826 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Irving Bacheller was born Septem- 

 ber 26th, 1859, at Pierpont, New York, 

 which is in the St. Lawrence Valley. 

 He spent his boyhood in site of the 

 great "south woods" and enjoyed many 

 vacations in the wilderness with his 

 brothers when he was a small boy. 

 He was graduated from St. Lawrence 

 University, B.S., '82; M.S., '92; A.M., 

 1933. He began work as a reporter 



on "The Brooklyn Daily Times" in 

 1883. Founded Bacheller Newspaper 

 Syndicate late in 1884. Was on the 

 editorial staff of "The New York 

 World," 1888 and 1889. Published 

 "Eben Holden," 1900, which went to 

 265,000 in six months. The total sales 

 have been over half a million copies. 

 Notices of some of his principal books 

 will be found in the "Literary and Bio- 

 graphical" department of this number. 



Ornamental Pods of Staphylea. 

 The fruiting capsules of the American 

 bladder-nut (Staphylea tri folia) have al- 

 ways had a peculiar fascination for me. 

 The shrubs are from eight to fifteen feet 

 high and grow scatteringly with spread- 

 ing branches 011 the borders of damp 

 woods. 



The profuse growth of attractive 

 fruiting is tantalizing. One immediately 

 perceives that they look good enough 

 to eat but knows instinctively that they 

 are not. They are, however, a feast for 

 the eye and I like to sit in the dense 

 shade (for usually the shade from the 

 surrounding trees is dense) and imagine 



THE PODS OF THE STAPHYLEA IN LATE AUTUMN. 



