther on
folded in by gray-blue mountains, completed a vista almost too
beautiful and full of magic to be real. Turning away from the
scene, we entered a little meadow which ended on the shores of
the first lake of the Angora group. These lakes, three in number,
nestle together at the foot of Angora peak, a bold, castellated
member of the ridge that overlooks Glen Alpine and a vast country
beyond. Some fine examples of hemlock and juniper adorn the
sides of this peak, and patched here and there with snow, it
presents a typical Sierran picture.

The long, slurred note of a pewee started us on another quest,
but we stopped before we located it, having sighted a nicker,
whose rich shades of spotted brown and red looked like a dash
of Persian brocade adrift in the wind. Farther on, and nearer
the second lake, we found a Sierra creeper. Quick as a flash, his
tail planted firmly against the bark, woodpecker-fashion, he
started his spiral ascent up the bole of a fir tree. His behavior
appears somewhat automatic and one might easily compare him
to a tin toy wound up, somehow attached to the tree and left to
follow the course until it unwound itself. Unlike the nuthatch,
this bird does not crawl down, but instead flies from the top to
the bottom of the tree, crawls up again and repeats the process,
meanwhile pecking away at the bark for food which consists
mainly of insects.

We had left the three Angoras and had started on the homeward
trail when glancing upward we spotted twelve white pelicans
flying over Cathedral Peak, — a rare find to be sure. Imagine
these heavy birds grecefully carrying their weight at an elevation
of over ten thousand feet, while we poor mortals puff and pant at
much lower elevations. The pelicans, we learned, were probably

i72 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

on their way to Pyramid Lake in Nevada, one of their favorite
breeding grounds.

About noon we retraced our steps and started the descent of
the trail, listening all the way to the jingling notes of the juncoes
as they gathered in little social groups in quest for food. A
Calaveras warbler proved a new find as we stepped out upon the road
again, having completed one of the most successful trips of the
number allotted to Fallen Leaf.

There were other trips as full of profit and rare finds as the one
to the Angoras. Glen Alpine, carrying all the beauty and charm
that its name implies, furnished endless material for profitable
quests. Here we found quail, fox sparrows, purple finches, warb-
ling vireos, pewees, many varieties of warblers, the fascinating
ouzel and the hummers; in fact every bird in the region seemed
to pay allegiance at some time or other to this locality.

Another trip toward Tallac, through hedges of choke cherry,
deer brush, service berry and coffee berry, introduced us to a
To\Mserd's solitaire, an evening grosbeak and a pair of Western
taragers, — all within close range at the same time. An olive-side
flycatcher, that shy fellow who keeps himself so high above the
rest of his companions that one rarely ever steals sight of him,
made the air vibrate at times with his continuous, insistent call.
A lazuli bunting, too, was heard but we were not fortunate enough
to locate this beautiful specimen.

Cne day, toward the end of our stay, we located two nests, —
one of the Calliope hummer, the other of the Western wood pewee.
These nests were on opposite trees, well exposed, but still diffi-
cult to observe, especially the hummers' as it appeared more
like a slight hump on the crotch of a limb. Every afternoon
thereafter we sat on the porch of a little eyrie and watched the
patient parent pewees feed and care^for their young. They took
turrs in leaving the nest, catching an insect, which they made
known by a quick snap of the bill, flying back and fluttering affec-
tionately over their young while they fed them the dainty
morsel. It took each parent about three and a half minutes to
complete this operation. Their lives were somewhat menaced
by the haughty jays that hovered around in an effort to plunder
the little brood, and while we admired the coloration of this
latter bird, we agreed then and there that beauty is only skin

delport FIELD TRIPS AT FALLEN LEAF LAKE 173

deep in the bird kingdom as well as in some other higher orders of
creation. One day we came, but the nest was empty. Upon
close observation, we discovered one little panting bird hidden
under an old log. We watched him carefully and want 2d so
much to take him in and care for him during these first
days; but we dared not, as he was undoubtedly going through
one stage of his growth and must be left to start the battle on
his own feet. The parents had gone off for a short vacation,
no doubt, which they justly deserved. We concluded too, that
if there is such a place as a bird-heaven, surely these parent
pewees had already earned a place therein.

It was hard to leave Fallen Leaf and break away from the
association's we had gathered in the great out-of-doors; hard too,
to leave paths of peace and magic and come down to earth and
the "crowded roads that run so straight to pain," but we came
back with new appreciations and deeper revelations of the beau-
ties of the wilderness and the life it sustains.

Better than any personal gain was the realization of the in-
calculable benefits bestowed on the many individuals who had
partaken in this pioneer work of becoming acquainted with nature
through actual contact and first-hand education under a com-
petent instructor. The results accomplished have opened the way
toward bigger things in the same direction for future workers, and
the fact that there is a group of interested, enthusiastic followers
fairly clamoring at the gates for just this sort of education, is the
most encouraging indication that a definite program will be
outlined to meet this demand. As John Muir put it "Even the
scenery habit in its most artificial forms, mixed with spectacles,
silliness and kodaks; its devotees arrayed more gorgeously than
scarlet tanagers, frightening the wild game with red umbrellas, —
even this is encouraging, and may well be regarded as a hopeful
sign of the times."

Dr. E. Lawrence Palmer of Cornell is teaching at Berkeley, Cal. during
the Summer Session of the University of California.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Alvin M. Peterson
West Allis, Wis.

Some birds like some people have bad reputations. The
blue jay has been known to steal the eggs and kill the young
of other birds and crows and grackles to steal corn. Rightly
or wrongly the yellow-bellied sapsucker has a worse reputation
than any other woodpecker. He is accused of tapping trees,
sucking the sap as it flows from the holes, and eventually girdling
the tree and thus killing it. His friends, however, call attention
to the fact that he destroys numerous harmful insects, catching
and eating them in large numbers as they hover near the sap
cups which the bird has made in the trees.

A small grove of maples and oaks that I visit occasionally has
for some time been frequented by a half dozen of these interesting
birds. We first discovered a pair on a small maple from which
the sap was flowing freely from numerous round cups about one-
fourth of an inch in diameter. The female flew on our approach
while the male hopped up the trunk to get out of reach but upon
our stopping returned to the sap cups. "Woodpeckers," said
my friend on first seeing them. "Sapsuckers," I replied, "Look
at the sap running down the tree." We approached gradually,
now walking, now standing still, until we were but a few feet
from the tree. Each time we walked the bird invariably hopped
up the tree only to return as soon as we stood still.

A few days later I stationed myself near a tree which seemed
to be a favorite because of the frequent visits made by the birds
to it. The birds on it flew off only to return after a visit to a
couple of less favored trees. They uttered sharp notes which
sounded like "cleu" which were long drawn out and quite clearly
indicated that I was considered an intruder. After considerable
scolding the female flew off but the male evidently decided to
continue feeding on the sap in spite of me. He stopped between
drinks of sap to look long and carefully at me, occasionally show-
ing his resentment at my nearness by his shrill cries. In due
time he visited all the tiny cups, several times holding his bill
lengthwise the trunk in order to get at the sap in some nook to

i74

weston THE YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER 175

better advantage. At times he hopped sidewise visiting many
holes that were arranged in horizontal rows and then calmly
dropped himself four or five feet to holes near the base of the
trunk.

The feathers on his underparts were soiled by the sap which
flowed down the trunk but his eyes were bright and when he
looked at me as he frequently did he looked me straight in the
eyes. The feathers on the crown are red and were occasionally
raised in a small crest. The red on the throat showed to advantage
and the border between the red and black could easily be traced
from where I stood. The female differs from the male in having
the red on the throat replaced by white. The bird is a dirty yellow
underneath and from this it is named. The black and white
bars running lengthwise the wings are conspicuous marks as are
the white lines running through the eyes. Other white lines
begin at the base of the bill and run along the sides of the throat
and breast.

When not molested the birds were continually chasing each
other, bobbing in and out among the trees, down into bushes,
up and on again, eventually returning after each chase to the
tree near which I had stood. The two followed each other up
and around the trunk, drinking the sap and resting up for another
spin through the trees and bushes. At times both were drinking
from cups in the same horizontal row.

Some of these horizontal rows contained twenty or more cups,
in one case the trunk being completely girdled save for the small
spaces between cups. The fact that the holes have these spaces
between them saves the lives of the trees and materially reduces
the damage done by the birds. I found the bark of many trees
filled with former and now healed holes, the trees seeming none
the worse for the sprees which sapsuckers had had at their expense
during former years. I saw scores of trees with a few fresh holes
but numerous healed ones which were gradually becoming smaller
and smaller each year. Where a few holes are added each year
it soon makes quite a showing but results in no harm to the tree.
There were no dead trees in the grove and hence none could
have been killed by the birds. No doubt a few weak ones are
killed each year but to balance this the bird has to his credit
large numbers of harmful insects destroyed.

176 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

According to my observations Neltje Blanchan was right when
she said: "But it must be admitted that rarely does the sapsucker
girdle a tree with holes enough to sap away its life. He may
have an orgy of intemperance once in a while, but much should
be forgiven an erring one as dexterous as a flycatcher in taking
insects on the wing and with a hearty appetite for pests." So
was Chester A. Reed in saying: "This species has gained some
ill-repute because of its supposed habit of boring through the
bark of trees in order to get at the sap, and thus killing the trees.
However, I very much doubt if they do any appreciable damage
in this manner." Consequently we may hope that the reputa-
tion of the yellow-bellied sapsucker will become better and better
as the years go by.

1922 YO SEMITE NATIONAL PARK NATURE GUIDE

SERVICE ITEMS

The germ of this nature guide movement in the national parks
was similar work in the attractive scenic resorts among the Swiss
Alps and along the Norwegian fjords, studies of which were made
by the World Recreation Survey. The experiment commenced
with lectures at Lake Tahoe resorts in 1919. There were also
campfire talks, nature-study field excursions and motion pictures.
The experiment proved unexpectedly successful. At Fallen Leaf
Lake Auditorium not only was there no standing room, but visi-
tors stood outside open doors and windows listening to the talks
regarding the fascinating wild life of the Tahoe National Forest.
Business men deserted trout fishing for mountain climbs and long
distance hikes under a nature guide.

Director of National Parks Mather, then passing through Tahoe
realized that such work could be expanded tremendously into the
national parks of the country, and through his interest over
27,000 visitors in 1920, and some 50,000 in 1921 were given free
nature guide service in Yosemite National Park.

Last year fifty -two lectures and campfire talks, and over a
hundred field trips were given, and there was a free wudflower
show in Yosemite Village throughout the entire tourist season,
as well as sleeping bag trips into the High Sierra back of Yosemite.
The 1922 program will be on a still wider plan and will include
lectures and field trips at the back country lodges.

Have you a Nature Hobby?

Marion D. Weston (Ph.D.)
Georgetown, Mass.

Riding a Nature Hobby is an excellent way to have a good time
out of-doors, not the only way of course for skating, swimming,
base-ball and your other favorite sports all have their place. As
hiking becomes more and more popular people are learning that
the tramp with a definite goal of real interest to the hikers is en-
joyed much more than the aimless ramble. The greater the
number of things we enjoy doing out of doors the better. The
boy or girl who is developing an intelligent interest in all phases
of out door life is laying up untold stores of health and happiness
for future years. If to this well-rounded interest, is added an
insatiable curiosity to learn all that there is to be known about
some small field of Nature we have a game which many find
the most interesting they have every played.

Some members of the Rhode Island Field Naturalists Club
have selected Nature Hobbies which may appeal to you if you
haven't yet a hobby of your own. Miss Josephine Bishop of
the John Howland school writes:

Studying the Grasses

"Grass is so common we hardly notice it. Yet — have you ever
thought how important grass is to our comfort and happiness?
Do you realize that flour is made from a grass seed called wheat
and the oatmeal we like for breakfast is another grass seed ? Then
too, what should we do for milk if there were no meadows full
of grass for the cows. Think how dreary our walks and rides
would be without the beautiful greens, reds, browns, yellows and
purples of the grasses to brighten the way.

Some of our Rhode Island grasses are very beautiful and some
most insignificant. There is quite a variety of form, size and
color in the grass blossoms. One of the most beautiful is the
Velvet grass, with its spreading head of red-purple flowers so
soft and velvety to touch. One of the strangest looking is the
Fox grass of the sand dunes with its blossoms like little sticks
fastened to a stem. We have all sizes from the little Poa, the
grass of our lawns, with its stem and blossom not two inches

177

178 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

tall to the Salt Marsh grass which grows over three feet tall and
has a blossom eighteen inches long.

Grasses, like flowers, have long Latin names but most of them
have a common name as well. Most people can identify ten
different trees or wild flowers — Then why not ten
different grasses. There are so many grasses common in the
yards and fields and woody places of our state. Why not see
how many you already know? Here are some very common
ones to start with — the Poa, Timothy, Fox-tail, Finger-grass,
Oats, Red Top, Couchgrass, Witch, Cockspur, Orchard and Beard
also their cousins Pennsylvania Sedge, Yard Rush and Sand Mat.
Within a quarter of a mile of my home I have found over thirty dif-
ferent varieties, and they are not all by any means. Maybe
you can find more. Try it."

Wild Flower Garden

If you enjoy collecting things and have even a small garden
spot you will find it most interesting to bring home wild plants
from the woods and fields and try to make the little newcomers
feel at home in your own yard. Mrs. Edgar C. Lakey has such
a garden which has been giving her much pleasure for the last
ten years. Living plants make charming souvenirs. Canada
Violets blooming luxuriantly in her Providence garden remind
Mrs. Lakey of a happy day spent on a mountain side 150 miles
north of Montreal.

The Violets

Every Rhode Island child knows that the Violet is our State
Flower but very few are familiar with the different kinds of Vio-
lets growing in our state. Miss Ida M. Arnold, secretary of the
R. I. Field Naturalists Club, has selected the Violets as her hobby,
realizing that this family is more complicated than most people
suppose. There is a famous Botanist in Vermont, (whose grand-
son is attending our Rhode Island schools) who has been studying
the Violets for many years and is now writing a book on this
family with 80 beautifully colored illustrations. This spring
Miss Arnold hopes to learn a great deal about Rhode Island
Violets by comparing them with these pictures. She may even
send some of the more troublesome ones to Dr. Brainerd himself.

weston HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 179

It would be fine to have a number of boys and girls from different
sections of the State become specialists in the Violet Family
since that is the family to which our State Flower belongs.

A picture of the Henry Barnard school children on Violet
Hill was taken one day when the slope was blue with Bird foot
Violets. It does no harm to pick this kind of Violet for the plants
themselves are not disturbed. They go on blooming all the
more freely just as their garden cousin, the pansy, blossom
better when the flowers are picked. Of course we must be very
thoughtful in our hobbies for we want to encourage beautiful
plants to make themselves at home in our state. A little study
of the habits of the plants will often settle the question as to
whether we may j ick the flowers or merely carry away a picture
of them. A Botany Teacher of mine once wrote of "Memory
Pictures." They are a very good kind not dependent on all the
puzzling factors which we must consider when taking camera
pictures.

"Memory Pictures"

While we may pick Bird-foot Violets if we wish some flowers
to carry home we would decide that pictures were best for the
Yellow Violet whose single flower is borne on a leafy stem, as in
the Canada Violet, so that if the flower is picked the entire plant
is destroyed. Pictures form the only way to bring home many
other flowers as well as Yellow Violets. Memory pictures
of the pink Lady's Slipper are particularly lovely because the
setting is usually so fine. The next time you find these orchids
close your eyes for a few moments, try to recall the shape and
color of the flowers and the dark, woodsy background. Open
your eyes and see if your picture was accurate, is it as clear as
you would like to have it ? If you have taken a good picture you
will have something to carry home far more beautiful than the
drooping, unhappy-looking flowers which lose so much of their
charm when taken from their own beautiful setting. Mr. Albert
E. Lownes has used the camera very successfully in his study
of the Orchids as you will see by his picture of the Purple Fringed
Orchids. He describes his hobby as follows:

1 80 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Orchid Hunting'

How would you like to have a hobby which would take you
far away from city streets into the deepest woods,- — a hobby
which would offer unsolved problems for you to work out and
new discoveries for you to make? That is what orchid-hunting
means to me. Few of our plants have been so thoroughly studied
as our New England orchids, and few of them can present so
many unanswered questions.

It was my good luck, a few years ago, to make the acquain-
tance of one of the rarest of them. I was at a boys' camp in
New Hampshire at the time. One day I found a plant new to
me, and on looking it up in the flower guides I found it called
"rare." That aroused my interest. I began to keep my eyes
open, and in a few days I had located almost ten thousand plants
of this "rare species." I mentioned the fact to a botanist I
knew and he asked me to "write up" what I had seen for a
scientific paper. My first article was short, — just a few words
telling that I had found the Nodding Pogonia. Inside of a few
days I had letters from a number of nature students asking for
particulars. I was stumped, for I hadn't noticed much. That
set me thinking. Here were men who had devoted years to the
study of plants asking me, a boy still in short trousers, for in-
formation. The next year I made the best of my opportunity,
and by the next winter I could answer some questions in regard
to the Nodding Pogonia. But questions kept coming. How does
it grow? What color are the flowers? What insects visit it?
Have you ever looked at the roots? Manifestly, I had much to
learn. In order to really understand this one plant, I had to
know its relatives. Then one day I received a telegram from
a well-known amateur botanist:

"Arrive Squam Lake 6:55 to-morrow night. Expect you to
show me Haben aria fimbriata." I gasped. Habenaria fimbriata,
the wonderful large purple-fringed orchid, grew somewhere near
Squam Lake. That much I knew. It would not do for me to
disappoint the botanist after he had made the long day's trip
from Boston and it was too late to stop him. Plainly it was
up to me to find the plant. That afternoon I slung my collect-
ing-case on my back and started for Crystal Peak, for I had
heard that the plants might be found there. For several hours

Photo by Albert E. Lownes
Purple Fringed Orchis

I8l

1 82 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

I searched the side of the mountain, delving vainly in this
swamp or following the brooks. Then suddenly on my way home
I stopped to look into a last little swamp. And there, in all its
beauty stood plant after plant of the Purple-fringed Orchid. Next
dav the botanist arrived. He seemed a little suprised to find a
boy in short pants instead of the man he believed he was to
meet, and at first he queried me sharply as to whether I could
show him the plant he wanted. I apparently convinced him I
could, and since that day, the botanist and I have been fast
friends.

It has been my joy on other occasions to locate new and rare
plants. Often when one least expects it, some new or rare species
will be discovered. Three years ago my chum and I had spent
the day photographing the purple-fringed orchid. Toward
evening we started for home, tired and happy. Suddenly I gave
a shout of joy. The slanting rays of the sun filtering through
the leaves had caught on a tiny spike of greenish blossoms: and
there, nestling beneath the dead leaves, we found our first speci-
men of the White Adder's Mouth. I rigged up the camera,
while Hank, my chum, got down on hands and knees for fur-
ther exploration. "Where there's one, there must be two,"
he argued. But luck was not with him, search as he might,
he could find no other specimens. He was just about to give up
the search, when two tiny green leaves caught his eye, and a
second new species was added to our list, Loesel's Twayblade.

Other discoveries have only been the result of long and patient
watching. We were asked one time to find out what insects
visited the Nodding Pogonia. For hours at a time we sat watch-
ing the plant, and never a bug did we see. Then one day, just
as I was seating myself for a long afternoon's watch, a little ant-
like bee came and entered a blossom. When he had probed
its innermost depths, he backed out, carrying the sticky pollen
mass with him. Heavily he flew to another blossom, and for
the first time the fertilizing insect of this species was discovered.

That is the fun of orchid-hunting. One is brought into the
woods and swamps, often to places where the foot of man has
never before been placed. On every trip one may make some
new and unexpected find, and while one often returns home

weston HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 183

tired and dusty and disappointed, there is always the satisfaction
which follows a day in the open."

Some plants take care of themselves so very efficiently that
we may pick them, freely without fear that they will be extermi-
nated. This is especially true of the Composite Family which is
one of the largest as well as most successful of all the Plant
Kingdom. The aggressive Dandelion persists in growing on our
lawns; the White Daisy, a most attractive sinner, is the farmers'
despair; Dahlias, Asters and Cosmos are some of our many garden
friends belonging to this family which holds first place among
plants. There are enough fascinating but tangled problems
among the Composites to supply hundreds of people with hob-
bies. Miss Lila Hirley of the East Manning Street School
writes :

"My interest in the Prenanthes or the Rattlesnake-root group
of wild flowers, started last summer when friends referred a very
young specimen of Prenanthes trifoliata, without flowers, to me
for identification. I could not name it at the time, nor could
some much more experienced botanists with whom I consulted.
This plant varies greatly in appearance at different stages of its
growth. Its leaves have a wide variation in shape, size and mar-
gin. Its clusters of pendulous flowers, too, show much varia-
tion. Perhaps this is why it was confused, until recently, in
botanical text-books, with its near relative, Lion's Foot (Pre-
nanthes serpentaria) and, by the novice, with Wild Lettuce an-
other near relative. An expert botanist, with whom I was col-
lecting one day, recognized a species not before recorded for
Rhode Island, Prenanthes altissima. This occurence added to
my interest and set me scouting for the third species, Lion's
Foot, which through errors in identification in previous years,
was considered common, but which really is rare. Thus far it
has eluded my search.

In my hunt for specimens of this group last summer I was
assisted by a girl just out of grammar school who shared my
interest. We agreed to continue the study next summer, in-
cidentally making a more general flower collection. We shall
diligently seek the print of the lion's foot in 1921, following
the trail to his lair."

1 84 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Ferns
• There are many attractive hobbies to be found among the
plants which have no flowers. Miss Amey A. Lillibridge, who
is the Fern Specialist of the Field Naturalists Club, tells of her
interest in the study of ferns:

"I first became interested in the study of ferns while on a
vacation spent a number of years ago on a farm in the foot hills
of the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. I have always
known a number of varieties of ferns by name, as Brake, Christmas
and Maidenhair but I did not know the very common kinds that
we see everywhere.

On our first walk to the village we saw several large plants of
the Maidenhair Fern growing by the side of the road; other
varieties of ferns were very numerous also. Upon speaking of
having seen the Maidenhair Fern, upon our return to the house,
we were told that a teacher who was interested in the collection
and identification of ferns had spent her vacation at the farm a
few summers before and had left the collection of ferns, which
she had pressed between the pages of newspapers.

This collection was shown us and a fern book from the village
library. I think it was "How to Know the Ferns" by Mrs.
Parsons. After we had studied these, on our next walk we were
quite pleased to identify the Sensitive, Royal, Interrupted and
Cinnamon varieties. Upon walking in another direction through
the woods we came upon a rock covered with the Polypody and
a little farther the Christmas Fern.

One day a small boy from the next farm house came over to
call, as he did nearly every day, and brought a stiff, dark brown
frond of a fern that looked as if it were all dried up. It was about
seven inches in length. We asked him what it was and where
he found it. He told us it was the fruiting frond of the Ostrich
Fern and that it grew next to the wall at the foot of the lawn in
front of the house. We at once went out to see it and found a
row of the Ostrich Fern growing up close to the wall at the edge
of the little brook that had come down through from the cow
pasture.

We were asked if we had ever seen the Walking Fern and upon
replying that we had not were told that it grew up in the cow

weston HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 185

pasture and they would show it to us soon. A few days later
we were taken to the place where it grew on the slanting top of a
good-sized rock in the woods near the brook. The top of the
rock was covered thick with the rank growth of the fern. 1 was
given a plant to take home with me which lived until another
season and put out new fronds but did not form new plants and
walk. It soon after died much to my regret. The brook in the
cow pasture flowed through a little ravine on the sides of which
we found many little maidenhairs and ebony spleenworts growing.
When my vacation was over I had learned at least twelve
varieties of ferns. Upon my return I secured several fern books
and have gradually added more ferns to my list until I now
have identified very nearly forty varieties."

Miss Lillibridge has made a beautiful collection of ferns which
may be seen at the Roger Williams Park Museum.
Mr. H. Emerson Heyer writes on:

Trees as a Hobby

"To beginners in the Book of Nature — and the wisest scientists
are hardly more than that — the study of trees offers unusual al-
lurements. Like the poor, we have them always with us: but,
unlike the poor, they shed beneficence throughout the community,
asking nothing in return but a chance to lift their leafy tops into
God's fresh air and sunshine, and to send their roots deep down
into the cuticle of Mother Earth in quest of food and anchorage.

Thus the trees are goodly folk to know: but how can we say
we really know them unless we know their names? Here we are
indeed fortunate if we choose trees rather than wild flowers
or grasses or, worst of all, insects for our hobby, for while the
species in some of these other lines are numbered in the hundreds,
even in the thousands, and christened, in many instances with
nothing but an awesome Latin name, the trees we shall meet in
Rhode Island comprise rather less than one hundred and fifty
species, every one bearing a pronounceable common name.

And their identification is comparatively easy, in most cases.
To be sure there are some puzzlers among the oaks, and scientists
will wrangle for years to come over certain fine points of differ-
ence among the willows and the thorns : but we need not concern
ourselves with these. We need only to familiarize ourselves

1 86 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

with the trees concerning whose names there is no dispute to
feel that we have greatly enlarged the circle of our friendships,
for one must be unbelievably blind to study trees merely as in-
sensate things. They are, rather, living organisms, developing
with the passage of years marked individualities of growth;
but maintaining ever the strong characteristics of their respective
families and, as we meet them, and come to know them as we
know our human friends, we shall find them scarcely less capa-
ble of sympathy, companionship and love."

Shrubs
Rhode Island shrubs offer fascinating fields for exploration
for the more adventuresome. Why should trees be so generally
known and shrubs almost completely neglected? Mr. William
F. Janes is making a study of the Dogwoods or Cornels. One
member of this group, I shall have to admit, is altogether too
well known for its own safety, the Flowering Dogwood. Vandal
hands bring great branches of the strikingly beautiful flower
clusters into the city in the spring. Acquaintance with it is
only for a few weeks in the year, however, for comparatively
few people know the crimson, elongated berries of Mr. Janes'
photograph. Still fewer know the tree in its winter condition
with long pointed leaf buds and rounded, shortened flower buds.
Last fall photographs of berry-bearing branches of our native
Cornels were made; with the coming of the spring Mr. Janes
plans to complete his collection of the shrubs in the flowering
condition.

Tree Diseases

The trees are no exception to the sad but universal truth that
all living things have their enemies. Foes of the trees are numer-
ous indeed and claim our attention exactly in proportion to the
value of the sufferers. Then, too, these marauders make inter-
esting studies in themselves quite apart from their economic
value. Miss Clara M. Chase has selected Tree Diseases as her
hobby.

"In October 1919 Mr. William G. Vinal led a Rhode Island
Field Naturalists trip to Pocasset Falls, subject "Tree Diseases."
It was then I became interested in Fungi. Mr. Vinal made it

weston HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 187

especially interesting by asking us to scout around and see how
many kinds of Fungi we could find on trees, dead things and
stumps and then bring them to him. Much to my surprise there
were several different kinds and each had a name as Polyporus
betulina, Irpex cinnamoneus, Chestnut blight disease and many
with such long Latin names one could hardly see the specimen.
Some had most beautiful colorings as rich orange on one side
with soft greys on the other, also greys with black lines. In
October 1920 a friend brought me from South County a most
beautiful Polyporus sulphureus, an edible mushroom, I can't de-
scribe its beauty, I hope to be able to find one on some of the
very instructive trips this coming season."

Medicinal Plants

When a busy physician takes time to pursue a Nature Hobby
we may be sure he considers it well worth his while. Dr. Henry
P. Love well writes:

"The first scientific study of medicinal plants indigenous to
the United States was undertaken by Johann David Schopf in
1783. In pursuit of his studies he relates of having visited Rhode
Island and Connecticut. We have found our State to be a very
satisfactory hunting ground for the botanical collector; it has
a varied topography and abounds in woods, meadows, swamps,
bogs etc., and posesses a flora that is unique in many respects.
There are at least three hundred plants native to this state that
have in the past been credited with some medicinal value, although
the true worth of a large number of these is doubtful.

For ages past the laity have dabbled extensively in roots and
herbs, using home-made decoctions and infusions for the al-
leviation of their ills. We would advise the amateur herbalist
to study more carefully the varieties collected, as mistakes of
a serious nature have been made.

The medicinal uses of many of our native plants have descend-
ed from the aborigines. In "Father Smith's Indian Dispensatory,"
we find mentioned Wild Ipecac, Culvers' Root, Butternut, "Nine-
Bark Root," Agrimony, Horse-balm, Bark of White Pine etc.,
the leaves of Horse-balm were commonly used to create a sweat
and as a local application to boils and swellings. The number of

188 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

plants that were used to destroy the venom of poisonous snakes
is quite formidable.

The Dogs-tooth Violet or Adder's Tongue, in full doses of the
root was formerly used as an emetic. In two localities we have
discovered quite large beds of this plant, altho in some of its
former haunts it is getting very rare.

As regards the Gentian family, both the Fringed and the Closed
species possess bitter principles, but in a less degree than the
Official variety, the Yellow Gentian, which is imported from
Southern Europe. Several varieties of Sabbatia were formerly
used in Intermittant Fever, sometimes with curative effect. An-
other member of this family is the Buckbean, a rather attractive
plant when in blossom and possessing the bitter tonic properties
common to this order; also used as a laxative, the rhizome and
leaves contain the active principle.

The spotted Geranium or Wild Cranesbill, with its pale purple
petals, has been justly considered one of our best indigenous as-
tringents. The rhizome has a considerable percentage of both
tannic and gallic acids. Bugle-weed was highly valued by Solo-
mon Drown, M. D., one of the early preceptors in Botany at
Brown University. Drown was deservedly celebrated for his
scientific and practical knowledge of the medicinal plants of this
country. The traces of his old-time garden of medicinal species
are still in evidence at Mt. Hygeia, in North Foster.

In our tramps in early spring the Cornels or Flowering-dog-
woods are of much interest, and the more so when we learn they
possess an active principle cornine, an alkaloid having properties
similar to quinine and much used by Southerners during the
Civil War as a remedy in Malaria. The Bloodroots are among
the most attractive of our early Spring flowers, and they contain
an alkaloid of use in certain respiratory diseases. Often in com-
pany with the Bloodroot you will find the Spice or Benzoin Bush;
although this is not the Benzoin of Commerce. Yet it has been
used in febrile affections by making an infusion of the Bark, and
its fruit has been used as a substitute for allspice.

Wild Senna, with its yellow petals and chocolate colored anthers
is an interesting plant and possesses laxative properties.

weston HAVE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 189

New Jersey Tea, although not common to any one locality,
is of historical interest, and rather attractive when in blossom.
We have never used it as a beverage.

When your walks lead in the direction of deserted farmhouses,
if you explore the region of the old apple orchards, you may find
a plant not native to the State, but set out years ago for its medi-
cal value: we allude to the Mandrake or May Apple. It has
very large leaves and a fruit the size of a small lemon. The plant
is quite hardy and seems to thrive in spite of neglect.

Of our native ferns the Marginal Shield Fern with its fruit dots
arranged so close to the edge as to often appear to project over
it, is of much value as a vermifuge. The Common Brake and
also the Royal Fern contain astringent principles, although not
commonly used.

The sporules of the Club Mosses furnish Lycopodium, this
is an inflammable powder formerly used to dust on excoriated and
irritated surfaces.

We must not forget our native trees and shrubs, many of them
having medicinal uses; the bark of the Oak is a valuable astrin-
gent. The inner bark of the Butternut is a mild cathartic re-
sembling rhubarb. The American Aspen or Poplar at one time
had a reputation of being a tonic and stimulant. From the Pine
family are derived resins which are much used as ingredients
in plasters and cerates. The Hemlock bark is very astringent
and is much used in tanning. It appears to have no special
advantage over other common vegetable astringents. The
American Yew we have not as yet discovered wild in this State,
although it has been reported as located in certain sections. It
is believed to have poisonous properties. The bark of the Winter-
berry sometimes called Black Alder, really a Holly, is decidedly
bitter, and should be classed as an astringent. Witch Hazel or
Harnrnarnelis is well known and contains astringent principles.
The Buckthorn, although native in Eurasia, is found here both
cultivated and escaped. It is a powerful laxative. The species
found in Rhode Island has been used by Veterinaries.

In pursuit of the medicinal plants of this State, it is first neces-
sary to find if the species sought are native to this region. We
have found Bennett's Flora of Rhode Island of decided help.
The Providence Franklin Society are about to publish a revised

190 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

edition of this work. Provide yourself with topographical maps
of the region you are to visit. A camera should add interest to
these trips, but do not expect satisfactory pictures of plants
taken when the wind is rated at sixty miles an hour."

"Why I Collect Beetles"

Hobbies abound in the realm of animal life as well as in the
plant kingdom. Mr. Martin Bowe, who illustrated the recent
Park Museum Bulletin on Beetles, writes of his hobby:

"Nature has much attraction for those who can imagine that,
when God created life on this earth, He gave each individual
plant or animal the power to enjoy this life, to protect it in a
measure and to perpetuate it. Since we cannot create life we
should not thoughtlessly destroy it. Every plant and creature
exists for an ultimate purpose, of which we know little or nothing.
We study Nature to find this purpose for species, group or branch.

Insects serve as food for birds, fishes, frogs, snakes and many
other animals. Insects are scavangers, which remove quickly to
the soil unsightly and unhealthy dung heaps, dead animals and
dead vegetation. When certain kinds of insects get so numerous
that they become a pest, injurious to our crops or trees they have
to be held in check either by natural agencies, such as birds,
fishes, frogs or if need be, by poisons etc. When I started to
collect beetles I was quite young and it was more of a pastime.
Now I may call it a study for the joy of the possession of a speci-
men is secondary to the joy of the knowledge of its existence m a
certain locality, and its place in our own lives. I collect Rhode
Island beetles only because I expect to be able to do it thoroughly
in my spare time."

"How I Started to Collect Beetles"
"Over in Europe, when I went to school, in the month cf May
the boys used to play with May Beetles. We had baskets filled
with linden leaves to keep them in and we used to barter them for
others, for there are half a dozen varieties, a "king" or "queen"
being considered a fair exchange for half a dozen "chimney sweep-
ers." A May Beetle is about an inch long, has white saw-edge
markings just below the brown wing covers, black chest and head,
large eyes and fan-shaped feelers. Otherwise it looks like a big

weston HA YE YOU A NATURE HOBBY 191

Junebug. Later, when we were bigger and our radius of known
territory around the city increased, we became acquainted with
other beetles remarkable either for their size or their beauty and
we started to preserve them. There was a stag beetle, three
inches over all, with pincers half the length of the body. The
fiery hunter which has been introduced into this country to fight
the Gypsy Moth, the hero beetle, a longhorn two inches long with
feelers longer than the body, the musk beetle with a strong musk
odor and many others. A book with a key and competition
among the boys kept interest in beetles alive until it became
difficult to find newr ones. All our specimens at that time were
labelled only with their names. Now it is required that every
label must give time and locality besides, which makes a collec-
tion of scientific value."

A Seashore Hobby

Seashore hobbies should be especially popular in Rhode Island.
A study of the habits of our native fish may appeal to the boys
more strongly than any work along the lines of plant life. Mr.
Henry F. Mencke, treasurer of the Rhode Island Field Natural-
ists Club, writes:

"Spending my vacations at the seashore I have been interested
in the strange sea creatures brought in by the fishermen. Large
Horse mackerel weighing seven hundred pounds are the fellows
that are built for speed, with their upper fins closing down in
just like a jack knife, even more smoothly, and their side fins
fitting into a depression, so that when they make that strong
propeller tail of theirs go they can travel fast. They will some-
times rip the fishermen's nets through, allowing all the market-
able fish to get away, and thus cause quite a loss. So also will
the Whip Tail Shark who will thrash around with his long tail.

A Sturgeon weighing in the neighborhood of three hundred
pounds is a profitable catch and is curious to see. His head and
his large bony scales remind me of an alligator. A Porpoise the
fishermen will generally let go, he belongs to the mammals. A
Sun Fish weighing three hundred pounds is an odd looking fish
with small and rather round mouth, large upper and lower fins
and skin as rough as sand paper. The fish is about as deep as
long with a large scalloped edge in place of a tail.

i92 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

A visitor that will bear watching is a large Skate. He has a
long rough tail at the beginning of which is a wicked spike which
he can swing upwards and drive through a boot into one's flesh
making a bad wound and causing blood-poisoning. A rare and
lively little visitor is a Marbled Angler or Segasus Fish. The one
I found was about the third recorded as taken from Rhode Island
waters. His coloring is similar to that of kelp. His side fins
resemble hands with the fingers frayed out like kelp. It is
said that he will lie in wait among the kelp, which he so much
resembles, and will dart out and attack a fish his own size. This
one was only about three inches long and nearly as deep.

A Portuguese Man O'War is curious to see floating on the
surface of the ocean blown by the wind with his nicely colored
wind sac. He has long tentacles provided with stinging cells
with which he reaches out to catch his food."

Camera Hunting

Albert E. Lownes

Have you ever gone hunting and tramped all day through woods
and meadows hoping for a chance shot at some fleeting rabbit or
squirrel? And when night came on, have you trudged home
wearily with a heavy gun and an empty game bag? It's fun,
isn't it, even though you haven't killed a thing. But have you
ever tried hunting with a camera? That is sport indeed, and in
addition you don't leave behind you a trail of blood and death.
Many of you have cameras, I'm sure, and doubtless you bring
them out on special occasions to take a picture of Uncle Ben
cr Baby Joe. But have you ever taken them with you into the
country to take a picture of a deer or a robin? If you can do
that, you deserve the Indian name of "Gitchi-Gaossed," — Mighty
Hunter.

The good camera-hunter needs every qualification of the big-
game hunter. He must be clear-eyed, steady-handed, and quick
to take advantage of a moment's opportunity. In addition he
must have a double portion of patience and a will to overcome all
obstacles. In return he gets a true love of the big out-doors and

lownes CAMERA HUNTING 193

trophies finer than those which grace the homes of the finest
sportsmen. A good shot can drop a deer at well over a hundred
yards, but the camera-hunter must get within twenty yards to
get even a fair shot. Then, too, one learns to know the habits
of birds and animals better than he can in almost any other way.

A couple of years ago I was out hunting with my camera.
Far up in a tree-top a Scarlet Tanager was singing lustily. I
whistled to him, and to my surprise he came down and perched a
few feet from me. I approached quietly, until I was within six
feet of him. He eyed me suspiciously as I opened the camera,
and then just as I was about to "snap," over he hopped right on
top of the camera. Of course I couldn't take his picture then.
I reached up and carefully set him back on his perch, and once
more he hopped back to the camera. A third time he repeated
the performance, and it began to look as though he would re-
fuse to pose. Then an idea struck me, and as I put him back on
the branch, I began to whistle. Soon he forgot all about me and
my little black box, He started to sing with all the vigor possible.
Then I snapped his picture and in a few minutes off he flew.

Other times I have not been so fortunate. One day last summer
I came on four splendid Rocky Mountain Sheep. They were
down beside a tiny lake where they had come for salt and water.
I crept up quietly until I was within twenty feet of them. Cau-
tiously I felt back for my camera case and opened it. It was
empty, for I had left my camera in camp.

Good pictures are occasionally the result of good luck, but more
often they represent hard work and long patience. Almost any
camera will do for wild life photography, although one using
plates is best. I always like to think of the words of one of Amer-
ica's greatest nature photographers. "Good pictures," he told me,
"are due 95% of the time to the man behind the camera." My
advice is to know the capabilities of your camera, — and then
use good judgment in using it. In any case, to have taken a good
picture of a bird or animal (or even a plant) is an achievement
to be proud of.

Spring-time Among the Trees

Katherine R. Rogers

"Good-morning!" boomed Grandfather Oak one day when
the Wind was blowing freshly from the South, "what tidings
do you bring?"

"Greetings from the Southland to you Sir, and best wishes
for your good health and a long life!"

"Ah, I've had that already," chuckled the Oak. "No living
being remembers when I was an acorn! It's been very interesting
to watch the generations come and go, and I don't feel any
older now than I did a hundred years ago ! Of course, I'm rather a
cripple, but that doesn't matter, as long as I don't need to fly
around like my friend the South Wind here! Having all these
young Trees about me keeps me feeling young! I have lots
of friends among the Birds too, and they tell me all sorts of nice
stories when they stop to rest among my branches, on their way
North in the Spring and when they start back for the South in
the Fall. They're great chatterboxes, and I don't know whether
to believe all their wonderful tales or not, but I enjoy them just
the same."

Here the playful South Wind began teasing the young Trees,
tickling their small branches till he had them all dancing and
slapping at him, trying to catch him, and then he waved "Good-
bye" and was off on his merry way.

"Thank goodness he's gone," sighed the tall Tulip trees. They
were a typical New England pair, rather thin, and very quiet in
their tastes and coloring. To be sure, they did put out plenty
of flowers in the Summer, large ones, shaped like a Tulip, but
very inconspicuous, being of a greenish yellow with tawny stripes,
and the Orioles found nectar in their cups. They were nice,
inoffensive Trees, and gave no trouble to any one, and they
were so tall they could look over some of the others and see the
fat little Pine tree down back of the House and the great Flowering
Cherry standing in front of the Barn. So they called out in
rather cool, clear tones to know how the little Pine had stood the
Winter.

194

Rogers SPRING-TIME AMONG THE TREES 195

"Oh, nicely, thank you," said she, fluttering her soft clusters of
needles a little. "It was not really dull, because I had all the
Arbor Vitae Hedge for company, you know, and of course they
harbor a great many of the Winter Birds, so there's plenty of
conversation, and it's mighty lucky for the Birds that the Hedge
has grown so thick and large. And you can't imagine how lovely
those Evergreens look after each snowstorm, when they are covered
with a thick white fleecy fall ! It looks as if a lot of little downy
clouds had settled down on them! Even our great Spruce that
stands so like a sentinel, really looks handsome when he has that
white great-coat on! And. you should see yourselves with ice
covering every branch and the Sun shining on you, if you want
to be in Fairyland! Old Spruce sometimes condescends to talk
too, but he's such a pessimist, with his drooping branches, that
he rather puts a damper on any of our games. He's very deaf
or I wouldn't venture to say this, as his feelings and temper are
very prickly. He tells us he shelters the Birds too, and provides
them with good cones to eat, which I must confess is more than
I do yet, but he's not very agreeable socially, he's so stiff. Now
I like those gay Larches, over across the street, they're so lively,
and we send lots of messages back and forth by the Chickadees,
who really make themselves very useful. Altogether, we've
kept pretty good watch over the place while the Family were
away and you were all resting, but I'm very glad that time is
over! Now I shall soon have plenty to laugh at, watching the
Birds splash about in their bath that our young Gentleman made for
them, just below the well where the water can run in every time
any one pumps. The Robins love that, and then they fly up on
top of the Swing and prune themselves anrl chirp their loudest.
That Swing is a great platform for orators and singers. When
the Cat-bird isn't there, making things lively with his comical
chatter, the Song-Sparrow takes a turn at it, and he is the sweet-
est singer of all!"

The Flowering Cherry now gave a pleasant laugh, and began
to prepare the little double blossoms that she hung all over her
head like white curls for the Spring Festival, in good seasons
when she was feeling well. She was rather old and very portly,
so she didn't always dress up, but when she did she made a
very pretty picture. The children loved her because she was a

i96 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

motherly old soul and was easy to climb, and they could sit and
read by the hour among her branches, while she smiled agreeably
on all around her. The Lilacs were her particular pets, and evi-
dently the Family were fond of them too, for they were planted in
groups here and there all over the Place, and in long lines to mark
the north and south boundaries, and again to shut off the view
of the Chicken-yard from the House.

"How do you do\" they shouted in chorus gleefully, struggling
frantically to be the first in the race to burst their buds, in which
they always succeeded! They were a cheerful lot, and kept
the others in constant good humor, urging them on during the
doubtful days of May, when it sometimes seemed too chilly to
bloom, spreading their fresh, sweet perfume on the air, and get-
ting the vagrant Breezes to carry their message far and near.

"Spring has come!" they said. "She may be a trifle fickle,
and she likes to play tricks, but don't pay attention to her moods.
When she hides, we just have a breathing-spell, and the minute
she appears again, we take a fresh start, and the first thing she
knows, we're all in bloom ! It's like going in for a salt water swim,
the first plunge is chilly, but after that it's glorious fun to play
with the Waves! At least, that's what the Children tell us."

"That's all very well," said the Flowering Cherry, "when you're
young and energetic, but when your body is all twisted like mine
and the top of your head has been taken off ever so many times
to make room for that plaguey West Wind to blow straight at
the Wind-mill, you won't feel quite so much like giving advice!"

"Oh, nonsense, you dear old lady," said the cheerful Lilacs,
"you know we're just as old as you are really, only we don't
grow so large, and we belong to the old-fashioned Country People
who are not easily discouraged and are used to hard work in
every kind of weather, whereas you belong to the ornamental
class and naturally have more leisurely ways. Now your first
cousins the Red Cherries are splendid workers, and they are
almost as quick at blossoming as we are! They do stain the
Children's clothes most dreadfully later on, when their fruit is
ripe, but that doesn't stop the Children any, you can't keep
them away when Cherries are ripe!"

The Red Cherry trees all giggled and waved their branches.
They loved the Lilacs' fun, though they didn't have much to say

TURNER THE CIRCUS 197

themselves, but just kept busy getting ready for the early fruit
they bore, with visions of happy summer-days and many Play-
mates floating before them.

"Heigh-ho!" yawned one of the little sleepy-head Peaches, the
last to wake up. "I do hope it isn't going to be awfully cold,
just when we get our best pink blossoms fully out! It's rather
discouraging to do our best each year, and always run the risk
of getting a bad chill and losing half our crop! People always
treat us very well, and give us the finest place in the Garden, so
we really like to make a good return when it's possible, and in-
deed it often makes us blush, to hear the praise they lavish on
our fruit!"

The South Wind was hovering near, so he caressed them gently
and said, "I'll remember that, and try to keep the Frost away from
you. You're nice, modest little things, with your blushing
fruit, and he has no business to nip you!" All this time, the
Apple Orchard was making a tremendous racket, bursting its
gorgeous buds and forging ahead to catch up with the Lilacs,
and the Birds and the Bees were furnishing an orchestral accom-
paniment, and soon the whole country-side was smiling, in beauti-
ful array, to welcome Spring.

NATURE STUDY CLUB OF PITTSBURGH
Bulletin No. VII. April 1922.

THE CIRCUS
(By Miss Millie Turner, Teacher of Nature-Study, Belmar School)
Come, visit with me this evening
When the sun has gone to rest
A most remarkable circus
'Tis surely the biggest and best.

There are dogs and bears and lions
And a bull with a fiery eye;
A scorpion, swan, and eagle,
At the circus in the sky.
There is Hydra, the famous serpent,
And Draco, the dragon bold,
A crab, a ram, and a rabbit
And a horse with wings of gold.

Orion, the famous hunter
And the shy twin boys will be there;
King Cepheus, the seven sisters,
And a queen in her golden chair.

198 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

So come to the all-star circus
There is never a penny to pay
And if you should chance to be thirsty,
You may drink from the Milky Way!

NATURE STUDY IN THE WOMAN'S CLUB ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA

From a small group of nature enthusiasts who had cultivated their taste
for the out-of-doors by doing field-work together for several years, the Nature-
Study Department of the Woman's Club of Erie was formed. Under their
guidance there has grown up a large and interested group of people eager to
learn of nature from whatever source available.

Indoor meetings are held with talks on various topics, mainly flowers,
birds, and trees. But astronomy and geology contribute their share.

Out-door meetings give opportunity for actual experiences in the field,
the chief delight of a true nature lover. Here each individual can be his
own Columbus, discovering America.

Erie has a natural location affording good opportunities for study. Lake
Erie, and the bay (five miles long by two miles wide) enclosed by the wild
and densely wooded peninsula of Presque Isle, attract water and game birds.
This seems to be a natural migration route for birds to and from Canada.
The peninsula has many interesting botanical features and is often visited
and studied by scientists from away.

The field trips are eagerly anticipated. Simplicity of arrangements con-
tribute much to their popularity. Easily accessible places are
chosen and each member provides her own lunch. General discussion
of observations by all members as we are assembled for lunch makes the work
interesting.

Our Nature Study Department is helping to foster a love for the vanishing
species of wild life. We urge protection for future generations to enjoy. The
results of the department's work are being felt more and more throughout
the city. This is evidenced by the many bird boxes, bird baths and feeding
stations seen, by fewer stray cats, by the cultivation of more flower gardens,
and a wider interest in the preservation of the peninsula.

The following program shows the varied interests of members. Special
mention should be made of the Round Table Discussions. The leader de-
velops the topic and asks several members to talk on different phases; So
that a larger number of people become interested. Every member is willing
to help, although some might hesitate to attempt a large subject. In this
way future leaders are developed, and at the same time a good deal of infor-
mation is absorbed.

Subjects have for the most part been treated informally. Instruction and
entertainment have been sought rather than deep scientific discussion. Our
Round Table on Nature Books was one of our best programs. Everyone
brought her favorite books for inspection by all.

Lina Jennings Moore

NATURE-STUDY PROGRAM 199

NATURE STUDY PROGRAM .
1921 — -1922

"In Nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read"

Shakespeare.

November 7 —Round Table, Vacation Experiences.
Leader, Miss Anna F. Shermin
Resume of the Game Laws.

Mrs. Mabel R. Hudson.
"Fiddlers of the Air." [Grasshoppers, Locusts etc].
Mrs. F. G. Andrews.
December 6 — Round Table. Nature Books.

Leader, Miss Charlotte Evans.
Study of a few Evergreen Trees.

Mrs. J. A. Evans.
Bird Neighbors in Winter.

Mrs. S. H. Drown.
January 3 — Short Quotations from Nature Lovers.
Atmospheric Phenomena:
Clouds — ■

Mrs. C, F. Wilson.
Frost and Snow —

Mrs. R. C. Stevens.
February 7 — Round Table — Winter Constellations.

Leader, Mrs. W. H. Lander.
Geological Formations of Erie County.
Mrs. E. J. Armstrong.
March 7 — Round Table — How to Attract Birds to your Grounds.

Mrs. G. O. Moore.
Spiders —

Miss Marion Gunnison.
April 4 — Round Table — Spring Arrivals.

Leader — Mrs. G. S. Ray.
Migrations of Birds.

Miss Emma Siegel.
May 2— Round Table— "Who's Who among the Wild Flowers."

Leader — Mrs. B. F. Sieger.
Insect Foes.

Miss J. R. Cleveland.
June 6 — ■ Picnic.

Note: Monthly Report on Stars — Miss Sherwin.

Selections from Nature Literature.
Mrs. T. O. Andrews.

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARDLY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE IN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including mem-
bership in the American Nature Study Society $1.50 per year (nine issues). Canadian post-
age 10 cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cents extra.

Editorial

Animal Amusements

The other day a ship came into the New York Harbor bringing
to our shores, among other animals thirteen baby elephants
and two baby hippos. They were a homesick, miserable lot as
would any babies be taken away from their mothers, and they
cried especially at night. Mr. Jurgen Johannsen who owned
them was sympathetic and rigged up nursing bottles to pacify
them and they soon looked upon him as a real friend. At Ham-
burg where they changed ships they took on eight "educated"
dogs and to amuse the big babies the dogs were allowed to frolic
among them and they were so amused by the antics of the dogs that
when night came they were ready to go to sleep.

The most interesting animal book that we have seen for many
a long day, Dr. Hornaday's "The Minds and Manners of Wild
Animals ' ' gives a chapter on animal play. From our own experience
we know that animals need amusement — many of them are
full of mischief just for the fun of it. I often see one of our chip-
munks jump at a robin on the lawn just to see him hop. This
is an interesting line for investigation. Why should not the
Nature-Study Review publish next year a symposium on animal
amusements consisting of notes made in the field this Summer
where so many of us are camping or hiking, with our eyes open
for this phase of animal mentality.

