12 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



learned to recoig'nize fifteen varieties in 

 one day. Much the same might be said 

 of other Hnes of out-door interest and 

 study. 



The Guide to Nature and similar 

 excellent publications are constantly fur- 

 nishing for us the "open sesame" that 

 admits to wealths of carefully gleaned 

 information. Museums, gardens, herba- 

 riums, 'helps of every conceivable form 

 and variety multiply and abound. How 

 disappointing, then, that only here and 

 there does one meet a person really filled 

 with enthusiasm for first-hand observa- 

 tion of flowers, trees, birds, rocks, or 

 stars. The masses seem not yet to have 

 been aroused. Even high school and col- 

 lege students, as a rule, take li::tle or no 

 interest in "bugs and things :"" and the 

 natural sciences, in many quarters, are 

 still being taught with pathetic disregard 

 for the real objects under consideration. 



The fact is becoming patent that in- 

 terest in the things which we are here 

 discussing can not be forced, that it can 

 thrive only where the charms of sensible 

 thin;gs are frankly and freely displayed. 

 Nature never deigns to practice absent 

 treatment methods in order to win the 

 love of her devotees she expects but 

 little adoration from those whose ideas 

 of her rest chiefly upon such limited 

 acquaintance as comes from formal study 

 of colorless dried plants, or cadaverous 

 toads, frogs, and salamanders religiously 

 preserved in hermetically sealed jars. The 

 great Heart of Things pulsates onlv 

 through tbe abounding life of the. world ; 

 hence, it is in the open field, in the fra- 

 grant woods, along the breezy shore that 

 Nature has her smile and her voice of 

 beauty for us. But, in such places, her 

 varied and su'btle charms are utterly irre- 

 sistible to the normal, clean, grenuinely 

 responsive soul. The Wantonoit Club, 

 for this reason, is emphatically an out- 

 of-door organization. It finds its special 

 mission in camps — summer groups of 

 alert, right-minded persons — Y. M. C. A. 

 boys and others — whose 'hearts are open 

 to the words and works of God. "Back 

 to Nature" is its eiTective rallying cry. 



One strong and persistent tendency the 

 Wantonoit activities set themselves ear- 

 nestly to counteract, — a tendency that 

 does violence to everv refined instinct, — 

 it is the brutal, primitive desire to take 

 blood. Huntinio- and fi.shing from time 

 immemorial have been reo-arded bv our 

 race as the chief, if not the onlv source 



of pleasure for one who would spend a 

 period of relaxation and rest out in the 

 open. "Arise, Peter, kill and eat" is the 

 only Bible mandate which some men ap- 

 pear willing to follow. Yet there are 

 thousands of campers, I am glad to be- 

 lieve, to whom no real pleasure comes in 

 the taking of life, — even that of the hum- 

 blest sort. But even to these persons the 

 joys of the summer season often are so 

 closely associated with the conventional 

 hunting habit that, although naturally 

 kind-hearted and refined, they come to 

 believe that they have really enjoyed the 

 cruel "sport." For a long time yet, I sup- 

 pose, lie will regard himself as a mighty 

 hunter who, with all the unfair advantage 

 of a modern hunting equipment, can put 

 his human intelligence into successful 

 competition with the simple instinct of 

 some humble, trustful wood creature and 

 bring home its bloody body as indisput- 

 a'ble evidence of his valor and skill. What, 

 after all, is more saddening to one than 

 the sight of the dead thing after the tell- 

 ing shot has been fired and the game 

 brought low? What, in the same con- 

 nection, is more disgustin:g to any right- 

 minded person than the pride of the 

 greedy fish-hog, who boasts of the magni- 

 tude of his catch and who measures his 

 delight by the number of gasping victims 

 he can call his own? 



In contrast to the foregoing, we have 

 the clearer, more exhilirating pleasure 

 that comes from huntina^ birds with the 

 eve,, through the medium of a good field 

 glass : from welcoming back the newly 

 opening wild flowers : from discovering 

 some r??re species of insect; or from the 

 recognition and namins- of stalwart trees, 

 nodding shrubs, cushiony mosses, em- 

 bossed lichens, gaudy fungi ; and, at night, 

 the silent, friendly stars. 



The Wantonoit Club, which I am <~lad 

 to have originated, is but one of the manv 

 agencies endeavoring- to infuse a saner, 

 more healthful spirit into the pursuits 

 and pleasures of the summer season. It 

 has spread its influence widely — into the 

 far West and South, and even across the 

 Atlantic. As its name suggests, it is a 

 body of those who zvant to knozv things- - 

 an organization of alert sense-users. Its 

 snirit is not that of the school room. 

 There is no effort to do thorough scien- 

 tific work, — the boy has left all this be- 

 hind with his books. There is simply an 

 attempt upon, the oart of the conductor 

 of the club's activities informallv to in- 



