266 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Beans should not be eaten unless one is 

 really hungry the appetite sharp. 



Of course, there are many other articles 

 of food which are good muscle, brain, and 

 nerve feeders, and as a people we ought to 

 consume more of them. I do not say that 

 all people can eat baked beans as I do, they 

 act as a tonic and strengthen the digestive 

 powers in my case. I think most people can 

 eat more of them than they do, and if prop- 

 erly cooked would soon find them almost in- 

 di.-pensable. Baked peas stand next in 

 value as a muscle and nerve food. 



Before closing I wish to allude to apples 

 again. I like them raw, but sauce is delicious 

 made in the following way, by which method 

 the apple loses less of its valuable qualities 

 than in any other method of cooking them : 



First, pare thin and quarter the apples, 

 place in a stewpan over a hot fire, put in a 

 few spoonfuls of water, just to keep from 

 burning on the bottom more than that in- 

 jures the flavor ; cook as quickly as possible ; 

 cover over when cooking, so that steam will 

 cook the top. I have found that with a hot 

 fire from eight to twelve minutes will cook 

 them. Add a quantity of sugar before quite 

 done and eat warm. When done ; the apple 

 will remain in quarters, and hardly have 

 changed color. A fine red Baldwin apple 

 cooked in this way and eaten before cold is 

 delicious and very healthy. C. A. HOPPIN. 

 WOBCESTEB, MASS., September 2, 1895. 



INDIVIDUALITY IN THE NESTS OF 

 THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



SIR: One of the great factors in natu- 

 ral selection is individual variation. The 

 English sparrow in its struggle for existence 

 has to contend with cats, boys with blow- 

 guns, and the hostility of a large class of 



people who believe it to be a nuisance. The 

 strength and stability of a nest in which the 

 young are to be reared are important fea- 

 tures in the life of the brood, and it is inter- 

 esting to note the variations in the form, 

 style, and material of the nests, in this con- 

 nection. Mr. John Robinson, of Salem, has 

 communicated to me the following observa- 

 tions he has made concerning this subject : 



" In June, 1893, a sparrow's nest was re- 

 moved from the vine (Ampelopsis virginicd) 

 growing on the southern end of East India 

 Marine Hall, Salem, composed exclusively of 

 the twigs of Tamarix chinensis, a tree of 

 which species was growing in the yard below 

 the nest. The twigs were about five inches 

 long, and, being young and tender, were 

 easily bitten off by the birds. Over three 

 hundred shoots were thus used in this one 

 nest. A little hay was used as a foundation 

 in this nest and in each of the others to be 

 described. 



" In May, 1894, all the nests in the vine, 

 of which there were perhaps twenty, were 

 taken down about the 1st of the month. 

 About the 15th of the month four nests, all 

 made after the cleaning at the 1st of the 

 month, were taken down. Each had a slight 

 foundation of hay. One was composed of 

 feathers, no doubt collected in a neighboring 

 yard where hens were kept. About a quart 

 of these feathers were in the nest. A sec- 

 ond was composed entirely of twine, picked 

 up in the streets and yards near by. A third 

 was made exclusively of strippings of fine 

 bark from cedar posts, and very likely ob- 

 tained from the lumber dealer's storage yards 

 on Derby Street, not far away, or perhaps 

 from some newly set fence nearer at hand. 

 Another nest was filled with fluffy cotton 

 wool, such as is used in bed puffs. In each 

 case there was nothing else used except the 

 hay foundation and the materials named." 

 EDWARD S. MORSE. 

 SALBM, MASS., October 26, 1895. 



THE BORDERLAND OF NONSENSE. 



fT^HAT mental stimulation may 

 -L produce marked physical re- 

 sults is a proposition which few 

 would be found to deny or even to 

 question ; but it is an unfortunate 

 thing when this simple and limited 

 truth is converted into a pretext for 

 virtually denying the laws of phys- 



ical causation, where human beings 

 are concerned. Yet, if there is one 

 gospel which a large class of persons 

 hear more gladly than another, it is 

 that the laws of matter are illusory 

 and those of mind or spirit alone sub- 

 stantial and valid. Hence the nu- 

 merous schools which, under vari- 

 ous names, and with more or less pe- 



