258 



tHE GUIDE TO NATURE 



ordinary or practical sense of the word ; 

 but quite as many other things seem 

 to be happily ornamental, and a con- 

 siderable number are apparently su- 

 perfluous. Yet these superfluous things 

 and creatures (superfluous, that is, 

 from our modern or practical or evolu- 

 tionary viewpoints) often seem to have 

 in abundant measure what we mortals 

 strive for, and commonly strive for in 

 vain ; name!}', the joy of being. If 

 there be any reason in this infinite 

 variety, which includes the cloud with 

 its rainbow and the humming Inrd with 

 his jeweled throat, it may posibly be 

 an object lesson to keep us, in our 

 craze for efficiency, from becoming too 

 practical and estimating the value of 

 a thing solely by its usefulness. 



So, whenever I meet a man who ex- 

 plains the use of everything in nature, 

 or who starts with any other assump- 

 tion and measures the life of animals 

 by it, I am inclined to place him in that 

 large and somewhat dogmatic class of 

 naturalists who are theorists rather 

 than observers. Also I quote Emer- 

 son's "Rhodora." and thank heaven for 

 a nature which leaves us still with a 

 few mysteries on our hands. 

 Very sincerely yours, 



William J. Loxg. 



A Penikese for the Country Lover. 



I may also recall the great example 

 of Agassiz at Penikese. In his last 

 year, broken in health, feeling the mes- 

 sage he still had for the people, he 

 opened the school on the little island 

 off the coast of Massachusetts. It was 

 a short school in one summer only, yet 

 it has made an indelible impression 

 on American education. It stimulates 

 one to know that the person who met 

 the incoming students on the wharf 

 was Agassiz himself, not an assistant 

 or an instructor. Out of the great num- 

 ber of applicants, he chose fifty whom 

 he would teach. He wanted to send 

 forth these chosen persons with his 

 message, apostles to carry the methods 

 and the way of approach. (When are 

 we to have the Penikese for the rural 

 backgrounds?) — L. H. Bailev in "The 

 Holy Earth." 



We have it now, to a certain extent, 

 here at ArcAdiA. Wc will have it in 

 all fullness when this is corresponding- 

 ly develo]:>ed. — I^. F. P>. 



The Falling of the Leaves. 



BY J. WARREN JACOBS, WAYNESBURG, PEXXSYL- 

 VANIA. 



How sadly sweet, how soft the sound. 



Is the falling of the leaves; 

 How doth this aching heart abound 

 In grief and ever throbbing wound, 

 In the searing of the leaves! 



When Nature, with a golden hand, 



Bedecks the leaves with color. 

 And all the hills throughout the land 

 She touches with her magic wand, 

 My heart, with joy, grows fuller. 



But soon the reaper, swiftly comes 



To numb my rapture with pain, 

 Whilst from the trees, he deftly combs 

 The gaudy leaves, where'er he roams, 

 Over hillside, woodland, plain. 



As Nature, to her own laws, bow, 

 I feel my heart's ebb flowing; 



A something reigns in stillness, now. 

 From ev'ry naked, bleaching bough, 

 To keep my soul's work going! 



In song of bird, and ev'ry tune, 



The same low dirge is calling. 

 Beneath the sun, at rosy noon. 

 Or when the light of silv'ry moon 

 Is o'er the twilight falling. 



I go into the forest, bare, 



To dwell among Nature's dead; 

 Upon the ground, and everywhere, 

 They're strewn in sweetest fragrance 

 there, 

 Silent to m}^ bended head. 



In ev'ry dell I chance to wade 



Through beds of leaves about me, 

 Of red and yellow, and a shade 

 Of brownish-golden. Nature made, 

 Their rustling sound doth haunt me; 



For soon their rustling time will end, 

 And their faces sink to earth; 



For dust they are, again to blend 



In life, and on until the end 



Of all time, and life and death. 



And now, I see, I see my place! 



'Tis but a leaf still swaying 

 Upon the tree, by God's own Grace, 

 To Nature, giv'n for all the race, 



To His sweet will obeying. 



And as each leaf has helped the tree. 



And done its earthly mission, 

 So thus, my heart hath spoke to me. 

 Commanding that my life shall be 

 As one of calm suljmission! 

 Waynesburg, Pa , October 12, 1916. 



The oldest turquoise mines of the 

 world are in the Sinai Peninsula. They 

 have been worked off and on since 

 4500 P>. C. and their product was prob- 

 ablv known to the ancient Hebrews. 



