IOO 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



single boulder are surprising, as are the 

 variety and number on fence rails and 

 trees along the roadside. The repre- 

 sentative species may be easily identi- 

 fied by the help of special books on the 

 subject. 



To one fond of collecting they will 



A FOLIOSE FORM OF LICHEN COMMON ON 

 SCRUB OAK ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST. 

 Note the numerous large anothecia. This is the 

 ''dark crottle" of the Scottish peasantry, by whom it 

 was used to dye woolen stuffs brown. It was also 

 used as an article of diet and in the manufacture of 

 a gum similar to gum arabic. 



prove a joy, as no special drying ap- 

 paratus is immediately necessary. At 

 one's convenience they may be moist- 

 ened, spread on drying sheets and 

 mounted in the usual manner. It is 

 well to remember that the lichen, like 

 everything else, is most beautiful in its 

 natural setting. If you do not need it 

 for real and detailed study, let it re- 

 main where it grows. Too many 

 plants find their way into the amateur 

 collector's box. A real lover of nature 

 is loathe to destroy or to take from its 

 home any living growing thing. Far 

 more important than the classification 

 of any plant, is an appreciation of its 

 beauty and fitness in the general 



scheme of creatii >n. 



Contentment. 



If you cannot have the mountains, 



You must keep the hills in sight; 

 If the sea be not your portii m, 



E'en a pond will yield delight. 

 You'd not miss the rolling river. 



Should a stream flow near your door, 

 < >r if only babblin I let. 



What could mortal ask- fur. inure? 

 It is not tin- fullest measure 



That insures the greatest gain ; 

 If you cannot have the sunshine, 



Find contentment in the rain. 



I ' irce. 



Out in the Open. 



To the end that they may bring their 

 sacrifices in the open field. — Leviticus, 

 xvii., 5. 



Undoubtedly one of the most salu- 

 tary discoveries of modern medical 

 science is that of the value of fresh air 

 as an agent of general bodily health. 

 In the old days we used to muffle up 

 our throats to keep out bronchitis, pad 

 our chests against consumption and 

 sleep behind closed windows to escape 

 the contagion of the night atmosphere. 

 To-day all this is changed. The vic- 

 tim of a bad throat or weak chest is 

 taught to expose the affected parts to 

 the outer air as much as possible. The 

 fresh air treatment of tuberculosis is 

 now universal. The wise man sleeps 

 in winter as well as in summer with 

 every window wide open — or, still bet- 

 ter, out of doors! To keep out in the 

 open air is in our time the first law of 

 health. 



Now, very impressive is it to note 

 that what is so true as regards the 

 body is no less true as regards the 

 soul. In the spiritual life, as well as 

 the physical, we are learning the value 

 of fresh air. No longer do we drive 

 the tempted soul into the ways of 

 solitude or separate the sinner from 

 contact with his fellows. No longer 

 do we regard the monastery as the 

 refuge of virtue or the dark silence of 

 the hermit cell as the cure of spiritual 

 corruption. We know r to-day that re- 

 tirement is dangerous and active life 

 in the outer world always beneficial. 

 If a man is overweighted with cares 

 or beset by temptations or stricken 

 with some loathsome moral cancer let 

 him flee from the lonely chamber 

 where he knows only dull brooding 

 and sterile remorse and desert the 

 towering altars where he makes con- 

 fession and does penance. Let him 

 take his anxiety or sin into the open 

 air. Let him go down to the sea, and 

 look unto the hills. Let him heed the 

 skylark, and dance with the daffodils. 

 Let him, in a word, hold "communion 

 with Nature in her variable forms," 

 and lo ! his cares will fall from him 

 like a ragged garment and his sin 

 vanish away as a little thing. The air 

 will make him pure. The sun will give 

 him light. The shining firmament will 

 lift him to its own expanse of beauty. 



