EDITORIAL. 



89 



fully represent the "sympathy for other 

 things." 



Then, too, it is for the specialist to 

 inspire in others a "sympathy" for his 

 "things." For that most commendable 

 purpose every specialist is invited to 

 use our columns freelv. 



OUR ENGLISH TWIX. 



Born at the same time (Vol. I., No. 1, 

 April, 1908) and of the same parental 

 plans — "for the interchange of knowl- 

 edge and ideas hetween all students of 

 nature and lovers of country life," is 

 "Country Queries and Notes," at 2 and 

 4 Tudor Street, London, E. C. 



The editor, E. Kay Robinson, in his 

 salutatory "( Hirselves," savs : 



"And we venture to think that such 

 a journal has long been needed by a large 

 number of excellent people whose sym- 

 pathies frequently turn from the narrow 

 topics of society, business and public 

 life to the wide world of nature. No 

 matter how vexations may have been 

 the worries of daily work, the student of 

 nature and lover of the country finds all 

 the refreshment of a mental plunge-bath 

 when he turns again to the hobby of his 

 leisure hours. 



"But pleasure is always doubled when 

 it can be shared with others ; and one 

 great drawback of the study of nature, 

 compared with most occupations and 

 pastimes to which men devote the best 

 thoughts of their leisure hours, has been 

 its solitariness. It is true that when one 

 is alone with nature one is in the best 

 of all company. There is no solitariness 

 then. But it is afterwards, when one 

 is flushed with new experiences and new- 

 ideas, that one feels the need of kindred 

 minds to discuss their meaning and ana- 

 lyse their value. Hitherto the nature stu- 

 dent has perforce accustomed himself for 

 the most part to live a lonely life apart 

 from the noisy crowd that follows poli- 

 tics, sport and pleasure, becoming by de- 

 grees a living storehouse of locked up 

 knowledge. It is lamentable to think of 

 the thousands of men and women who 

 have trodden in the steps of Gilbert 

 White, making" intimate acquaintance 

 with the wild life of our country, and 

 have died, leaving none of their knowl- 

 edge behind for us. Painstaking ob- 

 servers of nature have not, as a rule, any 



itching for publicity; and of no branch 

 of human inquiry can it be more truly 

 said than of nature-lore in Britain that 

 'those who write do not know, and those 

 who know do not write.' 



"But in congenial communication with 

 fellow seekers after nature's secrets the 

 pen of the naturalist moves freely; and 

 it is our ambition to supply a permanent 

 medium for all who have thoughts or 

 facts to exchange regarding any branch 

 of natural history." 



By an interesting coincidence the edi- 

 tor has an article in department "Wom- 

 an in the Country," on millinery from 

 the garden, but the writer does not limit 

 the decoration to everlasting flowers, nor 

 even to flowers, but includes fruits. She 

 says : 



"I always think that flowers and feath- 

 ers in country hats are out of place, ex- 

 cept, perhans. for what might lie called 

 the 'Sunday-go-to- meeting' hat. Even 

 for our best, however, why not, espe- 

 cially in the summer, use natural flowers. 

 Have a straw hat trimmed prettily with 

 ribbon or chiffon, leaving a space at 

 the side or front of a bunch, say of 

 roses or carnations or whatever flowers 

 are in season. 



"When I lived in the country, and now 

 when I am out of town for week-ends, I 

 decorate my hats with blossoms and buds 

 from the garden. I keep green-covered 

 wire especially for twisting up bunches 

 of flowers. 



"I remember some years ago, when my 

 father was the vicar of a country parish, 

 I used regularly to resort to the garden 

 on Sunday morning and gather myself 

 a suitable hat-spray or bunch. I believe 

 I sometimes distracted the attention of 

 the devout worshippers, who weighed 

 the pros and cons of my floral hats, dur- 

 ing divine service! 



"I recollect hearing of the remarks 

 made by an exceedingly prim spinster 

 who took exception to my headgear and 

 denounced the vicar's daughter for 'wear- 

 ing natural flowers in the House of God' ! 



"However, I continued in my disgrace- 

 ful! ?) course, and even had a bunch of 

 ripe red cherries on a string-coloured 

 straw hat, round which was twisted some 

 green chiffon. The effect was really 

 very pretty, and I recommend my readers 



