92 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



L,archmont Manor School Chapter. 



This Chapter, recently reorganized 

 with the addition of filteen new members, 

 is devoting- especial attention to the study 

 of insects and plants. The members have 

 visited ArcAdiA. A letter from the Cor- 

 responding Secretary reports that the 

 visit was greatly enjoyed and the interest 

 in nature greatly stimulated. The new 

 officers are as follows : President, Lilian 

 ]\IcGeachin ; Vice-President, Cornelia 

 Dean ; Recording Secretary, Eugenia 

 poross ; Corresponding Secretary, Alys 

 JJoross; Treasurer, Xancy Walden. 



Correspondence and Specimens. 



Dr. Robert Unzicker, R. 1310, 220 

 South State Street, Chicago, Illinois, de- 

 sires to correspond and exchange speci- 

 mens with other Members interested in 

 Lepidoptera. Coleoptera, minerals, In- 

 dian relics and reotiles. 



Man or Insect? 



A plainly seasonable hint is The Agassiz 

 Association's suggestion that a camera is 

 a better present for the boy than a gun. 

 In these days of bacteria battle campaigns 

 there is two-fold seasonableness in the 

 suggestion that collecting the infinitely 

 varied and fascinating butterflies, moths, 

 mosquito hawks and beetles is both bet- 

 ter and more interesting than robbing the 

 nests of wild birds. 



Among the many things to which the 

 war is attracting a new kind of world- 

 wide attention is the food supply battle 

 between man and insects, a problem 

 which worries the specialists in ultra far- 

 sightedness as much as the old worry 

 about the ultimate over-population of the 

 planet. Th.ey are seriously debating the 

 question who will ultimately win in this 

 world, man or insect. In Europe attempts 

 are now being made to utilize the devas- 

 tating swarms as pork fatteners and gov- 

 ernment scientists at Washington have 

 tried a new dish made of grubs, which 

 they recommend as delicious. With sober 

 mein they are trying to start a discussion 

 of the edibilitv of locusts and the like in 

 connection with the world's meat supply 

 problem. 



What mav be taken seriously by all 

 thoughtful people is the general question 

 of the human struggle against all detri- 

 mental insects as a class. Xot only the 

 war's emohasis on the need of auirment- 



ing and safeguardir^g agricultural pro- 

 ductiveness, but the new attention to 

 better utilization of the planet's most pro- 

 ductive areas makes this now more timely 

 then. ever. Insects are the chief obsta- 

 cles to economic conquest of the prolific 

 tropics. Energetic organization of nature 

 study clubs would be far more than pro- 

 motion of a pleasurable fad. Such a 

 movement might, indeed, rank in dignity 

 with the quite obviously commendable 

 movement for establishing rifle ranges 



and training camps. Editorial in "The 



Baltimore Star." 



From a Sustaining Member. 



1!V L. SCIIWIiRS, I.OWKR LAKK, 

 LAKE COUNTY, CAT IFORNIA. 



Under the stimulating influence of my 

 membership in The Agassiz Association 

 we, that is, my pupils, my family and I, 

 have made some progress in becoming 

 more deeply rooted in the realm of 

 Xature. 



A great help in our astronomical self- 

 instruction is the cloudless California sky 

 and our distance from disturbing sources 

 of light. It is a delight to walk into the 

 fields iust before going to bed and stroll 

 through the diiTerent constellations, and 

 watch Venus, Saturn and Mars from 

 eveninc^- to evening. Thus the sparklin?, 

 dome of the heavens becomes a sublime 

 i.)icture book. 



A novel charity has just been estab- 

 lished by the will of a 3tliss Everest of 

 Kent, England. The grounds of her es- 

 tate become a perpetual sanctuary for 

 bird life, while the house is to be a rest- 

 ing place for the ill and over-worked. An 

 endowment of four thousand dollars pro- 

 vides the maintenance. Miss Everest, by 

 the way, is the daughter of the former 

 Surveyor-General of India whose some- 

 what inappropriate monument is the 

 loftiest mountain of the globe. 



Sidney. Australi'^. has htelv securr'd, 

 for a zoological park, a beautiful tract of 

 sixtv acres on a point extending- into the 

 harbor. 



Rose and .s-old in the morning. 



Gold and rose at night, 

 ]\Jake them the shades svmbolic 



Of the ve?tibule of liffbt. 



— Emma Peirce. 



