STRAIGHT SEEING AND THINKING 



the hoot owl, I should know him as a faker. The 

 rabbit is not on visiting terms with the fox or the 

 mink, nor do the robins welcome a call from the 



jays- 



I did something the other day with a wild animal 

 that I had never done before or seen done, though 

 I had heard of it: I carried a live skunk by the tail, 

 and there was " nothing doing," as the boys say. 

 I did not have to bury my clothes. I knew from 

 observation that the skunk could not use its battery 

 with effect without throwing its tail over its back; 

 therefore, for once at least, I had the courage of 

 my convictions and verified the fact. 



A great many intelligent persons tolerate or 

 encourage our fake natural history on the ground 

 that they find it entertaining, and that it interests 

 the school -children in the wild life about them. 

 Is the truth, then, without value for its own sake ? 

 What would these good people think of a United 

 States school history that took the same liberties 

 with facts that certain of our nature writers do : 

 that, for instance, made Washington take his army 

 over the Delaware in balloons, or in sleighs on the 

 solid ice with bands playing ; or that made Lincoln 

 a victim of the Evil Eye; or that portrayed his 

 slayer as a self-sacrificing hero ; or that represented 

 the little Monitor that eventful day on Hampton 

 Roads as diving under the Merrimac and tossing 

 it ashore on its beak? 



103 



