2>7^ 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



more to humanity to turn the thoughts 

 of an excitement loving adult, engross- 

 ed in the fashionable frivolites of the 

 day with its gossip and scandal, to the 

 study of the wonders and beauties of 

 this glorious universe, than it is to 

 take a child from his innocent play to 

 force him to study nature. The child 

 naturally and unconsciously follows 

 the drift of his home environment, 

 and the examples of his elders whether 

 for good or evil. The most important 

 thing is for the adult to manifest a 

 hearty interest in the "real things." 

 That the master intellects of the coun- 

 try are turning their attention to the 

 stars, the plants, the groves and the 

 mountains for real nature study is 

 hopeful. We firmly believe that the 

 greatest joy of eternity will be that 

 eternity will not be long enough to 

 enable us to discover all the new things 

 in this infinite universe. No one will 

 be graduated ; every one will become 

 more and more efficient and joyous in 

 the pursuit of the knowledge of the 

 works and workings of the Master 

 Mind. 



I have somewhere read that a guide 

 showing a musical but flippant young 

 woman the home of Mendelssohn, or 

 perhaps it was Beethoven, saw her rush 

 to the old piano, pull ofif her gloves, 

 push up her sleeves with an air, "Now 

 you are going to hear something worth 

 while, and I am going to tell my 

 friends, when I return home from this 

 sight-seeing tour, that I have actually 

 played on this famous composer's 

 piano." 



From one end of the instrument to 

 the other she rattled, to see if all the 

 keys were still in action. Then as she 

 started a popular air, she turned to the 

 guide and said, still playing, "I suppose 

 a great many musicians visit this 

 room ?" 



"Yes," he said, "some famous ones. 

 Paderewski was here only a few weeks 

 ago." 



"Oh !" she exclaimed rapturously. 

 "How dearly I would have loved to 

 hear him play. I suppose he made this 

 old piano nearly talk." 



"No," said the guide, "he stood silent 



for a long time and when one of the 



party asked him to play, he said sadly, 



as he hastily brushed his eyes, 'No, I 



am not worthy to play on that piano.' " 



That is the way I feel here in the 

 observatory or the laboratory at Ar- 

 cAdiA where we come in touch with 

 the master minds of the ages, in the 

 great universe of truth, where we real- 

 ize how brief is a lifetime of even the 

 intensest study, and that the sum of all 

 human knowledge only feebly, imper- 

 fectly comprehends the great thoughts 

 of the Eternal Mind of the Creator. 

 But you, my visitors, intending to be 

 appreciative and encouraging say, 

 "What lovely work this is. It is per- 

 fectly delightful for the children." 



But upon second thought I perceive 

 that you are right. We are "children," 

 no matter how old or learned. We are 

 all in God's kindergarten school. 



Congratulations to John Burroughs. 



John Burroughs was eighty years 

 old on Tuesday, April 3rd. We extend 

 to him our heartiest congratulations. 

 He is an ideal naturalist. He is a poet, 

 teacher and general scientist combined. 

 He represents an old type which, while 

 it has not exactly disappeared, has, in 

 these days of specialists, a general ten- 

 dency to wane. He carries on the work 

 in the spirit of Gilbert White, Words- 

 worth, Henry David Thoreau, Emer- 

 son, William Hamilton Gibson and 

 others. He not only sees the things 

 in nature really worth detailed study, 

 but finds in the great world of out- 

 doors a realm of hopefulness, encour- 

 agement and uplift for humanity. The 

 study of nature is not always commen- 

 dable. It may be as miserly and des- 

 picable as the hoarding of gold coins. 

 It may be as selfish as Scrooge. But 

 combined with the love of a Burroughs, 

 it becomes a gospel for humanity, giv- 

 ing entertainment to the children, ex- 

 hileration to youth, philisophy, encour- 

 agement and hope to old age. 



The real spirit of a naturalist is love 

 of country ; that is, literally, the coun- 

 try outside as well as "the city of 

 worlds and palaces.' It loves these 

 things for their own sake and for what 

 they represent to humanity. It believes 

 in their sacredness and in the right to 

 protect them, and this is only another 

 expression for patriotism at its highest 

 and best. John Burroughs, in every 

 sense of the word, is a true patriot ; he 

 believes in protecting the country. He 

 has inspired others with a love for 



