52 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Ian. 1.5. 



anise, or some other innocent herb ? also of some 

 honey, as even your Battle Creek doctors admit 

 that the same can be used with impunity where 

 sugar would be almost fatal (Gleanings. Nov. 

 1, page 8•^^y? 



BICYCLE-RIDING— DANGER OF. 



You, as well as A. I. E., have been, and, no 

 doubt, still are, very enthusiastic concerning 

 bicycle-riding. There are — it is a fact— many 

 persons who go through thick and thin with 

 Gleanings, especially when Mr. A. I. takes 

 the lead and runs ahead of the crowd or crew 

 with his juvenile liveliness and cheerfulness, 

 and you have certainly influenced not a few 

 " along the bicycle line." Since I do not remem- 

 ber that you ever cautioned the people against 

 the dangers of bicycle-riding, I clip the follow- 

 ing for Gleanings: 



TAKE IT EASY. 



" A French doctor's conclusion is, that no one 

 should ride a bicycle who has a tendency to 

 excessive tension of the arterial system, for this 

 tendency is a great cause of heart disease. 

 Therefore, no one should take up the use of the 

 wheel without the express authorization of a 

 physician; and the doctor should make an ex- 

 amination, not only before the patient begins 

 the use of the wheel, but after he has ridden it 

 for a time. Moreover, the amateur should 

 never ride at a high rate of speed. If one's 

 riding is regular and daily, one may go faster 

 and further with safety; but if riding is inter- 

 rupted, even for a few days, one must take it 

 up again with caution and deliberation. The 

 temptation to eo fast should be steadily resist- 

 ed." 



Would it not be a strange coincidence if you, 

 Mr. E. R., had caused, or, at any rate, promot- 

 ed, that bad state of health in which you have 

 been for some time, by overdoing bicycle-riding? 

 And last, but not least. Dr. Forbes Winslow, a 

 well-known English physician, of London, has 

 very decidedly and sharply spoken out again«t 

 the bicycle- riding of women and girls. He 

 says: " Bicycle-riding is too rapid a motion for 

 the bodily constitution of women, and leads to 

 abnormal appetites and desires." He firmly 

 asserts that for this very rea.^on moral corrup- 

 tion is on the increase. He also maintains that 

 bicycle-riding promotes abdominal diseases of 

 women, and thereby badly att'ects the health of 

 the coming generations. 



St. Petersburg, Fla. 



[There are no substitutes for beef in the veg- 

 etable kingdom. Fish will answer after the 

 patient has been on the treatment for a while. 

 Much depends on how "far gone" the subject 

 is in the first place. Eggs, soft boiled, are al- 

 lowed in some cases. 



As to bicycle-riding, of course it can be car- 

 ried to excess. Did I do it? No. I don't think 

 I did. I never felt better in my life after those 

 long runs of a year ago. I was strong and 

 well, and much improved; but late in the fall 

 of that year my old "la grippe" came back, 



and then quickly followed all my other old 

 ailments until I got clear down. I went on to 

 the vegetarian diet, and grew gradually worse; 

 and then, and only then. I followed the advice 

 of my wife — something I ought to have done 

 before — and took the Salisbury beef diet treat- 

 ment, and to-day I am almost a well man, and 

 stronger and better than I have been for years. 

 Yes, I know there are a few physicians who 

 claim that the use of the bicycle is injurious ta 

 women: and while it may prove to be so in a 

 few cases, I know there are many other physi- 

 cians who think differently. I never knew of 

 a case where it did any harm, and I have 

 known many who received a positive benefit. — 

 Ed.] 



EXPLANATION. 



HAS THE NORTH AMERICAN BEEN A SORT OF 

 DEESTRIC school" FOR BEGINNERS? 



By Rev. W. F. Clarke. 



On page 84.5 of Gleanings, Dr. Miller ex- 

 presses a wish to have me explain what I meant 

 by saying that the North American has always 

 been " a primary class of bee-keepers." Beg- 

 ging the doctor's pardon, that was not what I 

 said, exactly. It was, that the association " has 

 been for the most part a mere school for begin- 

 ners, and there has always been a strongly 

 marked dislike of thoughtful papers and really 

 able discussions." Again, " Instead of a select 

 gathering of advanced bee keepers, who could 

 discuss vexed and knotty questions in apicul- 

 ture, we have held a sort of 'deestric school' 

 for those who would show plainly that they 

 had never read a book on bee-keeping in their 

 lives, and know nothing in regard to disputed 

 points in the higher realms of apiculture." I 

 think these quotations make my meaning suffi- 

 ciently plain. My idea was and is, that at a 

 representative bee-keepers' meeting we have a 

 right to look for what we don't get in manuals 

 of bee culture; namely, a face-to- face discus- 

 sion of live questions that have arisen in the 

 practical part of our pursuit. Owing to the 

 preponderance of local bee-keepers, many of- 

 whom are not very well up in the business, our 

 time has been occupied in explaining to tyros 

 what even beginners in bee-keeping may be 

 very properly supposed to be familiar with. 



There is another matter on which the doctor 

 brings me to book. He says, "At Toronto, Mr. 

 Clarke said of the North American, ' When we 

 get down so that we have to pay only 25 cents 

 a year, I don't want to belong to it.' Why? T 

 think both Mr. Clarke and myself have got 

 down so that we don't have to pay even 

 35 cents a year. Is that any reason we do- 

 not want to belong to it?" I thought "Hon- 

 orary Membership" was a getting up in the 

 world. But I was discussing the proposi- 

 tion to try to increase the membership of the 

 National Bee-keepers' Union by reducing the 

 fee from $1.00 to 25 cents. The Union has never 

 had any honorary members. My idea was and 



