142 



voted to common-place nature with uncommon interest." It is 

 also the official organ of the Agassiz Association, " the oldest, 

 most extensive and most efficient organization in the promotion 

 of the love and knowledge of nature." 



The lack of a table of contents is less keenly felt by reason of 

 an ingenious system of general headings spread through the text 

 at irregular intervals. There are eleven of these, one temporarily 

 without material to fill it, and their diversified character speaks 

 volumes for the future scope and usefulness of "The Guide." 

 It is unnecessary to enter into the details of all these divisions, 

 but a few deserve passing mention. 



Under the caption, "The Outdoor World," is an article by 

 Professor Earl Douglas on fossil hunting, and another on " Our 

 Eastern Calla Lily." In the latter the propriety of coining this 

 new common name for the well-known skunk cabbage may be 

 questioned. The attempt to attach a name long associated with 

 Zante deschia to Spathyerna foetida is justly doomed to failure. 

 For common names are not made in an editor's office. They 

 are rather the product of long years of a popular tendency to 

 attach definitive names to the better known plants and animals. 

 Under " Domesticated Nature " there is an interesting article on 

 the origin of the Easter t^^ and Easter rabbit custom. In a 

 shghtly similar vein are " A Tendril Soliloquy " and a group of 

 "astonishing experiences" with foxes. The correspondents sub- 

 mitting the latter have done the editor a very perilous service, 

 for the strain on the reader's credulity is great, and recent press 

 discussion of such "astonishing experiences" has been exceed- 

 ingly keen. 



"The Camera" affords an illustrated article on "Interesting 

 Cloud Effects " and also a good description of a home-made photo- 

 micrographic apparatus. The photographs under " Bird Haunts" 

 seem to lack significance, since there is no visible sign of a bird 

 or a bird's nest. 



"The Twin Periodicals" is an editorial confession of faith and 

 it is in this that we find what is to be the future scope and ideal 

 of " The Guide." After a gentle criticism of two widely known 

 magazines devoted to outdoor life in America, and the expres- 