Dr. Hornaday declares with justice: "On the whole, the play
of wild animals is a large field and no writer will exhaust it with
one chapter. Very sincerely do we wish that at least one of the
many romance writers who are so industriously inventing wild-
animal blood-and-thunder stories would do more work with his
eyes and less with his imagination."

200

News Items

MISSOURI

Webster Groves has an active Nature Club as the following bulletin
shows. Real live nature-study with enthusiasm for the organization can be
felt throughout the communication.

WEBSTER GROVES NATURE-STUDY SOCIETY MONTHLY

BULLETIN
"SOMETHING DOING DURING MAY" (and April)
*On FRIDAY EVENING, MAYsth 1922, the regular monthly meeting
will be held at the home of Mrs. Charles W. Martin, 400 Algonquin Place,
corner of Rock Hill Road.

Dr. A. G. POHLMAN will lecture on "Embryology" illustrated with
living specimens showing just what is happening within the eggshell during
incubation.

Announcement will be made at this meeting of a date to be set for an after-
noon and evening out-door basket lunch meeting on the lawn of Miss Mildred
Allen, 25 South Plant Avenue.

Announcement will also be made at this meeting (if bee conditions are
right) for an afternoon at Mr. Robert A. Holekamp's home, 560 Garden Ave-
nue, where Mr. Holekamp, as a bee-keeper, will show how he handles and
cares for his bees.

*On SATURDAY, APRIL 29th all day the Society will conduct a Flower,
Plant and Bulb Sale, and thru the courtesy of the Wielandy-Reller Motor
Company, the sale will be held in their showroom, corner of Lockwood and
Gore Avenues. This will be a splendid chance to get choice plants for the
garden at reasonable prices. Tell your friends.

(Mrs. F. M. King, 11 1 Cedar Avenue, who has charge of the sale will
be glad to hear from any one having plants, bulbs or cut flowers to donate.
* ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, April 29th, members and friends
are asked to join in a BOTANY FIELD TRIP HIKE, starting from the
Frisco R.R. Station at Meramac Highlands at 4 o'clock and ending at the
picturesque "Quarry" in time for Camp-fire Lunch.

* * * REGULAR MONTHLY GROUP MEETINGS * * *
for special nature-study.
BIRD GROUP will meet with Mrs. F. M. King, 1 1 1 East Cedar Avenue,
Monday Evening May 1st, at 8 o'clock. The Bird Group
wishes to announce regular early morning field trips for
bird study every Thursday morning until the end of May.
The second one leaves Elm Avenue and Frisco R.R. tracks
at 6 o'clock Thursday April 27th. Other routes announced
each week.
ASTRONOMY GROUP will meet with Miss Anne Jones, 690 Bonita Ave.

Monday Evening May 8th, at 8 o'clock.
TREE GROUP will meet with Mrs. H.A. Wegener, 119 Waverly Place,
Monday Evening May 15th at 8 o'clock.

201

202 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

ENTOMOLOGY GROUP will meet at the U. S. Entomological Laboratory
628 Yeddo Avenue, Monday Evening May 22d, at 8 o'cl.

******************************** *******************************************

HANG THIS UP IN A HANDY PLACE-SO YOU'LL KEEP THE DATES IN MIND.

Any information desired will be furnished by the Secretary,

Phone Webster 833 J
***************************************************************************

Mrs. Jasper Blackburn, President

Mrs. Anne A. Jones, Secretary

OHIO

Cleveland

The Museum oj Natural History has issued the first of a series of popular
interpretations of nature entitled "Trees of Ohio," by Harold L. Madison
curator of Education. This is called "Pocket Nature History No.i, Botanic-
al Series No. 1." It may be obtained for 15 cents by application to the museum,
and is certainly a most satisfactory little book. It may be carried in the
pocket or in a notebook.

We shall all be debtors to the museum if ic publishes these popular guides,
according to its announced plan of issuing two numbers in each science each
year, including the guides and the "intimate stories" of the sciences.
Toledo

The first field trip of the year for the Toledo Nature Study Club was held
on March 5 on the Boy Scout Reservation ten miles from the city. Seventy
persons were in attendance and enjoyed the observation of winter birds at
the feeding stations, a hike thru the extensive woods of this camp-site, and
a "bully" hunter's stew supper cooked by the Gimogash troop of Toledo Boy
Scouts. The trip was under the direction of Prof. M. R. Van Cleve, supervisor
of nature study in the Toledo schools and field director of the club. The
Toledo club is one of the most active in the country, having a loyal mem-
bership of one hundred and fifty.
Youngstown

The Youngstown, Ohio branch of the American Nature Study Society was
organized on March 25, 1922 with the remarkable initial membership of
seventy-five. This large gathering was largely due to the interest and initiative
of Miss Elizabeth Northrup, teacher of science in the Grant Junior High School,
now secretary of the organization. Supt. of schools Mr. O. L. Reid was elected
president. Supt. Reid is strongly in favor of instruction in nature-study for
school children and established such a department in the school of Louisville,
Kentucky when he was city supt. of schools in that city. An influential member
of this new club is Mr. George L. Fordyce a prominent business man of Youngs-
town and one of the best known ornithologists in the state.

The Youngstown area is in one of the best migration routes in Ohio. This
fact and the fact that it is an interesting geological region, give promise of
the functioning in Youngstown of one of the most active and usefui nature
clubs in the country.

NEWS ITEMS 203

PENNSYLVANIA

Erie. Woman's Chib: At the meeting of the Nature Study Department
of the Woman's Club on May 2d, enthusiasm ran so high that although the
program started at 2:30, it was 6 o'clock before we dismissed, and even then
we were hardly satisfied. A communication was read from the Pennsylvania
department of Forestry relating to Gifford Pinchot's great work of trying
to restore the forests of this state, placing Pennsylvania back where she be-
longs— at the head of all states in Forestry. When we heard once more
that these forests are now a "desert" and that it is from them that the state
school fund is derived, we felt that "thereby hangs a tale." An illuminating
talk on insects, chief emphasis on the housefly, made us all anxious to swat.
And the Round Table on Wild Flowers made us glad once more that we
live in this rich region. We know that on the peninsula alone there are
over ninety species found nowhere else in the state, and that as a whole we
have a greater number of species than almost any other locality in the
country.

Opportunity was given for individuals to become members of The Wild
Flower League of America, in the Pennsylvania Division, and one of our mem-
bers will accept the position of chairman for Erie county. We shall endeavor
to enlist the support of the Parent-Teachers Associations.

The recent lecture of Professor Dallas Lores Sharp on "The Magical
Chance," brought by the Nature Study Department, was an inspiration which
we were glad to be able to put before the whole 700 members of the Erie
Woman's Club.
Boy Scouts

Here is a specimen of an Erie Boy Scout Hike which is a nature excursion,
and boy nature predominates:

Report of Hike up the Peninsula

On April 23, Troop No. 5 took its third hike this year up the peninsula.
Sixteen Scouts met at the Merry-go-round at Waldameer at about 1 1 o'clock
and then hiked up the beach. We noticed sea gulls, robins, song and English
sparrows, blackbirds, downy woodpeckers and thrushes. We saw others
which could not be identified. We noticed mattresses and chairs and other
things the storm had blown along the beach. A Spadacene won the prize for
building the first fire. Chas. Mehler passed first-class cooking and Robert
Smith, merit badge in cooking. After dinner a seven-inning game of base-
ball was played. Landers "No Runs" beating Spadacene's "Hit Em Hards"
22-21. Spadacene could not find his axe when we started for home at 4:30
o'clock. Let's have another hike soon.

Albert Viau

Reporter for hike.

204 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Schools: A University Extension Course in Nature-Study was offered and
maintained during the last term for the teachers of Erie under the instruction
of Miss Elizabeth Carr. The lectures, museum work, and excursions were
thoroughly enjoyed and most profitable. The increased teaching ability of
the teachers who took the course will be recognized by increase of salary for
all who entered and were successful.

Erie Public Museum:

Good work in Nature-Study is being done under the able management of
Mrs Katharine Blake. Lectures on nature subjects and excursions to the
woods are maintained, in addition to distribution of collections for nature
classes in the schools. The teachers turn to the museum for help. The
splendid bird houses and feeding boxes made by Mr. Liebel and kept in the
museum until needed are an inspiration to many people and certainly help
Erie to become a better home for birds.

North East has maintained a successful nature club for many years,
the activities of which have been carefully chronicled each week in the North
East Breeze and Advertiser, by Mr. Cushman, leader of the club. This has
done a great deal for the town and the count}' and is often the only breath of
the out-of-doors that creeps into our newspapers. It has had an elevating
influence not be forgotten. North East is now known as the home of nature-
lovers.

The following topics were discussed: The Butcher Bird, The Hepatica,
Food from WildPlants, Primroses Poisonous, Wild Ducks, A Hint to Anglers,
Christmas Roses, Feeding the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh has had a nature club for about 3 years with a present mem-
bership of about 150, "the best crowd in Pittsburgh.'' Miss Marie Knauz is
now president. The best thing of the past year has been the building of a
shack in the mountains 60 miles away. We will tell more of this shack later.
Mimeographed monthly bulletins are distributed to all members of which
a sample: may be found on page 198.

j?"jf*lw.:i.''SI

|THE BOOK SHELF y

i&rd Stories by Edith M. Patch, 212 pp with illustrations
by Robert J. Sim. The Atlantic Monthly Press.

This is another volume of the series Little Gateways to Science
and surely no hand has more magic in unlatching the little gate-
ways than does that of Edith Patch. These bird stories are as
interesting and delightful as the Hexapod Stories which have
become dear to so many children. Miss Patch understands the
child mind and therefore knows that the child is interested in
the story of one creature rather than in any general descriptions
of the habits of the species. Each one of these stories is a thril-
ling biography of a bird telling its home life, its nestling and bird-
ling days and its experience as a grownup. Moreover, the birds
described are not those usually selected for children. With the
exception of the chickadee the other stories deal with the lives
unfamilar to children, of birds which they see but know compara-
tively little about. Miss Patch has followed her own happy
plan for naming her stories: The Chickadee is Chick D. D.;
The Five Worlds of Larie give the complete history of the seagull ;
Peter Piper is the biography of a sand piper; Gavia of Immer
Lake tells of the loon; Eve and Petro are a pair of cliff swallows
that have exciting experiences; Uncle Sam is the story of a bald
eagle, our bird of freedom; Corbie is a fascinating tale of a tame
crow that was reared and was the playmate of a Brown-eyed
Boy and a Blue-eyed Girl; Ardea's Soldier is the snowy heron;
The Flying Clown is a story of the night hawk that has taken
up her abode on the roofs of city houses; The Lost Dove is the
story of the passenger pigeon; Little Solomon Otus is the history
of a screech owl. The book closes with the romance and wander-
ings of Bob, The Vagabond, our beloved bobolink.

No fairy story ever written is more absorbingly interesting
to the child than any one of these stories which are true and teach
the child many things besides giving him information. Miss

205

206 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Patch is very adroit in her lessons on conservation of bird and
plant life, but is none the less effective. The illustrations by-
Robert J. Sim are pen and ink drawings and are very true and
attractive. The last pages of the volume are given to notes on
the stories and references and a very valuable book list on birds
which includes also bulletins and leaflets which gives the volume
special value. It is a book which should be in the library of
every child in America.

Human Geography J. Russell Smith, Ph. D. Professor of Eco-
nomic Geography, Columbia University. Book 1, Peoples and
Countries, 370 pp, illustrated. John C. Winston Company.

This volume is meant for fourth, fifth and sixth grades and is
indeed a human geography. The editor of this magazine graduat-
ed from sixth grade many long years ago, but she read this vol-
ume at a sitting and found it as interesting as a novel ; and when
through, she experienced a new and delightful sensation of in-
timacy with this earthly ball that has upon its surface so many
kinds of geography and climate and therefore also so many kinds
of people living in such diverse ways and occupied with such diverse
activities. Where does the Eskimo live? To answer this ques-
tion there is given a delightful account of the Eskimo's snowhouse,
his children, their clothing, their food, their fishing and their
dogs. Where does the Bedouin live? To answer this is given a
thrilling account of the life of Hakim, an Arab boy and inciden-
tally the story of his tribe that pitch their tents and feed their
flocks on the desert's edge. How all of the great industries of
the world are carried on, where the raw material comes from and
the manufactured material goes to are described in chapters
that hold the attention from start to finish. Especial stress is
put upon the industries of our own great country. Five hundred
illustrations, each picture one that tells a story, add greatly to
the beauty and usefulness of the book. All the maps are good
and convincing; moreover, an explanation is given as to how
maps are made. We confess that we lingered long over some
colored pictures of our earth as seen by the man in the moon.
They will do much to counteract certain assertions recently made
by supposedly intelligent people that the earth is flat. We hope
that every fourth to sixth grader in our great land will have the

THE BOOK SHELF 207

opportunity to study this geography and thus become really
acquainted with our world. Volume 11 which we have "not seen
deals with Regions and Trade and is for the higher grades. We
strongly recommend Volume 1 as a basis for world Nature-Study.

The Earth and Its Life. A. Waddington Seers, B. A. 208 pp.
Illustrated. World Book Company.

This little volume gives an outlook on the history of the earth
beginning back long before life appeared upon it and chronicling
the appearence of plants and animals upon it as revealed in the
study of geology and paleontology. Especial attention is paid
to the early history of man. The topics covered by the chapters
are: the earth and the universe, how the crust of the earth was
formed — the plan of the earth, the movements and fashioning of
the crust, the coming of life, evolution, the evolution of plants,
plants and their environment, evolution of animal life — the lower
forms, backboned animals: fishes, amphibians; reptiles and birds,
mammals, man, the early users of stone, the later users of stone,
users of stone in modern times, the users of bronze, the iron age,
man discovers the universe, man discovers the earth, and man
and his environment.

This book is especially valuable to teachers for their own infor-
mation since it gives what is known of the earth's history in brief,
concise and interesting form. High school pupils will find it val-
uable for supplementary reading and it will prove to be a convenient
and valuable book of reference in Nature Study libraries.

Gardening. An Elementary School Text Treating of the Science
and Art of Vegetable Growing. A. B. Stout. Ph.D. Director of
the Laboratories. N. Y. Botanical Gardens. New York City.
345 pp illustrated. World Book Company

This is an admirable volume written by a man of wide experience
in gardening who has a perfect comprehension of what the
children should know about gardening and how to interest them
in it. It begins with the objectives and methods and reasons
for learning gardening, then follow chapters on how plants live
and grow, their food and their relation to the soil and water.
Later chapters deal with planning of the garden, the time for

208 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

planting, the care of the different kinds of garden crops and finally
are given' short discussions of the diseases, insects that attack
plants and an appendix which gives the tables for planting dates
for all garden produce. There are many points of special excel-
lence in this book. It is very clearly written. Each chapter
is followed by questions which will help the pupil to understand
the reasons for things and suggestions of things for them to do
and observe that are directly related to the subject matter just
discussed. Each chapter begins with a valuable quotation from
some author that is both cogent and helpful. It is profusely illustrat-
ed with photographs of children carrying on garden work or of
subjects directly related to the work and there are also many
helpful diagrams. The outstanding characteristic of the book
is that by just looking at it the reader is inspired with an over-
whelming desire to start gardening at once.

The Flower Finder — George Lincoln Walton, M.D., Member of
the New England Botanical Club. 394 pp. Profusely illustrated.
J. B. Lippincott Company.

This is a new volume for identifying flowers which combines the
advantages of tracing them out by color and also by structure. It
begins with some helpful chapters upon leaves, their arrangement
and flowers, their arrangement and parts ; and a short discussion of
the prominent flower families. Preceding the chapters on flowers
of certain color are given charts that will aid in identifying the
flower more readily and which incidentally call attention to the
form of the plant. The last chapters are given to the identifica-
tion of fruits by color. Each flower and each fruit is illustrated
by graphic pen drawings by the author or by photographs or
both, and there are several attractive colored plates. The book
is bound in flexible covers and is thus especially adapted for field
use. It is a beautiful book that will prove most useful to those
who wish to know our common flowers. The descriptions are
short but tell the chief characteristics of the plant and its habitat.

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings of Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10|inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

x x

RECOMMENDATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

IN THE

DUES

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in U. S., $ i. 50; annual
membership abroad
£1.75; Canada, J1.60.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature
Study Society.

AMERICAN NATURE STUDY SOCIETY

President, Wm. G. V1NAL Providence R. I.
Secretary. ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
Nature-Study Review

PLEASE DETATCH AND FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECREARY.

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To the American Nature Study Society
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(It is suggested that you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and of the

benefits of membership)

X.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Children's Interest in Nature-Study. Clara M. Mc Quade.

Honey Flows. Alice Lee Sherwood. -

Common Thistle, The Robert S. Walker. -

Thrushes, The Ethel H. Hausman. -

Hermit Thrush, The George W. Schussler -

To a Wood Thrush Wm. P. Alexander - - - -

Gossip of the Trees, The Katherine Rogers. -
Chipmunk, The A. Leah Cause. -
Garden Nature-Stud}-. Roland G. Guss. -

! Editorial _________

Book Shelf

Anna B. Comstock, Editor
associate editors
Susan Sipe Alburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel -
Prof. John Dearness ...

Miss Cora Smith ...

JProf. W. G. Vinal

209
221
229
230
233
234
235
239
243
254
256

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis, Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Providence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Ithaca, N.Y.
under the Act of March 3, 1879

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 September, 1922 No. 6

Children's Interest in Nature-Study

Clara M. McQuade
State Teachers College, Chico, Calif.

"Science rests on a deep and primordial love of Nature in which
it has its only real educational value." Howe. Ped. Sem. Oct. 04
p. 61.

If this statement is true it follows that the fostering and develop-
ping of that deep and primordial love is obviously the first
step to be taken in the teaching of elementary science.
Love of nature as well as all other love should be expressed
through action and the plans made by any teacher for this early
work should enlist the activity of the child in doing things that are
worth while and that are so simple that his mind can grasp the
reasonableness of them.

It is not yet known at what age the child begins to be interested
in plants and animals but any mother will bear witness to the
childs early delight in out-door life and just because the exact
time of this awakening is not known, the mother is urged by a
great student of child nature (Froebel — Intro, to M. P. p. 7)
to keep the child out of doors as much as possible from its earliest
infancy and to give it direct contact with as great a variety of
natural objects as possible. This contact, he affirms needs only
the sympathetic treatment of the mother, herself in love with
nature, to cultivate in the child a like deep and abiding love.

209

210 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

But there's the rub. If mothers and primary teachers were
themselves living in sympathetic contact with nature even though
ignorant of "science" as such.it could not with truth be said as
now that "almost all elementary science teaching is a failure."
(Howe. Ped. Sem. Oct. 04. 66).

It is a sad fact that mere contact with the "fair silent things of
nature" will not beget the sympathy as many a country bred
man and woman can testify. Belated and conscious efforts of
the individual toward the realization of that sympathy can result
in mere glimpses of the beauty and the restfulness and the com-
pensation of nature and a deep sense of misery at being cheated of a
large part of his birthright.

Now, since this great loss can never be wholly made up to the
individual later in his life by conscious effort on his part, let us
as Froebel urges, be busy with the children.

About twelve years ago I was carrying a bouquet of sweet
peas through a wretched quarter of San Francisco, a quarter then
known as the "Dumps." On my way through this malodorous
place I was stopped every few steps by children who begged for
"just one" flower. It was pitiful to see the delight in their pinched
dirty little faces as they received the flower. I asked what they
intended to do with the flowers and the answer was always the
same "keep urn."

On another occasion in the same quarter of the city I saw
two very small boys with stones in their hands creeping stealthily
toward a corral, I asked them what they were creeping after,
"boids" was the reply. I then inquired what they were going
to do to the birds, "kill ran," "then what" I asked. "Keep urn"
they answered. After that I worked for two years with those
little waifs and have since had ten years experience in teaching
little children and I find that gentle or simple they all want flowers,
they all want "boids" and they all want to "keep um."

The problem then, is by no means hopeless though it must be
confessed it often seems so.

It has needed but the mildest suggestion to start the children on
journeys to trace lines of traveling ants to their homes, to stalk
the birds and note their markings, size and song, to gather heaps
of beautiful leaves and grasses, to watch with delight the fish,
bees and butterflies. But always where this had been done came
the blank wall and the question "what next?"

mcquadx CHILDREN 5 INTEREST IN NATURE-STUDY 211

The work described in the following pages was started and
notes were taken daily for the purpose of finding out by such a
study (as much as possible) of the continuity of children's interests
in such plants and animals as any school may have and to note
their power of interpretation and their spontaneous reactions
toward the work.

It will be noted in this paper that very little was done along
the lines of the second topic while the first and third gave fairly
satisfactory results as far as this particular group of children
were concerned.

The time covered in making the daily observations was three
months (Saturdays and Sundays omitted) . A class of nine children
averaging in age five and six years was chosen for the work. Of
these six had attended kindergarten.

From the beginning great care was taken to leave the children
as free as possible and at no time were any but very slight sugges-
tions made by the teachers. Still it must be remembered that
these suggestions, however mild, were no doubt partly responsible
for the remarkable continuity of interest shown by the children.

The plan adopted was one that I had wished to try for a long
time, and though it developed along unexpected lines in some
respects, the divergence was due wholly to the initiative of the
children themselves.

The work was begun in the early Autumn by taking the children
on walks, stopping at favorable resting places and talking freely
about the objects at hand. The main idea was to develop the
desire for plants and pets but in the nature of the case many other
subjects came up all helping, however, more or less directly in
fostering the original plan. Grasshoppers were imprisoned by a
fence made of clasped hands, humming birds were watched
breathlessly as they gathered nectar from the flowers. Erroneous
notions such as the belief that grasshoppers chew tobacco and
that humming birds make Jioney were corrected by the older
children.

In the course of a week the children knew that the gardener
does not plant all the seed and that he does not go to the store to
buy all that he does plant. The wind was kind and they dis-
covered these things for themselves.

At the end of two weeks through the influence of talks, stories
and delightful walks the children caught eagerly at the suggestion

212 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

that they plant some seeds and care for some pets. Various
pets were suggested by the children, but they finally agreed on
bantam chickens and white rabbits.

The gardener made us two small pens of wire netting with a
hinged board on top. When finished they looked rather airy
especially as the sky was threatening rain. This troubled the
children and they thought of many devices for the protection of
the pets. They suggested a new house, a cloth to spread on top,
a shingled roof, but G — solved the problem by saying that he
knew where there were some boxes in which holes could be cut
for doors. His plan was adopted and the boxes provided.

The chickens were donated by the parents of one of the children.
They were promptly named "Dolly Gray' ' and"Speckle. ' ' Speckle
is a rooster but he submitted tamely to be named after the hen in
the kindergarten story. But now difficulties arose. They had
nothing for the chickens to eat, they couldn't find any rabbits
and they "didn't know what rabbits eat anyhow."

The next day the children brought a goodly store of information
to school. They knew all about the food of chickens and rabbits
and one boy brought some parsley seed to raise some parsley for
food. This was the very point I was waiting for. We now planted
the flower seed previously gathered and set a pot aside for the
rabbits, after planting parsley seed in it, many of the flower
seeds were not the best choice for fall planting but the children
wished to plant those they had gathered themselves. Among
them were poppy, candy -tuft, sweet-peas and nasturtium seed,
and it may be well to state here that the last named proved to
be the most satisfactory in all ways.

While the seeds were coming up the problem of furnishing food
for the pets was considered. The children proposed to bring
food from home and for a few days "Dolly Gray" and "Speckle"
fared sumptuously. Two children invested their pocket money
for wheat and a fancy tin pan for. a drinking vessel.

It was not long, however, until a day came when no food was
brought. They asked how they would feel by noon if their
mamas forgot to get their breakfast. They thought that they
would feel rather hungry but were apparently not much cast
down by their forgetfulness. On the way to the pen we came
quite by accident upon some wheat scattered on the ground as
though it beenhad spilled. Five children without a word dropped

mcquade CHILDREN'S INTEREST IN NATURE-STUDY 213

on their knees and began to scrape the grain up with their hand's
When asked why they were working in the dirt, they said "Here's
wheat, we can carry it to the chickens." They made three trips
to the pens before they were satisfied that their pets were su fncient-
ly fed.

The next day six of the children brought rice, breakfast food,
cucumbers, apples and buns and one boy filled the pockets of h:'s
trousers with wheat and vexed the souls of his teachers by leaving
a trail of it after all his footsteps in the class-rooms and halls
that morning.

This boy on a later occasion brought some sorrel for the rabbits
but the hours in the school room were long and the temptation
great so he ate it himself. When the ch ildren in their indignation
told me of this sad occurrence I looked as sorry as I could under
the circumstances as G — handed me three or four straggly roots and
said eagerly "It was dus a leetle bit anyhow, Mrs. M — ."

From this time on the children were very faithful in bringing
food. They were reminded frequently of this necessity. Even
the most careless child remembered sometimes and when he did
remember his joy in the victory and in being permitted to feed
the pets seemed to be greater than that of the more thoughtful
children.

But even with all their care some would forget or mothers
would refuse to be bothered and rations would fall short especially
on Friday when three days meals must be provided. Here was
another problem, what could be done to tide over the times of
shortage? After a good deal of thought and a few suggestive
questions the children decided to prepare and plant some gardens.
In the meantime the search for rabbits was carried on vigorously
by all hands but as yet with no results. But the desire for them
only waxed stronger with every discouragement. D — said that
she had a picture of a rabbit in her story book "and oh how I
wish he were alive so we could have him" she said.

The market price for rabbits, it appeared from what the children
told me was one dollar a pair. On my expressing my willingness
to pay even more than that for a pair G — immediately began to
organize a party to go up a "big canyon" and trap rabbits. The
result of the expedition he generously offered me at the quoted
market price. The other children speedily changed his views on
high finance and he sheepishly offered to give me all the rabbits
he could trap.

2i4 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The time was still afar off when we were to have rabbits but
this did not daunt the children. They talked of them constantly,
and really helped all they knew to find some. Had I wished I
might, of course, have come to the rescue but I thought it best to
go on with the plant growing for a time at least.

From the moment that the seeds were planted in the flower
pots and the children's names written on them the interest never
flagged. When the time for this work came, the children ran
instantly to their own pots, clasped them with both hands and
gazed into them with anxious eyes. When they found the seeds
sprouting they were full of delight and in a very short time they
were interested in finding other sprouting seeds. They liked to
give them to me and have me hold them while I recited:
"In the heart of a seed
Buried deep, so deep
A dear little plant
Lay fast asleep
Wake said the sunshine
And creep to the light," etc.

One morning A — dug up a large plant in a box near by. I was
told of it and went to investigate. He said "I dug it up carefully
I did't hurt it I just wanted to see if there was a seed at the root."

The children were uneasy when it rained lest the rain should
wash their names from the pot and they would not know their own.

One day shortly after the plants had begun to grow we met a
teacher who told us that she had put her pigeons temporarily in our
rabbit pen. I expected nothing but that those beauties with their
burnished necks, soft gray plumage and pretty pink feet would take
the whole of the children's attention for that period, but quite to
my surprise only three stopped to look at them, until after they had
examined and talked about their plants and even then the pigeons
were quite secondary in interest to those tiny, insignificant sprouts.

The birds were shortly after this transferred to a pen built
for them in a corner which the children must pass every day to get
to their plants and chickens. They ran past, however, with
scarcely a look at the pigeons. This surprised me very much as
did also the fact that some chickens were hatched near our pens
and though the children enjoyed watching them they did not
neglect their own work in the least. They did, however, show
the most intense desire for "Dolly Gray" to hatch some chickens

mc quade CHILDREN'S INTEREST IN NA T URE-ST UDY 215

and their minds dwelt fondly on the thought that perhaps some-
time they might have both baby chickens and baby rabbits and
that they would be able to pet them and take care of them.

The children's evident lack of interest in the beautiful pigeons
led me to try an experiment with them. I gathered them about
the pigeon house and taught them a song and game connecting
the pigeons with it. This they learned readily and seemed to
enjoy. We sang the song and played the game three times and
it had the effect of stimulating the children to a livlier interest in
the pigeons, not enough, however, to interfere with their work
with their own property.

Thereafter they often stopped voluntarily at the pigeon house
long enough to sing "Coo-roo" and, when as sometimes happened
the pigeons cooed in return it seemed to give the children much
pleasure. By this time the plants were growing well and some of
them were quite tall. It sometimes happened that rain pre-
vented the children from seeing their plants, this always caused
keen disappointment and I was always assured most earnestly
that the children had worn their heavy coats "on purpose."
It grieved me to turn a deaf ear to their pleadings and had the
responsibility been wholly mine, I should have made plans to
avoid any interruption of their work. But even after a short
forced absence there was more delight than usual in the free time
devoted to this work and in this case, too, it was such a surprising
thing to see how the plants had grown in the meantime.

Several of the plants soon came to need support. As soon as
the children noticed this two or three volunteered to make trellises
but day after day passed and none forthcoming. At last I told a
"story" about a plant that had an owner. This story was dis-
guised pretty thoroughly, but one boy said after the usual pause
"that story is about our plants." I made no reply and we started
at our work. Four children immediately hunted about for sticks
and used them to prop up their plants. Two of the four children
also propped plants that did not belong to them. In a day or
two E — brought a rude trellis which he had made at home. The
others contented themselves with sticks for props.

A few chickens kept by the janitor for food were near our pens
and about this time the children observed that they often over-
turned their drinking pan and were without water. A — asked
permission to water them and after that it became a regular part
of their work as long as the chickens were there.

216 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Two boxes containing plants stood near our flower pots. These
had probably served their purpose and were abandoned as they
were almost buried in pine needles which had dropped from the
trees. One day two boys carefully cleaned the pine needles from
the boxes and loosened the earth around the plants "so they could
grow better' ' they explained. This was entirely without suggestion.
I had not noticed these plants.

By this time the desire for gardens had become very strong
and although I wished very much to avoid planting gardens until
we had first "caught our hare" it was getting late in the season
and in order that other plans might not miscarry, we set about
making the gardens. Two beds three by eight feet were marked
off. The children did their very best in digging, hoeing and raking
but they needed and obtained some help here. They had pre-
viously gathered lettuce seed from the school garden. One plot
was planted with these while the other was called the farm, and
was planted to wheat for the chickens. In a few days the gardens
were nice and green. The children were interested in them but
were not so active in caring for them as their own potted plants.
They were much quieter for some reason. They loved to stand
and watch them, often stooping to examine the plants. They
soon learned to distinguish the weeds but no effort was made to
destroy them. The effects of sun and moisture were noted and
some of them rightly interpreted though the very brightest girl
interpreted the fact that the plant leaned toward the sun as some-
thing to be provided against for I found her protecting her plant
from the sun by placing a thick board in front of it. This was
long after the rest of the class had grasped the idea of turning their
plants every day to make them grow straight.

One day while the plants in the garden were still very small
footprints were discovered in the middle of the beds. This
aroused great indignation in the children and I dreaded to let
them work out this problem without any suggestion from me.
The footprints annoyed them seriously and they thought of many
ways to prevent any repetition of them. At last one boy suggested
a sign telling intruders to keep away. This was eagerly seized
upon as a good plan and just here was shown a very keen desire
on the part of the children to write signs them.selves which was of
course the correct thing for them to do. The wish to write arose
first by the children planning how they could make the signs,

mc quade CHILDREN'S INTEREST IN NA TURE-STUD Y 217

then came an expression of the need for crayons so that their
mothers could write the signs. I promptly supplied the crayons
and as one little girl received hers she burst out with "Oh, Mrs.
M — if I could only write I could make the sign myself." Un-
fortunately it was not possible for me to gratify the child's spon-
taneous desire to learn to write.

The next day this girl brought a sign made of paste board
bearing in very large letters the terse command "Keep off."
This was highly satisfactory to the rest of the class and we started
for the gardens with a sense of great importance. Much advice
was given as to the proper placing of the sign and different trials
were made, but the reason for its final placing was supplied by a
boy who said that it should be placed facing the back of the bed
since the toes of the footprints were pointing forward.

The next day a boy brought another sign and by instruction
of the children it was placed in the other bed facing the opposite
direction in order that careless persons coming either way might
be warned in time.

I did not understand the children's fascination for those beds,
there was little to do in caring for them and with many hands
that little was soon done. "Oh come along" said A — one day
impatiently starting for the pens "those kids would stand and
watch those gardens all day."

By the first of November the wish for a flower garden had become
so strong that the importance of making one was urgedevery day.
I did not wish to make one so late but their importunities finally
prevailed and they were allowed to plan for a flower garden.

The ground was selected and seeds prepared but storms set
in and other circumstances arose which prevented the carrying
out of this plan.

D — our most interested little girl now left us and her sorrow at
leaving was as great as ours at losing her. She left her plant for
any little girl who might take her place as she was going too far to
take it with her. She said that her mother had promised her
that she might have a garden at the new home if possible. Our
long looked for rabbits were obtained at last through A — . Two
immense gray fellows who where instantly named "Roxy Bess"
and "Tom." They did not object to being handled and this was
a great point in their favor. It was such a treat to be allowed to
get into the pen and let them eat from the hand.

218 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

For a time now the plants and chickens were of less interest
than the rabbits but neither were neglected on that account.
Such remarks as "let us go now and feed the chickens" and "we
mustn't forget the plants because we like the rabbits" were quite
common.

The need now arose for work that was quite necessary but less
delightful, the cleanliness of the pets must be considered. The
children were led to see the necessity for this by calling their
attention to the lettuce beds which had developed an enormous
capacity for raising weeds. The potted plants, too, needed
weeding badly, but I had purposely avoided calling their attention
to the fact. But now by a very few suggestive questions the
children soon proposed to make all their belongings clean and
neat. The pens were raked and swept and the pots and beds
were weeded. The privilege of doing this work seemed to be
sought as eagerly as any other.

One morning the children who had reached the pens first
came running back with joyous cries to sieze my hands amd hurry
me forward. The cause of the violent excitement displayed by
these well-fed, well-cared for youngsters proved to be one tiny
egg laid on the ground by our hen. "Dolly Gray" is all right
shrieked G — joyfully. One would have thought that bantam's
eggs were as rare as those of the roc.

I looked at the egg and said "Poor Dolly Gray" she had to
lay the egg on the hard ground. That was enough. The next
morning "Dolly Gray" could have chosen her nest from hay,
clover, grass and excelsior.

The eggs accumulated slowly and it was a delightful thing to
climb into the pen and hand them out when there were any. It
was the great hope of the class that "Dolly Gray" would make up
her mind that she wanted some baby chickens but, evidently she
had no such notion.

In the meantime I was racking my brain to think of some
fitting thing to do with the eggs. It seemed rather a tame pro-
ceeding to divide such precious eggs among the children for food
but I could think of nothing better until D — ■ with what to me
seemed a stroke of genius suggested that we take them up town,
sell them and buy food with the proceeds. "And then" she
explained "when we forget we will have food here."

The children thought this an excellent plan and in due time
we took the dozen eggs and went to the grocery store.

mcquade CHILDREN'S INTEREST IN NATU2E-STUDY 219

I had previously made a bargain with the grocer lest he should
object to the size and age of the eggs. I felt that this was in no
sense cheating the children as I could very truthfully say should
anyone ask, that that particular dozen bantam's eggs was worth
fully twenty-five cents to me.

The grocer offered to pay the children in silver or to trade for
wheat. It was fully explained that they might take the silver
and go elsewhere to purchase what they wished. But for some
reason which I could not discover, they chose to trade.

M — ■ pulled at my dress while we were looking at the wheat
and whispered to ask me if I supposed "Dolly Gray" would care
if we purchased five cents worth of vegetables for the rabbits,
and as I thought that on such an occasion "Dolly Gray's" heart,
however selfish, naturally would be moved to generosity, the trade
resulted in two bags of wheat and one bunch of carrots.

The packages of wheat were heavy but all were more than
eager to carry them. Each had his chance on the way to the
pens and it was a very happy band of children who fed the animals
that day.

This class was not in my charge very long after the trip above
described. Though the tangible results of this little study are
very meager, the work has seemed to me worth while since it
has furnished a little further confirmation of the idea that has
grown stronger with every year's experience in teaching young
children, the idea that the study of science should have its founda-
tion experiences of active and loving contact with nature with-
out much attempt at finding the "reasons of things" except in
so far as questions come up naturally in the course of the work.
That these questions will come up there is no doubt and the
teacher must be prepared to meet them and help the child to
answer them.

That the interest of the children was kept active and con-
tinuous through their sense of ownership was demonstrated very

fully.

I did not experiment so much with songs, stories and games as
I should have done had I not from ample previous tests become
fully convinced of their service in this work, neither did I feel
the necessity of demonstrating how desirable freedom is for the
beautiful unfolding of child life. The children were free, the work
was carried on with no trace of formalism except such as was

220 NA T URE-STUD Y RE VIE W

necessary to secure orderly work and good discipline. The
children were not allowed to run wild and perhaps this should be
mentioned as having had a tendency to keep their minds engaged
with the work at hand.

It is hardly necessary to point out the splendid opportunities
of "correlation" which this work offered for reading, writing,
singing, manual training, drawing and literature. The chances
for observation of the life cycle of plant and animal, the stretching
out of the interests of the children through harvesting and thresh-
ing their wheat, selling eggs and lettuce (with the worthy object
of maintaining their pets on the proceeds).

I did not copy from my notes anything concerning the flowers
of courtesy, helpfulness and unselfishness which showed weak
and spasmodic signs of blooming but the signs were there and in
abundance.

Finally it seems to me well worth while to take a little time
from the formal work of the school to give the children that
preparation, that foundation which must be given now if ever,
which will open their eyes to the loveliness of common things and
their hearts to the beauty and the high privilege, the highest that
comes to any human being, that of nurturing life.

Ferns

When Zenith-high the sun of August burns,
How fresh and cool the frondage of the ferns !
Aisle upon waving aisle behold, them stand,—
A forest shade for folk of Fairy-land.

— Clinton Scollard

Honey Flows

Alice Lee Sherwood

.AST summer I was the excited owner of three
colonies of bees and the same number of ter-
' rifyingly scientific bee books and a monthly-
magazine devoted to bees alone. Strangely
enough, the word in these books and articles
which most puzzled me was not at all a Greek
or Latin name. It was the simple, expres-
sive term "honey flow" repeated again and
again, appearing in almost every discussion.
So important a part did it seem to play that all of the bees' ways
were influenced by it — the tendency to swarm, to raise or to
cease raising brood, to banish the drones from their only home
on earth, to rob one anothers' larders. According to the wise
men who were guiding me my own dealings with the bees, also,
seemed to depend on a thorough knowledge of the honey flows
of my locality. Without such knowledge, said my books, I
should never know when it was time to build up my colonies to
the greatest possible strength. At the opening of a large honey
flow my bees must be ready to send the largest possible army of
workers into the field to gather nectar, they must have all the
room they can use as the flow continues or they will swarm, and if
the flow should suddenly stop I must be on the lookout for
robber bees.

It sounded simple enough as I read until I would wonder, all
of a sudden, what a honey flow might really be. The flowers
bloom from the vanishing of the spring frosts until the frosts of
autumn nights, and the bees work day in and day out as long as a
flower anywhere holds up its beseeching head and beckons mutely
to the passing bees, offering them with a smile the most fragrant
wine if they will but carry a love message to some beckoning
flower beyond.

It was a cold, rainy summer and both flowers and bees had to
struggle hard to live. Problem upon problem presented itself to
me as I watched my bees and studied my books, and before winter
I had to supply the three colonies with many pounds of sugar
which were almost impossible to procure. When the season

222

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

closed, I found that I had learned many things about bees but
no one thing, no magic key with which I could unlock each secret
door of my bees' strange world. And I kept repeating still,
"What is a honey flow?"

In my bee journal there is a department called — "Gleaned by
asking" — and many questions asked there by beginners even I
could readily answer, but never did I see my question there asked
by another perplexed beginner. It was too simple a term to be
explained in my books. How stupid a pupil I was ! I could not
bring myself to publicly ask so foolish a question as this. If
from these books of mine so complete in their explanations I
could not "glean" the meaning of this constantly used term, no
one could make me understand. Perhaps the bees would tell
me if I watched and listened patiently and alertly enough. So I
waited until the summer came again, and I have been rewarded —
for I have shared in the jubilee of the bees at each successive
honey flow this season and I hold a key that opens many doors
revealing wonderful things.

Glancing over my record of the season these items appear: —
May 12 — on — warm, sunny days.

apple and pear trees remarkably full of bloom.

white clover opening.

locust and a few tulip trees blooming.

air fragrant with locust.

vipers bugloss opening.

hives full of locust honey.

bees on alsike clover.

sweet clover in full bloom.

basswood blooming.

sumac, stag horn, very full bloom — bees wildly ex-
cited.

rain

buckwheat opening.

rain.

robbing.

heartsease blooming — no bees on blossoms.
July 26 — basswood gone.

sumac nearly gone

buckwheat and goldenrod blooming.

rain.

June

1 —

June

7—

June

10 —

June

12 —

July

6—

July

10 —

July

13—

July

1 7 — on-

Sherwood HONEY FLOWS 223

August 1 — Virginia creeper blooming — covered with bees.
August 9 — on clematis, heartsease, sweet clover blooming.

rain, fog.
August 16 — blue vervain, joepie weed in swamp — full bloom.

iron weed beginning.

a few white asters.
August 21 — strong odor around hives.

golden rod in full bloom — bees working on it.
September 13 — cold nights.
Sept. 16 — asters in full bloom, all varieties.

goldenrod fading, iron weed gone.
Sept. 19 — slight frost during night.

Sept. 20 — on — bees excited by aster flow.

hot days bees in trees after propolis.
Sept. 26 — a. m. thick fog, bees lost in air.

Sept. 27 — on ■ — equinoxial storm.
Oct. 3 — on — cold nights.
Oct. 7 — looked over colonies — loaded with aster honey,

still raising brood.
Oct. 15 — on — asters almost gone.

dead drones in front of hives.

bees mostly quieting down.
A year ago this would have had no meaning whatever to me.
Now, how many joyous moments it recalls — what strange sights
and sounds in a most mysterious world!

It would be impossible to tell of these things with a human
tongue for who could understand or care? It is only when our
ears are awakened to the music of the bees and our eyes are reading
secrets in the smiles of flowers that our human minds or souls
can catch here and there a fleeting insight, a revelation of great
wonder and beauty in this world where there is no intellect other
than nature's, perhaps, where perfect lives are lived without
thought, without knowledge. Where and what is the conscious
force that wills these things to come to pass among creatures so
totally unconscious of what they do?

It was the thirteenth of July and the breath of July was in the
air. The garden was gay with many colors and the fields glowing
and smiling under the hot sun. I had noticed that for several
days my bees had been flying in steady streams in one direction,
but what they were finding so much to their liking I did not know.

224

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

In spite of my wishes and all my endeavors the bees had been
swarming lately. "Who is our mistress, nature or you?" they
seemed to laugh back at me as, in a rushing, singing cloud, they
would rise and whirl and sail off to
some tree top, leaving the hive where
I had given them abundant room and
ventilation and plenty of combs to
build, with only the bees too young
for the journey and those out in the
fields and with pupae queens still sleep-
ing in their sealed cells. To-day as I
went into the garden the whole air was
exulting with that well-known sound
of thousands upon thousands of tiny,
rushing wings. Over my head there
was whirling a cloud of mad bees, and
I "flew" as best I could to the apiary
•to see from which hive they were com-
ing. To my dismay they were pouring
from every hive! After the shock of
that first sight of all my dear bees dash-
ing off in one wild torrent to leave the
homes I had tried to arrange just to
their liking, I helplessly sat down near
a hive to watch. "What!" I exclaimed, "Here are bees rush-
ing in as well as out in an endless stream," They were not
caught in the current of those leaving but were steadily enter-
ing the hive with loads of honey that made them fly heavily.
This was not like a swarm and every hive, as I went about, had
the same stream of returning bees. I caught at a new hope which
was confirmed as I watched for some time and saw that the cloud
grew neither less nor more dense but continued endlessly to sail
off in one direction; the same direction, in fact, in which the
bees had been flying lately. Such a mad, vast torrent of bees
I had never seen nor heard, even when a great swarm would
first rise into the air. As my eyes followed them my mind went
flying off keeping pace with their swift flight, and away I went,
presently, beneath the long straight cloud. How I wished for
.singing wings!

sherwood HONEY FLOWS 225

Being without them, my shortest way was not a "bee line"
but a road which followed their general direction and led to un-
cultivated fields, and also to a wood where I knew some basswood
trees grew. I went first to the wood and wandered about. The
basswood was not blooming well. I heard one or two bees flying
past and met another struggling among the leaves at my feet
with wings so torn that she could never reach home again. But
the feasting place I did not find here and I went down the road
toward home. At a turn in the road I heard a flying bee and then
another. They were going toward the wild fields which I had
quite forgotten and I followed on their trail along a path which
wound through fields of tall grass and weeds. On I went without
seeing or hearing a bee anywhere. I came to a fork in the path
and stopped, looking all about for some patch of clover or flying
bees. There was nothing, and I started down one path when
my collie, who had been silent all the while, barked and went the
other way. It seemed like the wrong direction, but not being
very hopeful of finding the bees at their feast that day, I followed
the dog. The sun was blazing upon the dry field and the heat
quivered in the intensely silent air. The paht led over a stone
wall into a field which was bordered with dense bushes' On
we went when suddenly I heard a sound in the heat and a rich,
heavy, spicy fragrance filled the air. It was my children's voices
I heard, I had come upon them at last in their play! This, in-
deed, was their feasting place. All along the wall were large
clumps of staghorn sumac and such a mass of great soft yellow
cones rising from banks of green I had never seen before. The
air all about was quivering with bees in such ecstasy that I could
but stand by and gaze at these my children with delight equal,
perhaps, to their own. They were mad with the richly fragrant
wine that filled the hundreds of dainty yellow cups arranged in
smiling, nodding pyramids. Under the hot sun the nectar seemed
to flow continuously, filling each cup as soon as it was drained,
and the music of the bees at their feasting was of a beauty un-
believable. "So this is a honey flow," I cried as I walked on
down the path. Soon I came upon a whole grove of blooming
sumac reaching high above me, and along the little path that led
through it I walked, enchanted, among the fragrance and music.

That evening after the last bees had come gliding in from the
fields deserted by the sun I walked from hive to hive waiting for

226

NA T URE -STUDY RE VIE W

the evening concert which I like so to hear. All at once, from
the hive beside me, it began, that soft, rushing sound like the
rythm of a distant sea, — that rapid fanning of a host of wings in
perfect unison. When the work of the day is over the bees do

not rest as we do for the nectar
they have gathered must be rip-
ened into thick golden honey, and
with their tireless wings they fan
the water from it at night. The
music of their wings this evening
was wonderful to hear, indeed. It
cannot be imagined by those who
have never heard it ; for in our world
of ceaseless discontent, of longing
for something beyond, which we
have not or do not know, there
never is expressed such perfect, un-
clouded contentment as this music
of the bees when the evening comes
and finds them with combs all but
overflowing with the fragrance they
have been gathering under the sun.
It recalls to me a certain philoso-
pher's distinction between instinct
and intellect which says that in-
stinct is that which finds but which
can never seek whereas intellect is
always seeking but it can never find. If this is so, although the
search is glorious, we must wonder in the presence of such mu-
sic whether it is worth while.

I This thirteen of July was the beginning of a continual search on
my part to see what my children were up to. I soon learned to
know whether a good honey flow was on or not, for when with the
first warmth of the sun as it rose a bee would appear at her door-
way, stand on tiptoe and then dart off in a straight line followed
by a second, a third, a forth, I knew there was work for them to do.
As their wings whirred past me they seemed to call back "follow,
follow, follow!" and I did follow, and through their guidance I
found and shared in their merry making. Often when I stopped
at a hive in the heat of mid-day to watch the line of heavily

White sm'det clover.

sherwood HONEY FLOWS 227

laden bees come gliding in, their wings would seem to sing in
human words. The words were always the same, and it was when
their burdens of nectar and pollen were heaviest that their wings
sang most joyfully, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

When the sumac flow was at its height under the hot, still sun
of July the weather treacherously changed and violent thunder
storms would suddenly rise and descend every afternoon. The
air, which had been so pleasing to the sumac, was now kept cool
and damp and agitated, while the yellow cones drooped and broke
under the swift blows of the rain. At first, when these storms
arose, when black clouds appeared in the west and leaped across
the sky to the eastern mountains sending down to the hot earth
strange, silent breath that was almost cold, the stream of out-
going bees would stop as suddenly as the storm arose. Through
the hushed and darkening air a great stream of swift, silent bees
would come gliding home to their various hives from the sumac
fields. I, holding my breath too, would hope that they all might
reach home before the clouds should crash. As if they knew how
to gauge the time, there were usually only a few stragglers coming
in by the time the rain actually fell.

As the rainy weather increased, the sumac bloom ended and the
bees, who had been so excessively happy, grew irritable. There
was no purpose evident now among their armies. Instead of
flying straight for a nectar scource on wings that sang, some would
go in different directions, some would hang lazily about the hives
and some would dart about the entrance of a neighbor's hive
trying to pass the sentinels and steal a load of honey. I missed
the song of their wings as I went about placing tufts of grass
smelling of kerosene oil at the entrances of colonies that showed
any signs of being robbed and trying not to provoke the irritable
creatures into stinging me. The remainder of the summer was
unusually rainy and there were no glorious feasts laid out for the
bees by the plants that waited for sunshine.

It was not until late September that the aster family opened
its lavender-tinted blossoms in great profusion over all the mead-
ows. Then, with intense excitement — as if they knew this was
the last feast and when the asters were gone, unfriendly winter
would do away with flowers — the bees streamed forth to gather
every priceless drop they could. The prosperous asters had
wisely waited until other flowers had closed their shops, and

228 NAT URE-ST UD Y RE VIE W

now that they offered their wine in dainty cups of white and pink
and lavender and blue, many were the creatures that came to sip.
Among butterflies the monarch seemed the most noble guest,
and there were various flies and wasps and bees. Most of these
happy creatures were soon to die — their joy was only of the
moment — but the honey bees whose wing-song filled the fragrant
air were storing honey for hard times to come (unconsciously, no
doubt) . The honey they were making now would keep them alive
and warm in their winter clusters. There was no thought of
robbing while the aster flow continued. From sunrise until
late in the night their swift wings sang of their joy in performing
the work by which they live.

So I came to know a honey flow from, the bees' view point as a
time of plenty, when some morning they go forth and find the
fields strewn with manna. It is the time when their hopes are
highest and the queen and her 50,000 daughters work with all
their energy while their hearts sing. No thought of past struggles
nor of times to come, clouds their sky. When the night frosts
came the asters willingly laid down their blossoms, for fertile
seeds were plentiful in their ovules — thanks to the bees. My
bees, after dragging out the now useless drones, settled down
with subdued but contented humming to wait until maples and
willows should bloom in the spring.

The Common Thistle

Robert Sparks Walker

I've traveled long, I've traveled far,
My army keeps me out of war!
From Europe years ago I hailed,
And not one effort mine has failed!

A standing one to four feet high,
I'm easy to identify;
My stem so stout that grows upright,
By country roads, in fields delight.

My narrow, white leaves, spiny grow,
Clasps hairy stems an inch or so,
With prickly wings with hairs on top,
And lower webby-woolly crop!

The flow'r envelope with spines,
My tube-shaped florets it confines;
A slender cluster all compact,
Keeps my magenta flow'r intact.

My fragrant flow'r with pollen white,
Three inches broad, a pleasant sight,
To butterflies and bumblebees,
Who often go on drunken sprees!

