406 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



blossomed into beauty over night, and 

 could be photographed comfortably 

 through the open door of the shed ; but 

 usually there is no such luck. 



The ice-bound branches and icicle- 

 hung rock are souvenirs of the ter- 

 rible temper of Gitchie Gumee, — 

 being one of the late storms so 

 dreaded by vesselmen, coming in 

 the winter before the lake freezes, 

 but when the weather is so cold 

 that every drop of wave-flung spray 

 and every particle of wind-driven 

 mist freezes on whatever it touches. 

 The branches are the top of a 

 tree some 4 feet back from the edge 

 of a 10 or 12 foot bank. They were 

 able to bend with their load and es- 



caped alive, but a larger tree some 5 or 

 6 inches through was snapped off like a 

 pipe stem. The rock was secured by 

 scrambling down steep, icy ledges and 

 venturing out on broken cake-ice near 

 shore — with due caution as to which 

 cake one chose, and lively work to 

 avoid frozen fingers. 



The bit of snow-laden park cost 

 nothing more strenuous than wad- 

 ing through about 2 feet of new 

 snow — but then, who cares for such 

 things after it is over and you have 

 the pictures. The enthusiast is like 

 the small boy who will go swimming, 

 and philosophically accepts the inevi- 

 table "lickin" on the ground that it was 

 "wuth" it. 



Literary 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



Poultry See rots, (gathered, Tested and >'oiv 

 Disclosed. By Michael K. Boyer. Phila- 

 delphia: Wilmer Atkinson Company. 



The articles are short but the" practical 

 knowledge condensed into them is exten- 

 sive. It gives the gist of much experience. 



The Iris Manual. A Manual on the Phlox. 

 A Manual on the Propagation and Cul- 

 tivation of the Peony. By C. S. Har- 

 rison, York, Nebraska. To be obtained 

 from the author at 25c each. 



These are convenient and interesting man- 

 uals of the three flowers, per titles, and 

 show that the author is not only a practical 

 florist but has in addition the real love of 

 the beautiful. 



Are Bees Reflex Machines? Experimental 

 Contributions to the Natural History of 

 the Honey-bee. By H. V. Buttel-Reepen, 

 Ph. D. Translated by Mary H. Geisler. 

 Medina, Ohio: The A. I. Root Company. 



These observations on the psychical facul- 

 ties of honey-bees may be used as a general 

 biology of the honey-bee. The author truly 

 says: "It seema to me that the biological 

 knowledge concerning Apis melliflca which 

 has" been gained by practical bee-keeping 

 has scarcely entered scientific literature, 

 and, strangely enough, the results are little 

 regarded: It has not passed over into the 

 flesh and blood of science." 



A Year's Work In An Out-Apiary. An aver- 

 age of 114 and V 2 pounds' of honey per 

 colony in a poor season, and how it was 

 done. By G. M. Doolittle. Medina, Ohio: 

 The A. I. Root Company. 



While the book is intended for the specia- 

 list, it is none the less desirable for the 

 plain, everyday keeper with his home apiary, 

 or for the amateur with his five to ten col- 

 onies. 



The House in the Water. A book of Animal 

 Stories. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Bos- 

 ton, Massachusetts: L. C. Page & Com- 

 pany. 

 The name of this book is also that of the 

 first chapter. There are other interesting 

 stories of animals in the author's charac- 

 teristic style. 



The Marvelous Year. Introduction by Ed- 

 win Markham. Drawings by Gertrude 

 Huebsch. New York City: B. W. 

 Huebsch. 



The book contains* brief biographical 

 sketches of the following persons born in 

 1809: 



Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Francois 

 Chopin, Abraham Lincoln, Oliver Wendell 

 Holmes, John Calvin, Samuel Johnson, 

 Charles Darwin, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 

 Frances' Anne Kemble, Franz Joseph Haydn, 

 Nikolai Vasilievitch Gogol, William Ewart 

 Gladstone, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartilioldy 

 and Edward Fitzgerald. 



