110 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXn. No. 551 



in sucli simple, form that they could be readily remem- 

 bered. Not one in fifty knows these elementary facts. 

 If this exposition is to have the educative value that it is 

 hoped, it must be largely by providing important infor- 

 mation in simple form, for no one can remember the end- 

 less data and statistics which are here provided, and if 

 they could, the one most important fact of all, that we are 

 fast approaching an utter destruction of our forests, is 

 nowhere mentioned." 



"The trouble is just here," quoth the lumberman, 

 "everybody has got to look out for himself, and what's 

 everybody's business is nobody's business, you know. 

 And then some of those fellers that took up tree claims 

 out west, well, I've known 'em many a time to plant 

 their trees and get their land, and then let 'em all die, or 

 sometimes even root 'em up," he added with an amused 

 smile, as if he found the whole matter rather a good joke. 

 "You see, most folks don't look at it as you do; twenty- 

 five years ahead is a long time ; we shan't feel the pinch 

 much before that, and then — well" — then, we mentally 

 continued, when, like Samson, our strength has been 

 shorn from us, when our hills are as barren as those of 

 Palestine, and our rivers can no longer turn the factory 

 wheels, when our population has doubled, and the price 

 of wood sextupled, then our children, waiting for a hun- 

 dred years, and toiling with infinite cost and pains to re- 

 place what we have destroyed, may well say, "Thus are 

 the sins of the fathers visited upon the children even unto 



the third and fourth generations." And Mr. 



smiled courteously, and said he should think it would be 

 a good plan if something could be done about it. 



Lucia True Ames. 



Boston, Mass. 



The Uses of the Litter by Sparrows. 



[Editor Science: The following incident observed by 

 my step-son, twelve years old, may be of interest in 

 connection with the mooted question regarding the 

 use of tools, utensils and weaj^ons by the lower 

 animals. Mekwis-]\Iaeie Shell.] 



A few days ago, as I was walking along the street near 



a little park, I saw a sparrow lying uj)on the ground. It 

 fluttered its wings, but was vmable to rise. 



As I was looking, a pair of old birds came along carry- 

 ing between them a little bare twig about three inches 

 long. One had hold of one end of it, and its com- 

 panion had hold of the other. They brought it down to 

 the bird on the ground, and it caught hold of the stick 

 with its beak. 



Then they flew iip again into a tree, carrying the third 

 bird hanging to the stick, and by this means brought it 

 to a place of safety. 



I am not sure that the bird on the ground was a young 

 one ; it looked quite large and may have been wounded or 

 ' sick. It was not able to fly, anyway, for I saw it try to 

 do so without success. All the birds were common En- 

 glish sparrows. E. Stanley Sphague. 



Chicago, 111., Aug. 7, 1893. 



Space Relation of Numbers. 

 Mr. Martin's association of the natural series of num- 

 bers with a diagram in space is by no means unusual. 

 As I have a similar association myself 1 have been inter- 

 ested in the accounts published from time to time by 

 people, most of whom imagine their experiences to be 

 unique. There must by this time be quite a literature of 

 the subject, though I do not know whether any one has 

 kept track of it. I should say, however, that most per- 

 sons having a strong sense of locality would be ajjt to as- 

 sociate, not only the series of numbers but also any other 

 series, such as the months of the year or the days of the 

 week, with a space diagram. In my own case the natural 

 numbers begin at my left hand cj[uite close to me and run 

 in a straight line diagonally in perspective into the dis- 

 tance towards the right. Beyond one hundred I can 

 scarcely see them, however. The months of the year are 

 similarly arranged save that the current month is always 

 close to me. Most other series have some sort of space 

 arrangement, the kings of England, for instance, beginning 

 at a distance, and running in a very eccentric curved and 

 zizzag line, finishing near me. I localize almost every- 

 thing I memorize or think of deeply. 



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