Now why so many spines? you ask;
And why I wear a prickly mask?
To beat the foes that me attack.
Else my species would go to rack!

June to September on stem ends,
My flowers meet both foes and friends;
"Now if you grab, I'll make you whistle!"
Is rule and law of Common Thistle!

220

Photo by G. H. Trafton
A Hermit Thrush at the Lunch Counter

The Thrushes

Ethel H. Hausman

Our slender graceful thrushes are birds of moderate size, larger
than the English Sparrow, but smaller than the Robin. Their
general coloration (excepting the two most familiar members of
the family, the Robin and Bluebird) is brown above and white
beneath, spotted with black or brown. The color of the back
varies slightly in different species from a rich cinnamon brown
to an olive grayish brown, and the number and distinctness
of the spots on the breast is also subject to variation. As a
rule there is little or no difference in color between the males and
the females.

The most striking of the brown colored thrushes is undoubted-
ly the Wood Thrush or Wood Robin, so often seen in city parks,
and in the borders of deep woods. It is the handsomest of the
family, I think, and without doubt the most useful from an
economic point of view, for it consumes large numbers of in-
jurious insects, and but very little fruit.

"He has a coat of cinnamon brown

The brightest on his head and crown,

A very low cut vest of white

That shines like satin in the light;

230

hausman THE THRUSHES 231

And on his breast a hundred spots,
As if he wore a veil with dots.
With movement quick and full of grace
The high bred manner of his race
A very prince of birds is he
Whose form it is a joy to see."

— Garret Newkirk

From the type of nest that the Wood Thrush builds it is quite
evident that he must be in some way akin to the Robin, so very
similar are the two structures. Family traits, even among
birds often show in the various habits of the different related
species. This particular abode is usually saddled on a horizontal
limb, not far from the ground, and is composed of twigs, grasses,
and bark (sometimes newspaper and cloth are used), carefully
cemented together with mud and lined with grass, leaves, and
fine rootlets. Nests are often found to which the builder has
attached long streamers of paper, cloth, or string which hang
from the outside and render the nest more conspicuous than it
otherwise would be. Sometimes the papery, translucent cast
off snake skins are also included in this outer fabric. Although
as we have said, the nest resembles that of the Robin, it is, as
a rule slightly deeper, and softer, for the Wood Thrush uses less
mud than does his redbreasted cousin.

Within the nest are deposited three or four, and rarely five,
rich dark blue eggs, resembling the Robin's, but smaller. Far
away from the nest, among the echoing aisles of the wood the
male makes the woods ring with his varied organ like song:
"And music — was there ever heard
A sweeter song from any bird?
Now clarion-like, so loud and clear
Now like a whisper low and near,
And now again with rhythmic swells
And tinkling harmony of bells
He seems to play accompaniment
Upon some harp-like instrument."

— Garret Newkirk

The Wilson's Thrush, more commonly called the Veery, is
more uniformly subdued brown above, with the center of the
throat white, but creamy buff on the sides and breast. The
upper portion of the breast is lightly marked with wedge shaped

232 NA T URE-ST UD Y RE VIEW

brownish points. This thrush is the slenderest and most grace-
ful of all the members of this aristocratic fam'ly, and can be
distinguished from them by the absence of any yellow about the
eye, and from its faintly marked breast. The Veery is a shy
bird and frequents the deep woods. It becomes doubly secretive
during the nesting season.

The nest is carefully hidden in a clump of sprouts or ferns, a
few inches from the ground, and its materials, bark and grasses,
aid further in concealing it from view. The eggs which it is
designed to protect are of a beautiful greenish blue, much like
those of the Catbird.

That nature lover is unfortunate indeed who has not been
thrilled by the ghostly, insinuating, dulcet rolling song of the
Veery as he sings in the quiet hours of the morning or in the more
solemn hours of the twilight, at which some especially happy
individuals voice their joy!

Our thrushes are migratory birds, passing only a few of the
.-summer months in our latitudes. The smallest, the Hermit
Thrush, is the first to arrive and the last to depart, yet he is
little seen during his long visit. He is not a difficult bird to recog-
nize. The upper parts are olive brown, shading into a tail of
pale, but conspicuous rufous. The throat, sides of the neck,
and breast are pale buff. Dark brown arrow points tip the
feathers of the throat and neck, and large rounded spots dot the
breast. However the markings of the under parts are not as
prominent as are those of the Wood Thrush.

When the nesting season arrives the Hermit Thrush secretes
itself in the deep woods, where, on the ground, it builds its nest
of coarse grass and pine needles. The eggs closely resemble
those of the Veery.

The Hermit Thrush is the prima donna par excellence among
our American birds, and it is said that only the European Nightin-
gale can fairly claim to be its peer. Because of its ethereal,
serene, and heavenly song, the bird was given the name of Swamp
Angel by the early settlers in the Adirondacks. Burroughs
calls it "the finest sound in nature. It seems to be the voice of
that calm sweet solemnity one attains to in his best moments.
It realizes a peace and a deep solemn joy that only the finest
souls may know."

The Hermit Thrush

George W. Schussler

Thou hermit dweller by Arcadia's pool,

Thou soul of evening and the silent glade —
Sweet singer of the solitude, — of cool

And mossy aisles that make a mingled shade
Along the forest floor, — what fount of praise

And bubbling ecstasy is welling o'er
Those rich and varied warblings through the wold ?

What lingering strain of love and woodland lore
Art waking new amid thy fragrant bays?

What dear delight inspires, or instinct old?

It is the solemn hush of twilight's hour,

And now like anthem on the quiet air,
Or distant bell that from some convent tower

Calleth the sober nuns to evening prayer,
Thy voice is heard; darkling the shadows fall

And from a deeper distance comes thy song,
And now 'tis gone, and now once more afar

Its melodies the parting day prolong,
Till dusk and stillness fold each forest hall

And naught is wakeful save the evening star.

All the notes of the forest throng,
Flute, reed and string, are in his song;
Never a fear knows he, nor wrong,
Nor doubt of anything.

Small room for care in that soft breast;
All weather that comes to him is bsst,
While he sees his mate closs on her nest,
And the woods are full of spring.

— From "The Thrush" by E. R. Sill
233

To the Wood Thrush

William P. Alexander
Lines written after hearing a pair of these fine musicians sing

together.

'Twas at the close of one Parnassian day,
When Spring was vibrant with a lavish tongue.
And earth was vocal with the pulsing lay
Of glad green June, the flowery glades among;
We heard the wood thrush challenge rivalry,
With regal voice, and grave sweet melody.

And straight with flute-like flourishes, there came
The rich response, from just across the way,
Each sang to put the other song to shame,
And filled the hour with Traubadour display;
An autiphon, that made the slanting beam
A sounding flood, from distant planet seem.

We stood enthralled, and lo! monastic piles
Rose visionlike, and through themullioned screens
Of trees, a light was shed on mystic aisles,
And gothic grew the towering evergreens;
For in our soul we seemed to hear the choir
Of Notre Dame, draw near and then retire.

It was indeed as though the hand of Bach
Again was laid upon the organ keys,
While bending boughs in festive measure rock
In rhythm with the largo on the breeze;
So rare the chant, of such majestic mold,
It seemed a liquid, strained through bars of gold.

While just beyond another song was heard,
A pandean cadence with a lessening fall,
So like the echo of some spirit bird
Or feathered houri, — Ah, the melting call,
That intermingled with the wood-thrush twain,
Was that the veeries other worldly call?

234

Rogers THE GOSSIP OF THE TREES 235

And yet another obligato rare
Was heard, and well we knew the dainty note,
A moment sounding here, a moment there,
The mellow witchery of the yellow -throat,
Until the song in wondrous beauty 'rose,
A fitting hymn to evenings solemn close.

We homeward strayed in such a pensive mood
As falls on him, who hath been moved within,
Has heard a great voice in the solitude
And feels all beauty to his soul akin;
Then when the night had come with starry hush,
We spoke of this, remembering the thrush.

The Gossip of the Trees

Katherine Rogers

The Maple and the Elm were just waking up after their long
winter's sleep, and they had been disturbed by very bad dreams!
They had a vague remembrance of rude winds tossing their
branches around, and of fearful storms beating upon them, and
they had scarcely been able to keep their roots warm enough to pre-
serve life! If it had not been for the thick, heavy blanket of
snow that had covered them, they must certainly have perished!

"Ah-h!" breathed the big Maple, stretching her branches and
opening her tiny budlets the least little bit in answer to the first
warm kiss of the spring sunshine, "I beUeve Spring must be
really here, and it is time to wake up. How are you feeling?"

"Very stiff," said her neighbor, the tall Elm, wearily. "I'm
cold all through, and I'm afraid it will take some time to get my
sap started." The Elms were known as a family to be a little
top-lofty, but the Maples didn't mind that. They had lived be-
side each other so long that they knew it was only an ingrained New
England reserve of manner, and that, once thawed out, the Elms
would respond cordially to Spring's advances. But they never
could be as hospitable as the Maples, who were a large and rapid-
growing family, always welcoming flocks of birds of all varieties
to their branches, whereas the dashing Baltimore Oriole was the

236 NAT URE-ST UD Y RE VIE W

only bird that ever presumed to build a nest in an Elm tree,
and he chose the tip end of a branch, where his round nest hung,
safe and out of reach of marauding cats.

"Just look at that young foreign girl, the European White
Birch," ran on Mrs. Maple. "She grows so fast, and her long,
slender branches wave about so gracefully, it's a perfect joy to
watch her! In no time at all, her delicate little leaves will be
dancing gaily, and she never throws a shadow over any one's
spirits nor keeps the fresh breezes off, but just shields our Young
Lady's room from the afternoon sun and from people passing in
the street."

"Yes," agreed the Elm, who was an old bachelor and rather
jealous of his young brother who stood opposite the dainty for-
eigner like a dancing partner, "she's a mighty good-looking girl,
and she often nods to me across the lawn. She's quite an addi-
tion to our social circle."

"Miss Dogwood is a stunning girl, too! Don't you think so?"
said Mrs. Maple.

"Yes," again agreed the Elm, but this time rather reluctantly.
"You know she was only a little wild gipsy that our Gentleman
found in the woods one day, and he brought her borne and set
her among us. It only shows the influence of good environment
and cultivated surroundings."

"With plenty of light and air and good nourishing soil to feed
on," added generous Mrs. Maple. "She certainly is a dazzling
beauty, when she puts on her full dress of solid white, touched
up with those little dabs of red just at the edges of her petals
in time for the Spring Festival. I hear lots of people going by,
praising her enthusiastically!"

"For my part," said the Elm, "I think I perfer that Redbud
girl. I know she's not as young as some, but her coloring is very re-
fined, and her beauty has only increased with age, as she has grown
larger and fuller, and then she is some use in the world. She
provides the bees with a lot of honey."

"Oh, well!" replied Mrs. Maple, bridling at the mention of
refined coloring, for she knew that she and her daughters always
put on bright yellow and red in the fall, "If you're going to talk
about usefulness, look at the Pears and the Apples ! They not
only provide honey for the bees, but fruit in abundance for all
the Family, and plenty besides to sell ! To be sure, they are a

Rogers THE GOSSIP OF THE TREES 237

good deal of care, and have to be sprayed and pruned every year,
but first they dress up for the Spring Festival, the Pears in lacy
white, and the Apples in what I consider the pinnacle of beauty
because they add the most delicious fragrance to their exquisite
pink and white blossoms and trim their loaded branches with
clusters of rosy buds, and then in the fall they make another
show for the Autumn Festival, with their beautiful fruit! It's
all very well to be refined and to feed the bees and butterflies,
but give me the friend of Man for my choice!"

"I quite agree with you," said the Elm politely, anxious to
mollify the ruffled lady, "and I certainly meant no disrespect
to those truly noble families. Of course, Miss Redbud was only
brought up to be ornamental, and I sometimes think she must
be a little lonesome, so far away from her native place."

"That's true!" agreed Mrs. Maple, instantly melted when her
warm sympathetic nature was appealed to. "She does deserve
credit for doing the best she can, and I must say she never shirks."

"Old Grandfather Oak looks pretty stalwart this year, doesn't
he!" remarked the Elm, willing to change the subject to less
controversial ground. "Cur Family are very fond of him, and
he stands by the House in spite of all the operations that he has
been through. "Why! he's been half hollowed out and filled in
with iron braces and rocks and cement, and still he grows, and
his head is as good as ever!"

"Yes," said his neighbor, "it's certainly a pleasure and a priv-
ilege to be in the same company with him. ! He gives dignity to
the whole place! I believe no one knows how old he is, and the
former Owner of the place told our Gentleman that when he was
a boy, Grandpa looked just the same! I'm glad our Family
are so fond of Trees. They have the Surgeon come whenever
one of us begins to get run down or has an accident, and he works
over us and saves our lives. Our Young Gentleman took care of
our old friend Smoke tree, though, himself. Do you remember
that bad storm one winter, when one whole big limb was broken off ?
We thought that would be his finish, but a little careful cutting
and a coat of tar paint healed the wound entirely, and now he looks
like a young Bush with a lot of healthy new sprouts coming up
from the roots."

"Hello, friends," called out the wild Dogwood gaily, "just
you wait till I get dressed, and I'll show you some style!"

238 NATURE. STUDY REVIEW

"My dear!" cautioned Mrs. Maple, "pray remember your
manners, and don't be boastful ! If you could only see the Apple
family when they are ready for the Festival, v'ou would feel more
humble. But they stay by themselves, so far down in the or-
chard, that we don't see half enough of them."

"It's just as well," said the Dogwood. "They're all right in
their place, but they woudn't do for the front lawn, you know!"

"Please remember," said Mrs. Maple, "that your place is really
in the woods, and you enjoy the advantages of this society only
through the kindness of our Gentleman."

Just then the old Shagbark suddenly woke up, and cried out
in a jolly voice, "Here, here, what's all this clatter about! Who
cares for looks any way ! I like to have a good time, and have
the children and the squirrels pelting each other with my nuts."
He threw a kiss to the Dogwood with one branch, and to Mrs.
Maple with another, and they all laughed together, and then
Spring thought it was time to give them all a good cold shower-
bath, and after that she warmed them through and through with
hot sunshine, and soon they were all as busy as could be, each
putting out the loveliest buds you ever did see !

The Chipmunk

A. Leah Gause

One of the most interesting rodents is Tamais striatus as Lin-
naeus called the common hackee or chipmunk. Another name
occasionally used for this active cousin of the red squirrel is
"chipping squirrel" which seems a suitable term on account of

his habit of uttering, "chip,
chip, chip," while rollicking
with his fellows or when in
quest of. food. Dr. Horna-
day states that ' 'ground squir-
rel" should not be used when
referring to the chipmunk as
that name applies to an en-
tirely different species but
that "rock squirrel" would
be entirely correct because
of his preference for stone
fences and rocky areas.

There are two main div-
isions of the chipmunk fa-
mily, our familiar Eastern
type and a very different
Western species. Early nat-
uralists who had only a few
specimens made many other divisions because of the influence
of climatic conditions. In general the differences are in coloring
as this increases in intensity toward the south or where there
is copious rainfall. In arid regions where there is little shade
the pigments in the hair are blanched by the sun's powerful
rays causing quite a different appearance. There is also a tenden-
cy toward greater length of limbs and tails in southern latitudes.
But no matter how classified, our eastern chipmunk is decidedly
interesting when studied. He is a true squirrel, a trifle smaller
than the red squirrel but of the same reddish tone. His dis-
tinguishing points are his two white stripes extending along the
side of the back from his fore shoulder to the root of the tail.
Each is bordered by a black line although the coloring and stripes

239

240 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

seem to vary somewhat in different locations. In the far west
there are more light stripes and sometimes a checkered appear-
ance. All have light colored underparts.

Our chipmunks are graceful in form and pert and quick in
their movements. Their characteristics in the mammal realm
resembling that of the wren in the bird realm, having an air of
pride and alertness that is most engaging. If not so common,
their fur would probably rank almost as high as sable or ermine.

They dwell in burrows in the ground and have acquired a
trimness of form and traits — such as small close ears and very
slightly bushy tails, suitable to their habitat. The claws are
strong, the teeth are both strong and sharp, the front ones are
slender curved chisels which are admirably adapted to cut through
the hard shells of nuts and the bark of underground stems. Well
developed cheek pouches are a sign that these animals are not
well endowed with powers for either defense or escape but pick
up their food and scamper home to eat at leisure. When collecting
food these pouches are invaluable and a chipmunk with well
loaded cheeks is a comical object. If nuts are gathered he nips
off any points that may occur on the surface then pushes each
into a pouch with his fore paws. Four nuts constitute a good
load. Sometimes one may be seen jumping along a fence with a
pignut in either cheek and one between his teeth.

Chipmunks are very partial to sunflower seed for food but
will eat corn, buckwheat, wheat and almost all small nuts. Their
habit of storing food in their underground store houses is of great
benefit to mankind as very often much more is stored than is
needed and the surplus helps plant many oaks, hickories, hazel
shrubs, chestnuts and wild cherry trees in our landscapes. So
although our granaries and nut supplies may be depleted by these
active burrowers our landscapes may be richer in sources of future
nut production.

The burrows are so dug that a good outlook may be secured
from the doorway and yet avoid attacting attention. Perhaps
an almost perpendicular tunnel extending into the earth for three
or more feet is first made which soon bends so that a horizontal
apartment comes next, which leads upward a trifle to a roomy
space carpeted with soft, dry leaves. In this room the four or
more young are carefully tended until they are large enough to
look out for themselves. There may be other rooms leading off

cause THE CHIPMUNK 241

from the main tunnel which are usually made late in summer and
are used for storehouses. In one such room there was found
stored one quart of hazelnuts, eight quarts of acorns, two quarts
of buckwheat, four quarts of wheat and some grass seed. Much
of this had been brought a long distance. The question of hu-
man food supply might be a less difficult one if chipmunk methods
were possible. There is always a back stairway to the under-
ground dwelling whose opening on the surface is a considerable
distance from the other. One or both of the doorways may be
well sheltered, sometimes by a shrub and other times by an old
stump or stone. Newly dug earth is almost never found near the
openings but at some distance from them. This leads to the
supposition that the cheek pouches may carry other things be-
side food. In going to and from the burrows our busy friends
seem to avoid making a path which might guide an enemy toward
the home.

Among the enemies disturbing chipmunks is the farmer's
cat, which is searching for food for a family of hungry kittens.
His cousin the red squirrel will often give chase hoping to secure
some provisions. Hawks and owls may pounce upon him as he
scampers along zig zag fences but worst of all is the weasel which
enters the burrows and destroys the young.

Although a squirrel, a chipmunk rarely takes refuge in a tree.
Sometimes when very much frightened, he will ascend the trunk
to the height of perhaps fifteen feet and will then cling there
helplessly waiting for the danger to pass. When he does descend
he does so spirally.

Unlike the woodchuck he never becomes dormant during the
long cold season but if the ground is free from snow he often goes
above ground to enjoy the light and warmth of a sunny day.
Even during stormy weather he has a habit of waking and par-
taking of the stored food at frequent intervals.

Chipmunks are very talkative among themselves. Perhaps
five or six of them will spend several hours of a warm afternoon
chirruping turn about or all together. Occasionally a cry of
warning is given when all will give a series of alarm notes as long
as the disturber is in view.

These animals to whom nature gave many "black marks" do
not appear easily frightened if people are quiet and slow of move-
ment. A girl who was watching one sat on a stone wall for a

2 42 NAT URE-STUD Y RE VIE W

considerable time and except when she moved he never took his
eyes from her. She finally grew restive under his scrutiny and
ran away. This is just the reverse of the old notion that the
human eye is always able to stare a wild animal into submission.

One chestnut colored horse which traveled many a country
road, was always on the look out for chipmunks scampering
along the top rail of fences. As soon as he caught sight of one
a race began, which was often quite a surprise to the driver seated
in the vehicle. The minute the chipmunk came to earth the race
was off and the pace of the chestnut traveler slowed down. But
his ears and eyes indicated that for him the race was only half
long enough and if he could he would challenge his opponent for
more.

Once it was decided to test the chipmunk's knowledge of nuts
by putting out quite a mixture of good and bad ones. His test
was evidently by weight and all sound ones were carried off and
the poor ones dropped. He was never known to make a mistake.
All the nuts left were cracked and found worthless. When given
cracked hickory nuts he ate out the meats at once and never
offered to store them.

One unusual story of these tireless creatures is told without
quoting the authority. During a dry season a woman watered
some plants near a porch, soon afterward a chipmunk passed the
porch and seemed interested in the plants. He was seen standing
on his haunches and with his fore paws pressing the edges of a
leaf together for a trough from which he drank a few drops in the
most comical fashion. Five other leaves were treated in the same
way while the woman stood and watched. She then placed a
dish of water near by which was then regularly used both for
drinking fountain and bathing pool.

Syllabus of Garden Nature- Study

Cleveland Public Schools
Division of Educational Extension, Garden Department

Roland W. Guss

Bulbs and Window Plants

March
Flowers and Seeds (How Flowers Make New Plants)

For Grades i to 4
Questions for Thought (Attractiveness of Flowers. Flowers and
Insects)

Why do you like the flowers?

What do you like about them?

What besides people seem to like the flowers?

Find out whether the children have observed bees and butter-
flies visiting the flowers?

How do they help the flowers?

How do the flowers help them?

When some of the flower parts wither or fall away, is that
the end of the flower's life?
Observations and Interpretations :

Flower Parts. — Have the children examine and see the parts
of flowers of tulips, narcissi (daffodils, etc.) or of geraniums or
other plants in the room — fresh and "going to seed."

Compare the "Seed boxes" in fresh and fading flowers. HP

Make cross-sections of enlarged seed-boxes and find and show
the seeds forming inside.

In such flowers other parts are withering or have^fallen away
because their work is done.

Uses or work of Flower Parts.

(Grades 3 and 4)

What work? — Teach that the stamens, with "pollen boxes,"
furnish pollen (find some) to make the seeds grow.

The colored parts (calyx and corolla), their fragrance, stripes,
etc. (like sign boards) advertise the presence of nectar and pollen
to insects, the carriers of pollen.

(Flowers yielding more abundant, powdery pollen may be shown
if twigs of alder or poplar are placed in bottles of water till the
buds open.

243

244 NAT URE STUD Y-RE VIE W

Such pollen can be carried by the wind; hence there is no need
for the help of insects or for colored flower parts, odor and nectar
to attract them.)

How Pollen Helps. (The Story of one Life Helping Another)

In the same or higher grades, bring out the story of how the
pollen grains get to the sticky stigma at the top of the "seed box"
or ovary and send down tubes through which they add their
life to that of the tiny living bodies inside the ovules ("little
eggs") within the seed box and cause those living bodies, wakened
by the magic touch of other lives, to grow into "baby plants."

The ovules now become seeds. (See Morley, Song of Life, pp.
27-33.)

The terms pollination and fertilization may now be used in
higher grades, if their meaning can be made clear.

Diagrams like those in Wm. Hamilton Gibson's "Eye Spy,"
in the chapter, "Riddles in Flowers," may be placed on the black-
board and children in middle grades may copy.

Other References (for teachers of these and higher grades) :

Comstock, Handbook of Nature-Study, pp. 492-494 (Flower parts, Flowers
and Insect Partners) : pp. 603-606 (Tulips) ; pp. 599-602 (Daffodils and their
Relatives); pp. 643-647 (Geraniums)

Morley, Song of Life, pp. 33-42.

Schmucker, The Study of Nature, chapter XVI. (Reproducing the plant.)

Dana, Plants and their Children.

Gibson, Blossom Hosts and Insect Guests.

Keeler, Our Garden Flowers.

Bailey, Bergen, Atkinson, Coulter, etc., Botanies.

Morley, Flowers and their Friends.

Grant Allen — The Story of the Plants (chapters VI toX.)

Hunter, Biology, pp. 40-43; 81-83.

Peabody and Hunt, Plant Biology, pp. 82-87; 1 19-124.

Lovell, The Flower and the Bee.

Bailey, Nature Drawing.

{For Grades 5 and 6 and Higher Grades)
Review if necessary, and continue the work on flowers and
seed production outlined for lower grades.

How Each Part of the Flower Helps:

1. Fruit and seed producing parts ("essential" or necessary
organs) .

(a) The pistil, composed of ovary (seed-box proper, which
becomes the "fruit," containing seeds), the style (sometimes
absent), supporting the stigma (sticky, to hold pollen).

(b) The stamens, with anthers (pollen "powder-boxes").

cuss SYLLAB US OF GARDEN NA TURE-STUD Y 245

Which usually stands higher, anther or stigma?

Could pollen fall on the stigma of the same flower?

In what other way could it be placed there?

Advantage of insect pollination over wind pollination?

Teach that when one plant is helped by another thus,
the resulting seeds may produce better plants (at least different
plants, from which nature or man may select better ones.)

Cross-feterilization and hybridization may here be explained
(to upper grades) , as means of securing new and improved varieties.
Story of Luther Burbank's work, etc.
2. Parts for the protection of other organs and for attracting
insects (carriers of pollen).

(a) Calyx (of sepals) ;

(b) Corolla (of petals), sometimes with fragrance, "nectar
guides," and nectar (at base).

Find and taste some of the latter at the bottom . of the
cup of a freshly opened narcissus blossom.

In "single" geranium blossoms both nectar-guides (stripes
or lines leading toward the nectar well) and nectar may be found.

Why not in "double" geraniums or daffodils?

If possible have children observe that —

Tulips and Narcissi have six colored parts (calyx and
corolla, together called perianth).

The Narcissi have also an extra outgrowth from the per-
ianth parts called the- crown (cup-shaped), the depth or color of
which varies in different varieties (daffodils, paper-whites, "Chi-
nese sacred lily," jonquils, poet's narcissus, etc.)

Hyacinths, the paper-white narcissus, etc. having smaller
flowers, these "club together" in clusters and make a larger mass
of color to attract the attention of insects.

In double Tulips, etc., stamens grade off into petals
(deficient anthers may sometimes be found on their edges) and in
some "double" flowers so many of the parts needed for seed
production devote themselves to "looking pretty" that few seeds
or none are produced.

How then may new plants be obtained from plants having
double flowers? (later lessons).
Flower, Insects and Fruit Production (Higher Grades).

Try to get answers from the pupils to this and the following
questions:

246 NA T URE-ST UD Y RE VIEW

Why do not all the seed-boxes (ovaries) of single flowers become
enlarged and bear seeds?

What besides seeds will not grow if flower pistils are not helped
by pollen ?

To raise melons in a greenhouse in winter the blossoms must be
pollinated "by hand." Why?

To raise cucumbers for the early market, a hive of bees is
taken into the greenhouse. Why?

Why do bee-keeping and fruit-raising go well together?

Without the visits of insects carrying pollen, and in many
cases the pollen not merely of other plants but of other varie-
ties, we should have few if any melons, cucumbers, strawberries,
cherries, plums, grapes, cranberries, pears, apples, etc. (Lovell,

The Flower and the Bee.)
Adaptations of Other Flowers

In later lessons, in the school room and during trips to green-
houses, gardens, parks, and woods, blossoms of many of the above
as well as of wild plants should be compared with those already
studied and their special adaptations for receiving help from
insects made out if possible.
Correlations: — Story writing — Life History of a Bulb.

Keeping a Nature Note-book, with outlines, stories, pictures of
bulbs and flowers pasted in, diagrams and sketches, made by
the children, of flowers and flower structure and of bulbs in differ-
ent stages of development, new bulbs forming (next lessons),

etc. (See Bailey, Henry Turner, Nature Drawing).
Poems. —

If these lessons are properly taught, bulbs and bulb flowers
and other flowers will mean more to the children than they did to
him of whom it was said :

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

Instead they can appreciate Wordworth's "Daffodils" and
can say with Longfellow, —

"In all places then and in all seasons,
Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings
Teaching us by most persuasive reasons,
How akin they are to human things."

guss 5 YLLA B US OF GA RDEN NA T URE-STUD Y 247

Or with Tennyson, —

"Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower — but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is."

Children who can have opportunity early in the spring to see
bulbs coming into bloom in the school yard or in the parks or
gardens will appreciate better jthe lines in the old readers:

"Daffydown Dilly came up in the cold through the

brown mold.
Although the March breezes blew keen in her face,
Although the white snow lay on many a place."

And these from Julia Dorr, —

"Roly-poly honey-bee,
Humming in the clover,
Under you the tossing leaves,
And the blue sky over,
Why are you so busy, pray?
Never still a minute,
Hovering now above a flower,
Now half buried in it!"

Garden Nature-Study

Lessons for Week of March 21-25, 1921.
The Spring Awakening

How Plant Storehouses Prepare for Early Spring Flowers and More of Them.

Materials Needed — Bulb plants in different stages of develop-
ment, including some "spent" bulbs (bulbs done blooming) of
tulip, narcissus, etc. washed free of soil;

A few dry bulbs of the same that have not been forced;

An onion and if possible, crocus or gladiolus bulbs and an
Easter lily and a cyclamen done blooming;

A small cabbage head, a potato, a beet or a carrot with roots in
a jar of water;

Underground storehouses of any early spring flowers, such
as bloodroot or trillium or violet (rootstocks) , adder's tongue or
Jack-in-the-pulpit (corms) ;

Twigs of lilac, Cottonwood poplar, willow or others with large
buds (set in bottles of water);

Iodine solution (tincture of iodine, diluted with water, 1 to 10).

For Grades i to 4.
Questions for Thought (Early Blooming — Advantages; How
Made Possible) :

When do plants that grow from bulbs or other thick under-
ground parts bloom?

Answer: Often in winter indoors; or very early in the spring —
outdoors.

How are such plants helped and how do they help the bees,
etc. by blooming so early?

Answer: They can secure help from the bees, etc. before the
latter get busy with too many other flowers and before too many
leaves of other plants and trees are out to shade them and conceal
them from the insects.

In return they provide the insects with the food needed by the
latter after their long winter sleep.

What food?

Answer: Nectar and pollen.

How do the insects help these early flowering plants?

Why can they bloom so early?

248

guss GARDEN NATURE-STUDY 249

Lead children to account for this by finding the stored food.
Cut open a bulb and show the layers.

Compare the thickness and firmness of these in a fresh bulb
or in one just beginning to sprout and in one done blooming.
For what has some of the stored food been used?

Fcr Grades 3 and 4.
Starch — One kind of Food Stored by Plants.

Experiment 1. — To show how to detect starch and to find
whether it is present in plant storehouses.

Mix a tiny bit of laundry starch or of cornstarch (such as
people use for focd) with a little boiling water in a test-tube.
Then add a drop of diluted tincture of iodine. Note the blue
color produced. Starch is the only plant material that gives
this color with icdine.

Now treat a bit of each of the following (or as many as possible)
with boiling water (or use portions previously cooked) and then
test with iodine: a fresh bulb or one that has new storage parts
forming, an onion, a potato, a rootstock, a corm, cabbage, etc.

Older children may be encouraged to make these tests at home,
trying also various grains and other seeds and cereal products.
Ask them to report in which they find starch stored.
Need for Water — to Dissolve and Carry Starch. — Why must
bulbs be watered to secure good blooms? Name any kind which
needs to be supplied with nothing but water?

Why then must bulbs have good roots before they produce
leaves or flowers?

Can they get along without light or much heat? —

Answer: Yes: until the flower buds are ready to open. Why?
(Fuller answers in later lessons).

For Grade 5
Kinds of Plant Storehouses

Additional Questions for Thought and to Stimulate Further Observa-
tion :
Where do people usually store vegetables used for food?

(In cellars or in pits dug in the ground.)
Name any plants that store food under ground. Why is that

a good place? (Protection from injury due to freezing and

thawing; from injury by animals; etc.; nearness to water supply

in the spring.)

250 NA T URE-ST UD Y RE VIEW

In what parts of the plant do each of the following store food?
(Test for Starch. See Experiment 1.)

Bulbs. — Note in a vertical section of a bulb that has sprouted
and has had for some time, and still has, good, healthy green
leaves, what these leaves connect with in the bulb (stem at bottom
of bulb) and how the parts of the leaves within the bulb compare
with the parts above in color, thickness, closeness. Why?

Were the other layers or scales of the bulb once the lower
parts of leaves?

Compare with 'the cabbage. In what does it store food ? (Thick-
ened leaves).

Show a vertical section and have children observe the thickened
stem to which the leaves in the center of the head are attached.
Is there food stored there also?

Compare a crocus or gladiolus or cyclamen bulb (corm) and note
that food is stored in a broad, thick stem.

Compare a potato. — Food stored in the thickened stem (tuber).
Why not a root? Has buds ("eyes") from which new branches
(sprouts) come. Show some long sprouts.

Compare a sweet potato. — A root (has no "eyes").

Compare a beet or carrot. — Mostly roots, but may have buds at
top.

What comes from those after the roots have been standing in a
jar of water? — Leaves, etc.

If planted again, from such roots, will come flower stalks, and
blossoms, producing seeds, a work which they could not complete
the first year.

(Hence, another use for stored food ?)

Such plants are called biennials.

Is the cabbage a biennial?

How and when are its seeds obtained?

Compare the thickened, underground parts of bloodroot,
violet, etc. — Underground stems (rootstocks) .

Compare the large winter buds of lilac, poplar, etc. (Note
what comes from them when allowed to stand in water), with a
cabbage-head and with a narcissus bulb (vertical sections of each) .

The latter are also practically large buds, What do buds
contain? How did they prepare for the "burst of spring?"

Name any trees that bloom before they leef out?

Do maple trees bloom early? What is their stored food made

guss GARDEN NATURE-STUDY 251

into in early spring when the "sap is running" to where the blossoms
and leaves are to be formed ? — Sugar.

For Grade 6 {May be started in Grade 5)
How New Bulbs are Made

In what other way (besides producing seeds) do bulb plants
provide for increasing the number and continuing the life of their
kind?

How and where and when are new bulbs produced?

Where is the food to be stored in them obtained and prepared?
How?

Review such parts of the lessons for Grades 1 to 5 as have not

been taught and are needed to understand the following.
Observations :

Have children observe vertical sections of bulbs that have been
growing for some time (keep them watered and in the light) since
they bloomed and that have healthy green leaves.

Find new bulbs forming. Where? Draw.

Test for starch (See Exp. I).

Other foods stored in bulbs and in other thickened parts of
plants are — sugar (sugar beet), proteids (material to build living
protoplasm) .
Experiments. (How Leaves Help)

The following experiments will show where bulbs and other
plants get and prepare some of their food; also other important
things about plant activities.

Exp. 2. — Why plants must have light and air and how in getting
seme of their food they purify the air. (Suitable for upper grades.)

Fill two wide-mouthed bottles (pickle bottles or small fruit jars
will do) with water, insert in one (top first) some fresh bulb leaves or
a cutting from a plant such as geranium, begonia, etc., and invert
the bottles in a basin, or pan one-third full of water.

By means of a straw 01 a piece of macaroni inserted under the
edge of the bottle, fill each with air which has been held in the
lungs as long as possible (it may be necessary to dip some of the
water out of the pan).

Set the pan with the bottles or jars in the sunshine for a day
or two. See test (h) below also.

Then make the following tests :

(a) Remove the cutting while the mouth of the bottle is still
under water, place a piece of greased window glass or other tight-

252 NATURE-STUD Y REVIEW

fitting cover against the mouth of the bottle and after turning it
mouth up, lower into it for an instant a lighted match
or candle (attached to a piece of wire), sliding aside and then
returning the cover.

(b) Also pour into the bottle a little clear lime-water and shake.

(Lime-water may be bought at a drug store or may be pre-
pared by slacking a little fresh lime in a bottle of water. After
the extra lime has settled, the clear lime-water may be poured
or siphoned off into another bottle.)

(c) Do the same with the other bottle.

Note in which bottle the flame is extinguished. Why not in
the other? Also note which makes the lime-water more milky.

(d) Try the candle test in a bottle filled with breath (expired
air) which has not stood in the sunlight. Result? (The flame
is extinguished as before.)

(e) Try the candle in a bottle of fresh air. After covering the
bottle, allow the candle to remain till the flame is extinguished.
Remove the candle an 3 test the candle's "breath" with lime-water.

(f) Vary the experiment by lowering the candle into the
bottle first and then blowing in the breath slowly through a long
tube reaching to the bottom of the bottle.

What do both the candle's "breath" and the human breath
contain? — {Carbon dioxide or carbonic acid gas which changes
the lime in lime-water to limestone.

We are like the burning candle in that we take oxygen from
fresh air and by combining it with the carbon of fat or starch
or sugar, make carbon dioxide while producing heat or other
energy.)

(g) A bottle filled with the "breath" (products made by
burning ) of a candle (e) and containing a cutting from a green
plant may be exposed to the sunlight, as in the first part of Exp.
2, and then tested as in (a) and (b).

(h) Repeat the experiment with the bottle containing a cutting,
but allow it to stand not in the sunshine but in a dark closet.

Test as before. Compare and account for the difference in
result.

Encourage the children to try the experiments at home.

Conclusions :

Teach that green plants in the sunlight remove from the air
carbon dioxide gas which we exhale in our breath. They put

GUS3 GA RDEN NA T URE-STUD Y 253

oxygen in its place. The gas which extinguishes the flame when
too abundant, would put out "the vital spark" if not removed.
It furnishes food to the plant. (Connect with Hygiene and
Sanitation.)

In past ages much carbon accumulated by plants was made into
coal. The heat and other energy which this now furnishes has
been called "bottled sunshine. "(Connect with Geography, etc.)

We eat plants and so get carbon to burn which in turn escapes
in our breath.

In winter the winds bring us pure air from the places where
plants are growing for "it's always summer somewhere." (Con-
nect with Geography.)

Discuss other effects of light on plants and the behavior of
plants toward light.

Recall the color of potato sprouts; turning of leaves to the
light; why leaves are flat, thin, and broad, usually; shapes and
arrangement of leaves with reference to light; how climbing plants
seek light.

References: Atkinson, First Studies of Plant Life, ch. 20,
21; Bergen, Elements of Botany, old edition, ch. 10; new, ch.
11; Coulter, Plant Relations; Davis, School and Home Garden-
ing pp.62, 63, and 64; other Botany and Chemistry text-books.

THE '

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC. STUDIES OF NATURE IN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including mem-
bership in the American Nature Study Society $1.50 per year (nine issues). Canadian post-
age 10 cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cents extra.

Editorial

The Present Status of Nature-Study

For a^quarter of a century the Editor has been working with
the teachers of our land, trying to help them to introduce and to
teach successfully nature-study in the schools. There have been
many "ups and downs" in this enterprise and of the latter we have
been made painfully conscious. To begin with, the established
curricula of the public schools stood like a stone wall, apparently
impregnable and insurmountable against a study so simple as
that which made a child intelligent about his natural environ-
ment. To end with, the many objections on the part of the teacher
to the introduction of a new subject that could not be reduced to
rule and memorized were so numerous, so small, so sharp, that to
meet and conquer them was like fighting mosquitoes.

By continual prodding some holes have been made in the wall
and the air is pretty well cleared of mosquitoes at the present
time. We find cities, villages and states laying out courses in
nature-study, although sometimes it is called junior or elementary
science. These courses are extensive, helpful and practical;
a very excellent one for Pennsylvania is on our table now having
come to us recently. Many of the normal schools are giving
courses in nature-study this summer; it is a conservative estimate
that five thousand teachers are taking courses in this study in
summer schools.

Our own encouraging experience is shared by other teachers in
summer schools, and that is the teachers are far better prepared
than formerly and many of them have had a year or more of
experience in teaching nature-study in the various grades. They
come to us with many pertinent and searching questions and
valuable suggestions. These things and many others show that

2S4

EDITORIAL 255

the battle is really won although there are many outposts that
still remain to be taken, but they will undoubtedly succumb in
the course of a century or so.

It has seemed strange that a child interest so persistent and
obvious as that manifested in birds, flowers, trees, animals and
stars should have been so long ignored and crushed back in the
schools. But the children of this great country of ours will
sometime come into their rightful heritage, — the understanding
companionship with natural world; and the schools will be the
greatest factor in accomplishing this needed and noble work.

Prof. J. A. Drushel, Harris Teachers' College, St. Louis, gave
a course in the summer session at Columbia.

M. R. Van Cleve, Director Nature-Study, Toledo, directed
work at Chautauqua Institute.

Prof. Detwelier, London, Ont., instructed at Cornell University.

Dr. E. L. Palmer, Cornell University, gave a course at Uni-
versity of California.

Prof. Wayland J. Hayes directed a course of Nature-Study at
University of Virginia.

THE BOOK SHELF

The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals. W. T. Harnaday,
328 pp. Illustrated. Scribners.

There is, probably, no other man in America or possibly in the
world so well fitted by experience to write on the minds and man-
ners of wild animals as is Dr. Hornaday. For years he was a
collector of mammals for museums in almost all the wilderness
countries of the world ; and he had the skillful hunter's opportunity
to study the minds and manners of wild animals in their natural
environment. Since 1896 he has been in charge of the New York
Zoological Gardens which he has built up to a high rank among
the Zoological Gardens of the world. He has made it a part of his
business as a measure necessary to his success to study the habits
and dispositions, the comfort and the peculiar ways of animals in
captivity, therefore we might expect that he would give to us this
most important book which is a joy to animal lovers and will
surely be of real service to the animal psychologist.

Dr. Hornaday is conservative in his statements of facts as
observed by himself and his interpretations of animal behavior
are sane and dependable, moreover there is not a page in the book
that is not interesting. In fact, certain chapters are full of thrills
and Dr. Hornaday's sense of humor adds greatly to the reader's
enjoyment. In his introduction he says "If every man devoted
to his affairs, and to the affairs of his city and state, the same
measure of intelligence and honest industry that every warm-
blooded wild animal devotes to its affairs, the people of this world
would abound in good health, prosperity, peace and happiness.
To assume that every wild beast and bird is a sacred creature,
peacefully dwelling in an earthly paradise, is a mistake. They
have their wisdom and their folly, their joys and their sorrows,
their trials and tribulations. As the alleged lord of creation, it

256

THE BOOK SHELF 257

is man's duty to know the wild animals truly as they are, in order
to enjoy them to the utmost, to utilize them sensibly and fairly,
and to give them a square deal."

The chapters cover the following topics: The Lay of the Land:
Wild Animal Temperament and Individuality : The Language of
Animals: The Most Intelligent Animals: The Rights of Wild
Animals: The Brightest Minds Among Animals: Keen Birds
and Dull Men: The Mental Status of the Orang-Outang : The Man-
Likeness of the Chimpanzee : The True Mental Status of the Gor-
illa: The Mind of the Elephant: The Mental and Moral Traits
of Bears: Mental Traits of a Few Rodents: The Mental Traits
of Birds: The Wisdom of the Serpent: The Training of Wild
Animals: The Morals of Wild Animals: The Laws of the Flocks
and Herds: Plays and Pastimes of Wild Animals: Fear as a
Ruling Passion: Fighting Among Wild Animals: Wild Animal
Criminals and Crime: Fighting with Wild Animals.

The chapter on The Rights of Wild Animals should have a
wide influence. Of the other chapters of the book, it is hard to
tell which is the most interesting; perhaps the one on Elephants
will captivate more of the general readers than the others. We
are sure that we shall always retain a deep personal interest in
Alice, the elephant that has a curvature in the brain. We predict
that this volume will find its place in every Nature Library as a
most valuable and pertinent book of reference on wild animal
traits.

A Naturalist in the Great Lakes Region. Elliot R. Downing.
328 pp, illustrated. The University of Chicago Press, $3.50> post-
paid $3.65.

Men who act as nature guides for tourists are not uncommon
now in our great Western parts, but it has remained for Dr.
Downing to write a Nature Guide for the tourists of the Great
Lakes; and according to his usual methods he has done exceed-
ingly well that which he has undertaken. A glance through the
book gives the impression that a great amount of labor is repre-
sented on its pages; it is a veritable encyclopedia of the natural
world environing the Great Lakes. Much space is given the
geologic history of the region and the consequent extension and
limitation of the fauna and flora. The chapter headings are as
follows: The Changing Face of Nature: The World In the Mak-

258 NAT URE-ST UD Y RE VIE W

ing: The Story of Our Rock Foundation: The Glacial Period:
Lake Chicago and Its Old Shore Lines: Distribution and Adjust-
ment: The Dunes and Their Plants; Animals of the Dunes:
Interdunal Ponds and Tamarack Swamps: The Climax Forest
and Its Predecessor, The Oak-Hickory Type: Lake to Forest or
Prairie: Lake Bluff, Ravine, and Ravine Valley: Brook, Creek
and River: Some Sources of Our Fauna and Flora: An Outline
of Some of the Important Plant and Animal Associations. A
valuable characteristic of the book are the tables and especially
the maps. There are many and excellent illustrations. The
book is bound in soft covers and will fit well into a pocket. We
can imagine the members of the Chicago Nature-Study Club
going afield, each armed with a copy of this Nature Guide Book.
It should be sold at news-stands for tourists, for seldom has a
book been written so calculated to make intelligent an inquiring
travelling public. The volume is equally valuable to the Scien-
tist; to our mind it is one of the most important written by this
eminent biologist.

TO TEACH CHILDREN

to know and to love the wonder world in which they live, use The Little
Gateways to Science Series.

Hexapod Stories Price $ .90

Bird Stories Price 1 .00

These books are full of marvelous, but absolutely true tales about butterflies,
bees, fireflies, grasshoppers, crows, gulls, loons, eagles and other creatures with
habits so strange and wonderful as to be almost beyond belief. Both books
were written with a view to character development through nature contact,
with particular reference to kindness to fellow creatures.

Other books that will delight the hearts of those who love the out-of-doors
are

Uncle Zeb and His Friends, by Edward Frentz $ .90

Wild Brother, by William Lyman Underwood 2.00

Wild folk, by Samuel Scoville, Jr 2.00

Everyday Adventures, by Samuel Scoville, Jr 3.00

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, Inc.

9 Arlington Street Boston, 17, Mass.

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings or Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size tys by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

-x

DUES

Annual membership
in U. S., $i. so; annual
membership abroad
$i.7S; Canada, ?i.6o.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature
Study Society.

RECOMMENDATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

IN THE

AMERICAN NATURE STUDY SOCIETY

President. Wm. G.yVlNAL Providence R. I.
Secretary. ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
Nature-Study Review

PLEASE DETATCH AND FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECREARY.

IQ2

To the American Nature Study Society
Ithaca, N. Y.

I nominate

Business or Profession

Address

for membership in the Society

Name and Address of Nominating number

(It is suggested that you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and of the

benefits of membership)

Photo by Verne Morton
Enjoying the Lady's Slippers without gathering them

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Conservation and Nature Studies. R. W. Shufeldt - - - 259

Painted Trillium, poem, R. S. Walker -- - 262

The Yellow Lady's Slipper Clara Thomas ------- 263

Wild Flower Preservation Society of America ------- 268

A Royal Forester -------- ------- 271

The Mole Adeline Wenger - - - - _______ 272

Society for the Preservation of New England Plants - - 278

Yellow Fringed Orchis, poem, R. S. Walker ------ 283

The Pine Henry Klein- ----- ____--- 284

The Honey Bee, poem W. P. Alexander ------- 292

A Question of Relationship, poem I. R. -------- 293

Two Yosemite Nature Guide Bulletins --------- 294

The Song-sparrow, a fable, Amelia J. Calver ------ 296

Editorial - ---------------- 299

Our Contributors --------------- 300

Book Shelf ----------------- 303

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 October, 1922 No. 7

Conservation and Nature-Studies in the Public
Schools of Washington, D.C.

R. W. Shufeldt

There is, at the present time, quite a struggle on foot in the
public teaching centers of the District of Columbia, involving
certain lines of instruction; it has already reached a stage rather
complex in character, to say the least, there having been drawn
into the contest various officials of the United States Bureau of
Education; nearly all the teachers in the public schools; many
men and women of wealth; a large body of the parents of the
children attending the public schools, with a big scattering of
others more or less profoundly interested in the outcome of the
matters under debate. When viewed from the proper angle, the
various factors of the problem under discussion may readily be
appreciated; and they are, while dissociated in some respects, as
a matter of fact component parts of a certain great question in our
present-day methods of teaching in the schools of this country in
general and in the public schools in particular.

The introduction of this comparatively new branch of teaching
calls for a class of especially instructed teachers, and these teachers
are expected to command training and knowledge of an unusual
character.

The matters here to be discussed are by no means new to our
school directors, teachers, parents, and the public, as they have,
at different times, come before the teaching constituency in towns
and cities of all civilized countries, and were, many years ago,
especially agitated in England by Professor Huxley.

259

260 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

As a matter of fact, we are once more called upon to consider the
value or uselessness, the propriety or senselessness, the short or
farsightedness pertaining to omitting or incorporating nature-
studies into schools, adapted to the various public school grades,
as a part of the mental training and instruction given to our
children. Hand in hand with such instruction comes the for-
mation of small school museums, containing such nature material
of this country as will properly supplement the instruction given
along such lines; secondly, and in many ways associated with
those factors, should instruction be given in elementary gardening
and agriculture — the school children of all grades, according to
their ages, being actually instructed in such matters, as well as
brought to the practical side of it through the care and manage-
ment of school gardens.

Finally, should all these children mentioned, according to the
various grades, be strongly encouraged by their parents or
guardians and their teachers to take their exercise in the woods
and fields, taking in, as a part of such exercise, swimming, rowing,
and tree and hill climbing, and while so engaged make studies and
collect specimens of the flowers and living things they have been
shown by their teachers, have handled in the school museums, and
read about in their nature books. As a part of such training
there should be instilled into their young minds, as they develop,
all that falls within the sphere of elementary instruction in such a
department, as the conservation of our national resources, as our
forests; such animals in nature as it is desirable to protect; our
national parks; our great water-falls, and similar attractions of the
nation as a whole.

Those who advocate the introduction of all that has just been
pointed out above into the course of instruction now given in our
public schools by no means aim to do so at the expense of any of
the other lines of study, such as general history, geography,
mathematics, and the rest. All these questions are now being
discussed with the greatest earnestness in Washington by all
concerned, even by many of the children in the higher grades,
who take a most lively interest in the possible outcome of it all.

If scientifically handled in all respects, it is claimed by the ad-
vocates of these added lines of endeavor and instruction in our
public schools that one of the most valuable and useful of human
faculties, one that makes more powerfully than any other for a

shufeldt CONSERVATION AND NATURE-STUDY 261

successful career in life, is that of accurate observation, and that to
gain this early in life is of paramount importance. Also that no
study in the entire curriculum of our schools can develop these
observational powers nearly so well as the study of all that nature
can furnish. Surely mathematics, history, languages, or any
subject of that class, cannot pretend to compete with field and
class-room studies of flowers, trees and animals of all descriptions
in nature. But our space here will not admit of specific proof
and demonstration of this statement.

Whether a boy or girl is better off exercising and studying nature
where nature lives, than the boy or girl who attempts to gain
instruction and mental stimulation through sitting two hours in a
motion picture theater, vacantly staring at scenes pictorially
impressing upon their growing minds the outcome of marital
mistakes, vulgar dances, all the nonsense of the socalled "comics"
and the rest — I leave it to any sensible father and mother to say.
Moreover, when not at such places, children are often idling at
home or elsewhere, or materially helping to increase the bank
accounts of keepers of candy-stores and vendors of ice-cream
cones.

As to every school maintaining a museum of natural history
objects, collected by the children in its neighborhood or donated
by others, there is so much in its favor and practically nothing to
condemn it, that to discuss the matter at all would be a waste of
time, energy, and valuable space.

Our "Boy Scout" system is all well enough in its way, if properly
regulated and conducted by the right class of scout-masters;
but the boy scout and his hatchet is responsible for no end of van-
dalism in the beautiful woods that are, in many cases, so close at
hand in the environs of Washington. It is all right when these
boys are under the observation of duly appointed scout -masters ;
but when it is otherwise — well, it is better to forget much that
they do, and much that I know from personal observation.

