THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



121 



exhibitors who are takiny pari in the develiipment of the 

 scheme, preparing the flower-lieils and caring for exhibits. 

 It has also contributed generously by planting five or six 

 of the largest beds, the central feature of which is 

 a large circular bed representing the city seal. 



In the lagoon bordering the (larden will be shown rare 

 nvmpheai (among them \'ictoria Regis), nelumbiums 

 and semi-aquatics and rare grasses for shore planting. 



;\lanv new varieties of gladioli, geraniums, roses and 

 crotons will be shown. A large exhibit of fancy conifers 

 will also be a feature of the Garden as will a lagoon effect 

 after the Japanese style, pagoda, rustic bridges, etc. 



It is generally expected that the Garden will be made a 

 [jermanent feature of the park system. 



The growers of the country have responded generously 

 to the request of the Garden Committee at considerable 

 trouble and expense to themselves and have done all that 

 is possible to make the affair a success. 



\\'ithnut doubt the Gonvention (iardcn will liecome a 



permanent adjunct to all future conventi(-)ns of the society^ 

 but there is an infinite amount of detail work which nuist 

 be attended to and which should, as a matter of fact, com- 

 mence in the autumn preceding the meeting, but experi- 

 ence renders all problems easy and the work undertaken 

 at .Minneapolis and Boston will be of great benefit to other 

 cities. 



The develoi)mcnl of thi> garden has been under the per- 

 sonal supervision of James U. Shea, Deputy Commission- 

 er of the Boston Department of Parks, and to whom all 

 credit is due for the successful undertaking. 



Born in Boston in 1863, Mr. Shea received his early 

 education at Boston College. He took a course in land- 

 scape architecture at Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard 

 College, and entered the Boston Park Department in 1891. 

 Appointed assistant superintendent under the late |ohn 

 .A. Pettigrew in 1897 he succeeded him as superintendent 

 on Mr. Pettigrew's death in 1912. In 1913 iMr. Shea 

 was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Park and 

 Recreation Department, which position he now holds un- 

 der the following Commission: John H. Dillon, chairman, 

 Thomas F. Galvin and Charles Gibson. 



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TOL(JOG.\.M.\l; UX SCIKJUI.-M.XSTER HILL, FK.WKLI.N r\KK. 



Gardening the Oldest, Dancing the Most Ancient Art 



This present epidemic of dancing — wdiich began with 

 the turkev trot, then changed to the bunny hug, Texas 

 tommy, tishworm wriggle, Frisco glide and finally the 

 tango — is the first violent appearance of social neu- 

 rasthenia or hysteria since the fifteenth century. 



The dancing mania of the Aliddle Ages did not assume 

 the proportions of a social disease until July, 1374, when 

 a frenzy swept through the town of Aix-la-Chapelle and 

 whole mobs of men and women danced in the streets, 

 screaming and foaming at the mouth. 



This was kept up until they fell from exhaustion, and 

 a great manv of the dancers finished by beating their 

 heads against walls until they heard the overture in the 

 clouds. 



The dancing mania had its greatest run in the German 

 cities, but milder oiif-shoots reached out like caravans 

 and extended into all parts of Europe. 



Italy was hardest struck with this plague in the town 

 of Taranto. It became known as tarantism, and was 

 diagnosed by the physicians of that time as a contagious 

 maladv started by the bite of the tarantula s]iider. 



The Italian doctors tried many ways of curing patients 

 who had the dancing mania. They invented a very fast 

 dance known as the tarantella, to the accompaniment 

 of castanets and tambourines. The idea probably was 

 to let the disease feed on itself, on the same principle 

 that a certain tlose of arsenic will kill, but an overdose 

 will not. 



It took 200 years for tarantism to run its course in 

 the hot Italian lilood, and historians recorded that the 

 luost effective plan discovered for curing dancing-mania 

 was to bury the patients in the ground up to their necks. 



Dancing is the most ancient of the arts. 



Confucius mentioned it and it was recorded in that 

 part of the Hindu Vedas written nearly 8,000 years ago. 



It is found in three forms : warlike, religious and social. 



The first dancing probably came as natural as breath- 

 ing: in springtime youth became intoxicated with the 

 joy of life and danced much as we see colts frisking 

 about in pastures. 



Warlike dancing began when the victors in lialtlc 

 leaped and shouted to express their .satisfaction. 



There is no primitive tribe where we do not find danc- 

 ing of some .sort to the rhythmic pounding on hollow 

 logs or gourd-drums, or the beating together of sticks. 

 When they haven't musical instruments, they clap their 

 hands like darkeys at a breakdow-n. 



Dancing is a prettv good expression of the people of 

 a nation — warlike, sensuous, jjoetic or religious. 



The Greek priests were shrewd enough to make it a 

 part of the national religion. 



The waltz is the oldest of modern dances. It has been 

 in vogue almost continuously since 1555 when, known as 

 La Volta, it cropped out at Fontainebleau where Henry 

 II. was holding court. 



