THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



183 



Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants, and other 



Stinii-iiitt- Insects. By Edward Saun- 

 ders, F. R. S., F. L. S., etc. With 

 numerous illustrations in the text, and 

 four colored plates by Constance A. 

 Saunders. London: George Routledge 

 & Sons, Limited, New York: E. P. But- 

 ton & Co. 



These pages are written only for the non- 

 scientific, as the scientific entomologist will 

 be already familiar with the elementary 

 facts recorded; but it is hoped that they 

 may be of interest to lovers of nature who 

 wish to know a little about the insects they 

 see round them and how they spend their 

 lives. 



Handbook of the Trees of the Northern 

 States and Canada East of the Rooky 

 Mountains, Photo-Descriptive: By 



Romeyn Beck Hough, B. A. Author of 

 "American Woods." Lowville, N. Y. ; 

 Published by the Author. 



It has been thought by the writer, and 

 has frequently been remarked by others, 

 that a series of carefully made photographic 

 illustrations of the fresh leaves, fruits, 

 leafless branchlets and typical barks of our 

 various trees would be appreciated alike by 

 the professional botanist, the less technical 

 nature student, the forester and the lumber- 

 man. My natural interest in the subject 

 and peculiar vocation made the task of the 

 preparation of such a work peculiarly in- 

 viting to me. I am required to be much 

 in the field observing the trees, making it 

 my personal duty to gather the woods used 

 in the publishing of my "American Woods" — 

 in order that I may be able to vouch for 

 authenticity — and this gives me unusual op- 

 portunities. I accordingly entered upon 

 the task with enthusiasm, providing myself 

 with an excellent camera, and adapting it to 

 the peculiar requirements of the work. 



It was not until after much experiment- 

 ing, as to proper lighting, the elimination 

 of shadow, etc., that satisfactory results 

 were obtained. The thought of a measured 

 background — one ruled into square inches 

 for convenience — occurred as a most satis- 

 factory way of indicating size, which I 

 deemed of great importance, owing to the 

 great range of sizes of the objects which 

 I must show on plates of uniform size. It 

 is hoped that this feature of the work will 

 meet with the approval bespoken for it. 



[The above is from the preface.] 



The book is excellently printed on high 

 grade coated book paper, and is the best 

 book on trees that has yet come to the re- 

 viewer's desk. The outline maps with 

 shaded portion showing home of each tree 

 is an extremely happy idea, and tells much 

 in small space. The ruled backgrounds of 

 the leaf and fruit illustrations and the rule 

 placed on the trunks of trees are especially 

 expressive. 



A.UTOBIOGBAPHICAL. 



1 was born in Albany, N. Y., the son of 

 Franklin B. Hough and Mariah E. Kilham, 

 both of whom were of English extraction 

 and keen observers of nature. My father's 

 interest in nature was quite general, though 

 he was especially interested in mineralogy 

 and botany. The mineral "Houghite" was 

 named in compliment to him as its discov- 

 erer, and bears evidence of his work in that 

 direction. His interest in botany and the 

 study of forest trees awakened in him an 

 early realization of the fact that the course 

 of destruction of our American forests, 

 which had its origin in necessity in the 

 days of our forefathers, had proceeded far 

 enough; that the remaining forests must be 

 protected and the principals of forestry, as 

 in practice in certain countries of Europe, 

 must be established here in America. His 

 diligent efforts to arouse public sentiment 

 in this direction marked the commencement 

 of the forestry movement in this country, 

 the establishment of the Division of For- 

 estry under the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture and his appointment as our first 

 United States Commissioner of Forestry. 



With such parentage it was only natural 

 that my first thoughts were turned to a 

 contemplation of the works of nature, and 

 that opportunities and assistance were ex- 

 tended to me during my boyhood days. I 

 soon became greatly interested in birds and 

 much of my time outside of school hours 

 was spent in studying them. Considerable 

 help and interest was given me in this by 

 my father's life-long friend, Professor Spen- 

 cer F. Baird, then Assistant Secretary in 

 Smithsonian Institution. I would add that 

 on a commission from him, too, I was sent 

 into Canada to gather Indian relics from 

 certain tribes there, for the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



As early as at the time of the Centennial 

 Exposition I had amassed such a consider- 

 able collection of birds that I was invited 

 to display it at the Centennial Exposition 

 under the auspices of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Education, to show the result of a boy's 

 work in natural history. 



Later I commenced the study of botany, 

 taking to it, to use the words of my father's 

 prediction, "as a duck does to water," and 

 considerable of my elective work in college 

 (Cornell University) was in that direction. 

 This proved to be an important preparation 

 of what was destined to be my future oc- 

 cupation. I made a considerable study, 

 while in college, also of the birds in the 

 vicinity of the college town and added ma- 

 terially to my own and the University's col- 

 lections. I afterwards visited the West 

 coast of Florida and made a valuable collec- 

 tion of birds and some fishes of that re- 

 gion. 



Having a natural inclination to the study 

 of medicine, I did some preliminary work 

 for entering the medical profession and 

 registered under Dr. C. Hart Merriam, as 

 my preceptor. Dr. Merriam, I would add, 



