164 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



WHAT IT MEANS. 



At the top of the cover on the first 

 few issues of The Guide to Nature 

 has been printed this descriptive title : 

 "An illustrated Monthly Magazine for 

 Adults, devoted to Commonnlace Nature 

 with Uncommon Interest." The first 

 four words have been, so far as we have 

 observed or heard, perfectly clear to all, 

 but there has been much misunderstand- 

 ing of the rest. This magazine is edited 

 in the firm belief that nature is as inter- 

 esting to the adult as to the child, and 

 that when we have completed our school 

 days, we have not learned all there is to 

 be learned from the natural objects of 

 the world. 



The modern pedagogical term "nature 

 study" notwithstanding all the good it 

 has done, has also done one great injury. 

 That is, it has made and deepened the 

 impression in not a few minds that nature 

 study consists only of a few simple 

 things explained in a simple way to chil- 

 dren. 



The term nature, as viewed by The 

 Guide to Nature, is not peas, beans, 

 tadpoles, and bluebirds for the young 

 folks, but is mountains, rivers, lakes, 

 camps, trees, rides, walks, home sur- 

 roundings, in a word, everything in the 

 great outdoor world that may refresh 

 or instruct any man or any woman. 



"We will look to the hills whence 

 cometh our help," was not meant to be 

 limited to kindergarten rambles. 



A lady canvassing for subscriptions 

 to The Guide was told by a middle- 



aged and apparently cultured man that 

 he didn't need The Guide, because he 

 had studied botany and zoology when he 

 was a school boy, under the best teach- 

 ers, and he had learned all that he need- 

 ed to know ! 



I, too have studied a little, and I have 

 no fault to find with any of my teachers, 

 but the more I have studied, especially 

 in later years, the more have I realized 

 how little I actually know of nature and 

 how vast is the field. May I get off the 

 earth long before I come to a state of 

 mind, if such a thing; be possible, when 

 I shall no longer have an intense craving 

 for more knowledge. And I am unable 

 to picture to myself any future existence 

 worth having where there shall be no op- 

 portunity for mental expansion and 

 growth. Much as I love paleontology 

 as one form of nature study. I can but 

 add another petition to the Litany. 

 "Lord prevent me from becoming a fos- 

 sil." 



THE E>THANTME>T OF DISTAACE. 



To those who love and study nature, 

 it seems almost incredible that others do 

 not have the same zeal and enthusiasm. 

 We can but exclaim : Why, what else 

 are we here for but to appreciate the fact 

 that we are here, and to make the most 

 of the environment. Even a love and 

 interest in one's fellow beings is but ap- 

 preciation of one of the many products 

 of nature. 



But even against all probabilities, the 

 fact exists that the interest in nature is 

 far from universal. Occasionally one 



