MUST STUDY NATURE TN TUK OPEN 



269 



Must Study Nature in the Open, Roose- 

 velt Tells the Scientists. 



TO WIN FIRST RANK, THEY MUST OBSERVE 

 WILD THINGS IN THEIR NATIVE HAUNTS. 



To obtain really great results the sci- 

 entific naturalist must study nature out 

 of doors, Theodore Roosevelt told 

 scientists in a recent address at the for- 

 mal opening of the New York State 

 Museum. His theme was "Productive 

 Scientific Scholarship." 



"Let the scientific man realize that 

 he must be a good first-hand observer 

 of wild things in their native haunts if 

 he is to stand in the first rank of his 

 profession," the colonel said. "Let him 

 strive to do original work, the work of 

 original productive scholarship." 



Col. Roosevelt did not belittle the 

 value of research work in laboratories 

 and studies, which was done by those 

 whom he termed "closet men." Their 

 contribution to science was invaluable, 

 he held, but it must be rounded out 

 and perfected b}^ the observers in the 

 field. He continued : 



"There must be ample research in 

 the laboratory in order even to present 

 these problems, not to speak of solving 

 them, and there can be no laboratory 

 study without the accumulation of mas- 

 ses of dry facts and specimens. 



"I do not for a moment mean that 

 there should be any failure to recog- 

 nize the need of such accumulation of 

 facts, but I do mean that there should 

 be an equally clear recognition that the 

 accumulation of facts is only the be- 

 ginning ; that it is only laying the foun- 

 dation on which the man of high ability 

 must rear the superstructure. 



"I also mean that from now on it is 

 essential to recognize that the best 

 scientific men must largely work in the 

 great outdoors laboratory of nature. It 

 is only such out-door work which will 

 give us the chance to interpret aright 

 the laboratory observations." 



Col. Roosevelt said that the function 

 of the museum should be to present to 

 the people the knowledge of the natu- 

 ral, objects of the countryside ; it should 

 aid in the study of nature from the util- 

 itarian standpoint ; it should aid the 

 growing army of students who love na- 

 ture without any set and immediate 

 practical purpose, and it should give re- 

 search facilities to the exceptional stu- 

 dent, "the man who can supply that 

 leadership without which it i"^ so rare 



for even the laborious and well directed 

 work of multitudes of ordinary men to 

 realize the ideal of large productive 

 achievement." — N. Y. Evening Mail. 



The Sweet Influences of the Plants. 



BY MRS. FRANCES E. SEAVEY, BOSTON, 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



The Guide to Nature is beautiful — 

 the flowers — the bees — your wonderful 

 bees ! It is interesting, especially the 

 opening article. That is decidedly en- 

 couraging to one who timidly opens a 

 book devoted to scientific research. 



We all have more or less to do with 

 "Plates, Puddings and Pies." If they 

 can be lifted out of the commonplace 

 to the realm of the beautiful, not to say 

 scientific, we who spend a good part of 

 our lives in the midst of them; will feel 

 a thrill of appreciation and gratitude 

 too, for we know that there can be 

 poems in puddings and psalms in pies, 

 not to mention symphonies in salads. 

 There is scope for artistic expression 

 in the ensemble of Mr. McDermant's 

 cuisine, and it is possible that his chef 

 finds it hard to live up to, or cook up to, 

 the concepts of his chief, for it is not 

 the privilege of all to have the vision 

 of the artist to whom food is not 

 merely "something to eat," but the re- 

 sult of discriminating judgment in se- 

 lection, skill and knowledge in con- 

 struction, and the finished product a 

 revelation of its author's character. 



If one ate at the Stamford Lunch, 

 one would expect to find geranium 

 leaves in the apple jelly, pansies and 

 the snow of wdiipped cream on the pur- 

 ple jelly and nasturtium leaves, buds 

 and blossoms in the salad. The bees 

 must have enjoyed his buckwheat 

 fields (I have driven miles to see one 

 in bloom). It is hard to say which is 

 the more beautiful, that or a field of 

 red clover. The buckwheat has how- 

 ever a charm that the other lacks inas- 

 much as the w^orld calls to mind the 

 ultimate manifestation of that purple 

 field — in heaps of rich brow^n cakes 

 smothered in honey. Nothing could 

 excel that in poetical association I am 

 sure. 



Just can't get along without the lit- 

 tle magazine. — Miss xA.nna I. Campbell, 

 Lakcwood, Ohio. 



