264 



CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION. 



AN APPEAL FOR COOPERATION 



The Agassiz Association is the oldest, 

 largest, most extensive and most ef- 

 ficient organization in existence for dis- 

 seminating a knowledge and a love of 

 nature, after that knowledge has been 

 expressed in a plain and simple way, so 

 that even abstruse facts in natural science 

 become readily "understanded" by the 

 voting or non-scientific people. Obser- 

 vations are made interesting without be- 

 ing belittled or degraded by imaginary 

 assertions that the writer hopes may be 

 true, that he thinks may possibly have 

 occurred, and that at last he persuades 

 himself to accept and then asks his reader 

 to believe. The A.\ deals in facts, but 

 deals in them, not like a museum with all 

 specimens pinned to the wall and labelled 

 in Latin, or pickled in jars and again 

 labelled in Latin. The AA deals in facts 

 descrihed in a plain and simple way, but 

 always in facts, and it speaks only in the 

 observer's native tongue. Thus tar it is' 

 "popular science," and further than this 

 it does not aim to go. It uses the micro- 

 scope, but not to investigate the action of 

 the nucleus in some infinitesimal creature 

 visible only under a magnification of a 

 thousand diameters. It turns aside from 

 that kind of science, valuable as that is 

 to certain investigators. But the AA 

 will, under a low magnifying power, ex- 

 amine with the greatest delight a bit of 

 feather from a hummingbird's breast, 

 and cry aloud with joy when the brilliant 

 colors first salute the eye. Then by ac- 

 cident it is reversed under the lens, when, 

 lo! every trace of color has vanished. 

 The feather a moment before blazed in 

 hues that dazzled the amateur microsco- 

 pist's vision. Now, that same bit of tis- 

 sue is dull, unattractive, dead. Why? 

 Does the reader know ? It is a simple 

 fact, but a fact. The explanation is 

 equally simple, but does the reader know 

 it? The "learned scientist can explain it 

 in ponderous w r ords that mean no more 

 than the simple words of the most youth- 

 ful member of the AA, who discovers the 

 fact for himself and explains the reason 

 in his own way. The AA is scientific, 

 but it is not ponderous. It is truthful, 

 but it is attractive, because it allows the 



observer to observe in his own way and 

 thus to teach himself how to observe ; 

 because it allows the reporter to report 

 in his own way, and thus to learn how to 

 do so properly. In this sense the AA is 

 ' popular," since while it tries to be ac- 

 curate, it at the same time tries to be 

 plain, simple and readily understood. It 

 aims to develop, not to repress nor to 

 suppress. Many a budding observer has 

 been both repressed and suppressed by 

 having his questions sneered at, and him- 

 self told to "clear out." Whatever may 

 be the shortcomings of the A A this is. 

 not one of them. The A A tries to be 

 helpful and encouraging, knowing that 

 appreciation and love of nature is' one of 

 the most consoling, the most comforting 

 qualities that can be fostered ivithin the 

 human heart and mind. Cannot the 

 reader help us ? Does he not sympathize 

 with us and with the purposes of the 

 AA? Will he not kindly think it over, 

 and then act, and act generously? 



As president of "The AA" (as we 

 are fond of calling it ) , knowing its past 

 and the possibilities for the future, / 

 firmly believe there is no other organiza- 

 tion in existence whereby labor and 

 money will do more for the good of hu- 

 manity, especially of youthful humanity. 

 No officer has ever received a salary. 

 ( )ur only remuneration has been the "joy 

 of doing a great and good work." For 

 more than eighteen months I have done 

 the work of the executive office, and for 

 several months that of the editorship of 

 the official journal, The; Guide to Na- 

 ture, at an already overcrowded desk in 

 my own home. My small back yard in 

 a thickly settled part of Stamford has 

 been for years vastly overcrowded with 

 my work as "Nature and Science" editor 

 of "St. Nicholas," and in original experi- 

 menting as a general naturalist. But 

 here, for two seasons, in addition to the 

 burden of the experiments, I have taken 

 the illustrating and the question answer- 

 ing of the A A. To earn a living for my- 

 self and family, I am necessarily away 

 from home for much of the time on lec- 

 ture tours and in school work. This 

 intermittent labor at the desk and in the 



