THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



179 



water but a few days, but represent 

 the growth of many years. 



This society urges that we all use 



1. Moderation. Do not pick all that 

 you find. Many flowers must be left 

 to develop seeds for future plants. 



2. Care. Never pull up the plant, for 

 the roots are of no use in a bunch of 

 flowers, and their destruction means 

 the extinction of the plant. Cut when 

 possible. 



3. Judgment. Many flowers, such as 

 wild roses, asters, and golden-rod, may 

 be picked with impunity, but when 

 flowers are few or rare do not pick 

 them. Do not pick flowers which must 

 die before you reach home, nor great 

 quantities of those flowers whose grace 

 and beauty are better seen in a lew 

 than in many massed together. 



For the leaflets of the society apply 

 to Miss M. E. Carter, Boston Society 

 of Natural History, Boston. 



Don't Delude Yourself. 



Are you a chemist? 



Oh, yes. I am a very great chemist ; 

 have always been a chemist since I 

 can remember. My father and mother 

 were great chemists. 



I am glad to know that. I am pub- 

 lishing a magazine devoted to chemis- 

 try and shall be pleased to have you 

 take active interest. I have a lab- 

 oratory too, and would like you to 

 make some special analysis. 



Oh no ; no. I'm not a chemist in 

 that way. I love chemistry; I just 

 dote on it; that's all. 



But please be more specific. In 

 what does your chemistry consist and 

 that of your father and mother, uncle, 

 cousin, sister and aunt. 



Oh, we go around all day long and 

 enjoy breathing oxygen and nitrogen ; 

 every time we are thirsty we drink co- 

 piously of hydrogen and oxygen ; we 

 dote on that, especially with proper 

 acids and essential oils, and then, why, 

 will you believe it, we once read in a 

 book that our whole family eats pro- 

 teids and carbons, etc. 



What kind of a chemist, dear reader, 

 is that? Wouldn't any well-informed 

 chemist "collapse" if any one should 

 lay claim to the name of chemist on 

 any so flimsy a foundation? 



But, you expostulate, no sane or 



sensible person even made such a 

 claim. 



Perhaps not, for the foregoing is to 

 be regarded as a sort of fable. The 

 moral is, "Be candid." That suppo- 

 sitious "chemist" whose claim to the 

 title was breathing air and drinking 

 water has an exact counterpart in 

 many who assert, "I am as much a 

 nature lover as you ; I dote on nature," 

 my father and mother always taught me 

 to like nature. "I've been with nature 

 all my life (sic) but you see I have no 

 time to read magazines like yours and 

 no time to study the nature about 

 which you write." 



Usually it will be found that such 

 a love of nature consists in a ride over 

 a country road on a sunshiny day ; 

 in using flowers for ornament ; in cas- 

 ually glancing at trees, or, well, you 

 know. 



If you really are a lover of nature, 

 you will pay some devoted, thought- 

 ful, painstaking attention to at least 

 some one phase of her work. Fancy 

 a lover of any kind that does not pay 

 devoted assiduous attention to the 

 beloved, and has no time to read let- 

 ters from the loved one — but the ap- 

 plication is self-evident. 



I have great respect for the candor 

 of the man who said, "I don't care a 

 rap about nature. It is true I like 

 outdoor exercise and outdoor sports 

 but as for nature as you fellows find 

 it who go prying into stone piles and 

 quarries, and poke around in ditches-, 

 and catch bugs and things, I couldn't 

 bear it. For a bird give me a chicken 

 or a turkey well cooked, and for a 

 plant a roll of choice Havana is good 

 enough for me !" 



Some Satisfactions, More Inspirations. 



The 1909 Session of the Arcadia 

 Summer School is ended. It was a 

 success — just enough to make the 

 work a pleasure and to afford satis- 

 faction that the session was attempted 

 though amidst most discouraging sur- 

 roundings, in the fact that none of the 

 buildings were completed, and teams 

 and men were busy in grading the 

 grounds. 



On the other hand, it was not so 

 great a success as to leave no inspira- 

 tions and desires for further improve- 



