3o6 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



"Now tell us how it looks." With all 

 seriousness, in tones of awe, this boy, 

 aged five years, said : "It looks like the 

 very devil !" 



My first thought, and probably that 

 of some in the audience, was that this 

 boy came from a home where profanity 

 in a mild form was not unknown, but 

 from the manner in which he spoke, 

 and from facts that I learned from 

 further questioning, it appeared that 

 dragons and fairy book devils had be- 

 come confused in his mind. Perhaps, 

 too, I had increased his misunderstand- 

 ing as I had explained to the children 

 what the dragon fly is, and that many 

 children know it as the devil's darning 

 needle and give it a reputation for sew- 

 ing up mouths and ears. With the boy 

 it was an attempt toward a serious 

 description. To say that it looked like 

 the devil was to him as harmless a de- 

 scription as to sa}^ that it looked like 

 a horse or a dog. I hope the children 

 enjoyed the study of natural history 

 as much as I enjoyed the study of child 

 psychology. 



An Appreciation of Mr, Burroughs. 



West Devonport, Tasmania, 



Australia. 

 To the Editor: — 



By the August number of The Guide 

 TO Nature I was pleased to see that the 

 veteran naturalist, Mr. John Bur- 

 roughs, remains in good health. As 

 you are one of his correspondents, 

 please tell him that I have spent many 

 pleasant hours with his charming na- 

 ture books, which I have for years 

 possessed in the pocket edition. In 

 "Birds and Poets" I have favorite pas- 

 sages scored all through the book, also 

 in "The Return of the Birds" in"Wake- 

 Robin," and "Sharp Eyes" in "Locusts 

 and Wild Honey," with many others. 

 Mr. Burroughs may be pleased to 

 know that his writings are appreciated 

 in this Ultima Thule of the South. 



I can endorse the statement that 

 eggs are poisonous to some constitu- 

 tions ; they have a deleterious 'effect on 

 me if taken more than very occasion- 

 ally, apples likewise unless of a soft, 

 easily digested variety. Many people 

 consider raw apples a soporific ; with 

 me they have the opposite efifect, in- 

 ducing wakefulness and unrest. 



H. Stuart Dove, 



Spots Before the Eyes. 



The prevalence of this condition has 

 given rise to a great many curious 

 ideas. Almost everyone either sees 

 fixed or floating spots at times, or 

 hears some friend complain of these 

 conditions, so that it is not strange 

 that many popular misconceptions 

 have arisen. The commonest form of 

 floating spots are those which are 

 known by the name of muscae voli- 

 tantes, an old name which indicates 

 how long the condition has been ob- 

 served. These are tiny transparent 

 chains, or strings, which are seen es- 

 pecially on a white or brightly illumin- 

 ated field. They persistently float in 

 the line of vision, and though a shake 

 of the head may carry them out of the 

 way, they at once float back again. 

 These spots are probably caused by 

 the remains in the fluid part of the eye 

 of certain cells which should have been 

 completely absorbed in the development 

 of the eye. They never lead to impair- 

 ment of vision and, as before stated, 

 are perfectly transparent. Other float- 

 ing spots are due to cobweb-like mass- 

 es of inflammatory material which are 

 thrown out into the fluid of the eye 

 by some low grade inflammation. 

 These spots usually obscure the vision, 

 Vv'hich is their great point of difl:"erence 

 from the former ones. It is, of course, 

 very important to find out in any case 

 whether the spots are due to inflam- 

 mation, or not, and this can only be 

 done by a skilled observer. It is a 

 prevalent idea that the wearing of a 

 dotted veil may leave permanent spots 

 in the field of vision. While the dotted 

 veil may be a source of strain 

 by causing the wearer to pull 

 on the eye muscles in order to avoid 

 the obstruction of vision, it certainly 

 is not the case that the dots, or any 

 other object seen, can be permanently 

 photographed on the nerve tissues of 

 the eye. There is only one exception 

 to this statement. Many people who 

 have carelessly looked too much at the 

 sun, generally in observing the eclipse, 

 have actually produced a slight in- 

 flammatory change in the retina, so 

 that there is always a blurry soot 

 wherever they look. But it is doubt- 

 ful if any light less brilliant than the 

 sun can produce a permanent spot, and 

 certainly a dark object can not do so. 

 — Jour. Am. Med. Asso. 



