758 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



reticulatum), which, the natives consider sacred to Pele, the 

 goddess who is supposed to preside over the famous crater of 

 Kilauea ; and which, together with white pigs and chickens, are 

 thrown by them into the boiling red lake during an eruption, to 

 appease the wrath of the aggressive dame, and thus cause the 

 rivers of lava to cease flowing on their destructive course. 



These berries grow in clusters on low bushes right on the 

 very brink of the brimstone beds, and are so numerous that a 

 bushel may be easily gathered in half an hour. In appearance 

 they somewhat resemble a cranberry, and the flavor is pleasantly 

 suggestive of grapes. 



Space forbids more than passing mention of many other fruit 

 trees of the tropics such as the avocado, or alligator pear, 

 tasting like our ordinary salad; the curious pineapple, with 

 its cactuslike leaves; the mandarin orange, glowing brightly 

 against its deep-green foliage ; the cherimoya, or custard apple ; 

 the lime, the lemon, and the Japanese loquat though they are 

 all of great beauty and extended usefulness. 



WAR AND CIVILIZATION. 



BY W. D. LE SUEUR. 



M ^HE events of the last few months in the field of international 

 J- politics, though they have been of a sufficiently disquieting 

 character, have served at the same time to reveal the profound 

 antagonism between the idea of war and the developed moral con- 

 sciousness of the age. Rumors of war have filled the air, and, 

 in more than one highly civilized community, popular passions 

 have been roused to a dangerous pitch ; yet, in spite of the raging 

 of demagogues and the angry acclaims of the populace, war has 

 not broken out. The sky has been black with thunder clouds, but 

 the storm has not burst. To say that war between civilized na- 

 tions is henceforth impossible would be to speak with singular 

 rashness, in view of the vast and ever- increasing preparations for 

 war which the most civilized nations have, during the last ten or 

 twenty years, been engaged in making, and in view also of the 

 waves of warlike sentiment which have lately swept over com- 

 munities that might be supposed to be by instinct and principle 

 most inclined to peace. At the same time it is impossible for those 

 who abhor the thought of war not to derive hope and comfort 

 from the fact that it seems almost impossible even now to bring 

 the dread result about. Jingoes and other light-hearted and light- 

 headed persons may talk as they like ; the moral difficulties to-day 

 in the way of a war between any two very advanced countries are 



