HELPS. 137 



begun to talk and laugh, or box and wrestle. Soon those 

 who wanted to^work began to lose heart, and finally, 

 just a year, lacking* two days, from the day we organ- 

 ized, \ve disbanded. Still there were four of us who 

 never dropped the idea of having a good chapter in time. 

 Each of our four enthusiasts worked steadily during 

 the summer, one collecting eggs and studying and 

 stuffing birds and collecting insects, another learning 

 to stuff birds, the third collecting minerals, and myself 

 collecting eggs. Two of our members have finished 

 cabinets, made by themselves. Through all our 

 troubles we have had an earnest desire to go on with our 

 studies and form a new chapter, that w r e might get to- 

 gether once a week and discuss the things of interest 

 we had seen in our rambles. Last Wednesday our new 

 chapter, consisting of four members, held its second 

 meeting at the home of the president, and finished draw- 

 ing up a constitution. The only officers we now have 

 are a president and secretary. No person can become a 

 member of this chapter without a vote of every member. 

 We are going to make the initiation fee the contribution 

 of one year's subscription to some paper on natural 

 history. We are not going to keep a cabinet, but when 

 any interesting specimen is obtained it is to be brought 

 to the next meeting, and a paper \vritten about the 

 specimen is to be read by the finder. At each meeting 

 the secretary reads from some paper or book an article 

 on natural history, and at the next meeting each mem- 

 ber is to read an essay, written from memory, giving' as 

 nearly as possible the substance of the article read. In 

 this way we shall remember better the things about 

 which we study. We think that we shall at last succeed. 

 I would like to say to all the chapters that have among 

 their members persons who fool away their time, and 



