EDITORIAL 301 



joy of living. I, too, thrill with the pulse of being. I, only, com- 

 prehend the eternity long process, wide as the universe, that has 

 operated to produce all this. 



"I am the acme of things accompHshed, and I am an encloser of 

 things to be. 

 Immense have been the preparations for me. 

 Faithful and friendly the arms that have helped me. 

 All forces have been steadily employed to complete and delight me. 

 Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul." 



May no low-bom, clinging remnants of my animal past impede 

 me. May I, conscious of the mighty onward movement of the 

 ages, consciously allign myself, my life, with it. May I, each day, 

 with smiling face, willingly assume the daily tasks, striving nobly 

 to add my small quota to this increasing progress. Like a mighty 

 battle-tide the evolutionary movement marches on sweeping into 

 oblivion or disgrace men and nations that oppose it. I, then, will 

 banish craven cowardice and courageously march with the advanc- 

 ing cohorts, struggling ever, with firm faith that the growing crav- 

 ings of my soul are at once the revelations of the kindly spirit of 

 the universe and prophesies of their achievement. 



News Notes 



Edward F. Bigelow, Sound Beach, Conn., is announcing some 

 new lectures for Teachers' Institutes. His circular will be sent on 

 request. 



The members of the St. Louis section have shown an unusual 

 interest in the field trips this auttimn. On September 27, a party 

 of thirty-five explored the bottom of the recently extinct Pittsburg 

 Lake ill the East St. Louis area. This afforded a fine opportunity 

 to study flood plain plants. On October 1 1 a party of forty walked 

 from Valley Park, Mo., to Fern Glen, two miles, studying talus 

 slope plants on a south exposure on the outgoing trip and the up- 

 land plants on the return trip. An interesting feature of this por- 

 tion of the trip, pointed out by Mr. Drushel, was six pieces of 

 upland oaks, Quercus alba, Q. stellata, Q. acuminata, Q. rubra, 

 Q. velutina, and Q. marilandica, standing within a circle of fifteen 

 feet radius. There are twelve oaks in St. Louis Co., six upland and 