We cannot start too early to teach the children in our schools
the necessity, in such a country as ours, for conserving and pro-
tecting our forests; they should grow up with the idea firmly
fixed in their minds that almost without exception all the forms
in America's wild life demand continuous and strict protection
at all times, and, finally, that each and all of our grand and beau-
tiful water-falls, gorges, natural bridges, streams, lakes, and

262 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

similar features, are to be preserved as they existed when
man first discovered them — as far as may be possible.

Personally, I most emphatically stand for the introduction of
nature-studies into the course of instruction in our public schools;
for the maintenance of school museums ; for the study of elemen-
tary agriculture and maintenance of school gardens ; for the kind
of exercise that the out-of-doors offers, and for a full course in the
elements of conservation and ail that attaches thereto. I am
sure that the adoption of what I have here attempted to point
out will result in the rearing of our boys and girls in a way that
leads to the highest plane of good citizenship, leads to that which
compels respect for Americans on the part of other nations, and to
a type of men and women that make the best of home builders —
sound in mind, and having within their make-up all that nature,
and nature only, can give to such progressive men and women.

Painted Trillium

By Robert Sparks Walker

All parts in three, is why that we

Are trilliums called. My leaves of three,

With petals, sepals three, oft I

Grow eight to sixteen inches high,

On banks of woodland brooks all cool,

Where turtles shun the soft toadstool! ■*•

My leaves ovate in whorls are set,

Each tapers to a point is met;

My narrow sepals green you spy,

The handsomest trillium am I!

With graceful curving wavy edge,

White petals strongly marked with wedge

Of crimson V, always is found

In April and warm May's moist ground.

A little later you'll remember

To come and observe in September

My small dark scarlet berry ripe,

A neighbor to the Indian Pipe!

The Yellow Lady's Slipper

Clara Thomas,
Washington, D. C.

"Rushes tilting their burnished spears
These are her courtly cavaliers
Heart of my heart, we forswear the Rose,
We have been where the lady slipper grows."

— Clinton Scollard 'In the Heart of June' .

The downy or yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium pubescens,
which bears the pretty local name of "whip-poor-will shoe,"
is closely related to the beautiful and interesting Lady's Slipper
of Europe, Cypripedium calceolus, the species on which Linnaeus

263

264 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

founded the generic name Cypripedium, and on which an entire
tribe of the great orchidean order, namely, Cypripedieae, is based.

Cypripedium calceolus, once plentiful in sections in England,
has now become almost extinct, but it is still met with in some
parts of Central Europe. This beautiful species is held in much
esteem and, indeed, reverence in parts of France where it is given
the attractive name of "Sabot de la Vierge" and "Soulier de la
Notre Dame." The name Cypripedium is derived from the Greek
word Kupris, one of the names of Venus and "podion" meaning
slipper, in reference to the slipper-like form of the pouch or la-
bellum, whence also the popular name Lady's Slipper and Slipper-
worts. While some flowers reveal their beauty at first glance
others do not manifest it until subjected to closer scrutiny. The
Cypripedium belongs to the latter class.

Cypripediums have an interesting history, and when compar-
isons are made with any genus belonging to another tribe, we will
find that they differ from each other structurally far more than
any two flowers of other tribes of Orchidaceae, so we are forced to
consider that an enormous amount of extinction must have swept
away a multitude of intermediate forms and left this single genus
as a record of a former and more simple state of the great Orchi-
dean order. Not alone does the structure of the flower furnish
the only evidence of the Cypripedes being a more primitive race of
orchids than other existing forms. An ecological study tends to
the conclusion that the individual plants comprising the various
species have existed in great numbers, and have been spread over
a much larger area than they at present occupy in the wild state,
and a gradual process of extinction has been surely in operation
here as it has been with more primitive types in other natural
orders.

The true cause of their gradual extermination may be found
when we closely examine the reproductive organs of the flowers.
A very cursory examination of these must satisfy the most casual
observer that self-fertilization is impossible, and that nature had
proclaimed a definite law to the effect that in order to perpetuate
their race, fertilization must be effected by the pollen transferred
from another flower or plant, and this thru the agency of the
insect world.

A brief description of the structure of this unique flower will
reveal the wonderful mechanism by which this cross-fertiliza-

thomas THE YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER 265

tion is accomplished. The basal part of the labellum is folded
round the short column so that its edges nearly meet along the
dorsal surface, and the broad extremity is folded over in a pe-
culiar manner, the overarching edges being inflected or sometimes
only smooth and polished internally. This is of much impor-
tance, as it prevents insects which have once entered the labellum
from escaping thru the great opening in the upper surface. There
is but one means of escape, namely, by way of one of the two orifices
in the labellum close to the column. Let us follow the path of a
small bee: — Finding it impossible to escape by the large opening,
she crawls up into the narrow passage towards the smaller port-
holes admitting daylight into her prison. Here she must creep
under the stigma which protrudes its convex surface as a low
ceiling to this cell which is only large enough to admit her body.
The surface of the stigma is beset with minute, rigid, sharp-
pointed papillae, directed forward, which are excellently adapted
to brush off any pollen which may have adhered to the insect's
head or back while visiting another flower. Her way is now clear
to freedom, but just before emerging she must pass by the anther
which stands behind and above the lower surface of the stigma.
The grains of pollen are coated by and immersed in a viscid
fluid, which is so glutinous that it can be drawn out into short
threads. This pollen has but to be touched to adhere to the
bee's head or back, so that tho it can be carried quite readily to
another flower, there is no way in which it could be brought in
contact with the stigmatic surface of the same flower.

Darwin tells most interestingly of his experiments in the fer-
tilization of C. pubescens. He says, "I first introduced some
flies into the labellum thru the large upper opening, but they
were either too large or too stupid, a*nd did not crawl out propeYlv.
I then caught and placed within the labellum a very small bee
which seemed of about the right size, namely, Andrena parvula,
and this by a strange chance, proved to belong to the genus on
which in a state of nature the fertilization of C. calceolus depends.
The bee vainly endeavored to crawl out again the same way by
which it had entered, but always fell backwards, owing to the
margins being inflected. The labellum thus acts like one of those
conical traps with edges turned inwards, which are sold to catch
beetles and cockroaches in London kitchens. It could not creep
out thru the slit between the folded edges of the basal part of the

266

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

labellum, as the elongated, triangular, rudimentary stamen here
closes the passage. Ultimately it forced its way out thru one of
the small orifices close to one of the anthers, and was found when
caught to be smeared with the glutinous pollen. I then put the
same bee back into the labellum and again it crawled out thru
one of the small orifices, always covered with pollen. I repeated
the operation five times, always with the same result. I after-
wards cut away the labellum so as to examine the stigma, and
found its whole surface covered with pollen."

We may further trace the extinction of our native Lady's
Slipper orchids to their having to yield ground to the pressure of
cultivation, and the presence of a dense population in sections of

From a painted photograph by the author
The Moccasin Flower growing in the woods

thomas THE YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER 267

the country where at one time they were quite abundant; this
coupled, alas! with the careless method employed by old and
young alike in plucking the flowers in such a manner as to ser-
iously injure the plants. I refer in particular to the method too
often practised where whole armfulls of the flowers are torn up
from the ground without regard to the future welfare of the
plants. Often this is done thru sheer ignorance of the precepts
governing the gathering of flowers. It is to be regretted, how-
ever, that more is not said and done toward giving advice and at
the same time stimulating an interest among the school children
towards conserving these beautiful and choice gifts of nature
which we, her custodians, should hand down to those who follow
in our footsteps.

C. pubescens has what Burroughs calls "a heavy oily odor"
and is not so attractive in this respect as its smaller flowered
sister C. parviflorum . This species tho rarer is more widely
distributed thru North America according to Sir Joseph Hooker,
who mentions without giving his authority, that "its rhizome or
root-stock replaces the valerian as an anti-spasmodic in the es-
timation of Anglo-Americans." The musty smell possessed by
many orchids, and used, it is supposed, to attract night-flying
insects, is very noticeable in our Lady's Slippers, particularly in
their roots. It is an earthy scent, which one grows to like and to
associate with nature, as he does the smell of a wood fire.

The Lady's Slipper

Where Cinderilla dropped her shoe,
'Tis said in fairy tales of yore,

'Twas first the the lady's slipper grew
And there its rosy blossom bore.

And ever since, in woodlands gray,

It marks where spring retreating flew,
Where speeding on her eager way,
She left behind her dainty shoe.

— Elaine Goodale

Bloodroot

The following two circulars are republished here at the request of Mrs.
N. L. Britton.

Wild Flower Preservation Society of America

The following quotations are from the pledge of the New York
State Conservation Commission :

"God has lent us the earth for our life. It is a great entail.
It belongs as much to those who are to come after us as to us
and we have no right, by anything we do or neglect, to involve
them in any unnecessary penalties, or to deprive them of the
benefit which was in our power to bequeath." — Ruskin.

We believe that "in a great democracy of free people, the pro-
tection of wild life and the preservation of all other natural re-
sources, which under-lie national prosperity and happiness, must
depend finally, as does the stability of the government itself,
upon the support and willing service of every citizen."- -Theodore
Roosevelt.

Some of our beautiful native plants have been completely
exterminated or are becoming very rare and their places being

268

WILD FLOWER PRESERVATION SOCIETY 269

taken by introduced weeds, This is due to various causes, but
excessive picking and wanton breaking have contributed their
share, by preventing many of them from forming seed. Collect-
ing for commercial purposes has greatly decreased or exterminated
many native plants.

Conditions vary in different localities, but it is safe to say that
the early spring flowers, especially those that fade quickly, should
not be picked in large quantities; particularly anemone, hepatica,
dutehman's breeches, squirrel corn, adder' s-tongue, blood-root,
columbine, jack-in-the-pulpit. Lillies and orchids of all kinds,
lobelias, gentians, trailing arbutus, azalea, mountain laurel,
rhododendron, rhodora, dogwood, winterberry and holly also are
becoming rare or extinct.

Plants that produce edible fruits which serve as food for the
birds such as wild cherries, elderberries, dogwood, sumach, vi-
burnum, spicebush, bear-berry, shad-bush, aralia and mulberry
should also be protected or planted.

The following plants are often a nuisance: dandelions, butter-
cups, wild carrot, some of the clovers, daisies, both yellow and
white, bouncing-bet, St. John's-wort, yarrow, tansy, boneset,
sunflowers, golden-rod, asters; they are usually abundant in
waste places and along roadsides and may be gathered in large
quantities.

Some of our native plants such as: violets, wild geranium, roses,
spiraea, clematis and most of the composites are often abundant
and decorative in masses ! But it is to be remembered that most
garden flowers have been cultivated because they are good for
decoration and do not soon fade and these should be substituted
for the native plants whenever possible.

Will You Help To Protect Our Native Plants?

Will you teach this A. B. C?

(A) That what we have picked and carried away can no
longer be enjoyed by anyone else in the place which they made
beautiful.

(B) That although it is tempting and easy to pick a place
clean of every wild flower growing there, we shall probably have a
great many withered flowers by the time we reach home.

(C) That, worst of all, there will not be enough flowers left in
that place to go to seed and make it beautiful again next year.

270 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Our Christmas Greens
Beatrix Farrand

It is probable that few people realize how much widespread
destruction our cheerful demand for Christmas greens entails;
our Holly wreathes and Laurel and Ground-pine roping have
meant corresponding losses to our woodlands. We are most of
us to blame through ignorance because we do not know that one
thin and poor yard of Laurel-roping uses up at least twenty
growths of one year each, and that over thirty are needed to
make the pretty thick strands we all have liked to buy. A good
wreath of Holly is made up of fully thirty or forty of the finest
young berried twigs of an average of two years growth. The
cases of Holly sold in all the large florists' shops and markets
at Christmas time measure approximately three feet long and
two feet wide and at least two feet high; each of these boxes
contain a minimum of six hundred years of growth. It is there-
fore not difficult to understand why Holly has been practically
exterminated from the state of Connecticut and is growing difficult
to find in New Jersey and nearby states.

The young sprouts of the Southern long-leaved Pine are also
much used at Christmas and any of us who have tried to nurse
an Evergreen back to shapeliness, which has lost its leader,
knows what the loss of the principal growth means to a young
conifer. Abies balsamea, the Northern fir, does not seem to be un-
desirable to use for our Christmas trees. It is beautiful in youth
but short-lived and of little commercial value and is only fit
for Christmas trees when grown in the open, as it rapidly loses
its lower branches in the forest.

Our churches in the East use large quantities of Christmas
egrens and occasionally one sees a shop, theatre or concert hall
gaily wreathed with Laurel, Pine or Hemlock. The business of
collecting these greens is growing 'each year; many country land-
owners are selling the right to get these materials and small
armies of collectors come and cut and cart away cases and bales
to supply our demands for decoration. We can each of us do
our part toward decreasing the demand which has produced this
reckless supply. It is going to be hard to find substitutes, but
the Christmas destruction in our woodlands will largely cease if

A ROYAL FORESTER 271

we use more tubbed or potted trees and plants and more artificial

leaves and branches which, although more expensive at the

start, do not fade and have to be replaced each year.

We are each of us directly responsible for our share of this

destruction, unless we know that the greens we have or buy come

from carefully pruned shrubs or from plants especially grown

for the purpose. Under present conditions we might paraphrase

the familiar quotation by saying that our woodlands are being

"butchered to make a Christmas holiday."

Reprinted by permission from the Bulletin of the Garden Club of America,
May 1922, page 26.

A ROYAL FORESTER

Elbert Francis Baldwin of New York, one of the directors of the American
Forestry association, makes a graphic report of his recent visit to the king of
Italy, when he formally presented 5,000,000 Douglas fir seeds for the rehabili-
tation of Italy's forests destroyed during the war. The seeds were the gift
of Charles Lathrop Pack of the association.

"One minute after I met King Victor Emanuel," writes Mr. Baldwin, "I
forgot that I was talking to a king. He seemed a forestry expert, pure and
simple. It had taken two months' hard work to obtain through our embassy,
an audience with his majesty. But it was worth while, if for nothing more
than to discover that, learned and experienced in many a department of science
and government, Victor Emanuel was also up in forestry.

Planted Trees as Boy

"As a boy, he would plant young trees at his father's country places and rise
at 4 o'clock in the morning to water the trees properly himself — and not
merely see that it was done. 'In my own place, outside the city,' he added,
I have grown foreign trees and I want to see how the Douglas firs will
do there.' He told me of his success with varous trees and of his desire to
extend the quantity and quality of tree growing.

"Italy's chief occupation is agriculture and the king is intensely interested
in all things agricultural.

"As with all Italians, so Victor Emanuel's great regret is, as he said to me,
the country's lack of raw materials. The American gift being in the line of
raw materials, is therefore especially welcome to king and people. It should
extend Italy's forest resources, it should ultimately add to her food supply,
it should equalize the flow of brooks and rivers. In conferring these benefits
on a foreign country, as his majesty pointed out, the American Forestry associ-
ation is more than American; it has become international and its work is a
model to the rest of the world."

Item from Syracuse Post Standard

The Mole

Adeline M. Wenger
Teacher of Nature-Study, Riordan School, Highland, N. Y.

It was with the recollection of the story of Daniel Webster's
eloquent plea for the life of the woodchuck caught in a trap by
his brother, Ezekiel and their father's decision upon hearing both
pros and cons for the sparing of that life, uttered in the words,
"Zeke! Zeke! You let that woodchuck go!" that I determined
to offer my plea no doubt less eloquent, though just as earnest,
for the life of the mole. I can almost hear the "humph" of the
farmer or gardener who may have read thus far. I know the
objections you have to offer, but will you not bear with me for a
brief space of time, and read this through? I feel that, with a
fuller knowledge of the mole's life and habits, you will not be
quite so rash in your destruction of this little underground dweller.

Tell all your wise men, who pronounce me blind,
My eyes are good tho small and hard to find, —
Yet even so, serve better than their own,
Else they had looked, nor said that I have none.

— Edith M. Thomas.

Let us not alone look for the eyes of the mole, but thru them,
and get an intelligent understanding of those "molehills" which
disfigure our lawns and gardens, and so often seal the doom of
this creature.

The Family Talpidas, or moles, and their relatives of the family
Soricidae, or Shrews, belong to the order of mammals known as
Insectivora, which name suggests the food upon which they mainly
subsist.

Ernest Ingersoll, in the volume on Mammals, of his work,
"The Life of Animals," tells us that there is direct and indirect
evidence that the Order Insectivora can be traced far back to the
age of Reptiles of the Jurassic period. One scientist, whom he
quotes, says they are "little-altered survivors of some of the most
primitive placental mammals." They failed to keep pace with
the progress of other groups and today there are few represen-
tatives left. Those that have survived have done so because of
special means of defense, as the hedgehog; or by living a sub-

wenger THE MOLE 273

terranean life, as the moles and shrews; or else by living in some
far removed corner of the world where they have not yet been
obliviated by their more intelligent enemies and rivals. It is
still an undecided question whether the members of this order
may not be descended from several primitive stocks, since they
show such puzzling resemblances to other animals, like bats and
lemurs, that it is difficult to correctly classify them.

We find members of this order in all parts of the world except
Australia and South .America.

The Family Talpidae (Moles) includes 12 species, the individuals
of which are larger than the Shrews.

We shall give most of our attention to the common mole of
North America. This little mammal measures about 6-^2" in
length. Its shape reminds one of a pointed, rounded wedge.
The small pointed head unites directly with the thick body;
the broad six-fingered "hands" of the forelimbs are furnished with
spade-like claws and connected by strong armbones with the very
strong ribs and collarbones; and the hind legs remind one of the
legs of a mouse. The snout is long and pointed and the nose
projects about half an inch beyond the mouth, ending in a
hard, broad, flattened point. The mouth holds forty small,
sharp teeth. External ears are lacking and the rudimentary eyes
are small dark specks under the skin, the eyeball being but the
size of a pinhead, only serving to distinguish between light and
darkness. The posterior end of the body terminates in a short,
naked, pinkish-white tail, which resembles an angleworm. Its
beautiful soft, thick fur, a glossy, silvery gray, tinged with brown,
varying in shade according to the light, lies equally well backward
or forward.

In the western hemisphere this species is found only in North
America, from southern Canada to the lowlands of Florida, but
does not occupy any part of the arid region, including the Great
Basin.

Anyone who possesses a garden or lawn, or is familiar with dry
meadow land, (the most common habitat of the mole), must
surely be acquainted with the tunnels of earth disclosing in an
instant the highways and byways of this creature, and unless he
has studied the habits of these animals of the ground, has very
likely held an antagonistic feeling toward the little intruder, be-
cause without doubt the building of these passageways so near the

274 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

surface does not improve the appearance of a beautiful lawn or
garden. But let us not judge rashly. Why does the mole build
these tunnels, and especially, why does he build them so near the
surface ?

Let us trace the mole to his home and then follow him on his
excursions.

W. F. Hornaday reports the observations of a farmboy, who
uncovered and closely examined a mole-burrow two feet below
the surface of the ground. It was a dome-shaped hole, reached
from above by a slanting hole that ran down into its top. The
burrow measured a foot in width at the bottom and from this
three tunnels each about six inches long extended in different
directions. A shelf near the upper portion of the burrow supported
a mole on a bed of soft material.

Other observers have found a series of connecting galleries
reaching from the bottom of the chamber.

t^ His home the mole makes underground,

With runs and chambers crossed,
And galleries circling round and round
K In which you would be lost.

— Thcmas Miller.

From this mole-burrow the hungry hunter follows regular
tunnels which lead to his hunting grounds.

The strong tough bundles of muscles of his forearms and arms ,
and the well -braced ribs, greatly aid the work of the broad hands
in digging thru the more compact soil to the looser soil near the
surface. For the most part he simply crowds the loosened soil
beneath him and pushes it behind him as he progresses, for he
does not intend to return by the same route. Sometimes, when
he finds the hard digging too prolonged, he comes to the surface
and starts a new passageway, leaving a pile of loosened soil to
mark his course. Since dawdling may prove fatal, he uses, (as
recorded by one authority), but three seconds to bury his head,
ten seconds to completely hide his body, and within three minutes
time has succeeded in digging a tunnel one foot long.

Another observation recorded by W. T. Hornaday, extended
over a period of 24 hours, during which time a mole worked un-
disturbed in a five-acre clover field. One hundred, four and one
half feet of tunnels (68 feet of which were main line and 36-^

WENGEB THE MOLE 275

feet branches) showed the untiring efforts of this so-called "noc-
turnal creature," in procuring food.

It is in the loose soil near the surface that he finds the fat grubs
and larvae that constitute so large a part of his diet. I regret that
he must come so near the surface on his noonday excursions,
tempted by his insatiable appetite to follow his special choices of
food which are also moving upward. It is then that he is often
caught by the enemy who accuses him of destroying his crops.
This accusation is not altogether unjust for I must acknowledge
that in his vigorous digging he breaks off tiny roots of grass and
garden plants. But he does not feed on these, and since he does
feed on the destructive grubs and insect larvae, many of which do
attack the roots, I would beg you to stay the hand that has per-
haps been too ready to deal the death-blow. Neither should the
mole be branded "guilty" because you have not been aware that
the field mouse finds his abandoned tunnel a convenient road-
way to the grainfield where he finds the food he desires.

Occasionally the mole comes out upon the surface at night,
perhaps to get a smell of the air above ground, — surely not to
look about him, for his underground life has practically deprived
him of the use of his eyes, the tiny remnants enabling him only to
distinguish between light and darkness. It is his delicate ol-
factory organs that must guide him, and these tell him the presence
of desirable food and of undesirable enemies.

As the frost enters the ground, this creature burrows deeper
into the earth, but does not hibernate. Since it has been shown
to be a fact that he cannot live without food for much longer
than ten or twelve hours, he must continue his active life farther
underground during the winter season. The larvae, grubs,
and earthworms have also retreated below the frost line and their
numbers must surely be greatly reduced by our friend with his
enormous appetite.

This naked-tailed mole has near relatives whose names suggest
certain of their characteristics.

The Hairy-tailed Mole, also known as Brewer's Mole, is found
in Northern North America, southward to the mountains of
New Jersey and the Alleghanies. It is smaller than the common
mole, dark gray in color, has a longer tail which is thickly haired,
but otherwise resembles its relative very closely in form and
habits.

276 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The Star-nosed Mole, considered one of the commonest of the
Adirondack Region, is slightly longer than "naked-tail." The
fur is dark, brownish gray above and lighter beneath, the long
hairy tail resembles that of the muskrat and is used in swimming
and the snout is remarkable in that it bears 22 fleshy points.
It is found in the Northern part of North America, south through
the middle states and in the mountains farther south. It prefers
moist, swampy places and is often seen in the water and swimming
under the ice in winter, — indeed it seems to like swimming as well,
if not better, than digging. It has also been seen travelling over
deep snow in winter, diving suddenly out of sight if danger is
scented. This species seems to be more sociable than the common
mole, since it lives in colonies believed to consist of perhaps
twelve individuals. It feeds upon earthworms, aquatic and sub-
aquatic insects, crustaceans, and grubs. One in captivity refused a
wasp, a beetle, seeds, roots, and vegetable food, tho he ravenously
devoured insects, worms, and even a deermouse larger than
himself.

The Oregon Mole, found in forested regions and in open valleys,
is the largest and handsomest in North America, and perhaps in
the world. It bears a blackish fur which has a purplish sheen,
the size and beauty of which has made it of value in the com-
mercial world. Since in parts of the cultivated areas it is con-
sidered a pest, because of the dulling of the knives of mowing
machines as they strike the numerous mounds of earth left by
these creatures, and the disfigurement of lawns, — the numbers
will no doubt be kept down by trappers who will take advantage
of this opportunity for supplying commercial demand, which is
very great if we may judge by the report of a Brooklyn dealer
who stated that he had dressed four million imported European
skins in 19 16. I trust that wanton destruction will not be the
result of what is deemed an important measure to control serious
injury to crops.

The common Mole of Europe is distinct from, but closely re-
lated to the North American species, gathers in colonies, and
builds more intricate homes. One German naturalist believes
he has evidence that the European Mole stores worms for the
winter, biting off their heads so that they may not crawl away.

The mole is unknown in Ireland, but is found in England,
Asia and Japan.

WENGER THE MOLE 277

The Golden Mole of South Africa has a fur with a beautiful
metallic lustre from which it derives its name.

It may be of interest to stop here to mention the great ferocity
displayed by this little creature. Two moles held in captivity
were observed to fight furiously, the battle terminating in the
weaker combatant being devoured by the stronger. In speaking
of this noticeable trait, someone has said that were they as large
as lions their ferocity would be more terrifying than that of any
other creature.

The number of litters produced during a year seems to be a
disputed question. Some authorities claim there is but one;
Merriam believes there are two or more. Nests have been found
to contain from one to six young. The young of the Oregon Mole
are born in March and grow so rapidly that by May they can
hardly be distinguished from the adults and are already working
in tunnels.

I trust that this discussion of the characteristics and value of
this interesting animal will not fail to have the desired effect of
removing any unworthy prejudice you may formerly have held.
Do not condemn the mole unless you can prove him guilty. You,
yourself, would not wish to be condemned to death on "circum-
stantial evidence," so give the mole as fair a chance, remembering:

No single thing did God create,

But he for it gave food,
And whether it be small or great,
"He saw that it was good."

— Thomas Miller

Society for the Preservation of New England Plants

A Society for the Preservation of Native New England Plants
has been formed under the auspices of the Garden Club of America
and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Its object is to encourage and educate the people of New England
to protect native plants and wild flowers from destruction, to
only cut them with care and discrimination, leaving the rarer
species to multiply themselves, and to spread a knowledge of
their habits and cultural requirements among the community at
large.

This Society plans to provide free lectures, hold exhibitions,
plant wild flower sanctuaries, and to spread knowledge and love
of wild plants, believing that once the people have learned
about them they will become their guardians and stop their rapid
extermination.

At present the native Laurel is in great danger, being used in
immense quantities in decorations at all seasons of the year, but
especially at Christmas time. It is gathered in September when
the new growth of the year is taken and in New England motorists

278

PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGLAND PLANTS 279

have already destroyed great quantities of this, one of the most
beautiful shrubs in. America.

Many wild flowers which twenty years ago were common are
now seldom found, and unless the people are willing to protect
rare and easily exterminated species they will soon be lost to
New England. For example, the Magnolia or Sweet Bay has
from over picking practically disappeared from the swamp in the
town in Essex County, Massachusetts, to which it gave its name
and which was the only place in New England where this fragrant
flower grew naturally.

Every one interested is invited to become a member of this
Society.

For further information apply to

Mrs. S. V. R. Crosby

Care of Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 300 Massachusetts
Avenue, Boston 17, Massachusetts.

The following circulars are published and sent out by the
Society for the Preservation of Native New England Plants,
Horticultural Hall, Boston, Mass.

How Teachers Can Help the Wild-flowers

Among the many groups of persons coming into close contact
with the important problem of wild-flower preservation, none
has perhaps a greater chance to help in its solution than have the
teachers in the American schools. The development of the pub-
lic opinion of the next generation is in their hands, and the awaken-
ing of a wide ideal of the conservation of our natural forms
will be, or should be, one of the corner stones of this public opinion.
While the needs of conserving our forests and our wild life are
more generally obvious than the need of protecting some of our
vanishing wild-flowers, they are not more real. Every teacher
can take as a text the little bunches of spring blossoms, with their
little wilted faces pressed closely together, which favorite pupils
bring to their desks on May mornings, rivaling one another as to
who can gather the biggest bunch ; they can explain the character-
istics of the different kinds of flowers, because of which certain
kinds, like the arbutus, should never be picked at all, while others
may be picked more freely; they can tell why some kinds of
flowers are never seen any more near large cities and are seen less
plentifully even in some country districts; they can warn children

28o NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

not to destroy whole beds of anemones and hepaticas to make the
bunches that ought never to be sold to the motorists. There is so
much to tell, and so much to learn about conditions in every
locality.

Teachers can get general information by writing to the above
address.

How Children Can Help the Wild-flowers

Children all love the wild-flowers; but they do not usually
realize how much some kinds of flowers need their care. Chil-
dren go on picnics and see what large bunches of the prettiest
flowers they can pick which are wilted and thrown away long
before they reach home. Some kinds of flowers are dying out in
certain places just because they are picked in this way, so that
none can go to seed. All children should know the trailing
arbutus, and the fringed gentian, and the scarlet cardinal flower;
but they should know that these flowers are particularly deli-
cate and not to be picked, no matter how pretty they look and
how much the children want to make big bunches for their parents
■or teachers. Many other flowers grow much more freely and can
be picked. Children should ask their teachers to tell them about
the different needs of the different kinds of flowers, and if the
teachers have not studied about the subject they can get a great
deal of information by writing to the Society.

How Motorists Can Help the Wild-flowers

The ultimate fate of the varieties of wild-flowers which are
threatened with extermination lies with the motorists. Other
causes combine to hasten this process near the centers of popula-
tion, including the picking by school children and holiday makers;
but the motorist alone goes far afield to the natural reservoirs
where enough seeds might still be grown and disseminated to
counteract the diminution of the supply near the cities. In
the remoter country districts the flowers are in small danger of
being intensively picked by the rural population. There are
enough and to spare. But the motors bring countless pickers,
of every grade of science, eager to seize every rarity they see.
The complete disappearance of conspicuous varieties from the
more traveled highways is proof sufficient of the crying need of a
better understanding of conditions by the motorists. There

PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGLAND PLANTS 281

are flowers to be picked and others not to be picked, and only
study can differentiate between them. A wider knowledge of
these differing conditions will add very much to the enjoyment
of motoring, because knowledge always adds to the enjoyment of
a subject. There is much information available, and bulletins
may be secured from the Society.

How Everyone Can Help the Wild -flowers
The adequate protection of our wild-flowers so that a sufficient
supply will be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations
depends today on cooperation by everybody. There must be
developed a general understanding of what the needs are. Local
organizations, where they exist, can answer questions about
local needs. Where they do not yet exist, friends of the wild-
flowers should combine to organize them. But there are some
genera] rules which should be universally followed. One of
these is moderation. Never gather too many flowers of one kind
in the same locality, however common it may appear. Another
rule is to pick the rarer perennials with care. If the roots come
up easily when you pull them, like those of the blue bells, always
use a knife or scissors, so that the plant may come up another year
even if you have taken away the source of the seeds. Flowers
not perennial, like the fringed gentian, should be picked very
sparingly, if at all, because the supply of seeds is the only hope
of the colony for the future. Use judgment. Do not wipe out
roadside colonies, even of plentiful varieties, for picking is always
more intensive near the highroads where many motors pass.
Be willing to use occasional complete restraint in the case of es-
pecially rare flowers, such as the orchids and the arbutus. Learn
all you can by studying local conditions.

Flowers Needing Protection

This Society has been asked frequently for a list of wild flowers
which need special protection, that is, which should never be
picked except in very important cases and then only sparingly and
with great care. After consulting many authorities they submit
the following names to go under the heading of

FLOWERS THAT SHOULD NOT BE PICKED!

Trillium ...... Trillium grandiflorum

cernuum

282

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Cardinal flower
Columbine .
Mayflower
Gentians

Hepatica
Bloodroot
Spring beauty
Lilies

Pitcher plant
Dutchman's breeches
Fringed polygala
Dog-tooth violet
Yellow violet

All orchids,
Yellow lady's slipper

Showy "

Pink "

Green wood orchis

Green -fringed orchis

Yellow-fringed orchis

Hooker's orchis

Ragged-fringed orchis

White-fringed orchis

Large purple-fringed orchis

Small

Grass Pink

Indian "

Snake-mouth

Trillium undulatum

Lobelia cardinalis

Aquilegia canadensis

Epigaea repens

Gentiana crinita

puberala

Andrewsii

. Hepatica triloba

Sanguinaria canadensis

Claytonia virginica

Lilium philadelphicum

" superbum

" canadense

Sarracenia purpurea

. Dicentra cucullaria

. Polygala paucifolia

Erythronium americanum

Viola pubescens

especially the following :

Cypripedium pubescens
parviflorum
hirsutum
acaule
Habenaria clavellata
Habenaria flava
ciliaris
" Hooker
lacera
blephariglottis
" fmbriata
" psycodes
Calopogon pulchellus
Arethusa bulbosa
Pogonia ophioglossoides

walker YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS 283

Nodding pogonia .... Pogonia trianthophora

Whorled pogonia verticillata

Showy orchis Orchis spectabilis

Rattlesnake plantain . . . Epipactus pubescens

Ladies tresses Spiranthes cernua

Slender Ladies Tresses . . . gracilis

Yellow Fringed Orchis

Robert Sparks Walker

In meadows damp and barrens wet,
From one to two feet high;

I am the sweetest orchis met,
With orange-yellow eye.

My slender, lance-shaped leaves grow less,

As they approach the spike,
That holds my golden showy dress,

That grows beside the dike.

My petals, narrow fringed, and lip,

All deeply fringed are found;
With ovate sepals o'er which trip,

Wee fairies homeward bound!

All slender, long's my flower spur,

And anther cells at base,
Are widely separated, sir;

Adds beauty to my face.

July and August when you see,

My blooms with open eye;
You'll be quick to look at me,

For none can pass me by!

*?♦..- -imT^^*^

-*Yfln .^.^Wi^BW

BSTiiv, ''-- ..,_ J3c

IF ^- B w *"

yt^^"

M&&*.

■»-.-.»jw"-2i„ij%*--'iJ

White Pine

The Pine

Henry Klein
Brooklyn, N. Y.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of a man,
Cf moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

— William 1 1 'ordsworth
Tree friendships are very precious things. John Muir, writing
among his beloved trees of the Yosemite Valley, adjures his
worldweary fellow men to seek the companionship of trees.

"Go learn how they live and behave in pure wildness, to see
them in their varying aspects thru the seasons and weather, re-
joicing in the great storms, putting forth their new leaves and
flowers, when all the streams are in flood, and the birds singing,
and sending away their seeds in the thoughtful Indian summer,

284

klein THE PINE 285

when all the landscape is glowing in deep, calm enthusiasm—
for this you must love and live with them, as free from schemes
and cares and time as the trees themselves."

The beautiful Pines have something, have everything to teach
us, especially at this time of year. So away to the Pines we shall
go (for a cat may look at a king), eyes and ears alert. But let us
equip ourselves on our way with some interesting facts about the
Pines which they in their modesty may refuse to reveal.

The pines are evergreens, or Conifers. The distinguishing
feature of this great tree group is the cone-bearing habit. The
overlapping scales of the cone are attached to a central stem,
and each scale bears one or more naked ovules when the time of
flowering comes. A little detail about the cone and the pistil of
the evergreens, is very essential here.

The Pine family and its relatives are characterized by the
simplest, yet most peculiar kind of pistil. This pistil is gym-
nospermous, or naked-seeded. The counterpart of the ordinary
pistil is angiospermous, meaning that the seeds are borne in a
sac or closed vessel. Accordingly the pollen can act upon the
contained ovules only indirectly, thru the stigma.

While the ordinary simple pistil is conceived by the botanist
to be a leaf rolled together into a closed pod, those of the Pine,
Larch, Cedar and Arbor Vitae are open leaves, in the form of
scales, each bearing two or more ovules on the inner face, next
the base. At the time of blossoming, these pistil-leaves of the
young cone diverge, and the pollen so abundantly shed from the
staminate blossoms, falls directly upon the exposed ovules.
Afterwards the scales close over each other until the seeds are
ripe. As the pollen acts directly on the ovules, such pistil (or
organ acting as pistil) has no stigma. When ripe and dry, the
scales turn back or diverge, and in the Pine the seed peels off and
falls, generally carrying with it a wing, a part of the lining of the
scale, which facilitates the dispersion of the seeds by the wind.
The fertile scales are favorably situated near the middle of the
cone. Here the best seeds are found. The terminal scales
crowd at both ends of the cone, and their seeds usually fail utterly
or are stunted in development.

So much for the family. It is obvious that if the whole is in-
teresting, its aggregate parts must be. On the genus Pinus let us
now center our attention.

286 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

B. E. Fernow says: "What the apple is among the fruits, what
the oak is among the broad-leaved trees of the temperate zone,
the pines are among the conifers, excelling all other genera in this
most important family in number of species, in fields of distri-
bution, in extent of area occupied, in usefulness and importance to
the human race."

For whatever reasons we may revere the pines at least the fact
that they are connecting links with the past attracts us to them.
Mrs. Anna Botsford Comstock expresses this appeal most pleas-
ingly. "Their dark foliage outlined against wintry skies appeals
to the imagination, and well if may, for it represents an ancient
tree-costume. The pines are among the most ancient of trees,
and were the contemporaries of those plants which were put to
sleep, during the Devonian age, in the coal beds. It is because
the pines and the other evergreens belong essentially to earlier
ages, when the climate was far different than it is today, that they
do not shed their leaves like the more recent, deciduous trees.
They stand among us, representatives of an ancient race, and
wrap their green foliage about them as an Indian sachem does his
blankets, in calm disregard of modern fashion of attire."

Six hundred species and varieties have been described and
named in the genus Pinus. They are distributed in vast forests
over the northern half of the globe, reaching into the tropics by
following mountain chains. The East and West Indian Islands
have each their own pines. Out of the hundreds of named kinds
about eighty distinct species are now recognized. Half of this
number are found in North America. Forests of pines still cover
mountain slopes on the western and northern parts of the con-
tinent. Lumbering has been going on for a century in the Eastern
States; more recently the Great Lakes region and the pine forests
of the Southern States have been exploited to supply the demand
for pine.

The foremost lumber trees in this country, pines have still other
important uses. They offer a great variety of trees for protection
and ornamental planting. Wind-breaks from the seashore to the
semi-arid prairies, from the low seaboard plain to the mountain's
crests, may all be of pine. Arid soil or rich, cold or warm climate,
swamp and desert sand — all offer congenial conditions for some
native pine. In the parks of cities, in private grounds of the rich
and the poor, pines are planted for shade and shelter and orna-

klein THE PINE 287

ment. Only in very smoky cities, St. Louis and Pittsburg, for
instance, do pines and other conifers decline after a few years of
growth. It is believed that sulphur and other substances in the
noxious gases that constantly pour from great chimneys choke
the evergreens. Nobody is able yet to give a final answer to the
question.

The by-products of pine trees include oil, pitch, turpentine,
and rosin, products of the resin that impregnates the wood of
pitch pines. Minor products are the seeds of the nut pines, used
as food; pine wool, spun from the leaves of certain species; and
pine shoots used for Christmas decorations.

All pines are evergreens and cone bearers. They are distinguish-
ed from other genera of the family Conifera by bearing their
needlelike leaves in clusters of one to five leaves, each of which is
enclosed at its base by a sheath made of popery scales. No other
conifer has this sheath. The soft pines, so called from their soft,
light wood, shed their leaf sheaths as soon as the young leaves
are fully developed. The pitch pines, so called because their
heavy, dark-colored wood is full of resin, retain the leaf sheath
until the leaves are shed. The number of leaves in the bundle
helps to determine the tree. For example, the white pine has
five needles in each bunch, the pitch pine has three, while the
Austrian pine has two. The first two we shall endeavor to study.

The White Pine (Pintts strobus, Linn.)

The white pine is the most beautiful of trees. The fragrance of
balsam, the freedom of the atmosphere seems to come to our
nostrils with the very name of a pine; but there are few among
them that can claim as much admiration as the white pine. Much
of the peculiar charm which distinguishes our scenery from that
of other lands is owing to its great whorled branches which stand
out regularly against the sky. Thruout the winter how magnifi-
cent is this living creature of the forest, when it stretches out its
arms to uphold the snow and ice that bend them without mercy
to the ground. And how must it be thrilled with delight as it is
touched with the soft air of spring which lovingly dries its needles
by fanning them in its breezes. Then as the silver sheen of their
underside passes thru the hazy blue of its green, Thoreau de-
scribes the effort as similar to that of cold flashes of electric
light.

288 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

In the East the White Pine with its fine, tasseled foliage grows
often 150 to 200 feet in height and reaches an age of from two to
three hundred years. It is a stately tree, conical, with spreading
horizontal branches in whorls of five. The bark is grey, furrowed,
thick, with broad scaly ridges. Like other pines, the white pine
bears its evergreen leaves in sheathed bundles set on little pro-
jecting shelves along the twigs. The sheaths are shed in spring in
all the white pines, and the number of leaves in a bundle is always
five. In our Eastern woods a five-leaved pine is a white pine
whether it is a flourishing little sapling with only three or four
whorls of branches coming out from its central stem, or a great
forest tree towering above its broad leaved neighbors, noble
and picturesque, tho storms have disturbed the symmetry of its
youth. Certain pitch pines, all Western, have leaves in fives,
but the sheaths will be found at the bases of the bundles thruout
the season.

Stroke the leaves of a white-pine branch — they are soft and
flexible. As they sway in the wind they are graceful and light;
the tree seems decked with plumes of dark blue-green. The young
shoots, pale yellowish green, lighten the sombre pine woods, and
the clustering catkins, shaking out their abundant pollen, sift
gold dust thru the whole forest. The pistillate flowers show
themselves clustered about the terminal bud, which keeps on
growing, leaving them to ripen, thru two seasons into long, slender
green cones. The pinkish purple of these tiny cone flowers adds a
rich color to the upper twigs, where they stand erect until autumn.
Below them, hanging down with their weight, are the half-grown
cones, slim, finger-like and green, with tight, smooth scales, that
will turn brown and discharge their ripened seed at the end of
their second summer.

This white pine of ours is built on a semi-decimal plan, which it
is worth our while to notice. In the gracefully winged seed there
are ten cotyledons, or seed leaves, that mount the stem and
surround the precious terminal bud when the seed germinates.
This bud is the "leader." If anything happens to it the central
shaft is maimed for life, and either one side bud will have to bend
upward and take the leader's place, or two will divide the honor,
and a forked pine is the result.

The buds on the crown of a baby white pine cluster at the top —
a circle of five around the central bud. In spring the leader grows

klein THE PINE 289

upward, and at its base five branches radiate. The next year the
crown repeats the same story, and the tips of the side branches
divide and elongate in the same way. The best growth is gener-
ally made by the crown buds in the very top of the tree. So it
happens that we may count the years of our sapling by the whorls
of branches it bears. In the early years the growth is beautifully
symmetrical, if there is room for sun and air to reach the little
tree. Later the branches crowd each other, and some are killed.
In deep woods where trees interfere, the stems are bare of living
branches almost to the top.

This is the lumberman's pine, a tree whose limbs die so young
that there are practically no big knots in the lumber. He cuts
clear beautiful boards out of such a tree, and there is very little
waste. Or he squares the trunk for a big bridge timber whose
value and strength would be greatly lessened by large knots.

The great pine forests of lower Canada and the Northern States
seemed inexhaustible to the early settlers. New York and Penn-
sylvania had pineries that promised a lumber supply for genera-
tions to come. But alas! Their doom seems inevitable and near.

To quote Ruskin from "Modern Painters" is at this point
most appropriate,

"I wish the reader to fix his attention for a moment on these
two great characters of the pine, its straightness and rounded
perfections; both wonderful, and in their issue lovely. I say
first its straightness. Because we see it in the wildest scenery,
we are apt to remember only as examples of it those which have
been disturbed by violent accident or disease. Of course such
instances are frequent. The soil of the pine is subject to con-
tinual change; perhaps the rock in which it is rooted splits in
frost and falls forward, throwing the young stems aslope, or the
whole mass of earth around it is undermined by rain, or a huge
boulder falls on its stem from above and forces it for twenty
years to grow with the weight of several tons leaning on its side.

"Nevertheless this is not the truest or universal expression of
the pine's character. The pine rises in serene resistance, self-
contained; nor can I ever without awe stay long under a great
Alpine cliff, looking up to its great companies of pines.

"You cannot reach them; those trees never heard human voice;
they are far above all sound but that of the winds. No foot
ever stirred fallen leaf of theirs.

290 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

"Then note, farther, their perfectness. The pine stands com-
pact, like one of its own cones, slightly curved on its sides, and,
instead of being wild in its expression, forms the softest of all
forest scenery. For other trees show their trunks and twisting
boughs; but the pine, growing either in luxubriant mass or in
happy isolation, allows no bough to be seen. Lowland forests
arch overhead and checker the ground with darkness; but the
pine, growing in scattered groups, leaves the glades between
emerald bright. Its gloom is all its own; narrowing to the sky,
it lets the sunshine strike down to the den.

"And then I want you to notice in the pine its exquisite fineness.
Other trees rise against the sky in dots and knots, but this in
fringes.

"You never see the edges of it, so subtle are they; and for this
reason it alone of trees, so far as I know, is capable of the fiery
changes noticed by Shakespeare.

"When the sun rises behind a ridge crested with pine, pro-
vided the ridge be at a distance of about two miles, and seen clear,
all the trees for about three or four degrees on each side of the sun
become trees of light, seen in clear flame against the darker sky,
and dazzling as the sun itself.

"I thought at first this was owing to the actual lustre of the
leaves; but I believe now it is caused by the cloud dew upon
them, every minutest leaf carrying its diamond. It seems as if
these trees, living always among the clouds had caught part of
their glory from them."

The Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida, Mill.)

The pitch pine carries picturesqueness to extremes, and becomes
in old age grotesque, even absolutely ugly. It has the look of a
tree that has been hounded by untoward circumstances. In
youth the tree has a rounded symmetrical head, formed of suc-
cessive whorls of branches. In its subsequent struggles sym-
metry is lost, and the contorted limbs, tufted with scant sickly-
looking foliage, and studded with the squat, black, prickly cones of
many years, reach ou£ with an expression of mute appeal that
tempts one to cut the tree down and end its sufferings. If it is
cut, however, it sends up suckers from the roots, a strange habit
among the pines; and its winged seeds spread the species over
barren and shifting sand dunes, and otherwise hopelessly treeless

klein THE PINE 291

areas. This work is so well done on the island of Nantucket and
the desert soil of Cape Cod, even those areas which are washed by
the spring tides, that the pitch pines have earned the regard of men.
Its light, reddish-brown timber is coarse and of slight value,
but this is forgiven.

Pitch pines are rich in resin; the knots especially accumulate it,
and "pine knots" and "candlewood" are useful and familiar
household words in the regions where the pine grows. Kindling
wood and torches for midnight coon hunts are never wanting.
The resin is not the sap of the tree, as is generally supposed.
Pine sap is like other sap; the resin is a product of certain glands
of the tree, and is of great use to it in closing wounds and thus
keeping out the spores of destructive fungi. It is this effort of the
tree to heal its wounds that makes it pour resin into the cuts
made by the turpentine gatherers. This resin is taken to a
distillery, where the turpentine is given off as a vapor and con-
densed in a coiled tube which is kept cold. What is left is known
as "rosin."

The "pitch is kindle of substance" which makes handling of the
sticks unpleasant business for tidy folks, gums the saws and makes
trouble in the mills. Sills and beams of houses were formerly
made of pitch-pine logs but now other kinds are preferred, and
these trees go into charcoal and fuel. The turpentine gatherer,
too, has left these trees to seek the richer pineries of the South and
West. There is small excuse for the pitch pine to stay on, were
it not for the one thing it does better than any other — it makes
glad the wilderness and the solitary place.

The characteristics of this pine, in a few words, are these:
A gnarled, irregular tree 50 to 75 feet high, with short trunk and
rigid, rough branches. Bark thick, broken into plates by deep,
irregular fissures, scales thin; bark red or purple. Wood light
red, soft, durable, brittle, coarse. Leaves in threes, rigid, stout,
3 to s inches long, dark yellow-green; sheaths becoming black,
persistent. Flowers monoecious; staminate short, densely clus-
tered at base of season's shoot; pistillate lateral, in clusters, rosy
tinged, oval, short, stalked. Fruits biennial, 1 to 3-K" long-
ovate, scales with sharp, recurving beaks. Preferred habitat,
sandy uplands and cold swamps. Distribution, New Brunswick
to Georgia; west to Ontario and Kentucky.

292 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

On February 27, 1855, Thoreau wrote in his journal: "A week
or two ago I brought home a handsome pitch pine cone, which
had freshly fallen and was closed perfectly tight. It was put into
a table-drawer. Today I am agreeably surprised that it has there
dried and opened with perfect regularity, filling the drawer, and
from a solid, narrow and sharp cone has become a broad, rounded,
open one, has in fact expanded into a conical flower with rigid
scales and has shed a remarkable quantity of delicate winged
seeds. Each scale, which is very elaborately and perfectly con-
structed, is armed with a short spine pointing downward, as if to
protect its seeds from squirrels and birds. That hard, close cone,
which defied all violent attempts to open it, and could only be
cut open, has thus yielded to the gentle persuasion of warmth
and dryness.

"The expanding of the pine cones, that too, is a season."

The Honey Bee

Wm. Prindle Alexander

Flashing vision of buzzing brightness,

Animate miracle of beauty,

Living dream of fairy-lightness

Fleet-winged bee,

Free-lance with no other duty,

Than to sally forth for booty,

O'er the summer lea.

Oh! beautiful, when brightly banded golden

She probes the pendant mass of linden bloom,

Or flashes on with precious riches rolled in

Tiny baskets, or perchance hangs over

Banks of soft perfume,

Where grows the peerless, nectar-yielding clover.

Ever going, ever coming

With a glad symphonic humming,

On her iridescent wings

That rejoice with song untiring

Full and free

As the springtime robin sings.

A QUESTION OF RELATIONSHIP 293

So the bee

Bears off her booty, straight without inquiring

In ethical propriety.

Into the sea of bloom, just buccaneering

She goes unfearing,

And all sweet spoil makes gladly her possession.

Or cares a fig if this be thought transgression.

Oh! beautiful bee, Carniolan, Caucasian,

Italian, or bee from the land of the palm,

Partake of the nectar and harvest the balm,

Come, and no hand shall resist your invasion.

From May to October hum

Over the scented lea,

Come with your frolicsome,

Gladsome, contented glee.

Come, with the shine, and the color and glow

Of spring's fairest day,

Until the soft bloom of the golden rod blow

Honey bee stay.

Oh ! happiest rover,

Careering sweet comer,

Bright knight of the clover

And soul of the summer!

A Question of Relationship

I. R.

The earthworm, though it was quite pained
On being cut in two,
Shed not a tear in vain regret,
As fool things often do,
But prompt began his parts to mend,
Without a great ado,
And very soon the earth was blessed
With not one worm, but two.

For only tail the head end lacked
To make it whole again,
And only head the tail end took
With segments and a brain.
Now when they meet in daily toil
They quarrel not, the twain,
Nor try to settle which is who,
For, clearly, 'tis not plain.

Two Yosemite Nature Guide Bulletins

YOSEMITE NATURE GUIDE MOVEMENT. UNDER COOPERATION OF
FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.

AUDUBON WARBLER NESTS IN YOSEMITE

Walking to work in almost any California town on a winter's
morning, one may be surprised to see a bird which resembles
much a sparrow. It has a flash, however, as it flies, of canary
yellow on the back between the wings. In fact it has five yellow
spots, one on the crown, one on the throat, in front of each wing,-
and on the rump. Looking more closely the observer notes that
. it has not the short stout seed-crushing bill of the sparrow tribe.
On the contrary it has the sharply pointed bill of the insect eater.
Studying it further, one sees that although a warbler, it has the
flycatcher habit of feeding on the wing. This feathered friend is
the Audubon warbler. It ranges from British Columbia to Guate-
mala.

After years of acquaintance with it in its winter garb, busily
cleaning up the insects, one is hardly prepared to see our Audubon
warbler in his full glory in nuptial plumage in Yosemite National
Park. Like a farmer lad who has doffed overalls and jumper to
don his best for the schoolhouse dance, so our energetic Audubon
has shed his dull winter coat for a brightly colored one. He is
bedecked with gorgeous gold of the brilliancy, so dear to ancient
Aztec rulers that they used similar shades for the wonderful
royal featherwork robes of which perhaps only two, in European
museums, still exist.

