208 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



CALL FOR COUNSEL. 



For six months The; Guide to Na- 

 ture lias steadily travelled onward, 

 and led its followers into a wilderness, of 

 nature not altogether unknown, yet not 

 previously explored by its method, nor 

 guided from its point of view. Now 

 the leader calls a halt, to consider cer- 

 tain matters, to look about and make 

 plans for the future. 



To speak less figuratively, this mag- 

 azine has been trying to take possession 

 of an unoccupied field in periodical lit- 

 erature — the uncommon interest of com- 

 monplace nature. Now we ask counsel 

 of our readers. In what direction have 

 we travelled most successfully and 

 where have we met obstacles and faded 

 to overcome them ? What article or 

 what illustrations have best pleased you 

 and what do you most wish to see 

 treated in the future? Will every read- 

 er please write at once? W r e want your 

 immediate advice. Already some de- 

 partments have been dropped, and im- 

 portant new plans are under consider- 

 ation. This changing of plans is not of 

 trial and failure, but in the multiplicity 

 of good things it represents the survival 

 of the best. 



We also ask your co-operation in 

 making the magazine widely known. 

 Tell your friends about it. 



I Jut more than all, do not neglect to 

 write and to write at once. 



TOO "GOOD" FOR US. 



When you write a long, descriptive 

 article, with highly polished, well round- 

 ed and evenly balanced sentences, ex- 

 haustively covering your subject from 

 A to ampersand, and you say in your 

 heart, "That would grace the pages of 

 any large, general magazine, but I wdl 

 be self-sacrificing and send it to The 

 Guide to Nature, 'just to helo it along' 

 in its growing davs,"-— please do not 

 make "the sacrifice. We are not a gen- 

 eral magazine and we do not want that 

 kind of an article. 



When von see something in nature 

 really new and of "uncommon interest," 

 though you can describe it in five words, 

 please, let us beg of you, send it to us. 

 There are thousands of writers to one 

 observer, and there are a thousand per- 

 sons who can prepare an elaborate de- 

 scription for one who can see a simple 

 thing and describe it clearly. 



Push out into the wilderness. Leave 

 the beaten track. Mel]) us to be really 



KNOWLEDGE FOR ITS OWN SAKE. 



I recently visited a technical student 

 of science in his laboratory. 



"Are you working to ascertain new 

 facts or to prove some hypothesis.''" I 

 inquired. 



"Both," he laconically replied. And 

 he went on to add, after a few mo- 

 ments of careful attention to a difficult 

 matter in hand, "A real scientist is as 



