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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



mi being convinced that it ought to be 

 done. The fact that many biologists 

 develop splendidly the talent for 

 graphic art in response to the need of 

 illustrating' the organisms and organs 

 with which the}- deal, is proof positive 

 that the art instinct is not wanting in 

 them ; and there is every reason to be- 

 lieve that this instinct would come out 

 as literary skill here and there, as well 

 as in the form of skill in delineation. 



were the need felt as keenly in the one 

 case as in the other. 



Assuming the contention to be sound 

 that biological knowledge ought to be 

 more widely disseminated than it is, 

 and that so far as concerns the capa- 

 bilities and desires of such people such 

 dissemination is possible, the familiar 

 question arises, "What are you going to 

 do about it?" — Professor Wm. E. Rit- 

 ter, in "The Popular Science Monthly.''' 



"Is A Camera Worth While?" 



BY W. D. KYLE, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA. 



When the average camerist begins 

 to take pictures, he wants to snap his 

 camera at everything and everybody, 

 but usually his highest ambition, after 

 the first day or two, is to take a picture 

 of a river bridge, or the "flyer" going 

 at sixty miles an hour. After he sees 



AX OSTRICH PLUME TREE. 

 On the St. Mary's River near Fort Wayne, Indiana. 



the resulting pictures for a few times, 

 he is surprised because they cease to be 

 of interest, and he "learns, and learns 

 some more." Then he gets so that he 

 would hardly take a picture of a bridge 

 if you paid him for it. 



Aside from the commercial aspects 

 of photography, a camera may be a 

 useful and valuable assistant in many 

 pursuits, professions and avocations. It 

 may be used as a "recorder" for the 

 physician, surgeon, botanist, astron- 

 omer, zoologist, and even in home life 

 to record the cute and cunning doings 

 of the little ones as they change into 

 youth and maturity. This last item 

 alone would make it worth while in the 

 years to come. Many use a camera 

 only when they take a journey or have 

 a vacation, and bring back a lot of 

 spoiled films or plates because they do 

 not study the situation sufficiently to 

 make their work successful. Yet these 

 same persons, if lucky enough to get 

 one or two fair pictures out of each 

 dozen exposures, think it is worth 

 while, and will again do the same thing 

 the next time. 



If a person has a love for pictures, 

 and will get a good camera with the 

 best lens that he can afford, if he will 

 study the subjects selected, the com- 

 position, the exposure under all con- 

 ditions, the development and the print- 

 ing, till he "knows just where he is at," 

 he will have at his service the best 