Some Yosemite visitors fail to recognize the Audubon warbler.
Anyone troubled about bird identification can find a solution of
his problem given gladly and without cost, at the Nature Guide
office in Yosemite Village. This nature guide service is the out-
growth of studies of Norwegian and Swiss resorts by the World
Recreation Survey. The experiment was first undertaken in
19 1 9 at Lake Tahoe. It proved so attractive that business men
even deserted trout fishing for nature guide hikes. Coming
under the observation of Director of National Parks Mather,
the work was expanded into Yosemite National Park under the
joint auspices of the California Fish and Game Commission and

294

YO SEMITE NATURE GUIDE BULLETINS 295

of the National Park Service. It served in 1920, 27,047 visitors.
In 192 1 more than 50,000 visitors were aided. Dr. H. C. Bryant,
Game Expert of the Fish and Game Commission, will again be in
charge.

THE COYOTE, THE INDIAN'S IDEAL OF SAGACITY

Berkeley, May 31st: No animal has entered so largely into the
folklore of the western Indian as has the coyote. It was Mr.
Coyote who did most of the worthwhile things, brought fire to the
earth, rescued those in distress, and ruled over the destiny of
both man and beast. Furthermore, the coyote was the fore-
runner of the Indian's domestic breed of dogs. The white man
also classifies him as the most sagacious and intelligent of the
western wild folk. A resident of both the plains and the moun-
tains, the coyote attains his greatest development in the higher
altitudes, as for instance, in Yosemite National Park, where the
nature guides occasionally have the chance to point out this
member of the dog family, or call attention to its weird howl.
The mountain coyote is often of such size as to be called a wolf
but this larger cousin of the coyote is yet to be taken within the
borders of California. The coyote furnishes a subject for some
of the lectures and campfire talks of the nature guides who, under
the auspices of the National Park Service and the California
Fish and Game Commission, tell vacationists of the more in-
teresting forms of life, and who lead nature-study field classes
where nature is studied first hand. The summer of 1922 will be
the third season of the Yosemite Free Nature Guide Service, a
service which has proved so popular that it has been extended to
two other national parks.

The Song-sparrow or Humility Rewarded, a Fable

Amelia J. Calver
Lebanon, N.Y.

One beautiful morning in spring, many many years ago before
you or I, our mothers, grandmothers, or great grandmothers even
thought of living, there might have been seen gathering from all
parts of the world, silent bevies of birds of all kinds and sizes, to a
beautiful island fanned by the spice-laden zephrys of the far famed
East.

But why this gathering?, you ask; why this silence? when in
our day a single robin will call us from our deepest slumbers, and
a few bluebirds and sparrows make the morning so resonant with
sound, that we wonder what we ever listen to when the birds are
gone.

Well this is just what I am going to tell you. Birds had not at
that early period learned to sing and it had been announced some-
time before by Dame Nature that when the magnolia should send
its perfumed breezes throughout the verdant isles of the Tropics
the Fairy Queen of Song would meet the birds there to distribute
her gifts.

Earliest among the expectant guests, was seen the stately flamin-
go whose lordly bearing seemed to claim the richest gift of all;
while the gaudy peacock flaunted his tail in the rays of the morn-
ing sun, building airy castles of the expected admiration he was
sure to earn when he should call attention to the beauty of his plu-
mage, by the sweetness of his song. Among the waving branches
of a lofty tree, sat a bird of paradise, silent thro' envy, won-
dering how birds who tread the earth, could expect to rival those
who were free from such drudgery and could move at pleasure
on downy pinions.

In the midst of these gay dreams and while the less pretentious
birds were chatting in undertones, a slight rustle was heard in
a cluster of spice bushes which the birds thought could be no other
than the Fairy Queen herself, and eager to be the first to greet the
royal donor, the flamingo rushed into the bushes, followed by the
peacock, while the bird of paradise came down from his lofty
perch with a graceful sweep, only to prove to her highness that un-

296

calver THE SONG-SPARROW 297

like the rest, he was an inhabitant of the upper air. But what was
their surprise and chagrin to meet only a poor little plain sparrow,
quietly making its breakfast of the tender blossoms of the clove
tree.

"What audacity" said the flamingo, "to think such a mite as
you, should venture into the company of your betters, unasked."

"Ha! ha!" laughed the proud peacock, "a pretty figure you
would cut singing in a blossoming tree in that quaint little drab
coat of yours."

"I wonder if it has invited its cousin the toad, " said a swan just
arriving from a lake in the interior of the island. "I could find
none for my breakfast this morning ; I presume they were arrang-
ing their toilets by swallowing their old trousers and putting on
tights. Well, well, when the toad-and-sprarow concert comes
off, I hope I shall receive an invitation," continued the swan,
arching his neck to look at the rest of the company to make sure
of their approval of his wit; "for I shall like to be spared the
trouble of hunting for my breakfast."

"I thought," said the timid little sparrow, "that all the birds
were invited, and I "

"All the birds" exclaimed the bird of paradise, "You a bird?
Well I should think so! Look at me, is there any resemblance
between us ? I should think you were more a frog or a beetle than
anything else."

"Come, come," said the peacock, "we cannot have such a
nuisance on the ground when our queen arrives. She would be
disgusted and leave us immediately."

"Here's your breakfast, Mr. Swan" said the flamingo, reaching
up his long neck and, taking the poor little bird in his crooked
bill, threw it on the ground near the swan, at which the peacock
fearing it would get away, rushed up and placed his foot upon it.

Just at this crisis, who should descend into their midst but the
Fairy Queen; and seeing so small a bird in trouble, carefully
picked it up and folded rhe trembling little thing to her bosom.

At this the belligerents in the foreground immediately fell
back to a respectful distance and when quiet was restored, the
queen said, "I have been a witness of all that has taken place here
this morning. I came early to learn for myself to whom the
gift of song would be appropriate. Your majesty, said she, turning
to the flamingo, shall only bear from this place the mark of your

298 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

shame," at which the flamingo, blushing a deep scarlet all over,
retired into the background.

The swan fearing its turn was coming next, turned white
with fear, but the fairy only cast a reproachful look at him, saying,
"Glide on proud swan, but at your last moment you will realize
the treasure you have lost."

The peacock hoping to dazzle the queen by his grandeur was
slowly turning his wide-spread tail before her, but she only pointed
with disdain to the foot from which she had rescued the sparrow,
and the peacock looking down immediately dropped his plumage.

"Thus ever shall it be with you," said the Queen. "The re-
membrance of your cruel act shall bring down your pride." "And
to you proud bird of paradise shall be added nothing but discor-
dant tones. You already have enought to feed your self-conceit."

Then touching the poor little sparrow with her delicate wand,
it immediately opened its little beak and poured forth such a
melodious lay that the Fairy herself was delighted.

Hearing this the other small birds who had kept at a respectful
distance, lost all fear and perched confidingly on the Fairy's head
and shoulders uttering their joy in all the varied songs we now hear
from birds on a beautiful spring morning.

And when they had sung their sweetest thanks to the kind
fairy and the little sparrow had given the grand finale with its
"sweet, sweet, sweet," promising to care for and protect one
another, they went back to their homes, a joy to themselves and a
delight to the world forever.

Thus we see that pride is its own destroyer, and humility ob-
tains its own reward.

O wise little birds, how do ye know

The way to go
Southward and northward, to and fro?

Far up in the ether piped they,

"We but obey
One who calleth us far away."

—H. McE. Kimball

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE IN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

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Editorial

Conservation and Nature-Study

It is interesting to note the growing national necessity of the
proper teaching of Nature-Study to the youth of the land. Owing
to the efforts of Nature lovers and wise legislation, the United
States has become a shining example to the world in the setting
apart of great tracts of wild land for permanent parks. Not only
has the National Government established parks covering vast
areas but many of the states have done likewise. This great
movement has resulted in a pressure from above for Nature-Study.
The keeping wild and natural the thousands of acres of our beauti-
ful forests and lake regions, and the conservation of wild life there
will prove to be a futile effort if the people to whom the parks be-
long have no intelligent interest in them.

How can the ignorant know the proper way to treat a wild park,
to say nothing of appreciating its true beauty! The general use
of the automobile, the rapidly growing habit of taking long trips
in autos with tents render the whole question a pressing one.
The Nature-Guide movement on the Pacific coast is one means of
teaching the proletariat as well as the patricians how to see what
is before their eyes and how to care for the preservation of wilder-
ness charms. The foresters employed by the Federal and State
Governments are doing a great work also, but unfortunately there
are not enough foresters to stand guard everywhere.

The sure way to protect our great reservations is to train the
children in the public schools through Nature-Study to understand
and know the plants, trees, animals and birds that inhabit these
reservations and thus will they learn to respect their rights as
well as to understand what the rights are. It has taken Dr. Horn-

299

300 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

aday, a most intimitate student of wild animals, to give us a code
of wild animal rights. It has taken eminent botanists like Profes-
sor and Mrs. Britton to tell the world what are the rights of our
wild flowers. It has taken the most eminent foresters to tell us
how to treat the trees ; and our greatest ornithologists are the ones
who are fighting for the rights of the birds. It stands to reason
that to respect the rights of any plant or animal, we must know it
when we see it, and know something of its habits. No other force
will be so potent in preserving the wild life in our great reservations
as Nature-Study, taught thoroughly and sanely in the Public
Schools.

Conservation Societies

We publish in this number leaflets of two conservation societies
that are doing a great work in the eastern United States in preserv-
ing wild plants. We publish these circulars because we wish to
spread the knowledge which they give freely to all our readers.
This is done with a hope that at least some of our readers may
start local conservation clubs or societies that will carry the good
work on, for it is a work much needed; and so valuable that the
future citizens of our Republic will rise up and call blessed those
who have the wisdom and the energy and the love for the out-of-
doors that will lead them to start such a movement.

Caught in the Editorial Web

Recently there has come a S.O.S. call from some of our "alivest"
readers for information concerning the contributors to the Nature
Study Review. We Nature lovers are like a big family anyway,
and it is natural enough that we desire to know something more
about each other in order that a true family intimacy may be es-
tablished. It is far more important to us than it could be to the
readers of the Atlantic or Ladies Home Journal to know about
contributors to those periodicals, for in their case the information
merely satisfies curiosity; while in the case of the readers of our
modest magazine closer acquaintance means closer union.

The editor does not claim to know all about all of our contribu-
tors, but she knows a lot of things about many of them which she is
willing to share with the Review readers as far as the situation
requires, so "here goes:"

OUR CONTRIBUTORS 301

Dr. Robert Wilson Shufeldt is a New Yorker born, the son of
Admiral Wilson of the U. S. Navy. He graduated at Cornell with
the class of 1874 and afterwards studied medicine in Columbia.
In 1876 he was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Medical
Department of the U. S. Army and was made Captain in 188 1 and
Major in 1904. He acted as Surgeon with Generals Crook, Sheri-
dan and Merritt in Frontier Indian Wars, 1876-81. He was made
Curator of the Army and Medical Division in Washington in 1882.
He was also appointed Honorary Curator of the Smithsonian
Institution by Baird. At the end of the World's War he was
placed in charge of the classification of the war collections of the
Army Medical Museum. He is a fellow of the A.A.A.'S and a
member of nearly all the scientific societies in America and many in
Europe. His writings cover a wide range of subjects and he is a
valued contributor to many science journals. Luckily for us
he has believed with all his heart in the Nature-Study movement
and has donated to the Review a large number of most valuable
articles illustrated with photographs taken by himself. He is
now taking an active part in Nature-Study teaching in Washing-
ton.

Miss Adeline M. Wenger teaches Nature-Study in the unique
and interesting Riordan School for Boys at Highland, N. Y.
She also teaches other subjects and mothers the youngest young-
sters as well. She loves the life out-of-doors and has a wide range
of Nature interests; she has the generous quality and the rare
ability of being able to share her interests with her readers. This
is why she writes for the Review.

Clara Thomas was trained in the James Ormond Wilson Normal
School at Washington, D. C. and chrough the inspiration received
from Mrs. Alburtis she became interested in and taught Nature-
Study in Washington Schools. She is an ambitious young woman
and continued her studies evenings in Washington University hop-
ing thus to attain a college degree. Afterwards she studied at
Cornell and has since become greatly interested in Landscape
Gardening and will probably make this her future work. She has a
fine mind and is a thorough student; her articles written for the
Review are characterized by careful work as well as by literary
grace.

302 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Henry Klein is a young man living in Brooklyn, N. Y., he is a
graduate of Cornell. As a writer he is insatiable in seeking informa-
tion concerning his topics in which he is always deeply interested.
Although practical considerations call him to the world of business
he still adheres to his ideal of becoming a writer and we hope he
will contribute to the Review for years to come.

Amelia J. Calver is a beautiful, serene member of the Shaker
Colony at Mount Lebanon, N. Y. She has always loved her
Nature surroundings and finds the most perfect companionship in
the woods and fields. She has written for the Review in other
years and we have rarely met a more sympathetic observer or a
more broadminded, interesting woman than is she.

Professor W. P. Alexander is connected with the Buffalo Museum
of Natural History as a leader of field trips and an instructor in
museum classes. Some years ago he was an assistant to the edi-
tor in givino- instruction to her classes at Cornell, and he later con-
ducted the classes in the Nature-Study of the Farm at Cornell.
He is a man of great cordiality and personal charm, a naturalist,
a poet and a musician. He has for many years been a generous
contributor to the Review.

Robert Sparks Walker lives in Chattanooga, Tenn. He gradua-
ted first from Maryville, Tenn. College and later received a de-
gree of LLB. at the University of Chattanooga. He has been the
editor of The Southern Fruit Grower since 1900 and is an active
member of many horticultural societies. He is a contributor to
Country Lije in America, the Ladies Home Journal, the Youth's
Companion and many other periodicals. We are glad to say that
he is also a lecturer in Nature-Study and has directed the making of
moving pictures of insects, spiders, plants and birds. He loves
the wild flowers and is a very acute observer of their forms and
habits and has the happy faculty of putting his observations into
verse.

I. R. is a Professor of Biology in a college and declines to s'gn
her or his full name, for fear of being regarded as frivolous, in this
delightful discussion of a scientific fact in verse.

urnmrn. Ill

|tme boor shelf

Practical Plant Biology. Henry H. Dixon, ScD., F.R.S. 291
pp. Illustrated. Longmans, Green & Co. $1.75.

It is interesting to get a book from the other side of the Atlantic
showing us how they are teaching sciences over there. Dr. Dixon
is Professor of Botany in the University of Dublin and Director
of Trinity College Botanic Garden in Dublin and this book covers
a course of elementary lectures on the general morphology and
physiology of plants which he gives to his students. The book
impresses one with its logical arrangement, scientific accuracy and
carefulness of detail. It consists of 30 chapters, each a lecture on
some topic beginning with the microscope and how to use it, then
follows chapters on the structure of a cell, Saccharomyces Cerevisae
Chlamydomonas, Bacteria, and so on up through the plant world
to Pinus Silvestris and Scilla Nutans closing with one lecture on
heredity and one lecture on evolution. At the end of each lecture
is an outline for the practical laboratory work to be done in con-
nection with it. The book is clearly written, straight-forward,
technical, scientific and is sure to prove most useful to those who are
teaching College Biology. Teachers of Biology in High Schools
will find it a valuable reference book.

Elementary Industrial Arts. Leon Loyal .Winslow. 335 pp.
Illustrated. The MacMillan Company.

The Industrial Arts have to do with Nature's products in one
way or another. To the eager, intelligent young naturalist nothing
can be more edifying than to learn how man has used Nature's
resources in building up civilization; to such this volume will
prove a revelation full of interest. Not only does it describe in-
dustrial processes, but it also gives practical directions for the con-
struction of different objects in each of the industries discussed.
At the end of each chapter is a poem and a list of books relating to
the topics. The author is a specialist in drawing and industrial
training in the N. Y. State Department of Education. The

303

304 THE BOOK SHELF

illustrations are many and valuable, and they are made by Harry
W. Jacobs, Director of Drawing in the Dept. of Education in
Buffalo, N. Y. The following are the industrial arts described:
Bookmaking, Papermaking. The Manufacture of Baskets and
Boxes, Brick and Tile, The Pottery Industry, Cement and Con-
crete, the Textile Industries, Copper, Iron and Steel, The Soap
Industry, The Glass Industry, Wood and Woodworking. The vol-
ume is interesting, instructive and useful from every point of view.

From Arrow Head to Airplane. Loren Stiles Minckley M. A.
Copyrighted by author and published by Crane & Co., Topeka,
Kansas. 226 pp.

Mr. Minckley wrote a volume on "Americanization Through
Education" which embodied his ideals of our great country. Now
he gets at it from another angle and has written what he terms
"An American Epic of Joy and Tragedy." It consists of eleven
cantos, the first dealing with Indian customs and those that follow
covering the colonial times, the Revolution, the re-construction
afterwards, the War of 181 2, the growth of the middle west, the
Civil War, the forty years following, the War with Spain, twentieth
century progress, and finishes with the World War. It is certain^
an ambitious work and the historic records are very complete
considering the nature of the book, and through it all is carried
the ideals of liberty and freedom of a self-governed nation. The
plan of rhyming which the author has selected seems to us some-
what difficult and would tax the ingenuity of the best of poets to
carry it successfully through a whole volume. A fair example of
the verse is the following description of the battle of Bull Run :

"On to Richmond!" North then shouted
So from Washington they scouted;

Thirty thousand boys in blue

In July with leaders true
On the twenty-first were routed.

At Buil Run, one-half the distance,
They were met with first resistance,

And the boys who live today,

Of those lads in blue and gray
Tell the story with persistence.

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings or Flowers

By MARY E. EATUN

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4% by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4]/a by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
MOTH & BUTTERFLY PLATES (10 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

x

DUES

Annual membership
in U. S., £i.so;annual
membership abroad,
#1.75; Canada, £i.6o.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature
Study Society.

RECOMMENDATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

IN THE

AMERICAN NATURE STUDY SOCIETY

President, vVm. G. V1NAL Providence, R. I,
Secretary, ANNA B. COMSTOCK Ithaca. N. Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to the
Nature-Study Review

PLEASE DETATCH AND FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECRETARY.

IQ2

To the American Nature Study Society
Ithaca, N. Y.

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Name and Address of Nominating member

(It is suggested that you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and cf the

benefits of membership)

The Sun and His Family may have appeared at the beginning similar
to this Spiral Nebula photographed at the Lick Observatory.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Our Own Sun and His Family. A. B. Comstock - - - 305

The Moon Came to Earth. E. B. Whiting - ... 316

The Moon and Thoreau. G. A. Harper 317

Venus. D. P. Hillas ------- 320

Star Charts by Paper Cutting. - 323

Star Fairy Dreamland. ______ 326

Time and Change, poem. L. A. Hasuman - - - - 328

Common Mistakes in Natural History. W. G. Vinal - - 329

Nature News. ------- 342

Editorial -------- 344

Amalgamation of Am. Nature-Study Society and School Garden Ass. 346

Editors Web. -------- 346

The Book Shelf. 348

Anna B. Comstock, Editor
associate editors

Susan Sipe ^lburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel -
Prof. John Dearness
Miss Cora Smith
Prof. W. G. Vinal

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis, Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Providence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Ithaca, N. Y.
under the Act of March 3. 1879

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 November, 1922 No. 8

Our Own Sun and His Own Family

A. B. Comstock

We all love the sunshine, and we ought to, for it is the source of
all life in our beautiful world; but as the sun rises every morning
and sets every evening we grow accustomed to the sunshine with-
out giving any thought to the great orb from whence it comes.

The sun is a vast ball of exploding, fuming gases, so hot that
its surface may be 15,000 degrees F. which is so much hotter than
any furnace heat we have on earth that we cannot even imagine it.
This heat from the sun is full of energy ; every square yard getting
the direct rays from the sun receives energy measured as "three
horse power," a horse power being measured as able to raise 33,000
pounds one foot high in one minute.

This great hot ball, so brilliant that we cannot look at it without
hurting our eyes rotates on its axis in about 26 days and it rotates
in the same direction as does our earth. For all that we know, it
may be revolving around some far center as we revolve around it ;
we do know that it is moving through space toward the constella-
tion Lyra at the rate of nearly 800 miles per minute and is dragging
our earth and all the other planets along also at the same speed.
Often we see a dark spot on the sun's surface which when examined
with a telescope seems to have jagged margins: such spots usually
occur in groups and remain about two or three months but some-
times for only a day or so. These spots are supposed to be great
electric whirlpools; they do not move about, but each stays in its
own place as a hole in the earth would stay in the place where it
was made.

The sun is 1 10 times as thick through as the earth and is so much

305

306 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

heavier that everything on its surface would weigh 27/^ times as
much as on our earth. A man weighing 150 pounds here would
weigh two tons there.

If we could only be near enough to see the wonderful fireworks
on the surface of the sun we would witness something grand beyond
all description. There are constant explosions of gases, brilliant
red in color due to the hydrogen gas which is red hot ; these explo-
sions are usually about 50,000 miles high but sometimes they shoot
up 300,000 miles, at a rate of from, three hundred to five hundred
miles per second. Some fireworks, that !

The most interesting thing about the sun, after all, is that with
all its heat and light and fireworks it is simply a star, and not a very
large one at that. When we look up into the skies on a clear night,
every star we see twinkling there is a great sun and may have
worlds like our own revolving around it. We could not see these
worlds because the stars are so far away that our world could not
be seen through the largest telescope on the star that is our nearest
neighbor in the skies.

The sun has been worshipped by many people in ancient times.
The Egyptians built temples in honor of the sun which faced either
the sunrise or sunset. The Grecian temples were placed with refer-
ence to the sun as were the great cathedrals built in the Middle
Ages. The Vedas of the Hindus were hymns to the sun: and the
Incas of Peru built temples to the sun. Although in the olden days
men knew but little about the constitution of the sun, yet they
realized that they and all of the world around them were in some-
way dependent upon it, and they showed their gratitude by wor-
ship.

Our Own Sun's Family

Some people think that they are the only ones of importance in
this world, and some people think that ours is the only world
of importance in the Universe, and some of the rest of us think
that both are mistaken. In any case, we know that our world is
only one of eight which belong to our own sun, the other seven
belonging just as securely and regularly as does ours. In many
ways these other seven worlds are like ours; they move around the
sun, each in its own path, and the paths or orbits are all in nearly
the same plane. That is to say, if you were big enough you could
step across from the orbit of Mercury to the orbit of Venus, then

COMSTOCK

OUR OWN SUN AND HIS OWN FAMILY

307

to that of the Earth and
next to that of Mars,
and then jump over to
those of Jupiter and
Saturn and Uranus and
Neptune just as you
would hop from rail to
rail across the railroad
tracks in a freight-
yard; and all of the
worlds go around the
sun in the same direc-
tion exactly opposite to
the way that the hands
of a clock move, and
each one rotates on its
own axis just like the
earth although their
days and nights may be
longer or shorter than
ours; and all of the
worlds shine by reflect-
ing the light of the sun
just as does our moon.
We also have proven
that the same chemical
elements exist in all of
these worlds though
perhaps in different
proportion than in ours, although we may lack some possessed by
the outermost. The same sun warms them all, the same stars shine
down on them all, but each has a different number of moons than
ours or none at all.

There are many very interesting differences among the members
of our world family, and the very greatest difference between our
world and the others, is that we live on it and we do not know who
lives on the others.

Mercury is the baby darling of the great sun's family because it
is such a little world, only 3,400 miles in diameter, only about a third
larger than our moon. Mercury hasn't any moon of its own, but

Relative size of the Planets

308 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

goes racing around Mother Sun in about 88 days which makes its
year very short. It goes around it four times and more while we
are going around once. Being so near to the sun there could be
no life on this little hustling planet and we have discovered that
Mercury always keeps the same face turned towards the sun which
means that it rotates on its axis only once in 88 days. We can
seldom see Mercury with the naked eye because it is so near the
sun and probably has no atmosphere nor water and may be very
much like our own dead, rocky moon.

Venus is the world next nearest to the sun and what we do know
about Venus fills volumes, and what we do not know about her
would fill more. We do know that she is our own most beautiful
bright companionable mcrning or evening star, and has been cele-
brated for her beauty since man first learned that she was a planet.
She is so brilliant at times that on nights when there is no moon
the light which she sends down to us casts a shadow, thus the
Ancients called her the shepherd's star. Homer called her the
beautiful star and Napoleon regarded her as his especial heavenly
mascot and once exclaimed "Do you see? That is my star, so-
long as it shines I will have no doubt of success."

Although Venus is so near to us, the Astronomers hold differing
theories about it. Some of the most eminent declare that it keeps
one face to the sun all the time as does Mercury, and therefore
rotates on it's axis only once in about 225 days which is the length
of its year. In this case one side of it must be white-hot and
thoroughly baked while the other side must be frozen to stone and
therefore could hardly be the abode of life. Other astronomers
believe that it has a dense water vapor atmosphere and rotates on
its axis in about twenty -four hours in which case it would probably
be teeming with life and peopled like the earth. Most astronomers
agree that the telescope reveals little of the solid earth of Venus
but that it is always hidden in vapor which is one reason why it
reflects light of the sun so resplendently. Indeed some astronomers
of late have declared that Venus is much more likely to be the
abode of life than is Mars. We have faith that sometime this
matter will be settled beyond dispute.

During the first of this month Venus is a beautiful evening star
and sets about two hours and a half after the sun.

Mars is the one planet we have been able to study most carefully.
Its path around the sun lies outside of ours about thirty million

COMSTOCK

OUR OWN SUN AND HIS OWN FAMILY

309

miles, and it is only about half the size of the earth, and its year is
about 687 days long; its orbit is more eccentric than is ours. The
late Percival Lowell made a careful study of Mars and his book
on the subject is most interesting reading. Mars receives less than
half as much light and heat from the sun as does the earth ; because
its orbit is so eccentric it is nearer to us when in opposition some
years than others. The last week in August in 1924 it will be as
near to us as it ever can be, and we hope that many observations
will be taken. Professors McFee and Todd are planning to photo-
graph it from the bottom of a mine shaft in Chili so that the photog-
raphy can go on during the daytime; they will use a very large
telescope. Some astronomers do not have much faith in this under-
taking, but let us hope that they will succeed. Mars has a day
about 2<±}4 hours long and its axis is inclined to its orbit plane
similar to that of the earth; its seasons corresponding to our own,

Mars, Showing the Double Canals. After a drawing made
at the Lowell Observatory.

but are twice as long since it has so far to travel because of the
length of its yearly path; its force of gravity is about four-tenths
that of the earth. It has an atmosphere and during the change of

310 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

its seasons white-caps appear about its poles in Winter and disappear
in the Summer, and are therefore generally supposed to consist of
ice. Lowell mapped many lines on Mars which are called canals;
these canals have been seen by others to a lesser extent, but all
astronomers do not agree with Lowell that the canals were the
result of the labors of creatures of intelligence. There is a dark
area extending across the face of Mars called the Hour-g1ass Sea,
for it was once supposed that this dark area was water. Now we
know that it is rock or land of a different color, and is probably a
desert. Mars has two little moons named after the mythical steeds
which drew the chariot of the War-god, Mars. They are the tiniest
little moons that we know about, Phebos being only 36 miles in
diameter and Deimos only 10. Deimos moves around Mars in
about 30 hours while Phebos "does his whirl" in about 1^2 hours
which makes the shortest month that we know anything about.

Mars may be seen during this month in the southwest in Capri-
cornus, it can be easily found as a red glowing star south of Altair.

To the beginner of star study the morning and evening stars are
a pu?zle; and indeed, unless one has a knowledge of the higher
mathematics, the movements of our sister planets seem most
mysterious. Why and how do they change from morning to evening
stars and from evening to morning stars ? There are just a few facts
that we may remember, and perhaps if we have a diagram, we
may understand them. Take for instance the movement of Venus
when it is on the west side of the sun, it naturally rises earlier than
the sun, and therefore we see it as a morning star. When it is on
the east side of the sun we can easily understand that it sets later
than the sun and is therefore an evening star. When it is behind
or directly between us and the sun, we cannot see it at all, and it is
therefore passing from an evening to a morning star, or from a
morning to an evening star and is lost in the light.

There are a few terms, which, if mastered, will make the astro-
nomical news given us in periodicals much more intelligible. When
one of the planets whose orbit lies between ours and the sun is on
the same side of the sun as we and nearly in line with us and the
sun it is said to be in "inferior conjunction," when it is on the far
side of the sun from us and nearly in line with it and us, it is said
to be in "superior conjunction." But if a planet whose orbit is
outside of ours is on the far side of the sun nearly in line with us
it is merely said to be in "conjunction" and is of course farthest

COM STOCK

OUR OWN SUN AND HIS OWN FAMILY

311

away from us that it ever can be; but when it is on the same side
of the sun as we and nearly in line with it and us, it is said to be in
"opposition." The planets whose orbits are nearer the sun than
ours are called inferior while those whose orbits are outside of ours
are called superior.

The planetoids are some very little worlds, a company of them
that seem to occupy a space between the inner and outer planets,
the largest one of these is Ceres and is 177 miles through; but the
most interesting one because it is nearest to us and we are able to
observe it more closely is Eros and it moves around the sun in 643
days. Many of these tiny worlds have never been named, their

Pig. 1. Venus in inferior conjunction.
Fig. 2. Venus in superior conjunction.

Fig. 3. Mars in opposition.
Fig. 4. Mars in conjunction.

312 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

orbits are more eccentric than those of the large planets and con-
sequently they cross and re-cross each others paths without any
conflict; seven of them cross the path of Mars and two cross the
path of Jupiter.

The next planet beyond the midget worlds is great Jupiter 1,300
times as large as the earth. His diameter at the Equator is more
than 90,000 miles and it takes him 11 years, 10>2 months to go
once around the sun. He rotates on his own axis in a little less
than ten hours, but as this great planet is a gaseous body not all
of the parts rotate at the same speed, the Equator rotating more
rapidly than the poles. His days are so short and his year so long
that there are more than 10,000 days in one year. Jupiter has a
thick atmosphere, probably one thousand miles in depth, and is
probably a very hot planet, but not hot enough to shine except by
reflecting the light of the sun, and is altogether too young to be
the abode of life. When seen through a telescope Jupiter is a yellow
globe with a series of broad, dull brownish and lighter bands alter-
nating parallel with the Equator; on each side of the Equator are
two reddish brown or slatey belts, all of these belts or bands change
somewhat in color and form for they consist of vapor. The great
father of astronomy, Gallileo, discovered in 1610 through his
precious, but to us very crude, telescope that Jupiter had four
moons. These vary in size from a diameter of 2,000 to 3,550 miles
and are large enough to be called worlds. Our moon measures only
2,160 miles through. One of Jupiter's moons races around that
planet in 42 hours. Later astronomers with better telescopes have
discovered that Jupiter really has nine moons, the nearest one to
the great planet being only 100 miles in diameter and has the speed
record of moons, for it races around Jupiter in a little less than 12
hours. Because of his many moons, Jupiter has transits, occupations
and eclipses so numerous that he is a great favorite with young
observers who are enjoying the wonders of the telescope.

Something more than four million miles beyond great Jupiter
is another large planet which is perhaps the most interesting of
them all ; this is Saturn and was the outermost world known to the
ancients. It is dull reddish-yellow in color and is about 740 times
larger than the earth, but is gaseous and therefore not so heavy
comparatively. It is so far from the sun that it makes its circle
only once in about 29>2 years. It is more than 73,000 miles through
and rotates on its axis in 10 hours and 14 minutes. It is so far

COMSTOCK

OUR OWN SUN AND HIS OWN FAMILY

313

Saturn — with it's rings and two of it's moons.

Jupiter — with one of it's moons. Note the shadow of a moon, the

black spot at the right.
After a photograph taken at the Lick Observatory.

314 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

from the sun that it gets very little heat from it and would be
frozen solid if it had no heat of its own, but it is undoubtedly very
hot in itself, although not sufficiently so to give off light. The
rings of Saturn which make it such a beautiful object to look at
through a telescope are supposed to be composed of meteoric parti-
cles each revolving "on its own hook" and all revolving around
Saturn in the same direction in which Saturn rotates on its axis.
There are several of these rings, one outside the other. There is an
outer bright ring which is more than 11,000 miles wide, then a
dark ring more than 2,000 miles wide, then another bright ring
18,000 miles wide, but which on its inner edge fades into a dusky
color and is called the crepe ring. This inner ring is about 10,000
miles from Saturn. These rings are about 100 miles in thickness
when seen on edge, half of Saturn is seen above and half below;
but when tipped so that we see Saturn in its setting of rings, it is
surely a magnificent sight. The outer rings do not rotate so rapid-
ly as do the inner ones.

Saturn has beside its beautiful rings, more than its share of
moons, 10 of them, all of which revolve around it outside of the
rings. The largest has a diameter of 3,720 miles, but Saturn surely
cannot reckon time by months for one of his moons circles around
him in 15 days and another in 79 days, while his farthest away
little moon only 150 miles through and named Phoebe circles
around him in the opposite direction from the other moons and
the rings, and her month is 546 days long. Phoebe is a very in-
dependent little flapper of a moon and follows her own ways with-
out regard to the laws of her elders, which led C. S. Day, Jr., to
write the following ode to Phoebe :

Phoebe, Phoebe, whirling high It prescribes in terms exact

In our neatfy plotted sky Just how every star should act;

Listen, Phoebe to my lay Tells each little satellite

Wont you whirl ihe other way? Where to go to whirl at night.

All the other stars are good Disobedience incurs

And revolve the way they should Anger of astronomers,

Only you of that bright throng Who, you must not think it odd.

Will persist in going wrong. Are more finicky than God.

Don't reply what God has said, So, my dear, you better change,

We have made a law instead; Really we can't rearrange

Have you never heard of this All our charts from Mars to Hebe,

Nebular hypothesis? Just to suit a chit, like Phoebe.

comstock OUR OWN SUN AND HIS OWN FAMILY 315

Far beyond Saturn is a very far away world, Uranus which is
a huge globe having a diameter of 31,900 miles. It is so far away
from the sun that it circles around it once in about 84 years. A
strange thing about this far-away world is that it rotates backward
on its axis, that is, from east to west, but it revolves around the
sun in the regular approved way of the planet family. It is probably
in a gaseous state and very hot. It has four moons none of which
is more than 1,000 miles thick and they are a lawless lot from a
respectable moon standpoint, for they move around Uranus cross-
wise and at right angles to his orbit, and move backwards at that,
but what hustling months they make ! There is nothing slow about
the moons of Uranus even if they are small and do revolve back-
ward and at right-angles to the paths they should follow. The
moon with the longest record makes its circle in less than nine days,
and the liveliest one of the four whirls about it in two and one-half
days. As we read with wonder about these moons of Uranus, we
wonder if perchance Saturn's Phoebe may not have gotten her
erratic ways by associating with them. Probably the astronomers
would smile at this flight of imagination.

Neptune is the outermost planet of our sun's family, and is so
far away that it came near never being discovered by a telescope.
It had never been identified as a planet until after the mathema-
ticians became suspicious after they discovered certain irregular-
ities in Uranus' journey around the sun. It so happened that two
very clever mathematicians worked out independently a theory
to account for this irregularity which involved a planet circling
far beyond which might thus effect the actions of Uranus, and
soon after this in 1840 Neptune was discovered through a telescope
in just about the position that the mathematicians had predicted.
It is so far away that it is only as bright as a star of the ninth
magnitude. It is also a gaseous planet and has a diameter of 35,000
miles, and it is probably very hot. It is so far away from our sun,
that its year is nearly 165 of our years long. If they elect Presidents
for four years on Neptune, the term would be 660 years. Neptune
is supposed to rotate on its axis backwards from east to west. It
has one moon which moves around it backwards as compared to
the direction in which most moons move around their primaries.

When we think of the millions of miles covered by our sun and
its family of worlds, we have a feeling that they must occupy a
very large protion of the universe, but they really occupy only a

316 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

very small space when we think of them in terms of the stars, all of
which are other suns. Dr. Simon Newcomb has given us in his
astronomy for everybody, the very best comparison ever made to
show us how small we are. He says that if along the Atlantic coast
we should make a model of our solar system, we might put an
apple down in a field to represent the sun, then our earth would be
represented by a mustard seed 40 feet away revolving around the
apple, and Neptune could be represented as a small pea circling
around the apple at a distance of one-fourth mile, thus our whole
solar system could be shown in a field one-half mile square if we
did not include the comets; but to find the nearest star which is
a sun only four and one-half light years away from us, we should
have to travel from this field on the Atlantic Coast across the
whole of North America to California, and then go on a ship out
into the Pacific Ocean before we could reach our nearest star
neighbor which would be another sun like our own and represent-
ed by another apple.

The Moon Came Down to Earth

E. B. Whiting
Branford, Conn.

Where is there a man who has not cried for the moon at some
point in his career? More favored than so many of my fellow
mortals, during an afternoon stroll in the woods, I came upon
the fallen moon, spots and all. I brought it home and took its
picture side by side with our full sized cat and again upon the
lawn between two children. The moon measured twenty-eight
inches around its shortest circumference and thirty-one inches
around its longest.

Then we ate it. Green cheese? No, sir! Better than that.
Cut in sweet smelling steaks an inch and a half thick, it made the
backbone of several meals and had the best canned mushrooms
beaten to a distinct frazzle.

The Moon and Thoreau

Gladys A. Harper
Yardly, Perm.

"The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray

Mounts up the eastern sky
Not doomed to those short nights for aye,

But shining steadily."

"She does not wane, but my fortune,

Which her rays do not bless;
My wayward path declineth soon,

But she shines not the less."

"And if she faintly glimmers here,

And palid is her light,
Yet alway in her proper sphere

She's mistress of the night."

— Thoreau.

The above is one of the lovely ways in which Thoreau expresses
the majesty of the moon. Thoreau makes one feel the beauty and
grandeur of things around one. In this particular case he is making
his reader feel that they simply must study the moon and the moon-
light— again and again to see all that they have not before observed.

The moon is a little dead world which circles around the world
with one face always turned toward us. There are light and dark
areas on the moon. One-half of the moon is always in shadow as
is also the earth because the sun can shine on only one side of a
sphere at a given time. Our earth is four times as wide as the moon.
It takes the moon twenty-nine and one-half days to go around the
earth. The length of the moon day is 14^ days long and the night
14^ days long. The path of the moon in summer is nearly the
same as the sun's.

The moon generally rises fifty minutes later each night. How-
ever the time varies. In August it rises sometimes not less than
thirty minutes later each night. The full moon rises at sunset and
sets at sunrise.

The moon shines by reflected light. Moonlight is a cold dewy
light in which vapors of the day are condensed and though the air
is obscured by darkness it is more clear. Moonlight as defined in
Reed's Cyclopedia is "The light of the moon, condensed by the
best mirrors, with an intensity that produces no sensible heat upon
the thermometer. The light of the moon is very inferior in quantity

317

318 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

and intensity to that of the sun." Dr. Hooke calculated it would
require 104,368 full moons to give light and heat equal to that of
the sun at noon. Dr. Smith says, "The light of the full moon is but
equal to a 90,900th part of the common light of the day, when the
sun is hidden by a cloud."

Thoreau by studying the moonlight at different times reveals to
us the beauty and grandeur of its power. Thoreau says, "Moon-
light is the best restorer of antiquity. By moonlight we are not of
the earth earthly, but of the earth spiritual." "At moonlight all
is simple. We are enabled to erect ourselves, our minds, on account
of the fewness of objects."

"The moonlight is a light of course, which we have had all day
but which we have not appreciated and proves how remarkable a
lesser light can be when a greater has departed."

The moonlight reveals the beauty of the trees. It is necessary
to see objects by moonlight as well as by sunlight to get a complete
idea of them.

The moonlight greatly affects things. Thoreau says, "Moon-
light is like a cup of cold water to a thirsty man. Moonlight is more
favorable to meditation than sunlight."

The moonlight is a great friend to the weary traveller. The
incessant motion of the moon traversing the clouds provides enter-
tainment for him . The light of the moon reflected from the streams
adds a charm, a dignity and a glory to the earth. The landscape
seen from the slightest elevation by moonlight is seen remotely and
flattened as it were into mere light and shade, open field and forest,
like the surface of the earth seen from the top of a mountain.

Our earth is a moon to the moon and makes us see the moon as
a dark circle within the new moon crescent. The reason the moon
appears to us as a thin crescent is because we see only the edge
of one side of the moon illuminated.

The moon during the week in which she is full in harvest rises
sooner after sunset than she does any other full moon week in the
year. By doing so she affords an immediate supply of light after
sunset. This full moon is known as the Harvest Moon. The moon
looks colder in the water. The openness of the leafless woods is
particularly apparent by moonlight. They are nearly as bright as
the open field. The moonlight reflected from fine frost crystals on
withered grass gives the appearance of glow-worms. In the summer
evenings one can hear the singing birds and see the fireflies. In the

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IT

BY the first, of November the darkness falls
early so that by 7:3© in the evening we
may begin a study of the stars. The Dipper
is below the North Stari; the Dragon coils
around the two brilliant stars in the Little
Dipper with his head turped towards the west
as if he were looking at 'Hercules as he goes
straddling striding down the western sky ; Lyra,
marked by the great star Vega, is just above
Hercules and above Vega, the Northern Cross
stretches its star-tipped farms; south of Vega
shines bright Altai! set at e^ial distance and
in line with his two guards and a little above
him is the diamond-shaped Job's Coffin; all of
these constellations are moving down toward
.the western horizon. The most noticeable
| constellation overhead is the Queen's Chair, the
great W stretches across the Zenith, and just
south of her lie Andromeda and the great
square of Pegasus; stretching down southward
from the east arm of the W of the Queen's
Chair is a curved line of stars that marks
Perseus and below Perseus near the eastern
horizon blinks and twinkles great, yellow
Capella. That "Fire-fly Swarm" of stars, the
Pleiades may now be seen in the east above the
V-shaped Hyades with red Aldebaren tipping
the lower arm of the V. At 10:00 o'clock by
the middle of November magnificent Orion will
appear in all his glory in: the southeastern sky,
while near the horizon in the northeast those
engaging stars, the Heavenly Twins, will be

twinkling at us. Of the less noticeable con-
stellations, Cetus, the Whale, and Pisces, the
Fishes, occupy the sky :helpw Andromeda while
in the southwest Aquarius and Capricornus
stretch out at length their faint stars. There
is one star in the far south well worth knowing,
and this is Fomalhaut; to find it, draw a line
through the pointers in the Big Dipper, through
the North Star and extend it straight over to
the southern skies, and it will reach this bright
star which seems very lonely because there are
no other bright stars near it. This star gives
out 21 times as much light as our own sun and
is only 21 light years away from us.

harper THE MOON AND THOREAU 310

autumn one hears the katydids, and crickets. The shadows of the
trees and shrubs are more conspicuous than the objects them-
selves, the slight irregularities in the ground are revealed by
shadows, while landscapes are more variegated and picturesque.
All white objects appear more remarkable than in the day. The
foliage of woods is heavy and dark. The moonlight reflected from
particular stumps in the recess of the forest as if she selected what
to shine on. The senses of hearing and smelling become more alert.

When the moon is three-quarters full the nights are very still.
The moon gives a white cold light thru which one can see far dis-
tinctly. To appreciate the moonlight one must stand in the shade.

Even by night the sky is blue and not black, for one can see
through the shadow of the earth into the distant atmosphere of
day where the sunbeams are revealing.

Thoreau says, "How insupportable would be the days if the
night with its dews and darkness did not come to restore the droop-
ing world."

Thoreau's description of a full moon rising on a summer night is
beautiful. It is as follows, "The full moon rising at nine o'clock is
revealed first by some slight clouds above the eastern horizon
looking white, first indicating that she is about to rise. In the west
similar clouds seen against a lighter sky look dark and heavy.
Now a lower cloud in the east reflects a more yellowish light. The
moon far over the round globe travelling this way, sends her light
forward to yonder cloud, from which news of her coming is re-
flected. The moon's aurora! it is without redness like the dawn
of philosophy. Only belated travellers to greet her. More and more
yellow glows the low cloud with concentrating light, and now the
moon's edge suddenly appears above a low bank of cloud not seen
before and she comes forward apace without introduction after all;
and the steadiness when she rises with undisturbed serenity — like
a queen who has learned to walk before her court, is glorious and
she soon reaches the open sea of the heavens. She seems to advance
by graceful sallying essays trailing her garment up the sky."

"Time wears her not; she doth his chariot guide;
Mortality below her orb is placed."

— Raleigh

Venus

Dorothy Purdy Hillas
Morristown, N. J.

This planet, appearing in a burst of brilliancy, soon retreating
and again peeping out before the world is yet awake is aptly named
for the goddess who in mythology is typical of love and beauty.
It is the best known and most admired of the planets excelling the
others when it hangs in silvery softness above the sun which has
just disappeared from view. It is equally lovely when it appears
as a morning star just before the sun rises.

Venus is the most easily recognized planet due to its extreme
brilliancy and a peculiar silvery appearance just a little tinged
with yellow. Likewise it is easily remembered by its favorable
situation and limited range. It is far enough away from the sun
to be seen as much as three hours after sunset, yet because it has
a smaller orbit which is nearer the sun than that of the earth, it
does not rise to heights, which are uncomfortable for observance.
When seen at all, it appears in brilliancy which brings joy to the
beholder.

Venus never twinkles but her light is so steady and soft that at
times the disk can almost be seen with the naked eyes, and the
light can often be seen in the daytime if one knows where to look.
It is six times as bright as that brightest of all fixed stars Sirius.
Besides being intrinsically brighter than any of the other planets,
this brilliancy appears even greater since Venus comes nearer to
the earth than any other. From equal areas, it reflects four times
as much light as Mercury and three times as much as Mars.

The planet is never higher in the sky than 45 degrees which is
half way between the horizon and zenith, and never farther from
the sun than 48 degrees. She is 67,269,000 miles from the sun and
25,000,000 miles from the earth when in inferior conjunction, nearer
the earth than any other planet except the moon and one small
asteroid. This is also the nearest which Venus approaches any
other heavenly body.

About six weeks after Venus has passed superior conjunction, we
first begin to notice her. She is then very near the sun, and follows
him a little less than half an hour after sunset. Every evening fol-
lowing she shines brighter, mounts higher, and sets later, until
seven months later, she sets a little more than three hours after

320

hillas VENUS 321

sundown. Now she reaches her greatest elongation east of the sun
and shines a beautiful and conspicuous object, steadily growing
brighter because she is coming towards us. She now starts to travel
back toward the sun. In four to five weeks she attains her greatest
brilliancy as an evening star. About 12 days later she reaches a point
where she appears to remain stationery, at the place where she is
about to overtake us in our journey around the sun. Soon she
moves gradually on in a westward course among the stars. Now
she draws nearer the sun, sets earlier and we see her with increasing
difficulty. At the end of three weeks she is on a line between us and
the sun, and is invisible. This is her inferior conjunction.

About two weeks later we notice about an hour before sunrise,
that Venus appears as a splendid morning star. For the next three
weeks she attains her greatest brilliancy as a morning star. She
continues to glow brilliantly for some weeks and then in about five
more she will have reached her greatest elongation west of the sun,
rising three and one-half hours before dawn.

Now Venus begins to retrace her path — she moves eastward,
but more slowly, and appears smaller gradually until after more
than seven months she reaches the sun and again is in superior
conjunction. From one superior conjunction to the next it is a
period of 584 days, varying at times, but every eight years, Venus
and the earth come to the same relation.

Venus shows us her full face at superior conjunction, when
she is the farthest away and the smallest. When at eastern elonga-
tion, she appears as a half moon, becoming a thinner crescent as
she approaches inferior conjunction, then she repeats these phases
in reverse order as she approaches superior conjunction.

We have evidence of an atmosphere on Venus by reason of the
ring about her as she travels across the face of the sun, and also
we gather that clouds must be present because of the high reflecting
power. We cannot judge much of the surface of Venus, even tho
we are so near. Her unillumined side is turned toward us when she
is nearest. She is much like the earth — there is a difference of less
than 300 miles in diameter, and the surface, mass and volume are
much alike. Perhaps the length of the day is equally similar but
we do not know.

To the Ancients, Venus was the brightest of all heavenly bodies
next to the sun and the moon. As an evening star they called her
Hesperus or Vesper, and as a morning star. Phosphorous or Lucifer.

322

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

"Sad Hesper, o'er the buried sun,
And ready thou, to die with him;
Thou watchest all things ever dim
And dimmer, and a glowy dome.

Bright Phosphor, fresher for the night,
By thee the world's great work is heard
Beginning, and the wakeful bird;
Behind thee comes the greater light.

Sweet Hesper — Phosphor, double name
For what is one, the first, the last,
Thou like my present and my past,
Thy place is changed, thou art the same.

— Tennyson — In Memoriam.

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Procyon — The little dog Star.
Sirius — The big dog Star.

Orion

Taurus— The Bull
Note that the Hyades form the head and "Red Aldebaran" the eye.

Star Charts Made By Paper Cutting

These scissored charts of the constellations of Orion, Taurus
and Leo, and that of Saturn on the cover of this month's Review
were made by pupils of Grade 8A in Public School No. 167, Brook-
lyn, N. Y. They were done under the direct guidance of Miss
Eva Marian Provost and the work was not a part of the regular
curriculum but was done as Miss Provost says "as an expression of
interest and joy in the subject — by an astronomy art club of the
class."

Miss Provost has had a broad and thorough training in nature-
study and is as much at home with the trees, flowers and birds
as she is with the stars. Although she has never officially taught
Nature-Study, she is a shining example of a teacher who enriches
whatever subject she is called upon to teach by her knowledge of
natural history and her close and enlightened sympathy for all
that lives in field and wood.

323

The constellation of Leo — The Lion

Note that the Sickle forms the lion's head and the great star Regulus tips
the handle of the Sickle.

The charts consist of stars and name of constellation cut from
white paper and placed on blue paper 11 x 8}4 inches and this in
turn mounted on white heavy paper so as to give a half inch
margin. The outlines of the constellations are made with Chinese
white. The effect is very attractive and edifying. We have
shown the charts that Miss Provost was kind enough to send us to
a large number of teachers and their beauty and excellent technique
have won general admiration. The charts show many more
constellations than we have reproduced here and also show eclipses,
comets and relative size of the planets. To teachers undertaking
this work we strongly recommend "The Stars in Song and Legend"
by Doctor Jermain G. Porter, published by Ginn & Co.; it con-
tains the beautiful drawings of the mythical figures of the con-
stellations by Albrecht Durer.

324

In the Land of Stars and Star Fairy Dreamland*

Little Ted and his mother were out looking at the sky. It was
night time, but it was not dark outside for the sky seemed carpeted
with stars; big stars and little stars, bright stars and dim stars,
some that twinkled and some that gave a steady light.

The colors also were different, some shone with the red light,
some with blue, some with yellow.

They were so bright and beautiful they looked like millions of
electric lights in the sky.

Brighter than the stars and much larger than the stars shone
our relation, the moon. We like the moon the best because she is
nearer to us than the other stars and planets, and that is why she
looks so very, very big.

"Mother, is the moon the sun, is it called the moon at night and
the sun in the day time?"

"Oh no! my child, the sun and moon are very different, the sun
is like a great father giving light to his children and grand- children.

"The eight planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, these the Solar system, are the sun's
children, and travel around the sun.

"The moons which travel around the planets are the sun's
grand-children.

"We live on the planet called the Earth and our moon travels
around us so she is the Earth's child and we all love to. watch her
for she really belongs to us.

"The Sun gives the light to the moon and the planets. Why if
it were not for the sun, we would have no light.

"Look, Ted, at all the star patterns in the sky and they all have
names just as you and I have names, and people know their names
and wise men have studied about them and have found a way to
measure how far away they are and how large they are.

