THE MUSEUM. 



91 



Birds should liave been credited to 

 the .\faint- Sf'ortstitaii of Haii;^or, Me. 

 This journal devotes two or three 

 pages each month to ornitholofjy. the 

 matter being contributed by the United 

 Ornithologists of Maine, which has 

 now grown into a strong organi;5ation. 



Many collectors are writing about 

 Davie's "Nests and Eggs" and some 

 dealers are advertising it as if they had 

 it. No one has any copies for sale 

 yet. There has been some hitch be- 

 tween the editors and publishers and 

 no one has any copies ready to deliver. 

 \\"e shall have them as soon as any- 

 one. For $2.25 we will give one copy 

 and two O. and O. Manuals. No 

 money required until books are deliv- 

 ered. Simply send us your order. 



Without attempting to rival the 

 function of the newspapers in getting 

 the latest news. "The National Maga- 

 zine" for March has an exceedingly 

 timely article upon "The Situation in 

 Cuba Today," by Elbert B. Hastings. 

 It is very evdent that the article was in 

 type at the time of the Maine explos- 

 ion—but the situation had been so 

 carefully forecast that the explosion 

 incident had the continuity of a secjuel 

 rather than an addenda. The article 

 is handsomely illustrated with draw- 

 ings and photographs and is decidedly 

 vigorous and picturesque. The posi- 

 tive position is taken in forecasting the 

 ultimate freedom of Cubans through 

 the United States, acting as arbitrator 

 on the questions in dispute. While 

 not compromising the views of the 

 patriotic Cubans, there is a judicial 

 fairness in the article that commands 

 respectful attention. 



No one who is interested in the best 

 contemporary French literature can 

 afford to miss the series of sketches 

 and stories of Paul Bourget, which 

 will begin in T/u- Liviiii^ Age for April 

 2. These sketches have been but re- 

 cently published in F^rance, and this is 

 their first appearance in English dress. 

 They are translated for The IJvitig 



Age by William Marchant. They are 

 extremely clever and characteristic. 



Geolouy. 



We often see people in their leisure 

 hours, wasting their time away in friv- 

 olous pursuits when in the way of col- 

 lecting and studying the objects of 

 nature, which are scattered in such 

 profusion on every side — they might 

 add to their education by the perusal 

 of "Nature's story book." 



A collection once started may not 

 advance as fast towards completion as 

 we might wish it to but even imper- 

 fect as it may be it will always be a 

 collection of souvenirs of the present 

 as well as relics of the past. 



Each specimen may have scores of 

 little reminiscences attached to it. 

 Here for instance in our cabinet is a 

 Dellhyris with its well written history 

 of past glory. What wonderful things 

 might it tell if it could speak of how it 

 spent its life in some snug nook at the 

 bottom of the gld-time ocean, sur- 

 rounded on all sides by the marveloes 

 life of tropical seas, hemmed in at the 

 north by desolate mountains while to 

 the south spread the unbroken expanse 

 of a shallow ocean. 



Now besides the recollections of the 

 past that envelop this little mollusk, 

 there always clings to it too the re- 

 membrances of a delightful summer 

 excursion to Old Fort Erie in Canada. 

 And so it is as we go, so may we col- 

 lect and be well repaid for so doing. 

 Every picnic or excursion that we may 

 "take in" we may always find some- 

 thing new in the way of specimens. 



In this part of the State the popular 

 place for summer picnics is along the 

 shores of Lake Erie; the cliffs of this 

 shore for many miles are of those 

 rocks which belong to the Hamilton 

 group, and coupled with this is the 

 fact that there are numerous detached 

 boulders of the Upper Helderberg 

 period (brought down from the north- 

 ward in the Glacial period) thus mak- 

 ing it a fine collecting ground for the 

 student of geology. 



