358 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Mistakes. 



Idealize with all the intensity of your 

 "being - the importance of any great 

 -cause, enter heartily and enthusi- 

 .asticallv into its work, devote yourself 

 to it in season and out of season with 

 all the power you possess, and you un- 

 avoidably make mistakes. The only 

 sure way to keep clear of error is to 

 do nothing. The dead make no mis- 

 takes. 



In overeagerness to obtain or even 

 to appreciate the things attained, you 

 may make the mistake of disappointing 

 or displeasing your best friends. Your 

 mistake may be of commission or of 

 omission ; von may do too much or too 

 little. 



Let a friend do you a favor, let a 

 ■cooperator render aid, or an apprecia- 

 tor make a gift, and you at once are 

 "balanced on an edge, you become a 

 center of attention. What will you do? 

 Will you be impetuous, energetic, 

 thoroughly in earnest and appreciative, 

 and consequently want to do too much . 

 or lethargic, and not realize responsi- 

 bilities, or not "rise to the occasion." 



Here in one mail is a letter of com- 

 plaint from a scientific friend who did 

 mot want his name published in con- 

 nection with information on some 

 •difficult point, on which he wrote only 

 as a personal favor and not for publi- 

 cation ; and another who finds fault be- 

 cause he was not given full credit in a 

 great work accomplished. One man 

 thinks us too persistent in urging ac- 

 tive work in nature, and another shows 



a tinge of disappointment at not more 

 definite instructions and assistance. 



Yes. the work is worth doing and 

 mistakes are made, but our real friends 

 know the importance of the work, 

 they understand, and so in time may 

 the others. All know that mistakes 

 must be made, and you may be sure 

 that the more numerous the errors the 

 greater the activity. 



Above all mistakes of enthusiasm 

 or methods, rise high the ideals of 

 The Agassiz Association ; they shall 

 come out more and more clearly, dis- 

 tinctly and effectively, though the mis- 

 takes are scattered in every direction 

 by the management, as chips are scat- 

 tered by the sculptor in bringing the 

 statue clear and beautiful from the 

 block of marble. . 



Looking Up at the Stars a Huge Joke. 



I recently entered a Stamford busi- 

 ness house and found the proprietor 

 engaged in reading the local daily 

 paper. After a kindly "How do you 

 do!" I handed him a copy of The 

 Guide to Nature with the remark, "If 

 you must read, there is literature of 

 real merit about real things, not town 

 gossip." While I was speaking, he 

 opened the magazine by chance to the 

 star map and at once inquired, "What 

 is that thing?" I explained that it 

 was our monthly map showing the lo- 

 cation of the stars visible at about 

 9:00 P. M. 



His reply was, "And do you think 

 that T am interested in that? "Well, 