"Do you know that some of those little bits of stars are much —
oh, very much, larger than our sun, but they look so little because
they are so very, very far away. Why, our sun is 93,000,000 miles
away and it would cost over $2,000,000 to take a train ride
to the sun."

"Oh mother, I wish I could visit the sun and the moon and see,
what they are like."

♦The name of the author of this story has been lost.

325

326 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

"Well, my little boy must be content to visit the sun and moon
in story land."

"Mother tell me a story every night about the skyland, will you?"

"Yes, but now you had better go off to dreamland," and before
very long that was just what Ted did. He went to really dream-
land, and suddenly he heard a little curious voice say; —
"Star bright — star light,
Moonbeams — star dreams."
And there before him was the most beautiful little star fairy with
silvery wings and all about shone a glimmering vaporing mist.

"Why, who are you, said Ted?"

"I am the fairy of star dreams and I have come to take you to
visit the moon."

"Oh! Oh! that is the very place I want to visit and I should like
to visit the sun too."

"I shan't take you to visit the sun to-night, but I know you
would enjoy the fireworks there for the sun has tremendous ex-
plosions which shoot out flames about 300,000 miles high and they
shoot two hundred times faster than a rifle bullet travels."

Ted clapped his hands when he heard about the wonderful fire-
works on the sun.

"Oh, wouldn't that be fine," said Ted.

"Let us be off to the moon to-night, but first I must change you
into a fairy, for people like you could never live on the moon
because you must breathe air to live and the moon has no air."

Whish! Twish!—

On the wings of the night,

By the moonbeams made bright.

Up, up, through earth's air

To the atmosphere rare.

On, on, on, in their flight,

The moon reached, what a sight!

It was a grand sight to see those wonderful mountains and
valleys. The mountains are higher than the highest mountains
on earth.

There were deep — deep holes and in the midst of the holes
great mountain peaks arose.

"Why fairy, I do not see any water."

"Oh, there is no air here on the moon, so of course there is no
water."

IN THE LAND OF STARS AND STAR FAIRY DREAMLAND 327

"But where are the trees and flowers and grass?"

"Oh, there cannot be any trees nor flowers, nor grass nor animals,
nor people where there is no air and no water."

"But why are there no pretty colors here on the moon?"

"Oh, we need air and clouds to sift out the rays of light and to
reflect them.

"Look at that high mountain over there, it looks about a mile
away but it is really one hundred miles away for thmgs one hun-
dred miles away seem but one mile away on the moon."

"Oh, star fairy, feel this large rock how light it is."

"Oh, don't you know that things on the Earth are six times as
heavy as they are on the moon."

"How dark it is in the shadow of the mountain!"

"Oh yes, even in daylight the shadows of the mountains are as
black as ink."

"In the day time it is 500° above zero while in the night it is
250° below zero. The daytime is five times as hot as it is on a
very hot day where you live on the earth, and it is about twelve
times as cold as the coldest day where you live on the earth."*

"Star fairy I believe I like our own Earth the best, suppose we
go back to our home where we have air and water and life and color
and sound."

Something bright was shining into Ted's eyes and seemed to
say "wake up little boy," and Ted did wake up and rubbed and
rubbed his eyes.

"Oh! Mother! Mother! I had a wonderful dream and the
Star fairy took me a visit to the moon but I like it here the best,
where we have air to breathe, water to drink, good things that
live and grow to eat, wonderful sounds to hear, and beautiful
colors to see.

"Oh! I am glad I live on the earth."

*If Ted and the fairy had not been talking fairy talk they could not have
heard each other speak for there is no sound on the moon, for the air waves
make the sound. It is just still and quiet, not a sound.

Time and Change

Leon Augustus Hausman

See the everlasting hills
Yield their substance to the rills —
Rills that tear them, rills that bear them
On through rivers to the sea,
To the sounding bounding sea,
To the earth-surrounding sea;
Hurrying from their lofty heights
Through the vales and o'er the lea:
'Til within the mighty ocean
Cease the rivers in their motion,
And the sands of their erosion
Sink to rest.

Deep beneath the waves they lie
In the darkness of the waters,
In the green and silent waters,
And the fishes pass them by,
Winnowing with fins of silver
O'er the ocean's level breast.

Where are the eternal hills,
Birthplace of a thousand rills,
Birthplace of the mighty rivers
Wand'ring languid o'er the plain?
They are dragged from off their station,
Levelled from their proud foundation,
By their streamlets' degradation
Hurried off into the main!

In unfathomed depths they sleep,
Far in ocean's bosom deep,
'Til they shall be indurated,
Be upraised and reinstated,
Folded, faulted, and plicated
Into rolling hills again!

328

Common Mistakes in Natural History*

William Gould Vinal, Ph.D.
Rhode Island College of Education

Man has roamed over the surface of this earth for at least a
half million years. His progress has been incredibly slow. Most
of his superstitions are the superstitions of the cave man. Many
of his errors have a direct lineage to folk-lore and nursery rhyme.
Is it not remarkable how little we change? A man-made war in
Europe may kill thousands and man-made traditions live. A
great step in mental conservation would be taken by eliminating
our load of errors and mysticism.

The following notes are based on a recent examination which
was given to test the kind and extent of mistakes pertaining to
natural history. The total number examined was 281. This
included 14 different classes ranging from the Junior High School
through the College. The results indicate how little the average
student thinks and how little the most of them see. Without
doubt thousands more will roam the same road until our schools
authorities open the avenues of opportunity to think and dis-
cover.

If there were any way of knowing many people would be glad
to learn, sub rosa or otherwise, whether they should be classified
as traditionalists or progressives. This article has been written
so that the reader may test himself as to his belief in Natural
History ideas which are ill-born, and of a crude age. The ques-
tions introduce a usual misconception and immediately following
is told the origin of the erroneous idea and the correction. The
percentages are given so that the reader will know where he ranges
with others in respect to the right answer. Once realizing the
value of live interests it is hoped the reader will help smother the
system which glorifies mute memorials of a chaotic past.
Old Sayings Versus Economic Facts
Has your training been one of tradition or of realities ? Try
the following test and then read about the results of the test in
various schools and the interpretation.

*Book Rights Reserved

329

330

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

These are common "sayings
Fill in the missing words.

." Name one economic fact
about each animal men-
tioned.

Bees

Owls

Bats ....

Loons

Adders

Peacocks

Mice

Crows

Hawks

Hornets

a as a bee ;

b as an owl;

c as a bat;

d as a loon;

e as an adder;

f as a peacock ;

g as a mouse ;

h as a crow ;

i like a hawk; ■

j as a hornet;

Many of our "old sayings" are anything but true. "Busy as a
Bee" is the most familiar. 90%-100% of the pupils in the various
schools examined remember the old adage. Yet a bumble bee is
the antithesis of thrift and does not store enough honey to keep
the colony over winter. Only the queens survive the rigors of
winter. If by the "busy bee" is meant the honey bee we have but
to recall that the community is noted for its drones. The queen
and drones do none of the work of the hive, have no pollen baskets,
cannot sting, and cannot secrete wax. All the members of the
hive loaf or hibernate during the winter. It would be far more
appropriate to say as "Idle as a Bee."

A naturalist does not need to be reminded that bats are not
blind; owls are not wise; loons are not crazy; adders are not
deaf; peacocks are not proud; crows are not black; and hornets
are not mad. The results show, however that people are more
apt to remember an old saying which is an untruth (prosaic
ignorance) than even one economic fact about an animal. Is
this because of or in spite of our education systems? The results
of this test are as follows:

Kind of School Examined

Number Examined

State Agricultural College — Seniors 14

Normal School Graduates (Taught one term) .... 14

Normal School Seniors 9

College Freshmen (Males) 50

College Freshmen (Females) 50

% of Sayings
remembered in
Proportion to J
Economic fact.

.95
1.3
2.9
1.02
2.7

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 331

Normal School Freshmen (No Biological Train-
ing) 31 3.3

Normal School Freshmen (Botany in High

School) 11 5.2

High School Seniors (Course in Biology) 14 1.26

High School Seniors (No course in Biology) 7

High School Freshmen 25 1.93

Junior High School No. 1 (Ninth Grade Males) . . 14 1.26

Junior High School No. 1 (Ninth Grade, Females) 14 .84

Junior High School No. 2 (Ninth Grade, Males).. 14 .71

Junior High School No. 2 (Ninth Grade, Females). 14 .85

Total Number Examined 281

The average number of sayings remembered in proportion, to

one economic fact:

Bees 1.06 Peacock 1.4

Owl 1.8 Mouse 1.33

Bat 2.6 Crow 1.24

Loon 8.0 Hawk 47

Adder 57 Hornet 1.9

It is rather astonishing to find that the Adder and the Hawk
are the only two animals in the list that are more apt to be re-
membered in connection with some economic fact than in an old
saying. It is also surprising to find that with the exception of the
seniors in an Agricultural College the pupils of Junior High School
are the only ones to know more about the economics of these
common animals than about their myths.

In the case of the Bat five girls out of fourteen in a Junior
High School mentioned the possibility of Bats getting into ones
hair. Only one boy out of fourteen mentioned that this might
happen. This belief is a feminine trait, — perhaps because they
are more concerned. Tradition is long-h'ved. The tax that
progress has to pay superstition is the worst kind of taxation
because along with it vanishes the powers of reasoning.

Old sayings are passed down for the most part by "word of
mouth." They receive a great deal of encouragement in first
grade readers and early-grade literature. These sayings pertain
to our commonest animals. At the same time our current litera-
ture and government publications furnish a host of facts about
these same animals. Then there is the opportunity of gaining
information by observation. Hearsay, reading, and observation
are the three vehicles of information and if judged by present day
results the effectiveness diminishes in the order named, hearsay

332 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

being far more potent in our present working conception than
observation. One is passive absorption, the other active pro-
duction. One is parasitism, the other kinetic energy. One is
nursery rhyme mysticism, the other is work bench service. One
is charity entertainment, the other has everyone in the play.
One is predigested food, the other food for digestion. One is
senile sport, the other youthful enjoyment. The function of the
school is to make production more interesting than elegant con-
sumption.

Ten ideas like "Blind as a Bat" remain ten ideas. There is
nothing to provoke new thought. The discovery of one idea about
the Bat, as — it eats insects — demands more ;deas. One can be
intellectually as well as physically blind. The first method is one
of conspicuous wastefulness whereas the second tends toward
further service. Shall we spend our wealth of education in self-
indulgence or in production for the community? If educational
courses mean self-indulgence they stop there. If they mean "I
have come to make life more abundant" the curriculum needs
revision.

Some of the economic facts for which credit was given were due
to reputation rather than fact. The ratios have thereby been
greatly softened and should we double the sayings as they now
stand in proportion to the economic facts the results would be
nearer scientific. Take crows for example : fifty per cent of the
economic facts given were that crows eat corn. Only twenty-
two per cent mention anything of credit to the crow yet authorities
say that the crows' credit account with the farmer far outweighs che
debit side. A small minority — yet a serious number — mention
such things as "pick out your eyes." One is reminded of the
Old Danish Proverb — "A Crow is never the whiter for often
washing," or the Chinese saying that "Crows are black all the
world over." The axiom of today as regards pupils reared by
the tribal-folk-lore method might be "They are never the wiser
for often observing."

The Hawk record parallels that of the Crow. Fifty percent
of those examined mention the reputation which has been es-
tablished in the human mind that "Hawks steal Chickens."
Twenty-one per cent speak of the Hawk as dangerous to small
birds. The unclassified answers were such as: "It steals;"
"Dangerous;" "Eats people;" "Take away children at times;"

vinal COMMOM MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 333

"Injurious to small children." There is a man-raised notion that
anything a Mouse, Crow, or Hawk assumes for its own use is
stolen property. Stealing has been overemphasized. If we
pick a blueberry by the roadside or cut a tree from our woodlot is
it stealing? Hens lay eggs for reproducing their kind. Are we
stealing when we take them to boil? The potato plant stores
starch in tubers for reproduction. Is man purloining when he
uses them for sustenance ? There is the underlying principle of
the rights of others. When studying Hawks we should get their
po;nt of view and when studying Chickens our focus must be on
Chickens. The world needs training in these fundamentals which
must first begin in a study of nature's laws at home. It might
help him understand the other fellow's point of view and possibly
temper his sertiroents as regards the rights of a starving Europe.

What Color is the Robin's Breast?

The Robin Redbreast (Erythacus rubecula) of Europe is a
warbler and is less than half the size of the Robin (Planesticus
migracorius) of North America. The Robin Redbreast of the
Old World has been described as having a vellowish-red breast.
It has become endeared to the English by coming near to their
homes in winter and has won a distinguished place in English
rhyme and lore. A few of the colors mentioned by standard
writers are given:

"Art thou the bird whom Man loves best,
The pious bird with the scarlet breast,
Our little English Robin?"

— Wordsworth, Redbreast Chasing the Butterfly.

"In the Spring a fuller crimson comes upon
the Robin's breast."

— Tennyson, Locksley Hall.
"Robin, sir Robin, gay, red-vested knight,
Now you have come to us, summer's in sight."

— Lucy Larcom, Sir Robin.

When the early settlers came to America they cherished in
their minds the Robin Redbreast. When they espied the Ameri-
can Thrush with his home-loving spirit and chestnut hue it was an
easy matter to transfer the title "Robin Redbreast" to our native
species. In the same homelike fashion the bluebird was called
the Blue Robin. The English colonists to India and to Australia

334 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

performed a similar feat. In each place of adventure a new
species received the name "Robin Redbreast." It is not sur-
prising to find that this idea of Robin Redbreast permeates the
minds of American folks with an impelling force. It has a tra-
ditional partisanship with the English race ; an endurance of three
centuries on a new continent.

How do students of today answer the question, — what is the
color of the Robin's breast? 42% say red; 17%, reddish brown;
15%, orange red; and only four out of 281 mentioned that there
is a difference between the male and female. Other colors
mentioned were orange, grey, pink, crimson, scarlet, yellow
magenta, maroon, brick red, rustic red, and chestnut. The results
show as much versatility as one could desire from a student career
of nursery and rhythmic feeding.

The next step consisted of placing a male robin (The male is
brighter colored) in a paper bag and cutting a small hole to show a
small area of the breast. Eighteen graduates of various high
schools were asked to write the name of the color. The answers
were as follows: brown, 8; yellow brown, 4; grey brown, 2;
red brown, 2; golden brown, 1; orange, 1. When observing the
Robin's breast without the blinders of nursery rhyme no one
called it red. The concealment of the Robin in the bag was un-
necessary as no one recognized it when it was removed. When
the group were told that it was a Robin one immediately said:
"But the Robin has a red breast?" This little episode is typical.
From time immemorial — today as of yore — we are led to view facts
through the rims and spokes of tradition and hearsay.

Sentimentally none of us would abolish the phrase "Robin Red-
breast." It has a home-spun attractiveness. Educationally,
however it is important to know that red is red. We must see,
not through the smoked glasses of nursery rhymes, but with a
clear vision. Not that we will appreciate folk lore and Robins
less but Robin Redbreast more.

That Robin Redbreast does not have a redbreast is represen-
tative of a group of contradictions in the language of natural
history. The wing of the Red-winged Blackbird is not red;
the shell of the Soft-shelled Clam is not soft; the Black Mussel
is blue; the Starfish is not a fish; the Potato Bug is not a bug;
Nuthatches do not hatch nuts; Flying Squirrels cannot fly;

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 335

Darning Needles are unable to darn; wormy apples do not con-
tain worms; and waves are never, no never "mountain high."

How do Squirrels Open Nuts

The answers were as follows: with their teeth (60%); crack
them open (18%); with their mouth (7%); gnaw them open
(4%).

Contrary to prevailing opinion squirrels cannot crack nuts.
They gnaw them open. It is interesting to note that amongst a
hundred college freshmen (50 men and 50 women) this knowledge
was limited to 12% of the men. The answers might indicate
that the men get more of the outdoor experience. That 60%
of those examined say teeth indicates that the question was:
What is the principle organ used by the squirrel in opening nuts?
This reply is typical of the many indefinite answers. Pupils
should be trained to answer questions intelligently.

The origin of the idea that squirrels crack nuts is ambiguous.
The fallacy is being perpetuated by first grade readers. There
are evidences in literature which suggest that the terms teeth,
crack, and nut are associated. Lamb in a letter to Wordsworth
(August 9, 1815) humorously uses the term cracker in place of
teeth, — "I conjecture my full-happiness 'd friend is picking his
crackers." Wilberforce in his life of S. Wilberforce (1868, p. 380)
in describing the nose and chin said, — "She is a toothless, nut-
cracker jawed old woman, but quite upright and active." The
Penny Encyclopedia refers to nut-cracking Squirrels and Grove
Matthew in his poetical work "The Most Famous and Tragical
Historie of Pelops and Hippodamia" (1587) writes of "The little
crack-nut Squirrels." The writer has been unable to find any
such species mentioned in any scientific treatise.

When do Buds Form?

Even if one never observed that buds begin to form early in
the summer they could easily reason this out as it is in summer
that plants do their growing and form their various structures.
In winter the buds are in a resting stage. In spring the bud may
develop into a leafy shoot. Sometimes it develops into a flower or
a flower cluster or it may produce both leaves and flowers.

The average per cent of the answers classified by seasons shows
that fact and belief are very remote. Fall, 23.5%; winter, 24%;
spring, 60%; summer, 8%. The percentages, in this case, add

336 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

to more than a hundred per cent as several pupils mentioned two
seasons in which the buds could form. The majority of pupils
believe that buds form in the spring. This is true until we get to
the seniors in an Agricultural College and teachers just out of
Normal School. The larger per cent of these students believe
that buds form in the fall. That one quarter of the pupils think
that buds form in winter may be due to the old proxy of things
happening instead of growing. We must place more emphasis
upon the differences between these two phenomena.

What do Buds Do in the Spring?
Buds begin to grow very early in the spring. Many people
glibly say that they begin to "swell." This growth keeps up for
several months. The scales then spread apart and fall off.
Twigs set in water in the house show how slowly this process takes
place.

Out of 191 answers 100 said that they open. 14 others said that
they burst open. The use of the term burst was used almost
exclusively by the female sex. 22 others said that buds form
in the spring. The remaining 55 used such terms as grow, bloom,
unjold, and develop. After looking over nearly 200 answers to
this question one draws the conclusion that the majority of people
have a mental picture of the bud and its "spring opening" as a
sort of spontaneous generation. They believe that they burst
open as mushrooms which are said to grow over night.

What is the Advantage of Horsechestnut Buds Having
Varnish? Of Having Wool?

The varnish not only keeps too much water out which is rarely
necessary but serves the more important function of preventing
the tender leaves from drying out. The wool does not serve to
keep out the cold since the buds freeze. The covering is a non-
conductor and prevents sudden freezing and thawing. This
"slow process" applies in the same way to the successful thawing
out of frozen ears. The majority fall easy prey to the idea that
varnish is to keep out the moisture and that wool is to keep the
buds warm.

What is the Difference Between an Insect and a Bug?

In a popular way the term insect includes bacteria, spiders,
and wood lice. A coral-polyp has wrongly been called a coral-

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 337

insect. A bug is thought to be synonymous with the word in-
sect. Strictly speaking a bug is an insect which possesses a
sucking-beak and belongs to the order Hemiptera. All bugs are
insects but all insects are not bugs.

In no class were there less than 10% and in three classes at
least 35% gave as a difference that insects are smaller. Probably
the word connected up with a confusion that exists as to the
meaning of the words insect, germ, and bacteria. However, in
following the idea up with a request for a list of bugs and a list
of insects the list of bugs consisted of erroneous examples, as:
potato-bug, rose-bug, etc., along with the true bugs, such as:
squash-bug and bed-bug. A less common notion ranging up to
20% of the class was that insects fly and bugs do not. A third
difference, less pronounced, is that bugs are hard-shelled. The
best answers were limited to seven pupils who recognized that a
bug is a kind of insect. No one gave a more specific difference.

What is the Difference Between Daylight and

Sunlight?

People are not apt to credit the light of day to the sun. Sun-
shine is the direct rays of the sun whereas sunlight and daylight
may be direct, indirect or both.

The following are typical answers:

1. Daylight is light of day; sunlight, light of sun.

2. It might be daylight but the sun might not shine.

3. Daylight is a natural daily occurrence; sunlight only when
the sun shines.

4. Sunlight, the sun shines; daylight, ordinary light.

5. Daylight is light before sunrise and after sunset.

6. Daylight comes after darkness but sunlight from the sun.

What is the Difference Between Shrubs and
Small Trees?

Shrubs consist of several woody stems from the same root.
Shrubby and scrubby in early use were often applied to trees
having a stunted growth. A small tree has a single main stem.

The following types of answers form an interesting basis for
analyzing the various degrees of mental reactions to the question.

1. Shrubs are sometimes plants and bushes and not trees.

2. Shrubs is a cluster of small trees.

3. All shrubs are not small trees.

338 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

4. Shrubs are a group of plants; a tree is one plant.

5. Shrubs have many limbs.

6. Shrubs are bushier than many small trees.

7. Shrubs never grow into trees.

8. Shrubs are bushes and do not grow very tall at any time.

9. Small trees will grow taller; bushes will not.

10. Shrubs are short chunky bushes; small trees are tall and
slender after the shape of a large tree.

11. Shrubs contain more leaves and are larger in circumference.

12. Shrubs are thicker and branches close to the ground.

13. Shrubs are many trunked plants and small trees have one
trunk.

What is the Difference Between the Lung Capacity and
the Capacity of the Lungs?

Unfortunately there has developed in physiology a difference in
these two expressions. By capacity of the lungs is meant the
total amount of air that the lungs are capable of holding at one
time but lung capacity means the amount that one can exhale
at one time. There is always a certain amount of air left in the
remote parts (not only the bottom part), of the lungs.

If any of the Following Statements are Incorrect Give

the Correct Form

1. Remove the shell of the oyster and look at the animal. The
shell is the skeleton of the oyster. The internal or soft parts
are only a part of the animal. 81 substituted the word fish for
animal. The oyster has no back-bone and is not a fish. Amongst
the 281 examined only 12 recognized that the whole thing is the
animal. Amongst the university freshmen five men and two
women noted the difference.

2. Earthworms rain down—It would be nearer correct to say
that earthworms rain up, for, as 153 stated earthworms come out
of the ground when it rains. Five individuals changed the word
rain to reign. This may be a result of the tendency of some
schools to deal with words rather than ideas.

3. Night air is "unhealthy" — Nearly three-fifths of those
examined recognized that night air is as "healthy" as day air.

4. Flies carry typhoid fever — 76 gave the correction that flies
carry typhoid fever germs which cause the disease. They do not
carry the disease. One answered, — "Right — let's kill 'em."

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 339

5. Mosquitoes bite — It is rather a difficult thing to prove to
some people that the mosquito does not bite. One man wrote
"I know it." 73 wrote the fact of the case that they pierce and
do not bite. It is also interesting to note that only "she bites,"
"he is a gentleman."

6. Little flies grow into large flies — An adult fly, when it comes
from the pupal case is as large as it will ever be. Few people
know that the fly does its growing when in the maggot stage.
37 of the people examined knew about the growth of flies.

7. Man and animals eat food — "Man and animals" is a com-
mon mistake. It should be "Man and other animals" for man is
an animal. A total of 20 noticed the error. 12% of the men in
proportion to 6% of the women of college freshmen recognized this.

8. Oxygen purifies the blood — The red corpuscles of the blood
simply act as vehicles of transportation. They carry the oxygen
from the lungs to the cells. Only five indicated that oxygen does
not purify the blood. The purest blood in the body is the blue
venous-blood as it leaves the kidneys.

9. Oxygen builds up the body — Oxygen tears down the tissues
and thereby we obtain energy to do work. This knowledge was
limited to twenty.

10. Plants breathe — Many believe that animals take in oxygen
and give off C02 and that plants take in C02 and give off oxygen.
Both respire and in the same way. Plants have the additional
power of taking in C02, assimilating the carbon and giving off
oxygen. Plants do not breathe. They do not have a respiratory
movement.

About What is the Size of the Largest Animal Cells?

The majority of students believe that cells are always microscopic.
Birds eggs are cells. The ostrich egg is the largest living cell.
Nerve cells are often 2}4 feet in length.

Where do Dragons Exist?
The answers may be tabulated as follows:

Number

Number

% saying

% saying in

saying

saying

Students

Number

don't exist

Mythology

in Woods

China,
Africa

College

176

22%

27%

8

15

High School

102

43%

28%

3

2

340 . NATURE -STUDY REVIEW

The per cent saying that dragons do not exist, tabulated ac-
cording to sex is as follows:

Male Female

College Freshmen 72% 58%

Junior High Schools 91% 56%

(Ninth grade) 98% 96%

These figures are insufficient to warrant an infallible conclusion
but they suggest tendencies. To the young chiM, hobgoblins,
cockhorses and dragon-like beings are quite real. In high school
the dragon of Tanglewood Tales is explained as a myth. In
college the earlier ideas have persisted, possibly subconsciously,
but sufficiently- indeed to mystify his mental activities. What an
indictment against nursery rhymes should this prove true. On
the other hand there is the possibility that students of college age
reasoned out that the question as it stands is rather foolish. They
concluded, perhaps, that what is really meant is where are dragons
supposed to exist? However as the figures now stand they indi-
cate that a far greater per cent of college freshmen than of grammar
school seniors believe in the existence of dragons.

Is it possible that this is the resu1t of a premature classical
career? Is it due to a lack of ordinary scientific training as a
basis? Literature is the artistic, aesthetic expression or belles-
lettres of the evening and science is the working foundation of
everyday life. Educators have for the most part placed literary
courses at the beginning and science courses at the end of the
curriculum. As a result students view facts through the fancies
of literature. The situation needs investigation in order to dis-
cover the modus operandi by which ideas arise. Cure will follow
the discovery of the mode of infection.

What Shape are Stars?

Stars are spherical and not star-shaped as one might suppose
from representations on flags and Christmas decorations. The
idea that stars are star-shaped decreases and the idea that they
are spherical increases with higher education. The word round
was often used for spherical. The per cent of answers may be
tabulated as follows:

Star-shaped Spherical Irregular

College and Normal School 31 % 38% 6%

High School 59% 16% 9%

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 341

What do Bees Gather from Flowers?

The idea that insects gather nectar and pollen increases and the

mistaken notion that bees gather honey persists into adult life

although not to so marked a degree as in youth.

Nectar Pollen Honey

College and Normal School 17% 32% 36%

High School 6% 22% 67%

What is the Use of the Hollow Stem to the Flower of

the Dandelion?

The hollow stem is stronger than the solid stem.

Students Examined Storage Passage Strength

Water Food Water Food

College Freshmen (men) 8% 0 18% 28% 6%

College Freshmen (female) 0 0 4%, 26% 0

Normal School Freshmen 6% 3% 15% 0 0

The table indicates that the majority think of the hollow stem
as a passage way. Some think of it as a storage place yet they
never see anything stored in the hollow part. Perhaps they think
that the food mysteriously disappears upon cutting the stem.
Underline the Parts Which are Present in the Pussy

Willow Plant

(The parts' of a plant are root, stem, leaf, bud, flower, fruit.)
If one did not already know he might guess that all these parts

are present in the pussy willow plant.

The highest average per cent and the lowest average per cent

obtained by the various classes are hereby indicated:

Root Stem Leaf Bud Flower Fruit

Lowest. ... HSF 50% HSF 61% HSSO HSF 61%JH21%HS0
Highest. . .JHS 100% JHS 100% NSG NSG 86% NSS78% NSG50

NSS 100% CFM 86%

Key:

HSF — high school freshmen NSS — normal school seniors
JHS — junior high school NSG — normal school graduates

CFM — college freshmen, male HS — high school
What Relation is There Between Toads and Warts?

There is no relation. Only twelve of those examined knew
friends who had had warts as a result of picking up toads. It is
probably not a coincidence that these twelve were not limited to
one such acquaintance. If they knew one they knew several.
It is easy enough to obtain witnesses who have picked up toads

342 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

and never had warts and also the testimony of persons who have
had warts and never handled toads.

Where do Hair Snakes Originate?

Although there is no such animal twenty-five students indicated
the method by which hair snakes originate. Out of 50 men and
50 women in a college freshman class the idea was limited to 26%
of the men. A state agricultural college and a class in high school
that had had biology, contributed more means by which these
animals originate than the other classes. Chamber's Encyclopedia
(1753) speaks of animated horse-hairs as horse-hair worms.

The places where these fictitious animals were supposed to
originate were such as: in dirt; in the body; in water; eggs;
intestines of mammals; swamps; crossing of reptiles; among
rocks. Dragons were also supposed to come from swamps and
water. A swamp seems to be a mysterious place. Anything
that is mysterious, ipso facto, occurs there. Such reasoning would
give-way in a good course in nature-study.

(To be continued)

Nature News

A new star cluster in the Constellation Lynx has been discovered
by Dr. Lampland of the Lowell Observatory and Professor Shapley
and the staff of the Harvard College Observatory. This star
cluster was discovered through photographs, and is one of the
faintest and most distant known, and it established a new boundary
in the starry heavens. It is 165,000 light years or 990 quadrillions
of miles from the sun, and lies about two quintillion miles from the
farthest cluster known to us in the opposite side of the skies.

A thirty-five year campaign for the preservation of the birds of
paradise has just come to a successful issue, and we congratulate
the Audubon Societies most heartily upon this triumph. For
nine years it has been illegal to import bird of paradise feathers,
but the Federal Government was compelled to prove that the
feathers were smuggled before it could confiscate them. The
new Tariff Act provides that the owner of the feathers must
submit to confiscation or show proof that the feathers were im-

NATURE NEWS 34)^

ported into this county before 1913. As a result of this Act, all the
paradise feathers in New York and Chicago and other large cities
were dumped upon the market at greatly reduced prices.

Stefanson reports that the northern islands of America are as
hot or hotter than Brazil in mid-summer, although the sun never
reaches a high point in the sky, yet because for six weeks it does
not set, much heat is given out. For a short time vegatation
grows as rankly in the Arctic regions as in the hotter climates.
This exhuberance of plant growth, however, lasts only a few weeks.

The Harvard astronomers in studying the photographic
plates made in Peru at the Arequipa Station of the Harvard
College Observatory have discovered this summer more than
2,000 Nebulae and several new variable stars. They have also
measured for the first time the distance and size of the large
Magellanic Cloud which seems to be a universe of itself, quite
separate from the Milky Way which is our own universe. Its
distance from the earth is 110,000 light years, and we should bear
in mind that a light year is six trillion miles. The longer diameter
of the cloud is found to be about 15,000 light years.

Mr. Edward Hatch, Jr., has given to the N. Y. Zoological
Society the Four Brother Islands in the Lake Champlain. Mr.
Hatch has carefully preserved these islands as a haunt and a
breeding place for sea-gulls. Through making this gift, he in-
sures the keeping of these islands permanently as a gull reservation.

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE
IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including member-
ship in the American Nature Study Society, J 1.50 per year (nine issues). Canadian postage
ro cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cents extra.

Editorial

How The Stars Help Us

Perhaps most of us find that the beauty of the stars is their
most important use; this is well, for there is a sure uplift to the
spirit in contemplating the starry heavens. When we consider
that each star is a glowing sun, and that many of them undoubtedly
have planets circling about them as does our sun and probably
inhabited by thinking beings like those on our own earth, the
thought is overwhelming and serves two purposes: it makes us
realize our own modest place in the great scheme of things, and it
brings to us anew a realization of the greatness of the underlying,
all-permeating power and wisdom of God.

However, from the earliest times the study of the stars has been
of practical use to the people of this earth ; and at the present time
we owe to the science of astronomy many practical helps. The
study of the stars gives the nations of the world the accurate time.
The stars are used by sailors in voyages around the world in
finding their position in mid-ocean as well as in helping them to
direct their courses. The tides are scheduled by astronomy, and
to know surely when low or high tides are due at certain ports is
of the greatest use to the captains of ships. Astronomers de-
termine the exact latitude and longitude on the Earth's surface,
and this enables us to make accurate maps of islands and con-
tinents, and also helps to settle boundary lines between nations.
It may not be generally known that the boundary line between
Canada and the United States from Minnesota almost to the
Pacific is the imaginary line called the 49th parallel of latitude,
and the astronomers determine where this line falls with an ac-
curacy that does not vary more than 10 or 15 feet. It is one of
the most encouraging facts in History and must make the "stars

344

EDITORIAL 345

smile" to know that this imaginary line between two nations has
never had a fortification along its length for more than a century
since it was established.

Why not Adopt a Star

It is really a great satisfaction to have a star of one's own.
The astrologers from earliest times have been accustomed to
give us planets of our own, — the ones which they declare pre-
sided over us at our birth ; however, this is a compulsory act and
it is much more attractive and interesting to make it a voluntary
one on our own part. As a matter of fact many people have con-
fessed that among the myriad stars of the skies there was one that
seemed more interesting and intimate in a personal way. We
confess to two favorites, Vega in the summer and Sirius in the
winter. Both of these give us a special sense of joy and compan-
ionship and yet the two are very different. Vega has a lofty
personality ; if she were a woman she would be a madonna carrying
lilies; while Sirius is like a knight of olden time in glittering armour
going forth on a white charger to help straighten the crooked
places in -the world and raise the lowly and reward the virtuous.
That greatest of poets, Robert Browning had a star of his own and
we have always thought that it was Sirius; this poem expresses
more fully than anything else that we know this personal relation
between a mortal and a star.

All that I know

Of a certain star,
Is, it can throw

(Like the angled spar)
Now a dart of red,

Now a dart of blue,
Till my friends have said

They would fain see, too,
My star that dartles the red and the blue.

Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled:
They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.
What matter to me if their star is a world?
Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.

The American Nature Study Society and The School

Gardening Association

At the meeting of the Massachusetts Council of the supervisors
of Nature-Study and Gardening held in conjunction with the
N. E. A., last July, Mabel E. Turner, Secretary of the Mas-
sachusetts Council was appointed as a representative of that body
and Van Evrie Kilpatrick, Supervisor of Gardening in the City of
New York was appointed as a representative of the School Garden
Association to meet with the representative from the American
Nature-Study Society, and confer concerning apian to unite the
two. These representatives are to report back to their respective
organizations at the next meetings.

Members of the American Nature-Study Society who have
opinions in favor or against the amalgamation of these two so-
cieties are earnestly entreated to write the same to our President,
Dr. William Gould Vinal of Rhode Island College of Education,
Providence, R. I. These letters should be in Dr. Vinal's hands by
the first of December, as the question will come up for action
at the Boston meeting during the Holidays.

The
Editor's Web

Dr. Vinal, the President of the American Nature-Study Society
is par excellence a teacher; and he is all the more excellent as a
teacher because he has a fine sense of humor which he uses wisely
to allay the sting of criticism instead of using it to sharpen the
"pointed shaft" as do many critics. Moreover, his criticism is
always constructive and we have faith that the mistakes that he
lists in his contribution to this number of the Review will serve
to make us all more careful and accurate in our statements and
phraseology.

346

THE EDITOR'S WEB 347

Dorothy Purdy Hillas is a lover of nature and has artistic
tastes and ability as well. She and her husband are both recent
graduates of Cornell and both are devoted to the life out-of-
doors and enjoy together what Mother Nature so gladly reveals to
their unsealed and sympathetic eyes.

Dr. Leon Augustus Hausman is a zoologist; he has been an
instructor in zoology and biology at Cornell and now has a teaching
and research position in Rutgers College. He has already won a
name for excellent work among scientists and is an authority
upon the structure of the hair of mammals. His wife is Ethel
Hinckley Hausman, who has often contributed to the Review.
We wish that Dr. Hausman had more time to give to the writing
of poetry which in our opinion is of very high qualtiy.

Miss Eva Marian Provost is the kind of teacher all too rare in
our public schools. She is a woman of refined and charming
personality and is intensely interested and devoted to her work
as a teacher. Her teaching subjects are wide in range including
English and art; but whatever she teaches she enriches with her
knowledge and love of nature. For years she led a volunteer bird
class consisting of her pupils, to the Brooklyn parks each Sat-
urday. The series of astronomy charts made by her pupils are
remarkable for their beauty, accuracy and workmanship.

Gladys A. Harper is at home in Yardley, Pa. She is a teacher
of first grade pupils and believes there is nothing too good for her
little folks. Therefore she has prepared herself in nature-study so
that she may make their lives more interesting.

[THEBOOlTSHELP

The New Heavens: George Ellery Hale, 88 pp. Illustrated.
Scribners Sons. Price $1.50.

Dr. Hale is director of the Mount Wilson Observatory of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington, and as we might expect he
presents the New Heavens from the angle of "why new ?" Strange
as it may seem the heavens which were at the beginning and always
have been are now being revealed day after day and night after
night as new. It is most interesting that the oldest of all the
sciences, Astronomy, is at the present time moving on faster than
almost any other; this is largely due to the physicists who have
turned their investigating eyes outward and upward. The
photographic telescope and the spectroscope have revolutionized
our ideas of the stars, the former revealing unsuspected stars in
space, the latter giving us the chemical analysis of a star, the rate
at which it is moving, approximately its temperature, and in
many instances its distance from us. Dr. Hale views all of this
progress and then proceeds to give lucid descriptions of the modern
telescope and its achievements. There are three chapters in this
remarkable little volume, the first is The New Heavens and dis-
cusses the early instruments, the modern methods, refractors and
reflectors and their relative values, and the 100" telescope. Chapter
2nd deals with the Giant Stars and their measurements and in-
cludes a description of star images, the measurement by the inter-
ferometer which is the method used by Professor Michelson in
measuring Betelgeuse, with a description of the latter and also
of Arcturus, and the star Antares which is the biggest one yet
measured as it has a diameter of four hundred million miles;
Dr. Hale's discussion of stellar evolution is especially interesting
and edifying. The third chapter on Cosmic Crucibles includes an
account of solar helium, the sun spots as magnets, the Tower
Telescope, stellar chemistry, astrophysical laboratories, Newton
and Einstein, transmutation of the elements, cosmic pressures and
the practical value of researches on the constitution of matter.

348

THE BOOK SHELF 349

The book contains many illustrations and is as attractive as it is
instructive. I am sure we are all grateful to Dr. Hale for giving
us this clear and valuable resume" of the recent investigations in
the field of astronomy, and we are pleased to note that he dedicates
the volume to his wife.

The Sky Movies: Gaylord Johnson. 170 pp. with over 100
pictures. The MacMillan Company. Price $1.50.

The author of this attractive little volume has taken great
pains to make children understand our earth as a globe, its
movements, the moon, its relation to the earth and its move-
ments. It begins like a fairy story with a fairy ring presided over
by a wise little Puck who gives the children a lovely story about
Istar, the Moon Princess, but also gives them much valuable
information. The scene is laid on grandfather's farm and the
actors are Peter and Paul, twins, and Betty, their sister. There
are also very nice grandparents and a sympathetic Uncle Henry.
However, despite the fairy tales and the mind pictures spread on
cobwebs, the book is filled with practical information of the most
reliable sort. The illustrations are most helpful and interesting
especially valuable are the series of photographs of the moon in
all its phases taken from photographs made at the Yerkes Observa-
tory. How we prove that the world spins like a top, how to
make and understand a sun-dial, how the star clock tells time,
the arrangements and movements of the planets made into a
play; all these and many other things are explained, illustrated
.and made plain in this attractive book.

Star Maps

A new set (11 plates) of Star Maps is under way,
and all will be completed by January 1st.

December Map supplied with this issue of The Review.
Maps can be ordered by the 100 or 1000, or by the set.

Price 80c per 100, $7.50 per 1000, 25c per
set in velumet cover.

The Ways of the Six-footed

By Anna Botsford Comstock

Author of The Handbook of Nature-Study

A delightful supplementary Nature-Study reader for the grades,

or for the home.

Illustrated — 152 pages

Cloth — postpaid 60 cents

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

DUES

Annual membership
in U.S., $1.50; annual
membership abroad,
$1.75; Canada, $1.60.
Please make remit-
tance payable to The
American Nature-
Study Society.

RECOMMENDATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
IN THE

AMERICAN NATURE-STUDY SOCIETY

President, Wm. G. VINAL, Providence, R.I.
Secretary, ANNA B. COMSTOCK, Ithaca, N.Y.

The Membership Fee Includes Subscription to
the Nature-Study Review

PLEASE DETATCH Al

•JD FILL IN BLANK BELOW AND SEND TO THE SECRETARY.

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(It is suggested tha

Name and Address of Nominating member

t you inform the Nominee of your recommendation and
of the benefits of membership)

Buster was a more courageous leader of the flock
than this goat

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Buster Brown, A Sheep. Charles Smith

Mahogany. John J. Birch.

Pig, The. Helen E. Murphy

Potato Beetle Chronicle, A. Millie R. Turner

O Silver Moon. L. O. Sloan -

Common Mistakes in Natural History. Wm. G. Vinal.

A Necrology of Nature Lovers

Enos Mills ....

W. H. Hudson -

Irene Hardy ....

W. }. Stevens ....

Editorial - ....

Book Shelf - ....

351
354
358
360
370
371

385
386
387
389
391
393

Anna B. Comstock, Editor

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Susan Sipe Alburtis
Prof. J. Andrew Drushel
Prof. Tohn Dearness
Miss Cora Smith
Prof. W. G. Vinal

Washington, D. C.

St. Louis, Mo.

London, Ontario

Erie, Penna.

Providence, R. I.

Entered as second-class matter at the Post ffice at Ithaca, N. Y.
under the Act of March 3, 1879

PR'NTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Vol. 18 December, 1922 No. 9

Buster Brown, A Sheep — 100% American

Charles Smith,
Big Trails, Wyoming

"Buster" was born, out on the Wyoming range one cold bleak
day, in the early part of May in the year 1916. When he was six
days old his mother died from eating "poison-weed," as the vari-
ous poisonous plants are called. Deprived of his mother he be-
came a "bum," his only chance for food was to "bum" from other
lambs when their mothers were not looking.

The herders tried to get him a "step-mother" by "jacketing
him;" which is done by placing the skin of a dead lamb over him,
but he was such a big husky lamb, that it was almost impossible
to keep these jackets on him, and the ewes would not own him,
tho he was put with three or four. He managed to exist for about
a month, then he was taken to the ranch where he was under
the care of the lady of the house, and he soon became a great pet;
he was affectionate and for a sheep very intelligent.

He was given all the milk he would drink and all the oats he
wanted. He had the freedom of the place where he helped him-
self to grass and browse.

When he was six months old he was a beautiful lamb, much
larger than the lambs that were with their mothers in the flock.

He was put back in the herd where he soon made friends with
the herder and never failed to come to the door of the camp
wagon for his breakfast. The herder, when cooking his own break-
fast, would cook one extra pancake or two for Buster; he will
eat them quite hot and seems to like them best with a little syrup
on them, tho he doesn't like butter. He will eat almost anything
a person will eat except meats. In the first part of the war the

351

352

NA T URE-ST UDY RE VIE W

"American Sheep Breeder" sent out letters to the flock-masters of
the range country, asking them to give two fleeces from their
flocks, to be made into blankets, for wounded soldiers in France.
Buster's fleece was chosen as the very best among several thousand.
It was snow-white, crimpy and full of "yolk" as the grease in wool
is called: it was sent to Chicago by Parcel Post. It was the in-
tention of the editor of the "American Sheep Breeder" to have
these fleeces woven into blankets, but afterward he thought it
best to sell the wool and buy blankets with the money.

Buster getting his pancake for breakfast
The wool was placed on the market, and the firm of Silberman
and Son of Chicago paid one dollar a pound for this wool — Buster
contributed twelve pounds.

SMITH

BUSTER BROWN, A SHEEP

353

His next fleece was given to the Red Cross and it was auctioned
off for one hundred dollars. This made him famous, he became
known as "The Red Cross Sheep." Large sums have been
offered for him. Every herder in the countryside knows him by
sight, and will fight for him at a moments notice.

All his fleeces have been given to charity, except his last one,
which wasn't very good and only weighed seven pounds (his
heaviest fleece was fourteen pounds).

It is the custom with many herds to keep two or three goats for
leaders to cross streams and follow bad trails as they are con-
sidered braver than the sheep.

During the last two severe winters when the sheep were being
forced through the deep snow in order to get them to food and
shelter, Buster would cheerfully take the lead and break trail for
miles when the goats could not be made to budge. But he is now
enjoying a well earned rest; he considers himself one of the family
and does pretty much as he pleases, the best known and most
loved range sheep in Wyoming; and like the true veteran he is,
he never says a word about the way he did his bit in the world war.

Buster and two of his friends

Photo by L. H. Bailey
An Avenue of Mahogany Trees in Venzuela

Mahogany

John J. Birch, Pd. B.

Schenectady, N. Y.

There is perhaps no wood more cherished for cabinet purposes
than mahogany. Its fine tracery of dark and light brown lines,
which become more and more pronounced with age and polishing,
together with its freedom from warping or twisting in seasoning,
has given it the high place which it occupies amongst furniture
woods. It is a native of the tropics. Contrary to the prevalent

354

birch MAHOGANY 355

belief it does not grow in great forests; but is sparcely scattered
thru the tropical jungles. A bulletin of the National Union of
the American Republics states: "There is no such thing as a
forest of mahogany. The pine loves its own kind, and never
thrives better than when planted by nature or by man, one tree
next to the other, for mile after mile, on plain or mountain. Other
trees are found in groves or clumps, seeming to form little settle-
ments within the woods. The mahogany tree, however, lives by
and for itself alone ; standing solitary of its species, surrounded by
the smaller trees and dense undergrowth of the tropical forests rear-
ing its head over its neighbor." Very often it occurs that only
one or two trees may be found per acre.

The Lumbering Outfit

The personnel of a mahogany lumbering outfit is the same in
many respects as a lumber camp in any American forest, save
for minor details. Belize, in British Honduras, is the chief ex-
porting city for mahogany, and for that reason most of the outfits
are made up from there.

The methods used in harvesting are exceedingly primitive,
inefficient and relatively expensive. The cutting begins in the
mid-summer, which is the rainy season. The tree hunter, or the
one whose duty it is to locate the trees, is by far the most im-
portant man in the outfit. His first move is to pick out some
elevated point and climb the highest tree and from there locate the
mahogany. This is a comparatively easy matter, for at this
season of the year the leaves of the mahogany have turned a
reddish yellow hue, while the other trees are green, thus making a
decided contrast which is visible for a long distance. After having
carefully noted his bearings, he proceeds to locate the trees.
This is by no means an easy task, for in most places the under-
brush is so dense that it is necessary to actually chop one's way
thru.

The trees are large and spreading with pinnate, shiny leaves.
They range anywhere from fifty to one hundred feet high and
from ten to twenty-five feet in circumference at the base, de-
pending on their age. It is the custom to build a platform, some
eight or ten feet high around the largest of the trees for the reason
that the trunks are greatly enlarged at the ground. But by so
doing, a great deal of the most valuable wood is lost, for it is here

356 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

that the most beautiful graining and toughest timber is found.
In felling, great care is taken so that the logs will not split or break,
thereby enhancing their value. The trees are then cut into con-
venient lengths to be handled and squared so that they can be
more easily stowed away in ships.

By this time the dry season has begun, and while a part of the
gang are engaged in cutting, others are at work preparing roads
and bridges to enable the logs to be transported. The trucks
used for hauling are two wheeled affairs, constructed on the spot,
save for the axles and hubs, which are brought in by the lumbermen.
Oxen are used to haul these improvised wagons. The work is
done mostly at night, by the aid of pine torches, for the reason
that it is cooler at that time. The logs are collected on the banks
of the rivers and left there until June, when the rainy season sets in.
At that time they are cut loose and allowed to float down stream.
A gang of natives in flat bottomed canoes follow the logs to see
that none are lost. When they have arrived at their destination,
each owner collects his logs, which are marked by certain dis-
tinguishing marks on the ends. They are then prepared for
export by cutting off any battered ends or split portions. The
natives tie them together and raft them to the ships, where they
are placed aboard. This is a dangerous operation, for in rough
weather, many of the rafts are broken up and the timbers carried
out to sea. In the majority of cases they are carried by the
ships to London, which is the mahogany center of the world, and
from there dispersed in smaller quantities.

Differences in Mahogany

The wood is generally classified under two heads : the Spanish
mahogany and the Hondurus mahogany. The former composes
the richly colored, solid, heavy varieties, which are sought after
chiefly for furniture veneering. It is susceptible to a high degree
of polish and when properly treated, a rich wavy figuring is brought
out. The Spanish wood is the produce of the island of San Dom-
ingo, whence only small quantities come at the present time.
Cuba, furnishes a much larger log, which is only slightly inferior
to the San Domingo, and is classed as Spanish wood. It can be
partly distinguished by the white chalk-like specks in the pores
and is cold to the touch.

birch MAHOGANY 357

The Honduras mahogany is lighter, opened grained and more
uniform in color; almost devoid of figuring or curl. There are
black specks or lines in the grain, which are characteristic only
of that variety. It is valuable, where a sound straight timber
free from all tendencies to warp is required. Alkalies are often
applied to this, especially to the lighter colored wood, in order to
deepen the shade, and in this way it often replaces the better
grade of wood.

The logs are often forty feet long and from two to three feet
square. They are obtained from the low, moist land and are
generally soft and coarse. This variety is used as a foundation
on which to veneer the finer varieties, and from its spongy nature
it is admirably suited for this purpose, for the reason that the pores
aid the glue in adhering thereto. Aside from this, it finds a large
use in pattern making, small turning work and shipbuilding.
The trees growing in the North, near the Mexican border are
much richer, more dense and solid than the lowland timber.

Some authorities have supposed the Honduras to be a different
species from the Spanish, because of its lighter color as well as the
porous texture; but it is now believed that these differences arise
from the different situations in which the trees are found.

In Mexico, the mahogany tree attains its greatest dimensions.
Squared logs of from forty to forty-eight inches are infrequently
obtained, although the average are from fifteen inches to three
feet, cut in lengths of from eighteen to thirty feet, for convenience
in shipping. The wood in general is plain and somewhat soft
at the core, resembling the swamp variety of the Honduras wood;
although timber grown on the upland provinces, especially To-
basco, is firm, solid, and not unfrequently richly figured.
The Discovery of Mahogany

A carpenter on Sir Walter Raleigh's ship is credited as being
the first person to have noticed the superior qualities of the wood.
He was attracted to it because of its great beauty, hardness and
durability- Dr. Gibbons, a physician of London, in 1720, was
presented with several planks brought from the West Indies.
He employed a cabinet-maker named Wallaston, to construct some
small articles from this wood, and dating from that time it has been
highly cherished as a cabinet wood, due to its soundness, large
size, uniform grain, durability, beauty of color, richness of figure,
which is improved by age, and the ability to take a high polish.

The Pig

Helen E. Murphy
Phoenix, N. Y.

The wild hog that once roamed over Europe, Asia and Africa,
is the ancestor of our common domesticated pig. It likes situa-
tions where it may wallow in the water and mud; but it also
likes to have close by, woods, thicket, or underbrush to which it
can retire for rest and also when in danger. The wild hog is
extremely active and powerful; it is fierce and dangerous, par-
ticularly when old. Iron gray or dirty brown in color, spotted
here and there with black, it is well concealed in the underbrush,
and the thick skin covered with stiff bristly hairs is a fine pro-
tection from thorny thickets. When excited or angry, these
bristles rise and add fury to its appearance. Twilight, night and
early dawn are the favorite times for feeding upon plants, fruits
and roots, for sport; for fighting; for adventure. Provided with
a bony, wedgeshaped head, a snout that is pointed and also the
seat of a highly developed sense of smell, jaws seb with strong
teeth, a neck that is long and muscular and loins broad and strong,
the wild hog is excellently adapted to look out for itself.

