EDITORIAL AND GENERAL. 



329 



wouldn't have been wholly disagree- 

 able. 



But the point that interested me was 

 his notion of what comprises "nature 

 study," and I have wondered as to just 

 how well he voiced public opinion in 

 his estimation of "those things." 



To a real nature lover, snakes and 

 insects are of interest and are not dis- 

 agreeable. But it must be admitted 

 that to the "general public," they are 

 not attractive. 



Now. the point is, who has been re- 

 sponsible for a certain setting aside, 

 notable occasionally, as conspicuous 

 synonyms of nature study, — nebula;, 

 planets, sunrises, sunsets, landscapes, 

 trees, mountains, rivers, indeed all that 

 there is beautiful and interesting in this 

 wonderful world — and substituted the 

 minutiae of the disagreeable? 



"JUST SUPPOSE." 



That is what I recently overheard 

 the children say as they were playing 

 in the next room at what I think was 

 a new kind of imaginative game. 



So I will take the cue and do as they 

 do — "just suppose." 



"Just suppose" we could show all 

 invalids the advantages of nature's 

 sanatorium 



"Just suppose" that all the imagina- 

 tive and fictional statements about 

 nature have been turned into real seeing 

 and discovery 



"Just suppose" one could go to a 

 news stand and pick up magazines or 

 newspapers telling of the real and not 

 of the fictitious 



"Just suppose" that the money spent 

 on even one ball game could be applied 

 toward showing people a better form 

 of recreation in a life out of doors 



"Just suppose" that we could divert 

 all trivial gossip about other people 

 into talk about the superabundance of 

 beauty and grace in the nature sur- 

 rounding us 



"Just suppose" it could be proved to 

 the general mind that a naturalist is 

 one who tries in every possible way 

 to be benefitted by the beauty and wis- 

 dom of the universe 



"Just suppose" we could demon- 



strate the fact that a holiday or a va- 

 cation is better spent in the fields and 

 woods than in the crowded, noisy, 

 money wasting resorts 



"Just suppose" that every preacher 

 should stop telling, if only for a little 

 while, of God in distant time, place 

 and words and give us a few glimpses 

 of his Omnipresent Works 



"Just suppose" that all the discuss- 

 ing, theorizing and philosophizing 

 about systems, schedules and values of 

 nature study in the schoolroom have 

 been turned into the actual introduc- 

 tion of young people and nature to 

 each other 



"Just suppose" we could induce all 

 people with many acres of greenhouses 

 and many men to attend to them, with 

 flowers and plants more than they can 

 even see, to realize that people not 

 wealthy would be benefitted if shown the 

 pleasure of growing" a plant — a simple 

 plant in a simple way 



"Just suppose" that all the technical 

 scientists should stop embodying mi- 

 nutiae into their Reports and "Mono- 

 graphs of Sesquipedalian Intermin- 

 able Choctaw Nomenclature" and 

 should take a little time to tell us "com- 

 mon folks" in plain language about the 

 wonders or the interesting things that 

 they have discovered in nature 



"Just suppose" — well, "suppose" we 

 did so "just suppose," what would hap- 

 pen then 



The millenium. An earthly para- 

 dise. Heaven begun here below. A 

 strong, sane, healthy, happy humanity. 



THE A A FIRST; AXD ITS SPIRIT. 



Many of our readers, in their letters 

 reveal a misunderstanding of the rela- 

 tive position of The; Guide; to Nature 

 and The Agassiz Association. They 

 regard the magazine as of the chief 

 importance as a new and much needed 

 business venture or as a new move in 

 the advancement of nature study in 

 schools. Both points of view are 

 wrong. The AA is first of all. It is 

 the oldest and most efficient organiza- 

 tion in existence for the study of na- 

 ture and for fostering a love of nature. 

 It was organized in 1875, and incor- 

 porated in 1892 with an endowment of 



