EDITORIAL AND GENERAL. 



369 



Hence, rooms for students, facilities for 

 printing and publishing, it will in 

 addition contain everything needed 

 for the guidance of those who may 

 need its aid. While we shall hope 

 to add somewhat to "professional" 

 knowledge, our chief exertions and 

 sympathies will be with the amateur 

 naturalist and the young scientist ; 

 with the boy and the girl who has 

 seeing eyes and the inquiring spirit ; with 

 the teacher of nature study who is afraid 

 of the "I don't know" bugbear ; with the 

 professional or the business man or wo- 

 man who seeks an hour's recreation in 

 garden or greenhouse or with wild 

 nature as a respite for tired nerves. Our 

 field will extend from nebulae to diatoms 

 and will be for people young, middle 

 aged or old. 



Arcadia is not an entirely untried 

 experiment. It is a step (a long step) 

 forward with a greatly enlarged view 

 in a field in which the writer has been 

 working for almost a quarter of a cen- 

 tury. Wrth increased facilities, more 

 assistants, a wider horizon, we hope to 

 do more and better work, to be a more 

 efficient guide in any realm of nature or 

 of natural science. To that end, a cor- 

 dial invitation is extended to you to share 

 in this work and to enjoy its achieve- 

 ments. 



The possibilities of Arcadia, the extent 

 of the guidance, will be what we all 

 working together shall make them. 



GUIDANCE. 



Occasionally some of our best friends 

 and most appreciative subscribers will 

 question our wisdom in selecting The 

 Guide to Nature as the name for this 

 magazine. 



It has been several times suggested 

 that we call it "Nature." One veteran 

 scientist says he is too proficient to long- 

 er need a "Guide" but will always be in- 

 terested in "Nature." From personal 

 acquaintance with that scientist, I am 

 confident that he is far from maintaining 

 even an approach to omniscience in the 

 affairs of nature. What he meant to say 

 was that he has learned where the fields 

 are and how to walk in the paths of ex- 

 ploration. In that sense he needs no 

 "guide." But he and those of his kind 

 are exceptions differentiated from the 



majority of mankind by years of techni- 

 cal and persistent study. 



Even he now admits that this magazine 

 is valuable on account of the material 

 which it puhlishes and no one is more 

 ready than he to admit that there are yet 

 many realms of nature still unexplored. 



All of us must admit that these unex- 

 plored realms exist and most of us will 

 agree that we need aid in approaching 

 them, especially if the help come from 

 those experienced in the exploration of 

 other and similar regions. 



Every boy and girl realizes that there 

 is plenty to learn (and the realization 

 becomes more distinct with more know- 

 ledge) ; every teacher realizes the value 

 of "nature study" in the schools, but 

 some hesitate to begin the work because 

 the wealth of material is so great or 

 because from lack of definite "guid- 

 ance," they are unable to make any of 

 that material available. For boys and 

 girls this has been the dominating idea 

 in my work in the "Nature and Science" 

 department of "St. Nicholas" to show 

 the attractive fields and to give guidance 

 therein and only to such an extent as 

 to make the explorations profitable and 

 pleasurable. The same idea pervades 

 The Guide to Nature for older per- 

 sons. It is to give to him who does not 

 know, yet who desires to know, just 

 enough of suggestion to aid, to attract 

 and to lead onward, and yet not enough 

 to overwhelm with help nor to deprive 

 him of the charm of original discovery. 

 We aim to assist by suggestion and by 

 o-uidance rather than by definite and 

 positive instruction. 



We desire to be a guide, a sign- 

 board, made attractive and pleasing by 

 every means within our power. The 

 Guide says, "Stop, Look, Listen," but 

 do those things for yourself. The 

 Guide cannot stop nor look nor listen 

 for you. We point out the road. You 

 must do the rest, if you will, if you feel 

 any interest in the result which can never 

 be any other than praiseworthy. 



We want articles and illustrations of 

 original investigations, not of emotions 

 and aspirations. The first article in 

 this number is a good example of what 

 is wanted. That shows real study. 



