.; J?'Y • I TIC ;-... .-: 



'AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



Established 1875 Incorporated. Massachuse its, 1S92 Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910 



A Model Association Chapter. 



In Chapter No. 1015 of The Agassiz 

 Association, Glenbrook, Connecticut. 

 we have one of our best Chapters, an 

 ideal, really active company of boys 

 The greatest shortcomings of nature 

 study in general are just two: first, 

 sham ; second, reliance upon others. 

 There are many who, as related in an 

 editorial some time ago, take their 1 na- 

 ture study in portions so small that 

 they never come to realize just how 

 actual nature study tastes. It is like 

 Joe Gargery in Dickens' "Great Expec- 

 tations" when he says to Pip, "I tell 

 yon, it is mighty interesting to sit down 

 by the fire and read J-o, Joe." It is 

 within this class that I sometimes hear 

 of a boy, or of a girl for that matter, 

 who has learned one or two constella- 

 tions, or the names of one or two plants 

 or trees, only to fulfill a requirement. 

 But there is even a larger class that 

 want to get their nature study as they 



would buy goods at a store. 



Many visitors at ArcAdiA, some of 

 them including, I am sorry to say, 

 Chapters of The Agassiz Association 

 come for what we can give them in the 

 wav of entertainment or in the satisfy- 

 ing of their curiosity. That is good so 

 far as it goes. "We should do our part, 

 we are glad to do our part, but we 

 should not do everything. There is no 

 reason why any Member of The Agas- 

 siz Association should depend upon the 

 President of The AA nor upon any of 

 his assistants. The Member should 

 see things in nature for himself. Our 

 eves are no better than those of our 

 voungest Member. We should do our 

 part and others should do theirs. This 

 is what makes the Association. An- 

 other class comes to ArcAdiA, some- 

 times young folks and sometimes older. 

 that from the time they enter the door 

 till they leave are frequent and pro- 

 fuse in their exclamations of "How 



yon must enjoy all this wonderful 

 work." "I envy yon this most delight- 

 ful of all pursuits." We have heard 

 these words so often that we accept 

 them at their full value and realize just 

 what they mean, which is nothing. 



But these errors of omission or of 

 commission have been avoided, per- 

 haps unconsciously, by the boys of our 

 Glenbrook Chapter, and for that rea- 

 son we are pointing to them as the 

 ideal. They can bear a little praise, 

 but we are not praising them for the 

 pleasure of praising but to relate some 

 of the good things they have done to 

 guide and stimulate others. 



The Chapter arrived at Arc Am A in 

 the early evening with packages con- 

 taining a supply of edibles. AVe served 

 cocoa and enjoyed a really social time 

 around the big table and several small- 

 er ones in the Welcome Reception 

 Room. When the edibles and dishes 

 had been cleared away, the boys pre- 

 pared for real Association work. Each 

 told what he had seen and arrange- 

 ments were made for even more sys- 

 tematic seeing by appointing commit- 

 tees for the various departments of 

 nature. There was hardly a Member 

 present who had not made good origi- 

 nal observations, and evidently knew 

 how to relate those observations in an 

 inspiring and convincing manner. Not 

 a boy boasted of the number of miles 

 that he had walked but in a charming- 

 ly unconscious manner, and all the 

 more charming because it was uncon- 

 scious, showed that he did not care 

 whether he had been ten rods or 

 twenty miles provided he had seen 

 something to tell. Not one showed a 

 disposition to sit back in his chair and 

 be entertained. He was willing to do 

 his bit for the good of all. 



Let it be said incidentally that this 

 Chanter has one of the best leader^ 

 that I have ever known, Mr. Halbert 



