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NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [11:6— Sept., 1915 



We have taken many tramps into various canyons and over the 

 crest and up the peaks of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Last 

 June our general school excursion to Mt. Wilson, numbered one 

 thousand participants. On this perfect June day two miles of 

 light hearted children winding up the mountain trail presented a 

 wonderful exemplification of nature-play. Some of the larger 

 pupils went all the way to the summit where the Carnegie Observa- 

 tory is located. Nearly everyone reached the half-way house 

 where pines and spruces had become inter-mingled with the 



Fig. I. On the crest of the Sierra Madre. 



sycamores, maples, and various oaks, especially the dominant 

 live-oak. All the way through the canyon the brook sang its 

 beautiful song, as its clear, ice-cold waters swirled among the 

 rocks. Under stones in the pools, the orange-colored water-dogs, 

 or salamanders, could not successfully hide from our sharp-eyed 

 young naturalists, who also found their jelly-coated eggs. Later 

 the tadpoles hatched and swam about in the school aquaria. 

 The soaproot, a m^ember of the lily family, grows high up on the 

 mountains. The Indians eat the bulbous stem which is covered 

 with brown, cocoanut-like fibers. They also rub the saponin 

 containing plant in the water of deep pools, cut off from the 

 stream. The lather thus made stupifies the trout which then 

 float to the surface and are secured. 