Hunters of wild hogs declare that they are full of cunning and
strategy, and we must admit that the domesticated pig of today is
very clever. All it needs is a chance. With an affection that
causes it to follow a person like a dog, and a memory such that it
can be trained to play Yankee-doodle on a violin, we must admit
that the pig has brains. The trouble is that most of the time it is
so stuffed with fattening foods that no opportunity is given to use
its brains, except once in a while when it squeezes thru the fence, and
we strive vainly to get it back. Then it remembers to forget
everything.

By nature the pig is very neat; but since it has come in contact
with civilization, it rarely gets half a chance. Sparsely clothed
with bristles and hair, — flies and other insects bite it unmerci-
fully, and it has to wallow in the mud to rid itself of these pests;
but this wallowing is in the nature of a mud bath, repeated only
at intervals.

The pig has a most unique and beautiful digging apparatus,
happily placed on the end of his nose, where it is backed by all

358

murphy THE PIG 359

the pushing power of a stout body, and where it is directed in its
operations by the aid of very keen olfactories. This is a most
efficient equipment for digging. If anything good to eat is buried
in the earth, trust the normal pig to find it. But alas! when a
little bit of metal ring is thrust into the sensitive base of the
"rooter" this beautiful contrivance fails to operate, his pigship is
reduced to the common level of all mammalian kind, and he is
left endowed with only his appetite.

When allowed to roam in the woods, the pig lives on roots and
nuts, especially (the latter) acorns and butternuts. In the autumn
he becomes very fat. In the wild state this was evidently a
provision of nature for the hardships of winter. It is this charac-
teristic that makes the pig useful for food.

The domesticated pig is well fitted for locomotion on either wet
or dry soil, for the two large, hoofed toes enable it to walk well on
dry ground, and the two hind toes, smaller and higher up, help to
sustain it on marshy soil. If not too fat, the pig is a swift runner
in spite of its short legs.

We can understand a little of the pig-'s conversation. There is
the nasal growl when fighting and the squeal of terror; the con-
stant grunting that keeps the herd together, the complaining
squeal of hunger, and the satisfied grunt signifying enjoyment of
food.

Today there are black pigs with white markings that have ears
standing erect; there are black pigs and white pigs with drooping
ears; chestnut pigs with drooping ears; white pigs with erect
ears; there are pigs fat and pigs lean; there are large pigs and
medium pigs and small pigs, but

"The nice little pig with the querly tail,

All soft as satin and pinky pail,

Is a very different thing by far

Than the lumps of iniquity big pigs are."

A Potato Beetle Chronicle

Millie Ruth Turner
Wilkinsburg, Penn.

CHAPTER I

The Egg
9:30 a. m., July 8, 1921.

Professor Detwiler gave me a potato leaf that had a patch of
yellow eggs on the under side. These eggs are about one-six-
teenth of an inch in length, and thirty or forty of them are arranged
on end in a compact group. Truly the potato beetle is in the
same class as the "Great Discoverer" when it comes to making
eggs stand upright.
11:00 a. m.

I carried the eggs home with great care for fear of scrambling
them and put them on a desk. When my landlady is at leisure I
am going to get a bottle from her for them.
12:00 a. m.

No change in the eggs. Perhaps the sun was too warm for
them when I carried them from the field.

360

TURNER

A POTATO BEETLE CHRONICAL

361

The Eggs

3:00 p. m.

I went to town and did considerable shopping, but the eggs
remain the same, as fixed as the pyramids.

4:00 p. m.

Still no change. I have watched
them very closely for over an hour.
Now I am going to dine with my
Algerian friend, Miss Mege, who is
much more entertaining than bugs'
eggs that refuse to hatch. But it may
be that the poor things are poached,
for it is 106 in the shade.

11:25 p. m.

No change. They may have T. B.
A student told me to-day that lack
of "pep" was one of the first symp-
toms.
7:30 a. m., July 9.

No change. This history is going to be dull. Could it be
possible that these young beetles are defectives and lack the in-
telligence to find their way out of the shells?

10:30 a. m.

I have searched the library to find information on the incu-
bation of the potato beetle, but was unsuccessful. I learned,
however, that this beetle is a native of America. It was first
discovered in the Rocky Mountain region, where it fed upon the
sand burr or Solanum rostratum.

In 1 859 it acquired a liking for potatoes and began to be a pest
in the potato fields of Colorado. From there it traveled east-
ward advancing, at first, about fifty miles a year but later more
rapidly, and in 1874 the insects reached the Atlantic Coast.

3:43 p. m.

No change. I put several moist leaves into the box. The air
may be too dry for the eggs.

4:00 p. m.

I had the misfortune to upset the eggs on the floor. Perhaps
that would addle them. If it were not for this cruel blister on
my heel I would go to the field and get a new setting of eggs.

362 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

9:48 a. m.

No change. I have just read this history to Mr. Stout, a
blind man who is quite well versed in the ways of bugs, and he
assured me that there might be no change for two weeks.

Shade of Virgil ! How can I write a history if nothing happens ?
9:27 a. m., July 10.

All's quiet along the Potomac. To-morrow I am going to
carry the eggs up to Robert's Hall and look at them with a micro-
scope. That will show if any of them are chipped.
5:57 p. m.

There has been no change, and it was a good day for hatching
too, warm and damp.

The young man in the room next to mine played some weird
music that sounded like two wire hair pins being scratched with a
rusty nail. I had hopes that the beetles would come out to get
away from it, but they didn't. They were also serenaded by a
phonograph played by a nearby neighbor boy. My landlady
told me that his mind is weak. I could not help wondering if it
had lost its strength after hearing his records. No matter;
these musicians have added to my scientific knowledge. Potato
beetle eggs are absolutely lacking in musical appreciation.
9:55 p. m.

Eggs remain just the same. They had such a parched look
that I put them out of the window on the porch roof in the rain.
10:00 p. m.

I have brought them in again but they do not look much re-
freshed. To-morrow I shall take them to class and get expert
advice about them.
8:15 a. m., July 11.

Professor Detwiler looked at the eggs and pronounced them
sound. I had put several rain drops from an elm leaf over them.
He said not to bathe them any more, and that it might require
eight days for them to hatch.

I found a bottle and I intend to put them into it, set them on the
window sill, and not look at them again until I hear them chirping.
10:35 p. m.

Great excitement! I believe they are hatching! There are
four black spots on the eggs that were not there this morning
If we were in Pittsburgh I would know it was soot but in Cornell
it must be bugs.

turner A POTATO BEETLE CHRONICLE 363

10:45 P. M.

A microscope ! A microscope ! My kingdom for a microscope !
11:00 p. m.

I feel sure they are hatching. I wonder if they want to eat as
soon as they are hatched. The potato field is a good mile away,
besides the potatoes were to be sprayed with poison, so I wouldn't
dare go there. I have heard a great deal of talk about "Mellin's
Food and Eagle Brand." Perhaps these would do.

CHAPTER II

The Larva
8:20, -July 12.

The black specks were larvae. Professor Detwiler's fine three-
hundred dollar microscope showed them plainly. The little
fellows were so enlarged that they looked as large as the adult
larvae appear to the naked eye.

They are certainly fine specimens, too. Without doubt they
would be 100% perfect at any "Better Baby" show.

I called the one that was most nearly hatched Columbus be-
cause he landed first. The next two to emerge I shall call Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, because in history, Columbus couldn't have
landed without them.
9:00 a. m.

The question of food arose and Professor Detwiler solved it by
leading the way on a foraging expedition to a deserted garden
where we found a potato plant left blooming alone among the
weeds like the "Last Rose of Summer." If the world were in the
hands of men like Professor Detwiler there would be no starving
babies in the near East.

Well to ccme back to the potato, we got a top from the stalk
and I put the dried leaf with the hatching eggs in the center, and
went home,
10:10 a. m.

When I reached home, I looked for Columbus in the nest, but
behold he was not there, I was alarmed thinking I had lost him,
when I spied him like the "Great Admiral" out upon an exploring
expedition.

In the short time I had spent getting the food, he had grown
from an almost invisible speck to a regular larva, and could walk
and eat. He had increased his size many times. It is said that

364 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

these beetles live as larvae for two weeks. If this wonderful
growth continues for that time Columbus will be so large I can
saddle him and ride him to class.

8:00 a. m., July 13.

There are three young beetles out. I threw the rest of the eggs
away for they looked as if they might have hardening of the arter-
ies, besides three orphans are enough when the food supply is so
far away and so limited.

11:15 a. m.

I came home just in time to rescue Columbus from a watery
grave. He had fallen to the bottom of the glass and was struggling
for life in about seven drops of water. I flew to the rescue with
the point of a pencil, but he wouldn't touch it, so I built a wharf
with a potato leaf, and he landed in state.

5:15 p. m.

The triplets seem to be at a stand still. This would worry me
but I have learned that larvae grow very rapidly for a short time,
then the chitin in the cuticle hardens and growth is difficult.
When the skin becomes very much crowded it splits, the larvae
crawl out with a new skin and growth continues rapidly again
for a time, then the molting is continued.

If these larvae have molted their discarded skins are so small
that I cannot find them. Some bugs leave skins so large that
counting the molts is not difficult.
11:00 a. m., July 14.

The young orphans seem happy and well, but their backs are
getting so humped. They need a lesson from Miss Todd in correct
posture.

10:00 p. m.

These babies are going to be brought up according to scientific
rules; no cuddling, no rocking, and no lullabies. With the average
child these rules are a flat failure, unless the parents are deaf
or lazy or both, but with potato larvae they work like a charm for
the three are asleep under a leaf. I have always heard that insects
have an economic value, but I never appreciated it before. Since
studying the larvae of the three lined potato beetle and the in-
terior of a caterpillar my bill for food at the cafeteria has been
reduced from $1.20 per day to $.33, and dear knows what a re-
duction the interior of the caterpillar will make.

TURNER

A POTATO BEETLE CHRONICLE

365

July 15, 1:35 p. m.

Isabella has disappeared! I have searched every place for her
but in vain.

Yesterday I found the lar-
va of a tortoise-shell beetle,
and put him on the plant
with the other larvae. Later
I found him in the exact
spot where I had last seen
Isabella. I thought he was
a vegetarian or I would
never have brought him
home.

Of course I couldn't prove
that he had eaten Isabella,
but neither could he prove
that he hadn't; so I convict-
ed him upon circumstantial
evidence and threw him
Larvae of Colorado potato-beetle into the back yard.

Now I must be doubly careful of Columbus and Ferdinand for a
life history of these beetles must be forth coming if I am to succeed
in this course and succeed I must for I have heard dark hints of an
ordeal called by the vulgar term "busting" that Cornell students
who fail must endure.

4:00 p. m.

I have just had a great shock, two shocks in fact. The first
was when I saw a fly resembling a house fly hovering near my
larvae. I drove him away in haste for there is a fly that lays eggs
on the backs of potato larvae. These eggs hatch into parasites
which feed upon the potato larvae and kill them during the period
of pupation.

I couldn't see any on either of my little fellows and I rubbed
their backs with my finger but could not feel any either. If
these larvae develop parasites something is going to happen to
that fly.

The other shock was when I went to brush a little red speck off
a paper I was writing on, and just as my hand struck the speck I
recognized Columbus. He was rolled over several times but for-

366 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

tunately not crushed. He feigned death for a few minutes in true
potato beetle style, and then continued his exploring. I put him
back on the potato plant and he seems as good as new, but if he
doesn't stop this running off I shall resort to the old Spanish plan
and put him in chains.

6:30 p. m.

The twins are fast asleep. I shook the leaf and touched them
but they never moved. This denotes well controlled nervous
systems.

8:55 a. m., July 16.

The food supply was so low that it demanded immediate atten-
tion, so this morning, I walked to Cornell gardens for some pota-
toes. These gardens used to be about a mile away, but last night
someone moved them away over into New Jersey and I thought I
would never get there.

Some man named Tommy from Cleveland was clearing the
ground away from some beets preparatory to making pictures of
their roots. I told him about Isabella and he said that without
doubt the tortoise-shell had eaten her, for some insects are so
savage that they eat each other. Never again shall I install a
perfect stranger in the bosom of my family.
10:00 a. m.

I finally got some unsprayed potatoes from a little boy and put
the larvae on them, where they are now taking a very hearty
meal.

The little chaps are about the size of a lady-bird beetle and a
beautiful red with black legs and heads, and each has a black
ring where the thorax and body are joined.

No doubt they have molted several times but the cast off skins
are not visible.

I have discovered that bug observations should never be taken
before or after a full meal.

5:00 P.M. July 17.

Columbus and Ferdinand seem to have decided that their chief
aim in life is to see how much they can eat. It is surprising how
they have riddled the leaves that were put in yesterday.

They are five days old now and in about ten more days they
should pupate. They do this by going down into the ground and
making a little cell out of the soil.

turner A POTATO BEETLE CHRONICLE 367

July 18.

I was so hurried this morning that I forgot to look at the "wee
beasties" until after dinner, but they did not seem a bit offended
and were eating away very cheerfully.

They are about half grown now and appear to my untrained
eyes to be quite normal. Miss Mileham, a trained nurse who has
a room below mine, has told me so much about childish defects
that give distress in after life that I am going to have her give them
a complete physical examination.

To blight their young lives by neglecting their tonsils or adenoids
would be unforgiveable.
July 19.

Columbus and Ferdinand have been with me for a week now and
never a cross word from either of them.

July 20.

Every thing is going like clock work, splitting and eating, and
eating and splitting.

I was out of food again and Professor Schneck told me I could
feed them sprayed potatoes if I washed them well. I got some
leaves and washed them until they were almost worn out, but the
larvae didn't like them and set out in search of pastures new, so,
Mr. Stout and I walked up to an unsprayed garden and got a ten-
der top. I put them on it and they began to eat like hungry hun-
ters.

In moving the glass I accidently knocked Ferdinand down to the
hard floor. He fell about four feet, and my first thought was that
his spine was broken, then I remembered the kindly chitin that
protected his spineless body. I put him back on the plant and
he recovered in a few minutes and continued eating.

I have figured out this fall, and to have one in proportion I
would have to fall 1056 feet. I can't imagine myself two minutes
after a fall like that sitting up eating potato leaves. Wouldn't
chitin be a great thing for the aviators ?

July 21.

The larvae are so well developed that I expect them to pupate
almost any day. In order to have every thing ready, I have put
some soft ground in the glass. There is nothing like surrounding
the young with the proper environment.

368 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

CHAPTER III.

The Pupa
July 21.

I have just been watching Columbus and Ferdinand swinging
from leaf to leaf. It is marvelous that they are able to support
their great bodies on such tiny legs, seemingly as great a task as if
I were to swing across a seven foot chasm with Bailey Hall on my
back. Think of a mule with the proportionate kicking ability of a
flea beetle.

Ferdinand looks queer. The skin on his back is dry and
wrinkled. He is restless and not pleased with his food.

I put the glass in the window but neither he nor Columbus liked
the cold air. Ferdinand hid himself in a curled-up leaf and Col-
umbus got behind a stalk.

July 23.

This morning I found Ferdinand on the ground at the bottom
of the glass with his head buried in the mud. I put him back on a
leaf and washed the mud off his head. He moved his front legs as
though he were greatly disgusted with me and rolled down to the
ground again. I put him back once more but he climbed down
with such great deliberation that I decided he knew what he was
about.

I watched him and he began to part the earth with his feet and to
work his way down into the ground. Then it dawned upon me
that it was time for him to pupate and he was digging himself a grave.
I flew to his aid with a hair pin, but again I failed to please for he
moved off and began in a new place.

It was the strangest funeral I ever saw. No undertaker and the
corpse officiating. It made me think of the poem commemorating
the burial of that gallant Englishman, Sir John Moore, of course
it wasn't "darkly at dead of night" but like

"No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him,
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
With the mud drawn up around him."

I changed the last line. That is poetic license.
July 23, 6:39.

Columbus' back has the same parched look that Ferdinand's had
when he went into the ground. I suppose Columbus will dis-

turner A POTATO BEETLE CHRONICLE 369

appear soon. He is such a pretty little fellow with his rows of
black spots down each side like rows of shiny buttons.

I have heard so much here about evolution. I wonder if these
spots could be buttons "evoluting." They certainly have great
advantages over buttons, for no laundress, however willing, could
wring them off or crack them like a nut with the iron.
July 24.

Columbus is gone. I looked for him the first thing this morning,
and .hunted every place but found no trace of him: so, I decided
that he had gone down to join Ferdinand. I examined the
ground but there was no clue to his whereabouts. "No man
knows his sepulcher." What faith these little creatures have.
July 25.

Over the glass I have erected a little sign that reads,

"Here lie Columbus and Ferdinand

Deeply buried beneath the sand,

Think not, dear reader, this ends your woes,

They've only retired to change their clothes."

Some of the students dig their pupae up every day to see how

they are getting along, but this seems like such a ghoulish trick, I

am going to let mine rest in peace and besides, patient reader, you

need a rest, too, so look at these stars until you hear that Columbus

and Ferdinand are up or have at least sprouted.
********

CHAPTER IV

The Beetle
Aug. 9.

During all these long days, there was no sign of life in the glass
where Ferdinand and Columbus had gone down.

Once I tried to scrape away the earth from them but my heart
failed me. I so dreaded breaking their little wings. But this
morning the suspense was too great and I bribed a student named
Miss Clark to dig them up. She went at the task with a stout
heart and a pair of pincers, and soon unearthed a perfect beetle.
He was sitting so still that we were unable to be sure he was alive.
I called him Ferdinand for he was in the same place where his
royal highness had buried himself. Columbus was no place to be
seen, so this is another case of history repeating itself, for you will
remember that no one is quite sure where the bones of the "Great
Admiral" rest.

370 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

10:00

I got a spray of night shade and placed it in the glass all ready for
Ferdinand. Surely he will have a fabulous appetite after his long
fast.
11:30.

Ferdinand is up! Perfect in every way and a great beauty.
He is not hungry at all and took only a few bites of the leaves.
It seems that most of the damage is done by the larvae.

This is the last stage in Ferdinand's life. Hasn't it been wonder-
ful to watch the development of this little creature from the tiny
egg to the adult beetle?

Surely no one with an understanding heart could see these
marvelous changes and not gain a richer appreciation of the great
truth "I am the resurrection and the life."

O Silver Moon

Lotta O. Sloan

0 Silver Crescent on a field of blue,

1 wonder what I should find in you
Could I but get a nearer view.
Would I to your secret get a clew?

Beautiful
Silvery

Crescent Moon!

O Silver Moon, in your starry domain,
Are there peoples, too, on that far away plane,
Mountains and valleys, forests and plain,
High above the clouds and the rain?
Beautiful
Silvery

Crescent Moon!

O Silver Crescent on a field of blue,
May I not join your retinue,
And your starry Westward way pursue
When I to earth shall bid adieu?
Beautiful
Silvery

Crescent Moon!

Common Mistakes in Natural History

William Gould Vinal, Ph.D.

Rhode Island College of Education
(Continued from November issue)

How do Weeds Get Into Gardens?

The majority of weeds are annuals and come from seed.

52 think that weeds just grow in the garden r la Topsy. 24.2%
(Average) say that they are due to seed. In a college freshman
class 32% of the women to 10% of the men believe that weeds
just grow.

This wide spread belief reminds one of the parable of the seed
growing unobserved. (Mark 4:26-27). "This is what the
Kingdom of God is like — like a man who has scattered seed on the
ground and then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed
is shooting up and growing — he knows not how." The following
sentences show how the same parable is expressed to day. The
disconcerting thing about these statements is that the authors
think that they are giving real reasons. We can no longer be
content with such statements, as — "Come there." "Grow there
by nature." "Weeds have a natural tendency to grow." "The
seed was probably near a stone or bad soil." "Unhealthy land."
"Just grow from poor part of soil." "Grow over night." "Grow
from fertilizer." "Naturally grow from the ground." "Natural
growth of earth." "From lack of attention." "By lazy people
not hoeing their gardens." "Weeds being wild grow anywhere."
"Seeds of weeds are always present." Such statements show
that we may have spontaneous generations in the mind as well
as physical spontaneous generation. The latter has been dis-
proved but belief in it, though often subconscious, is still rampant.
It is of paramount importance that education do away with the
superstition that permeates our intellectual processes. Nature-
study, gardening, and general science contribute a great offset
to this mental obstruction.

What Shape is the Heart?

The heart is not heart-shaped. Heart-shaped refers to the
conventional form seen on valentines, jewelry, and playing cards.

371

372 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

In the same way the botanist calls certain leaves heart-shaped or
cordate. The heart is sometimes spoken of as pear-shaped.

Other early notions referring to the heart have been passed on
by certain words and expressions, such as — sweetheart, heart-
breaker, hard-hearted, hearty, heartless, and heart-strings.

It may be surprising to know that many people think of the
heart as cordate. This is true of 21% of those examined in an
agricultural college; junior high school, 21%; high school fresh-
men 39%; high school seniors 35%; normal school freshmen
45%. The latter are our future teachers. They no doubt will
learn much about the shape of the heart in physiology and it is
to be hoped that they at least will not pass on the mistaken ideas.

Is the Fear of Snakes "Inborn" or due to Education?

Snakes have played an important part in the delirium tremens of
literature. With a scriptural foundation aided by the old time
immunity of Ireland the fear of snakes is exhibited at a very
early age. Amongst college and normal school students 38%
believe this fear is due to being inborn; 33% believe it is the
result of education or attitude of adults; and 6% say that it is
due to both. There exists an undoubted gullibility as to the
evil doings of snakes. From this belief it is very easy to manu-
facture a fable as the hoop snake which is supposed to take its
tail in its mouth and roll like a hoop. Superstition and fear is a
tax on intelligence. We should in no way more especially by
that of awe — subjugate the reasoning powers. Dickens once
said, "What a beautiful thing human nature may be made to be."
He might have said in this connection : What a fearful thing human
nature may be made to be.

A little investigation indicates that the fear of snakes is due
to the attitude of parents, teachers, and other associates of the
child. Professor John B. Watson of Johns Hopkins University
has carried on some experiments to test out the truth of the older
statements which maintain that violent emotions appear at the
child's first sight of animals. His results are published in "Kinder-
garten and First Grade" for January, 1920. He concludes that
babies have fear but that there are few positive results in the re-
action of children to their first sight of animals. I once took a
baby rat and a garter snake into the first grade. The children
were told that one of the animals was warm and the other cold.

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 373

They were then asked if any one would like to pat them to see
which was warm and which cold. There was a stampede to the
front. I then realized that I had not had the courage of my
convictions. The children were then asked to take their seats
and told that each one would be given an opportunity to pat the
rat and the snake. They all did this without the least sign of
fear. It may be claimed that this too was due to education i. e.
the expression of the teachers face, manner of handling the reptile,
etc. If this be true, which kind of education do we want? The
kind that handicaps clear thought or the kind that takes things on
their face value? If there are no legitimate reasons for fearing
snakes why make the assumption.

What Danger is There in Picking up an Adder?

There is a legend that once the Python was the only poisonous
snake. It could sting a footprint and the poison would kill the
man. One day a Crow told the Python that 3 man had not been
killed. The Python then climbed a tree and spat out all its
poison which was swallowed by the smaller snakes. Possibly
on no less a foundation rests the assumption that all snakes are
poisonous.

The word snake does not occur in the scriptures. The term
adder is given to several venomous serpents and sometimes to the
Horned Viper (Cerastes). Ps. lviii 4. "They are like the deaf
adder that stoppeth her ears." This may have given origin to
the old saying "Deaf as an Adder." Pro. 23. 32. "At the last

it stingeth like an adder." From this may have arisen

the idea that adders sting. Adders are not deaf and neither do
they sting. Behold their wondrous colors. Their colors are
beautiful and blend and the lilies of the field do not have patterns
like one of these. Yet man in all his studies of harmony does not
admire them.

The danger in picking up an adder, as expressed in school, are
hereby given:

Poison

College and Normal School 16%

High School 28%

The data indicates that these erroneous ideas are later corrected,
to|a slight extent, but not as much as one might wish. The mis-
take comes in allowing them to originate.

Sting

Bite

None

12%

12%

8%

14%

31%

2%

374 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

All adders of North America are harmless. (The only poisonous
British reptile is the common adder of Europe, Vipera berus).
The Puffing Adder is protected by his "puffing." The Milk
Adder or Milk Snake searches around barns and old cellars for
rats and mice thereby performing friendly acts for the farmer.
The name of this snake comes from a reputation of stealing milk.
Ditmars writes that he cannot be induced to drink milk unless
suffering from great thirst and goes on to mention that if the
snake should drink its full it could not consume more than two
teaspoonfuls. Snake facts and snake fancies are therefore quite
remote.

Scientists believe that man descended from ? (Supply

the missing word).

No scientist believes that man descended from Monkey. 58%
of the students in college and normal school nevertheless think
that such is the case. What many scientists do think is that
Man and Monkey probably came from a common ancestry.
Zoologically they belong to the same group. From a structural
point of view man differs less from the apes than they do from
other monkeys.

Scientists believe that animals originated from ?

Scientists do not believe that animals descended from plants.
They are supposed to have come from a common ancestry. There
are organisms which cannot be classified as either plants or animals.

Rabbits should be lifted by the ?

There is no more logic in thinking that a rabbit should be lifted
by the ears than that a cat should be lifted by the tail or a baby
by one leg. The tail of a cat is a convenient handle for lifting her
but she has taught us that it is not good form. The rabbit has
suffered by not having such an effective means of communication.

The existing notions may be classified as follows:

Ears Feet Neck Body

College and Normal School 56% 4% 12% 3%

High School 85% 4% 3% 1%

College Freshmen, male 78% 4% 2% 0

College Freshmen, female 54% 4% 16% 2%

High School, male 94% 3% 0 0

High School, female 73% 10% 0 0

The following conclusions may be drawn from the above table :
The majority of people believe that rabbits should be lifted by
the ears. (The function of the ears is to hear). This belief is

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 375

more prevalent amongst boys and men than with girls and women.
It is exceptional to think of lifting the rabbit by the body. This,
however, is the most humane method of picking up the animal.

What is the Name of the Fourlegged Animal with Bright
Spots Which is Found Under Logs and Stones in

Damp Woods?

This animal is the Salamander and not the Lizard which it
resembles only in external form. The Salamander is an amphib-
ian and the Lizard is a reptile.

Lizard Salamander

College and Normal School 21% 9.5%

High School 57% 8%

College Freshmen, male 42% 24%

College Freshmen, female 38% 4%

The results indicate the marked existence of the erroneous idea
that the animal is a Lizard. The term Salamander is more widely
known amongst the men.

The name Salamander is a synonym for fire-proof. The an-
cient naturalists (or fabulists) Pliny and Aristotle maintained that
the salamander was incombustible. This fire-proof fame has
come down through the ages being applied to various utensils
used around the fire.

Give a Sentence Using the Correct Pronoun (it, she, or he)
on Referring to Nature

The expressions mother earth, mother nature, mother west-
wind and the like have led to the misconception that "nature" is
"she." Some have come to think of nature always as "mother
nature." This personification is liable to lead to what "mother
nature" tells her children and then to talking-ducks and weeping
Lady-Bird Beetles, and so on, ad infinitum. "Mother nature" is
not a mother, as we wish to know mothers. The oyster is said
to have 1/1,145,000 of a chance of living. This is not the act
of a mother but a "cold blooded" means of perpetuation. The
vase-shaped egg-sac of one of the spiders contains several hundred
eggs. These eggs hatch and most of the little spiders are eaten
by the stronger members of the family. Only a few young
spiders emerge in the spring. We must either change our views of
the spirit of a mother or acknowledge that "mother nature"
exists entirely in the imagination.

376 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

What Causes Autumn Colors?

The autumn colors are due to the breaking up of the chlorophyll
which gives different species of trees their peculiar colors. The
brightest colors are produced in swamps where it is cool and
moist before the frost occurs. A frost turns leaves brown and
not into bright colors.

Nature Frost Weather Sun Season Sap
College and Normal

School 2% 17% 4% 2% 1% 3%

High School 8% 29% 11% 6% 1% 2%

The majority believe that autumn colors are due to frost.
Weather and season answers are probably hazy notions of the
same idea. To answer this question by saying it is nature is
begging the question. All questions pertaining to nature could
be answered this way.

Why Are Leaves Placed Around Shrubs for the Winter?

This common practice amongst horticulturists is to keep the
frost in and not out as is commonly thought. The mulch pre-
vents a sudden freezing and thawing. The reasons given with
average % were: Warmth, 21%; frost, 37%; protection, 15%;
fertilizer, 8%.

Would you Eat Butter or Drink Milk that had
Chemicals in it?

No Depends Yes

College and Normal School 21 % 9.0% 30%

High School 49% 0.5% 17%

In thinking of chemicals we are too apt to have a vision of
laboratories, bottles, and labels. If our perspective stops there
we do not have the broad outlook that chemistry should give us.
We see symbols and not ideas. The symbol is only a means to an
end. Our educational courses should not stop with the means
of seeing, these tools should be made to reproduce ideas.

Have Some Friend Give You the Following Spelling Test.

Potato, radish, pole beans, larva (of an insect), harelip, plantain,
dandelion, mullein, caterpillar, development, definite, occurrence,
pistil (of a flower), develop, squirrel, nasturtium, moss, diphtheria,
desiccate, paraffin, inoculate, tonsillitis, singular of species,
leaves, seedsmen, and bacteria.

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 377

This list of biological terms is a collection of words which are
most frequently misspelled. Although many well-educated people
are poor spellers the correct spelling of these words may indicate
the amount of Biology one has had. In the case of radish, how-
ever, the lowest per cent of correct spelling was 45% made by
high school graduates who had had Botany. The misspelling in
this instance may have been an index to the kind of Botany they
had had in high school.

The singular of species is most often misspelled. It should be
specie. The highest average was 26% made by the freshmen of a
woman's college. The word specie was the incorrect form most
commonly used. Cne scientist has said that specie is something
that a biologist never has. The difficulty may be easily removed
in other cases by knowing the meaning of the word as in the case
of harelip, pronunciation as in develop, or the origin as dandelion
from dent-de-lion. Such words as occurrence may be made in-
delible by calling attention to the two r's. The second most
difficult word is mullein. Six per cent of the men in the freshmen
class of a noted university were able to spell the word correctly.
The Winston Simplified Dictionary gives mullen as a possibility
but this book was not published until 1919 and it is doubtful if any
of these men obtained their modern method of spelling from this
source.

The relations according to sex are of interest. The boys from a
ninth grade headed the list in spelling development correctly with
an average of 84%. The girls from the same school had an aver-
age of 63% but when it came to the word occurrence the girls
headed the whole list with 84% correct and the boys of the school
had but 56% correct. The girls from two junior high schools
obtained the higher per cent in 11 cases and the boys in 10 cases.
The difference is more marked when we come to the freshmen in
college where the girls win in 15 cases and the boys in 6 cases.
Three of these words, where the men averaged higher were in the
list won by the boys in the grades. In general, as expected, the
spelling efficiency increases with age and grade.

This list of words is not intended for a school spelling lesson.
They should be added to the pupils' vocabulary when occasion
arises for their use. As they are words which are misspelled over
and over again the teacher should make sure that they are mas-
tered. Since most of these words are commonly used by children
in the grades they should be effectively dealt with at that time.

378

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

In passing, a story may not be amiss. A tailor wished to order
12 smoothing irons or gooses. He did not know whether to write
12 tailor's gooses or geese. He finally ordered one tailor's goose
and eleven more like the first order. The moral is clear. In
times of doubt use "ready-made" words to suit the occasion.

Pronounce the Following Words:

abdomen

ab-do'-men

not ab'-do-men

acorn (Anglo-Saxon

meaning field or acre)

a -kern

alimentary

al' and not el'

almond

a'mund

ant

ant

not ant

asparagus

as-par' -a-gus

not sparrow-grass

biology

bl-61'o-ji

not bi

cerebrum

w / -

ser e

not se-re'

chestnut

ches'

not chest' nut

cranberry

kran' beri

not kram

fungi

fun' ji

not fung'-gi

hoof

hoof

not hoof

horseradish

hors-radish

not red-dish

insect

in'-sekt

not in'-sek

intestine

in-tes-tm

not tin

isolated

either l' or is'

laboratory

lab'-o-ra-to-ri

not lab' -ra-to-ri

lettuce

let' -is

not let' us

loam

lorn

not loom

mackerel

mak'-er-el

not mak' rel

muskrat

musk' rat

not mush' rat

poplar

pop' lar

not pop' u lar

porpoise

por'-pus

not por' poise

pumpkin

pump' kin

not puni kin

root

root

not root

spiracle

spir' or spi

squirrel

skwur' el

stomach

stum' uk

sumac also h

su' mak or shoo'

mak

teat

tet

tomato

ma to or ma to

not to-mat-o

turnip

tur nip

not turnup

zoology

zo-ol

not zoo-ol

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 379

A Providence lady once asked her gardener to plant salivias
near the walk. The gardener replied: Wouldn't spetunias look
good over there?

What is a Germ?

The etymology of the word germ is doubtful. The Latin word
germen means to sprout. In botany it refers to the rudiment of a
new organism. Huxley referred to the budding of corals, as
multiplying "by means of germs." In Linnaean nomenclature
it is the ovary or the seed. Muir and Ritchie's Bacteriology
says "germ, microbe, and micro-organism are often used as syno-
nyms with bacteria, though, strictly, they include the smallest
organisms of the animal kingdom" Evidently there is ambiguity
in the use of the term amongst biologists.

The answers of pupils may be listed as follows; the figure repre-
senting the highest per cent in any one class thinking that that
word is the meaning: Organism, 6; micro-organism, 36; micro-
animal, 14; micro-insect, 28; and bacteria, 70. The term organ-
ism is not used as often as a generation ago yet it ought not to be
confused with micro-organism which refers to a microscopic
animal or plant. Organism has come to be an abbreviated form
of micro-organism.

What is a Meadow?

Originally a meadow meant a hay field. Later it included a
pasture and in some places was extended to include a low well-
watered ground. In North America, according to the Oxford
Dictionary, it is "a low level tract of uncultivated grass land, es-
pecially along a river or in marshy regions near the sea." If we
condense this statement it might read, — a low, level, moist grass
land. The word meadow has been prefixed to the names of animals
and plants which occupy the meadow land, as meadow hen
(name applied to various herons) ; meadow-lark ; meadow-sweet
(spiraea) ; meadow beauty (rhexia or deer-grass) . The word
meadow occurs frequently in literature but without uniformity as
to meaning.

Amongst students of today there are 80% who recognize that
it is a hay-field. It is a decidedly masculine trait to know that it
is in a low area, the knowledge being held in a ration of 4 males to
one female. Not more than 12% of any class, and only a total of
18 recognize that it is a low, hayfield.

380 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The geographical distribution of the various meanings of the
term would make an interesting study. "Up from the meadows
all filled with corn" suggests another departure.

What is Dirt?
Primarily dirt means excrement, secondarily filth, and only
colloquially soil. The answers were in the following proportions:
soil, 141; filth, 64; soil and filth, 5; matter out of place, 7. The
majority have the false impression that soil is dirt. Soil may be
perfectly clean, as sand, which is used for filtering. In preparing
the garden we are tilling the soil.

What is a Biennial?

Biennial (bi-two, annua, year) , existing for two years. In botany
a biennial plant vegetates during the growing season of the first
year and dies after producing fruit the next year. Amongst the
freshman class entering college or normal schools many answered
that a biennial means twice a year (33%) as answered that it
means two years.

How Long Does an Annual Plant Live ?

An average of 59% said one year and an average of 16% said
less than a year. The highest number of correct answers were
made by the boys in a junior high school (28%), and freshmen in
a normal school that have had botany (27%) ; high school fresh-
men (29%); high school seniors (28%). The figures of the
higher institutions would indicate that as education continues
the concept of the length of life of an annual plant diminishes.
It still remains a masculine trait, 20% of the men in the fresh-
man class to 12% of the women saying that an annual plant lives
less than a year.

What is a Flower?
The following are typical answers:

1. A stationary living creature.

2. A thing growing out of the earth to beautify it.

3. A plant with colored variations.

4. A plant grown to admire and not to eat.

5. The petaled flourish of a plant.

6. The blossom of a plant.

7. That which later bears fruit.

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 381

Over one-third of the pupils in our schools when using the term
"flower" are thinking of a "a flowering plant." Such plants are
ordinarily grown for their blossoms. The first four answers show
such a use. Early English writers made a similar use. Shakes-
peare, 1593, in Lucrece (p. 870) mentioned that "unwholesome
weeds take root with precious flowers" and Milton in Paradise
Lost (XI, p. 273) wrote, "O flours that never will in other climate
grow." In a popular way when we mention flowers we think of
the colored (not green) parts and do not say flower when the
petals are absent as in the pussy willow. A corolla and calyx
are not necessary. Botanically we should think of the flower as
a means for reproduction. The children should be taught that
garden vegetables, weeds, and grass are flowering plants. They
should think of the flower as a "seed-maker" and not as an orna-
ment just meant for us.

Where do Plants Occur?

Plants do not merely sprout from the ground. They may be

found in the ocean breakers, on the backs of shell-fish, in clear

ponds and on rocky cliffs, on the roofs of all houses and in every

room below, on the leaves of trees and on their roots in the ground.

Use the Words Sitting, Setting, Laying and Lying in
Reference to a Hen.

Many will no doubt sympathize with the farmer who told the
Boston School teacher that he didn't give a darn whether the hen
was sitting or setting but when she cackled he wanted to know
whether she was laying or lying. To set means to cause to sit.
It is correct to say that he is setting the sitting hen on a sitting of
eggs. Setting hen or a setting of eggs is incorrect. There is
such an animal as a setting dog. To lay means to cause to lie.
Hens lay eggs.

What is an Animal?

The meaning of the word animal has had rather a checkered
career. Bishop Gawin Gouglas in his translation of Virgil's
Aeneid (1513) wrote "Undyr animal beyn contenyt allmankynd,
beist, byrd, fowel, fisch, serpent, and all other sik thingis." The
word itself originates from the Latin meaning breath of life or
anything living. It was hardly in the English before the end of
the 16th Century. It was not used in the Bible in 1611. In
1875, Helps, Animals and Masters (iii, 53) says that "When I

382 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

use the word 'animals' I mean all living creatures except men and
women." In New York, October 18, 191 la sea captain was brought
into court for piercing the flippers of large green turtles in order to
tie them. The magistrate held the captain in $500 bail on the
basis that wichin the law the turtle is an animal although without
the law it is a reptile. The same kind of a case had failed in 1867.
On the 1920 calendar of the Rhode Island Humane Education
Society are the following sentences: "The object of the Bands of
Mercy is to teach children to be kind to each other and to all who
need help and protection, as well as to animals." "The child
who respects the rights of animals will also respect the rights of
human beings." Amongst the uneducated the fur bearing quad-
rupeds only are considered as animals. These various meanings
of the word have led to a mixture of ideas in the schools.

The opinions of college freshmen as to various animals are here-
by summarized:

The woodchuckisamammal. 1. Woodchuck. — 40% females to
10% males think it is not an animal. 34% females to 12% males
think that it is a bird. This is probably a confusion with the
woodcock which is a bird. This also indicates that girls think
that a bird is not an animal.

2. Man — Man is an animal, belonging to the class mammals.
32% of the females to 2% of the males think that man is not an
animal. This is further proved by the fact that 12% of the males
to 6%. of the females correct the statement "Man and animals eat
food" to "Man and other animals eat food." 18 out of 281 ex-
amined recognized that man is an animal. It is also used in this
sense in statute books in reference to the prevention of the cruelty
to animals as "man and animals."

3. Whale — The whale is not a fish. It is a mammal. 36%
females to 68% males think that the whale is an animal. 62%
females to 38% males think that the whale is a fish. The males in
every case tested seem to have a more accurate and broader view
as to what is an animal.

4. The perch is an animal belonging to the class fish. 16%
females to 42% males think that the perch is an animal. 78%
females to 94% males think that the perch is a fish.

5. The bat is a mammal and not a bird. 38% females to 62%
males think that the bat is an animal. 36% females to 42%
males think it is a bird. Every thing that flies is not a bird.

vinal COMMON MISTAKES IN NATURAL HISTORY 383

Fossils show that there used to be flying reptiles. There are so
called flying fish, flying squirrels, and a flying lemur. Angels are
also credited with the art of flying. The latter are the only
animals, not birds, represented as having feathers.

6. The heron is a bird. 26% females to 50% males recognize
this. 30% females to 16% males believe it is a fish. This prob-
ably comes from a confusion with the herring which is a fish.

7. The turtle is a reptile. It is a relative of snakes and lizards.
28% females to 48% males recognize that it is an animal. Only
42% males to 10% females recognize that it is a reptile.

8. The perch is a fish. 78% females to 94% males say that it
is a fish- but only 16% females to 49% males think that it is an
animal.

9. The other examples may be tabulated:

Plant Animal Insect Fish Amphibian Reptile Bird

M F M F M F M F M F M F M F

Tadpole 44 22 32 16 40 38

Spider 12 2 86 92 26 32

Katydid 12 0 22 12 48 40 10 4 26 40

Coral 10 16 20 12 2 2 18 14 14 14

Clam 34 22 34 54 6 6

Sponge 8 14 24 8 12 10 12 8

Bacteria IS 18 20 8 18 20

What is Meant by Ugly?

A study of the idea ughy in literature will give a basis for under-
standing the present day feelings.

1300-1400, Cursus, Mediaeval and Vulgar Latin (Gott), "Fell
dragons and tadis bath. . . .ful laithsum on to here and se. . .

1666, Bunyan, Grace, Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (p.
84), "I was more loathsome in my own Eyes than was a Toad."

1667, Milton, Paradise Lost, (XII, 178), "Frogs, Lice, and Flies,
must all his palace fill with loath'd intrusion."

1600, Shakespeare, As You Like It (ii I. 12-14),
"Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

The fable of the jewel in the toad's head is probably based on
the glistening cartilage which represents an unossified basioccipital.

1611, The Bible, Exod. 8, 2, "I will smite all thy borders with
frogs" Rev. 16, 13. "Frogs (come) out of the mouth of dragons. "

384 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

The following terms are used in the bible in reference to the
serpent: subtile, beguiled, fiery, brasen, c:ooked, poison, biteth
piercing, and wise.

1748, Thomson, Castle of Indolence, (543), "In chamber brood-
ing like a loathly toad."

1886, Besant, Children of Gibson, II, vi, "A knight was sent
forth to kill a dragon or a loathly worm."

Animals have borne the burden of false misrepresentations
down through the ages. It is not surprising that the toad gets
the highest vote as to ugliness, 60% giving him that character-
istic. The other ugly animals were as follows: Bat (58%),
earthworm (54%), fly (51%), snake (51%), ant (47%), and eggs
of clothes moth (42%). 16% of the females in a college fresh-
man class think that the cow is ugly. It is a male trait to think
that the dragonfly and the silkworm is ugly. Ugliness seems to
be a matter of enchantment or prejudice. All these traditions
have been interwoven with modern progress. The heavy tax
levied by superstition on intelligence is well known to scientists.

What Animlas are Injurious?
56% of all the pupils examined believe that the snake is in-
jurious; 27% the dragonfly; 26% the bat; 14% the earthworm;
and 28% the crow. It is a female trait to think the bat and eggs
of the clothes moth are injurious. Of course the eggs are harm-
less. The larvae that hatch from the eggs do the damage. It
is a male characteristic to think that the dragonfly and crow are
injurious. The value of these animals as insect destroyers is now
becoming generally recognized. It must be admitted however
that the process is slow and the only remedy is progressive work in
the grades to prevent the confounding of fancy with fact.

What is Cross-pollination?

Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen such as by the wind or
by insects from one flower to the stigma of another. Cross-
pollination is not cross-fertilization. Cross-fertilization is the
union of the male and female elements. Cross-pollination makes
cross-fertilization possible.

Epilogue: In the beginning of this article I suggested that too
much seems to centre on the reputation of the buried past and
not on direct observation of the living present. Antiques from
tradition-shops are still coddled by sentimentalists. These

comstock A NECROLOGY OF NATURE LOVERS 385

musty relics are handed down from generation to generation
thereby cheating would-be workers with their false value. My
task is finished if I have been able to show, at least to some extent,
that whatsoever is most exact and regular concerning nature is
also most useful and excellent.

A Necrology of Nature-Lovers

Anna B. Comstock

During the past months of 1922, there have gone from our
midst several who belong essentially to the realm of nature-
study. They were not great scientists in the sense of being
specialists but two of them were Naturalists of a high order, one a
poet, one a teacher. In their going, the living world has lost
loving interpreters and we moum our loss of their inspiring com-
panionship.

Enos Mills
Enos Mills was to the Rocky Mountains what John Burroughs
was to the East and John Muir to the Sierras, — a careful observer
and a sympathetic interpreter of nature in all its forms and phases ;
he wras a firm believer in the conservation of natural scenery and
wild life. He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, April 22, 1870.
As a lad, he was not strong and his schooling was by no means
regular or consecutive. At the age of 16 he was so delicate that,
fearing tuberculosis, he went to Long's Peak, Estes Park, Colorado
and lived there in a cabin. It was a lonely place in those days for
a boy, since he had no companions for the greater part of the year.
He soon found companionship with Mother Nature, and she served
him well; he grew in health and strength until his prowess as a
mountain climber became known the world over; he climbed
Long's Peak more than 250 times; he explored vast areas alone,
on foot and without a gun. It was inevitable that he should
find self-expression in writing. He wrote The Story of Estes
Park, in 1905 and later the following volumes: Wild Life in the
Rockies; The Spell of the Rockies; In Beaver World; The Story
of a Thousand Year Pine; Rocky Mountain Wonderland; The
Story of Scotch; Your National Parks; The Grizzly, Our Great-
est Wild Animal; The Adventures of a Nature Guide.

386 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

He was appointed snow observer for the Federal Government
in 1907 and for many years past he has added to the scientific
data collected through many sources concerning the Rocky
Mountains. He gave many addresses and wrote many articles
urging protection to the birds, wild animals, flowers, trees and
scenery of this country, especially of the Rockies. He earned
well the title "the Father of The Rocky Mountain National
Park." His most recent and interesting enterprise was the pro-
moting of the use of Nature guides in all of our National Parks.
We have had several letters from him expressing his views con-
cerning this important movement. Mr. Mills did not marry
until he was forty-eight ; then he found a congenial companion in
the person of Esther A. Burnell. His death came as a shock to all
nature lovers many of whom like ourselves had long anticipated
visiting Long's Peak and meeting the man who had made us love
the mountain although we had never seen it.

W. H. Hudson

To those of us who have reveled in that remarkable work, The
Birds of LaPlata, or who have come to love Patagonia through
Idle Days, the news of W. H. Hudson's death seemed a catas-
trophe. This great naturalist has been known to the public only
through his books for he was so retiring and reserved that he never
gave lectures or became known personally to his large circle of
admirers. Since his death we have a record of one of his friends,
Mr. Richard Curie who has given us interesting side-lights upon
his character. Mr. Hudson wss essentially isolated in his re-
lation to Nature, for he seemed never to wish the companionship
of even his nearest friends on his walks or journeyings in the wilds.
He seemed to have no relatives and just a few choice friends among
the cultivated people, and these found him interesting and lovable.
When at home in England, he was in the habit of taking luncheon
once a week at the Mt. Blanc Restaurant with a few close friends
among whom were the novelists Joseph Conrad and Percival
Gibbon. These found him attractive though somewhat eccen-
tric. Curie says "One was always aware of a reserve that nothing
could pierce, a reserve embedded in the very construction of his
mind and founded upon a solitary and elf -like quality of his inner
nature." Curie also says "Books satisfied the mere rim of his
nature and his soul sickened and pined if long absent from its

comstock A NECROLOGY OF NATURE LOVERS 387

solitude." He so loved the beauty of the world, and was so in-
timate with the secrets of Nature that, though more than eighty
when he died, he dreaded death and he could not bear the thought
of being separated from the scenes, the wild creatures, the trees,
and the flowers that he loved. He said "If I could count on an-
other fifty years or one hundred, I should be happy." He did
not write easily, but his style was admirable, his English perfect
and he knew how to fasten and hold the interest of his readers.
He never took pride in authorship; when a book was printed, he
turned his back upon it, for it had no more interest for him.
Although he was to his friends a man of mystery never caring to
speak of himself, yet in that remarkable book "Far Away and
Long Ago" he gives the world complete self -revelation in the
autobiography of his childhood. In this story of a child born
and reared on a plantation in Argentina we find constant evi-
dences of his intense love of the beautiful in nature; and we trust
that although he has been taken from the world he loved, he has
found another world as beautiful and full of interesting life which
shall be his for eternity.

Irene Hardy

Irene Hardy was not a naturalist, but she was a careful observer
and gave sympathetic understanding to her environment in the
natural world. She was born in Ohio in 1841 and grew up with
that reverence for education which characterized the American
people of her day. She gained her early education in common
schools and later was a student at Antioch College which in those
days was as much of an innovation in the way of colleges as it is
today under its recent recrudescence. Later Miss Hardy went to
the Pacific Coast, and as a teacher of English in the Oakland High
School, she won for herself an enviable reputation; incidentally
she studied with Edward Rowland Sill who was Professor of
English at the University of California.

Soon after Stanford University was established, she was called
to that institution as a member of the staff of the Department of
English; and those who were fortunate enough to receive their
training in her classes have given her the highest tribute that a
teacher may receive.

Miss Hardy had the eyes of an artist and quite uninstructed,
she made admirable sketches of the scenes which she loved. A

388 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

sepia sketch of San Francisco from the Oakland marshes which she
made is a much prized possession of the writer. However, poetry-
was her chief means of self expression; fortunate it was that she
relied upon her pen instead of her brush to give her impressions to
the world because her eyes began to fail, and in 1901 she retired
from teaching, and finally became entirely blind. She bore this
affliction with a bravery that none of us can forget who witnessed
it. As her physical eyes closed on the beauty of this world, her
spiritual eyes found new beauty in the realms unseen. She con-
tinued to write and much of her versa still had for its theme the
birds and the flowers and the fields and the woods which she had so
loved. Her poems were published in a volume in 190^; unfor-
tunately most of this edition was destroyed in the fire in San Fran-
cisco which followed the earthquake. Those of us fortunate enough
to possess this volume hold it among our precious treasures.
Although she was never very strong, she was able through a wise
husbanding of her strength to accomplish a great amount of work.
She was naturally reserved and comparatively few had the privi-
lege of knowing her intimately; those to whom this privilege was
vouchsafed, have prized it as one of the great experiences of life.
Her mind was as keen and her soul as sensitive to the beautiful
when she passed on at the age of eighty-one as in the days of her
prime, and much of her best verse was written during the last
decade. We append here one of her later poems since it ex-
presses so perfectly her attitude toward life and death.

Praise

Irene Hardy

Were I of other than the human race

Then I would be a bird, if I might choose,

A brown-winged thrush, with voice of note profuse,

The line of beauty audible by grace

Mysterious, in some far-sequestered place;

There I would sing as one whose soul pursues

A heavenly theme its very self to lose

In ecstasy before the Master's face.

Enough, if so I make my life complete,

One perfect rounded whole of love and praise,

If He again should take who gave my song

Because He finds its adoration sweet;

It is enough if in its faintest phrase

He finds no sound or accent wrong.

W. J. Stevens, An Appreciation

L. M. Dougan
Principal Eugene Field School, St. Louis, Mo.

With the falling of the leaves, his resistance gave way, and, on
October eighth, death came quietly to one of our beloved leaders,
Ass't. Supt. W. J. Stevens of the St. Louis public schools. From
the beginning of his service with us in 1901, he was a leader in the
promotion of nature-study, school gardens, and tree planting.
He was president of our St. Louis Section, in 1912 and 1914, one of
its moving spirits from the date of its organization, and a member
of the council of the National Society in 1918-1920.

