612 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Junk IS 



chronic diseases, not only by feeding' our 

 babies, but our older children, better food. 

 May God help us in this conflict v ith Satan 

 under the guise of some patent medicines, 

 especially stimulating medicines. One of 

 our trained nurses told me last winter that 

 Peruna is whisky and morphine. This 

 may not be true; but if so, think of it, 

 you fathers and mothers. Give the aver- 

 age person a bottle containing both whisky 

 and morphine, and tell him to take some 

 whenever he feels bad, has the blues, or 

 something of that sort! Is it a wonder we 

 have idiots, lunatics, tramps, and criminals 

 on our hands to take care of? 



Perhaps I had better say in conclusion 

 that maybe Mr. Bok has made seme mis- 

 take, for even a State Board of Chemists 

 sometimes blunders. If so. Gleanings, at 

 least, will be glad to be set right. Per- 

 haps I should mention that, while Mr. Bok 

 sets himself up on a rather high pedestal, 

 at least in the article I have referred to, in 

 almost the next number of the Ladies'' Home 

 Journal Emma. l!!,. Walker, M. D., while tell- 

 ing young ladies whether the us e of candy is 

 conducive to good health or not, utters the 

 following: 



A most ingenious use to which paraffine has been 

 put in America has been the manufacture of artificial 

 honeycomb. It duplicates the natural comb remark- 

 ably well. The little cells are then filled with glucose 

 slightly flavored to give the honey taste, and the artifi- 

 cial product is ready for use. 



As soon as I got hold of it I wrote a re- 

 monstrance to Mr. Bok, and asked him to 

 submit it to the lady doctor. In response 

 the following has come to hand: 



Bear- Sir: — It will give me pleasure to forward to 

 Dr. Emma Walker your letter about the alleged use 

 of patafifine in the manufacture of artificial honey- 

 comb. If she should write again on this subject I 

 dare say that she would be pleased to include in her 

 article some correction of the misstatement which you 

 say she has made. We thank you sincerely for calling 

 our attention to the matter. 



Very truly yours, 



Wm. V. Alfxander 



Philadelphia, Pa., June 1. Managing Editor. 



F.4KE WEATHER ALMANACS, ETC. 



The letter below is sent out by the Chief 

 of the U. S. Weather Bureau, and it seems 

 to me it hits the spot ( xactly. The only re- 

 gret is that the Weather Bureau did not 

 take this matter in hand to the extent of 

 sending out such a warning to the people 

 generally, long ago, especially since some 

 of our leading agricultural periodicals have 

 been so foolish as to give credence to the 

 idea that any man living is able to make 

 any sensible prediction of what the weath- 

 er will be a week or a month or a year 

 ahead. Our older readers are well aware 

 that I have been hammering away on this 

 matter for years past, and that I have 

 promptly refuted newspaper statements that 

 the IVeather Bureau states the weather will 

 be so and so during the season. The 

 Weather Bureau is able to give a pretty 

 correct prediction as to what the weather 

 will be for the ensuing 24 or possibly 48 

 hours ahead. Once in a while they venture 

 to suggest what it may be for three days in 



advance; but no mcrtal has ever jet been 

 able to tell anything about what the weath- 

 er will be for a longt r period than the above. 



sir: — It is the opinion of the leading meteorologists 

 of the world that public interes s are injured by the 

 publication of so-called long range weaiherforecasts, 

 especially by such predictions as relate to severe 

 storms, floods, drouths, and other atmospheric phe 

 nomeiia of a dangerous or damaging character ; and, 

 the persistent efforts of certain men to foist their pre- 

 dictions upon the public, for personal gain, have 

 reached such proportions that it is deemed advisable 

 fairly and temperately to counteract the influence of 

 those whom we believe to be preying upon the credu- 

 lity of the public. Some of these men may be honest, 

 and may, in their ignorance, attach undue importance 

 to storms that may, accidentally, coincide in time of 

 occurrence with certain relative positions of the plan- 

 ets, or with changes in the phases and positions of the 

 radon, or with periods of increase or decrease in sun- 

 spots, or apparent variations in the solar intensity. 

 Men of this class find that for which they sincerely 

 seek. They "mark when they hit, and never mark 

 when they miss ; " and the occurrence of a storm with- 

 in the broad area of the United States, and, at times, 

 withii. much broader areas, on or near the day for 

 which they have predicted a storm, confirms, in their 

 minds, the value of their system of prediction. 



They may believe that they have discovered a physi- 

 cal law or a meteorological principle that has not betn 

 revealed to astronomers, meteorologists, or any other 

 class of scientific investigators ; but the publication of 

 predictions that, by reason of their absolute inaccura- 

 cy, are calculated to be positively injurious to agricul- 

 tural, commercial, and other industrial interests, casts 

 a serious doubt upon the honesty of their purpo-e, and 

 upon their asserted disinterested devotion to the pub- 

 lic welfare. Such publications bring the science of 

 mettorology into disrepute, and can not, therefore, be 

 made in response to a desire to advance that science 

 along useful lines ; and they retard the work of the 

 honest investigator, through whose efforts, only can 

 gains be made in a fundamental knowledge of the 

 causation of weather that will justify forecasts for a 

 month or a season in advance. 



As a result ot my personal verification of the work 

 of long-range weather-forecasters, some of whom have 

 so far gained the confidence of the rural press as to re- 

 ceive liberal compensation for their predictions, I am 

 led to the conclusion that these forecasters knowingly 

 perpetrate fraud, and do positive injury to the public 

 at large. It is to be regretted that so many newspa- 

 pers not only give space to these harmful predictions, 

 but actually pay for them. Forecasts of this descrip- 

 tion can properly be classed with advertisements of 

 quack medicines — they are both harmful in the ex- 

 treme. 



I hope the time will come when it will be possible to 

 forecast the wtather for coming seasons, and to speci- 

 fy in what respect the coming month or season will 

 conform to or depart from the weather that is common 

 to the month or season ; but that time has not yet ar- 

 rived, and I believe that you will be best serving the 

 public inteiests when, without indulging in personali- 

 ties or mentioning any long-range forecaster by name, 

 you teach the community you serve the limitations of 

 weather-forecasting, and warn it against impostors. 

 Your local press should, and doubtless will, co-operate 

 with you in this endeavor. 



Willis I,. Moore, 

 Chief U. S. Weather Bureau. 



Washington, D. C. 



Temperance. 



LOCAL OPTION IN ARIZONA. 



On page 400, April 15, I asked for further 

 particulars in regard to the Arizona law 

 whereby it takes tsvo temperance votes to 

 offset t ne of the brewers. We have received 

 the following letter in regard to the matter: 



Friend Root: I enclose you a clipping from the 

 Searchlight, and ask you to make mention of it again 

 in your temperance talks, if you think it will be prof- 

 itable. If friendly exchanges would note the fact of 

 our unfair law it might help us to get the law amend- 

 ed the coming winter. 