There is scarcely an excursion-route which we have developed
that is not fraught with pleasant memories of his helpfulness and
companionship. He had botanized with us in the Ozark hills,
when the red bud and the flowering dogwood were re-coloring the
still leafless woods with the first touches of spring. He had
cracked secrets out of the rocks for us with a geologist's hammer.
With us he had drawn inspiration from the rising of the sun over
the Mississippi and the scintillation of the stars so suggestive of
infinite power and perfect harmony. With us he had recon-
structed the .ancient history of some of our inland lakes and
speculated on the hoary past of our Indian mounds at Cahokia.
One memorable Christmas vacation he spent with us near Mo-
bile, Ala., making new friends among the southern plants and
gathering new energy from the ocean breezes. In each case his
winsome personality added a delightful human touch to nature.

All phenomena interested him, but he was primarily a geog-
rapher. As such he was largely concerned with the interpreta-
tion of the earth as a home for human folks ; and, in pursuit of this
aim, he did notable work in enriching the teaching of geography
throughout our city. With the help of the children, he created
two school gardens, one for vegetables and one for flowers, on a
vacant lot adjoining the Engene Field school of which he was for
fifteen years the principal. These gardens, in spite of the in-
creasing noise and congestion of traffic on the adjacent streets,
still attract attention, and refresh the eyes of passing citizens —
a fitting testimonial of Mr. Stevens' interest in Nature and chil-
dren.

389

390 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

Our favorite walks shall know his form no more. The earth he
loved to study has claimed its own. But each spring as we go
forth to witness the drama of the triumph of plant life over the
forces of decay, his buoyant spirit will still be with us strengthen-
ing our faith in the possibilities of Man and Nature.

Program for the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the
American Nature-Study Society

President, William G. Vinal, Rhode Island College of Education, Prov-
idence, R. I.
Secretary, Mrs. Anna B. Comstock, 123 Roberts Place, Ithaca, N. Y.

Preliminary Announcement:

Program of Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts,
December 28-30, 1922.

Applied Nature-Study

Thursday Session, December 28, 10:00 A.M., Massachusetts Institute Technology.

1. Nature-Study of the Various Scouting Organizations.

E. Laurence Palmer, Professor of Rural Education, Cornell University.
Editor Cornell Rural School Leaflet.

2. Some projects in the Princeton, New Jersey Schools. A day at the Walker
Gorden Dairy. A day on a Farm. A School Fair. A Yard Garden.
Annie T. Washburn, Supervisor of Nature-Study, Princeton Public Schools,

Princeton, N. J.

"Get Together in Nature Education."
Van Evrie Kilpatrick, Director of School Gardens, New York City. Mr.
Kilpatrick is Chairman of a Committee making an inquiry into the state
of Nature Education conducted by the Bureau of Education. To date,
717 cities have replied. Material for a report of far reaching importance
has been collected.

"Nature Work with Younger Children: In the Home and School."
Mrs. Helen H. Neal. Mrs. Neal and Professor Neal (Professor of Biology
at Tufts College) have definite ideas as to Nature study in the home.
Mrs. Neal has been director of Nature-lore in the Luther Gulick Camps.
What she has to say will be of great interest to teachers.

Dinner of the American Nature-Study Society,

This dinner will be in honor of Anna Botsford Comstock, who is retiring as
Professor of Nature-Study at Cornell University. An invitation is
extended to all persons interested, whether members of the society or not.
Tickets may be purchased of the President or at the Thursday morning
meeting of the Association. Toastmaster, Clarence Weed, Principal
State Normal School, Lowell, Massachusetts. Following the dinner
there will be short talks.

The dinner will be at Hotel Bellevue, Beacon Street near the State House.
$2.50 per plate. Reservations cannot be made later than 12:00 o'clock,
Thursday, December 28.

Friday Session, December 2Q, 10:00 A.M., Massachusetts Institute, Technology.
Applied Nature-Study. New England Day.

1. Nature- Study; Then and Now.

Arthur C. Boyden, Principal State Norman School, Bridgewater, Mass.

PROGRAM OF SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING 391

Another Normal School principal who once taught Nature- Study.
Author of Nature-Study by Months. Bridgewater Normal with its
Greenhouse, Tree Nursery, and Botanic Garden is a good example of
applied Nature-Study.

2. Project: Feeding the Heron, leading into the collection and study of
fishes, insects, etc. All classes in a country school.

Miss Fannie A. Stebbins, Supervisor of Nature-Study, Springfield, Massa-
chusetts. The School carrying this project is known as the "Bird
Hospital." Whenever school children find an injured bird they send it to
the "Bird Hospital" for repairs.
"Nature Hobbies and Hobbyists."
Dr. Marion Weston, Nature-Study Department of the Rhode Island
College of Education. Dr. Weston, as President of the Rhode Island
Field Naturalists' Club had pronounced success in getting people inter-
ested in a Nature Hobby. Her talk will be full of suggestions as to how
we can carry on the good work. Every Nature Leader should start such
an organization in his own bailiwick.

3. The Uses of Bulbs in the Schoolroom.

Charles M. Lamprey, Director of the Model School; Boston Normal School.
Mr. Lamprey distributes each year about 20,000 bulbs to the teachers and
children in the city of Boston approximately at cost.

4. The Need for Gardening as an Intermediate Grade Subject in City
Schools.

Miss Breta W. Childs, Teacher of Nature-Study at the State Normal
School, Worcester, Massachusetts.

5. The Possibilities of Nature-Study in English Composition.

Miss Pearl McCoy, Teacher of Nature-Study at the State Normal School,
Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

6. Adequate Use of the Aquarium and Terrarium.

Charles S. Preble, Teacher of Nature-Study at the State Normal School,
Farmington, Maine.

7. Nature-Study as a means of Education for Leisure.

Miss Gertrude B. Goldsmith, Teacher of Nature-Study at the State Normal
School, Salem, Massachusetts. Business Meeting. Election of Officers.
Report Secretary-editor.

Saturday Session, December 30, 10:00 A. M., Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1. "Personal Reminiscences of Professor Louis Agassiz." 30 minutes.
Mr. J. Henry Blake, An associate of Professor Louis Agassiz.

2. Visiting the Glass Flowers and other exhibits of interest.

Afternoon Session, 2 P. M.

1. Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Welcome and conducted tour through the Arboretum, probably by Pro-
fessor John G. Jack.

THF

NATURE-STUDY REVIEW

DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE
IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Published monthly except June, July and August. Subscription price, including mem-
bership in the American Nature Study Society, SI. 50 per year (nine issues,!. Canadian post-
age 10 cents extra, foreign postage, 20 cent extra.

Editorial

The Falling Leaf

The old, black cherry tree which poses artistically four seasons of
the year in front of the Editor's window keeps her leaves green
until after all other trees except the oaks stand bare; then she
changes her colors gradually to an orange film over glowing yellow
until one day in November the climax of her beauty is reached, and
she stands arrayed in gorgeous draperies, the peer of an Oriental
Princess; this lasts but a day, then the leaves begin to fall; with
every breeze they come shimmering down to lay a Persian carpet
at her feet; one day later she stands demure and unadorned as if
she had taken orders and like a nun had turned her back upon the
pomp and vanities of the world.

What of the leaves! They sail down so happily, they play
with the wind until they find resting places in corners and in
windrows there to stay until through the kindly alchemy of
Nature's Laboratory they give up their component elements and
thus, through transmutation, gain the immortality decreed to all
physical death. Death to the leaf is merely a new start toward
other activities. New activity, wider realms and new energies for
action,— this is what Chemistry teaches us is the result of death of
our physical bodies.

What an opportunity the Nature-Study teacher has to save
the child from the horror of death; for death in a child's mind has
to do with the body alone. W. H. Hudson in his charming
volume of childhood reminiscence tells vividly of his feeling when
at the age of six he witnessed the burial of their pet dog, old
Caesar. And when he listened to the words of the schoolmaster
"That's the end. Every dog has his day and so has every man,
and the end is same for both. We die like old Caesar, and are
put into the ground and have the earth shoveled over us :" Hudson

392

cockerell THE BULB TO ALICE 393

says that "How these simple, common words affected me more
than any other words I have heard in my life. They pierced me
to the heart. I had heard something terrible — too terrible to
think of." Later his mother comforted him with the assurances
of the immortality of the soul, but he had already experienced
despair. If he could have been taught at that early age the trans-
mutation of the golden red cherry leaf as it fluttered down, he
would have realized that in the earth is a wonderful laboratory where
old Caesar's body, no longer of use to him, would be changed into
the elements of soil and air by a process as marvelous and more
beautiful than the change wrought by the stroke of any fairy
wand, so that nothing of the old body of the beloved dog would re-
main in the hole in the earth in which it was placed, but would,
sooner than he could imagine, become a part of the free air and the
growing plant and live again in the sunshine. It is for the parents
and the Sunday-school teachers to reveal to the child the immortal-
ity of the soul, but it is the plain duty of the Nature-Study
teacher to reveal to the child the beauty of the chemistry of decay,
and the laws of physical immortality.

The Bulb to Alice

(with gift of tulip bulbs to a little girl)

T. D. A. Cockerell

Yes, you may bury me, put me away,

Think I am dead, but I'll rise some day,

Rise from the darkness, into the light,

Though I slumbered long through the winter night,

Fragrant and lovely my flowers shall be,

And my joy in life shall be joy to thee;

So cherish me now in my duller days,

Hope with my hope to win the praise

Of all who, living upon this earth,

Are born again with the Spring's new birth.

The
Editor's Web

Charles Smith is a ranchman in Wyoming, with a wife who, like
him, believes in enjoying the beauty of life wherever it occurs and
they have the spirit and imagination that enables them to make
life interesting for themselves and others. They take photographs
of the birds and animals which they find on the ranch and the
country around it and they behold with unsealed eyes what the
God of those great plains and mountains meant for his children
to see.

Helen Murphy is a Doctor of Science and an investigator in bi-
ology and entomology who has earned the respect of other scientists
in this field. She has taught at Cornell and at Colorado College
but she enjoys research more than teaching and is at present in the
Scrips Laboratory at La Jolla, California. However she is not so
scientific that she cannot see and enjoy the common things she sees
in the fields and woods; she is no laboratory blind-worm and we
publish with pleasure her little skit on friend pig.

Millie Ruth Turner is a teacher of note in Pennsylvania. She is
interested especially in the teaching of English but she holds an
open mind toward the natural world which led her to take the
very excellent course on Garden Nature-Study given by Dr. John D.
Detwiler at the Cornell Summer Session. The adventures of Ferdi-
nand and Columbus proved to be of breathless interest to the other
pupils as we are sure they will to our readers. Miss Turner has the
vision to see the dramatic quality in the life histories of our little
brothers of the field and garden and the literary skill to portray
them.

John J. Birch is a new contributor and we have never had the
pleasure of knowing him. We trust he will sometime favor us
again, for his story in this number is very interesting and full of in-
formation.

394

<mm*^i

|THE BOOK SHELF

Interesting Neighbors — Oliver P. Jenkins, Emeritus Professor of
Physiology, Stanford University. Calif. Illustrated 248 p.
P. Blakiston's Son & Co. $1.50.

Professor Jenkins has been from the start a firm believer and an
effective worker in the Nature-Study movement. One of the
earliest and most helpful books published for the Nature-Study
teacher was written by him in collaboration with Prof essor Vernon
L. Kellog. Moreover, Professor Jenkins has reared a family of
boys and girls who were trained to observe out-of-door life almost
from the cradle, so he knows how to tell stories that interest
children. The sixty-two stories forming this volume are about
common things just as they should be; common, because the
children see the common things oftenest and enjoy the most.
The leaf cutter and carpenter bees, the caterpillars, mushrooms,
toads, silk worms, wasps, butterflies, moths, dandelion, seeds,
flowers and their adaptations for their insect visitors, pitcher
plants and birds. All of these and many more are described in
these charming stories. There are eighty-one pleasing and ac-
curate illustrations by W. S. Atkinson. It is a valuable and in-
teresting book, and we trust that thousands of children in America
will enjoy it and have the privilege of owning it.

Plant Materials of Decorative Gardening. The Woody Plants.
2d edition revised. William Trelease, published by the author,
Urbana, Illinois. 177 pp.

Four years ago Professor Trelease published this little book
which slips into the coat pocket, and which contains enough
scientific information about horticultural plants to fill an encyclo-
pedia. It was published first as a help in teaching his own classes
in the University of Illinois, but so many other teachers have found
it of value that we have now this new revised edition. It con-
tains keys of trees and shrubs, undershrubs and climbers, and these

395

396 NA TU RE-STUD Y RE VIE W

are followed by a systematic arrangement of the plants with
keys to the species under each genus. The more one uses it, the
more remarkable it seems that so much of real information and
help in identifying species could be condensed into such small
space. The booklet is so pretty in its brown leather-like binding,
with leaves outlined on it, that one would enjoy carrying it around
in one's pocket even if one did not use it so constantly.

The Apple Tree. L. H. Bailey. 117 pp. Illustrated. The
MacMillan Co. Price $1.50.

The Apple Tree which has figured in history and development
of mankind since the Garden of Eden has at last found a worthy
biographer. Certainly Professor Bailey has a wide knowledge of
all apple trees, but what is more important, he has a love for the
apple tree and an understanding which has found expression through
his skillful pen in this little volume. The titles of the chapters
show its scope. Where There is no Apple Tree; The Apple-
Tree in the Landscape; The Bud on the Twigs; The Weeks Be-
tween the Flower and the Fruit; The Brush Pile; The Pruning of
the Apple-Tree; Maintaining the Health and Energy of the Apple-
Tree; How an Apple-Tree is Made; The Dwarf Apple-Tree;
Whence Comes the Apple-Tree ; The Varieties of Apple; The
Pleasant Art of Grafting; The Mending of the Apple-Tree; The
Apple Tree Regions; The Harvest of the Apple-Tree ; The
Appraisal of the Apple-Tree. Of all these interesting chapters,
we confess a preference for the "Apple Tree in the Landscape."
The orchardists have left to the artists the appreciation of the
apple tree unpruned and uncultivated, and we are glad that Pro-
fessor Bailey is an artist as well as a horticulturist for he has done
full justice to the beauty of this useful tree. However, the
volume is full of practical information concerning the care of the
apple tree and directions for judging apples at the exhibition are
carefully given. After reading the book, we are sure that all will
agree with the author that "The Apple Tree is a living thing, not
merely a something that bears apples."

INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII. 1922.

Alexander, William P. To a Wood
Thrush. Pg. 234

The Honey Bee. Pg. 292
Algonquin Days. Frank Morris. Pg. 31
Alone in the Woods. H. W. Stones. Pg.

58
Appeal of the Bird to the Child. Laura

B. Durand. Pg. 50
Architecture of the Cocoa Palm, The

E. E. Barker. Pg. 44
"Arrow Head to Airplane, From" Loren

Stiles Minckley. Pg. 304
Barker, E. E. The Architecture of the

Cocoa Palm. Pg. 44
Baker, Virginia. Blue-eyed Grass. Pg.

42
Baker, Virginia. Mystery. Pg. 43
Baker, Virginia. Indian Fairies. Pg. 43
Birch, John J. Mahogany. Pg. 354
"Bird Poems of Miles A. Davis, The."

Pg. 66
"Bird Stories." Edith M. Patch. Pg.

205
Blue-eyed Grass. Virginia Baker. Pg.

42
Boys Camp That Almost Became Fa-
mous, A. Pg. 147
Buster Brown, A Sheep. Charles Smith.

Pg. 351
Calver, Amelia J. The Song-Sparrow.

Pg. 296
Camera Hunting. A. E. Lownes. Pg.

192
Camp Nature Ideas in the Classroom.

M. M. Cornell. Pg. 118
Camp Nature Lore Exhibition. Pg. 155
Canoeing and Nature-Study, Dr. J. B.

May. Pg. 127
Capital Idea from the Washington

Schools, A. Pg. 93
Children's Interest in Nature-Study.

Clara M. McQuade. Pg. 209
Children's Nature Interests. E. L.

Palmer. Pg. 23
Child and the Forest, The. Herbert A.

Smith . Pg. 75
Childs, H. E. A Modern Fairy Story.

Pg. 137
Chipmunk, The. A. Leah Gause. Pg.

239
Church, O. J. The Mt. Washington

Trip. Pg. 150
Circus, The. M. Turner. Pg. 197
Common Mistakes in Natural History

W. G. Vinal. Pg. 329

Common Mistakes in Natural History.

^ W. G. Vinal. Pg. 371

Common Thistle. Robert S. Walker.

Pg. 229
Comstock, A. B. William Gould Vinal.

Pg. 1

Comstock, A. B. Our Own Sun and

His Family. Pg. 305
Conservation and Nature Studies. R.

W. Shufeldt. Pg. 259
Cornell, M. M. Camp Nature ideas in

the Classroom. Pg. 118
Delport, M. E. Field Trips at Fallen

Leaf Lake. Pg. 166
Detwiler, J- D. Nature-Study of the

Farm. Pg. 17
DeWolfe, L. A. School Fairs. Pg. 82
Dole, E. J. Eight or Nine Words about

Nature-Study. Pg. 121
Douglas, E. V. Nature at Cowasset.

Pg. 150
Durand, Laura B. The Appeal of the

Bird to the Child. Pg. 50
"Earth and Its Life, The." . A. Wad-

dington Seers. Pg. 207
Editorial. Pg. 61, 156, 200, 254, 299,

344, 391.
Egg-Shell Gardens in Second Grade.

Reba Thompson. Pg. 90
Eight or Nine Words about Nature

Study. E. J. Dole. Pg. 121
"Elementary Industrial Arts." Leon

Loyal Winslow. Pg. 303
Exhibit of Bird Houses. Pg. 100
Field Trips at Fallen Leaf Lake. M. E.

Delport. Pg. 166
"Flower Finder, The." George Lincoln

Walton. Pg. 208
"Gardening." A. B. Stout Pg. 207
Garden Nature-Study. Roland G.
^ Guss. Pg. 243
Garden Work in Congested Cities.

Joseph S. Taylor. Pg. 83
Gause, Leah A. The Chipmunk. Pg.

239
Gossip of the Trees, The. Katherine

Rogers. Pg. 235
Gulick, Charlotte V. Gypsies. Pg. 124
Guss, Roland G. Garden Nature-
Study. Pg. 243
Gypsies. Charlotte V. Gulick. Pg. 124
Hammatt, Mrs. E. Nature-Study at

Quanset Pg. 132
Harper, G. A. The Moon and Thoreau.

Pg. 317

X

397

vV

398

INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII

Hausman, Ethel H. The Thrushes. Pg.

230
Hausman, L. A. Time and Change.

Pg. 328
Have You a Nature Hobby? M. D

Weston. Pg. 177
Hermit Thrush, The. George W

Schussler. Pg. 233
Honey Bee, The. W. P. Alexander.

Pg. 292
Honey Flows. Alice Lee Sherwood. Pg.

221
"How and Why Stories." John Casper

Branner. Pg. 64
"Human Geography." J. Russell Smith

Pg. 206
Indian Fairies. Virginia Baker. Pg. 43
"Interesting Neighbors." Oliver P

Jenkins. Pg. 395
Items From the School-room Pg. 97
Klein, Henry. The Pine. Pg. 284
Lownes, A. E. Camera Hunting. Pg.

Mahogany, John J. Birch. Pg. 354

May, Dr. J. B. Canoeing and Nature-
Study. Pg. 127

McQuade, Clara M. Children's Inter-
est in Nature-Study. Pg. 209

"Minds and Manners of Wild Ani-
mals," Pg. 256

Modern Fairy Story, A. H. E. Childs.

• Pg. 137

Mole, The. Adeline Wenger. Pg. 272

Moon and Thoreau, The. G. A. Harp-
er. Pg. 317

Moon Came to Earth, The. E. B.
Whiting. Pg. 316

Morris, Frank. Algonquin Days. Pg.
O-L

Mt. Washington Trip, The. O. J.
Church. Pg. 150

Murphy, Helen E. The Pig. Pg. 358

Mystery, Virginia Baker. Pg. 43

"Naturalist in the Great Lakes Region,
A." Elliot R. Downing. Pg. 257

"Nature-Study Agriculture." William
T. Skilling. Pg. 65

Nature At Cowasset. E. V. Douglas.
Pg. 150

Nature Study at Quanset. Mrs. E. A.
W. Hammatt. Pg. 132

"Nature-Study for Boys and Girls."
John Bradford Craig. Pg. 67

Nature-Study in Camp. Fannie A.
Stebbins. Pg. 139

Nature-Study in the Sierra Summer
School. Winifred Perry. Pg. 103

Nature-Study of the Farm. J. D.
Detwiler. Pg. 17

Necrology of Nature Lovers, A. Enos

Mills. Pg. 385

W. H. Hudson. Pg. 386

Irene Hardy. Pg. 387

W. J. Stevens. Pg. 389
Nelson, Margaret Grace. A Wild

Flower Show. Pg. 106
Never Be Discouraged. H. F. G. Pg.

loo
"New Heavens The," George Ellerv

Hale. Pg. 348
Our Own Sun and His Family. A B

Comstock. Pg. 305
Painted Trillium. R. S. Walker. Pg

262
Palmer, E. L. Children's Nature In-
terests. Pg. 23
Pennell, A. G. A School Fair. Pg. 78
Perry, Winifred. Nature-Study in the

Serria Summer School. Pg. 103
Peterson, A. M. The Yellow-bellied

Sapsucker. Pg. 174
Pig, The. Helen E. Murphy. Pg. 358
Pine, The. Henry Klein. Pg. 284
"Plant Materials of Decorative Gar-
dening." William Trelease. Pg. 395
Pleasure of Outdoor Teaching, The.

L. V. Wilkinson. Pg. 88
Potato Beetle Chronicle, A. Millie R.

Turner. Pg. 360
"Practical Plant Biology." Henry H

Dixon. Pg. 303
Question of Relationship, A. Pg. 293
Robin Orphanage, A. Mary Wecka.

Pg. Ill
Rogers, Katherine. Gossip of the Trees.

Pg. 235
Rogers, K. R. Spring-time Among the

Trees. Pg. 194
Ross, Roland C. Sense Training. Pg.

56
Royal Forrester, A. Pg. 271
School Fair, A. A. G. Pennell Pg. 78
School Fairs. L. A. DeWolfe. Pg. 82
School Gardens in 1922. Ellen E. Shaw.

Pg. 69
Schussler, George W. The Hermit
^ Thrush. Pg. 233
Second Nature Lore School, The. Pg.

154
Sense Training. Roland C. Ross. Pg. 56
Shaw, Ellen E. School Gardens in 1922

Pg. 69
Sherwood, Alice Lee. Honey Flows.
^ Pg. 221
Shufeldt, R. W. Young America and

Nature-Study Pg. 161
Shufeldt, R. W. Conservation and

Nature Studies. Pg. 259
"Sky Movies, The." Gaylord Johnson.

Pg. 349

INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII

399

Silver Moon, O. L. O. Sloan.. Pg. 370
Sky Phenomena. W. H. Tuke. Pg. 5
Sloan, L. O. O Silver Moon. Pg. 370
Smith, Herbert A. The Child and the

Forest. Pg. 75
Smith, Charles. Buster Brown, A Sheep.

Pg. 351
Society for the Preservation of New

England Plants. Pg. 278
Song-Sparrow, The. Amelia J. Calver.

Pg. 296
Spring-tune Among the Trees. K. T.

Rogers. Pg. 194
Star Charts by Paper Cutting. Pg. 323
Star Fairy Dreamland. Pg. 326
Star Map for March and April. Pg.

60
Stebbins, Fannie A. Nature-Studv in

Camp. Pg. 139
Stones, H. W. Alone in the Woods.

Pg. 58
Summer Camp and Nature-Study, The.

W. G. Vianl Pg. 113
Swan, Augusta M. Winter Sleep. Pg.

91
Taylor, Joseph S. Garden Work in

Congested Cities. Pg. 83
Third Annual School for Nature Coun-
cilors. Pg. 157
Thomas, Clara. The Yellow Lady's

Slipper. Pg. 263
Thompson, Reba. Egg-Shell Gardens

in Second Grade. Pg. 90
Thrushes, The. Ethel H. Hausman. Pg.

230
Time and Change. L. A. Hausman.

Pg. 328
Tuke, W. H. Sky Phenomena. Pg. 5
Turner, Millie Ruth. Wee Wild Rose.

Pg. 89
Turner, M. The Circus. Pg. 197
Turner, Millie R. Potato Beetle

Chronicle. Pg. 360

Venus. D. A. Hillas. Pg. 320

Vinal, Wm. Gould. A. B. Comstock

Pg. 1

Vinal, W. G. The Summer Cam]) and
Nature-Study. Pg. 113

Common Mistakes in Natural His-
tory. Pg. 329

Common Mistakes in Natural His-
tory. Pg. 371
Walker, R. I. Yellow Fringed Orchis.

Pg. 283
Walker, Robert S. Common Thistle,

The. Pg. 229
Walker, R. S. Painted Trillium. Pg.

262
Wee Wild Rose. Millie Ruth Turner.

Pg. 89
Wecka, Mary. A Robin Orphanage.

Pg. Ill
Wenger, Adeline. The Mole. Pg. 272
Weston, M. D. Have You A Nature

Hobbv? Pg. 177
Whiting, E. B. The Moon Came to

Earth. Pg. 316
Wild Flower Preservation Society of

America. Pg. 268
Wild Flower Show, A. Margaret Grace

Nelson. Pg. 106
Wilkinson, L. V. The Pleasure of Out-
door Teaching. Pg. 88
Winter Sleep. Augusta M. Swan Pg. 91
Wood Thrush, To A. Wm. P. Alexander

Pg. 234
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, The. A. M.

Peterson. Pg. 174
Yellow Fringed Orchis. R. S. Walker.

Pg. 283
Yellow Lady's Slipper, The. Clara

Thomas. Pg. 263
Yosemite Nature Giude Bulletins, Two

Pg. 294
Young America and Nature-Study. R.

W. Shufeldt. Pg. 161

Devoted to Elementary Fcience in The SchcolsT

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

Photo by"E .E Baker.

THE COCO PALM

JANUARY -FEBRUARY, 1922
Vol. 18 Nos. 1-2 Whole No. 151

20c a copy $1.50 a year

How To Know The Butterflies

A Manual of the Butterflies of the Eastern United States, by

JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK

Emeritus Professor of Entomology, Cornell University

AND

ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK

Professor of Nature-Study, Cornell University

This work contains descriptions of 152 species and varieties
of butterflies This includes all of the species and their named
varieties found in the eastern half of the United States ex-
cepting a few extremely rare forms.

There are 45 plates with 312 figures showing the insects in
their natural colors and 49 figures in the text.

The work is written in popular form without being super-
ficial, and will serve as a Baedeker among Butterflies to the
casual observer or the close student of this most picturesque
phase of nature.

A new editioti now ready

12mo.
Cloth,
$3.50 net;
postage,
20c. addi-
tional.

The Comstock Publishing Company

Ithaca, New York

Some of Our Lists

Agriculture
An. Morphology
Alg.e & Fungi
Birds & Their Food
General Botany
Entomology
Evolution
Native Ferns
Nature Study
Plant Ecology
Plant Morphology
Play Grounds
Portraits
Public Parks
Trees & Forests
Wild Flowers

Lantern Slides

-AND-
PROJECTION APPARATUS

30 SETS ON 30 SUBJECTS

100,000 OF OUR SLIDES IN USE

Educational Slides Our Specialty

Send for decriptive lists. If you will send
your name and official position, and state the
subject in which you are interested, we will
place your name on our mailing list and send
you literature from time to time.

PROJECTION FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LECTURERS
Is a booklet of 76 pages containing descriptive lists of slides and appa-
ratus and it will be sent to teachers and lecturers who make the request,
giving name and official position plainly written. Please refer to this ad.

Conrad Slide and Projection Co.

4028 JACKSON BOULEVARD,

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

NOW IS THE TIME

TO PREPARE FOR SPRING WORK AND TO PLACE
YOUR ORDERS FOR BOOKS AND SUPPLIES

The following should be on your list;

THE CAMP AND FIELD NATURE NOTE BOOK
COMSTOCK & VINAL
This is a new and worth while loose leaf note book. Order
covers and filler sheets to fit your particular needs. (Send
for complete list)

THE HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY $4.00

Anna B. Comstock

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 1.50

James B. Needham

HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 3.50

J. H. Comstock

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF BIRDS, ANIMALS AND
FLOWERS FOR COLOR WORK {send for list)

THE POCKET NATURE LIBRARY — IMITATION
LEATHER, BIRD, FLOWER, TREE AND BUTTERFLY
GUIDES (4 Volumes) 6.00

BURGESS BIRD BOOK, Illustrated in colors

BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK, Illustrated in colors

THE NATURE LIBRARY— 17 VOLUMES
(send for list)

DIXON'S BEST COLORED PENCILS
BOX OF 7 COLORS Postpaid
BOX OF 12 COLORS Postpaid
BOX OF 24 COLORS Postpaid

SPECIAL PRICES TO SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS

IN QUANTITIES

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

3.00

3.00

85.00

.70

1.00

2.00

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and O. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying jnsects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

X-

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

1 1 American Nature-Study Society

Discoveries in Soil Behavior Worked Out in Careful Tests,
Brooklyn Botanic Garden

MARCH, 1922

Vol. 18 No. 3

Whole No. 152

20c a copy $1.50 a year

How To Know The Butterflies

A Manual of the Butterflies of the Eastern United States, by
JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK

Emeritus Professor of Entomology, Cornell University

AND

ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK

Professor of Nature-Study, Cornell University

This work contains descriptions of 152 species and varieties
of butterflies This includes all of the species and their named
varieties found in the eastern half of the United States ex-
cepting a few extremely rare forms.

There are 45 plates with 312 figures showing the insects in
their natural colors and 49 figures in the text.

The work is written in popular form without being super-
ficial, and will serve as a Baedeker among Butterflies to the
casual observer or the close student of this most picturesque
phase of nature.

A new edition now ready

12nio.
Cloth,
$3.50 net;
postage,
20c. addi-
tional.

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING COMPANY

Ithaca, New York

Some of Our Lists
Agriculture
An. Morphology
ALGiE & Fungi
Birds & Their Food
General Botany
Entomology
Evolution
Native Ferns
Nature Study
Plant Ecology
Plant Morphology
Play Grounds
Portraits
Public Parks
Trees & Forests
Wild Flowers

Lantern Slides

-AND-

Projection apparatus

30 SETS ON 30 SUBJECTS

100,000 OF OUR SLIDES IN USE

Educational Slides Our Specialty

Send for decriptive lists. If you will send
your name and official position, and state the
subject in which you are interested, we will
place your name on our mailing list and send
you literature from time to time.

PROJECTION FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LECTURERS
Is a booklet of 76 pages containing descriptive lists of slides and appa-
ratus and it will be sent to teachers and lecturers who make the request,
giving name and official position plainly written. Please refer to this ad.

Conrad Slide and Projection Co.

4028 JACKSON BOULEVARD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

NOW IS THE TIME

TO PREPARE FOR SPRING WORK AND TO PLACE
YOUR ORDERS FOR BOOKS AND SUPPLIES

The following should be on your list;

THE CAMP AND FIELD NATURE NOTE BOOK
COMSTOCK & VINAL
This is a new and worth while loose leaf note book. Order
covers and filler sheets to fit your particular needs. {Send
for complete list)

THE HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY $4.00

Anna B. Comstock

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 1.50

James B. Needham

HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 3.50

J. H. Comstock

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF BIRDS, ANIMALS AND
FLOWERS FOR COLOR WORK (send for list)

THE POCKET NATURE LIBRARY — IMITAT ION
LEATHER, BIRD, FLOWER, TREE AND BUTTERFLY
GUIDES (4 Volumes) 6.00

BURGESS BIRD BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

THE NATURE LIBRARY— 17 VOLUMES 85.00

(send for list)

DIXON'S BEST COLORED PENCILS

B OX OF 7 COLORS Postpaid .70

BOX OF 12 COLORS Postpaid 1.00

BOX OF 24 COLORS Postpaid 2.00

SPECIAL PRICES TO SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS

IN QUANTITIES

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

■x

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and O. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying [insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. ■ The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.
Toronto, Ont.

x-

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

Kindly mention The N aturb-Study Review when replying to advertisements

Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

APRIL. 1922

Vol. 18 No 4

S>Vri7o7

Whole No. 153

20c a copy $1.50 a year

A NEW HELP IN NATURE STUDY

Nature Landscapes and Life History Charts, by

E. L. PALMER,

Professor of Nature Study, Cornell University.

Four Landscapes with small cutouts of Trees, Birds, Fishes and Animals
to be colored and placed in their proper locality on landscapes.

NINE LIFE HISTORIES Charts as follows:

Summer Manuals, Winter Manuals, Winter Weeds, Spring Birds, Aquat-
ic Insects, Trees, Fishes, Frogs, Salamanders and Turtles.

Directions for the use of the above and suggested outline of Nature Study.

These landscapes and charts have proven a great help in planning work
in the New York Schools and the regular work at Cornell University.
They are now available for teachers outside of New York. Printed on
large sheets, folded compactly.

PRICE 50 cents

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, N. Y.

Some of Our Lists

Agriculture
An. Morphology
Alg;e & Fungi
Birds & Their Food
General Botany
Entomology
Evolution
Native Ferns
Nature Study
Plant Ecology
Plant I\;oRrHOLOGY
Play Grounds
Portraits
Public Parks
Trees & Forests
Wild Flowers

Lantern Slides

-AND-

Projection apparatus

30 SETS ON 30 SUBJECTS

100.000 OF OUR SLIDES IN USE

Educational Slides Our Specialty

nd for decriptive lists. If you will send
your name and official position, and state the
subject in which you are interested, we will
place your name on our mailing list and send
you literature from time to time.

PROJECTION FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LECTURERS
Is a booklet of 76 pages containing descriptive lists of slides and appa-
ratus and it will be sent to teachers and lecturers who make the request,
giving name and official position plainly written. Please refer to this ad.

Conrad Slide and Projection Co.

4028 JACKSON BOULEVARD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

NOW IS THE TIME

TO PREPARE FOR SPRING WORK AND TO PLACE
YOUR ORDERS FOR BOOKS AND SUPPLIES

The following should be on your list ;

THE CAMP AND FIELD NATURE NOTE BOOK
COMSTOCK & VINAL
This is a new and worth while loose leaf notebook. Special
canvas cover and pack of sheets (175) $1.50

{Send for complete list)

THE HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY $4.00

Anna B. Comstock

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 1.50

James B. Needham

HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 3.50

J. H. Comstock

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF BIRDS, ANIMALS AND
FLOWERS FOR COLOR WORK {send for list)

THE POCKET NATURE LIBRARY — Imitation Leather,
BIRD, FLOWER, TREE AND BUTTERFLY
GUIDES (4 Volumes) 6.00

BURGESS BIRD BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

THE NATURE LIBRARY— 17 VOLUMES 85.00

{send for list)

DIXON'S BEST COLORED PENCILS

BOX OF 7 COLORS Postpaid .70

BOX OF 12 COLORS Postpaid 1.00

BOX OF 24 COLORS Postpaid 2.00

SPECIAL PRICES TO SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS

IN QUANTITIES

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and 0. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying (insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.
x x

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

WHY NOT TAKE FERNS FOR A HCBBY?

May, 1922

Vol. 18 Xo. 5

Whole No. 154

20c a copy $1.50 a year

A NEW HELP IN NATURE STUDY

Nature Landscapes and Life History Charts, by

E. L. PALMER,

Professor of Nature Study, Cornell University.

Four Landscapes with small cutouts of Trees, Birds, Fishes and Animals
to be colored and placed in their proper locality on landscapes.

NINE LIFE HISTORIES Charts as follows:

Summer Manuals, Winter Manuals, Winter Weeds, Spring Birds, Aquat-
ic Insects, Trees, Fishes, Frogs, Salamanders and Turtles.

Directions for the use of the above and suggested outline of Nature Study.

These landscapes and charts have proven a great help in planning work
in the New York Schools and the regular work at Cornell University.
They are now available for teachers outside of New York. Printed on
large sheets, folded compactly.

PRICE 50 cents

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, N. Y.

Lantern Slides

-AND-
PROJECTION APPARATUS

30 SETS ON 30 SUBJECTS

100,000 OF OUR SLIDES IN USE

Educational Slides Our Specialty

Some of Our Lists

Agriculture
An. Morphology
ALGiE & Fungi
Birds & Their Food
General Botany
Entomology
Evolution
Native Ferns
Nature Study
Plant Ecology
Plant Morphology
Play Grounds
Portraits
Public Parks
Trees & Forests
Wild Flowers

PROJECTION FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS AND LECTURERS
Is a booklet of 76 pages containing descriptive lists of slides and appa-
ratus and it will be sent to teachers and lecturers who make the request,
giving name and official position plainly written. Please refer to this ad.

Conrad Slide and Projection Co.

4028 JACKSON BOULEVARD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

nd for decriptive lists. If you will send

your name and official position, and state the

subject in which you are interested, we will

place your name on our mailing list and send

you literature from time to time.

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

NOW IS THE TIME

TO PREPARE FOR SPRING WORK AND TO PLACE
YOUR ORDERS FOR BOOKS AND SUPPLIES

The following should be on your list;

THE CAMP AND FIELD NATURE NOTE BOOK
COMSTOCK & VINAL
This is a new and worth while loose leaf notebook. Special
canvas cover and pack of sheets (175) $1.50

(Send for complete list)

THE HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY $4.00

Anna B. Comstock

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 1.50

James B. Needham

HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 3.50

J. H. Comstock

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF BIRDS, ANIMALS AND
FLOWERS FOR COLOR WORK {send for list)

THE POCKET NATURE LIBRARY — Imitation Leather,
BIRD, FLOWER, TREE AND BUTTERFLY
GUIDES (4 Volumes) 6.00

BURGESS BIRD BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK, Illustrated in colors 3.00

THE NATURE LIBRARY— 17 VOLUMES 85.00

(send for list)

DIXON'S BEST COLORED PENCILS

BOX OF 7 COLORS Postpaid .70

BOX OF 12 COLORS Postpaid 1.00

BOX OF 24 COLORS Postpaid 2.00

SPECIAL PRICES TO SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS

IN QUANTITIES

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO.

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Kindly mention The Naturb-Study Review when replying to advertisements

X X

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and 0. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

X _ R

Kindly mention Thb Naturb-Study Review when replying to advertisements

Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

THE CHIPMUNK

September, 1922
Vol. 18 No. 6 Whole No. 155

20c a copy $1.50 a year

499,876,965

A LARGE NUMBER!

Not quite so many, but a goodly number of NATURE-
STUDY and SCIENCE TEACHERS are this year, using
the loose-leaf sheets from

COMSTOCK AND VINAL'S

CAMP AND FIELD NOTEBOOK

in building their Nature-Study Notebook.

The sheets include FLOWER, LEAF, BIRD, EVER-
GREEN keys; BIRD, FISH, FLOWER AND TREE with

parts named; lesson sheets
for bird, tree, plant, animal,
insect and fish observations.
Outline Drawing of birds,
animals, flowers, fish, and in-
sects for color work. Sky
maps. Note paper.

All sheets are 61X31" or
folded to this size to fit va-
rious pocket binders in eith-
er canvas or leather (6 rings) ,
school binders (2 ring) , or Velumet (heavy cover paper, 2 pin) .

Quantity price, very low:
Satisfaction from use, very high.

Send for complete list and sample sheets
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL

A Complete pack, (i of each type) of sheet now ready, and a gray canvas
6 ring binder. Postpaid $1.60

The Comstock Publishing Company

Pig. 1 — Memo and Reference Book — Size of
page 3|x6J. Capacity 70 sheets.

Ithaca

New York

The Ways of the Six-footed

by Anna Botsford Comstock

Author of The Handbook of Nature-Study

A delightful supplementary Nature-Study reader
for the grades, or for the home.

Illustrated — 152 pages
Cloth — postpaid 60 cents

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

Choose a School!

Sargent's Handbook of
American Private Schools

A Guide Book for Parents telling intimately and
discriminatingly of Schools good and bad.

Why Choose Blindly?

8q6 pp. $4.00 postpaid.
Catalogs or Advice on request.

Porter Sargent
14 Beacon St. Boston, Mass.

X-

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and 0. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of an}' family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

CONSERVATION NUMBER

PP5E-5TODY QD/IEW

% Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

Paper Cutting by Pupils of Grade 7 B, P. S. 167 Brooklyn N. Y.

Eva Marian Provost — Teacher

Vol. 18 No. 7

October, 1922

20c a copy $1.50 a year

Whole No. 156

499,876,965

A LARGE NUMBER!

Not quite so many, but a goodly number of NATURE-
STUDY and SCIENCE TEACHERS are this year, using
the loose-leaf sheets from

COMSTOCK AND VINAL'S

CAMP AND FIELD NOTEBOOK

in building their Nature-Study Notebook.
The sheets include"* FLOWER, LEAF, BIRD, EVERGREEN keys;
BIRD, FISH, FLOWER, AND TREE with parts named; lesson sheets
for bird, tree, plant, animal, insect and fish observations. Outline Draw-
ing of birds, animals, flowers, fish, and insects for color work. Sky maps.
Note paper.

All sheets are 6f X3f" or folded to this size to fit various pocket bind-
ers in either canvas or leather (6 rings), school binders (2 ring), or Velu-
met (heavy cover paper, 2 pin) .

Quantity price, very low:
Satisfaction from use, very high.
Send for complete list and sample sheets

ill ( fr^t

The Chipmunk

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL

From the
Common Animal Notebook
' (Copyrighted)

A Complete pack, (i of each type) of sheet now ready, and a gray canvas

6 ring binder. Postpaid $1.60

The Comstock Publishing Company

Ithaca New York

The Ways of the Six-footed

by Anna Botsford Comstock

Author of The Handbook of Nature-Study

A delightful supplementary Nature-Study reader
for the grades, or for the home.

Illustrated — 152 pages
Cloth — postpaid 60 cents

The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

TO TEACH CHILDREN

to know and to love the wonder world in which they live, use The Little
Gateways to Science Series.

Hexapod Stories Price $ .90

Bird Stories Price 1 .00

These books are full of marvelous, but absolutely true tales about but-
terflies, bees, fireflies, grasshoppers, crows, gulls, loons, eagles and other
creatures with habits so strange and wonderful as to be almost beyond be-
lief. Both books were written with a view to character development
through nature contact, with particular reference to kindness to fellow
creatures.

Other books that will delight the hearts of those who love the out-of-
doors are

Uncle Zeb and His Friends, by Edward Frentz. . . $ .90

Wild Brother, by William Lyman Underwood 2.00

Wild folk, by Samuel Scoville, Jr 2.00

Everyday Adventures, by Samuel Scoville, Jr 3.00

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, Inc.

9 Arlington Street Boston, 17, Mass.

->e

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and O. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book 011 the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students
can find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects
occurring in Canada and the United States.

1 6th edition ready.

750 pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A concise presentation of the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.

500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives

McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

The Comstock Publishing Co.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

x-

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements

PLANET NUMBER

[WU5E-5T0DY QD/IEW

\ Devoted to} Elementary vScience in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

SATURN

From a chart of cut paper made by pupils in P. S. 167
Brooklyn. N. Y., Eva Marian Provost, Teacher

Vol. 18 No. 8

November, 1922

20c a copy, $1.50 a year

Whole No. 157

The Public Schools of Okmulgee, Okla.; Princeton,
N. J.; Normal School <at Oneonta, N. Y.; Monkato,
Minn,; Framingham, Worcester, Fitchburg, Mass.; E.
Radford, Va., are just a few of the many users of the
loose-leaf sheets from—

COMSTOCK AND VINAL'S

CAMP AND FIELD NOTEBOOK

in building their Nature-Study Notebook.

The sheets include FLOWER, LEAF, BIRD, EVERGREEN keys;
BIRD, FISH, FLOWER, AND TREE with parts named; lesson sheets
for bird, tree, plant, animal, insect and fish observations. Outline Draw-
ing of birds, animals, flowers, fish, and insects for color work. Sky maps.
Note paper, i About 200 different sheets carried in stock.fj

All sheets are 6f X3f" or folded to this size to fit various pocket bind-
ers in either canvas or leather (6 rings), school binders (2 ring), or Velu-
met (heavy cover paper, 2 pin).

Quantity price,' very low:
Satisfaction from use, very high.
Send for complete list and sample sheets

ill it- rx~

The Chipmunk

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL

From the
Common Animal Notebook
(Copyrighted)

A Complete pack, (i of each type) of sheet now ready, and a gray canvas

6 ring binder. Postpaid $1.75

The Comstock Publishing Company

Ithaca New York

A NEW HELP IN NATURE STUDY

Nature Landscapes

and

Life History Charts

by E. L. PALMER

Professor of Nature-Study, Cornell University

Each Package Contains

Four Landscapes with small cutouts of trees, birds, fishes and animals to
be colored and placed in their proper locations on the landscapes.

Nine Life History Charts as follows: — -Summer mammals, winter mam-
mals, winter weeds, spring birds, aquatic insects, trees, fishes, frogs, sala-
manders and turtles. Also directions for use and suggested Outlines for
Nature-Study.

These landscapes and charts have proven a great aid in planning work in
the New York Schools and in the work at Cornell. They are now available
to teachers outside of New York.

Printed on large sheets, folded compactly.

Price 50c. Postpaid 60c.

The Comstock Publishing Co.
ITHACA NEW YORK

How To Know The Butterflies

A Manual of the Butterflies of the Eastern United States, by

JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK

Emeritus Professor of Entomology, Cornell University

AND

ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK

Professor of Nature-Study, Cornell University

This work contains descriptions of 152 species and varieties of butterflies.
This includes all of the species and their named varieties found in the eastern
half of the United States excepting a few extremely rare iorms.

There are 45 plates with 312 figures showing the insects in their natural
colors and 49 figures in the text.

The work is written in popular form without being superficial, and will
serve as a Baedeker among Butterflies to the casual observer or the close
student of this most picturesque phase of nature.

A new edition now ready
12mo Cloth, $3.50 net; postage 20c. additional

r The Comstock Publishing Co.

Ithaca, New York

m.

REFERENCE BOOKS

For the Library

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Wm. A. Riley and O. A. Johannson

A handbook of disease carrying insects and their allies, with tables
for determining the species. A valuable book.

340 pages. Illustrated. Cloth $2.00

THE MANUAL FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS

John Henry Comstock

The leading college text and high school reference book '< on the
subject. Is written so that inexperienced teachers and students can
find out the principal characteristics of any family of insects occurring
in Canada and the United States.

16th edition ready.

750. pages. 700 illustrations. $4.25, postage on 4 lbs.

LIFE OF INLAND WATERS

Needham and Lloyd

A presentation of the scientific aspects of fresh-water biology and
its relation to the economic, civic, aesthetic and physical interests of
man. The only book on the subject in the English language.

[,438 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $3.00

GENERAL BIOLOGY

James_G. Needham

The most widely used modern text. A conciseTpresentation"bf the
phenomena of living things, their structure, functions, modes of repro-
ductions, inheritance, etc. Written so you can understand it.
500 pages. Illustrated. Postpaid $2.50.

Canadian Representatives
McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.

Toronto, Ont.

The Comstock Publishing Co,

ITHACA, NEW YORK, U. S. A.

Kindly mention The Nature-Study Review when replying to advertisements.

PPI5E-5TODY IJB/IEW

\ Devoted to Elementary Science in The Schools

OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE

American Nature-Study Society

A Christmas Dinner

Vol. 18 No. 9

December, 1922

20c a copy, $1.50 a year

Whole No. 158

The Public Schools of Okmulgee, Okla.; Princeton,
N. J.; Normal School at Oneonta, N. Y.; Monkato,
Minn,; Framingham, Worcester, Fitchburg, Mass.; E.
Radford, Va., are just a few of the many users of the
loose-leaf sheets from —

COMSTOCK AND VINAL'S

CAMP AND FIELD NOTEBOOK

in building their Nature-Study Notebook.

The sheets include FLOWER, LEAF, BIRD, EVERGREEN keys;
BIRD, FISH, FLOWER, AND TREE with parts named; lesson sheets
for bird, tree, plant, animal, insect and fish observations. Outline Draw-
ing of birds, animals, flowers, fish, and insects for color work. Sky maps.
Note paper. About 200 different sheets carried in stock.

All sheets are 6f X3f" or folded to this size to fit various pocket bind-
ers in either canvas or leather (6 rings), school binders (2 ring), or Velu-
met (heavy cover paper, 2 pin).

Quantity price, very low :
Satisfaction from use, very high.
Send for complete list and sample sheets

ill Hi rV-

W V.'y

The Chipmunk

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL

From the
Common Animal Notebook
(Copyrighted)

A Complete pack, (i of each type) of sheet now ready, and a gray canvas
6 ring binder. Postpaid $1.75

The Comstock Publishing Company

ith

aca

New York

OUTLINE DRAWINGS OF

BIRDS AND ANIMALS

By LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES

Outline Drawings of Flowers

By MARY E. EATON

' "':- n-PrJpil (S)C.P(i

£> C ^

£j Rutty Blackbird— 9% inehef

Printed on watercolor paper for coloring with either crayons or watercolors.

In use by hundreds of teachers in Nature Study, Art Work and

co-relation with other subjects.

COMMON BIRDS (55 in set, size 4Jg by 7 inches) 50c.
COMMON ANIMALS (34 in set, size 4~ s by 7 inches) 30c.
GAME BIRDS (25 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
ZOO ANIMALS (31 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50c.
FLOWER PLATES (30 in set, size 7 by 10 inches) 50o.
MOTH.& BUTTERFLY PLATES a 0 in set) 20c.

Sold in Sets or Assorted by the Hundred and Thousand

The Comstock Publishing Co,

Ithaca, New York

A. B. COMSTOCK

Books that are used by thousands of Students,
Teachers and School Boards.

The Handbook of Nature-Study

Anna Botsford Comstock

Written for the trained and untrained teacher. Each les-
son contains a teacher's story, the leading thought to be
brought out and the best method of bringing this out by the
personal observation of the student. Recommended and
used by thousands of teachers.

234 lessons, 950 pages, 1000 illustrations.
Single vol. edition, cloth, $4.00
Two vol. edition, cloth, $5.00

The Nature Notebook Series

Edited by ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK
Professor of Nature Study, Cornell University.

Comprises the following Notebooks:

BIRD NOTES No. 1 /
BIRD NOTES No. 2 f

-"With outline drawing of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
■ on watercolor paper

TREE NOTES - - - - A. B. COMSTOCK
PLANT NOTES - A. B. COMSTOCK

INSECT NOTES - - - J. G. NEEDHAM

With outline drawings of 60 insects on watercolor paper
FISH NOTES - - - - G. C. EMBODY

With outline drawings of 50 common fishes on watercolor paper

COMMON ANIMAL NOTES - A. B. COMSTOCK

With outline drawings of 30 common animals by

Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Pocket size, ranging from 123 to 150 pages, 4% x 7 in. Price 35c.
each. Set of seven, $2.25. Special prices in quantity. Sold assort-
ed if desired.

These Notebooks have proven to be most useful and practical aids
to successful work in the subjects covered. They combine both field
work and school work (or home work) under one cover.

Only after exhaustive tests covering many terms of work were they
offered to the public.

They are so planr^ _ that they are adaptable to any part of the
country for field work and where outline drawings are included the
subjects cover a wide range of localities.

The nature Notebooks are an inspiration to the teacher and to the
student. They are in use the year around by Nature Study clubs, by
classes in rural, city, private, and normal schools, and colleges.

THE COMSTOCK PUBLISHING CO., Ithaca, N.Y.

JUt!

^Efi ..I*'"01 LIBRARY

WH lA'RK